Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / Mitchell's 4-Point Half Became a 39-Point Explosion | May 12, 2026
Transcript
- Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Today on the show: the NFL schedule rollout is underway and the Cowboys are already everywhere, the Vrabel mess in New England keeps getting worse, Donovan Mitchell dropped thirty-nine second-half points, and the Thunder just swept LeBron's Lakers out of the playoffs. Let's get into it. Alright, the NFL schedule isn't even fully out yet — that drops Thursday night — but the league's been dripping out games all week, and one thing is very clear. The Dallas Cowboys are the main character of the 2026 season. They've got the Giants on Sunday Night Football in Week One. They're hosting Philly on Thanksgiving. And they're playing the Ravens in Rio de Janeiro in Week Three. That's the NFL's first-ever game in Brazil's biggest city, by the way. Three marquee windows in the first twelve weeks. Jerry Jones doesn't even have to try anymore — the league just hands him the spotlight. The other big reveal — Buffalo hosts Detroit in Week Two on Thursday Night Football. That's the first game at the new Highmark Stadium, and that's a massive flex for the Bills. Lions and Bills, two of the best rosters in football, in a brand new building on a short week. That's gonna be appointment television. And the season itself opens Wednesday, September ninth — TBA at Seattle. The Seahawks just won the Super Bowl, so they get the ring ceremony and the opener. Then the very next night, Niners and Rams play in Melbourne, Australia on Netflix. A record nine international games this year across seven countries. The league is going full world tour. Paris, Munich, Madrid, Mexico City, Rio, Melbourne, London. At some point we're gonna get a game on the moon and nobody will even blink. The thing I keep coming back to with the schedule — the Patriots were a logical candidate for that Week One opener at Seattle. It's a Super Bowl rematch. But the Vrabel situation might've killed that. And honestly? I don't blame the league if they steered clear. The Mother's Day social media post from the Patriots went viral for all the wrong reasons. Fans flooded the comments with references to the alleged Vrabel-Russini relationship. People were posting AI-generated photos. It was a mess. Then Monday morning, TMZ published a real photo of Russini with her arm across Vrabel's back at the NFL Honors afterparty during the twenty twenty-two Super Bowl. Not great optics. Vrabel's still standing because the results were ridiculous — fourteen and three regular season, Coach of the Year, AFC East title, Super Bowl appearance. But they lost that Super Bowl to Seattle twenty-nine to thirteen, and the shine is fading fast. There's buzz this whole thing could derail the A.J. Brown trade from Philly. And the scariest part for Vrabel? Three proven head coaches are just sitting there available. Tomlin stepped down from Pittsburgh. McDermott got fired in Buffalo. Josh McDaniels is already in the building as the offensive coordinator. If the front office decides they've had enough, they're not exactly short on options. Quick note on the Rodgers front — still no deal with Pittsburgh. He's been in town, but the Steelers haven't even met with him face to face yet. They've been talking through his agent. OTAs start May eighteenth. That's the real deadline. If Rodgers isn't signed by then, this whole thing starts to feel like it's not happening. And a sad one to close the NFL section — Craig Morton passed away Saturday at eighty-three. First quarterback to start Super Bowls for two different franchises — the Cowboys and the Broncos. A true legend. Rest easy. Over in the NBA, Donovan Mitchell put together one of the most unreal halves in playoff history. He had FOUR points at halftime on one of eight shooting. Four. Then he went out and scored thirty-nine in the second half. Finished with forty-three. He tied Sleepy Floyd's record for most points in a playoff half. Cleveland blew Game Four open with a twenty-four to nothing run spanning the end of the first half into the third quarter. Pistons never recovered. Series is tied at two apiece heading back to Detroit. Then in LA — the Thunder completed the sweep. One fifteen to one ten. SGA had thirty-five, and Chet Holmgren threw down a tiebreaking dunk with thirty-two point eight seconds left to seal it. LeBron had twenty-four and twelve boards in what might've been his last game. He missed a driving bank shot with twenty seconds left that would've given the Lakers the lead. Austin Reaves missed a tying three with eight seconds left. Just brutal. LeBron's postgame — he said he doesn't know what the future holds. He's going home to recalibrate with his family. Twenty-three seasons. And Luka didn't play a single minute this postseason after that hamstring strain in April. The Lakers never had a chance. In the NHL, Colorado took a three to one series lead over Minnesota, winning five to two. Parker Kelly scored the go-ahead goal in the third after the Wild had tied it up. MacKinnon added an empty-netter. The Avs can close it out Wednesday in Denver. Here's your Hangover Take. The Seahawks are about to have the most pressure-packed Week One in recent memory — and I don't think people are talking about it enough. They won the Super Bowl. They get the ring ceremony. They get the Wednesday night opener. Every eyeball in the country is on them. And the opponent? Still TBA. Which means the league is saving it for the full reveal Thursday. That tells me they're picking someone spicy. If Seattle comes out flat in that game, the "were they a fluke" talk starts immediately. Week One for a defending champ with the whole world watching — that's a different kind of pressure. And I think it matters more than people realize. That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.