They around the NFL podcast, It's ready to serve you a Championship Sunday Chasty from the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's around the NFL, the flagship program, the Championship Sunday. That's a little play on words cestog Sunday in the.
Day of the week and the little ice cream treat.
My imagination only immediately goes to Jason Zumwalt out in the Connecticut wilderness eating a massive banana split nude Sunday.
Oh that's just me.
Well nude, I just assume we assume nude.
Jason. I miss you, buddy. Come back.
Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler, and yes, the Super Bowl is set. It's gonna sound familiar, but it's gonna be a good game. The San Francisco forty nine Ers against the Kansas City Chiefs from Allegiant Stadium. M HM in Lost Vegas and Greggy, you're addicted. What do you think the opening spread is.
I'm not addicted to anything because the NFL prevents me from being so.
I'm not addicted. Pigskin, Oh, no idea, I met his gambling. Go ahead, we'll do the DraftKings since we're connected to them.
Tententially forty nine ers minus one and a half.
Niners mark two and a half, bing bang boom, sess Dog's on fire with a spread two weeks in a row, two and a half.
It is opening at two and a half.
A dug in a dug in Addicted Gambler, I.
Just Sempler is not coming Vegas. He will be working at Mandalay Sports Book.
By Lord, are we worried about sastag in Vegas for the Super Bowl?
I am?
I mean no more than most any super Bowl. But yes, this one, my behavior will be pristine. This one is just start right there. This one's a little touch and go. Other books have it between two and three, but DraftKings says it right in the middle.
That's the one that I we're loyal to them. I don't know, are we? I can't even keep I don't know.
I just want Toyota Grand Islander, and you just want damn dejoorno pizza.
Three dollar frozen pizza that like you know, a child could be.
Is that is that asking too much to get mark a four dollars ninety nine cent pizza?
It is?
That's what I've been told.
So here we are too closely contested games, two games that featured big swings and emotion, two games in which only one team could be victorious, and now the Super Bowl sets. So we're going to go through both of them, and we'll start with the AFC Championship Game, the showdown between the Mighty Kansas City Chiefs. This this proud team, this dynasty. Could you call them a dynasty? Almost had you felt like you got to get back to another one, maybe winning one before. It's like a you know, set
in Stone dynasty. But they had to take care business here against the number one seed Ravens at home.
With the MVP.
If they didn't beat Mahomes this time, they never would.
Let's see to the game. Those were the narrative.
Forty six Ravens, four man front, playing Cress.
On the outside.
Mahomes will throw it in the pocket.
He's launching one long.
Mar Quest Valders Scantley trenches the call at the Raven thirty on his backside, Shades of the catch he had against Cincinnati in the end zone last year in the AFC Championship Game. Mark Kles Valdez Scantley shaving the best or last.
Whoa Mitch Holt this with a call mvs.
Who couldn't catch the sniffles in April of twenty twenty, now is unstoppable on deep balls. He makes the catch the clincher from thirty two yards from Mahomes on third and nine with about two minutes to play. You know, the incompletion there would have given the Ravens the ball with time to either tie or win, but instead the Chiefs and the great Mahomes gore touchdowns on each of their first two possessions, then again turned to that defense, which was as good as advertised, to beat the Ravens
seventeen to ten. And it is the Kansas City Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years as they continue to chisel away in stone a dynasty case and Greg, of course, the Chiefs beat the Eagles last year in the Super Bowl, and now they look to be the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since your New England Patriots way back in twenty four to twenty years ago. And man, at this point, how could you doubt the Chiefs? I dare
you to do it. I did it, and many others did, and once again they made everybody gobble on, Banana splits, Humble Pie, Jason's nude, everybody was all fired.
The odds makers are doing it again apparently as well. And what I think that number and all the numbers can't really quantify is how Patrick mahomes with a big time assist from his guy Travis Kelcey. And it is crazy how this team who's made all these AFC Championship games in a row and all these Super Bowls into just a short time, is really led by their quarterback and tight end, just like the Patriots, that they're led by the best game manager I've ever seen. Like he's
the best player I've ever seen. And there's a lot of game manager discourse going around, I feel like lately, and to me, this game was a sign of how Patrick Malmes has always been a game manager, but it's even better at it now because you think of those first couple of drives. He hits a beautiful throw to Kelsey on third and down to stay on the field, or rather the fourth down to stay on the field.
Incredible play where Kelsey's not open and he's the backside receiver on that plays the third option and you get to it in a big spot you get Kelsey again, not really that open for the touchdown, but just a beautiful play. You get a couple of touchdowns early, and then nothing happens. Essentially for eighth Street Driving. You can say, oh, he didn't even have a very good game. They scored seventeen points, and that's all true. But he knew what
he was doing, he didn't make any mistakes. And then when you absolutely needed to get a first down at the end, he goes for a big play and he hits it to MVS. Who is our modern day Sammy Watkins. He only shows up in the biggest games ever, and he delivers.
Even when MVS was obviously, you know, and overtly struggling, and a couple times like An Island games on like Sunday Night Football, he still was getting behind defense. He still had his speech right, he was getting behind defenders, and it was just like, can you just convert? Can you catch them ball? And in the last couple of weeks, the questions that we've had about Kansas City's weapons and offense, that story's changed.
And it's not that there's suddenly some sort of powerhouse.
They're not.
They're still struggling there.
I mean you know, I watched this game today and the way it ended it was just like a team that finds the way. Each of these teams have a character and a kind of a definition of who they are. And the Chiefs like can win ugly, they can win in ways that they didn't win in previous years, and they can do it with the same players, And you know, it's like there's this there's this whole other story of.
This, because it's very painful.
I think to lose the Super Bowl is.
Stark, but to lose these AFC and NFC championship games, like you come this far if you're the Ravens, and the things that got you here did not show up today the way they should have. But I would say this, you cannot blame their defense. They shut down Kansas City for the almost entirety of the second half and gave their offense a chance to succeed.
And that's what I mean.
It's sort of isn't it always It's always something And that's why this dis performance in this game offensively, and we'll get to the defense for the Chiefs just remind him so much of Brady because like you look at the box squard at the end, It's like, oh, they they averaged four point four yards per play and they were stopped for like seven or eight straight drives and then but like he knows how to make the plays that you need to.
He knows what that game require.
Yeah, it does.
But I also just think that this Chiefs defense, which is overshadowed because of Mahomes always, is like the stamp of this team is what their defense was able to do today. You took the MVP and a Ravens offense thatd it dominated teams and dominated the forty nine ers and blew the doors off the Houston Texans, and they were non existent when it mattered the most.
Yeah, and I listen, they the Chiefs did not score in the second half. And there are echoes of the Patriots dynasty now that are just rippling and bouncing off this, this chief Chiefs team and this this era of Chiefs football, and it is it is the fact that it isn't just Mahomes, you know, just like it wasn't just Brady and the fact that they and I went into them a little bit, went into this game a little bit dubious.
I've seen multiple like quote unquote big time defenses not step up down the stretch of the season, and the Chiefs once again showed and Steve Spagnola, who you haven't heard anything about, getting another chance at a head coaching job.
I mean, this guy is the secret weapon.
He is the Belichick to what Bill Parcells had during his era in time in the late eighties and early nineties. What the game plan he cooked up to confuse and befuddle Lamar Jackson, who looked like he didn't know what he was seeing in this game. And there were so many moments when the Ravens pass protection is holding up and I know they got to him a couple times as well, but and he's just holding the ball, Lamar, because he's, to quote the Darnald.
Line, he was seeing ghosts.
And there are multiple times that I'm thinking, Lamar, you are the most fantastic athlete to play the quarterback position, perhaps ever, and you're just sitting in this pocket waiting for something to happen, waiting to see something that's not there. So you have to give it to the Chiefs that every level of their defense played a big time game. But it is a team effort, Greg and it's Mahomes
and Kelsey and that offensive line stepping up. Even on a day where they're running game, they couldn't do anything. But the fact that they were able to make enough plays on offense early and then lean on their defense just a total team effort and a reminder and a lesson to me, and I think it should be to a lot of people. Is these teams that don't come around too often. When the playoffs come, you see them make the plays and stay under control and close out games.
And teams like the Ravens, no matter how great they have been during the year, things go sideways and they start short circuiting. And you saw that a lot with Baltimore in this game, they did not play a good game. Greg they didn't play a discipline game, and they're going home.
I think their defense played well overall, the offense didn't.
We'll get to that.
I want to just give the credit to the Chiefs first, Like you mentioned, Pacheco couldn't get anything done, and yet like when again, when they get the ball back two thirty four to go, Tucker d just hit the field go at seventy to ten. They had their best run in about three quarters and that seven yards on first down. It's just like, even without Joe Toney, they had some runs on those first touchdown drives and that seven yard run set up you know, Baltimore intentionally taking a penalty
and it set up everything else. But you're right, the story should be the defense and Lamar Jackson struggled in this game. The run game other than Lamar he did lead them, and rushing for fifty four yards was non existent. Gus Edwards and Justice Hill had to combine six attempts to Lamar Jackson's thirty seven passing attempts, which I think they're you know, Todd Monkin is going to regret how that played out. But the guys on the other side
of the field. I think of that Chris Jones deflection in the first half on third down when they were throwing a screen, people are like, oh, if that I saw people Like, if that wasn't Lamar Jackson, people would be killing him for that place. Like, No, that was incredible recognition and play by Chris Jones that he made multiple times that was going to be a first down. Lamar even tried to like get it away from him by throwing it sideways, and Chris Jones still makes it.
Lagarious Steed knocks out the ball. It's a play that Zay Flowers is going to live with for the rest of his life and he should not be reaching it out at the goal line. But it's still lagarious Steed, one of the best defensive backs in the league making a hustle play and knocking it out at the goal line. They were just so active defensively. Amena who had that force fumble on Lamar when he did hold it on
too long, they get the interception. They didn't drop their interceptions like we saw so many other teams have today. The intercepted Lamar in the end zone, so like it's a team effort. We have a little shot of the T shirt that all the players wore of Steve Spagnolo. So if you're watching how he's on YouTube and I see those YouTube numbers ridesing, we appreciate you like and subscribe. It was great that I see them to happen the in Spags we trust with the demon eyes.
Every defensive player was wearing.
Spag said he was almost embarrassed and he was saying, I sure hope we won because they were wearing it before the game and they came through with an effort that shows how much they trust in Spags.
I got out to Nate Taylor on the tweet.
It's I think Spagnola one of the things that he's done in multiple games where it's like, you know, I think because he was an unsuccessful head coach, he had to recreate his you know, reputation on some level. But like the blitzes that he cooked up, like I thought, the Ravens offensive line was operating from behind the entire game today, and that's how you get you know, if you're gonna beat this Chiefs team, you need to beat at home, pure pristine, and you get a terrible Lamar
Jackson interception in the end zone. There was another play on a third down pass where he's very lucky it wasn't picked off, you had the fumble. It's like Lamar Jackson needs to go as the so called MVP, go and play his best game, and it's it's it just seems to be asking too much. But it's this Chiefs defense that creates complete and total confusion. I think the Ravens line was cooked from the start, Like the way that they were rushing and getting to them with speed rushers,
like from wire to wire. It's like it just seemed like Baltimore had no answers and they got away from who've they've been all year. I thought they went away from their ground game.
I thought, and this is not meant to like I'm just gonna want to cook up Lamar here, but I thought we were past this, and I thought what we saw on the second half of the divisional playoffs that put some things to bed around him, and what the story is, or the quote unquote narrative around Lamar Jackson is, I didn't expect. That's why I picked up Ravens. That's why I locked up the Ravens. I thought this really
was his moment. So I can't say, you have to say it's a disappointing performance obviously by Lamar, but I don't want to take away from what Kansas City's defense did in this game and what Spags and company have done all year.
It's a combination of both.
Well, it's also like everything went against them too, Like if the Flowers touchdown, especially, don't you think change the game. I mean, it's seventeen fourteen there with a ton of time left in that game, and that was off of two three straight good throws by.
Lebar and here's the thing.
You're right, and you have a you have a terrible turnover by Zay Flowers. That's the old Bill Belichick would bench you if you ever try to reach near the goal line. It was a dreaded mistake and it might have cost them their season. And they got the ball down deep again. Was at the next possession, and that's when Lamar throws a ball up for grabs. A couple of different plays go differently, and the Ravens are either you know, we're going overtime or they went out right.
But that almost like is too kind to their performance as a whole. I thought this was a team that was undisciplined, that let the moment overwhelm overwhelm them. I thought they had multiple, you know, bad penalties, whether it was personal fouls, was there are too many men on a field, there are five fifteen yard penalties.
So that's that's sort of what I mean where it's like, you're right, Lamar did not have a good game. He had his moments, but like a lot of this year for this team, like especially if it was a full team, like everyone had a huge part of that. They had four personal foul penalties and that those first ones. Two of them led to the three points that the Chiefs had before halftime, which were massive, so they ended up
minus three. Right, there was no there was there was some missed maybe I thought you could have called the pass interference on Lamar's interception, but it doesn't take away that it was the worst possible throw and like it.
Was, I think we were getting that throw this January, right, and that's gonna now that sticks with him again, whether people want to talk about it.
It does.
So it's not it's like it's not just a target Lamar thing. But I like when you think of the Baltimore Ravens under Harbaugh, who they've been, like the ro Kwan Smith unnecessary roughness penalty where it was like, you know, a sham. You're going in there on intentionally to blow things up, but you do it in a way where you're not even a good thespian, you're not a good actor, and it gets called for what it is. And Zay
Flowers young player, He's gonna learn from this. But like the taunting call, that was.
An insane It was about a five place sequence where he makes a big play, gets a taunting, then he gets another big play to get those yards back from the taunting penalty, then gets the ball knocked away on a penalty, then goes back to the sideline and slams his helmet down and cuts his finger open. That's an insane, like five minutes of a human's life that was documented seven human in front of sixty million people. Speaking of Lamar, let's let's hear from the and he will be a
week from Thursday named the NFL MVP. And you can't take away anything from him in terms of the performance going into this game, but all of it seems a little bittersweet now for Raven's nation.
No hay in the barn, I.
Mean no turnovers, you know, they they played the game basically perfect. They put points on the board. I felt like, if we wouldn't turn the ball over, we definitely would have had a shot. We definitely would have came out with a win. But they did a great job and I turned the ball over and pulling points on the board.
And let's hear from the other quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who and Lamar made a good point there. I mean, the Chiefs weren't perfect in this game, but again they've been so clean and they've been. They're playing it the way the Patriots used to play it. Even wasn't a pristine, perfect effort. They play the game the quote unquote right way, and then the other team wilts in the big moment, and then you take advantage of it.
All of a sudden, you're walking away. It's like, did we just lose that game? Yeah.
You always seem to get beat by that team that always keeps their heads together this time of year.
You don't take it for granted. Either. You never know how many you're gonna get to you or if you're gonna get to any And so it truly is special just to do it with these guys after what we've been through all season long, the guys coming together, it really is special. But I told him, I mean, job's not done. I mean our job now is to prepare ourselves to play a good football team in the Super Bowl and try to get that ring.
I think it will remember that. You know, you'll see at the end of the game they only seventeen points, and you look at the box score and all that, and it doesn't seem like a crazy impressive performance. I believe there was an eight drive sequence here where they had three points. I mean really the last eight and not many first downs either. I think they had eight first downs in those eight drives, so they weren't really moving the ball. But that obscure is like how impressive
those first two drives were. Like the play where to me that would defined this game was the one where Mahomes is scrambling around, breaks a bunch of tackles and throws an insane pass that Kelsey catches beautiful, like he's I'm trying to think of a great center fielder here, maybe Mooki and his prime like diving for the ball. Kelsey gets that and that leads directly to a touchdown. Those were magical plays by Mahomes on those.
First couple of times. They were perfect.
He started eleven for eleven in this game, and those two touchdowns.
Yeah, you needed your defense to be great, but they set the tone.
For the game. I'm gonna give you a center fielder Jim Edmonds.
Okay, that would have been like that.
I mean, I think Kelsey's like degree of difficulty with some of the catches, especially like right out of the gate. I think he had four catches in the first quarter alone, and you know, Broke the Jerry Rice postseason record. But it was like we had come to this sort of common understanding that this version of Kelsey that we were getting largely was not They.
Got rope adopes.
Everybody, you know how he throws went to Kelsey and that he and.
Bills did zero the Bills. The Bills got rope adoped. The Ravens got rope adope, Ropodope America got rope adoped. Nobody saw this, this Chiefs rise coming, except for the Chiefs.
I think they always believed they did do this.
I know this maybe is arcane or stupid or means nothing, but I when the when the replays, when James Palmer sent out you know, end zone evidence of you Justin Tucker sitting there with this little kicking tea and his helmet China, get in the way of Patrick Mahomes warming up, and Kelsey just come over and takes Justin Tucker's a Hall of future Halday, our greatest takes and whips it through the end zone.
It's like, get out of our space.
We were in Baltimore, and it's like something about the Chiefs, that's who they are.
It's like it was an out ones.
Get it was it was.
It was and Justin Tuck, like.
To his credit, didn't explode or throw a hissy fit or anything, but it was like he was left as the lesser individual in that kind.
It was your home stadium. It was I know this is your stadium. I know you're the number one seed. Uh, but this is Championship Sunday, and this is this is our time, this is the.
Chiefs, this is what we do.
Yeah, you're just a guest and you'll find out in about four hours how this goes. And they absolutely, uh, they a absolutely followed up with a great performance. Let's listen to Kelsey on the riser after the game.
Shout out to Jerry rise baby the Chiefs to steal the Chiefs and believe it.
You gotta fight for your ride.
Believe it, baby, we're going to La Vegas that to get us another one. I love that the white boy flow from Kelsey, especially when he's excited.
Yeah, it's.
You know that doesn't happen often to.
Compete on that.
And and let's just I want to mention this so before we get sidetracked again, the fact that Taylor Swift is at the game again.
She comes down on the field after the game.
There's all sorts of shots of them together and point at each other and kissing. It's you can't make it up, like you can't make up the fact that and maybe and there's been a lot of talk. I don't know, we haven't really addressed it on the show, not because we're avoiding it, but just you know, you know, it's stupid, But a lot of talk about the fixes in and all this was planned, and the colors of the super Bowl logo we're supposed to be telling us that the NFL had already decided who was the US.
You know, late at night about that.
But so the Travis Kelcey thing that he ends up dating the most famous woman in the world, and now she's been continually in the news and on the cameras, and now she's on the field at the ABC Championship game, and now she's going to be at the super Bowl. This is the the biggest Taylor Swift is on the biggest.
Pop culture heater since Michael Jackson.
You put out thriller in November eighty two, and we're going to take it to We Are the World, which he co wrote with Lionel Ritchie and performed in eighty five.
I put Taylor's run.
The fact that she's in the middle of even this pop culture moment, from all her music and all her success, it is outrageous. How in the middle of everything this woman is.
That's my point.
I mean that well, in like the kiss they had was like perfectly framed. They actually ran it as they were rolling. The credits reminded me so much of like maybe the most famous photograph in like American history there in the timescar picture after defeating you know, after you know, World War two and everything.
And that, except now it's trying is Kelcey.
That's our generation, that's our picture, Travis Kelcey and Taylor Stiff.
People need to calm down. If that, if they get their d day, everybody's gonna oh d And it was after victory.
And yes, I do think Dan, you forgot like when Steve Winwoods back in the High Life again came out like that was also a heater, that really was.
I know.
Those second to that, But I mean, this is tough' it's a big take you.
I always pushed so hard back against the Kelsey might be in the conversation of the greatest tight ends of all time because I just I think it was ignoring. First of all, how we talked about a lot of those Titans, not just Gronk at the time, and some of their all pros and all that, and when you stack them up, actually they were just as dominant in
their day as as Kelsey was now. Like stuff like this, this playoff run, in particular, to put it over the top, does remind me of like Gronk, especially in the one where they beat the Chiefs and they got their last Super Bowl and Gronku and kind of spiking it and having that run with the Bucks. This is special because you look at the offense, it's not really that much different Dan than the offense we were complaining about. I know we're saying it's so much different. It's not that
much different. It's just Kelsey and Rice. And now they're getting a little sprinklet of sc scantling, which does make a big difference, a little sprinklet of scalaling. And it took away the terrible players that were ruining them, sky Moore and Tony who's never going to play for the Chiefs again, and and it eliminated and they eliminated the mistakes like that's all like the offense actually isn't doing much more.
James Palmer told, right, they got.
Rid of all the dumb plays.
But a huge part of that formula is eleven targets to Kelsey for eleven catches in one hundred and sixty.
That's it and what he did, that's just it is.
We weren't this is what they're from last year when they were still an unstoppable offense more or less and won the Super Bowl. What made that work despite losing Tyreek Hill was that they had some They didn't have a lot of big playability that that wasn't part of their offense last year either. They got you know, stuff in moments, but mvs adding that to their their the recipe down the stretch here.
But Kelsey was the key to everything.
Shows up every week. I know, right, he's consistent. He's the only guy that was consistent all year. But that's what we kept on saying, like, what's wrong with this offense? Travis Kelson having a kind of like one of those all time tight end seasons last year lifted all the boats. And now that he's back doing that again all of a sudden, and I know they didn't have a huge offensive game, but it just you can't understate how incredibly important he is to what they do.
I mean, Mahomes opened eleven for eleven. Kelsey's targeted eleven times has eleven catches, and I thought this was the defense that could find a way to nullify someone like Travis.
And to be fair, once they got out of their fifteen place script they did. I actually think this was a good performance by Mike McDonald and we end up talking about the winners only, but like Kyle Hamilton played incredible too.
It was awesome.
Rokwan Smith was incredible today. I thought Patrick Queen was really good today. They got beat and I just think great offense beats great defense. And when you go when they look at those plays that beat them on those first two drives, most of them are just like great plays that beat guys in good position, including that Kelsey touchdown, Like what could have Kyle Hamilton done anymore on that play? He was all over him. Mahomes fits it into a
tiny window, he had good coverage like that. It happens better and they were just better and they adjusted. I do think on the other side, though, when you look at that box score and it's Flowers for five, for one, fifteen,
and then after that it's it's nothing. Algallar had a nice big play on a nice throw from Lamar, and Beckham is kind of playing their fourth receiver role Bateman who they trusted to play more like he doesn't do anything, and the drop off that there was no one other than Lamar and Zay who had his own issues, that really did anything. So it was I think they're gonna
want to fill out this roster. As good as this team was, Beckham's not going to be back with this team, I don't think unless he just can't get a contract elsewhere and he's willing to take like a lot less money and they actually do need more weapons.
Still, they were.
Again right, I was exactly right, Like you're you're about and you're not wrong. You're about to lose Mike McDonald's as likely like to you know, head coaching duties, and you have to remove some of these weapons, and all the same questions crop up, like this is the team that should be pounding people in Baltimore in their home stadium in late January. Take away Lamar on the ground,
they ran for twenty seven yards. I guess to kill Monkin because the lack of carries in this game, and I know the game script and the time of possession was a big deal, but I mean that's.
How they were.
They're never far off, so I I yea. They were the team with critical mistakes right. Exactly what I mean is they never ran the ball. Part of it was they could never get any drives going after that touchdown drive. They have the Lamar fumble drive that last five plays, they have a one first down, five play drive, a three and out, a three and out to start the second half. They had a little something going and then they have take negative plays a punt before that, so it was like these short drives.
But you're absolutely right. I thought the.
Chiefs defensive line really stood up. I thought on the other side of the ball, it was like a pretty even battle and the and the Ravens won their share. But for the Chiefs defensive line, Carl Loftis and the middle of that line Dana Omena, who certainly Chris Jones like they kind of beat. I think the Ravens offensive line for the most part, especially against the run.
I thought decisively, like surprisingly, and like they have a drive that ends at the nine fumble interception the one in the end zone and then you know.
A too late field goal.
It's like they they disappeared, and like you, I felt like the Ravens kept having these drives where it's like, here's your chance to get back into this, but then it would melt in some way and it's like timeless takes.
They outgained that, they outgained the Chiefs two hundred and one to seventy eight until that last second.
It's balls off on the second half. It did they ask and you don't listen. There are very few quarterbacks that are as fortunate to say who we're going to talk about later Brock party to have all stars or Kurt Warner not to sing laud party back in the day, to have all stars all around you, like you shouldn't if if Lamar is as good as we say he is, you shouldn't have to build the perfect supporting cast around him for this ultimately to end with a Lombardi Trophy
being hoisted. Like the true great ones make the most of it, and I think they're still less.
They're and Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady's conference, then no one ever makes it.
Well, I'm just saying, like no one else is great.
I know, I don't disagree with what you're saying that this is a roster on offense that needs tweaks, and it would have maybe been a different game of Mark Andrews was one hundred percent in this game, obviously, but it just was a bad look all the way around for the Ravens.
Flowers bitterly disappointed.
A great pick, and he was a little immature and made some mistakes in this game. He's also a rookie and it was their clear number one receiver, so that was a nice fine.
They're just going to be looking for more is.
And and one last thing about the kel Gronk comparison, and it's impossible not to do that with like two greats that basically overlapped and play the same position just like Gronk back in the day. So many of the Kelsey catchers are absolute daggers, either third down conversions, fourth
down conversions, red zone scoring plays. So even when he like in this game, he had eleven, it felt like twenty one, Even when like last week, he only had five, but it felt like ten because the plays he makes are so consequential because and it makes sense in the money moments in the crucible moments. That's where number ten looks, and they're going to the Hall of Fame together one day.
That's why we believe in tight end wins. That's a stat I'll tell you this. I don't yeah, I don't care who else what anybody picks.
I'm done.
I'm out of the picking against Patrick Mahons and Travis Kelcey and Spags and Andy Reid in January and February, because look, they've been laying waste to the doubters and they've loved doing it and they're gonna be and there again a dog, Greg. So any thoughts, any other thoughts on this game before we move.
On that that is almost perfect for them because it's like it's kind of inconsequential two and a half points, whatever it is.
But they can ride that.
I think they will.
That will, that will fuel them. We will hear about that two weeks.
We will, we will.
All right, we're gonna take a break and then we're gonna go to the NFC side of things, which was, oh man, what a wild one.
All right, let's take a break, right, welcome back.
So the AFC Championship, I want to say it went to script because the favorite went down in flames, but the game played out in ways that made sense, you know, and with the Mighty Mahomes and Company priumphant this NFC title game, we're about to get into him. By the way, it's time for the Sunday Drive present by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. And I'm only asking for one islander, like Mark. Yeah, I think we're asking for like ease, you know, let's give Mark five pizzas.
Yeah, at least that compared to a like a human vehicle that costs thousands of dollars.
It feels like hell is a human vehicle.
I mean, just the fact that like they're gonna send you like a twenty five thousand dollars truck or something or whatever it is, like and I'm getting five frozen pizzas.
Must fit in with the human amobile.
Just feels like someone who's getting a better deal potentially there.
I'm just saying, but like you're right, monetarily, it's not going to even out, but right, just like give Mark like a French red pizza market, We'll just like know the product better to give them the classic pie, you know, just mix it up.
It's a fair request on your part for me, are you ready for a big w at your next watch party?
Anyway?
We don't know.
I don't know either.
Oh what I was saying, was it just this game we're about to talk about now had so many It was really two games, two different games. But the thing is when there's two different games, you want to be typically the team that has like their game last ye and h for fans of the team from.
Michion, by being their game, you mean like scoring lots of points.
Yeah yeah, and just like you know, because let's be honest, GREGI this might be said an all time or the all time momentum game.
This is the momentum Bowl.
This is the one that causes Claybah and Greg to drop to their knees and profusely apologize. I mean, I think that sets the table accurately. I don't think you at this point, Greg could debate it. This game we're about to talk talk about has proven Mark and I and millions of others correctly while sending you scrambling for shelter.
Not true. Never, it is completely true, not true.
All right to the big bell bottom.
Three yards away nine feet is required, prety under center used check.
How Elijah Mitchell is in. They give it a Mitchell off the right side. Go on listen in.
Touchdown seven fran Cisco line.
There it is the call from Greg Papa with Tim Ryan k n b R. The San Francisco forty nine ers, down twenty four to seven at the break, absolutely barnstorm the Lions in the second half, going up thirty four to twenty four after that Mitchell touchdown that was set up by a big CMC play and then a late Lion score made it close and hurt some people involved with deserts. However, all that mattered in the end was San Francisco with that big run in the second half
take out the Lions thirty four to thirty one. The Niners scored seventeen points in an eight minute span of the third quarter to tie this NFC title game, pull away in the fourth and they get a rematch with the Chiefs who defeated them in crushing fashion four years ago. Mark the Lions did everything right, did everything right in the first half, but San Francisco's offense has the explosiveness that if you open the door for him, they will
storm right in. And to the credit of Purdy and Ayuk and Deebo and CMC and Kittle, they ran right in and set the place on fire.
Well, they remind me, you know, of what we talked about with the Chiefs, to the degree that like you're talking about a team that's been through these crucible moments against a team that is learning what that means to even be as an NFL team. And they came out, the Lions so hot and so fiery, and it was like they seemed inevitable, inevitable to me almost. But then there was this like these games happened, how are they unfold?
Like there was a sequence of items and I'll just say quickly when get into it, but it was like you have a key moment where it's twenty four to ten, it's fourth and two for the Lions, they have a chance to really I think, stick a knife into the Niners. A fourth and two pass to Josh Reynolds that goes incomplete.
You could have ran the ball there. On the next sequence for the Niners, you have that Brandon Ayuk incredible throw downfield, a fifty one yard completion that ricochets off the helmet of Kindle Wilders.
Sounds like a space age.
Underboss the name that infamine, right right, I mean the thing these are like, that's not the lie, Like that isn't like something you just blame on the Lions.
Just this fateful moment that happened.
Momentum.
Yeah, the momentum bounced off, the hounds off, depending on who caught it, they had the momentum.
Whatever happened there sound terrible, Greg, You're you're saying that doesn't what you're saying makes no sense.
No, it's not right. Is that what it is? It is two very different things.
It's like, you know, Bill Buckner, it's whatever you say. It's like suddenly you know it is.
It's a failure to execute though build or it doesn't make to catch.
It opens the door for the Niners to make a play.
It's true, but it also would have been an incredible play if he had.
But then Ayuk scores.
Plays later, it's twenty four to seventeen, and you can start to feel stuff shifting, and then you get Jamier Gibbs, who is such a wonderful player for up until this moment, the key fumble, and then you have a big un by brock Purty.
They score.
It's twenty four to twenty four and everything starts to shift.
A seventeen point lead, a race like that eight minutes, it was nothing eight minutes, and we can get to all the Campbell decisions and the way I have those set up by this thing falls apart. But now that we've even had like the game ended probably what an hour or something like that, Now that you've even had like a little time to think about it, we don't.
Four days later we do it.
I don't mean like, so that's that's what you're gonna remember from this game, or I'm going to remember first is the ball bouncing off the helmet, the fact that they had a seventeen point lead, the fact that they couldn't execute on the fourth downs, the fact that they kept drop being passes.
They kept dropping the ball.
Jamir Gibbs Josh Reynolds had two drive killing drops. But what is lost a little bit in that is that this forty nine Ers offense, which was statistically the best offense in the league all season long, they're down seventeen points at halftime. They get some good fortunes, certainly in the second half, but they got the ball five times
after halftime. They scored every freaking time they scored three touchdowns and had two field goals, and one of those field goal drives was the best field goal drive of Kyle Shanahan and Brock Perty's life. They squeezed seven minutes off the clock to take a lead that completed the comeback and gave them their first lead. So there are five drives on offense with yes, that won very lucky play but offensively and they're an offensive team going up
a very shaky Lions defense. In general all year they were perfect. They had to be perfect after halftime and offensively, they ran it when they needed to. They got big plays when they needed to. Perty ran it when he needed to, and yes, he got very fortunate in this game. Threw out at different points, but ultimately when in not cutting time, second half, they were the best offense in the league. Looked like the best offense.
Yeah.
Late, absolutely, and you want to you know, people are gonna maybe just dwell on the Niner side of things in the collapse, but you have to give it to the Niners and Kyle Shanhan, Kyle Shanahan who before last week, you know, the whole story is run this guy as great as he is. If his team gets down late, they're done back to back big comebacks. They survived the
Packers game, and then they kind of the way. I was so impressed by what the Ravens did against the Texans in the divisional round, where they took some punches in the first half and then just took control of the game. The Niners did that, but on a hugely bigger stage, So you got to give him credit. Now, so much of the talk around the game is going to go back to how do the Lions blow a twenty four to seven lead? Okay, and the IU catch
is a huge part of it. I think it's it will live in infamy in Detroit because I don't think it would have been what your word was, outstanding or whatever.
It was catch.
I thought it was a playable ball by dB that gets turned not only into and it's not even just an incomplete pass, gets turned into a huge game that sets up the touchdown that sends that building. And credit to Niners fans because that's not typically a stadium where you say, oh, that place rocks when it gets loud. That place was rocking. So that was a massive play. The fumble happening immedia after huge play, and then.
You think snowball.
Guess yeah, I thinks snowballed after that. But with Campbell, there were four big decisions in this game that people are going to talk about. The first one I'm not going to go crazy about because I agreed with it. First of all, Greg, I don't think you did. But seven seconds to go in the second quarter, they're up twenty one to seven. It's fourth and goal to San Francisco three. Campbell thinks it over, decides it's a little
too far. He kicks the field goal, and I think Greg Olsen was on him a little bit and said, listen, this is your chance to give a knockout punch.
Hindsight twenty twenty, maybe you do take that chance.
But instead of own for twenty eight to seven, they take the field goal, I guess, And I think part of that Greg was the Niners or Campbell knowing the Niners got the ball to start the third quarter too, it being like, let me take these points, get ahead three scores.
And you wanted to go in feeling like it was as dominant as possible. It's hard to have it both ways and say like, okay, take the field goal here, but don't take it there. The numbers, and I think Campbell's instincts coming into play here. A lot of it has to do with like, a big part of the reason you go for the fourth and goals is because you're pinning the other team back and you lose that advantage at the end of the second quarter. You get no advantage from that. So I'm with you, and that's
what I like about Campbell. He hasn't been a play it by the book guy. He has a feel I think for the game and he takes the three there, and I think part of it he said it they wanted to get to thirty. They did in the end, but they knew they needed to score a lot.
All right, Mark, I'll set you up now on the next big play with Campbell. It's fourth and two at the San Francisco twenty eight yard line. There's seven minutes left in the third quarter. It is twenty four to ten. Instead of bringing out the kicker, it was not a big time kicker, and that you have to keep these things in Michael.
Badgley Michael bad joined the team.
But instead of a kicking the field goal to try to go up twenty seven to ten. This was after San Francisco marched down the field to kick the field goal to start the second half. He opts to go for it, He passes underneath to Josh Reynolds. He drops the ball turnover, and you start to hear people getting on Campbell a little bit, which I thought was unfair, Mark, because this is what Dan Campbell and the lines are about all year.
I'm with you.
I think that you could say, do you run the ball there? Maybe because they you know, earlier in the game they were running with a lot of force and power.
They picked up a third and thirteen running it right, and so there would be evidence that that might have been another option at that point in the game. Goff was also starting to feel pressure from Bosa. Nick Bosa was starting.
He had two sacks in this game, and Golf was under a lot of heat on that actual in particular, like in completion of Josh Reynolds and then it leads to the Ayug play. But I would say this, like if we just talked about a that looked different today than the way that they were hammering teams in the past, Like I had at no point thought that Dan Campbell went away from his character who he is, how he runs this team, and so this is part of what the Lions do was true, Like the.
Reynolds dropped the ball and they.
Were connected, it would be they were connecting on a lot of stuff tonight. It's like, I think it's just you go for it. I have no problem with that at all. All right, don't get the whole issue.
With this one. This one gets a little dicier. Now it's fourth and three at the Niners thirty. Now you've lost the lead. The Niners just went on that long lead drive. To kick the field goal, you have a chance to tie the game. He bring out badgely to attempt a forty seven yarder, which is a very high percentage make in the league. Right now, now in the NFC title game in the fourth quarter, midway through. It's
a little harder kick, but no doubt. He decides to again keep the offense on the field, and this time Greg Goff does not take care of his own business because he misses someone crossing underneath and throws incomplete. So a chance to tie the game midway through the fourth I had to go for it, and he gets killed. He's getting killed on social media for this. My point about the previous play still stands. This is what the Lions were. You can't change now.
Yeah, that would have been a forty seven yarder. Again, that's hardly locked in for Michael badgely in a big spot.
But your boy, uh this is it. Yeah, this one coin flip. But that's who they were.
And I wish I could rewatch that play right now because if if I'm remembering right, I think Bosa had a quick pressure on that play to Bosa really made his money in the second half of this game.
He was really good, and so that impacted the play.
Goff I think was a little off down the stretch going for the field goal there. I just think the thing to remember is the Lions defense did not have a stop in the second half, and they look at it and people kind of use the fact that, hey, you'd be within seven if you had just hit that field goal. Okay, true, but you just gave up a touchdown. The point was they needed to keep scoring to possibly keep up. So, yeah, maybe you kick a field goal, your defense still need to get stops.
It wasn't showing that it could do it.
All right, let's hear it.
By the way, I'm gonna hear from Campbell on his decision to stay aggressive.
I don't regret those decisions. And that's hard. You know, it's hard because you know they didn't we didn't come through. It wasn't able to work out. But I just I don't. I don't, And I understand the scrutiny. I'll get that's part of the gig man, but you know, we just just didn't work out.
And now the final move that he makes, and this is the only one I thought was indefensible. They are down thirty four twenty four. At this point, it's third and goal the San Francisco one. I understand the odds are stacked against them, but with sixty five seconds to play, they run the ball to Montgomery. It gets stuffed and not only does that backfire, you have to burn a
time out. So at that point you're playing, you have to go for it on fourth down obviously, which they convert, but now it's on side kick or bust because you no longer have three timeouts. Mark, that was a very shaky decision, probably not in either way, but that was the only one where I was like, well, Campbell, f that one up.
Yeah, I'm with you.
I I like, I, you know, I think you said it perfectly, like you're going through the script and you know, with the bullets flying in real time, and you've got to do the best you can with it. And I didn't love that play call necessarily, but this is who the Lions are. And like I think that one of the reasons that more coaches are being hired who.
See decision making the same way that Dan.
Campbell does is because this is like I think Greg Olsen we talked about to Greg Olsen is one of the better describers of why these things are happening why coaches because he's sitting there and the best coach of my best right, he's describing like what today's NFL is, And like I understand also if you're coming from a different point of view, from a different time, where like some of this stuff drives you mad or you don't quite have the full read on why it's happening, that
can be if you're a Lions fan, you've got a lot of frustration, But this is who they are.
This is your head coach.
You got this far because he's been doing this all year, He's been doing it last year. It's like aggression is the way to go, and today's league well, and especially with this team, which is an offense heavy team that didn't play great on offense done.
You know, I think golf his ball placement was a little off in the second half, but that even that run, Dan, I hear you.
It didn't work.
But I think that's sort of what we get back to with all these It's just like, I think the process all made sense. It's just like they the players decide, and they didn't. They didn't win, they didn't execute. They were the inferior team ultimately, I think when you stack it all up, but you you kind of look back at that sequence and they were taking a little while to get down there. Ferkser barely steps out of bounds at the one. Looked like Ferkser was gonna.
Score, moving like Frankenson after you'd want to like it's like he caught was like, why is Sam Laporte? Did he hurt his knee again? It's like, oh no, it's the guy that doesn't have a catchy.
Yeah, I wouldn't again, I'd have to rewatch it.
I doubt he's the first read on that play, but a lot right, he probably should have. Then they do throw on second down, so then you're at a point. You're at a point you have to score, and like you, they know that. You know that, they know that you can't like that. You don't want to blow the time out there, and so you're trying to catch them a little by suprise perhaps, but you're also thinking, what are we better at? What can we do best? We can
run the ball. It's a low it's a higher percentage play. And yes they did get the touchdown. That touchdown was like one of the best plays a Lion's receiver made all day. Was a great catch by Jamison Williams on a great throw by Golf. It was a very difficult It's just hard for those to work. And like I just come back to like the players have to make the plays, and the Lions just didn't make it. Like
they had four drives that went poor before that touchdown drive. Right, here's how three of them ended, two with Reynolds drops. We didn't mention the first Reynolds the second Reynolds drop, which to me was the bigger one. It was on a third down. He's wide open on a crossing route. It's a perfect throw and he literally kicks it like he drops it in and then he kicks it. So there's four drives in a row that go poorly. Two are On Reynolds drops and one is Gibs his fumball.
So it's just like yeah, and they dropped the ball literally.
And like you know, Aman Rossaint Brown, who had just I thought in the first half, I was like, just gonna take over this entire game. In the second half, you know, ta mirror what you're talking about about, just drives crumbling away. He wasn't targeted till eight minutes left to go in the game. It's like, so the guys in the first half that were dominating San Francisco, uh, a lot of a lot of it just sort of vanished.
I want to I.
Want to throw some flowers to your boy, Mark Rock Party, who will be obviously the subject of exhaust of examination.
For the next two weeks.
And I thought the beginning of this game, and you know, even into and including that throw of the big completion to Ayuk, was everything that has concerned me about Party in big spots this season. But back to the matter is sometimes you just got things are with you, things are clicking, and you're having a good season. And he did throw he got away with a couple bad throws, a couple of floaters, he survived them. The other team
didn't take advantage of it. But then when it was time to win the game in the second half, just like he did it in the end of the game against the Packers, he made big plays. He was he was precise with his throwing and most of most of all, the thing I think people will remember about this Party performance is how many big plays he made with his legs.
Right for a guy that is obviously mister irrelevant, not the most athletic, how many times did he escape pressure and turn a sack or no gain into ten, fifteen, eighteen yards And that was a big difference in this.
Game as well.
Yeah, like the twenty one yard run that came after the Gibbs fumble that set up a Christian McCaffrey touchdown to tie the game at twenty four twenty four, It's like, you don't just expect that from Rock Party. And I thought tonight, you know, he had something like fifty something yards on the ground, where it's say forty eight nine point six.
Yards per carry.
He added it to his game, and it's like, this is a really young quarterback who's adding some of those game and it's like, even when Mahomes did that last season, I thought, to some agree, it's like, what more can he Mahomes do? It's like in the playoffs, Mahomes on the ground with like a high angle sprain was a differentiator game after game and in this game, brock Purty added that to his palette.
And he had the huge run last week. It was only one against the Packers, but by far a career high in rushing. And it's funny because compared to the average NFL quarterback now he's You're right, he's not that athletic, but he does have good short area quickness. I mean you could see it in something like he can move if you put him in the NFL twenty years ago. He's a better than average runner. He is above sort
of the line that you almost need to be. Now he is Jeff Garcia maybe right, he is, No Jeff Garcia is a great runner, but like he's athletic. Help you make yeah, yeh, yeah, he's athletic enough, is what I'm saying. And like he made those now he was fortunate. I thought, like the opening driving the game was very typical of how his game was two absolute big boy throws.
It's almost hard to remember by that, like one where he was getting hit, another just beautiful ball placement, and then he almost threw an interception that they dropped to start the second half. On that field goal drive, that drive ended almost he was melting down at the end of that drive. He had like three crazy decisions in a row before they kicked that field goal, and he got away with like.
That's what I thought I might be getting.
Donald's sideline shot had double fingers crossed.
He's not a very safe player, but those mistakes that he makes doesn't linger, and he didn't really make any the rest.
Of the game.
One of the passes that you're talking about on the first drive, because there was a perfect throw to Brandon Aiyuk, but there was a play on third down where he completed a pass to Deebo Samuel where he was destroyed on it.
And I just do think he's a tough quarterback.
Oh year, it was like, there's no questioning the fact that he will do anything he is making.
He's easy to root for.
He's got the guts of a burglar. As they say he doesn't he does not. If he throws interceptions he's going to keep throwing, which could lead to games like Christmas and Balter. But also it shows that he's not afraid. He believes in himself by the way going back and I will yes, maybe the fumble, the immediate fumble after that touchdown.
Is kind of the play that really swung the game.
But I think it's forgotten a little bit because everything was going like it just happened so quick.
I think the first play of the drive.
The Ayuk catch off the miss by Bill Dore, is the play that I'll remember as when everything turned and when this truly became momentum.
Greg Let's let's listen to the Dan, because I want to hear from Dan Miller. It's a bummer that there you're not getting to.
The super Bowl, and I think it's sixty sixty years now without the Lions winning a championship. Here's the call of that play from the Detroit side of things. And then right after that, if we could Eric play Ayuk's postgame comments about the play.
Pretty out of the gun, takes to snap back and looking looking, looking, loading, throwing.
Deep down field.
It is up in the air and talk by hire, you get the heads.
Of Kindle Bill Door, are you played the grab? There is a flag down as well?
Why it looks like he's gonna go against the Lions the hit there is.
No phone in the play cats was made was down the contract with.
The thing and half first went right through Bill Door's hands and right off his face.
Map ely right before the game, A lady bug landing on my shoe.
Hey, y'all know what that means. So that's all I can say. No, I don't know, I don't know. Just great. Let dolls with it today, great win by game, It's crazy super star.
That probably was the moment, although the Gibbs fumble really cemented it that Lions fans must have started feeling like, oh my god.
Great guy said it was twenty four to twenty four. After the fumbling score, it already felt like thirty four to twenty four, right, but yeah, and that was in the blink of another eye.
The score at that point is twenty four to ten, and you just feel like, if you're a Lions fan, you've been seeing lady bugs landing on other teams' shoes for fifty something years, and you felt like this was maybe the year that was going to be different. We have Dan Campbell talking after the game about how there's no guarantee that you ever do get back to this point.
Look, I told those guys this may have been always shot. Do I think that?
No?
Do I believe that. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I'm well aware, and it'll be it's going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That's that's the reality.
Well, I would say this, though, you can look across to real point to the Niners and say that a team that's really well built, like the Lions with a that I didn't. I don't think they overachieved this year. I think they adequally achieved for like the roster they have, like, but they're not going away, Like I got what he's saying, but like, yeah, but the hope for the.
Life for every for every forty nine Ers team, and every Chiefs team and back in the day, every Patriots team. There are so many other teams that look like they have a bright tomorrow and you think, oh, they'll be back next year. We talked about this last week too. You just never know. And he's right because this.
Telling them that he like him telling them that because that's also and I'm.
Glad that he's being honest, because this was a good time to strike for the Detroit Lions in that division, with the Packers trying to figure things out, the Bear still trying to figure things out, the Vikings being the Vikings like this was this felt like their chance and they and they let it slip away. When we have Dan Campbell. I don't know what's going with Dan's nose the last couple of weeks, very red. It's been distracting to me. I don't bother anyone else. I I hadn't
notice that, but now all not. I'm Erican.
I'm the most color blind man that's right in America. His nose look great to me.
I mean it's a very masculine nose, the shape and structure of it, but there's a discoloration or a high coloration.
Sorry to rub it in. Greg. Here is more Campbell on the game that almost was.
You know, Coach Shannan's hell of a coach. That's a team that you know, they've they've done it, they lived it, and they made the place. So credit to them. I'm really, I'm really proud of all these guys. I am. I mean, and it's hard when you lose that way. It's hard, you know, you feel like you get your heart ripped out.
So and on the other side with Shanahan, because I thought something he said after the game really illuminated how special they are and how different they are. He said, we played as bad of a first half as we could, but we were still within seventeen. How many teams can say that and be like, we're all right, it's only seventeen. That's a three score game in the second half of the NFC Championship game. But that's not just coach speak, Like he knows he has the dogs to dig out
and they made him look great in this game. Because they lose this game, Greg Mark, there's a lot of chatter around Shanahan the guy that just can't get over the hump, and instead, in two weeks it gets another chance to kind of really stamp himself as if not the top of the chain of coaches right there.
I think it's easy to feel like almost a sadness if you're a generalist and you're not rooting specifically for one of these teams, that you lose the experience of the Lions going on to do something that we would have been fun.
It would have been fun.
But that said, if we shift focus in a couple of days, like what the Niners have been through and how close they've come, and how close Shanahan has come, Like he knows you can come back from seventeen because he lived through twenty eight to three and he's lived through a thousand moments coaching in all different situations, and he's got the right people on the field to do it.
I mean, this guy's been doing this for a entire life, and it's like there is a part of me that's like I cannot help it root for Kyle Shanahan to finally do it because he has come so close over well.
Yeah, because they know how the further you get, the more brute of the losses. And this will be the fourth time in five years. I mean they're not a dynasty in the way that we use the word, but to make four conference finals in five years, to make two Super Bowls now in five seasons, you just feel like you got it in those By the way, we're brutal losses. Uh, you gotta win, you you gotta get
it done. And I do think they learned They can't fall down like that against the Chiefs, obviously, but I do think they learned something about themselves because I I think one of the reasons I thought this team was not built to make that come up wasn't the offense. It was that their defense looked like trash for large portions of this Packers and Lions game, and that that's something to be concerned about. The Lions had almost like
two hundred yards. I just thought the game script was such that the Lions would be able to run the ball in the second half. The Lions still ended up with one eight two GiB Montgomery fifteen for ninety three, Gibbs twelve for forty five, and Jamison Williams had that electric forty two yard touchdown to start the game. And yet give the defense credit to when they needed to in the second half. They do have a lot of
star players, and they came together enough. Their run defense, which is a problem and we'll talk about it leading up to the Super Bowl, it did get good enough when it really mattered to get them over the line.
Unbelievable, Yeah, I can't.
And that was by the way, the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota, where a drive. Of course, it was let's go places like Las Vegas. Learn moy learn more at toyota dot com. Slash ran Islander. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie like this is not listen if it's not the Jets playing, I'm not gonna get overly invested in terms of heartbreak. Although I feel for Cynthia Frielan, who's a front of ours, I absolutely feel for Patra, who we know forever and he was lined up to be on
the show tonight. It was texting with him earlier late last week, like, you know, we try to get him out on Thursday. We couldn't make it happen. It was like, how about Sunday if they win? And just knowing and listen with Patra, you don't. We're not texting Patrick, you say, give him a wide berth as you would any die hard fan.
Right now. I don't even like that. The email is sitting in his inbox right now.
No, he's probably the Eric job. We're not coming after you because you're doing your job. There's to make a show like we do. There has to be things like setting up link ups for a essentially a feed into the studio. But listen, you don't you've never met Kevin Patra all right, He's an intense, powerful man who works out.
I just I don't want you to be hurt.
The timing of it all was just very, very unlucky because I see that as I'm trying to set this up the book, Hey, if they win, we're gonna do this. I'm okay, i gotta get this and now moving parts. And as I'm sending this link like it's it's flipping, and then I get separate messages from both Dan and Greg. Hey, like, don't Mark wasn't even worried about patches directly, especially at this moment, Like at this moment, like never even cross marks month.
So it was But yeah, I mean, hopefully it just went to spam.
And here's the thing.
And I'm not saying you should do this, because this could lead to other problems. If you could somehow hack into the NFL network mainframe to unsend that email before Patrick wakes up for like his five am shift tomorrow to write news items about this great comeback by the Niners, I think it would be in your best interest, and I'll leave it there.
I didn't say to do it.
I'm just saying that's one thing you might want to think, what if I just spam him, so it just gets pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed him.
That's another potential incredible hole.
It's like a lot.
Yeah, he's got to be very careful. I would say, I think he will survive. He'll be Mexico's and options, He'll be okay.
And if he comes at us, we'll just blame it on the shadowy League figure who actually lost the game for the Lions by sending like a text that they can't do that. Yeah, that jinks them when they were up seventeen that you.
Can't do that, you can't do it.
Yeah.
And so what I was saying was, if it's not the Jets, I'm not really gonna be heartbroken about anything, but I will. I will say I did, just like probably a lot of people, I had thoughts of, you know, one hundred thousand Lions fans coming into Vegas and what as we've been so lucky to cover so many Super Bowls and we're going to be doing it again and I can't wait.
Uh.
That would have been a completely unique, obviously new experience, and hopefully hopefully the Lions get over the hump down the line. But there's no doubting what Campbell said is absolutely true.
You don't know. You just never know if you're going to get another crack at it.
And when you get to this level, at this stage, to let it slip away is just crushing.
Yeah, Like they showed the you know, this is unusual, but like they cut to Ford Field, which was a capacity crowd. I remember as a child watching like WrestleMania three, not at WrestleMania three, but at like at a stadium with a bunch of other people, which my dad was forced to take me to a highly in nerdy we has to do like close circuit. Yeah, it was close circuit.
This was the opposite of that.
This was like a city like literally celebrating for many of them, the biggest event that they've ever come together for. And so they stopped showing that stadium as the two things I'm wondering about it happened.
Yeah, the procession back to the parking lot at Portfield. Also, I saw one shot of eminem who is at the game in San Francisco, doing a double bird do, like a bunch of fans in the suite and the level below him, Like, what is what is Eminem's like exit route out of Levi's stadium?
Does he state it?
Does he pull a Mark Wahlberg and leave in the third quarter of twenty eight three to get it to beat the crowd? Is Marshall Mather is currently brawling with multiple with the opposition, I don't know, No.
I'd say that you get like a couple of your friends to like wrap you in blankets and take you out like a dead body and no face.
That's got to have some security, that's true.
We saw that they're actually footage of Taylor Swift being snuck from backstage to the stage before one of our concerts in like a cleaning person's cart. Yeah, and that was the way to maybe do that with Marshall Mantis. This is definitely the playoffs and the season in general where we've got like minor and major celebrities crawling out of the suites into the crowd itself or in the crowd, yeah, recognizing them.
You know, he was sitting in the crowd.
And I don't think forty nine ers fans would even look a scans at you or us having that view.
They're different, The lions are different.
There's been I don't know about that, Greg, I think I didn't know we're even talking about this right now.
Well, they can eat it. There were twenty four teams. That's why it's the bad boy of NFL media. There are twenty four teams.
Give them a guitar, squeals.
It's like wine and cheese.
I'm just saying there were twenty four teams that were in the NFL when the NFL truly started the merger. There's one of those twenty four teams they have not been to the Super Bowl.
That is the Detroit Lions.
And you're comparing and there's another team on the other side, and I know it's been a minute, Who've won five Super Bowls. So yes, the average fan is going to root for that fan base who has been through more heartache than anyone who's never even really had a chance, and that this was their chance.
Of course, the average fan is going.
To be r it was new.
That's we talked yet a little.
Less soonus in terms of uniqueness.
But at the end of the day, we are not complaining because Chiefs v. Niners is going to be a hell of a game. Andy Reid versus Kyle Shanahan. That is gorgeous. It's happened before, and it was a great game last time. And I have a feeling, just like the desert is feeling right now, that is going to go down to the wire again.
So that is the game.
Next time you hear us doing a recap, well, Mark's going to be We're sending Mark to Orlando correct to cover all Oh yeah, bowl game?
What am I doing?
Just dodgeball the triple jump tag.
Defend his Pro Bowl Flag Football MVP. He had that big drive to finish.
I think there's I had officially do not have time for that.
No, Mark Marcus coming to Vegas with us, and we're going to cover all the games. We still, of course, have two weeks of shows before that, so make sure you're there, uh and tuning in anything else?
Yeah, we'll be back to Tuesday. Who's they music's playing?
That?
Guess nothing else.
Thank you everybody who've been listening to every Sunday all season.
One game left, Heed the call.