I'm Red Lewis, and this is NFL Inside Report as we embark on Championships Sunday here in the NFL. We've got you ready with the NFC Championship games. We talked to Jim Trotter on Wednesday. Now the a f C Championship game under the spotlight and to do it. Welcome in to it the very best, my guys, James Palmer and Jeffrey Chidia here with us today on Inside Report.
Fellas great to be here with you. Let's start with essentially how the Chief's got here, because it's one of the great stories and one of the great games that we've all ever seen in the win over the Bills in the divisional round at Arrowhead, and let's fast forward
to the final thirteen seconds. And James, I want to start with you because we had talked about this a little bit earlier in the season during the Chief struggles and you had brought up the fact and Jeffrey, I know you've written about this too, that how the Chiefs were really struggling with some of the communication and some of the freelancing that they're able to do within the offense and it just wasn't clicking. As much. Well, it feels like those final thirteen seconds, JP, do what Kells
do it? I like that open it worked. They got back to the magic takes a snap on the near hash goes down the middle of Kelsey by the Chiefs. Yeah. The funny part is everybody on the offense didn't know this was happening. Well, I'll put you in the shoes of Orlando Brown Jr. The left tackle. He's sitting there and he's hearing do it, Kells, do it Kells. He was thinking that Kelsey's gonna chip next to him. That's what he thought. He had no clue that's what the
two of them were talking about. I just told him right before they called a time out, right before we we went out there and ran that play, um, and I told him, I'm probably not going to run the route data that it's called. I'm just gonna run to the open area. And uh, probably midway through his cadence, he was screaming at me at the line of scrimmage, do it like, do it? Do it? And I was just like, all right, here we go, boys, And it
was just a little backyard football. With a couple of seconds left, they gave us an opportunity to win the game. It's more to take the game into overtime, excuse me. And so that's how like this freelancing is operating. It's not like everybody's even included. But the best part about it, I think really is you're right. We talked about how the freelancing was causing some issues earlier and then it
became now really back to being their staple. I think the point of it is Patrick was seeing things differently with the way defenses were playing, and then some of the freelancing they were doing was playing right into how defenses were taking some of these things away. And so I do think that it's It's something that has talked about a lot here in Kansas City. It's not the only place that it happens, uh, It's just happening in
the biggest moments, uh here in Kansas City. And I think that's why we're seeing it because of this kind of freelancing. And Kelsey has talked about it with other tight ends Jeff like and other guys you know around the league. Um, I know c j Uzama has talked a lot about his conversations with with with Kelse about his his chemistry with with Patrick, and obviously that's something
all those guys and Cincinnati are starting to build. But this is something that is, I don't want to say unique to the league, it's just unique and how they execute it at such a high level when it's rolling. Yeah, you saw Kelsey talked about that after the game, where he just said, this is the culmination of years of working on things together, both him and Patrick and and
Tyreek Hill in that mix as well. I can't even put it into words, man um, how much work we put in together and how much fun we have doing that, and then to go out there and put our entired goals, dreams and aspirations out there. Just just bleed for every single person on his team and every single person in that stadium wearing red man that was That was a
fun experience. I remember the the catch and then seeing Tyreek standing up for me calling game and then seeing Pat running over me was I'll remember that for the rest of my life. Just understanding how to handle the different situations, rehearsing different responses to different situations. I thought it was under rated how much they had had to plays in the ready to go. You know, he had
a very difficult, very stressful position, thirteen seconds to play. Obviously, you're not getting those plays to work unless the Bills cooperate UM. But that also speaks to Kelsey's ability and my Home's ability to recognize the coverages they were seeing in that situation. I think Kelsey and and both my homes talked about or had you re talk today about or the other day about just how much they were seeing too high looks in being of the year. Now
it's more too high with man coverage mixed in. We were seeing a little bit more man beforehand when he was young, and now we're standing zones UM with man mixed in. This group here does everything. So you can't go in and just go all right, they're gonna play shell and and go with it. They've got a bunch of shell coverage is they've got a single safety metal covers, a handful of own ones, and a handful of man was But it was a matter of just sorting it out.
He did a nice job. It's all part of the maturation process, making sure that with the with the offense, making sure that the um offensive lines on the same page, and receivers are on the same page, and quarterbacks on the same page with all of them ample running back. Uh, they don't know what they're always going to get anymore. But they have seen so much different stuff over the last four years that they could handle this about anything.
And by the way, just to echo your points there about Orlando Brown not knowing what Andrew Wiley the right tackle, I talked to you this week as well. I was like, yeah, I just I had to make sure that Kelsey wasn't on my side, and because because he thought he thought that the chip might be coming too, and that's that's
what everybody thought. And then you know, now we go back and we hear all the you know, the mic dup stuff with with Kelsey telling Tyreek Hill to do this and that on the first play that ends up getting them the you know, the first chunk of yards they might they right, man, you are and I'm saying go outside and come back in, like running around outside. How like when you come back in, I can get in the way. It truly is amazing that that can happen in thirteen seconds, um, and it's a testament to
their chemistry together. But Jeff, how would you then characterize, you know, how far they've come from that stretch where they were three, you know, three and four after the loss to the Titans in Week seven, rattled off eight in a row and now, you know, come back in this great fashion to you know, win an overtime against the Bills. Well, it's been in bed, night and day. And I'm sure James could would say the same thing.
You look at where they were first half of the year, and they were still trying to be the Chiefs of two thousand and eighteen, two thousand nineteen, two thousand and twenty, that could just go up and down the field, give you a seventy five yeard touchdown, passed anytime they wanted to, and and there was a lot of recalibration with in this offense at mid season, and I don't think it was I think people don't understand how hard it was at some point for them to get to this point,
because at time it did it did look like they were struggling with it, that Mahomes wasn't comfortable having to play take what they give you offense. But I feel like, and I've watched him for the last four years. As
as James, that was his best game. He's a lot of great games in his career, a lot of big numbers, but in terms of managing offense, making decisions, understanding when to use his legs, he didn't throw a pass over twenty five yards in the game where he had almost four hundred yards passing, and that would have never happened, uh, even a year ago, even eight games ago. And so I think it by by far it was his best game and you're seeing the maturation of a quarterback in
an offense as a result. Yeah, Jeff, the three things that you said that that jumped out of me, and I want to kind of break down a little bit. One. It was not easy, as Jeff said, Like I was told by people in the building, this was a very difficult season for Tyreek Hill to learn how to play the position completely different. This is his lowest yards per catch average as a starter in his NFL career, but he also broke the Chiefs record for most catches in
a season in this same year. He just had to learn to play it differently and it was a struggle for him. And not to say, like you know that that makes him any different than any other receiver. If you're the fastest man on the planet, you want to go deep consistently and burn people. He had to play in space, and he learned, you know, getting better to playing guys across the middle and playing in space. The other aspect of Jeff saying like that might have been
like the best game of Mahomes. I think what he did in terms of taking what was given to him and what was that was the struggle. Early in the season. I had a long talk with Kurt Warner about this, who loves just breaking down all of these guys, and he just said it was there. He just wouldn't take it over and over and over again. That's what makes Brady great to keep taking that. That's that that short
route that somebody gives you. And what we saw in this game, he just he's the leading rusher in the game. He goes, well, I'll just take the run. I'll just take the run. Finally forces them to play a little bit of man and knows that's where he can have the advantage with Travis Kell see entiree hill when they're
in those situations. So the patients really really showed I think in that game that was Those are the two things we saw from the struggles to now where we're seeing it all kind of clicking because everybody took some time to figure it out, and it was not easy on on Tyreek Hill specifically. And that's kind of interesting now as we switch over to the Bengal side of things, and we will get into the kind of the ins and outs of this matchup here in just a minute.
But first, for the Bengals, coming off a win in which Joe Burrow did not throw a touchdown pass against the Tennessee Titans, knocking off the number one seed. Uh, you know, got Joe Mixon going a little bit and had to rely on their defense, you know, to make some real plays in that game. But then you go back to when these two teams actually played against each other, Bengals in Chiefs back in week seventeen. Barrow throws for over four hundred, Jamar Chase goes for over two hundred.
They were on fire, you know, through the air, so there is no tase, it's a touch stop, He's gonna chev and they open fail sixty nine yards to go with a seventy two yarder in the first quarter. Does this tell you, you know, Jeff, that the Bengals kind of like the Chiefs now, feel like they can win in a lot of different ways, and that might make them, you know, even more dangerous, even when the past game wasn't clicking like it like it had been for much
of this season. Yeah, they have an amazing comfort level with playing different styles of football that you don't see from young teams, and certainly not young quarterbacks that have this kind of weaponry around him. I saw them play in Denver a few weeks back with a fifteen ten game. I can tell you I probably needed to drink like eighteen cokes to stay awake. It was that boring. You got exactly I was going through everything. I had all the cabin and you're I can get my hands on.
But you saw the way there there comfort with that. You saw their comfort with Last week nineteen sixteen ended out getting your quarterback hit nine times. And they've been a slow starting team throughout most of this year. That's one of the big knocks on them early on was that they just they tend to dig holes and they can't get that great offense going. So yeah, I do believe you're right. There is a sense of whatever it
takes to win, they will do. That's coach speak. A lot of players say that Joe Burrows has said that many times in the course of this year. But but it's true with it. With this bunch, they know they have different ways to go about it. They know that they can go up and down the field with a team like Kansas City. And I tell you that that when they got in that game, it's huge to their confidence level because they were playing for something that they
were playing for the AFC North. The Chiefs were playing for the number one seed, and they walked away with a win. And Joe Burrow was right when he says, this is beyond a nice little underdog story. I'm tired of the underdog narrative. And we're really really good team. We're here to We're here to make noise and teams are gonna have to pay attention to us. Were, like I said, a really good team with really good players
and coaches, and we're kinding for it all. This is a really good team that thinks they can win an a SC championship this week. And you look at the way you broke that down, Jeff, in a sense where they do dig these holes. That is if anything shows you the season what you can't do against the Chiefs, right Usually you get behind to Kansas City, and then they become more aggressive as a defense. Then usually you change your play calling. Then usually they forced another turnover
and it's game over. We didn't see that. I was at that game in Cincinnati. You didn't see any panic from Joe Burrow and that group at all, because they realized a lot like we've seen over the with the Chiefs over the years, they can score like that and then they can change the course of a game so quickly. That's how they're able to really, I think, have that calmness to them because they know at any given time, any given player on this team can have an explosive
play to help them out. And the part with Joe Burrow getting sacked nine times and I think there was another two with penalties that he got taken down on that so it could have almost been a leaven and he still completes almost set and the six percent of his passes in that game. That's the shocking part. To not be rattled in your accuracy when you're hit that
many times. I was thinking in my head on like on nowhere else you think other than inside your head, but Chris Jones coming at you should be something that could really throw you off in the middle. But Jeffrey Simmons was just doing it a week ago and it
didn't throw them off. So I mean, I think that that ability to be very calm in those in those moments and not get rattled no matter how many times he's hit is a definite advantage for the way Joe Burrow plays, because we all think when young guys happened, and that happens to young guys, Oh man, we're seeing ghosts. We haven't seen it with Joe Burrow, and he even had a major injury with getting under pressure and we still haven't seen it from him. I think it's a
great point. And look at about the nine sacks. I mean, it's just it's absolutely incredible that you could take that kind of beating and you know, still win a game, much much less a playoff game. But it kind of just goes back to the story of Joe Burrow, right, It's like, you know, interes a losing culture or um bud. He's like, I'm I'm not a loser. I am a winner,
and that's what we're going to do. I mean, it's just like you may consider getting sacked nine times a losing effort, but we are not going to lose, and that's just that's just kind of what it's been and sounds like Stewart Smiler from Saturday Night five. Dog got
it all right. We're not throwing up the Tyreek kill deuce is to to j P and Jeff here just yet when we come back digging into this matchup and what that Week seventeen matchup really means for the Chiefs who came up on the losing side of it now heading into the rematch here in the a f C Championship Game. Back here in NFL Inside Report, getting set for the a f C Championship game between the Bengals and the Chiefs from arrow Head Stadium as Kansas City gets set to host the a f C Title game
for an NFL record fourth consecutive year. James Palmer, Jeffrey Chidia gracious enough to be back here with us on NFL Inside Report, And James, I know you just popped off some zooms with some of the Chiefs players here ahead of this game, so I want to start there with you on how the Chiefs are framing the discussion surrounding the Week seventeen loss to the Bengals as they approach this rematch here in the a f C title game, Well, we could start right on the defensive side of the ball.
I think we know Steve Spagmolo's like history with rematches, right. I think he's pretty good at the second time around
and making making some noise. And I think when you have a veteran defense, I think, like in some of the key roles that the Chiefs have, I think the first time around against a young team, you learn a lot and and they really were hitting the mouth and how they played, and there was definitely, Jeff some calls that we were debating, uh in some specific moments of that game where we were kind of scratching our head
a little bit. And I think obviously those type of mistakes, if you know Spags are probably not going to happen a second time around. That The big thing to me is Tyrone Matthew in the middle and if he plays in this game, actually in the pot, they going to the ends on the pick, but guess who Matthew The second interception of the night brings it back to the fourteen yard line and coming back to practice on Thursday.
Not out of the concussion protocol yet, but it's all pointing towards his availability on Sunday, Lagarius needs said to me, like he tells me before every snap what's happened, And they didn't have that against Josh Allen and the Bills and a guy that is, you know that Chris Harris Typer or that they're just screaming pre snap because they are so smart about what they see the second time around. It's important to have that voice because everybody, right Jeff
sees sees it the second time around. If you're one of those guys that yell into everybody is a part of your secondary, when you've seen it for the second time, you almost have that advantage. So I do think his his ability to play in the middle in this game, I think changes their defense because there were actual packages they couldn't use against Buffalo with him off the field. Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Clark made that point after the game that if the Buffalo game just talking about just how vital Matthew is not just to the back end of the defense, but to the front end to everybody. You know, you've seen that time during the game where we kind of struggle, you know, um where whether it's pass rushing, getting getting the stuff when we needed them. Um. Also where where you see, Um, you know we gave up a few passes in the back end. Um. Those are things where
you know time is there. He's able to help with the adjustments, help comp situations down and stuff like that. You know where it may seem like, you know, things are kind of getting overhyped and stuff like that. There's a different defense when he's not out there as far as communication, as far as how they blitz. That's really what his biggest value is these days. He's a much better blitzer, much better towards the line of screamage, and he is on the back end covering people. But I'll
say this much. He was there. They played the first time. They were all there played the first time. It didn't matter, you know, you know who wasn't there. And this is do you guys remember, I mean, I'm watching Orlando Brown Jr. Just Walked to the m R I room because they actually have an m R I at that stadium, which is very rare. But he goes out with the calf injury pre game. Then they lose Lucas Nyang, their other they're they're starting right tackle to a season ending knee injury.
Joe Tuney just went from left guard to left tackle with no reps and held Trey Hendrickson in check. Like I mean, Patrick Mahomes was clean in that game. I think we forget early on they were just running the football up and down the field Kansas City, and then they scored three points in the second half. That's the part where I don't know if that happens the second time around with this offense. But I think what I'm making is that offensive line now back to being full strength.
I'm not sure how much pressure they get on Patrick Homes when you just watch this. These last two teams come against him in Cam Heyward and t J. Watt, and then this Buffalo Bills defense. I think they're shaping up to be able to do what they did in the early part of that Cincinnati game. Yeah, I would agree to. I think that's that will be an interesting thing to follow with with Orlando Brown back and with
Andrew Wiley jumping in a right time. Yeah, good point, Jack Tony at the left tackle, Um, Jeff help, you know we're talking about this being the fourth consecutive a f C Championship game at Arrowhead. You live there in Kansas City and go to a ton of these games. They want two of those three preceding this one at Arrowhead. How big is it, like, is it Is it going to be that big big of an advantage for Kansas
City to be playing there in front of the Chiefs fans. Well, it's it's an advantage in the sense that they know the stage. They've won on this stage, they've lost on this stage, so that they they've seen both sides of it. Uh yeah, here the there's a lot of lore that involves stadium, especially this week, people talking about the teams coming in and melting down and not being able to handle the atmosphere. I'm just like, it's not that level. It's loud, but it's not like people are gonna come
in here and be scared. I don't, right, it's exactly the wicked which of the West just showed up. Everybody's running for their lives. It's not going to be that way. But and I think the Bengals, I said this on our air earlier this week, that the thing that makes them scary is they're too young to know to be scared. So that is a big thing they have going for them. And they have an attitude that Joe Burrow has given them. We're gonna keep finding through adversity. It's not gonna be
perfect every time. We're gonna keep pushing through that. We're just gonna keep getting better and better and better and stacking these games. That makes them on it, that makes them believe that just have the pack my homes in the Chiefs, no matter what they're up against, they can find a way to make plays and win games. So yeah, will it be a different atmosphere than what the Bankers have experienced? Yes? Uh did the Chiefs have an advantage
and having played in the last two Super Bowls? And uh, yeah, that matters too. But I also feel like the Chiefs defense is vulnerable right now. You take away the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've seen twice in the last six weeks. They've given up thirty four thirty six. Um actually a bad Rocos
team gave them issues offensive group show. So there is I think in years past, since my home has been the quarterback, when teams have come in here, they tended to be either poorly coached see Bill O'Brien the Houston Texans, or or really limited offensively see Baker Mayfield in Cleveland Browns, uh, Ryan tanney Hill with the Tennessee Titans, and so this is the team coming in with and firepower, and as much as they will have to adjust to the stage, I do think that they will be ready for it.
I just like to say, Brett, Yeah, James, I don't think that ra had crowd effected Josh Allen at all. And I don't think so. I think he's on it. Like honestly, I think it built, you know, like he literally like he was getting better as the game was going on. I mean the only thing that stopped him was a coin toss. Really, I that's I really do
believe that. The part that that is fascinating is we've still still yet to see Patrick Mahomes play a road playoff game, and again we're gonna go this year without it. And it's that's that's the part that I think as Jeff talks about the comfort level, it's like it's it's like routine for him now four years in a row. Every game, I'm gonna play an arrowhead and then I'm gonna head, you know, towards the Super Bowl. I think that's the part that uh, that kind of I don't
want to say gives any sort of advantage. There's just a comfort that Jeff was talking about. I think that the Chiefs have that it is there, But I don't think that's gonna matter as much because Joe Burrow played in the SEC guys. That is a big talking point here in Kansas City, isn't it? Arrow Head That is getting so blown out of proportion um in terms of everything here in Kansas City about what Burrow had to say.
But I I just think the point that he was making is I don't really care, and I do think that part is accurate. Yeah, I would agree, And we'll get out of here on this and and finish it here with Burrow because you know, we've we've all talked about the edge that he has, that competitive edge that he has, and how it drives this team and how it changed this team's culture. Um and you know, go back to the whole you know, you might be losing,
but I'm a winner. You know the type of thing, and because it's real and because we've seen it manifest itself in reality um multiple times at l s U and then now in Cincinnati, and so this is the biggest spotlight that any of these guys have ever played
in in Cincinnati, you know, for the most part. So even if Joe Burrow is ready, and if he has been the guiding light for this team James for this whole season and since they drafted him, does that in turn mean that the Bengals as a team already considering the way that he has brought them along, you know, himself and made them better around him. Well, I think it's similar to what you see with these other top quarterbacks. He's going to make sure that they believe they are.
I don't know if they actually are, but I think they're gonna come in thinking that they are, and I think we're gonna find out within the game. I don't think they're going to come into the game scared by any means, because I do think he brings that to him. But Jeff, I do believe that there could be a moment within the game where there could be players thinking, Okay, this is the Chiefs. I don't think we're stopping them
and we have to do something. I do think those might come about, But I do think he gives you that belief that that you're gonna you're gonna come in and do this. I just think I'm looking at this game and I'm curious as we finish this up, like, if you're not Cincinnati, l A. Or Kansas City or Buffalo, how do you feel like you're going to get to
the NFC title game? Do you think, like Jeff, what I mean, Josh Allens and Justin Herbert's and Joe Burrows don't grow on trees as much as we might like to say, like, if you don't have one of those guys, you gotta go get one, Like, well, it's easier said than done. Yeah, Well, and let's I'll put the Ravens in there too, because they had a pretty good roster until he got beaten up. And the quarterback is pretty good too. But but you're right, there is a a
new wave of quarterbacks coming in. And I live in Kansas City. James has seen this happened before. For the last three or four years, Patrick Mahomes has taken on iconic status, god like status, and people have acted like he's not gonna have any challenge from anybody over the next Decadeeah. And so what I always said, you go back to any decade in the last forty years, you're gonna find five ivers, six Hall of fame quarterbacks who are going to you know, play at a high level,
win m vps, win championships. You know, you go to the eighties, it wasn't just Joe Montana. There was John Elway, there was Damn Arena, there was Jim Kelly. You go the nineties at Troy Kman and Brett Farve and Kurt Warrant payment. So they're always going to be others come along, and so for me, that's the exciting part. This is the year when you're find seeing those guys come along and they're doing the same thing Patrick Mahomes was doing when he came to Kansas City. They're they're showing up,
they're taking control of their teams. They're infusing those teams with a certain level of personality and attitude. We tend to forget now that Patrick Mahomes was the guy trying to keep spirits up in the Super Bowl when they before they random lots play. You know that he was the guy having to do that kind of stuff. And so you don't see these guys come until they're here.
But trust me, the Joe Burrows to Josh Allen's, the John Justin Herbert's, they're here to stay h alright, guys, Jeffrey James Palmer, appreciate you and uh and all of your insight here as we could set for the a f C Championship Game. Thanks dolls, and that's gonna do it for this episode of NFL Inside Report. Reminder to subscribe, rate, and review our show on the I Heart Radio app, on Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your pods. We
greatly appreciate it. We're back with you following the championship games this weekend and as we look ahead to the Super Bowl. For producers Thomas Warren and Tim Paratka, I'm your host Rrett Lewis. We'll catch you next time. NFL Inside Report is the production of the NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more official podcasts from the NFL, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.