Way back in September, it didn't necessarily feel like we were going to end up here. The Chiefs may have enjoyed their status as the NFL's latest—and perhaps greatest—dynasty, but it was clear the Bills and Ravens would push them in the AFC. The Eagles, meanwhile, began the season 2-2, and saw their coach getting in shouting matches with fans at their own stadium. And yet, here we are, getting ready for Chiefs-Eagles in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons. How did these teams mak...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Mays and Dianna Russini kick off Super Bowl week with a crossover episode of The Athletic Football Show and Scoop City. The duo discusses Dianna's takeaways from the Senior Bowl, the behind-the-scenes elements of this year's head coach hiring cycle, the most interesting quarterbacks of the offseason, and more. Rundown Senior Bowl takeaways Coaching carousel roundup Brock Purdy/Niners negotiations The Matthew Stafford domino Sam Darnold's market Could Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll reunit...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been far too long since we heard from you, our dear listeners. And so we're happy to say that the TAFS inbox is open! Not just for this episode, either. We're going to be doing this all offseason long. In the return edition of the mailbag, Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen discuss the point of fandom, the Bills best path to getting over the hump, if it's lame for neutral fans to root for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, what they'd do this offseason if they were Sam Darnold, and a whole lot more....
Jan 31, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast No team advances to its Conference Championship Game by accident. They get there through a combination of players, coaches, scheme and the way they were built. So what lessons can we learn from the Chiefs, Eagles, Bills and Commanders—and the Lions, let's be real—this season that we can apply to finding winners in future years? Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and old friend Nate Tice dig into that question on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Host: Robert Mays Co-Host: Derrik Klassen With:...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the signature NFL franchises announced its head coach on a Friday night at 10 pm, and that was the second craziest development of the weekend in the coach hiring cycle. So, yeah, it was a wild weekend on the coaching carousel. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen discuss Pete Carroll to the Raiders, Brian Schottenheimer's ascension in Dallas, Liam Coen's on-again/off-again/on-again partnership with the Jaguars and more on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Pete Carroll to the R...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast A season that presented us with so many possible new Super Bowl teams—the Lions! the Bills! the Ravens! the 14-win Vikings!—ended in an awfully familiar place. How did the Chiefs and Eagles win their respective conferences to advance to Super Bowl LIX? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen recap Championship Sunday on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Host: Robert Mays Co-Host: Derrik Klassen Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show.....
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Chiefs-Bills for the AFC Championship? Yeah, sure, anyone could've seen that coming back in August. Commanders-Eagles for the NFC Championship Game? Ummmm, what? These matchups—two predictable heavyweights adding another chapter to their recent playoff rivalry on one side, one mini-surprise and one out-of-nowhere team playing for the third time this season on the other—illustrate one aspect of what makes this sport so great. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen preview Conference Championship Sunday o...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast One week ago, the Lions were one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX. Now, they are an eliminated team that has lost both of its coordinators. Zack Rosenblatt joins Robert Mays to discuss Aaron Glenn signing on as head coach of the Jets on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Then, Colton Pouncy jumps on to dig into where the Lions go from here now that Glenn and Ben Johnson have left for head coaching jobs. Host: Robert Mays Co-Host: Derrik Klassen With: Zack Rosenblatt and Colton Pou...
Jan 22, 2025•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Lions letdown turned out to be the Bears opportunity, with the latter hiring Ben Johnson 48 hours after the former's playoff loss. On this episode of The Athletic Football Show, Robert Mays welcomes on Albert Breer of The MMQB and Sports Illustrated to cover the latest in this year's coaching cycle. Then, Kalyn Kahler from ESPN joins the show to discuss her story on the surprising amount of power agents hold in the head coach and GM hiring process. Host: Robert Mays With: Albert Breer and Ka...
Jan 22, 2025•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast And then there were four. So how did we get to Bills-Chiefs on the AFC side of the bracket and Commanders-Eagles on the NFC side? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen break it down on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Ravens-Bills recap Commanders-Lions recap Rams-Eagles recap Texans-Chiefs recap Host: Robert Mays Co-Host: Derrik Klassen Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... Apple Spotify YouTube Follow Robert on Bluesk...
Jan 20, 2025•2 hr 43 min•Transcript available on Metacast It seems as though this entire season in the AFC has been prelude to a three-team tournament among the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens. We've finally reached the beginning of that tournament, with what could ultimately be the game of the season wrapping up the Divisional Round. Will it be the Ravens or the Bills advancing to the Conference Championship Game. Will Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen put an exclamation point on what would be an deserving MVP season for either of them? We can't wait to find out. ...
Jan 17, 2025•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Divisional Round is the football junkie's round of the playoffs. It's the last week of the season with games on multiple days. Gone is the riff-raff that couldn't get past the Wild Card Round. Back are the 1-seeds, fresh off their well-earned bye. And those 1-seeds are both in action on Saturday, with the Chiefs hosting the Texans in a rematch of a game we just saw a month ago, and the Lions welcoming the surprising Commanders to Detroit. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dive deep into those t...
Jan 17, 2025•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast A lot has happened on the NFL coaching carousel in the last week. Mike Vrabel is now the coach of the Patriots. Mike McCarthy is not the coach of the Cowboys, and there are Deion Sanders rumblings in Dallas. Plus, the most sought-after coach in the cycle, Ben Johnson, met with the Raiders, and somehow that actually makes sense. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen get into all of that on this episode of The Athletic Football show. After that, The Athletic Giants beat writers Dan Duggan and Charlotte C...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a Wild Card Round characterized by one-sided victories, the Rams arguably saved the most impressive for last. They dominated from wire-to-wire in their 27-9 win over the Vikings, scoring on their first drive and taking a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. Now, the Eagles await in the Divisional Round. The Vikings, meanwhile, saw their unlikely 14-win season end with a thud. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen recap the final game of Wild Card Weekend on this episode of The Athletic Footba...
Jan 14, 2025•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wild Card Weekend started with the Texans defense throwing a perfect game in a 32-12 win over the Chargers. It ended with the Commanders notching the franchise's first playoff win in nearly 20 years. In between, the Ravens, Bills and Eagles all continued their excellent seasons by advancing to the Divisional Round. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen recap Wild Card Weekend on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Commanders-Buccaneers recap Packers-Eagles recap Broncos-Bills recap Stee...
Jan 13, 2025•2 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our Wild Card Weekend preview is so jam-packed, we had to separate it into two episodes. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig into the three NFC games on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Packers-Eagles? Get ready for plenty of run game on both sides. Commanders-Buccaneers? That's the two most unexpectedly fun offenses in the league. Vikings-Rams? Kevin O'Connell and Sean McVay matching wits for the second time this season. It's going to be a helluva weekend on the NFC side of the bracke...
Jan 10, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our Wild Card Weekend preview is so jam-packed, we had to separate it into two episodes. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig into the three AFC games on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Chargers-Texans is a matchup of arguably the most overachieving and underachieving teams in the playoff field. Steelers-Ravens is a rubber match, sure, but it's also a game between one team that faded down the stretch, and one that proved it is among the Super Bowl favorites. Finally, Broncos-Bills pits...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The 2024-25 edition of Black Monday brought with it three coach firings—Jerod Mayo in New England, Doug Pederson in Jacksonville and Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas. Those three teams, along with the Bears, Jets and Saints will be spending the next few weeks finding their new head coaches. How do we expect those searches to unfold, and what does what we already know about them say about each of the teams? Mike Sando joins Robert Mays to break it all down on this episode of The Athletic Football Show...
Jan 08, 2025•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast The playoff puzzle was mostly put together going into Week 18, but there was still one huge piece that needed to be put in place. The Lions dropped that piece into the puzzle on Sunday night, knocking off the Vikings to lock up the top spot in the NFC. All that's left now is to put a bow on the regular season, and point ourselves toward the playoffs. That's exactly what Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen do on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Lions take care of Vikings, lock up 1-...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The regular season began four months ago with what very well could be an AFC Championship Game preview, Ravens at Chiefs. It ends with what very well could be an NFC Championship Game preview, Vikings at Lions. The location of that possible third meeting between division foes will be determined on Sunday night when they battle for regular season NFC supremacy. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dive deep on that game to kick off the Week 18 preview episode of The Athletic Football Show. The guys als...
Jan 03, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lamar or Josh, who's the MVP? It's the question that will define NFL awards season this year. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen answer it at the end of this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Before that, the guys hand out all the rest of the standard hardware—Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, you know the drill—as well as the extras that get at the heart and soul of TAFS—Assistant Coach of the Year, narrative changers, and more. Rundown Offensive Player of the Year De...
Jan 01, 2025•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every serious Super Bowl contender picks up a signature win at some point of the regular season. The Vikings may have already had one, but they certainly got one on Sunday. That's where Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen begin the Week 17 recap episode of The Athletic Football Show. The guys also discuss the Commanders clinching a playoff berth, the Bengals (and Dolphins) staying alive in the AFC Wild Card race, the Colts falling out of the picture, the Jekyll and Hyde Rams, Saquon Barkley hitting t...
Dec 30, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Transcript available on Metacast A good contract can be a sneaky differentiator for an NFL team. A bad one can torpedo half a decade or so. On the final episode of The Money Down, The Athletic Football Show's miniseries focused on the business of the NFL, Robert Mays and Bill Barnwell from ESPN highlight the best and worst deals of the last 10 to 15 years. Host: Robert Mays With: Bill Barnwell Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Chris Flannery Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... Apple Spotify YouTube Follow Robe...
Dec 28, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast There may not be a ton of playoff intrigue as we head toward the end of the regular season, but what we do have is about as good as it could be. Take, for example, the Week 17 showdown in the NFC North between the Packers and Vikings. A Vikings win sets up a likely win-and-get-the-1-seed game between them and the Lions in Week 18. A Packers win doesn't carry quite that level of playoff implication, but it would further cement them as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Robert Mays and Derrik Klas...
Dec 26, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's the holiday season and we're getting in the spirit on The Athletic Football Show. From the right offensive coach for Caleb Wiliams to a new team for Myles Garrett, Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen are giving gifts to players, teams and coaches across the NFL on this episode of TAFS. Rundown A want for more from the Cowboys for Jerry Jones A ball-winner for Lamar Jackson The right offensive coach for Caleb Williams The fountain of youth for Matthew Stafford Wolverine blood for the Lions Framed...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast So which team had the best Week 16? It's not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Sure, it might look like the Vikings, who kept pace with the Lions atop the NFC. It might look like the Chiefs, who took an impressive step toward locking up the top seed in the AFC. It might look like the Commanders, who brought back the early season offense in their win over the Eagles. It could even be the Rams, who put themselves on the doorstep of clinching the NFC West. So, who is it? Well, Robert Mays a...
Dec 23, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broncos-Chargers on Thursday. Steelers-Ravens and Texans-Chiefs on Saturday. Eagles-Commanders on Sunday. The playoff push is on, seeming every single day of the week. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen preview the jam-packed Week 16 slate on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Chargers-Broncos recap Steelers-Ravens preview Texans-Chiefs preview Eagles run defense vs. Jayden Daniels and the Washington offense Can Minnesota's offense keep it rolling in Seattle? What do we make of the ...
Dec 20, 2024•2 hr 47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bill Belichick, head coach at the University of North Carolina. It's going to take some getting used to. Robert Mays starts that process from two different angles on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. First, he's joined by Seth Wickersham of ESPN to discuss why a move to the college game would be attractive to Belichick at this stage of his career. Then, David Ubben, host of The Athletic's Until Saturday podcast, jumps on with Robert to dig into the Belichick/UNC pairing from the colleg...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast From the heroics of Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St. Brown, to the breakouts from Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, and the letdowns from Bears and Texans passing games, the 2024 season gave us plenty to talk about at the wide receiver position. That's exactly what Robert Mays and Matt Harmon of Yahoo do on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Host: Robert Mays With: Matt Harmon Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football S...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast If the Week 15 game between the Bills and Lions proves to be a Super Bowl LIX preview, then we're all one for one helluva rematch in New Orleans in a couple months. In the meantime, the Bills scored one of the biggest wins of the season in taking down the Lions on the road. That's where Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen begin the Week 15 recap episode of The Athletic Football Show. The guys also discuss the Texans defense, Jalen Hurts acing the litmus test, the Buccaneers offense, the Chiefs woeful...
Dec 16, 2024•2 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
