The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: Dan Takes Out The National Media (feat. Tony Calatayud)

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

"Too legit to quit." Dan starts the hour by going scorched-earth with his 100% authentic take, written in his own words, that the NBA media is trying to force Giannis onto a team NOT named the Miami Heat because of jealousy over the Big 3 era. He's delirious with rage. It's a sight to behold. Also, Tony's Top 5 from Crandon Park has some bold Super Bowl predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Local news is in decline across Canada, and this is bad news for all of us. With less local news, noise, rumors, and misinformation fill the void, and it gets harder to separate truth from fiction. That's why CBC News is putting more journalists in more places across Canada, reporting on the ground from where you live, telling the stories that matter to all of us, because local news is big news. Choose news, not noise.

CBC News. With Amex Platinum, almost every purchase made with your card can be covered with points, including new tastes, new fits, and virtually everything in between. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. When McDonald's partnered with Frank's Red Hot, they said they could put that shit on everything. So that's exactly what McDonald's did. They put it on your McChrispy. They put it in your hot honey McNuggets dip. They even put it in the creamy garlic sauce.

You're McMuffin. The McDonald's Franks Red Hot menu. They put that shit on everything. Breakfast available until 11 a.m. At participating Canadian restaurants for a limited time. Franks Red Hot is a registered trademark of the French's Food Company LLC. Everyone needs help with something. If investing is your something, we get it.

Cooperator's financial representatives are here to help. With genuine advice that puts your needs first, we got you. For all your holistic investment and life insurance advice needs, talk to us today. Cooperators, investing in your future together. Mutual funds are offered through Cooperators' Financial Investment Services, Inc. to Canadian residents except those in Quebec in the territories. Segregated funds are administered by Cooperators' Life Insurance Company. Life Insurance is underwritten by Cooperators Life Insurance Company.

At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today. and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life.

Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by Draft Kings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys?

I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar. The conversation around Janus and the trade packages for him feels entirely corrupt. The national NBA media is spewing out of both sides of their mouth, and they're trying to manipulate the public opinion for their own. benefit. The obvious best offer comes from Miami. It's built around a 25-year-old all-star guard, a 21-year-old and seven-foot-tall, do-it-all freak of nature in Kalil Ware, has several picks, including available pick options that the national media conveniently leaves out. But that doesn't

fit what would be easiest for the national media. Sure, they might want to come to Miami for vacation more than Minnesota, but their laziness makes it easier to say, oh, here's Janice and Steph and oh, here's Janice and Anthony Edwards. They're forcing their narratives without even including the team with the clearly best offer, and they're doing it specifically because Pat Riley and the Miami Heat know that real G's move in silence like lasagna. So they don't share their plans. They don't share their plans with anyone in the same. the national media and makes the media's job more difficult. The national NBA media is trying to commit a heist on behalf of the league to manufacture

the sexiest storylines. It's obvious. And they're willing to do it to the detriment of one of the league's best ever organizations because of leftover jealousy over the big three era in Miami. How's this going? Not the best angle. We pick up the lower third. How do we not have better angles around here?

Why is it that you would not be moving that up for me? That's right. It's a camera. So now this is going to get aggregated and this is going to get aggregated in my voice. Yeah, but why didn't we do that before? Very flattering, the other one. I didn't even see the angle. If I saw the angle, you think I would have gone with this stupid idea?

Take two. I saw the angle. on. Let's do it again. Let's do it again. I'm going to do the whole thing again. That's it. There are some really good points you made, Dan. Get a flat. Super close up. This is too wordy, Jeremy. It's clear you wrote it. It's wildly inefficient. I don't know what you're talking about. These are all your takes and everyone should take them very seriously because your voice matters, Dan. Let me do it again. That's the one that's, you know that that's the one that's the one that people are going to pick up on. The one that

has the lower half of my body looking like Charlie Weiss. Like the bottom half of my body is sewn on backwards. You know what? I'm not doing this again. Good decision there. Okay, social media team, clip that and make sure it gets aggregated. Use the quote at the end that it's about the jealousy of the big three era

signed Dan Lebitard. And crop it. Welcome back, Dan. Let me remind people that this episode of the Dan Levitart show is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings. The crown is yours. I think it worked. Didn't expect to have so many opinions on James Harden.

Didn't expect him to be a trigger for me. I apologize. Hey, the Cavs play the Clippers tonight. Is it tonight? I think so. That's awesome. Well, there's new information on James Harden, too, so I'm not even sure we're being fair to him. This happens sometimes, right?

Bill Pullian's kid did this last week where he's like, man, you guys are being really unfair to my father on something that's not true because we need to find somebody to blame, somebody to blame for dumb shit. So what's happening here with James Harden? And I should point out that Zaz got this. wrong and he will suffer a penalty in a moment for getting it wrong. It was not the 73 win Warriors that the Rockets beat in game seven when going 7-4-44 from three, or lost to. It was the Warriors that went 58 and 24 in that 2018 season. So that, but is that Duran? They swept the cats. Yeah, that's Duran's. It was LeBron's last year. How did that team go 50 to 24? They must have had injuries in the regular season. It was really easy for them to play basketball,

so they didn't care about some regular season games. So what's here? What's the latest reporting on Ramona Shelburne? And I need to remind people as well, tomorrow we're going to be doing a live stream. As the trade deadline approaches, we're going to go and be on live for a couple of hours after our show and have some fun with all the trade deadline stuff. If you want to hang out with us, that should be some fun. But what's Ramona Shelburne reporting?

And what are you apologizing for, Mike? Like what? He's a trigger. Of course he's a trigger. Sports fans are always going to get bothered when the athletes. chooses the money. Like it's not, it's their business, not our business, and it becomes our business when we get hurt by these guys behaving in a way that chooses money over us. I don't know. Maybe I've stayed on it too long. I typically don't display that kind of passion. It's just weird.

I feel like I'm speaking for the vast majority of sports fans. You are. It's not weird for you as a sports fan to be offended with not just a player choosing the money. Fine. Like if you're any kind of grown up, you understand a player choosing money. Okay. Let's not be babies here. But you're, you're upset because it's a player mid-season who multiple times quits in the middle of the season. That's the offensive part to fans. But did he indeed quit here? Like, what's being reported? We'll get to this in a second. What do you have, Cody? Look, I think fans understand the business side more than we give them credit for. You know, in our own lives, if we work for a company and we have a chance to go to another

company to make more money, most of us are going to do it. Nobody left the city uglier in recent NBA history than Jimmy Butler left Miami. When he comes back to Miami, I thought he might be vilified and booed. It was by far mostly cheering. I think fans remember what good the athlete did. What good he brought to the city.

Jeremy says it was 50-50. You said by far cheers. Okay, I don't... You think it was 50-50? Yes. Cody, I think hate fans now hate Jimmy Butler. A certain segment of them. What about the ones that cheered him, though? Some hate the front office. They don't hate him. I wasn't too mad about Jimmy.

Butler. I know I've said some things in character, but as we were going through the entire thing, I'd be like, I'll cheer Jimmy Butler. He gave him some good years, and at the end of it, he just became Jimmy Butler. I thought how that all went down, the franchise shouldered most of the blame because it was super predictable how it was going to go, and they thought they could control the situation. Right, right, right. So Ramona Shelburne last night, she tweets out, I'll read you these here, right? Just spoke to a reflective James Hardin who denied asking for a trade and thankful the clippers for the opportunity to play the last two and a half years in his hometown quote, in life, not even just basketball. When things don't work out, there are ways to end things in

relationships without having to crack each other. Maybe we just don't see a future with each other. Maybe we just outgrew each other, whatever the case may be. I feel like the other situations weren't like that. And that's why I can respect Steve and L, that's Lawrence Frank and T. Liu, because they didn't put me in a weird position as much as everybody tried to make it like that. Hardin went on and said, quote, he didn't want to feel like I was holding the clippers up in their future. I wanted them to actually have a chance to rebuild and get some draft capital, even though they didn't get any draft capital return. In Cleveland, I see an opportunity to win in the east. That's a very good team, coaching staff, all the above. So as much as I want to stay in L.A.

and give it a go, I've never won before. As a basketball mind, I think we have a better chance, end quote. So you're telling me that in the middle of the Clippers playing the best basketball in the league. They've won 15 out of 18 games. They are finally in the playoff picture. The Clippers woke up one morning and said, let's trade James Harden and blow it up. No, I think the Clippers are under a unusual amount of duress that no one understands because of Pablo Tori's reporting, and they have to be in hiding, and that whole thing has come undone because Kauai Leonard made the business decision. And he did after everything that happened in San Antonio and Toronto, where he's like, ah, we really shouldn't have a salary cap, should we? I'll take money wherever it is that I can get it because all these people are in it for themselves.

And me and Balmer don't have to listen to anybody's rules. And I think people don't understand what's coming with that stuff. Like, people think that you can hide and that there's going to be no consequences to Balmer. No way are those owners going to turn away when one of the other owners came in and said, when the richest of the owners, you think these basketball players have egos? You think these basketball players have. of egos. These billionaires, you think they're going to be okay with Balmer saying, I don't care about your rules? Like, yeah, I know this whole thing is important to you guys, but this is a

small business for me. I want to come in here and win in the playground. I'm going to cheat with Uncle Dennis and Kauai. Allegedly. Allegedly. Thank you. It's important. And it's important to note that Mark Cuban caped up pretty hard for old Steve. That's Mark Cuban, and I don't know what he's doing or why he did it, but I have talked to other owners, they're not okay with Steve Ballmer already having a bigger bank account than all of them, and then coming over and saying, I don't actually have to respect any of your rules. I'm going to make a side deal over here. The ones who cape up for Balmer, if you hear any of the others do publicly, it's because

they don't want Pablo sniffing around what they might be doing inside transactions, because it's crazy to think what's happened there and how complicated it is and it's not over. The reporting on it is not over. The information that we still don't have that we're going to get is not over. And we're going to look back and say, oh, that's where it fell apart. This organization didn't actually know how to handle an unprecedented scandal and it broke apart in there. It was already an old team and Kauai kind of fast. outed it up because of whatever it is the business did to him where he's like, I don't have to

respect the rules of your business. What are the consequences really if I allegedly grab a whole bunch of money on the side? The thing that happens around the money, and I know that people look, I know that people think that money's a panacea, but it's often a poison disguised as a panacea. These guys, all of them, are most interested in the money. They just, happen to make it through the playground. And it doesn't matter how much of the money you give them. It's a contaminant. And so when you salary cap it and Kauai is allowed to grab a bunch of stuff on the side and James Hardin gets yelled at by every media member when he tries to grab at the money, these quotes from James Hardin are the first time I've found him interesting

on anything. This guy has been famous for a long time. He has not been publicly interested. perspective. His reputation for a long time has been, nah, prefers strip clubs in the party life to whatever it is basketball is. And it's harmed him. Like it's, it's, I've rarely seen a player of this kind of excellence whose reputation is going to be, yeah, didn't care enough and also was small in all the biggest moments. Like that reputation's hard to get my head around because I've rarely seen anybody who's this kind of good who, if he'd won, look what you guys, listen to what you guys are saying. If he'd won because, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook got a call against a heat team that was more ready than they were because they'd suffered a little bit more. When all of them were 23, we'd be giving James Hardin credit for something that he didn't even do. That was not a foul. That was a good defense by Shane. Yeah, they lost them five. It's not a foul. And we were in town around that NBA finals.

There were loads of stories about what James Hardin was doing in terms of game prep. If they'd won that title, if OKC had somehow beaten the Miami-My, Heat or if when James Harden, was he a rookie? He was a rookie. He was a sixth man though, right?

He was coming off the bench for that team. Yeah, San Antonio had no answers for him. We'd look at the entire career of James Harden differently because he got one championship. And then if they win that game seven against the Warriors and win the title that year by winning the next round two, he'd have two championships. Yeah, but don't you think that all set the table for what was then a disappointing? career because he made it to the NBA finals early in his career. There were three tremendous players. Everyone knew James Hardin was good enough to be a superstar that could carry a team,

and everybody assumed he'd be making it to the NBA finals not regularly, but plenty more times, and it never happened. Do you believe him here, though? Because does it change the narrative at all? If he's saying, quote, I didn't want to feel like I was holding the clippers up in their future, he's saying he did not demand a trade. I'm inclined to believe him. never heard James Hardin really speak that way ever. It seems reflective. And Ramona says she caught up with James Hardin, so I don't think that that's a statement. It reads like a statement. No, let's read it again. This is him talking to Ramona in life, not even just basketball, when things don't work out. There are ways to end things in relationships without having to crack

each other. This is him learning, by the way. This is oddly introspective for a dude that wore a Blue Lives Matter scarf inside the bubble. Maybe we don't see a future with each other. Maybe we just outgrew each other, whatever the case may be. I feel like other situations weren't like that, and that's why I can respect

Steve Balmer and L. and T. Liu, Lauren Frank, because they didn't put me in a weird position. As much as everyone tried to make it like that. I believe him. I don't have any reason to not believe him. Yeah, I read it a little bit differently.

I think what he's saying there is true, but the respect those guys for not putting me in a weird position, it didn't become combative. It didn't become nasty in the media. He didn't want the money. He didn't want to stay there because they wouldn't extend him. And they were like, okay, let's find a trade that works for both of us and no one slung mudded each other. Like that to me is what that says. Why are you laughing at me? It sounds like he's got gratitude for this one not being ugly. Like, oh, I get what I want and I don't have to cause the scene. That's how I see. Yeah, last time he, you know, with Daryl Morey, he went to China and told a group of kids, Darry is a bleeping liar. That's what it took from there. So the fact that he gets to go to the clippers and say like, hey, let's just work this out quietly right before the deadline.

There is gratitude there. You say you didn't have to do that. That's what you do, Janis. You call your GM a bleeping liar. That's how you do it. In front of Chinese kids. In front of kids. Don Lebertard. I don't like Smati either. Stugats. Women stay home in the kitchen where they belong. This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. Tony is out in the field for his top five as we segue into football with Super Bowl Week. Katie Nolan is going to be on with us later. Mad Dog Russo is going to be on with us later.

It's a surprise. I do not know where Tony is. He likes to surprise us with his reports from locales in the wilderness of Miami. Where are you, Tony? Hey Dano, good morning. I'm at a very secretive location. As you can see, Danny, see if you can pan around here. We're in some place that is almost, you can't even get here. Dan, we are at the old Crandon Park Zoo on Key Biscayne. I wanted to save something very cool that we had to kind of hike to for one of my last hits of the year. So we've got this one, and then obviously we've got the post-Super Bowl one. But I wanted to do it here. This is the last, one of the last standing structures of the Key Biscayne Zoo that operated from 1948 to 1980. before they moved over out west and became zoo Miami. A lot of rescued circus animals started the Keynescane Zoo, the Cranon Park Zoo.

Did you come as a Jit to the Crandon Park Zoo? Did you go as a Jit? Not as a Jit. You know about those Jits? Too legit to quit. Did you, so did you not? Did you not come to the Crandon Park Zoo? No, I never went to the Crandon Park Zoo.

That is not a place that I have been. So I, but this is, you're a bit of a haunted burial ground, right? There are a lot of animals still there? There's still a lot of animals wandering around, even though there's not a real home there anymore. There is a lot of avian animals still around. We have some B-roll of some stuff that's going to appear somewhere here.

We got some peacocks. I was looking for a seahawk, but I don't think seahawks live in South Florida, Dan. So I was looking, if we found a lot of other birds, but no seahawks. How close are you to a highway? Why is it that everywhere you go in Miami I mean, there's the ambient sound of a nearby highway. Of cars.

Yeah. Okay, so obviously you've been to Key Biscayne, Dan? I'd figure to say yes, right? Yes. Okay, so you know how, you know how the, there's basically two lanes, one that goes south, and one that goes north. We are maybe 35 feet from the northbound lane here in Key Biscayne.

So that's why you hear the cars passing by. There's a big fence and a bunch of Mattojo over here to kind of shield people from getting over. But on the other side, there's, actually a bridge that would connect to the to the other pieces of Crandon Park Zoo, which is right here. We actually can't go through to that bridge even though I wanted to. They told me it may fall if I walk on it, so I'm probably not going to do that. Okay. All right, let's do a... Yeah, it's a little, it's a little scary.

Let's do a top five. What was that sound? So what we're going to do, I'm going to take you in here though. I don't know what that was, but I'm going to take you in here. So this is one of the last structures that they have at Crandon Park Zoo. As you can tell, full of graffiti. but very cool. Oh, is that a Seahawk? Oh, that is cool. Look at that. That is cool.

Yeah. Here we go. So something that you don't usually see a freestanding building full of graffiti on Kibiskane because obviously if you know anything about Kibiskan is a very wealthy place. So this is a very interesting piece.

So for those of you who do not know, Kibiskan is wonderful, beautiful, and lovely. Tony has decided to go to a place that is none of those things. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder, Dan. Let's do your top five here. Do you have any OLLI one of the last of the season, we should say? It's not one of the last of the year because it's February,

and so the year's got a lot of days left. But it is your last hit of the football season. What a strange animal noise you're putting in there. Go ahead, Tony, and start. Do you have any OLA? No OLA, but this is the second to last of the season. Obviously, we'll have one right out. after the Super Bowl.

This one, Dan, is Super Bowl predictions. Things that are gonna happen in the Super Bowl from my predictive standpoint. So that's what we're doing right now. No L, L, I, just five right off the rip. All right, here we go. Number five, there's gonna be a defensive or special teams touchdown in the Super Bowl.

Defensive or special teams touchdown. And again, yeah, you can use these as gambling advice if you'd like, this is what I feel about what's going on. I like the Patriot Special teams. I obviously very much like the Cs, Seattle Seahawks defense, I feel like there's going to be a score somewhere in there. Whoa, whoa. All right, number four.

Jackson Smith and Jigba goes for 150 yards and a score. You can lock that one in. Seems just on par with what he's done the entire season. Chris, I'm pretty sure your animal sounds have someone talking underneath them. You haven't vetted your animal sounds, so there's someone, there's an AI, human voice talking underneath your animal sound. I already asked you once to play those less. How about you stop playing them at all? All right. So, number three, and we're going to get to the halftime show here.

Bad Bunny starts the halftime show with Nuevo Yol. Okay, that's the song. People that have been trying to bet, trying to figure out what the first song that Bad Bunny is going to play, it's going to be Nueva Yol. I'm letting you know now. So when it does happen, you already know where you heard it from. Dan, you feel good about that? I do. He's never wrong. He's just early.

He's Tony. Number two. Thank you, buddy. Both QBs will throw an interception. Both QBs to throw an interception, which I love that one. Both QBs, when, when pressured, you know, Drake May is. We heard you the first two times. You expect both of them to throw an interception.

We heard you. Okay. Okay. My bad. The reception's spotty here if you can't tell them in the will. If you can give me a little bit of grace on that, Dan, please. Okay, I'm sorry. I was too hard on you.

You're right. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Number one, even though Mike Vrable is going to be a coward on fourth down at least one time in the game, it's going to happen. It's going to be fourth and short. He's going to punt. And it's going to drive me crazy.

Even though that is going to happen, the Pats are going to win on a last second drive by Drake May. They're going to win 27, 24. Okay. They're going to be down 24. 20, Drake May is going to go down, score a touchdown at the final seconds of the game and win despite Mike Vrable being a coward on fourth down at some point in the game, Dan. So that's what's going to happen. I do not hear a lot of people saying that.

I don't know how many people are picking the Patriots. Thank you, Tony. Appreciate all your reports. Appreciate how you get into scenic Miami, into creative, clever, and different places. Thank you for showing us a part of Miami that I had not seen before. it is an interesting vantage point you have chosen. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Don Lebertard. There is no question. Dan Lebertar show included. Anybody else that this guy is the best player on the planet. Whether he wins the Stanley Cup or the cons might this year, there is no question about it. Stugats. Overrated. What's going on?

Dan Levitart. How are you living in an altered world or like? Oh, my goodness. This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. Greg, what he says there, okay? The Patriots have stuck as a four and a half point underdog, and Drake May is great at the deep ball, better than anyone in the league.

He has been great against the Blitz, better than just about anyone in the league. He has been better running the football than any quarterback other than Josh Allen. However, everyone has forgotten that, at least in part because the last two games he has played defenses that I think are better equipped to slow him than this one, which is said to be the number one defense in the league. I thought that Denver and Houston had the specific things that could slow Stefan Diggs and others that Seattle doesn't have.

I don't regard. You guys help me with because I know what the numbers say. The numbers say Seattle is the best defense in the. the league. I think Denver and Houston were the single worst matchups that Drake May could have seen, that there were not worse ones anywhere in the league. I think he should fear Seattle less than those two, but Seattle is the best defense in the league. And Greg, it's the first time that he's faced one of these elite defenses with the benefit, at least recently, of good weather. That's another layer to the numbers that he's put up, not just two of the top three defenses in the league,

but in terrible weather games. Right. I'm surprised the line hasn't crept down a little bit. I love the past getting four and a half. I think the Patriots are going to win outright. I predicted it in my own podcast, and I'm going to predict it in the Herald tomorrow and explain why. But what I think is, look, the reason New England beat Houston in the playoffs

is that New England's defense outplayed Houston's defense. I don't think that's accurate. I think that C.J. Stroud was terrible in that game, and Drake May just didn't make the giant mistakes that C.J. Stroud was making. I didn't think that was because of New England. I think that was C.J. Stroud in the playoffs had two giant turnover games. I think part of that, though, was the Patriots defense, which I think is really, really underrated. I think New England's defense is on a par with Seattle's. And I think Drake May is better than Sam Darnold. I think Darnold is going to revert to his tendency and have. a couple of turnovers. I just think New England is really being underrated going into this game and maybe that Seattle's being a little bit overrated. So here's where we are on the Patriots, right? They've gotten lucky in some spots. They've had an easy schedule. They have withstood somehow the fact that the right side of their offensive line is injured and can't block. Like they've somehow withstood that. The point that you guys are making about the weather

is a good one. We have not been reminded of how good this quarterback actually is during these playoffs because of the defense he's playing against. But the reason I under regard the metrics that say that Seattle's defense is indeed great is because I saw the last two Rams games against them. Like they didn't look like a great defense. They didn't, never mind the number one defense in the league. They didn't look like a good defense because of how Matt Stafford and Puka and Kua made them look. So while you have the stat that the last month of the season, the Seattle defense did not allow a single play of over 20 yards.

But both times around that that they faced a quarterback like this one, they allowed the Rams to run all over the field. The Seahawks did not win those games because of their defense. They won the first one because the special teams and because their coach went for a two-point conversion. And they won the second one because Sam Darnel torched a Rams defense that over the last nine games of this, the seasons had allowed scoring drives on 40% of their drives. Well, so a couple things. You know, that great Seattle defense going up against the Rams and Matthew Stafford, who's probably going to win the MVP.

I don't think there's any shame in the MVP of the league having a good game. And the number one offense in the league. Yeah, I don't think there's any shame in that having a good game against a great defense. They're division opponents. They're well familiar. And that's Sean McDay we're talking about. And the second part that I would add also, I think it's in his three years as head coach of the Seahawks, McDonald,

lowercase D, Greg, all right? Quarterbacks who are 24 years old or younger are like terrible against that defense. Okay, but most of the quarterbacks who are 24 and younger are terrible. Very few of them are as good as this one. What Seattle does, okay? Can you look up for me the last time Seattle allowed

a hundred-yard rusher? Because Drake May is going to have to win this football game. It's not going to get won by them running the football or because they're doing a whole bunch of play action because Seattle fears the run. I think Seattle's got the longest stretch in the league by a good amount of not allowing a hundred-yard rusher. The Patriots are just not going to be – I can't imagine the Patriots are going to be able to run the football. Seattle's the number one defense in the league because you cannot run against them. Nobody can run against Seattle, and the Rams don't have to, right?

The Rams – the Rams ran some against Seattle, but the way the Rams are going to – to be true because you're going to be the quarterback is going to act like the MVP. When I say that we may be seeing the beginning of Patriots Dynasty 2.0, it's because of Drake May. He's 23 years old. He's going to finish second behind Stafford in the MVP vote. I think he's that good. I'm not comparing to Brady. That's five years from now that you even dare do that. But I think Drake May is that good right now. It's 20 years from now that you do that with Tom Brady. Don't insult Tom Brady. comparing anybody to him.

Okay, five years from now, if he's won two Super Bowl, people are going to be comparing. That's fine. They can, and he still will not be halfway to how many Super Bowls, Tom Brady, his one. He won't be a third of the way. He went three in the next five years. The thing, though, about Drake May, I'm going to say it again, because I think

Greg is right when he says a lot of people, myself included, have under-regarded the Patriots. The three things, he has that a quarterback must have, must have better at the deep ball

than anyone in the league. Seattle's very good at explosive plays. Seattle has a ton of explosive offense because Smith and Jigba is amazing. The three things that I want my quarterback to have, never mind against a great defense, period.

Better at the long ball than anybody. better against the Blitz than just about anybody. And then as an added bonus, can run better at the position than anyone but Josh Allen. That presents a set of problems to the Seattle defense that Stafford did not because he couldn't run. Couldn't go anywhere. Stun me when he got a converted a fourth and one and Tom Brady's shouting, oh my God, and I'm telling you, I would have been less surprised if my coffee table had gotten up and run and gained three yards.

When Stafford ran for two yards, I was like, that's crazy. I do believe that the way Drake May has beaten teams all year is the way that Patrick Mahomes would. Remember all those third and seven plays where Patrick Mahomes would run eight yards? Drake May took that from him this year. Drake May was doing a ton of that where he was bailing that offense out when it failed two times, and bailing them out when a third play was failing on a drive because he's just running for eight yards on third and seven. To your point on their defense, they did not. allow a single 100-yard rusher all season. Oh, it's longer than that. I think it's been more than two

seasons almost, hasn't it? Well, sure. I thought we were doing sort of the defenses and transferable from one year to the next one. Why didn't you also look up last year? Because I was trying to find the stat to get to you guys. So there were only three players to rush for over 80 individually. They were Jonathan Taylor, Bejohn Robinson, and Kyron Williams. They had seven games this season where the total rushing yards for the opponent was even over 100 yards. And in several of those, it was through the example that you're talking about, where it was like Washington and Jaden Daniels was running in one of the games he was healthy. So it takes the quarterback being able to scramble to do anything against it. I will go find the last time they allowed. Yeah, I mean, I just feel like

if it extends into the previous season or even the season before that, like I'd like to know, maybe it's just me. I don't know. Sam Darnold does run some and I think the streak, I don't know if it goes into the 20s, but it dates back to last season. 25 games. The thing, though, that is most interesting to me about all of the scheming, all of the planning, McDonald's obviously a great coach, Brable is a great coach. If the Patriots are going to win, to me and my mind, there's only one way that it happens, and it's when plays breakdown.

And it doesn't have anything to do with planning, and it doesn't have anything to do with how you've game planned and it doesn't have anything to do with preparation or will or anything else. It's just Drake Mays in a panic and he busted everything open and it not only allows him to run for 50 yards a game. It also allows him to throw that deep ball while rolling around in the pocket because he's bought extra time against the defense that Stafford cannot buy against that defense. And that dude is entirely capable. The first time I saw Drake May in person was at Hard Rock City. I'm like, this kid is outrageous. The second time I saw him in person was at Chapel Hill, and I saw a Miami defense perfectly execute its game plan against him. Newk plays

at the line of scrimmage, and it wasn't enough. He'd either throw a bomb downfield that with pinpoint accuracy, or he'd call his own number and be Superman. This guy is entirely possible of saying, I'm going to put the team on my shoulders today and getting it done against a good defense. The way that Cody describes this, though, and this is the thing that I would fear if I were a Seattle fan, okay? Because I'm going to keep banging at home on this front. The reason that there aren't more giant explosive plays in that sport deep down the field is because of the amount of precision it requires to throw a ball 50 yards and have everything be perfect. And this guy does it better than anyone in the league.

I'm routinely stunned by the amount of accuracy that he has 30, 40, 50 yards down the field. You're pounding the table literally for Drake May. I'm on four and a half. I'll take it. And it's Vrable as an underdog. This one's easy. You say it's easy. Four and a half.

Give me the points. It does feel easy to bet. Give me the points. And if you even want to take the Seahawks, why don't you hedge against that and cook up a little Drake May's Superman parlay with like rushing yards or, or what have you, because that is New England's chance in this game. Drake may become Superman. So hedge against Seahawks minus four and a half with that, if you want to take action in this one.

I'm all over Seattle. I am too, actually, even though I just pounded the table for Drake. Us saying that definitely didn't help. Well, that's true. That's always true that anything that looks like it's easy in that sport is never easy. But the safer bet, I'm guessing, the entirety of this season would be just take the points under any circumstance in any game, because football is always being football,

and it's weirdly close late in a bunch of games that you never expected to be. Wouldn't it be great if just one time it was easy? No. No. What do you know? I want a great game that's gross. I want the money. But that's...

The great was just easy one time? I know, but that's why I'm shocked the line hasn't moved. I would think it'd be three and a half by now. It's because of the last two games the Patriots have played and because people are forgetting what Drake May did all season. This is what they're also forgetting. They're forgetting what Sam Darnold did for 10 games of the season

because of what the last one looked like. Sam Darnold erased an awful lot, and we got one of our favorite conversation points making an appearance all over ESPN today. If Sam Darnold wins, will he be considered elite? I haven't heard this one since Joe Flacco. I know. I was making fun of that.

headline earlier today. It's crazy. No, I think it takes more than a super... How about very good? Especially if he doesn't win it. If the defense wins it and he has an average game, I think he's still Sam Darnold. I could be wrong. What if he has over 300 yards and the game winning touchdown? He's elite. I believe that Sam Darnold will throw interceptions again. Yes, I do too. And I mean, I think, are they, with Gonzalez playing or starting, they've lost like once this season, like as a corner, he's, he's elite as a corner. I don't, I think he's Sartan, but he's in the conversation of best players there are in that league on defense.

It looks like the books have finally adjusted to JSN, though. The over-underer-on. Jackson S-N. Yeah, the over-underer on his total is insane because you cannot guard this guy effectively. It's like Puka. You can't bet that. I'm not betting over seven and a half catches. I don't care who you are.

They know who to call when they need a big play. And it doesn't matter if he's not even over. open when you throw it, he'll get open. He's ridiculous. I wanted to ask you guys about some of the stuff going on in Memphis because quietly, Memphis just traded a two-time All-Star who's a rim protector and is 26 years old. And the whole Memphis thing has collapsed. And it has made me wonder.

And I don't know what the details are with Jaron Jackson on what has been happening in private. but I do think the dangers of growing up under the James Harden time in this sport is making it so that the 20-year-olds like John Morant, a generation removed from that, are learning really bad habits about how hard it is to be consistently excellent in this league. Because Memphis was a contender, and now they're a joke, and they just blew it up, and they just traded a two-time All-Star. Now, he's got some mileage on him because somehow at 26, he's got to... seven years in the league so he doesn't get to be quite a young player anymore. But this is a two-time All-Star who's a rim protector. Why are they getting rid of him and sending him to Utah? And why isn't there more of a market for him than that? Like what is it that I don't know that Utah is the one putting together the best offer for a two-time All-Star who's a rim protector who's only 26 years old?

Three first-round picks is a lot. But why wouldn't someone else also want that player and why is Memphis getting rid of him. I think they're getting rid of him because they've decided to press full reset. Now in the next seven years, they have 13 first-round picks, and they might attach one of those to move Jod Durant. Stay tuned. Jod Durant, damn it. Listen up, folks.

It's game day, and you already know what that means, the noise, the jerseys, the group chat's going crazy. I'm telling you no game day is complete without the world's number one Vaca. You know that that is Smearnoff. We're talking easy cocktails, tons of flavors. Perfect for every kind of fan over 21. Whether you're riding with your squad, watching from home or celebrating like your team already won the first quarter,

Smyranoff is the official Vaka partner of the NFL. It's award winning and it's been bringing people together since 1864, which is basically forever. Smyranoff does game days, big energy, big moments, big wins, hopefully. Grab a bottle of Smyranoff at your local retailer and head to Smyranoff.com to find a cocktail recipe perfect for game day. Please drink responsibly. Smyranoff, number 21 Vaca, distilled from grain.

40% alcohol by volume, the Smyranoff Company, New York, New York. Please don't share with anyone under legal drinking age. Now let's get back to arguing about refs.