And for JR tonight, you got me, sports machine Sean Levine, on the mic for the next four hours. on the Infinity Sports Network, but I'm in good company. I got my guy Ryan and you. And if you want to talk to me, the number is 888-710-4ISN. I mean, do we have anything to talk about?
You guys, uh seen any good football games recently because I came last night. Unbelievable. And Josh Allen, I thought, was He was cool after the game, right? And I think he was kind of shell shocked the way that everything went down and probably still introducing himself to the new kicker. There was a lot going on last night.
But then tongue in cheek, he said, and to the fans that left, have a little bit of faith. I know there are some people listening right now that turn the channel. And I can admit. I'm man enough to admit. that I did.
I was about midway through a Golden Girls episode. Know what I'm saying? Thank you for being a friend. I can't be the only one listening that loves me some golden girls. You're not too cool to like Blanche.
And uh Then I turned back to look at my prop bets. I was like, I wonder if this guy maybe got to his 70-yard total. I needed Isaiah Flowers to get to 70, and he definitely did. And then I looked at the score, and I was like, this can't be right. Wait a minute.
I'm here watching Dorothy and Blanche, and you're telling me that Buffalo's making this unbelievable all-time great comeback? By the way, that's today's Levine's list. The greatest comebacks in the history of sports. We'll get there at the bottom of the hour. But I can't be the only one.
That decided this thing was over. that Baltimore was just too good. That It was the night for Lamar Jackson, and it just wasn't Josh Allens or the Bills until it was. And let me say this, as a Chiefs fan. The bills Have become the new Kansas City Chiefs.
And it's not like the Bills just got to the party. For the last seven years, the Chiefs have been dominating since Patrick Molmes has been their starting quarterback. And the entire time, Josh Allen's been in Buffalo, and they've kind of been next in the AFC. But what have they really done? What is Josh Allen's resume?
Compared to Patrick Mahomes, if we think those are the two best quarterbacks in the AFC over the last seven years, there's a pretty big gap between what Mahomes has actually done and the accomplishments of Josh Allen. And we've seen him go head-to-head a couple of times in the playoffs. And Bill's fans are. Quick to tell me, yeah, but it's not his fault. There were 14 seconds left and he was just on the sidelines and the Chiefs came back.
Yeah, it's a team game. Right? We're not talking about golf here. Not an individual sport, and Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback of the winning team. That game also, times have changed.
I think I can admit right now as a Chiefs fan. That clearly Times have changed, and not only Maybe everybody else was right about my Chiefs this entire offseason that Philadelphia and the Super Bowl showed the rest of the NFL a blueprint of how to beat Kansas City. I kept saying that's hogwash. I kept saying, no, Philly was just a better team, and they had the better players that day, and they had the better plan, and they outcoached them. But I don't think that every team had the players to pull it off.
It's one thing to know how to do something, it's another thing to be able to actually execute it. That's not just in football. That's in life. We can all say, I know how to do it.
Okay, well, then go out there and actually do it, bro. And the Eagles did it. And so, this entire offseason, I've been a little bit bullish. And then I watched the Chiefs go out there in their first game against the Chargers. And the Chargers looked like they were the better team.
Not for nothing. Everybody else in the AFC West won too. This weekend, the Broncos, the Chargers, and the Raiders.
So, for the first time in a long time, Probably the first time since Patrick Mahomes has been the quarterback. The Chiefs find themselves in last place. And I can tell you that it's not just a one-week thing. I think that's where the Chiefs really are. I think that's where the division is.
And I think we saw in the AFC last night. that those are clearly the two best teams in the NFL. Not only was that game a wildly Entertaining. But on top of that, there's a reason why their quarterbacks Have the last three MVP trophies on their mantles, respectively. When Kansas City first started cooking.
When Mahomes took over, It was like watching football on crack. And I've never done crack. But it had to be what it was like. It was just constantly, things were coming from every angle, and it was really fast. And he didn't want to take a bathroom break because they were going to score two touchdowns.
There was a lot of Patrick Mahomes, left-handed passes, Tyree Kill behind the back, Travis Kelsey. And they were winning, and it was really fun, and the fan base hadn't really ever seen that type of thing. That's where Buffalo is now. Remember when the Chiefs first got cooking and their defense wasn't really good yet, they didn't have D'S Bagnolo, and they played that game in Mexico City versus the Rams where they lost fifty three to fifty? The Chiefs lost two games that year.
where they scored forty plus points. And that happened last night to Baltimore. I mean, that's almost unfathomable. When you hear it out loud, that the Baltimore Ravens, who have really built themselves historically on defense, you look back to that way back in my day, the Ray Lewis and Ed Reed defense, you think Ravens.
Now you think Lamar, but you still think, oh, they can stop you, right? They can shut you down on that side of the ball. The Ravens played a game last night. Where they scored four. Forty points.
And lost. That's just how good Buffalo is. And Buffalo, to me, it's their time. And there have probably been Bills fans that have been hearing that their entire life, and they're saying, Yeah, all right, I'll believe it when I see it.
Well, I think we're starting to see it, not just with the Chiefs kind of taking a little bit of a step back. The stat that scares me as a Chiefs fan is that they haven't scored a touchdown in the first half of four of their last five games. That never would have happened back in the day. And so Buffalo has basically become. What the Chiefs were a few years ago, where they should have the biggest target on their back, and not for nothing.
Josh Allen has kind of become what Patrick Mahomes was also. You know how many times I've watched a game where the Chiefs got down even in the second half by a couple of touchdowns, and people started filing out of the stands just to get home to watch them some Golden Girls? And then all of a sudden, people had to turn around on the highway to get back into Arrowhead because Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were making some crazy comeback? That's now the Buffalo Bills. And it probably feels weird for a Bills fan to be the frontrunner, to be the team to beat, especially when you've got this Josh Allen who's never actually beat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.
That's what a one seed looks like. And it was just one game, so I don't want to make too much out of it. But that might be the best game, not just matchup-wise and on paper. But the way it actually plays out the entire year. I mean, that had everything.
That had the MVPs. That had the two teams that are favored to win the Super Bowl. It was the first game of the last season for the stadium in Buffalo. And Josh Allen went out there and absolutely showed out. And look, Lamar Jackson was good too.
I mean, there's a reason why Lamar Jackson probably should have won the MVP last year and already has a couple of those things on his mantle. And we probably should be starting talking about him and how it's Baltimore's time and how they've been knocking on the door and how they've gotten unlucky. But I'm taking the Buffalo side of things because to the winner goes the spoils. And that was the Bills last night. What a game, yo.
What a game. 888-710-4ISN is the phone number. And for Baltimore, I'm not. Don't do any less of them.
Somebody had to win that game.
Somebody had to lose. The game was in Buffalo. They made this crazy comeback. Whatever. But damn, has there ever been a great team as snake-bitten?
As the Bal as the as the Baltimore Ravens? I mean, if you think about just the last couple of years. Think about Mark Andrews in the playoffs. He makes that catch. They win that game.
Maybe they win the Super Bowl. It's not that crazy. Who knows? Maybe at the beginning of the year, the first game of last season, I know it because I was there at Arrowhead. You guys know what I'm talking about.
Isaiah likely shoes a half size too big, steps out of bounds. They don't get the touchdown. They lose the game when they had all the momentum. Let's say Baltimore wins that game and the Chiefs lose. Then everything's different for the entire season, for the way they feel about themselves.
Can you imagine if Baltimore, instead of going 0-1 last year, was 1-0 with a last-second win at Arrowhead? They might go 15-2 like the Chiefs did and be the one seed and get the buy and the playoffs go through Baltimore. They just run into this. S You guys know the word I want to say. They just run into this stuff.
That's the word I was talking about. Stuff. They just run into this stuff, Baltimore does. And then, again, even last night, where I don't want to say that. It was bad luck because ultimately they cost themselves with Derrick Henry fumbling late in the game.
But still, Buffalo had to do everything absolutely right. They were down by eight, which last time I checked, you got to score twice. And they did. And then obviously, at the end of the game, they bring in a. A kicker who That was one of the funniest things that I've ever seen.
Matt Prater standing next to Josh Allen. Because Josh Allen looks like. How old's Josh Allen? Like 27 years old? What is he, fifteen years younger?
It looked like that easily could have been his father standing next to him. And Matt Brader probably wouldn't mind me saying he's not like the youngest-looking 43-year-old man. You could have convinced me. I wouldn't have known that was Matt Brader if he didn't have his jersey on. I would have thought that was somebody's grandfather.
I would have thought that was some media member that just made his way onto the field. He's a graybeard. You know what I'm talking about? You see guys like that, they're stockbrokers or lawyers or something like that. He's a kicker.
And he looked like he's standing next to Josh Allen at the end of the game that he was his daddy. Just an unbelievable sight as Buffalo walks off Baltimore last night. 41 to 40 and we got another one tonight. Monday night football. How do the odds makers even take a stab at this one?
The Vikings on the road at the Bears? The line right now is Chicago minus one and a half, I suppose because it's at Soldier Field, and the wind is a blowin'. In case you're looking at the over-under, 43.5. Honestly, I mean, what do we really know about either one of these teams? There's so much newness going on.
You got J.J. McCarthy, and I was looking at his college numbers because I felt like I missed something. Most of the time, when there's a stud college quarterback, It's pretty obvious. It's a Joe Burroughs putting up a 60-touchdown ear, a Johnny Menzel that's all over your TV screen. I felt like J.J.
McCarthy was just a Game manager for a Michigan team that ended up winning a national championship with tons of draft picks, a couple of defensive guys in the first round. There were weapons. all over the place. And I looked at his numbers. I was like, did he have like a 45-touchdown season or something?
What's up with the top 10 pick and all the hype? I thought it was a bunch of dudes surrounding him. And I wasn't wrong. 22 touchdowns his sophomore year, 22 touchdowns his junior year, and then he came out. I just hope for Vikings' fans' sake that that's not fool's gold.
And we've seen this before. Quarterback on a national championship team that gets a lot of eyeballs and a lot of credit and is a high draft pick. And then he comes out, and you realize, oh, Oh, no wonder they won a national championship because he had dudes all over the field.
So the stats don't blow you away. The eye test didn't either. But I could say the same things about Caleb Williams, right?
So we'll see tonight. Minnesota on the road at Chicago. Again, the Bears are a one and a half point favorite. For the bears' sake, they better go out there and win because. Think about all the other quarterbacks that have like affiliation with the Bears.
So, Justin Fields looks pretty good. Honestly, and we'll get to him here in a little bit. But Justin Fields, former Bears quarterback, looks pretty good. The Bears passed up on Jaden Daniels. I don't need to tell you about him.
He, um,. He also looks pretty good. I think he's going to be pretty good at football. If also they have to watch JJ McCarthy go out there and out-duel Caleb Williams tonight. I I don't know if Bears fans are gonna be able to handle that.
I think Caleb plays well tonight, but then again, it's A chemistry test. How good is he week one, year one, with head coach number three? We'll see. 888-710-4ISN is the phone number. I'll take a phone call.
Let's go out to Baltimore. Rashawn joins us here on the Infinity Sports Network. What's up, Rashawn? Hey, how you doing? Thanks for taking my phone call.
Yeah, man. Uh I'm still trying to process what happened last night. Yeah. Yeah. I woke up this morning and I was like, man, maybe that was a bad dream, you know, until I checked my phone in.
It's like, no, it wasn't a dream. It really was. At least you knew it, Rashawn, before you went to bed. Imagine all the people that literally said, screw this, went to bed, and then woke up. If they were on either side, if they were Bills fans, they woke up, they're like, oh my God, I missed that.
And if you're a Ravens fan, You get to be thinking there's no way. There's absolutely no way I'm reading this right. Yeah, it's just no way, man, like that that that that happened, man. And um I don't know, like, there's so many things that, you know, people you can blame on. I mean, the Derrick Henry fumble But he had a tremendous game.
I think the play calling in the second half by the Ravens culture staff, man, was too conservative, though.
So if we're cutting the blame pie and we're handing out the biggest piece of that blame pie, who are you giving it to? It can't be Derrick Henry. He rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Yeah, he fumbled at the end of the game and it was costly. But ultimately, that's not just like a good game.
That's an unbelievable game. Is it. Is it John Harbaugh? I mean, when you're up by that many points at the end of a game, yeah, you're playing against Josh Allen of Buffalo on the road, but still, I saw a stat that teams in that position win 99.4% of the time.
So we're talking about something that never happens. I mean, who gets the most blame? I would say maybe like Todd Mucken, the offensive coordinator, you know, for the conservative play calling, the defense. Uh they they got no pressure on Josh Allen at all. you know, the secondary got scorched by them.
So, um I think the blame goes there, but at the end of the day, man, you've got to take your hat off to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, man. You know, he played. Like a true MVP, like, you know, like he has something to prove, man. You know what's serious? I mean, if you can't, if you can't, and thanks for the phone call, man, I'm up against a break here.
If you can't beat Buffalo in a game like that, where you're up by 16 points with like five minutes left in the game and you ultimately score 40. Then Then who's gonna beat him? And I was looking at the odds before I came on the air tonight. Buffalo's favored, this probably isn't too big of a surprise, they are the Bills, in every single game the rest of the season. You look at some teams like Cleveland, you just look at their schedule and go, Ruh-ro.
That's probably not going to be too good. You look at Buffalo, and this was by far, even though they were at the crib, their most difficult game. Buffalo also gets a chance to get fat off a New England team that we saw that wasn't very good. A Jets team that looks like they're better in division, but ultimately lost. And And the Dolphins?
Oh my goodness Oh. What Mike McDaniel, he's got to be the first coach gone, and maybe Mike McCarthy's the answer. Maybe that was a Freudian slip, is what that was here in the Infinity Sports Network because McDaniel ain't it. Might McDaniel, one of those guys that, like, we've all had a boss, and I'm not judging him on his looks, but I kind of am. We've all had a boss that kind of looks like that.
Looks like he'd probably wear a Weezer shirt and hit a vape pin and, you know, like drive a Prius. You guys know what I'm describing. And he's cool when he's cool. Like when things are going well. But when things go bad, it's easy to point to that guy and you're like.
What a dork. Why does that guy have so many bumper stickers on his car? That's Mike McCarthy or Mike McDaniel. I can't remember the guy's damn name. And a couple of years ago, when the Dolphins were winning, it was really fun and cool.
All that when they first got Tyree Kill. But you could tell that the fan base was ready to turn on him pretty quick. There's not that many Dolphins fans out there, but. Those that are, he's gone. I mean, I got to see what they're playing next week because that went about as bad.
As it possibly could have. And the Dolphins, who they were, they were playing the Indianapolis Colts. That might be the Colts' only win this year. 888-710-4ISN is the phone number. I shouldn't have said that.
Danny Dimes is actually pretty good. We'll get to him on the other side. Let's talk some NFC football on the Infinity Sports Network. You open the fridge. There's nothing there.
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Visit blueapron.com/slash terms for more. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. Here's Sean Levine. That is me taking over J.R.'s mic tonight. I am the sports machine.
Got my guy Ryan back in the studio spinning the wheels. You want to talk to us? Do it. The numbers. 888-710-4ISN.
And you know what? I'm not shaming the Bills fans that left early last night. I've done it before. My grandpa, actually, rest in peace, my paw on my dad's side, Paul Levine. Used to have a cigar in his mouth.
When I tell you he had a cigar in his mouth every single second that I ever saw him, That includes when he was taking a nap. He used to puff that thing. We did the math one time. He said he smoked like eight a day and he lived to be 89.
So it was like 918,000 cigars or something that he smoked. It was crazy. And now that I think about the fact he've lived to eighty nine is just unfathomable. But uh Rest in peace, Paul. He had chief season tickets forever, but he never saw the last two minutes of a game because he had to go puff his cigar.
So when there was the two-minute warning. Paul and I would have to leave our seats at section 208 because then we're just going to leave me there. I was a troublemaker. And then we'd have to watch the rest of the game on those little TVs that they had by the concession stands.
So, I'm not mad if you didn't see the last couple of minutes of the game. In fact, now that I think about it, I went to a Cubs game back in the day with my cousin Danny, and we took the L on the way there.
So, that meant we had to take the L on the way back. They were playing the Pirates, and we thought the game was over with. But anybody that's been to a game at Wrigley and taken the L knows that it literally pulls up to the stadium. And when I say that, like you're already in right field when the L gets there. And so we thought we were watching the last out of the game, you know, pop up the center.
The L comes, thought it was three outs. We got on, we went home. And then we partied that night, and some guy was Just pissed. We were like, What's up, man? He was like, Oh, that Cubs game.
I can't believe they blew it. You're like, they blew it. They didn't blow it. They won the game. We were there.
Nope. We watched two outs in the last inning. Apparently there's a rule where you have to get three outs in the inning. And they blew that game.
So, not only have I left the game early before, I left the game not even realizing. that the game wasn't over with.
So with all due respect, sir, I I'm the biggest dumbass in this room. All right, let's go back out the phone lines before we talk some NFL football. Let's go out to Rhode Island where Paul joins us on the Infinity Sports Network. What up, Paul? My man.
Thank you for taking my call. Yeah. I called you before. It's not often I call you, but it depends what time. But I want to tell you, the first week you c it it's unpredictable.
Bill Belichick is right. You know, it's unpredictable the first week. I'm gonna tell you. I think the Rams are going to win their division. I think Buffalo, how lucky they are, every team lost in that division.
And Imagine Rodgers. He won. Oh, my God. He looked good, dude. He went four touchdowns.
Like that might have been the biggest surprise to me of the entire first week. There was a lot of crazy stuff that happened, but the fact that Aaron Rodgers looks like he's got that much gas left in the tank was kind of crazy. Hey, listen, I'm gonna be honest with you. I I I love watching As a football fan, Lamar Jackson. But because He got paralyzed.
last year with that drop from Andrews, That killed him. That I mean, that's like it's it's First was the Boston College Kids, now Los Angeles. I'll tell you this much. I'm going with the I'm going with the Ravens and the Jaguars. This year for the final.
Oh, company checklists. I'm telling you. I'm telling you, I think the Jaguars are in Let's say not the final, but Hey, listen. I I like the Lions and uh and and And the Rams, but that's because I love I'm a Matthew Stackard fan. Here's what I know.
Here's what I know. Thanks for the phone, Claude. I appreciate it. As a Chiefs guy, I know this much. This is the first time I can tell you that I'm actually Worried slash scared, but I don't like saying I'm scared, but I can tell you guys because we're all good friends at this point, I'm scared.
that the Chiefs can't navigate their way through the playoffs. I mean, so let's say that For the sake of this conversation, the Cheese first game is forget if it's home road or on the moon. It's probably going to be on the road at this point because I don't think they're going to win the division. There's too many good teams. The Raiders even want to know, but the Broncos plus the Chargers.
It feels like it's got to be one of their time. Plus, the Chargers already beat the Chiefs, so they've got that game in hand. Everybody else is 1-0. Then you got the Chiefs. It it just it feels like to me.
That Let's say they play Cincinnati their first game, and then Buffalo, and then Baltimore, or Cincinnati, then Baltimore, then Buffalo. I don't think this Chiefs team I don't think anybody can go through that juggernaut. And beat those teams. What we saw last night isn't just the two best teams in the AFC and maybe the best game all year. Like, literally, the way it played out, that might be the most entertaining game.
On the entire calendar, the entire season. But on top of that, those are the two best teams in the NFL. Those are the two best quarterbacks right now in the NFL. And that was a preview four and a half months down the line of what we're going to see in the AFC Championship game. And if I'm a fan of Lamar, if I'm a fan of.
Josh Allen. I better pray that that's the case because that might be the only chance that you actually have reality talking now, like real talk. of getting to and winning a Super Bowl. Because, yeah, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are down. I'm saying they might not even win the division.
They're going to get to the playoffs. And something tells me Buffalo fans would just as rather not see that guy on the road to a championship than have to play him.
So. I think what we saw last night is probably going to be a preview of the AFC Championship game.
Now, as far as on the NFC side, How can you not love what you saw with Green Bay? And I remember saying a couple of weeks ago that I thought the Green Bay Packers, we were picking. The Division Winners Here on the Infinity Sports Network, going through, I think it's going to be this team, and I think it's going to be Seattle. It's going to upset in the West. I don't love that pick today.
And I remember we got to. The uh The NFC North, and I said I like Green Bay, and it got a little bit of pushback. People were calling me from Michigan, you know, the Upers, saying, nah, what happened? We won 15 games last year. And what happened is there wasn't a whole lot of off-season improvement that I saw from Detroit.
And I don't know if anybody told you this, but Green Bay got a guy a couple of weeks ago. Named Micah Parsons. And is Micah Parsons a little bit overhyped? Is he kind of the flavor of the month? 1 million percent.
Yes, he certainly is. Like, let's not pretend like Michael Parsons is Lawrence Taylor. He's not. He's a very, very good player, but he has his flaws, right? He's not the best tackler.
He's kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to a sack artist.
Now, he might be the best sack artist going in the NFL right now. If you look at the amount of snaps that he played and the amount of sacks that he almost got, But Dallas fans will tell you that he doesn't play a full four quarters and that he only averages 12 and a half games per year. There's and he was even injured coming into this game.
So. It's easy to poke holes when it comes to Micah Parsons, but here's the thing: Green Bay wasn't too far away. Before they made the Marcus Parsons deal, I already thought that they were a team that probably was going to win 12 or 13 games, be in that conversation with Philadelphia as the one seed in the NFC. I thought Jordan Love was going to be right in the middle of the MVP conversation. I love Matt LaFleur.
La Frillo, he said. He's one of those guys that we don't really talk about. We talk about the best coaches in the NFL, but he's probably top five. He certainly is if you look at his record.
So, Green Bay, to me, is a team that was already a stock that was on the rise. And then they add Micah Parsons. See, Here's the thing. Micah Parsons is overhyped. He's the flavor of the month.
He's overrated. But I think that he was worth it. Easily worth it, like a no-brainer for Green Bay to trade for them, to give up what they did. and to sign him right away. For Dallas, I'm starting to kind of understand their trepidation.
Do we pay this guy all this money on the defensive side of the ball that might not move the needle when it comes to win-loss record? Yeah, he's obviously going to make the numbers look better and get to the quarterback, but they've had Michael Parsons the last couple of years and have been a very good football team. They got to pay him a lot of money. That money could otherwise be used to maybe give Dak some more weapons.
So I maybe understand what Jerry Jones was doing. You get draft picks, it's a whole lot cheaper and all that from Dallas's perspective because Michael Parsons probably wasn't going to help them get anywhere this year. It's not like. The difference between having Micah Parsons and not having him means the playoffs are winning playoff games. From Green Bay's perspective, to me, when you get a guy like that, that's the difference in.
Coming in second in the division or winning the division and getting a home field advantage and getting the buy. That's huge. If I'm right, Then the path to a Super Bowl for Green Bay. Is you get two games at Lambo, you get to sleep in your own bed, you get your wife's home cooking, and then. You're in the Super Bowl.
You look up and all of a sudden, you're in, where is it this year? Santa Clara. in the Super Bowl. Probably facing the bills based on what I saw last night.
So Green Bay, it was worth it. For Dallas, I understand maybe why they had their questions. It was basically a move to get Green Bay from being really good to great. That was the move to get them over the top. And I think you saw the impact yesterday.
Head to head. We don't really have to argue anymore who's the better team because we saw it on the field. And I know you're listening to me in Detroit.
So hit me up, 888-710-4ISN. What's your level of trepidation? 'Cause I can admit as a Cheese fan that I'm a little bit scared. Not to mention Philadelphia comes into Arrowhead this Sunday, so we'll see how that goes for my Chiefs. They could be 0-2, and then you're going to really hear some panic in my voice.
But same thing with the Troy fans. The last couple of years, it's been all gravy, baby. Everybody loved your coach. Everybody loved your quarterback. You signed a bunch of guys, you won the division.
But now you're 0-1. And you're 0-1 in division. against probably the team that you're going to be chasing the rest of the year. The NFL schedule, even though they added a game, is still only 17 games.
So it's probably going to come down to a one game difference at the end between Detroit's record and Green Bay.
So what we saw yesterday might end up being home field advantage, winning division versus having to take a much more difficult route. Just ask the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings went 14 and 3 last year, but they had to play in this same difficult ass division. They had to go up against this same Detroit team. And ultimately, they had to take a path that was impossible.
So I'm telling you, man, Green Bay. I don't think they're Philadelphia and the NFC. Philly didn't look great against Dallas, but they won the game, and that's all that matters. Philly's still the team to be, they're the champions. But I think we got the answer to who's next.
I know it was just one week, but to me, that was a pretty definitive answer in the NFC that Green Bay is probably next. What else did we see yesterday in the NFC? The Cardinals beat the Saints. Can we just give the Saints the number one pick? I know it doesn't work that way.
But Can we just give him the number one pick right now? Because it feels like. They've been fighting for a quarterback.
So Drew Brees leaves. They get Derek Carr. Derek Carr retires out of nowhere. That quarterback room. You almost gotta feel bad for Saints fans.
They're gonna throw, and Spencer Rattler wasn't.
Well, I was going to say it wasn't terrible, but. He he was. I mean, he wasn't good. And if they're not going to go with Spencer Rattler, it's going to be Jake Hainer, who? And if it's not Jake Hainer, they're going to go with.
What's the other guy's name? Tyler Shook. Who? Mike Jones? Mike Jones could probably walk in there himself and put on a jersey and throw some passes.
Nobody would know the difference.
So, can we just give them whoever the number one quarterback's going to be? Like, that's not even saying that Arizona's good. At the end of the game, if you watched it, actually, Spencer Rowler threw a pass that probably should have been caught, and the Saints would have tied the game, but they're going to run into a lot of that this year. Like, you can see good teams and you can see bad teams, then you can just see. Hot garbage, and that to me is what the Saints are going to be this year.
I almost feel bad for them.
So, Queen's giving them the number one pick. Tampa beat Atlanta 23 to 20. That game was back and forth, and dicey, and Young Way Ku missed the field goal at the end of the game, and Baker Mayfield. I'm I'm starting to think. that Baker Mayfield is a top five quarterback in the NFL.
Am I getting too excited here on a Monday? I'm starting to think he's a top five quarterback.
So last night, I think we saw one and two. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. If you're a Lamar guy over Josh Allen, fine. But I think we can agree that in some form or fashion, that's number one and number two. Mahomes just Mm, you guys know it pains me to say this, but he just He ain't it anymore.
He's still good. He's still good enough to put the team on his back to win a bunch of games and maybe still win the Super Bowl. I think he's still got a couple of rings ahead of him. But if we're talking about the here and now, I'm gonna go Allen. Lamar Jalen Hurts is a tough one, man, because he's probably could do more than he shows and give us more highlights and score more touchdowns and pass the ball around a little bit more.
But last time I checked they won the Super Bowl and he was the M V P. And as a quarterback of a football team, I don't think you can do a whole lot better than winning the Super Bowl and being the MVP of said Super Bowl.
So I think Jalen Hurst just gets it and doesn't need to change much. And he's got his contract. And he doesn't really care if he gets the credit from dummies like me that talk on the radio. I'd probably put him in the top five just because he doesn't make any mistakes. Jaden Daniels creeping up on that list, Joe Burrow.
I bam. I think that we're going to have to pretty soon either put Baker in that club or he's already there. Three more touchdowns yesterday, clutch at the end of the game. They've won the division every year since he's been the Bucs quarterback. Poor Cleveland.
Poor Cleveland Browns They've been chasing the quarterback my entire life, your entire life too. If you're listening to me and you're 16 or 50 or 85. I appreciate it. But you've never seen a franchise quarterback.
Well, if you're 85, maybe you saw Otto Graham.
So maybe you did, but it's been a long time. And you had one right there in front of you. And then you let him go. And ever since then, Baker Mayfield's been awesome. That's what I'm saying with guys like Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield.
Anyone that's played for the Jets, the Browns. The Bears as a quarterback, you have to wait till their next stop to really judge them. Because those organizations have so much stink, stank, stunk on them when it comes to grooming and making a franchise. Because they've never done it. That can you really blame the quarterbacks?
Was it a Sam Darnold problem or was it a Jets problem? Was it a Baker problem or was it a Cleveland problem? To some extent I don't know. We just saw one game. Was it a Daniel Jones problem?
Was it a Giants problem? Oh, speaking of the Giants. Oh, they got whooped. 21 to 6 by DC. And You probably heard the news earlier today, and you're probably going to hear it in a minute when I turn it over to Rich Ackerman with an update that the Giants have named Russell Wilson their week two starting quarterback.
That has to be coming from above. I have no inside information, but that's an awful decision. If that's coming from Brian Dable, because Brian Dable's in a position where his first job is to save his job, and anybody that's been in that position knows that they're looking at you close, man. You can't make any mistakes. There's no way that he's making that choice, right?
Let's talk about that on the other side. I got Levine's list for you, too. But remember I said I was going to turn it over to Rich Ackerman? That's what I do right now with the Sports Flash. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
Here's Sean Levine. Yo, that's me. By the way, this segment is brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service.
From the professional parts people. Anna Reilly Auto Parts. 888-710-4ISN is the phone number. I'm here, Ryan's here, you're here. We'll be together for the next few hours.
Looking forward to that. Monday night football kickoff. That is the Vikings on the road at The Bears. Um I I got a text message yesterday that for some reason, I don't know why. It just bothers me.
Me like most of the time, I can just block somebody's number and then it's over with. But I gotta be honest with y'all. The rudest An oath. Like the rudest possible text that you can get is from a random girl. It's not from.
Your own family member, your own friend that feels like, you know, I didn't know this person well enough. This happened to me in the last couple of months. Where I'll text, and I wasn't even like texting to say, hey, we should get together, try to hook up. This was far from a booty call. This was my text, literally.
Ryan, tell me if I'm wrong and tell me who's pettier, me or her. All right.
So. I had gone out with this girl 20. And There wasn't a ton of chemistry. Like you could tell the first time that we already kind of hated each other and then went out the second time, then we knew that was going to be it. But every now and again, we still text back and forth.
We both went to the same college or whatever. And so I was at the Royals game a couple of nights ago. And I see a girl. You know, 20 feet away that look like her. And I would have said with 90% certainty that it was her.
And so I reach out. I send her a text message. I say, Hey, are you at the Royals game? If not, you've got a doppelganger. That that was my entire text.
Bro, she sends me back a text That says leave me alone. And then I'm so petty. Then at that point, I could have just blocked her number, but I'm like, she didn't block my number, which would have been the right thing to do if she wanted me to leave her alone. Isn't that what the block is for? Isn't that the way to tell somebody, leave me alone, without rudely saying, leave me alone?
Can't you just block them and they don't have to. Be a, you know, the word I'm trying to stay away from. And so I decided, you know what? I'm petty. My dad's petty, my grandpa was petty, I come from a long line of petty Levines, so I'm not gonna block her, I gotta respond.
And so I said.
Well I can smell your breath through that text message, and you shouldn't be so rude. And then I blocked her.
So who's in the right? Is it me or Ian or her? Who's pettier? Who went lower? You went lower, but I did.
Yeah. Really? Yeah, I feel like the the leave me alone was bad. Then she started it, dude. I was just trying to say what's up.
I know, I know, but I don't know how it ended. Like, you said that there was some tension there.
Well, you know, you know how it is when you go with somebody and you're like. They're all right. Like, I could spend a night with them. They're not so bad that, like, they just absolutely disgust me. And then you went the second time to make sure that you actually did hate them at the level you thought you did.
You know how that goes. But that's the kind of relationship that we had. You're telling me that I'm the pig and she's not, really. No, no, no. The first response, we were like, hey, you have a doppelganger?
All good. The response from her Was kinda rude. Very rude. Kind of rude. Leave me alone.
Well, like, was it like just a homeboy? We're gonna box if you send me that. That's true. And then the response, I guess, if you're trying to be petty back. That's a good petty response.
Thank you.
Okay, so you turn.
Now you're on my team. That's why you're my guy, right? Yeah, you went lower. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well sometimes you have to. Yeah, you went lower. Okay, Dude, sometimes I got to tell you breast angst if you're going to tell me leave me alone when I'm just trying to reach out to you anyway. 888-710-4ISN. And I'm not trying to say that I'm not shallow.
One time I broke up with a girl because her name was Tanya. That's it. That's the end of the story. Her name went, and I sound like such a jerk when I say that out loud. I just didn't see myself, my future, with a girl named Tanya.
And if you're listening and your name's Tanya, or if your mama's name's Tanya, it's a great name. Like, I've come to really enjoy it, not really. But I gotta say that. Yeah, I just didn't see myself, so I was like, we probably end this now.
So, look, I'm not saying that I'm not a jerk too, but I feel like she went lower that time. Anyway, we saw a great comeback in the NFL last night. Literally, an all-time great comeback, but doesn't make the Levine's list of the greatest sports comebacks of all time. Hit the music. As always, honorable mentions come first.
Do you remember when Tracy McGrady? Scored 13 points and 35 seconds. to beat the Spurs, I think it was. And if you're just now driving around, you're like, that can't be right. You can't score 13 points in 35 seconds.
When you get home, YouTube it. It's wildly entertaining. The fact you even pulled that off, but that didn't make my list. You know what you need? Hey, do me a favor.
See if you can find the audio. We can play it later on the show, Ryan. Of John Tyler High School back in 1994. This was the actual greatest sports comeback of all time before we get to the list. John Tyler High School.
was down forty one to seventeen. with three minutes left in the state championship game. They were down 41 to 17 with three minutes left, and they come back. And the guy that's on the play-by-play has the best southern draw you've ever heard.
So don't go anywhere. I'm sure my guy Ryan's going to find that. We'll play that for you coming up. At the top of the hour, here's the list. Top five greatest sports comebacks.
of all time. At number five. Reggie Miller. Eight points. In nine seconds.
In a playoff game. At Madison Square Garden with Spike Lee sitting right there at courtside with everything on the line, trying to keep the season alive. You guys know what I'm talking about. That's another one where you can just watch it on repeat. Even the first time you see it, you're like, I gotta watch that again.
That didn't just happen. Number four. The Bills playoff game. When they were down to Houston 35 to 3.
So they were down 28 to 3 at halftime. And if that score sounds familiar, it might come up a little bit later on this list, 28 to 3.
So Buffalo was down 28 to 3 at halftime. Jim Kebley gets hurt. They turn it over to Frank Reich. They're backup quarterback. And all he does is lead the team to five touchdowns in 20 minutes.
Josh Allen last night had a problem with Bills fans leaving the stadium. How many Bills fans do you think left the stadium that day as they made the greatest comeback at that time in NFL history? By the numbers, it still is. They were down 32 points. with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Came back and won with the backup quarterback. Speaking of Frank Reich, he was also the quarterback that led the biggest college comeback. of all time. What a weird claim to fame For Frank Reichs had a very strange like So he led the biggest comeback of all time in NFL history, but he was a backup. He led the biggest college comeback of all time, and now he's a college coach, sort of-ish.
I don't know what his resume even says. At number three best comebacks of all time. I had to do some research. I'm being honest with you guys. Like, I didn't remember this happened.
The 2019 Masters Tiger Woods Yo, Ryan, is that true or is that just a figment of my imagination? That really happened? Uh I still don't believe it. to this day that he came back and won that one? In 2019, that doesn't feel, so what are we now?
2025, so that was six years ago by the calendar. Like Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods? That happened? Really? Okay, all right.
Um, first major since 08. Just thought he was done. Second best comeback in sports history in 2004. The Red Sox down three games to zero to the Yankees. That's a different kind of comeback, though.
I'm surprised that was the first time it had ever happened, at least in baseball. You would think somebody would do it before. Kind of a fun group of guys on that Red Sox to get it done though. Pedro Martinez. Big Poppy, Johnny Damon.
But the best comeback of all time. And I think the night that we found out that Tom Brady was indeed the greatest quarterback ever was when he got down 28 to 3 in the Super Bowl. I'll never forget, I'm sitting next to my grandpa, and I go, Graham, I don't have any money. But I'll bet you a million dollars that Tom Brady's not good enough to lead the comeback. I swear that happened when they were down 28 to 3.
And my grandpa is like, yeah, cool, I'll make the bet. And so he always lets me know. He's like, hey, I'm getting old and I'm going to die pretty soon, but you got to somehow work off that million dollars that you owe me as Tom Brady led the team. And at the time, if you remember, I don't know if there was a definitive best quarterback in the NFL. We were probably all leaning toward Tom Brady.
He already had at that point. One, two, three. I think he had four because he won one more with New England after, and then he won that one with Tampa Bay a couple of years ago.
So I think he was that was four Super Bowls in. At that point, we started to go, yeah, that's that's that's the goat right there. When you come back in that game in that fashion to win the Super Bowl again, and then you win three more, I'm Love meet some Patrick Mahomes, but I don't know if anybody's ever going to catch that guy when you say it out loud. One hour down, three more coming up. Let's dive into the AFC on the other side.
I'm the sports machine, Sean Levine.
