Daily where we have finally made it to New Orleans. I'm Greg Rosenthal here on the beautiful iHeart Studio set at the Convention Center in downtown New Orleans, obviously with NFL Media. The collaboration of a lifetime, and I've got the collab I've always wanted surrounding me right now. On one side it's Jordan rod Rieg of The Athletic. On the other it's Nick Schuok coming in at two hundred and no.
Thank you for not doing my way Christian and media.
What's up?
We're here, we're here.
Yes, I'm glad you guys landed. I've been here since Sunday. I'm glad you made it safely. I hope you're adjusting to Central time.
Yeah, you know what. I'm a little nervous about our seating placement right now.
Nick.
For the listeners, we are in the middle of the Greg Rosenthal hand flying about zone.
Oh you're real close.
Almost got smacked twice three times, and I might have to smack you back.
Greg, I don't tent me with a good time. We are really excited about this show. It's a previous show, but it's it's not just any previous show. And it's really cool. By the way, just like, yeah, I love having you next to me, Jordan. We we've done that a week. Heck, we we flew down here. We got in to New Orleans around midnight, got to the hotel like it was a whole thing. We got we got celebs on the on the plane, we got Roma Duneesay picking up bags. But we never have our our buddy shook. Yeah,
and it's just like it's a long time. It's good.
I know, it's fantastic. The last time we did a show in studio is great. Now I'm happy to be here with you. I've been looking forward to this for weeks.
Okay, So, like I said, it's not a normal preview show. We're gonna have a couple of guests to help us along the way. But for the you of the Super Bowl, we are going only to prime ball Knower. So we are going to throw it to an interview right now with Fred Warner, one of the smartest players in the entire NFL, four time All Pro who has played these two teams, the Eagles and the Chiefs, at the highest of levels, the NFC Championship, the Super Bowl, of course,
last year against the Chiefs. After that, we'll come back and we're gonna give our preview and then we'll finish out the show with my favorite color analyst in the entire game, Greg Olsen. Hell yeah, So we're gonna be the meat in some great analysts sandwich. But we are starting the show. You know, Nick, you're not part of this interview, So we'll say goodbye to you for just a second, and we'll say hello to Fred Warner and
we'll be back in just a little bit. All right, we are here with one of our favorite I'm just gonna say it players in the entire NFL. We went there Fred, four time All Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who's here on behalf of experience which can help you improve your financial help and keep money in your pockets. And yet it's I think it's because like you can see the ball knowing right, Jordan, when you're watching Fred.
We have to tell you NFL daily we go into the weeds on x's and o's all the time, and we cannot wait to talk to you because you are to us the elite ball knower in the NFL. So we're gonna we're gonna do something a little bit different with you today, and I know you're ready because you're ready for corner. Yes, so we want to break down this game with you. We're trusting you with.
Our our.
Kicking a couple of things some football.
Yeah so yeah, so we've so we've seen. Yeah, so we've seen. So we're just excited to dig into this matchup. You know, it's it seems like faded at this point in my opinion. These are two of the best teams in the NFL right now this year clashing against each other. And I guess when you look at one key matchup that you cannot wait to just diagnose breakdown, probably jump out of your seat because I know you want to
be out there doing it yourself. Like, what is something that jumps off the page to you about these seams?
Yeah, I think the matchup I'm looking at obviously Saekwon Barkley against the Kansas City defense. I can't even just say one player because it's going to take the entire defense. The Kansas City's defense, I think has been the thing that people haven't talked about enough. Of Course, it's easy to talk about Andy Reid, It's easy to talk about Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce because they're all Hall of Fame you know people, right, Like, they all have done an
amazing job winning championships for their team. But the defense I think has done a tremendous job. It's under Spagnola and what he's been able to do with these guys interchange Like there's guys who've been interchangeable throughout their system
for years now. I think they saw the piece that's been remaining the same as Chris Jones, you know, Perennial Allpro, who's a amazing But you know, I'm interested to see how do they stop Saquon because everybody's been wanting to do that all season long, but everybody says it every week, nobody's done it, you know, So.
I want to see what that looks like.
And you and your role, you have to think about that all the time, and especially because if he does get past Chris Jones hard to do. But if he does, Saquon Barkley is one of the hardest players to stop in the second and third level of the defense in the entire NFL and certainly has looked every bit of that this year. So as I'm middle linebacker, how do you stop him? Once he gets to the second level.
What's your communication to the rest of sort of the players orbiting around you in getting to him and bringing him down.
Well, the beautiful thing about it is you're not out there alone, all right. People try to make it about one on one matchups in football, which you know a lot of the time it is about winning your one on one. But in this game, it's going to be about all eleven swarming to the football like more than ever.
You cannot allow him to have that space.
If he does have space, then he's able to create, you know, So you got to make sure that you're liminitating that space bay getting all guys. I need that outside corner out there, who's covering aj Brown as as soon as you see as you need to be sprinting because we need everybody at the ball.
You've obviously been in this position. Let's say you're lining up against the Eagles. We talked a little bit about Saquon, but before the snap, they present a lot to you. Obviously, you know they can do the RPOs, then they can play faster if they want. Jalen Hurts is obviously a good kind of vertical runner. What are some of your keys as they're setting up to snap the ball. When you're playing against the Eagles, that are in your mind.
Yeah, I mean I played the Eagles a couple of times, especially a couple of years back we played them in the NFC Championship and then the year after playing them in the regular season. And the thing for me as a middle linebacker, like my coach always tells me, just take a step back. Like everybody wants to crowd the line of scrimmage because you want to. You're so eager to stop the run. But if you're getting too tight to the line of scrimmage, you're not able to see
the full picture. You get down there and you start trying to just expose the excuse me, stop the run.
Guess what.
A J. Brown is running a slant right behind your head and they're doing the RPO. They're dunge in to him and he's running for a seventy yard touchdown on a slint. It's like I thought we were we were just being told to stop squon. It's like, no, they have weapons all of Devonte Smith, A J. Brown, Dallas Goddard. So at the end of the day, you got to take a step back, give yourself more time to read the play. Who has the ball? Is it Jalen or is it Saquon. That's another level of it where you
got to read the zone read. If you're a defensive end and they and you got his own read. Are you being told to take the dive, Saquon? Are you being told to take the quarterback with with Jalen? All these little things are so monotonous, but there every detail matters, and.
Just keep the ball.
If I'm a coordinator, I'm like, hey, tackle the dive, tackle Saquon, Make Jalen take the ball every single time.
And I love how you describe that, like, of course I did, because you're Fred Warner. But the way that you have to give a play patience on your side. You hear it all the time when people talk about running backs. Be patient, let the play unfold. On your side of things, you have to do the same thing and trust what you see and trust what you know.
And so I wonder when you're flipping it around and you're looking at the chiefs and they're giving you misdirection of motion and all kinds of wrinkles and little cheap motions to the outside that I know you guys see a lot in practice, yeah, and little orbits and things where you're keeping track of all of these different orchestrations pre snap. How do you give those plays patients? How do you trust what you see there? What do you look at first?
It's so tough. I mean, I hate to say it.
I have yet to defeat them, you know, and solve that puzzle, right, I mean, I tried my best, and we've had some game plans where they've been more effective than others.
The thing about Kansas City offense is they're unorthodox. You know. You prepare every week where.
It's like, all right, this team runs this system, they have these players, they are going to do exactly that, and that's exactly what we need to stop. And then you go against Kansas City, it's like, wait, they run what they do?
What he runs?
It?
Like how?
And it's like and then you get in the game and it's like you might have been prepared for some all week, and it's like it's so much different when you're in the moment you're trying to play against the players like at Travis Kelcey, lack of Patrick Mahomes with the savvy and the connection that they have right, So there's so many levels to it, and at the end of the day, everybody got to do their one eleven and you know, and hope for the past.
We like to talk a lot on this show about how Andy Reid and the Chiefs, particularly with his screen game, which it's a legendary playbook. It's like six hundred pages long. It just screens right. Yes, I know Kyle's is similar in terms of the amount of plays, but Andy Reid, I mean, my goodness, and so the the the ways he sets things up, the ways he layers things in the first quarter and then builds off of it in a totally different way based on your first reaction in
the third quarter? What have you seen from that offense? And I guess what is it? Even as elite as you are all of these years at an all pro level, what does it still teach you after all this time?
It humbles you every time because it truly is a game of chess, you know, And that's exactly what Andy's doing. That's what all the great play play callers and offense coordinators do in this league. You know, they are setting you up for the long game. Because people talk about coming out in the game and starting fast, which, of course you'd love to start fast. Everybody wants to start fast because that helps you out a ton in the game.
But now the thing that I'm learning more and more throughout my career is it matters more how you finish. You've got to finish even faster than how you start, and if you're implementing certain things within the beginning of the game to then set yourself up for success later in the game where it's like, oh, yeah, I remember he did kind of come down on the run early in the game, so now we can hit him on
the RPR play action later on the game. Like those little things do matter in the heat of battle.
Yeah, because look, last last year's game couldn't have been more evenly played. Obviously, it was overtime, it's a team game. A lot went into what happened. But I watched that game and I talked about it afterwards, and I remember saying what I thought was the forty nine ers defense. They did come out fast. They they did enough to me to win. They they held mahomes down for a
long time. So what was it in that game where you're holding them to single digits after a lot of possessions in that game that you thought you guys were doing well in that game that slowed them down.
Well, I mean if you look back a year ago before that game, in the entire playoffs or not entire we had the one season we had to buy, but playing against Green Bay, playing against Detroit, we could not stop the run to save our lives on defense, like we were getting just thrown like toss to the Wolves before that Kansas City game, saying like, oh my gosh, this Niner defense is nothing like it's been in the past, don't We don't see these guys being able to stop anything Kansas City's.
Got to do.
So of course we carried all that with us and had a huge ship on our shoulder going to the end of that game. So you saw the emotion right away, like of now we're coming with a with some heat, you know what I'm saying, Like we know for a fact that we're the best defense in the league. We're gonna show it today on the day that we need
to show it the most. And but again talking about start versus the finish, we started fast, but what was more important to finish And we lost dre Green Lawn in that game, which was a huge loss for us. That was a huge emotional dump for myself, you know, like I'm shedding tears on the sideline in that halftime and when you need all the juice that you can get towards the end of that game and overtime, like you need all of that, right, And so those little things are so crucial in a.
Game like that.
And we can talk scheme all day long, but it's the emotion of it, right, And a lot of these teams, I mean the Chiefs, I always compare them to long haul truckers. They just know how to get there and they know how to get to that extra gear in the dark, down that highway and just go right.
Yeah.
But this Eagles team, they've rebuilt very quickly, and there's a lot of youth, there's a lot of guys who've been there for getting there for the first time, a lot of emotion probably happening. Team that's kind of had an emotional season overall. There's been every week it's something man, right, Like, I hope you don't have a copy of that book at this point, But how would you as a captain, as a leader, like, how would you talk to these
young players? What would you tell them to be ready for in a game like that.
Yeah, I mean it's so cliche to say it's a whole it's just another game, but you truly have to just treat it like it is another game, because if you if you go into it thinking, Okay, it's a super Bowl, this is my moment, I'm gonna go out here, I'm gonna just throw everything that my coach has been telling me out the door and just go rogue. I promise you, it is not gonna go well, It's gonna be a long day for you and you're probably not
gonna end up with the trophy. So I know, for me my first super Bowl in my second season, I had guys like a Richard Sherman who had been there and done that be able to tell me like, hey, young Buck, like this is just another game. Like just do what you've been doing all season, like you've been playing at a great let at a high level. Just do that again this game and we'll get to where we need to go. Now, we ultimately didn't get to
where we needed to go. But you know, so many things have to happen in your favor in order to win these games. And you know, there is something to be said about having been there and winning the game and knowing what that recipe looks like for Kansas City. But on the opposite side, Philly is loaded, like you cannot find a weakness in the roster, whether it be O line, D line, skilled players, like, everybody's so great, So it's gonna be an even matchup.
I can't wait to watch.
As a as a forty nine er. I mean, who's played these teams in big spots like do you have any uh in your in your real gut, like the real threat owner that you want?
No, I hope no. I don't want both teams to lose. Yeah, I know that's unfortunately not possible. I wish it was, but yeah I did. I dislike both teams a lot. So there's there's no result where there's no result where I'm happy people.
People are sick of y'all too.
This is Yeah.
In the last six years, four of the Super Bowls have been forty nine Ers Chiefs or Eagles Chiefs. That obviously, you guys made it back to the NFC Championship game so many times. We're looking forward to watching you next year. But before you go, tell us a little bit about experience that you're working with here.
Yeah, No, experience is amazing. They're all about saving time and money, which is what we're all trying to do.
Right.
You talk about subscriptions for example, Uh, let's say you have you've got a brand new peloton and you get on that peloton and.
You know, say, hey, listen, new year's resolution. Right, it's a new year.
You get on the peloton and you and you you have to get the membership, right, it's not just buying the bike.
You got to get the membership.
But then a couple of weeks later you're like, uh, you know, it just wasn't for me, so he put the bike away.
But then you forget about the membership.
Right.
We all fall.
Victim to getting these little subscriptions. They might be like the little three ninety nine ers, right, that just just kind of go under the radar and they stack up over time. Experience does a great job of just you download the app. They take care of those subscriptions that you don't need or don't want and just eliminate them. So then you're saving your time, saving your money, and live a grade life.
He's taking a step back. He sees the whole field. That's right, and on the field, Bred Warner, Yeah, four time all pro. Appreciate you joining our previs show.
Appreciate you guys. Thank you.
That was s Fred Warner. Of course, handsome man, very gregarious.
He is such a great break he just would He was breaking down so many things. I loved hearing about the detail, the patience that he also has to show, and even defending you think defending a player like Saquon Barkley you just have to you know, ram face through wall, right if you're looking from the outside. But him explaining the interest sees and the nuances, that's what we're all about here on NFL Daily.
Yeah, it is really cool to sit next to someone and kind of get the vibe of like, okay that even in that short of a period, you can kind of see how he's the type of guy. If he shows up to a combine interview, like all the coaches are gonna be like, oh, I want him on my team, Like that's a leader. That's a real dude. But we're the leaders too. I don't want to sell us short. We're gonna give our bulk of the preview right now,
because look, I know it's it's Super Bowl week. We've been talking a lot about the rams and different news stories of what's happening, and we're gonna have a lot of great interviews the rest of the week. At this point, I think we can just start teasing him. I was a little worried, but it's kind of crazy.
I know you don't want to jinx him. I get it, Like, if.
They don't show up, that's on them. We have Jayden Daniels coming up this week. We have Jordan Love coming up this week. We got Puka Nakua, Kobe Turner, Ashton Genty, John Than Taylor, Jimir Gibbs, Montgomery. They're all coming up later this week and we knew that, and there'll probably be some super Bowl talk there with them, but a lot of that will be about their old team. So this is really where we're gonna get into our preview of the game. And we have six categories, and we
all like to honk. Can we possibly get through six categories in the time we have allotted? That is the challenge here. And I'm gonna start with you, Shook and just ask a really basic question, just like, what are you most excited?
Little table setter.
I'm just most excited for what probably everybody is who was here two years ago, the rematch. It is Eagles Chiefs. It was one of the most thrilling super Bowls that we ever saw. In fact, in the third quarter of that game, I was sitting there and I had a moment where I just thought, I'm at the best super Bowl in history. It didn't end that way, but it was pretty close. Now we get these two teams again two years later. Yes, the roster is a little bit different.
We have a combined total of twenty seven stars between these two teams, returning a lot of familiar faces, some bad blood from that last matchup.
I like it and it's greatness. It's truly great players, and that game builds the story. And I like the point that you made because I think sometimes games that don't have the hot ending make you forget, like, oh, the first fifty seven minutes of the game were absolutely electric.
It's why I always stand for Saints Colts as maybe my favorite and maybe the best super Bowl of all time, even though the big moment happened with four minutes left in the game, But because those two teams were so excellent, because of the first fifty five minutes and everything that went into it, and that's what happened in that first Eagles Chiefs game. I'm totally with you, what are you most excited about?
Kind of on along your point, Greg is like, these are the two best teams in the NFL this year and it almost never works out this way where we're seeing them in the actual super Bowl, and again with so much tension and heat behind this history that these two now have, and these are just the teams of who has the most dudes super Bowl? This is this is the dude Bowl. Really, dude, this is the Dude Bowl, Like, and I think the Eagles have the edge here. Frankly,
we'll get we'll get into it. But it's like, at every position, a dude, right, I mean, someone who you would love if you're a fan of any team, at almost every position, you would love to have that player on your team. And I love that we're going to see these teams collide in this way, and I love that they have these unique storylines that are very unique to them, the Chiefs being this dynastic super force that now people are starting to turn on a little bit
as that super villain. And then and then the Eagles, who I personally love because they are so gd messy. I love how messy they've been. They've just lived with their hearts on their sleeves all season and they've solved their own problems that they have also created. And I just I love watching these two teams kind of reach their peak powers at the right time and collide on seite.
I have to ask, are you into trash TV? Do you watch reality?
I'm not, But that's why I think I get a fix out of this because I don't watch reality TV other than Quarterback Island, plug but which you need to be on. By the way, it would be great Quarterback Island. But I just I love it because they really they do not care. They're showing you exactly. The Eagles will show you exactly what their problems are, a lot of them of their own creation.
Nick can be our bouncer, by the way, on Quarterback Island.
True, I will throw them out metaphorically speaking metaphor.
How messy will it be if Nick Sirianni actually wins the Super Bowl? You thought he was bad before. That guy is not going to shut up. You know how the Rams party so much after that Super Bowl? What is a Nick Sirianni party, and then I need.
To see I need to see that dude on top of a bus.
I don't want to think about it, but Nick Sirianni losing the second not a second super Bowl in a row, but in three years here.
Uh, it's like the you know, the Jane Lynch, the Jane Lynch meme. I'm going to create a situation so toxic, that's really what it is. It's like, it's seriously like I can't wait. And Andy Reid on the other hand, so calm, so stoic. But it works for both of these behemoths that we're about to see it.
It's kind of funny though, to think of the Chiefs says like, oh, they're the less talented team, Like they're it's they have a first ballot Hall of Fame tight end, maybe the greatest tight end ever still take Gronk, but there's plenty of arguments to be made there. They have the greatest quarterback of all time. They've got a first team All Pro cornerback. They've got one of the greatest
defensive tackles of all time. If, like George call Office gets the free agency, you'd probably make about twenty five to thirty million dollars, You're.
Like, and yet the Eagles are deeper, Sure they are. They are more wild, but it's wid The Chiefs areted extremely constant. Thing I'm most excited about just basic, you know, as a true ball nowhere I got really down and dirty. It's just it's just the matchup in the trenches. I think it's because in the playoffs I have more time to watch the All twenty two when during the season I'm trying to watch every game that I can and like power through those can ends most of the time.
And seeing these two four man pass rushers in past rushes and thinking about that matchup and how man how much Nolan Smith has improved in Milton Williams and Jalen Carter next to them, how much they've improved as well, Josh Sweat who's just as consistent as it gets, and Jylex Hunt even is adding a little pop and great Brandon Graham, who finished it out the last time, is probably in that game. And so that could be a great matchup against the Chiefs offensive line, which played really
well in the AFC Championship. And then on the flip side, I do think people are sleeping a little bit on the four man rush that the Chiefs have Now they and this is a theme I have throughout this preview. They are not the same team as they were the first eleven twelve weeks of the season. First of all, Carl Loftis says that there is such a thing as playoff. Carl Loftis, Mike like Mike Dana wasn't always the most consistent, maybe isn't there like, but has played really well in playoffs.
Like that is a good for me. In pastors Omana who wasn't there all season and adds a lot to that group. And then Chris Jones is like beating really good tackles on the edge and thinking about that matchup against the best offensive line in the league.
So just yeah, I love it. I do believe you had a camp yesterday in the wee hours of whatever time it was. We finally got got to New Orleans. You're the Jalen Carter of NFL daily. I got to be the Milton, the Milton Williams. Nice.
That was nice.
I thought that was more name recognition than Milton.
He's played well.
I love I love history.
We're at the portion of NFL daily in our relationship, where now she's just lying. She was the Jalen Carter for the bit. She was the Jalen Carter and she had you as the Milton Bruins.
All right, no, no, no, no.
Don't do that, ruined, don't don't do that.
Don't divide us here.
I will tell you Carlton, but seven seventeen pressures, three sacks and the postseason alone. I mean, it's funny. I mentioned him on the show, you know, a couple of weeks ago, and like I got like Twitter mentions or Blue Sky mentions about thanks for mentioning carl Loftus because he's sort of like a cult favorite in that in that fan base, and you can see why it really turns it on the postseason. I'm excited to see this.
I think this is best on best in so many ways, and the way that those four man rushes, like you said, can just really execute. Both of these defensive coordinators can do dastardly things.
Okay, let's go to the next question. Which coordinator. Now you wrote it up. We have a nice little document we all we all shared, we collaborated, we came up with topics, and Jordan's was which coordinator will be the biggest factory? And I'm like, where's the juice when you mentioned that initially You're like, which coordinator is gonna, like gonna be the bigger creep? What was it? Who's going to be a bad guy?
I forget Oh, I said, which coordinator is going to be the biggest bastard on Sunday?
Yeah, like sell it.
That's because these guys are gonna be so mean to each other. And I love it. It's gonna be awesome, And I just I love how this vic Fangio defense has accelerated what normally would take a couple of years. Traditionally, his system has taken a little bit of time to really not just be implemented, but like to have the right players and then to have everybody buy in. It's a lot of tendency studying, it's a lot of you know,
pattern matching. It's a lot of these things that are complicated, and it also is predicated on having good players who can rush for upfront and then mixing different things that he likes to do out of those zone coverages and get a little sticky in those zone coverages on the back end, and having really good inside linebackers helps with this as well. Having Cooper dejen you can stay in
your preferred nickel package the entire game. And I just think that not only is this the one of the best defenses we've seen all year and really manifested that way over time. It drew some concern early in the season, and I remember saying on NFL Daily that's just a big Fangio defense. You're going to wonder what they're doing early on, and once it clicks, you can really really see the vision. And I think that where one of the things I'm most excited about to the first question
is how well the Chief's offense and Andy Reid. I'm going to count him in with the coordinators. He's not a coordinator obviously, but he's going to be calling the game against.
Vic Fanas Well.
Matt Maggie and Vic Fangio have their own history, which is fascinating. They work together in Chicago. They went against each other all the time, and Matt Naggey knows what
Vic Fangio is capable of. But this Andy Reid offense and the way that the Chiefs have been so comfortable just picking away at different parts of the field, picking at the seams a little bit, getting the screen game going and really like biding their time and setting up the longer downfield passing game that we've seen in recent weeks. It's a perfect way to play this Vic Fangio defense.
It's going to be fascinating that juxtaposition between what Vic is going to do and what he's going to try to deploy with all of these talented players who've really emerged, and then what Matt nag But we have to talk about spags.
But I want to know what is your answer you asked the question.
I mean, I am like the biggest Vic Fangio fangirls felt.
Okay, it's a really good point on the screens too. If it's hard to find a bad number for the Eagles defense in general, I think at this point we can safely at least I feel comfortable. I don't want to speak for you guys, but they are the best defense in the league. Yeah they are seven, Yeah, the most talented, the results, all of it. But the one weakness is that they can kind of find in the numbers the next thing except they're not a good screen defense,
and that really plays exactly Chiefs. What is your answer in terms of who's a bastard.
Well, we say that lovingly. Also, I want to point them, Yeah, it's the thing.
You can say it lovingly, but it could also be interpreted negatively depending on the outcome. And this is where I get nervous with Kellen Moore. You've got a lot of head coaching heat.
With the Saints.
We're in New Orleans and everything else, right, but if there's one weakness in this matchup, it's him. I don't trust him as much as I trust all the other coordinators involved.
I think that's fair.
Yes, even Naggie. And because Naggie is he's insulated by Reid.
Yes, also results has experience.
He rose to head coach because of what he'd done before. Right more, I don't care about whether he's not been a head coach before. I care about what he did in recent weeks, which is putting his quarterback, who was hobbled in a divisional round game, into deep drops in his own end zone with pressure bearing down on him
in a tight game. It's Situationally, I've had issues with them all year, and a lot of the blame has shifted to Jalen Hurts holding onto the ball too long, which is somewhat valid at times, but I think that he hasn't quite put them in the best spots all the time, which is hard to do.
Nobody's perfect.
But in a matchup like this, where it's best on best and the margin can be so slim, that's the last guy I want to trust out of those coordinators. So that's where it comes in as a negative thing. They are also if you look at them a year over year, and I know they fell apart down the stretch last year, but I did like just some digging into where were they last year versus this year, prepping for what might await more after this game. They finished
eighth in offense last year. They finished eighth and offense in total yards again this year, but vastly different appearance. They were second in rushing obviously with Saquon twenty ninth in passing, which kind of leads to where we'll go later in this game. In this preview regarding this game, I just don't I don't trust him.
Even those numbers are flattering to them because they're given better advantages because of their defense. In terms of like dv AWA and yeah, total efficiency, they've been pretty similar the last two years overall, You're right and in totally different how they got there, But they're not even like a top ten offense, which is crazy when you have Saquon Barkley. And it's why the answer is clearly Spags because he's the biggest bastard in maybe the history of
football in terms of defensive coordinator. At this point, you gotta give him the love. Belichick would be there if you counted him as like a play caller, and there's been other ones, but I'm talking about what I know best over the last twenty five years. They're the two. They're the two on defense that would be at the very top. And to me, the number one question in this game is what you just said, Can Spagnolo make Jalen hold the ball?
That?
To me?
Is it?
I honestly think that like that's going to be the test. You might be able to tell it early. When he's getting rid of the ball quickly, everything can work, and when he's holding onto the ball, good things are just not gonna happen. So with what he is showing, can he make them hold onto the ball? And then when he does hit on those blitzes because he will he always does. Is it a catastrophic play for Jalen Hurts or is it just a bad play? Is it a throwaway?
Is it a three yard sack? Like you can live with that? You can't live with the turnovers, the fumbles, the negative fourteen yard sacks that Hurts will take. So to me, it's Hurts And it's so funny because it's it's these storylines that have been traveling with him for years since Todd Bowles did it to him how to see handle the blitz? So it's can he get rid of the ball? And when Spags does confuse their offensive line, which you will at some point, how does Hurts handle that?
This offensive line. By the way, these tackles have like the second and fifth best protection against pressure rate in the NFL right now at their respective position. And still despite that, and and part of this nick is about Kellen Moore too. I refuse to say that this is all about Jalen Hurts. But when he does hold onto the ball, his pressure rate skyrockets to forty and a half percent, despite the protection that he gets from those
two bookends on the outside. And he even takes a long time to get the ball out against the blitz, which also is a schematic thing two point eighty five seconds on average per next gen, fifth longest in the NFL, and has the second highest sack rate against the Blitz in the NFL this season. And you have Saque mf and Barkley, who is also a good pass catching outlet back who is also a good pass pro back. I'm
gonna get to that later in the preview. But part of this is just infuriating design as well, in my opinion, and that's what I think SPAGS is gonna watch some of the ways that teams, and particularly Rams a couple of weeks ago, played Kellen Moore and almost forced Kellen Moore to play into his worst habits and his worst tendencies, and in turn, Jalen Hurts to play into his worst habits and his worst tendencies, and he got teed off on. And I do believe Steve Spagnolo is a huge factor.
Meanwhile, he's like, you know, it's spending his nights putting together his Saints staff. Here, I don't know.
This is know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's not good. It's not setting up good for him. That doesn't mean that I don't think that the Eagles can win. It's just that that is the situation which he's gonna have his work cut off for.
It's not quite Parcels making calls from I believe it was in New Orleans.
Putting his house in the market in New Orleans.
From his hotel room, putting together his his staff. And there was only there was only like one week in between at that point, between the Packers and the Patriots Super Bowl, and he's not paying attention at all. In Belichick's getting all mad because Parcels isn't paying attention before Patriots Packers. That was a long time ago. Let's move on to what matters more experience or youth. We're way behind pace here really quick.
Though. I want to say Jalen Hurts was great against Baggs and the Blitzes in the last time these two teams played in the.
Champions It's a great it's a great point.
That thanks glad we got to it that like here.
He did handle it perfectly. Yeah, last time around, he could not have played better. And I think he needs to do what he did there, which was be aggressive, you know what I mean, Like he's gonna have to throw those go balls on like third and two when they blitz and just trust trust himself.
Brown for that.
So that's good. What matters more here in this in the Super Bowl, youth or experience?
Nick, It is youth.
It is youth because the Chiefs have paved their path here by being the most annoying team to play against.
When they're on offense.
Third and five, Patrick Mahomes rolls out, everything's breaking down, all hell is breaking loose, and yet he finds somebody be on the line to gain or he's already five yards past the line of scrimmage and they're still biting on the pump fake and they're gate picking up first downs. How do you eliminate that? You eliminate that with a bunch of young dogs who are athletic and can cover a lot of field and who are coached really well.
And that is who these Eagles are.
I know that there's more experience on the side of the Chiefs, but the Eagles athletes, I think tip the scales in their favor. They're also one of only two teams in the Super Bowl era to have the NFL's rushing leader and the number one total defense in the NFL. I just want to think about that for a second. The last team though did that was the Cowboys with them at Smith. We know what happened with them. They won Super Bowls. They played the K gun offense, they dominated.
I have a feeling that if there's one antidote to this Chiefs offense this year, and America can all get on board with this because you all hate the Chiefs, it is where whatever shade of green they wear, now hopefully they go back to Kelly and the people with the wings on their helmets.
It's Philadelphia, you okay, so you go youth.
It's funny because, yeah, the Chiefs has more starters returning from this game fifteen to twelve, but they have a lot of young players too. When I think of vulnerabilities for the Chiefs, it's people that nobody talks about. Jayden Hicks, Brian Cook. I think about half their second maybe Jalen Watson, maybe Chamar Economar who's healthy and like, these names never come up, but those are guys that if Kellen Moore and Jalen Hurts and those receivers do their jobs, they
should have mismatches with. So so there are two teams that have a nice mix of youth and experience. But it's the Eagles that are definitely a little younger.
Yeah, And I was conflicted on this. It was a great question because I just I can't shake this feeling in my head that the Chiefs are The Chiefs are like this monolith. They're like Pangaea breaking apart, like they are inevitable right like it is. So it's so hard to stop them when you feel that sense of dread. If they start playing stuff a ball, if a couple of marginal things swing their way, you just can't shake that feeling that they just know how to do this
and they've just been here before. At the same time, that youth, that energy. It's the reason why this sprint rebuild that Howie Roseman did is so successful so fast, is because they identified the correct talent and they are maximizing that young talent at every single position, which supplements and even equals that in places they're core stars and some of the veterans that they had on the roster.
They swarm, and I think that's where you see the youth. I do think they're a little bit faster overall, but these are two pretty physical teams in a league that's getting a little lighter. They're two of the bigger teams. I like that. I'm going to kick off the next one, which is if a player is at his best, who moves the needle in this scheme? And I want to
talk about Xavier Worthy's development. They are using him and he is performing like a true number one receiver and he doesn't that mold because he's, you know, one hundred and sixty five pounds, and you think about him that he's not totally complete, and that's that's fine. They haven't. I mean, Sammy Watkins had one of the greatest postseasons of all time on this team. He wasn't a complete receiver, but for that postseason, he was a number one receiver
and he helped them win a freaking super Bowl. And
Xavier Worthy is that guy. But more I think the subtleties that they focused in on, and I think it's a lot about Marquise Brown showing up and starting to do some of the other Xavier Worthy things, where he's got about three different types of routes that he can do, and his footwork is so excellent and he is so fast and he can win against any type of coverage, and the offense is really built around him in a way, I think over the last five weeks, especially the playoffs,
that it wasn't earlier in the season that he really is that good. I don't think there's a good matchup. Of course, the Eagles have a great secondary, but it's not like I'm trusting any one of those guys in a one on one situation. And they're a great team in terms of their pattern match and passing off guys
and maybe that's how you do it. But if you told me that he goes nine for one sixty five, oh like something crazy like that, I actually think he is capable and he he is the guy playing at a level that I don't think the rest of the country is totally caught up to where he is now because he's so different than where he was in the first twelve weeks.
Well, it's also about the interconnectivity between what he can do as running you know, pretty much a full tree at this point, which he did in college, right, I mean, I know you watched a lot of them in college. Nick, he did that in college. So it's now it was almost like getting like one toe after the other into the water, like with him with Andy Reid and trusting as Andy Reid likes to sort of test his receivers and his skill players how much can I trust you
and how much can I stack onto your plate? You're really seeing it. And when he is in compliment with Hollywood Brown, the Chiefs over the last four games have increased their scoring average by five points per game because the interconnectedness of the two, it builds more dimension into this passing game that was all like screens and traveling.
They were, they were the slow. They were somehow the number one seed as the slowest team in the NFL. And now when you watch them, like there are some routes where the two of them fly off the ball and then they do comebacks because every everyone is like, oh my god, these guys are actually fast, and it's just like you didn't see that. There wasn't that element and the Chiefs offensive literally wasn't there.
Yeah.
I think I think Hollywood Brown is like one of the biggest X factors in this game. Good or bad. I'm not sure how it's going to go, but he makes them so much faster. Give me your give me your player who moves the needle.
Well, I think on that point it was a lack of verticality and they can now get vertical. It's an overall improven on all parts. My player, if he's at
his best, why does he move the needle? Going back to the defensive side, Zach Bond, because of the point I kind of just made the last one, which was it's the stuff over the middle, Because if you are spending time taking away suddenly an offense that can get vertical outside, who is the one guy that's going to be able to stop what the Chiefs do best, which is fine sawt spots over the middle. Zach Bond the number one graded coverage linebacker in the NFL this season
according to PFF. I feel like a lot of teams they've played have missed that X factor you go down the path that they just followed, you know, playing Buffalo, playing Baltimore, you could say Rocwon was that guy. But it just seems like if I have to find one player on this defense against them, and I feel like I'm skewing heavy anti Chiefs and I'm not intentionally, but it.
Just feels like Zach Bond, Nah, don't do that.
Don't do that.
Unfortunately, Zach Bond, He's gonna be the guy that's gonna be able to not only match up with Travis Kelce, but also take away enough of that area.
But it's really still a collective effort on the defensive side for that.
Yeah, the Eagles are one of the best linebacking teams and defending the middle of the field, especially in coverage. In the NFL, Travis Kelce has more yards in the middle of the field and against linebackers on passing plays since since twenty eighteen, he has like the highest EPA of any players just where he lives. Insane. Yeah, but like that is Zach Bond, NFL Daily, first Tea pro.
There you go. By the way, I didn't have the heart to tell Fred Warner that he was on our second team, but I was like, but it.
Had an incomplete because the injury. Yeah, yeah, we love you Fred, one of the players of NFL Daily. Yeah. So I think that that's a great point because that is an X factor between Zach Bond and Cooper Dejean and some of the rotations that they get into and being able to trust the guys on the outside and trust the safeties. That is going to make defending the middle of the field so hard. And that's where the Chiefs have liked to live and breathe through most of
the season before your guys emerged. I can't believe none of you brought up the most obvious one outside of Pat Mahomes. It's just Saquon Barkley. You know that, that obvious Yeah, I'll be I'll be that guy, Okay, But Saquon Barkley, you you hold your breath every time he gets the ball, right, because if he it's not like if he's going to break off the big run, the explosive run, not just twenty plus yards run, but like the fifty plus yards run, it's a matter of win.
And you just feel the state like a couple of games of his in person, and like you just feel the entire stadium hold their breath every single time. And I just think that it's just going to be an absolute X factor if Saquon Barkley A does Saquon Barkley things, which is play really well in the first half, but then increase in his yards per carry and his effectiveness and overall success rate through the second half of games, which he's done all season, and if he has twenty
or more carries in a game. He has always every single game this season gone over one hundred rushing yards and that is an absolute factor when you also count this offensive line and you also count some of the things that you need to do to a stay in your A plus game plan and take the teeth out of that bastard's blitz.
There you go. I mean we said that word a lot.
I hope that's okay, bastard.
I think it's allowed. I am.
We mean it lovingly.
Want I want to go to what you think we might be overlooking here because talking Saquon there, he's not just you know, a runner, uh, He's a pass protector.
This is the thing that I've geeked out on so much over this season. And by the way, it will be hard for him to run against the Chiefs defense. They have the lowest mistackle rate in the league this season, and those linebackers are very good on the Chiefs defense too. So what I really really liked about what I watched all season with Saquon Barkley is how he effectively navigates
his responsibilities in pass protection. It was so interesting the way that the Commanders tried to attack using Frankie Louvu as a blitzer pretty much anytime Saquon was off the field on a passing down or anytime he was split out from the stack and into the flats as like an outlet for a blitz play, they would attack. You know, they would try to get to Jalen Hurts that way because they did not have Saquon in pass pro. And then they also that quarterback lead draw that they ran.
They also like faked that Saquon was going to just be in pass pro and instead he just like leaked up the gaps as a lead blocker. So the Eagles are very aware of his gifts and his talents here, and I think that's another thing that could be a game changer against Steve Spagnola in all of his ability that we know he can do. But Steve Spagnola is gonna have seen that on tape, and he's gonna he's
gonna look at those tendencies. He's gonna have seen some of those things that even through the course of the game, what dan Quinn was doing in order to try to torment Jalen Hurts a little bit with that pressure, which you know, Eagles broke that game wide open, But there are a couple of times there where you thought, man, that's a good plan against the Eagles offense sneaky.
Big factor could be Kenny Gainwell. He's made himself some money this year. Yeah, I think he's a nice How great?
How great of our name for a running back is gain Well.
Either way, it's the perfect I never even thought about it. And you lose a lot when field, But I think too Kenny Gainwell can make big plays. I think the Chiefs might be a little vulnerable on the run.
Do you like that we're air fiving over your head? Does that make you feel good?
Is very uncomfortable. So it's like very very easy.
Greg, I swear to God three times you almost hit me, and I swear to God.
I swear to God. Number four.
Who's the player or element we're overlooking Nick Bolton?
And it sounds a lot like what I just said about Zac Bond, except Nick Bolton. The grades don't shine well on him, right. I think he's overlooked. He's never garnered a postseason an accolade that he may have deserved over the course of his career.
But he makes.
Grades, especially the coverage ones, not like they're not a piece to the puzzle.
Just saying I know nothing and I don't judge my analysis on it. But I just know that if you're looking to justify my analysis, he makes big plays. He he just has a knack for coming through in the biggest spots. I think back to what Week three against Atlanta where he just shut down the Falcons rushing attempt on fourth down to win that game. It was early, it was on the road, but it felt like a tone setter and a reminder of this guy who was playing through a back issue at the time.
He's not going anywhere. He's got experience.
He made a big play in this Super Bowl two years ago when they played in Phoenix with that return of that fumble, which kind of swung the game in their favor. At that point, the Eagles had a lot of the momentum. I just feel like he's gonna come through in a big spot this time around. It's going to be again kind of like what the Eagles is
going to be a collective effort. It always is. But if there's one guy who I think people are not paying attention to on this team, I mean, we could talk about Carloft is obviously going people are gonna pay attention to.
Chris Jones.
Don't forget about Nick.
Bole Now that linebacker crew is coming so cool.
The other on in this entire.
Run, dang good linebacker crew.
Like Drew Tranquil channel in Bolton. It's always rotating. There's no more Willy Gay there. But like every year we get to this point in the season, they always like it used to be a thing that it was always a weakness for them year after year after year, even
after Spegnola got there. And then they figured it out about three or four years ago with with this crew, and they've only gotten better and it makes them so multiple As part of the reason, uh, my element people are overlooking is just like this Chiefs team is so much better than they were eight weeks ago, yes, ago, And I don't I don't think they're worse than they were two years ago. I think they're better than they were at this point last year. Yes, think about what's changed.
For like, when you think about the AFC, was like, oh, the Chief's gonna get lucky and get through. And then you actually watch how the Bills played over the last month and watch how you know the Ravens played in that game certainly and some of the ups and the downs, and then you watch it. What's different about this Chiefs team. Number one, I mentioned the speed with the receivers, they're
just a different offense. Number two that time off Hunt and Mahomes in particular on offense, they look like different players just in terms of their agility, so they're different. Number three health I mentioned Amana who I mentioned on the back end, it's some of it's some of their rotational players. In terms of Samari Connor being back there, it's Jalen Watson, who who's a huge upgrade from Nas Johnson like that, that's a huge upgrade. It's not something
that you're really thinking about exactly. Justin Reid back there wasn't always healthy one of like Omana, who wasn't healthy at all this season. Like these are big time pieces for them that they're essentially because they have a lot of cap commitments replacing guys that were minimum salary, bottom of the roster guys that they've done a good job
filling in. But it's one of the reasons they didn't look as good this year as a lot of those guys were in there and they're not in there, and as much you can actually kind of include like DeAndre Hopkins and Justin Watson in that mix. They're not really in the three receiver sets. So though, it wouldn't shock me if like Watson shows up uh in the Super Bowl and like makes a couple of plays. So you look at that, and then you also look at the
way Mahomes has been playing. We haven't talked Mahomes. I know you wanted to talk about him a little bit, Jordan here. He's just been playing, I think a little more confidently, getting rid of the ball more quickly, and more willing to be aggressive over the last five You add all that up, and if this was the team that we saw all season, we would have been like, oh, yeah, that's the best team in the NFL. Or maybe like you could convinced yourselves the Eagles or the Lions at the time, where.
But it wouldn't be as mad at them because they couldn't argue with you.
They wouldn't be lucky. These playoff results in December results weren't lucky. If anything, the Bills were lucky to even be in that game. Yeah, let's just let's all hail Patrick Mahomes before we move on to our final point.
I know, it's just it is so fun to watch and play football, and I think it's it's interesting because we go through these phases with players who are great, who are all time great, and I think it's actually if you look at some of the on the ground chaddar and some of the narrative swings not necessarily year over year, but week over a week, or you know, fans and how fans react and all of those things, it's hard to be that sustainably great without someone just
really hating you. Oh yeah, And and I just I love that we are getting to watch the entire arc of this player's career in the biggest games, in the biggest stages, and honestly, he is one of the biggest X factors on the field for both teams. Saquon Barkley is gonna make a huge difference in this game if he can get going. We know that already. We know that the Eagles, in my opinion, the Eagles are the more complete of these two teams and the deepest of
dude teams. Right. But Patrick Mahomes has that magic in him and he's just got this like when he really turns it on, it just you can't stop it. It's like watching this wave coming at you and you're just like all right, Well, this is my fate.
Right, Like I think the weight of having to make it every year and how tough it is to make it back every year like that does show up with the Chiefs. They just find a way to win like ugly games during it and you can almost see him playing with like a little more joy once they saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the three games and fifteen games.
That's what it happened, Chris.
It's kind of like, yeah.
Okay, the weight is finally off and now I'm just back to Patrick and I'm playing ball play.
They played the best ball of the year and they've continue to do.
They have figured out how to peak late, and it starts with their quarterback. He was still playing some of the best football in the NFL for most of the season. You know, we've talked about this. I'd get crushed.
Online every week.
Why is Mahomes in your top five? Because it doesn't look good, But trust me, it's good.
A little style for him.
He had a down year for his caliber, for his standards.
Yes, yes, because a lot of it was a slog early in the season.
It was creaky. Yeah, that's the word I use a lot when I watched Travis Kelcey run like that, it was it felt creaky. Their whole operation just felt like it just hurts.
But I think that they know that they have the opportunity to get here almost every year if they play it right.
And these are long seasons. I mean, they built for it.
They are the greatest team of all time in terms of a dynasty. If they win this game. It's really crazy. I mean, you could say others if it had higher highs, if you wanted to, or come up with some or to argument, but there is no argument against three straight Super Bowls and making it five out of six years and winning for it. There's just that it just hasn't happened. Now. Shout out to the Packers, by the way, who get a little loss in the shovel. Like they did win
three straight championships. It just so happened. It was the last two uh NFL championships and the first couple the last NFL championship, in the first couple of Super Bowls.
Half of it they weren't there. Merger, it doesn't count.
It's honestly kind of stupid. They did win three three state straight titles. It's just like the league changed one year.
Before the forward pass was barely legal. Ye just kidding. I know you were five at that time, but that actually.
That actually is still the best dynasty over like a six eight year period, but it was a different league, and we do count the Super Bowl as the bottom are. So that's what I'm talking about. Final take. We got to get out of here. We got we got a lot of interviews. Uh, and we're getting to Greg Olsen next, so we're going to wrap this up. It's one final take, so hot that it hurts my feelings or hurts your feelings.
Shout out to the underrated singer songwriter Caroline Policheck who has a song, so You're so hot it hurts my feelings, which always stuck in my head.
You've said that a few times today. I've not reacted anytime, and you keep saying it. Yeah, look at this poll. Look at this poll. Pole p u lll like, look at this deep cut. Look at this deep cut.
Greg, Oh my god, I mean I'm gonna look at Caroline Wow, Polo check.
I think that's how you come on.
She's got a lot of streams so Spotify.
It is shocking because and I know You guys did this out of respect for the dock, right, because we were all in the dock like talking back and forth with each other. But it is something that can fit in so many of these categories, whether it's a game changing scenario, whether it is a player at his best,
whether it is something we're all overlooking. And one of the things that will probably make a difference in this game that made a difference in the last matchup in the Super Bowl when these two teams play was Patrick Mahomes scrambling and moving around. He doubles his scramble rate in the postseason, and the Eagles are the number twenty
two ranked defense against scrambling quarterbacks this year. His fifteen percent scramble rate is the highest in his career, not just the postseason, and it absolutely killed the Bills a couple weeks ago.
You know why the Eagle struggle with that, because when they're too busy flying around the field all the time with all their youth, you lose a little bit discipline in that process.
Yeah, that's what swung this game two years ago.
Mahomes on a bad ankle, just takes off down the middle of the field like it's always been a problem, but it could very much be a problem.
It sung's I feel like it swung every big Chiefs game ever that he only runs when he absolutely needs to rip your heart out. He did it in his first playoff run ever, in one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history against the defense that gave up three
points a couple weeks later in the Super Bowl. And the only reason Pat Mahomes doesn't have another Super Bowl trophy because they lost the coin toss and the Patriots got it first in the twenty eighteen Championship because he was going touchdown after touchdown after touchdout and a lot
of it was him scrambling. It's absolutely rageous. My final take is the Chiefs actually aren't that good defending the run, and that their defense, if you want to find a flaw in the playoffs, hasn't been quite as good as they were in the regular season on outside zone runs in the playoffs. You know who's cooked them. Joe Mixon. James Cook then did it too. If you add up their outside runs over the last two weeks, it's like nineteen for one thirty two. Like play after play after play,
they are not really maintaining gapper integrity. Then you look over the course of the season, what are they awful at stopping tight ends like EPA per play success rate thirty first thirty second in the league's I think Dallas Goddard could take advantage. Those are two really important parts of the Eagles. I think that's why the Eagles have been good. They can hit you wherever your weakness is, the outside runs and the tight end, and I think that's how the Eagles do it.
Nine point three yards per carry on outside runs for Saquon Barkley this season.
Look at that. That's team works NFL Daily.
Yeah, Hi five.
Is so hot that it hurts your feelings.
Shook polar opposite of what you just said, which is, if this Chiefs defense finds a way to shut down sau.
Ken, Jalen Hurts and Kellen Moore overcome that, or are we.
Destined for a miserable experience in which Jalen Hurts is forced to.
Hold onto the ball too long and it repeats that little period against the Rams.
Who are you picking here? Are we going to pick the game? Why not?
That was also that was polar opposite, not polar opposite, which sounds the same, but are two very different words. Because I say pole as pole, not poll.
For like ten maybe three seconds there, I was like, what is she talking about?
I did to enunciate my us.
I had no idea what five minutes when you said that's a nice poll, and I was like, that doesn't make sense.
Yeah, looking just beyond you just.
Got to move on. I mean, I'm I'm taking the Eagles. I just said why. I'm not as bold as Claybon who thinks they might be up a couple scores and not have to sweat it out. But I do think they find a way. What I don't, I really hope we're not all going Eagles.
Well, I was on board with Clayban with the same idea. My score landed around like thirty twenty five that range, and the idea is that it's really more like thirty seventeen. The Chiefs score, they go for two some sort of you know, we end up in that range. But I worry about that because.
You say it worry a lot.
It's a way to threat. I'm also a threat.
We're all picking a lot of anxiety in this body.
Here.
The Eagles had such a lead in the in this first iteration, I know these are two different teams two years ago, but I hate the idea of them being building another big lead and then my home storm's back inevitable. Like you said, So, I'm not super I'm confident Eagles are winning.
Oh we're all picking the Eagles because hell yeah, I'm picking the Eagles twenty four to twenty one. And I think that the first at least the first half of this is going to be just a delight of a defensive battle that'll get the non ball Knower's going.
Eh, we're super Bowl ever, the super Bowl nobody.
Wanted, when actually it is a beautiful masterclass in these two defensive coordinators who rock.
As we've gotten closer to it, and I wonder if that's everyone out there, or maybe it's just the people I've talked to, I think, what have you gotten closer? It's like, actually, these are two incredible, kind of historic teams. The Eagles have been this good for a while, two super Bowls out of three, but also one of the best NFC teams really throughout the Howie Roseman era, and this chief team, like the players, the coaches, it's an
incredible matchup. We're not done talking about this game. Just yet, We're going to bring on another ball nowhere. That's Greg Olsen, yes, of Carolina Panthers' fame, but also now of Fox Sports. Right after the break back here on NFL Daily. Thrilled to be wrapping up the best preview show in the game.
We started with Fred Warner, we gave you the nitty gritty in the middle, and now we have Greg Olsen, for my money, the best color man analyst in the business and apparently a long time buddy of Jordan Rodrigue, who knew.
We go way back to those early Panther beat days standing by my locker having to answer why we win win more games?
Okay, to be fair, was that.
What you're tell me? Remind me what you're using?
Sixteen?
Yeah, okay, you got seventeen, Yeah, you got seventeen. Playoffs was fun and then and then you were there.
Yeah.
Then, but I got to tell you, like Greg, I mean listeners, like you guys got to know what kind of guy Greg was in the locker room. I mean, I was a kid recorder, scared every single day walking in there. You got me in with Ryan Khalil, which was a big deal, and then you looked out for me every single day I was in there and you explained things to me, which I loved and it really
had helped me set up. And when people are saying, hey, he's going to get into commentary, into color analysis and all of that, I was like, I mean, obviously he explains things better than anyone else.
I appreciate you saying that it was fun working with you. It's been fun to see your career just continue to ascend and it's all come full circle.
I know here we are on the daily desk.
I know, I know, I know Greg Wilson loves talking ball because he said he's been here for what is this seven.
Now, I wasn't doing media the whole time. I had a panel, like a press conference panel I had to do. But I'm going on, that's a wild eight hours. He's here with DraftKings. We're going to ask him about that in a little bit.
But I wanted to get into the game and and just you're looking, let's start on the Eagles offensive side of the ball. If like, what is the coolest thing that they do in terms of the running game that maybe the average fan would wouldn't totally understand it in terms of the details that they get done to help Saquon Barkley do what he does.
Yeah, so, I think the first place you have to start when you start talking about a team's willingness and ability both of those things to do really well in the run game. You can talk about the offensive line and the scheme and the running back and Sakon. We can go on and on about that, we probably will, but none of it matters if you're playing in shootouts. None of it matters. If you're not playing good defense,
none of it. Like when anytime you talk about it offenses ability to run the football, it always starts on defense. And when you talk about a defense's ability or inability to stop the run, my first question is, well, how many points does their offense score? Because if your offense is scoring seventeen a game, you better stop the run. If your offense is scoring thirty a game, it doesn't matter if you stop the run or not, because lep
teams run it, you're not gonna beat me. So it always starts with the other complementary side of the ball that sets the table right, So obviously they check that box.
Picfangio.
The job he's done defensively, Now what they do you think two years ago when they were on this stage, it was Miles Sanders. He was a twelve hundred yard rusher. This has been a traditionally high level running team. Jalen Hurts is a factor in that, and of course the offensive line and the style and the coaching and YadA, YadA yad. Now all of a sudden, you insert arguably
the best, one of the best running backs. Right, it's him, It's McCaffrey, it's Derrick Henry, It's that small group of guys over the last handful of years that are generationally good running backs, and you put them behind this offensive line, and now this is where you get the magic. Right, So it's the whole thing. Like I can't believe the
Giants let him go. No offense to Sa Kwon Barkley or the Giants, but Sejuon Barkley wasn't rushing for two thousand yards, and if he did, they were probably gonna not win a game because they weren't ready to have a great running team because it wasn't going to move the needle. So they checked so many boxes. What that unlocks for them to do philosophically with the third downs and fourth down and the tush push, and it can go on and on about what it unlocks for them.
But it's a very special combination that most teams don't have, which is why you don't see most teams run the ball this frequently.
I love what you said about bringing the complement of the defense in there too, great because I'm wondering if you can explain a little bit more to the listener about just how much Vic Fangio's death by one thousand paper cuts system is really the inversion of the suffocation ball. They play on offense and really plays keep away in the best way from teams.
I love that.
Well, I've been covering a lot of Kyle Shanahan, so you know it's a dark time the.
Like I like, he's great.
So yeah, so again you can't. So again, you think about the two year journey for Philadelphia to be back in this spot, and their defense under Jonathan Gannon two years ago was really good. The offense under Shane Steichen
was really good. They lose a close one shootout, wasn't their defense's best game, but they're playing Mahomes and things happen and they lose both coordinators and then last year they definitely take a step back defensively, and they take a signific again step back also offensively, and he has to Sirianni now has to bring in a new set of coordinators. Again, that is very hard to do. You're in and year out on either side of the ball,
let alone both. Now, somehow the miracle that Vic Fangio is not good enough to be down in Miami and he's available. As a whole other conversation, but he's available. He's a great fit. It's exactly what they needed. They've got some young pieces. He kind of brings the experience, he brings the edge, he brings what they need. And now everything that their offense wants to be is perfectly complimented by what the defense was all season long. I think they finished either one or two in total or
overall points allowed. And again, without that, so many aspects of what makes the offense so good is less effective, So you can't get I would argue that Fangio's the Assistant Coach of the Year or whatever that award is, because his impact on that team to get them back to this super Bowl is as equally important as Saquon and Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown and Kellen Moore, and they we all deserve their flowers, but it hinges on the ability that the opponent's not scoring a million points.
We saw that all kind of come together in the NFC Championship game, right, you forced all the turnovers, you capitalize offensively. But for much of this season, I feel as if, especially since probably a week seven, it's been more about the defense than anybody. Right, they hold the Giants to three points, they start to ride this wave. Saquon is the face of the offense, but I feel like what we don't pay attention to at times. What I want to ask you about is how is he
married with this offensive line? Because they've undergone a lot of changes. You know, year over year, they lost Kelsey, they moved Jurgens over to center, where he was playing center in college before he had to play guard. You have a number of different guys mckaype Beckton goes from tackle to guard. What can you say about all the changes that they've undergone and how it's kind of just led them here.
Yeah, I think it's a great question. I think when you bring in these really established veteran running backs, you know, you look at just this past year. Right, you got Joe Mixon down in Houston, you got Derrick Henry in Baltimore, you got Saquon obviously in Philadelphia, and all of them to mixed results in different But what team find themselves being forced to do is they say, Okay, I'm taking in Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, whoever it is.
What do they specialize in? Right?
Are they gap runners? Are they inside zone? Are they perimeter runners? Are they one cut and go guys? Or they see it patient and then hit it. Every running back has their different style and flavor. But what happens is now you bring in this running back and you pay them a gazillion dollars and you say, okay, I gotta do what they're comfortable doing. I'm not going to ask Saquon Barkley to not do what he's comfortable doing. But then what that does is, well, what about the
offensive line. What if you have an offensive line that's built to be a zone team and all of a sudden, you want to be a gap scheme down downhill counter team, or you want to be a downhill gap counter team, and your big bodies and you're big and vertical, and maybe you're not as good on the perimeter. Maybe you
can't get big bodies in space. Well, then you have the Philadelphia Eagles, and they can run zone, they can run counter, they can spread you out, they can pack you in, they can play, they can play vertical and remove you off the line of scrimmage. They can pin and get big bodies out on the perimeter. They have the combination of the verse running backs who can really check every box to go along with an offensive line that is not going to be challenged or strained by
anything that Saquon Barkley or Kellen Moore feel comfortable doing. Again, that's not normal, Like, that's not most teams. That's not how most offenses. They build it around a certain identity and they lean into it because that's the best way to maximize it. There's so many layers to this Philadelphia team that one unlocks, the next unlocks the next, and when it all rolls together, they're really good.
Yeah.
I love that. And one of the things Greg brought up earlier in our preview, our middle portion we were like in a sandwich between Fred and Greg is great. The outside run Saquon Barkley nine and a half yards per outside run that he's had this year at thirty seven times, we think that might be a factor here, stretching that Chiefs defense out a little bit wider. But I have to ask you because we do want to talk about the Chiefs, and I know we've only got
you for a limited amount of time. We could talk to you all day, Greg, but how do you counter what's deef Spagnolo is going to bring? And how have you I mean, I know you have watched the history files of Spags and admired him for a long time, So how has he continued to do this? And how do you stop those blitzes?
Yeah, the play callers and the assistant you know, the coordinators, play callers and Andy Reid case obviously he's the head coach, but just the assistance, the staff, the play callers, the coordinators of this matchup are equally as entertaining and equally as interesting as the star players. I mean, these are as good of combination of especially on the defense side of the ball, defensive play callers, as you're going to find
in the league with Spags and Fangio. So what's so unique about Spags, especially when he has this this two week head start and not a head start like a two week lead in is his ability to be game plan specific, to attack you at what you do is really what his calling card has been all the way
back to the Giants. So his ability to game plan his ability to say, Okay, what are the ways that I can eliminate Saquon Barkley without exposing myself on the back end to quick passing game, explosive plays on the perimeter to AJ Brown and not let DeVante Smith get over the top, Like how do I put all of the things that Philadelphia is capable of doing in a bucket, organize them and say okay, this is priority one, this is priority two, and work his way down the checklist.
So if I'm Spags, I'm saying, Okay, I don't want Jalen Hurts to operate as a passer inside the pocket. I want to get him moving laterally. I don't want him moving up in the pocket. He's a better I think he's a better pocket thrower and a scramble runner than he is a scramble thrower. And what I mean by that is so often when you play quarterbacks that have this skill set, you hear every coach in the league say keep him in the pocket. Keep him in
the pocket, don't let him escape. I think Jalen Hurts is one of the unique conversations where like, no, I want him to move now. I don't want him running forward. I want him running sideways and make him throw on the run towards the sideline because in the pocket on time. As an effective in rhythm passer, he's really good. He's got great weapons, he's got great timing, he's got anticipation, he trusts his line, so all of those things play into his favor.
He will kill you.
As a scramble runner, I think he can. You can force him to take sacks, throw the ball away, force the ball into some bad windows. As a on the move passer in scramble drill, so I would try to get interior pressure, off ball pressure inside games, get that pocket in his lap and get him moving sideways.
And now you've got to be able to plaster.
Now you've got to be able to match up on second reaction drill with Devonte Smith and Dallas Goddter and aj Brown, which again is a challenge all and of itself. But I think Spags is as good of a defensive play caller as we've seen in the history of the league. He's as good of a game planner, especially in these big moments of any defensive play caller we've seen in
the history of the league. And he's going to have something unscouted, something that they haven't seen before that Philly's gonna have to identify early in the game and have a plan.
For before we let you go. I want to you did this game a couple of years ago. Great call on the game. We got to get Greg back on that. That's a whole other story. But what do you think is different better maybe about Patrick Mahommes now than then, or at least different I.
Think their offenses played. Their offense wasn't the juggernaut this year or really the last couple of years that we've seen the early days, right where it was lightning in a bottle, It was Tyreek, it was Kelsey, they were flying. It was like fireworks all over town. They went through a very interesting transition the two year you know, the
Super Bowl two years ago when they beat Philly. Remember the narrative the entire season long was you can't win with this young rookie laden defense, and then they won the Super Bowl and then last year there's the turnover, there's the uncertainty at wide receiver and skill group other than Kelsey, who does he have? And the defense really carried the load. They became the strength and the identity of the team. I think this year it's balanced out
more than it was in the past. Now, is this offense the high scoring thirty mid thirties pointed game they were in the Tyreek era years ago. No, but I don't think they have to be right like in those days because the defense wasn't as strong. They were planned to just outscore you from the moment they got the ball. They don't feel that pressure anymore. So they have the ability to win shootouts. They did two years ago that they can win a thirty point game, but they don't
have to. And I think that's the biggest difference with this Chiefs, This iteration of the Chiefs then like the not even the last couple of Super Bowls, but like the previous era of that, like early in Mahomes' career, they just wanted to outscore you and how offense you they can, they don't have to, and that's a credit to their ability to rebuild this defense through the draft. Through free agency, of course, Chris Jones being the constant
and that defense. It's an understatement, but like more than carries their fair shit.
It seems like since Christmas they've taken a next step offensively, though.
What has really kind of keyed that?
In your opinion, good teams with good coaches and good quarterbacks and veteran players DeAndre Hopkins and Travis Kelce. Those guys have played a lot of football. Yeah, and I think the offensive line has settled down. I think he's getting better protection than he has over the last stretch. And listen, you got the best player. He could go down as the best player ever. He's on his way.
He's not there yet, but he's damn near close. And he's got Kelsey, He's got DeAndre Hopkins again later, but a veteran late Like good players get better the longer it goes. The goal is not to be the best team in September and October, and they've proven that. They've no one's ever coming out of the first half the season, being like the Kansas City Chiefs are a juggernaut. We haven't said that for years, yet here we are in February and they're the last team stand one of the last two teams.
Stands as I admire your your bracelets. Can you tell us what you're doing here with Draft Kings. Yeah, I like the bracelet game.
One of them is the football team he coaches by.
One of them is their football team. One of them is TEU.
We got a whole bunch of stuff going again, a pod for another day, But it's been a lot of fun. I've worked with Draft Kings over the last year or so, you know, helped them when they brought sports betting to North Carolina.
Was a part of that launch.
And again this is the week right where everyone tunes into the game for a lot of different reasons. Of course, you're a die hard Chiefs fan, you're a die hard Philadelphia fan, or you're just a football fan, or you want to have a little entertainment value, you want to have some skin in the game, you want to have a fun prop bet, you want to there's something for everyone from the entertained purpose that draws people into the
biggest spectacle in all of sports. And with DraftKings and their partnership and what they allow for their fans and their customers to just again connect with the game, even a little bit deeper, have a little bit more vested rooting interest in the outcome. Even if you don't care who necessarily wins, you might care who wins for other right, so for the other reasons. So I think that's so
much fun. No bigger week than super Bowl week. And it's been a lot of fun working with them over the last couple of last year or so.
And honestly, it's funny. I know you're describing DraftKings, but you also describe yourself.
Greg.
You bring people into the game unlike any other and in ways that really help people feel connected and like they are they do have a vested interest a stake in it, because you describe those stakes so well. And I'll say it and tell them blue in the face, but one of my favorites of all time.
Appreciate you guys.
You're sitting here next to me, and yet I'm suddenly transported just hearing that voice and some of the Yeah if you're talking about to my couch and playing Madden, Yeah, yeah, you're You're a big part of our lives now.
You can't. I love that com good combo.
It's great.
We have a lot of fun with Matt and that's that's that's been a lot of fun. Actually, I didn't know anything about the process of it all, and it's actually a fairly interesting recording process. Just making up stories in your head off of an Excel sheet. It's a little more challenging early on, it was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. I'm getting my groove now, but uh, you know you're calling You're calling lines of the game off of spreadsheets and game situations
typed out. There's no video, there's no context, there's no who is it. It's like completion third and ten converted, first down, outer third of the field, second quarter up by ten go.
Yeah, decades of knowledge.
I don't know who did it? What was the past? Was he open? Was he covered? Did he touch with what? I don't know? Like, but uh, it's been a lot of fun. I've got my groove with it.
And uh, ten year old Walker rose Thal he's going to announcer preferences and he's clicking that to Rico and Olsen button thank you all right, there goes Greg Olsen's man. I could have sat there.
And just kind I know that used to be me. I'd stand at his locker and he would just talk ball and just teach for forever, and it just oh man.
It's one of those things. We're at the end of the day here. He's been here since nine am. He's been doing a lot of stuff. Bet I was tempted to just push that as far as we can go. It's like, can we just do an hour with Greg Olsen? Because I just have a feeling like I'm sure his handler at some point would have uh stepped in, but he seemed like he was enjoying the conversation.
Maybe I was ready to drill down.
Look, yeah, they try to build big threes in the NBA. Bosh And and Dwayne Wade and Lebron He here's your big three right here. Good first day at the Super Bowl, first time NFL Daily on site. Really excited. Why are you laughing?
I'm just curious now, like like Jordan's laughing over here, and I know she's thinking, like, which one's Chris Bosh No, I.
Didn't want to think about that. It's a good point.
Though, anyway, don't write it.
Do you do you have any takeaways from your.
First I just I loved it. I thought this was so much fun. I like to learn as you guys know, and I feel like every guest we had. Getting to talk to both Fred and Greg, elite ball knowers on a podcast that prides itself on knowing ball, it was fun and they genuinely enjoyed being here with us. It seemed like otherwise they're really good at faking it, and it just was. I just I had the best.
Time and the time just go so fast.
We got Greg a square meal. Shout out to iHeart because Greg, you know, we have three meals a day, and one of my prime goals internally I didn't tell you that was make sure Greg because Greg is a machine and he'll just work all the way through and you got to make sure he eats otherwise he starts to look at if I was if I was.
A little off for that Warner interview, I was not. You were great.
Fuel for the Yeah.
I Heeart has taken such good care ofcters today.
It's we got a long week ahead. As I mentioned, Thursday is a massive show, a lot of really good guests, as I mentioned Jaden Daniels, Jordan Love, Ashton Janty Stars, Puka Nakua and uh and more, and we're gonna have great interviews on Friday as well. I'm glad you guys will be next to me, and yes, let's let's wrap this thing up. When when we're hearing Greg Olsen's Madden voice in our head, except he's like right next to me and I just I just want to touch him. You know, football is back, y,