Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast almost famous broadcasters on radio row.
Speaker 1: Totally not true, and yet we will ride with the
Speaker 1: narrative from the Phoenix Convention Center. It's around the NFL.
Speaker 1: I am Dan Hansas heroes here, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: what's up? I mean? Whose figure? What you what? You
Speaker 1: want to go? A Zolac over there? You guys, like,
Speaker 1: what is going on with the two of you? CBS
Speaker 1: Sports my grandfather? What did I say to you between
Speaker 1: no between day one when Mark's talking about his hotel
Speaker 1: suite and you know, being a king, and now you're
Speaker 1: saying we're the most famous people here. Well, it's aid
Speaker 1: a broadcasters. So you know what do I say? You know,
Speaker 1: flying to you want to go put your buddy Pat
Speaker 1: McPhee on on a little throat. No, you're you're the
Speaker 1: one saying that you were ready to ride with the
Speaker 1: narrative and then you're you're you're coming at us all
Speaker 1: of a sudden for riding with the narrative. Took it
Speaker 1: too far. Zolac was looking like especially at something's going on,
Speaker 1: like we we walked by him on the way to
Speaker 1: the set. Zolac a k the sentient Powerade bottle of
Speaker 1: the NFL media. Uh, he now has kind of like
Speaker 1: am I would say, almost like he went to a
Speaker 1: stylist and he's got like a really like a blind
Speaker 1: really and then he got new glasses. It's it's it's
Speaker 1: it's a whole look. It kind of looks like a
Speaker 1: professional wrestler. I didn't see I didn't encounter him, but
Speaker 1: I've seen him in the past and he's like, I
Speaker 1: use a large framed individual, large sunglasses. We are indoors,
Speaker 1: so that's it's a choice, right, that is a move. Um.
Speaker 1: This is the super Bowl Preview episode, super Bowl fifties
Speaker 1: seven Eagles Chiefs and thank you everybody who checked out
Speaker 1: our first show from Radio row here, sorry media row
Speaker 1: here at the Phoenix Super No the Arizona super Bowl.
Speaker 1: UM got a lot of positive feedback on the Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams conversation, which I uh was happy to see that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think people thought that, you know, I think he
Speaker 1: helped take it right to the goal line for us.
Speaker 1: He was a wonderful guest. But we did our part.
Speaker 1: That's what we're what we're here to do. If we
Speaker 1: weren't here, he would have been speaking to nobody on
Speaker 1: the show. Absolutely, And we got a very special guest
Speaker 1: coming up as like kind of the halftime of today's show,
Speaker 1: our good buddy Chris mad Dog Russo is going to
Speaker 1: uh talk some super Bowl props and just catch up
Speaker 1: with our our pal Russo. And UM, we're gonna break
Speaker 1: this down into two parts. Greggy, Okay, I want to
Speaker 1: get into it. Want to get into the super Bowl
Speaker 1: play like for real, like hardcore. Get into the game.
Speaker 1: Come a big game. The Game's gonna happen whether we
Speaker 1: do it or not. It would be interesting one of
Speaker 1: these years if we did a whole Super Bowl week
Speaker 1: with the guests and whatnot and talking about our nights
Speaker 1: and we actually never previewed the game, would anyone notice
Speaker 1: or comments? No, not at all. I Uh, it's about it.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a football guy's dream. Even though this game,
Speaker 1: here's here's a here's a good here's a really good
Speaker 1: stat in terms of where we're at on this UM
Speaker 1: to fourteen and three teams in the regular season that
Speaker 1: both sixteen and three, both number one seeds. I love
Speaker 1: this one. Both teams scored exactly five forty six points
Speaker 1: this year. UM, And you would think would happen more
Speaker 1: the number one verse number one, but it happens where
Speaker 1: it team gets picked off. And yet it does feel like, boys,
Speaker 1: that this is the matchup that we were destined to
Speaker 1: see and now we're about to see it. There's this
Speaker 1: there's one other mirror aspect to that little that's that
Speaker 1: tweet has been going out all over with the six
Speaker 1: all pros on both teams, including the Kelsey obviously on
Speaker 1: both teams, and their quarterback like this is there is
Speaker 1: no real like both are so complete. I just feel
Speaker 1: like this game is gonna be like nine points totally. Yeah, Mark,
Speaker 1: how about both teams have four point six yards per
Speaker 1: carrying one? And it felt like that was the bullet
Speaker 1: point because it's not doubt that didn't help. I like
Speaker 1: the years and I remember them too, when in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl you get the best two teams and it
Speaker 1: kind of you've been on this journey. We're covering the
Speaker 1: sport throughout the course of the season. There were other
Speaker 1: great teams this year, Like it wouldn't have been crazy
Speaker 1: if the forty Niners and Bengals were in this game.
Speaker 1: But I think of games like Saints Colts. Those were
Speaker 1: the two quarterbacks who were the two m VP candidates
Speaker 1: for the year. They were the best two teams all year.
Speaker 1: Great matchup, you determine who's the winner. Saints get it done,
Speaker 1: Seahawks Patriots to me, the best two teams in the
Speaker 1: league that year, not the MVP candidates, but the number
Speaker 1: one offense, number one defense kind of too, you know, franchises.
Speaker 1: And then now here's the number one m v P.
Speaker 1: He's gonna win it tonight. We're taping on Thursday, but
Speaker 1: we know he's got and I believe Jalen Hurts will
Speaker 1: be number two in m VP. They win in different
Speaker 1: sorts of ways. Past running all that, but it's it's
Speaker 1: beautiful when you just to turn. It's easier to remember too,
Speaker 1: Like when we're doing this in ten years, we'll remember
Speaker 1: this one. Who knows what about last It's like I'll
Speaker 1: remember that RAMS thing that was kind of weird. Hopefully,
Speaker 1: hopefully we get a classic that we're expecting because you know,
Speaker 1: let's be let's be honest, the postseason hasn't always uh
Speaker 1: delivered on the games that we thought were home runs. Uh,
Speaker 1: maybe this one makes up for everything. And now you know,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna make our game picks are the m
Speaker 1: v P picks, our sandwich props, all good stuff. But
Speaker 1: let's start. Let's break it down this way. Let's start
Speaker 1: with the Eagles offense against the Kansas City defense. Gregy,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tee you up to start here. Um, it's
Speaker 1: an Eagles offense that obviously does just about everything well. However,
Speaker 1: we haven't seen that offense in full flight even throughout
Speaker 1: the two playoff games, at least on one side of
Speaker 1: their attack now, because Jalen Hurts hasn't quite been himself,
Speaker 1: it's gotten a little lost in the Mahomes injury shuffle.
Speaker 1: That Hurts his lowest three graded games according to PFF.
Speaker 1: For instance, uh three out of his four lowest graded
Speaker 1: games in this season where his last three that they
Speaker 1: haven't been lighting up. They haven't needed to because of
Speaker 1: their opponent, because he's made some timely plays early, and
Speaker 1: because the running game is good, and because of the defense.
Speaker 1: And to me, his rise is what this is all about.
Speaker 1: And I know we want to talk Eagles offense first,
Speaker 1: but I do want to just think big picture too
Speaker 1: about this game, like the rise of Jalen Hurts and
Speaker 1: in this matchup is the rise of the Black quarterback,
Speaker 1: Like I think about how the sport and how the
Speaker 1: league has changed since we started, uh doing this show,
Speaker 1: and for every year I used to do QB index
Speaker 1: Marks doing a great job with it now and every
Speaker 1: year it's like, oh, is this gonna be the new generation? Okay,
Speaker 1: luck in cam is here? Is this the new generation? Uh?
Speaker 1: Here comes to more people? Is this the new generation?
Speaker 1: When is it gonna change? And like Brady especially just
Speaker 1: would not let it go? And Aaron Rodgers wins two
Speaker 1: m v ps and he wrote and he would not
Speaker 1: let it go. And then this year we've talked about
Speaker 1: all the twentiesome things in these playoffs, but but especially
Speaker 1: when you look at Hurts specifically in the black quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in general, it's not just these two guys in an
Speaker 1: historic matchup and Mahomes being able to maybe be the
Speaker 1: first black quarterback to win twice. It's to Uh, it's Gino,
Speaker 1: it's Lamar Jackson, it's Dak Prescott, it's Kyler Murray, it's
Speaker 1: just in field, and we sort of don't even notice
Speaker 1: it at this point, but you look at it compared
Speaker 1: to ten years ago, and it's a different sport and
Speaker 1: Hurts specifically in the way that they run this offense
Speaker 1: in part through his legs um and just the style
Speaker 1: that it's very different through Mahomes, Like it's here, the
Speaker 1: new generation is here. It's a beautiful thing, and it's
Speaker 1: cool to see these two guys who are so different,
Speaker 1: Mahomes and Hurts uh in the biggest spotlight. And don't
Speaker 1: sleep on the symbolism that Tom Brady retired like he
Speaker 1: was the guy you mentioned the guys that didn't want
Speaker 1: to let go and and Brady, to his credit, even
Speaker 1: going into this year, was still a superstar. Now he's
Speaker 1: probably gone gone gun. Yeah. I think that the transformation
Speaker 1: that you've mentioned has a lot to do also with
Speaker 1: new thinking when it comes to coaching, because it was
Speaker 1: a bit of a change when Lamar Jackson and the
Speaker 1: Ravens and Harbaugh decided we're gonna take Lamar Jackson do
Speaker 1: what he does well and based an entirely zig when
Speaker 1: everyone else is zagging offense around him. And I look
Speaker 1: at Nick Sirianni and where they were with Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: a year ago and how they transformed and changed that
Speaker 1: offense midstream and change who the Eagles were and where
Speaker 1: we are today. A lot of credit goes to Nick Surrian. Know,
Speaker 1: I keep thinking, I feel like he's just underrated and
Speaker 1: overlooked at times. He's got this team playing loose, They're
Speaker 1: they're absolutely like a wonderful vibe Eagles team, and what
Speaker 1: they've done with Jalen Hurts is stands out is one
Speaker 1: of the best coaching jobs of the entire season. And
Speaker 1: just to put a button on what you were saying, like,
Speaker 1: this is the first Super Bowl that's featuring two black
Speaker 1: starting quarterbacks squaring off um and yeah, you when you
Speaker 1: look at like the breakdown of the percentage of quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the League of color, it is, it's it is
Speaker 1: so much different like the football we grew up on
Speaker 1: that like Randall Cunningham for instance, or Warren Moon, those
Speaker 1: guys were outliers in the way the league looks Now
Speaker 1: it's turned in the other way and in Doug Williams
Speaker 1: like and it's look, we're we're three white guys talking
Speaker 1: about this, but it's like a black league, and it's
Speaker 1: always in terms of the athletes that around the field,
Speaker 1: and it's always been it's been off and a lot
Speaker 1: of the quarterbacks, like Doug Williams and like Jalen Hurts, frankly,
Speaker 1: have had to come through different ways, like late second
Speaker 1: round pick. He did bounce around in college. You weren't
Speaker 1: quite sure he would ever develop into what we saw
Speaker 1: as an NFL quarterback. And yet the NFL has kind
Speaker 1: of changed and Jalen Hurts his decision making has improved
Speaker 1: leaps in bounds and I and that's we can talk
Speaker 1: about the past game, but in terms of the run game,
Speaker 1: his decision making to me is huge on Sunday, and
Speaker 1: the decisions a lot of time are gonna be do
Speaker 1: I hand the ball off or not? Because it's an
Speaker 1: RPO offense. In the Chiefs defense has struggled at times
Speaker 1: against r P O offense is struggled. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of numbers that when it's uh a passing down, they
Speaker 1: really struggled to stop the run. And the Eagles are
Speaker 1: great at doing that and Hurts, I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: have an opportunity when they eye up and and the
Speaker 1: Eagles kind of the Chiefs have to prepare for either
Speaker 1: Hurts to hand the ball off or keep it and
Speaker 1: go around, and I think they're gonna or maybe he
Speaker 1: just hands the ball off and it's a regular inside
Speaker 1: zone or he throws that little bubble screen. It's like
Speaker 1: every play has got these three options, and he's done
Speaker 1: a great job deciding. And I have a feeling the
Speaker 1: Chiefs will maybe dare him to be the guy who
Speaker 1: does run at sixteen eighteen times, and we've seen games
Speaker 1: like that, and I think they might have all the
Speaker 1: weapons that the Eagles have, might dare him early saying like,
Speaker 1: we'll live with you getting five six yards running hurts
Speaker 1: and we're gonna try to hit you and kind of
Speaker 1: play it that way. I mean, the Eagles have the
Speaker 1: highest run rate out of the spread formation. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: have allowed the most yards of any team in the
Speaker 1: league against the spread in running situations. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are little ways that you can find advantages for Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs are the middle of the pack v o
Speaker 1: A against the run um. They have only four teams
Speaker 1: in the league found a way to contact rushers in
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage less than the Eagles. So it's
Speaker 1: like there's there's a way for Jalen Hurts to make
Speaker 1: that decision. You're talking about less than the Chiefs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean they've been ineffective on that front. And then
Speaker 1: you look at the Eagles their road to the super
Speaker 1: Bowl and and Hurts his road through the season where
Speaker 1: he was dominant m VP candidate. I said on the
Speaker 1: show throughout November into December, I thought Hurts was the
Speaker 1: m v p uh, even over Mahomes. He hurts his shoulder,
Speaker 1: he misses a few weeks at the end of the
Speaker 1: regular season. He comes back, and there's questions, especially in
Speaker 1: that Division round game against the Giants, like how close
Speaker 1: is he to healthy? He was acknowledging he wasn't fully healthy,
Speaker 1: and then they blow out the Giants by halftime and
Speaker 1: they get to change their game script. We everyone knows
Speaker 1: what happened in the forty Niners game when their quarterback
Speaker 1: got hurt in that game went sideways. So Hurts wasn't
Speaker 1: really He still really hasn't been tested to beat a
Speaker 1: team with his arm if it comes to that. And
Speaker 1: I do want to see that one step that kind
Speaker 1: of jumped out to me was a J. Brown, who
Speaker 1: uh was one of the key pickups that any team
Speaker 1: had this season. It was a brilliant trade. I'm sorry
Speaker 1: Grave Digger that we're hitting this up one more time,
Speaker 1: but he really unlocked that all all started on draft
Speaker 1: night for the Eagles. As as Justin Graver's heart was breaking,
Speaker 1: It's not so much that he couldn't do a live
Speaker 1: stream reaction to it. No, that was a must and
Speaker 1: like the most thirty year old move of all time.
Speaker 1: But um, yes, so here we go, Erica through the
Speaker 1: through the the phone in my face and said, instant reaction, go,
Speaker 1: you know I don't like this. You keep blaming thinking
Speaker 1: Eric was happy. Here my heartbreak reaction be aired live
Speaker 1: to all of our followers. In Justin's defense, yeah, I
Speaker 1: thought he showed Eric a great amount of respect. We
Speaker 1: ran into one of our former producers, the irishman, branding
Speaker 1: to get us right down the hallway here at media Row,
Speaker 1: and uh, they were talking it up, the producers. It
Speaker 1: was like the old girlfriend and the new girlfriend. It
Speaker 1: was a bit of some energy they're going on for
Speaker 1: that would be our there are girlfriends in this situation. Um.
Speaker 1: But then at one point Justin referred to Erika as
Speaker 1: his protege. Well, no, his mentor, mentor, she was his protege, yes, right,
Speaker 1: because that would have been a massive power move if
Speaker 1: he if he called her that mentor you called Erica
Speaker 1: he was my mentor how about that. I think he's
Speaker 1: he's he's showing appropriate respect. Alright. Anyway, Ricky Holler, you
Speaker 1: shouldn't have traded A. J. Brown, But I know you
Speaker 1: knew that. Anyway. He gave a season low minus twenty
Speaker 1: seven receiving yards over expected UH next gen stats in
Speaker 1: the Division round it was minus sixteen and that was
Speaker 1: the third lowest of his season. UM. And that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that A. J. Brown isn't playing well or or
Speaker 1: he choked in the playoffs. No, there's just um that
Speaker 1: connection isn't quite there. You want to see what happens
Speaker 1: with those guys together, especially if Mahomes starts putting up
Speaker 1: points and they need to attack. It's been there all year.
Speaker 1: I throw the Niners game out the window. I just
Speaker 1: don't really care about what happened in that one. But
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, you know, they are a rookie laid in secondary.
Speaker 1: They have the fourth worst passer rating aloud against the
Speaker 1: deep ball, and Hurts outside of Ta has been the
Speaker 1: most effective deep ball pass from the league because of
Speaker 1: DeVonta Smith, because of A. J. Brown. So I see
Speaker 1: another opportunity for Philadelphia to make points, to get yardage
Speaker 1: and to score early in this A larger point with
Speaker 1: that though, is just because the nature of the way
Speaker 1: of the playoffs, uh post season played out for Philly,
Speaker 1: we still haven't seen them have to really open it
Speaker 1: up other thody to play here and there. Well, Hurts
Speaker 1: has to hit those shots because I think they'll be there.
Speaker 1: He missed them against San Francisco and they were they
Speaker 1: were a go ball team, like they were a deep
Speaker 1: shot team. And the way the Chiefs played defense, you know,
Speaker 1: they they play a lot of zone. You think of
Speaker 1: Steve Spagnolo in a certain way, man to man coverage
Speaker 1: and lots of blitz, very aggressive, I think because he
Speaker 1: has rookies. That's not who they are at all. There
Speaker 1: there is zone defense, they don't blitz as much. They're
Speaker 1: they're pretty average. I mean, he still cooks him up.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he will. We can get to that. But
Speaker 1: they do play press coverage though, and that's to disrupt
Speaker 1: guys like a J. Brown who lives on slants and
Speaker 1: he's the number one receiver in the league on slams
Speaker 1: from disrupting. And they have big physical guys I'm thinking
Speaker 1: of Jalen Watson, especially their rookie who's just like a
Speaker 1: massive dude, a rare guy who can match Brown physically.
Speaker 1: But that's why a J. Brown, especially DeVante Smith, can
Speaker 1: kill you because he can make it look like he's
Speaker 1: got to go to a slant and then bam, he
Speaker 1: is down the field. And I think Hurts is gonna
Speaker 1: throw four or five of those and you gotta you
Speaker 1: gotta hit two or three. And that's the Eagles offense.
Speaker 1: And if they can do that, then it opens up
Speaker 1: everything we know. I think they can run regardless. And
Speaker 1: then then the Chief's defense is in a world because
Speaker 1: it's actually a pretty good Chiefs past defense. It's not
Speaker 1: a good Chief's run defense, but they're pretty good against
Speaker 1: the Beast if they can hit those deep shots forget it.
Speaker 1: I mean they have allowed more passing touchdowns than any
Speaker 1: team in the league. But I think this isn't I
Speaker 1: look back against what happened against Cincinnati, that that the
Speaker 1: defensive line Chris Jones, especially created havoc right out of
Speaker 1: the gate. That's not going to happen is easily against
Speaker 1: this offensive line, which is the best in the league.
Speaker 1: So he's been Chris Jones has been unbelievable down the
Speaker 1: stretch here. Uh he had six pressures in the n
Speaker 1: f C Title game, uh, his third most in the game.
Speaker 1: He has more pressures than any defensive tackle in the
Speaker 1: sport since Week ten. Uh. Now, we know Philadelphia's offensive
Speaker 1: line is a strength. They have strengths all over the
Speaker 1: roster um. But Jones, I think is gonna get his
Speaker 1: because I think he's one of those guys that's locked
Speaker 1: in and he's a premier player. But you need that.
Speaker 1: I feel like you're gonna need certain guys on this defense,
Speaker 1: and it's very important that the Chiefs look like they're
Speaker 1: gonna get snead back in the back end, step up
Speaker 1: and make plays and slow down this Philadelphia offense because
Speaker 1: they've gotten out of the gates so hot. Throughout the season,
Speaker 1: Jones has had a Aaron Donald like season. I mean,
Speaker 1: Donnad got hurt and said Jones kind of stepped up
Speaker 1: as the best defensive tackle on the league. And he
Speaker 1: would have been last year too if there was no Donald,
Speaker 1: but even this year he went to another level. I
Speaker 1: think that's their chance is in the interior Jones, you know,
Speaker 1: versus say, say Malo or Dickerson. Like obviously Jason Kelsey
Speaker 1: is great and the whole Eagles offensive line is is
Speaker 1: very good. But if there's I think much stronger on
Speaker 1: the edges, uh with Lane Johnson, with my Latta, and
Speaker 1: especially when you look at the magic, I don't think
Speaker 1: the Chiefs edge rushers are gonna do anything like Frank
Speaker 1: Clark's had a nice little run in Karlaftas, but I
Speaker 1: think that all sort of ends. But if you look interior,
Speaker 1: it's it's Jones and then they move Karl Loftus inside
Speaker 1: on passing down and Dana has been playing great for them,
Speaker 1: and so those three guys kind of rushing on the interior.
Speaker 1: Can you get Hurts the kind of bail out of
Speaker 1: the pocket? He was doing that because he wants to
Speaker 1: throw from the pocket. He's either like running or throwing
Speaker 1: from the pocket. He's not Russell Wilson, who's like scrambling
Speaker 1: and then throwing on the run. He's more of like
Speaker 1: he wants to win from the pocket or he has
Speaker 1: a called run, you know. I mean, we've avoided the
Speaker 1: Kelsey VERSU Kelsey thing because it became ponderous almost immediately.
Speaker 1: But for Jason Kelty, it's a lot more attention to
Speaker 1: obviously put on Travis Kelsey because we see him scoring points.
Speaker 1: But it is a huge game for Jason Kelsey. It
Speaker 1: really is like the whole interior line. But I think
Speaker 1: like he is a key figure in this entire event.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the middle of the field with with
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. That's where they give up a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of plays. You know they're gonna have, you know,
Speaker 1: they're two linebackers Willie Gay Nick Bolton on the field
Speaker 1: sometimes because they're gonna want to try to play a
Speaker 1: little heavier to stop the run. And that's where it's
Speaker 1: it's Dallas God time, you know, working the middle of
Speaker 1: the field, and then the running backs out of the
Speaker 1: backfield probably have those linebackers on him. And I think
Speaker 1: we see a decent amount of Kenny Gainwell, he's better
Speaker 1: on passing downs than Sanders and and some of those
Speaker 1: you know, just like six seven yard throws and and
Speaker 1: forgot her, it's often a lot more. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: among the leaders in yards after the catch this season. Yeah, God,
Speaker 1: it's a guy that jumps out when you're like, who's
Speaker 1: maybe not an m VP candidate in this game, but
Speaker 1: who's the guy that can quietly wrecked the game that
Speaker 1: no one's talking about um. There's been a lot of
Speaker 1: Isaiah Pacheco talk on the Casey side, but God, it
Speaker 1: does jump out. You got Devanta Smith obviously obviously have
Speaker 1: a J. Brown. They have this running game that when
Speaker 1: it gets really cooking, is absolutely dominant. But God, it's
Speaker 1: one of those guys. He's in such a good spot
Speaker 1: because they can run the ball, because they could beat
Speaker 1: a d because Devant Smith has developed into a number
Speaker 1: one type guy. He's got a lot of real estate
Speaker 1: and can make plays when the passes there and gets there.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's two teams that spread the ball around
Speaker 1: to so many different people, and I think Philly just
Speaker 1: has They're so versatile. There's so many different ways to
Speaker 1: attack Kansas City that, Yeah, you wonder just from a
Speaker 1: defensive side that the Chiefs and others some of these
Speaker 1: other games, it's like we know who the weapons are
Speaker 1: and this one it's like it could happen from any
Speaker 1: any place on the field. It's fright. I still look
Speaker 1: back on that Kyle Shanahan Falcons team that lost the
Speaker 1: three League that inspired the cinematic masterpiece eighty for Brady,
Speaker 1: that's so influential because I just think that is the
Speaker 1: NFL right now is you need five to seven guys
Speaker 1: who can make plays and yet it will get to
Speaker 1: the Chiefs offense. But they don't have the stars, but
Speaker 1: they do have the depth. And that's the Eagles except
Speaker 1: even better to Before we move from the offense, one
Speaker 1: last thing though, isn't I am I, you know, like
Speaker 1: to get into the nitty gritty, But I do like narrative.
Speaker 1: I like narratives too. I like them both the narrative
Speaker 1: that were the greatest broadcasters And that's not a narrative,
Speaker 1: that's that's facts. Wait, we talked to Andrew Mark and
Speaker 1: our friend at the New York Post. Yeah, great guy,
Speaker 1: just catching up with him. Good dude. His brother is
Speaker 1: a long time listener to the show. Dan's angling for
Speaker 1: that huge exclusive for our next contract ext front of
Speaker 1: the New York I thought it was just me, but
Speaker 1: then we're talking to Andrew and uh Greg made a
Speaker 1: special point. Uh Marshawn said, so I'm like, oh, you
Speaker 1: guys are doing pretty good, and Greg was like, we're
Speaker 1: doing more than pretty staring h we're the best or
Speaker 1: something like that. Was like why Greg is appropriately strategic? Also, well,
Speaker 1: he said something to the effect of like, well, you know,
Speaker 1: you guys get big enough, I'll be like doing you're exclusive,
Speaker 1: And I was like, I was like, look, we're already
Speaker 1: the number one. Uh you know, football just football only show.
Speaker 1: You know, if you take you gotta take out fantasy.
Speaker 1: We are flying high close to that song. I staring
Speaker 1: at them. I'm loyal to football, That's right, I am.
Speaker 1: And uh I am loyal of this Eagles team too.
Speaker 1: And one one narrative, one last thing going into last
Speaker 1: offseason was Jalen Hurts versus the Blitz. He was terrible
Speaker 1: last year and then he just looked totally scrambled in
Speaker 1: that game against the Bucks. They won that game because
Speaker 1: Todd Bowls outwitted Sirianni and Hurts and scheme beat that
Speaker 1: great offensive line for Philly. Her It was just it
Speaker 1: was an awful game for Hurts, but maybe the worst
Speaker 1: game of his career. And it came in the playoffs
Speaker 1: and there was a lot of the Blitz. And now
Speaker 1: here we are against my old nemesis back. What's he
Speaker 1: famous for cooking up those creative and uh, he's famous
Speaker 1: for them peeking at this time and I know he
Speaker 1: doesn't do it as much this year. But I do
Speaker 1: think like this is gonna be one last time for
Speaker 1: Hurts to answer that question, and it's been up and
Speaker 1: down this year. Actually, his numbers versus blitz aren't like amazing. Um.
Speaker 1: Certainly they did find against the Giants, but they were
Speaker 1: just so much more talented against Giants. I thought that
Speaker 1: the forty Niners weren't blitzing early, but they certainly had
Speaker 1: the Eagles scrambled. And just can spags create two to
Speaker 1: three big negative plays or turnovers, because I think that's
Speaker 1: what the defenses are gonna be really needing to do
Speaker 1: in this game. I think it's an offensive game. But
Speaker 1: if you can just create two big plays and then
Speaker 1: that old bugaboo for Hurts comes back to me, that's
Speaker 1: like his final level to answer to to be covered.
Speaker 1: Like you, like you think about the possession chart for
Speaker 1: both teams touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal,
Speaker 1: field goal, if you get interception, refumble return in there,
Speaker 1: that's how these this kind of reminds me of its Eagles,
Speaker 1: Like how it's just like a points explosion. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: we've been trying to predict how these games are going
Speaker 1: to go on the playoffs. Uh, not just the predictions theselves,
Speaker 1: but the feel and the flow of the game. And
Speaker 1: we're not. We haven't always been right. It's been keeping
Speaker 1: us on our toes. God, this doesn't this feel like
Speaker 1: it's going to be a shootout and aggressive. We know
Speaker 1: Philadelphia is built defensively when we're gonna get to it
Speaker 1: after our guest is built to make big negative plays
Speaker 1: with their pass rush and create turnovers. Like can the
Speaker 1: Chiefs rise up and and do that as well? That's
Speaker 1: that's what's gonna be about. I don't think there's any
Speaker 1: way this in terms of the Eagles offense where we're
Speaker 1: talking about Sunday night, then they scored thirteen points tonight,
Speaker 1: Like I think they're going to put up points, and
Speaker 1: then it becomes a matter of can that great Philadelphia
Speaker 1: defense slow down the Homes enough to get the I mean,
Speaker 1: only injuries or catastrophic errors would have us talking about
Speaker 1: an Eagles team that scored undertreak because the putting up
Speaker 1: those big numbers is getting sevens instead of threes. And
Speaker 1: like they're just so good in the red zone. In
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, I think we're thirty first and red zone defense,
Speaker 1: and yet here they are. Don't forget about that double
Speaker 1: cheek push that they have up. You know, they've always
Speaker 1: got that up. Speaking of things, I don't really need
Speaker 1: to hear that much more about obsessed with the double cheek,
Speaker 1: but outlaw the cheek push. Don't outlook, oh Rugby. I
Speaker 1: don't care about anything about it. It's a football play, nonsense.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's take a break, Let's get the mad
Speaker 1: Dog in here, let's talk. Let's just catch up. Let
Speaker 1: the Mad Dog do some super Bowl talk with Chris Russo,
Speaker 1: and then we'll talk about the Chief's offense v. Philly defense.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. All right, Let's take a break
Speaker 1: from the Super Bowl preview and welcome a man who
Speaker 1: needs no introduction. I'm gonna do it anyway, the legend
Speaker 1: Chris mad Dog Russo, back for I think the fifth
Speaker 1: straight year. How are you very good? Always a pleasure,
Speaker 1: great to be here. You guys do a super job. Guy,
Speaker 1: nice set the way we go. Yeah, well, and let's talk.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, we all grew up listening to on
Speaker 1: the radio, and then you built out this great empire
Speaker 1: at serious post W F A N. And now for
Speaker 1: like the real mad dog heads, this like next level
Speaker 1: to your career with the first Take stuff, and like, uh,
Speaker 1: in addition to the mlbast what is going on? You're
Speaker 1: having a out of nowhere at sixty three years of age.
Speaker 1: You know, is been lucky. I have some private theories
Speaker 1: on that. Maybe my wife wanted to get me the
Speaker 1: hell out of the house or something. But I've been
Speaker 1: I've been lucky, you know. I mean, I got a
Speaker 1: huge break with the first Take thing, and it's all
Speaker 1: because of Stephen A. Smith. So, I mean, he's the
Speaker 1: one who asked me to do that Hall of Family
Speaker 1: as here at Bonds and and Clemens when they did
Speaker 1: not get elected under the last try. Text me on
Speaker 1: a Monday on January, I go ordered on Wednesday, I
Speaker 1: do two or three seconds. It was the week after
Speaker 1: the It was the Wednesday after that pack of San
Speaker 1: Francisco in the Game of the snow So there was
Speaker 1: I'm Brady with the Rams. So I was allowed to
Speaker 1: talk about And the next day ESPN said if I
Speaker 1: want to do once a week, there it is the
Speaker 1: next day and I took two weeks. I was here
Speaker 1: at the Super Bowl. You know, I agreed to you
Speaker 1: know what they were asking. I didn't beg that I
Speaker 1: they gave me an offer, and I took it, and
Speaker 1: I've been doing it ever since. I do it once
Speaker 1: a week. You have followed it. There's somebody do an
Speaker 1: extra couple when he's away. He's got a nice Johnny
Speaker 1: Carson contract, whereas away in the summertime. So do an
Speaker 1: extra couple there? Uh, And my job there essentially I
Speaker 1: got two. I have two roles there. One is to
Speaker 1: give him a little break because he does it five
Speaker 1: days a week, and he knows that I can take
Speaker 1: some of the load off him. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: any talk to your host. Let Himan used to I
Speaker 1: used to sense that a letterman, you know, do letterman
Speaker 1: so many times that when he knew he had me
Speaker 1: out for the two segments, I could carry the segments
Speaker 1: for him and didn't have to work for the question
Speaker 1: I need. And I think there's a little something that
Speaker 1: going on here with Steven A. I think that not
Speaker 1: that he needs, but I think and the other thing
Speaker 1: that about Stephen A that's very that's very good is
Speaker 1: he allows me to be me. So ESPN has allowed
Speaker 1: me to have those nutty segments for seven or eight minutes.
Speaker 1: I did one today about the what I'm mad about.
Speaker 1: So I did one. Today was the first one I've
Speaker 1: ever done where I did it in front of an audience.
Speaker 1: So today I did Rogers, you know, in the cave
Speaker 1: and trying to figure out what he's gonna do with
Speaker 1: his life and cheating, cheating at the A T and
Speaker 1: T played with ten handicap. He's a three index and
Speaker 1: he went to tournament the pro him last week. So
Speaker 1: I did that. You're fired up about the Rogers, you know,
Speaker 1: making a big spectacle to himself. I bet yeah. I mean, Aaron,
Speaker 1: can you let us snow? Are you k for five days?
Speaker 1: My crazy? He's a three handicap and he played with it.
Speaker 1: That's what we like to call this show, a La
Speaker 1: ravio magnifico. Yeah, had a second did you know the
Speaker 1: second place guys go to ticked off, including Keith Mitchell,
Speaker 1: who's the plow He said, this is a joke. He's
Speaker 1: not a ten, he was a three index. They gave
Speaker 1: him ten strokes anyway, I mean one by a stroke.
Speaker 1: So I did that. I did a Lossky the ESPN
Speaker 1: guy who somehow didn't have auto Graham, Joe Montana and
Speaker 1: United in his top five quarterbacks of all time. That's
Speaker 1: a layup. Let's show Greg's super Bowl quarterbacks list. I
Speaker 1: do have a list of quarter Oh, Auto Graham never
Speaker 1: played in a Super Bowl. My my list is the
Speaker 1: best quarterbacks of all time. And I had uniteds. I
Speaker 1: think I've got him to ahead of my second at Montana.
Speaker 1: He didn't have either one of them. I come out, jeez,
Speaker 1: so I screamed on him. And then the third bum
Speaker 1: was Kyrie Herbring, who's a freaking lay up. Don't let
Speaker 1: the door kick in the rear. Right on the way out.
Speaker 1: I got an audience behind me, old waven first tech signs.
Speaker 1: I got a camera there, Steve, and he has got
Speaker 1: a sunglasses and hey, go do it? You so yours
Speaker 1: six minutes and you know me eight o'clock in the morning,
Speaker 1: let's get him going. So that's exactly the last week
Speaker 1: to you had Mike Francis. Yeah, we did well. The
Speaker 1: problem with the Mike thing was we got overwhelmed because
Speaker 1: Brady quit. So Brady retired at eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1: So it was supposed to be sort of a Mike
Speaker 1: and a man dog thing, and then Brady eight o'clock
Speaker 1: in the morning. Must not like Mike and a man dog.
Speaker 1: I love him. I love Brady and he and he
Speaker 1: announced the Instagram at eight o'clock in the morning, so
Speaker 1: he changed the show's focus a little bit. It gave
Speaker 1: us something to talk about, but it took away a
Speaker 1: little bit of the Mike and Chris tank. So, I
Speaker 1: mean the bottom line was last year. He did it
Speaker 1: on the day of the selection Sunday. It's very pinpointed.
Speaker 1: He knows what I think. You're in your Brady the
Speaker 1: you know you're in your Brady post. You know, two
Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, Right around two fourteen, people like, oh, Brady,
Speaker 1: he's about to get and then it ended up being
Speaker 1: the best years. Yeah that's fair. Maybe there is, but
Speaker 1: I've been loved. I've been very lucky sixty three years
Speaker 1: of age. I mean, it's awesome to see you thriving
Speaker 1: still at this level. I wanted mentioning Brady. I hope
Speaker 1: we always like to hit you up and like what
Speaker 1: you're watching with TV. You're into movies, But I want
Speaker 1: to narrow it a little bit. And you know, I'm
Speaker 1: a cynical guy. I guess because Brady timed up his
Speaker 1: retirement with the premiere of his movie, which had him
Speaker 1: in the national dialogue, and then the movie does better
Speaker 1: than people think. Last weekend we got one of the
Speaker 1: co stars. I imagine you have not seen eighty for
Speaker 1: Brady No, I missed it. But what is the best
Speaker 1: football movie ever? I don't want to put you on
Speaker 1: the spot here I can come back to remember for
Speaker 1: the Titans is obviously one that people going to remember.
Speaker 1: I tell you the movie that I love. I love
Speaker 1: the movie. I don't want to quote a football movie.
Speaker 1: I love We Are Marshall, okay with the plane crash
Speaker 1: in nine and uh in the p I'm petebont a
Speaker 1: away And if you resurrected that football program, I love
Speaker 1: that movie. I'm a good fan of that. That's a
Speaker 1: good answer. So you you you did that. You have
Speaker 1: your quarterback list, and I think these lists I get
Speaker 1: a little auntie about, like all the legacy talk when
Speaker 1: these guys are in the middle of their careers. But
Speaker 1: with my homes He's gonna be there at the end
Speaker 1: of yeah, and I'm not even worried about where he'll
Speaker 1: end up. But like I've seen enough now just just
Speaker 1: in terms of how he plays quarterback, Like where he
Speaker 1: is right now, I think he's the best player I've
Speaker 1: ever seen play football. And do you think he's the
Speaker 1: best player you've ever seen? Just I'm not saying what
Speaker 1: is stacked up and this and now, I'm just taking
Speaker 1: everything into account. Very well. Could say that, um, he's
Speaker 1: going to the hole of if he retired tomorrow, he's
Speaker 1: a hall of family. If he retired tomorrow, you and
Speaker 1: I here next year, would probably put him top five
Speaker 1: all time. To be number one, you need more than one.
Speaker 1: But I just mean like he's playing. He's playing the
Speaker 1: game at a higher level than anyone's ever played, better
Speaker 1: than months had I think, so, I mean we were
Speaker 1: too young for that, so I sort of discount. I
Speaker 1: think I would look for a player comes from the
Speaker 1: Homes and the Kelsey brothers. Uh did they have their podcast?
Speaker 1: And they last week were introduced to the Drive. They
Speaker 1: hadn't really watched it before. And play by play, you
Speaker 1: see what Elway does, and Elway does a couple of
Speaker 1: things on that infamous drive where he looked to me
Speaker 1: like Mahomes, And I think it's easy for us to
Speaker 1: forget that like Elway, if you were not another candidate
Speaker 1: for this, it was just like a play, just like
Speaker 1: at his very peak. If you were not a Broncos fan,
Speaker 1: he I feel this way. If you're not a Chiefs fan,
Speaker 1: Elway would frustrate you to the the depths of your bones,
Speaker 1: and I think Mahomes does that. If you're dealing now,
Speaker 1: I say one quibble about Mahomes, and it's not his fault.
Speaker 1: He's never played a role playoff game. Because he's so
Speaker 1: good that this good played a role playoff game. He's
Speaker 1: never get there. He'll play plenty. L Waits was in Cleveland. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the dog Biscuits and road playoff games. I mean if
Speaker 1: road play I how if I give you that one?
Speaker 1: Is that fair? I mean if we were measuring by
Speaker 1: road playoff games? Though, like Mark Sante's is a legend,
Speaker 1: So I mean never, they're gonna win that division every
Speaker 1: year and get that home field. But I do I
Speaker 1: do want to see I would like to see him
Speaker 1: play in Orchard Park on a five degree day. Uh
Speaker 1: you know in a absolutely that dude. You can make
Speaker 1: an argument he's the greatest of all the time already
Speaker 1: you can make that argument. Would you mind doing a
Speaker 1: few Super Bowl props with us? Yeah? We always have
Speaker 1: some fun. Let's do it. So let's get to betting.
Speaker 1: This year has been terrible, but go ahead. I want
Speaker 1: to focus on m v P right now. They got
Speaker 1: Mahomes plus thirty hurts plus one thirty both of them,
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey plus sixteen hundred. I saw this on Twitter,
Speaker 1: mad Dog his SEVENI he's played seventeen career playoff games,
Speaker 1: the equivalent of one season in the modern league. Now,
Speaker 1: in those seventeen playoff games, a hundred and twenty seven catches,
Speaker 1: one thousand, four hundred and sixty seven yards, fifteen touchdowns.
Speaker 1: This dude is a dog. Greggy is Patriots fan. He
Speaker 1: gets upset when I say that the Kelsey is better
Speaker 1: than Gronk. It's not even a They absolutely believe Kelsey
Speaker 1: could blow up and take the m v P in
Speaker 1: this game and cement himself as better than Greg's hero.
Speaker 1: I think the problem and I he's great, and he
Speaker 1: is an old timer. The problem with taking Kelsey in
Speaker 1: his game if he has a huge game, the pension
Speaker 1: is always to give the m v P to the quarterback,
Speaker 1: So you know he has to be phenomenal. I mean,
Speaker 1: let's face it, I mean there's not many times the
Speaker 1: receiver wins the m v P on a winning team.
Speaker 1: You know Rice did in eight eight against Cincinnati, but
Speaker 1: everybody only remembers to drive that Montana led against the
Speaker 1: Bengals to win the game, that John Taylor, but Rice
Speaker 1: when the m v P, it's very, very difficult for
Speaker 1: the receiver on a winning team to win that award
Speaker 1: because most of the time the receiver and awayning team,
Speaker 1: they're gonna give it you to the QB. So that's
Speaker 1: the problem with going with Kelsey, and that's why it's
Speaker 1: plus sixty. But it's a good point. It's pretty much
Speaker 1: it's good job on your part. Brand, that's a good
Speaker 1: job by you performance. Uh. I think the first thing
Speaker 1: I'll do with the props as you gotta decide who's
Speaker 1: gonna win a game, and then I think you work
Speaker 1: with that. If you think the Chiefs win, then you
Speaker 1: run with chief props. If you think the Eagles win,
Speaker 1: I think you run with the Eagle props. Uh. The
Speaker 1: one thing I would say the Eagles are better two
Speaker 1: through fifty three. The one thing that you have a
Speaker 1: problem with is the best player on the field place
Speaker 1: for Kansas City. And if your life's on the line,
Speaker 1: you're gonna take read over Syrianni throughout. When the fact,
Speaker 1: if you look at the history of the at the
Speaker 1: court at the Super Bowl, it doesn't always hold out.
Speaker 1: But usually the first time coach against the guy who's
Speaker 1: been there before, the guy that has been there before
Speaker 1: usually wins. I mean example, you know the one McVeigh
Speaker 1: and better Chick mcgley one. The next year Strand against
Speaker 1: Lombardi Strampi Bud Grant shoot a loss to Dallas, and
Speaker 1: then he turned around and beat the Washington Landry lost
Speaker 1: his first to coach. He came back and won the
Speaker 1: next year against Miami. So it's not all the time
Speaker 1: because Doug Peterson won, but a lot of the times
Speaker 1: I like that experienced coach in that scenario. So I
Speaker 1: think that's a little advantage for the Chiefs. Plus, the
Speaker 1: Chiefs is gonna be all motivated by how bad they
Speaker 1: were two years ago, and they were bad. Offensive line
Speaker 1: was bad. There play a lot better, So that makes
Speaker 1: me think that maybe something with the Chiefs. But pound
Speaker 1: for pound offensive line, defensive line the year they've had,
Speaker 1: the Eagles are better. So if you like the Eagles,
Speaker 1: you take maybe you take I wouldn't take Hurts running.
Speaker 1: He hasn't run that well, I wouldn't go there. Maybe
Speaker 1: you take the pass. What's Goddard the tight end I'll
Speaker 1: look for. But I like that. I like the Eagles
Speaker 1: running like Sanders over under a sixty one and a half.
Speaker 1: To me that the two constants with these teams actually
Speaker 1: that they've had some Their defensive have gotten better, but
Speaker 1: it's been the pat two constants all season. That hasn't
Speaker 1: changed is the Eagles are one of the very best
Speaker 1: run deep offenses that we've seen, and the Chiefs are
Speaker 1: allousy run defense. And if you think back to that
Speaker 1: Jaguars game, they were running all over him in the
Speaker 1: first half of a similar sort of RP. And you
Speaker 1: think to that Bengals game that was no match because
Speaker 1: they're missing their offensive lineman. And to me, Sanders in
Speaker 1: that running game, that's the only mismatch I see in
Speaker 1: this game. I think it's overstated that the Eagles have
Speaker 1: such a better roster. I think the Chiefs have a
Speaker 1: nice roster, but that's one big advantage. I like that.
Speaker 1: One the only negative about the Eagles. They have so
Speaker 1: many weapons. Brown tight ends good. I gotta get Davante
Speaker 1: Smit the ball once in a while. They have homes
Speaker 1: Hurts will run a little bit, Boston Scott will get
Speaker 1: the ball. The other kid that got who's played? Well,
Speaker 1: what's playoff? Kenny again, he's got to get the ball.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of mouths. Defeed to get the sixty
Speaker 1: yards for Simon, So that would worry me. He's gonna
Speaker 1: need a big you might need a big way. He
Speaker 1: may only get ten carries, so that's what we're worrying
Speaker 1: me there. But that's a good one. No, sixty yards
Speaker 1: to the m v P. What's the yard? Does he
Speaker 1: have a yards or a tight end? I like that one.
Speaker 1: This one is trenchant um. This we don't need to
Speaker 1: spend a thousand hours on this. But the color of
Speaker 1: the first gatorade poured on the winning head coach, we've
Speaker 1: got yellow slash green lime that strange one at plus
Speaker 1: one forty five, we've got orange plus three hundred and
Speaker 1: blue plus three fifty. What do you got? Wasn't it
Speaker 1: blue last year? Well? A question, and that's how I
Speaker 1: know they answer. When you're playing tennis in Connecticut, right,
Speaker 1: what are you drinking? What's your energy drink or is
Speaker 1: it water? What do you do? It's I do not
Speaker 1: drink gatorade. And course it's keeping you looking very young
Speaker 1: for double. You know when I was like, I love saying,
Speaker 1: you know, there's so much doubles played, so you have
Speaker 1: to play doubles because that's where the games are. The
Speaker 1: problem where doubles is I don't do the two things
Speaker 1: that is important for doubles, serve and volley, because doubles
Speaker 1: it's all about getting to the head and putting points
Speaker 1: away servant volley, and I'm better running around all over
Speaker 1: the place keeping balls and play and I don't want
Speaker 1: to go out there and have to serve on my
Speaker 1: volley on my second serve, and that gets me in
Speaker 1: trouble in club. Imagine playing tennis doubles against were cut
Speaker 1: from the same class described on my profile. And I
Speaker 1: hate to tell you this, it's it's a painted the
Speaker 1: neck when I play the tennis as I used to
Speaker 1: play Wednesday night at six o'clock. So I'll leave this,
Speaker 1: I'll lead the radio and I'll run to the courts.
Speaker 1: And a lot of times the people I'm playing I
Speaker 1: don't know them different club, but they know me. So
Speaker 1: that's the role. Now they get in on they want
Speaker 1: to go home and tell their wives. I kicked Russo's.
Speaker 1: Then I put pressure on myself. I can't embarrass myself,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, I go off the
Speaker 1: I go off the rails, which bothers me? Or false
Speaker 1: pickle ball is the scourge of I can't stand there. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but tennis guy, they're always going to be aligned on.
Speaker 1: That's for a lot of old men and old women.
Speaker 1: Let's go out there and well, what's wrong with that?
Speaker 1: That's fine, that's fine. Put it on TV before we
Speaker 1: let you go, Chris, and thank you again for joining us.
Speaker 1: You help us out with something, because it's become a really,
Speaker 1: uh a point of contention on our program going back
Speaker 1: years now. UM, and we're talking about the what is
Speaker 1: the more iconic Super Bowl play? Um? The helmet catch
Speaker 1: of Giants Patriots one or the Philly Special? What is
Speaker 1: the more hold on? You gotta explain why it's Can
Speaker 1: you explain why you can? So we have something like
Speaker 1: sandwich props and we if you win these before the
Speaker 1: Eagles Patriots explain it. Super Bowl. I predicted that there
Speaker 1: would be a play that um became a nicknamed, infamous
Speaker 1: famous play and would become the biggest in Super Bowl history,
Speaker 1: and then the Philly Special happened forty eight hours later,
Speaker 1: and they're telling me it doesn't hold water to the
Speaker 1: helmet catch. I didn't you sa had. The words were
Speaker 1: that it would be more iconic than the Help. I
Speaker 1: don't like the Philly Special because they never gonna score touchdown,
Speaker 1: ever gonna store touch anyway. I'm done. They ever better?
Speaker 1: Don't you know what? I don't play. I'm gonna give you.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you a weird one. Okay, it's a
Speaker 1: nutty one. DoD BB at fifty two seventeen, ball over
Speaker 1: that iconic play. I mean, they got crushed in that game,
Speaker 1: but I got to play. How about James Harrison? That's
Speaker 1: at the end of the Cardinals Steelers just catching the
Speaker 1: same game, but certainly not Philly Special. Chris, I hate
Speaker 1: that play. You like that? I know, It's just that
Speaker 1: I have I had a dog in the race. I
Speaker 1: predicted this kind of thing with popping, so I've got
Speaker 1: a fight. Wasn't that a first down play or the half?
Speaker 1: I don't like that play. I mean they were gonna
Speaker 1: score anyway for clan out. I may never bring this
Speaker 1: subject up again. I knew you you should be getting royalties.
Speaker 1: When people say that's a good job by you, I do.
Speaker 1: I do want to ask permission though we are going
Speaker 1: to use you destroying his argument. You can use the
Speaker 1: sound drop on our show. Can we do that the future? No,
Speaker 1: not at all, So why would you pick that? That's
Speaker 1: it was just came into my and he don't like
Speaker 1: it because he's a pension. Of course you're dead out
Speaker 1: of the way. I don't like either one. This is
Speaker 1: the best day of my life, Chris Man Dog Russo,
Speaker 1: you aren't. Seriously, we look up to and the best
Speaker 1: of wishes to you going forward in this. The Russo
Speaker 1: renaissance is just right now. It's gonna stop. Eventually I'll
Speaker 1: say something stupid and that will be the end of
Speaker 1: it and then you won't have me on Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Now you've challenged us. Great to be here, guys, you're
Speaker 1: the best. Oh, I got the Mad Dog in my
Speaker 1: corner on the Philly not so special? Come on, Sissy.
Speaker 1: I mean, if I really right now, if I really
Speaker 1: wanted to dig into, you know, the childhood mythology of
Speaker 1: listening to Mike and the Mad Dog for so many years,
Speaker 1: I really could have gone at him. If I wanted to,
Speaker 1: but I'm sitting next to Chris Russo and it still
Speaker 1: feels somewhat surreal to me. And I was just sort
Speaker 1: of like listening to him untangled and destroy me word
Speaker 1: by work. I did try to go at him here.
Speaker 1: They're just that's my way to get get his respect. Um,
Speaker 1: but we are going to play that Russo sound drop
Speaker 1: coming after Mark for years. He was almost insulted you
Speaker 1: would even have such an opinion. I think the one
Speaker 1: thing that was lost a little bit due to my
Speaker 1: lack of, um clear explanation, was that I predicted something
Speaker 1: of that nature with matter h. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: care what your responses. I am now battling myself to
Speaker 1: speak on the show. Or you might have an actual
Speaker 1: tag team partner who is actually yourself here. So that's
Speaker 1: that's weird. It's weird interesting, all right. I'm with myself also,
Speaker 1: But that was awesome. I love that dog. And here's
Speaker 1: a little insight into this. And we say this every
Speaker 1: year just as a reminder because we have a lot
Speaker 1: of overseas listeners. I don't even know who Chris Russo is.
Speaker 1: We do a lot of things. Of the things we
Speaker 1: do directly for the audience. What would the audience want?
Speaker 1: This is the two that's fair USAG But what strangely
Speaker 1: has happened here boys, and we talked about it with Chris.
Speaker 1: There's probably a little more than two percent the Russo renaissance.
Speaker 1: After he finished with us, he goes to the next
Speaker 1: set over and picks up an NFL Network stick Mike,
Speaker 1: and he's on NFL Network. That was not happening a
Speaker 1: few years back when we had Russo on. His stature
Speaker 1: is really shot up getting involved in the talking head world.
Speaker 1: Stunning late career planning by him. And I think he's
Speaker 1: got that Pete Carroll youthful vibe gene going on with
Speaker 1: years old. I don't know how long I love, but
Speaker 1: don't pretty good. It's a good job on me. I
Speaker 1: love it. St w Is all over that sec All right,
Speaker 1: and now time for the Sunday Dry presented by Toyota.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs they want to dub over the Eiggles. They're
Speaker 1: not going to get it unless they get a big
Speaker 1: time performance from their offense. So let's talk Chief's offense
Speaker 1: versus that Philadelphia defense. Mark, I'll start with you on
Speaker 1: this one. We actually heard uh mad dogs say it's
Speaker 1: it's a well worn kind of trope by now as
Speaker 1: they get closer to the game, it's the Chiefs have
Speaker 1: the best player, so they got number one, and then
Speaker 1: you know, two to fifty three or whatever is more Eagles. Okay,
Speaker 1: sure that makes sense, but this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: challenge for Mahomes, who's less than and we have a
Speaker 1: all time and I mean all time Eagles pass rush
Speaker 1: going after the great Mahomes. Yeah, because it's a trope.
Speaker 1: I still feel like Mahomes is gonna find a way
Speaker 1: to be there with that final possession and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be up to him. And I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of probably angst and annoyance about how the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: went a couple of years ago when their offensive line
Speaker 1: was banged up and that neutralized Mahomes. But now you're
Speaker 1: dealing with the nastiest pass rush that we've seen in
Speaker 1: a long time. I love the idea and the concept
Speaker 1: that Jonathan Gannon, defensive coordinator, early in the year and
Speaker 1: throughout the past couple of seasons, has been lashed on
Speaker 1: Philly talk radio as this like sort of guy that
Speaker 1: you want to scapegoat. It's like this team last year
Speaker 1: about I guess. So they were thirty first and sacks
Speaker 1: a year ago and you had guys like Fletcher Cox
Speaker 1: not buying into the scheme. It's completely flipped this year.
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox with eight sacks. They are They've led the
Speaker 1: league in this. They're so disruptive. I think the Chief's
Speaker 1: offensive line, which is a quality line, is gonna need
Speaker 1: to play the game of their life. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is like they've had fifty one sacks on non blitzes
Speaker 1: and so we've always talked about it with the Bradies
Speaker 1: and the Mahmes, if you can find a way to
Speaker 1: get to him, if you somehow compromised on that ankle,
Speaker 1: which it's been twenty two days since that injury. He
Speaker 1: looked fine. He found a way to play in the
Speaker 1: NFC title and he didn't look perfectly physically fine, but
Speaker 1: he made that run at the end. It's like myhomes
Speaker 1: just finds a way. And this is an offense that's
Speaker 1: evolved and changed, and they took the post Tyreek Kill challenge,
Speaker 1: and I think Andy Reid is obviously one of the
Speaker 1: greatest masterminds around for what they've done to adapt this
Speaker 1: offense without right and the two to fifty three, if
Speaker 1: we're gonna start kind of talking about that line matchup
Speaker 1: is overstated because like, Okay, Jason Kelsey might be uh
Speaker 1: Man considered for the Hall of Fames someday. I think
Speaker 1: most general managers would take the Chiefs center Creed Humphrey
Speaker 1: a second team All Pro this year. Uh the interior
Speaker 1: line with with Tuney and uh and Trey Smith, like,
Speaker 1: that's maybe the best interior group in the league. And
Speaker 1: they're great running the ball, and they don't do it
Speaker 1: a lot, but there's some stats that that show in
Speaker 1: terms of getting penetration in the run that the Chiefs
Speaker 1: prevent that happening, especially on the inside, as well as
Speaker 1: any team in league. So they can run the ball,
Speaker 1: they can probably slow down hard Grave and Cox Fletcher
Speaker 1: Cox like more than than most teams. I think the
Speaker 1: matchups on the out sider where I'm intrigue because Andrew
Speaker 1: Wyley's you know, he's he's okay, Orlando Brown's there, he's
Speaker 1: a big dude. But you mentioned Reddick, you mentioned um,
Speaker 1: you know, you have Josh Sweat, and then I'm looking
Speaker 1: at Brandon Graham, who I still have nightmares. But that
Speaker 1: Super Bowl you know, people don't really remember the Brandon
Speaker 1: Graham play at all in front of us, but that's
Speaker 1: the play that ended the game. That's the one that
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl. And Brandon Graham, UH, to me,
Speaker 1: is typical of this team that they've kept together. UH.
Speaker 1: And it's great that they only use them. You know,
Speaker 1: thirty snaps the game. He's their third rusher. But when
Speaker 1: I went back to watch that NFC Championship, he had
Speaker 1: Trent Williams on skates on one play where he just
Speaker 1: overpowered him. And that's like the strongest guy in the NFL, Trent.
Speaker 1: Brandon Graham seems to be playing like a man possessed
Speaker 1: right now. I would watch for him specifically on Sunday.
Speaker 1: He's been through a lot, he's as fresh as can be,
Speaker 1: and he's an all time great Eagle And so those
Speaker 1: edge rushers on the outside, I do think that's where
Speaker 1: Philly can can get some damage done. The Eagles one
Speaker 1: of three teams in the Next Gen Stats era to
Speaker 1: have five players or thirty five plus pressures this season.
Speaker 1: Reddick led the way of sixty two Hardgrave, Sweat, Graham,
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox, guys that just get there and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be so interesting to see. Here's the thing Mahomes is not,
Speaker 1: but you want to hear like one of those things
Speaker 1: that makes Mahomes not human. On that scramble, the one
Speaker 1: that got him the first down and then the push
Speaker 1: out of bounds that got him to field goal range,
Speaker 1: he was at eighteen point one four miles per hour,
Speaker 1: which was his fastest scramble of the playoffs, including before
Speaker 1: the ankle injury. So like to me, that kind of
Speaker 1: answers any question I have, barring an actual true setback
Speaker 1: where he gets rolled up on in this game, that
Speaker 1: he is in this zone where he's gonna grind through
Speaker 1: and if he has to move, he could still move,
Speaker 1: and anything about what else makes Homes great, There's so
Speaker 1: many things, but his ability to avoid pressure and sacks
Speaker 1: and scramble. There is nobody better in football. There might
Speaker 1: not be anyone better period in history of sport at
Speaker 1: evading pressure and not only evading pressure, like anybody can
Speaker 1: look at my buddy Zack Wilson. Anybody can scramble and
Speaker 1: do pirouettes and throw it out of bounds. Um, Mahomes
Speaker 1: is an assassin when he is being chased and when
Speaker 1: he's on the run. He can still pick a defense apart.
Speaker 1: And he's also great at a deep dropback when you
Speaker 1: have more time to throw. He knows how to buy
Speaker 1: time hit a receiver. He is the perfect anecdote to
Speaker 1: anecdote to this pass rush, and I think that's very interesting.
Speaker 1: I think the other X factor though, is that that
Speaker 1: the pass rush sets up one of the best secondaries
Speaker 1: in the league. I mean, a guy like James Bradberry
Speaker 1: has allowed the second fewest receptions over expected all among
Speaker 1: all defenders. That Vante Maddox is back, Chauncey Gardner Johnson
Speaker 1: is back at safety where he had six interceptions this year.
Speaker 1: Darius Slay. It's like there isn't really a weakness or
Speaker 1: a weak area in Phillies defense for Mahomes to attacks,
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be it's even more on him just
Speaker 1: to be Mahomes. Then there's the other aspect of how,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get into this more, I think. But
Speaker 1: like how the Chiefs changed their attack post Hyreek Hill
Speaker 1: and uh Mahomes has never been more efficient and many
Speaker 1: of his touchdowns were ten yards or less. The Eagles
Speaker 1: d one of their strengths as they allowed the lowest
Speaker 1: passer rating on intermediate passes this season, where mahomes bread
Speaker 1: has been buttered, especially obviously with Kelsey. That's another part
Speaker 1: of the croup and that's that's one of the things
Speaker 1: that the Eagles fans were frustrated by, is like maybe
Speaker 1: they played a bit of a soft defense, you know,
Speaker 1: zone defense where they let you go up and down
Speaker 1: the field. That with these seven yard throws, and that's
Speaker 1: what a lot of defenses have tried to do to
Speaker 1: Mahomes the last two years, and he adjusted and he
Speaker 1: got better at it. And you do worry about that
Speaker 1: a little bit as a as an Eagles hand. But
Speaker 1: they've been making big plays, uh, in terms of interceptions
Speaker 1: this year to make up for it. Yeah, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you can move the ball forty yards, but if it
Speaker 1: ends with an interception, like they're counting on making a
Speaker 1: big play eventually. I do think there is a weakness though, Mark,
Speaker 1: which is their linebackers are gonna be on the field
Speaker 1: a lot in this game. The chi play with heavy
Speaker 1: personnel almost as much as any team in the league
Speaker 1: in terms of having two tight ends, sometimes even three
Speaker 1: tight ends, like they are a two tight end team.
Speaker 1: It's usually Noah Gray and Kelsey and that just let's
Speaker 1: Read cook his magic. I mean, that's the thing with Mahomes.
Speaker 1: It's the two of them coming together, and Read gets
Speaker 1: those mismatches, whether it's Kelsey on the wrong cornerback or
Speaker 1: on you know, running backs, on linebackers, or receivers, sometimes
Speaker 1: on linebackers. The Eagles will be tempted to have Kaiser
Speaker 1: White and t J. Edwards on the field at the
Speaker 1: same time because this is a pretty good Chiefs running
Speaker 1: team and you have these two tight ends, so they
Speaker 1: almost make you play heavy to match up with them,
Speaker 1: and then they kill you. They have the tightest formational
Speaker 1: with the Chiefs in terms of their offensive of the
Speaker 1: last seven seasons, which talks about I mean, if he
Speaker 1: measured it himself. Yeah, that's how it works. It's this
Speaker 1: multiple tight ends and they're using the running backs receivers
Speaker 1: a ton and I still, I know, I keep saying this,
Speaker 1: and at some point in life I need this to
Speaker 1: come true. But I think you've got like Andy Reid
Speaker 1: down in a bunker with like half eaten cartons of
Speaker 1: Chinese food coming up with plays for Gadarius Tony in
Speaker 1: this game. At some point we're gonna get the Cadarius
Speaker 1: Tony situation. I may have a sandwich properlated to that
Speaker 1: tomorrow Top ten Football Insider. They are about about twenty
Speaker 1: yards away to set up some business. I don't I
Speaker 1: think it's an awkward conversation. I'm sure they don't even
Speaker 1: remember saying it will be a great yeah about that guy.
Speaker 1: By the way, we're sitting up on higher land than
Speaker 1: they are. They're down on the ground. We're up here
Speaker 1: on this DS. Yes, living well is the best revenge.
Speaker 1: I like the idea of a Stu Goots Zolac versus
Speaker 1: hands a Sessler tag team match. Is it verbal or
Speaker 1: is it physical? It's a physical spar but we bring
Speaker 1: like we get like remember Mr Fuji, like he would
Speaker 1: throw salt in the enemy's eyes. Maybe some braass knuckles,
Speaker 1: sneak in, we play a little dirty. That's greg Mr
Speaker 1: Fujie in the situation will be our manager. Mr Fuji.
Speaker 1: I don't give up. I'm also Japanese ties. That's perfect.
Speaker 1: I mean that now we're maybe crossing over. I'm not
Speaker 1: doing that. I'm not doing that. You're not throwing salt
Speaker 1: in another man's eye and being our what do they
Speaker 1: call them? They weren't the managers. They were called show chauffeurs.
Speaker 1: I don't know anyway back to the game. I look
Speaker 1: at Mahomes and what he does. In terms of headline
Speaker 1: of this podcast, Greg, I will not be Mr Fudell
Speaker 1: I liked. I want to get in the mix. Doesn't miss,
Speaker 1: So it doesn't. Mr Fujie, he's just like on the
Speaker 1: sideline doing sneaky things. I want to fight at least
Speaker 1: want to bite some ankles. And were managers in there.
Speaker 1: Some of those managers became wrestlers like Virgil, but Mr
Speaker 1: Fuji never. He was an elderly a little bit older
Speaker 1: Asian man. Yes, So anyways, I see the game at hand.
Speaker 1: So Bill Belichick was on the Let's Go podcast. We've
Speaker 1: been given a lot of how about that props? It
Speaker 1: was really good. Let's give some respect to the Let's
Speaker 1: Scope podcast because we buried him for not getting the
Speaker 1: breaking news. But then you get Belichick right after it,
Speaker 1: and and he was amazing. If you're a Patriots fan
Speaker 1: or just a huge football dork that likes the history
Speaker 1: of it all. Hearing Belichick talk for twenty five minutes
Speaker 1: on Brady warned my cold heart, and uh, it was fantastic,
Speaker 1: and that one of the things that stuck with me
Speaker 1: was what he thought made Brady more special than other
Speaker 1: He said one thing about like making teammates better, but
Speaker 1: the the the other thing he thought, which he saw
Speaker 1: early in his career, was just his ability to see
Speaker 1: the entire field as one in slow motion basically and
Speaker 1: be able to say exactly what happened on a given
Speaker 1: play where everyone is, what they're all doing, and processing
Speaker 1: it all in real time in a way that Belichick
Speaker 1: almost couldn't understand that that it was superhuman and that
Speaker 1: was the thing that made Brady Brady. And that is
Speaker 1: the one thing. I don't think there's many Mahomes and
Speaker 1: Brady similarities, but I really think that's mahomes is number
Speaker 1: one superpower is that vision, the ability to see everything
Speaker 1: at once, because I think it informs what you we're
Speaker 1: talking about them making him hard to sack and it
Speaker 1: and it explains sort of his good decision making. And
Speaker 1: he he uses that super power in a different way
Speaker 1: than Brady, But I think he has it in a
Speaker 1: way that I that I think is unparalleled in today's NFL,
Speaker 1: where like he knows where everyone is, it moves in
Speaker 1: slow motion, he sees it all, he can kind of
Speaker 1: like move what's gonna happen and before it happens on
Speaker 1: the chessboard in the middle of the play. So it's
Speaker 1: almost like what Brady had, but then adding the mobility
Speaker 1: and the athleticism to use it in a different way.
Speaker 1: And that's why, as someone who's who's pretty obviously rooting
Speaker 1: for the Eagles here just has me scared to death
Speaker 1: because like there's been proven no pass rush um if
Speaker 1: it's a good enough offensive line that can totally solve that,
Speaker 1: and I I I don't know if like Jonathan Gannon
Speaker 1: in this Eagles defense is gonna confuse him or mix
Speaker 1: things up enough to mess up that picture. And he's
Speaker 1: gonna see that picture and as the game goes on,
Speaker 1: just like that first Super Bowl he played it, and
Speaker 1: I think he'll he'll know what to do. And that
Speaker 1: that worries me. And one little tag onto that the
Speaker 1: you know Travis Kelsey, who's he basically prophesies the rise
Speaker 1: of Mahomes. After that season we had played one game
Speaker 1: here during Super Bowl Week, he basically said, no, you
Speaker 1: need to realize this is gonna be a player who
Speaker 1: changes the game. And it was like, well, really what
Speaker 1: It was a nice headline, but he was true and
Speaker 1: he's I think he knows Mahomes better than anyone. And
Speaker 1: he played quarterback himself, and he said that the fact
Speaker 1: that the Kelsey played that position, he can see what
Speaker 1: Mahomes is going through in the pocket. He talked about
Speaker 1: this this week and that he thought that, you know,
Speaker 1: we're always looking at what is different about Mahomes. What
Speaker 1: can you say about him but that this season he
Speaker 1: grew more as a quarterback by leaps and bounds than
Speaker 1: any other year. And maybe it's hard for us to
Speaker 1: sort of see what that means. But the other players
Speaker 1: that are close to him and linked to him play
Speaker 1: to play, they see a different quarterback. It keeps growing.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't have won that game a few years back
Speaker 1: where he basically was down to mvs and Kelsey and
Speaker 1: this game you get Juju, you get, you get Tony
Speaker 1: like you you might get what you get Justin Watson,
Speaker 1: who actually was sick for that game. And I do
Speaker 1: think if the Eagles, you know, they're gonna maybe allow
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, who have been such a short passing attack,
Speaker 1: to take some shots down the field, and they don't
Speaker 1: really have the guys, but it's MBS, it's Justin Watson.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't shock me to see like a Justin Watson thirty
Speaker 1: seven yard play. He only has two targets in the game.
Speaker 1: But the Eagles I think are gonna like almost dare
Speaker 1: them maybe to make those types of place. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think the Kelsey side of it is is he's so
Speaker 1: inevitable it does run because we do talk about the
Speaker 1: Gronk Kelsey thing, like that's Lloyd Gronk was at his
Speaker 1: peak too with Brady when he needed it, when he
Speaker 1: needed to have it. Who would be streaking across the
Speaker 1: middle and just lumbering down for thirty one yards in
Speaker 1: a huge spot. Kelsey is to me, he felt better
Speaker 1: than ever this year. Um, and I just think he's
Speaker 1: gotta gonna have a huge game. Like I think that Kelsey,
Speaker 1: And that's not breaking news because we know his role.
Speaker 1: But I think what we've seen from him this year
Speaker 1: is how he's mass through the position to the point
Speaker 1: where he just gets open every single play just about
Speaker 1: And that goes a lot credit of course to Andy
Speaker 1: Reid and Patrick Mahomes because they've been able to so
Speaker 1: quickly UM retool this offense, and it kind of makes
Speaker 1: sense in retrospect, and I don't think enough people are
Speaker 1: talking it up. After Tyreek left, was like, Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to change their ways. They're not gonna be
Speaker 1: trying to take the top off defenses as much. But
Speaker 1: they still have this other guy and the fact that
Speaker 1: he's been so dominant this year. How does he have
Speaker 1: less than a hundred and thirty yards in this game?
Speaker 1: I just don't say. He has averaged a hundred and
Speaker 1: five over his last eight postseason games, and he has
Speaker 1: so much to do with Mahomes, But how do you
Speaker 1: attack him? How do you attack him? Because against man
Speaker 1: he has twelve touchdowns against mancoverage, five more than any
Speaker 1: other player in the league. Against zone two point six
Speaker 1: yards per route, first among tight ends. It's like there's
Speaker 1: no easy way to stop. And I think if you
Speaker 1: had gone back last offseason and it was it was
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey that had left and Tyreek Hill had stayed,
Speaker 1: I don't think you've ever come that the same way. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's a hot take, and I I think I'm with
Speaker 1: you on that. Um he stopped with Johncey Gardner Johnson.
Speaker 1: This is why they made that trade in Ivanti Max.
Speaker 1: So they're two good players, not stop him, but slow
Speaker 1: him down. Certainly you put two people on him, but
Speaker 1: those if you're gonna drop some players. And they're both
Speaker 1: a little too small for Kelsey and that's that's the problem. Um,
Speaker 1: they're both good players, and this is like that trade,
Speaker 1: good or bad. I think he's gonna have to show
Speaker 1: up in this game, and he might, he might get burned,
Speaker 1: but he's gonna be a big fact the Isaiah Pachenko
Speaker 1: side of this. Him and Jerick McKinnon. Remember McKinnon was
Speaker 1: on just like a hallacious run there. We were scoring
Speaker 1: a touchdown every week. They have a nice one to
Speaker 1: punch Kansas City in their running game, and you could look,
Speaker 1: where's another potential spot of vulnerability for Philly if they
Speaker 1: can establish the run at all. But Cheko he is
Speaker 1: one of the in terms of running back success, one
Speaker 1: of the most successful running backs this season, fourth high
Speaker 1: success rate perl hundred carries point five, So he's kind
Speaker 1: of under the radar guy. And then McKinnon just has
Speaker 1: had a nose for the end zone, including he's a
Speaker 1: monster in the flat. When Maho gets him the ball,
Speaker 1: he finds the goal on. They just haven't had a
Speaker 1: running back like this. I think Pa Chaco is just
Speaker 1: a punisher, and I mean for what they want to
Speaker 1: be this season, it's again, this front office just keeps
Speaker 1: nailing things left and right, and this was the perfect
Speaker 1: running back to bring in. I Uh, I think it's
Speaker 1: I don't know if ironic is the word, but like
Speaker 1: you look back at those Eagles teams where Andy Reid
Speaker 1: made his name, where Andy Reid I think had about
Speaker 1: as much influence on the next twenty years of the
Speaker 1: NFL as any offensive coach there we've seen, and you
Speaker 1: see his offenses looking a lot like the nine through
Speaker 1: whatever it was, oh five and beyond Eagles, but man
Speaker 1: Eagles fans in the end and a lot of those
Speaker 1: big games were like, can you please just run the
Speaker 1: ball a little more when it's working? Can you do it,
Speaker 1: Andy Reid? And now you look at this matchup where
Speaker 1: he's going up against his old team, the Eagles, and
Speaker 1: certainly their big weaknesses is running the ball. They play
Speaker 1: a style of defense that's in vogue, kind of like
Speaker 1: the Chargers where they almost beg you to run, and
Speaker 1: so will Andy Reid like stay patient and do it
Speaker 1: because I think he's got the players. You guys explained
Speaker 1: why with Pacheco and definitely the offensive line to keep
Speaker 1: doing it because I'm not really buying the whole like,
Speaker 1: you know, they brought in Linval Joseph and Dominican Sue
Speaker 1: and they haven't really been playing Jordan Davis like that
Speaker 1: is where you can attack the Eagles m hm. And
Speaker 1: that was the Sunday dry presented by Toyota Good game.
Speaker 1: Are we not talking up the Eagles defense enough though?
Speaker 1: Because I'm feeling I think we are. But then we're
Speaker 1: also in the previous segment we say that it's gonna
Speaker 1: go touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, like good, Yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: But like good defenses, it's these are two great offenses
Speaker 1: and there too, you know potentially, you know, at least
Speaker 1: the Eagles are good defense in the Chiefs Candy, but
Speaker 1: it's like, I just think offenses win that battle, you know,
Speaker 1: and so they just gotta make enough plays if you
Speaker 1: just get three stopped, I don't think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: like last year where the Rams and Bengals are just
Speaker 1: trading punts for like eighteen possession. That was a classic
Speaker 1: Russo nug about experience his head coaches against young head coaches,
Speaker 1: but there was a lot of data backing it up
Speaker 1: there is. So then you like some special teams. Is
Speaker 1: there an a huge edge there the kickers? Is there
Speaker 1: a huge edge there? I don't know, Uh head coach, Yeah,
Speaker 1: give me Buckers had some misses this year, Yeah he has.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been as good this season, But like uh
Speaker 1: read and Spags, I I'd feel good if I'm a
Speaker 1: cheese fan against I know Sirianni's getting uh pumped up here.
Speaker 1: And we had Baldy on the show last week who
Speaker 1: pointed out what a great staff he has that keeps
Speaker 1: that team balanced and keeps things centered. But give me
Speaker 1: read over Syrian Well and Read coming on. I mean,
Speaker 1: I I get tired of these stats, but like Read
Speaker 1: coming off by weeks for an extra week to prepare.
Speaker 1: I mean his record is a sterling Well I I
Speaker 1: made a big jag, you know, classic. Oh the there's
Speaker 1: Rosendalt talking too long again rant before the NFC Championship
Speaker 1: about how the difference is gonna be Sirianni going forward
Speaker 1: on fourth down and that they're very they got. They
Speaker 1: kind of remind me of the Patriots, where they're very
Speaker 1: buttoned up in terms of situational foot ball, and I
Speaker 1: think he's got that advantage here too. I don't think
Speaker 1: Andy Reid's quite as aggressive in those situations. He's certainly not. Uh.
Speaker 1: They tend to have a few more uh field goals
Speaker 1: in fourth and six I and I see Sirianni really
Speaker 1: going for it using all four downs, and I think
Speaker 1: that puts pressure on Reid to be the same way. Hey,
Speaker 1: don't be self conscious. You can honk when you're passionate.
Speaker 1: You're loyal. I mean I do, I do, I do?
Speaker 1: So this is your place to do the honking? All right?
Speaker 1: Do I guess like a little dog like biting at
Speaker 1: your not in this case, though, see I do get grief. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, shall we pick this game? Yeah? Should I start?
Speaker 1: I have the least amount of drama. I don't know
Speaker 1: who you're got there picking? Well, let's you should know
Speaker 1: because we wrote about this on NFL dot com, Mark Scessler,
Speaker 1: I think a good way maybe to uh. I think
Speaker 1: we did this last year to marks like, do I
Speaker 1: have to stick with that? Pick? Well? I think I've
Speaker 1: picked the same thing over and over, but it's there.
Speaker 1: This a little different. Can I get some dramatic music
Speaker 1: from Justin Great Bigger, I'll read in mind first, I
Speaker 1: get killed. Sometimes you gotta sometimes you gotta stand out
Speaker 1: on the website. Yeah, this is what you did, you're saying,
Speaker 1: Chiefs thirty seven, Eagle seventeen, whoa why the days of
Speaker 1: feasting on Daniel Jones and Josh Johnson who never seemed
Speaker 1: so far away from the Eagles, who get cooked by
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes on the sports Biggest stage, Super Bowl fifty
Speaker 1: seven m v P Mahomes Bold Prediction Colon. Mahomes finishes
Speaker 1: with more total touchdowns five than in completions for Sizzle
Speaker 1: Sizzle take from Zeus. Wow, I'm I'm a little stunned,
Speaker 1: so am I Actually I'm hurt. And there are a
Speaker 1: lot of possible outcomes for this game. And you could
Speaker 1: wind up, because I don't think many are on that corner.
Speaker 1: You could wind up. That could make me look very
Speaker 1: stupid in a few days, and it probably will mark
Speaker 1: your turn. Hit the music Grave Digger. No wait, I've
Speaker 1: got a hole Steel. I think he's looking for it.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna find it fun to watch Mark Fanny. Okay,
Speaker 1: here he goes Eagles thirty four, Chiefs twenty eight and overtime.
Speaker 1: Why yeah, why of course every game market hold on
Speaker 1: it went to the top of the page again. Okay,
Speaker 1: why the Eagles are the ideal blend of might, upfront
Speaker 1: stars on both sides of the ball, and next level coaching.
Speaker 1: It's just enough to take care of business against my
Speaker 1: homes and friends. M v P. Jalen hurts bold prediction.
Speaker 1: In a glorious bit of Super Bowl poetry, the Eagles
Speaker 1: run the Philly Special from the Kansas City's four yard
Speaker 1: line with eight seconds to go in overtime. Jalen hurts
Speaker 1: for the woo very good. So you gotta stand out
Speaker 1: and I'll be I'll be calling mad Dog on the
Speaker 1: phone and if that happens, okay my way to stand out.
Speaker 1: And I did not. Yeah, where are you on this,
Speaker 1: Mr team player? I don't even see your prediction on
Speaker 1: this article. Well, I did do the game picks all
Speaker 1: season long on NFL dot Com, and then they bumped
Speaker 1: me for this last week, and um, I didn't stood up.
Speaker 1: I didn't uh didn't send anything in. I did not police. Well,
Speaker 1: because I'm on the record, you can go back to
Speaker 1: August and you can look at my back then and
Speaker 1: it was Philadelphia Eagles over Kansas City Chiefs. Written in tablet.
Speaker 1: Two consistent factors this season for these two teams. One
Speaker 1: is a dominant, game breaking running attack. One is a
Speaker 1: terrible rust defense. And that's what's gonna be the difference.
Speaker 1: The Eagles are throwing it back to a game time
Speaker 1: in football when you were ground and pound, but they're
Speaker 1: also doing it in a new way. This will be
Speaker 1: the best running quarterback to win a Super Bowl, to
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl by running the ball and building
Speaker 1: the game around your running game and around the run
Speaker 1: of your quarterback. I know Russell Wilson could scramble, but
Speaker 1: this is how they built their offense. They said, you
Speaker 1: couldn't win a super Bowl that way. Oh that's a
Speaker 1: college offense. That is how they are gonna win a
Speaker 1: super Bowl. Rying it back together to the opening of
Speaker 1: the show and they said that you couldn't pick the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl right ahead of the season, And I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it. Eagles thirty five, Chiefs thirty one. Very nice?
Speaker 1: Are you a bigger brand builder than Austin Ekeler at
Speaker 1: this point trying? I mean, this will never happen again.
Speaker 1: So I gotta play it. That is that is a
Speaker 1: money prediction, because I mean, Hew Wayward and sideways. Do
Speaker 1: those things go these like that entire rent with this
Speaker 1: music under that would have I would have enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: I was desperately calling for wacky music. And then Grave
Speaker 1: they're gonna plays a monk chanting in a temple side
Speaker 1: I think Underground that was the we're gonna give you
Speaker 1: your flowers. If this goes the way you predicted in August,
Speaker 1: you deserve flowers. They will be put at your feet.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't feel good though, pick pick. I
Speaker 1: I think I remember at that Chief super Bowl when
Speaker 1: I picked, I mean I do feel good. That would
Speaker 1: totally ruin everything I just said. But that Chief super
Speaker 1: Bowl when they won, just making a similar rant of
Speaker 1: how I like, never pick against Mahomes. Not a comfortable place.
Speaker 1: It's exciting. Yeah, you're in a tight spot, very tight spot.
Speaker 1: Man predicts football game not as tight as last year's
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and Mark and I were in a lockoff
Speaker 1: for the trophy. Oh yeah, I don't have to sweat
Speaker 1: that out. That doesn't feel better. That's and I looked
Speaker 1: over after the Aaron Donald play and it looked like
Speaker 1: Mark's head was about to explode it so far. Well,
Speaker 1: I didn't like how that went. Oh, I didn't even
Speaker 1: remember that. You didn't talk for about forty five minutes after.
Speaker 1: But there is a I you know, you were the
Speaker 1: champion in the locks this year. I wish I could
Speaker 1: have locked off against you here to get that tie,
Speaker 1: but it is there's less stress involved. That's fine too.
Speaker 1: Just enjoy the game. And that kind of one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why I'm going with the Chiefs, because I
Speaker 1: really do enjoy uh watching a legend like mahomes here
Speaker 1: at the height of his powers at twenty seven years old.
Speaker 1: I'd like to see greatness in person. I got my
Speaker 1: dad Keith coming in on Friday, my cousin big Al
Speaker 1: coming in. I want them to see greatness. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: your your dad's been to a couple of Super Bowls
Speaker 1: and uh, you know he's seen some great that's this
Speaker 1: is different because in the quarterback matchup is so unusual.
Speaker 1: And but i'd i'd counter and say that if Philly
Speaker 1: took this game as greg as predicted, as I predicted,
Speaker 1: We'll keep looking for these dynasties. The Chiefs are on
Speaker 1: the edge of becoming what the closest you can be
Speaker 1: right now if they take this thing. But the Eagles
Speaker 1: I think are not going away for a very long time.
Speaker 1: This is a kind of team that wins this game.
Speaker 1: My father in law will be at a second Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: uh Sunday, flying in from Japan, arriving Saturday night. The
Speaker 1: only Super Bowl he's ever seen in person. Tom Brady
Speaker 1: helped along by our friend who's walking around radio row
Speaker 1: here media row, Malco Butler in a classic. That game
Speaker 1: was so good he became a legit NFL fan for
Speaker 1: a while after that. So it was both both Phoenix
Speaker 1: super Bowls. He went to was he uh? He he does?
Speaker 1: He used to desert. He used to work for some
Speaker 1: company that had a lot of business here. Um. And
Speaker 1: if you but just be careful what you wish for here, Mark,
Speaker 1: Because if you thought New England sports fans were annoying
Speaker 1: when they had a dynasty team, just imagine Philadelphia sports fans. No,
Speaker 1: you're right, you're right. But I have no control over
Speaker 1: any of this, So I know it's tough. I don't
Speaker 1: I like both these things. I'm with you. I do
Speaker 1: like greatness, and so I'll be happy for either and
Speaker 1: Connie Fox is coming in with Gonzo and they're looking
Speaker 1: to see a second super Bowl. It's all all good,
Speaker 1: all good either way. We're not done, though usually we did,
Speaker 1: and you feel like, okay, see a Sunday. But we
Speaker 1: got another show. We gave this one a little bit
Speaker 1: of a longer runway this year so people could check
Speaker 1: out our picks and our analysis of the game itself.
Speaker 1: But we do have a Friday show coming up as
Speaker 1: well with some more great interviews to come with some
Speaker 1: superstars of the sport. And we'll maybe do some sandwich
Speaker 1: props on Friday. That sounds fun. Uh and maybe uh
Speaker 1: some prop talk, maybe maybe the who knows, maybe the
Speaker 1: Rainmaker comes out. These are all things that could happen
Speaker 1: on many variables. All right, great stuff, good stuff, let's go.
Speaker 1: That's it, Marks Cole McCoy and the lobby of the hotel.
Speaker 1: It was great. Total fanboy did not say a word though.
Speaker 1: We gotta, we gotta make it happen all right until Friday,
Speaker 1: Eat the Caugh