Welcome in. What's Right with Nick? Great episode two ninety six. What a show, What a day we have in store for you today. I there's gonna be plenty of time for I told you so's. But guys, I told you so. They were practicing all year, they had another gear. If they needed to score thirty two, they were gonna be able to score thirty two. And now they're a game away from being the greatest team in the history of
the sport. It's as simple as that. And also I didn't I didn't really mean to, but I guess I did mean too. There's a whole meta media conversation that we're gonna have today and it has to do with should the media lead discussion or should the discussion be led? Should the media follow where social media is taking the discussion. So we'll do that and we're unveiling a new segment.
I've had so much fun doing the sports media. I'm Budsman on weekly on First Things First, that we're gonna start doing a we'll call it for the time being takes on takes kind of my reaction or thoughts on either good, bad, or indifferent takes or opinions that are populating the sports media space as it were, so all of that, but first, as we always do, what missed the cut? Paul George, Man, you got a time, your
your movements better stuck in the in traffic. In the Philadelphia Eagles celebration, Liam Cohen had a bit of an awkward introduction in Jacksonville and the Raiders hiring Pete Carroll. I'm not as into the coach hirings as other people are, at least not right after championship weekend, but demons, I was sad we couldn't watch this game together.
It was.
A thrilling Danny Parkins was here, your sisters and mom watched with me. I was my normal, insane self where I asked your sisters and your mom to watch with me the moment Diora got home right as the game was kicking off and then quietly tried to tell your mom about something that happened at work. And I instantly freaked out and I was like, you can't be having non football conversations in the room. But they stuck around.
They watched. It was great. Remindered everyone out there like great, subscribe, review, all that stuff. I never asked people to do this. It turns out every other podcast does for a reason, because you're supposed to do that. So subscribe on whatever audio platform you have. Subscribe on YouTube, hit the bell, do all that cool stuff. But let's get to the AFC Championship game. Then we can get to all the other stuff. Go ahead, So your Chiefs.
They beat the Bills, and they won the AFC thirty two to twenty nine, and they are going to their third straight Super Bowl. And obviously they scored over thirty points, something that everybody thought was a problem before. So go ahead and take your victory lap for getting this all right all along.
Okay, So here's the thing, this Kansas City Chiefs team. Once everyone's can sort through all the manuche of the season, and once everyone can stop having their conversations dictated by what the fo you tab on Twitter says is the
news of the day and by anonymous aggregator accounts. Once we sort through all of that, what you have is this a team that last year had real issues on the offensive side of the ball in the passing game, sorted through it and found their way through one of the most difficult paths in NFL history as far as opponents, where the games were played, who was a favorite, who was an underdog, how many wins their opponent had, how good their opponent was through one of, if not the
most difficult road to a super Bowl ever, And then followed that up by in the first week of the season beating the number one a F SEA contenders Baltimore Ravens. In the second week of the season or third week
of the season. At this point, I don't even remember beating the number two at the time AFC contenders Cincinnati Bengals, having the best record in the sport all year long, winning football games as a team every way imaginable, great defense, clutch drives, blocked kicks, and that team did it all while. And this is the key, and this is what I hope people learn from this Chief season. They did it all the while preparing for the true games that mattered
in the playoffs. The whole time that they were going fifteen to one, locking up the one seed, they were holding things back, developing young players, figuring out what their gotta have it plays were, and all of that came to fruition in the AFC Championship game, and they were playing a team that, God love them, did not have the luxury of doing that throughout the year, and you saw that manifest itself in the game. So what am I talking about? And how does this apply to the
AFC Championship game. So the Chiefs offense at times this year looked clunky and they were leaving plays on the board, points on the board, pardon me? And how many times? How many times did we see them try to get Xavier Worthy impact Mahomes on the same page on deep shots, feet weren't in bounds. Oh, he misjudged the route. Oh, Mahomes underestimated his speed. All of it. They worked on it and worked on it and worked on it and practice, actual practice is one thing, but being able to work
on it in games is another thing. And then third and five AFC Championship Game, Mahomes under duress, keeps it to Xavier and contested catch god one hundred and sixty pounds, Xavior Worthy comes down with it. All of that work paid off in that moment. They also learned, like they did with Rashi Rice a year before, Oxavier can run the whole route tree and he's actually a killer on crossers.
So fourth quarter AFC champion Ship game, need to get points, tie game, five minutes left, hixavior worthy on a cross or he takes it to the ten. That was maybe the one mistake he made. Probably could have planted his foot cut inside, maybe scored a touchdown. All year long? Oh man, is Travis Kelcey washed? Is Travis Kelcey? Did age finally hit him like a ton of bricks? Or I mean, yes, he's he has slowed down. He's not the athlete he once was. I said, he has, you know,
five to six great games left in him. One of them was that Houston game. But here's the other thing. Were they also trying to develop an offense that if come the playoffs, somebody can do something no one's done in three years and shut Kelsey down. They still can score thirty yep, and they did. Kelsey had two catches? Was he seventeen yards? Twenty yards? Score the season nine points all season long. They know that Patrick Mahomes scrambling
and Patrick Mahomes designed runs are deadly plays. They ran zero Patrick Mahomes designed runs all year. They ran zero last year, they ran zero the year before, they ran zero the year before that. Yet in the highest leverage moments they can break them out. Fourth down overtime Super Bowl. Last year, Patrick Mahomes designed run, fourth down AFC Championship game. This year, Patrick Mahomes designed run and the ten yard
touchdown run. There's no tape on that. There's no way to prepare for that because that those are playoff not only playoff plays. Gotta have it in the biggest moment play. So compare that to the team that they were playing. And this is what people have to learn from this Chiefs run that there is a difference between trying to win every football game and trying to win the championship. What was the single most unstoppable play in the NFL this year by the numbers, it was not the Eagles
tush push. It was the Bills tush push. The Josh Allen quarterback sneak tush push was undefeated this year, and so the Bills took for granted, I feel, well, we don't need to develop other fourth and one stuff. We have an unstoppable play. And they did it again and again and again, and it worked and it worked and
it worked. But the downside to that is this, Now there's twenty plays of film on that, and Spags can tell Nance and Romel before the game yeah, he loves to go left on it behind his left guard, and we're prepared, and all of a sudden, they go for it on a two point conversion from the one and don't get it. And they go for it again and Josh fumbles the ball, but they get it, and they go for it again on fourth down and they get stoned. And you can say that was that a first was
it not a first man? Anytime you quarterback sneak, if you don't get it by a yard, it's in the hands of the officials. I thought that was the the idea, like there is no definitive angle on the play that shows you he definitely got stopped or he definitely got it. One ref thought he got it, one ref thought he got stopped. The ref who thought he got stopped won the day. You can't overturn it. You can call that
bad luck, you can call that bad officiating. I think you know how you don't have to worry about that. Get two yards, have a better play ready, or have Josh make the play. And so these are the margins of this of a championship. And this is why people can turn this into oh my god, the Bills are so close kind of But another way to look at that football game is this demonse. There were five fumbles in that game. Five. Do you know how many the Bills recovered.
Of those five fumbles, I think they recovered oh all all of them. Chiefs recovered one of them. No, they did not recover one of their own. Okay, because Mahomes fumbled it twice, So.
So there you go. Actually, you're right, action, Hew, I think of it. The Chiefs did recover one of their own, but that play was nullified due to penalty. So there, so the Mahomes fumbled anyway, the next play, Mahomes in the play, Mahomes fumbled once, Josh Allen fumbled three times, and Davis fumbled once. The Bills went five for five on fumble recoveries and lost and lost the game. Josh. The bow of the apiece has never happened in recorded
playoff history. So the last two playoff games Chiefs Bills been like, oh, it's so close. Maybe, or maybe the Bills got incredibly lucky and still didn't come through. Last years in the against the Bills, the Chiefs fumbled on the one yard line going into the end zone. Win. Anyway, this year, there's five times the balls are on the ground, Chiefs win anyway. So now we have this situation when it comes to Patrick Mahomes and this Chiefs team chase
of history. Well, you know what, yeah, I'll do that now. No, I want to talk more about the game for a moment, then I'll do that. The So, just to go back to the margin stuff. After the Bills failed on that fourth and five, the game's not over. The game is not over. The Bills have three timeouts. There's almost two minutes left. The Chiefs have to run six plays in order for this game to be over. They get a first they so you basically you're gonna have to get
at least one first down, maybe two second down. Isaiah Pacheco wide open, unfortunately runs out of bounds. That's a mistake. It's one of the only real mistakes Chiefs made. He was in a weird spot because he really wanted to get the first. You gotta make sure you get the first and then go down. But so be it. So because he goes out of bounds, it basically resets everything. And now the Chiefs are still gonna need another first down, and they find themselves third and nine. A minute thirty
five left. If it's an incomplete pass, the Bills are gonna have the ball with plenty of time. If it's short of the first down, the Bills are gonna have the ball with a round a minute left. And not only do the Chiefs get the first down, it's as e and wide open of a play as you can possibly have. That is coaching and preparation and holding things back for the biggest moments, the all of the biggest plays of the game. You listen to the Bills or you watch the film and they say none of that
showed up on prep. The samagp Ryan first down to ice the game, he is wide open, like we've seen guys in the Super Bowl, near the goal line, fourth and five blitz on Josh Allen. They slide protection left because they have brought that blitz earlier from the left, and this time it's coming from the right. Mahomes's ten yard touchdown run. They ran that exact play earlier in the game and all year, every single time they've run it. It's a handoff, so everyone is ready for the handoff.
Mahomes escapes free. That's that's why the narrative surrounding the Chiefs all year of well, they're winning, but the margins they don't look that impressive. It missed the point there. There is no zero tangible benefit to blowing teams out in the NFL, especially if what you are sacrificing is putting more of your great stuff on tape. And so the Chiefs were doing just enough to win all year, and it was used as a cudgel against them, and I thought it was dumb, and we saw it there.
And now when we get to the historic stuff for this team, we'll go ahead and ask your file up question to Monday, and I'll do.
That AFC title or AFC championship solidify this team as the greatest run ever ear this run should we call.
It, well, it's the greatest three year stretch in the history of the sport already nobody's at like nine teams have won back to back championships. Three of them followed it up by missing the playoffs, two of them followed it up by losing the divisional round, three of them followed it up by losing in the conference championship round.
Only the Chiefs made the Super Bowl. Now, if you want to say it's just tied with the Dolphins in the seventies that lost to Super Bowl and then one back to back, or the Patriots in the twenty tens that went Super Bowl win super Bowl lost, super Bowl win. I understand that argument. I disagree because I think the degree of difficulty on going for the three peat is so much higher. So it's already the greatest three year run in the history of the sport. That's solidified, bar none.
If they win the championship. I believe this Chiefs team, the twenty twenty four Kansas City Chiefs, if they win the championship, or the greatest team in the history of football. And I know that the none of the data will back that up except for the data that is, they won as many games as anyone, they played as many playoff opponents as anyone, and when I say as anyone, if they win the Super Bowl eighteen wins, no one's
ever won more than eighteen games in the season. They lost to one team all year long, and then they win and beat that team in the postseason. Their road to the Super Bowl would have been Juggernaut, the juggernaut that never won of their conference in the AFC, and the team that basically for the last three months has been the best team in the NFC with the number one defense that is fully healthy, It'll be the greatest
team of all time. And to do all of that with the pressure of the three peet laying on your shoulders is unprecedented and remarkable. And it's also why, and we'll get to this later. I have been so irritated with the way this team has been discussed, and I was so angered at the nonsense, bullshit conspiracy stuff going into the or going into the game. But this game had so many amazing angles. This was the chief side of it. Demons, Let's do the Bills side of it.
Yeah, do you think that Josh Allen deserves any heat from I mean from losing this game? Do you think there's anything he could have done better?
So here's I thought, Josh, did you Demon's in that opening drive when Josh almost threw back to back picks to start like he started the game, did you have a feeling for a moment like, oh, he might melt like yeah, that key, So I thought I was like, oh my god. However, shaky or whatever I thought Lamar might have been early in Bill's Ravens, Josh looked, Romo called it out but then he rallied. You know, it's not the same as the Lamar thing because Josh got
away with his mistakes, you know, Lamar didn't. Josh also didn't rally as well as Lamar did in his but it was they weren't identical, but they were similar. I thought, is what I think. I think for the second straight year, Josh and Patrick played in the playoffs. For the second straight year, Josh played a B B plus game. Remember the second straight year Patrick played an A plus game. And I also I also think this and this is
the tough spot for Josh Allen. I'm gonna I referenced it a couple of times, and I wanna this is not me taking a shot. I'll might do that later at other people, but this is I just think this is really relevant. Kyle Brandt, who works for the NFL Network, does a great job, does show with my buddy Schrager and used to I don't want to get this wrong. I think he used to do a pod with Josh Allen or just Josh. Allen was a very regular guest
on his pod, one of the two. But I don't know if Kyle Brandt is a true Bills fan or just really like, like when I say true Bills fan, I mean like, I don't know if he grew up rooting for the team or not, but certainly he's a big Josh Allen guy, big Josh Allen guy. Obviously, nothing wrong with that. After the Chiefs kicked the field goal to go up three, Kyle tweeted, Josh Allen was put on this planet for this drive. Whatever happens, biggest possession
of his life. Well, by that metric, six plays, seventeen yards and turnover on downs, that's not great. And I understand. Go ahead, demons, you want to say something here, I can see it in your face.
Go ahead, Yeah, I mean that's that's fair. I mean he did it was with fourth and five. He heaved the ball, he got it down to there. There, he got it down there to kincaid. I think he did do the best he possibly could have done on that final drive, like he up leaning back.
Let me push back on you can I change one word in your statement. He did the best he could have done on that final play. I'll agree with that. Not that final drive. First down on that drive sails it over whoever's head almost got it. That was like his third worst pass of the day. Second down on that drive, basically skips it to Curtis Samuel. Now you're in third and ten, third down on that drive. Made the right play, but now you're in fourth and five.
Fourth and five is hard. You're right that on fourth and five, even the fact that the blitz got there immediately. Now, I'm not smart enough football x's and o's to determine who's right between the former quarterbacks and the former offensive lineman and the fake scouts on Twitter who are all arguing about that fourth and five play. There's a whole tornado of argument about Josh screwed this up. He should have thrown there. Actually, there's nothing you can do it
spags Brilliance. Actually he slid the production the wrong way. I don't know. I don't know if he should, like is it his job to know the blitz is coming from there? Is it just I don't know. So set everything that happened before the snap on the fourth and
five aside. Set it all aside. Once the ball is snapped and the Chiefs are in his face immediately, he's one of two, maybe three guys on the playing it that could have delivered a pass that gave his receiver a chance that accurately and that you know, so the fourth and five play he did is all he could do. I don't think it's fair, and I think you'll agree with me. I wouldn't call that a drop by Dalton Kincaid.
I don't.
I think that would have been a great catch. I don't think that was you know what I mean, that's not difficult catch.
I mean difficult ball to catch. But he got there. It's just that he got there.
No, no, no, he got there. So yes, he absolutely on that play did all he could do. But on that drive he did not. And it is it is now too like if we are going from thirty thousand feet its two years in a row the Bill have had the ball. Patrick Mahomes has been on the sideline. They have been down three points and they have had the opportunity to end the game, you know, by scoring a touchdown. If you can drain the clock, get in chip shot, field goal range, score a meet, you have a lot
of the world is your oyster. And two years in a row they've come away with zero points. Now last year we can be like Bass missed the kick he did It wasn't a chip shot. This year, we can say Dalton Kinkaid didn't come up with the catch. He that's correct, it would have been a difficult catch.
But McDermott, I think this is go ahead coaching thing as well. Like on the last play where my home like where they ended up getting to kneeling at the end of the game, that's I think that's a coaching thing. As far as the tush pushing, I think there's a better way to line up with it. But on the third and nine, I just don't understand when they just need one more first down to win the game, how you allow that to be open Like it's yeah.
I mean, that's sure, and that's obviously not on Josh. I get it. All of that's true. But what's also true is this, if you're biggot and this is where I'm and I'm not killing him. I thought he played a B plus game. Listen, got you fumble the ball three times, recover all three. That's good luck. But that you know, such is life. That happens if your biggest fans and supporters say this is the biggest possession of your life and you complete one pass and get seventeen yards,
it's it's not ideal. It's not three and a half minutes, all three timeouts, down three points and here is and this again. I think he's the second best quarterback in football. I've said that all year. I think's second best quarterback in football. But the thirteen to second game, nothing Josh could do. Nothing. He scored, They scored thirty six points. He was a man on fire. He leaves the field with his team up three and thirteen seconds left, he
never touches the ball again, and they lose. That's a true nothing you can do game. This game, I don't feel it was nothing he could do. I feel the initials failed two point conversion from a yard out, the fit which was a failed tush push. I think the fourth down failed tush push. I think the fact that they came out of the gates shaky and went three and out and then only got a field goal after. I think all of that is, you know what kind of let us down this road? Now they could have won.
So I'm not killing Josh Allen, but this was on I'm being told Kyle's a Bears fan. Okay, thank you, but this was a another chance for a moment with Mahomes on the sideline, and you're I don't know how many of those you can expect to get when you've now had more than any player in league history against another quarterback without coming without winning one of them. So again to last year, the situation prior to the field goal was this first and ten, two point forty left. Okay,
and at the twenty seven. At that point, there's a real chance if you manufacture this drive correctly, you can get a touchdown with the Chiefs having no or very little time left, and first down they run it for a yard. Okay, nothing do Now we're at the two minute warning, second and nine. Josh, if you remember the play, takes a deep shot over the middle to Khalil Shakir and had a guy open in the flat that almost
certainly would have gotten you the first down. And then third down they got the immediate pressure on Josh, he threw it away. That was Chris Jones owning that matchup. He threw it away, and fourth down you're kicking a forty four yard with a shaky field goal kicker. Is that Josh's fault? No? But did he have an opportunity to vanquish the Chiefs in his building without Mahomes potentially having a real chance to respond. Yeah, and he was
just not quite good enough this weekend. Again, the situation is pretty simple. The Chiefs. The defense did its job. They held Kansas City to a field goal. They got the big sack first and ten at the thirty, Ty Johnson for negative one yards, second eleven from the twenty nine, Josh scrambles for thirteen, and now we've got a first in ten two twenty five left fault the forty two Allan sails it over Shakir's head, Alan dirts wont to Curtis Samuel and now you're in third and ten five
yards to Amari Cooper. Chiefs, bring the house, not even bring the house, bring five guys, and its turnover on downs, not killing him. But that's not that's not right now. Josh is a great player. Not coming through in those moments. You're still a great player. But when you're trying to beat the greatest player, when you're trying to be a legend, you have to come through in those moments, and maybe you will one day. There's no we're now without pressing it.
Nobody's ever been zero to four against a quarterback in the playoffs. Quarterback, first quarterback. Everybody thinks, oh my god, Tom Brady owned Peyton Manning. You know how many times Tom Brady beat Peyton Manning in the playoffs in his whole twenty some year career. Twice two times Tom won the first two, Peyton won the last three. In a fact that will blow people's minds, Peyton Manning has a winning playoff record against Tom Brady in his career. Four's
a lot. Ask me a Bill's follow up demons, and then we can get to.
This other stuff. Do you think the Bills need to make any significant changes in order to hang with the Chiefs or should they just keep running it back?
I mean, the only significant changing he make is the coach, and I don't think he I don't think you can now. Bill Barnwell was joking when he said this. But Bill Barnwell had such a great galaxy brain take, and he said it specifically. Don't aggregate me on this. I'm not serious, so don't aggregate me talking about him, aggregators, But it's such a hilarious take. You know who he said the Bills should hire as their head coach, said Steve Spagnolo.
Just to decimate the Chiefs to get all the secrets to like and that I'm like, okay, I mean that's outside the box. Here's the thing. I I don't think there's any major major changes to make. I would say this, you got to draft a little better. And this is where this Chiefs Bill's sports story is such an amazing one. So and I'm the only person that cares about this, I know, but I do care about it. The Bills traded the Chiefs Patrick Mahomes. Nobody likes it when I
say that, Nobody seems for some reason. The Red Sox trade the Yankees Babe Ruth. It's one of the biggest sports stories for one hundred years. There's the curse of the Vambino. One team always wins, one team never gets back. And everyone agrees, Yeah, they traded the greatest player ever to the rival, and they got cursed for it. The Bills traded the Chiefs Patrick Mahomes on Draft Day. They
were on the clock, could have drafted him. Needed a quarterback, didn't the Chiefs trade all the way up from the late twenties to jump up and get him because the Saints are gonna draft him. And everyone's like, oh well, it all worked out for both parties. The Bills got Josh Allen the next year. I don't want to be a jerk. It didn't fucking work out for Buffalo anything where it's like you traded away Patrick Mahomes and he ends you every year it didn't work out for you.
So that happened. Then three years later in the dror after the Chiefs traded away Tyreek Kildemansey, they need secondary help, so do the Bills. The Bills are about to be on the clock. The Chiefs trade up in front of Buffalo to draft Trent McDuffie, who is a two time All Pro, one of the best players in football at corner. The Bills then draft the next corner, who is kyer Elam who if you know that name, it's because in the AFC Championship game, Tony Romo was like, oh no,
Benford got hurt. Now they have to play kyer Elam and he's just getting cooked. So that that one draft, a trade by Brett Veach flipped either of these two games where if the Bills get an All Pro and the Chiefs get a bottom of the roster guy, instead's flipped the draft day trade and then despite all of that this year. On draft day, the Bills are on the clock and the Chiefs call them like, hey, sure
would like that pick. Bills are like pleasure doing business with you, and the chiefsake Xavier Worthy, who has one hundred yards and a touchdown in the AFC Championship game. The Bills take a wide receiver as well, Keon Goleman, who has awesome coats and is a great quote but at twelve yards and so like, yes, it's Patrick and Josh, but it's also Brett Beach running circles around this team. It's every little piece. So draft a little better.
Part of the story for the Lord whatever you want to call it.
Yes, yeah, yes, and so all right, let's go to Mahomes stuff and then we can get to takes on takes.
Oh yeah, So apparently you turned Patrick Mahomes into a Tony soprano on TV yesterday. You've urged me to watch that show repeatedly. I've still not watched it. I will eventually, but I say that's to say this because you please help me understand what that was you turning Mahomes.
The show for a moment. Please you You don't care that I say, how old you are right, we say that. I don't even know why you're twenty six years old. It's now I now put you, having never watched The Sopranos, in the same bucket I would put if you did not change the tire on your car. It's a part of being a grown man. That's now unacceptable, now unacceptable, now unacceptable. And I to tell you you loved Breaking Bad, right.
I loved it. I loved it. I'm rewatching it right now.
Okay, okay, pause the rewatch of Breaking Bad and start watching the Sopranos. It is Breaking Bad. The Sopranos, the Wire are the top three. I understand folks that like the Wires too slow, and in the beginning it is very slow. I get it. The Sopranos is not that and so you need It's just it's and GANDALFEENI and the Sopranos is the single greatest acting performance of our lifetime. Okay, So now to the point I made on TV. So people talk about NFL quarterbacks like there's a big four,
and there isn't. It's not Patrick, Josh Lamar and Borough. It's Patrick and then a group far, far far beneath him. I've been using this trophy's analogy, not analogy but point, but I'll use it again. There are four major trophies that are awarded in the NFL, to or for individual accomplishment, two are for team accomplishment. The league MVP gets a trophy, the Super Bowl MVP gets a trophy. If you win your conference, you get a trophy, and if you win
your Super Bowl, you get a trophy. So there's four opportunities to win a trophy in the year. In the last twenty five years. By the way, the only person to sweep all four trophies in one year Patrick Mahomes in twenty twenty two. The only guy in the last quarter century to sweep all four Mahomes in twenty twenty two. The reason I bring that up is this big four. Here is the current trophy count. Josh Allen zero, Joe
Burrow one, Lamar Jackson two, Patrick Mahomes thirteen. To misquote Kendrick Lamar, it's not a big three, it's a big me and it's Patrick and Demonte just totally squirmed. How cringeworthy me miss quoting Kendrick Lamar was there, but it's apropos and because I knew me quoting Kendrick would be awkward. That's why I use the Sopranos analogy. So now to go back to the Sopranos thing. One of the great things about the Sopranos is these other characters are these amazing, compelling, enriching,
deep characters. Carmela played by Edie Falco, one of the greatest characters ever and one of the greatest acting performances ever. Christopher a hauntingly great character. Paulie Wallnut's one of the funniest characters in the history of TV. But here's the thing. It's not their fucking story, it's Tony's and everything about them that is the most interesting is how their story relates to his. That's Patrick Mahomes and the other great
quarterbacks of this era. What is the single most interesting thing about Joe Burrow's career? He beat Patrick Mahomes once. What's the single greatest moment from Josh Allen's career the thirteen second playoff game when he lost to Patrick Mahomes. What is the biggest argument that Lamar Jackson is an underrated or legendary player. He's playing in the same era as Patrick Mahomes and has more MVPs than it. These guys are not stand alone historic figures that they they
are different moons orbiting around the planet. That is Patrick Mahomes, which he is the main care character of the NFL this decade. And so yeah, I love Christopher and Paulie and Silvio and all of them. But what the show's called The Sopranos, and it's about Tony and the NFL in the twenty twenties is about Patrick Mahomes. His speed running of the greatest career of all time, and how
fast he can track everything down. Not through seven one game away from being through seven full years as a starter, is now in second place in playoff game winning drives, playoff wins, playoff touchdowns, super Bowl appearances, conference championship appearances. One went away from second place in Super Bowl victories already uh has or is second place in Super Bowl MVPs. He's played seven years, He's not thirty years old yet, so that the gravity of his greatness, like a black
hole of sports, sucks everyone else's storyline into it. By the way, I'm not a uh TikTok expert, but I've got to think that Sopranos Mahome's analogy has got to hit some algorithms. That thing I'm Gianna from the First Things First, gonna tell me your Mahomes Sopranos thing is doing numbers on TikTok, and it's gonna be a whole bunch of kids who have never watched the Sopranos being like, I don't know what he's talking about. All right, so let's do this. Uh, let's I want to do my Yeah,
let's let's just get to it. Yeah, Yeah, let's just get to it. New segment demands that you want to tell everyone what it's called.
This new segment we're calling it takes on takes. So I guess my father just finds takes around the ether that he doesn't agree with and he gives his take on it. So before the AFC Conference game, Schefter dropped an article about replay review. The story was framed around Mahomes in Kansas City getting too many calls. What do you have to say about that?
And so I was, so, here's the deal. So I'm going to read you the tweet and the article and we can talk through it together. So the tweet is for all those complaining that Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls. Relief soon could be on the way. NFL replay Assists is expect to expand this offseason that could include the quarterback slide, League sources told to ESPN. Now, I'm going to read you the article. Uh. The first two paragraphs of the article are the tweet and then he writes.
The NFL act the replay Assists in twenty twenty one to a while replay officials and designated members of the Fishing Department who assists with on field calls and limited game situations. Replay Assists has been used during games when there's clear and obvious video evidence to the spot of the ball, a complete or in complete pass, touching the ball,
or aligned. Beginning in twenty twenty four, the league expanded replay Assists to include additional areas in which information could be provided when there was a penalty flag already on the field, including foulser hits, heading out of bounds, fowlser blows to the head of the quarterback, and elements of intentional grounding. Okay, now, more elements could be added this offseason.
Replay Assists came into question in the third quarter of last Weekend's AFC Divisional playoff game when Mahomes scrambled out of the pockets, slid beneath two lunging Texans defenders, and still drew a fifteen yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. He then quotes Aikman, who was furious about it, talks about the competition committee. A competition committee discussed expanding replay assists,
and it's likely to include quarterback slides. Believe around the league has no reason not to bring further objectivity and clarity to play uh that fans in this stadium or home can see. He then quotes Will Anderson saying, quote, we knew it was gonna be us versus the refs. He then quotes Mahomes saying, I don't think we get a beneficial wistle. Okay, so I was enraged by this for a number of reasons, but here's the primary one.
That's terrible, terrible journalism to write that article and not include the two following facts you already you've written in there. Replay assists can look at blows to the head of the quarterback. Well, the first penalty that Aikman was enraged about that got this thing going was a blow to the head of the quarterback. It would seem relevant for this story if you're actually trying to tell an accurate
story and not fan the conspiratorial flames. To say, the first penalty the Texans got on Patrick Mahomes was reviewed by replay Assist and upheld the Will Anderson penalty. Replay Assist looked at it's why there was the delay and said, can't change it. It also would be to me relevant information to include and the second penalty, which is the thrust of this article. We could expand replay Assist to
fix things like the second penalty. Tom Belasarro, who works for the NFL, reported the day after the game the NFL said that play right there would have also been upheld. So to me, the if you are being a reporter and not a commentator, the neutral way to write this story is as follows. The NFL's considering expanding replay Assist
to include quarterback slides and other things. There has been a lot of anger for your commentary whatever about this in the last few days because of the Chiefs Texans game, the commentary for Makeman on the broadcast, the commentary from the Texans after the game. It warrants mentioning that the two fouls in question, one replay assist was used and it was upheld, and the other one the league said, even if this new protocol was in place, it would
have been upheld. That's not what he did. He instead
lind relief is on the way. Relief is on the way, which lends real credibility to the it's rigged stuff, real credibility the morning of conference championship games from the single biggest microphone in all of sports social media, Adam Schefter's Twitter account, and he then followed it up with this penalties during Chiefs eight game win streaking the playoffs, the passer chief zero opponent six unnecessary roughness, Chiefs one opponent's four.
Just naked stats with no context, and then went on McAfee yesterday and tried to wash his hands of all of it. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm just presenting facts. I added no editorial, I added no commentary, and that to me, and again, everyone likes Adam. I don't know him. Everyone likes him. And this is one of those things where now people probably think I
don't or maybe he doesn't like me. I'll deal with it, you know what I mean, whatever I am just I'm not going to because he's very well liked and you know, very prominent. I'm not gonna pull any punches here. That is so disingenuous and everyone knows it. There's literally infinite facts out there that you could pull from at any given time. How many offsides penalties have the Commanders had in the last thirteen games? How many delay of games
have the Eagles had in their last twelve playoff games? No, you are choosing to present these facts, which further the current internet conspiracy that either the games are rigged or the Chiefs get all the calls. So don't act like
those are neutral facts. If there were a totally unfounded conspiracy that was catching fire on the internet, that myself that I killed a guy, the whole Internet's like, man, nick Right killed somebody, and then somebody who has the single biggest true crime following in the country tweets out when it's had a fever pitch that commentary. The murder rate in New York City has gone up twenty eight percent since Nick Wright moved there, and being like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I'm not implying anything.
It's just the facts.
I'm just providing the facts, like no, you are yes, those are facts. You are furthering a narrative intentionally. And so where your mother and others thought I maybe didn't need to go on Twitter was when I mention.
Shocked when I have the whole thing was I was. I didn't text you or anything, but I was just like, oh, this, he doesn't really get into this.
When I when I mentioned Adam Schefter's reported salary, they thought that was poor form. So here's again, here's why I thought it was relevant. One, it's it's it's public, very public information that has been It's I'm not it's not not breaking news there. But that's not why it's relevant relevant because of this, and this I think is key. I understand I don't like it, but I understand why m L Football JP a football dove climbing the anonymous you know, not even a real person attached to him,
accounts engagement farm on this stuff. It's literally how they make money. It's it's you you get paid from Twitter based on engagement. It's how I think it is. A scummy's too wrong of a word. Uh, not exactly. A prestigious job. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's but it's I put them in the same bucket as the people we've talked of this before who are like, oh man, check
out this racist on an airplane. And it's the same airplane every time, and it's the same actors, and it's just like, Okay, you're just kind of making the general discourse dumber. But it's how you it's how you pay the bills.
So be it.
The reason I included chefter salaries. He doesn't, he doesn't need to do that. There's no like the the the the amount of money that one could make off a few provocatively worded tweets just to fire up the engagement response is meaningless, and so I felt it was. And Mitchell Schwartz, I want to go to Mitchell Schwartz, who is He's not gonna listen. He was an all pro offensive lineman. He's very you know, he was just on I think Kevin Clark's podcast. He's excellent, great breakdown guy.
He was as angry about this as me. He wrote, this is incredible about the chefter thing. This is incredibly embarrassing almost everyone. Oh oh, here's the other piece of
it that really made me upset. I then tweeted out because I felt I had the obligation to tweet out the video of all the roughing the passer penalties that the Chiefs have gotten earned this eight game winning streak, and five of them are no question roughing the passer one's borderline, and it's like that context matters, So Mitch Wright's is incredibly embarrassing. Almost every one of these, the announcers say are clear penalties. The one that they don't,
the NFL reviewed and said it was a penalty. It's insane that someone in the league is pushing this and or allowing the most visible person to spew this kind of bs. Maybe the Chiefs are better coached and don't hit quarterbacks late in the head or neck. Back in my day, teams who got less penalties were called or were considered better coached. Insane. He then followed it up with the league's voice with the largest reach is insinuating the league both influences games via referering and favors one
team specifically. It's not a cute little joke. This would be the biggest sports scandal ever, especially with everything being tied to gambling these days. Exactly right, exactly right. And it's why so many of the fixes in, guys, are just disingenuous frauds, because first of all, how many how many times do you see this rig for the chiefs? Fixes in and those same exact accounts and same exact people then be like, and next week they're gonna lose.
Oh they're not gonna keep guys. Here's the thing. Gambling is legal these days. If you really believe the league is fixed, I hope you have made tens of thousands of dollars betting on the Chiefs. Like a lot of these folks are like fixes in, I've got the bills, fixes in, I've got the Eagles. I mean, that's that just seems stupid. And then and I don't this is
the one. I don't know whatever I'm thinking here, Okay, So I'm just gonna respond quickly to this tweet because I think this was in response to me, the person who provided schefter. We don't have to put it on
the screen with the stats. A guy named Hambone tweeted, I have so enjoyed watching intellectually dishonest people melt when irrefutable numbers are presented without any editorializing with respect to a great statistician that again everyone seems to like, you know better man, You know that the presentation of the numbers as standalone stats when here is from Sunday morning,
it'd be one thing. If it's like, if it's like, hey, number dump, here's all the facts and figures I've got for you today, Like that's and this is just one of them, that's then that tweet would be totally legitimate. If it's just like, oh my god, here's a thousand facts and figures about these football games, but here were
on the morning of conference championship games. Schefters all of his tweets for all those complaining, and Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls where relief could soon be on the way. Replace assists is expected to expand this offseason into plays that could include the quarterback slide. League sources told ESPN tweet one tweet two NFL replay assists expect to expand this offseason and plays that could include the quarterback slide.
Replay assists came into question last Saturday when Patrick Malones scrambles lived the two Texans spenders and still drew a fifteen yard from me on Houston. Tweet three. An added bonus Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is a quarter million dollars incentive for winning today's conference championship game. Another quarter million for the Super Bowl two wins from additional half
million bucks. Tweet four. Saque's averaging one hundred and thirty seven scrimming yards per game against the Commanders only player to average more scrimmage yards you can single opponent and playoffs. Jim Brown grabbed one hundred and forty eight yards against the Eagles. Tweet. Five penalties during the Chiefs game winning streak via Paul Himbuck rubbing the passer unnecessary rough and
as zero to six, one to four tweet six. ESPN's postseason NFL Countdown Championship Sunday rundown tweet seven Eagles want a cel center. Cam Jurgens fairs with his back injury pre game tweet eight. Chiefs now have won eight straight playoff games, third longest win streak in postseason history. Tweet nine. Jaguars will introduce Liam Cohen tweet ten. NFC Conference Championship came in head lines, so and then and then we're to the games. So don't act like we're just presenting
stats of glory, just a stat fiesta. Hear, It's not what it is. It is a intentionally curated timeline of events to further a narrative. Because the internet's on fire about it. And so I'll say this because I don't want to again. I don't have anything against Paul Himbo. I think I said his name wrong earlier. If and I mean this sincerely, whatever the your favorite charity is, if you were as many people suspected talking about me, whatever your favorite charity is, I'll give one thousand dollars
on the spot to it. If you can just tell me it can be privately, that's fine. What was intellectually what's been in intellectually dishonest about any of my commentary on this? Because if you're gonna say, I love I've so enjoyed watching intellectually, you know what I'm gonna excite. I'm gonna rephrase it. The thousand dollars thing applies. Just you don't have to say what someone said that was intellectually dishonest, thousand dollars in ey charity you want, just
tell me who you're talking about. Who are who? Who are the intellectually dishonest people that were melting and if you if, if the answer is me, so be it. I won't even ask for the question. If it's not me, I'd love to know who it was. Maybe I missed it and then in a thousand bucks to the kids or to whomever. But I'm not. What I'm not gonna do is let uh the four you tab and what's popping on social media dictate what I think the real stories are. The more we do that, the less important
we as actual media members become. And so I'm just not gonna do it. Those takes on takes this episode of What Try, It's brought to you by Day of Pizza, featuring dairy free cheese made with their new data oat cream. Dairy free cheese come up has come a long way. Day is leading the charge. Pizzas offer the Melton stretch traditional cheese without any dairy. Each Day of Pizza starts with a perfectly criss cross layered with savory, satisfying toppings,
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missing dairy. Those pizzas deliver delicious taste and texture, making them perfect for any occasion from casual dinner's game day spreads, enjoy a foam move free pizza night with data. Visit dayafoods dot com for more information, or find Day of Pizza at retailers like Whole Foods, Kroger, and Walmart. Follow day on Instagram and TikTok for updates and recipes. All right, demons, we have been going quite a long time. Yeah, so I am going to make an executive decision here. We're
doing the NFC Thursday. I think it's just, you know, we'll do some listener questions here. I think it's rather than listen Eagles fans, you want to kill me anyway, right, I don't want to do five minutes on the East. So I don't know what's more disrespectful to have this just be the chiefs bills and media stuff, or to just do an hour to do twenty minutes on Chepter's tweet in five minutes on so you know what I mean, badclock management by me? Go ahead and call me early
career Andy Reid. Uh. Let's uh, let's answer some listener questions and remember everyone watching in the chat, we appreciate you subscribe. Subscribe on audio too, and I think we do well on YouTube. I don't know how what we do on audio do that. I think we do fine, but we could do better, all right, go.
Ahead, Ronnie, never a doubt. Nick question, Not that mahomes needs it, but do you think Brady being the one calling the game will add some fuel to mahomes fire? Also? I think being being in a dome helps the Chiefs.
It's interesting, Well, Mahomes numbers in We'll get to this more next week. Mahomes what numbers in climate control environments are unfathomably good? H No, I am. I do think it'll add fuel. Mahomes' need fuel to the fire for the Super Bowl. I am really interested though, in Tom calling a big Patrick game. We haven't really got. Tom's called a couple Patrick games, but obviously never a playoff game. I'm so excited for it, and I also think for
whatever it's worth. Call me a company guy. I don't care. Just like the player, the broadcaster Tom Brady has a playoff gear. He is so like and now maybe it's just also he's gotten more experienced, so he's just naturally getting better week by week. But you can he is. I thought his two best games of the year were the last two games. Like I think it's been really fun to watch him.
All right, next, Horton, ass are you gonna change your biathlon training to triathlon training to support the Chiefs three peat?
Well, at first I have to resume the triathlon training. I'll be honest. The NFL playoffs have not been good for my health regiment. But that is an interesting one. All right, little Mike, We're gonna get to the coach stuff on Thursday as well. Lee says he's been betting a bunch on the Chiefs. Well, yeah, that's good. I mean they're the best team. And evidently a rig for him and asked me the last one, demonse.
Chase Daniel plain View, should Andy Reid? Should Andy Reid let Carson Wentz take the neel downs?
So that's so that that here's the deal. Mahomes legitimately would have almost every postseason quarterback rushing record, but Neil downs have killed him. He's lost like two hundred yards in playoff Neil downs, and so that's a weird spot. The producer won't know any early prop bets. I'm looking at no I listen. I am still in AFC Championship game. After glow, here's been my day the last three days. Demnse and then we got to go Sunday, dreamt about the games. Woke up at five point thirty in the
morning anxious as could be. Listen to old amateur hour Kansas City podcast my friend's Ryan Hall and His Darkness. The Casey Sports Network played about three hours of Red Dead Redemption, which I re downloaded at the beginning of a playoffs. Oh you log on you see, yeah, every day And I don't really do that. I'm such a nerd. I don't really do the missions that much. I do a little bit, but I just ride the horse around
and explore and hunt. It's like like, I'm not an outdoorsman, but I really enjoy the outdoors here.
Yeah, exactly.
So that was Sunday morning, and then just nervously paced around the house. Danny Parkins came over he and I moved a king size mattress from the fourth floor to the garage, a queen size mattress from the first floor to the fourth floor, all everything, and if you you could not have found two individuals less equipped for this. Also, Danny's got Danny had I hope I'm not reeling too much. Danny had major back surgery as a teenager, so he's like got a bad back forever his major So for
I'm not embarrassed to say this. Whenever we have to move heavy stuff around the house, Demons takes on the role of the strong guy, and I take on the role of the like project manager. So I'm like the guiding and demand.
Thank god, I was exactly right.
But I in this role, Paddle had to be you. I was the strong guy. I'm not equipped for that role, so that was your mom was recording us and laughing. So that that Sunday I didn't watch the games. I then watch post game and everything till two in the morning. Get up at six in the morning yesterday, you start listening to podcasts last night. Once your mom falls asleep, rewatches a little bit of the game this morning, wakes up early, starts preparing for this, so I will do
Super Bowl stuff later. I'm still locked in the AFC Championship game. It's been a way too long pod. If we were smart, we'd chop it into two episodes, but it's fine. Just take the whole thing now. Great job, demands. Our setup here is getting better and better. Great job, Blue Duck, Great job. Everyone. Talk to you guys later. What's right