The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - More on the Chiefs epic win

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

Fox Sports NFL analyst Mark Sanchez joins the show in studio to breakdown the game changing plays that tilted the Super Bowl in favor of Mahomes and Kansas CitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It's pretty extra easy. Full remote access to your vehicle from the phone via the Mercedes MeConnect app. Check it out. MbUSA.com slash EQJMAC with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, so Brock Purdy acquitted himself pretty well in its first. Super Bowl appearance just came up short.

I was disappointed. Debo Samuel. I counted two drops. Purdy had a couple misthroes. Here's one I thought he should have had deep for Iuke, although the safety came over late. In overtime, listen, he had a chance when the DB slipped, but Chris Jones came in untouched,

and you got to unload the ball quickly. Anyways, here's Purdy taking accountability after the L. You have a good offense like the Chiefs do and what Mahomes can do. you know, for us, it's like, all right, we have to, you know, score touchdowns. And we had opportunities to do so, I think. Shot ourselves in the foot with, you know, just penalties and the operations and stuff. So I got to be better in terms of, you know, leading the guys and just, you know,

how I handle things in the huddle and telling them, you know, what to expect, stuff like that. So, but yeah, at the end of the day, I think we have the team, the offense, to score touchdowns. and I think I failed to put our team in position to do that. Is it fair for me to say this? At home, he was outplayed significantly by Jordan Love for three quarters and fell into a hole 24 to 7 to Gough and late outplayed by Mahomes. I'm not denying he's good.

If Kirk Cousins played against Jordan Love by next year, I think you'll think Jordan Love's better. I think golf is better and Mahomes is better, is that when you categorize a quarterback as good, and I think Brock Purdy makes too many good throws not to be good, this is what the end of a season often looks like. Being outplayed by a talented first-rounder Jordan Love, being outplayed late,

is that go look at the history of good quarterbacks. Dak and Kirk Cousins, those are good quarterbacks. I think Purdy's good. This is kind of how the season ends that you kind of feel like they don't have enough special. to beat a Brady. Mahomes. You're not wrong,

but if you look at the clips that FS1's airing here, almost all those guys are covered up. There's no separation whatsoever. Debo was not getting open. George Kittle could not get open. Brian and I, Youke, had a couple nice plays, but overall, I just,

I don't see how people can walk away from this. It's like, Apple, you can't win a Super Bowl with Purdy. I just, I don't see that. I don't think you can say can't win it with Purdy, but it is hard to win a Super Bowl. with good quarterbacks. I mean, look, think about this. If they're not going up against Mahomes,

the Niners are Super Bowl champs right now. Or Brady. Oh, yeah, okay. He's retired, fortunately. Think about how good Big Ben was. Brady, Peyton Manning, and Mahomes rendered him playoff irrelevant for most of his last decade, and he's an all-time talent.

So Big Ben couldn't get through it, with a veteran coach and generally a stacked defense. roster. Big Ben couldn't. So you're asking Purdy to penetrate this Peyton Manning Mahomes Brady Wall. Are you? I don't know. I think

Purdy did more than enough to win that game. The defense did not come through on a couple of big spots, whereas the Chief's defense did. I don't it's a tough discussion. It's a fun one. And I think we'll have it going on forward because I don't think they're moving out, not moving off Brock Purdy, are they? They're not bringing in her cousins.

or anything nonsense like that? No, no, I think he's good. You don't move off good quarterbacks, but you have to be realistic. Go to Kirk Cousins how his career has ended. Dak, how it's ended. Good quarterbacks do not beat great quarterbacks very often. I thought the Jordan Love-Brock-Purdy matchup was kind of an eye-opener where you're like, yeah, Green Bay's got kids.

Well, but one of them did come through with the game-winning drive in the fourth, and the other did not. Fair. That's fair. Let's move on to Patrick Mahomes. He did get his third ring last night and his third Super Bowl MVP. Hey, Colin, maybe now he can make that Sports Illustrated list of top 25 Super Bowl performances. He was snubbed. Remember we talked about that last week? I didn't think he was great in this game, but when it mattered most, he was there. He joins Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only players who win Super Bowl MVP three times in their careers. Mahomes, I believe, is 28 years old. you my wife said she was rooting for Kansas City my wife said did you see Patrick's wife in the Sports Illustrated shoot oh my wife was like she is unbelievable and I was like

if that's what it takes to get my wife to care about football Patrick Mahomes wife then and she did look I looked it up fantastic beautiful young lady um that's what it takes between Britney and Holmes a Taylor Swift Travis Kelsey Mahomes. It may be a Midwest team. There's a lot of star power in this organization. San Francisco's always had star power. I mean, don't forget about Paul Rudd.

Oh. He's like a number one fan, super fan, the Ant-Man. This Kansas City team is the kind of dynasty that I find easy to root for. Ask yourself this. How do you hate Mahomes? You don't. You can't hate Mahomes. Reed's not a cheater like Belichick, so we don't hate him.

Oh, come on. What do you mean? Spikegate? I'm just saying Kansas will talk about the TV. Kansas City is not hateable. Agreed. I mean, you got Andy Reid, how are you going to celebrate? Cheeseburger.

You got Patrick Mahomes, who's got, you know, his family, he's overcome some stuff, and he's just less likable for that Netflix special. You're like, Mahomes is great. How do you not like it? Reed is really likable. The kind of got, like, the uncle who shows up at Thanksgiving, and maybe he's saying some mildly inappropriate stuff. And has eaten steak tips.

He's eating his face off, maybe have one or two many drinks. And he seems like, yeah, you're right. The chiefs are very likable. The Niners, I don't know. Are they likable? I like them a lot. No, I don't think they're unlike. I always understood those people that didn't like the Patriots.

Oh, yeah. You know, Belichick, Grumpy, Gate, deflate, spot. Cheating. I get it. I understand the people that resent the Cowboys because of, you know, they get all the attention. I think the Chiefs are incredibly likable. Final story is this pop star named Taylor Swift, who made it from Tokyo to Las Vegas and plenty of time to watch Travis Kelsey win

the Super Bowl. They celebrated together on the field. Look at that. Kissing and hugging. Taylor's looks brilliant. She's fit. Authentic love. I am for young people falling in line. Are you of the belief that this is a, what are they calling it, a sci op

where, are you seeing this stuff online? I'm going to tell you something. I got relatives sending it to me. I'm like, guys, I can't. You know what you find out with the internet? You think there's a lot of crazy people out there and then you find out, oh, they're in my family. I mean, seriously, it didn't matter if it's COVID, the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift.

We're all like, man, there's some crazy people out there. Oh, it's my second cousin. Yeah. And nutbags everywhere. She's hitting it with a great tight end. She's adorable. She's talented, young people that are attractive. Celebrities date celebrities.

By the way, how many times of, like, celebrities dated NFL, NBA baseball? That's the way it works. They don't hang out with, like, pharmacists? Hey, they marry tight ends. Farmists. My dad was a local optometrist. He wasn't dating actresses.

So this is the way it works in America. And by international. Look at international soccer stars. I think what's irking fans is the social media accounts of the league are leaning all the way into Taylor Swift content, pushing, pushing, guess what?

The engagement. And so fans are like, I don't want to see. Well, then they'll mute it. Don't mute it. Don't watch it. Unfollowing. the account. It's not like you can't get the breaking news elsewhere. Like lay off Taylor Swift. I think you have to take a big picture account if the history of sports, you know, it's just

like Hollywood people date Hollywood people. Professional athletes are American royalty. In England, you have a royal family. Our royal family are quarterbacks and athletes. That's our royal family, and they date celebrities. Do you remember when Derek Jeter was running through half of Hollywood back in his prime? Nobody said anything. Nobody cared. But now it's Taylor Swift, oh, oh, geez. And my wife tells me that Travis Kelsey's hunk is very, you know, she's like hunky. That's a hunky guy. Hunky?

Well, I mean, she, my wife's my age, and she's like, yeah, he's a great-looking guy. Of course. Taylor Swift is interested. She knows when they go out for dinner, you know, he can pick up the check. I think there's a lot to love there in this relationship. Jay Mack with the news. That's how I see. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. You know, you're flying private. Can you pick up the check on that? All right, says Travis. And with that, we bring in 10 NFL seasons that a bang-up job. We love them at Fox Sports. Mark Sanchez is joining us here.

But you had a really good commercial yesterday. Thank you. Mr. Out there giving money to charity guy? So-co Honda. By the way, a couple of those guys made some grabs. Hey, those internet throws. Whoa. Whoa.

You're not the first person. Okay. I needed one of the coaches to unhitch the trailer and run for me. I told them. I said, stretch out, whatever you got to do. Let's go. We're running a go ball. Rolling seam catch. No, that was awesome.

They're great. That was fun. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard 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 what you're 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 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 a little kill? 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you 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 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. So there's a lot of things to talk about. One of the things, Mark, is that I'm always, I want you to explain this to me. So in the first half, Kansas City couldn't create momentum. And we saw later in the game that Kansas City had plays that could have helped. But champions tend to be patient. And all of a sudden, you get to fourth quarter and overtime,

and Kansas City is using all these plays that they have stored. And I'm like, man, that's hard as a staff, isn't it? No doubt. No doubt. You get back to what really matters in those crucial moments. And we've talked about it on this set before, and you see it time and time again in these championship moments, his teams revert to who they are. Johnny's and Joe's, not the X's and O's.

It's not just the place. The decision-making got sharper. His awareness, he just started to lock in. And you saw that killer instinct that Mahomes has on those last couple drives of the fourth quarter and in overtime. He's eight for eight in overtime. Are you kidding me?

I mean, that's like Jordan. That's like Kobe. That's like LeBron. Like, all right, give him the ball. He'll figure it out. And with a coordinator who, trust him with the defense that started to pick things up. And San Francisco, when you have a guy like Patrick Mahomes, it turns into a horror flick. Okay, he's Michael Myers and Halloween. He's

going to come back. You better kill him. You got to kill him and make sure he's dead and make sure again and then go triple check. If you let this guy hang around, he's going to ruin your Sunday. He's going to ruin your Super Bowl and your chance to win a ring and a Lombardi trophy. That's what he does. and, you know, I thought some, when he came off the field early in the game a couple times, they cut to his face and he's got the, a little bit of days, a little deer in the headlights, okay? Brady's been like that. Kobe's been like, ah, it's not right. Something's wrong.

Three and out, two times in a row. It's not right. All right, let's talk about it, Coach Nagy. Let's talk about Andy Reid. Let's get right here. And they find a way to figure it out, but that was the Niners chance to win it. You know what I mean? That's the change.

You've got to take that thing early. Yeah. They had opportunities early. The punt off the heel of the guy. Terrible. Absolute killer. Then they score the next play. Then the fumble.

I mean, these are like crushing blows. Plus, you have no points off of a Mahomes turnover. God forbid the guy gives you a free one. If he gives you a free one, you better take advantage. I need at least three points. Right. At least three. That was an absolute killer.

And then the Block PAT. The Block PAT, people aren't talking. about it, but you have to score at the end of the game instead of tied up. And your execution at the end of the game and your, your order of operations totally changes. Good point. Because, okay, we need six, we need seven, not a field goal. And that completely changes your outlook and your plan of attack, especially as a quarterback. You know, okay, I got to get to about the 30 and we're fine.

Instead of, all right, boys, let's get down in tight, and we're going to have to take a couple shots here and see what happens. I don't think it's a blame game. I just think Mahomes and Reid have done this to multiple teams. They've done it to Baltimore. They did it years ago to Deshaun and Houston. This is what they do. I don't think it's a blame game.

I will say, though, I felt going into the game that Kansas City's corners were so gifted. They would neutralize Ayuk and perimeter stuff. I was a little surprised that Kiddell and Debo didn't get more looks. Now, again, it's a light criticism, is that game plan or is it just Kansas City's defense is better than we think? No, I think Kansas City's defense is great. I think the way to neutralize those guys is to get in big personnel like San Francisco did at the beginning part of the game, the early portion of the game.

They were almost exclusively 21 personnel with Ushack, McCaffrey, IEUK, Debo, and Kittle. So two backs, the tied end, two receivers. And it keeps them pretty basic. Make Bolton, make gay and tranquil, make those guys play the run. They're backers. Make them fit up on weak side ISO. Make them fit up on power with guards pulling in your face 40 times a game. That's what I thought the game plan was going to be.

I really did. Because it neutralizes Sneed and McDuffie and Reed. You don't talk about those guys. They got to fill and be the fourth hat in the run game if you're going to pound it on them, which is what I thought they were going to do. They did for a good portion of the game. They got away from it a little bit, I think, in the third quarter. Get a little pass happy.

And when they did, I mean, McDuffie was all over the place. That dude, we talked about him on this set before. Yeah. That dude's a straight up G. He is a baller, man, and has a nose for the football. And then the other thing, I thought, you know, your center, your right guard, your right tackle for San Francisco. It's Brendel. Part of the year was Burford and part of the year was Feliciano.

Well, Feliciano was in Buffalo. Got hurt a few times, follows Dayball to the Giants, then comes over to San Francisco. So a bit of a journeyman towards the end of his career had been banged up. Okay, well, that's an issue for me. Hey, Chris Jones, get on that side. McIvitz had a rough start to the year. Remember against Pittsburgh? Shanahan owned that, said I put him one-on-one with T.J. Watt

way too many times. Well, what do you think T.J. Watt was thinking? This guy's going to make his first start in Pittsburgh, and they're going to drop this guy back. If they dare to drop this guy back, I will ruin his day. Boom. So T.J. Watt was all over it. Well, that whole right side plus, Brenda,

a little more of a journeyman in general. He's not like this, you know, all pro-centered. Okay, there's some question marks over there. What do you think you're going to see? Hey, Chris Jones, go get your big ass over there and go wreck their day. Right. Plus, you're losing Omenahue. Omenahue went down.

Nobody talked about that. He had the strip sack in the AFC championship game against Mahomes, or against Lamar Jackson, excuse me, for Kansas City. He tore his knee in the game, didn't even play. So who's going to step up? Is it Karloftus? Is it Dana? Is it Brendel?

Is it? Who's going to make a play? Wharton, I mean, who's going to make the play? And there it is. Chris Jones, when it mattered most, in overtime, off the right side. almost unabated on the rush, almost unabated, your best player shows up in the biggest moments. That's exactly what they do.

Offense, defense, special teams, they find a way. And I thought San Francisco let them hang around too long. You let them hang around too long. Good teams, they find a way to win. Yeah, I mean, one of the things you touched on is Kansas City got a huge break, the punt, immediately turned to seven. When you go to overtime, you know, people can talk about the coin toss, but it worked.

It's a 13-play drive. a first end goal or the first 10th of the 15. Yep. And it's field goals. So there were these operatives. It just felt like the difference, and it's not a knock on pretty. No, they got into third and long early. Okay, they were three for 12 on the game.

That's not a winning effort on third down. That's right. But they started like one for nine or something, two for, I mean, it was bad. Go check those numbers. I'm not solid on them. But it was a bad start on third down. Why? Well, they got penalties on first and second down.

So now you're third and 15. So defense is just sitting back there waiting for a bad throw, just waiting for a bounce, you know, waiting for something to come their way. And it was just uncharacteristic of the 49ers, but I don't care what team it is. You get into the third and 15? Come on, man. The coordinator's just like closing his eyes and pointing at the call sheet. Like, what are you going to do? You know, they literally, you run plays like three wide receivers on the right, one receiver on the left, and you tell these three guys, pretend you're running routes, but really you're going to block.

This guy just runs a shallow across the field. It's called a service play. service shallow, just dump it to them and see what happens. Change field position, gain 10 yards, great, punt. You know what I mean? So they got into those situations

and it looked, it just throttled their offense. Yeah. All right, Mark's got video. The tape is elite, coach. Elite. Okay, so let's get to a commercial. Let's not waste any of his time with meet Gavin. Save Biggin' Your Water and Energy bills

with a new Navian tankless water heater. Go to tankless made simple.com. Hot water, spa-like comfort. Only heat it when you need it so it never run. out. More on Mark with tape next. 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 great vibe. All happening in only one place. This League Uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines.

And me, Mark Stein. Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haines. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what 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 Clivert 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 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 a 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 was 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, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. 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. Last 11, 12 minutes of our show. First things first with Nick Wright. I'm sure he will be nuanced in his love for Kansas City. And again, tip of the cap to San Francisco, I thought for big portions, they outplayed the Niners. but I thought the Garoppolo Niner team outplayed the Chiefs for long portions. Kansas City, this is what they do. By the way, Tommy Brady's had pick sixes in Super Bowls.

You find your way against Atlanta. You get your footing. You get plays. You make an Edelman catch. This is what champions do. It's unorthodox. It's uneven. But you kind of get better as the game goes.

And that's what Mahomes and Reed and Kelsey do. So let's go. Mark Sanchez for our radio audience. You got film. You got tape. and you said it was good stuff here. Oh, great stuff. So I think some of the big themes here

are understanding these crucial moments in the game. It's Mahomes to Kelsey. It's Mahomes to Rice. It's guys he trusts. Even Mikhail Hardman, who was there for a long time. He trusts these guys. He understands what they're going to do. Then if you're going to play man-to-man against these guys

and have help over the top, there's no excuse for not disrupting the timing at the snap of the ball. It's your job to go, stun that guy to go get Kelsey and jack him up for a second. Go steal his purse, steal his lunch money, right at the snap and freeze him just to throw off the quarterback's timing and hopefully your rush can get home by the time things are supposed to happen. You want to disrupt the timing. So this first clip is Kelsey fourth quarter, third and seven. He catches the shallow cross.

Well, look what they do to get him open. This is like other basketball players, setting picks and everything. It's man-to-man across the board, okay? And there's a free safety deep in the middle. He's playing center field. And then Fred Warner has Kelsey man to man with help over the top. Gibson's right there to help him. So Gibson's on top. You can never get beat, Fred Warner. Right here, go jam him, go take a piece of him, knock him back, stun him for just a second to throw this whole pick game off because these two shallows are supposed to happen like two ships passing in the night. You can't leave any space between you and Kelsey. Okay, so he's eyeing up Warner and he's not allowed to him anymore. You can't pick them. So you've got to go to the last second and then dodge him and force

Warner off the path. See what I mean? So he creates a little space. That's how you create space. If you're by yourself and you don't have the picker, you do a stair step over the ball pretending to go vertical to get the guy behind you to stutter and then run out the back door. With the picker, you guys can't leave any space. Two ships passing in the night. That is like day one, shallow cross, mesh, they call it, pick, plays, all that. These guys run out. to perfection in the most crucial moments. But at the beginning of the play, I saw Tony drawing these out routes.

Well, they had a timeout. The ball can go anywhere. That's why you need to jam them. Even more reason to jam the guy at the snap, just to throw everything off. And so I thought the 49ers really missed an opportunity. And that's like, I mean, Patrick Mahomes can do that. That's a layup for him.

Okay, this last play is, we've seen it before. It's the in-and-out motion. I think he said corn dog. Oh, yeah, they do this occasion. end of in his post-game interview with Tracy. So is that the name of the, well, that's, I think is what he was alluding to, Corn Dog, but it's an idea of, I've heard it as drive return. You hear it as an escape route, basically show like you're running in and then run back out,

okay? The idea behind it, they used it last year with Skymore. They used it last year with Cadarius Tony to walk in touchdowns that Mahomes could have thrown left-handed, you know what I mean? Like, he could have thrown it with his offhand, they were so open. So how do they get there? Well, you got to recognize what's going on, the R. The C is communicate it, and then you got to execute it.

And these guys do RCE better than anybody in the league, especially in crucial moments. So watch, I'm going to give it to you three times here on the tape. So go ahead and roll the tape. The motion at first, it looks like a trip set with the back near. So that's four receivers. So they bump over on the motion and have to adjust. The reason I think they believe that this is going to be crossball motion is because look at the backer on the backside who replaces Greenlaw.

I think it's Burke or whatever. 48, he thinks he's got to run out. He's not even playing the run. Okay, now, what do they do to the run? Ignore the squiggly on the screen. What do they do to the run? Well, when you put the back near to the tight end, they're going to bend the end and tell him to sell out on McKinnon,

and they're going to scrape Fred Warner over the top to cover the zone read. It's a two-way go. Okay, we've done this with Lamar on this set and talked about his triple option. Well, here comes Fred Warner, to stop the second part of the triple option. Mahomes can run this. He has the ability to hand it to McKinnon or run. So what does he do?

Now that they screwed up the motion assignments, they think there's only two receivers on this right side because they think Mikul Hardman's going the other way. There goes Bosa, there goes Warner. Oh shoot, Logan Ryan has to play the run. So this backside action forces his eyes to look for just a second, he's already beat. Because there's a guy there that just reappears out of nowhere.

They thought he was across the ball. Third time in two Super Bowls. All of them wide open. And this one is very similar to those plays, but with the backfield action, it's lipstick on the pig. It's the illusion of sophistication, but we're running basic, basic concepts.

And to pass that off on the goal line inside with an RPO for the defense is so difficult. It happens so fast. And Mark, they hid that thing in last year. They use them at the perfect time. They use them at the right time. And here's what I love about their RPO, because RPO stands for run, pass option.

I'd argue that every quarterback thinks it's pass run option because you want to throw it. But RPO can also stand for ridiculous protection options, okay? Because in the middle of the field, sometimes you've got a big 300-pound delinement in the quarterback's face, and you're telling them, hey, read the linebacker. Don't worry about that guy we're not blocking. Don't worry about T.J. Watt. Just chuck it down the field. What?

but down here it's so simple because everything's condensed in a phone booth. If anything goes wrong, just throw it out of the back of the end zone. Fall down. You're inside the five yard line. Like, it's okay. So I feel like their usage of RPO in the right positions of the field, namely goal line, you know, tight red zone. That's where you want to use this stuff because things happen so quickly.

The communication has to happen so precisely on defense. You just get picked naturally. And Kelsey did an excellent job of just widening. eliminating the vision, the clear vision from Traverius Ward, who sometimes you'll see the corner come out of nowhere and meet Nicole Hardman at the goal line. I mean, everybody is perfect with their execution. You know, it's interesting.

With Kansas City, they're so good situationally. I wonder, because there is a sense with Kansas City, their defense is so good, they don't have to win by shootout, and they kind of know it. I wonder sometimes how much time they spend just on red zone situation. I don't think I've ever seen it. And by the way, this is a wide receiver group that led the league in drops. I know.

You tell me, when you were with the Jets and you're a younger quarterback, situational football is important. It's open touchdowns in a congested space. And it's an emphasis and it's an evolution. This playbook is like a living, breathing thing that evolves over time. And the only way to be able to do that is to keep some core pieces together. The Mahomes, you know, you've got to keep the center there. So you get the communication. You've got to keep Kelsey there.

You're going to filter through some wide receivers just based on age and, you know, a little too much tread on the tires. You've got to move on from certain players. But you keep a core nucleus of guys. And key positions. at key positions, and they emphasize red zone more than anybody. I think one of the coolest nuggets, too, when you think about these crucial plays in Super Bowls, all that kind of stuff, most quarterbacks are right-handed.

Andy Reid is a West Coast guy, all the way back to Bill Walsh with Montana, opposite of Steve Young, because he was a lefty. But he would never roll Montana to the left, almost never, because he doesn't want his right shoulder exposed to the defense immediately. And when you get hit, boom, you'll take a helmet right there. there goes your season. Montana's gone, we're done. You know what I mean? Before Steve Young got there, obviously. But all these plays seem to happen to the right, the defense is left.

I don't know how many times the defense practices that. It's not the boundary corner. It's not this matchup. It's not that. No. Sean McVeigh did it to Cooper Cup into the boundary on the right hash to the right. Matt Stafford, right-handed quarterback. Hunter Renfro with Clemson a couple years ago. It's the same little escape route. People use it. Now he just dressed it up, put a little sizzle on it. You know, we've won the Super Bowl with it.

What you've shown us, Mark, throughout the course of the year, and it's interesting, is I remember having a conversation with a former Raiders safety. And I was working in Tampa, and I forget if he retired there or something. And I said, you know, what's it like to face Bill Walsh in Montana? He said, it's infuriated. He said they run 12 plays. That's it. But they run them so well out of six sets.

He goes, I can't tell you how many times I've been beaten. by half a step with Jerry Rice. Yep. And it's just like, when I feel like with Kansas City, their trick plays, that's the third time I've seen this. They do the same thing where they leak the back out the opposite way, and it looks like man to man. They have so many counters off of it,

but it's this illusion of sophistication, and they execute it so precisely. I think you can't say enough about Andy Reid. Are you kidding me? He's done it with McNabb, Vic, Kevin Cobb, Jeff Garcia Patrick Mahon's like he's taking these guys Alex Smith he's taking

these guys to New Heights everybody seems to play better with the guy why is that he's done it with multiple franchises so that is that's impressive stuff by the way Kelsey Andy Reid bumped didn't bother me at all no listen he's done a good job

remember Kelsey used to get a ton of penalties early he's really matured but he's had fight to practice he blew his gasket he blew it he just lost his cool for a second because he wanted to be in the game. He was pissed that they subbed him out. He was one yard. So he's like, get me in the effing game.

You know, get me in the game. And he went a little too far and bumped him. But here's how I know that they have such a good bond because he didn't take it personal. You get into these red line situations. You know, the engines revved up all the way. You're red line in that car. These guys stay cool.

Andy Reed had to, hey, you don't challenge me. You're benched for the next court. It's not personal. I know, Travis. Andy Reid, I know him. I know what he wants. He wants to win the game. It's all good. We're going to be fine. Yeah. And he is steady Eddie, man. He's taking some guys in with, you know,

questionable stuff off the field and he just plugs him in, gets him to work, gets him to perform, show up on Sunday. I think that's it. Part of great coaching, Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson, Andy Reid, part of great coaching is understanding these are 23, 25, 27-year-old alpha males. The key is, is it about the team? He wasn't yelling, Hey, my girlfriend flew him from Tokyo. No, no, no. He's yelling.

It's not about that. He just wants to win. And he knows. It's not personal. Here's the other thing. You're not all going to get treated equally, but I will treat you fairly. That's Andy Reed. That's good coaching.

Not everybody's equal on the team. It's not, you're a teammate. You're part of the team, but I'm going to treat people fairly. So he knows how to handle those guys. Well, Mark, you've been phenomenal all year. We're not only losing football. We've probably lose Mark for a few months. We'll be back.

Maybe a little free agency. Maybe a little college college quarterbacks coming up. We got a lot of discussion. A lot of discussions. If we can keep J-Mack on the rails, though. All right, he's already tired of the Chiefs? He's like to change the song every 20 seconds guy.

Yes. Come on, man. See you tomorrow's the third. 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.

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