NFL Trade Deadline MADNESS! Kirk Cousins TRADED! Bills & 49ers Go ALL IN!

The Vikings are the sixth seed in the playoffs of the NFC, taking on J.J. McCarthy and the New York football giants at MetLife Stadium. You can't make that up if you try. Oh, baby! We've got trades in the NFL! The Minnesota Vikings and the Vegas Raiders are making a trade. Kirk Cousins going from Vegas back to Minnesota. You like that? You'll love that if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. What a terrific, necessary trade for Minnesota. Here are the details on the trade. Kirk goes going home. Kirk goes chains back to Minnesota. Obviously was fantastic with the Minnesota Vikings. Left as a free agent after the 2023 season. Went to Atlanta for a couple of forgettable years, signed in the offseason with the Vegas Raiders, and now he's back with the Minnesota Vikings. And listen, it had to happen. We've been talking about the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins for a while now. And on the heels of last night, it was no longer a multiple-choice question. This had to happen. Carson Wentz was a disgrace last night. The corpse of Carson Wentz made today's trade a necessity. I mean, the nuggets of futility and failure on your screen right there tell you the entire story. The worst passer rating in a game for a Vikings quarterback since 1984. He had 81 passing yards. 81! He had a fumble and two interceptions. He was 8 of 25. The lowest QBR in a game since the Sam Darnold ghost game when Darnold's with the Jets. It was fright night last night for the Minnesota Vikings. And Kevin O'Connell kept dialing up some safe, easy pass plays last night. And you had Carson Wentz missing layups. And it was atrocious. And they've wasted a golden opportunity. So you had to make this trade. And you needed someone who understood the system, who had been there before. And this is absolutely perfect. And listen, giving up just a third-round pick for Kirk Cousins, that is the gift of all gifts. That's the win of all wins. That saves everything. Kyler Murray is hurt. Kyler Murray was not playing well. Carson Wentz shouldn't be on the team. They fouled it up with J.J. McCarthy, right? Kevin O'Connell buried J.J., not only making him a backup third string. And then you see what J.J. McCarthy's doing with the New York football giants. And the optics are terrible when you had to go out and start Carson Wentz last night. So here's Kirk Cousins after all that. And it had to happen. Knows the system. Obviously, he's a fan favorite. You know, has a great rapport with Kevin O'Connell. And most especially, an unbelievable relationship with Justin Jefferson. And now, the season's back on. Because if they had to trot out Carson Wentz at Lambeau Field. It was over. Like, you could not function. We saw the game last night. That game was over instantly, and it's just a shame. They're playing at home. They're in Minnesota, and they got trucked by the Bills because they didn't have anyone to complete the forward pass. So now you have a shot. You can beat Green Bay. You can beat San Francisco. You can beat Atlanta. And that's a revenge game for Kirk Cousins. You can win all these games because you have a championship defense. That's the point. And the Minnesota Vikings, remember when they were 6-0? Remember when they had the one seed? Remember when we were talking about whether or not they were frauds because they have this championship defense, but no one on offense to complete the forward pass? So enter Kirk Cousins. And Cousins is having a really solid year, really strong year for the Vegas Raiders. He's healthier than he's been in the last couple of years, and he deserves credit. And did I mention Justin Jefferson loves him? Justin Jefferson, after the Detroit game, wouldn't talk to the press. And he's the most media-savvy, media-friendly guy. I have a great relationship with Justin. He's on my SiriusXM radio show all the time. He didn't talk to the press because he didn't want to say anything he was going to regret. Brett, and last night after the game, He said, hopefully we have something different come Sunday. So basically, Justin Jefferson was telling the coaching staff and the general manager and ownership, make the trade and get Kirk Cousins. You remember, we talked about it on Shine Time a couple of weeks ago. Reporters were asking Kirk Cousins who he compared Brock Bowers to. He said, I learned that Brock Bowers is like Justin Jefferson. Even when he's covered, he's open. So this is terrific. This is tremendous. This is exactly what they needed because they just need someone to get the ball to Justin Jefferson. He's a Ferrari. He can't be a hood ornament. It's as simple as that. They're Larry Fitzgerald-ing Justin Jefferson in Minnesota. They're wasting my guy. So this, now the season's back on because they go from 6-0 to losing two straight. And if you check the standings page today in the California or the New York Post, We're talking about the Minnesota Vikings going from number one in the division to number three in the division. If they lose to Green Bay, they're going to be number four in the division. If the season ended today, it doesn't. It doesn't. The The Vikings are the sixth seed in the playoffs in the NFC. Taking on J.J. McCarthy and the New York football giants at MetLife Stadium. You can't make that up if you try. The Vikings, with a championship best defense in the NFL, Super Bowl defense, are not a lock for the playoffs until they make this trade today because they didn't have a competent quarterback. So here we are. This is a great job by the Vikings under the dire circumstances again. You know, it's the old kindergarten approach. You started it, and they started it. The former general manager, Chris Delfin Messa, started it. They let Kirk Cousins go, and then they drafted J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy got hurt. Sam Darnold was great. They decided not to bring Sam Darnold back. That was a disgrace. Then, all right, Darnold leaves. Got to keep Daniel Jones. O'Connell loved him. He goes to Indianapolis. Aaron Rodgers wanted to... Being a Minnesota Viking, they all can't deal with Aaron Rodgers, his noise, his nonsense. Please, how'd that work out? And they have J.J. McCarthy. So they bring in Sam Howell. Sam Howell stinks! He didn't even make it to week one, which is why they have to call Carson Wentz off the couch. Wasn't even on another team. He spent the whole offseason eating potato chips and hunting. And they brought him in. And McCarthy wasn't very good. Wentz was terrible. Here's Kyler Murray. Murray was terrible. I said they should have signed Geno Smith. That would have been a better idea. And by the way, I liked Kyler Murray as, you know, a guy who Kevin O'Connell could help. And then they buried McCarthy. Not only did they need the backup, they made him the third string. So here we are. Life is a circle, baby. Kirk Cousins changes back. I love this. And I give the Vikings credit under the circumstance. They had to do something, and this was the right move. In so many ways, it was the only move. Give up a third round pick. Hopefully they sign Kirk Cousins. They could also simultaneously draft someone, look to the future. This is great. The goal for the Minnesota Vikings, first of all, now they've got to make the playoffs. That's not good enough. Now they have to be in position to win the Super Bowl this year. That's what we're talking about. And remember, I picked the Vikings to make the playoffs preseason because of this championship defense of Brian Flores. The way Wentz played last night, listen, everyone in Minnesota needs to apologize to... Brian Flores, to the Vikings fans, to Justin Jefferson. I mean, it's been a complete and utter disaster. This saves face. Now, the Vikings can win every game they play. That's the nature and the function of this trade. The Vikings are back. The Minnesota Vikings have officially rejoined the football world. Still think the Bears will hold on and win the division, right? San Francisco still the team to beat for the Super Bowl. Chicago, I think, is very close, number two. Maybe we'll even leapfrog them. But now, the Minnesota Vikings could win any style of fight anywhere. They have a real quarterback. I don't want to turn Cousins into something he's not, right? But if he plays like he did with the Vegas Raiders, I think he'll play even better because he's got Justin Jefferson back. O'Connell's great. He never wanted to leave Minnesota. The fans love him. He's got stock with everyone and everything. You like that? No, we love that. It was a necessity after watching Carson Wentz last night. Ooh, Fright Night. Oh, by the way, flip side, I just checked my watch. It's Mendoza time. How about this? Fernando Mendoza, now ready to start. We said this yesterday on Shine Time. It was always Mendoza time. And I was starting the season with Fernando Mendoza. By the way, I think that this actually worked out pretty well, all things considered. The Raiders, by the way, are not dead, right? Listen, they got shellacked in San Francisco, the Niners completely punked them, but it's go time. Because now, and I don't want to hear, well, they got to face the Seattle defense and the Denver defense. Do not care. It's all about Fernando Mendoza getting reps, getting a rapport with Brock Bowers, letting the bullets fly for real, learning what he can do, what he can't do. He's super smart. He won a championship. We've got to remind people of this at Indiana. Won a Heisman Trophy. He's ready to rock and roll. And again, when you draft the quarterback number one overall, that means the goal, the real goal, is to make the playoffs his second season. That's the way it works. When you have a quarterback, you know, contract like that and how it's structured, year one is year one. However you want to handle it, great. He'll get, you know, some greats, you know, live reps. He'll make mistakes. He'll learn. Fernando Mendoza, I firmly believe, is going to be great. Not this week against Seattle. Do not judge. Do not, if he does not play well against Mike McDonald's defense, you know, write Fernando Mendoza off. The educated guess is he's not going to play well. The educated guess is he's not going to win. Then he'll go on the road in Denver against Patrick Surtain and company. That's probably not going to end well. To me, it's about what does he do after that. And if for some reason he plays well, even better. But this is great and energizing if you're a Vegas Raiders fan. And listen. Kirk Cousins wasn't coming back next year to get a third round pick for him and capitalize on the Minnesota Vikings' real agita and angst and desperation. Yeah, that's pretty great here if you're a fan of the Vegas Raiders. The Buffalo Bills, they won last night, they're 7-1, and that defense played great, and give them credit, but you also knew that they needed to do something on defense, internally, externally, and a playmaker to show that they are absolutely the team to beat to go to the Super Bowl and win it. Man, the Buffalo Bills today made an unbelievable trade. Amari Hooker is exactly what the doctor ordered. And if they couldn't get Buddha Baker, and it's up for conversation if Buddha Baker was available, Amani Hooker's the right guy, right time. This guy is a veteran. He's been in Tennessee. He is an interception machine. You know, he picked off Joe Burrow three times a couple of weeks ago. He has 17 career interceptions, five in this season. Amani Hooker is exactly right out of central casting what the Buffalo Bills need. In fact, we've talked about it here on Shine Time, the two names that we said would happen for Buffalo, either Buddha Baker or Amari Hooker. Great. Absolutely perfect. Give Brandon Bean, their general manager, a ton of credit. They don't rest. The defense looked great last night. They sacked Carson Wentz six times. Rousseau, the defensive line was unbelievable. The linebackers were great. They needed monster help in the defensive backfield. And this was the absolute big-ticket perfect acquisition. And again, it's about internal confidence. It's about belief in the building, belief with the fan base and also a response to Jacksonville making trades, a response to the schedule. Look, they've got the Jets coming up. They've got Miami coming up. Soon they're going to have to face, you know, the likes of. Patrick Mahomes and Jordan Love and Caleb Williams. So I absolutely love this move. And if you're a Bills fan and you witnessed last night, and let's make sure we give the Bills defense credit for what transpired last night. They earned it as much as it was about bad offense. Listen. Now we can start talking about the Bills' defense being solid. Jim Leonard's a great defensive coordinator. If the Bills' defense is solid, then the Buffalo Bills are going to win a championship. Josh Allen is the best player in the sport. James Cook runs with authority. Dalton Kincaid and company, they add a lot to the table for Josh Allen. You know, Bass made all his kicks last night. Amani Hooker, exactly what the doctor ordered. If you believe and I believe. That the Buffalo Bills are going to win a championship but needed help on defense today. Sheer perfection in lovely Western New York. One team that's proven to be all in, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who grabbed Jordan Davis from the Eagles on Monday afternoon. Here's Davis' reaction. A little disappointed, but I understand that they're in the rebuilding process. And for the picks, first round, second round pick, obviously helps the team. And I love those guys, so however it can help the team, even in my departure. I'm absolutely glad to be doing that. The Jacksonville Jaguars followed up the Jesse Bates deal from yesterday by getting Jordan Davis. This is how a team goes all in and tries to win a Super Bowl. You know, for years, Jerry Jones would say, all in, all in. Nonsense! That's lip service. This is Jacksonville already a week ago. We said it on Shine Time, the most complete team in the AFC with a real shot to go to the Super Bowl and win it this year. And they, on Monday, trade for Jesse Bates, who's one of the best safeties in the NFL, and give up a second-round pick. We raved about that deal yesterday. And then they make this trade. This is unbelievable. Jordan Davis is a stud. He's unbelievable. He's physical. He's dominant. He stops the run. He gets to the quarterback. And they give him a first next year and a second in 2029. And this is what you do. When you have a window to go win the Super Bowl, you give up late first-round picks. You give up late second-round picks. This is why we raved about the Bears and the Jeffrey Simmons deal. It makes all the sense in the world. Well, to remember the Jaguars general manager. James Madison, he came from the Les Snead school in Los Angeles with Snead's right-hand man. And it was Les who came up with the F them picks mentality, the Matthew Stafford deal, the Jalen Ramsey deal. And obviously they won a Super Bowl and, you know, they're in the mix to win it every single year, which is what you want in Jacksonville. So this is unbelievable. And I just absolutely love this. So they get a defensive tackle from New Orleans. They get Jordan Davis. They get Jesse Bates. And if you're a Jaguars fan, or if you have a future bet on them winning the AFC, winning the Super Bowl, congrats. This is unbelievable from a Jacksonville standpoint. This is not lip service. This is how a team makes a legit run. Flip side, this is phenomenal for the Philadelphia Eagles. And this is what we've been talking about over the last couple of weeks. Howie Roseman, once the Giants buried the Philadelphia Eagles, and Philly is 2-7, they're on a seven-game losing streak. Howie going into his sell mode era? Oh, buckle up, buttercup. Because take a look at the picks that the Jacksonville Jaguars gave Philly. Take a look at what Philadelphia has when you take a look at their upcoming drafts. And you look at it, right? And take a look specifically here for Philadelphia when you see that in 2027, they have their first and they have the Jacksonville Jaguars first. In 2028, they have their first, they have the Patriots first, and they have the Ravens second based upon the Cam Jurgens deal. They have the Patriots first from the A.J. Brown deal. And then in 2029, they have that extra second round pick because of the Jacksonville trade with Jordan Davis. So that means Howie Roseman will have 10 picks, 10 picks in the first two rounds in the next three drafts. Ten picks in the first three rounds in the next three drafts, which means they have the ammunition here to find not only excellent players, so this way Philadelphia can become a great team again, but perhaps their next quarterback. And this is part of the discussion. First of all, there is a serious big picture conversation on Jalen Hurts. This is beyond football. You hope he's okay. So let's put that over there. Then, assuming he's okay, and he might not be, he might not be able to play football again, but if he can play football, you're going to have to probably at some point make a decision. And by the way, even if he's your quarterback for 2027, you now have the ammunition if there's a quarterback you crave to still be in the quarterback business high in the 2027 draft. Or maybe you are the 2028 draft. Or maybe you take those picks and you say, oh, I don't know. Maybe we could trade for an established veteran. Maybe Philadelphia is the perfect spot for. Justin Herbert. There's a lot of different things you can do with draft capital. Maybe you wait for 2028 and, you know, if Arch goes back to school, here's Arch Manning playing for Eli Manning's biggest rival. Like, there are so many things that are possible for the Philadelphia Eagles because of this. So, that's why Howie Roseman's laughing at the bottom of the screen. I mean, this is unbelievable. If you're an Eagles fan, and listen, for Jacksonville, it's a great trade. For the Eagles, I mean, this is money. This is Howie being Howie. And it also is going to help attract the next head coach. I don't see Nick Sirianni surviving this. This is going to be a team in transition. They're also going to simultaneously try and win. It's not like the NFC East is a juggernaut division. So they're going to retool on the fly. They're locked and loaded to get excellent players. Locked and loaded to get, if they need, if they want, and those are two different things, their next quarterback. This is a monster win for the Philadelphia Eagles. Yesterday on Shine Time, we were all about the L.A. Rams. Defense looks amazing. Myles Garrett is back. And then wham. Ah, awful news about Puka Nacua. Here's Sean McVay. As far as Puka Nakua, suffered an MCL-PCL sprain, also turf toe. He's going to be out for a good amount of time. Will probably be a guy that we'll put on IR as a result of that. Yesterday, we had such great vibes for the Rams. Rams are back. Myles Garrett's back. Defense looks amazing. I've got nothing. And I don't say that in any other way. I'm just, I'm sick and gutted for the Rams and their fans. I'm gutted for Puka Nakua. I mean, he's a guy who plays in 85% of the snaps in all the games he's played this year. And Puka Nacua is such a winner, such a warrior, such a terrific player. And you could tell that he was hobbled after, you know, they tried to run with him in the final play. And Sean McVay said he had regrets about it. I can't first or second guess the play. The result of tackle football sucks. I mean, you're giving it to Nakua because he's a playmaker. He's a first down machine. He's everything. And in the game against Washington, 14 catches, 150 yards, and a touchdown. And this is what they're not going to have over the next four weeks when he goes on injured reserve. Now, they do have Arizona coming up this week, and Michael Wilson is hurt, and he's got a fractured vertebrae, which sucks for him, and that's awful. And Gardner Minshew's hurt, and Jacoby Brissett's in Baltimore, so it looks like they're going to get Carson Beck and the Arizona Cardinals. So, Myles Garrett and company should be able to win that game on defense. But, winning on offense and winning in a passing attack, I feel terrible for Nakua. I feel terrible for Matthew Stafford. And look, we're going to go here because we went here instantly. They decided to take Ty Simpson in the first round of the draft instead of Makai Lemon. And we first guessed this, and we begged them to take Makai Lemon. Not that Lemon has been great for Philadelphia, but that doesn't matter. He was the perfect fit, and we said that's an area of need at receiver. Tutu Atwell is dropping passes left and right. And yes, the Rams can run the ball with authority. Blake Corum has a touchdown in five straight games. Karen Williams is great. The line's been great. But all of a sudden... They have no wide receivers and Nacua and Adams are both injured. So drafting a wide receiver, which was a first guess, would have made all the sense in the world for the LA Rams because they had no real depth at wide receiver, no real youth at wide receiver. And that's why they're here in this predicament now. So are we allowed to go back to that? Yes, yes we are. And that's not fair here to Miles Garrett, and most especially Matthew Stafford, and frankly, Sean McVay. And I know that McVay and Les Snead make every decision together, but man, Do I think Makai Lemon, who we begged for for the Rams, even Kenyon Sadiq, who I know McVay liked a lot, do I think, he's a tight end, but he's basically a pseudo-wide receiver, do I think they could have helped the LA Rams right here, right now, all season long? Absolutely. I'm just, I'm sick. I'm genuinely sick when you look at this from a Rams perspective. Schedule's tough. It's impossible for me now to say, well, they'll beat the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Eve. I mean, they don't have anyone to run any pass pattern. Disaster for the Rams. And the Rams' biggest rival has made a trade. I love this. The San Francisco 49ers are getting Keenan Allen. Let me tell you something. Keenan Allen is exactly what the San Francisco 49ers need. Keenan Allen, for so many years, was the most underrated wide receiver in the entire league. He had a great run with the Chargers, where he was arguably the best wide receiver in franchise history, and he was a top-ten wide receiver in the league for a long time. He's not that guy anymore, but you know what he is? He's a pro. He's got great hands, he runs unbelievable routes, 40 catches this year with the Indianapolis Colts. He's a veteran, he wants to win and win a championship and a Lombardi trophy more than anything else. He's been elusive in his outstanding career, fits right in with a very hungry veteran group that they have in San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan is going to love him. I think this makes Makes all the sense in the world. You have Brock Purdy, who can throw to anyone. Shanahan will scheme him up. You have CMC. Mike Evans is coming back. Debo will be back. This is a nut. George Kittle, obviously, at the tight end position. This, to me, is a perfect San Francisco 49er for this season. Reliability, dependability, third down, red zone. Love this move for the San Francisco 49ers. I just love the resiliency and the attitude and the commitment from everybody. When you step foot on the floor, just play hard and good things will happen. We don't forget, you know, where people thought we were at the beginning of the year, so it's just a matter of continuing to build. Love that from Steph Curry. Listen, I was one of those. I didn't even have the Warriors in the playing, let alone the playoffs. Let me tell you something. This is an unbelievable story, and as someone who's obsessed with Steph Curry, I just think the world of it. I remember a few years ago, I was interviewing Mark Messier, and I asked him, he's one of the great winners in the history of the Big Four professional sports. I said, who is the winner in sports that you admire the most who's playing right now? And he said, Steph Curry. I thought maybe Patrick Mahomes, maybe he would go with a different player. He said, Steph Curry is the greatest winner I've ever seen. And I love that. Coming from Mark Messier. Which leads me back to Steph's comments and this eight-game winning streak. Steph Curry has no ego. Steph Curry is the ultimate winner, the literal ultimate warrior, the greatest three-point shooter who revolutionized basketball. And now, he and Yaxel Vandenbergh are absolutely on fire. And when you watch Yaxel play, and look, we all saw it at Michigan, and he was terrific. And I loved them in the draft. And I raved about the Warriors and Steve Kerr and company when they picked them. I never expected this. And what is this? And, you know, I had Caleb Wilson as my pick for Rookie of the Year. That might end up being the case. Vandenbergh is clearly the best rookie right now. The most dominant, whether you look at the stats, or most effective. When you talk about this eight-game winning streak for the Golden State Warriors. And Steph makes a great point. You watch them play, you have to take your predictions from the beginning of the season and stick them where the sun don't shine. And here's the deal when it comes to Curry, I mean... He's not getting any younger, but it's like he's sipping from the fountain of youth. And I think that's all because of Yaxel. And they're just beating the hell out of teams. They're just together. They're dominant. The way they played over the weekend in the overtime win against Orlando. And I find myself every single night. I'm watching Yaxel and watching Steph together. And Steph, to me, is always must-see TV. When Steph's playing, I need to watch him. He's unbelievable. He's one of my all-time favorite athletes. I actually think in so many ways, that's why I tell the Messier anecdote, he's underrated. I mean, if you're making a list of top 10 all-time NBA players last 50 years, Steph's got to be on the list. That's simple as that. He has to be on the list. Who do you take out? Well, we can talk about everyone else in the bottom half of your top 10, but he's in mine because of everything that we just said. And Yaxel, the way that he has fit in added some juice, some energy, a little attitude, a little real swagger, not what Draymond has right now with the kind of... Fake swagger, this is great. Steve Kerr, to me, is always a top five coach in NBA history. In the NBA, you need players. But then, it's what you do to make it as a coach, to make it work. The chemistry, make it tick, bring a team together. This is unbelievable. And I love that Curry is, you know, sitting here and he's, you know, subscribing to Shine Time. And he understands what the haters and the critics and the media leaders are saying. Hey, if we're, if Steph Curry. is focused on what the press is saying, that's great. Whatever carrot can be dangled here, take it. Grab it as motivation. Use it to silence the haters. This is unbelievable. And here's the deal. There's no reason to believe it's not going to sustain. Like, I know I didn't pick Golden State, didn't believe in Golden State. I don't think this is a flash in the pan. You know, OKC's got a whole bunch of injuries. You know, the West is weird in a lot of ways. You know, I still love San Antonio. I still love the Lakers. I still love the upside when everyone's healthy for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Why not the Golden State Warriors? I love it. And Steph Curry and Yacouba Traoré together as a combo. Man, this has been just so great for your sports soul. Spurs are streaking as well. Wemby continues to do things you've never seen on a basketball court before. Like, you know, this. Fox the board, quickly up to Keldon. Wemby Nyama running the floor. Wemby Nyama looking like the Iceman! There's a moment when you pick up the ball almost like three-point line. You had that really long stride layup. Is there a conscious thought process in the middle of that or are you just reacting? Yeah, I didn't want these guys to get into my legs. So I figured, since it was too small, I would just have them meet me in the air if they wanted to. But they didn't. All That's insane. right, And what I love about that, the play, right? The reporter asks a really intelligent question. let's And Wemby gives a really brilliant answer. Like, that was premeditated as he's dribbling the ball up the court get because of the situation. started. Like, that wasn't some random SportsCenter top 10 circus highlight move. That was, let me see, let me read, let me react, let me use my physical gifts. Listen, Victor Wembanyama, unbelievable. Spurs have now won nine straight. That play of all these moves that we've seen from Wembanyama, that is as freakish from this alien as we've seen all year. And honestly, and you know my take on the Spurs and Wemby in the finals against the Knicks being unlikable, this cat is a super freak. To the Lakers, where Luka isn't just one of the most dominant scorers in history, he's also one of the best trash talkers. We had you. What I love about that, and it's a deep cut just to jog them at the Rolodex, you know, it was the draft day deal with the Hawks and the Mavericks and Trey Young, and everyone understands the history there, and Doncic is great. I mean, you don't have to tell me how great I am. I'll tell you. That's the Doncic mentality. And by the way... All the Lakers do is win, and all Luka does is make me look smart. For believing in the Lakers and predicting that they would dominate. And look at these numbers. Numbers! Perfect! Perfection again. 32 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals. His defense has been great. Walker Kessler with another incredible game. And they go on the road to Atlanta. And in theory, right, a Laker road trip, a game in Atlanta, that's as random and innocuous a spot. As you could have, right? There's no rivalry. There's no history. It's not going to Boston or Philly or New York. And I love Atlanta as a city. You're going to Atlanta. And the Lakers, they're not resting on laurels, not sleepwalking through the game. They are absolutely dominant. Give J.J. Redick a lot of credit. Team defense has been vastly improved. And listen, take a look at this. I told you before the season, I... And I'll tell you when I'm right, and I'll tell you when I'm wrong. Lakers are absolutely better without LeBron. And LeBron is in a wonderful place, and I love what he's doing in Philly. That's a different topic for conversation. The Lakers brilliantly built this team to win right here, right now, brilliantly around Doncic. And the fact that they're in first place in 10-2, and they're an absolute must-watch machine, that is not, to me, in any way, shape, or form, a crime. How are you going to play in the Winnipeg game? What's your feeling on not playing in that game and why the organization decided not to play? Yeah, you know, I mean, I'm disappointed, but I understand. You know, selfishly I want to play, but, you know, when you're looking at the team and what's best for the team, I understand where they're coming from. Why are you disappointed? Why would that game mean something to you? Well, I mean, I love Winnipeg, and, you know, playing there again and, you know, just facing the music and seeing the reaction, It'd be nice, but it's out of my hands. There are about six different soundbites we as a show, we as a team could have played there, right? Including from the Winnipeg coach and different teammates for the Devils. That's the perfect soundbite because a couple of things, and it's important to reset here. I love the Hellebuck deal. We made a monster deal about it on Shine Time. And the Devils have been on fire. And they now have a real shot to go to the Stanley Cup, win the Eastern Conference. I mean, everything that we said was going to happen is happening. Hellebuck is lying right there. Absolutely lying. And clearly, he told the team he didn't want to play in Winnipeg. Remember, and it's important to even go back further, he won the gold for Team USA. A lot of USA players did not want to play in Canada. We saw this with Tkachuk. We saw it with Hellebuck. And, you know, you could argue, well, he signed the contract in Winnipeg, should have honored it. Clearly, there was, as I channel my inner Noah Kahn, a great divide. And Hellebuck did not want to be there. And he refused to play in Winnipeg. And it's over, right? He demanded a trade. Devils made a phenomenal trade. Devils were in a great spot. And the Winnipeg Jets are left holding the bag. When the Devils released a statement over the weekend saying Hellebuck was not going to play because of analytics. I mean, I literally audibly laughed out loud because it's funny, right? I mean, it's funny. And then you have the Jets head coach saying, yeah, he's disappointed because he just wanted to deal with it. And analytics not part of it. Nobody's buying it. I wish Hellebuck just would have played. To rip the Band-Aid, let them boo, let them hiss, let them cheer, let them say go back to New Jersey. Whatever they want to say. You wanted this. You asked for it. You got it. You won. You got the gold. Canada did it. You got the trade. You got out of Winnipeg. You're with the Devils. You're with your guy, Jack Hughes. You have to go face the music. And even more, what I don't understand, why would you delay it? You can't call Gary Bettman and get Winnipeg off the schedule. You're going to have to play there at some point. And the Winnipeg coach and his take on it, and from that perspective, they want to just get it over with. Just do it. They don't have to talk about it anymore, right? I mean, you know, Johnny Damon always got booed when he went back to Fenway after he won a championship for Boston. He was one of the idiots. But you've got to get that first one over. That's just how it works, right? You've got to get it done. This is weird, man. Absolutely, positively weird. I needed to get that off my chest. You know what else I needed to get off my chest? I liked the college football playoffs, man. And I say that as someone who literally, I created the 12-team college football playoff. I did. When it was two, I always said, you know, there are one too many Cs in BCS. Then when it was four, I said, that's not fair. That doesn't make any sense. And when there was two and then there was four, I kept arguing 12, 12, 12, 12. I think 12 is great. Also, the college football playoff committee is so bad at its job, and last year they left out Notre Dame, who could have won a championship. I think we need 24. And as someone who really likes college football, and I love it when there's more great games, I'm kind of obsessed with this. If this means we're going to get better games early... Count me in. If this means that you're going to have more teams that will be in the mix, you're going to have representation from the American Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun Belt. I'm in. Those teams will probably spend more in NIL, attract better coaches. There's more of a likelihood to be able to keep some players. That's great. And if we're going to get and think about some of the teams that are on the periphery now, like, can you imagine if we had Ohio State and USC in the college football playoffs, LSU in the college football playoffs, and we had 24 for this year? I think it'd be great. And here's the other part of it, right? People say, oh, well, these great games, great moments, you know, from last Saturday, which I thought was unbelievable. That's going to go away. No, it actually wouldn't. Because then you're going to create even more drama. We're in an LSU game this week or next week. Well, now LSU's done. Well, LSU would still be playing for the playoffs in ensuing weeks. It would still matter. It all matters. Meanwhile, Alabama wins. Alabama looks great. It just matters for seeding and buys. I think this is terrific. Look, the bowl games have been dead for a long time. And, you know, the conference title games have been irrelevant in a lot of ways because they don't really equal who makes the playoffs for a long time. I like great college football. I think as a result, we're going to see more great college football at every point. Early in the season. During the season, the conference games are going to matter more. The games that feature, you know, non-Big Four, Power Four conferences, those games you're going to have to keep an eye on. So if you're a fan of Team 5 in the SEC or Team 5 in the Big Ten, you're going to have to keep your eye on multiple teams in those aforementioned conferences. So you're going to have more people watching and paying attention to college football, which is great. So sometimes, you know, more might not equal better. But I actually think this is done with a point and a purpose. I am not naive when it comes to the money, right? No question about that. But I'm kind of into this. As someone who always wanted 12, I'm not convinced 12's working. 24? Buckle up, buttercup. That's the show. If you miss any portion of the show, just do what I do. Rewatch it over and over again. You know what I did when I got home yesterday? I watched the show. Then you know what I did when I was done watching the show? I watched it again. 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