The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

Colin reacts to the Chiefs becoming the first team in nearly 2 decades to win back-to-back Super Bowls following their overtime win against the 49ers People are overreacting to Travis Kelce's heated exchange with HC Andy ReidSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. On a Monday, 25-22 Kansas City wins another.

Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us. A lot of choices out there. Part of your day, we are stacked today. It is the Super Bowl show. And what a Super Bowl it was. Quiet early, riveting lake.

J-Mack, I got to tell you, we get very lucky a lot of times. There was an era, about a 10-year run with the Super Bowl's were all blowouts. We've been in a run here. We're getting wild game. Nick Foles against Brady, Mahomes against Purdy. We don't always have number one picks. We don't always have superstars. We have great stories, a great story yesterday with Purdy against Mahomes.

Kind of exhausting by the end of it. I don't know who's lucky, Colin. Us or the Kansas City Chiefs. They fumbled five times, and the 49ers can't recover any of them. Just one recovery, just a phenomenal game, very fortunate. It was. The difference between good and great at quarterback is you don't really have any answers for great, a Brady or a Mahomes.

You just put in great effort and you hope. For good quarterbacks, like Brock Purdy, you have an answer. It's called Spags. It's called blitzing on big third downs. And it worked time and time again. As great as the 49ers defense was, and Bosa and Warner and Armstead brought it yesterday. They were dominant. They had no answer for Mahomes late.

His final four drives, touchdown, field goal, field goal touchdown. Ball game champions again. And on third and fourth down, Mahomes, it's hard to describe. It's better than you could hope. blitz him, he'll burn you. Man to man, he'll scramble. Zone, try it. On the last two drives, every time Mahomes had the ball, he converted.

In the fourth quarter in overtime, you ever notice with Mahomes, the first three quarters, it's all data feeding into his brain. And then in the fourth and overtime, he uses all that information to beat you. Time and time again. More pressure? more efficiency.

More intensity, bigger plays. In overtime, he was 8 for 8 and 27 yards rushing. Mahomes had 69 of the 75 yards on the game winning drive. And again, Fred Warner was unbelievable. Nick Bosa was dominant. Chase Young, Armstead, Sack, Steve Wilkes, I thought, by and large, dialed it up. I have never watched a Super Bowl and been sadder for a losing team. Yes, I had Kansas City.

But Christian McCaffrey was great. I thought Shanahan was clever. Bosa was unblockable. Steve Wilkes, I was concerned. He delivered. San Francisco outplayed Kansas City for large chunks of this game. That's undeniable. But I said it two to three weeks ago.

I've never seen anything like Mahalms, and I watched the NFL in the early 70s. brains, composure, accuracy, athletic ability, coachability. It's insane. Then you add to me the best offensive coach since Bill Walsh and maybe the best tight end. Everything else you just figure out. What's really discouraging for the rest of the NFL, this was the year to beat him.

The receiving core, whatever it is, was young and inconsistent. Travis Kelsey looked old. The offensive tackles weren't great. Oh, wait, my bad. Last year was the year you were going to beat Kansas City because they had all those rookies on defense. And yet Mahomes goes two for two with two Super Bowls. And for large chunks of the game, Jalen Hertz was brilliant and outplayed him.

And Brock Purdy was composed and the Niners did. defense was relentless. And with young rookies last year and tackles that were so, so running for his life, Mahomes did it again. He overcomes both and goes two for two. It really is remarkable. I grew up seeing Bradshaw and then it was guys like Marino and Elway and Montana and Young and Brady and Manning. And it didn't look like this.

He beats Buffalo and Buffalo. He beats Baltimore and Baltimore. He wins in minus 27 degrees at home. And he beat a San Francisco team that really played great football. And I go back to what I said at the very beginning. When you play greats, you have effort and hope. And you just hope maybe this time they're not as great. And Mahomes always is.

Here's the game winner. First down and goal to go. Play action fake. Right side draw, touchdown. Kansas City. McCall Hardman. McColl Hardman with the catch. Kansas City wins the game.

25, 22. And the Chiefs Kingdom has started its own history class. It's so exciting, man, man. I'm so proud of the team, so proud of the guys. And to battle to the very end. I mean, that was my cross in our season. I said it. everybody came together and we were able to get the win.

Battled through the adversity that we battled through this year and guys staying with the process, keeping believing. You never know how it's going to happen and to be able to go play three great teams to get to this game and play another great team and win all those games. It was a true road in the playoffs

and we were able to come through and be Super Bowl champs. Mahomes, Reed, Kelsey, all you can do is hope. And that's not good enough. So let's talk Brock Purdy, who I have said, and I view it as a compliment for the kid, he's good. Special wins these games. Ask yourself yesterday, who was really great for San Francisco?

Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, I thought Fred Warner, they were great. Brock Purdy was good. I know you want him to be a star, but again, he's a kid and the last guy picked. On third down, the Super Bowl winning down, he was three for 12. against the blitz he was bad, a 77 passer rating, and completed less than 50%. He couldn't get the ball to Debo. Or George Kiddell, or Brandon Ayyuk. He was able to get the ball to the person he handed it off to.

He had a chance to win this game. It was third and five, 16 all. He makes that first down. They bleed the clock, and they're probably Super Bowl champions. Mahomes made that play over and over. Purdy had a shot and it didn't work. They gave the ball to Mahomes with two timeouts and about a buck 50 left. It was over.

Purdy deserves credit for being composed in the first half. I was impressed. But despite dominating the first half, the only touchdown pass thrown by San Francisco was by a wide receiver. Purdy is good, but good didn't beat Mahomes yesterday. Good was blown out by Lamar Jackson earlier this year. Good was blown out by Joe Burrow this year. Those, along with Josh Allen, are the best quarterbacks in football, and he's not beating them.

Ask yourself this. San Francisco lost momentum in the third quarter. No Niner fan would deny that. Ask yourself, why? What happened? Because they stopped giving it to Christian McCaffrey, the soul of the team. He had two carries. And inexplicably, they let Brock Purdy run the offense 11 dropbacks.

And suddenly against the relentless Steve Spagnola blitzing defense, they gave Kansas City the momentum. Special wins Super Bowls. That's why Brady and Mahomes have trophy rooms. Let's be honest, if Mahomes had this skill group, Debo, Kiddell, Iuke have bigger afternoons, and it's probably a route. Brock Purdy was good but against Mahomes

and Burrow and Lamar that's not it that's not getting the Lombardi good kid could get better I think we're close to the ceiling but it was Mahomes Lake that kept converting time

and time again without close to the level of skill people here's Brock after it was just tough I feel like first and second down was tough. We'd always, I feel like it was like third and long.

I have to be better on first and second down taking what they had given me. And I feel like they were just sticky across the board when they played man coverage and stuff. So that was another challenge. I felt in the first half you could have given the MVP

to Nick Bosa. I thought he was that disruptive. Didn't even have a sack. He was that disruptive. They couldn't block him. I thought in the second half, Mahomes was clearly the MVP late, but the third quarter, the MVP was the Chiefs defensive coordinator, who we had said before the game is as good as anybody that's ever done it. Didn't get an interview for a head coaching job, may never get another one,

but it felt like the game went in stages. Bosa dominant early, a coordinator dominant in the third, and then predictably Mahomes in the fourth in overtime takes over. and that's what Super Bowls look like for Kansas City. Collaborative. Hunt family, Brett Veach, Andy Reed, Mahalms, Kelsey, Chris Jones, young players getting better, draft and develop at the top level. I felt terrible for San Francisco.

Not for Purdy. He's a kid. Probably gets back there. Certainly an easier route in the NFC than the AFC. But let's not pretend that Purdy was great on third day. or could handle the blitz or was able to sprinkle the ball to a star players. He couldn't. He couldn't get at the Debo.

Kittle disappeared. Ayuk, nothing. That was the difference. Good story. Good quarterback. Great wins this game. All right, Jay Mack. Good news is they're not paying Brock for a lot of years, so they're going to retain most of these guys.

So San Francisco's going nowhere. Little old, kind of expensive, going nowhere. It should be noted also. I think you saw this. Kansas City is a very young team. Young guys get generally hurt less and for a shorter time. San Francisco had multiple guys go down. Kiddle's been hurt before.

Debo's been hurt before. So San Francisco's not at a crossroads, but you can see San Francisco having to make a couple of decisions with older expensive players. But it wouldn't shock me, and I'm all for it, if these two ended up back in the game, it doesn't, to me, puncture the regular season's importance. these are great football operations.

One team outplayed, the other for big chunks, but Kansas City now makes a habit of being great late when it matters most. Certainly. I got to pace myself. We got three hours here. So, I mean, there's a million takeaways. I think one huge takeaway. Spagnolo was incredible on the biggest high-leverage spots.

Third and four late regulation. McDuffie coming in on the Blitz. Purdy has no chance there. I mean, McDuffie untouched. And if you watch the Blitz, he backpedals like. like he's in coverage and then shoots through like a cannon. I mean, it is incredible. And then Chris Jones, who's going to be a free agent and going to get paid by somebody.

Wow. On that third down in overtime, basically dump, just tosses the guard aside and it's just like in Purdy's grill. Purdy had a guy open in the end zone because the defender slipped. But he had no time. Chris Jones is in his grill. It reminded me very much of Aaron Donald against Joe Bro. There were a series of high leverage plays and Donald is unblockable.

That's the tough decision for Kansas. city. Chris Jones is so good, and he's so good, to your point, in the biggest moments, and he's expensive, and there's Mahomes and Kelsey. So San Francisco will retain because of Purdy's lack of salary, virtually everybody. It may move off Kiddle, we'll see. We've got to talk. This whole, like, I know linebackers, they got the best linebackers in the league. You know, Greenlaw goes out. Okay. I would rather have a Sneed and a McDuffie than a Warner Greenlaw. I'm sorry. I would rather have great quarterback because you took a couple shots at Debo. I think he had two drops, but he's not getting open against those guys. Neither was Iy.

McDuffie? I'd rather have great corners than great linebackers. Absolutely, and I think most GMs agree. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health,

purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're just so you're not. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All college or pro has always had an issue trying to. figure out what to do with overtime. The college one is totally cringy and hokey.

The NFL, they've moved it, changed it, altered it multiple times. A little confusing for the viewer. Everybody's worried about fairness, but what you're really worried about is the Super Bowl decided in overtime because some team didn't get a chance. So listen, there's a little bit of controversy. I think it's ridiculous that Kyle Shanahan won the coin toss in overtime and elected to take the ball. There's a lot of logic that says take the ball. Let me lay it out for you.

I have an A-plus offensive coach. I have an A-plus running back. I have A-plus playmakers and skill people. I would have taken the ball. Plus, both these defenses had been on the field a lot. There were 150 total plays. San Francisco's defense had just been on the field for 11 plays. They look gassed.

I get it. I don't have a problem with a decision. but what happens in the media too often is it becomes about the result. And that's where this anger, the headline today is how Kyle Shanahan lost the Super Bowl after winning the overtime flip. For the record, San Francisco, it worked. They had a 13 play drive. Brooke Purdy got him down to the red zone, first and 10 of the 15.

It worked. But they had to settle for a field goal because Purdy, once again, couldn't handle the blitz. It worked. Just be honest about it. The game went to overtime. Mahomes, on a fourth quarter heater, beat Brock Purdy who was struggling with the blitz. Does that sound like a shocking outcome?

A coin flip did not decide the Super Bowl. Andy Reed and Mahomes systematically, along with Travis Kelsey, going eight for eight in overtime, decided the game. game, not a coin flip. There's a lot of logic. It had never happened before. And here's Kyle and Andy Reed discussing it. This is something we talked about with, you know, that none of us have a ton of experience of it, but we went through all the analytics and talked to those guys. And we just had to be better. We wanted the ball third. Um, the both teams matched and scored. We want to be

the ones who had the chance to go win. And we got that field goal. So we knew we had to hold him to at least a field goal. And if, if we did, then we thought it was in our hands after that. There's two ways you can go with it. You can either kick it off or you can receive it. And I'm not sure there's a right answer necessarily. Ours ended up being the right one, but that easily could have gone the other way. But that's what we felt was the right thing to do. I'm never going to question Kyle because he's brilliant.

For the record, Mahomes had been on a heater in the fourth quarter and eventually in overtime. If you had Mahomes and the way you just... worked the ball down the field the way Hardman and Kelsey and Pacheco and they were Rishi Rife, they were sort of starting to work the

Niners defense and you'd have won the coin toss. I think you could have taken the ball as well. Again, that's not what decided it. There's always, whenever you lose to Brady or you lose to Mahomes in a Super Bowl, somebody on the other side is going to take the hit.

Purdy was 3 for 12 on third down and couldn't get the ball. to Debo, Iyuk, Kittle, couldn't get the ball to him. We're blaming a coin flip? Seriously? It had never been done before. There was no precedent or history. To me, that didn't decide the game.

But somebody, somebody has got to take the heat for San Francisco when the truth is, there's nobody to blame. Mahomes won it. It's what he does. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the news.

The herd line news. Oh, boy. Lots, lots going on. All right, so let's start with, obviously, the Chiefs crowning the Super Bowl champs. Their third Super Bowl in the last five seasons, it's a dynasty. I'm glad we're not discussing that anymore. Patrick Mahomes said that they need three Lombardi trophies to become a dynasty. Now they've hit that mark.

He says the dynasty is just getting started. Yeah, it's a start of one. We're not done. I know we're going to celebrate tonight. Celebrate the Pride Wednesday, Kansas City. But we're not done. We've got a young team. We'll keep this thing going.

They are a young team. Defensively, they'll have a decision with Chris Jones, which I... Well, Sneed also as a free agent. I would bring him back. Probably franchise that you can't lose him. I mean, he's jamming. I'll get the line of scrimmage all night. If you, I mean...

No, you're right. You said this earlier. We said this before. Kansas City has the best corners in football, and that was a big deciding factor. Yeah. That's why Kiddell. I thought Kiddell would have a big game.

I didn't think their perimeter. guys. He did, but he didn't do anything in the first half. And so I thought if there was one thing about Kyle Shanahan and Purdy, it's like, listen, when you face the best corners, you know Iyuk's not going to get off. You just know that's not going to happen. And Debo was bottled up. So I thought the lack of the kiddle targets early, like when you're facing a team with great corners and that creates pressure, with a quarterback without a huge arm, tight end and running back become essential. They got it to Christian McCaffrey. They didn't get it to Kittle. Well, yeah, again, the 49ers' offensive line was not great last night.

Purdy was under pressure. By the way, maybe we'll do an entire segment on Spagnolo later. Spagnolo was amazing. And did you see that he blitzed at the fourth highest rate of his entire tenure in Kansas City? 51% of the dropbacks, Purdy was under pressure. They only got him once. And by the way, Purdy was not terrible against the blitz. 12 of 19, 131 yards, and a touchdown.

I thought he did well, but it was those two big high leverage plays. and now the Chiefs are champs again. I don't know. You remember, we talked about Patriots fatigue during their run. Are we in Chiefs fatigue? No, no, and I don't feel it. I've said this before. The Tim Duncan dynasty was kind of a snooze.

A lot of the Alabama dynasty was boring. Dynasties are not the same. The Yankees dynasty was fantastic. They were villains. The Miami Heat Mini Dynasty, fantastic. Shaq Kobe. The New England dynasty was on efficiency and do your job. I totally got people who were bored with it.

But between Taylor Swift, Kelsey, Mahalms, Reed. It's a fun, creative, evolving, adapt. And I also think with Kansas City, it's the middle of the country. And there's something about, we feel good when a Green Bay or a Kansas City, like in this world where the coast gets all the attention, if we're going to have a dynasty, I'm okay with Kansas City having it. And also, there's no villain. There's no gate, deflate gate, spy gate.

I mean, what's the big controversy? Well, the NFL wants Taylor Swift to... Oh, stop. Yeah, that's not a controversy. Let's stop. But you use the word evolution, and the evolution of the chiefs is fascinated. You and I have gone through evolutions. Like, I was a newspaper guy, magazines, web, radio.

You've got to constantly evolve with the media. The chiefs, listen, when you win with Tyreek Hill and then you say, okay, Tyreek, we're going to... And win two. And now you want two more. And I know people don't like the term because Cam Newton butchered it. But Patrick Mahomes was the ultimate game manager last night. That's what he was, a game manager. The defense is giving me checkdown stuff, and I'm taking it all night.

And he took what the defense gave him. Yeah, what about five completions over 10 yards in the whole game, Colin? What about the 50-yard completion? One, one bomb. That's it. The multiple scrambles, the inability to stop him. Field goal touchdown, touchdown. Well, wait a minute.

If we're going to do the scrambles from a homes, we've got to do the scrambles for Purdy and the NFC championship game. The NFC championship game was. Well, no, I'm just talking about the scrambling aspect of them. Yeah, Purdy could not handle the blitz. San Francisco had no defense from home. They had no defense. They couldn't stop him. There is an answer for Purdy.

Blitz him. Well, hold on. It changes a lot. Is Wilkes getting... Are they moving on for Wilkes this week? I don't think you could bring him back after that Super Bowl. Well, they've lost really good coordinators, Sala and Demico. It's hard to hit three straight home runs.

There's an answer for Purdy. That's why Cincinnati and Burl blew him out. And LeBar blew him out. By the way, you know what Spags did? go watch what Baltimore did against Purdy. He copied it. They ran that Baltimore and Kansas City did the same thing. I can't do that when Purdy led them down the field for a leading drive in the fourth quarter.

And then they got the ball in overtime and they go down the field and get points. Now they just settled for three. Yeah, I can do that because I watched the difference in the game was three for 12 on third down. Could not get the ball to Ayuk, DiBo and Kiddler. Well, Sanchez is coming on. has a cut up of Iyuk and Debo not getting open. Like, Debo, two drops. It was bad for San Francisco's

playmakers. What receivers for Kansas City were wide open? I mean, it's... Well, against the zone. They're open. They're going to the space. Like, Rice and... It's frustrated. There really is no answer for Mahomes. You can't run zone. You cannot. I would agree a thousand percent.

You can't blitz Brady or Mahomes. If you do man, you could do that against Tommy a little, but then Mahomes takes off their arms. So that's a good point. So you have to change tendency and he stayed in the zone and Mahomes just carved it up like, dude, you've got to change, you got to adapt. I think in the end

Mahomes eventually, he's like, I watched Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali was great at sort of feeling out and then you got to the 8th, the 9th, the 10th, the 11th, the 12th, Mahomes feels out games. Brady did that. Brady didn't have great first half, first half in the NFL

Super Bowl. So Mahombs just feels, he feels, he feels, he feels, he consumes it. Also, should be noted with Kansas City. They are a great adjustment team. Oh, second half. They are the wizards of the league.

Shanahan's fine with it. They did it against Detroit. Kansas City has... And I like Shanahan. And he's better. And that staff's better. First nine drives of the game for the Chiefs, six points. That's right. That's it. They could do nothing.

And that's the problem. The zone was working to hold him at bay. And then they... Mahomes figured it out. He's going to solve it. Next up, Andy Reid, put an end to those retirement rumors by confirming he will coach next season. He's expected to get a nice payday. Read in line to get an extension and a raise. Oh, boy, they're going to be back for a while, probably. Read and Mahomes.

Yeah, I don't know why in the world you'd leave this. There are situations that you just have to embrace. And again, when you look, it's one thing. There have been coaches I have seen, you know, like they want to go golf. You know, like, I get it. But I will say this is the NFL head coaching job is better than the college job now. And Pete Carroll wants back in. And Belichick wants back in.

It's fun. You know, the other thing, this is a sport with regulated violence. And so you always worry about during the course of the year, one of the most predictable things that will be reported next year in August, September, October. Never seen injuries like this before. Here you were. Two great teams. Not a lot of injuries. Most of your stars available. Kittle got banged up. He gets banged up every four weeks. That Greenlaw was so sad. And that was really sad. That no, he's been banged up before.

Walking on the field. I know. But in the end, is there's a reason people don't want to retire from certain jobs. If you work at a lug nut factory and at your lifting stuff, I get it. But this sport is so fun. The quarterbacking, the intensity, you can't duplicate it anywhere. I mean, you know how many people watch this game? Nine NBA finals combined. There's a reason these coaches don't want to leave. And the idea of leaving with this young defense and Mahomes, it'd be insane. Final story. Kyle Shanahan on the other end of that knows the pain of losing.

Third loss in the big game. One is O.C. Two is the Niners head coach. What's brutal is in both Super Bowls, they led by 10 and against Mahomes. Although there is really no shame in losing to Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, the two greatest quarterbacks in the history of the sports. When Manning, when Eli Manning beat Brady twice, he had to make miraculous throws to do it.

Like if you're going to beat the king, if you come at the king, you best not miss. Like, you can beat the king. The Philly Special with Foles. Manning to Mario Manningham. That's total luck now. Well, luck or not. You need it.

You need it. He's a great throw. Like, they had their opportunities on a third and five. That third and five, if they get a first down, Pretty beats the blitz. That puppy's over. They're bleeding the clock. Here's Shanahan after the loss. There's nothing different to say.

I don't care how you lose when you lose the Super Bowls, especially ones you think you can pull off. It hurts. But, I mean, I think, I don't know when you're in the NFL, I think every team should hurt except for one at the end. We've gotten pretty damn close, but we haven't pulled it off. And we're hurting right now, but it doesn't take away from how proud of our guys I am. I'm real proud of them today, too.

that's part of sports, it's part of football, it's part of life. But I'm glad we put ourselves out there, and I love our team, and we'll recover, and we'll be back next year strong. Yeah, I mean, if you look at who their challengers are in the NFC, a very talented, albeit super young Green Bay team, Detroit, although it sounds weird saying,

the lions are the biggest obstacle, I think Philly and Dallas are getting a little creaky. don't know if they love their coaches. Rams will be viable if they hit in another three or four draft picks. But San Francisco should be favorite. I think San Francisco quietly would be like, listen, can we get Burrow? Can we get Lamar in this game? Can we get Josh Allen? We've done the Mahomes thing. We've dominated them both times and lost. There is something to be said about this matchup for them with Mahomes. And the air thing is, when you play defense in your Bosa, they were really dominant in the first half. But there were 150 plays in this game.

And the truth is, when you're a dominant defense early, it doesn't mean you're a dominant defense late. And in the first half, when there were a lot of three and outs for Kansas City, that San Francisco defense was fresh and ready and going. But by the end of the game, Mahomes eventually figures it out, and you can't ask defensive players to do a nine-play drive, an 11-play drive. They're worn out. And so I always felt that the offensive player is attacking and knows where he's going. there's a stress to being a defensive player and chasing and not knowing and overcoming and guarding. And I thought San Francisco's defense, as great as it was, they're human. I mean, you can't ask these guys to go on 11 play defensive drives at the end of a four-hour game and be fresh,

not to mention stress creates fatigue. This game is the most watched game in the history of the country. There's stress. I almost wonder which of these two losses hurts Shanahan more? Because I had told you my- This one. Yeah, my biggest bet was first half. half-niners. I love the teaser. Like, everything

hit, except the full game, because if Mahomes gets them all late, it's like he's just going to go down the field and score. That's what he does. You've got to feel bad for Shanahan. Unless you're a KC fan, obviously. I feel terrible for Shanahan. It's just, it sucks. And he's no... He did almost everything right.

No, I thought they had the only criticism of Shanahan. In the third quarter, they abandoned Christian McCaffrey. It's like, no, no, no, no. Well, the Chiefs did adapt. They changed the defense and San Francisco couldn't get a first down for like six percent. They couldn't do nothing with the ball.

What really hurt was that interception when Mahomes threw that terrible pick. You're like, oh, Mahomes melting down. They couldn't do anything. They couldn't get, like give me three there. Give me at least a field goal, taking the ball at midfield. We talked about this. Special teams is almost always a factor in big games. I mean, you go to the national championship.

Big games, we never talk special teams. A blocked PAT and a fumble on a punt. And that fumble. I think it hit the guy's ankle? It did. Like, that's just unlucky, man. Well, it is, I mean, it is unlucky, but I will say this, that was huge. Because at that point, Kansas City could not get field position.

10-6, I believe. They couldn't get field position. They couldn't get inert. They couldn't create their own inertia. First play, touchdown to MVS. And it's like, damn it. That play was one of those. Okay, champions, sometimes you make your luck, sometimes you get a break.

But that was a huge, because then at that point, you'd been totally outplayed and you lead. Yeah. How about Moody making two 50-yard? fuel goals and having an extra point block. Like, his body language on the sidelines, he looks nervous. He's a rookie, man. I get nervous. I know.

And he had a couple big kits. I get nervous watching him. Like, his body language makes me anxious as a consumer of the game. My mom is just like rolling around. One of the great seasons ever for a kicker. All right, guys are awesome. He's just, they don't have holes in that team. They have to find a receiver.

They got to get another receiver. You know the league. wants and invites parody. Of course they need. We need other teams. I'm getting bored with the Chiefs. Aren't you? Are you not?

I mean, listen, if Kelsey's dating Swift, I'm fine with it. It's cool. You think I'm going to Blake lively shots, please. If you gave me that Super Bowl again. Yeah, I'll take that. Come on. Just Niners winning. We need different storylines.

We're going to be talked out of this in like a day or two. Like, you can only do Mahomes is Jordan. The Reefil. You can only do that so much. Next year could be the, First three-peat in the history of the league. Come on.

We need new meat. We need it. Are you the... We do a wordel. Do you do the same word every single day? Yeah. Oh, come on. I'm changing it up every day.

Every day. I did Swift as my lead word yesterday for Taylor. Like, I'm changing it up. I need new teens in the Super Bowl. Well, we've got a record rating, so I think the country is telling you, I'm good with this match. I should ask Fox who they won next year in New Orleans. By the way, now, remember New England started going to a bunch, and then there was the

New England Rams game, which is boring. That was where I felt like, okay, I've got New England fatigue. Had it been 2827, and Belichick beats McVeat. I don't get bored with great. Great food, I go to the same restaurants. I get bored with boring stuff.

If you give me repetition, but it's always great, I'm good with it. Chiefs last two years, the Super Bowls have been excited in fourth quarter. insane second halfs. And also, Shanahan versus Reed, some of the play calling, I'll give Romo credit.

He said this a couple of times. He would just say, oh, that's a design completion. That is not on the quarterback. That's just a design. Multiple times in this game, you had beautifully, perfectly timed offensive design plays

that I was like, come on, man, we're watching art here. We're watching artists. A lot of it was, for Casey, crossing over the middle. killed Sam, the zone. You just kill it. Kelsey and Rice, it's like, ugh. What doesn't Mahomes kill? Man to man? I don't know. Raven's Man to Man. Second half, locked him up. He did nothing.

But when you do man to man in the last game of the year, what does he do? Mahomes will spend. He scrambles because you have your back to him. So you basically play as hard as you can and cross your fingers. That's kind of what you did with Brady in his prom. You play hard? And then you get a David, Tyree catch and you're like, we win. Or a Nick Falls, Philly special, we win. There's a lot of crossing your fingers. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Line. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Two NBA insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you right into the NBA grapevine. All happening in only one place. This league uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines. And me, Mark Stein. us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing.

Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger, than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something better. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's a win for fans and a win for football as the USFL and XFL merger is official. The United Football League will begin to play March 30th with the USFL. champ Birmingham Stallions taking on the XFL champ Arlington Renegades the United Football League this spring

on ABC, ESPN, Fox and FS1. Spring just got stronger. Sports are highly emotional and the bigger the game the more emotion. I have defended Tom Brady multiple times and Peyton Manning for barking at a

coach or a teammate or an official. I've seen Patrick Mahalms bark at Andy Reed and Eric B. Enemy and then in the second quarter after Isaiah Pacheco fumble and Travis Kelsey wasn't getting looks. He bumped into Andy Reed in the sideline and the first thing I thought is, oh boy, here go the overreactions. Listen, he had one yard in the first half. He eventually led the game in catches.

So he was right and Andy heard him and didn't hold a grudge. Mahomes had 134 passer rating targeting Kelsey. He wasn't getting any look. instead the young running back had just fumbled. Listen, I'm a head coach. I'm going to take a hip check from the greatest tight end ever to win a Super Bowl. Ideally, they don't bump, but this is sports and emotion. The sidelines are jammed, and Kelsey wasn't saying,

my girlfriend flew in from Tokyo. Get me the rock! He was saying, I won't fumble. I've had dominant playoff performances. There are holes here. design stuff for me. Call my number. So credit to Andy Reid not to be petty and hold grudges.

You just have to understand, whenever I see people talk about sports and they are outraged by stuff, I think, did you play it? High school games have yelling and screaming. College games do. You don't think this game, the most watched professional football game in American history with legacies and billions on the line? Kelsey wasn't being selfish. Kelty was saying, we can't move the ball.

I've got a yard. He wasn't saying pad my stats, get me a bonus. I want to show off to my girlfriend. He was, we're not moving the ball. What are we doing? We just fumbled going in for a touchdown. Get it to me. They listened.

They did. And eventually, Kelsey was a primary reason they won. Here's the coach and the player after. The part I love is he loves to play the game. and he wants to help his team win. I mean, it's not a selfish thing. That's not what it is. And I understand that.

And so as much as, you know, he bumps into me, I get after him. And we understand that. The greatest coach this game has ever seen. He's unbelievable and not only dialing up plays and having everybody prepared, but he's one of the best leaders of men that I've ever seen in my life. And he's helped me a lot with that. with channeling that emotion, with channeling that passion. And I owe my entire career to that guy and being able to kind of control how emotional I get.

And I just love him, man. I have defended Draymond Green. I have defended Travis Kelsey. There were times I defended Dennis Rodman. Sometimes there are players, and Kelsey is one of them who broke into this league and didn't really know how to channel his emotions. If Travis Kelsey goes to a lot of teams, he doesn't have this career. But he gets Reed, stability, a great organization, Mahomes, and he's turned himself into, as I watched this game yesterday in the second half, I thought, you know, he and Gronk,

that's about the best tight ends I've ever seen, and they were always great in big games. But this is not a sport without pimples and flaws and moments and emotion. And if you played sports, even at a high school or college level, you yell, you, scream. These are millionaires. They're worth 100 plus million. They want the ball. And I never feel, ever feel that Travis Kelsey is selfish. I never feel that.

He is so passionate. He can struggle even at Chief's practice to harness that emotion. But again, the rock star is not the accountant. Sometimes they trash a hotel room. It's the cost of art. Right? It's the cost of it. And the cost

of coaching Travis Kelsey, one of the most competitive players I've ever seen is sometimes the emotions spill out. He didn't take a swing at anybody. It was a hip check. Probably shouldn't do it. But the fact that Andy Reid gets it. And for the record, I've known people in that building, we don't talk about it much. Andy Reid is tough on players.

Andy Reid is one of the last coaches, if not the last, that practices hard. The Chiefs practice hard. They hit. They're intense, and it creates this sort of emotion that sometimes bubbles up in the biggest moments. I've seen Mahomes screaming at Reed. I've seen last year in the big game. This year I see it's Kelsey screaming at Reed. That's the relationship, right?

It's not indifference. It's intensity all the time, and I'm okay with it. I'm not looking for perfect. I understand there's pimples. All right. For the record, Niners, do we ever learn? the lines are out, the Niners are favored to win the Super Bowl next year. We never learned.

Good luck betting against Mahomes. Good luck. I wish you the very best of luck. McIntyre, he bet Niners. I'm not betting against Reed and Mahom for Nour seven years in any big game. Colin right, calling wrong next on a Monday. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob O'Don, Kirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble

stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host, Kare Games. This space is about black men's experience.

having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast.

Guaranteed human.