Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / OKC's Bench Destroys San Antonio With 76-23 Scoring Edge | May 23, 2026
Transcript
- Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Today on the show: the Browns' quarterback competition is getting weird and honestly kind of sad, Rashee Rice is in jail and the Chiefs' receiver room is in trouble, Aaron Rodgers' farewell tour gets a Stafford-sized subplot, and OKC's bench just obliterated San Antonio in Game three. Let's get into it. Let's start in Cleveland, because the Browns are doing that thing again where they make you feel bad for caring about them. It's OTAs week, and Todd Monken is out here telling everyone that both Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are "doing well" and that the only deadline he has for naming a starter is the September thirteenth opener. Which — cool. No urgency at all. Love it. Watson is coming off a ruptured Achilles that he then RE-ruptured during rehab. He hasn't played a meaningful snap since twenty twenty-three. He's in the final year of that fully guaranteed two hundred and thirty million dollar deal, and he's started nineteen games total for this franchise. Nineteen. That's not a rebuild. That's a hostage situation with a salary cap. Monken said Watson has "hit it off" with the new offensive scheme, and ESPN's Fowler reported the staff thinks if Watson can get back to seventy or eighty percent of his Houston self, he could earn the job. That's a LOT of ifs for a guy whose body has basically filed for divorce. And then Monken goes and says they threw interceptions in SEVEN ON SEVEN. His exact words — "Yeah, we threw interceptions in seven on seven for God's sake. I mean, who does that?" Todd, my man, YOUR quarterbacks do that. That's who. The highlight of the day was Watson going deep to rookie Denzel Boston in double coverage for a touchdown catch, which is great, but it's May. Everybody looks good in May. The Browns are running this whole thing like they still believe Watson is the answer, and I just don't see it. Shedeur Sanders is sitting right there. At some point you gotta let the kid cook. Staying in the NFL — Rashee Rice is sitting in a jail cell, and the Chiefs' offense has a problem. Rice tested positive for THC, violated his probation, and was ordered to serve thirty days. He went into custody on May nineteenth with a release date of June sixteenth. The part that should genuinely concern Kansas City: Rice is about to have more days spent in jail than regular-season games played in his entire NFL career. He's played twenty-eight games total. Just twelve over the last two seasons between suspensions, a knee injury, and now this. Without Rice as the clear number one, the Chiefs' weapons are either tiny — Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton — old — Travis Kelce — or completely unproven. Rice as WR one was what made the whole puzzle fit. And Albert Breer is already implying KC could eventually circle back to A.J. Brown if this keeps spiraling. The front office is clearly not confident Rice will be available. The Giants are hoping Malik Nabers can make it back from his torn ACL by Week one. John Harbaugh called it "the slog" phase of rehab. They need him desperately, especially after losing Dexter Lawrence to a trade with Cincinnati. And Roy Robertson-Harris just tore his Achilles at OTAs, so the defensive line depth is already taking hits before summer. On the Rams side, Sean McVay got candid on "Bussin' With The Boys" about the Jared Goff trade, expressing real regret about how it went down. And then the Rams went ahead and extended Matthew Stafford — the reigning NFL MVP is set to make fifty-five million in twenty twenty-seven with the potential to hit sixty million. The man won an MVP at thirty-four and got paid like it. Good for him. Also worth noting — Adam Schefter name-dropped Kyle Pitts as a trade candidate in Atlanta. The Falcons are at least hearing offers while he plays on the franchise tag under Kevin Stefanski. And the Saints are apparently open to moving Spencer Rattler, with Zach Wilson and Tyler Shough as their plan. Lot of pieces in play heading into June. Over in the Western Conference Finals, OKC dug out of a fifteen to nothing hole to start Game three and ended up winning one twenty-three to one oh eight. San Antonio came out swinging — led nineteen to four after five minutes in front of a rowdy Frost Bank Center crowd. Then the Thunder bench walked in and just wrecked everything. Seventy-six to twenty-three bench scoring advantage. Jared McCain went off for a playoff career-high twenty-four points. Jaylin Williams hit five threes for eighteen. Caruso added fifteen. SGA finished with twenty-six and twelve assists, going twelve for twelve from the line in the second half. Thunder lead the series two to one now, and they did it without Jalen Williams again. De'Aaron Fox came back for his series debut after missing the first two games with a sprained ankle, and then appeared to tweak it again during the game. Not great for San Antonio. Here's the Hangover Take. I want to talk about the Cardinals and Jacoby Brissett, because this situation is quietly becoming one of the dumbest standoffs in the league. Brissett is slated to be the starter in Arizona. He's not at OTAs. He's staying away because he wants a raise, and ESPN says the two sides are "significantly" far apart. This is a guy who has never been a long-term answer anywhere he's played. He's a bridge. Everyone knows he's a bridge. And he's holding out like he's got leverage. Arizona, just pick a number that's reasonable, pay the man, and start planning for the draft. Because if Brissett misses real practice time and you don't have a backup plan, you're handing the NFC West a free win. And in that division right now, with the Rams rolling and San Francisco always lurking, you cannot afford to be the team still figuring out your quarterback situation in August. That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.