The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: The Backslide (feat. Nick Wright)

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

"The rubber meets the road in a big way." Nick Wright has stolen an idea from JuJu, but to his credit, it's a REALLY interesting idea. He also has thoughts on the futures of Victor Wembanyama, Drake Maye, and someone he was unfamiliar with before the Super Bowl: Bad Bunny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Levitard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. 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. This episode of the Dan Levitart show is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. I think that we have to start rooting for OKC. We have to start because Wemby's about to hog all of these. It's going to happen very quickly and he's going to ruin the sport. Nick Wright is here. You hear him throwing things in the background.

He fixed basketball on the Bill Simmons podcast. I'm hearing to a great deal of applause. He fixed the entirety of the sport. He's the host of FS1's first things first. and what's right with Nick Wright. Hi. The podcast. I am well, thank you.

You object to Wemby dominating the sports so much that it's going to get ruined? Just real quick, because you mentioned my appearance with Bill. If people don't want to listen to the whole thing, there's a lot of different things the NBA needs to fix. But the simplest fix is just make dunks worth three as well. Just do that. That doesn't fix tanking, doesn't fix the injuries, but it sure fixes. So many of the other issues we have, and it sounds crazy until it doesn't. You make dunks worth three, and you have different styles of play.

You are rewarding different athletes. You are getting back to the soul of the league, which is the sickest athletes who have ever lived competing with each other. Meet me at the rim. Dunks worth three. And I don't know if that would be good for your future goat wimby, because that guy, you know, fancies himself just to taller Kevin Durant rather than, you know, a guy who's seven. We can talk Wimby or we can talk about my brilliant dunksworth. Okay, I'll want to question about your brilliant dunks worth three points. Oh, yeah.

Suggestion here, Nick. So, number one, how do we determine, like, Blake Griffin used to do the deal where he would throw the ball into the hoop? So, like, is that a dunk? Like, what constitutes, does your finger have to touch the rim? Zaz, I'm not trying to always be combative with you, my friend. But you know how I know that is, you know, in search of a problem where there isn't one? because you're only off the top of your head reference of that happening was in a dunk contest 15 years ago. I don't think.

So the, I mean, I think, I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's just the reference you gave. I think maybe I'm wrong. I think we pretty much know what a dunk is, what a dunk isn't. And when a guy had a dunk. It's a weird follow from you. He's bringing up a point. Now, it's not the first time I've heard it.

Juju had it years ago and we'll probably have a complaint about Nick stealing that the way Amin has complaints about Nick stealing stuff and putting them on a larger platform. We'll find out from Juju later in the show. But it is an odd first question for you to have a nitpick on what's a dunk and what's a dunk and what's not a dunk when we all know what a dunk is. Okay, so I think, so all right, then I'm stupid. The second part that I have is more interesting. How powerful is that to admit when you're wrong and stupid? It should be liberating. You're stupid.

Lean in. How free is this? Do you feel freer than you have? No, believe it or not, I don't feel liberated at all now over the last few seconds. You should. It's like when Dan finally admitted he has a fat face. You just disarmed so many of the attacks. It's just like, what are you going to do?

Yeah, go ahead. Sorry. My next and clearly less stupid question is I think that it sounds good in theory, all right? But I think I would slow the game to a crawl because players would foul the three-point dunk attempt so you can only get two free throws. Then it's just a free throw contest the whole game, no? That is a more nuanced point that I'm interested in. And then, and you know what, I hadn't thought of that, but my snap response is, not stupid. Well done. Not stupid at all. See, already, once in the moment you admitted to being stupid, you got smarter. So, you know,

well done all around. Um, I think you would have to adjudicate that just like you would adjudicate a foul on a three. If it is very clear the player is attempting a dunk and he got fouled, it's three free throws. Simple. Fixed it already. It was a smart question, but I fixed it already. Now I feel liberated. There you go. Nick, why not just make the three point line disappear and make every shot the same two points? So I think I don't, here's the thing on that, Greg. I don't hate that. It sounds crazy. I don't hate it. Because I do. think basketball right now is on teetering on a ledge of the smart way to play is diametrically repose opposed pardon me to the entertaining way to play and

therefore how do you square that circle I and so that I was and I talked about this this this this juju if he came up with that idea before I seeed the ground to him I like juju I respect juju and I wouldn't steal from Juju, but I didn't know it. An idea that unabashedly is not mine, but I think kind of, you know, is don't say a thief, is the Hollinger idea of just like baseball teams get to design their own outfield walls, basketball teams draw their own three point line. And if a team says, if a team says, this is Hollinger's idea. If a team says, we don't want a three point line, you don't have one and that has two effects. One is you have to be able to win a bunch of different

styles and a sneaky unintentional consequence of it is the regular season matters way more because if the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks are you know in a nip-and-tuck race for the one seed and it's like shit they don't have a three-point line. If they get home court advantage we're going to have to win a series all by twos because they have Janus, like that does make the regular season more important. And so those are, you know, those are just some, you know, back of the napkin ideas, but I would, Dan, love to talk about Wembe. Are we doing the Simmons Pod but worse? Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

No, that, well, you guys, that's why I'm trying to move on. You guys, I just, and it's not worse. It's not your fault. I mean, it's not his fault. Can he hear me too? That's my inner monologue, Nick. We're going to have to keep explaining this to the guests, but that's just my inner monologue. It's the voice that was in my head saying to me when Greg Cody, with the nitpicks of Zaz, and then Greg Cody comes in,

well, what about this? All of a sudden, we're fixing the NBA dumber than you and Bill Simmons did it on that. So let's talk, Wimby. Greg, Greg, you're always good with me, buddy. Thank you. The first, or second, pardon me, venture into the Levitard universe after I was a one-time and one-time only guest on this show

was when I was on Greg Cody and Chris Cody's podcast. That was my only appearance anywhere in the universe for like two years. Thank you. I assume I just, you know, didn't respond to invites to a means podcast, but still. All right, Wimby, what's the next hyperbole with him you guys want to do? It was unbelievable in the first quarter last night. Don't get me wrong. Oh, I just think that O KC's got that as a problem. That's their only problem. They, they have trouble with what he's going to do to the sport. And they went four out of five against OKC this year. So, oh, I think, so if the, so maybe I misinterpreted, I apologize.

If you're saying the Spurs right now this year are the biggest threat to Oklahoma City, I 100% agree. The, where I have heard that conversation go is, and man, teams better start winning championships now because Wimby's going to own the league. for a decade maybe maybe I think the whatever concerns there were about him coming into the league as far as literally every single player in the history of the league seven four taller has dealt with massive health issues still remain and the fact that as great as he is there is I am yet to see the real obvious

improvement from last year to this year And I happen to believe he does not yet play a game that takes full advantage of his size. He is still one of at worst the six best players in the sport. And he absolutely already is good enough to be on a team as well built as the Spurs, the best player on a champion. But Nick, you saw he's going to learn that stuff faster than Shaq and LeBron learned it. Like Shaq and LeBron also learned that they have to. play better in the post. Shaq developing more moves that made him an MVP

and LeBron just playing in the post in general. He's going to learn it. He's 21 or whatever. How old is he? So, I mean, that's a great question. 22. But just turned 22. I would have also said 21. That wasn't a gotcha

moment. I just was checking. Yes, I agree. He is going to learn those things. What I wonder is this. I wonder if he will young Shaq and young LeBron even though they had a lot of things to learn still leaned into their physical gifts

young shack was ripping down backboards and showing the league even if he didn't do it as consistently the fact that I am the best athlete in the league and the strongest guy in the league is going to be my strength Young LeBron, before he learned to shoot, that was his strength. Wimby being 7-7, in my opinion, is his strength, and it seems to me like he goes back and forth game to game between leaning into that versus leaning into the fact that he is

the most skilled 7-3 guy or taller in league history. And that's where whatever can... And again, it's not real. concern. I just, I just pump the brakes on this one guy is going to have a decade-long rain. I don't know that I'm there yet with him. Nick, so I like the take. And the take that I was cooking up is right now we need OKC more than ever because of what Wemby's able to do. And I know in the beginning of the season, he was playing more inside, but then he had the castrain, then he was out for a while, and now he's trying to drift a little bit more outside and play outside. The take was, we thought OKC was going to win 80 games this year. We thought

they were going to be the most unstoppable team of all time. They've backslided a lot. They've lost four out of five to Wemby and the Spurs, but we need them right now to block Wembe from whatever's happening. The idea, Nick, that I live in a world where you're fixing the NBA with Bill Simmons and what I'm watching from these athletes is that Wembe has already made onto Ticompo the old iPhone. Like that evolution is crazy. I disagree.

And what I'm saying is I disagree with that. And that's where I think we are. So I think we get ahead of ourselves on a lot of this stuff. First of all, five of the last six NBA champions, a month into the season where they were the defending champion, everyone's like, well, they're obviously going to win it again. And none of them made the finals. None of them made the conference finals in the year back.

So as dominant as OKC was, a team that did need seven games to win the championship, last year. That, the, the, the, nobody is going to stop this team. I thought felt, even though I was buying into it as well a bit, because it felt different, but it felt like the Celtics and the bucks and hell. People forget the Lakers when they were defending champs. The only, the nuggets for sure, the only defending champ this decade that didn't feel inevitable to return was Golden State.

What's up, Mike? It's backsladed. It's backslid. It's backslid. I'm stupid. Oh, you're fine. He said backslided. Don't worry about it.

It's not right for you. It's all good. Everybody knew what he meant. You're out here doing grammar checks? Yeah, they like to do this to me. You know what? That feels that feels targeted. And I wouldn't take it, brother.

Oh, they do it too. Talk to it. And the, but now I have to regain my train of thought. You don't have to. It's okay. I wanted to talk football with you anyway. And we've backslided into way too much basketball. Now you're talking.

Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parlayes on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Yeagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else.

Wearing clean underwear every day. Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth. Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist. Sist on completely, Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold.

Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yeagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume imported by Mass Yeagermeister U.S. White Plains, New York. Hey, everybody, it's Mike Ryan.

Now, if you've been following the show, you know I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team with mixed results, right? Not the greatest hang so far in 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out. I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house.

I watched this NBA game. And guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller Lights. And I knew right away I made the right call. Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating, we're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia. We're talking about old friends that we had.

And it was all things to Miller Light. That icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, You want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Lite. Legendary moments. Start with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories.

Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. February can make it seem like everyone else. has their love life figured out, whether that's perfect dates, long-term partnerships, or big

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Oh, wow. That's pretty good. It's in there. Better. I think I haven't been practicing? Stugats. Oh, oh. I didn't realize we had a substitute complicated legacy.

Brought to by headquarters Toyota. 441 and Powerline Road. Second down to nine. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats. I want to ask you from the game or the halftime show, which is your preferred topic point? Well, here's the thing. Last time you did a choose your own adventure style thing and I chose the sports and then I did the real life stuff after you got mad at me. So I will start with the real life stuff.

Not mad at you, just the floor is yours. Do whatever you want. You've got 10 minutes. So I will start with the real life stuff. So I understand this is maybe a dangerous room. or in shipping container to admit this to. But prior to the halftime show, I was not very familiar with the work of Bad Bunny. I know I had heard his song,

like I know he has a song with Jay Balveen, Balvin, and Cardi B. I know he's wildly popular, but I was not very familiar with him, okay? So I went into that as pretty, you know, ignorant to the guy's music as anybody. And I'm also not really a big music guy. I'm more of, believe it or not, a sports podcast guy when I'm walking around or in my car. So I have a lot of musical vacancies in my brain.

But it takes a sub-70 IQ to not recognize, even though you couldn't understand, if you didn't speak Spanish, the words of the songs, that what this guy was trying to show America and the world of, at large is on the stuff that matters, we're all basically the same. We all have weddings like that just with different music and different food. We all have the old people in our community who hang out together by maybe it's old ladies playing bridge in some cultural communities. Maybe it's mahjong and others. Maybe it's dominoes in those.

We all have these things that collectively, connectively make us human and the differentiators are absolutely meaningless to the bigger, like the cultural differentiators are not the important thing. The important thing is we all celebrate, live, and die similarly. And I thought it was a beautiful message. And I also thought,

He did a better job than I think a lot of people would have done and some people wouldn't even call it better job But he had more self-control in making it Objectively apolitical by leading off the end with God bless America and then rolling in all of the other nations All of the other Latin countries all of the Western Hemisphere countries. It was a true artistic attempt at uniting a massive group of people and the fact that the response from some people who fancy themselves not only not dumb but thoughtful or smart or taste makers or maybe even one day want to be presidential candidates was you know I sure wish I understood the lyrics either shows a willful

ignorance and ossification of one's heart or that you're just a dope and so again choose your own adventure on which door that applies to if you're one of those folks that was allegedly outraged by this but I don't give a damn about Bad Bunny's music I knew none of Bad Bunny's music and I thought the message in that 15 minutes was beautiful and I thought it should have been pretty obvious to everyone what the message was But what ended up happening afterward was sound like this. So explain and take us through what it is your reaction is, and you've answered some of this,

when you hear sound like this from Schittstein and Sid Rosenberg. It was a bad football game, and when you coupled out with Bad Bunny, who may have been the worst halftime show, not one word of English, not one word of English, one word. You combine the halftime show in the football game. I think Clay would agree he's a great sports guy too. What a waste of three hours.

Clay, yeah, Bad Bunny. My dad, I watched him with him. I took German in high school. I watched it with my dad. He said he's 81. He said, hey, this is the worst football game top to bottom ever. So I think he was right on that one. Although, Turning Port put together a great show.

Sit looks great. He does. It's a hell of a mustache. So I, I mean, that, I. Try to catch him. What's wrong? I, uh, That doesn't surprise me.

You know how hard it is to throw him off there? You know how good you have to be with those Sid Rosenberg heads to throw this man on? Or you can just hold up a sign that says backslip. I mean, that one, that one, that's to me not even that disappointing or surprising. That's just put the coin in the machine and get what you know you're going to get. It was more other people that I have more professional or personal regard for. for than some of the people on that screen you just showed me, which of course, you know, was on you know, a sister network of the one who pays all my bills. Um, and so that,

that doesn't surprise me the other folks that tried to let me let me say what I'm actually trying to say. I owe that to you guys. I have more respect for that than folks who try to both sides this stuff. who try to be like, listen, I'm a straight, I'm a straight shooter. I just call it how I see it. And gosh darn it, that sure, you know, I understand why that bothered people. Even if I'm not, it's just everybody knows what you're doing, man. But you have conflicts, I guess, that everyone knows you're talking about Stephen A. Smith without saying it's about Stephen A. Smith.

How about the football itself? How about? I didn't. Well, for the record, listen, I don't, the, I don't think Stephen A was the only person I was talking about there, but of course. And I'm, my conflicts are not there. I, you know, I don't, I don't mind saying this. I, he can be upset with me or not. Um, do you guys know how much professional regard and respect I have for him in the sports take field and that he is the rabbit that I am chasing professionally?

I've said that. I've been open with that. that is not contradictory to the fact that I find a lot of his political commentary to be so transparent. And I am trying to make sure that without, I don't ever have to actually give a real opinion. All I'm trying to do is expand my tent as big as possible. I think that is in times like we are in now, and on important real-life topics, I find that to be a damaging approach. Now, on the game itself, if we may for a moment or two, the question,

so this is what has gotten thrown at me. I can't hold Drake May's Super Bowl performance against him because I am the captain of the team that it is logically ridiculous to say losing a round early is better than making the final round and losing there. And it's all, you know, it's all fruit of the poisonous LeBron tree. And that tree has not been poisonous for you. That tree has been bountiful for you, the poisonous LeBron tree. Yeah.

I mean, Tony, you still like the watch, bro? I do. I was going to say, we're going to make a bet for you. next season. Yeah. And so, uh, and this, by the way,

a week from today, you guys can watch it, uh, on Poker Goes YouTube, I'll be playing in a game, uh, where table stakes are about this watch and against some of the best players in the world and some businessmen.

And that game will probably end with me either getting another one or if it goes real poorly, uh, this being like, hey, what's the price of gold per ounce at the moment? But that's either here nor they. There. So here is my big takeaway. Going into the playoff run, I thought Drake May was a lock, top five quarterback in the league moving forward.

I just thought he checked so many of the boxes that I care about, the athleticism, the arm strength, the fact that he was so young or is so young, all of those things. He's in a good organization, good head coach. he was so irredeemably bad in every single first half and in at least two if not three of the games overall that i have downgraded what like where he is now to me alongside Caleb williams on the probably will be awesome but i'm not a hundred percent certain yet oh wow wow and that has No, you're just holding against him the fact that I think he faced in the playoffs, and you expect this to be great and grow, but the three worst defenses that will expose anyone who has skill position problems

and offensive line problems. Like there couldn't have been a fourth defense that's even close to the three that made him look like that. And I'm with you. He looked progressively worse in each of the games. So here's why I, because I keep hearing that, Because obviously co-s of the TV show Kevin Wilde's diehard Pats fan. I don't you you only you get crap if you played one of if not the toughest run of defenses in a playoff run ever and you played mediocre I then give you a curve of man you played unreal defenses and you were able to be mediocre

if you played if you played these incredibly tough defenses and played awful every. spot that to me you don't you don't get a boost from that like you don't get you get a boost if you're in an AP class and get a 70 on a test and it's like okay in a regular class that's probably a 90 but if you get a 15 nobody's like well it was a hard test it's like no you fail bro and and I thought the I thought the fumbles were highly probably I thought some of those sacks were on him. I understand, you know, taking a decent guard at four overall to play left tackle hurt him. I get that but I also I I couldn't in the Super Bowl clearly Brable thought and he was almost right Darnold's just going to give it to us and what was and so what was so disturbing to me about that Super Bowl from Drake May's perspective is first nine

drives of the game no turnovers just punts and the moment it was like man now we've got to make plays final five drives of the game all turnovers are touchdowns and it felt like ooh that's kind of the Texans game too right you were hunting big plays hit three of them and fumbled four times and threw a pick the Broncos game you were so conservative on I am not going to make the mistake, you made no big plays. It felt like what it was exposed a bit this post season was against legitimate defenses, the cost of doing business for Drake May at this point in trying to make big plays is some catastrophic mistakes. And that is concerning.

And then one other point on this, I am hereby demanding that the NFL take, it can be a sixth round pick, I don't care. A draft pick from the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl injury report. Because I am not going to have a six-month offseason of Patriot fans saying, well, he was hurt, his shoulder was shot up, it was an injury, and the Patriots the day before the most gambled on football game of the year, removing him from the injury report saying he's fine. Those two things can't both happen.

He's the host of FS1's First Things First. What's Right with Nick Wright is the podcast he does with his son. I urge you to check that out. It is personal. It is intimate. And it shows you more of him than the TV show does because there's just more room. Thank you, Nick. Good talking to you.

Appreciate it. Thank you, Greg. Thank you, Zaz. Tony, I got your back, bro. Let's go. I'll mess with you. Talk to you later. Graph King's Sportsbook puts you right in the middle basketball's biggest star-driven moments.

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Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. time offer. Don Lebertard. I want to address Tony and all men who would wear that shirt in public. Stugats. Don't do it. This is the Don't Lebetar show with a Stugats. I wanted to talk to you guys about a couple of the things that he said, but before I do that,

can you guys get me the audio of the last interception that Drake May threw because Julian Love who intercepted it, called it, called it on the sideline. We have the audio here. This is pretty cool audio if you want to like be inside of the game and just hear what it sounds like when somebody is predicting that they're about to do something then they do it then they're running to the sideline scare because people are chasing them with the football yeah yeah yeah yeah it's all right though I'm gonna stay patient I'm gonna give me one classic young quarterback he's no he's as soon as that back foot hits he's on is this as soon the back foot hits he's going to where he wants, but he's pausing for a second to confirm that he's open.

He's not a blindly doing like Stafford. He's, there's like a little hits there. Okay. But you can see you jump that. May from the shotgun. Second down and three. Steps up in the pocket. Going to let one fly down the scene and it's intercepted.

Julian Love! Julian Love is right where he's supposed to be at free safety. Your New York is coming. I'm telling you. You've been in the right spot the whole time. How about a little pick in the soupy? Come on, dude. Love you, well.

The most damning. A little pick in the soupy at the end there. Unnecessary to say it that way. They just won a championship. What's up with you? I dig it. Sam Donald and him after the game. He's like, how about a pick in the soupy?

Yeah. How much did you love the Stafford thing, too? That was cool. Dan, like Dan's ears per class. Classic young quarterback. He's taking that little half beat to make sure the guy's open. He doesn't throw it blindly like Stafford. That right there.

That should have just been the deciding vote. Not the dude that voted for Justin Herbert. They should have just played that at the NFL honors. That's why the Rams are better than the Seahawks. I would have given, as soon as Matthew Stafford, through a no-look pass and a game-winning drive against the Bengals in the Super Bowl, I would have given him all future MVPs until he decided to stop play. Wow, the Wembe conversation.

I mean, just no-look passes in the Super Bowl on the last drive. I'll never forget that. And Cooper Cups, the only receiver he has. Like, everyone knows the ball's going to him, and there's no way to stop it. But as it relates to losing confidence in Drake May, as Nick Wright said, Mike Ryan was telling me I agree with Nick, and he's been a big Drake May buyer. I just thought that we were all in agreement that the Patriots wildly overachieve, that their skilled guys were weak and Will Campbell still apologizing for, I allowed so many pressures. So I thought we were all of the understanding that the first two games were weather and bad matchups defensively if you've got offensively. Houston, Denver, pass rush, an apocalypse for any quarterback Stafford included.

I don't think Stafford would have looked like that if he had to go against Denver and Houston, even though he did look like that against the Seahawks, because I believe the Seahawks and them have played enough that Stafford's learned enough that nothing's going to surprise Stafford when he's playing the Seahawks. Whereas I thought before that, before that game was played, I thought that Houston's defense and Denver's defense were a unique set of problems for Drake May. If we're an agreement that his team overachieved went from 4 and 13 to 14 and 3, the biggest turnaround in history, does it not stand to reason? They didn't have enough players?

It does. It does. It's not a total capitulation. I just crowned his ass too soon. He was bad in that Super Bowl. And I know you outlined all the great defenses that he played. He was bad. Mike, he was bad.

He went up against a good defense and on top of that was pretty bad. He was unrecognizable in those last three games that he played. But I gave you the stat. The only teams that played more, got more plays from their rookies this year were the Browns, the Titans, and the Jets all incompetent. Like, clearly that's a skill problem around him. Yeah, but there's enough context, too, with a, like, he got fat off of some really bad teams. I don't think any, any quarterbacks ever played so many teams that ended up firing their head coach. Like, there is some context that allows you to screw.

their run. Look, they made it. They were the last team from the AFC, but the AACC was a bit bonkers this year. But to Nick's point, like, were, was he hurt the whole postseason? I mean, right? Like, are we, are we giving any level of credence to that's why he performed support? If he's getting a shot, I don't think it's an excuse.

Like, it can be both. It can be, I guess, an excuse and an explanation. Like, he was unrecognizable. Like, it's even the simple throws. Like, even if I say, to you, all of what I just said, limited offensively in a million different ways, great defense as well, and, and furthermore, he was scared, obviously scared, and should have been, because I imagine there's some post-traumatic stress disorder. In the last three games you've played, unique set of

matchups that overwhelm your offensive line, past rush galore, and also, I can't do anything, and now I'm sinking. I'm sinking because we can't do anything at all. If I tell you on top of that, he was bad, Easy throws bad beyond all the other stuff. It was confusing to me to see him be unrecognizable. Right. That Julian Love clip makes Julian Love seem like a cyborg, but it was a bad throw. Like it was an awful throw. Like if he throws him to where he anticipates the routes going to,

that's a huge chunk play. And in that game situation there, it changes the game. Like, yeah, they were on his ass, but he threw a really bad ball. I think the story of the postseason is that deep. defense still wins Super Bowls. But Drake May, if you're going to say the Patriots overachieved all season, that's because Drake May had such a great season. You know, he wasn't second in the MVP voting as a fluke.

And I think he just turned 23. I don't think he's fully developed yet. I wouldn't give up on him as a top five quarterback. Okay, but to the point that Mike is making, all right, that they played seven playoff teams this year. and in those games, his TD to turnover ratio was 11 to 11. Like, he had as many turnovers, his touchdowns. When he played the 14 non-playoff teams, it was 31 to 8.

Like, he did feed off of bad teams, and then when he ran into the good one, he got handcuffed. But those are the three best defenses in the league that he played back to back, two of them in bad weather, two of them in bad weather, and also on top of that, because I don't think this part's irrelevant. Like this part, I saw Zaz perk up when he's like, yeah, why, why? Wasn't he on the injury report? That sport hide so many injuries that I never know if Stafford's throwing the interceptions because his fingers hurt and they've been hiding that he's got like some dislocated index finger. Yeah, sometimes it's awfully convenient too. I think Tom Brady for like seven straight years showed up on the Patriots injury report

when he wasn't actually, actually hurt. Haven't they been gonged for manipulating it? Like haven't they been? Rable is from that culture. They put everybody questionable. They're all day to day. They have 15 guys questions. every week. Look, I'm still a believer in Drake May. I'm rattled because that was a really bad game.

He's off to a better start to his career than most quarterbacks. And the one that I like to compare him to, Josh Allen, he's off to a much better start than Josh Allen was, and he's already gotten further than Josh Allen ever has. I think they'll be back, but they very clearly need to build around him. He's not this demigod. And as far as seeming overwhelmed in the Super Bowl on that stage, he should be at that age. He was the youngest starter in the Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 84. I mean, he's a year. give them a little bit of slack. This year they were a aided by what they did last year, which was obviously a four-win team.

This year they had all the easy games on their schedule. Now being 14 and 3, now they're going to get all the tough games next year, and now we're going to see, okay, do they get A.J. Brown in the off season? Are they trying to shore up the offensive line? Like, what do they do there? Because next year, we're going to see the rubber meet the road in a big way. All right. So, but give me some help here historically between all of you. I love it when a rubber meets a road.

Talking sports. In a big way. In a big way. It's not just rubber hit. the road, but it's happening in a big way. Do you disagree? The part that I disagree with, and I want to bring it up with all of you because I don't think it's fair, in my lifetime, I have seen precious, precious few quarterbacks that I believe

can be the demigod that you guys are talking about. When these are the particular problems, I feel like your skilled guys aren't that good, and your offensive line is getting caved in because it's not that good. it gets injured at the end of the season. John Elway is one, but there are very few quarterbacks that I have seen on what I think is a bad team. And they were a bad team last year, and they added a bunch of new guys who were learning how to play football. Because it's not like a bunch of free agents. They turned over the entirety of the roster, and they got more plays from their rookies than any team in the league.

Those guys don't know how to play football yet. Dan, I agree with you, but we don't have to look that far. Look at Chicago. They were a terrible offensive line. They had terrible weapons on the outside, and Caleb Boone's look like a, like, a, total shell, right? They bring him Ben Johnson, they short guys in the offensive line, they get weapons on the outside, and now he looks like the ice man. He's great now. But he scored 17 points in a game against the Rams, and one of them was a fourth down throw that he's

running back to his 50-yard line and thrown into Colquette. They were the best team in football. Okay, but I'm saying at the end, they got eliminated because they scored all of 17 points, and one of them was, and seven of them were assinine. Like, in whatever the last game was, no matter how much I believe in Caleb Williams, you're giving Caleb Williams more credit for losing a round earlier than you are, Drake May, for losing a round. round later. We always do that. The guy who loses in the Super Bowl, if he plays poorly, gets so much more criticism than the QB who lost in the wild card round. We always do that. I hate that the narrative is what's wrong with Drake May when it should be Seattle's defense.

Oh, my God. Pablo's got another one. It came out at 5 o'clock in the morning. He's another one. An eighth installment of this aspiration Clippers thing. He's next. Hey, everybody. It's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been following the show, you know I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team with mixed results, right? Not the greatest hang so far in 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out.

I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house. I watch this NBA game. And guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller lights. And I knew right away, I made the right call.

Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating. We're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia. We're talking about old friends that we had. And it was all thanks to Miller Light, that icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, you want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Light.

Legendary moments, start with Miller Light. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories, and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.