Green Light with Chris Long - Sean McVay! Justin Reid! Aaron Donald, Offensive Concepts & Rams 2024 Outlook! Patrick Mahomes, New NFL Kickoff Rules & Chiefs 2024 Outlook!

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

Total football to start the week! SEAN MCVAY AND JUSTIN REID! Chris and Sean McVay kick things off talking about the one and only Aaron Donald. Sean tells Chris what Aaron meant to him during their time together in LA and how Aaron set the example for greatness with the Rams. We then get a deep dive into pure football Xs and Os and hear why their is so much excitement around the Rams 2024 season. With some great defensive line draft picks and free agent signings in the defensive secondary, the Rams are looking to surpass their playoff run in 2023. And then we welcome on two time defending Super Bowl champion Justin Reid who goes in-depth on the Chiefs, their goals for the 2024 NFL Season, the new NFL kickoff rules which the Chiefs are utilizing him for and being the winner of Chess.com's NFL BlitzChamps III! (00:00) - Intro (3:07) - Sean McVay on the 2024 LA Rams, Aaron Donald's retirement, best defenders in the NFL and meeting Chris at the ESPYs (36:00) - Justin Reid on chasing a Super Bowl three-peat with the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes' dominance, new kickoff rules and how he is being included on special teams and being the winner of Chess.com's NFL BlitzChamps III! Want your Green Light Merch so you can look exactly like Chris and the fellas? Hit the website below and get kitted! https://stores.kotisdesign.com/yotehouse/products Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: ‪[phone]‬ Send any Talent Search submissions to: [e-mail] Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWFAA-wuB7osdiAJyLOcw Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the things that epitomizes exactly who he is. First year, we're midway through the season. We had usually started out the Wednesdays where it'd start with defense while the offense was lifting. So it's an 8 o'clock meeting. He came in at about 30 seconds afterwards. And I said, you know, and I know he was already in the building doing his normal rhythm and routine. And he says, I said, where were you? He says, I was using the bathroom.

You know, so he's taking his shit finishing up. I said, all right, well, I'm not going to find you. He says, oh, no, you find me, man. I got to be accountable to that. He made me find him when he was late for a meeting. taking a shit. The possibility of a three Pete. What does that mean to you?

That's some deep shit. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's legacy. It's a competitive nature. It's, um, you know, I actually got this man in the arena quote behind me. And it's everything that that just encompasses. It's about, it's about that competitive edge and knowing you're getting everybody's best shot weekend and week out and week out and still coming out on top.

You know, you know, there's no shortcuts to it. We know how tough it's going to be. no one is going to roll over for us. But the challenge of it is how you write your name in history, man. So this is just legacy for us to do something that's never been done before. And that's what sports is about. Welcome to the Greenlight podcast. Thanks for jumping on today.

It is football and football is all. We've got Sean McVeigh, head coach of the L.A. Rams, Chris and Shungo, in-depth on the Rams, why the 2023 NFL season was so impactful for Sean McVeigh, why it made him fall back in love with coaching. His excitement for this season, Matthew Stafford, still being one of the kings of the quarterback position. Chris and Sean also spent about 15 minutes talking about how awesome Aaron Donald. Sean tells story after story, how great it was to work with Aaron Donald every day at the Rams.

And one day that Aaron Donald made Sean find him for being late to a meeting for a very interesting reason. I'll let you get there. It's a great story. And then in the back half of the show, it is Justin Reed, The Kansas City Chief's Safety. He joins to talk his most recent victory, not the Chief's most recent Super Bowl victory over the 49ers, but his chess.com NFL Blitz championship. He just knocked off some of the best NFL chess players, Andy is here to celebrate his title. He is also here to talk about the Chief's 2024 season, the new NFL kickoff rules, how excited he is to play on special teams,

the Chiefs 2020 playoff run, and Chris shows a couple impact plays from that Super Bowl that Justin had a direct hand in. two awesome interviews you're going to learn a ton about the game please enjoy go check it out on youtube if you haven't already and we'll catch you on friday all right this is awesome one of my favorite coaches in the game my former team of course they figured out a way to win a super bowl and uh and the whole thing so uh shaw mcvay joins the show now coach how you doing i'm doing good i still haven't forgiven you though you want a couple of super bowls you're saying in crunch time back and forth and you get a sack. I should have known better than to leave you an opportunity on a long developing play

action. You just beat our right tackle like a drum and just broke my heart, you jerk. Oh, dude, that was a big, it was a big deal for me because obviously I cared a great deal about a lot of those people on that team. And, you know, coming back, I love playing at the Coliseum, too. You know, I know, I know you guys got a shiny building now. But that was pretty, I had to be cool for a couple years, like the history in that building. For me, walking out on the field where my dad played, seeing that flame in the end zone.

And then, of course, my old team, that was an incredible game both ways. It was. You know what? It was special to play in the Coliseum. There was a lot of great memories there. Like you said, I think we both appreciate the history of the game. But it was a back and forth battle. Two of the top teams in the NFC guys came out on top.

And then to see you guys finish the deal, I was happy for you because I feel like I've, known you based on the amount of people that you've influenced in a positive way, the Reggie Scott's, Aaron Donald's of the world. And, you know, like I said, man, big fan of yours. Well, likewise, coach, and, you know, everybody talks so highly of you, my old teammates and one of them, Aaron Donald, you know, I just can't help. But when I heard that story about him telling you, hey, coach, I'm full. Yeah. I can hear that coming out of his mouth. And I know exactly what he means because he was the hungriest guy that I ever played with. No doubt.

For him to be full, I think it speaks to the toll the game takes on us all and the weight that was on his shoulders for a decade plus. And you were a big part of that run for him. Talk to me about your first reaction when you heard, hey, I'm full coach. And is it unfair to use the term replace Aaron Donald? Because there is no replacing Aaron Donald. Yeah, I totally agree. I think the first thing is, is, you know, know if when you, and you know Aaron really well. And one of the things that I appreciate the most,

Chris, is he let me in. You know, we had a relationship that I really cherished. I remember when I was interviewing for the job, I went over when it was basically like, if you don't shit yourself, you're going to get the job. So they want to make sure Aaron Donald's okay with it. So I go over the four seasons, meet with Aaron Donald, meet with Reggie Scott. And he's looking at me like, hey, this guy's going to be the head coach. I got to see this to believe it. But right away, his ability to communicate honestly about what he thought we needed to do to move in the right direction. You know, one of the things that he talked about was, hey, we need to have, you know, consistent accountability across the board. And I can remember one of the things that epitomizes exactly who he is.

First year, we're midway through the season. We had usually started out the Wednesdays where it'd start with defense while the offense was lifting. So it's an eight o'clock meeting. He came in at about 30 seconds afterwards. And I said, you know, and I know he was already. in the building doing his normal rhythm and routine. And he says, I said, where were you? He says, I was using the bathroom.

You know, so he's taking his shit finishing up. I said, all right. Well, I'm not going to find you. He says, oh, no, you find me, man. I got to be accountable to that. He made me find him when he was late for a meeting taking a shit. Dude, that's who he is, though. I mean, not the shitting part.

It's not like he shits all day. But, but I can, I can picture that because that's important to him. He does everything the right way. He never did anything that he didn't have. of somebody else. And like, I think the best way you model authentic leadership is you model the way. And he did that every single day. He brought people with them while being selective with his words. But to answer your original question, Chris, I think the biggest thing I would say is when you know somebody like I did with Aaron, he didn't have to tell me I saw the way that he moved

throughout the whole last year. He took moments in. He was really cherishing it. He's always really He'd been appreciative of the journey, and I've always loved that about him. But there was just certain things when you can just see people are savoring moments that it felt like he knew without wanting the attention that typically can be accompanied with some of these retirements, things like that. That's not who he is, but I just knew by the way that he kind of moved throughout that year, the way that he poured into these younger guys, the way that he was, you know, even just after games, it was just you're cherishing these moments.

And when he told me, I knew, like right when we walked off the field in Detroit, I said, that's it. He goes, yep, that's it. I said, I love you. You know, you've changed my life for the better. I can't even tell you the amount of positive things that you've brought to my life and what you mean to me as a person, more importantly than a player. But, man, I mean, already this offseason, he's like the guy that you can use to tell

stories about that resonates with these cats. And I think that's a powerful way of trying to get messages across. he's a rare human being that's what i tell my kids i'm like you should have seen him you know he's one of those people um he really is so hard to replace hard to replace yeah let me ask you this when did you know he was just different like because there were those moments that we had early on i mean like the only thing i was grateful for is he held out my first two years because he just stole offensive linemen souls i mean you get he ruins practices yeah he ruins practices i'm sure for for you, like, there's a thin line of where you're like, hey, we want a good look, but we don't,

we want to be able to run our shit. We pissed him off, though, because I said, hey, realistically, we're going to play it like what you get played, like what you get played. So we slid to him, you know, the last couple camps. And he's like, he was so pissed at me. I go, hey, bro, this is what's real. This is what it is. It was a false tells for the second and third levels of our defense because he's getting

these quick wins. Guys are like, oh, this is great. I'm like, no, he's going to get so much more attention. but I knew day two coach I knew day two to answer your question I remember walking up to Jeff Fisher me and William Hayes yeah saying hey fish I know it doesn't work this way but you should go ahead and make him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL because that's what he deserves and we told the media he's going to be a Hall of Famer I you know now you know that you knew that after two days two days you know the violence with which he uses his hands totally you know that's

the thing he doesn't get enough credit for is the you know everybody talks about the leverage the explosion the accuracy of his hands he always won with his hands they're in a frenzy and they're totally controlled at the same time and i'll never forget i was the old guy that was walking into the meeting room at eight o'clock after you know everything died down in training camp and you know i'd watch film and nobody else really did it i'm not saying i knew what to do and others didn't i was just older and I walked in the meeting room two three nights in a row nobody left in the building this motherfucker's sitting in in my desk at my film projector and he's watching film and I would kick any other rookie out but I just watched the way he he he broke the game down and it was like somebody

at some point taught him football you know like I don't know who his coach was at pit I don't know who his high school coach well I don't know if it was dad but he came to the NFL like a pro. And so that's what happens, and you know this, when it's a confluence of great physical ability and the work ethic and the understanding of the game. That's what happens. You get Aaron Donald. Yeah, I, I, he's, he's second to none. It's funny that you say that, Chris, because so the first year he's here, we have that first, you know, many camp that's allotted to the new staff. So that was really the only time in the offseason. So he comes to that first thing and just wrecks practice. I mean, it's two days of just pure carnage.

right before the draft. And then he's working through a contract thing. And he was away for the rest of the offseason. Then he was away for the entire really training camp. He actually came the week we were opening up against the Colts. And he could have played, but his first game was against Washington. Long story short, we're playing Jacksonville early on in the season. It's like week six.

And we're getting ready to go to Jacksonville, play them. We were going to stay in Jacksonville and then play the Cardinals in London after that. but I go in, I'm leaving Thursday night. You know, that's when you're kind of wrapping up the game plan, putting the red zone stuff together. I'm leaving. It's like 9.30 at night. There's one light on in the whole building

because normally people wrap up a little bit earlier. This freak is in the D-line room, and he's watching like the get back on trackdowns to see the sets of the guards and things like that. And that was my like, you know, I knew this guy was great, but like the work he puts in. That's what people see. the production. Nobody knows all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes where it's like, you know,

the intrinsic motivation, the natural feel. He is, uh, the stories could go on and on, but this guy and then just seeing what it meant to him to watch him accomplish things. Like you talk about a guy that really didn't care about the individual accolades and was all about just winning and trying to affect positive change with his teammates. He's, he is, uh, he's a fucking jeef. Yeah. Love that guy. We both love that motherfucker. I think suffice to say. And my question, my million dollar question to you, because you're the scheme guy, how would you game plan for Aaron Donald if you had to play him now that he's out of league

and you can kind of dream that up without any repercussions? Well, he'd get the slide every single snap. And then in any of the situations where it elicited 5-0 protections when we'd get into our odd spacing, like I've seen teams do, they just say, hey, let the back check him. And unless it's a rare situation where you get early control, we're just sacrificing 20% of our eligibles. That was where like, you know, and sometimes we'd move them to the edge.

I'm like, no, let them rush inside. You can't manipulate protections as much. But I've seen more full-term protections. I've seen more people willing to just say, fuck it, we'll waste 20% of our eligibles with a back or a tight end and just put him in that A or B gap based on where he's at. And then when he's out, I would jump the ball and not let him sub back in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a big one.

And then taking shots when he walks off the field. Like, you know. He literally had a menu of plays. Like, we had a different call sheet because of how teams would approach him when we, when he'd go out of the game knowing that that was the approach of a lot of these sound OCs that, you know, we would, we would play some more conservative things deep to short because that was their time to get those plays off. That's so interesting.

And, you know, talking to you is really interesting because you've been the person in these meetings when you're playing maybe not Aaron Donald. but somebody like him. And I wonder who those guys through your tenure are that have kept you up at night. You know, there's special players across this league. You know, he gains, you know, he garners so much attention. I think when you look at these interior players, obviously Chris Jones has done a magnificent job. Yeah.

affecting the game in a positive way, modeling his game after Aaron. Matabouquet has a big season last year. But I think these edge players, I thought Bosa's maturity as a rookie for, from when he came into this league, talking about Nick Bosa. Yeah. I was incredibly impressed with the maturity that he played with in his production in both phases.

We practiced against Crosby last year. He, I mean, the relentlessness that he plays with, the energy, the production in both phases, you know, Miles Garrett.

But I'll tell you what, it seems like every week because these guys are getting so good, you're having to identify, all right, who do we want to make sure that we're paying extra attention to? How does that alter,

effect, the way that the ball's got to come out. How do we move the spot? You know, there's some good players in our league that really seem like they show up on a week-to-week basis. Who stands out to you? Who stands out to me? I think Max Crosby stands out to me because I think he does a lot of it alone. I don't mean to disrespect anybody around him, but when you look at like San Francisco's defense, and I love Nick Bosa, but they've got a guy and I'd be excited to ask you about this, like in Fred Warner, who just deletes the middle of the field. And there's a lot. certain things that are just not options, right? And so you've got people that would castes around them. But I look at Max Crosby and I say, yeah, he changes the game in a big way. I think T.J. Watt

changes in both phases because he's got that like innate playmaking ability. You can affect the ball as well. You know, like he's going to make a great play in the flat as well. You're right. He is, he is a freak, you know, and I think, you know, when you look at it too, like high smiths, a legit dude, you know, on the other side of him that doesn't get enough credit. But you're right. I mean, we basically altered our whole plan to affect TJ this last year. And then the one time he drops in the coverage, he picks off an underneath route and takes it back to inside the five. I'm like, he got to be shitting me. He finds ways to affect the game.

And Micah, we haven't talked about Micah, you know, pick your poison. However they're going to use him, he's going to be a game changer. I wonder with these edge guys, you said it earlier. And I agree. When people ask me, Chris, was it more fun to play next to an Aaron Donald or across from a Robert Quinn? I mean, it's fun either way. Don't get me wrong. But I prefer playing next to a Fletcher Cox or an Aaron Donald because of the way that you can

dictate certain things. And if that guy's a team player, you're going to play off him. He's going to create for you. If you have an end on the other side, you know, you can play high, low, you can do certain things, but you could both get chipped. When you have a great end, what are the, like, take me inside the detail of alignments, eye candy. all the things you can do to affect a rusher besides just sliding or chipping.

Because I think for me, I can remember it could be a reduced split tight end, who you had split out. And now you just got that nasty like two, three yard kind of split that I'm looking at and saying he could be blocking down on me. It could be a whole bunch of eye candy with pre-snap motion. What are the things that you can do to affect the defensive end that aren't simple? Yeah, I think you just mentioned a lot of them. Just people in proximity, backs from the backfield.

Kiron Williams does a great job of shaving edges when guys are just a speed up the field rusher. But I think you said it. When you rush, like, I can't only imagine how much that would have really come to fruition with you and Aaron rushing off of one another if you got a handful of years to really go together. That was like, it was so impressive, listening to him articulate who he liked rushing with. Because there was some leeway and luxuries we gave him to be able to have a two-way goer. get vertical through the B and now let's natural underneath because he's really containing through the B gap. But as far as those edge rushers, it's any sort of presence.

And we're a big, reduced split outfit, but you said it, whether it's motions, guys in proximity where I could block down on you, there's that threaded chip. And that's really with any sort of C area location player, whether that's receivers or tight ends, having the back cognizant of being able to lend a presence one way or the other for the tackle. and those are all things that are a huge part of the game plan because these guys are so good. If you're not cognizant it, they wreck the game. And every guy you mentioned is somebody that we've gone up against that at some point.

And for different reasons, they all are absolute nightmares to prepare for. And that's where I think Aaron was so unique because he really changed the game in terms of the production, especially as it relates to the SAC production of the TFL from an interior player. It had been so heavily influenced by edge guys, but now it's really like, all right, the defensive line is going to affect an influence and change the game. And nobody did it more than Aaron from that interior spot. So it feels like now this year you guys have some like a legit four deep, you know, where, you know, we talked about it like Moneyball. If you've seen that movie where, you know, it's Giambi or it's like, you know, you've got these four young guys that some of the parts could add up to something special. And, you know, I wonder what you're most excited about when you look at this group.

I look at Young and I say he doesn't even, he hasn't even figured it out yet. And he had A-Sax last year. He's come a long way. He was a guy that came in at a good career at Tennessee. And I think he's just continuing to learn how to add some tools to his arsenal, understand those looks to own. He had a really good spring. He was arguably one of the more improved players on our football team because he's got stuff

in his body and now it's just continuing to say, repetition is the mother of learning. What are my, what's my primary? What's my complimentary? Let me master that. Let me understand and own where my opportunities are for take it calls, different things like that.

I think he really did a great job. Even just something as simple as which you always did a great job of, but like when you're playing out of a two point early on in some of these rundowns and it's not known past, like how about not false stepping and what a difference that makes for you to get off and your ability to affect the offensive line? he's he's really done a great job i'm excited about where he can go and i thought he was one of the bright spots of the spring for sure and then verse and fisk the two buddies is a great moment

this was an awesome moment i know you like the players it's not about the moment but the moment was special but verse to me feels like a perfect compliment he is he's a reactionary rusher like i always felt this way about you like you can see certain guys that predetermined what they're going to do with their rush plan and then other guys that all right, they're starting this way, but then I get an overset and I can naturally counter underneath or I can hit my spin. And he's a, he's a reactionary rusher. He's a, he's a polished player for a young kid. The game makes sense. You know, we still need to have him really understand where those opportunities are. But, man, I mean, you feel him. Like, I always look at it from an offensive perspective. It's like, if I feel you defensively, then I'm worried about you and we better have a plan for you.

And I thought he played a grown man style of football. That was what I liked. And he and Fisk were key and critical for why Florida State did what they did. Once they lost their quarterback, they were heavily relying on that defense. You could see they gave them some more luxury and leeway to be able to rush off with one another. There was an unspoken agreement in terms of just their naturals. And some of them were predetermined games. And you could even see that stuff start to come to life with some of the ops we've given them out here.

And the secondary, man, I thought y'all did a great job defensively relative to the expectation. You know, a lot of guys playing a lot of snaps back there that people do know much about. And I thought Rahim did a great job. You've replaced a few coordinators this year. What goes into new scheme, but also why the guys you brought in. Darius Williams coming back. I've always really liked him. Cam Carle, there were more expensive options, but I thought that was a great pickup.

What do you see is the outlook for those guys and how does replacing a scheme affect? a group of players that are used to routine. Yeah, no, it's a great question. It was awesome to be able to address some of those things. And then some guys that are still here that gain some valuable experience last year that we're counting on. But you mentioned it. To bring Darius Williams back that, you know, there's effortless movement because of the work he puts in.

He's strong in his lowers. He stays patient. He'll stay square. He's got legitimate ball skills. I mean, like, if you get him an opportunity to be able to get his hands on the ball, he's usually catching it and he's making people pay. He's got a great concept trigger based on the work he puts in. He understands, you know, how the routes are timed up with the quarterback's drop.

And he can play visual on the receiver. He can play visual to the quarterback and get, you know, authentic triggers on concepts. Kim Curl is a guy that, you know, and I say this in the most complimentary way because I love this guy. He reminds me of Mark Barron. Mark Barron was like a silent assassin. He takes everything in. He's so smart. He's tough as shit.

Cam Curl has a similar demeanor. meaner in disposition as him. Now, Mark will knock you. I mean, not Mark. Mark knocked me. Sense was a couple times of friendly fire. I believe it. He was a total G. But I say that in terms of how much confidence I have and what Cam can be. I thought you saw him do a lot of stuff in Washington where he can come down and play man coverage on different guys at that two or three location. He's violent the way he attacks the football. I like the way that he's a close quarter tackler. And then you could see him play in different parts of the field. And we'll ask him to do some different stuff.

But the game makes sense to him. You ask him a question and he's answering it. He picks and chooses his words wisely. But like this guy's taking everything in. He knows what the hell is going on. And he's a grown man. Quentin Lake is another guy that I think is going to be a really good player for us. He played the nickel position for us last year.

He can play Star or Nickel. And then getting Tradavius White, while we haven't seen him on the field yet, that guy is a guy that I've always respected his body of work. You don't bet against people like that, even though he's had some tough injuries. So we're excited about our back end. No question. Take me through at the end of last year. You guys reel off a bunch of wins after the byweek.

And the by week is different for every team. What change for you guys? And then when you got into the playoffs, I felt like there was a hidden experience that people underestimated from you guys. Like people forgot. you were in the Super Bowl a couple years ago and they forgot a bunch of guys were back. You know, the team changed, but a bunch of guys are back. Do you feel like that paid off?

And how much fun was that Detroit game? Because that was a fucking war. It was as loud of an atmosphere environment as I've ever been a part of, Chris. I would say this, the best part about last year is that there was real adversity. I think that's when you find out about people. It's like when you're in the storm, how the hell do you handle that stuff? we didn't, I wouldn't say there was a change. You know, when we were three and six, there was, there was some opportunities to execute at a higher level. We missed Stafford for a

game and a half, which was obviously a big deal, but we played some good teams. We came up short, but the guys kept improving. And when we went seven and one down the stretch, I didn't think there was really a lot different approach. It was we happened to get the results, but the process was consistent. Guys were mentally tough. They, they established the resilience in the midst of some of the adversity we faced early on. And you know as well as I do. If you're playing your best ball at the end of the year, you can be dangerous. And I'll tell you what, we came up short and there's things that motivate you and drive you the right way. I think it was a great learning experience for a lot of young players to go be in that atmospheric environment that it just is different.

You know, the fans, the noise, the excitement, what's at stake? But I was proud as hell of that team. You know, even though we've had some other seasons that we might have gone further. Probably my most rewarding season as a coach. And I think a lot of it was because, and I'd mentioned it before, you know, in the midst of so many good things going on here, I lost my way a little bit. In 2022, really exposed me, you know, where the results weren't what we wanted. But I was exposed in terms of my shortcoming, some of my insecurities. And I had to really address that. And by no means am I perfect. But I'm a lot better off from that 22 season where you're saying like you're actually thinking about not coaching anymore,

what the hell is wrong with you? But those were real things because you lost your purpose and perspective in the midst of, you know, the good stuff occurring. And last year reminded me why I love this shit so much because of those players. I think it was a great balance of youthful energy and exuberance. These guys, they just came out. They fucking competed. They loved it.

And then we had some veteran guys that kind of steered the ship the right way, the Aaron Donalds, Matthew Stafford, you know, Cooper Cup, you know, like you talk about a guy that, that, you know, went through some stuff and just handled it like a total G based on not being as healthy as he was. Nobody knows that. But that to me gives me more respect for him, just how he handled, you know, a challenging year, but just kept battling, kept contributing in the way that he was capable of within the, you know, the framework of his responsibilities. And I want to get coach out of here, but I got two little scheme things. here. First off, I thought last year a big turning point for you guys was you're getting the back

healthy, right? He is a stud, isn't he? Yeah, he's a stud, but it's a staple of what you guys do. Like, I remember playing you guys when I went to Philly and it was all about, you know, outside run game. You know, if that thing's not there, it becomes harder with the play action. And you guys do such a good thing of making a good job of making everything look the same. And I felt like when, people watch that team and i this is why i said coming into last year you guys were just as dangerous to that super bowl team because you had puka and cooper outside um and you had a back that i might not put up there with girly and his prime but this kid's young and he's pretty good and the quarterback is a fucking hall of famer so i look at that team and i say it's a lot of the same but there

were small differences in the way you guys got to the play action and it was the same formula but can you talk to me about what what you had to do to tinker with the concepts a little bit to fit the throws that Matt could make and the throws that William or the the runs that Williams likes to make. No doubt. I think a lot of it, you know, and it was kind of an evolution. You know, we knew we wanted to shift our identity a little bit based on our personnel. We were bigger inside. You draft Steve in the, you know, in the second round, you're able to acquire Kevin Dotson. You got big tackles in Alarick and Rob. But I thought Kyron, that was kind of. kind of what his skill set was.

He's not limited in any scheme, you know, but being it, you know, I've never been a part of a really good offense that didn't have the ability to threaten you with the run and the pass. Like, you know, in 21, we were dangerous, but we weren't as good running the football. We were much more, like the difference in when we went seven and one, if you just said, all right, production wise, we were so efficient running the football. You get Kyron Williams back off of the temporary IR. It does allow you to stay on track more where you.

you're in more of those regulated down in distances where you can really have a lot of the stuff we want to do come to life, the marriage of the run in the past, that little conflict of, all right, is this a play action? Is it a boot? Is it a core run? Oh, shit, it's a play action screen. And our players brought it to life. But the players enabled us to be able to establish an identity where, you know, you could go more at people. We wanted to be more physical. I thought that was one of the things that just based on when you look at the last couple years, yeah, we've been a good team. but where can we improve with the caliber of people were bringing the types of schemes that just elicit a certain toughness that's required? And I thought that was a big deal that the players brought to life. And it makes it a lot easier when you're getting four and five and six. And then you can set up other things that enable you to be able to be a little bit more

flexible as a play caller from an offensive standpoint. I got one more and I'm going to save my other 45 questions for the next time you come on. Yeah, no, I'm going to join this. Okay. the last one we had Andy Reid on and he told us a story about getting a play from a janitor I love it no lie and I'm wondering because you I put you in that echelon of creative play callers um have you ever gotten your you're a concept from somewhere you didn't expect and what's the zone that Sean McVay needs to be in to think this shit up is it on your your porch looking at the

ocean is it just in your office like is it listen to music How do you get rid of writer's block, so to speak? I'd tell you what, I'd be a lot less tormented if I had a clear-cut answer. But usually when I get the R&B going, that usually gets the good vibes. It is crazy, though, that like when you're thinking about something so hard, some of the best ideas kind of come when you're driving into work or you're not really trying. And, you know, those are like legitimate things behind that in terms of just our brains. But I'll tell you what I've heard it said before, all the best coaches are the best thieves.

I'll steal a lot of different stuff. We'll use a lot of principles that I learned when, shoot, I was a sorry-ass quarterback running the triple option in high school, you know, in just ways of putting defenders in conflict. If you can't block them, then read them. We'll do different things like that. That really was a heavy influence on some of the jet sweeps that we started doing in 18 where you're booking a defensive end and circling the defense.

Oh, yeah. That kind of goes back to, you know, the influence. And you guys did some of that when you were here before I, got here with Tavon and so um but i'll steal plays all the time you know andy reads a guy that you're always watching their stuff and if it fits for you but i think the biggest thing is is is you know the music for me making sure i get my rest like i used to think it was like a badge of courage to like sleep four hours a night and i realize how freaking dumb that shit is now you get one of these damn watches and then you're like oh you slept four hours a you know what i mean you need

Oh, see, that's, you're exactly right. I'd be a real basket case with the aura ring or stuff. They say you're asleep with shit. Then I'd throw my whole day off. But it has been, it's an organic thing, you know, but it's usually as a result of when these players start bringing stuff to life and then you're saying, all right, how can we maximize their skill sets? That's when it's the most fun.

And sometimes it's the unpredictable things where if you had said, you know, we would have turned into what we did last year. You know, that wasn't necessarily the plan, the players brought it to life. And, you know, at the end of the day, it's always about you guys. Yeah. No question. Well, that's why they love you, coach, and big fan of watching you guys play.

And good luck this year. Hope you come back again. No, hey, I appreciate you having me on, man. It's, it's been fun to do this again. It's been too long. I kind of got my feelings hurt that it took this long to ask me. Well, the last time I saw you, I think was the SPs. Yeah.

I just in the line, right after I got, I retired or got cut. And you were like, hey. How good is that story, though? That's my first year. Yeah. And then we both won rings. But how about this for you, though? That's the best story, though.

So, you know, we were late to the red carpet. This is me and my wife relate to the deal. I mean, I look like an intern. You're like, all right, hey, Chris Long, come on in. So they let you and you're traveling through there. And you're kind of looking back. And they're like, who the fuck is this guy? So then we just got to walk of shame running away.

No red carpet. they said, we don't know who the hell you are, but you're no chance you're the head coach for the Rams. Hey, give it a couple of years. Everybody knew who you were, coach. That's great, man. I forgot about that. That was a, that was not a fun espie's experience for me and my wife.

She's like, this is, she's like, what the hell's going on? You said you were a big shot. All right. Well, coach, I appreciate you, man. Tell all the fellas hello and wish you luck, ma'am. Hey, appreciate you, Chris. Hey y'all green light has official merch like this hat right here like the one on my head is dad hat love this hat I'm not even a dad hat guy but this thing fits great this this hat right here fits great we've got hoodies we've got tea by the way this hoodie's like super comfy I mean it's like soft plush it's not the type of hoodie that's going to get stiff with one wash and the shirts too because like I'm a big comfort guy okay you got like this white shirt here you got the shirt with the logo the abbey road looking logo

with dr fax smoking uh presumably a blunt kyle carrying cowboy reed making make and driveling a basketball which i've never seen him actually do and me carrying a football uh and then you've got the the black shirt here too with the logo so uh stickers hit the link in the description in the video uh below the video actually uh and make sure to tag us on social media showing off your green light merch. It's quality, quality threads here. Okay, wouldn't do it any other way. All right, without further ado, we have Justin Reed joining us now.

Tremendous player, one of those, like, glue guys on one of the best defenses in the NFL. In my opinion, it was the best defense in the NFL last year, and they got the hardware for it. And now they got a ring ceremony tonight, so we caught Justin at or after the barbershop. What's going on now? Yeah, kind of, kind of right in the middle. Just got the front done and getting the sides in the bag done after we finish up. All right. So my first question is before we talk chess, who's got the worst haircut on the Kansas City Chief?

The worst haircut? Oh, boy. Unfortunately, we have some competition there. Yes, you do. I got a couple guys in mind. But only because I love him so much and I love talking shit. I'm going to say my guy, Josh. Williams, man. Josh,

we're going to get you right, Josh. I got to look at Josh Williams' his sunroof here. Is it a hairline issue or is he just hasn't been in a while? Wow. Yeah, it's just a little I'm like a head shape thing too.

It's a head shape thing, dude. You'll be excited to know there's also a NASCAR driver with a fucking fantastic haircut. If you Google Josh Williams, this guy's got a Tennessee waterfall behind them. Maybe you're Josh Williams. Go with something like that.

Hey, we want to talk chess, dude, because you're one of the best football playing chess players in the world, I would imagine. So chess.com put on Blitzchamps 3, and Justin Reed was the champ. You swept Kyler in the finals. He was a sweep?

I mean, is Kyler light work? Did he get there accidentally? How much resistance did you face from Kyler? I had a little bit of a, I had two advantages. One is I'm competitive and I want to win in everything. So I hired a Grandmaster that coached me up like the month leading up to this competition. And he even showed me like how to watch my opponent's games that they've been playing and like get a feel for the type of players they are. That and then I played, I played them in the semifinal before playing them again in the grand final.

And, you know, since I had some time in my hand, I got to. chance to scout our first set of games. Yeah. And then I got to see like, hey, I probably could have made this move better. And then the second time around, I used the same opening. He used the same opening. So I kind of knew exactly what I was going to do at that point. Damn, dude. He had him dead to rights. Kyler didn't even know it. This is stuff. Well, congrats, man. And I guess for people at home, this is where it's interesting for me, likening it to football. If we went on your team and I was like, all right, who's the king?

would I be wrong in saying it's Mahomes? Yeah, well probably Coach Reed. Coach Reed. Coach Reed. But your most powerful piece is your queen. So, you know, not to say, you know, he's a queen or a preemone. But Mahomes is the queen.

Yeah. Yeah, he's the best piece on the board. I had it as, and I took Reed out of it. I had, Mahomes is the king because the king's really powerful in the fourth quarter, from what I understand. And the king on the field for y'all is these the fucking man in the fourth quarter. And then his queen would be Kelsey. His queen would be Kelsey.

I think I have a piece for you. What kind of piece do you think you are? You know what? I feel like I'm a little bit of a knight. That's the one. Yeah, because, you know, I kind of do a lot of different stuff. You kind of, I can move around the field in different ways, play different positions. I kick, you know, play safety.

Can't throw that well. But if you want me to do that, I'll try. We'd like to see it, man. We've seen you do a lot of stuff at a pretty good. high level is a is a is a is a rook like hollywood brown you know what you know what yeah hollywood yeah i put them as a rook hollywood's a rook really man all those guys rooks and bishops because they just they travel across the board so fast uh chris jones is probably you know what i mean if you if you want to have a defense or offensive side of the board but if we all at one team and kelsey's

queen already then chris jones going to have to be the other rook yeah yeah and the pawns are the big guys and we don't mean that in a way that like the ponds are important right and chess are no pawns are the backbone of chess yeah any any chess player would tell you the the backbone of the chess board or the pawn so you know yeah yeah the joe thunies of the world you would not believe what i regarding chris jones what i i should hold it back okay hold it back is it have to do with the combine has to do with the piece okay yeah don't even bro all right then Okay. So he's like, yeah, I got to laugh. All right.

The next thing is, and we just talked about this, you're good at like almost everything you do. You said throwing not so much. But you get out there in the softball field recently, and I hear it was mixed reviews. How's your softball game? Is softball harder than chess? Actually, I used to play pitcher. So throwing in baseball, I'm actually halfway decent at. Yeah.

But batting was, that was rough. Dude, it's a whole different game. I've been playing for three years in this city league now that I'm washed up. And it's not a baseball swing. Everything you're taught in baseball is wrong. It's like you've got to extend your arms and almost like lift the ball. You know what I mean? And when I had that moment, I started hitting dingers.

I started. And for me, too, I've been playing a lot of golf lately. Yeah. And I was putting like my golf swing mechanics into it. And I was just, I was just swinging too low, you know. Dude. Once you figure it out and figure it out before you retire because it's a pretty good retirement activity

is hopping in one of these leagues. Okay, I want to talk some ball, man. I mean, obviously the last time I talked to you, you popped on inside the NFL, and we loved having you on. And at that point, it hadn't happened yet. You guys go on this amazing run on the road. Everybody counting you out, except for me. Okay, on the record, national media.

I was all over it. I almost want to play you the clip. I'm like, you think these guys forgot how to play football in January? these guys are playing possum you get in the you get in the playoffs you make that run but now it's like you're chasing history right the possibility of a three p what does that mean to you that's some deep shit yeah yeah i mean it's legacy it's a competitive nature it's um you know i actually got this man in the arena quote behind me and it's everything that that just encompasses it's about it's about that competitive edge

and knowing you're getting everybody's best shot week in and week out and still coming out on chop. You know, there's no shortcuts to it. We know how tough it's going to be is no one's going to roll over for us. But the challenge of it is

how you write your name in history, man. So this is just legacy for us to do something that's never been done before and that's what sports is about. I can remember when we won the thing, it was like you come back in the offseason and some of the young guys is like a totally different team.

You know, it's like they forgot what it took to get there. And I'm not saying that every team doesn't go through that. And it's natural. But what are the forces you have to fight against as a leader? The most important thing that has been working in our benefit, because I've also been on teams like that earlier in my career, that we've been successful and just assume it's going to be the same way. And then the next year you get steamrolled is that our leadership has been very critical, very determined, very determined, very. very detailed in the approach of not allowing that to creep in.

Myself, Chris Jones, Mahomes, Kelsey, when your leaders don't relax and when your leaders are still pushing the issue and don't allow it to say, hey, this just happens naturally, then everyone else kind of falls in line. But if your leaders kind of take their foot off the pedal, then everyone else is everyone else will too. So I think that we're fortunate in that, you know, the mentality of this team is really strong.

And we have some experience myself, have been on winning and losing teams and seeing the difference there. Our defensive coordinator, Spagnolo, who had a top two defense before the next year there, 27th. He's been driving that home almost daily for us on, you know, we finish top three,

not to have that same fall off. And just to know what we're chasing for. So that's what it's going to come down to. Because the margins between wins and wins and losses, especially now, It's just so, so small, man. And anything that you take your foot off the pedal for could end up being the difference.

And I remember we started four and six off the Super Bowl, and then we were a player two away, you know, and it's like, it's late in the year. It kind of clicks, and you're like, yeah, I remember who we are. You know, and for you guys, there were so many, it wasn't like there was just one slump. It was like one step forward, a step back. You know, there were some games.

I know we're really disappointing to y'all. I wonder where you thought the turning point was. I have something in mind because I watched all your games, and I'd be curious to think if you thought the same week. But when was the turning point for y'all? I say there was two. I say there was one after the Raiders game, because that was the punch in the mouth that we needed.

You know what I mean? We came into that game with the raw mentality that we just talked about, that, you know, we beat the Raiders the past eight times. We played them. You know, it hasn't ever been close, and we just thought that we do the same thing. And they came in and they made a statement on primetime television. And, you know, it's exactly what we needed.

And then the second one for me would be after that Buffalo game in the playoffs. You know what I mean? Because that was the moment that everyone had already counted us out at that point. It was going to be different. They've never played on the road, et cetera, et cetera. In that moment, the way that the offense came together in that game particular was the motivation and confidence that we needed to know that we can make. this run. And there's always going to be adversity. And I think that's the mark of great teams is

it's not if adversity. It's when adversity happens. It's going to come at some point, you know, the media might turn on you, whatever's going to happen. But when that adversity homes, how do you respond to that? And how do you bring guys together and don't allow things to start busting up the seams? Dude, I remember, I remember vividly y'all losing that game to the Raiders and then going to playing Cincinnati the next week. And I remember Willie gay was hot on the sideline about somebody losing contain maybe it was browning got out and then y'all had that big red zone stop and when you all made that stop i was like yeah they're gonna be all right you know it was like it was like you had to get punched in the mouth and you got punched in the

sensey game too and it was like by the time you guys were rolling you'd been through so much shit it was like nothing was going to shake you guys and i wonder if some of those some of those moments helped you go on the road and like what were the challenges of going on the road like to me my homes looks the same home yeah on the road like that's what people don't understand but what was it tough for you a team that's accustomed to plan at home with the mechanics of playing defense on home communicating to teach the younger players who hadn't been on the road to win on the road um you know what so there's a couple of there's a couple of parts of that question the first part is you know the The hidden nice part about being, getting everyone's best shot, week in and week out,

is that's as close as you're going to get the playoff football before the playoffs come. Yeah. I mean, those games, you're playing, you're playing, especially November, December. You're already playing playoff games because everyone is giving you their best shot. Right. You know what I mean? So you're already doing that. And from playing in years when we're in Houston to where we're already knocked out of the playoffs in November,

those December, November games, the speed of those games aren't the same. Yeah. So I think that those reps help us whenever the playoffs come around that we're already at that speed. And then the second piece of it is, you know, control the controllables. Like, you know, home games, away games. Personally, I like away games. Me too. Like for me, I enjoy, as fun as Arrowhead is, and Arrowhead is the best place on Earth to play at.

Just being able to go in somebody else's house and make a statement and hearing that crowd, 90,000 people go crying at the same time. Like there's no better feeling than that. You know what I mean? I agree. We embraced Kelsey kind of say to famously. We embraced being the villain. You know what I mean?

We're going to come in and step on people's hearts, man. And we embraced that and it just ran with it. Yeah, the best sound in football is just your teammates. Yeah. And the whole stadium. There's a couple screams in the crowd. You'll hear like a couple Buffalo fans like, ah, you know, like, but all you hear on the TV is you guys celebrating. And you're walking out of that field.

And you're like, all right, we're rolling. And I just, it was so fun watching you guys go on the road. Buffalo was also kind of like in a playoff mode, which made that game incredible. You know, they had to win for a better part of two months. What did you see with Buffalo's offense changing a little bit? Like they went away from Diggs a little bit. They ran it through the tight ends. The first time they played you guys, they were doing some funky back switch stuff.

And like, Brady was different. What did you see was the difference for that offense getting on track and made them challenging the playoffs. Yeah, well, as much as you can try and game plan, and we spent a lot of time game planning Stefan and their new titan, Kincaid, who I think is going to be a star coming in the future. Yeah, he's great. The one thing that you kind of can't game for is Josh Allen. And you know what I mean?

You kind of put in a lot of coverages to take away his passing threats. And then the guy might still just roll out and break out of the pocket. and, you know, a third down that you thought you had in the bag because you nailed the coverage call, you know, he pulled something out of his hat and they end up getting the first down out of it. And that's a little bit deflating for a defense that, you know, you had him dead at the rights and he finds a way out of it. So I think that just the type of caliber player that he is in itself and to be able to make plays was just very, very challenging for any defense to go against. But I think they also found themselves in the run game. They love pool schemes. They love tackle lower schemes.

They do tackle pools from the left to the right side. So some of those, if you're not prepared for it, can end up gashing you. Yeah, and I would imagine, I'm asking a defensive back desk. I know up front when we play Josh Allen or somebody like that, the D-line coach has puckered up all week. And the guys are, they're tight. They're like, we can't let them out. But the guys is the second level when a play breaks down to scramble, drill, or an extension. I would imagine it's really hard on, like, flat corners and people close.

to the ball because they got to come off coverage. Who do you think it's the hardest on? Oh, the hardest is probably, that's a tough question. I think that cornerback is just the hardest position to play on defense in general just because you're running back with trying to cover people. But especially if those defensive ends, I think that is extremely tough on them

because their job and their moneymaker is to go and create pressure. And you kind of handcuff them him a little bit by saying we want you to win, but you can't win by picking a side because then he's going to run out, you know what I mean? So that makes it, that makes it really hard on those guys, especially how athletic that Josh is. So, yeah, one of those two. Is he a tougher tackle than a tight end? Like, because I feel like when he's in the open field, is it the, is it a product of the space that he's allowed because he's a quarterback? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, tight ends when they're, we're getting the ball, like usually those guys are trying to get up field,

like right now, I guess fast as possible. But quarterbacks, one, they have so many extra protections. And I know that they are supposed to lose those when they're a runner, but you know that there's still extra protections that's going to happen because it's the most important position on the field. But also because, you know, you're still worried about him throwing the ball. When we played him in a playoff game, he broke out, ran past the line of scrimmage, and ended a lateral to the sideline, about 30 yards to his left.

and that ended up going for a first down. So you're not going to, I mean, I know Kelsey does that sometimes, but you're not going to see tight ends usually do that. Yeah, no, it was unbelievable. The Baltimore game, my one question about that game is, and I felt like y'all controlled the game the entire way, especially because it couldn't get the run game going. And I wonder going in that week how detailed the plan was in the run game

and how much of an emphasis that was because it felt like they came out of the half. And I think maybe you stuffed them right out of the half. off tackle and it was like they said fuck this and they never went back to it you got any idea why um then you know what i'm not i'm not exactly sure why they abandoned it but i'm kind of glad that they did but it was uh it was it was it's really that that was the entire game plan the entire game plan and we know lamar can throw the ball and he and he's such a dynamic past as a quarterback too um but that that that team is is is brute and bronze and it's blue collar and it's we're going to run the ball down your throat. So we knew if you don't stop the run, you know, they're not going to stop

running it. So the emphasis was to stop the run. And we wanted to make a statement there that we could both match and exceed that physicality and try and change the dynamics of the game, make them change what they were doing to find a different way to beat us than running the ball. And they were down. Were you down Willie in that game? Willie Gay was down in that game, I think. You guys had some injuries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's an incredible accomplishment. The way you guys followed it. Yeah, beginning of the fourth quarter, they're going in to get within three. You give Justice Hill a little shove and then Zay felt flowers fumbles going into the end

zone and you're the first one to point going the other way. Were you sure that the ball was out and that McDuffie was on it or was that pure acting? No, I seen it. Yeah, I seen it. I had a front row seat to it. Yeah. That was such an amazing fucking game change and play. And getting in the Super Bowl, I just wanted to talk about a couple game-changing plays. We're real high-tech here, so I got some video, and I just wanted to show you a couple things, some plays you made, and maybe you can color in some of the details with me

because I think we were all on the edge of our seats watching this game. It was like the margin for error on defense was razor thin. Okay. All right, so the second quarter of 10-12 to go. It's third and eight. You share a sack with Carl Loftus, who played really well last year. And Kittle stays in.

And I'm kind of wondering in this scenario, are you adding? Or is this a feel thing? Yeah. Hug rush. Really just trying to be there for contain, but also trying to show some color in the quarterback's vision in case there's any underneath routes that's right there.

It's just discouraging them from throwing the middle. And then once he escapes out of the pocket, and you've seen that my guy was committed to block, and then you just pull your trigger and go. Now, do you love playing behind this defensive line? Because one of the reasons I think they're so good is everybody does their jobs. You know, like Spaggs has them doing their jobs. And their jobs are not simple.

They're in six techniques. They, you know, you run a bunch of fire zones. It's like it can be tough. But it always feels like they rushes a group well. When you add, do you notice that? Yeah, no, 100%. This is the deepest playbook that I've had five different different coordinators.

Tell me about it. This is by far the deepest playbook that I've ever been a part of. We have so many different twists and schemes. And guys just buy in, they buy into the playbook. They buy into the scheme and trust that what Spags cooks up weekend and week out is going to work. So rush is a group. The details are extremely important. If you have contained, you have contained. If you were supposed to rush through the B gap and contain there and then pop outside late to contain the quarterback, you do that. You know what I mean?

And it's not always about you making a play. It's about you setting up your teammate to make the play. And, you know, we buy into that. I feel like he layers his calls. I mean, not just pre-snap, but like you just talked it out for a defensive lineman, there would be directives like post-snap. like hey if you get this you got a cross face and for a lot of defenses that's just too much to ask the guys up front but obviously you got some ballplayers so uh second clip i want to go fourth quarter third and four this was a hell of a play you guys force a field goal McDuffie comes on the slot blitz you got CMC with the game with the game on the line what are you thinking when you draw that assignment talk me through like you know the three seconds before the play and what's on your

mind reading his release and alignment. Yeah, so I know from personal experience playing with CMAC that he loves these option angle routes. I mean, that's his, that's usually, that's his go-to thing. And I knew that we had some late help inside. So if I'm watching the right play, he ends up jukeing across and running across the field on this one, or this is the one where, this is the one where Trent is blitzing. Right, right, all right.

Yeah, okay, this is the one with Trent comes off. There you go. There you go. Yeah, he ends up putting a good move on the outside, has he to try and create some space and break back inside. Purdy was looking the other way, and Trent just makes a great play getting the hand on the ball. I just want to say, hang around Madden on side.

Oh, all right. Okay, next one. We've got O.T. 734 to go, third and four. You guys force a field goal, and you're behind Chris Jones coming on a blitz. And I'm wondering, talk me through the emphasis on this play is, and did you anticipate Chris coming free? Yeah, actually, no, they busted the protection on this one. Right.

So I'm coming through, getting ready to blitz through the A gap. And Chris just is unblocked and runs right through it. So he's already, I'm already playing it because I like I rushed through this gap and then I'm supposed to wrap around. If someone comes to me to try and pull attention to open it up for the next guy. Yeah. But it was just wide open. So I kind of take the step like I was about to wrap. And then I was like, okay, Chris is already through.

So I'll just keep going through this hole. Yeah. I cannot believe they busted that. Yeah. It's just like the one guy to turn loose. You almost can't believe your eyes. Okay. And then the last one here, game winner to Hardman.

You're not on the field. But I want to show this one because I've seen one of these same spot field where I know if that ball is caught, it's time to celebrate. What's the first thing going through your head? What's the first thing you did? Oh, going nuts. Going nuts. Through my helmet, ran straight on the field to go find me, Nicole or Pat, whichever one I was

able to give my hands on first. But that play is so crazy because, you know, Patrick actually freelance that play. It was actually supposed to be a shovel pass, but Bosa blew it up. Bosa blew up the shovel pass where it wasn't there. And Patrick just saw that McCull was open. He wasn't really supposed to get the ball on his play. But this is just part of the Mahomes magic on what he does. And he's just a baller and makes things happen.

He saw an opportunity. He took it. He threw the ball and, you know, it's game over. Unbelievable. I can remember when Brady, when we were playing the Falcons and we go into overtime and we get the ball, me, Hightower, Ninkovich, Alan Branch. we took our helmets off and we just we said we're not going to need these yeah we're going to sit down for a little bit yeah and watch the show is it the same thing when you know my home's got the ball last

yeah 100% yeah we're all we're all just you know front row seat of action at the moment that I think it was fourth down on our own 30 yard line on that same drive yeah that we were able to convert on that play at the moment they converted it was like that's ball game all right you know at this point that was their best chance to stop us. And we made it through. They're not going to stop us going down this field anymore. I also felt like the loss of Greenlaw was huge for them. Mm-hmm.

Which is crazy. You're running off the sideline. I know, dude. I felt so bad for him. But the whole dynamic of the game changed after he left. And it was like you guys just the experience shined through. All right, I want to talk about this kickoff deal because you're the first person that when this news came across,

we were like, yes, dude. We get to see Justin. And we might have added some time to my career. You might have extended myself like a 20 years. Yeah, the earning window is huge. You know, when I'm done being the starting guy on safety, I can turn into that rotational third of safety and also be a kickoff specialist, you know.

It's a lot easier than when Martell is Bennett used to talk about. I'm going to play tackle till I'm 40 when I can't run anymore. I was like, bro, that doesn't sound very fun. Yeah. But what, tell us what we don't. know because we've studied it but obviously there are some gaps in the tracking that the NFL could do on certain averages where it was last showcased in

what was it the uh... ufl? yeah ufl one of these leagues but it's not apples to apples and i don't think it's apples to apples because i think the big differentiating factor is the special like a tyreek hill catching the ball in our league yeah like you know your best players can get the ball what do you think is the people aren't thinking about. Well, you know what?

One is that, you know, the whole dynamic of hang time has completely flipped. Normally on kickoff, you know, kickers are graded trying to have a four-second hang time to give guys time to get down the field. Right. But now you're trying to keep the ball as low as possible while still in play so that you're trying to get it to hit the ground because when the ball hits the ground, that's now your hang time. Guys can take off at that point, and however much time it takes the return or to pick up the ball, that's them wasting time.

So that whole dynamic is just completely flipped on his head. It's a different kick. It's a different style. It's a lot more aggressive trying to hit the low ball. And I think that that's just a new dynamic that you didn't see in the XFL because those guys are trying to show the NFL that they can kick the hang time balls. Yeah. So I think that the style of kicks you see from the game. go will just be different. And then secondly, is the amount of plays that can be broken. When you have

special talents like a Tyreek or some of these other explosive returners, there's an open gap somewhere on that field. Yeah. You know what I mean? They have they have 10 blockers and we have 10, 10 attackers, but everybody has two shoulders. So there's an open gap somewhere. And the advantage for us is that if I'm doing the job, which is what we're planning on doing, then I can fill that last gap. So it makes it a little bit easier that nobody needs to win two gaps. Like, hey, you win your gap, everybody's gap sound. Of course, you're going to try and always arm over and, you know, win across at late. But it's a little bit more comfortable knowing that you're responsible for one gap

instead of every person on the field trying to two gap and hoping the returner doesn't find that last open gap. Does it feel more like a screen kind of play? Or does it feel like defense more than special teams? Yeah, it feels. You know what I mean? It feels like that last play of the game. Right.

That last play of the game, you know, toss, hook and ladder, all that, all that stuff. That's what it feels like. Like, guys are running, you don't know exactly what you're going to get, but you're trying to be disciplined and just trying to make a tackle when it comes to you. Is Bucker side-eyeing you or is he like,

hey, man, have at it. I don't want any part of that. No, no. Buck, we're in a great place with it. I think, although I know he can make. some tackles I think that he's excited to preserve himself and and no we can use them where we really need them which is those fourth quarter situations to go nail a 60 yard field goal and win the game. It would be devastating to try and try to guy out there who's feeling nicked up from

making a tackle in the second quarter. That's the biggest one is like you know they'll tell some kickers just fall down don't tackle you know like I mean it's you're going to lose a kicker or two if you try to try them out there and that's really important. So How cold was that Miami game? Dude, I know how cold it was on the screen and looking at the temperature. And, like, I've been, I played in zero degree game. Yeah, no, I feel, I feel bad for the, for the guys in the crowd. So I actually called some guys that play in the Canadian lead to get their advice on kind of what to do about it.

And I shared it, I shared it with the team. And one of the interesting tips that they gave us was he said, don't hug the heater. He said, heater is for your hands and feet only. do not warm your your torso, your core body temp with a heater because it's like a pacifier for a baby. Every time you do it, it's going to get harder and harder to run back out into the field. But he said, don't hug the heaters.

Were they pro-jacket? Are you okay to put that jacket on? Yeah, you can put the jacket on. You can put the jacket on. You can layer up, you know, there's no heroes in trying to show skin when it's negative 27 outside. There had to be one. Just very, yeah, bro, the Miami.

players came out with their shirts off, bro. I was like, bro. Like, what are y'all doing? Like, who are you trying to impress right now? Not for you to co-sign? I was there with three layers in warm-ups. And they had some guys with their shirts off, bro. I was like, bro. Not for you to co-sign this statement, but coming out there with your shirts off and then you got Sneed punking you on the sideline at the end of the game, you know, after that incompletion to waddle and nobody moves. I'm like, bro, you just got alpha. I mean, like, you can't be out here like tough guys, man. This is a, so I don't know, man. Like, did you feel like the dolphins, you played the dolphins, I feel like, was it

week four or something? Yeah, it was somewhere early when we were in Germany, Frankfurt. Yeah, in Germany. And it was probably nice and the whole thing. So you got to see, like, the dolphins at their fastest. Were they slower out there in the cold? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that was a different team.

The ice neutralized a lot of that speed. And, you know, after the first quarter, you can tell that, you know, some of those guys really just didn't want to get hit. And, you know, at that point, you're an aggressive defense. You just beat off of that. You just bear down more on them. Oh, hell yeah, dude. And how bad was the ground?

Did you have, you guys were all in seven studs, right? Yeah, we're all in seven studs, you know? And, you know, it's that same thing. When you know it hurts more for them, you don't feel it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, but it is, I've heard coaches pleading with DBs for years, like 11 years, I heard it. Make sure you're in the right cleats.

it could be cold as hell out there would be Soldier Field, dudes would still try to be fast. You know what I mean? Well, that was the argument when we played the Eagles in last year's Super Bowl. Yeah.

Like literally every defensive meeting, the first coach bags flashed up. Like, he had it like maybe six or seven times thought the meeting. Like he'll show a play. We talk about the practice. Then it would just flash up the same slide saying, wear the right cleats.

And he'd be like, oh, how did that get there? You know what I mean? And then like, you watch a couple more plays. flash up again. Yeah. Like seven times a day, every practice for two weeks, he did that. Yeah.

And then you look at the Eagles game and the first half bit, there's a lot of plays on there. I mean, everybody was slipping, but you could see that the Eagles players are feeling it a little bit more than we were. Yeah. I knew it had to be, it's one of those shoe choice things. It's like, man,

I'm watching D-Lyman fall down. It's like, well, you know, getting those seven studs. I just want to ask you about a couple guys on your team, man. I thought McDuffie finally, by the end of the year, people knew what he was about. Like, he got his credit. Dog. And just an absolute dog.

And easy to get overshadowed at times by Sneak, because I think Sneed's the king dog in the league, in my opinion. Yeah, Sneed is a bully. He's a bully, bro. He's a straight up bully. He's a bully. What's the worst you ever saw Sneed bully somebody out there? You know, aside from the Tyreek one, I mean, who we. playing we're playing the jets and garret wilson um didn't get off the line of scrimmage he quick jam him

and literally ran him into the defensive line like he didn't he didn't get he didn't get one yard up the field and then like he pushed them over like to the ground like it was i fucking love watching that dude man he's like a de lineman back there he like really has that mentality and he's got he's got to have the longest arms in the defensive secondary yeah yeah he's long he's long he's He played safety in college, which is where all of that aggression comes from. And then he converted to a corner and got the footwork right. And, yeah. But McDuffie, just what makes him so good?

He's just a technician. Like, when you say the blueprint of technique, like, you know what I mean, hand placement, foot placement, balance, strength, underrated part of his game that you might not see from his physique because he might look like a smaller guy is he is strong as hell. Like he's probably our strongest. And, you know what I mean, I'm 217 pounds and I'm not a weak DB. Yeah. He's one of our strongest DBs in the room.

Yeah. Like in the weight room, squats, squats. Yeah, like he'll bench press an offensive guard that pulls on him. You know what I mean? It always catches him off guard. But he's just a super technical guy that is humble and works hard and is willing to do any job. You know what I mean? He has no complaints about, oh, I don't want to do this or I want to be outside of

there. I want to be inside of the day as kind of, hey, whatever is best, wherever you want to put me. I'm willing to go do it, which helps us tremendously. You guys had some injuries last year, and one of the guys I thought stepped up big was Drew Tranquil. You know, just another guy that when you hear Spags talk, him coming on the show, he's like, you know, talk about dirty work guys, like being willing to do whatever and stick his face in the fan. Former Chess.com Blitzchamp winner. Who? Oh, really?

Second time. Back to back. Have you run a game with Drew? Yeah, me and Drew play the whole time. throughout the year. No way. Yeah, the whole year. Did he take the year off this year? What happened? He got fat happy after No, lucky for me. We actually didn't see each other in the round robin play. He was playing some other guys, but he played. Yeah. Well, let's talk about on the field off the board here. Why is he so important?

One is just his, one is his intelligence and his physicality in that he picked up the playbook like impressively fast. Yeah. For how deep this playbook is and how complicated it is and to play Mike Backer and it be the one telling the D-line what to do and make all the checks and adjustments. I mean, he, and Nick gets hurt early in the year and he takes over the job that whole time.

We didn't really have much of a drop-off from that. So you just can't, like that type of stuff saves seasons. No question. So he was able to do that. And then now he gets to be the guy with the departure of Willie Gay. It's going to be, we really have. have two Mike backers on the field. Right.

You know what I mean? That can really work together really well. And they know the whole damn defense. Do you all still run Spartan? Spartan? No, we don't run Spartan. Thank God, dude. Fuck, I hate that Spartan. Spartan 9, whatever the fuck it was. Okay, last question for you here. You got a rookie. Everybody's making a big deal about, you know, Hollywood Brown and, you know,

there's Rishi Rice talk and all this stuff. But this kid from Texas worthy, there's a reason they took him. Are you seeing it in practice? You know what? I haven't seen it yet only because he hasn't been on the field yet. He hasn't. Yeah, he hasn't been. He's been rehabbing.

I think he maybe tweaked something, nothing serious, but he hasn't been practicing yet. He's a good kid? I haven't got a chance to see him on the field. I can tell you that Hollywood is blazing. He's blazing. Yeah, Hollywood is blazing. That guy can roll. But I can't wait to see what he does.

I mean, you break an NFL record. You got to be at least, you know what I mean? Yeah. You got to see the fireworks. No question. Did you see Willie Lanier talking shit to Hollywood at practice about how he would like decapitate him if he played back in the day? No. It's incredible.

Old OG Willie Lanier out there. There's a video on Reddit. We'll send it to you. But it's Lanier just talking cash shit to Hollywood. And I loved it. All right. Cool. You got any other questions for Justin?

Big fella? Would you rather go back to back on chess.com or win three Super Bowls in a row in a row? Hey, I apologize to Annie and all my friends at Chess.com, but there's nothing I want more than the three-peat. You know what I mean? Like nothing. That's last dance stuff, dude. Yeah, yeah, there's a 30 for 30 coming out about this.

Yeah. Somebody's going to look at you guys the same way as we look at those bowls that you pull this thing off. So, hey, good luck. We enjoy watching you play and stay healthy, man. Tell Spags and say hello. I will. I will appreciate you guys.