It is! The JR Sportbrief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I hope you're doing well on this Friday afternoon, this Friday evening, depending on where you might be.
This is exactly where I'm going to be for the next three hours. This show gets started though every weekday Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Thank you so much to our producer, Ryan Botcher, holding it down on the boards in New York City.
And thank you again to you for listening. How do you listen? You can tune in on the free Audacy app, A-U-D-A-C-Y. You can lock in on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. If you got Sirius XM, it's channel 375. If you got a smart speaker, ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network. We've been here for an hour and we have already had ourselves just a very full show. We learned in the last hour that Roki Sasaki, a Japanese phenom who's had a 2 ERA, 2.1 ERA over the past several seasons is joining the rotation of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What a shock. We talked about what the biggest matchup is over the weekend for the playoffs. I think the most intriguing game is Baltimore and Buffalo. And I think this is going to be one of those field goal, field goals, missed type of games, big play here. I'm expecting a close one in cold Buffalo on Sunday night.
I'm picking the Ravens as I think having Derrick Henry back there with Lamar Jackson, I think it takes one big play to change things, but it's certainly going to be a close game. I hope so. I mean, it would suck if it's one of those terrible games. How about this? And about 20 minutes from now, we're going to look at another game. The game that takes place tomorrow night, Saturday night between the commanders and the Lions.
At least the players in Detroit are not going to have to worry about the weather. I know they're all happy about that. And so Ben Standing is going to join us. He covers the commanders for the athletic. And you think about the Washington commanders. This is a team that is 12 and five, 12 and five and the regular season, they just beat Tampa Bay.
And now they got to see if they could hang offensively with the Detroit Lions. So we got a lot to get into. Ben Standing will be here in about 20 minutes. And we're going to talk about the other games as well. If you want to call me up, you can 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. I am online everywhere at JR Sport Brief. And thank you so much to everybody who called up in the first hour to lend their thoughts and give their opinions on what we're going to see Sunday night between the Ravens and the Bills.
Now, when it comes down to Roki Sasaki, I'm going to go back in and just double down on that, just rather quickly. I said online, on the air, I said, don't blame the Dodgers. Don't blame the Dodgers because the Dodgers are spending money, whether it's an international player, whether they're bringing in somebody like Blake Snell to be a part of their rotation, don't blame the Dodgers for the current economic system in Major League Baseball.
And I got people messaging me online and they're telling me things like, what is this? This has everything to do with location and them having Otani. Well, no crap. Nothing any other Major League Baseball owner can do.
Yeah, well, no crap. My point is when you think about Major League Baseball as a whole, everybody can spend willy nilly. And we got teams who spend it. We have teams who purposely don't. I'm not saying that the Dodgers.
Oh, my God. They're just, you know, putting money under the table, tampering, doing things illegal. But the fact is the current system and lack of parity in Major League Baseball exists because the other owners don't care.
That's my point. The other owners just want to make money. They don't necessarily say, oh, I need to go out here and win a World Series if they can go out and turn a profit and make some money and be a part of revenue sharing. It's not the Dodgers fault. Dodgers are just hoarding talent. Good. Regardless whether they get the guy from Japan or whether they got to get a guy from the moon. Good.
Not a problem. This has nothing to do with having other Japanese guys in a rotation. This has nothing to do with the proximity to California from Japan.
Of course, of course, those are all factors. My point is, don't get mad at the Dodgers. I've seen people say the Dodgers are ruining baseball. They're operating in the same rules as everybody else, except for their spending. And so if you take the thought process or have the thought process of the Dodgers are ruining baseball, yell at the other owners. That's it. It's as simple as that. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Ruining baseball. People moving, coming, going, leaving. We talked a lot about that yesterday. Focused in on a lot of the coaches and the NFL ranks and who's going where and Belichick leaving and there's just Kevin O'Connell saying I'm not leaving Minnesota. There's just a lot of that going on.
I mean, for instance, even earlier today, pretty wild. Max Crosby, he was on the NFL network. Why? Because Max Crosby ain't playing and we know the Raiders are not playing football. They are done.
They've been done. Raiders are looking for everything. Looking for a GM, looking for a coach. I mean, they have two quarterbacks, looking for a quarterback.
The Raiders are looking for it all. And we know Max Crosby is their biggest star. Now that Devante Adams is gone, he left to go to the New York Jets, what a disaster that was. And so Max Crosby, who only played 12 games this year because he had a busted up ankle, went out there and had seven and a half sacks. You know, people are starting to speculate as to where he might go and end up, especially with all the changes that are taking place in Las Vegas with the Raiders.
So naturally, Max Crosby was on television, as I told you, the NFL network, and he was asked about tomorrow night's game between the commanders and the Lions. Now, we all know the Lions historically have been bad. They've been terrible. They've been a joke. They've been a disaster.
Okay, I'll stop there. And now they've been able to turn things around. The Lions are favored to go to the Super Bowl.
The Lions are favored to come out of the NFC. And as odd as it sounds to even think about or say, like this, like this Super Bowl contenders, you can go ahead and thank somebody like Dan Campbell. You want to know someone who spent a good part of his life in Michigan? His name is Max Crosby. And so while he was on television, he said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I grew up loving them. My family loves them.
And then people ran away and made their own conclusions. Listen to Max Crosby. It's incredible to see. And just for the city of Detroit, my mom was born, you know, raised in Detroit by, you know, aunts and uncles.
I grew up in Michigan, right down the street. It's incredible to see for the city because it's been some long years and the Lions haven't won a long time. And now you see the Pistons winning, the Red Wings are winning.
Even the Tigers, the Tigers are back winning. I'm like, damn, I'm like, now I'm in Vegas. Okay. All right. And so the rumor mill started up people online, Max Crosby. Oh, when are you coming to the Lions? Max Crosby had a couple of words to say about the Buffalo Bills. People are all, well, Max, when are you coming to the Buffalo Bills? Like, this is the season of rumors.
I think Max Crosby, he's 27 years old. If you're the Raiders, do you want to go through a complete rebuild? Do you want to rip things down all the way to the damn studs? I think not.
Sometimes leave just well enough alone. Now, when it comes to tomorrow night's game, I am ridiculously and have been like a lot of people. I've been impressed by what we've seen from Jayden Daniels.
Let's be clear. I don't even think there's any type of competition. Jayden Daniels is your rookie of the year. We can go ahead and hand him the award.
We do not have to wait for NFL honors and all that stuff. The man was ridiculously efficient. This man led the team. He led the team in rushing yards. 891 to go along with six touchdowns. As a rookie QB, he threw for more than 3,500 yards, 25 touchdowns to only nine interceptions. Those are not rookie numbers.
And yeah, things can change. We saw C.J. Stroud have an amazing year for his rookie season. And this past year, especially with the injuries to his wideouts, things weren't as great. But to have a record of 12 and 5, play like this as a rookie QB, be the centerpiece of the offense, beat a team like Tampa Bay in the first round, the wildcard round of the playoffs.
Jayden Daniels is special. I just don't know if he's special enough to go out there and lead the commanders to victory. I know some people are saying, look out for the upset.
I'm not one of those folks. I think the commanders are going to try to score. They're going to put those points up, but not with the Lions. This is what Jared Goff, someone who's been to a Super Bowl trying to win one in Detroit with the Lions, this is what Jared Goff had to say about Jayden. Extremely impressive. Very, very impressive for anyone that young to do what he's doing. And it doesn't look like he is a rookie. It doesn't look like he feels like a rookie.
It feels like he understands the moment and is comfortable in it. And so our job on defense is try to make them comfortable. And it's been a challenge for a lot of teams this year, but I'm excited to see what they do. Yeah, they're experienced.
They've been here. I mean, the Lions, they almost went to the Super Bowl last year. They had to sit through that disappointment. And then they came back, bounced back, had a season 15 and 2, knocked out the Vikings in the final game of the regular season to claim the number one overall seed and also get themselves a bye. They deserve this.
These commanders are just, they're just a spot. They're a stepping stone for them to advance to another NFC championship game. And Dan Campbell, he says, you know what, the way we got beat and the way we lost last year, disappointing. And of course we grew from it.
Listen to Dan. I think really once you get in that moment and, you know, you go against a team who'd been there time after time playing at a high level, really good football players, San Francisco, and man, they willed that to happen more than we were able to overcome and made the plays in opportune times. And, and we didn't, you know, and it was, they made plays and we also did not make plays. We, we, and I just think there's something about being in that moment, in that space, going through it with the core group of guys you have. In sports, in most cases, sports in most cases, before you win the big one, you got to get knocked down.
Somebody bigger and badder has to knock you out. You got to go back and lick your wounds. You got to come back the next season and try to give a better showing.
That's it. And so by the way, not that Washington has been any good. This is a new era of Washington commanders football.
There's no Dan Snyder. You now have Josh Harris and you got Dan Quinn. People don't talk about Dan Quinn here as the head coach of this team.
And, and he's helping to lead the way. We know about the disaster that Dan Quinn had in the Super Bowl. My apologies to my folks here in Atlanta, 28 to 3, but Dan Quinn now has a rookie quarterback playing out of his mind. Dan Quinn says we are ready to go. All week. I've been talking about a cool and huge opportunity for us and good week of prep, excellent opponent, well coached, but going into a really cool environment. And if you love competing, this is your kind of game, man.
So I've had a good week, like I said, with preparation. And now we get to take the show on the road. Hey, we had a caller last hour who said that this game between Buffalo and Baltimore on Sunday night is going to be one of these barn burner, you know, up and down the field high scoring type affairs.
And I said, nah, man, it's going to be cold. I'd be shocked if we get a shootout, I'd be surprised. The lines are playing inside on that turf at four field. The command is get up and down the field. The command is seventh in offense this year.
The lines were second. It's probably going to come down to defense. And I think ultimately the lions are going to handle business. And I know Aiden Hutchinson has been gone. People were worried about him early on in the season. One of the best sack masters in the entire NFL, in the entire NFL. The lions have this at home.
I'm on Ross St. Brown. He said, it's going to come down to defense. And I don't know if he told the truth or not. He said the command is defense is going to be after them. Maybe with Lattimore, listen to this. Whether it's, you know, their D line, their linebackers or safeties, they play really hard. So, you know, whatever it is they do on defense, whether they're blitzing, dropping back in coverage, playing the run, playing the pass, we know they're going to bring their all.
Yeah, well, we know that. And it, their defense. And that's why they brought on Lattimore. And now he's actually healthy enough to go out there and play at the quarterback position.
He's probably going to be all up in a Marlboro St. Brown's face. But I'll tell you this, the commanders against the rush, they were 30th in the NFL. Yeah. 30th, 30th out of 32 damn teams. You want to know who might eat them alive on the ground? Someone who's pretty capable of running for multiple touchdowns. It's Jameer Gibbs. Look, this has been an amazing season by the Washington commanders. What they've been able to do admirable with a rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, ready and willing to stand in the pocket, take a big hit and still deliver the ball down the field. They're going to get their points.
Okay. They're going to get their points tomorrow, but the lions, man, what a joke it be. If they took the L I think Dan Campbell is going to have his guys ready to go.
Whether they're biting ankles and snapping kneecaps and all that other stuff that Dan Campbell says, they are going to be ready. And this is going to be a fun one. It's the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network.
We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, we're going to have a chat with Ben standing. He covers the commanders for the athletic. I'm going to get his thoughts on how great they've been, how they were able to get to this spot and whether or not this season will continue on.
Ben standing on the other side. It's the JR sport re-show coast to coast on the infinity sports network. You're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27.
That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Right before we went to break, we talked about the game that we expect to see tomorrow night. Not expect to see, damn it. It's going to take place tomorrow night between the commanders and the Detroit Lions.
A little bit more of a, I think a clear cut type situation as to who's going to come out on top here. The Detroit Lions have certainly been running all over and through the NFL, 15 and 2. My last big game to close out the season, knocking off the Minnesota Vikings to secure the number one overall seed as well as that by 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 is the number.
That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. In a few minutes, we're going to have a chat with Ben standing who covers the commanders for the athletic. And what I shared with you right before we went to break was that you think about what the commanders have been able to do. It's surprising. You know, I know Jayden Daniels went out there and won himself a Heisman. I know the guy went from LSU and lit it up, but you don't expect in the NFL for a quarterback just to come on through and wake up and automatically win 12 games and take a team to the postseason.
This guy is ready. And we know that things are vastly different in the NFL. Gone are the days, gone, gone, gone, gone. Gone are the days when you can just get a quarterback, park him, and then all of a sudden think that in three years he's going to take over.
People are trying to go ahead and take advantage of what we have in front of us right now with the rookie contracts. They're ready to go. Let's go ahead. We out on the phone lines right now joining us. Ben standing here from the athletic covers all things commanders. Ben, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing great. Just going along for this ride that nobody expected. So yeah, it's kind of wild times.
So you're correct. Nobody expected. What were your expectations for the commanders coming into this season?
Well, sort of part right of what's happened and part no. I thought Jayden Daniels starting with training camp and preseason looked to be the guy. Now, does that mean he's going to be dominant as a rookie? No, because typically rookies have ups and downs.
He's showed he's not typical. I thought they would be competitive week in and week out under Dan Quinn. The part that's not discussed so much anymore is how dreadful the culture was under the previous ownership and all that. But I thought the guys they brought in and just having the weight of that whole situation removed from them would mean that they would be in these games. But in terms of wins, the over-under was like six and a half.
I didn't think that was necessarily wrong. But early in the season, that's a crazy start they had when they didn't punt. For like three games, you know, that was like, okay, this is something unusual is happening here. And, you know, other than the stretch where Jay Daniels was hurt, it's just kind of kept going. Yeah, he's had the had that rib issue in the middle of the season. Ben standing here with us covers the commanders for the athletic. You talk about Jayden Daniels, not a full expectation that he would do this.
What has impressed you the most about his play, especially he's a rookie? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I'm sure it's been that you guys have probably heard this, but like his poise and composure, you know, forget an athlete. Human beings have ups and downs, right? I mean, some days are good, some days are not. Some things aggravate you.
Sometimes you can move on. Nothing seems to ever change with him. Like, never. We've all asked him from the media group and can numerous ways of like, dude, do you ever get rattled? Do you ever get nervous?
Do you ever get anything? And he never seems to. He's often sort of blase about his own accomplishments. The way I've always described it is his demeanor at all times is like he's third in line to Chipotle waiting to put in an order.
You wouldn't know if he threw a Hail Mary or, you know, he was getting food. Like, he's just so, you know, chill at all times. And that, I think, has been such a key for what is happening here because, you know, they keep winning in clutch time moments to the point that I think we're all like four minutes to go. It's a tie game where they're losing.
He's going to find a way to win. And, you know, we saw all the physical skills, athletic traits at LSU and those have translated. Some of the passes are just off the charts, accurate and impressive. But yeah, the composure, the poise, especially in crunch time has really just been, you know, unbelievable.
Well, Ben, we know that he also led the team in rushing. They have Austin Eckler and Brian Robinson there as well. Are they, well, I'm not going to say have they or are they overreliant? Do they have enough to, you know, hang in there with the Lions tomorrow? Of course, they're going to put some points up, but is it going to be enough, you think? Well, I've, you know, given up the idea that they can't do it. I think, yeah, look, the traditional running game has been pretty quiet now for a while.
Brian Robinson, who was their leading rusher most of the year, he's had some injuries, but then like the last four games, he's totaled a hundred yards. That just hasn't worked. And Daniel says, there's definitely been some games. If you go back and watch the Atlanta game and the regulation and overtime, it looked like an NBA player superstar who just says, I'm just, I have to take over now. Give me the, give me the ball. I'm going to put up the point. I'm going to put up the ball. I'm going to put up the points and make the plays and all that.
That's what it looked like then. So to a degree, they are a bit over relying on him. Getting Austin Eckler back a couple of weeks ago, though, I do think is kind of a big deal. He hasn't done a ton statistically, you could say the last couple of weeks, but against Tampa Bay, he had a pretty huge catch and run on that final drive. He had his best run of the game on that final drive. I think he's going to be a pretty key factor in this, but they do need to keep running even though, again, it hasn't really been working in the traditional, traditional way, but they need to keep doing that both to, you know, help turn the clock shrink, get tight, shrink the game as much as they can in terms of the time. Don't let Detroit have the ball often and, you know, just have to give Detroit something else to look at. So they're not constantly paying attention to Jay Daniels, even though obviously they will be.
Well, you talk about them having a ball in defense. We know that Marshawn Lattimore was finally able to get going and probably not at 100% or full strength. When you think about the Lions and those wide receivers that they have from Jamison Williams and Amman Raas St. Brown, Marshawn Lattimore, he has his work cut out for him. How's he been looking? How's that defense going to try to slow down the Lions?
Try. Yeah, I mean, it's been a tough, you know, deal for him. They acquired him from the Saints at the trade deadline, knowing he was dealing with a hamstring. He had missed one game at that point, missed another four in Washington, then was back for two, didn't even finish the second game because of the hamstring injury cropped up again. He missed two more games and then he's been back, you know, the last couple of weeks. And look, he didn't look particularly good against Tampa Bay.
I mean, I think that's fair. Actually, that was the only game he got back and he only had one practice sort of going full speed that week. So it's partly, you know, and the coaches talk about this, it's partly unfair to expect him to be the Pro Bowl version we've seen.
On the other hand, this is why they got him here. The reality is they don't, you know, their rookie Mikey Sanders still has been pretty solid all year, but if Lattimore is out, their other quarterbacks are pretty inconsistent, we'll kindly call it. So, you know, whatever he's going to bring them, he does bring a lot of aggression out there and that helps sometimes in the run defense. But yeah, they're going to need a big game from him and the Lions don't have this Mike Evans guy, they have two guys who can get 100 yards at the touchdown. So they'll need him, you know, to at least be a steady presence even if he's not like the Pro Bowl version.
Ben standing here with us from the Athletic. You've seen this team all year long, didn't expect them to be here. How have the fans kind of taken to what they've seen so far this season? I know the past couple of seasons there's been some optimism. Well, here are the results under a different regime with a different coach and a quarterback.
Are Commandos fans, yeah, they're here, but are they just happy to be here at this moment and just playing with house money? Well, you know, it's funny, you know, people talk about all the losing and, you know, they had a couple years here and there with the RG three year and, you know, they made the playoffs with Kirk Cousins and things like that. And even just in 2020, they won a terrible NFC Eastfield with a seven to nine record. They made the, they won the division, but, you know, they have not been particularly good, like a real contender. And it's one thing to be mad.
It's another thing to be apathetic. And I think that's what the fans kind of hit the last few years with Ron Rivera, but, and then they were slow to come out, you know, even if you're like, okay, you know, fool me, you know, 16 times, you know, you know, that whole thing. And they were slow to come out, but slowly, but surely as Jane Daniels and his team kept winning, they kind of poked their head out of whatever caves they've been hibernating in, and they've gotten into it, gotten back into this.
And yet now it's like a full blown love affair. Uh, you know, everybody is pretty thrilled. I do think most people who are reasonable look at this, like this is a, you know, it's all gravy at this point because again, nobody imagined any of this. And the fact that Daniels, he doesn't look to get the one year blip because of Daniels mainly, but also the work that Adam Peters and GM and Dan Quinn have done.
So I think this is all being viewed as just, I can't believe we're here. I'm sure people will be crushed if they were to lose tomorrow, but again, if you take the bigger picture, I think most reasonable people be like, wow, what an unbelievable year. Well, Ben, there's so many conversations in the NFL right now surrounding owners, guys like Jerry Jones and what's going on with the Cowboys, Mark Davis, and now having the ears and eyes and brain of Tom Brady out in Las Vegas. If Dan Snyder were still in charge, what would this look like?
Would we still have this? Would he have had to have, I don't know, struck it rich one time or is the ownership group really changed the vibe and atmosphere of the entire team? Do I get compensated for PTSD if you bring up Dan Snyder?
No, no, no, no, no chance. I mean, obviously Jane Daniels has been tremendous, but it really is the whole organization. You know what they've been able to do.
Josh Harris, the owner comes in, you know, he, he buys the team officially like the day they start the 20, 23 training camps. There really wasn't anything he could do there. And he wisely let it play out. They lost their last eight games last season to get the number two pick. And then he brings in Adam Peters the next year, who was like, he was like the hot GM candidate for a few years.
And, and Peters, you know, understood the task at hand. It wasn't, Hey, we got to go out, sign a bunch of free agents and try to turn this thing around. It was like, no, no, we got to bring in guys who can help rebuild the culture, make it clear what's expected of anybody who comes in here in terms of work ethic and, you know, being together as a team. And I know some of these things can sound cliche, but none of this existed for the past decade or so. And then, you know, the guys they brought in specifically like a Bobby Wagner and a Zach Ertz and an Austin Eckler players who've been in, you know, winning cultures, who played on teams that have gone on to win a Super Bowl like Wagner or, you know, Ertz has played in big moments as well. So, you know, I think all these things from the ownership down really made a difference. If it was Snyder, even if they had wrapped in Jayden Daniels, the infrastructure around would just still be abysmal.
And, you know, I doubt we'd be seeing anything close to this version, not because of Daniels, because they just wouldn't have been smart enough to know how to put a team around a young guy like that. Yeah, not bad having a new owner in Shawshank. Not bad having Magic Johnson pop up every now and then too, huh?
It must be nice. I remember at that time when we knew that, you know, it looked like Harris was going to get a team like, and I know Magic Johnson's not the main guy, he's the third guy, but clearly he's, you know, the most visible owner when he's around. To go from Dan Snyder to Magic Johnson is the ultimate 180.
I mean, it is completely the opposite end of the spectrum of how these people, you know, how the world sees them, how people gravitate towards them. He was there after the Tampa game the other day and, you know, we're all there to cover this team and then here's Magic Johnson talking and I'm like, you know, I'm old enough to have seen V-Mac, you know, him at his peak. So, you know, you're like, oh, let's go talk to this guy.
It's, yeah, it's an incredibly wild situation that these are the things that, you know, it's hard to believe almost this is real life here after all the hell for the previous couple decades. So no, no Magic Johnson knocking on elderly couples to get the season ticket money that he's owed? None of that, right?
No, none of that. I mean, that's the thing. It's like, it's not even that they've done anything like, you know, reinvent the wheel. They're just being competent and, you know, have they have a plan and they're bringing in reasonable people to do the job as they're letting them do them. And, you know, look, it's year, more or less year one, you know, technically year two, but year one of this and, you know, we'll see what happens over time, you know, best laid plans and all that.
But just in terms of, like I said, running an organization and have it trickle down from there, it is just, it's almost indescribable to explain the difference from what we saw for so many years. I hear that. Well, Ben, in finality here, it's my final question. We're not going to see a game-winning kick by Gonzalez to beat the Lions, not tomorrow, right?
I'll just say this. I mean, obviously the Lions are favored by a bunch and there's justification. They're, you know, leading scoring team in the league, but their defense is pretty beat up. I'll just say this in the going into the fourth quarter, the Lions better be up like 10 points because if this game is a one score game and Jane Daniel gets the ball, I mean, look, five weeks in a row, they have won the game on the last play from scrimmage. Most of that with the offense scoring, he's just been absolutely clutch all year and I just wouldn't want to be from the Lions. I would not want to be in a situation where Jayden Daniels has the ball in the last few minutes of the camp to beat us. Hey, you know, the commanders, they've gotten by the skin of their teeth a lot, but here they are.
We know the Lions, they love to gamble. Let's see what they do. Ben, thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work following the commanders for the athletic?
Fill us in. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Yeah, of course, on the athletic, I have a story this week. I talked to Washington's three Super Bowl winning quarterbacks about Jayden Daniels and how they're watching it after, you know, all these years of futility, waiting for the next guy to come up.
And you can there, I've got podcast last man standing and you can follow me on X, Twitter, whatever you want to call it at Ben Standig. Hey, Ben, thank you so much. Enjoy the game tomorrow.
I know we're going to see some offense and at least everybody inside will be warm. All the best. We'll catch you down the line. OK, I appreciate it.
Thanks. No doubt about it. That Ben standing from the athletic. Yeah, the commanders are getting have been getting by by the skin of their teeth. We all saw that game winning field goal that had to hit the upright and then fall in for the commanders to go ahead and win that game. Are they going to need the same type of luck to get past the Lions? I think the Lions might run them out of the building or hey, if we should be so lucky, let's get a shootout. You want to take a look at the line? The Lions are nine and a half point favorites here.
Let's see what the commanders can do. It's the JR sport. We show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. This portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes up to $2,000,000 in coverage with no medical exam. Just a few health questions.
Get your free quote at check ethos.com not available in all states. If you want to give me a holler, you can. I'll say it again 8 5 5 2 1 2 4227. Does anybody got Washington winning? Is everybody picking alliance? Does somebody have the upset? If you have some justification, call me up. I know it's Friday. Maybe you need a couple of beers to have some justification.
Hopefully you don't you don't have the beers in you while you are are driving, but the phone lines are open. We're going to take a break and when we come back I gotta mention this. It apparently seems that in a matter of minutes actually Jimmy Butler might play basketball for the heat and then there's a message that he put out. Everything is so meticulous and curated.
Everything for social media. I'll explain on the other side. We got some more football to get into as well. It's the JR Sport Breeze show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network and right now it's time for a news flash with Rich Ackerman. You're listening to the JR Sport Breeze. It is the JR Sport Breeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I want to give a big old thank you.
A lot of thanks to Ben Standing for joining us in the last break. He covers the Washington commanders for the athletic. Tomorrow night we have a matchup in the NFL. A divisional round of the playoffs in the NFC between Washington and the Lions and for a rookie quarterback with Washington, Jayden Daniels, I think the time is up. Lions have been here.
They've done that. Top scoring team in the NFL. I think this is I think Washington's time is up. I don't think too many people will disagree with that. An amazing season nonetheless by Washington. I'm not riding their obituary.
Yes, I know they actually have to go out there and compete in the game. Everybody has a chance when you step out on to the field, but there's a legitimate reason why the Detroit Lions are nine and a half point favorites. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. In a matter of minutes, you know, we're going to have this game tomorrow at this time. Okay, tomorrow night Washington and the Lions about 24 hours from now and about 15 minutes from now we're going to have a matchup between the Denver Nuggets and a Miami Heat.
Now here's the deal. Do you know the Miami Heat have been in the news because they have suspended Jimmy Butler for the past seven games? Suspension is up. Jimmy Butler has been complaining about wanting a trade. He has a contract that he's currently in paying him about 48 million dollars. He has a contract option for next year that'll pay him 52. He doesn't want that. He wants a longer term deal.
Well, he's 35 years old. He has a history of injuries and not showing up in a regular season. Yes, he took them to two finals.
They didn't walk away with it, but I don't think they need to pay this man for past performance for a guy who's getting older and just hasn't played and he's making his whole huff about, well, I don't have any joy here in Miami. Well, Jimmy Butler went on social media because what else are you going to do? He posted a photo of himself in a 45 Michael Jordan jersey. He has Chicago Bulls 45 and he stood by his pool. Both he and his agent put out a message.
I think this is rather corny if you ask me. It simply says the following statement was released today by Jimmy Butler through his agent, Bernie O'Lee, president of Thread Sports Management LLC, located in Miami, Florida, in response to questions about his future career plans. I'm back.
That's it. Did anybody, did anybody miss Jimmy Butler? I mean, there was a report earlier today that pretty much said that the Miami Heat, they don't want him back.
Like you already said, you found out that you couldn't be traded. And so now you want to, you know what, now I'm back. Like, is he two people? Does Jimmy Butler have a split personality disorder? I mean, we had this conversation yesterday with James Jackson. He covers the Miami Heat down in Florida. And I asked him, I said, is Jimmy Butler going to be back with the team today?
And apparently he is. Listen to what James told me yesterday. Signs are pointing to him returning to the team, as my colleague Sam Amick was pointing out earlier this week, actually. And to your point about just the comings and goings and just the fluidity of everything, Jimmy returning to the team doesn't necessarily have to mean that he's going to return to the lineup tomorrow, because remember last month when he had about a two-week layoff before his two-game return, he was returning to conditioning to get himself into shape. And so, as I alluded to with Sam's report earlier this week, he, Jimmy's biggest thing was making sure that he just wasn't going to lose coins further, because he was already fined about two and a half million dollars from the seven-game suspension. Yeah, well, I guess realizing that the Phoenix Suns just can't trade for you and team you up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is, it just can't happen.
Now, he's going to show up to work. As we all know, as James said, you don't want to lose money. He's already missing out on more than two million dollars because of the seven-game suspension. And this, the ploy and the thought that he could just bully the Miami Heat into trading him just because he wants a new deal, it's a bad look for the league. It's a bad look for him.
But you know what? Why does he care? As long as he gets his money, it doesn't matter.
As long as he gets his money, it doesn't matter. And so he says he's going to play tonight. What he looks like in another 15 to 20 minutes, I have no idea. Is he going to just go stand in the corner and mope or is he going to be active?
Is he going to take every shot? The trade deadline is February 6th. I asked James Jackson if Jimmy Butler, is there a possibility that he stays on the Miami Heat past the deadline?
This is what James said. I could see it, honestly, just because it says more about Miami's history with stars and discontent, of course. You know, like Dwayne Wade, he left town here, went to the Bulls, went to the Cavs, had a cup of coffee elsewhere before he came back. And then he just got a statue last year. LeBron led the team to a few finals runs and such like that.
Wasn't happy. Went back to Cleveland. And so it wouldn't surprise me if Miami is going to do what's going to be best for it. And if no trade has obviously come about just yet, the Heat aren't going to rush into something before it's ready, especially given the fact that Jimmy is effectively going to be a rental.
Maybe Jimmy Butler plays a few games to try to look like a good soldier in hopes that a trade is consummated between now and a deadline. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. Let's talk to Mays B in Michigan.
I think that's what it is. Hey, Mays, you're on the chair of our sport brief show. Yeah, hey, what's up, Jay? First time calling, man, but I've been listening a long time. Yeah, I'm calling from Michigan, man. Pure Michigan, baby. Hey, one thing about us, we know how to win and we also know how to build things. I'm from the Motor City.
We build cars for the world, baby. And you got to look at the great Magic Josh and the Tommen's Hitman Hearn, the great founder of Motown, Hitfield USA, Barry Gordy, the great Smokey, Robin Temptations, etcetera, etcetera. Yes, the Lions. Look, we all live in a new era of time now. I've been with the Lions, man.
My family as well, man, when they was doing bad. I remember. Yeah, you got to turn the radio down.
Turn the radio down, Mays B. Okay, I remember when we was winning, man. I mean, I remember when we wasn't winning, man. See, people don't realize when the Lions used to play in Pontiac, Michigan, Pontiac Silverdome.
I played some of them games and we used to have the great Billy Sims and then came Barry Sanders. So, you know, hey, it's a new era of time, baby. It's time for the Lions to win this one. Okay. Well, listen, they're certainly one of the favorites to potentially hoist up that Vince Lombardi.
Thank you so much, Mays B, for calling from Michigan. Yeah, the Lions fans are due. Like, this has been a tortured fan base. I mean, we've had our share in the NFL of teams that have just been laughing stocks. And I got to be honest, the Detroit Lions being on Thanksgiving, you know, every single year, that for the most part has always highlighted, you know, how inept they were. It's just like, oh, there's the Lions. Well, let's get ready for dinner in a little bit.
As they, you know, stink, it's always been a reminder. But now we got a little bit of a turnaround and I think there's a whole lot of optimism in Michigan and Detroit and as there should be. Let's see what they do. Wipe them out tomorrow. Handle business and move on to another NFC championship game. And I know hopefully they're looking for a different result. 855-212-4227.
It's 855-212-4227. We'll come back. More football. The JR Sport Reshow. The Infinity Sports Network.
