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At Bet365, we don't do ordinary. We believe

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and conditions apply. Welcome

0:33

to the Peter King Podcast. It's

0:35

the first podcast, I think, with

0:39

my co-host Miles Simmons, where

0:42

we're both in California at the same

0:44

time. I covered the

0:46

NFC Championship game on Sunday. As

0:49

we record this on Monday, I

0:54

am still in California. I'm going to

0:56

do a couple things

0:58

out here for my column next

1:01

week. And so I

1:05

decided, let's just record this today. We'll

1:07

get it out. Our

1:09

guest this week is going

1:12

to be Brock Purdy. I spent some time with him after

1:15

the game on Sunday. It's

1:18

going to be a little bit of a different feel

1:20

for a guest. And because

1:23

I'm just going to play three sound bites

1:26

from my conversation with him and sort of

1:28

lead into those bites. But anyway,

1:30

you'll hear it. It was fun. It was interesting. Miles,

1:36

I find myself very,

1:39

very interested in both of these

1:41

games, but particularly

1:45

the strategic elements of

1:47

game two of

1:49

the NFC Championship game. And

1:52

I think we really have to dive in

1:54

on that. The first half of

1:56

our pod, we'll discuss the NFC game. Second

1:59

half, we'll dive in. discuss the

2:01

AFC game. Brock Purdy

2:03

will be the bridge to those.

2:06

Then we'll give you just a quickie Super

2:09

Bowl preview before Miles and I

2:11

are both in Las Vegas next

2:14

week when we will record

2:16

the Peter King podcast there.

2:18

So having said

2:20

all of that Miles, let's

2:23

just get to the big part

2:26

of what seems to have really lit

2:30

America on fire and that is

2:33

Dan Campbell's coaching decisions

2:36

in the second half of this

2:38

game. So let's get

2:41

exactly what the situations were,

2:44

Miles, and let's discuss each

2:47

of the fourth down calls by Dan

2:49

Campbell. Okay the first one with

2:53

the Lions up 24 to

2:55

10 midway through the third

2:57

quarter they had a fourth and two at

3:00

the San Francisco 28. So

3:03

Dan Campbell has a choice. He

3:05

could either go for it

3:08

on fourth down on fourth and two or

3:10

he could kick a field goal, try to kick

3:12

a field goal. It

3:15

would be a 46 yard field goal

3:17

with Michael Badgley. Now I've read and

3:19

heard a lot about well

3:21

Michael Badgley's a lousy kicker or

3:23

whatever. Well I went

3:25

back and looked at it and Michael

3:27

Badgley is not bad. In

3:30

the last three seasons he's

3:32

made 18 of 22 field goal attempts in

3:34

the 40s for 40 to 49 yards.

3:39

That's 82 percent. It's not

3:42

automatic. It's pretty good and

3:45

I must emphasize being

3:47

in the stadium in

3:49

Santa Clara, California Sunday night it

3:53

was absolutely beautiful. No

3:56

weather, no wind about

3:59

maybe 68 degrees. It

4:01

was just a perfect night for

4:04

anything. And they happen to be playing a

4:06

football game. So

4:08

anyway, he chose

4:11

to go for it. Obviously,

4:14

Jared Goff threw an incompletion to

4:17

Josh Reynolds. Now some are

4:19

calling it a drop. I wouldn't. It

4:21

was a hard ball to catch but he

4:23

probably should have caught it. But

4:26

anyway, it's incomplete. Turn the ball

4:28

over on downs. Your

4:31

thoughts on the call? No,

4:33

I really didn't mind it at the time. And

4:35

you know, I understand that you're going up

4:39

by three possessions. If

4:42

you make that field goal. Yeah, but at

4:45

the time, right, and you if

4:47

you are able to get down

4:49

the field and score a touchdown,

4:51

then you almost effectively in the

4:53

game and with what the

4:55

Detroit Lions have done throughout the course

4:57

of the season, it did not surprise

4:59

me that they went for it. And

5:02

you're still up by two touchdowns

5:04

at that point. So that's

5:06

why in my mind, that's a place

5:08

where you can be aggressive and kind

5:11

of go for that kill shot where

5:13

yeah, if you get more points with the

5:15

field goal, it is what

5:17

it is. Like that's good to go

5:19

up by three possessions, certainly, but it

5:22

doesn't give you that whole thing of,

5:24

hey, man, we have come here to

5:26

take this, right? We're not just going

5:28

to sit back and maybe rest and

5:30

then see if something does or doesn't

5:32

happen. Right? Like that, to me, is

5:34

just not what the Lions philosophy has

5:37

been. If it's more than four than

5:39

two, then I think you think

5:41

about kicking it more. But at

5:43

that point, especially because you're up by two

5:45

touchdowns, I really didn't mind them going for

5:47

it. Problem is, of course, when

5:49

you don't execute, right? And that to me

5:52

is the biggest problem there. So

5:55

I really thought Campbell was justified going for

5:57

it here. And I'll tell you why. Obviously,

6:02

you're right. You're up 14 points.

6:04

You have a chance to go up three

6:07

touchdowns on the

6:09

road in the NFC Championship game. And

6:12

I agree with you. If

6:14

you score there, you can look

6:16

at the final score and you could say, well,

6:18

look at the 49ers. They came back. They

6:21

may have come back. I understand that.

6:23

But there's a lot of

6:25

difference between a 14 point

6:27

lead with a quarter and a half to

6:29

go against the Kyle Shanahan offense and

6:32

a 21 point lead. So,

6:35

and I think also

6:39

the Lions at that point are

6:41

still riding the wave of a

6:44

dominant first half of this game.

6:46

This was their first possession of

6:50

the third quarter. So I

6:52

don't in any way begrudge Campbell

6:55

for going for this. And keep in

6:57

mind, Dan Campbell

6:59

went forward on fourth down this year, 24%

7:02

of the time. And

7:04

that's the most in the NFL in at least

7:06

20 years. So this

7:09

is again, it's who he

7:11

is. But I'm

7:14

going to we're going to morph into the second

7:16

one now or transition into the

7:18

second one. And I'm going to tell you why I

7:20

disagreed with this call. And and I've

7:22

heard and I've read, Hey, this is

7:25

who Dan Campbell is. You

7:27

change who you are based on

7:29

the game situation. All right. So

7:32

here was the second one. All

7:35

right. This now we

7:37

are now the

7:40

game has totally turned. The

7:42

49ers have scored 17 points

7:46

on their next three possessions. The

7:48

game is now tied. I'm sorry.

7:51

Excuse me. The 49ers are now

7:53

up 27 to 24. And I think this next

7:56

series is

8:01

crucial for the Lions. They

8:03

got to the 30-yard line of

8:05

San Francisco, fourth and

8:07

three, three, three, three

8:10

yards and and I went

8:12

back and I watched the replay after

8:15

the game and it was a

8:17

good three yards. It might have been three yards

8:19

and a foot after

8:21

Amun-Ra St. Brown, you

8:25

know, was caught a

8:27

ball on third down and got within

8:29

three yards of the sticks. So

8:31

now it's fourth

8:34

and three and and

8:36

here's the difference, right?

8:39

It is midway through the

8:41

fourth quarter. Now you

8:43

may only have after this, you

8:47

may only have one possession left.

8:50

So you have to

8:52

decide I need

8:55

to at least tie this

8:57

game. Now you

8:59

know what, it's very interesting.

9:02

Coaches don't often tell

9:04

you, Miles, exactly why they did

9:06

something and maybe he didn't have

9:08

faith in Michael Badgley

9:11

but all I can say is this, in 2024 if

9:14

you don't

9:17

think your kicker in

9:19

calm, pristine conditions

9:23

can make a 48-yard field goal, that's

9:26

on you. That's your fault

9:28

for putting this guy on

9:30

the team. So I am

9:33

assuming at that moment that

9:36

he's probably gonna make a 48-yard

9:39

field goal if he

9:41

tries. But be all that as

9:43

it may, he chose to go for it again

9:45

and in my opinion,

9:48

Jared Goff made an

9:51

awful throw again to Amun-Ra St.

9:53

Brown but he was way off,

9:55

he was flush from the pocket and

9:57

so it didn't work and I'm Honestly,

10:01

that to me was a

10:03

gigantic play in this game. I

10:06

would have kicked the field goal here. Your thoughts? Well,

10:09

I didn't blame Campbell for shooting a

10:12

48 yard field goal, because

10:15

I, as much as we think,

10:17

and Peter, I do think you're right. If you're in

10:19

a postseason situation, you're in the NFC Championship game and

10:21

you don't trust your kicker to make a 48 yard

10:24

field goal, that's a problem, right? You have

10:26

to be able to hit from 48, from

10:29

50 on in, let's say, if you're in

10:31

the postseason. And if you don't have a kicker that you

10:33

can trust to do that, that's an

10:35

issue. So then if that's the case,

10:37

like the Detroit Lions absolutely need to

10:40

address kicker in the off season. But

10:43

I still don't think 48's quite a gimme. And-

10:47

It's not a gimme, you're right. Yeah. You're

10:49

right. So I understood what it was that

10:52

they were trying to do in

10:54

terms of going for it there. But when

10:56

you're down three and you have a chance to tie

10:58

the game, you

11:00

probably do need to tie the game

11:02

in the fourth quarter in what that

11:04

situation is midway through the final period

11:06

of the NFC Championship game. Like I

11:08

see it from both sides, but I would

11:10

lean toward, yeah, you really should have kicked the

11:12

field goal there. Whereas earlier on in the game,

11:14

like I understand the going for it because you're

11:17

still up by two touchdowns. But Peter,

11:19

you know, what I think is

11:21

getting lost in this discourse

11:24

over Dan Campbell's decision is

11:27

that Jameer Gibbs fumbled away

11:29

a possession in

11:32

deep, deep, deep in Detroit territory right

11:34

after the 49ers had scored. And so

11:36

to me, like that's why when you

11:38

go for it earlier on and you're

11:40

like, yeah, we're still up by two

11:42

touchdowns. We have the opportunity to get

11:44

back on the horse and still

11:47

go stay up by two touchdowns, even if

11:49

they take this and they go down the

11:51

field and score. Because you have a fumble

11:53

right there, you totally lost the momentum of

11:56

what you were doing. Like that

11:58

to me is the real. play

12:00

and you know, yes, Campbell's

12:03

there's some criticism, but and

12:06

I don't want to kill a rookie running back for

12:08

one mistake either But like that right

12:10

there when you fumble in

12:12

your own territory on the first play of a drive Yeah,

12:15

that is where they Detroit really started to

12:17

lose that game to my opinion you

12:21

know miles agree with

12:23

you all you on this and

12:26

and there was a commonality

12:28

to these two games and

12:30

that is a first round rookie for

12:33

each team that

12:35

lost made a

12:38

gigantic error in Each

12:40

one of the games Jamir Gibbs

12:43

in the 49er game and obviously

12:45

they flowers with really

12:47

the mistake of the year for the Baltimore

12:49

Ravens and You

12:52

can't say they would have won the game

12:54

if he doesn't fumble at the I'm

12:56

serious the 10-inch line right I's a

12:58

pruder film that and we'll talk about

13:01

that and the other side, but I

13:04

Looked at that for a long time and

13:07

it looked like it was just it was

13:09

about a foot Might have been

13:11

closer than a foot. But anyway The

13:14

rookies I think even though they had great

13:16

impact this year man. Both of

13:18

them really hurt their team You

13:21

know late in these games the one

13:23

other thing I really wanted to talk about with this

13:25

game You

13:27

know What I find

13:30

so interesting about football as a

13:32

sport is How

13:35

much can happen in? 60

13:38

minutes of a game and I'll

13:41

give you my case in point at The

13:44

49ers game so I

13:47

mean Levi's Stadium I'm trying

13:49

to bang out some stuff at halftime

13:51

and just before the start of the

13:53

second half I say man Gotta

13:56

use the men's room. And so I go into the

13:58

men's room Now remember,

14:01

the Lions are up 24-7

14:04

at halftime and it's not

14:06

looking good for the home team. And,

14:08

you know, it's a little crowded

14:11

in the men's room and one

14:13

of the guys that used a

14:15

urinal kind of yelled

14:17

out, who's got odds on

14:19

the 49ers opening day quarterback next year,

14:21

Purdy or Kirk Cousins. So,

14:24

I mean, it was just sort of a funny thing

14:26

to say and I didn't think anything of it until

14:29

after the game. I'm

14:31

thinking, Brock Purdy just really

14:34

changed the narrative. It's not, he

14:36

didn't, it wasn't that greatest half a

14:39

quarterback's ever made. But

14:41

the fact is the

14:45

49ers were down 24-7 at the half

14:48

and they scored 27 points

14:51

in the second half to come

14:53

back and win and to earn this

14:55

Super Bowl trim. Props

14:58

to Brock Purdy, man, and I

15:01

just wanted to get your take on what you saw

15:03

out of him in the second half.

15:07

I like to say that Brock Purdy has got some stuff

15:09

to him. Like he's the

15:11

kind of guy that you want

15:13

on your team because you

15:15

feel like it's never going

15:18

to completely go off the rails usually,

15:20

right? I mean, it did in that

15:22

Baltimore game, right? Like that's the one

15:24

where you're like, man, just that

15:26

one was non-competitive. But

15:29

what he does for you is

15:31

he allows guys to make plays.

15:33

And when things go off, right?

15:36

And usually they don't in a Kyle Shanahan offense,

15:38

but when he has to make an off-schedule play,

15:40

he can make it. And he showed

15:42

that, you know, by running the ball with

15:44

making the plays with his legs when he

15:46

had to. And, you know, you

15:48

look at the two quarterbacks in that game specifically,

15:51

right? The other drafted, number one overall,

15:53

Jared Goff, obviously in 2016. The

15:56

other drafted last pick in the draft a couple of

15:58

years ago. Brock

16:00

Purdy is the one

16:02

who has the mobility. And that

16:05

mobility, I thought, was really the

16:07

difference in the game. And because,

16:09

look, when Jared Goff had

16:11

things break down for him, the protection started breaking

16:13

down and he got pressured and he had to

16:15

get flushed out. And you just brought it up,

16:17

Peter. That fourth down throw, like, it

16:20

was totally off. And Jared

16:22

Goff just does not necessarily have

16:24

that ability, unfortunately, to make

16:26

those kinds of plays with his legs

16:29

where he bounced around the pocket, he

16:31

sees a lane, and boom, he goes

16:33

and hits it. That's not his game.

16:35

He is a pocket passer, which is

16:37

fine. I mean, obviously, it works for

16:39

him in many situations. But what

16:42

Brock Purdy can do for you is

16:44

if the protection breaks down, if the

16:46

play doesn't quite go the way it's

16:48

supposed to on schedule, he

16:50

can still make something happen for you. And

16:53

that's something we see with the homes, right?

16:55

Josh Allen, Joe Burrell has a good ability

16:57

to do it, too. These guys that are

16:59

the top quarterback, Lamar Jackson, obviously, right? But

17:02

when Brock Purdy does it, it's like, whatever,

17:04

like, for as many people it seems like.

17:07

But I just I like that ability that

17:09

he has because it is what has

17:11

made the difference in the San Francisco offense.

17:14

Think about what we used to see with

17:17

this team from Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo did not

17:19

have that ability. And I think now that

17:21

Purdy does, that's what's taken this thing to

17:23

another level. And that's a big reason why

17:25

they are now in the Super Bowl for

17:28

the second time of the Shanahan. You

17:30

know, after the game, Kyle

17:33

Shanahan was blunt about it. He goes,

17:37

basically, those runs were the difference in the

17:39

game. And Trent

17:43

Williams told me after

17:45

the game at his locker, he's

17:47

the reason we're headed to the Super Bowl. And

17:50

I think in

17:54

all of the criticisms

17:56

of Brock Purdy, I

17:59

think there are. I would

18:01

say three traits that he has

18:04

that all the great

18:07

quarterbacks have. Okay, and that's

18:09

number one, he is

18:11

an accurate passer compared

18:15

to all other

18:17

NFL quarterbacks. I would call his

18:20

accuracy an 8 or

18:22

a 9, and he's accurate also

18:26

when pressured. Remember

18:29

the the pass he threw? It

18:32

was almost a little flip where

18:34

he's running to his left and it looks like he's

18:36

just gonna run out of bounds and

18:38

it'll probably be called a sack. But

18:41

at the last minute he just

18:43

sort of flips it awkwardly,

18:45

Kyle Juszczyk catches

18:48

the ball and gets both feet

18:50

in at the sideline

18:52

for a ridiculous play and

18:56

it was a first down. Kyle

18:58

Juszczyk just barely made a first down, it was

19:00

a gain of 10. And that is kind of

19:02

what Brock Furti

19:04

does, that's one trait. Second trait. Plays

19:07

is best when the best is required. And

19:10

look they're down 17 at the half.

19:12

If you're a good quarterback you

19:15

have got to be able, you're not going to do it

19:17

every time, but you have to have

19:20

the presence and the calm

19:22

and the it factor to be able to

19:24

bring your team back. He's done

19:27

that a couple of times now in his time as

19:29

Niners quarterback and I think the last thing

19:31

is you really have to

19:34

be a flat-liner. I

19:38

marvel at Brock

19:40

Furti's ability to

19:43

essentially not let

19:46

anything in the outside world

19:48

have any impact whatsoever. He

19:50

talked about it during his press

19:52

conference, not to me, but

19:55

he talked about it in his press conference

19:57

and look we can talk about God, we

19:59

could talk about the effect of

20:01

religion in people's lives and all

20:03

that, but it really

20:05

doesn't matter. Religion is an

20:08

intensely, you know, personal thing.

20:11

And last night after the game, Brock

20:13

Purdy talked about how I

20:16

just put it on God. I

20:18

have this abiding faith and

20:20

whatever happens, I know we're going

20:22

to be fine. My job is to put

20:26

everything I have into

20:28

this moment. And, you

20:31

know, as he said, I've done

20:33

a good job of being where

20:35

my feet are. And

20:38

I think that aspect

20:40

of his life makes

20:43

all these people in the outside world saying,

20:45

oh, he

20:47

stinks, or he's a marginal

20:49

player or whatever. He just

20:52

doesn't care. And I

20:54

really kind of admire that in him.

20:57

Whatever you think of

21:00

his religious beliefs, it

21:02

doesn't matter. He is

21:04

emboldened and gets

21:07

his flatlining capabilities

21:10

from that. And as

21:12

I say, it doesn't matter

21:14

what anybody else thinks. It matters

21:16

what Brock Purdy thinks. And

21:19

it also matters that that

21:22

ethos, that way

21:24

of living helps

21:26

him compartmentalize

21:30

everything in his life and to

21:32

devote all his energy when

21:35

he's on the field to being a good football

21:37

player and not listening to any of the garbage.

21:41

It's interesting, Peter, because I think

21:44

people like criticizing Brock Purdy because

21:46

there are things to criticize. His

21:48

play, obviously, in the divisional round

21:50

against Green Bay for three quarters

21:53

was not up to par. I

21:56

would say that his play in the first two

21:58

quarters of last night's game. not up to par.

22:01

Absolutely. When you

22:03

can turn it on and

22:05

you can still lead your team to

22:08

win and to victories, right?

22:10

Like that is the most

22:12

important thing, right? And, you know,

22:14

I like to talk about the fact

22:16

that Patrick Mahomes, the floor with him

22:18

for a team is losing in overtime

22:20

of the conference title game. Well,

22:23

through two years, the

22:26

floor for Brock Perdue is losing in

22:28

the conference title game because his arm

22:30

got hurt. Like he's

22:33

done nothing but win. And, you know,

22:35

wins are not always quarterback stat, but

22:37

I do think that he has earned

22:39

a lot of credit for what he's

22:41

been able to execute as part of

22:43

Kyle Shanahan's office. Yeah,

22:47

I think I've talked about this on the show

22:50

before in one

22:52

episode or another, but I

22:54

remember as Brock

22:56

Perdue was getting his start in

23:01

December of 22, you

23:05

know, he just had played two or three games. And

23:07

I remember talking to George Kittle about him and

23:11

Kittle said it helped him

23:13

not only, because I made the point

23:15

to him that, hey, just

23:18

my thought, but I think

23:20

he's really helped by the fact

23:22

that he played 46 games, started

23:25

46 games at

23:28

a power five school, you know, Iowa

23:30

State in the big 12. And he's played

23:32

in front of a hundred thousand at Texas

23:35

and in front of 90,000 at Oklahoma. He's

23:39

played a lot of those big games. And

23:42

Kittle interrupted me and he goes, you're

23:44

forgetting one thing. He

23:47

said, it's great to

23:49

play at a place like Iowa State because

23:52

you're not that good. Yeah,

23:55

I mean, Iowa State traditionally hasn't been

23:57

that good. There are no gimmes. You

24:00

got to be on your horse

24:02

every week that you play because

24:05

it's difficult to win in

24:07

a big way in Iowa State. So I

24:09

really thought that was a good

24:12

ad to the story of why

24:15

Purdy has started

24:17

off and done pretty well. And

24:20

look, Miles, I have

24:22

no idea how it's going to go in

24:25

a couple of weeks when

24:27

he plays Patrick Mahomes. But

24:31

I just, I don't think the game's going

24:33

to be too big for him. I

24:36

think he's going to go out and play a football game

24:38

and it's easy to say that now because

24:40

he's playing against a guy who,

24:43

you know, Patrick Mahomes has been on this

24:46

stage his whole career. So

24:49

it's not going to be the biggest deal for

24:51

him. But my

24:54

feeling is that Purdy is going

24:56

to represent himself

24:59

well in this game. We'll

25:02

see what happens. But I

25:04

think his story is

25:07

absolutely fabulous. And

25:09

it just goes to show you that do

25:12

not assume that because

25:14

either you played at Iowa State and

25:17

you didn't play for one of the

25:19

real big boys, or

25:22

because you're the the 262nd

25:25

pick in the draft that you can't do it.

25:27

I mean, Brock Purdy is living proof that you can.

25:31

I love that. Yeah, I love it.

25:33

And that's one of the things I love about football,

25:35

you know, you come from anywhere. It doesn't matter how

25:37

you get there. And coaches say this all the time,

25:39

but what, you know, after the draft, the teleworkies, you

25:41

know, it doesn't matter how you got here or you're

25:43

here now. And so the only

25:45

thing that matters is what's next and what you

25:47

do and what you make of the opportunity. And

25:50

I mean, no matter what you say about Brock

25:52

Purdy, you cannot say that he has not taken

25:54

advantage of every opportunity that you can give in

25:56

an NFL. Right. And

25:58

in college football, quite honestly. He's

26:01

living, breathing proof that if

26:03

you have an opportunity

26:06

to take advantage, I

26:08

mean, look, this guy is the definition

26:10

of cherubic. And

26:14

he looks like he's 16 years old

26:16

and you wonder if he

26:18

owns a razor because

26:20

he may not need one. But

26:23

anyway, it's just, I think it's just

26:25

a really cool story and I

26:28

like telling it. Miles, let's go

26:30

into my conversation after

26:32

the game with

26:36

Purdy in the bowels of this

26:38

stadium in a PR office, you

26:42

know, at Levi's Stadium. I

26:45

think he'll enjoy some of his

26:47

observations about where he's come from and

26:49

how this game went. After

26:51

that, we're going to take a break. And

26:54

then on the other side of the podcast,

26:57

we will come back with thoughts on

27:00

the Kansas City Chiefs steamrolling

27:03

again to another

27:05

Super Bowl. So that's the

27:07

lineup for the rest of the pod. Let's

27:10

listen to Brock Purdy about

27:12

his life and about the

27:14

biggest win of his life. So

27:18

let me set the stage for you a little

27:20

bit with my conversation with

27:22

Brock Purdy after the

27:25

NFC Championship game. Basically,

27:28

what happens in these games is

27:30

that guys,

27:33

for instance, Brock, in this case,

27:35

Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan, they

27:38

were very delayed in getting into

27:41

the press conferences post

27:43

game because of the celebration on the

27:45

field and then they all were

27:48

in the locker room and so

27:50

they didn't even come out to like an

27:52

hour or so after the game. So

27:56

after that happened, then I walked

27:58

with Purdy. to a PR

28:02

office of the 49ers

28:04

right across the hall from their

28:07

locker room at Levi's Stadium. So

28:10

I sat in there with Brock Purdy

28:12

for I think

28:14

eight minutes and talked to him

28:16

a little bit, and I thought

28:20

that the best way to get into

28:22

it with him is

28:26

the way that just to say, man,

28:29

the last draft pick in

28:31

college and now

28:34

you're going to the Super Bowl to play the Great

28:37

Mahomes. So I asked him about

28:39

that. Here were his thoughts. It's

28:41

been a roller coaster really.

28:43

You know you finish

28:46

your senior year in college, you get drafted

28:48

last, and

28:50

you think maybe there's no shot here

28:52

to all of a sudden there is. You

28:54

made the team to your backup, to you're

28:56

getting thrown into obviously

28:59

being one win away from going to the

29:01

Super Bowl your rookie year. You tear

29:03

your arm late and then you go

29:06

through the rehab process, you make it

29:08

back, then you go through some good times

29:10

in the season, you go through some times that are

29:12

tough with the three losses that we had in a

29:14

row, the performance on Christmas Day.

29:16

It's a roller coaster, man. So

29:20

I've just tried to do my best to take it

29:22

one day at a time and be where my feet

29:24

are at, whether it's going good or not. I'm

29:27

not defined by my circumstances and more

29:29

than any I just try to have a grateful mindset and that's allowed

29:32

me to sort of enjoy this last year and a half. Then

29:35

I asked him about the

29:37

plays that Kyle Shanahan said

29:39

were basically the differences

29:42

in the game and

29:44

that was three plays in

29:47

the last 22 minutes of the

29:49

game that Brock

29:52

Purdy ran for

29:54

a total of 52 yards. He's

29:58

not a runner. He had only only had one

30:00

50 yard running game in his entire

30:02

NFL career to that point, I

30:05

think 25 games or

30:08

something. And so talking

30:10

to him about sort of

30:12

his strategy of, you know,

30:15

you got to know when to hold them,

30:17

know when to fold them, when to take

30:19

off, I thought was

30:21

interesting. Yeah,

30:23

I mean, obviously, I dropped back first and read

30:25

the defense. I'm trying to hit my receivers. That's

30:28

like the point of playing quarterback. But

30:30

when, you know, they do a good job with

30:32

the coverage or blitzes, and then I see some

30:35

space in that moment in this game with the

30:38

stakes, like what they're at, you know, being

30:40

in the NFC Championship game, it's like,

30:42

all right, you got to find a way, man. I

30:44

know that I'm athletic enough to be able to move the chains

30:46

and obviously keep it

30:48

rolling and create some juice and momentum

30:50

for our guys. And so that's what

30:53

I think I did in those moments. It wasn't

30:55

predetermined or anything. It was just on the fly.

30:57

But like I said, when we're down like we

30:59

were, and we needed

31:01

just momentum to be

31:04

able to pull the ball down and honestly, lower

31:06

my shoulder a couple times, like I think

31:08

it was good for our team. And, you

31:11

know, looking back on it, man, it was just

31:13

part of the game. But it's

31:15

momentum, and we needed that. So. And

31:19

so I'll give you one last one of

31:22

my time with Purdy, and I'm

31:24

going to include a little bit

31:26

of me with this

31:28

and sort of my question to

31:30

him. But it's

31:32

just a little bit kind

31:35

of about how Rock

31:38

Purdy, in essence, has

31:41

a great attitude about

31:44

where he is in the NFL, who

31:47

he is, and

31:49

why his absolute

31:51

flatliner demeanor really

31:54

serves him well. And I think

31:56

going into the Super Bowl is

31:58

really going to serve him well. serve him well. I

32:01

remember I sat right in here with you

32:03

after your first game against Miami and I

32:05

said to you, you're

32:09

playing Tom Brady in your first NFL

32:11

start and you said, that's cool. He's

32:14

been playing football longer than I've been alive. And

32:18

I constantly am interested

32:21

in the fact that nothing

32:23

really seems to bother

32:25

you or overwhelm you or

32:28

you don't make the game too big. But

32:31

now you're the last

32:33

pick in the draft and

32:35

you're playing in the Super Bowl in your

32:38

second year and the

32:40

fate of this franchise is on your

32:42

shoulders. So how

32:44

do you feel about that? Honestly,

32:47

like I have, you know, since I've stepped

32:49

in this whole role last year, when Jimmy

32:51

went down, it was how can

32:53

I do my job really well for this team,

32:55

be consistent. I know I have a really good

32:57

team around me, got great play calling, great organization.

33:00

And if I can just do my job well, everything

33:03

will fall into place out in each two. And honestly,

33:05

going into this last game of

33:07

the season for everyone, that's my mindset too.

33:10

It shouldn't change. It's like, all right,

33:12

I made it to the Super Bowl and I got

33:14

to start acting uncharacteristic and make all these crazy plays.

33:16

It's how can I do my job well? If I

33:18

need to improvise, I'll improvise. But at

33:20

the end of the day, find a way to win, just like we did

33:22

today. Be kind of cool to play

33:24

in my homes, huh? Yeah, it's going to be

33:26

sweet. Yeah, it's going to be cool. I mean, watching that guy

33:28

since I was in high school, really, and the way

33:31

he's taken over the NFL, it's been fun to

33:33

watch. So to have an opportunity to go up

33:35

against him for the Super Bowl, man,

33:38

it doesn't get any better than that. Hey,

33:41

listen, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. I

33:43

really appreciate it. Yes, sir. Thank

33:45

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34:37

So Miles, I

34:39

am a little fascinated by

34:43

this edition of

34:46

the Kansas City football team and I'll

34:48

tell you the biggest reason why. I

34:51

was in Germany 10 weeks

34:54

ago, 12 weeks ago, whatever

34:56

it was, early November, and

34:58

I saw the 21 to 14 win over the

35:01

Miami Dolphins in

35:04

Frankfurt and they weren't

35:07

playing very well offensively at all.

35:09

And I've told the story here and in

35:12

my column and I told it again in

35:14

Football Morning in America post

35:18

championship game edition. But

35:22

twice after that game, Mahomes

35:25

basically, Patrick Mahomes pigeonholed me

35:27

and said, we will

35:29

get this offense fixed. I

35:32

promise you. And

35:35

it sounds funny after a game in which

35:37

they scored 17

35:40

points to extol the virtues of

35:42

this offense. But

35:44

there's a reason why I

35:46

think that, and look, this

35:50

defense and Steve Spagnolo

35:52

and so

35:55

many people on that defense deserve

35:57

credit. But I

36:00

think Patrick Mahomes basically saying

36:03

almost three months ago, we're going to figure out

36:05

this offense. Well, he was right.

36:08

They've scored 70 points in three

36:10

postseason games. They got

36:12

Isaiah Pacheco averaging

36:15

85 yards a game in the postseason.

36:18

You finally have a receiver you can

36:20

trust, a wide receiver in

36:22

Rishi Rice, who owned

36:24

the game against Miami in the playoffs.

36:27

And then obviously Travis Kelsey, 11

36:29

targets, 11 catches, 116

36:33

yards in the AFC championship

36:36

game. And I'll tell you one thing. If

36:39

Travis Kelsey doesn't go

36:42

into the Hall of Fame on roller skates,

36:44

man, this guy, everyone

36:46

in the stadium knew that

36:48

he was going to get the ball early

36:51

and often in this game. And still, every

36:54

time Mahomes threw to him, every time,

36:56

he was perfect. So I don't

36:58

know, I sort of look at it, Mahomes, and I think

37:02

I just was impressed with their offense, even

37:04

though they only scored 17 points

37:06

in this game. They

37:08

made enough critical plays where they

37:10

controlled everything that was happening, even

37:12

in the second half when they

37:15

couldn't really get anything going. Part

37:17

of that is because the Kansas

37:19

City defense has been so good.

37:21

And I would say it's been elite in

37:23

the postseason. I mean, they made the critical plays

37:25

when they needed to make them. And yeah, Buffalo

37:28

got a bunch of yards last week, but

37:30

when it came down to it, they made

37:32

the stop. And when

37:35

you look at what that defense

37:37

did against Lamar Jackson, unbelievable. But

37:39

the fact that Patrick Mahomes was

37:41

able to start that game, just

37:43

going down the field, started 10-10

37:45

passing. They

37:48

go forward on fourth down and three. And

37:51

I've watched enough chiefs over the last however

37:53

many years to know that

37:55

when it's fourth down in those

37:58

situations, they love the sprint. right

38:00

path and it looked like Baltimore

38:02

also kind of figured that out because first

38:04

reading the flat was covered and then

38:06

Mahomes has to go all the way back kind of

38:08

across the field to Kelsey but what does he do

38:11

but throw an absolute strike

38:13

to Travis Kelsey and Kelsey reaches

38:15

out and just makes a great catch.

38:17

I mean it was just it

38:20

was two of those dudes and two of

38:22

the best ever play at their position just

38:24

executing at the highest level. The same

38:27

thing happened when he throws to Travis

38:29

Kelsey in the front right corner of

38:31

the end zone covered by Kyle Hamilton

38:33

first team all bro Kyle Hamilton. What

38:36

a throw man. Yeah because Kyle Hamilton

38:38

what is Kyle Hamilton gonna do in

38:40

that situation and I mean he is

38:42

covering Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey covers but

38:45

he uncovers because Mahomes throws

38:47

an absolutely perfect throw the only place he

38:50

can put it and it's

38:52

just and Kelsey makes a catch it was

38:54

just unbelievable to see those two guys and

38:57

how well they are connected make the place

38:59

that they made and so yeah I could

39:01

not have been more impressed with what they

39:03

put out there and it was another situation

39:05

Peter where the final score

39:08

was not necessarily indicative of how that

39:10

game went because the Chiefs went

39:12

forward on fourth down again you know and

39:14

they didn't get it that time with

39:16

Isaiah Pchekor running up the middle. If you

39:19

kick a field goal then that

39:21

game maybe looks a little bit different in terms of

39:23

the final score there but yeah

39:25

it's it's funny I

39:27

mean on Christmas day I remember sitting

39:30

at my mom's house and

39:32

watching that game against the Raiders and thinking

39:34

man I don't know. They

39:36

were in trouble. Yeah I

39:38

don't know if this team's gonna make it

39:40

out of the first round as well. Yeah

39:42

yeah they can't do anything offensively they have

39:44

no reliable receivers you know even Travis Kelsey's

39:46

not making the plays you expect to make

39:48

and I don't know if it's you flip the

39:51

switch or what but or maybe

39:53

that week after clinching the

39:55

AFC West you know they came out

39:57

here to LA and they didn't play.

40:00

You know, Travis Kelce rested even though we had a

40:02

chance to get to a thousand yards and the homes

40:04

didn't play and all that And

40:06

maybe that week just got their

40:08

minds, right? You know, yeah to

40:10

say no we can do this once we get

40:13

into the postseason Whatever it

40:15

is. It works when

40:17

you've got elite guys at head coach quarterback

40:19

tight end You know

40:22

defensive lineman and Chris Jones all those

40:24

young dudes in the on that defense

40:26

who have you know Continue to rise

40:28

and they're still gonna mostly be together

40:30

next year because they're also young Instead

40:33

an elite defensive coordinator in fact, you know, I

40:35

mean, this is the kind of results you're

40:37

gonna get it I couldn't be more impressive to

40:39

run that they've had You

40:42

know miles I found myself thinking I

40:44

watched this game in

40:47

the press box at Levi's

40:49

Stadium and I thought it's three

40:51

or four different moments of the game

40:53

that There's

40:56

a difference Between

40:58

being a really good team and

41:02

Being a good big

41:04

game team When

41:07

you need to be experienced

41:10

in the art of playing a big game And again,

41:13

I'm gonna point to four things

41:15

for Baltimore that bothered me

41:17

quite a bit and I'm not saying they're all

41:20

because guys Didn't you

41:23

know capitalize on the moment? But

41:26

the four things that Really

41:28

kind of bothered me Kyle

41:32

van nooy here's a guy who's played

41:34

for Bill Belichick Who is

41:37

one of the most trusted veterans

41:39

in the NFL truly? 32

41:41

years old played 10 years. I Really

41:44

have great admiration for Kyle van Neuys.

41:46

I Don't care

41:49

how angry you get

41:51

at somebody on the field You

41:54

know that if you take your

41:56

helmet and for or simply

41:58

headbutt Travis Kelly with

42:01

two officials standing right

42:03

there that you're gonna get

42:05

a 15-yard flag. And

42:08

again, that and

42:11

I'm sure that Kyle Van Neuen

42:13

today regrets what

42:15

happened and that's why it

42:17

is so odd to have seen him

42:20

do that. Just like I think it

42:22

was odd to see Lamar Jackson throw

42:25

for Isaiah likely into what

42:27

turned out to be triple coverage in

42:30

the shallow end zone on

42:33

a vital, vital drive that

42:35

for all intents and purposes

42:38

ended Baltimore's true

42:40

chances to win this game. One

42:44

other one, Roquan Smith, who I

42:46

think is taking over really as

42:48

the leader of this defense after

42:51

he got signed to... they traded

42:53

for him a year ago and he

42:56

got signed to a big contract and deserves

42:58

it. He's a great player, great

43:00

leader. I understand

43:04

why he jumped offside

43:06

because at that point it's the clock

43:08

that related the game. It's the clock

43:10

that's important, the

43:12

most important thing. But

43:14

to barrel into an offensive

43:17

lineman, send them flying and

43:20

get not a five-yard penalty but a

43:22

15-yard penalty, insane.

43:26

It's just not smart to do.

43:29

And obviously look,

43:31

Zae Flowers, he's a rookie, but

43:34

a taunting penalty in

43:37

a crucial time in the game. Fumbling,

43:41

getting the ball punched out at

43:43

the 10-inch line on

43:46

a play that would have brought you to within a field

43:48

goal. I... you know

43:51

the Ravens did not meet the moment,

43:53

Miles. No,

43:56

no, not at all. And you know,

43:58

there's also the play where deep... The

44:00

wine and like club. A patch

44:02

of the homes in the face like. I

44:04

just. I did. I found myself watching

44:06

that game thing. What? Good reasons doing

44:09

it was just on discipline

44:11

crap. I. Just stuff I

44:13

did not expect to see from

44:15

a John Harbaugh team, right? I mean,

44:18

this is a team that has been

44:20

were arguably the best human football year,

44:22

right? You know they they went to

44:25

Santa Clara and kick the crap out

44:27

of the Forty Niners on Christensen. This

44:29

could see that you said okay, there

44:32

you right And so the undisciplined stuff

44:34

that really bothered me. I just I.

44:36

I didn't understand what was going on

44:39

there and idea what a why was

44:41

Justin Tucker in the space. Over

44:43

the homes in front of a stealthy before

44:46

they get was one of you analyze it

44:48

out. It's just weird. What are we. Have.

44:50

The thing with a T. From.

44:52

The end zone as I. Don't. I

44:55

just I didn't understand any of that. It

44:57

would like some weird. Thing the maybe try

44:59

and get into their head swimming pool

45:01

Romney gave him as you attended a

45:03

when have you ever seen a kicker

45:05

doing in the way. Of quarterbacks

45:07

warming up for a game or

45:10

what what the hell's going on.

45:12

So I forget who said this

45:14

Miles, but I think you might

45:16

have been Danny Woodhead or somebody.

45:18

On. Social media talked about

45:21

how. To treat. Each

45:24

team has one side of the field.

45:26

And a kicker. Generally,

45:28

my. Seat. Over.

45:31

Ten yards or whatever. Five

45:33

years. He. If you know he's

45:36

trying to warn feudal, but there

45:38

would never be a reason. For.

45:40

A kicker to have his see at the

45:42

goal line. Never. Is

45:45

is no. There's no sensible explanation

45:47

for them and I don't blame

45:49

a Homes and Tell see for

45:52

keeping it. Throwing it and all

45:54

that it just. it

45:56

was and again travis as is

45:58

just into is one of the

46:00

nicest guys I've ever met covering

46:03

football. But that just

46:05

seemed like for whatever reason a

46:07

provocative act by either him

46:09

or by the Ravens. I don't know.

46:12

But anyway that was odd and you

46:15

know I found myself

46:17

also thinking Miles about

46:20

the Ravens. Everything

46:23

that happens to you in life

46:25

becomes part of who you

46:28

are. And

46:30

you see Patrick Mahomes playing so well in

46:32

these big games. But honestly

46:35

a game in

46:37

the regular season you know

46:39

on Christmas in San Francisco or

46:42

in Santa Clara when the Ravens go

46:44

there. Big big game

46:46

big game. Not

46:49

even close to the

46:51

magnitude of a championship game

46:53

or not even close honestly

46:55

to a divisional game. It's

46:57

certainly not close to a Super Bowl. And so

47:00

I think part

47:02

of me I found

47:04

myself thinking at the end of this game the

47:07

Ravens are going to be better for

47:09

this. The Ravens needed this. Lamar

47:12

Jackson really has not

47:14

played in games of this

47:17

magnitude in four years. Right.

47:19

Yeah so I I'm

47:22

not throwing the Ravens

47:24

out the window. I

47:27

think the Ravens are going to be good for

47:29

a while. Lamar is obviously going

47:31

to be good for a long time. I

47:34

just think they didn't meet

47:37

the moment didn't respond and

47:40

they'll be back. But

47:42

man they made some fairly

47:44

big errors in this game. Oh will

47:46

they be back Peter. I mean

47:49

that's the difficult thing with the AFC

47:51

is at this point we feel like all

47:53

right you know Mahomes. He's

47:55

gonna be there. We know that you know nobody's

47:58

been able to take him out except for Joe

48:00

Burrow and Tom Brady when

48:02

it comes to the postseason. And Joe Burrow

48:04

wasn't there this year. And so I fully

48:06

expect if Joe Burrow is healthy that the

48:08

Bengals are going to continue to be one

48:11

of the elite teams in the AFC. And

48:13

they are also happen to be in the

48:15

Ravens division. So like that's

48:17

difficult. I think Steelers are always gonna

48:19

be a threat. They're in the Ravens

48:21

division. I don't know what Cleveland

48:23

is gonna be. So, you know, forget that. But

48:25

like, look, you got Houston, CJ Stroud is gonna

48:27

get better. That's another team.

48:29

Trevor Lawrence, yeah, they're inconsistent. The Jaguars are

48:32

kind of a threat. You know, they should

48:34

continue to get better. Like Miami's not going

48:36

anywhere. I don't think Buffalo's going anywhere. So

48:40

the AFC is gonna be really, really tough to

48:42

get out of. And, you know, if Mike McDonald

48:44

is up getting one of the head coaching jobs,

48:47

then that takes away something else

48:49

that you have there, which is

48:51

your defensive coordinator who has been

48:53

a tremendous game planner and a

48:55

tremendous person who makes the in-game

48:57

adjustments too. So this

49:00

was the opportunity for the Baltimore Ravens. And

49:02

Lamar Jackson was not good enough. And I

49:04

don't think their offensive game plan was good

49:06

enough either. You know, the way Todd Monken

49:08

was calling plays, I just

49:10

don't really understand why we didn't see

49:13

more designed runs for Lamar Jackson, especially

49:15

after the way he converted that fourth

49:17

down in his own territory, going 20

49:19

plus yards. Like let him

49:21

do his thing. You got

49:23

to let Lamar Jackson cook a little bit there. So

49:25

it just, for whatever

49:27

reason, it didn't work out, you know, and

49:30

that throw that he made into the end

49:32

zone, I'd say likely just inexplicable. I

49:34

don't know what you're looking at there, man. Like

49:36

that's a horrible decision. And

49:39

I'm not saying that Lamar Jackson, though, is something gonna be

49:41

bad. Don't get me wrong, but I just, it's

49:44

gonna be difficult for Baltimore to get

49:46

back to the spot. It just, yeah.

49:49

You make a really, really good point about the

49:51

depth of this conference. And the

49:53

two things you said that

49:56

cannot be minimized. Joe

49:58

Burrow's gonna be back. And

50:01

Jim Harbaugh is in town and

50:04

that just makes it harder to get out of the AFC

50:08

So I think you're right. I think and I'm not

50:10

saying this is going to be Dan Marino.

50:12

Remember you weren't even born

50:15

yet But

50:19

the first Super Bowl I ever covered 49ers

50:22

dolphins nearby Palo

50:25

Alto And

50:29

what I'll never forget leaving the stadium

50:31

that night, the old Stanford

50:34

Stadium That

50:37

the theme by everyone is well, Marino

50:39

lost, but he'll be back It

50:42

was the second year in the NFL. Marino never

50:44

got back And

50:46

so I think you're right. But I

50:50

want to say one other thing about this game That

50:54

there's a pretty decent chance that

50:56

Kansas City might not be moving

50:58

on without the

51:00

best play of Legerious Need's life

51:04

And first, let me preface this by saying

51:06

that so Legerious Need, I think

51:09

everybody thinks, oh, it's a good NFL corner Let

51:11

me tell you something about Legerious Need And

51:15

that is in the first

51:17

18 games of this season, 17 games

51:20

of the regular season and the playoff game against

51:22

Miami In the first 18

51:25

games for Kansas City, Legerious

51:27

Need did not allow a

51:30

touchdown in

51:32

man coverage all season

51:35

And for

51:37

today, in today's football, with

51:40

all that, the

51:42

amazing thing was that

51:45

Legerious Need saved

51:47

the day And at the presence

51:49

of mine, I'm going to try to

51:52

punch this ball out as Zey Flowers

51:54

lunges for the end zone That's

51:57

what champions do. That's what championship

51:59

teams do. do. And

52:01

I love that aspect. And I love that

52:03

aspect of watching Kansas

52:05

City play football. This

52:08

is not their best team by

52:11

any stretch. But

52:13

you just try beating them, you

52:16

know, in a very, very big game.

52:19

That is a tough challenge. No,

52:22

Peter, the cliche obviously is defense

52:24

wins championships. Right. And that's

52:27

when the Kansas City was going into the postseason,

52:29

it was kind of like, well, you

52:32

still have 15, right? And you have an

52:34

only defense like this is not the best

52:36

chief team that we've seen in the Mahomes

52:38

era, but it certainly is the best defense.

52:41

And that's what's given them a chance throughout the

52:44

entire regular season in a lot of these games

52:46

where like the offense just couldn't get things done.

52:48

And, you know, all of a sudden, maybe you

52:50

have a turnover, or you just get enough stops.

52:52

And like the Chiefs were able to win 11

52:55

games. But once you get to the

52:57

postseason, I mean, this unit has been great. You

52:59

know, they have made the stops when they needed to.

53:01

And yeah, you got that really, really cold game against

53:04

the Dolphins. Sure. But it's not

53:06

like Miami got anything easily in that

53:08

wildcard round game. And I would kind

53:10

of say the same about the Buffalo

53:12

game, they weren't really getting things easily

53:14

either. So then you

53:16

get to yesterday, and it

53:18

just, it all came together, you

53:21

know, and whether it's

53:23

team punching the ball out, you know, guys making

53:25

the stops and they needed to, they,

53:28

the only play that

53:30

Baltimore really, really got off, you know,

53:32

for a score was that

53:34

crazy good throw that Lamar Jackson had

53:36

to make after he was almost there.

53:39

That place should have gone as a fact. And the

53:41

only reason it wasn't because Lamar Jackson is a completely

53:43

elite player. And then you had a He's

53:46

Gumby. He is Gumby. I'm telling

53:48

him. It's like when

53:50

you when you get a hold up, when you get

53:52

to him, you better hold on for dear life because

53:54

otherwise he's going to escape. But

53:57

yeah, it just, I could not be more impressed

53:59

with the jump. that Steve Spagnolo has done

54:01

with that group and just how well they

54:03

played against Baltimore. Because again, that's- I

54:06

got a really good, I got a real good email.

54:08

And you hear of this a lot,

54:10

really. I

54:15

got an email about Spagnolo on

54:18

Sunday night, and

54:21

this emailer asked, shouldn't

54:24

Steve Spagnolo be considered for the Hall of

54:26

Fame? Because when

54:29

you look back on

54:31

the Giants beating the

54:34

great Patriots teams, it

54:37

had such a huge impact in

54:41

that period of history for

54:44

the Giants in beating the great

54:46

Patriots. But look, coordinators,

54:51

it's not that they couldn't make the Hall of

54:53

Fame, but it's that they

54:56

haven't made the Hall of Fame. And

54:58

so I just look at it. I

55:03

doubt he ever would, but

55:06

it's a really, really interesting

55:09

question to ponder, especially

55:12

after watching how in

55:14

a championship game, once again, he figured

55:17

a way to shut down a

55:19

great quarterback and win the game. If

55:22

they dominate San Francisco in this

55:24

Super Bowl coming up, then I

55:26

think that case gets a

55:29

lot better. That case

55:31

becomes really good. I mean, that'd

55:34

be three Super Bowls in four years, right,

55:36

for the Chiefs, and then obviously the one in 2007

55:39

when you're stopping one of the

55:42

greatest offenses of all time in Tom

55:44

Brady and a completely undefeated team to

55:46

that game. So yeah, like this. You

55:49

at least have a case, in my mind. Fact

55:52

or myth, in the big game, the coin

55:54

toss usually comes up heads. That is a

55:56

myth. In fact, tails have come up more

55:59

often in recent years. in the recent years.

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Chase Bank and a member FDSE subject

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to credit approval. Miles,

56:54

let's take a moment and

56:58

just give a sort of a

57:01

10,000 foot observation

57:03

preview of

57:06

the Super Bowl. And I

57:08

just wrote down a couple of things that I just wanted

57:10

to throw out to you

57:13

just to ask you your

57:15

thought. But the first one

57:17

essentially is following

57:19

up on Spagnolo. They're

57:22

going to do something to

57:25

Kyle Shanahan that he's not expecting.

57:28

I don't know what it is, but

57:31

I do think that

57:34

Kyle Shanahan's by words and

57:36

watch words with the

57:38

team as they prepare for

57:40

this game, if

57:43

it were me, expect the unexpected.

57:46

That's the first

57:48

thing. And I wonder how

57:50

you look at that

57:53

matchup, Shanahan's office offense

57:56

versus Spagnolo in that defense.

58:00

I think we've seen that if

58:02

you get Brock Purdy off of his

58:04

game early, there are going to be

58:06

opportunities, whether they are for turnovers, whether

58:08

it's to just knock off his rhythm

58:11

a little bit. You know, you have

58:13

to play physically against the 49ers, I

58:15

think we all know that. And frankly, the

58:17

Chiefs have been the more physical team in

58:20

all of their matchups so far in the

58:22

public season, I think. So, look, I

58:25

think that Steve Sainolo will have something

58:28

for Kyle Shanahan's offense and with Brock

58:30

Purdy. The last time they

58:32

played each other in Santa Clara, it

58:37

did not go well for the 49ers at

58:39

all. Yeah. So, I think that that's

58:41

something that, you know, both teams will

58:43

take a look at. But,

58:46

yeah, I think knowing that there

58:48

are some vulnerabilities in Brock Purdy's

58:50

game, I

58:52

might give a slight advantage there to

58:55

the Chiefs defense versus the 49ers

58:57

offense. Yeah. The

59:00

other thing that I wanted to

59:02

bring up is that in

59:06

the two most recent times I've covered

59:09

a Kansas City game, they

59:12

pulled the play out of nowhere. The first

59:14

one against New England, Matt

59:17

Nagy brought to Andy Reid this play

59:20

from the Ivy League in the 40s. I'm

59:22

not kidding. And they ran it and they

59:24

scored a touchdown. And

59:27

then after the game in Buffalo,

59:30

Reid was telling me about a play they hadn't

59:32

used in seven years since

59:34

Alex Smith was

59:37

the quarterback pre-Mohomes. And

59:41

it was sort of a screen

59:44

pass in the flat to Travis

59:46

Kelsey. And

59:49

so, I don't know what

59:52

is going to be called in this game. But

59:55

Andy Reid, Matt Nagy, and that

59:58

staff is... very

1:00:00

good, very good at

1:00:04

finding two or three plays that

1:00:06

when they happen you say we were

1:00:10

totally unprepared for that. So

1:00:12

it's a little bit of

1:00:14

the inverse of what we were

1:00:17

just talking about with Spagnolo, but I

1:00:20

just think, I think Andy Reid and

1:00:23

his brain trust is

1:00:27

going to find something that is

1:00:30

going to say to Steve Wilkes, here's

1:00:33

something that not only

1:00:35

didn't you prepare for, but you

1:00:38

couldn't have prepared for it. Yes,

1:00:41

and you know, I think the

1:00:43

first half performance by

1:00:45

the San Francisco defense in

1:00:47

that game against the Lions was alarming for

1:00:49

a number of reasons, but mostly because they gave

1:00:52

up the most rushing yards in

1:00:54

a first half of any

1:00:57

game since Kyle Shanahan has become the head coach of

1:00:59

the 49ers since 2017. That

1:01:01

to me would be something that's very alarming.

1:01:04

And I don't necessarily know how you fix that

1:01:06

within two weeks, especially when it's

1:01:09

Andy Reid on the other side, and

1:01:11

you're giving him an extra time to

1:01:13

prepare. Like that is not

1:01:15

necessarily the best situation for the 49ers

1:01:17

there. So that in that way, if

1:01:20

it's 49ers defense versus Chiefs offense, I

1:01:22

think the clear advantage goes to the

1:01:24

Chiefs offense given the high level that

1:01:26

that unit's been playing at and given

1:01:28

the fact that we know Andy reasonably

1:01:31

in elite offensive schema. Very

1:01:34

good. All very good points. Miles,

1:01:38

I think we're done. And

1:01:40

I think I'd like to give

1:01:44

a little bit of a preview of

1:01:46

a preview for next week. We're

1:01:48

both going to be on the scene in Las

1:01:52

Vegas. We're going

1:01:55

to record our podcast on Tuesday

1:01:57

morning in Vegas. I'll

1:02:01

have a guest from there as well,

1:02:04

but I'm really kind of

1:02:06

looking forward to the weirdness of

1:02:08

a Super Bowl in Las Vegas. And

1:02:12

reading a lot about it, one

1:02:14

of the things that's going to be weird is

1:02:17

Las Vegas is the star of the show. And

1:02:20

yet all the people there

1:02:23

who are there for the NFL, the

1:02:26

two teams, are going

1:02:28

to be 25 miles out of

1:02:30

town because the NFL doesn't want

1:02:32

the teams to be frequenting the

1:02:36

casinos. It's just, it's

1:02:39

one of the oddest things. You

1:02:41

want to embrace Las Vegas. You

1:02:43

also want to keep Las Vegas

1:02:46

at 14 arms

1:02:48

lengths during Super

1:02:50

Bowl week. Kind of

1:02:52

odd, isn't it? Not only

1:02:55

that, Peter, but you're going to

1:02:57

have the Kansas City Chiefs using

1:02:59

the Las Vegas Raiders facility to

1:03:01

practice. I mean, everything is weird.

1:03:03

That is so weird. I love it. Two

1:03:07

great rivals in the NFL and

1:03:09

one is using that team's facility.

1:03:11

I think that that's pretty hilarious.

1:03:15

And it's going to be 49ers in

1:03:17

Chiefs end zone in the Raiders stadium.

1:03:20

If you're a Raiders fan, that's going to burn you

1:03:22

up a little bit. Oh my, I didn't even, I

1:03:24

didn't think of the 49ers. That was great. And by

1:03:26

the way, by the way, we

1:03:28

were, what,

1:03:31

20 minutes away from

1:03:34

the first game of the season

1:03:37

being Detroit and Kansas City and the

1:03:39

last game of the season being Detroit

1:03:42

and Kansas City. And look,

1:03:44

I want to give a shout out to

1:03:47

the NFL scheduling department because

1:03:50

I remember last May

1:03:52

when the schedule came out. There's

1:03:55

a lot of people, I even asked Dan Campbell about

1:03:57

this in training camp. There's a lot of

1:03:59

people who said, Oh my

1:04:01

god, the Lions in the

1:04:03

first game. This could be 28 to 3 at the half. People

1:04:06

all over America are gonna be turning off

1:04:09

their TVs. They don't want to watch

1:04:11

this game. Why'd you put the Lions in the game? Well,

1:04:15

I think the Lions are not

1:04:17

going to be questioned anymore. Because

1:04:21

I'll tell you Miles, the

1:04:23

little postscript that we didn't really even get

1:04:25

into. What's the

1:04:27

scariest defense, scariest offense to

1:04:29

stop right now in

1:04:31

the NFL? It's Jared Goff in

1:04:34

the Detroit Lions. They have

1:04:36

so many weapons and

1:04:38

look Josh Reynolds is

1:04:40

gonna live in infamy and a lot

1:04:43

of people in Detroit for the pass

1:04:45

he probably should have caught on fourth

1:04:47

and two and then the drive-killing

1:04:49

pass that bounced off his chest.

1:04:52

A perfect pass by Goff. Also

1:04:55

in the second half and look unfortunately

1:04:59

that happened, but I

1:05:01

will just say that

1:05:04

Detroit offense with

1:05:07

Ben Johnson calling the plays in

1:05:09

so many good weapons that

1:05:12

was a fearsome group by

1:05:14

the end of the season. Yeah, it

1:05:17

was. I'm curious to see what happens

1:05:19

next year assuming Ben Johnson gets

1:05:21

the head coaching job and who is going to take over

1:05:23

that role of calling the players. Dan

1:05:25

Campbell might go back to it because he was

1:05:27

doing it during the first year

1:05:30

of his tenure before they officially promoted Ben

1:05:32

Johnson to being offensive coordinator. That

1:05:35

really was a good Lions team. I

1:05:38

think that they deserve their flowers for making

1:05:40

it to the NFC Championship game despite not

1:05:42

winning. Very

1:05:44

true. Miles Simmons will see you

1:05:46

in Las Vegas. Thank you and and

1:05:49

I'd like to thank everybody

1:05:51

for experiencing another episode of

1:05:54

the Peter King podcast. Maybe some of you

1:05:56

watch it, some of you listen, whatever, but

1:05:58

I truly appreciate it. appreciated thank you

1:06:01

and we'll be back next week

1:06:03

and we'll be setting the scene

1:06:05

from thin city. Have

1:06:07

a good week everybody. At

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