Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're partying like it's twenty twenty three.
Up.
Greg Rosenthal in the Chris Westling podcast studio with my friend Patrick Claybon, Nick Shook in Cleveland, and Yes, super Bowl fifty nine is set and it looks a whole lot like Super Bowl fifty seven.
Chiefs Eagles.
I guess we were always leading to this point, Patrick Claybon, Patrick Mahomes, He's inevitable and the Eagles are too good to be stopped.
It's a rematch.
It's a rematch, and of course it's Jalen Hurts lock screen. All these things that we're going to talk about from the Eagles having that disappointment, they're at super Bowl fifty seven.
It's all coming back.
The Eagles got there in a fashion that didn't leave a lot to you know.
We'll talk about that.
But this game between the Bills and the Chiefs a classic delivered once again Shook.
Yeah, definitely delivered. It's very fitting of this Bills in Chiefs rivalry. And I think we have to wait to find out just a moment to see how it ended.
Yes, we know how it ended.
We know how they all and what I'm not gonna do is let any little minor rooting interests because we're all professionals here. We're not rooting for our picks. We're not rooting for something to just change. We're not rooting for our producer Eric Roberts. Okay, maybe maybe we are
a little bit. But what we are seeing, especially in these Bills Chiefs playoffs games, and especially tonight in the AFC Championship at Arrowhead was excellent and everything that you could want in a conference championship.
Let's go to Kansas City.
I'm minute thirty five to go in the game.
Chiefs lead thirty two to twenty nine. Long Counties are gonna throw it.
They throw in the left flat cut.
It's some JP run at the thirty first off the left sideline.
I love you, saman Ja Pam.
I remember when Brett Beach told me they picked him off into.
Game at eighteen yards.
I poured water on my head.
I don't even know what that means, but I like it.
It's the Samase p Ryan revenge game. What is he getting revenge for?
I don't know, being stuffed in a major spot in the Super Bowl and then getting the ball for a different team years later.
That's the revenge.
Yeah, he comes back, and that's why Mitch Holtzs's head was apparently on fire and he had to extinguish it.
Not sure about that. We're gonna have to deal with that call, just like all of them, I guess, But.
It was it was coming down to that moment where you wondered if the Kansas City Chiefs were gonna throw the ball. I felt like we're sitting there watching the game, Greg that the ball was gonna.
Be in Mahomes' hands.
If it was not absolutely lock solid an opportunity to throw the ball for the first down, he was probably gonna run it. Soma JP Ryan came across the field wide open like backs in the flat wide opened a lot late in that game, and that was a problem for the Kansas City Chiefs defense continually over the course of these sixty minutes.
Yeah, it sounds crazy, shook, but it's the little things in the last few minutes. It's the game management, and I think when you look at the two sides and how these fourth quarter drives ended on offense for each team, and the decision making for Andy Reid to throw the ball there like you did before they got the previous first down where Pacheco ends up going on abounds. It's total faith, it's total confidence in exactly what you're gonna do and everyone executing what you're gonna do. And I
can't say the Bills really had that. There were times in this game I was like, are they hiding Josh Allen? And of course Josh Allen had his up, so he had his downs, and he did a lot of great things late in this game. And yet the Chiefs just the whole playbook, everything is open to them when it matters the most.
And especially in clutch situations. That is the Chiefs m is going to the flats. I think back to the corn dog play in the Super Bowl last year. I think about the two plays that they ran where they actually ran the wrong direction one time two Super Bowls ago to beat the Eagles, one of those touchdown catches with Sky Moore. I think about the quick out to Tyreek Hill Chad Henny throws it on fourth down to beat the Browns and the divisional round back in twenty twenty.
This is who the Chiefs are.
So once again it was fitting that this time it was samajp Ryan in the flat for a huge first down to ice it for them. But it's all about what led up to that. It's about the Bills and their fourth down and five decision. It's about the fact that the Chiefs got down the field and we're able to take the lead. It's the back and forth affair that was the second half that made this such a great game that we're going to get into.
Yeah, and you bringing up all those old plays. I think it's so natural when you're watching this Chiefs team to think about their long run that it's not all in a vacuum. And we will talk about this game shortly in a vacuum and kind of back up all those fourth down and fourth quarter decisions.
But just from a big.
Picture standpoint, I am struck by back to back weeks them beating Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, the two best quarterbacks in the NFL this year, and thinking about this stretch that these two teams specifically have had and how they've been shaped by the Chiefs. It's so unique that the Ravens have the most wins over a seven year
stretch not to make a super Bowl. I mentioned all week how the Bills have made at least the divisional round five straight years, average of twelve wins a year, top five and point differential five straight years, and yet no Super Bowl appearance out of that. We actually have not really seen sustained excellence at this high level be pushed back over and over and over again.
I know the Patriots did it.
Somewhat, but not at this level, and that to me more than anything, because every year is different, every game is different. But more than anything, Mahomes, Read Spagnolo, Chris Jones, those four guys coming together finding a way to beat these truly great teams every single year, it's just remarkable.
And the similarities, there's parallels for all these guys. Right, you have Patrick Mahomes, He's had Texas Tech. They're throwing the ball a whole lot. You know, he goes up against these teams where you know, we have the bene for the hindsight looking back, it's like, Ah, Texas Tech. You know, they gave Baker and Oklahoma a run, but he didn't really, he didn't really show up in the big moments. And Andy Reid is over there in Philadelphia and Ah, you know they were good, but in the
big moments they didn't. He didn't really Spags had their run with the Rams. I don't know, I don't know if he could get it done. But together, right, it tells the story of how those narratives collectively don't make
any sense. And you've got Spags in position to have players like Chris Jones, players that have come through Trent McDuffie, like all of these guys that just make these plays because they have that talent and they have the ability and the wherewithal as well as the the cachet to send five, to send a corner blitz on fourth and five, right, to make these calls to throw the ball on third and nine, because that's Andy Reid, like, okay, Like if I mess up, if the play doesn't work out, where
are you all going to do to me?
Now?
Like I'm Andy Reid right, so and do it And it all starts, of course though with Mahomes, and I think these last two weeks have been really excellent Mahomes games. His first five scrambles, I believe tonight all hit for first down.
His success rate was through the roof.
And it's the decision making, but it's also some great throws down the field to Worthy to Marquise Brownie, he didn't catch them all. But it's funny shook because if you if you look at like the last six weeks of the season, for instance, actually Patrick Mahomes has been out playing Josh Allen and has been out playing basically everyone. He's gotten back to the Patrick Mahomes that you want to see right when it matters.
Of course, of course he has.
Yeah, nobody knows that better than me.
When I have to hear from people up you know, in my mentions the whole season.
Mahomes doesn't even deserve to be in the top ten. You're not watching the game. Well, now, guess what.
You've been forced to watch the game because there was two games on and one of them included him, and you all watched it, and you saw exactly what he's been doing over the last seven weeks, which is finding ways to lead his team to victory.
That is a mark of excellence.
It's not five hundred passing yards, but it's a mark of excellence. And in key moments like that, he goes on a bootleg and he's got a guy to dump it off to, he's got a running back to dump it off to, he's got worthy crossing the field that he throws two to set him up for the field goal.
He's got all these situations where he could make a mistake, he could throw an errant pass, he could take a sack, which he did take a sack a couple times today, and you know it doesn't matter because he delivers, because he's been there before, and he's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. And he's the leader of a team that is having so much success that we are now not only comparing them to the Patriots, some are even considering them to have a better run than the Patriots.
I mean, let's think about it. There's two teams that have stood in their way over since twenty nineteen. It's been the Cincinnati Bengals and the Champa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl.
That's it.
Otherwise, they've been here and I don't care if you're tired of it.
You have to appreciate excellence.
Yeah, And I think of like specifically in this game, for instance, that worthy catch that he made that was so insane where he pulls the ball away. That was a crazy throw by Mahomes as he in the throw didn't end up getting that much attention, but as he's getting hit. There was another play where he just stayed very composed in the pocket before hitting on what was ultimately like a good blitz call by the Bills. So I thought he played really well. Now, Patrick, you mentioned
the fourth down stop. Let's go back and talk about that. The Bills have the ball down three late in the game. They get the ball back with what three minutes and thirty seconds to go down three. At that point in the game, I thought it was a minor mire cle that the Bills had the ball in this position only down three. They forced the field goal after a big first down sack on Mahomes to get the field goal.
And for all the mistakes at the Bills I thought made today, they'd fumbled a bunch of times, they missed two two point conversions, they had a fourth down stop earlier in the fourth quarter. Here they were with a chance to win the game. They get a quick first down, then they're almost at midfield the forty seven yard line. They get five yards on a third and ten to Amari Cooper. They decide to go for it on fourth and five. Let's listen to the call, and.
He brings Khalil Shakira and marsha orbet motion now peels back to the left.
Since you're chasing Jeff Tallen, he.
Throws it up for Crafts and the passes inter playing into playing off the arm of the would be receiver Tulgent Jentiede Chan Sau City has the second fourth down stop in this half.
And it was a great call by Spags.
It was a tough one for Osaire's Torrence, who ultimately wound up blocking nobody. Trip McDuffie blitzed from the corner. The only people that got blocked on the play were George Carloftis and Chris Jones, because both Trip McDuffie and Justin Reid came right through on Josh Allen and the Bills on Bill Barmell pointed it out on Blue Sky Shout out to Blue Skuy earlier tonight. The Bills had that fourth and two in Week eleven where they ran mesh.
Josh Allen had a twenty six yard touchdown run, so they're essentially running a similar mesh here, but there's two guys directly on Josh Allen. Seconds after the ball is snapped. Brian Cook, though for the Chiefs, runs to cover grass instead of Dalton Kincaid setting up a great opportunity and incredible that Josh Allen even saw him. But Kinkaid picks up the ball late and it hits the surf. It's just a tough one.
I have issues this play, okay issues from the perspective because look, it blows my mind. And I watched this with the Chiefs a lot in key situation and Steve Spagnolo is going to have his defense show blitz and nine times out of ten that blitz is coming. It might not be coming from the guys you expect, but there is going to be a blitz coming. So why on earth are you leaving Josh Allen in an empty backfield.
As soon as I.
Saw him go in orbit motion, I was like, they're cooked because that blitz is coming and they don't have enough guys to pick that up and they're not going to pass it off in time. So as soon as he gets a snap and the blitz is in his face and he panics, you know, the whole play is blown up. Why and mesh is run correctly. There are guys open, but he has no time to find them because you didn't prepare for what everybody on Earth who's ever watched the Chiefs play football knows is coming yea
which is going to be a blitz. It's gonna be exotic, it's gonna be an overload. Give him some help. Leave a running back back there to at least pick somebody up.
But that's I hear you, and that's all true, and yet so much goes into that. It's two defensive backs that are blitzing on that side, it's McDon So they only sent five. It felt when Patrick showed me the dots and the coaches film angle, which he has on his next gen stats like pro what's shot out in g Yeah, you know, I thought seven guys were blitzing on that that they sent zero like they did. Actually on third down, Tony Romo did a great job. They sent the house on third down. They got it out
of Allen's hands. Amari Cooper almost broke that tackle. I think to pick up more yards didn't happen. So they only sent five, but two of them are defensive backs. Bolton's dropping out. I think a defensive lineman was dropping out there. And it's also in the context of a
game where they actually didn't blitz much. They only blitzed eighteen percent of the time, about the same as the Bills, and they got so much more pressure on Sunday night forty six percent pressure rate by the Chiefs, almost double what the Bills got, the exact opposite of what happened the first time, where they blitzed like crazy, didn't get much pressure, and that the Bills won with four There were so many games within a game that I thought the Chiefs won tonight, which is why if I was
a Bills fan, this one kills you. But I actually do think the better team won tonight. I felt like the Bills almost stole one at the very end, and it The last thing I want to say about that play is why it's so much can go into one football play for all of that that we just said, Nick like Josh Allen got the ball there like he saw got an open guy. Yeah, and it hits Kinkaid
right in the hands. And in another world where Kinkaid just makes that it's not an easy catch because that's it thinks like coming down a little differently than most passes would be. In another world, that's the NFL film's moment. They they go to the super Bowl because of that, because it was a great play by Josh Allen.
No, there's an incredible play, but it's tough to build the whole plane out of gas making those plays. Because there was another empty backfield play on the on the in the red zone earlier tonight where they emptied the backfield again and it's like, well, it's it's got to be Josh like this is and and he runs it and he and he ultimately gets it. But it's it's asking a lot for for a dude that is carrying the team. He's taken a lot of punishment these collective
third and one, fourth and ones. He's just getting blasted. And I know he's big and he can take it, but it just seems like you could make things a little bit easier on him, not to say that he can't do it, because he can clearly do it. He had the ball in Dalton Kink's hands. But it feels like it's asking a whole lot from a guy who can do a whole lot. But it's still it's twenty two guys out there.
Yeah, And I don't want to take you know, I don't want to criticize Joe Brady for this too much. I think that the moment at times made him coach tight. But I also love the speed option call on the goal line that produced the James Coke touchdown. I thought it was executed flawlessly, and you know, the effort by Cook to get across the goal line when he's getting hit by two guys was fantastic.
It was a great call in that situation. I just felt like in.
Some spots now Grant, they got built out when Alan finds that Curtis Samuel open in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. But the third down play call before that, which is just a fade of the corner the en zone to Keion Coleman against Tete McDuffie, It's like, what are you doing here? Like lean on your strikes here there. It was an up and down game. I understand high pressure.
Towan doesn't have throw that ball either. Patrick, you're putting your head on your your hands there.
Well, it just felt like a wasted down.
It did. It's exactly what it was.
Why are you reducing My issue with the fourth quarter at times was the Bills had a stirring drive to come out of halftime. Twelve plays eighty yards, only one pass the whole time, and that was a little dump off to who was it knocks on the goal line or whatever to set up uh the eventual touchdown. It's all James Cook all the time, and I just thought he was having an incredible game. Thirteen for eighty five and two touchdowns and then forty nine yards through the
air doesn't show how good he was. It was only on sixteen touches he was their best player, and there wasn't There wasn't enough James Cook to me on the last couple drives of the gaming, including even when they got down close. I'm just like, I know, you want to do the touch push all these times. Why not just hand the ball off to James Cook. He's popping seven every time you give him the ball.
Steve Spagnolo is over there pleading with his defense. We have to stop the run so much that sideline reports are relaying this to us. We have to stop throwing. We don't have an answer. Sixteen touches in total, it's not enough. Like that's just poor game, you know, game script. It's poor decision making within the flow of the game. And I think that that's gonna be one of the reasons why when the Bills, you know, get back on that plane back to Buffalo. They're gonna be thinking, man,
we left something out there. It's not just that fourth down play. We left something out there. We should have rolled the hot hand a little.
Bit more so.
They failed twice on two point conversions. One was on a Toush push, which I mentioned, one was on a pass by Josh Allen, and they actually got stuffed three different times on Toush pushes, including the fourth down in the fourth quarter. Sean McDermott spoke after the game about all those unsuccessful plays.
Well, it's been our best play all year year, you know, at water inside of one yard, and you know we won some of those. But but to your point, they were, they're doing a good job, and I thought, overall, you know, maybe, you know, maybe we could have disguised it.
Maybe not.
But at the end of the day, we have confidence in Josh and and our offensive line to get those and they've been getting them all year.
But they they had part of the broadcast.
I really thought this was a case where someone listening to the broadcast should have helped out the Bills coaches. The fact that Jim and Tony were talking about that the Bills always run it to the left, that the Chiefs were very prepared for it, that they practiced that all week, and then they stuffed it twice at that point going for a third time, which is the time that was on fourth and short. The Bills are driving
in the fourth quarter, like it's not working today. Was your most successful play all season, and that is something that I think maybe McDermott over the years has been criticized about maybe not being as flexible and changing what your game plan. I know that's maybe more Joe Brady making that decison, but in that moment, it was maybe a bad spot Bill's fans, if they have one thing to complain about. It did look like Alan probably got it. But I wasn't surprised they didn't overturn it.
In the event that when we can't see the football and somehow Josh Allen has decided to cover it in an organ that's inside of his body and behind it.
I would say he didn't get it.
But looking at the camera that was down the line, which was our I mean normally in the situations like oh we don't have the camera, it's tough to look down the line and say he didn't get the first down there. But you know, Kansas City was prepared, and I understand going to the well when it's been successful, because them going left wasn't something that just popped out like in Week thirteen, Like this is something that's been consistent there the entire season. It's worked the entire season.
But Kansas City made the place tonight, especially the one where Chris Jones has Josh Allen low and I'm not sure if it was Bolton diving over the top, like they just they got an eight and got those stuffs.
They forced a fumble on that one, right and they Josh Allen recovered the fumble. A crazy stat in this game. There were six fumbles in this game. Guess how many of the Bills recovered all six?
I'll six, Wait, so counting counting the one that didn't count because of the penalty. Like Mahomes got yeah, got stripped. Every time the ball hit the round to the Buffalo, Bills got on top of him.
And I was saying, maybe that was why I was feeling like they were a little lucky to be in this game, because I don't think Josh Allen played his best game. He made enough big plays that you can't say like he had a bad game, but he was not under control and making clearheaded decisions. I think like
he had for most of the season. He could have easily had three turnovers in this game, or more like, if you were just add up all the like turnover worthy plays, like, it could have been four or five total. So he got very lucky not to have them, and then we'd be talking differently. I'm glad we're not having those conversations. But that's part of the reason why I feel like ultimately the Chiefs were better in this game.
Another reason why is they took advantage when they did get the stop, So they get the fourth down stop on Josh Allen in the fourth quarter. That's with twelve to fifty five left in the fourth quarter. Five plays fifty nine yards later, they are in the end zone. Let's listen to the go ahead score by Patrick Mahomes.
Now they go to a flipbon set first down play.
Mahomes keeps it on an RPO at the five.
It's a league plot.
He goes into the NS on this hid touchdown Joe City.
Patrick Mahomes a sixteen.
Yard run, his second rushing touchdown of the.
Game, such a good play call.
Nick right on Twitter believes that the only design runs that they've called since Mahomes injured himself earlier in his career and they vowed to, you know, never call quarterback sneaks again. Were in the Super Bowl against the forty nine ers and two plays tonight, one on a previous fourth down and then that touchdown. He also scrambled to start that drive. Juju gets involved and then Kareem Hunt pounds it down their throat and so the marriage between
the play calling. He also hits the two point conversion that was the other play I was trying to think about earlier where I thought he was very patient in the pocket. That was not an easy play to make to wait with the pressure coming. Like, it's just the marriage of the play calling and the running at the perfect moment for the Chiefs to take advantage and get that score with Mahomes, like they only break it out when they absolutely need to.
Shook.
Yeah, I think it's a product of continuity and familiarity with the Chiefs because what I saw between these two teams, I thought, you're absolutely right that the Chiefs were the better team and deserved this win more than the Bills did.
But the difference between these two teams in terms of body language, performance, execution, everything else was one team that's been there before, is comfortable being there and knows how to win it, has done the job, and the other team that is so desperate to win it that they play tight wo in situations like that, you call a designed run for Mahomes that you never really do because you know he picks up yards on scrambles when he improvises and everything else, but you trust him enough because
he's proven it to you enough over the years. You all know each other so well that you trust him to do that get that job done, and he gets it done.
And that's the true mark of a champion.
This is why the Chiefs have been here and why they're so hard to beat is because of plays in situations like that.
And it's just a skill set that he unveils when he needs it. Like tonight was the second highest scramble
rate in Mahomes' career. Wow, Like of all the times, I mean, this dude has played sixty two games since January of twenty twenty two, because they have all these playoff games, this is the highest mark since that spam, but the second highest scramble rate in his entire career, seventeen point four percent of the dropbacks, where even if there wasn't necessarily a play to make because you have to cover the whole field with him, there's so much
trouble all over, even if Hollywood's dropping the ball, but he's you know, when he needs to, he can do it, Like however you want it, he can do it.
Right. Remember that stat everyone was trying out again.
Yeah, Nick mentioned it on the previous show with me that everyone just kept hammering that stat.
There's only three teams that didn't score more than thirty points this year, the Raiders, the Patriots, and the Chiefs.
Well, they scored more than thirty tonight in the AFC Championship. They got it to thirty two. And the first half of this game, to me, was so telling. And maybe that's maybe I'm just a sucker for first impressions, because the Bills did a great job coming back. But the first half of this game, for Josh Allen's first few plays to be design run Okay, cool statement of intent gets it six or seven yards, then near interception should have been intercepted. And then the very next play probably
should have been intercepted to the flip side. Mahomes gets the ball and suddenly it's twenty seven and they're running the Alex Smith offense. It was four RPOs, a play action, and a bootleg.
He wasn't even dropping back.
And then Kareem Hunt, who, by the way, took so much advantage of those twenty five days off more than any other chief. This is the Kareem Hunt that they had in weeks four and five or whenever he joined and had a lot of juice. Suddenly he's totally back. He's way better than Pacheco. He is easily their best running back, and he gave them a big spark tonight. And I was just thinking that game plan early was so creative and so surprising, I think for the Bills.
And they end up scoring three touchdowns in four possession. Now, granted, the one possession of the first half they didn't score was a fumble because Mahomes maybe isn't quite as good as Lamar and Josh Allen at those rbos and he fumbles the ball.
But otherwise it was pretty it was pretty darn brilliant.
And I think that offensive explosion put Buffalo in position where the ball was getting put into dangerous spots and the fumbles happened to know Buffalo recovers those.
But like your your.
Big offensive play was a seeing eyeball that mccollins makes like a career, career level play and beats Trip McDuffie on what leads to.
Shout out to mccollins.
I love mccollins, great mcollins season, but those are the type of plays that the Bills didn't need back in the win at home in Buffalo. They needed tonight, and so like things had to be a little bit more risky for Buffalo tonight.
We've given some love to Jared Cook James Cook rather uh, never want to confuse your cooks. I learned tonight, By the way, Cooks, James Cook's middle name is Dalvin, I learned tonight, and Dalvin's middle name is James. So shout out, shout out to the Cooks, because you are two of the smoothest running backs I've ever seen, and your brothers and that's pretty cool. Let's listen to the touchdown call because that was an incredible play.
Split backs with Gilliam and Cook on his left and right knocks out on the right.
Other receiver on the other side, it's.
A pitch blade to Cook, dives reaches for the end zone and he's got it.
He is in for the touchdown.
What an amazing.
Effort by Cook, who is back in the kitchen for his second touchdown of the game. Nice he went airborne and stretched his arm as far as it would go to reach the goal line.
Shout out to James Cook. That was a ridiculous effort.
If they didn't get that one another failed fourth down on the goal line, it just felt like, man, are they ever gonna get it done? And shout out to this Bills team because we've talked a lot of about the negatives tonight. They did fall down big at Arrowhead. Josh Allen did have the drive in under two minutes for a touchdown going into halftime to make the score
way better. He did have the fourth quarter drive after they were stopped on fourth down the Chiefs, you know, get that lead that we just talked about with Mahomes and he answered right away, this Bill's team had a ton of heart and there really was I think more than the some of their parts. And I think even though they lost this game and they weren't totally clean. They showed that tonight like they've still were right there and had every reason to fall out of this game,
and they kept coming back on offense. So just just a little Bill's appreciation.
I'm going to go to.
Eric at this point, we've waited long enough. Are you Are you trying to are you trying to hear me spin anything positive?
At this point?
I mean, this is how it always goes, man, It's I mean, I thought I did think we were gonna pull it out.
I did.
We got the ball back down by a field goal, and I thought I And that's how it goes. It's happened to me plenty of times with this team. Thirteen seconds. It's not the first time I've gotten text from friends like a family member has died in my family's.
It just happens.
It's Mahomes is the dragon, and he's ruining my life and the life of many Bills fans around the world.
It feels that way, like it feels I mean, but you can't like it's not real. I know it's not real. They're not magic. There were so many there were chances, and it's.
Just yeah, that's the thing that's the thing is like, they get the ball down three and a friend of mine who's a diehard Bills fan, I texted her and I was like, if your king's gonna go take his throat, he's gotta go do it.
Right now and they and they didn't like. And that's football.
It's like this, the moment was there and you come up short, and I almost it comes back to things like would you rather get blown out?
Would you rather get your heart ripped out? Last second?
I don't know which would be worse at this point, Like what do I want to be involved for four quarters and have that chance and like it's there for me or just not even be involved? Yes, I mean I don't know you do yes, But it's happened to me multiple times now, Like.
He's turning twenty nine years old in May, and I'm not gonna say it doesn't. It is brutal to lose late in the playoffs.
Over and over.
It's it's an maybe there's no better or worse in terms of pain, but you still got that guy and you still got that team, so that that part's good.
In no way do I think that this is the end. Are We're done?
Like Josh Allen is a badass quarterback and he will will the Bills to something at some point, I hope, And it's just may not happen while Mahomes is standing upright on the other sideline.
Well, there's there's an opportunity to surround. We were just talking about the talent level on this roster as a whole, and you look at some of these other postseason contenders and the spots where they are successful where they don't necessarily have Josh Allen, Right, Like you talk about pieces of that that Texans team in a pass rush in the secondary, or the Ravens and that in the defense, the way that they got better, and like the plays
that like Isaiah Likely was making, or like Mark Andrew's doing spots in the game, Like so much of this Bills team just comes down like seventeen doing it even when James Cook is having this generational type game and there's just there's gotta be more for the team around him. And that's why I think it feels like this team overachieved, Like based on the total roster of the team, like
they overachieved. It was an incredible success to be where they were with this opportunity and so much of that goes on seventeen and I think like the whole Rings conversation kind of clouds people and makes it makes it tough for people to enjoy this because it's like, oh, well, we need we need Josh to win one, or we need, you know, justin Herbert or Lamar to win one so that they can be good and we can appreciate it.
Like no, like we yeah, but it's it's also for them, you know, even if you take all that out of that, if you root for him as a human, you want him to have that feeling you want him because because that's what he is playing for, is to finish it off. He's playing for other stuff too, but he is playing for that. And the thing that I think is going to be difficult for him is I don't think he'll think he played his best tonight.
I really don't.
I think you go back to that first drive that he was a little skittish on. There was a few times tonight where he misses wide open receivers, one with Curtis Samuel crossing over the middle. There was another one early in the game where he just misses an open guy. He dirts one a little bit and I just thought like, it wasn't his cleanest game. So you always want your best players to play the best in the biggest of spots.
He talked after the game, it's a little sad to listen to, but let's listen to it.
It's not fun, but to beat the champs, you had to beat the champs.
He had to beat the champs, and we didn't do it tonight.
He's right, they're the bully on the block. And this isn't the movie Friday, at least not yet.
But the way we remember things is funny, right, because Mahomes had had a screen to worthy that was going to be six and he threw them an absolute bounce pass. Yep, it just kind of gets wiped away because because the Chiefs went like, these guys are incredible, and sometimes the results don't don't reveal the greatness of the players that
we're watching. And I just hope, like for Eric's sake, for everybody that's watching the Buffalo Bills and they have their blue on tonight and they're sad, like there was so much to enjoy about this football team that like.
The journey was fun. I hope, I hope you.
I hope you had fun with the journey, and yes, the the journey for this Chiefs team will continue. We'll have a couple of weeks to talk about it. Jordan rod reeg the athletic coming down with me to New Orleans. Nick Shook coming down to New Orleans, gonna try to He's gonna be busy right in and covering.
Hell yeah, like an old noir film.
Is like Shook in his hotel room, just like yeah yeah.
Shout out to Chris Jones. Nate Tice had a stat in the first half of this game. He was not double team down eleven snaps of the first half and he got seven pressures out of those eleven snapstball player. I mean, he's literally one of the best defensive players in the history of NFL. Postseason football, maybe I don't even need to put postseason there, but postseason its next level. If you just stack up the moments the games that he has changed to.
Effect should have a Super Bowl MVP.
Winning I personally don't think there's anyone who's who's stacked up as many plays as him in the last twenty years. So I threw this out there and I got a lot of like Aaron Donald back or ty Law, and I'm like, yeah, they had they had a season, or they had runs, and Donald was pretty dominant whenever he got the chance. But just because Jones is there every time he gets so any chanced, it dont to high. Towers made a lot of really game changing plays, but man,
he is incredible. I also wanted to give just before we go, like a shout out to to Xavier Worthy, that rookie that they traded up for with the Bills, uh in the first round where everyone was like.
Oh, wow, the whole league.
You're just gonna let Xavier Worthy go to the Chiefs, aren't you.
I mean it kinda kind of came true, Like yeah, he.
Took all season, but yeah he was.
He was like putting his foot in the ground and getting in the end zone on that last like crosser away from having I think a perfect game.
Yeah, like his suddenness to like he looks like Michael Jackson in the Smooth Criminal video. He's just like stopping and going backwards and going forwards. He's unreal. He's a contested catch. God, he didn't have one all season and now he's doing it every single week.
Bodes well for their next matchup.
They stopped using him as a go merchant and started having him play football.
Wait you mean you can run round?
Sweet uh man.
If there's anything else we think we want to say, we still have a whole other half of the show to go. Eric has been begging me to take a break for a while.
Just I could see it in his eyes.
He's telling me the time this has been a painful stretch.
So let's move on from AFC.
We'll be back talking NFC after the break.
He's got Barkley to his left hand, off Barkley scudder step running to the right.
Barkley will take it air touchdown, Philadelphia.
They are lighting up the lynch.
They have the Eagles running away from the Commanders. Say Kwan Barkley third touchdown up the day, Philadelphia could chaste it.
Oh yeah, we're going back to iron Eagle the bird on the NFC Championship recap that.
Was on Westwood one.
And yes, that was Saquon Barkley's third touchdown of the day that got it to forty eight points.
The Eagles got wild.
And they dropped a fifty burger on the Commanders in the NFC Championship Final score fifty five to twenty three. I love a consistent storyline, Shook and you can set your one today you get You can set your watch to this running game with Saquon Barkley. The very first carry of the game was a touchdown and yeah, by the end, they were just pouring it on. This running game has been the eighth Wonder of the world this
whole season. And they're going to be playing in Super Bowl fifty nine against the Chiefs.
What do you think.
Yeah, you can set your watch to him hitting a big play early. You can sit your watch to him closing the game with a big play. He was one yard short of finishing it off with a touchdown. Sets up Jalen Hurts. But what you couldn't set your watch for was the Eagles putting fifty five points on the board. This is a team that we've just hemmed in hot over the last two weeks ago. They can't put points on the board, then their offense isn't explosive outside of Saquon.
What do they do?
Can they beat the Commanders? Can they keep up with Jayden and Daniels well double Nickel later looks like they can. And it was because of the collective team effort. It wasn't just Saquon even though he was fantastic average almost eight yards per carry on the ground. It was Jalen Hurts and his bad knee with two toush push touchdowns and another one with Saquon leading the way. It was Shipley Will Shipley getting involved late in the game when
it really didn't matter anymore. Is aj Brown catching a touchdown pass? They were firing on all cylinders. This is the Eagles, I think, at their peak offensively, where Hurts doesn't have to throw for three hundred yards but they can still rack up four hundred and fifty yards of offense and cruise to a victory against a very familiar opponent.
Who had a great season but learned that.
When you don't win in the turnover margin, you usually lose in the playoffs, as they did today.
Yeah, those five turnovers that they love in the game where they come back and win. Jaden Daniels throws a touchdown with six seconds on the clock to beat the Kenny Pickett led Eagles at that point. Late, they turned the ball over here and the Eagles made them pay for it.
But every time, I think, because coming into.
The game right there's the concerns.
We go back a few weeks, it's like, what do we need to work on pass game? The Eagles struggle in the pass game. The run rate is high. I never thought that Jalen Hurts forgot how to throw the ball, like when the offense is operating and this is rotating two centers. By the way, neither one of them was healthy throughout this game. As Dickerson is snapping the ball, then Jurgons is out. Jurgens comes back in because Dickerson
like can't move. He actually had a holding call. They called back a touchdown because he just couldn't get to the guy who got across his face.
There h third down, Jalen.
Hurts, third and five goes to Saquon first down, third and four, AJ Brown four yard touchdown. There was the fourth and five money to AJ Brown thirty one yards on Marshawn Lattimore, like consistently when they needed plays in the passing game. They were explosive there and they showed that they've had this in the bag the whole time.
They go up against the defense that's frankly overmatched. No day Ron Payne in this game, which I think had a huge impact especially in their ability to stop the run, but when they needed to, the talent disparity was just too glaring on offense for the Eagles.
Yeah, I'm glad you shouted that out with Hurtz. So he ends up with a ninety four percent success rate or no, he was in the ninety fourth percentile in terms of EPA for play in this game.
According to Shiel Kapadia.
He was twenty for twenty eight, two forty six and four total touchdowns, three of them on the ground.
And I thought.
Aj Brown's sequence in the middle of this game was as important as just about anything. There was the touchdown that's a that's a one on one play against sand Restill, and it's a it's a great ball by Jalen Hurts, but also AJ Brown just totally beats him.
He's an underrated route runner gets the touchdown.
That was after the sand Restill dumb penalty, which was part of a succession of dumb plays by the Commanders, ultimately dumb penalties turnovers. There was also right in the middle of that quarter a fourth down where the at midfield where the Eagles decide to go for it and they throw a go ball to aj Brown and that's that's just like, that's what they did against the Giants
earlier in the season. I remember in a very similar situation late in the first half and like a one score game, and that was just trusting their best players. And that includes Jalen Hurts to do what he does best, which is throw a go ball, like in theory, a low percentage play on fourth down, and they trusted him. He trusted the look after passing on it earlier, learned from that mistake. AJ Brown goes and gets it, goes
six for ninety six. So as good as Saquon was, and he was awesome as always, and yeah, as good as Will Shipley was late, like, the passing game was a huge factor in them.
Scored eight touchdowns.
Nick, that's the most touchdowns in a playoff game this entire century. Eight touchdowns, I mean, they would eight touchdowns and eleven drives. That is that is extremely difficult to do in the NFL.
Seven rushing touchdowns.
That ties for the most rushing touchdowns in a postseason game in NFL history. If you wow me, the final score of the game, in which I already know, I already know that wasn't today go ahead?
Great because I saw it.
I saw it, but I think I could have guessed it. It was seventy three to nothing against this same Washington crew, biggest blowout and can you imagine making the championship game and losing seventy three to nothing because that so proud was what happened to the lowly Chicago Bears.
And it was also nineteen forty.
Yeah, it's been a long time before at War. Like a lot was going on there.
Yeah, yeah, a lot was going on. But you know what else is going on?
As Aj Brown proving himself to be one of the most trustworthy go ball guys and one of the most trustworthy go to guys in key spots on that play that you just described. As soon as Hurts drops back and he throws it up. As soon as I watch the ball ark in the air and I look down, I go, oh, that's Aj Brown.
That's gonna be caught.
Like, yeah, he had a step on Latimore, didn't matter. Latimore could have been draped all over and he's still going to catch the ball. He's one of the most trustworthy guys in those situations. And that's what makes this Eagles offense so scary. They have a great offensive line. They have a dynamite running back in Saquon Barkley. They have two awesome receivers in Brown and DeVonta Smith. They
have a great tight end Dallas got it. And at one point, I think it was when Hurts rushed for a touchdown, they had a sequence where they're going to Smith, They're going to god It, They're going to Brown, They're going all over the field, and then it's Hurts on the keeper and Barkley throwing the block to get him to the edge for the touchdown. Where I think Tom Brady said, we have so many different they have so
many different guys. Who's going to beat us? Well, you can't be don't beat us, don't let got it be, don't let Brown beat us. Oh wait, there's Jalen Hurts to beat us. Like when their offense is humming, they're extremely scary and the commander's learned that today.
Yeah, let's let's listen to Saquon beating them as a blocker from.
The non She'll we looking for more purses on long left side.
The fun cuts it to the outside touch down. The Eagles were piling it on.
Philadelphia doing the gritty and they open up a thirty three fifteen lead.
Yeah, that was the moment where it felt over. That wasn't the only highlight block Saquon had. I mean, that was him getting leverage on Frankie Luvu and totally you know, walling him out of the play on it where he literally is like the full back on that play. He also planted Bobby Wagner into the ground on a blitz pick up.
What can't this man do?
And it's when when we say blitz pick up, you kind of imagine like the running back stepping up and pick this was this was a Saquon attacking Bobby Wagner.
It felt almost excessively violent.
Yeah, you could hear the pop on the on the broadcast, and it gave Jalen the time that he needed to to make plays where like Davante's Smith had six yards of average separation in this game, Like normally you're seeing backs and tight ends with that level of separation.
Wow, but it's targets, but he goes four for forty five, crazy efficient, got her seven out of eight targets for eighty five. Aj Brown six for eight targets for ninety six. Just so efficient. And let's actually listen to Nick Sirianni talking about his guy Jalen Hurts after the game.
It's amazing how much.
Doubt there is. Something.
I can't quite comprehend it because you know, it doesn't look like people think it should look like. But the but the guy has been clutch. He's won a ton of football games. But they but you ran for this many yards. We don't care how we win.
We don't. We don't care.
If we rush for three hundred and passed for one and we win, great, If we rush rush for one and passed for three hundred, great, who cares. We've just continued to win. He's just continued to win.
And I think.
The the criticism is, yeah, whatever, he just wins.
I'm trying to figure out who is eighty two because he's on the current roster Ania Smith uh And if you're watching on YouTube, you'll see that Sirianni had Kelly Green Eagles jersey on of eighty two.
I don't Mike Quick is has to be the answer, little Love.
I got it a former Bachelor Franchise star Clay Harber.
It's got to be Mike Quick You know where he fits in my late night comfort viewing lately has been The Bernie mac Show on Netflix. Nick Sirianni looks like he belongs in Bernie Max's den with his friends playing.
Card yeah, cloking cigars.
It could be Lja Smith.
The Chief.
I looked it up. It could be Tory Smith.
Briefly, I'm looking at the same list, Tom Scott.
It was definitely not Lja Smith the like Joe the number fourteenth tight end getting drafted in fantasy leagues in two thousand and five. When I was doing rankings back then, I thought Hurts was really ready for the moment. He was one hundred percent healthy by my eyes. I'm sure he didn't feel that way. But what I mean to say is that when he cut and ran forward, it was good. When he ran, and when he made a
couple throws on the run, it looked quite good. And there were some people saying, like, oh, he didn't look great when he was running laterally, that's like what he looks like normally. So I thought he looked great. It's always been a story how Jalen Hurts kind of processes the game, and I think it's fair in terms of him holding the ball. There was a play early in this game where he has a hard count, he sees them coming on the Blitz, he sees the coverage, he
points it out. I don't know if he changes it, but he knows exactly what he's going to do, and he hits Godard for a big game right afterwards. So he used that hard count to kind of outsmart see what was going on, make it happen. He used to be criticized for his struggles against the Blitz. That's been mostly good this year, but a little up and down lately. Seven for thirteen for one hundred and sixteen yards today against Blitz, whereas Jayden Daniels struggled against the Blitz in
an otherwise good game two for six twenty nine yards. Patrick, your thoughts on Jaden Daniels in his first Championship Game appearance. I don't think it'll be his last. I don't want to put too much pressure on it, but I have a feeling we'll see him at some point again here.
No, especially because I don't know if the Commanders are going to, especially under Dank Quann, have a defense that is as overmatched as they were, especially today giving up any touchdowns on eleven drives. That's saying we've already talked about that, but Jayden just puts so much pressure on so many different parts of your team. Where the Eagles had a great, great plan in spectacular execution, and even
that was still very close to thirty points. I mean, they they get behind, they're pressing, the Eagles were sustaining drives. Looking back, thirty points feels easy. You know, he had he did have the turnover, but he's changed the expectations so much by just howell spectacular he's been. Where there was clearly the Diammy Brown fumble right loses you an opportunity. The McNichols fumble loses an opportunity. Could he have played better, yes, But I mean it's nitpicking at this.
I think so because even that interception was with five minutes left in the game, and that it actually kind of reminds me of how I say that he has good misses, Like that's a good interception at that point in the game. It's a long down and distant situation. You're giving your guy a chance to make a play and the game's over at that point. Anyways, to lose three fumbles Diammy Brown, Jeremy McNichols and Austin Eckler were
just those were just absolutely killer to me. I'm losing track of which one was which, But the Zach Bond one was the first one, right him coming over. As they're holding up so many force fumbles, it's hard to keep track.
The Bond one was on Eckler when he got up afterward, I think Bond who knocked it out?
So that was the third one? That was the third third one?
Yeah, yeah, But I want to go back to Daniels real quick, because I think that those who like scan the stat sheet and look at the final score and want, you know, oversimplified topics for daytime talk shows are going to try to pin this on the quarterback because it's the easiest way to disseminate information to the viewership, Right, Jane Daniels is the only reason they were in this game.
Yes, they didn't.
They don't have a running game. They haven't had a running game for a long time.
He dropped back fifty five times through the ball forty eight times, and on that first drive alone that they only get a field goal out of, they have to convert fourth down like three times, and he's doing it every time. He's putting defenses in conflict. He's making it hard to where they have to guard the whole cover the whole field because he's able to scramble.
He's throwing accurate passes.
In the middle of the first quar They're losing the game, and I'm like, I don't know if they can come back because the momentum is already in the eagles favor. But Jane Daniels is definitely built for this moment. He's handling this really well. It's just that he can't also account for his defense, you know, in them being leaky and his teammates turning the ball over. So I don't have any negative things to say about him.
Coming away fa this game.
I thought he was the best part of their entire performance, and he's got a bright future. It's just a bumber in a good season that ends short of the ultimate goal.
I mean, that place was in full throat.
Everything is going there, ready to party on Broad Street, and he put the fear of God in the entire building. Yeah, what was it, eighteen plays? It's constant, and I thought they were going to go for another fourth down.
I'm honestly surprised that they didn't.
I thought I think he blinked a little bit. They kicked a thirty four yarder on a fourth and two after an eighteen play opening drive, and I thought that moment actually was dan Quinn blinking a little is like, oh, I don't want to push our luck here, when in reality, if in some world where they were going to win this game, which would have not include did three lost fumbles? Uh, I think they got to go for that and keep getting sevens.
You know, I think they regretted that quickly too, because then they run the fake punt.
They were down fourteen three, like yeah, like eight scripts later, big punt. Literally five minutes later, they were down fourteen three.
I'm wondering at what point, So, how many players are you scripting at the start of the.
Game, supposedly like ten to fifteen.
I think it's so I'm wondering if you're getting down to that fourth down and it's like, all right, well you got Cliff Cliff when we got all four for two, he's upside down.
There were a couple plays where I thought Cliff got a little too cute, and I think that's to the Eagles defensive credit that as Tom Brady kept pointing out, like everything's hard against this defense, and I know what he meant was they are it is kind of the prototypical Vic Fangio defense that they're gonna make you earn it.
There wasn't a ton of separation.
You're getting first downs, like three downs at a time, and how to go down the field like that, and that is difficult to just continue doing. But I did think they blinked and then you fumble what it was the kickoff and you give up the quick touchdown to Saquon Barkley, and suddenly, after another six play drive by the Eagles or your defense you know, has no resistance, you're down fourteen to three. It was a great job though by the Eagles, I mean by the Commanders to
respond with their own another long field goal drive. They do get a stop rare in this game. It was actually a missed field goal by Jake Ellie, a long field goal, but they did, you know, make him kick that long field goal. He missed it, and it was the one moment of the game where you thought, Okay, maybe it's gonna be back in fourth.
Let's go to the second quarter. Jaden Daniels, here's Daniels.
He's recol throws over the middle, Terry mccouran clot it at the thirty till it's meet at the twenty.
Cuts away for ten fucking me a dude, touchdown judge down one a dad seventeen.
Well another legacy moment in the playoffs. Listen splee out season life down Texas a terrible color waiting on the slab run.
Oh that is so good, uh for I guess the last time, at least after a game this season. We still have our calls of the year to come, and I'm sure Bram and London will be featured there. But it was great to great to hear them one last time. And uh to brand Wimstein's credit, I mean he was so strong on the show that I was commanders pilled after that.
I was just like, I think he's right, I think they will win.
And then look at this card, I mean, why why would why would they think anything else? And all all credit to an offense in a spectacular season. Uh, you know, from the best rookie quarterback season I've ever seen.
Get me too, it's now past RG three would have been my answer, and it's past no question he was asked.
Jaden was asked to do more.
He kept it going into the playoffs, and his rate of improvement throughout the courses, he was just outstanding. He also led them in rushing today, by the way, six for forty eight. That play, though that McLaurin made was rare thirty six yard er. He had only fifteen the rest of the day. I have some crazy quinyon Mitchell's stats facing Terry McLaurin, which was I believe most of his snaps thirty six out of the forty eight snaps. He only gave up one reception on four targets for
seven yards in an interception. So Cliff not beating the accusations here of leaving his guy on one side of the field, because if you saw that touchdown, he's on the right side there with the Slay and they don't really travel in terms of Mitchell and Slay. But that was the matchup, and you don't blame him for thinking that's a good matchup again anyone, Terry McLaurin. But that's twice now that that quinnyon. What a season and he gets a trademark interception there at the end. All right,
we got more to talk about with this game. We'll be back after the break, Nick, I thought their defensive stars all showed up. Josh Sweat had a nice day, three quick pressures, Zach Bond with that forced fumble, a fumble recovery, twelve tackles, Mitchell with a really good game. I mean, this group they have stars, but they also play really well together. I thought they flew to the ball to the point where the fumbles almost didn't feel
like luck. Really, it just felt like they were almost inevitable because every time someone was getting tackled hard and they were swarming.
Yeah, even Jordan Davis had a sack, and you know he's often overshadowed by his former Georgia teammate Jeleen Carter, and yet they both made a difference today. I think that today was an example of what the Eagles gonna be at their peak on both sides of the ball, you know, with takeaways, being opportunistic defensively, but just like you said, flying to the football, it felt like every time there was a loose ball, there were a crowd
of Eagles around it ready to jump on it. And you could say like, oh, that's just the way the games go, and the football gods are against the Commanders.
Now this is a good defense.
This is guys that are playing well within the scheme that is directed by Vic Fanjo, who's got decades of experience, and they're all peaking at the perfect time. And then you compliment that with the offense, the dominance on the ground with Saquon Barkley, the ability to move the football through the air, and that's how you get a blowout like this, and that's what makes them scary for anybody left in their way, which of course is the Chiefs.
But on a day like today, you take a moment to celebrate that because it's rare that teams execute this well in all phases, and they did.
It's the same formula as twenty seventeen and twenty twenty, you know, two season and then the twenty three you know, it happened in the playoffs for the Egles. I don't think they were quite as strong on the defensive line that season, so I don't think the formula was quite
there for me. But it's all about drafting, developing, and then signing offensive lineman and defensive lineman and and and yes they're extremely talented roster were what were we doing before the game, before we started, we were comparing the Bills and the Eagles.
Yeah, we were trying to figure out how many non Josh Allen Bills we would take and put on this Eagles team.
In terms of starting positions, right in a trade. That's crazy because the Bills are one of the best teams in the league. And yet I rolled through them all and I'm and there's some positions that are even There's certainly positions where the Bills have a great player like James Cook, He's just not as great as the Eagles great player. But I like had to go down to like well, backup tight end Dawson Knox, I'd take over
Grant Calcultara. Like that's how loaded this team is. But to finish, uh, my point I started with was was the lines, and that's what they've always been about in this Howie era. And their lines right now, their four down linemen that started all had at least three pressures and quick I mean sweat and and Jalen Carter had had three quick pressures I believe eats. And then the offensive line is so freaking good that they can have their center not even be available for the start of
the game because he's not healthy. So they have Lannon Dickerson move over step in, but he gets hurt. And then Jurgens, who is hurt, you know, comes in after halftime and they all make it look seamless and protect Jalen hurts great, and run the ball great.
And they're still they're still running brotherly shoves right with centers. They can barely move, which I was concerned about, but
you know, they make it work. Mackay Beckton comes over and you know, the story out of New York was, you know, this is an abject failures and he was consistent all season long, Like one, had a huge block on the Saquon run to the right side and then touchdown where they just He's got so many dudes that can make plays in the benefit of getting two guys to come in as rookies, and it's like, oh yeah,
I hope they contribute. Quinnon split at an all pro level, like not just late in the season, like middle and late.
They took the Britagene with a nice pass breakup. Had had six tackles in this game.
He was good.
So the places like they needed to improve, they improved in free agency and in the draft like that they got hits where they needed to and that's what I'm gonna win.
I would agree with you on that, and I'm sure we'll do that in the next week, two weeks ahead. But ever since the Chip Kelly exile of Howie Roseman ended and he moved back over to his rightful side of the building, he's been the best general manager in football. He has consistently constructed a winner. He has overseen a Super Bowl champion, a team that got to the Super Bowl, a change in head coaching regime, a quick rebuild, a
fluid rebuild, a quick turnaround. He has taken big swings in the draft that nobody saw coming, and they've pretty much all paid off. And you know, I like how you brought up the difference between their most recent Super Bowl team in this one, the depth and the defensive line.
He knew that was a weakness. They were a veteran leaden group that year.
They're going to get in Lyndval Joseph, you know, the year after, and they're relying on guys like Javon Hargrave and everything else. They go and resupply. They go to Georgia, where they've got the best defensive players in college football.
Get them repeatedly they don't care.
Bring them all here because they're good, blue chip players and they're all playing well and they're all succeeding as a result. You got to give them all the credit in the world for doing that and then being aggressive and free agency and saying, you know what, we will top the Giants offer just enough to get you out of New York in over to Philly, Saquon and add another piece and maybe the final piece of this puzzle.
We'll see if it ends up being a Super Bowl winning puzzle.
You mentioned the Georgia Bulldogs. Let's listen to one of them, Nolan Smith after the game talking with our friends Stacey Dale's for NFL Network on Complimentary Football.
Man, just offense and defense working together. Man one hand washes the other. Special teams is the soap in between. Man, That's what I love about it. Hey, man, those guys we all play our hearts out every game, and then that's what I just want to see, you know, God smiling and happy out of this.
Let's listen to Nolan again, just because I like the vibe that he's bringing and I like it when guys swear man just grit.
Man.
We talk about man, if they don't score, they don't win, and you know they put up some points. But man, we go out there and play defense with prime man and that's what I love about Philly and it's just like the city that we live in.
Man, we played defense tough and hard knows. That's right. I hope they had that.
Yeah, I guess I wasn't live on NFL networks so they didn't have to bleep it. Good job, Noan Smith and that entire defense which could get a big addition in the Super Bowl. Brandon Graham asked after the game in the locker room by some reporters about whether he could possibly return. This has been bubbling up in Philadelphia
leading up to this week. Know for instance, Zach Berman has mentioned it on his podcast, and Brandon Graham said he had a meeting on Monday morning with the medical staff the Eagles, and we're going to see what happens. We're going to see what happens after some tests, and so there's a chance that they could get an extra pass rusher who would be a great, a great bonus, nice team and has a nice history in Super Bowls,
which Tom Brady's in attendance for this time. Tom won't be on the field, but you know Tom will be there in the booth.
Yeah, maybe he'll make some mentions of that. Of that particularly, we got a Nick Foles shout out yes, Tom, referencing the ball.
He handled that well.
At first, Kevin Burkhart brought up that Nick Foles was there, and there was like a protracted, awkward silence, which happens pretty often in Tom Brady broadcasts, and I was like, oh man, you're not going to just take this poorly, are you. And then he made a good so it was a human moment where he said he's just jealous that Nick caught his pass and Tom Brady did not catch it.
It's all because he was trained in the crucible of the most discussed celebrity roast of all time.
For some reason, that was the most points by the way shuck in a conference championship game ever, not by the Eagles, but but combined the total of seventy eight points.
Look at that NFC East teamwork working together to accomplish a goal NFC beast.
So you say you're already leaning one way.
I do like that.
The Eagles are an extremely credible opponent. I guess that's obvious, but the Chiefs feel so inevitable that and I know it didn't happen this way last year, but even the forty nine Ers felt a little inevitable to me, And of course it wasn't inevitable.
Sports are never inevitable.
It went to overtime, and they were a really good forty nine Ers team, And yet this Eagles teem the way they're coming in with all this talent. Uh, the opening line out in the Desert was one and a half for the Chiefs. That is sounds just about right that the Chiefs would be slight favorites, but not heavy favorites. And maybe it's not the one that America was rooting for. I feel like people wanted the Bills certainly today, and if the Ravens had made this game, they would have
wanted the Ravens. But it's a hell of a Super Bowl, and I do think the Eagles are much better representative from the NFC than the Lions would have been or any of the other teams that could have possibly made it. I think the Eagles' highest ceiling is so much higher than the others, and in their base we've seen this year is pretty darn good.
I don't know, ye, Marty spin it's a clash of the Titans. I think that the only weakness in this matchup is Kellen Moore. That's the only thing that concerns me about the you know, I mean, Vic Fangio just did a great job defensively with a team that's extremely talented. They're going against an offense that's methodical but can also catch you by surprise sometimes. And you know what Spags
brings on that defensive side against this Eagles offense. It's gonna be a hell of a Battle're gonna have the next two weeks to talk about it. I'm fired up about it, and I think that it's the Super Bowl that we deserve, even if people are tired of the Chiefs, because.
Look, let's face it, I know we're tired.
We were tired of the Patriots when they were winning, right, But you have to acknowledge and appreciate greatness when it's in front of you. And this is an incredible run and maybe the Eagles will be the team that dethrones the Chiefs and everybody will be happy. But we'll find out.
And oh, by the way, that's one of the best Super Bowls I've ever seen.
I don't need to go through the whole like Andy Reid against the Eagles thing all over again. Although it is kind of a thing, it's a thing. It's hard to ignore. It's a different Andy Reid now. Shout out to Andy Reid going for fourth down, by the way on his own forty yard line, having a sense of where they were in the game. I know, like, we're not talking about that game anywhere, but I thought that was the most Andy Reid has found fourth down religion
than any moment of his entire career. It was a subtle moment and that came it was on his own forty I was actually stunned Andy Reid was going to go for it. And you mentioned Howie and all the great jobs. I mean that he's done. How about that analytics department. They've invested more in analytics, and that's what tells you to invest in those big offensive linemen and defensive linemen.
That's part of the strategy.
And the head of their analytics department, Alec Halliby, getting it done. Didn't get a job in this GM cycle, but they're building up that team. I mean, he'd be a great candidate one of these years because this team just they keep getting it done to the point where everyone's coping them.
Now.
Yeah, shout out to Hannaby, like out there in the lab cooking up the algorithms for fourth downs and all the machinations and the beakers are bubbling, and then the paper spits out to Andy Reid and he's like, Okay, we're gonna run the play we always run.
Yeah, exactly, And yeah, you know you don't need numbers.
I can tell you right now without all the numbers. And I very much appreciate analytics. It always starts and ends in the trenches. You could have came to me for that.
We're going to have We're gonna have fifteen rolls to us, right, He's gonna we're gonna have option in the flat and he could run it and you can pass it and just.
Give him one hot That's all I ask.
And I'm Brady and I'm thinking Vic Fangio is is gonna have a plan.
That love it. It's a great matchup, Yes, and sports is not inevitable.
When when Madison Keys won one of the most stirring sporting championships I've ever seen at the Australian Open, over the week, and I thought of the very rant that Patrick Claybond made last week about how the people who say you couldn't do it, that they never could do it, that they don't have the championship medal inside of them, that they never pay for their sins in the end. And I know people listening don't follow Tennis close into shill.
This was the ultimate version of that. A person who had been dismissed so many times as a choker that at this point they were completely ignored as even a real candidate to do something not only one, but one with one of the greatest runs of excellent play against the best possible field ever. So if that's possible, we could absolutely get Kellen Moore in a one and a half point underdog.
Eagles team to dethrow these Chiefs.
Yeah, Alnis Wady to become the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Look you gets on the plane of New Orleans, dammit.
Yes, shout out to Shout out to Kellen Moore, Shout out to the Saints. We're gonna talk a lot about all the coaching machinations.
Oh yeah, we have a new Cowboys coach.
Oh yeah, Pete Carrollson back in the NFL and he's a Raiders coach. What we're gonna do all that on Monday show? I just felt like that deserves its own conversations. Yes, and we will be doing a show on Monday with the Great Night Tights of Yahoo Sports. But wow, it has been so fun doing these shows. We've got one more from the super Bowl, but this is the last one in the Chris Wesleyan podcast. Do you for the year, Thank you Patrick for your service, Thank you Shook from Cleveland.
And Yes, when Super Bowl fifty nine is set, I think we finally did it.
Football's back.