- 12 minutes ago
Caleb Williams kept looking more like a star, and Mike Wilbon says the Bears are getting scarier after their Thursday night win over the Patriots. Tony Kornheiser and Wilbon break down a tense 30-24 game that featured a Caleb-led Chicago offense, Drake Maye’s big night with a costly end-zone interception, and Kairo Santos drilling a career-long 58-yard field goal to seal it.
From there, PTI swings to the Sixers’ wild home debut, where Philadelphia erased a 29-point deficit against Cleveland and turned boos into celebration. The conversation also covers Connor McDavid’s ridiculous start for the Oilers, the Rays’ game one pitching decision, and a packed finish with NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB talk in classic Pardon the Interruption style.
If you follow sports commentary, NFL analysis, NBA comeback stories, hockey highlights, and baseball playoff debate, this episode delivers fast-paced PTI reactions, sharp banter, and plenty of headlines from around the league. Great for fans searching for sports talk podcast clips, game recaps, and opinion-driven discussion about Caleb Williams, the Bears, the Patriots, the Sixers, and Connor McDavid.
From there, PTI swings to the Sixers’ wild home debut, where Philadelphia erased a 29-point deficit against Cleveland and turned boos into celebration. The conversation also covers Connor McDavid’s ridiculous start for the Oilers, the Rays’ game one pitching decision, and a packed finish with NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB talk in classic Pardon the Interruption style.
If you follow sports commentary, NFL analysis, NBA comeback stories, hockey highlights, and baseball playoff debate, this episode delivers fast-paced PTI reactions, sharp banter, and plenty of headlines from around the league. Great for fans searching for sports talk podcast clips, game recaps, and opinion-driven discussion about Caleb Williams, the Bears, the Patriots, the Sixers, and Connor McDavid.
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00:00Oh, no, the other one that I thought of is Pablo Picasso Torre.
00:04I thought of that.
00:05Oh, I wonder if that would work.
00:06Welcome to PTI, boys and girls.
00:09In today's episode, the Sixers pull off a huge comeback.
00:12Connor McDavid is on a heater, and Tim Kirchner joins us for five good minutes.
00:16But we begin today with last night's Thursday night game,
00:19a good, tense game that the Bears led from the start.
00:22They were up 20-7 at the end of the first half with three seconds to go
00:26when the Patriots scored a touchdown on what was essentially a check down pass
00:29that won 48 yards.
00:31Ultimately, the final score was 30-24,
00:33and there was a 58-yard field goal by Chicago's Cairo Santos.
00:37Well, on your team one, what does this result say to you about each team?
00:42Both teams, what we thought they were, are contenders.
00:45They're contenders.
00:46You don't have to just look at the record or last night's score
00:48or the back-and-forth of last night's game, which was fairly exciting.
00:52I could have done without the excitement of the Patriots scoring on the last play
00:56of the half, which was just a bonehead error, it seemed to me,
01:02defensively by the Bears.
01:03But nonetheless, I mean, you saw Caleb Williams, to me,
01:06looked like continually growing into a serious candidate for MVP.
01:12I know Drake May is going to take some heat because he threw an interception
01:15in the end zone.
01:16He's had about three of those this year.
01:18I get that.
01:19Yep.
01:19But those two quarterbacks and those two teams could be playing not just
01:24deep into January but into February.
01:28So, Tony, that's what I'd take away from last night's game.
01:33Yeah, I don't think that this loss disqualifies the Patriots at all.
01:36I don't think they're as good as the Bills in their division,
01:38but I think they're a playoff team.
01:40Drake May, as you said, was short on that pass in the end zone.
01:43That was a very bad interception.
01:45And you're right, it's his third of the year in the end zone,
01:48which ain't good.
01:49But other than that, Mike, he's 24-31 for 321 and two touchdowns.
01:54And he ran one in, and that's a Josh Allen night.
01:56And the other guy was better.
01:58Your guy was better.
01:59Caleb Williams had one mistake.
02:01He took a sack when he shouldn't have late in the game.
02:04But Santos bailed him out from 58 yards, which was a career record.
02:08And beyond that, look, Caleb Williams looks like he could be a star.
02:13He's got a really big arm.
02:15He was 22-33 for 308 and two touchdowns.
02:19And I said this the other day.
02:21I'm going to say it again.
02:21They are not, at the moment, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
02:26But they could be.
02:27They're both very good, got a lot of potential.
02:30Take some time.
02:31The problem you've got with your Bears is they are in the best division in football right now.
02:37They are this year what the NFC West was last year.
02:39They're 17-6, the teams in that division.
02:4417-6.
02:45All have winning records and all have plus point differential.
02:50So it's a tough division.
02:51Tony, we're winless in our division right now.
02:55And you know what I think of it?
02:56Okay.
02:56Good.
02:57Good.
02:57We haven't played Detroit yet.
02:59But, you know, I'd like to get a hold of Minnesota one more time.
03:03I don't care that it's up there.
03:04We beat them up there, up north last year.
03:08And I'll take the Packers.
03:10I'll take the Packers as well after they beat our brains out.
03:14Those guys know they have everything to play for.
03:17So you're right about the division.
03:19But I'll take my guys in those rematches.
03:22Let's move to the wild swing in that Sixers home debut last night.
03:27Philly was down 29 to Cleveland in the first half.
03:3224 at the half and getting booed by the home fans, of course,
03:37before outscoring the Cavs by 32 in the second half.
03:40Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Brown each scored 17 in the second half
03:44when the Sixers scored 19 points off Cavaliers' turnovers.
03:50Tony, how would you describe last night's comeback win by the Sixers?
03:55Thank you for asking.
03:56Because I would describe it as complete vindication for my position.
04:01You remember my position.
04:02I said it on this show, that at the beginning of the season,
04:06at the beginning, LeBron going to Philadelphia was the number one storyline in the NBA.
04:10Not in the middle, not at the end, at the beginning.
04:13And you took the same position that you took last year,
04:16which is this is Wembenyama's world, and we're all sort of guests in it.
04:20And then your boy went out at home in a losing effort and went,
04:24hello, one for 13.
04:25And LeBron's team went to Madison Square Garden, beat the Knicks on ring night,
04:30you know, beat the Knicks on ring night, the defending NBA champion.
04:34Then they come back home, and they stink the joint out for 24 minutes.
04:37And yeah, they get booed.
04:37That's Philadelphia.
04:38That's how it happens.
04:39LeBron booed as a home player probably for the first time in his career.
04:44Philadelphia fans lit them up.
04:45And then what happens is the Sixers come back from 29 down.
04:49Listen to this, Mike, because it's an interesting number.
04:50NBA teams had won 466 consecutive games,
04:56went down by 29 or more at one point in the game.
04:58Not this time.
04:59Not this time.
05:00They hold them to 37 in the second half, 16 in the fourth quarter,
05:04and Cleveland's a playoff team.
05:05So, yeah, I'm very chesty.
05:07I mean, I feel vindicated.
05:09Yeah.
05:10Cleveland's a dog.
05:13And I don't mean they got dogs.
05:17Cleveland is pathetic.
05:19The last time we saw them on a big stage,
05:21they were choking away a 22-point lead in the Eastern Conference Finals
05:26against the Knicks.
05:28Something's wrong with Cleveland.
05:29And you can't have James Harden at this stage with the ball in his hands
05:35that much as the point guard.
05:37I don't care what the assist totals say.
05:38You can't have that.
05:39Now, Philadelphia did what Philadelphia can do.
05:43They got dogs, all of them.
05:46They got great players.
05:47Every guy out there on the floor knows what he's doing at all times.
05:52That's Philadelphia.
05:53There's no surprise there.
05:54There's no surprise in terms of what the storylines are.
05:58When Banyama going one for 13, if you don't think that's a storyline,
06:01something's wrong with you.
06:02But we'll get back to Philly.
06:03It's not the storyline you thought.
06:05LeBron did all the gritty, tough things.
06:08He takes the temperature of where he is.
06:11He's not in Hollywood anymore.
06:12He's not in Beverly Hills.
06:14He's in Philly.
06:15He did all the tough things, diving on the floor and all that stuff.
06:18He looked around and said, oh, yeah, I'm going to get with this program here.
06:23And Philly is what we thought they were.
06:24I'm going to tell you something.
06:26Joel Embiid, a guy you like a lot.
06:28Here's a direct quote from Joel Embiid.
06:31In the past, a lot of people would have laid down and tried to move on to the next game.
06:36It feels different.
06:37I said it after the first game.
06:38It feels different.
06:39That's LeBron, Mike.
06:40That's LeBron.
06:41Let's go to hockey.
06:42Last night, the Edmonton Oilers beat the defending Stanley Cup champion, Carolina Hurricanes,
06:47who going into this game had the most points in hockey.
06:50Edmonton beat Carolina 6-5 in a shootout after coming back from a 4-2 deficit to start the
06:55third period to bring their record now to 8-1-1.
06:58Conor McDavid, your boy, had two goals and three assists, giving him 31 points personally
07:04in the first 10 games.
07:06That's more than Wayne Gretzky ever had in the first 10 games of a season and behind
07:11only Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy.
07:13Wilbon, does this feel like a sustainable start for Conor McDavid and the Oilers?
07:18Sustainable to make it 240?
07:20No.
07:22But, Tony, when you're on that tiny little list, you know, with those guys, with Gretzky
07:30and Lemieux and Bossy, I mean, these are the greatest scorers of all time.
07:36You're on that list with them.
07:38What you're saying to your team is, no more next year.
07:42No more next year, fellas, right now.
07:44I'm doing this.
07:46You better come with me.
07:48And he's out there on the line with Dreisaitl, and they're playing together even when they're
07:51at full strength.
07:52I like seeing that.
07:54I think that there's a message being sent.
07:57We're not waiting to put them just on the power play.
07:59We're putting them out there whenever we can.
08:01And you know how much I love seeing him play.
08:05But this stretch is insane.
08:07Yeah.
08:08A little credit to Mike Babcock, who everybody was afraid of as the coach, because he's the
08:12guy making that decision to put Dreisaitl and McDavid there together.
08:16Look, everybody knows McDavid is a great player.
08:18He's already got three MVPs.
08:20He's led the league in scoring six times, but doesn't have the cup.
08:23He's been to the finest twice.
08:25Doesn't have the cup.
08:25Right now.
08:26Can you be an all-timer without the cup?
08:29Because those other names, Gretzky, Bossy, and Lemieux, have multiples.
08:33So that's his mission has to be to win the cup.
08:36This is an interesting little record because it only pertains to the first 10 games of
08:42the season, not a random 10 games.
08:44In 1985-86, Gretzky, in a random 10 games, had 43 points, which is just, it's unbelievable.
08:52That was the year, Mike, that he had 215 points, which is still the record.
08:57You know, this particular thing, the first 10, Lemieux did it three times, 30 or more.
09:03And set the record at 37.
09:05Is it sustainable?
09:07None of these things are necessarily sustainable.
09:09But you're correct.
09:11And the other thing that's not sustainable, I don't think, that Edmonton is now averaging
09:154.6 goals a game.
09:16If they do that all season, it's third most ever.
09:19But what has to be sustainable.
09:22Has to be sustainable.
09:23Right.
09:23And they have to win the cup.
09:25He's got to win the cup.
09:27Let's take a break.
09:28Coming up, the Rays are going with surprise game one starter Nick Martinez.
09:31And we're going to ask Tim Kirkton to explain that thinking.
09:35And for all of the ways the Rays and Brewers seem similar, we're going to ask Timmy how
09:42they might differ.
09:44How about if you're Connor McDavid?
09:46And now you're on a short list with Gretzky, Lemieux, and Bossy.
09:52Right?
09:53But you're right, Tony.
09:54Come on.
09:54Your name has to be etched on that cup.
09:57Yes.
09:57It's got to be.
09:57Yes.
09:58Yes.
09:59Yeah.
09:59That's...
10:02We've got World Series questions for our great friend ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kirkton,
10:07who's in Milwaukee.
10:08He's going to listen to us, and he's going to listen to the music they're playing pregame
10:12in Milwaukee.
10:12Let's start with this.
10:14Does it make sense to you that the Rays are starting Nick Martinez over Drew Rasmussen in
10:20game one?
10:22It does.
10:23The Rays were 24-9 when Nick Martinez started this year.
10:28That's the best percentage of any starting pitcher in the American League.
10:32Kevin Cash told me yesterday, when Nick Martinez starts, we win.
10:37And he's thrown exceptionally well this postseason.
10:40He's allowed seven hits, none for extra bases.
10:43He's also emerged as the leader of the team in his first year.
10:48Everyone calls him El Presidente, and by starting him, they're giving Drew Rasmussen another day
10:55to rest.
10:56So if they can win game one and have their best pitcher, Rasmussen, for game two, they
11:02are in really good early shape.
11:05Well, Tim, the Miz has had his velocity, but he hasn't been missing nearly as many bats in
11:12the postseason.
11:13What is everybody making of that?
11:16Well, Pat Murphy told me yesterday that the Miz just hasn't been as crisp in his two starts
11:22in the postseason.
11:24Both of them, he didn't last five innings.
11:26He made 30 starts this year.
11:28Only three of them did he go less than five innings.
11:32Plus, right-handed hitters have gone seven for 20 against him with only three strikeouts
11:38this postseason.
11:39I fully expect, with full rest that he has, for all of that to change.
11:44I think we're going to see 104 miles an hour tonight, and I'm pretty sure he's going to
11:49go more than five innings.
11:52Tim, I'm sure I'm in the minority on this, but I love that the World Series features two
11:57small market teams that have never won a World Series.
12:01But let's go into what ways Milwaukee and Tampa are different.
12:08Well, the difference is the Rays struck out fewer times this year than any team in the
12:15major leagues.
12:16They put it in play better than anyone.
12:18The Brewers had the 11th most strikeouts their hitters this year.
12:23So there are going to be a few more strikeouts on the other side.
12:26Plus, the Rays' defense is absolutely elite, and it has been better than ever in this postseason.
12:34But having said that, the Brewers have a slightly better offensive team.
12:38But I think both teams play such similar styles.
12:42This is what baseball has needed for years to watch two teams that play the game as correctly
12:49as they do.
12:51Ah, Tim, you lead me right into the next question.
12:55Given what you just said, do you think we have any chance of seeing this style copied
13:02around the league?
13:04Every sport is a copycat league.
13:06Will we finally move away from strikeouts and home runs?
13:11Well, I certainly hope so, Michael.
13:13And this is the series that is going to do it because of that style of play.
13:19Again, both teams run until they tag you out.
13:23They put the ball in play.
13:24They are absolutely fearless.
13:26But they don't need to hit home runs in order to win games.
13:31The Brewers were tied for second to last in the major leagues and homers this year and
13:37won the most games.
13:38The Rays, who hit some homers in this postseason, are not a power-laden team.
13:43Everyone's going to watch these two teams and say, hey, there is another way to score runs rather than just
13:50get a walk and hit a home run.
13:52That's what these two teams hopefully are going to do for the rest of Major League Baseball.
13:59I love what you're saying.
14:01Wilbon loves what you're saying.
14:03You love what you're saying.
14:04The ship has sailed, Tim.
14:06It has sailed.
14:07I just don't think we're going back the other way.
14:10But maybe you're right.
14:11I will get you out of here with this.
14:12Which way are you leaning in this series?
14:17Well, at the beginning of the postseason, I picked the Brewers to beat the Rays in seven games.
14:22And I'm staying with that.
14:24And only because these are the two best home teams in the major leagues this year.
14:30And the Brewers are going to have one more home game, four, than the Rays, three.
14:35That's as far as I can go with this.
14:37But it's going to be a great series, a series that so many people have been looking forward to.
14:43I can't wait to watch.
14:44And it's the first time the Brewers have been in this since 1982.
14:49And I covered that World Series 44 years ago.
14:53It was breathtaking.
14:54It was so good.
14:56It was so good.
14:58I hope you're right.
14:59I hope people watch.
15:00I'm not convinced they're going to watch.
15:02This is great information, Tim.
15:04Thank you so much.
15:05Tim, great.
15:06That's awesome.
15:09Let's take one last break, but still to come, the Winnipeg Jets.
15:12Finally find a trait.
15:16Happy time, people.
15:18Happy 64th birthday, Doug Flutie.
15:20The Beatles wrote a whole song about turning 64, and Doug Flutie does just that today.
15:25I was in the end zone for Flutie's greatest moment when he connected with Gerard Phelan on a Hail Mary
15:30with no time left on the clock to beat defending national champion Miami in 1984.
15:35Flutie threw for 472 yards in that game, just a few more than Bernie Kosar, who finished with 447.
15:43In the Washington Post, I described Flutie's pass as having, quote, floated out of the mist like a ghost from
15:49Brigadoon.
15:49It landed in the hands of Phelan, alone in the end zone, just beyond the pack.
15:53The man who called that game on radio was Dan the Duke Davis, who sadly passed away this week at
15:58the age of 84.
15:59I worked with the Duke when I was doing the ESPN radio.
16:01It was always a joy to take him from the news perch and involve him in the show.
16:06Why did you take that assignment from me?
16:09I was the college football writer.
16:11I was supposed to be at that game in Miami.
16:14You stole it from me, a grown man stealing from a young kid.
16:18I Bigfooted you.
16:20I wanted to go down and see my dad, who lived in Florida.
16:23The wise move by me.
16:24Happy anniversary.
16:26Happy anniversary, Craig Ironhead Hayward.
16:29This is posthumous.
16:30But on this day 38 years ago as a Saints rookie, Hayward bruised his way to his first career touchdown,
16:35a 73-yard run against the Raiders in the Superdome.
16:38Hayward was listed at 5'11", 260.
16:41Len Pascarelli remembered him as, quote,
16:43a man whose menacing scowl could seemingly strip paint from a wall.
16:48And who reveled in his own brute physicality and took glee from imposing his strength on others, unquote.
16:53But Hayward also had a softer side.
16:55He started a zest commercial.
16:57Two of Hayward's sons made the NFL.
16:59Cam Hayward is in his 16th season as a standout defensive tackle with the Steelers.
17:04And Connor is a fullback currently with the Raiders.
17:06Hayward sadly passed from cancer in 2006 at the age of 39.
17:11He was a delightful guy.
17:13And to have two sons in the league is just amazing.
17:19Amazing.
17:20He's looking down and he's got to be damn proud.
17:23Happy trails to Knicks coaches getting their rings on ring night.
17:27The Athletic reports that the coaches just received empty boxes on opening night, which isn't that unusual.
17:32The same thing happened with the Thunder last season.
17:34What is unusual is the second part of the report, which states that many Madison Square Garden employees recently learned
17:41they'd be getting rings when the Knicks sent them an email asking them to choose their preferred style.
17:46But the email was a fake out.
17:48If employees clicked the link, it brought them to a page for a mandatory cybersecurity class to avoid phishing scams.
17:56This is reminiscent of the opening scene in the great movie Sea of Love.
18:00Wilbon, what do you think of employers doing this to employees?
18:03These, the Knicks, all the celebration, and it comes to this with your boy Dolan?
18:09Eh, bad taste in the mouth, Tom.
18:12Did you ever see Sea of Love?
18:14Sea of Love is great.
18:15Yes.
18:16You've got to see it if you haven't seen it.
18:17I did see Sea of Love.
18:19We're going to wish a melancholy trails to Dale Brown, the iconic LSU basketball coach who's passed away at the
18:25age of 90.
18:26Brown won 448 games, four SEC titles, and made the NCAA tournament 13 times with two Final Four teams during
18:36his 25 seasons.
18:37He coached stars like John Hotplate Williams, Stanley Roberts, Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf, then known as Chris Jackson, and a fellow
18:46by the name of Shaquille O'Neal.
18:51Would you agree with me, I'm not saying they had the best coaches, the record would say they didn't, that
18:55the best coaches were probably in the ACC or the Big East, but the SEC had characters, right?
19:01As coaches.
19:01They did.
19:02The SEC.
19:02Oh my God, all of them.
19:03All of them.
19:03Throughout the conference.
19:04Yes.
19:05Every school.
19:06Yes.
19:06None more than Dale Brown, who I got to know.
19:08Yes.
19:09One lovely man.
19:10They were second to the football programs, you know, except in Kentucky.
19:14Nobody knew.
19:14Let's go to the big finish.
19:16SGA streak at 20 plus points in the game ended at 141 last night.
19:20Is that a big deal?
19:21It is and it isn't, Tony.
19:23It's a big deal because only Wilt is next with 126 and then Wilt is third.
19:28But good for SGA.
19:30He didn't go back in the game and he said, I want to respect the game.
19:33I didn't need that.
19:34Good for him.
19:35I love SGA.
19:37Winnipeg has traded former MVP goalie Connor Hellebuck, uh-oh, to the Devils for four players,
19:43two draft picks.
19:44That's a haul, Tom.
19:46Yeah, it is a haul.
19:48I like to trade on both levels.
19:49I mean, if Hellebuck is who we think he is, that team is suddenly right, good right away.
19:54Valkyries' dream, game four tomorrow.
19:57Who you got, Mr. Expert?
19:58I'm afraid the dream has already proven to be the better team, but I'm rooting for the Valkyries
20:02and Veronica Burton.
20:02You know that.
20:03Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons is out of tomorrow's game against number seven Ole Miss
20:08with an ankle.
20:09Big loss.
20:10Yeah, he leads country in sacks.
20:12Last one, Nick Celtics, Rocket Spurs tonight.
20:14Which is the more intriguing matchup?
20:16Oh, Rocket Spurs.
20:17Got to see if Wimby can bounce back from that embarrassing night the other night.
20:22We are out of time.
20:23We will try to do better the next time, and I am Tony Kornheiser.
20:27I'm Mike Wilbon.
20:28Have a great weekend, knuckleheads.
20:30You know what's coming up next.
20:32Now, here's SportsCenter.