The team for the Chiefs of the shot guns trap from their own twenty four rolling out of the pocket Mahomes round trap, the turner shaping at the forty they picked up by the gene to come to the inside.
The thirty got a block of the twenty break to tackle the ten.
The five to the Pilon touchdown.
The go to back six. It's Cooper the.
Jeane about thirty seven yard pick six uh Patrick.
Mahomes Cooper to Jane the rookie on his birthday to pick six on Patrick Mahomes gave Philadelphia a seventeen to zero lead over the Kansas City Chiefs and route to their Super Bowl championship. Porter Larsen Tony Parks filling in for Spence on this Monday Super Bowl Reaction show on ESPN seven hundred. We'll talk and hoops and a little little leather stufe here in the market as well. But to talk more Super Bowl and the Philadelphia Eagles championship. That was He is one Omar Ruiz of the NFL
Network about to start his off season. Omar, thanks for joining us, my friend.
Hey, Tony, no problem, thanks for having me on this unofficial post holiday Monday.
Right right, yeah, we're I think it should be a holiday. I've said it already on the show. I think it should be a actual holiday, like recognized. But hey, we'll we'll get to that when I get elected, Omar.
Or when they go to an eighteenth game and the super Bowl gets pushed to President's Day weekend and then that game's on Sunday.
Now we have a day off on the Monday.
But now, but now we're combining things. We're losing.
We're you're, you're, you're losing me there, give I need it. I still I need a I need two different holidays here, Omar, I need two separate ones, uh to make it work. But we go into that game, and Tony and I talked about it on the show Friday. To me, it felt like Patrick Mahomes, the three Pete Andy Reid and the best what I feel like play calling quarterback synergy in the league against an uphill battle versus the best
roster in the NFL and the best roster man. It won out last night thanks to no part to what I think was maybe the best four man rush I've ever seen from a front four. To me, that was the story of the football game. How did you see last night unfolding from a from a large scale we lost omar Ruiz.
Yeah, I mean you stepped all over his idea about President's Day weekend coming after the Super Bowl. You know, I know he took offense to it. I mean you insulted them. No, I'm just kidding.
Now.
That's I love that he's gonna have a chance to talk about this too, because he will have great insight on the like when this got in trouble, when this became weird, when the water got red, and how this thing could have unraveled in a hurry because it was starting to it was early. I've watched a number of Super Bowls. What the Chargers forty nine ers. I remember when I thought that thing was over before it started. I remember, you know, when the forty nine Ers beat
up on the Broncos. The one that this reminded me of was when the Buccaneers beat the Raiders, because I thought it was going to be a great game.
You had this elite quarterback.
Who was MVP, and I know he's not as good as Mahomes, but early you started seeing pass Russ get there. Early you started seeing problems for the offense of the Raiders after they went up three zip and then five picks three pick six, is the whole thing unraveled and before you know it, it was thirty four to three before it eventually was forty eight twenty one. So like this one really shocked me on how bad it got so quick.
Take two with Omar ruiz Omar before you so rudely hung up on us, I asked, what was your large scale takeaway from from the win last night? For me, the main point that I look at for the Philadelphia Eagles was the fore man rush, their ability to knock Patrick Mahomes off his schedule without having to send an extra man.
Yeah, it was unreal. How you know, the fourth.
Time in the next gen stats era, so they've when they've been tracking this kind of stuff, which you know, probably the last ten years or so. This was only the fourth NFL game where a team didn't blitz a single time on a drop back. Forty two dropacks and like you mentioned, six sacks, sixteen pressures, all.
That havoc without having to do it.
And it reminded me of you know, when the New York Giants upset the Patriots in two thousand and seven, twenty eleven. They had that ferocious, you know front four that they didn't blitz too much and didn't bring extra pressure. Those front four were able to create it and then they were able to you know, get to.
Tom Brady that way.
And and similarly, you know, with Patrick Mahomes, I saw the offense unravel for the Chiefs in a similar fashion. And once they sort of smelled blood in the water, then it was just uh, you know, relentless pursuit by that Eagles defense and just how thoroughly they dominated for a team that we knew they were good.
They were the number one defense in the league, number two in scoring throughout the year.
But I don't know if they ever put their stamp on a game the way they did, or maybe it's because they have such huge stars on offense with Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley and AJ Brown and that dominant offensive line that we didn't give enough attention to that defense. But they certainly put their imprint on that game and prevented the historical three pat.
Yeah, the previous three Super Bowls were all three point differences. I thought this one was going to come down to the very end. You know, I'm picking like twenty three to twenty Kansas City. You know, you're looking at all the different factors going into this. Then the pass rush just starts overwhelming them with nothing cute by the way, bull rushes, simple moves, just one on one matchups of domination.
When did you sit there and say to yourself, oh my gosh, this is gonna get worse before it gets better.
I think when the Devonte Smith touchdown and that's put the game away, because I kept thinking that Andy Reid, Matt Naggy, Patrick Mahomes, they'll figure something out, They'll make some sort of adjustment. And I remember having that same thought in Super Bowl fifty five, you know, when they were dominated by the Tampa front and they're missing their offensive tackles in that game and and very similarly in this one. You know, they had they had issues with
their offensive line. That I think Patrick Mahomes and Reid and and Matt Naggy collectively were able to overcome those and and continue to win football games is because of how good they are at their respective positions to compensate for what had been an offensive line that we saw. Joe Toney, you know, uh Pro Bowl type of guard got kicked out and played tremendously at left tackle, but he's out of position there and and obviously the Eagles
exploited that. So I think you're able to sustain because you have Patrick Mahomes, because Andy Reid is such a good schemer, You're able to beat you know, most other teams in the NFL because of that. But when you play the number one defense with an equally depth schemer
and motivator like mcfangio, we saw the result there. And obviously the collection of talent that the Eagles have put together the last few years, both in the draft and free agency on that defensive unit, and we saw what the results were yesterday.
As you mentioned, the magic of the Chiefs a lot of times is the adjustments they make, the little things during a game that Andy Reid can do, and Patrick Mahomes can on the fly adjust to audible two just because he is such a weird, freaky athlete. This doesn't seem like one of those issues. Last night seemed like a personnel issue where it just didn't matter what they threw at Philadelphia. The Eagles were playing, they were playing forward, and the Chiefs were playing on their heels, and it
seemed like that all night long. What does that mean for the Chiefs offseason? Omar, what do they address as far as as personnel. You no longer get to build around Patrick Mahomes on a rookie rookie sale contract. This is a guy you're locked into for a long time, rightfully so, but you're gonna have to work around on the margins a little differently. What does that offseason look like for the for the Chiefs this time around?
Yeah, I think they have to refocus on the offensive line, just like they did after that Super Bowl fifty five loss, and they came back in there a little better before falling to the Bengals in that twenty twenty one AFC Championship game and then you know they got it right and won a couple in a row. But I think when you are constantly retooling a roster the way the Chiefs are, and really that's the reality of NFL nowadays, with the salaries of the quarterback so high that you
know you're constantly tweaking. You're constantly trying to get to hit in the draft to get those guys on rookie contracts to balance out that salary sheet, and sometimes positions, you know, fall by the wayside. But I think for the Chiefs, the offensive line is not one of those positions that they can afford, you know, to you know, like you said, play within the margins.
They kind of have to beef it up.
They have to be better because I think Patrick Mahomes we've all seen if he's good enough and he doesn't have that pressure, he'll figure it out. He'll make a play with his feet, He'll make a play with his arm. He is relentless that way. He's as clutch as anybody we've ever seen in NFL history. But if he doesn't have time to do anything, it might as well be me and you back there, and nobody has a chance against what Philly was bringing yesterday.
Sakuon Barklay had twenty five carries fifty seven yards. By no means was this one of those performances that they'll bring up first in the history of his career. But what I will never forget is that when he was not getting the ball, he was blocking his tail off, he was doing anything and everything else to try and
help his team win. He was notable for being as unselfish as any teammate could be made sure that his teammates got the ball when the games were ever in hand during the season, goes to a new team, loves his family. Is I mean, he's just like this ultimate team player and is so dynamic.
He put up a huge yards.
Is Saquon Barkley the most likable star in men's made professional sports right now? Because how could you not like this guy?
Yeah, he's a great guy.
I mean, as you were going through those accolades, I just remember, you know, the few times that I've interacted with them, and I've seen them behind the scenes when you know, cameras aren't around, and and he really is as.
Good as he seems. I mean, he is just this great guy.
And it really was evident to me what his addition meant. Obviously we saw it every Sunday what it meant on the football field.
But I had.
Questions about these Eagles, especially when they were at two and two earlier in the year, without Jason Kelcey, without Fletcher Cox, that that leadership void that they went into the season with, you know, I think was filled in large part by Saquon Barkley because of those things, those attributes you just mentioned, the selflessness, even though he's a
huge superstar and certainly could demand the ball more. The way he blocks, the way he works when he doesn't get the ball, the way he doesn't complain, the way he ingratiated himself to that locker room, and especially you know, coming from in the division where you know there's already probably perceived negative feelings about that, And just the way he blended in and really wrapped his arms around Philadelphia and then in turn, the way Philadelphia.
Wrapped their arms around him.
Couldn't have been a better match for a player and for an organization the way those two And we saw that historical season him breaking the record for most rushing yards all time when you talk about the regular season and the postseason combined. So just yeah, I think it'll go down and if it hasn't already, you know, along the likes of Reggie White and Deon Sanders as you know, greatest free agent signings in history, and Seguon Barkley was
that good this year. Even though he wasn't spectacular in the Super Bowl, he was good enough to get them there and a big reason why they wont it.
Well, he had forty yards receiving too, so even though he was. I think Spegnola did a good job of trying to keep him in check on the ground, He's still even though we're talking about keeping him in check, he had one hundred yards right right, and it was still a really productive in that game. The Eagle are with the way they are built from the from the inside out, with those offensive lines and defensive lines and
the skill positions around them. Man, there's a there's a title window that extends, I think longer than a lot of other title windows could in the NFL, strictly because of the way that that roster is built. Omar, how did the collapse of the Eagles in twenty twenty three play into what they did in twenty twenty four, Because I think that has to be part of the story.
They were in the Super Bowl three years ago. Last year, they were at a point where, I mean, there were a lot of fans and a lot of people in Philadelphia who want to changes and want of changes at the top, and a calendar year later, man, we're pretty much a hole one eighty.
Yeah.
I think getting Saquon Barkley I think goes a long ways to covering up a lot of holes that they might have had and I think you know, the fact that they could consistently run the ball. Now you knew State Steves Bagnola was going to slow down that run. I think you know the fact that the Chiefs hadn't given up one hundred yard rusher in the.
Postseason since twenty nineteen. You know, something like that that.
That takes a full dedicated effort, and so you knew
that was going to continue going into this one. But Hurts and and and aj Brown and Devonte Smith and the rest of that crew made plays, you know, offensively, and I think I think going from that collapse in twenty twenty three, you know, the takeaway was, hey, let's get a dynamic you know player, our Christian McCaffrey, right, because the forty nine Ers had, you know, come off at four of five years, going to the NFC Championship game, had gone to the Super Bowl a couple of times,
and that was sort of the big rival that the that the Eagles had had, and Christian McCaffrey's presidence obviously a huge difference maker there. So let's get our own, you know, playmaker like that that that really you can't you know, figure out one way to stop or the other you guys mentioned his effect in the past game, and I think that was the huge difference. And I think you know, they're able to be dynamic offensively. They
could run the ball and pass the ball. They could involve the running back in the past game, and I think that was the difference for them offensively. Not to mention hitting big in the draft the last couple of
years and those guys maturing. We saw what Cooper Degen did with a pick six and getting Zach Bond, So you know, credit to Howie Roseman for hitting on all these picks, hitting on these free agency signings, taking a chance with Jalen Carter a couple of years ago at number nine, and even taking a chance on Jalen Hurts in twenty twenty when they already had Carson Wentz, who a lot of people talked about as an MVP candidate, but they took Jalen Hurts in the second round, and
people are thinking, what the heck are they wasting a second round pick on? They have Carson Wentz, who you know was coming off an MVP type of talk when Doug Peterson was there, and obviously it paid off. Jalen Hurts is now a Super Bowl champion of Super Bowl MVP, and Howie Roseman continues to come up roses unintended.
Ellen Moore and Ben Johnson both now to be head coaches. These guys to quarterbacks that were not considered elite honestly and probably we're overlooked to a point, help them get to an overall game to have great seasons and great success. What are your thoughts about some of these offensive minded head coach offensive minded coaches now becoming head coaches and trying to help some franchises turn things around.
Yeah, it's always a craft shoot in my mind, because you know when you see guys like Kellen Moore and Ben Johnson, and the list goes on with all the offensive minded guys over the years. We know they are good as play callers. We know they are good at schemers.
That's how they got the head coaching job. What we don't know is how they resonate with an entire locker room and they're addressing the guys on defense, when they're addressing the guys on special teams, how they deliver their messages, how they are as leaders of men, and those are the answers we'll find out. Obviously, and a lot of the times when you find that out sooner rather than later.
But sometimes it takes a little bit.
You know, Nick Sirianni was two and five his first year, and you know who's stumbling through press conferences and you know a lot of people sort of you'll poke fun of him, you know, the way they did Dan Campbell and the bitend of the kneecaps, and that's another story, Dan Campbell kind of maturing late. So you know, I think we in today's NFL, be with head coaches, be
with quarterbacks. There is very little patients. But I think, you know, Sirianni and Campbell are a couple of examples when you do show a little patience, you believe in the process that they're selling you that you know, you can have long term success as far as you know what Ben Johnson and Kellen Moore, you know, might bring to the table. I think they have all those qualities, but you know, the results will you know bear fruit here in twenty twenty five and we'll see what happens omar.
It's way too early, obviously, We've got a whole off season to look ahead. But as of today, what where do you see the Chiefs and Eagles needing to retool in order to be title contenders again next year, And who else might be on your list of early twenty twenty six title contenders alongside what I think are our two teams that probably should be there if you're if you're starting that list here in February of twenty twenty fives.
Well, yeah, I think yeah, I think the Chiefs will be there. As long as they have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, they'll be okay. You know, we talked about them tweaking the offensive line. The Eagles essentially just kind of run it back. They have such a young roster that you know, those guys are only going to get better. Reminds me of Kansas City a couple of years ago when they had all those rookies playing significant minutes on defense, and those guys matured and in many respects, you know,
have carried the team the last couple of years. You know, those guys on defense. But I really like Buffalo at this point. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year without Stefan Diggs and Gave Davis, and they had let go of.
Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, and I know Brooke. They brought one of them back, but you.
Know, so much talent left and they turned over that roster and they still made it to the AFC Championship Game, and you know, we're that close to making it to the super Bowl and what was considered a rebuilding year. So I would say Buffalo will be right there. And I think, you know, Detroit, you know, obviously had all kinds of injuries to their defense this year, but I think they're not going anywhere. We'll have to see how
they weather that loss of Ben Johnson. But but if there's one team that stands out to me, it's Buffalo because of what they proved this year, like I said, in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
Who do you worry about taking a step back?
Oh?
I worry about the forty nine ers, you know, because you know, obviously they took a step back this year. But you know, you kind of think with Kyle Shanahan brought Perdy, you know they're they're going to find a way to retool. But I'm just not so sure because that injury at Christian McCaffrey seems you know, rather significant. Trent Williams, you know, the offense kind of went through
him a lot. Deebo Samuel's now on the trade block, you know, George Kittle's not getting any younger, and and you know, so that's a team that perennially contends, and I'm not so sure you know, they can retool on the fly the way some of these other teams have, the way they're built. So that would be a team for me that you know, I think might struggle to find its footing that been regularly in contention the last few years.
Yeah, with the Niners, it's more, you know, is this is twenty twenty five. In twenty twenty four a moment or did we just see the window close for what was I think a Super Bowl window that if they could have figured a few things out, man, they could have had a maybe multiple rinks in San Francisco, Omar, What does an off season look like in the in the Ruiz.
Household, Well, it never ends, you know, I think you have a little more downtime. We go for a ride on the beach here and you know, get some exercise and some fresh air. But yeah, we'll have the combine coverage coming up here in a couple of weeks and then it's free agency after that, and then the owners meetings, and then college pro days and then the draft and OTA's and Mini camp and then vacation and then it's
training camp. So you know, the NFL calendar as busy as ever, but it's going to be nice to relax for a little bit and get away. But it's been fun to be on with you guys this year and look forward to continuing to have these conversations.
Yeah, maybe take a few weeks at least to yourself and then we'll talk some some NFL draft shortly.
Thanks man, hey man, Thank you, guys.
Appreciate you.
Omar Ruiz of the NFL Network Omar d Ruiz Online always appreciate his time throughout the NFL season forty to twenty two. The Philadelphia Eagles with the win and a Super Bowl title. I think I'm with him on most of the contenders for next year too, Chiefs, Eagles. I believe that they have the opportunity to retool and be right back there. Eagles don't have to do really whole
lot of nothing to get back there. And then for me, it's the Bills and the Ravens that are the real contenders in the AFC still waiting for one of those guys in Lamar and Josh Allen to take Patrick Mahomes out and get to the title game. And then yeah, on the NFC side, Lions Commanders. Maybe I don't know where the forty nine ers really turn. It does seem like maybe they're turning a page.
Man, you really feel for them in that like Minnesota takes a step back, that doesn't mean they won't be good. They will to take a step back.
They were and they were so hard to read this year.
I was so impressed. I mean that that is as impressive to if you had to tell me they're fourteen to three and the way they did it, I mean, that is remarkable work.
And I do everything they faced.
I do not disagree with you, Tony, But have you ever I don't know how to put this, have you ever gone into a postseason and not thought about a fourteen and three team like that much? I had had such a lack of I don't want to say respect, because I do respect what the Vikings did, but they were coming into the postseason fourteen and three and I just did not feel like they were a contender. And that's something that I you know, you struggle to get to fourteen and three if you're not that good of
a football team, and I believe they were. But there was something about them that kept me from feeling like they were going to beat Philadelphia or Kansas City on the big stick.
Yeah, they didn't feel fourteen and three.
It's just what was the thing about I don't know.
I don't know. Like the most impressed I was with them all year was when they went up twenty eight nothing on Green Bay. He was like, man, and then they blew it and then won. But it was like I couldn't every time I watched them, I was like, you know what, I got to get more credit. These guys are just better and you know what, man, they're not as good as I think. And then they win and so I figure out, you could not get a gauge on this team the entire year and every single time.
And then it was the Detroit loss at Detroit, the way they went down thirty one nine, I thought, yeah, see once again, and they go into the game at the Rams, I don't expect them to win. Not only do they not win, they get trounced, And I thought, man, that I've never felt more bizarre about a fourteen win team that that was really a strange, strange season as far as their success.
And you're a Michigan guy, McCarthy, is that is that the future there?
We'll find out.
I'm I like all the different throws that he can make. I don't know just how good he can get. I feel like he is good enough right now to be a good middle of the road quarterback in the National Football League. I'm excited for his future. Once again, I even underestimated him a bit at Michigan.
So we'll we'll find out.
I mean, that's one of those where I'm like, man, I'm hoping he is really really good. But I see him as just, you know, being a very good quarterback in the NFL. I don't know about elite. Whereas I look at the Commanders, I could see them not falling off, but taking a step back. Man, that second year you jump out there on the scene.
You know how it is in that division too.
Yeah, people get film, you play tough for teams coming up next year. It just gets Replicating what you do in the NFL is hard. I thought I thought, uh, Detroit was gonna take a step back.
Honestly, I did.
I just thought you don't have the quarterback play to win fifteen games when now everybody has a target on you. They're not fooled by what you do. Tip of the hat to the Detroit Lions for doing what they did. They exceeded what I thought that they would do well.
Antoni, I think we maybe have to start looking and paying attention to NFL games a little differently during the regular season, especially as they start to add more and more games on the schedule. You're going to see players and teams, not that they're not going to take every game seriously. There's an urgency to the NFL when there's only eighteen weeks in the year. It's not like the NBA, where there's off nights. You have to be on your
game each and every Sunday. But you may start to see teams that are fourteen and three because the team they were playing in week seventeen rest at all their starters because they were already surefire into the playoff spot right there. There's going to be more of that as you go into adding games on to the end of
the schedule. And and I think that looking at teams and how their roster's built and if they have the quarterback play to win a super Bowl is going to give you more an idea what's going to happen in the postseason. Then a team's win low record, and it's kind of seeming to play out that way. Of course with Minnesota, I don't know, man, I don't know. Some inconsistencies on the offensive line. You mentioned, you just aren't
totally totally confident at the quarterback position. But yeah, I mean I wrote down seven eight teams here for my twenty twenty six Super Bowl and they're not on there. And they won fourteen games this year, and that's that's odd to me.
I have never been so wrong about a team but yet so unconfident about what they were going to do next.
Well, you were wrong because you didn't think they were gonna be good. I just like they won a bunch of games and then still weren't.
Like every watch them. Maybe you were wrong.
They won.
They deserve the credit.
I'm trying not to be a Vikings hater here, you know, and you're you're mixing with it, like what am I missing?
Here?
What am I missing? There's got to be something about them I'm missing.
And then the way they lost to the Lions.
The way they lost the playoffs, I'm like, hey, that's kind of what I thought they would be really for this whole year. I just think that staff obviously did a great job. They wildly overachieved in every single way.
It was great.
I think the Steelers season, that's kind of what they were all year too.
And then they fell off.
But I was kind of the same way with them earlier in the year, like, no, they're not They've got issues, they don't have the quarterback, they don't have this, they don't have that. They find a way to win, and then I'm standing there going, yeah, I know the record is this, but they're not that good and it sounds moronic to say. And then they fell off. So it's that this was a very bizarre season. The National Football League is always tough to predict, but this one was as inside out as