The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1066 - OVERREACTION MONDAY, NFL Conference Championships Recap, Adam Schefter, Dan Orlovsky, Kyle Juszczyk, Darius Butler LIVE In The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

On today's show, Pat, Darius Butler, AJ Hawk, and the boys overreact to everything that happened in the NFC and AFC Conference Championship games including the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes/Travis Kelce going back to the Super Bowl for the 4th time in 5 years, and why they are just cold blooded int he playoffs, while the Ravens played their worst game of the season in the most important time. They also discuss the Lions getting out to a 17 point lead before the 49ers concocted an unreal comeback that saw them ultimately win 34-31 to send them to the Super Bowl. Joining the progrum to give injury updates for the both teams and also shed some light for what's next in the coaching cycle is ESPN NFL Senior Insider, Adam Schefter (33:54-56:15). Next, 12 year NFL veteran at QB, ESPN NFL analyst, Dan Orlovsky joins the show to chat about why the Chiefs were able to have their way with the Ravens and what Steve Spagnuolo did to make the day so difficult for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, his thoughts on Brock Purdy and the 49ers as a whole, and why he doesn't condemn Dan Campbell's decision making throughout the game for the Lions (1:18:38-1:49:46). Later, 8x Pro Bowler, All-Pro, Fullback for the San Francisco 49ers, Kyle Juszczyk joins the show to chat about all the different weapons on the 49ers offense and why they're each so important, if there's anything to them starting slow in their last two playoff games, his relationship with Kyle Shanahan, why he still doesn't understand any of the Brock Purdy slander, his wife's burgeoning fashion business, his thoughts getting ready for the Super Bowl, and much more (1:59:03-2:31:51). Make sure you subscribe to YouTube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. Or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome, on this Championship Overreaction Monday, January 29th, 2024. This program starts now. Football! It's glorious. Football is amazing and they had a fantastic championship Sunday just yesterday where the Kansas City Chiefs, who is still the Kansas City Chiefs, went into Baltimore and out-physicaled them.

Right. Out-disciplined them. Right. Out-creativited them. Right. And got a massive win over a very dominant Baltimore Ravens team who played their worst game when the lights were the absolute brightest. And then in the second game, the NFC Championship was decided in Santa Clara, California, when the brand new Lions got out to a 17-point lead by halftime.

Hell yeah. 24-7 going into the half in Santa Clara. Brock Purdy sucks. The Niners are nothing post the bye week that they got after they earned the number one seed just a few weeks ago. They snuck by the Green Bay Packers. Only played about five minutes of good football last week. And then this week, they don't even know what football is. Then Nick Bosa, Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy, Kittle, and others spoke up at halftime.

And in the third quarter, 17 to zip against the Detroit Lions. 24-24 going into the fourth quarter. It was magnetic. And now the Super Bowl is set. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have been the four of the last five Super Bowls. Whoa. Jesus. Four of the last five Super Bowls.

Pretty wild. Good football team. Yeah. With Taylor Swift and the Swifties in cargo right next to him. I hate that team. I'm not going to watch the Super Bowl because they're on it. Travis Kelsey, Experian Travis, Subway Travis. I hate this guy.

I ain't going to watch him. Taking on the San Francisco 49ers. I hate this team. I'll block party. I hate them. Let's aim's pay everybody! They're playing the Super Bowl. The NFL's got to be pumped is what everybody says.

But if you read what the internet says, nobody's pumped. So does that make the NFL pumped? Who knows? What we do know is that these two teams, one of them leading the NFC all year to a number one seed in a revenge tour after everybody getting hurt in the first quarter of the NFC all year to a number one seed in a revenge tour after everybody getting hurt in the first quarter of the NFC championship last year, being dominant from start to finish with a little bit of a hiccup in the middle when Debo and Trent Williams were injured. But immediately afterwards,

this man, the game manager of all game managers in his second year, alongside that big brain of Kyle Shanahan, are going to have some special things in store because there's videos hitting the internet of George Kittle from the last Super Bowl where Jimmy G was their quarterback if you do recall and they had to lead over the Kansas City Chiefs where George Kittle kind of crying and emotional at the end of the game saying this is not the last time I'm going to be here this is not the last time I'm going to be here well he's back taking on a team that has basically made the home of the Super Bowl. And they'll be playing in a postseason

game in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the Raiders will be playing in a postseason game in Las Vegas in Allegiant Stadium. I think it's going to be a fantastic game. The lead-up is going to be bananas and we'll be there every step of the way. The Toxic Table is here at Boston Corner

and at Ty Schmidt. Good-looking dog on the chess call, man. Yeah, thank you. I mean, I wore it just because, you know, Kansas City Chiefs were dogs. I doubted them. I thought the Ravens were going to do it. And it was kind of cool watching it back, as you said, for the last five Super Bowls.

New England did that 2014 and 2018. And it was on the other side for myself watching it, what you guys got to experience watching New England. Like just the first drive, and Gumby mentioned this before the show, the first drive, Kansas City just walking down the field and scoring, it was, oh, okay. So this is what it is like to not root for the team that is always going to end up either in the championship game on, you know,

conference championship Sunday or the Super Bowl. And it's sweet to watch. Like I think it's cool to at least appreciate Mahomes, Reed, Kelsey, Chris Jones, all those guys, how amazing it is that they've done it again. And obviously, with the Taylor Swift stuff, people don't love that. What's the Taylor Swift stuff? The most successful woman on earth right now happens to be dating the greatest tight end of all time who's on the current dynasty.

Why is everybody so mad about it? I don't get it. Why is everybody so mad about it why is everybody so mad about it i'm sick of being i'm sick of people being mad about it yes you know what i like it's annoying i what are we even talking about i love it and if you see i know that's one half of the hammer cowboys telling digs you love that type of stuff you're not ready to not scared to stir it up a little bit in those particular parts of the world but i don't fully understand now at the beginning i can see it sure oh she's releasing a movie?

Oh, he's on 14 commercials? Oh, we're getting worked right now? The NFL? Bunch of bums showcasing, shoving it down our throats. I'm sick of seeing it. Every commercial, him. Every game, her. We're done. I can see that. But did you see them after the game yesterday?

That's what I was saying I loved. They're an actual... They're an actual. Hey. They're an actual love. I'm so happy that the world got to see that. And that I think, I don't want to say I told you so, because in sports media a lot of people say that. And then they say a lot of things that are wrong and they just refuse to chit-chat about those.

And we are certainly no different than everybody else. But from the very beginning, I thought to myself, these two might be perfect for each other. These two might be perfect for each other. These two might be perfect for each other. And then as you see it kind of unravel, I think he thanked her, obviously, for being a big part of the run. They were kissing. She got a chance to give him a big hug with his pads on. She got to see him go give a speech. She gave a shout-out to Andy Reid.

She dapped up Tony Romo. It's like Taylor's a part of the football world now. This is good news, not bad news. But a lot of people are going to know, well, how many times is CBS going to show Taylor Swift at that Super Bowl? Well, she is a global phenomenon. She's selling out stadiums in all these countries in which it's their first game they're watching every single year.

I assume they're going to show Taylor a lot. I assume it's going to get real loud. But I assume that this Kansas City Chiefs team is going to somehow have a plan to win the game. Yeah. I, one of the Chiefs' biggest believers, has actually had to make up excuses to a nine-year NFL vet. A man with a high football IQ.

Host of our program every single Monday through Wednesday, Derek Shea-Butters. I've had to make up excuses throughout this year about this Kansas City Chiefs team. I feel like I'm one of the biggest supporters of this Kansas City Chiefs team. I feel like I'm one of the biggest supporters of this Kansas City Chiefs team just because to what you were kind of saying there about like I enjoy watching greats be great. Yeah. Because the amount of commitment that it takes to be great no matter how easy anybody makes it the amount of commitment is admirable for anybody that makes it to the top. Now not every human that makes it to the top is an admirable human being but I'm talking about the road that it took to get to the top of the mountain is always going to be a difficult one, even if people make it look easy.

So the amount of work that Andy Reid has put in for football, obviously. Patrick Mahomes, same damn thing. Travis Kelsey, same damn thing. Chris Jones, same thing. Even though he held out and everybody could think some things, the amount of work it takes to get to that standpoint. Because you're just a human at the end of the day. Now granted, certain gifts are bestowed upon

numerous people that they aren't upon others. But you have to work to get there. So I enjoy watching the greats be great. I appreciate learning about why the greats are great. So I am a huge fan of dynasties when people get going. Oh, you're a bandwagoner? It's like, no, still love the Penguins. You know, we were once a dynasty.

We're kind of dead. But I enjoy watching greatness. I love it. I appreciate it. I think the world needs more of it. I think we're on our way we're kind of dead. But I enjoy watching greatness. I love it. I appreciate it. I think the world needs more of it. I think we're on our way to getting more of it. So whenever I see this great team that I've beloved, I've fallen in love with watching and learning about,

do terrible, it's like, I don't want to believe it. Like whenever they were a terrible football team, I'm like, Patrick, I was sick. The guy had the flu. What do you expect from him? Well, there's 40 mile an hour winds. How is he supposed to throw the ball? Travis Kelsey dropping the ball.

He sticks his ear in and 30-mile-an-hour wins. It's right over there. Of course they're going to drop this. They're humans at the end of the day. I didn't expect them to be able to beat Baltimore. You said whenever you're watching it and they walk right down the field in the first series, I was thinking the same thing. Andy Reid was like, oh, Mike McDonough, that's cute.

Yeah, exactly. You're the genius, huh? Your defense is just so incredible. And then they just have a plan clearly to go down now that baltimore ravens defense second half shut it down lock it down not enough because what the kansas city chiefs defense did to the baltimore ravens offense phenomenal but i didn't think the chiefs were going to be able to do it i didn't think they were going to be able to make it to the super bowl i didn't think they were going to be able to win the to the Super Bowl. I didn't think they were going to be able to win the AFC Championship again. And then you see these plays, and it's like, why did I ever doubt them? The Chiefs is still the Chiefs.

What did we learn about the Chiefs yesterday? And why did seemingly, and I would put myself in the category of, I wouldn't rob a bank to watch the Kansas City Chiefs. But they did go into the bank, got a big win, saw a couple good tweets about that shot that drew Tranquil, I believe, and MVS and the others. But then, like, I didn't have faith in them. I don't know if anybody did.

And that's just all they needed, maybe? Why do you think the Chiefs is still the Chiefs? And do you think they have a chance against this Niners team? Obviously, yes, they have a chance against anybody. Yeah, I know this line. I think it opened up the Super Bowl line initially, like three points. Two and a half. Okay, two and a half, and now it's down to one.

So that would be three weeks in a row. Mahomes would still be underdog. So for some reason, I guess the books still aren't believing in it, but like you said, once that game started, I think he came out and completed his first 10 or 11 passes. It was almost like the turn we've been hearing thrown around a lot, a game manager. Mahomes was that in a lot of his playoffs.

Taking care of the ball and them being special when he needed to be. That throw that Travis Kelsey touched Kelsey oh no the touchdown Kyle Hamilton is in his pocket great position back shoulder on his back hip the only place you could put that ball Travis Kelsey showed up you know there's a lot said about him obviously with Taylor Swift and all the commercials and everything going on wasn't having his best year as the season started to wind down once he got the playoff mode Travis Kelsey I think he was the MVP of the game yesterday, to your point. The Ravens did lock it down in the second half.

But just no mistakes, really. This one. This one. Yep. Watch this one, D. Watch his catch. Watch his throw. These two.

Just like, how did any of us bet against those two? It's the goat to the goat. That's backyard football. A little spiciness pregame with Justin Tucker. But, I mean, those guys, you know, they're phenomenal. And Kelsey, Reed, obviously, Mahomes, and then Spags. I mean, Spags, you know, obviously they've been a really – probably a top three defense all year long.

And I think that unit took pride in saying, hey, we're going to be the best defense on the field today. And they made Lamar pretty much think it up. You said that Patrick Mahomes had to manage the game. Yeah. And everybody's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, not only in here but watching because obviously Patrick Mahomes is already on the Mount Rushmore in like everybody's eyes.

He actually gave an answer in a press conference about having to learn how to play whenever Spag's defense gets rolling. He's like, I've actually had to evolve this year and learn like, hey, be safe with the ball. As long as we don't turn the ball over right now with the way our defense is playing we're going to be in this game so he's even continuing to develop but also realizing that what they have on the other side of the ball is a weapon ty obviously the packers have been so dominant on the offensive side of the ball defense very rarely has been able to keep up it's always been a problem you have one thing you don't have

the other you have peanut butter but for some reason we never have any damn grape jelly. There's people that do a lot of cherry jelly, by the way. Cherry? Red, it's a red jelly. Those people kill people. Strawberry? Strawberry's good. I'm going for the purple. Every single.

Give me the squeezable Welch. But if you're a Chiefs fan, coming out of that game, and in the second half offense did next to nothing, and we still win, it's like, oh, maybe our team's more complete than it's been for the beginning of this entire dynasty. And obviously Spags is a big reason why, but they're all playing on a string. They're phenomenal. What they've done the last two weeks in this playoffs,

the brightest of lights, it's like when the Packers have a defense, you feel good. They have a great, they have a championship defense at Kansas City, something that they haven't had. Is this – are they only starting with this? Because Spag's name is not up for any head coaching jobs. No. So he's back, obviously.

Andy Reid is obviously back. It's like are the Chiefs somehow only getting better right now in the middle of this dynasty? It feels like that's the case. Yeah, and it's – I mean, we talk about it all the time. I don't know why, like, you just gotta stop betting against Mahomes. And it's tough because when we talk about the season, obviously,

and we're in it every single day, so you need to find new stuff to kind of overreact to, and week by week, things look so different, but it's one of those things where when you've been to four Super Bowls in five years, like as a fan, yeah, a week 13 loss and then a week 14 loss, like you go crazy and it's like, Hey, this isn't the same team. Like you think my homes and Kelsey and all those other guys and

Andy Reed are, you know, fretting about losing in week 13 against the Raiders or whenever it was. And everyone's acting like the sky's falling. It's like, Hey, guess what? When the playoffs get here, like we've been here before. And we've seen that with some of these other teams in the playoffs right now. I think it's easy to discount how much having been there before, that matters. Lions, young team. Packers, young team. And in those moments where you absolutely need a guy to step up and carry them,

they have Mahomes. They have Kelsey. They have these guys who have all this playoff experience. That shit matters a lot. So that's championship pedigree. Exactly. And I think it was on display if you watch two personal fouls on one drive right before half. When you watch Zay Flowers, what happens to Zay,

and he's young and going to be a superstar in the league. This is not a knock at all. He did not have his best day both. He had a huge huge day but he didn't have his best day on the field but as player in nfl did not have his best day adding insult to injury actually hurting his finger on the sideline getting pissed off about what he messed up on the field is like one of those things that he will have to hopefully continue to grow through but like yeah flexing over top of a guy after making a huge play the fourth huge or second huge play of the game for your team i think fourth completion to a wide receiver yeah an entire game at the time in like

the third quarter it's like what he did the guy was on his leg i think refs are cool with him pushing him off even though that was seemingly a bit egregious. But then clearly standing over top of him, flexing and throwing the ball, that is what they made the rule for. That is literally what they... Let the boys tone, is how I feel about everything. Believe me. I'm a big

celebrate shit talk guy. But the people that are super upset about that particular penalty being called, it's like the NFL will stand behind calling that every single time. You threw the ball at the guy, flexed over top of him, and you did an extra shove. I'm cool with it.

If I'm the commissioner of the NFL, I'm like, yeah, hey, listen. If you want to get in the fire, if you want to get in the kitchen, it might get a little hot sometimes. That's the case. But that's literally what they made the rule for. It wasn't for that exact moment there. So it's like those little moments and obviously van noy is a champion him coming in there hitting that thing it's like there's like those little moments that for some reason the chiefs never get caught up in in the big moments but the people they're

playing against are that's the difference i think and bill bill cower talks about a lot like towing that line and you can tell how kelsey came out the gate you know and it And a lot of his celebrations were kind of, hey, it's a first down. It's going to be right in your face. But I'm not going to look at you. But it's going to be a first down. It's some bump in the one. Vannoy got in there late. Obviously, the clothesline, that was a bad one.

But, yeah, it was the Roquan, the late personal foul. It was just, like you said, that championship predicate. That's what separated them. The Ravens, we talked about the young core. Their coaching staff. No, but the refs gave them the game. No, no. Yeah, it's rigged. A lot of people. It's rigged. I'm sure that's all over there now, but it

was bad calls on both sides. It was good calls. I don't think the refs, the Chiefs would have won this game. Offensively, defensively, it was a knockdown, a drag out. The fumble, obviously, with Jay Flowers. The forced fumble. Unbelievable play by LeJarrius Sneed.

Should have been a first-team All-Pro, but that's what you talk about at defensive meeting all the time, defending every blade of grass, him coming over, punching that ball out. That was huge. Obviously, the turnover, the interception. Deion Bush came in there. He's only in there because of injury-based. A lot of guys got banged up.

He's going back to another Super Bowl. So those big splash, the strip sack on Lamar, those big splash plays is what separated the Chiefs yesterday. Massive play. And also, if you're losing a fumble at the half-yard line like that, I mean, football gods are also potentially working a little bit against you. Because that could have been a touchdown. For sure.

And same reaction. Or it could have been a half-yard short. Oh, it's going the other way. So I think there's a lot of that. The immediate of the refs though with the kent c cheese because now they're marketing and people are promoting how much money taylor swift has brought in and advertising and stuff like obviously that all is nice fodder to add into it my biggest issue with the way this game was officiated is in last weekend's games the refs weren't even a part of it yeah refs just let the boys play felt like they got to a point in this particular game where sean

smith and them were like we gotta let people over here start calling stuff calling stuff now was there actual penalties happening yes probably but it just felt like they called a lot more than what happened last week and last week was applauded by, hey, great consistency on doing that entire thing. Then there were some fake stats that you could certainly find working against Sean Smith going into the game, obviously, by other analytic human beings on the internet who we appreciate and respect, but also not true all the time, which is the stats thing.

Right. Which is the stats, unless it's 100% to zero. I took a cheese touchdown at the board right end of the half i mean that was ridiculous two holding calls it's like that's a pretty that's a pretty massive thing yeah you think they're just like oh it's all right we'll make up for it in the second half we'll screw them now right before half and then second half we'll make up for them it's like some refs are just bad yeah like some refs are just bad refs and everybody's thinking that they're so

educated and so good at their jobs that they're actually cooking it for some. It's like, no, I think you're going the complete wrong way in the respect level for some of these refs. I think it needs to head back the different direction, but let's go to the next game. Oh, man. The brand new

Lions. We're ready for the moment. Yeah. Watching them come out. Boom. J-Mo shot out of a gun. Unreal. A minute 42 seconds into the game, already 7-0 for the Detroit Lions.

I want to put McKenzie down to sleep. I want to put the baby down to bed. Came back up, a minute 42 in, already 7-0. Holy hell. What did I miss? Oh, three plays. Yeah. I missed three plays.

One of them being one of the most explosive end-of-rounds I've seen in some time with some missed tackle and some lack of discipline from the Niners' defense getting got pretty much. A great play design by Ben Johnson where they actually have guard pull away from where J-Mo ends up at. Bosa crashes. Boom. Now all of a sudden we have an edge and J-Mo is electrifying. Then you get all the way to

halftime 24 7 i mean it's like the detroit lions are headed to super bowl here we go i texted evan fox holy shit yeah the brand new lions are going to super bowl yep think about foxy oh all week at super bowl oh my god the amount amount of Detroit Lions that are coming through, the Radio Row where we'll be out there. Foxy, we love you! The people that are joining the show that maybe have watched the show that we don't know watch the show, which I learned a lot of people watch our show this past weekend, which I, hey, thank you.

Just like I told you in real life, you should not be watching this show. But people come in, the amount of so happy for you, Foxy, from people that we couldn't even expect right now to come in there and do it. That was all on deck. Oh, yeah. I saw all that happen in a halftime.

24-7. Well, Journey's performing out in Santa Clara. I'm seeing, oh, my God, Foxy's about to have the greatest Super Bowl of all time. Buddy. Man. Damn. Why did we all forget that this is what Brock Purdy does In the biggest moment

Whenever he is doubted Or whenever there is no chance Or no possibility of something happening This is when Brock Purdy shows up This is the trait that Brock Purdy has That all these people that want to bury him For being a game manager Just seem to leave out of the convo

He has it What is it? How do you describe it? Well, whenever something is important, this dude's going to show up. That is what Brock Purdy has done literally since he was dropped into the NFL week eight, week nine, whatever it was last season, as the last pick in the draft. Down 24-7.

You're out of it. Okay, let me thread a needle to Debo 20 yards down the field. Let me lead a comeback. Let me start running. 51 yards rushing in the second half would end up at 48 because he took a knee with one second left like three yards back. Don't know why he did that. Almost had to scrum for the boys.

But Brock Purdy is always showing up whenever he has to, and that is a thing that not everybody has. That is something that normally we as soon as we find out somebody's got it's like all right well here's one gonna go everybody that's ever been talked about in that upper tier of athleticism in every single sport now that was on purpose throws it off a guy's face smart 30 45 yards down the field well that was momentum that was right after the fourth down they think Brandon Ayuk is a beast. Yeah, he is. Absolute dog.

And we'll talk about the momentum deniers having a rough night last night. I don't know what they're even digging deep into to explain what happened after going for it on fourth down, going for it on fourth down, going for it on fourth down, going for it on fourth down, all those types of things. And then the game swinging the complete opposite direction. And then immediately after, Nick Bosa is asked, hey, was there a moment in the game when you think it all changed uh when i went for it on that fourth really felt good for us though any other way was bose's exact answer

but then the niners do what the niners have done and they just put it away now some suspect decisions were made by dan campbell the head coach of the Detroit Lions. And Brock Purdy's a dog. He looked fast, right? Oh, yeah. He's moving. Sneaky athlete. He is a sneaky athlete.

He's a sneaky athlete, isn't he? Sneaky speed. Just like this guy right here, Christian McCaffrey. Sneaky athlete. Very sneaky. Sneaky speed. First one in, last one out. Lunch pail guy.

You know what I mean? Coach's son, actually. You know, that whole, those guys, they have it. The Dan Campbell decision's late. Now, I saw a lot of people that aren't Detroit Lions fans calling him a big, dumb dipshit. Sure. This doofus that said he was going to gnaw on kneecaps

in his opening press conference in the biggest moment proved exactly what we all said about this guy. This meathead ain't going to be able to do it. I would like to say that that particular meathead lived by the sword and died by the same sword. He built a culture on consistency. He said, this is who we're going to be. We are going to be the group that are going to go a little bit harder, a little bit longer. We're going to think a little bit deeper. And he remained true to who he had been all season in the biggest moments the only one that made no sense well two the only two that made no sense to me at all down three fourth quarter chip shot field goal range

we tie the game yes yes for sure i in my head in my head we tie the game there so i think at the end of the game then down 10 when he's driving down there you're gonna have to kick an onside kick regardless no matter what once you get in the field goal range you make that a seven point game all of a sudden so there's two things that i personally disagree with everything else is just like that's dan campbell football like right here i mean we should kick on first and goal even. Like whenever, just get three points on the board, make that into a one-touchdown game there.

That tight end. The run. You got to get in there. Yeah, the tight end that's never caught a football. Got to get in. All season, running out of bounds, being an athlete. But also that's probably why he hasn't caught a football potentially all season. He is in the NFL, great play.

But it's like, aside from those two, where I'm completely confused by, everything else was just Dan Campbell playing Dan Campbell football. The Detroit Lions fans, how do you feel, buddy? You guys are all calling him a big, dumb dipshit like the rest of the world, or what's happening? Not me, Pat. I absolutely love that he is aggressive. I love

that he goes for it. And most importantly, if I've learned anything from former NFL players like yourself, like D-Butt, like A.J., like anyone that's been on this show, the number one thing they want out of their coach is consistency. And he's been consistently going for it, and he's been consistently aggressive all season long. And guess what?

He trusted his players, and they didn't make the plays. Reynolds could have caught that ball. Jamo had a deep ball. He could have caught like, there was a lot of plays we just didn't make. So I don't blame MCDC. I don't think the players are going to blame MCDC. I love what he did. It just didn't work out. And we said at some point, this is all going to come and bite him in the ass. I just didn't think it was going to be in the second half of the NFC championship game. And he talked about that text you sent me and I was at halftime and I responded to you. I said, Pat, a lot of ball left. All right. One play at a time because I've seen a thousand of these games. No, I didn't say same old Lions. No, it's not. What?

You haven't seen a thousand of these games? And the difference between the same old Lions and the brand new Lions is the fact that Dan Campbell goes for it, and he trusts his team, and he tries to put teams away. That's the difference. Same old Lions send kicker out there, miss kick. Yeah. Yes. Block kick. Block.

And I can't live with that. Something like that. That's the one I can't live with. If he got scared, if he tucked his tail and he said, we've got to kick these field goals, we're not going to go for it like we did all season. That got us to this position. If we lose the game and kick those field goals,

I absolutely cannot deal with that. So I'm okay with how we lost, but I am certainly bummed out. Yeah, you're not the only ones bummed out. Dan Campbell spoke afterwards in this minute 10 or so. I think it's a nice little wrap on everything that he had to say. Right here. Sometimes you can only say so much. You've got to live it, unfortunately. You've got to get your heart ripped out, which we did.

And it's a lesson learned. And look, I told those guys, this may have been our only shot. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? However, I know how hard it is to get here. I am well aware. And it's going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year.

That's the reality. And if we don't have the same hunger and the same work, which is a whole other thing, once we get the offseason, then we've got no shot of getting back here. I don't care how much better we get or what we add or what we drive. It's irrelevant. It's going to be tough. Everybody in our division is going to be loaded back up, and you're not hiding from anybody anymore.

Everybody's going to want a piece of you, which is fine, which is fine. So it's hard. You want to make the most of every opportunity. And we had an opportunity, and we just couldn't close it out. It does. It stings. It stings. My rookie year, we were completely undefeated until we chose to lose.

And I say we loosely. I was the punter. Okay, I was there. I just happened to be. I didn't even know how to punt, to be honest with you, but I was there. We go 14-0, choose to lose the last two games, number one seed, go all the way to the Super Bowl. We lose to Drew Brees and his dumb baby.

Okay, everybody's seen it. We did it. Had to lead at halftime. Thought we were – they hit an onside ambush. Surprise onside kick. Thomas Moore said it's perfect. They get it. They said it was our ball, allegedly, from under the pile,

but then it ended up being their ball. Nobody cares. Pick six happens. We lose the game. Two years later, we're almost completely defeated. Okay? Until we got really lucky and Dan Orlovsky comes in at the end of the year and almost wins us out of Andrew Luck into RG3.

Yeah. Which would have been a winner regardless of that. We wouldn't have Gruden on. We wouldn't have Jay Gruden coaching. But to his point, and I don't think hisuden on. We wouldn't have Jay Gruden coaching. But to his point, and I don't think his culture, he said, I think we'll be back. But it's very difficult.

After that Super Bowl loss, I'm 23 years old, 22 years old, 23 years old, walking in that locker room. Bomb dot. We lost the Super Bowl. But also, like, in Super Bowl super bowl you know this is your most miserable room i've ever seen in my entire life because everybody in there understood very much so that the team's gonna be very different next year these same guys aren't gonna be here the same balls that bounced your way all year potentially are they gonna bounce the same way next year how about

the luck of injuries on who got hurt who didn't get hurt is that going to happen again next year how about whenever the offense just found a groove for like 10 weeks straight and just were unstoppable is that going to happen again next year how about no defensive systems being able to stop the offense that we had this year this whole offseason with defense coordinators are they going to be able to figure out what we were doing like there's just so many question marks so the fact that the Patriots and now the Chiefs have been able to do this is something that is very abnormal it is not at all so I appreciate that MCDC is taking that route whenever he's talking to his team and when he's talking to the press conference because it's very

real yeah but and obviously I've never went back to this your boy sure kicked one off lost one never went back ever again except for to say dumb stuff in the microphones and that's reality for a lot of teams that aren't the patriots and that aren't kansas city chiefs i appreciate mcdc acknowledging that yeah and i i appreciate you know foxy and i'm sure a lot of the lions fan probably probably feel the same way you know if we're gonna go we're going to go out how we've been swinging all season, all playoffs long. I get it. Objectively, as just a fan of the game, you took the three points to make it a three-possession game in the first half. It was a point in the third quarter where you could have done the same thing. So I understand being aggressive and trying to get the most out of every possession, but also understanding how

the game is going. Your offense, everything was rolling your way the first half. It wasn't going that way in the second half. Take those points. Live to see another. Even when you take that point, when you take that field goal, you got to kick it off as well. Usually it's going to be a 25. You got to go 75 yards to score.

When you don't, that momentum, which a lot of people say is fake, I believe is real, is going to swing the other direction. So it's tough, man. But, I mean, unbelievable season. To his point, he's always been honest. He's always's always you know worn his heart on his sleeve and he said hey we may not be here again we talked about it a few weeks ago when the packers uh i think we're about to play the niners you know house money hey we're young same thing cj stroud and the texans you just never know because all those things you mentioned injuries uh team the camaraderie all

those different things yeah all the ball bouncing your way. Everything was going their way. It was tough to see them go out like that. But 49ers, once again, just made the plays. Once again, to Fox's point, the players were in position to make those plays on the fourth down, even the third downs of some of those drives. So it's tough to go, but that's football, baby. Hey, it is football.

It is the beautiful game. You know, I know they call that soccer, but did you see the differing emotions that yesterday caused? Oh, yeah. 35,000 people in Ford Field. Oh, yeah. That place is packed. 35,000 people at Ford Field.

Sold out in like five hours, they said. They sold those tickets or they gave those tickets away? I think it was free, but yeah. Anyways, you had to somehow approve. Sitting on chairs this big, very uncomfortable to watch TVs and Jumbotrons of your team to have that moment together. The city getting a chance to experience each other and success, hopefully, one last time. It's like, it's a beautiful, it is a beautiful sport. Yesterday was fantastic.

And some stories are going to come to an end in a very negative way. And all these people were bumped out. They watched the third quarter happen. That had not happened to them all year. Hembo sent me some stats about how and what was different about this particular Lions game here. The Lions unraveled in the third quarter With their first Super Bowl appearance in sight Says Hembo Relax

Outscored 17-0 Which is their worst point differential In a quarter this entire season They were outgained 170 yards to 42 Their second worst yards differential In a quarter this entire season Lost fumble

That was their first turnover this postseason. Two drop passes on third and fourth down, tied for their most in a game for the entire season in one quarter. That third quarter from hell is something that I assume MCDC is going to be talking about all offseason. They'll come back stronger. But the reason why it happened is because that Niners team is for real. That Niners team is a buzzsaw.

They have to figure out how to wake up, though. They have to figure out how to wake up a lot faster. But I assume they are completely okay with how that game went because in the end they got a chance to test their resolve a little bit more. They got a chance to do some stuff. And Brock Purdy did what Brock Purdy does, which is manage the game beautifully. That's right.

Fred Warner spoke after the game to the media. Here's what he had to say about Brock Purdy. Heck of a game manager. Wow. Managed the heck out of that game, boy. He the reason we're going to have a chance to win us a ring. I love him. Here's Bosa talking about Purdy after the game i don't

pay attention to the media much but whoever's talking about brock purdy what do you have now oh okay well listen and what message do you feel like brock purdy sent with this type of game he's the best game manager in the league jocena Anderson, obviously, with the interview. And then here's Juszczyk tweeting this morning about it. Amazing how Brock Purdy managed to find me. So they're taking this game manager thing and turning it into a full conversation. Okay, if he's a

game manager, then he's the greatest of all time. Alex Smith on NFL Sunday Countdown yesterday said, as the head of the NFL game manager committee, he said he's not one of us. Basically talking about Brock Purdy being a game changer as opposed to a game manager. But all the Niners obviously getting Purdy's back

is something that's awesome to watch. Joining us now is senior NFL insider at ESPN. I don't know what news he's going to have today, but I'm excited to hear whatever it is. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Schefter. Gentlemen, what's going on? Schefter, let's start with what we were just chatting about there. Obviously, Brock Purdy is a guy who, for some reason,

has a lot of people in their feelings of anger about him having the success that he's having. And yesterday he proved once again he's a guy. For the Niners, though, he's a guy that only costs like $800,000. So they're able to do a lot of things with that roster. How often do you think Lynch and Shanahan are projecting into the future for the roster when they know they got a couple years left of Brock Purdy being cheap here? And what are your thoughts on the Brock Purdy experiment that has taken place over there in San Francisco? Well, the fact that he creates

financial flexibility for them over the next couple of years is just an added bonus on top of the quarterback that he is, which is a starting quarterback in the NFL, which is a top 12 quarterback, which is a quarterback who is perfect for Kyle Shanahan and that system. And I have not bought into that Brock Purdy talk about him not being good enough at all from the moment that he played in the preseason. A couple of years ago. He stood out, he shined, he proved that he was different, and he's had a couple of down moments in recent weeks, but the fact of the matter is when the games have been on the line, this guy's delivered.

He has delivered every time. They believe in him. He's their quarterback. They're moving forward with him, and that contractual stuff that you're talking about, that's an added bonus that allows you to go make Nick Bosa the highest paid defensive player and go trade for Chase. You can do all kinds of things that you might not have to because you're paying your quarterback $45, $50 plus million a year. They don't have to do that with him. They get spread out that money. So there's a real window for this team with him while he's on his rookie contract. But he's going to get paid, too, in time. And once he does, then some of the other options of flexibility dry up.

This is much like the Legion of Boom era with the Seattle Seahawks with Russell Wilson, the Los Angeles Rams era with Jared Goff. When he was on a rookie contract, they were able to pay everybody. This has shown success in the past. And then whenever you pay your quarterback, you've got to do salary cap gymnastics and figure out how to keep a roster that's good enough to go in like what Patrick Mahomes has done after getting paid.

Pat, when you take a rookie quarterback, it is the ultimate gamble. And if it hits, your team is set. The Houston Texans, for the next three years, are going to be able to have advantages that no other team has because they're going to have C.J. Stroud under contract and they're going to be able to go out and get talent to surround him with because he's on his rookie deal. And so the Houston Texans become a Super Bowl favorite the next few years. Not to put any pressure, but that's how quickly it changes if you hit on a rookie quarterback. Not only do you get the benefit of him playing well, but you get the benefit of his contract, which is huge in this

day and age where the top quarterbacks are being paid in excess of $45, $50 plus million a year, and you don't have to, and you can't pay your rookie quarterback that amount of money so the Niners are in that window right now uh the Chiefs had it for a while at Mahomes the Bengals had it with Burrow the Chargers had it with Herbert like all these teams have had that window with those guys in a rookie contract if the guy shows he can play early on you got two three years of incredible opportunities and you want to try to take advantage of it while you can then. Some teams have. Most teams haven't.

And to your point there, there's only one team out of those four that you talked about there that didn't get a chance to experience a Super Bowl on those rookie contracts. And that'd be the Chargers. That's why your guy, Harbaugh, needs to save their souls over there. Save their souls over there because that is a real benefit. It is. John Lynch is looking at it Lynch walks into his office and sees whatever dry erase board of his salary cap,

and he sees the quarterback position as one of the smallest on the entire team, and he goes, thank God, because they had Jimmy G, let alone Trey Lance. Well, that would have been a number three overall, let alone a conversation happening right now. I think you're taking a couple flashes there. Let's stay with the San Francisco 49ers, though. Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, Shepty, moving forward,

the only injury thing I noticed was Christian McCaffrey on, I think it was his last carry of the game down the right sideline. He landed on his neck. I don't know if he came back in or not. Have we heard anything yet as far as the neck injury there? Twice, almost. It was a nasty fall and you could

see that he was shaken up by it at the time i don't think it's going to be an issue for the super bowl i don't know whether he was concussed i don't know if he ever went into the blue medical tent or whatever maybe i promise you christian mccaffrey's going to be out there for the super despite that fall on his neck and head that was rather scary looking at the time. Yeah, very scary looking. I saw him working on his neck, and obviously it looked very painful. And him tapping out that close to potentially pick up a third touchdown, another whole conversation. Let's go to the other game that took place between the Chiefs and the Ravens.

So now, you know, every conversation is that the NFL rigged this to get Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl. What do you say, Jeff? Absolutely it was rigged this to get Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl. What do you say? Absolutely it was rigged. I mean, come on. They're going to clip that right there. Adam Schefter, look, because your name tag is even right underneath it. Adam Schefter, ESPN senior NFL insider.

Oh, they definitely rigged it, but nonetheless. It was rigged. It was rigged. It had nothing to do with Patrick Mahomes. It had nothing to do with Travis Kelsey. It had nothing to do with Andy Reid. Nothing to do with the way that this champion has played. It had everything to do with the NFL scriptwriters and them wanting to make sure that they got Taylor Swift back from her concert in Tokyo to be in the stadium in Las Vegas in time for the Super Bowl because the ratings weren't going to be high enough, so they wanted to make sure they're even higher for the Super Bowl. And they wanted to bring just a little extra juice to a game that, frankly, was just a flat matchup. So, yes, it worked out very well, and the NFL was able to manage to rig the game,

and now Taylor Swift will be there. It's great. Super Bowl, kind of a dud this year. It's a Super Bowl, but is it? Yeah. What are we? Taylor Swift great swift imagine that's how okay so now we need okay it is wild dude it is that's how successful the nfl is though and that's how passionate fans are that they'll get themselves to that point like there's people with everything

you just said right there who are like yes. Yes. All the way in on it. And when you see some calls get made at certain times, obviously that adds to the fodder. But I am very pumped that this dynasty, you getting news there? No. But remember, you also told us that the passing of the torch was between J.J. McCarthy. So you will lie literally right through those teeth. Right to us. So we always have to kind of read your body language to see if you're telling the truth or not.

And we've talked to numerous people about this. We actually even got a chance to talk to Nate Taylor, who works for The Athletic over there in Kansas City. There was rumors about Andy Reid loud at the end of last week. Post us talking on Monday last week. End of last week, it was like, this could be Andy Reid's last game coaching in here. This just kind of comes with the whole progress or the whole thing about being an older gentleman who already has a resume that is Hall of Fame worthy and has already had success, and this is just the new normal for the Chiefs? Or why do you think this became a topic of conversation? Because everybody sees how much fun, seemingly, Andy Reid is having coaching

this particular Chiefs team. Why would you ever want to leave that is another thought. Well, you wouldn't. But again, I think it's fair to wonder right now. I think he's the most tenured senior most coach in the NFL. So if you're in that position, inevitably questions are just naturally going to arise. Again, there are people out there who have wondered about it. If the Chiefs were to win, could Andy Reid walk away? I mean, that's been a question that's been out there. I think he's done it so long, got a big family. Physically, it's a hard job. Do you keep

doing it? I mean, to me, when you're coaching Patrick Mahomes, it couldn't be any better than that. But the fact of the matter is, for everybody, there comes a time and you just decide that that's enough and you want to go do other things in your life. Tom Moore is still coaching. Tom Moore is 95 years old and still coaching. It doesn't come for everybody, is what I'm saying. And Andy Reid, it's like he waited his entire career to potentially get something like this. He feels like a football guy.

The way he spoke about the ball, he was very classy, too, on the stage. We talked about Baltimore and hardball. And in Kansas City, we love you. It's like he feels like a guy that I would have loved to play for every time I hear him speak. People love him. People love him. People love him. I mean, he's a beloved coach.

And he's done it so long. And he's so respected. And he's held in such high regard. But, again, there are people out there who have wondered, who knows if it's right? It's his decision. It's his life. He gets to do whatever he wants. They're not forcing him out, but the questions come up. The question has come up in the past, and the question will come up again in the future, and only he gets to answer that. We talk about the offense for Kansas City, obviously, but yesterday, different stars.

Go ahead, D-Butt. Yeah, held this Ravens team to 10 points, but they've been great all season long, and this is nothing new for Spags. A few Super Bowl titles under his belt as a DC. Why hasn't there been any, I guess, energy around him being a head coach in the league? I know he's been a great DC for a long time,

but has he come out and say he doesn't want to be a head coach wants to be the chief long term what is it about spags and head coach that's not happening you know you know what i i just think he's been around so long and he's so respected that people just kind of overlook it after a while that i mean he wasn't he was the head coach of the the st louis was it the st louis rams i think it was the st louis rams. That shows you how long that he's been doing it for. And I think it's like life. People just like the new hot flavor. And he's the old reliable BlackBerry phone that you can always count on. It's trendy. Everybody's got the new iPhone, you know, and he's the BlackBerry. It's the old model, but it still works really well

and still really dependable. But people don't think when they're going to get a new, I'm going to go get the BlackBerry model. I'm going to go get the new iPhone 14. That's how they think about it. And I think that it's like that with him. Like they're looking for the hot new coach. And a lot of these guys that are out there, they're in their mid thirties and Steve's in his early sixties. So they're just, that's not the first place they're thinking when they're going to get a head coach. Man, good for the Chiefs. Yes, good for the Chiefs. We talk about up there in Detroit,

we don't know who's going to be commander's head coach. Is Ben Johnson going to end up there? Or is Aaron Glenn, we thought he was going to go to the Titans? Like, potentially both. Or Anthony Weaver or Mike McDonald. Okay, so that's on the other side of the whole thing. But it's like getting a chance to have both of your coordinators stay is, like, such a weapon these days,

especially whenever you look at the stats of, like, since 2022, every single team has changed their offensive coordinator at least one time. So Andy Reid and Spaggs potentially get a chance to run this back again. And then what, again? And then what back again, and then what, again? Again. And then what, again? And then what, again? It's like that's a match made in heaven, especially if you're Chiefs fans. Speaking of Chiefs, though, go ahead, Ty.

Yeah, Chef D, do we have any updates on Joe Tooney's health? I think all of us were kind of shocked when we heard that he wasn't going to be playing on Sunday, and obviously he tried to go with, like, the peck strain. Is there any thought that he might not be good to go for the Super Bowl? Or what does that kind of look like moving forward? Well, it's not a strain. It's a torn Peck that he's dealing with. And the chances are, the overwhelming chances are, he's not going to play.

We said last week on Wednesday that he was unlikely to play, not expect to play. Chiefs were poised to be without him, and they were without him. And the chances are, the overwhelming chances are, they'll be without him for the Super Bowl. And Nick Allegretti stepped in there yesterday, did a great job. Guy's been in their system for five or so years, knows exactly what he's doing. And look, you would have thought losing Tooney was a blow, but it's something that they were able to overcome, and the overwhelming chance they're going to have to overcome it again, being that he's dealing with that torn pec that they're still trying to figure out

whether or not he's going to have operated on after the year. Okay, so them just continuing to be able to move with losing an all-pro in the middle of there against that Ravens team is just so stupid. You said he's been there for five, six years, though. I don't think any of us really knew that until you were saying it. It's like, of course the Chiefs have a backup at the one position for five, six years.

We're in the middle of the next dynasty right now. And I think we all have to remember that because I don't know what you picked or if you make picks or not. A lot of people are picking against that Chiefs team this past weekend. I mean, not only sportsbooks, but everybody was like, this Ravens team, dominant, dominant, dominant, dominant. What do you think the story is in Baltimore today? What do you think Harbaugh and them are talking about

to maybe get over the hump and get this team? Because we've loved watching this Ravens team. We obviously think they're incredibly talented. They only lose by seven to the reigning champs. And Lamar and everybody's talked about it. But what do you think they're thinking about today? Is it free agency again? Did they change some stuff up?

They had to love what Munkin did. How do you think Baltimore handles what happened to them yesterday? It's a really hard thing. I mean, you're going to have to have some long, hard conversations about that because this is a team that was coming off its best season that, as you mentioned, I think most people expected to prevail and win. It advanced to the Super Bowl. The oddsmakers in Las Vegas established them as a favorite over the Chiefs, and they came out and played a very atypical Baltimore game. The defense was not as sound as it was earlier in the season. The offense didn't move or run

the football the way that it did earlier in the season. They just lost that mojo. And that's what's incredible about the NFL is you can have this dominant season and just walk all over people and then it's over in one afternoon. And so they're going to be looking to make changes every year. As you mentioned, you were talking about your Colts team. You know, it's not the same roster. They're going to make changes. They have a lot of players who are key free agents. Very few teams, if any, have done a better job of adding personnel and uncovering added players to make that roster better. And honestly, Pat, I think they just have to go back and run it back and try it again.

Like, run it back again next year, have Lamar play like that again, and you hope that when you get to the postseason that it's different. I don't know what Lamar has to do. The record in the postseason is subpar. He has not played the same way in big moments that he has in all other moments. I don't know why that is. It's kind of weird. Yeah, it's certainly talked about everywhere.

Yeah, and then people talk about talking about it a lot on the internet as well. That's a whole other sub-conversation that takes place. But that team beat 11 winning teams this year, I think. By... By, I think a margin of... Destroyed them. Yeah, like they... Destroyed them. They proved themselves literally all year that they could play against the best competition, which is why whenever

you talk about playoffs, they go, look at this guy's stats in the playoffs. It's like, well, you're playing, these are the best teams, regardless in a playoff. so it's a little bit of a plan yeah great coaches best coaches best teams it's like there's a reason it gets a little the road gets a little tighter towards the end there so whenever playoff stats are brought up it's like yeah i understand but man this year felt like it was different for the ravens yeah and it just ended in the same exact way now is that because the chiefs you know do Chiefs win them head game, mind games before they even get in there? Maybe.

And it's like you think to yourself, like, here we are. Or were they too confident? Like, did they think this Chiefs team is banged up and not ready to go? Like, I wonder what it is, what actually leads to it. And I assume they'll be thinking about that all offseason. I think we start with the fact that 15 is cold-blooded. Serial killer, dude. Absolute serial killer, that guy.

When you got 15 out there, like, he came out, first drive, down the field. Look at this guy. I mean, you know, it's just there's certain, like, you say, oh, boy, you know, we're in for it today. And you just know. And that guy, and by the way, look at Travis Kelsey's numbers in the postseason. They are off the charts. Greatest ever.

Greatest ever. That's what he is. Ari, look at the numbers in his last 12 playoff games. Is there a game in there with fewer than six catches, five catches? I mean, fewest number, 71 yards. So, fewest is five, 71, scores in almost every game, produces. It's like it's the playoffs. 15 and 87 are dolling it up.

They're dolling it up hot, and they're going to beat you. They're going to beat you. That's just the way it's been most every time. It's the rarity when a team beats them. I don't care where they're playing. It's rare. And the 49ers will have that chance to do that.

And so we'll see how that goes, but that is a deadly duo. What was that? It's a text from a text from somebody. What's your deal? Come on.

Just let it slip. What do you want me to tell you? What's my deal? We need to send you some edibles, you know? Get them in there so he just accidentally. Loosens them out. Oh, it's actually a text from, boom, John Lynch just texted me. Good text.

Good text. Good text. A compliment or news? Looking good. Good text. What does that mean? Good text. Good text. A compliment or news? Looking good. Good text. What does that mean? Good text. Like it was properly worded? Let's put it this way.

When we hang up here, we're going to be busy returning some calls and texts in regards to some information that may or may not have to do with some things going on in the league. In which parts of the league? I don't have to do this full guess who thing, but does it have a mustache? Where are we headed?

Is this coordinator job? Head coaching job? Players stuff? I got somebody texting me and they want to know what it's going to take to get you off this damn network and get you back to punting. I don't know. You just tell me what it's going to take to get that done. The number that's being reported by everybody is what the deal is. That it's going to take to get that done. The number that's being reported by

everybody as what the deal is, that ain't going to be enough. It's going to have to be more than that. Also, I'm going to need about two to three months to get these urine and blood clear. I'm not passing any of these tests that they're going to put me in.

If it's a Super Bowl team, we can lie for two weeks. Yeah, I think so. I can look at your – sometimes I see your eyes, Pat, and I can see that you wouldn't pass these tests. I can see that. Well, they lightened the THC test from what I've been told, which is good news. It's the science, I think, that I'm experiencing right now that they're going to have the

biggest issue with. Sure. But we can hide that for two weeks. Yeah, sure. There's some Russian scientists that we can certainly figure out. Absolutely. Can't wait to have the biggest issue with. But we can hide that for two weeks. There's some Russian scientists that we can certainly figure out. Can't wait to see the news that you broke. Connor has a question for you here, and you probably won't

say anything, actually. Yeah, you definitely won't. We all know it's Ben Johnson, the commanders, is the news that you just got. That's clearly a dumb deal. But looking at both those teams as a whole, how many guys, you just mentioned McDonald and another one from the Ravens. How many guys are going to get poached from the Ravens staff

and the Lions staff that maybe we don't even know about, too? Like, I know New England brought in the Lions pass game coordinator to interview for the offensive coordinator job. Are there going to be a lot of those as well, or are we possibly just going to see some of those big names leave and the rest of, you know, the kind of coaching staff stay together. Well, first and foremost, I'm not convinced yet that Ben Johnson is getting the commander's job.

I know people have said that he's the presumptive favorite and he may get the job. Like he, he very well may he's in contention, but that is not a slam dunk at all right now. And, and they are definitely looking at other people as well. And again, they may come back to Ben Johnson. But I think that they're pretty impressed with Mike McDonald and Aaron Glenn and Anthony Weaver as well. And I think those guys are going to have a legitimate chance to get that job. And then Ben Johnson's also in playing Seattle. So you have to see, okay, well, if he doesn't get Washington,

is he then in Seattle? Or does Seattle pull an upset? Again, people have said here that they think Ben Johnson's going to Washington and Dan Quinn is going to Seattle. Yes. And I will bet you that at a minimum, one of those is not right. At a minimum. Maybe both.

Whoa! Let's go! We'll see. All right. So where's Dave Quinn going? Back to Dallas? What about Vrabes? Where's Vrabes at in this entire thing?

Bill Belichick? He's not doing anything? Pete? I have so many more questions now. Vrabes, I believe, I believe that Vrabes would have been the guy in L.A. not doing it what pete i have so many questions now you know braves was braves i believe i believe that braves would have been the guy in la if harbaugh didn't get the job there if harbaugh gotten on the plane to go to atlanta i think vrabel would have been the next guy that the chargers turned to and would have got a job great okay so now vrabes is heading back to Ohio State on a

$13 million a year NIL deal to be a consultant there so Michigan can keep doing what they're doing. Bill Belichick, we're just assuming, is taking a year off. He's going to do TV hopefully on this show once a week. I think that he's sitting back and waiting and

he's going to see how this all evolves still. And by the way, again, there still are two openings, and neither one has contacted him yet. But what I would also say is, let's see how these couple of days go. And let's see if somehow, in a long shot, unlikely way, he enters the picture in one of them. I don't think it's likely, but until the jobs are filled, he's still out there.

Chef, you gave us something on the way out. We appreciate that. On this championship, Overreaction Monday, you gave us something on the way out. We love you, Chef D. Have a good one. We'll stay tuned to your Twitter account to see what news is potentially about to break. You're the man, ladies and gentlemen. Nothing about to break.

Nothing about to break. We're just lining up the ducks. Maybe. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Sheffield. Yeah, Sheffield. Football! It's beautiful. First hour presented by Verizon. We appreciate the hell out of them.

This second hour is about to be even more lit. Hell yeah. Heck yeah. The Talks Table is here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Dime. Cowboys Town Digs is here. Nine-year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here.

And joining us now live from Manatee, Ohio, is a man who's a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Ryder Cup winner, a father of 10, a COVID survivor, and the current president of Ohio. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawker. Hawker, obviously, championship Sunday, lived up to the billing. Seven-point game in the first one, three-point game, inevitably, in the second one, three-point game inevitably in the second one with a massive second-quarter comeback for the number one seed, San Francisco 49ers. You could take it whichever direction you want.

How did you see Championship Sunday, and what are your thoughts about the Super Bowl that's set? Well, it's tough to pick out where you want to start. Both those games were awesome, but the first thing that pops in my mind was just the – I'm sorry, Foxy, but the Lions disastrous third quarter. That was just absolutely tragic. And I don't want to just say, hey, it's tragic for the Lions. Eight quarters, okay, a lot of things happened. Deep ball off a guy's face, boom, catch.

Brandon Ayuk, good for number two on SportsCenter Top 10. Momentum is real. Momentum is real. I think that third quarter will show you that. Well, the momentum deniers are certainly going to have to battle through. A lot of people looking at them and saying, did you watch? You see that? Did you?

How did, what do you think? Damn. You don't think good vibes, confidence, energy, feeling as if everything's going to go right for an entire group of people and it obviously being on display for an entire quarter isn't real what do you what do you what are you talking about what are we even talking those people didn't play sports no chance those people played sports that's i'm thinking they've never felt what it's like to get into a groove or into like a zone or like when you've never been

on the other side of it though they've never been on the other side when another team all of a sudden has momentum and you're thinking yeah okay we got to make a play to stop this somehow and it just continues to snowball and snowball and that's what we saw let alone just uh organized sports and football and everything like pick up basketball yeah there can be some slob white that you choose to guard sure and then somehow maybe four points in five points in he gets the ball he throws it it goes in all of a sudden it's like okay he gets the ball again he throws it, it goes in. All of a sudden it's like, okay. He gets the ball again, it goes in. It's like, what the hell is this? And the whole gym's screaming right now.

They're going nuts for that guy. Yeah, and they call it a heat check. Like this is something that actually exists in the world of sport. That's just momentum. That is basically what momentum is. And the Detroit Lions lost it all. Whenever they decided to live by the sword and then inevitably die by the sword on a fourth down failure,

then a fumble, then a face mask catch, then a, I mean, just everything one after another, vibes turned completely. But even with all that happening in one quarter, 24-24 going into the fourth. Dream come true for the NFL, I assume.

Everybody's talking about them wanting Taylor Swift. You know what they really wanted? Was the primetime game on Championship Sunday. Going into the fourth quarter, tied. That is exactly what they wanted. And they got it. 24-24 going in there. I think a lot of us thought the brand new Lions were built for this.

This is what the brand new Lions have shown all year long. They've shown that they've been able to be resilient. They've shown that they've been able to be resilient. They've shown that they've been able to make mistakes. They've shown that they've been able to bounce back time and time again. Not only because they're non-kneed caps and they're tough, but in their soul, they all have bought into the culture that MCDC has been pitching for at least the last two years. What we all forgot, though,

is the Niners have been pitching the same exact culture you know like the same exact thing for basically four or five years now brock party only in his second year he picked up where jimmy garoppolo and the boys kind of left off and has kind of carried the tradition but fred warner george kittle use check all these guys the culture that is in san francisco and has been in San Francisco is a tough, resilient, talented dog mentality group, which I think is exactly what the Detroit Lions have instilled in them. I think we all just give kind of the grittiness to Detroit because the city of Detroit, certainly much more gritty. Well, it depends on how you describe the word grit, I guess,

than San Francisco. But this Niners team dogs across the board, the entire locker room at every level, and they showed that last night. Not only physically, mentally being down 17. First time in conference championship history that a team has lost after having a 17-point lead, and that guy right there put the team on his back. What a beautiful thing from old brock party yeah do you want to expect brock to be using his legs like this and making these gigantic plays and that one you showed earlier towards the end of the third when he spun out from an almost guaranteed sack oh boom throws the use check on the sidelines the toe tap just unbelievable play things like that like that

stuff adds up man like in when you're det and you're the defense trying to get stops, things like this. Look at the effort. Obviously, it's not a lack of effort by Detroit, but you are dog tired after that play. And look at this. They are just so juiced and they just continue to roll when the Niners there. That man right there will be joining us in about an hour. Kyle Juszczyk, big brain, fullback, has been in the Pro Bowl like the last 15 years in the NFC. But look at how nice the catch is, too. I mean, all hands. That's a fullback.

That's a big meathead number. And he's turning and falling forward to ensure that he gets the first down, really, too. The shot from the pylon of his feet, it's like that's a fullback's feet right there. Gorgeous. That's what a wide receiver said. That's a fullback's feet right there. Gorgeous. That's what a wide was there. That's a fullback's feet right there that he's keeping in there. And that entire team has had this mindset all year of like, what happened last year at the NFC Championship can't happen again.

And we kind of heard that a little bit afterwards, felt like from the players. Not that they've been disrespected, but they certainly stuck up for Brock Purdy. But it's like this team has been this for a long time now, and we've all been captivated with the Chiefs story. I feel like the Niners think to themselves, we've been okay over the last five years as well. Maltz won NFC Championships, just never been able to get over the hump. Can this group do that, you think?

Yeah, I think so. We talked about it earlier when MCDC was talking about how hard it is to get back. You think about how many NFC championships games this team, this core unit has been to, different quarterbacks, different things happening, injuries, Garoppolo, the missed throws. And now for them to get back to this point and have a chance to kind of, you know, everyone flashback to the kid on the sideline saying he'll be back. So now a lot of them are back.

Brock Purdy, obviously a new guy in the center. Having C-Mac back there, having the type of year he's had. I know he got banged up in this game, but I think he'll be healthy for the Super Bowl. Two weeks, Christian McCaffrey's going to heal his neck somehow. He'll be 100% in Vegas, but I can't wait to see this game. I can't either. That's why whenever people are mad about the game, I put out a poll. I was like, all right, Super Bowl's been set.

Who's going to win this thing? I think it was up over 100,000 votes or whatever. I don't remember the exact number, but a lot of it was okay. Sweet. 165,000 votes. Thank you to all that participated. The chiefs get the nod and it was 58, 42. And then it ends up at 56, 44. Cause remember we were wondering for a long time if the Twitter poll was real or not, because we realized quickly that once a percentage is seemingly set for both sides it just stays that way so is the first group focus group of the poll doers exactly the same as everybody going forward that's kind of what twitter has shown us this moved from 58 to 56 so niners fans came late but a lot of the quote tweets said who cares i'm not watching this game

sure i hate this game it's, what are we talking about? These are electrifying football teams on both sides of the field for both teams now. What's the matchup, I guess, based on your timeline that people want? I don't know. That's what I was wondering. So Detroit gets in, everybody's happy? It's like, I would be too because it would be a good story. But whenever Super Bowl comes around, are there still people like,

happy Detroit's here? I don't know if that's still happening. I think it obviously has to do with the Swift. And then you think about the two, Swift, Travis, Rock Purdy. Those two have basically been the villains. They elevated the Niners. If people are pissed and they're saying, oh, we keep showing Taylor Swift, all that stuff, all right, we've heard enough, whatever.

Just continue about your life, hopefully. But you gave this team juice. Like we said before, the Chiefs are, like, embracing the villains. We see Kelsey throwing the, you know, Tucker stuff pregame, all of that. And you see, like, the energy they bring to the game on the road. Like, hey, it's us against the world, and that's how they're playing. So, if you're pissed about that and the fact that they're so good, I want to see somebody else do it.

Like, I think you're fueling them and giving them even more chips on their shoulders. They love going into Buffalo. I'm sure they love going into Baltimore. And obviously Travis got to cut a promo afterwards. And he said, Chiefs is still the Chiefs. That's literally the first thing he said. Chiefs is still the Chiefs. And then the fight for your right to party.

The video of him and Justin Tucker and Patrick Mahomes, though, I would like to chat about a little bit. Because everybody's automatically calling Patrick and Travis assholes. And obviously there's a clip and a video. Well, this is Travis's part. The first one was Patrick Mahomes. If we could run the first one, Patrick Mahomes throwing and then kicking the holder there, okay, while Justin Tucker's in the middle of stretching before he does his warm-ups.

And then you see Patrick and Tucker talking right there. So this is pre-pre-warm-up, okay? This is before the field is open for warm-ups and then you see Patrick and Tucker talking right there. So this is pre-pre-warm-up. Okay this is before the field is open for warm-ups. So it's an open field pretty much. Allowed to warm up wherever you want. Kickers, punters love this time because we can go feel the wind. We don't have to really worry about where the ball is landing to because sometimes there's players on the field, DBs on the field, wide receivers on the field, offensive linemen don't want to hit them. Almost killed Tim Tebow one time when we were playing the Jets because when you're punting a ball, it's going all over the place. This particular situation, personally for me, now Justin Tucker is a Hall of Famer. Justin Tucker is a dog. I love Justin Tucker. I'm a

big fan of his. This feels like an easy, where do you need me to go, move out of the way, two yards type thing on Justinin tucker's side personally i've had a situation like this pop off with venetary before where venetary was maybe warming up somewhere and the other team's quarterback was trying to get some throws in or a wide receiver was running some route rate bias and it's just like hey where do you need us to go and venetary would just like move like two yards yeah let me get out of your way so I like that Justin Tucker was like nah I'm not moving even if you are Patrick Mahomes and I'm sure they've been at the Pro Bowl together and many events together and they talk like that but like

what Travis Kelsey did I think anybody would do if their quarterback was potentially going to step on a helmet before his ankle I mean that's look how dangerous that football's around your feet come on exactly and Patrick has a warm-up, I assume, that he does in this thing. Justin Tucker has a warm-up that he has in this thing. But this is normally handled in a very in the kicker normally moves, which is like the, obviously. Any different if it's your stadium?

No, because it's just like, that is open field there at that particular time. Just, you're allowed to be wherever. Now, I think Tucker probably has a set routine that he does. Probably kicks from there, one steps steps from there and then he backs up five maybe and patrick holmes is like i do it in five minutes i do not this is i have a routine yeah right as well and in this entire pecking order like normally and once again tucker is justin tucker yeah he can right here though he sets up a ball right at the goal line is that a warm-up where you start to

to kick little balls right from the goal line? Yeah, I assume he's doing no steps there. He's also stretching for most of this. He's not even kicking balls. So Tucker is certainly, in my eyes watching this, kind of being the pest a little bit. Like a little bit of the pest in this. Which, once again, I love. And it's Justin Tucker, first ballot Hall of Famer.

So he can do whatever the hell Tucker wants to do. But in most situations, you would certainly just be like, okay, for Patrick Mahomes. You know? Like, that's Patrick. That guy's making a lot of money for all of us. Not that you're not, Tucker. Not that Lamar isn't. But once again,

this is, you know, you wouldn't do that with Tom Brady. Don't want to piss him off. Like Peyton Manning, I don't think that situation is probably happening there. But maybe with Justin Tucker, dude's a dog. I have no idea. So I saw a lot of people immediately attacking Travis. Look at him attacking a kicker, you know. You got to stick up.

He's going after the weakest guy. Watch your mouth. Now you are being more disrespectful than Travis Kelsey is almost. But I think any teammate of Patrick Mahomes or Tom or Peyton or any of these top quarterbacks would be like, we're not risking a rolled ankle because you want to do a stretching routine right now while we're trying to do our thing. So I appreciated that the pettiness took place. I appreciate that Tucker's like, what?

I'm moving. And I'm not even gonna be here i'm gonna stretch over here leave my balls don't touch my balls my helmet like i respect that but the reaction i think was just very natural like i think that was the expected reaction from travis kelsey and patrick mahomes yeah i don't know like people who just weren't fans of either team how they thought i saw a lot of people saying, you know, Kelsey and Mahomes are being assholes to Justin Tucker. This is like what makes playoff football, playoff football. Yes.

Like this is what you want. I wish this happened in the Lions-Niners game. And guess what? I wish there was a brawl after it too and people got in a fight. There almost was during the kneel. Yeah. During the kneel with one second left. Yeah, well.

That ball snapped one second from being run off regardless because the ball snapped. It's just like a kickoff. If somebody just catches it and kneels it, they have to run at least one second left. That ball snapped one second for being run off, regardless because the ball snapped. It's just like a kick off if somebody just catches it and kneels it. They have to run at least one second off. So Purdy taking that snap. Man. And then going out, it's like, you are. Defenses get so pissed that you especially get very mad.

Yeah, especially in that moment. Season just ended. You know, season just ended. Three point game. Everyone's pissed. Pur know? Season just ended. Three-point game. In a terrible way. Everyone's pissed. Purdy's just making sure. He saw the Lions against the Bucs. Snap the ball and have that. Clock man and Purdy say, hey, I'm just going to make sure.

Take this A. Take this knee. Enjoy this moment. Well, that's awesome, too, though. Because it's like, hey, if that is something that sticks with the Lions, boom. We have, like, a new little pissed-off rivalry. Yeah, like, that is the stuff I love. But, again, watching Purdy do that, it was, oh, Purdy, you son of a bitch.

They're not going to like this one bit. You stepping back and taking your time. But the Niners don't care. No. The Niners are about it. No. The Niners are about it. Like that is just like we said, these two teams are kind of mirror images of each other.

What MCDC was trying to build was what john lynch and shanahan had built over there now they have a lot bigger names and been around longer and people know them and everything like that but they want to hard nose tough fly around talk a little shit you know the cj gj stuff before the game with debo samuel like both these teams are okay with that type of style of football and that being what they're known for. And to the victor go the spoils. And then to the losers, obviously you've got to deal with it. Here's Dan Campbell after the game.

AJ, excited to get your take on this. Sometimes you can only say so much. You've got to live it, unfortunately. You've got to get your heart ripped out, which we did. And it's a lesson learned. And look, I told those guys, this may have been our only shot. Do I think that? No. do i believe that no however i i know how hard it is to get here i'm well aware and it'll be it's going to be twice as hard to get

back to this point next year than it was this year that's that's the reality and if we don't have the same hunger and the same work which is a whole nother. Once we get the offseason, then we got no shot of getting back here. I don't care how much better we get or what we add or what we drive. It's irrelevant. It's going to be tough. Everybody in our division is going to be loaded back up, and, you know, you're not hiding from anybody anymore. Everybody's going to want a piece of you, which is fine, you know.

It's fine. It's just fine. So it's hard. You want to make the most every opportunity and we we had an opportunity and we just couldn't close it out it's it does it stings he let it he let it off with saying sometimes you got to get your heart ripped out you see you can talk about it but until you experience it you're not really going to fully comprehend that i don't think that's just football by the way that. That's life, right? You think back to a potential relationship where you didn't fully understand, then your heart gets broken.

It's like, oh, I didn't know this exists. I didn't know this was even possible. Maybe a job that you were supposed to have, boom, you get absolutely screwed out of that situation. It's like, I didn't know this was even possible, even though people potentially tell you that it's the case. You don't really know until you have to experience it and go through it.

That's actually maturity and growth, I think, for humans. For this team, I think they're going to view it the same exact way. I'm still all in on the brand-new Lions going forward, and I think this is only going to propel them and help them. AJ, how'd you take that messaging there? I mean, I thought he was spot on, absolutely. He said he's letting us know there's no guarantee we're ever going to be back in this game, but he expects to be back.

Yes, of course, but he played it. He's coached know there's no guarantee we're ever going to be back in this game, but he expects to be back. Yes, of course, but he played it. He's coached for a while now. He understands what has to happen to get there, all the things that have to go right. And it's true, though. Yeah, like you'll say, oh, they've got a target on their back now, whatever. People expect it, but it's true, like managing expectations. Now the Lions, there's a new standard for the Lions.

They're an NFC Championship game. They could have won that thing. They're up big at halftime. So how do you kind of run with that now where you can't always be like, hey, no one's giving us a shot. We're the underdogs. Now you've got to handle success. And that's one of the toughest things to do. So the Niners

standard is they should have been the number one seed in the NFC. That's how we all viewed the Niners coming in. Eagles, right? Should have been right up there. But then whenever we see all the close games everybody was talking about earlier and then they start sliding, all of a sudden the expectations are like, the Niners are the team

that needs to go into this. Dallas Cowboys had a conversation for a little bit, but then we're all reminded the Niners are the team that are going to be around. That's going to happen for the Lions now. One year of having a phenomenal run. And now fans, media, other people are like, well let's see if the big dumb dipshit

in detroit can do it again that's what everybody's gonna 1000 standard is higher i was the one that had a pretty low standard i was the one that just wanted a playoff win but now that we go through this we go on this run we're in the nfc championship this team could have won the super bowl this year one million percent this team could have won the super Bowl this year. One million percent this team could have won the Super Bowl. That's where we're at now. It's going to be way different though. We were pretty much injury free all season. That's huge.

That's a lot of luck. Also, Shefty just told us Ben Johnson might not be leaving, but we all assume Ben Johnson gone, Aaron Glenn gone. Everything changes in the offseason. No matter what, regardless, I do think the standard's higher, and I think MCDC would agree with that. 35,000 people are in Ford Field watching an away game.

That's huge. The culture's there. The standards are high. How will Detroit respond? And for the Niners, can you win one? Yeah. Got to go get it done. Can you win one?

Big. Is it so close? Could you imagine they lose another one? No. Oh, my get it done. Can you win one? They lose another one. Could you imagine they lose another one? Oh, my. The way people will talk about that team. Now, that team is another team that people do shit on. Oh, yeah. And I don't know why.

I feel like we get along with everybody on the team. Just because they have a bunch of big-name players, I feel like. When you have players that even casual fans know, and you have multiple stars like that, and you don't have a ring yet, I think that's why people are like, oh, you should have three rings. Oh, so what you just brought up there is probably the right play. Oh, we're doing a lot of talking about a team that's never won.

Is that kind of how... That's how it is with the Bills. And then with the Chiefs, oh, they've won so much. So it's obviously people are never happy. But is that why, I guess, the Niners, that makes a lot more sense now that you mentioned it. I think that's part of it. And then I think with shanahan after the 28-3 and everything and then now it's starting i mean granted the last two weeks you know his record has changed in those

games where they're down in the second half and they have to come back and win but i think we start getting the like if if they were to lose to the chiefs then it's it's kind of the same andy reed narrative where it's like hey this guy's an unbelievable coach. He'll get him to the big game. But yeah, he's an underachiever. They have these unbelievable seasons. He's an offensive guru. He's a genius. But then they just choke him in the big game. Yeah, exactly.

So until he actually gets over the hump and wins one, I think it's kind of like the same thing. And you would think to yourself, this Chiefs team seems gettable. Yeah. Wow. And then you remind yourself, that ketchups team seems gettable. Yeah. Wow. And then you remind yourself that ketchup-loving son of a bitch is still under center. Andy Reid, I assume he enjoys ketchup as well. Absolutely.

He's calling plays. Travis Kelsey exists at a bigger level than ever before. Feels like he's more, right? Well, yeah. Because the amount of, think about the amount of. Oh, yeah. He's gained a bunch of extra energy and fuel, I think, from everything going on outside and off the field as well.

And then Dee Budash, chef of this, SPAG's not up for any conversation for head coach anywhere. Yeah. You know, so he has a full on – It's like all of a sudden the dynasty has the opportunity to keep – You know, the Ravens have 10 points in the playoffs. I mean, that's pretty damn good. On the flip side, the Ravens told them to 17.

That's awesome, too. How about week before? Buffalo. Yeah. They don't get the respect they deserve just because Mahomes is so good, but Kelsey is so good. So, yeah, they're going to always want to go out there and prove who they are as a defense.

To that point, Chris Jones, right, going into the year contract situation, he's earned another million back from what he lost way ago. Good negotiation from the boys. I forget the names. Cats Brothers, thank you. Good work by the Cats Brothers making that thing kind of end. Let's get back on the football field, end up

in the Super Bowl again. But we talked about how Chris Jones never gets talked about because it's hard to be the fourth person in line whenever media is happening. Even with primetime, it's it's like well a story is Patrick Mahomes okay this guy's got his own Mount Rushmore already all right what's the second story Andy Reid okay Andy Reid Hall of Fame maybe the greatest coach of all time okay what's the third story well the greatest tight end of all time who's also dating Taylor Swift is there okay what's the fourth story well there's a defensive MVP playing on defense defensive side of the ball.

Okay, so we'll do top three. You can go ahead and throw that one out. Last night, did you see on the stage? Oh, yeah. Everybody on the stage spoke, except for Chris Jones, who was standing up. And it's just like Chris Jones is standing. Like, literally, because I think Patrick called Chris Jones over to stand right next to Travis as Travis was getting talked to. Like, hey, he'll see you here.

Then he'll do the conversation. Instead, it was immediately, all right, back to you guys. Yeah. With Chris Jones standing there. It kind of feeds into the point of, like, the defensive side of things in Kansas City has been overlooked for years now, and they're dogs. And they won that game yesterday.

Joining us now is a man who is obviously all-knowing when it comes to football. Hell yeah. He watches more film than any human on earth because he's expected to talk about it for 10 to 15 hours every single day all year long on ESPN. Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Orlovsky. Dan, before we dive into the games and the Super Bowl being set,

earlier today you said something we had never heard you say before. You're the worst, dude. Okay. You stepped on yourself. Let's run it again. I don't know. Okay. Breaking! Breaking! Breaking! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan!

Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! And we're proud of you, Dan. Atta boy, Dan. Proud of you, Dan. That was crazy. When it came out of your mouth, were you just like, what did I say? Was that weird?

I'm immediately regretting coming on to this freaking show today, dude. Well, I don't know. You heard me say it. I'm quoting Dan Orlovsky. If that's the right way to view this entire thing, we're proud of you. This is growth. This is Championship Monday, too. Big numbers.

Big ratings, especially on first take. And Dan Orlovsky is allowing himself to be heard saying, I don't know. Whoa. I don't even know what I was saying. I don't know, too. It was about whether or not they kicked a field goal, Detroit line. I was listening. The only thing I heard, though, is did Dan just say he didn't know an answer?

No way. Oh, my God. That wasn't him. What happened? We were mind blown. Is this new Dan-o? Is this the new Dan-o? No.

No, no, no, no. Still the same old Dan. Okay. Still the same old know-it-all. Still the same old Kia. Okay. She just let slip. Damn.

Golly. Bummer. We take back the claps, don't we? Take back the cheers. All the good jobs. Alright. Damn, I thought we had it. Damn Orlovsky.

Anyways, Dano, you were talking about the Detroit Lions and choosing to kick a field goal or not. Is this MCDC's fault? We talked about this in the first hour, but we'd love to get your take on it. So MCDC, live by the sword, die by the sword. This is how he's been literally all year long. I think he remained true to himself and his coaching style,

to his locker room, and to the fans. I don't think a lot of Detroit Lions fans are necessarily ready to kill Dan Campbell for this, but the national media certainly is. And game management is a massive piece of a head coach's role. When you're down three super late or in the fourth quarter, I think in field goal range, you tie the game. When you're down 10, as soon as you get into field goal range, I think you kick that to make it a one-score game.

You're going to have to hit an onside kick anyway. So I certainly don't agree with all of his decisions there. Dan remained true to himself is that how you saw it and what do you think the conversation is going to be about Dan Campbell this particular offseason with how it ended with San Fran yeah I think the context of who you are and who you're playing against and how the game is going matters in that as well I don't think it's just an analytics driven decision yes Dan has done that all year in part because, one, their offense has been the best unit on the field more often than not between both teams, and then, two, their defense did not play

at an incredibly high level this season for the majority of it. So I think just the awareness of, hey, the best thing that we can do is keep our offense out on the field. I've had a lot of people reach out to me and say, like, what about the one before halftime when he decides to kick it instead of going for it? I think, one, the momentum of, or at least not giving San Francisco the momentum of, hey, we made a fourth down stop before halftime and we get the ball and we can flip this game quickly.

Momentum real. So kicking, yeah, momentum's very real. Kicking before halftime. He also answered it and said like we were fringe we were just far enough away to not go for it and that's why i kicked it and then the four in the the two obviously in the the second half reynolds drops it okay so like if they catch that ball everyone knows different conversation i think the play before matters a ton because f Warner made a great play.

I mean, this is just a drop. And if he makes this, does the game different? Is there a different outcome? Probably, but, you know, that's part of football. And then I think the fourth and three when they go for it and he's got to scramble and, you know, throw it to Amon Ross St. Brown. Like, I think the reality is Dan was trying on that fourth and two. He's trying to end the game there. He knows if we go score on that drive, there'll be two or three minutes left in

the third quarter. We're up 21 points. I think the game is over. And then the fourth and three, I think philosophically, again, understanding who we are, who we're playing against. If they go for it, they're down three, right? If they go for it and don't get it, and San Francisco gets the ball back, goes down, at minimum you hold them to a field goal, you still have the chance to go win the game with the touchdown drive. And he believes, again, in that offense.

Obviously San Francisco goes and scores, and it's a different conversation down 10. But I just don't think he did the wrong thing. They just didn't execute. So at the very end, let's talk about this before AJ's question for you. At the very end, down 10, if you're going to have to hit an onside kick, and I know they were doing math about defense could get a stop. It's like we're in onside kick time right now.

This is certainly onside kick time. I'm a firm believer, and once you get into field goal range, if you're down 10, you take that field goal. Like, even if it's first down, like right now, minute 42, let's take this field goal. If we're going to have to end up probably getting a successful onside kick anyways, let's get this thing to one score. Then we have more time because Jared Goff can throw a ball further

if you get stuck as opposed to a field goal, especially Badgley. No offense, Badgley. See, that's my question. Go ahead, pal. I was going to ask you, Pat. If he had Justin Tucker, I'd probably sit here and have a different, all right, we're going to go knock a 40-yard field goal in right now, and then we've got three timeouts with a buck 40 left.

I don't know how much confidence they have in their kicker. You would know better than I about. He's a good ball. Hey, good ball striker. We've never seen him in this particular situation, though, so who knows how it will go. I think, again, you still believe our unit offensively is the best unit, and that's the unit that, honestly, I'll be dead honest with you.

I thought they were going to go for two after they scored here. I was like, I would not be surprised if he goes for two just to, you know, go score and the field goal wins it. So I agree with your, like, philosophy on it. I just think you've got to have a sure, sure thing at kicker to do that rather than, I don't know, I think Badgley's 40 to 48. He's like a 75% kicker. So I think I saw that stat.

Yeah, but that's also counting, like, when also counting when he bounced around three, four different teams. I think he's kicking better now than he has. But great onside kick, I thought. Badgley willing to break his toes for that onside kick. High bounce. You don't see enough people do it, to be honest with you. And that's an illegal touching, and old buddy would have got the ball anyways if he doesn't touch it right there because you're not allowed to touch him either

if he's going to the football. So he's about a half a yard off from having a perfect ball at least a collision probably taking place so i appreciate the fact that works on those because a lot of these kickers it seems like watching from outside in as a human who's had pretty successful onside kick career they don't even work it anymore because the odds are so low but then in the nfc championship hey we need one badgley hits a good ball. So I'm proud of him. But you just heard what Dan Orlovsky said about keeping the best team on the field. His locker room knows that Dan Campbell was like, hey, golf. Hey, Ragnow. Hey, boys, this is on you. This ain't on Badgley. This is on you. And he's done that all year long. I think it only reignites the flame for next year. Go ahead, AJ. for next year. Go ahead, AJ. Dan, let's go to the AFC. What was this Chiefs defense able to do?

What did they do consistently throughout the night to hold this Ravens offense to 10 points? Yeah, Spagnuolo, he called the game like an offensive coordinator, AJ, in what I mean by that. I know the conversation around Patrick today has been great. Patrick was really, really awesome. But the real

story of the game is Steve Spagnuolo on the defense. And what I mean by called the game as an offensive corner, they played six different personnel groupings. Okay, so they played in their base defense, which, as you guys know, four down and three linebackers, four defensive backs. Okay, then they got into multiple different times when they got into three defensive linemen, three linebackers, and five defensive backs. Then they had multiple clips where they were in three defensive linemen, three linebackers, and five defensive backs. Then they had multiple clips where they were in four defensive linemen, two linebackers,

and five defensive backs. Then they had four defensive linemen, one linebacker, six defensive backs. And it was really interesting how in situational football, like they would play those different personnel groupings. Second down, they were in multiple situations where they had four D linemen, one backer, or three D linemen, two backers. And so I just thought like the way that he, you know, so often in offensive football, we're changing our personnel to try to dictate to the defense, right? You guys have to match us with what we're doing and then we get in favorable advantages spags did that on a consistent basis like he he was kind of controlling the personnel groupings and i do think that through monken the offensive coordinator for baltimore often certainly for the mar so i

think like personnel wise they did that the second thing is it was really interesting when you'll watch some clips we're going to do them on nfl live today they would take like sometimes when they play with one backer bolton they would take Bolton and put him out on the perimeter and put Reid at the middle linebacker spot. So Reid's, I think, speed with marrying either or mirroring, excuse me, Lamar potentially. Again, like threw them off. That's why I was a little bit surprised that Baltimore didn't run the football. Like his speed mattered.

And then there are so many clips, and you guys defensively, D-Butt and AJ could talk to it better, where they're underneath coverage. Again, we're going to do it on live. The underneath coverage, ball gets snapped, and they take a step forward, and then they don't even look at Lamar. They turn and run backwards with their back facing Lamar Jackson and searching up routes and covering guys now lamar didn't play good i don't want to minimize that but just i thought that the

different personnels they used and the way that they used it to take away some of the throwing lanes was spectacular there's a clip of it there you know this leads to the sack fumble but those guys did such a great job of turning and searching guys up and kind of confusing a little bit of the pass concepts for Baltimore. 90 ended up getting a knee on a non-contact seemingly later in the game, and he was not thrilled. Hopefully, we should ask Schefter about his health. We'll have time. We've got two weeks until the Super Bowl, but Spaggs' defense has kind of been a star for the last two weeks.

Patrick Mahomes even talked about how in the middle of the season he had to learn and evolve i mean that's a stick absolute stick at the line of scrimmage to a baltimore ravens team in baltimore yeah like they came in and out physical the baltimore ravens which i don't think any of us expected but patrick mahomes chatted about how he had to realize when the defense was flying and when they're humming and being like all right i could I can be safe here, no turnovers, don't have to make the explosive play every single time. We can even punt and just ride the defense. They're a more complete team now than they've ever been

during this dynasty run, it feels like, Dan. Yeah, and that's kind of like in the conversation this year, obviously there were questions about the offense. What a play. That's football gods there too, by the way. That's football gods as well, I think, which is tough to beat. Sne the offense. What a play. That's football gods there, too, by the way. That's football gods as well, I think, which is tough to beat. Sneed is. Anybody, yeah.

Sneed's spectacular, man. He's just a great football player. He's the best man-covered guy in football, in my opinion, just as looking at it from an offensive perspective, just lockdown man coverage and physical. But that was like the conversation this year with the Chiefs was the offense and the offense and the offense, but they're always going to be in it because the defense and i do think the defense has played their best ball this last couple weeks um and i think you know when you

you look at the defense in the way that they've drafted i also think like an underrated thing in that game is they tackled so well dude there's there's two or three clips with mcduffie and reed out on the perimeter one on one and they just lock dudes up and tackle so remarkable play calling and plan and also just like execution and it showed it was and i think just the the last part of that pat with when it regards to patrick is like that's the difference in evolution you know like he went he's gone from this unbelievable jaw-dropping like ridiculous playmaking guy and he's still that plus like the game management plus that's what you know like that's kind of what makes him deadly go ahead d-butt yeah just a little bit more on that uh the ravens offense it seemed like i know the first snap of the game under center try to get a run

game and immediately it was just stopped and spags did a great job on the edges but do you think mocking got away from that under center or even quarterback run game too early oh absolutely debunk go to the fourth down on their first series fourth down in the first series they go unbalanced formation quarterback run lamar guts it for like 20 the very next play they get an under center heavy 21 so ricard's on the field they run power pull the back star guard gus everard goes for like 15 that was the last time they did it um it was it was shocking to see and it was they had one run on second down i'm sure hembo sent you guys this but i was talking on second and third down yesterday. They threw the ball 25 times

and ran the ball four times. That's just ridiculous. I don't know why. The weird thing is, and you defensive guys know this, with the personnel that he was playing, it even invites running the football more. When you're going to

play with three D linemen and six DBs on the field. Re-inspire. Yeah, we should run the ball right down your throat. Yeah, that's the body size. That's like the advantage that they have there. So Spaggs forced Baltimore to throw and he forced Buffalo to run. Do you remember? Spaggs is kind of, huh?

He's bad. I mean, to your point, Dano, he has, you know, really mentally seemingly figured out the last two games. Does he have enough against his Niners team, this Spags defense? Do you think they match up well against this Niners offense with the power and star power that seems to be everywhere? Yeah, I do. I think he does such

a good job in those games, too, of dialing up run pressures to slow down the run game a little bit. Detroit did a really good job of it yesterday outside of two or three plays, so I think that he'll commit some fronts. I just think the Chiefs can play such good man coverage as well. I thought Baltimore would win the game just because their defense was going to be so remarkable and i thought they would run the football more they obviously didn't but the chiefs could play such good tight legit man coverage um you know i i i think that that's a good matchup for kansas city defensively yeah we'll we got two weeks to break down i can't wait to hear all the thoughts and i I assume everybody that covers this sport

every single day will have multiple different, you know, as we ride this wave of who we like, who we don't like. And what, at the end of the day, we've got to remember, Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. I picked against him twice, man. I'm not doing it anymore. I picked against him this past week, the first time I've ever done it. Literally.

I did a Super Bowl last year and then this weekend. Well, I had him in a parlay where 250,000 people were right alongside him. That's how much I believe in Patrick Mahomes. But I bet against him this past weekend because of how much I thought the Ravens were different. I'm completely wrong, obviously. And Travis Kelsey heard me as well and said, I heard you.

You didn't believe. Now, they're not the only team that people didn't believe in. On the other side, there's a guy pulling the trigger. Nobody seems believe in including go ahead ty yeah dan i don't know if you've done it already and if you haven't uh this would be a great opportunity if you'd like perfect yeah if you'd like to walk back your comments about brock purdy basically saying like hey listen anyone including mac jones and those type of guys could do what he's doing right now in Shanahan's system. So do you want to walk back those comments?

That's what you said on this show. You remember. That's a lie. I never said that anyone could do that. Comfy, please. You said that on this show. We got the best content splunker on us. He did, Dan.

His terminology was play like Brock. Like that. Like Justin Fields, MVP, like. I didn't say anyone. I didn't say anyone. Don't put words in my mouth. You said Mac Jones, so we'll put everybody above Mac Jones in the same conversation. There you go.

That's assumptions. You know what happens when we assume that? Well, you were assuming that Mac could do what Brock's doing. Exactly. So there's a lot of assuming going on all of a sudden. So do you want to walk that back, Dan? And also, like with the brock purdy like hey this guy sucks he's a game manager he's just he's just okay and because shanahan is such a good play caller that's why he succeeds are we finally at the point where we can be like hey this guy's actually pretty damn

good at playing quarterback second year dan i don't know if you're nfl live crew i don't know if you guys just all got a meeting one day you're like yeah this guy does Dan, I don't know if you're NFL Live crew. I don't know if you guys just all got in a meeting one day. You're like, yeah, this guy does stink. Because it's a lot of coming out of your crew who we got a lot of respect for. Love them. Love the NFL Live crew. We watch every single day. But you guys, you with the Mac Jones, Ryan Clark with the, I'm sick of

having to act like this guy's good. What? What the hell? Act like he's good? What are we even talking about? He's in his second year. For the 98th time, I made that comment about more in support of Mac Jones and what I think about him rather than any slight of Brock Purdy. I've said nothing but really, really overwhelmingly positive things about Brock Purdy. All right. Okay. Okay. Happy to hear that.

We're happy to hear that. Hey, Dan. 98th time. Head home. I think the really impressive thing about that game, San Francisco-wise, in relation to Brock was I said when you watch some of the plays, like the third down throws and then the use of his legs, it reminded me a lot of Joe Burrow during the Bengals Super Bowl run.

I say it because of this. One, the tough, courageous, like you got to have some balls to make the throws that he made on third down yesterday. Because these weren't, oh my gosh, Kyle schemed them up and he just delivered something on time. Like he throws an out route to Ayuk that is sick. The ball he throws to Jennings. I honestly believe he feels campbell coming from his right as he throws it back across because if you look like the vision almost says throw a straight ball but campbell's coming off of his right and i think he just feels

him and just floats it up over the top unbelievable throw and then some of the the the legs plays like yeah watch campbell come from his right. Right? Like, that moment. Like, if he throws it on a line there, which I think more often than not, like, your body tells you to do it, Campbell's going to step right in front of him and pick it up. But, like, he just floats it up over him like he kind of feels him and senses him. That's sick.

That's sick. Yeah, Mac Jones. Yeah, Mac Jones. I think those instincts and reactions. And then, like, some of his runs, when you watch him like on some of the runs on third down or second down, there's no hesitation. Like he feels some type of pressure or whatnot,

or he feels it close off and like, see, never underestimate your ability to not throw the football and just the reaction of it, instinctual reaction of it but it's all like really fundamentally sound like there's two hands on the football like look he goes to pull the trigger two hands on a football and it's just go like there's no okay i'm going to see if number two or number three we could go fundamentally sound that is getting through tuck the ball that reminds me of jo of Joe a lot. And the third and four for the 21-yarder. Like this run. Watch this. That's Joe Burrow right there.

That's Joe Burrow right there. So I was very impressed with that. Faster, though, seemingly. I think his dad was a baseball. He runs like a baseball player. He had a very impressive 10-yard split. I forgot what it was. Maybe like 1-6.

Yeah, you guys never talk about that on NFL Live. Sneaky athlete. Yeah, he's a sneaky athlete. And then the second thing in that game I thought was really good. Kyle did a really good job of taking 21 personnel, D-Button Hawkle, really appreciate this, and making it look like not 21 stuff. When you're 21 personnel, two back, one tight end,

I think the first play of the second half, they motion over, and it almost makes like a bunch, and they run off tackle, and then they go no huddle, and it looks like 12 personnel. Then they took 21, and they throw to Kittle on the corner route. Looks like 11. Use checks and protection. He just did a really good job of using that one personnel

and making it look like so many different formations. His 10-yard split was the same as Lamar, I guess, top 95th percentile for Brock Purdy. We haven't really seen that. We haven't really even watched it. We were talking about that with Jordan Love, not to change the subject, but we haven't even really seen Jordan Love start to skirt a little bit. Now Brock Purdy is adding to his game.

He's only in his second year. Second year, Dano. I was happy to hear Kyle Shanahan because you know, because everything's come out. And I think Kyle Shanahan is normally just like, he's quarterback, let's just do this. He came out and said, like, this guy is the reason why. They all heard what everybody's been saying about Brock Purdy. And I like that they've all come out and felt obligated to kind of stick up for him. It's a good team over there.

Niner's got a good thing going, and Brock seems like the perfect guy. Go ahead, AJ. Dan, how do you see the matchup in the Super Bowl with the Chiefs' offense going up against this Niners' defense? What do you think the Chiefs do, and do you think they're going to try to run the ball on them? I know people have had success running the ball a little bit at times on this Niners' D, but what do you think Andy Reid and them

draw up over the next couple weeks offensively? Yeah, I think the way that we've seen Andy Reid and this Chiefs offense start to use to tight ends more and more is this season and then the postseason have gone on. Like, AJ, they used four strong a gajillion times yesterday versus the Ravens in so many different ways. And so two weeks ago, it was run at the nickel for Buffalo. Yesterday was getting to four strong formation four guys to one side of the football they're going to have one very specific or two very specific things they want to try to attack i do think they'll use the tight ends a good good amount i think they'll use the tight ends and the backs as pass catchers they'll run the football

you know like they they will be unapologetic about running the football because they've been more capable of it with their interior three um so they'll definitely, and we saw it yesterday, Detroit ran the ball out on the perimeter. Andy Reid and Matt Nagy will figure out ways to get the ball to the perimeter, whether it's designed runs like the traditional toss cracks. We'll see some, you know, just like almost swing screen design stuff. They'll take advantage of some of the over pursuit. I think it'll be a heavy completion day for patrick mahomes we'll see 75 80 completion percentage likely just because of the style of zone that they play um i i think it i think it's going to be a uh like a traditional dink and dunk

type of game and then there'll be two or three shots where they'll try to hit you know take advantage of some over aggressive safety coverage with safety coverage. With MVS just making absurd catches. Welcome back, MVS, to his best form. And Rasheed Rice doing his thing. Felt like as I was watching that Lions-Niners game, obviously Wilks is an incredible defense coordinator, and that defense is packed. Front four weren't getting home a lot. And a lot of Olsen was talking about at

some point he's gonna have to think about bringing some pressure which is something they don't love doing because if you can get home with your front four which the Niners defense has been able to do for the last five years seemingly you could obviously have seven guys back in coverage who are all incredibly athletic keep their eyes on the ball and then dink and dunk is your point we rally we just rally we rally. It almost got to a point where they almost had to change their game plan because they weren't able to get home. What was Detroit doing that was kind of stumping the front four?

And then once momentum gets going, Bosa's just wide open and Chase is making plays as well. That run game, they were able to run the ball well. Then obviously that play action, that slows those guys up. Because golf, this game, and I think if you look at the big picture when he's under pressure he's a different quarterback that goes for most quarterbacks but under under pressure in this game wasn't completely better than any passes clean pocket lights out you know and they did whatever they wanted to do this is a couple weeks now back to back 49ers haven't really been able to stop the

run um so that'll be definitely interesting to see how long they stick within the Super Bowl with Pacheco. I had a stat here from Hembo about being under pressure. 127 yards. Yeah, 49ers, 127 yards on 15 plays of pressure. Lions, negative 13 on 10 plays of pressure.

Goff, certainly different, but once again, another thing for Brock Purdy. The guy's in his second year, you bring pressure, he's still figuring it out. He's got you. It's phenomenal to watch. And that defense, the Niners' defense, at the end of the game, looked like the Niners' defense that we kind of come to love and know.

In the other game, though, a guy that didn't look anything like what we're expecting him to look like, especially this season. Yeah, Dano, we talked about it schematically, kind of what Spaggs did to the Ravens' offense, and you kind of referenced Lamar didn't play good is it how did lamar play and is it a playoff thing as things get tighter in the playoffs what do you think it is uh now with lamar it's a playoff thing i i can't run from that lamar played bad he did and and he did not see the field well what while i do believe they threw the ball too much, there were guys.

I mean, there were guys open. And for some reason, he just didn't see it. Now, again, I do think some of that was those different personnel groupings that Spaggs threw out there, and I do think some of that was, you know, like watching the defenders' backs turn and run to try and cover guys up. So there's a little bit of lack of trust there, maybe with what your eyes are telling you, but Lamar didn't see the field. Well, he didn't trust what his

eyes were telling him. He wasn't like convicted with what he was seeing. He was very hesitant with the football, like even the sack fumble. I still think he's a click late. He's going to throw like a big ball down the field. I do think he's a fraction of a second late. So it's hard to sit here and say it's not a playoff thing. I don't think it was just Lamar, but he played poor. He didn't see the field well. He didn't trust his eyes. I don't think he trusted his instincts. I think he held on to the ball too long instead of taking off in some of those instances

and running and just going to be an athlete and realizing, like, yo, when those defenders are turning and running, they don't have vision on you. So if you make one person or you get past that one set of arms from a defensive lineman, you're by yourself. There's multiple instances where he could have done that. Dan Orlovsky, wide open. Bingo.

Going for six. Kind of just cracked through. All right, having a phenomenal day. We appreciate you joining us. And once again, earlier today, when you said this one thing, it really was a moment, an opportunity to change the trajectory of everything going forward. I don't know. Okay?

So. Boom. And then you come on here, you're like, I'm never saying that again. I never said that. No chance. What are you talking? It's the same old, I'm never saying that again. I never said that. No chance. What are you talking about? It's the same old Dan-O. We appreciate that.

Don't change. Just like MCDC on fourth downs. You're the man, Dan. It was truly, truly always a great time with you boys. All right? When's the next time you're coming on? When's the next time you're going to ask me? See, that could have been an i don't know

right there see that we're trying to stack these yeah we're trying to stack did you see we're trying to get these things going did you see his smile when he first came on because he heard what tj yeah that was for tj yeah yeah i figured what was that all i'm sitting there watching i don't know what are you like i don't know like i feel like i'm a pleasant person tj comes on immediately takes a shot at me when was the the last time you talked to TJ? I don't even know if I know TJ. I don't even know if I've met TJ. I don't even know if I know him.

I don't think he played with me. No, I think he got there after I was there, I think. The thing about it with TJ and some of these other guys, there's nothing you can do about it either because TJ would just break you in half. You know what I mean? Totally. Which is, I run into this option. I a 7'3", I ran into him.

Yeah. I mean, this is just part of life, man. Hey, yeah, why didn't you fight? Good move. What? Why didn't you fight? Well, first of all, the guy, okay? I don't want to take a main event opportunity at WrestleMania from somebody who definitely

has earned it and deserved it and, you know, dedicates their entire life to getting in there. I could hurt somebody. Who would I be? Because let's say I do happen to catch a let's say i do happen to care i was a little bummed i was a little bummed oh you're bummed out huh i think about how bummed out these wrestlers would have been if if i come in there with four jobs five jobs and then i just rattle through the royal rumble and win it and cody rhodes doesn't have a chance to finish the story cm punk doesn't have an opportunity to finish the story braun breaker who's been waiting opportunity to finish the story, Braun Breaker, who's been

waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Let's say I walk in there, and a 7'3 Omos, who is way too big. He's a big son of a bitch. That thing is gigantic. Why is... I was pumping myself up here. I didn't know.

So, I mean, there's a sign there, Pat McAfee is gone. I'm not, but I appreciate it. Hey, whoever held that up, I love you. I needed that, by the way. Because I immediately forgot it as soon as I turned. Look at that thing! What is it? It's 7'3". And then Bron Breaker, he just oozes

his energy and intensity. It's like, I pulled my hamstring just like two weeks ago running the sprint. You think I'm supposed to battle against Omos? I don't think so. I was not ready. I was not prepared. I was excited.

Well, we're off ESPN. Sports Center's in seven minutes. We'll see you tomorrow. But then I get on a side of the rope, side of the ring, after I'd stepped out. And by the way, the boots almost slipped in. Dan Orlovsky, everybody thinks you're not on anymore because we're not on ESPN anymore, even though hundreds and hundreds

of thousands of people watch on YouTube and ESPN Plus every day, which is kind of a modern marvel when it comes to streaming, but in all the doofus' eyes, it doesn't mean anything, which is a whole other conversation. I wish I was off a minute ago. Just talking ball or whatever the case is.

when I get outside the ropes, I think about Tim McAfee. Yeah, I think about Sally McAfee. Sure. And I think about my baby girl, Mackenzie. Your family. And my wife. And I go, is this what I want to have on tape? Is this what I want to have on tape?

Even though I'm doing the right thing. I'm not taking any opportunities from anybody that certainly has earned it and deserved it. I'm nowhere near physically prepared to battle a seven-foot fucking three guy. Who is? No way, but I'll figure it out. Fuck. I'll figure something out in there. That's what I'm thinking on the sideline.

I'm like, I'm not. I get back in, and then all of a sudden, I'm not. Yeah, I am, actually. I am going to have this on film. I'm going to go ahead and get up out of here. I'll see you guys later. And, yeah, right back to the commentators. Maybe another time. I don't think so. I don, right back to the commentators. Maybe another time.

I don't think so. I don't know if the Royal Rumble is really my event. Because as I'm getting in there, Cody Rhodes is sitting there too. And I look in the eyes of Cody Rhodes as I'm walking up those steps and it's like this guy's entire life revolves around tonight. Look at this guy. Not to mention J.D.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Orlovsky. Thank you, Dan. But yeah. Yeah. I got out of there. Waste of a spot! Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. That guy's a big dude. I remember seeing him back in the day, I think, when I was

down there with you. So he's gotten more... He is so big. Literally. He didn't flinch either. When you jump back in, you jump back in, you act like you're going to do something. He didn't even flinch one month. Well, on Braun Breaker, I think he just bounced his tits one time.

Well, he had already cut like six people in half with some of the most fierce spears I've ever seen in my life. Look at the carnage in the ring as you're getting in there. Like, there's people laying everywhere. Yeah. 23 miles an hour, that Braun Breaker guy's coming off the ropes. He can hit. 23 miles an hour.

Yeah. Tyreek Hill in the ring. Faster, they said. Yeah. He was clocked faster using the same device than Tyreek was on the field. Now, Tyreek. He was clocked at 23. 23-point something.

Yeah, coming off the ropes. Slingshot. Think about that. Yeah. And people are like, why'd you get out of there? Why the fuck did I get out of there? What do you think? You don't think that guy

deserves a main event spot at WrestleMania? He does. Do you think this guy in some cowboy boots? They look great. Yeah. I love those boots.

They're not ready to kick in the ass. Frozen cons. They're not great wrestling boots. Frozen cons. Had you won, had you won the Rumble, who would you have chosen to face at WrestleMania?

So, a lot of people would just assume that I would go right at the big oos. Half-couple. How would you not? Nope. Seth fucking Rollins. I'm coming to you, pal. Just because I don't want to dance with Roman. And Seth's got a knee right now.

Yeah, exactly. So I'm not. By the way, don't deserve the opportunity. Don't desire the opportunity. We'll love to watch everything that takes place. But you picked Seth because of the knee thing that's happening. I figure he's gaming it. Yeah, but Cody wants to finish the Universal story.

Finish the story. His father. I thought Omos had it in a runaway. Yeah, then Omos and Bronco eliminated. Within 14 seconds of me getting eliminated. Yeah, because you gave him one of these. Yeah, you shook him up. They were thinking about, oh, about oh macrophy might might come back up here and give us one of these so big that thing had to feel good to be back out there though i loved it yeah it was so

cool it's awesome like the life schedule is just so absurd for good reasons like very fortunate very lucky to be doing what we're doing for a living. But what we do, how long, I mean, we're every day, you know, and it's not just when we're live. We don't have an agent, you know. So, like, I'm dealing, literally, I have a lot on my plate on a regular basis, which is my fault, but also something that I enjoy. And the boys kick a lot of ass. So it's like we have full-time jobs every single day,

and it's, like, hard to get travel in with the WWE. So anytime I have a chance to get back with the schedule and the opportunity where they're inviting me back, it's like, man, I can't fucking. I run. I don't walk back. I run to the plane to get there because it's great. Man, just the family that's there, the crew, everybody behind the scenes. The best. It's like so cool to see.

And then WWE Universe was so nice you know i had no idea what's going to happen because i've been reading a lot of terrible stuff about me from a lot of people for the last two weeks so when they're like hey you want to come back and commentate i'm like yeah they're like uh we're gonna give an introduction early uh we'll give you an intro start the show and then we'll be off running i was like can you just sneak me in there i don't know if you need to let everybody know in arena 48,044 people that i'm there or whatever and michael cole was like why and i'm like i've read a lot of things about me lately i don't know if i need to be hearing that from the crew and they cheered i'm very very thankful and lucky that they do that and uh anytime i get yeah that person's awesome i am not but i appreciate that person anytime i

get a chance to go back, it's a dream come true. I feel like a little kid. I wrote that in the thing. I legitimately feel like a little kid and so grateful for everybody over there. They're so incredibly kind to me. And I love it, man.

It's awesome. Great scene. Was that the Slim Jim section you were doing that to? The Long Boy Gang? You talking about the LBG? Was that what it was? That was the Long Boy Gang. That's what the Slim Jim section was? The Longboy Gang. You talking about the LBG? Was that what it was? That was the Longboy Gang. That's what the Slim Jim section was? The Longboy Gang. Yeah, Michael Cole said it.

That's why Cy Gunna, I do believe. He and I met each other a couple times. Corey Graves, take a seat, pal. Guy with the ref thing wants to say hello. Let me kiss my wife. Cole looks great. Cole does look incredibly fit. He's been working out more than anybody. Not as good as me.

Tommy Carlucci, old cuz down there. I mean, like, everybody. Where the hell was Jeff sitting? So Jeff was to the right of, from the left of the ring right there. Me and Cole had a big hug, big early. Oh, Jeff. That was a great moment. Jeff right over there is good.

Jeff was awesome, but not as awesome as the Apex Predator. I mean, he got, that was bullshit. Randy Orton's what, 275 it looks like? He is in unbelievable shape. Diesel. It was awesome, man. And it was fun to work alongside Corey Graves again, which is cool.

Because there for a while wasn't a blast. It was like, oh, this guy hates my guts over here. A couple of Pittsburgh guys. Yeah, listen, dude. Can we have a good time here? And then last night, or on Saturday night, he was awesome. Yeah. Because his brain, good.

Corey Graves' brain is a... He looks so cool. Has a yinzer. He has like a expert level brain. And then Michael Cole's the greatest of all time. So I'm just sitting there. And there were some people that came out. I had no idea who they were.

Sure. That's going to happen. I have no clue. I was looking over at the Trons. I'm i'm like what's the name here what's the name here and cole and cory are like oh my and i'm like oh yeah oh my oh yeah is that his name oh my and then i was like oh this person doesn't wrestle for WWE? No, they're like, not at all? No, they're somewhere else. Okay. Okay, all right, sweet.

Jordan Grace. Yeah. What a show. Yoked. I had no clue who that was. Yoked. As I was going through Guerrilla to get up and out, you know, because I kind of kept it as a surprise backstage,

so I didn't really see many people. So as I'm going through there, I see her, and I'm like, because she had a title around around and she was facing away. I'm like, holy fuck, who is jocked, absolutely jocked. And then I come out there and they're like, TNA knockout champion. It's like, holy shit. Believe it. Hey, to the WWE's credit, nobody really talks about this much, especially in the wrestling mark world.

They put her over in the WWE Royal Rumble as the TNA knockout champion. And then Cody Rhodes going back to back for the first time in 26 years. Hadn't been done since Stone Cold Steve Austin. And then obviously Roman Reigns wins clean. Kevin Owens got screwed. Kevin Owens got screwed!

He tried to cheat. He got screwed! He stooped to Logan Paul's level. I mean, KO's everything that's right in the wrestling world. And I thought he would go out there with grace and with. He didn't. This is a change of tone for you, KO. I love KO.

Yeah. Is that right? I love KO. He's a scumbag. That's this guy who hates KO. Yeah, Tone does not like KO because once he started doing the stunner and the swanton and everything, Tone's like, who is this guy? Well, he's all of us.

That's what he is. KO is all of us. Yeah, but what about this ref? All of a sudden, he's got perfect eyes. How's he even see it? How's he even see it? You've got to tuck those in your trunks. Everybody knows that.

I agree, but who? How? What is this ref? Super? Thank God he was there. Jeff told him to keep an eye out. Well, Jeff came in, this son of a bitch, and interrupted it all. We had a good match going.

And Logan Paul's still United States champion. Yeah. So if you're in the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska, Logan Paul is still your champion. And Kevin Owens, a Canadian, almost won it, but. Can't have that. Where did he hide those in his pants? He didn't have pockets.

It was around his dong. Where Carlito had his apple. I was watching Carlito pull his apple out. It was close. I didn't even see him. I mean, what does he even talk about? The guy had tape all over his hand before this. You know the WWE referees.

You know they do the eye practice drills. They do have the greatest referee crew out of all the professional sports. And congrats to Bayley winning the women's Royal Rumble. Here you go, Bayley! That was awesome. That was absolutely fantastic. I was lucky to be there. Thankful to be there. Can't wait to get back

into the WWE universe sometime. of the WWE Universe sometime. It's glorious. This hour is presented by our friends at Topgolf. It's golf. It's not golf. It's Topgolf. For a limited time, get half off golf Monday through Wednesday when you book in the Topgolf app.

Offer not valid at the Topgolf Las Vegas location. Okay. Restrictions and exclusions may apply. Visit Topgolf.com forward slash half off golf for details. Half off. Love that. The internet's going to love that. I've seen a lot of stuff about half offs.

Good deal. Shout out to Topgolf. We appreciate them. I think they're going to be with us all the way through the Super Bowl. Welcome to the party, Topgolf. Let's go, Topgolf. Speaking of, thatgolf. We appreciate them. I think they're going to be with us all the way through the Super Bowl. Welcome to the party, Topgolf. Let's go, Topgolf. Speaking of, that's A.J. Hawk. The Talks Table is here.

At Boss of Connor and Atai Schmidt. One half of the Hammer. Done. Cowboys 10 Diggs is here. And a nine-year NFL vet with a massive brain. Host of the Man to Man podcast and everything DB. Ladies and gentlemen, Darius J. Butler. Hey, boys. EverythingDB. Ladies and gentlemen, Darius J. Brothers. Now joining us via FaceTime or Zoom or something along those lines.

Satellite. Is a dude who went to Harvard. Okay? Got some stats here. Two-time first team all Ivy League. Whoa. Not easy. No.

Not easy. Tough conference. You put that right on the office wall if you were to have it in some banking or capital investment office if you had one. This man said, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to continue to play football. So much so, eight-time Pro Bowler. Damn.

Highest paid fullback in the history of the NFL. What? For good reason. He's headed to another Super Bowl. Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle Yushchen. Hey, Kyle. What's up, dude? Man, hey, you got

me fired up, man. Two-time All-Ivy League. You're not joking. That's the real deal, man. That's where it's at. Dude, imagine if you were an investment banker like all the other Ivy League football players, and right up there, every time they walked in, it just said First Team All-Ivy League. What were

you, bum? Nothing. First Team All-I Ivy League. What were you, bum? Nothing. First team all Ivy League. What were you, bum? Nothing. That would have been enough to get you in the door probably at one of these capital places, but instead you stick with football. Now going to be regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks to ever exist. Obviously an eight-time pro bowler, back to a Super Bowl. Congrats

on doing it, Smart Guy. Congrats on doing it. Thanks, man. Very happy with my career choice choice the path i went on here much better than being a banker well that's all still very much ahead of you and i assume you'll be doing something with billions of dollars if not trillions at some point but right now let's talk about this niners team obviously the connection seems to be very real the core of that group has been around each other for a long time. New centerpiece of quarterback, which we will talk about in a bit, but yesterday down 17 at halftime, two weeks straight kind of starting slow. What were the conversations at halftime? Who all spoke and was

there any doubt? I just saw you post on Instagram, never in doubt. There had to be, that's the biggest in the history of a conference championship game, Kyle. Yeah, you know what? It was surprisingly calm in the locker room, especially on the offensive side. There wasn't a lot of, you know, hoorahs, getting people fired up, all that sort of stuff. It was still too early. We knew that if we kept it within three scores at halftime, by all means, we were in that game

because we know we can score a lot of points and we can score them fast. And we just needed that spark, man. We need to come out fast. And that was really kind of the message on the offensive side is let's just go execute. You know, we've been doing this stuff all year. We can put points on them quick. We know how our defense is, man. Once they get in a groove, they start turning the ball over. They start forcing three and outs like we can flip this thing on its head really quick, but we knew we had to go score on that first drive. And, you know, we only ended up getting a field goal, but that, that seemed to be enough to, you know, kind of get us going. Yeah. Big fourth down stop and then a ball off a face

and then a turn. I mean, it was magic quickly, 17 points. We got a ball game going into the fourth. Everything you guys said seemed to come true quickly in that third quarter. Go ahead, AJ. Kyle, can you take us through that unbelievable toe-tap catch you made on the sideline where Brock obviously eludes the rush. It looked like he was sacked for sure, and he finds you. Like, what are you doing on this play, and what are you seeing when he's scrambling and thinking, like, okay,

here we go, I got a chance to actually catch this ball here? Yeah, man. I mean, I'm really – I'm kind of a last chance outlet on that play like i'm just chipping i'm running a corner i'm not even in the progression but um you know brock he does he makes one of these plays a game like if you're watching the san francisco 49ers like you're used to seeing this from brock like that that rusher is coming like completely unblocked. He makes, uh, you know, makes him miss gets out of the pocket. Uh, and luckily enough, I was just able to make eye contact with eye contact with them. And, uh, you know, he, he ripped it, gave me a chance and, uh, there was no way I wasn't going to come up with

that thing, man. And I don't get the most opportunities um you know with the guys we have on this team we have so much talent uh so my my opportunities to touch the ball are limited but man if you're going to give me one i'm going to do everything i can to take advantage of it let me tell you about a fullback having those feet in those hands that's not supposed to happen the first down um pylon pylon camera just from the waist down or whatever, it's like, that's not a fullback. Did you see your toes dance? Ooh! Toes dance like you're Michael Jackson up on a forward lean there,

right at the line of scrimmage falling forward, or right at the first down marker falling forward. And then your hands, that's a one-handed catch pretty much, out of bounds that you kind of seal the deal. Absolute weapon, Kyle. Absolute weapon. And I know they'll say you're not as big as other fullbacks but like in the run game your ability to catch and do everything

I assume you and Kyle Shanahan's conversations are like pretty positive about the role that you play in his entire offense because you're a pillar of that thing Kyle most definitely um you know Kyle and I we've been through a lot. This is seven years now we've been together. I was part of that first free agency class that he brought in to really turn this organization around, to establish a culture, to start winning and putting together a culture of people that love each other and work hard for one another. And it means so much to me to be one of those original guys and still be here. But Kyle and I, we've had so many great talks behind closed doors about my role. And I was really appreciative of some of the stuff he said.

I think it was last week or the week before when he had said that, you know, we got a lot of weapons on this team. he had said that, you know, we got a lot of weapons on this team. And Kyle, talking about me, used to get a lot more opportunities when I was younger. He's like, but it wasn't because he was younger. It's because we just needed him in that situation. And he knew that he still had faith in me that I can still make those plays today. And I believe he said, you know,

when does Juice not make the play when he gets called upon? Man, that had to feel good. That was in a media thing? It's a great feeling to get that from your head ball coach. Was that in the media? Yes. Oh, yeah. That's like, thank you, man.

Thank you. You know, because I assume there's people chirping about you being old, not only fans, but friends and family and everything. The last thing I ever want to hear. Yeah, especially a fullback position where you still got to thump people. And you've... Hey, you're phenomenal to watch, pal. You're phenomenal.

Just a freak out. You're not supposed to be as smart as you are, as tough as you are, and as athletic as you are. You're an anomaly, pal, which is why I assume you're able to land fashionista icon. The wife is crushing it right now, Kyle. Absolutely crushing it. This is big. She is murdering it, Pat.

She is such a bigger deal than I am. When I walk into the stadium now, there are more signs for my wife than there are for me. Yesterday, I saw multiple signs. Kristen Juszczyk is our NFL queen. You don't see nothing for me anymore. I mean, she's got all the fame, but she deserves it, man.

She's doing so good. She's working her tail off, and big things are coming for her. Okay, so for those of us that maybe don't fully understand the business behind it, or is this a hobby, or is she launching a store, a boutique? How does this – because everybody wants her shit. I feel like everybody wants her shit right now, Kyle, right? Am I reading it right? Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. The amount of people that have reached out trying to get something, it's been astronomical. We're still, honestly, we're still trying to figure out exactly how we're going to approach this. They will be available eventually. But right now, we're just kind of trying to work out the whole business end of it, whether she's going to pair with a company, whether she's going to do this on her own. Um, it's really been a lot, uh, and we're just trying to digest it right now. Cause you know, what she's been so great about is, I mean, the opportunities she's gotten are just absolutely insane, but she knows right now, the number one thing is we want to go win a Superbowl.

We've been working for this together for 10 years, you know, and that's number one on her list. So we're going to take care of that, and then she's going to figure out what exactly we need to do to get her business completely running and, you know, taking care of her stuff. I love that. I love to hear that. Great tag team.

Seems like you got a lot of those over in the San Francisco 49ers locker room. Whenever you said that you were tasked with being the first class to build a place that really likes each other and a team that's a culture, it's radiating through the screen everywhere else. We're happy to hear that your wife's... You know, just building custom pieces, too. Then you're not committing anything.

You don't have to have like 500 pieces of anything. Just custom spots. The allure of it builds because there's only so many of them. Not that i have any clue about that business at all at all but good pretty good i'll i'll wake up i'll wake up no joke at four in the morning and she's still downstairs working like she has been grinding cutting up those jerseys putting it together like i mean she is committed to this thing right now and i'm so proud of her she has just been

working her absolute tail off hey showcasing how to be a good husband too did you see every single post was like excuse me excuse me who made that that was awesome to watch romance still thriving chivalry's not that especially with the football dudes go ahead tone yeah Kyle we referenced it earlier a little bit a couple slow starts the last couple weeks. Any idea why? Have you guys thought about, I don't know, maybe injecting Red Bull or more smelling salts or anything like that to maybe

not have to come back from down 17? Maybe just meth. I don't know if you can get any more smelling salts. I think George Kittle sniffs all of them before anyone else can get to them. Ideally, we would like to get off to a little faster start. For whatever reason, that hasn't been the case these last two weeks. But definitely something we're going to address, you know,

going into this next game. But fully confident and however we need to handle it that we'll be able to pull this thing off. Okay. The first bye week when you're the number one team? Yeah. And then you guys play against how you played against Green Bay? And then what happens right here?

Is there anything to that? You're a smart guy, Harvard guy. Is there anything to the rust thought or maybe mentally checking out for a couple weeks and then trying to check back in mentally whenever there's a team that has been living off desperation for the last five, six weeks. And same with this Detroit Lions team that's been riding momentum. It's hard just to flip the switch, but you guys are obviously talented enough to do that. Is there anything to that, you think?

Yeah, I mean, it's a genuine question that, honestly, even going through it, I don't know exactly what the right answer is. I mean, we had a unique situation this year that even, you know, in week 18, not all the starters were even playing. The starters that were playing played like a little bit. Then you have that week off and it's like, we didn't even take, it really wasn't like a week off. Like we practiced hard. We were in pads, like full practices. So, I mean, it's hard to say we, hard we were in pads like full practices um so i mean it's hard to say we but we definitely did have a lot of guys um you know they're coming back from you know they've been out from injuries for a while so maybe there is you know uh knocking the rust off element there

um but it's it's really hard to say because there's so much value to being healthy and having that rest and being fresh. So it's just like, yeah, I don't know what the right answer is. In our world, it's a constant conversation. And if you feel one way, you can feel justified to be a hundred percent right. And if you feel the complete opposite way, you too are grandstanding as if you're a hundred percent right, which is why it's going to be talked about. But you are in that rest. And then you only needed five minutes against Packers. And then against the Lions, you only needed 20, seems like.

So maybe you guys don't even need a full 60. Maybe you guys are doing it better than everybody else. D-Bud's got a question for you, Kyle. You guys are in a headache for defense when it comes to game planning because of the unique assortment of weapons you guys have. Obviously, you, CMC, D-B devo can all do different things george as well um but with brandon iu what's his ascension been like as that wide receiver his route running is amazing obviously his hands he had the great concentration the deep ball you know 50 yard catch his pass game but what's been going on i guess behind the scenes with his success these last couple years kind of becoming that wide receiver one on the outside yeah man Brandon has taken it to a whole nother level this year his route running

I mean you know I don't want to start some sort of list here but he's got to be you know on the at the don't leave anything off don't leave anything off he's got to be one of the best route runners in the NFL man he is really is really, truly special. And like you said, he really has become that wide receiver one. Like he is that guy that he can go out there and he can beat man coverage against anybody. He's dynamic. He's a playmaker. I mean, the stats are insane. I think he finished, what was his seventh in the NFL in yards, but he was like 30th

and third fewest catches of like those guys. Like it's insane. The efficiency that he's had and just what an incredible athlete and, and what a hard worker he is. I mean, it's been really cool. I've, I've had a locker next to Brandon for the past four years and his rookie year during during training camp we both pulled our hamstrings at the same time so like i really feel like i and at the time like we're going through uh rehab together and i really got to know him um as a young guy and have been with him throughout this whole thing and i am so proud of like the man that brandon's become because he is such a leader on this team and when he makes big plays

like everybody feeds off that energy like he just has this charisma to him and he's a freaking playmaker and we would not be where we're at today without Brandon because he really is that number one receiver fun to watch and uh also number two play on sports center top 10 that uh off the face catch not number one not number. Lamar threw a completion to himself. Oh, wow. I watched his locker mate neighbor, Brandon Ayuk, watch himself not make

number one. Seems like he's a hilarious human, huh? Yeah, good moxie. Very funny. Yeah, I don't know. Who does the voting on these SportsCenter's Top 10, man? I think I said a guy's name one time on this show, and then there was quite backlash to it all. But let's talk about another human on your particular team.

We're talking about backlash. Second year, Brock Purdy. And we saw, we heard, obviously we heard Fred Warner in his post-game interview say this. Heck of a game manager. Wow. Managed the heck out of that game, boy. He the reason we're going to have a chance to win us a ring.

I love him. And then we saw your tweet about Brock Purdy managing to get you the ball on that fantastic, ridiculous play that he made, and you caught the ball. I mean, just everything he does is seemingly great, and he's only in his second year. Great catch by you as well. He's only in his second year in this entire thing,

and that kind of gets left out of the conversation because the expectations, I think, for your team are so high. What do you see behind the scenes, though, that maybe people that don't understand the Brock Purdy stuff don't really get? Because on the field, from what I'm watching, I see energy. I see him getting mad at people, teammates, like holding people accountable. I see him getting excited. I see him making the right decision.

I see him putting the ball in a keyhole. Yesterday I saw him scrambling and running all over the place. Everything on the field seems to be like, hey, this is a guy. Behind the scenes, we don't get to see much or hear much of him. What is he like? We know he dresses like somebody who's either Evan Fox or somebody that goes to Harvard on his way into the office to sell some accounting job.

But what is he like, and what do people kind of miss, you think, in the whole judgment of him? Well, first off, I appreciate you going to bat for him last week. The hate for him, I don't understand it. I can't figure it out, man. If you watch 49ers football, if you've watched it the last two years and you watch Brock Purdy play, I don't understand where you can even bring the hate in. This guy has been incredible. He is a playmaker. And this game manager tag, it's baffling.

You guys are running with it, though, huh? In the locker room, everybody's like, you guys are running with it, obviously, because I think Bosa even said he's the greatest game manager of all time. It seems like you all are kind of mocking it right now. Yeah, I mean, you got to have fun with it. We always say ignore the noise, but you know, we're all humans. It's 2024. Like we hear at least some of this stuff. We're not keyed into every single word, but you know, you're going to hear some of it. But behind the scenes, I mean, Brock,

he is the most humble, hardworking guy I've been around. I mean, we'll have install meetings and, you know, we break up, you're going off to your next meeting and Brock is still sitting in his chair, looking at that play sheet. Like everyone is like out of the room and he's still just dialed in, looking at it. And it's every single day like that. Like he is so locked in and so serious. Like he takes this job so serious. Like anytime he speaks to the team, it's always about how he doesn't want to let us down. He doesn't want to let down the guys that have been doing this for so long. And he just has a maturity about him and an understanding of, you know, the magnitude of this and how important it is and how tough it is to get these opportunities. So I appreciate that from him so much.

But, man, I truly, truly don't understand the hate for him. And everything, all the numbers, if you watch them, like they go against every narrative. But people, I don't know, if it's the draft, you know, being the last guy picked in the draft, if it's because he's not. But then if it's the last guy in the draft, if it's because he's not the biggest five. But then if it's the last guy in the draft, then you're allowing then you're just a mark pretty much

to be like, the NFL scouts know everything that they're talking about. Then you're like, you're a bum if that's how you're thinking, right? Yeah. Every single reasoning for thinking, I could counter argue to make it sound like you're a bum if that's how you go about forming your opinions.

You're a mark. You're actually not intelligent every single time. I don't understand. 100%. Honestly, anybody who come out, when they come at them with this hate, in my mind, you don't understand football. You're not getting it. So whatever.

People can say what they want, but this guy just led us to the Super Bowl, and he's going to be the reason that if we win this game, it's going to be because of Brock Purdy. Oh, hey, that's a sweet quote right there. And Brock Purdy hears everybody sticking up for him too. Does he keep the noise out mostly? Sounds like he's super mature, locked in. Has had to have heard some of this though.

Had to have. Yeah, I mean, we're all human, so you're going to hear it. And we live in that age of social media that you know you're going to see some things but he is fantastic at diverting that and really just focusing on you know what are his guys saying and the people that really matter the people that around him work with him every day like how do they feel about him and you see all of us we're all going to bat for him online, in person with him. That's our guy. We love Brock, and he gives us all opportunities,

and that's all you can ask for. That perspective about only appreciating the feeling of the people that care for you and that you care about is a very mature one, which is what we've seen from Brock seemingly since day one. Last pick of the draft, if he stinks in practice, he's getting cut. He's playing in the UFL. He's playing in the UFL if he stinks in practice he's getting cut he's playing in the ufl yeah he's playing in the ufl he stinks in practice now in his second year back-to-back nfc championships and in the super bowl this is a beautiful story it's going to be a movie someday we need to

appreciate it go ahead aj hawk god when you were on the sidelines watching uh your defense play were you surprised at all a couple times when the lines may have gone forward on fourth down i mean yeah definitely we we had talked about it going into the game that these guys were going to a couple times when the Lions may have gone for it on fourth down? I mean, yeah, definitely. We had talked about it going into the game that these guys were going to take chances. They're going to take risks, you know, be ready for some flea flickers like they ran, some double reverses, some fake punts, you know, going for it in, you know, sketchy situations. So we kind of expected that. Honestly, I was thinking on the sideline, like, man, I hope they do go for it, because that that was just going to give us an opportunity to get back in the game.

You know, if they do kick those field goals, that's that's going to make it tough. They make it a three score game again in the second half. That's hard to overcome. I'm at the end of the day, you know if they do get it that that obviously would have hurt um but i'm happy that they took the risk and you know gave us a chance to get back in it dang campbell have you got a chance to meet him i haven't no i haven't but i mean a ton of respect for the guy and look what he's built uh it's hard not to respect him like i mean his blue collar as they come, says all the right stuff. Seems like he's got respect of all his players.

So it seems like he's doing some really good stuff there. Feels like your team and their team kind of built in the same image. We're gonna try to be explosive. We're gonna try to run. We're gonna try to be hard nose. We're gonna try to run the ball, have some explosive plays if we need it. Feels like what the Lions have tried to build, not saying that they mimicked what the Niners, obviously everybody should try to do what you guys have done, but similar philosophies feels like. Same with the Ravens,

similar philosophy. Same with the Chiefs this year, similar philosophy. Everybody's trying to go back to that hard nose style of football. Have you experienced that? And you've seen that as obviously a team that has basically never wavered in this particular style of football. Yeah, I think, I mean, it's, it's no surprise that those are the four teams, you know, that are left at the end of the year. At the end of the day, like football is about physicality. You can't avoid it. Um, even as we, you know, spread the field out, guys get lighter, they get faster. Like at the end of the day, you got to hit somebody, you got to put your face on someone. Um I think it's the teams that embrace that will continue to be the successful ones. How do you feel this late in? Feel good?

I feel fantastic, Pat. I really do. I don't know what it is. I've tapped into something that I feel better at 32 than I did at 26. I just really seem like to have figured out what my body needs. And I'm ready to keep this thing rolling for a long time. You doing like red light therapy in the morning, cold tub, hot tub, we eating special? Every day. Every day. You got to get in that cold tub up to the neck. I'm in that red light twice a day, every day. Wow. Lots of different things. What's the diet? What's the diet? Are we on a special diet right now? It's nothing too crazy. Honestly, I keep it pretty low dairy. That's kind of my only restriction.

I'm obviously eating good. I do grow a lot of my own food. I grow a lot of my own vegetables, which- In the kitchen? You have one of those things that hangs over the counter? Are we talking back- do grow a lot of my own food. Like I grow a lot of my own vegetables, which, um, like you have one of those things that hangs over the counter. Are we talking back? I have a hydroponic garden in my, uh, in my living room. So it's pretty cool. So hard. This is it right here. How are we growing? We were pretty good. We've got a green thumb over in that. Oh yeah. Yeah. I've been, I've been doing it for years. Um, but I mean, this is the science behind it. Like homegrown vegetables have up to two and a half times the amount of nutrients than the stuff that you're buying from the stores. Just because stuff that you buy from the stores, it has to get picked so much earlier.

And then it's sitting on a truck for weeks and all that until it gets to you. It's not getting that sunlight. It's not getting that nutrients. So we try to, you know, stay away from that and eat as much as i can that i actually make yeah and it feels like you just dropped us into another war there but i want to let you know i'm on your side whenever this whole thing goes i want to let you know i'm on your side i don't know if this guy's grown his own vegetables but certainly health is a conversation go ahead yeah kyle uh we had george on last week and he said leading up to the Packers game just based on like practice and everything that he thought Debo was going to go for like 100 yards and three touchdowns and obviously he gets hurt there early and it was pretty clear that you know what he is

to you guys's offense like is imperative in terms of moving guys around so a lot of people were assuming that maybe that had to do a little bit with the way the Packers game shook out obviously Debo plays yesterday uh what is his health looking like moving forward and also just how important is he to the offense overall because obviously George saying something like that we know how incredible Iuke and you and McCaffrey and all those guys are but it really does seem like Debo is kind of one of the guys who like you got everyone looks to in terms for you guys to really get going. Yeah. I mean, Debo is such a centerpiece of this offense. And I spoke earlier about how Brandon gets everyone fired up when he makes plays. I mean, Debo, oh my gosh, every, every time he touches the ball, he seems to run somebody over guys seem to bounce off of them. And that gets all of us fired up as far as

health i mean he looks incredible like he came out of there healthy uh it just so happens that after one of his plays i was blocking for him on a screen i helped him up and i slapped the hell out of his shoulder right where he is. Boom! You know how that is. A guy gets dinged in the head, and you slap him across the helmet. Good job, buddy. I apologize, but it didn't even seem to faze him. So I think he's going to be good to go. But the thing with Deebo is when he's out,

it's such a trickle-down effect because he plays so many different roles, and we put him in so many different places that it's very game plan specific. When he's not in there, you're not just losing one position. You're losing multiple where a lot of different guys have to step in now and take over that role. If we can have him healthy and out there, one, it just adds such a dynamic piece to our offense because he's by far

one of the best humans on earth with the ball in his hands it's absolutely incredible um but two it just it makes it so much easier for us as an offense because he can handle so many different positions and just like the mental part of it george kittle said last week whenever debo gets hurt early he said i was expecting with our game plan, Debo to have three touchdowns. So whenever Debo gets kind of removed from the situation, all of a sudden you need three to four different people, right, to make up for what he's doing. And they haven't gotten a lot of reps either, I would assume, in those particular plays. Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, you have a limited amount of time to practice and guys, you know, the starters are obviously going to get those reps because, you know, they need them. We're not expecting them to go out early.

So, you know, that can make it difficult when a guy has to leave early on in the game. Greenlaw had a – it looked like a stinger slash maybe a dislocation of a shoulder. And then I saw what they decided to do was you got four chains off. We need to take at least one of these chains off on the sideline. He seemed to go right back in there. I don't know. So maybe that's the answer. Maybe you wear four chains, have an injury, take one off.

You're all good. Your entire team seems to be dogs, though. That is the feeling that we get outside in. You guys take pride in that, I assume. There's no question. And, man, I sound like a broken record of like guys that get the team fired up when they make big plays but dre greenlaw another one of those like dre is by far my favorite person to watch on defense looks like aj hawk out there

um christian and i always joke about it we're sitting on the sidelines, and, like, Dre is – he is so fun to watch because it doesn't seem to matter what position his body is in. He always gets a hard hit on that running back. Like, he always – whether he's in the open field, whether, you know, guys are coming – like, colliding into one another, he always gets that hit he always gets that punch at the end and he brings such a physicality to the game but he's also like absolutely incredible in space like anytime uh somebody breaks the pocket or even like a

receiver has a jet sweep in the open field he always seems to get there. Like, he's very deceptively fast, very deceptive athlete. Like, man, I think Dre is one of the best playmakers in the NFL on defense. Like, he gets this team going, and he has just been playing out of his mind. Yeah, your team is filled. Like, obviously you're in the Super Bowl. There's only two teams left, so the teams are going to be good. That is how it goes. But you start looking across the board at your team,

everybody seems to have the same mentality as well. And it's like everything that John Lynch seemingly and Kyle Shanahan seemingly wanted with a team, every single position has it, including left tackle. Go ahead, Kyle. Yeah, Kyle, obviously it means a lot for the guys who lost that Super Bowl in 2019 to go back and kind of redeem the entire team. But what was it like for some of those guys that Super Bowl in 2019 to go back and, you know, kind of redeem the entire team. But what was it like for some of those guys that weren't with the team then? And this would be,

you know, one of their first Super Bowls, like the scene of Trent Williams was incredible after they won. And then you think about other guys, you know, Javon Hargrave lost the Super Bowl last year and now he's, you know, with you guys going back, you know, how was that post game in the locker room and just, you know, the emotions from the team as a whole after you guys, you know how was that post game in the locker room and just you know the the emotions from the team as a whole after you guys you know get the job done yeah man i mean that's the thing with the nfl like you can talk to any player out there and everyone has an interesting story like everybody has gone through some shit to get here um and it it's awesome for you know myself george uh fred eric bosa like all us guys that went through it in 19 um when we got to the super bowl like this wasn't a redemption story to get back here and have an opportunity to you know redeem ourselves but also how awesome it is for guys that we've

brought in um you know like christian like jayvon um like like Mooney is now on our side. They all have these individual stories. Yesterday, when that clock ticked zero and you're slamming your heads together, it's just like, we're going to the effing Super Bowl, brother. We did this together.

It's just such a... You guys said fucking or effing, actually? What was it it i don't yeah i don't know what the rules are here on this show you know my nephew's watching he's 11 i don't say it kid don't say it kid which i will say you've had quite an influence on my uh my family's household uh my my 11 year old nephew weston, quarterback for his flag football team, just won his flag football championship. And he reminds me, he is not a champion. He is a chompion.

Congrats on the chompionship, cuz. What's his name? Weston. Weston is a beast, man. He's the quarterback for his team. He is dedicated. He wants to take over Uncle Juice's shoes and excited for him in the future. Weston's a champion.

Has been since he was born. He's a champion. Yeah, I absolutely know that. Trent, the weapons are just on top of each other. You guys haven't even really done much of the Trent Williams pool shit this year. You know? Where you put the most violent human on earth in motion. That's cool.

That's a lot of fun. Saving for the biggest game of the year, man. Could you imagine Spags just being like, all right, here's the deal, boys. They haven't done it much, but the fucking big one. Yeah. He's going to start coming across. I can't wait to see what you guys do, how you handle it all. Congrats on getting back to the Super Bowl.

You all deserve it in abundance. We appreciate you, buddy. Hey, see what you guys do, how you handle it all. Congrats on getting back to the Super Bowl. You all deserve it in abundance. We appreciate you, buddy. Hey, I appreciate you guys. Thank you for all your support. So fired up for this week, man, and I'm sure I'll be talking to you again soon. I hope so. You guys are staying way out there from what the reports were out in Vegas. You know what?

We're going to get all that information in the next day or two. We practiced against the Raiders in this preseason, and so we've already spent a week in Vegas, and we've done that whole thing, so I'm interested to see if we'll be in the same hotel as we were last time

or if we're going to be out by UNLV or something like that. They're saying like 25, 30 miles. You guys are out. There's a lake. I don't know if it's your team or the Chiefs are in. They're saying 30 miles out, 25, 30. It looks beautiful.

It does look beautiful, but it's way out there. We got to focus on the game, so I think it'll be okay for us to be away from the strip. All right. Sounds good. If you want to put in a red or black or a number, call them. Yeah. Gotcha. We'll be over there.

We'll be right in the middle. We won't be able to play. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle Juszczyk. There you go. Whole team. Dogs. Yeah, and he's a super genius.

That guy is so fucking smart just listening to him talk. And it's not just like human smart. Football wise. Yeah, yeah. The way he uses his leverage and the way – the things that Kyle Shanahan has going, I think like two years ago when In the Trenches started, A.Q. Shipley was like, hey, wherever this guy goes

is where the ball is going to end up at. They are running – and he said, I've been with Kyle for seven years. We've been through a lot. It's like Kyle Shanahan has had a lot of concepts and ideas for a fullback that happens to be fast, as fast as a a running back and also has the ability to block like a fullback and they've done it with him and uh he's changed so many games because visibility and now it sounds like he thinks this is the deepest they've been in the most ready they've been good for the niners and they got brock they got brock calling you know pulling the trigger and uh just coming out

of the huddle because obviously a defensive coordinator they got it. They got Brock pulling the trigger. Just coming out of the huddle, because obviously a defensive coordinator, they got the down and distance, they got the personnel grouping in the huddle. Obviously, you know the score and all that. But once they break that huddle, like Juice can be out wide, Kittle can be in the backfield, C-Mac can be out, Debo. So it's just so many different mental gymnastics you got to go through as a defense. Pre-step. Yeah, so posting.

And that's in a couple seconds when they're coming out of the huddle, get lined up. And then you know Shanahan, they always shift in motion. So that's another set of issues you got to deal with. So I can't wait to see this chess match between Kyle Shanahan and Spags. So Brett Veach, former... He's from Pennsylvania? GM for the

Chiefs? I think so. Football. I think he played wide receiver, didn't he? Did we look this up? Some college, some small college? In my head I'm thinking of some small college. Mount Carmel PA. Mount Carmel PA. Delaware he went to. Okay. And Lynch, obviously former player, like the way... Hall of Famer. Yes.

Not just a player. Yeah. The player. The 47. Whenever you see it. That is who it is. But the way they built these teams, just so good. Why doesn't everybody do it? That's a good question. Why doesn't everybody just build the 49ers?

What are we doing? With Juice, you'd say, hey, fullbacks don't play huge prominent roles on a lot of teams in the NFL. Why don't you just get a guy like Juszczyk? Well, because there's only one Juszczyk. This is what the Colts need to do. Get a fucking Juszczyk.

And Patrick Mahomes, I think. And you're set. And then we need a Kelsey or a Kittle. Seems like that is a part of every team. Trade a couple picks for the best running back in the league. Middle of the season. And then he became option one.

Not only in the backfield, throwing the ball, catching the ball. In that entire team, middle of the season for Christian McCaffrey. Do you remember? And then he became option one. Oh, yeah. Not only in the backfield, throwing the ball, catching the ball. And that entire team, the immaturity of that locker room to take in Christian McCaffrey, and then Christian McCaffrey be the star. And we're talking about all these other stars. Ayuk was there. Debo was there.

Kittle was there. And they're just like, yep, this guy's now the star. And everybody's like, okay, I guess. If this is going to help us win games, let's do it. It's like that mindset is not normal, especially when you've got big names everywhere. And they've had a couple contract things that have taken place over the last couple years. But as soon as that gets settled, it seems like they're all, boom, we're just moving along here. It's beautiful.

It's remarkable. What Lynch has built, they've got to win one, though. Which is the next statement every single time, AJ. Especially with Brock on a rookie contract, all of that. Yeah, I'm sure over these next two weeks, they will feel that. They'll feel it mounting. Let's see who handles the pressure. Schefter brought it up earlier.

When Patrick Mahomes is on a rookie contract, they went to the Super Bowl 1-1. Joe Burrow on a rookie contract, went to the Super Bowl, lost one. Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts, rookie Super Bowl, they make it. Rookie contract, they make it. They lose one. Justin Herbert, rookie contract, they make it. They didn't win a playoff game.

They didn't win a playoff. Well. You know, that's the difference. That's the difference there. And that's what Harbaugh's going in to figure out. Yep. And I think he will be able to. He's jotted.

Hey, Schefter said earlier, if it wasn't Harbaugh, it would have been Frapes. Yeah, and then he kind of alluded to maybe some surprise hirings as well with, what, Seattle and the Commanders? Definitely surprised because all of us just have Ben Johnson at the Commanders and Dan Quinn at Seattle, seemingly from the jump. This has been the conversation. And then he said, I would bet at least one of those is not going to be the case, maybe two.

And then he said, Bill Belichick hasn't been mentioned for either job yet. It was like... Commies he got mentioned, but the mention was we are not going after him. And they still have yet to find their guy. I found it suspicious. Not suspicious, just weird. I think it was yesterday. Little Latte, Jordan Schultz

reported that Dan Quinn is definitely going back to the Cowboys if he doesn't get a head coaching job. So was that like information came out? Like, hey, Dan's not getting this job. So you can report that he's potentially going back to the Cowboys if he doesn't get a head coach. So he goes back to the Cowboys. Good for them. Yep. Aaron

Glenn and Ben Johnson seemingly going to be back for the Lions. Good for them. At least one of them for sure. One of them definitely. Mike McDonald. A lot of people are thinking McDonald's going to get the – Seattle? I don't know.

I mean, Vrabel. Why wouldn't Vrabel be in Seattle? That feels like it makes a lot of sense. The interview? Well, Schneider's in charge now of everything, right? Yeah. Yeah, but the non-football people kicked out Pete, so do they want Vrabes? No, football people.

People forget. I can explain to you, even you guys. I can explain something to you and you're still not going to fully get it. No offense, he said to the radio people. That's like the first Pete Carroll thing I've ever heard where he's been like,

you guys don't get it. You don't get it. That was beautiful. A couple other stories happening around the NFL that we haven't got a chance to chat about. Kellen Moore is now the offense coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. Hello, Kellen. Vic Fangio, defense coordinator for the Eagles, fresh out of Miami,

which allegedly players and he did not mesh well via numerous reports, kind of the case. He's in Philadelphia. Now Kellen Moore, offense coordinator for Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia Eagles. Sirianni reloads quickly with two people I think we all have massive amounts of respect for how they go about doing their business. Now, Kellen Moore, obviously very

pass-happy coordinator I think is what the M.O. is on him. Jalen Hurts is going to have to figure some stuff out there to get back to what he was a year before. Another year of health. They got weapons. I think these were great hires yeah personally feel like the eagles got better you agree i do i like killing more it's just guys got to click you got to mesh and i just hate and we talked about it you talked about it earlier every team uh changing over the oc since 2022 that's wild but

um another quarterback now with another oc and a young career same thing's been going on with justin herbert i mean there's no excuse that's just what the nfl is at this point you're gonna change and get to know different guys so i'm interested to see how that dynamic plays out with keller moore and vic fangio going over there has to be a good thing better than what we saw this past season right should be yeah but where where do you think patricia ends up does he have a gig in the nfl his whole thing was that he wasn't going to sign until Bill signed, so now it's kind of like purgatory for Matt Patricia at the moment. Yeah, because who knows what Bill's going to do.

Patriots still need an OC? They do. Matt Patricia's not on the list? I don't know. I cannot tell you that he— He looks younger. He does. Yeah, he's jacked right now.

We know the Patriots are looking young at the coaching staff. We don't know what a Yotes Matt Patricia can do on the offensive side of the ball. As we're just talking about similar coordinators, Niners keep Wilks. He's not going anywhere, right? Nope. Seemingly. Yeah, no, I don't think so. Doubt it. Which, awesome. For them.

For them, yep. And then Shanahan staying. They might lose their passing game coordinator. Kubiak. Yeah, those guys are the ones. Like I mentioned, the Patriots are looking at those guys now for OCs. I assume they're not the only team. Yeah, I assume the Sliders will too. Clint Kubiak?

Yep. Is that who's there? Okay. Yeah, he's a hot commodity. But how many of those guys, especially now on the Chiefs and the Niners, are just going to get passed because of the fact that they're still coaching well the rams right the rams is the the rams the rams passing game coordinator went to atlanta with raheem okay um and it's the enemy anywhere where's the enemy he had an interview with the commanders i think in person but i don't know if he's

steelers have interviewed gerard johnson who is the quarterback coach for the texans he's also i believe interviewed maybe in new New England or Philly. Yep. And then Artie Smith got an interview with the Steelers this weekend as well. And I heard Steelers fans are not happy about the Artie Smith interview. No, they're not. They are really, really not. Come on.

Which boggles my mind. We're just talking. Every Steelers fan. Let's get back to the Steeler way. Artie Smith, I pulled it up. Steelers fan, let's get back to the Steeler way. Artie Smith, I pulled it up, as a play caller, had the third, second,

third, ninth, and his first year in Atlanta was 31st rush game. But normally a top five running attack, which, you know, who wants that? Not Steelers. That's not a notoriously Steelers fan thinking thought process. I mean, you can respect it after seeing Mason Rudolph sling that pill.

I wouldn't want him to run the ball either. Let's get Cliff Kingsbury in. Let's run this thing wide open. Pew, pew, pew, shots. Let's get Hal Mummey maybe in here. To maybe run this. Bring Graham Harrell up. Graham needs to win some.

You know, he went to West Virginia. It's not Tim Lester. I mean, what about Tim Lester? You could bring Tim Lester in. Now, let's talk about the good hirings of the weekend. The Iowa Hawkeyes have hired an offensive coordinator who is a proficient offensive play caller. Just his resume and record says this guy is the guy. Tim Lester's final year as a head coach at Western Michigan in 2022,

offensive ranks out of 131 teams, 122nd and 121st, and then Lester's final year as offense coordinator at Syracuse 2015. 80th and 117th place. A peculiar hire, says Ben Stevens. Come on. Got our guy. He must have had a great interview. He had a great interview.

We got our guy. It's just like Matt Canada getting hired to the Steelers. All the Steelers fans, first thing they do is they just go, oh, let's see what this guy's done that's going to be taking over our team. He's been horrible everywhere. That guy couldn't score at LSU. How's this guy? How's this guy get a job anywhere?

And then I see the Iowa hiring, and I was in the middle of some stuff as it was taking place. I looked at it on my phone, and I just laughed. That's literally all I could do was just laugh about this being the decision that the Iowa Hawkeyes make. How do you feel about it? He's going to change everything whenever he gets there. I love it.

We got our guy. He's the exact guy we were looking for. I saw Ferentz was interviewing the old Duke OC at a continental breakfast right across the street from Kinnick, and I assume a lot of people said, hey, we want this guy. We saw what he did with Riley Leonard. Ferentz said, okay, this is my football team. I'm going to run this how I want to fucking run it. So you guys want this guy?

Fuck this guy. Get him out of here. I don't give a shit. Just give me Tim Lester. That's who I want. You think there's a chance he's trying to save his boy's good name? They thought my son was bad. Wow. Wait until they see this guy. He was a fucking

head coach somewhere. I mean, it can't get much worse. It actually can't get any worse. I mean, I suppose it could, but you know. Yeah, you can be more in last place. I think it can always get worse. It can always get worse. You can be more in last place. You could be, but listen, Deacon Hill's not going to be

the quarterback next year, which is a massive, massive deal. Who recruited him? Well, he was a transfer portal guy. So how do you end up Iowa? Nobody in Iowa said, we want you on the team? Well, I think they were like, hey, we need a heavyweight for the wrestling team if you want to come over and maybe figure that out. And it turns out he couldn't beat the heavyweight, so they're like,

well, fuck it, you want to go play football. We need a left tackle, too. Turns out he couldn't beat the heavyweights. They're like, well, fuck it. You want to go play football? We need a left tackle, too. Turns out he couldn't get the left tackle spot. And then Cade McNamara goes down. They say, you can actually throw the football pretty well. So he ends up playing quarterback. But no, Cade McNamara's coming back. Obviously, the crown jewel, Caden Proctor's coming home.

Transfer not Alabama. Going back to where he was supposed to be. So he's transferring from Alabama, Nick Saban and the boys, to a Tim Lester-led offense at Iowa. It doesn't matter, though. I mean, like, look at Tristan Wirfs. Like, he will be a first-round pick eventually. You know, like, no one gives a shit about that.

We are going to run right off his left butt cheek every single down of the season. So, yeah, you know, Tim Lester, we'll see. We'll see who's laughing when Tim Lester, I don't know, is maybe the next coach at LSU next year. A year from now. The Big Ten hasn't gotten better either, so it's good that you... See, I'm not worried

about the Big Ten. I mean, Washington, okay. They just lost DeBoer and a bunch of guys left. USC, oh, Kayla Williams is not in there anymore. And, you know, I mean, they give about 85 points a game. Not to who? To Tim Lester?

Yeah, sure. Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I mean. Hey, Tim, good luck. We're pulling for you ultimately, but this hire is just. It's terrible, but guess what? It's just like such a perfect situation to happen to Hawkeyes fans.

Who, Iowa, storied franchise. Iowa's still going to win two games next year. They will. It's a new big thing. It's a great gig, though. It's a great gig. What if he has them like 85th in the country? Then it's like, boom, what a jump.

He's mocking you. That's fine. Not at all. I'm saying I would want the gig because you're saying, okay, these guys didn't score a bunch of points. These guys are in the Big Ten. These guys are in the Big Ten. These guys are in the Big Ten. That's fine.

You know, because guess what? Everyone mocked and ridiculed last year, and they still went to the Big Ten championship. And now do you have an actual chance to beat the Michigans of the world and teams like that? Got to do that in regular season now, don't you? Because they're getting rid of the – like you guys don't just automatically get a trip if you beat Minnesota a couple times.

No, but, I mean, I looked at who they're playing next year. Like, they're going to be just fine because they're still playing Minnesota. They're still playing Illinois. They're still playing Northwestern. Like, you know, those regional games. And, yeah, you're going to have to beat a Washington or a, you know, USC or a UCLA. But a couple of those times, okay, USC is going to come to Kinnick in November. With Tim Lester and the boys buzzing? Couple of those times, okay, USC is going to come to Kinnick in November. And when it's, you know.

With Tim Lester in the boys' buzzer? With Tim Lester fucking dialing up the offense. Yeah, okay, I'd love to see that. I can't wait. Cannot wait. Oregon. I laughed so hard. I laughed so hard when I looked at my phone and saw that tweet,

the peculiar hire. How does this happen? Yeah. Like, how does this happen? You ain't going to tell Kirk Ferentz how to run his fucking program. That's how it happens. The AD had to fire his son, who's the worst offensive coordinator in the country for two years straight.

She did. She did. We're not doing another contract with this guy. The state cannot pay this guy for another year. We can't do it. Sorry about it. And then he protested. Oh, yeah. No yellow. He certainly did. His Ferentz family is awesome. And they got beat 62-0 in the last two games of the season.

But we're so far away right now. I don't have time to care right now. I'll get pissed about this come week two, week three. If Tim Lester can beat Iowa State, that's really all I give a shit about. Oh, man. You guys are done. That's all they care about. It's tough sledding. He knows it. West Virginia, we're trying to win national championship.

Yeah, but you guys won't and you know that. I'll say that too. I want us to get into the dance. I want us to be one of the final 12 teams. But in my heart of hearts, I also know I was going to win 10 games next year. And if they have a really bad year, they'll win 8 games. That's kind of just what we do. I love it.

Go Hawks. Go Hawks, baby. I got a spirited text message from Pat Anger the other day. I have yet to respond, but I would like to let him know that it made me feel really good. I'm sure he's real excited about it. Pat, if you see this message, that's one of your best messages you've ever sent. I need

it. I'm just now catching up on everything that has happened over the last few weeks. Insert motivational speech from Pat Anger and then sign out in Pat Anger style. He's the man. Iowa has so many legends. So many legends that I have so much

respect for. I mean, let alone Pat Anger and Dallas Clark and George Kittle and Hawk. Chad Greenway, Abdul Hodge. Mitch King. Mitch King. Yonda. Bob Sanders.

Bob Sanders. Just like so many stallions have come out of the... Yeah, Linderbaum. So many stallions have come out of there. And now, listen to Ty. We're going to beat Iowa State. The way Iowa

has produced NFL talent. Impressive. That's what I'm saying. How did this happen? How do they not have a better pick? Well, if you look at it, most of the talent they produce in the NFL is offensive linemen and defensive guys. Not a whole lot of skill positions. Well, if you look at it, most of the talent they produce in the NFL is offensive linemen and defensive guys. Not a whole lot of skill positions.

Tight ends. Tight ends for sure. But look at Kittle's fucking stats when he was at Iowa. Dallas Clark played linebacker there for a year. Yeah, exactly. Report his stats. They're saying Cooper Dizzee might be the first corner off the board this year. Yeah, and then that's the thing is he's basically the only guy

the defense is losing. And obviously he's going to be very tough. Why was he playing both ways, like Travis Hunter? Good question. I believe – I actually don't know, so I don't want to say that, but when I saw that he broke his leg, that's what I thought happened. I was like, oh, okay, like they were putting in stuff for him on offense, and he got hurt that way.

I don't know. I wonder if it's just maybe saving himself. Right? Well, that and like like, I mean. Reverses. Pac-Man. I mean, Pac-Man. He got, like, two or three carries, and I think he averaged, like, 15 to 17 yards.

So, like, they used him a couple times. So, they're never doing that again, obviously. It's Brian Ferentz's offense. Well, that's part of it. That's too many yards. That is too explosive. That's a first down? One play?

No way. I do think they were probably trying to save him from himself because they knew he's going to be a first round pick and he was an incredible like state champion quarterback three times in high school like he he would have been i mean he would have been travis hunter champion quarterback yeah could have been so believe believe me that that is my biggest gripe is like they'll have guys who are unbelievable athletes at quarterback in Iowa, and they get recruited, and then they almost never let them play quarterback. They always either move them to defense.

He stopped that draft pick. I guess it worked out. Yeah, exactly. But whenever you can't move a ball forward on the offensive side. Believe me, I know. And you've got the most explosive what that has ever played on a football field. Yeah. Who used to play that position, and you need somebody in that position.

It's like you can't drop a couple wildcat. I was screaming it from the mountaintops. That ain't Ferentz football. We might get some drunk news from Ian this week. I don't know if he's down a mobile or not. They're doing a 75th anniversary team. Did you see that? Mm-hmm.

Didn't you make that team? I made the team. Congrats. Thank you. You going down? No or not. They're doing a 75th anniversary team. Did you see that? Mm-hmm. Didn't you make that team? I made the team. Congrats. Thank you. You going down? No, yeah. So I can't, obviously, with the schedule. Oh, this is Mobile this week?

Senior Bowl? Yep, half starts here, baby. I've seen a lot of photos of a lot of people that made that team down there. I didn't know they were doing a full thing. Daniel Jeremiah sent you one yesterday. It's like a full thing over there. Congrats to all the boys that made that

Senior Bowl team. Senior Bowl used to be like the, you know, if you're going to get drafted, you're playing with this team. Yeah, but I think a lot of people are sitting out a lot of stuff these days. They're letting underclassmen play in it this year. There's a lot of dudes there this year. Great. Senior Bowl, the way they have run it and run it,

it's like so hospitable to scouts and to teams. It's like, hey, we would like to make this as efficient as possible. And the teams utilize it as like combine. All right. This is a chance to really stop somebody in a lobby, have a conversation with them, watch them at practice, actually do reps with pads on. Let's see some concepts. Let's put some stuff on a board for quarterback or wide receiver and them have to implement it in practice just like 20-30 minutes later. So it's like an extended combine almost. And they've done it at a very high level for a very long time.

Congrats to them. And thank you for naming me to your team. I did not have the best week or game. Couldn't really do anything because there's no room on the field. But it was an honor to be invited. I was invited to the combine. So Senior Bowl was pretty much all I had outside of my pro day. So I'm very thankful to be a part of that whole thing,

and congrats to everybody that made the 75th anniversary team. Legendary shit down there in Mobile, Alabama. It's a good week. Good week down there for me. First home, Mardi Gras. You had a great week down there? Yeah, just like you talked about the Combine stuff, the things you can't do at the Combine, like the one-on-ones.

I know like offensive linemen, D-line, they do it, but one-on-ones is DBs, receivers. You line they do it but one-on-ones is dbs receivers you couldn't press really so you had to work and you know play off but uh just seeing all those top guys around the country now you get to go one-on-one with them scouts you know working with the pro uh staff you know i had the bengal staff so i think it was marvin lewis and his guys that was obviously a great experience so yes it's a good experience for guys. If you get invited, you can go down there and compete. We had the Jaguars after the – as Del Rio was being fired. So they still coached the Senior Bowl,

but they were no longer the staff at Jacksonville. So that was like an interesting dynamic. I know one day we got to go talk to the Bengals coaches because the Bengals coaches hadn't got a chance to see our practice because they were with the North team. So it was nice to – it was a good environment. And also getting to meet everybody that you've seen on TV pretty much over the last four years in college football. It's a cool dynamic down there.

I hope it exists forever for the players, for the good of the players. Yeah, they talk about Puka Nakula now during that week being like, hey, that's kind of where the Rams fell. Jayden Reed had that last – Yeah. Bingo. And you don't even think about like special teams guys that end up getting signed because you got punt drills sure and nobody's ever really done done it before watch guys actually play football with pads on so yeah it's much more than like the

combine yeah cool you're fast or quick we know everybody is but i get to see how you are one on one with pads on for four or five days straight and are you a piece of shit yeah you can find out i think you can find out in like five days. Absolutely. Like I got a chance to befriend like that entire USC crew. Yeah. And it was like watching. Yeah.

It was awesome. Kush and Clay, Feely Moala, Ray Maluga. Ray there? Yeah. Oh, man. Ray Maluga there. And we potentially had a couple drinks in the lobby. And I know NFL teams saw that as well.

And I think that was probably an up for some teams. Now, some teams probably, you see, everybody's kind of doing salads. This group over here has a couple beers. And then some teams were like, yeah, that is what we were looking for to add to our culture. And some teams were like, anybody that goes that way, we do not want to hear it. We want to have the people that are all the way bought in. I think you need those guys on your team. I think everybody's realizing that as we continue to go forward.

But it's like you can learn quickly if a guy's a piece of shit or not if you're working with him every single day. Like the Jaguars coaches, from day one to day four, like their thoughts on a guy when he's tired. Because you've got to wake up and take some tests and some meetings. Then you've got to go to practice. Then you've got to do this. You can learn. I think it's great. I think it's brilliant. I think it's good for guys. The only

thing it does is potentially expose assholes and guys that don't have a lot of talent. That's good for the NFL. It gives Scouts and Ian time to get together and booze, too. It's another time they can hang out and go hang out all night and somehow get up and watch practice. Yeah, and Ian doesn't have to watch shit. It's another time they can hang out and go hang out all night and somehow get up and watch practice. Yeah, and Ian doesn't have to watch shit. He's just

literally down there networking. That's all Ian's doing is boozing all the time. That's all Ian's doing. Smart. Alright, let's get the hell out of here. We'll be back tomorrow with a big time Tuesday. I think we have a huge guest tomorrow. Really? I think so. Massive. Like huge guest tomorrow. I'm not going to say it because I'm not 100% sure if it's confirmed.

I mean, I did reach out today and it felt confirmed. If we say it, it's not going to say it because I'm not 100% sure if it's confirmed. I mean, I did reach out today and it felt confirmed. If we say it, it's not going to happen. But if we do say it, it's not going to happen. What's it rhyme with? Smote. First name, last name. You just said it. Smote.

The whole thing. We'll let you guess. It's big big It's massive Nice Nope, it's quarterback Oh Alright, let you guess It's big

Flacco? He's already been on This is the first time ever Bernie Kosar? Good guess Okay, Bern he's already been on okay this is the first time ever bernie kozar good guess okay burn yeah it's not bernie kosar you get it yeah doesn't run with smoke nowhere near he's canadian though they speak weird yeah true yeah oh bernie kohlsar kozar sports are that rhymes there's a challenge Kulisar? Spolzar?

There's a challenge? Yesterday? Why does Dan do that? Like six times. It's so annoying. We say Don though and stuff. Yeah, but he's not from the city of Boston. You guys are from Pittsburgh.

He's from fucking Connecticut. People in Connecticut don't have Boston accents. I'm just going to tell you that. So you're saying he just added that to his repertoire? No, it's like he said. It's how I've always said it yesterday. That's how I like to tell it. So I don't know. Is that what DJ has an issue with?

How come you don't say it? You don't say it, yeah. Because I'm from the suburbs north of Boston. I'm from 15 minutes north of Boston. You're saying South Boston, though, is the yesterday? No, no. Yeah, South Boston, Charlestown. There are a bunch of suburbs around Boston

that have bought Dorchester, Brockton, all those places, even some further north of me. Gloucester, Burlington, there are towns, Medford, all over. But it doesn't span the Connecticut. It doesn't span the state of Massachusetts. That's why there are towns like mine.

Will you get off Dan's back? Dan said, I don't know, earlier today. I'm not jumping on his back. Remember he said that? I'm not jumping on his back. It was asked why. And then he said, I ain't never saying that again. Yep.

I never said that. Where'd you find that? He hates that clip. Which clip is it? It's maybe my new favorite clip. I don't know. Okay? That's huge.

Yeah. Massive. Isn't it, AJ? I saw the tweet. Yeah, it got me chuckling right away. Well, I'm sitting in here, and we're bullshitting about the weekend that was. A lot of things happened. And then all of a sudden, I just hear, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I don't know. Okay, like distraught there, and I'm like, hold the phone. Everyone shut up. Did Dan just say, I don't know? And Gumpy was like, he did? And I'm like, can we get that clip? Gumpy's like, yup, and just goes. It was a matter of him saying it to about two and a half minutes later

because we had the pool, boom, crop, edit, this whole thing. We're like, this is the biggest news of the fucking day. I don't know if a coach is getting hired or not, but Dan Orlovsky just said he didn't. He didn't know. Might be why Schefter isn't reporting anything today because he knew. Hey, any news that I say is going to get buried. You guys are just going to say something

about Orlovsky telling the world for the first time ever that he didn't have the exact answer to something. And then what I say is nothing. Has Schefter done anything? Call him. Let's call Schefter back and see if he's done anything. Because we had a lot of fucking text messages and calls during the conversation. Sounds like just from what he

said and what you just said about him getting a lot of texts and calls, there's some politicking possibly going on in the scenes here. It feels like. For who? Chosen not elected? Yeah, I'm not sure. Only two left, right? Two jobs left? What is it? Selected not elected.

That's Michael Lombardi. Could it be anybody from these staffs playing in the Super Bowl? Maybe. A thought. See if he answers. He's going to get so mad if we FaceTimed him in the middle of the day, not planned. Yeah. I'm going to get a text. Don't, just text me.

I can't be answering. My phone battery. He said that to me one day when I tried to FaceTime him in the middle. We were over there. We're like trying to get an answer. And we know he has the connect to this person. I'm like, how should we be talking about this?

You know the answers. We don't. And he hits the fuck you button on it. And then I get then i get a text it's like don't you can't do that he's like text me okay i got a full thing and you're gonna kill my battery too and we're like that's when the whole yeah need the portable need to portal batteries what how does he see csv wow he had the magnetic deal that he stuck on there all day long his friends at the batman might have sent him a couple portable chargers, depending on which one he likes.

Who knows if he's gotten it yet or if anybody's told him to open his mail. Somebody needs to put on his calendar. Open box of mail. But that'll get on there someday. Let's get the hell out of here. Tomorrow's huge, though. Need to know that. Tomorrow's a big one.

We're going to talk about what we talk about tomorrow with the person we talk about it with. For sure. It's going to become a thing, I think, which is cool. We're very lucky to do this every single day. Let's enjoy the hell out of this next two weeks before the Super Bowl. Only one NFL game left. And it's the big one. Fuck!

Big shout to Topgolf. Welcome to the program. Love you, Topgolf. Big shout out to Verizon. Obviously, Verizon has the greatest coverage on earth. Give Verizon home internet for a blazing fast and reliable home internet. Cut the cable. Switch to Verizon home internet. The price is the price guaranteed. You don't need to worry about unexpected price hikes from your friends at Verizon. Shout out to them. Shout out to you. We'll be back, manana.

Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Right, AJ? Absolutely. We always are. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three.

Team. Goodbye.