January 31, 2023 • 25 mins
The NFL Power Rankings Podcast with Colleen Wolfe and Dan Hanzus begins with the Super Bowl matchup set between the Eagles and the Chiefs. While official rankings will return next week after Super Bowl, Dan awards some season superlatives. Which team spent the most weeks atop the rankings? We track the Eagles and Chiefs movements in the rankings throughout the season. The 49ers again turn their attention to their QB and what they'll do next season. Dan wraps the week going through the Super Bowl storylines we'll be hearing over the next two weeks.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the
NFL Power Rankings podcast, presented by Energizer. Still Going This show,
Still Going, Dan Hans, joined by my lovely co host
(00:29):
Colleen Wolf Connie and then there were two Yes, we
are still going, and so are the Eagles and the Chiefs.
What a weekend of football we had. What a weekend
it was for the city here in Philadelphia and in
Kansas City. Not so much for the poor mayor in Cincinnati.
(00:49):
But that's okay, he'll he'll have to deal with it.
I mean, how does it feel as an Eagles fan
to take out Daniel Jones and the Giants and then
the fourth string quarterback of the forty Niners to get
to the Super Bowl? I mean, it must feel like
you've already in a climbed a mountain. What an achievement?
(01:09):
Is this? Is this about the empire state building? Is this?
Is that? What this is about? Like if I was
a Giants fan, Yes, if I was a Giants fan,
I wouldn't even be doing this show with you. Yeah,
that that was the spectacular misfire on their part. But
something that all Philadelphia really loved and backed in. But listen,
(01:31):
like you can't You can only control what you can control, Dan,
You can't control who your opponents are. You can't control injuries.
The stars have to align in so many different ways,
and as it turns out, they aligned for the Eagles.
They did in congratulations to you, Colleen and all the
Eagles fans. You guys had a tough go of it
for like fifty years, I remember that. And now in
(01:53):
the last five or so, the sun has been shining
upon your fair city and now you get to get
ready and get pumped up for your second Super Bowl
and half a decade. And of course it is the
Kansas City Chiefs that are waiting, and I think Patrick
Mahomes will be playing in that game, so that will
be a bigger challenge for sure. While we're here, why
(02:13):
don't we do a little power Moves presented by Energizer.
Let's take a look Connie at the teams on my
power rankings, which, by the way, if you're scrambling over
to NFL dot com, where are the power rankings? None
this week, but they'll be back right after the Super Bowl,
so you know, once that panic is flushed out of
your system. We can move forward, Connie, pause for panic
(02:34):
to flush out of system or panic flushed. Here are
my power rankings for the season, most weeks as a
number one team, Connie, there you go, nailed it. Eiggles
weeks at number one. You can fairly point out they
weren't at number one last week, but things change. The
(02:55):
Buffalo Bills seven weeks at number one. That was a
first half of the season phenomenon. Obviously, the Bills kind
of fell off a little bit as the last week
to the season, progressed and missed out even on a
title game. The Niners, the poor Niners, and we learned
that brought Purdy tore a ligament in his elbow. It's
hard to believe that they had so much injury luck,
(03:16):
but they were four weeks at number one. The Chiefs,
the Chiefs, the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I had
them just one week at number one. Same with the
same with the Bengals. But this is why context is important. Connie.
Let's take a look now at the chart that shows
us the trajectory of both our teams in the Super
Bowl on the power rankings. Because you had the Chiefs
(03:38):
riding in the top five throughout the season. Eagles and Chiefs.
What are we looking at here? Is this Eagles? I assume? Yes.
So Eagles started at fourteen in week one. Uh, you know,
they were a kind of a team that was hard
to figure out initially, Connie I had him in the
top ten by week two, and then they kind of
rode into into top five status from basically Week five onward.
(03:59):
The Chiefs started at seven, and we're in the top
five virtually the whole season as well. So these are
obviously two number one seeds, Connie, and now they play
each other for the big Trophy. Well, it seemed perfect
when we had championship weekend upon us and the final
four teams or four of the best teams who had
been the best teams for basically the entire season, and
(04:21):
we knew that it was going to come down to that.
There were no Cinderella teams left at that point, and
it was a bummer. I mean, I hated the fact
that Rock Purty got knocked out of this game because
that is going to be the narrative now, like, oh
my gosh, they oh they beat the Giants, and the
Giants looked like crap in that game anyway, and then
the Niners they were on their fourth string quarterback. I mean,
(04:43):
this is a game that I wanted the Eagles to
beat the Niners at full strength, even if their full
strength was with Rock Purty, and it didn't happen. We
didn't get that, and I think that's sad for everyone.
But listen, it's too bad. We're not going to find
out what would have happened. We're not going to find
out things like that or if Devanta Smith catch was
a cash We'll never know. But no, we know that
(05:06):
at this point. They have cameras and replays. But that's
not your fault either. That's Kyle Shanahan's fault and the
eye and the sky's fault for not catching that. No,
everything broke Philly's way, and that's fine, But this is
now going to be the challenge of them to you
know what they're kind of it could work out in
your favor again, because that's a nice little bit of motivation.
(05:29):
Talked about it around the NFL podcast after the Championship games.
That motivation is a sneaky, huge part I think of
the professional sports experience, any sports experience, these teams find
something to like kind of sink their teeth into and
it serves as something that can really lift their game.
I think we saw that in Kansas City with all
the hype around borrow Head and the Cincinnati mayor being
(05:49):
a dummy and all of that. I think the Eagles
now are going to be able to And you know, Sirianni,
you know, he's like basically a dude of DJ's down
in Belmar. He's going to use this to tell the Eagles, Listen,
everybody thinks we don't even deserve to be here and
all that, and that is I think that could work
to their advantage because we know that this Eagles team
is legit. We know they're awesome on both sides of
(06:12):
the ball. They are dominant in the trenches, and I
think as we kind of begin to spend to their
opponent this this upcoming Sunday in the Super Bowl, we'll
talk about Patrick Mahomes at a bad ankle and what
that line that had seventies sacks in the regular season
can do to a quarterback who's maybe not moving at
his best. Yeah, the the Eagles pass rush has been ferocious.
(06:34):
It's been that way all season long, and the Eagles
team in general, it's healthy. Their ground game is so good,
but that defensive line, like Hassan Reddick was I think
one of the best pickups of the entire offseason. Howie
Rosemand has received so much credit, but this one in
particular just went so far and just the moves that
they made to to share up the interior of that
(06:56):
front seven two bringing in Limball, Joseph bringing in and
Dominican Sue. But they can play so fast, they're so deep,
they can rotate all around and it's not like it
was funny kind of comparing the Eagles and the Niners
going into that game, because looking at their pass rush
and looking at Nick Bosa, that's where so much of
(07:16):
that pressure came from. That's where they got so many
of their sex. But with the Eagles, they have so
many different players that can get you. Josh Sweat, you
even have Fletcher Cocks that can come in from the inside.
I mean, there's so many different ways that this Eagles
defense can come and get you. And then the secondary
was finally healthy again for the first time since Week
eleven when they played the Colts with Avante Maddox back
(07:39):
in there. So they have so many great things going
for them on that side of the ball. And I
really am interested with a hobbled Patrick Mahomes. He has
had time to heal at this point, so hopefully he
won't be as limited as he was in the game
against the Bengals. We saw how he was hobbling around
and he did honestly, he's a warrior like that effort.
Was so impressive to see Patrick Mahomes scrambling on a
(08:03):
leg that he didn't even want to put pressure on
when he was hopping on his other leg, and then
you see him scramble for first downs. I mean, he
cannot be stopped. And that is just one of the
most interesting things going into this game. I know you're
nervous about that, but all right, let's let's just spend
through all the teams in the top four of the
Power rankings, and they were the top four teams in
the league heading at the championship Sunday. Yeah, the Niners.
(08:26):
They were number three in my rankings. I had the
Eagles just ahead of him. And it is you feel,
if you're a Niners fan and a certainly Kyle Shanahan
and that whole organization to feel like the little cheated
by the football gods. Obviously, the injuries unbelievable. The quarterback position.
Rock Party. We learned shortly after the NFC title game
that he had suffered a complete tear of his elbow ligament.
(08:48):
He's gonna need surgery to repair that. It's gonna put
him on the shelf for they believe. I think six
months is the number. And you could look at that
and do the math and say, Okay, he should be
ready for training camp. Well, we'll see. I mean, that's
a that's a serious injury. You don't know how his
rehab comes on that and whether they feel comfortable with
part even being their starter long term. You have Trey
(09:09):
Lance still obviously in that building as the number two
overall pick a couple of years ago, Jimmy g we
assume almost certainly is finally going to be out the door. Conny,
is it possible that Tom Brady now enters the equation
for the Niners. He's a free agent obviously his boyhood
team or at the Niners. He grew up in that region.
Think Kyle Shanahan is thinking about that now that there's
(09:30):
ever more uncertainty at that position as we hit the
off season, anything is possible. But I would not be
a fan of that move just watching all of the
injuries that happened this year at the position and having
a quarterback like Tom Brady who is the goat, who's
so good, but he's not exactly a mobile quarterback. That
(09:50):
is the way that the entire league is moving. And
then you're going to bring in Tom Brady who is
forty five years old, going to be forty six years old,
and he doesn't move around. You need to make sure
that you have everything in place. Like I think that
when Josh Johnson and came into the game for the Niners,
we saw how limited they became, and it kind of
made you. At least it made me appreciate brock Purty
(10:13):
a little bit more. And I think that they have
been able to find ways to win with all of
these different quarterbacks. But I think they just stick with
that plan. Why spend money and bring in Tom Brady
when you can use the guys that you might have there,
make it work for a little bit, and then use
that other money to allocate to other things that they need.
I don't agree. I think they should have ten quarterbacks
(10:34):
on their roster next season to make sure Josh Johnson
does not ever play for them again. No offense against
Josh Johnson, but that the game felt over once you
got to that point real quick. On the Bengals, Connie,
your thoughts on them, My thoughts are, it's tough. I mean,
you you come so close, you have the ball in
your hands with a chance to win the Super Bowl
against the Rams, and then Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati
(10:56):
offense gets the ball twice in a game at Arrowhead
and they can't find a way to get it done.
I know Cincinnati fans will always remember the push out
of bounds by just a side that gave Harrison Bucker
a much easier kick to make. It's tough to get
this close and get turned away two years in a row.
You know, It's such a shame because that game, first
of all, was so good. It was so close. It
(11:17):
felt like at any point in the game anything could happen.
Either team was going to win, which was so different
from their earlier game, the NFC game with the Eagles
and the Niners. But for the Bengals, they just came
so close and they were able to tie it, and
they were able to keep making plays and it felt
like they weren't going to be denied, and maybe they
would find a way even if Patrick Mahomes was constantly
finding Jason Kelsey or Travis Kelsey and finally making these
(11:41):
plays happen. But Joe Burrow and this team, they have
so much personality, they're so good, they want ten straight games,
and it just seems like they kept gaining momentum every
single week. They would go on on both sides of
the ball. They kept getting better, and when they tied
the game early in the fourth, I thought this was
going to go to overtime. I thought for sure. But
(12:01):
the Bengals offensive line weaknesses, it's the same thing that
at them last year. We saw it happened in the
Super Bowl. We saw it happen again, and then obviously
the untimely penalties were the thing that really took them down.
But it's just it's such a shame because it felt
like this was a team that was destined to get back,
and there is so much talent in the a f C.
(12:21):
But they have so many good building blocks that they
have so much to look forward to. But that doesn't
really help now that their season is over. Yeah, and
here's a difference to me, like the Niners can rightly
feel like fate intervened and took away an opportunity to
go to the super Bowl. Cincinnati had the shot there
and it just didn't work out. I'm annoyed. I mean,
this is the Power rankings. I had them at number
(12:41):
one after Divisional round weekend, and it just felt like
it was their moment. It felt like it was Burrows moment,
and then the moment arrives with the ball in his hands,
and for that not to work out does kind of
just show you how unpredictable football is. And also it
shows you the Chiefs are. You understand why after the
game all they could do was talk about how they
(13:03):
were overlooked and you know, Burrow head my arts, as
Travis Kelsey said after the game, because yeah, like this
wasn't some I had them number four entering Championship weekend.
But I even said on the show, Connie, like, this
is ridiculous to have to do this, because you could
flip the Power rankings and I would have been able
to sell that to the Kansas City Chiefs are locked
(13:25):
and loaded here. They have some injury issues, obviously, but
you expect this break to really help them. I cannot
wait to see this matchup. The Chiefs have a lot
to prove and the quarterback wants to be the goat.
We're going to get to that, but let's take a break.
We'll be back with more on the Power Rankings podcast.
(13:53):
All right, Welcome back Super Bull fifty seven Connie Sunday,
February twelve from Glendale, Arizona, Stay Barn Stadium. Eagles be Chiefs.
About some bangers storylines going into the big games. Some
are going to feel a little bit on the nose,
(14:16):
some but need to be addressed. Some are gonna be
a little People aren't talking about it, not yet. Anyway,
we're ahead of the curse. Let's start with one that
already instantly people are buzzing about. Did you hear about
the Kelsey brothers? Oh? I don't know what you're talking about? You?
I know, I know you're you like this one, because
where does Jason Kelsey rank on like favored sons in
(14:39):
Philadelphia At this point in his career, He's up there
with Alan Iverson. He can do no wrong. After the
Eagles won their first Super Bowl, in his iconic speech
on the Art Museum steps, it was just one of
the most famous moments in Philadelphia sports history. He is
so beloved. He goes to the local Jersey shore bars
(15:02):
and bartends wearing the staff Earth, He's at the O D.
He's all over the place. He is a son of
the city. He is absolutely and Travis on the other side, he's,
you know, one of the greats, if not the greatest
tight end of all time, depending who you talk to
and what we saw of course after the an f
C title game and his Dwayne Johnson routine, getting after
(15:24):
Burrow head talk, getting after the mayor of Cincinnati. The
man is basically like a pro wrestler who happens to
be an amazing football player. They both are still charismatic.
They have a podcast and I'm not gonna plug because
I consider it a competitor to around the NFL. But
it's really good. Also, these guys are fun, so that
will be a great week of media lead up. They
(15:46):
are a dream pairing for what the Super Bowl is,
which is a media event ultimately before yeah, their personalities
will be an engine in this. I love seeing their
mom already with the split jersey that she's going to
wear with the Chiefs and the Eagles. And then also
I just think it's so funny overall with these two brothers.
How they're both so charismatic, as you said, but they
(16:09):
are both so different too, Like Travis has a little
bit more swag, he seems a little bit cooler, and
then just in a different way, and then Jason is
more of a burly almost like a lumberjack. But like,
they just have two very different styles. But they're both
so cool and so genuine and such like fun nice
(16:31):
people to be around. So it is it's so awesome
to now see them compete. Yeah, who do you think
is better husband material? It's got to be Jason, right,
So hard to answer, I guess Jason, I have no idea.
I feel like you'd protect you'd protect me, Jason. Um,
here's another question. I love this one. Patrick Mahomes, He's
the big spoon. Patrick Mahomes and his quest for double
(16:55):
big spoon, Yummy, Patrick Mahomes, his quest for a second title.
Connie Mahomes is just this is his third Super Bowl.
This is a guy who's been to five consecutive a
f C title games. It's been an incredible career. Tom
Brady obviously has set the bar. And when you talk
about the greatest quarterbacks, both because of his own just
(17:17):
greatness as a player, but also the longevity that allowed
him to end up with seven rings as I believe
it's seven by seven rings, which is unbelieva. So obviously
Mahomes has a lot of work to do, but to
get a second chip here would be a big step forward.
When you talk about literally the greatest player of all
(17:40):
time in the NFL. Yeah, he's just part of this
next wave of young talented quarterbacks and Mahomes can't be denied.
From the moment he took over for Alex Smith, everyone
knew that this guy was special and what he could
do was not like others, and he's just continued that.
It's not like we saw it in blips and then
he had down years or there was something that he
(18:00):
had to overcome. No, he's been doing the crazy side,
armed path is and everything else since he came into
this game. He's so good, he's so young, and he's
just he's a player that you want on your team representing.
He's a great face of the franchise. He he knows
how to how to be a quarterback. He knows how
to get a city behind him. He's likable and he's
(18:21):
good at the same time, so that recipe, he's he's
going to go in the Hall of Fame as soon
as he's sun. Yeah, he could retire after this game
winner lose, and he's a Hall of Famer. And you know,
maybe I would feel different if I was a fan
of an a f C West team that wasn't the Chiefs. Um,
but I'm all good. I like seeing the Chiefs in
these big states on the big stage year after year
(18:43):
because it's just Mahomes is at that level of superstar,
like an iconic level player that kind of want to
see what he does next and how he can outdo himself,
and playing the way he did on one leg in
the a f C Championship game is a perfect example.
He gets two weeks, obviously to rehab and hopefully be
at top four against that fierce Eagles defend. Another big storyline, Connie.
(19:15):
We hit it on a little bit earlier, but let's
touch on it again. There's going to be a drumbeat
that the Eagles have to prove some doubters wrong who
saw the playoff run in the NFC is underwhelming in
terms of competition and UH in general, Connie and I
tell me if you agree as an Eagles fan, just
(19:36):
kind of a nice clear path from September onward. It
felt like it was a very nice schedule for Philly.
Things kind of fell their way, and now they get
to say, shut up, everybody, We just one and one
and one and then we one again on Super Bowl Sunday.
Eagles proven their doubters wrong. Big storyline, and the Eagles
don't care if people don't like them. Philadelphia doesn't care
if people don't like them. It doesn't matter because even
(19:58):
if they end up winning the Super Bowl, it's still
going to be people being like, oh, well, you know
they did this and that, and they didn't have to
play these people, and like, you know, they're playing Black
Brock Party and Josh Johnson whoever else doesn't matter. Like,
no matter what, people are still going to doubt the Eagles,
and that's when they play their best. Now, it's tough
(20:18):
to kind of spin that narrative. When they were the
number one seed and they were the last undefeated team
and they had such a great deal and they beat
teams all different types of ways no matter what. They
were beating bad teams by a lot too. It doesn't matter.
Teams are going to try and drum up that narrative
no matter what happens. But Dan, I have a really
great one that I'm watching in this game. Because clearly
(20:40):
Andy Reid facing the Eagles who he used to coach,
It's kind of like he's facing the entire city of Philadelphia.
But for me, it's Andy Reid facing the coach that
he fired when he got to Kansas City, in Nick Sirianni.
Because when he got that job after he left Philadelphia,
he had David Culley with him and that's who he
(21:01):
wanted to bring with him. So he got to Kansas City,
fired Nick Sirianni, and then that actually super charged Nick
Sirianni's career and got him to where he is now
in Philadelphia and at all. And I like, how you
somehow spun the Andy Rebowl into a Nick Sirianni revenge Bowl. Perhaps,
I guess. I mean, that's that's interesting. I didn't know that.
(21:21):
I'm sure Nick Sirianni will be asked that many many
times and Andy Reid and Read will sidestep it with
grace as he always does. Like Read is another guy
that's very easy to root for. He almost got the
Eagles to the mountaintop many times. I think the Eagles
went to four straight NFC title games at one point,
got to a Super Bowl, fell short, but he's obviously
(21:42):
cemented a Hall of Fame career with the Chiefs Now
nice little subplot the Andy Reid Bowl and yes, okay,
Nick Sirianni wanting revenge who could have bad feelings toward
Big Red though I don't. I don't know if I
buy that. I bet Sirianni is respectful of of Read
and his place in football history. I'm sure he's thankful
because now look at him. Look at him. Now, he's
(22:02):
going to a Super Bowl. Look at me now, Dad,
you still want to fire me? Dad? Finally, one more Connie.
The Eagles defense. This is gonna get more and more
buzz as we get closer to the game. Where they
stand historically, this is a team that had seventy sacks
in the regular season, one of the great pass rushes
we've seen, really solid at all levels, and rolled through
(22:24):
the NFC playoffs on defense, obviously against a lesser Niners
team because the injuries, but really embarrassed the Giants as
well on their way to the Super Bowl. And when
you talk about the best defenses of this century so far,
everyone you start obviously at the beginning of the century
with those two thousand Ravens who won a Super Bowl.
You go to the legion of boom Seattle Seahawks teams
(22:45):
of the early two thousand tens, they also won a
title nearly one a second. It's kind of if you
look at the timing of things, it is time for
another great defense to get its recognition. Will it be
this Eagles defense after Super Bowl Sunday. This Eagles defense
is so talented at every single level, and that hasn't
been the case in so long. I can't even remember
(23:06):
the last time there was an Eagles defense that was
this talented. Because usually it's okay, their front seven is
really great, their defensive line is really good, but they
don't have corners that can cover, and so they need
to get that that heat up front in order to
cover up all the deficiencies on the back end. But no,
no, no no, no, they have. They went out they did
such a good job bringing in Sligh, who has an
unbelievable personality, and he's going to be all over the
(23:29):
place through the media week. I mean, he's gonna be
on every single microphone look look out for him to
be dropping all sorts of sound bites. But having Avante
Maddox back healthy, bringing in James Bradberry from a division rival,
all of these moves paid off to the point where
now the Eagles are able to play in the Super Bowl.
And look at how healthy they are from top to
bottom on both sides of the ball. It's like you
(23:51):
have so many different things that you can talk about
of why they can succeed. And it's almost like an
embarrassment of riches that they have because they're able to
run the ball on the other side and throw the
ball they got. Hey, how did they get a J. Brown?
This doesn't even right, It doesn't seem fair. But right
now this defense really does need its flowers. Oh you're
so excited. I'm happy for you, but also envious. What
(24:14):
do I do? How? Dan? How do I How do
I cover this team? These teams the Super Bowl? I
don't know how to do it without being biased, and
I'm gonna try my best. But how do I do this? Yeah,
you're asking the wrong guy because I root for a
team that hasn't been in the Super Bowl in fifty
three years, so just do your best, I guess, and
or just leaving into it and just like throw any
idea of being a journalist to the wayside until February.
(24:37):
I would lean that way. I mean, what's the point
of pretending at this point? That's what I think. Yeah,
we didn't even get to Jalen Hurts, by the way,
who could match Patrick Mahomes as the youngest quarterback to
win a Super Bowl? So many storylines. Next week we
will be a video only a show, not an audio podcast,
for the NFL Power Rankings Show, and then after the
(25:00):
Super Bowl we're back with the whole enchilada, the whole
thirty two team run down, led by, of course, the
Super Bowl champion probably, although it'd be cool if I
didn't lead with the Super Bowl champions at number Anyway, everybody,
thanks for following along. Uh enjoy Babe game Heed the call.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
(25:22):
partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the
NFL Power Rankings podcast, presented by Energizer. Still Going This show,
Still Going, Dan Hans, joined by my lovely co host
(00:29):
Colleen Wolf Connie and then there were two Yes, we
are still going, and so are the Eagles and the Chiefs.
What a weekend of football we had. What a weekend
it was for the city here in Philadelphia and in
Kansas City. Not so much for the poor mayor in Cincinnati.
(00:49):
But that's okay, he'll he'll have to deal with it.
I mean, how does it feel as an Eagles fan
to take out Daniel Jones and the Giants and then
the fourth string quarterback of the forty Niners to get
to the Super Bowl? I mean, it must feel like
you've already in a climbed a mountain. What an achievement?
(01:09):
Is this? Is this about the empire state building? Is this?
Is that? What this is about? Like if I was
a Giants fan, Yes, if I was a Giants fan,
I wouldn't even be doing this show with you. Yeah,
that that was the spectacular misfire on their part. But
something that all Philadelphia really loved and backed in. But listen,
(01:31):
like you can't You can only control what you can control, Dan,
You can't control who your opponents are. You can't control injuries.
The stars have to align in so many different ways,
and as it turns out, they aligned for the Eagles.
They did in congratulations to you, Colleen and all the
Eagles fans. You guys had a tough go of it
for like fifty years, I remember that. And now in
(01:53):
the last five or so, the sun has been shining
upon your fair city and now you get to get
ready and get pumped up for your second Super Bowl
and half a decade. And of course it is the
Kansas City Chiefs that are waiting, and I think Patrick
Mahomes will be playing in that game, so that will
be a bigger challenge for sure. While we're here, why
(02:13):
don't we do a little power Moves presented by Energizer.
Let's take a look Connie at the teams on my
power rankings, which, by the way, if you're scrambling over
to NFL dot com, where are the power rankings? None
this week, but they'll be back right after the Super Bowl,
so you know, once that panic is flushed out of
your system. We can move forward, Connie, pause for panic
(02:34):
to flush out of system or panic flushed. Here are
my power rankings for the season, most weeks as a
number one team, Connie, there you go, nailed it. Eiggles
weeks at number one. You can fairly point out they
weren't at number one last week, but things change. The
(02:55):
Buffalo Bills seven weeks at number one. That was a
first half of the season phenomenon. Obviously, the Bills kind
of fell off a little bit as the last week
to the season, progressed and missed out even on a
title game. The Niners, the poor Niners, and we learned
that brought Purdy tore a ligament in his elbow. It's
hard to believe that they had so much injury luck,
(03:16):
but they were four weeks at number one. The Chiefs,
the Chiefs, the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I had
them just one week at number one. Same with the
same with the Bengals. But this is why context is important. Connie.
Let's take a look now at the chart that shows
us the trajectory of both our teams in the Super
Bowl on the power rankings. Because you had the Chiefs
(03:38):
riding in the top five throughout the season. Eagles and Chiefs.
What are we looking at here? Is this Eagles? I assume? Yes.
So Eagles started at fourteen in week one. Uh, you know,
they were a kind of a team that was hard
to figure out initially, Connie I had him in the
top ten by week two, and then they kind of
rode into into top five status from basically Week five onward.
(03:59):
The Chiefs started at seven, and we're in the top
five virtually the whole season as well. So these are
obviously two number one seeds, Connie, and now they play
each other for the big Trophy. Well, it seemed perfect
when we had championship weekend upon us and the final
four teams or four of the best teams who had
been the best teams for basically the entire season, and
(04:21):
we knew that it was going to come down to that.
There were no Cinderella teams left at that point, and
it was a bummer. I mean, I hated the fact
that Rock Purty got knocked out of this game because
that is going to be the narrative now, like, oh
my gosh, they oh they beat the Giants, and the
Giants looked like crap in that game anyway, and then
the Niners they were on their fourth string quarterback. I mean,
(04:43):
this is a game that I wanted the Eagles to
beat the Niners at full strength, even if their full
strength was with Rock Purty, and it didn't happen. We
didn't get that, and I think that's sad for everyone.
But listen, it's too bad. We're not going to find
out what would have happened. We're not going to find
out things like that or if Devanta Smith catch was
a cash We'll never know. But no, we know that
(05:06):
at this point. They have cameras and replays. But that's
not your fault either. That's Kyle Shanahan's fault and the
eye and the sky's fault for not catching that. No,
everything broke Philly's way, and that's fine, But this is
now going to be the challenge of them to you
know what they're kind of it could work out in
your favor again, because that's a nice little bit of motivation.
(05:29):
Talked about it around the NFL podcast after the Championship games.
That motivation is a sneaky, huge part I think of
the professional sports experience, any sports experience, these teams find
something to like kind of sink their teeth into and
it serves as something that can really lift their game.
I think we saw that in Kansas City with all
the hype around borrow Head and the Cincinnati mayor being
(05:49):
a dummy and all of that. I think the Eagles
now are going to be able to And you know, Sirianni,
you know, he's like basically a dude of DJ's down
in Belmar. He's going to use this to tell the Eagles, Listen,
everybody thinks we don't even deserve to be here and
all that, and that is I think that could work
to their advantage because we know that this Eagles team
is legit. We know they're awesome on both sides of
(06:12):
the ball. They are dominant in the trenches, and I
think as we kind of begin to spend to their
opponent this this upcoming Sunday in the Super Bowl, we'll
talk about Patrick Mahomes at a bad ankle and what
that line that had seventies sacks in the regular season
can do to a quarterback who's maybe not moving at
his best. Yeah, the the Eagles pass rush has been ferocious.
(06:34):
It's been that way all season long, and the Eagles
team in general, it's healthy. Their ground game is so good,
but that defensive line, like Hassan Reddick was I think
one of the best pickups of the entire offseason. Howie
Rosemand has received so much credit, but this one in
particular just went so far and just the moves that
they made to to share up the interior of that
(06:56):
front seven two bringing in Limball, Joseph bringing in and
Dominican Sue. But they can play so fast, they're so deep,
they can rotate all around and it's not like it
was funny kind of comparing the Eagles and the Niners
going into that game, because looking at their pass rush
and looking at Nick Bosa, that's where so much of
(07:16):
that pressure came from. That's where they got so many
of their sex. But with the Eagles, they have so
many different players that can get you. Josh Sweat, you
even have Fletcher Cocks that can come in from the inside.
I mean, there's so many different ways that this Eagles
defense can come and get you. And then the secondary
was finally healthy again for the first time since Week
eleven when they played the Colts with Avante Maddox back
(07:39):
in there. So they have so many great things going
for them on that side of the ball. And I
really am interested with a hobbled Patrick Mahomes. He has
had time to heal at this point, so hopefully he
won't be as limited as he was in the game
against the Bengals. We saw how he was hobbling around
and he did honestly, he's a warrior like that effort.
Was so impressive to see Patrick Mahomes scrambling on a
(08:03):
leg that he didn't even want to put pressure on
when he was hopping on his other leg, and then
you see him scramble for first downs. I mean, he
cannot be stopped. And that is just one of the
most interesting things going into this game. I know you're
nervous about that, but all right, let's let's just spend
through all the teams in the top four of the
Power rankings, and they were the top four teams in
the league heading at the championship Sunday. Yeah, the Niners.
(08:26):
They were number three in my rankings. I had the
Eagles just ahead of him. And it is you feel,
if you're a Niners fan and a certainly Kyle Shanahan
and that whole organization to feel like the little cheated
by the football gods. Obviously, the injuries unbelievable. The quarterback position.
Rock Party. We learned shortly after the NFC title game
that he had suffered a complete tear of his elbow ligament.
(08:48):
He's gonna need surgery to repair that. It's gonna put
him on the shelf for they believe. I think six
months is the number. And you could look at that
and do the math and say, Okay, he should be
ready for training camp. Well, we'll see. I mean, that's
a that's a serious injury. You don't know how his
rehab comes on that and whether they feel comfortable with
part even being their starter long term. You have Trey
(09:09):
Lance still obviously in that building as the number two
overall pick a couple of years ago, Jimmy g we
assume almost certainly is finally going to be out the door. Conny,
is it possible that Tom Brady now enters the equation
for the Niners. He's a free agent obviously his boyhood
team or at the Niners. He grew up in that region.
Think Kyle Shanahan is thinking about that now that there's
(09:30):
ever more uncertainty at that position as we hit the
off season, anything is possible. But I would not be
a fan of that move just watching all of the
injuries that happened this year at the position and having
a quarterback like Tom Brady who is the goat, who's
so good, but he's not exactly a mobile quarterback. That
(09:50):
is the way that the entire league is moving. And
then you're going to bring in Tom Brady who is
forty five years old, going to be forty six years old,
and he doesn't move around. You need to make sure
that you have everything in place. Like I think that
when Josh Johnson and came into the game for the Niners,
we saw how limited they became, and it kind of
made you. At least it made me appreciate brock Purty
(10:13):
a little bit more. And I think that they have
been able to find ways to win with all of
these different quarterbacks. But I think they just stick with
that plan. Why spend money and bring in Tom Brady
when you can use the guys that you might have there,
make it work for a little bit, and then use
that other money to allocate to other things that they need.
I don't agree. I think they should have ten quarterbacks
(10:34):
on their roster next season to make sure Josh Johnson
does not ever play for them again. No offense against
Josh Johnson, but that the game felt over once you
got to that point real quick. On the Bengals, Connie,
your thoughts on them, My thoughts are, it's tough. I mean,
you you come so close, you have the ball in
your hands with a chance to win the Super Bowl
against the Rams, and then Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati
(10:56):
offense gets the ball twice in a game at Arrowhead
and they can't find a way to get it done.
I know Cincinnati fans will always remember the push out
of bounds by just a side that gave Harrison Bucker
a much easier kick to make. It's tough to get
this close and get turned away two years in a row.
You know, It's such a shame because that game, first
of all, was so good. It was so close. It
(11:17):
felt like at any point in the game anything could happen.
Either team was going to win, which was so different
from their earlier game, the NFC game with the Eagles
and the Niners. But for the Bengals, they just came
so close and they were able to tie it, and
they were able to keep making plays and it felt
like they weren't going to be denied, and maybe they
would find a way even if Patrick Mahomes was constantly
finding Jason Kelsey or Travis Kelsey and finally making these
(11:41):
plays happen. But Joe Burrow and this team, they have
so much personality, they're so good, they want ten straight games,
and it just seems like they kept gaining momentum every
single week. They would go on on both sides of
the ball. They kept getting better, and when they tied
the game early in the fourth, I thought this was
going to go to overtime. I thought for sure. But
(12:01):
the Bengals offensive line weaknesses, it's the same thing that
at them last year. We saw it happened in the
Super Bowl. We saw it happen again, and then obviously
the untimely penalties were the thing that really took them down.
But it's just it's such a shame because it felt
like this was a team that was destined to get back,
and there is so much talent in the a f C.
(12:21):
But they have so many good building blocks that they
have so much to look forward to. But that doesn't
really help now that their season is over. Yeah, and
here's a difference to me, like the Niners can rightly
feel like fate intervened and took away an opportunity to
go to the super Bowl. Cincinnati had the shot there
and it just didn't work out. I'm annoyed. I mean,
this is the Power rankings. I had them at number
(12:41):
one after Divisional round weekend, and it just felt like
it was their moment. It felt like it was Burrows moment,
and then the moment arrives with the ball in his hands,
and for that not to work out does kind of
just show you how unpredictable football is. And also it
shows you the Chiefs are. You understand why after the
game all they could do was talk about how they
(13:03):
were overlooked and you know, Burrow head my arts, as
Travis Kelsey said after the game, because yeah, like this
wasn't some I had them number four entering Championship weekend.
But I even said on the show, Connie, like, this
is ridiculous to have to do this, because you could
flip the Power rankings and I would have been able
to sell that to the Kansas City Chiefs are locked
(13:25):
and loaded here. They have some injury issues, obviously, but
you expect this break to really help them. I cannot
wait to see this matchup. The Chiefs have a lot
to prove and the quarterback wants to be the goat.
We're going to get to that, but let's take a break.
We'll be back with more on the Power Rankings podcast.
(13:53):
All right, Welcome back Super Bull fifty seven Connie Sunday,
February twelve from Glendale, Arizona, Stay Barn Stadium. Eagles be Chiefs.
About some bangers storylines going into the big games. Some
are going to feel a little bit on the nose,
(14:16):
some but need to be addressed. Some are gonna be
a little People aren't talking about it, not yet. Anyway,
we're ahead of the curse. Let's start with one that
already instantly people are buzzing about. Did you hear about
the Kelsey brothers? Oh? I don't know what you're talking about? You?
I know, I know you're you like this one, because
where does Jason Kelsey rank on like favored sons in
(14:39):
Philadelphia At this point in his career, He's up there
with Alan Iverson. He can do no wrong. After the
Eagles won their first Super Bowl, in his iconic speech
on the Art Museum steps, it was just one of
the most famous moments in Philadelphia sports history. He is
so beloved. He goes to the local Jersey shore bars
(15:02):
and bartends wearing the staff Earth, He's at the O D.
He's all over the place. He is a son of
the city. He is absolutely and Travis on the other side, he's,
you know, one of the greats, if not the greatest
tight end of all time, depending who you talk to
and what we saw of course after the an f
C title game and his Dwayne Johnson routine, getting after
(15:24):
Burrow head talk, getting after the mayor of Cincinnati. The
man is basically like a pro wrestler who happens to
be an amazing football player. They both are still charismatic.
They have a podcast and I'm not gonna plug because
I consider it a competitor to around the NFL. But
it's really good. Also, these guys are fun, so that
will be a great week of media lead up. They
(15:46):
are a dream pairing for what the Super Bowl is,
which is a media event ultimately before yeah, their personalities
will be an engine in this. I love seeing their
mom already with the split jersey that she's going to
wear with the Chiefs and the Eagles. And then also
I just think it's so funny overall with these two brothers.
How they're both so charismatic, as you said, but they
(16:09):
are both so different too, Like Travis has a little
bit more swag, he seems a little bit cooler, and
then just in a different way, and then Jason is
more of a burly almost like a lumberjack. But like,
they just have two very different styles. But they're both
so cool and so genuine and such like fun nice
(16:31):
people to be around. So it is it's so awesome
to now see them compete. Yeah, who do you think
is better husband material? It's got to be Jason, right,
So hard to answer, I guess Jason, I have no idea.
I feel like you'd protect you'd protect me, Jason. Um,
here's another question. I love this one. Patrick Mahomes, He's
the big spoon. Patrick Mahomes and his quest for double
(16:55):
big spoon, Yummy, Patrick Mahomes, his quest for a second title.
Connie Mahomes is just this is his third Super Bowl.
This is a guy who's been to five consecutive a
f C title games. It's been an incredible career. Tom
Brady obviously has set the bar. And when you talk
about the greatest quarterbacks, both because of his own just
(17:17):
greatness as a player, but also the longevity that allowed
him to end up with seven rings as I believe
it's seven by seven rings, which is unbelieva. So obviously
Mahomes has a lot of work to do, but to
get a second chip here would be a big step forward.
When you talk about literally the greatest player of all
(17:40):
time in the NFL. Yeah, he's just part of this
next wave of young talented quarterbacks and Mahomes can't be denied.
From the moment he took over for Alex Smith, everyone
knew that this guy was special and what he could
do was not like others, and he's just continued that.
It's not like we saw it in blips and then
he had down years or there was something that he
(18:00):
had to overcome. No, he's been doing the crazy side,
armed path is and everything else since he came into
this game. He's so good, he's so young, and he's
just he's a player that you want on your team representing.
He's a great face of the franchise. He he knows
how to how to be a quarterback. He knows how
to get a city behind him. He's likable and he's
(18:21):
good at the same time, so that recipe, he's he's
going to go in the Hall of Fame as soon
as he's sun. Yeah, he could retire after this game
winner lose, and he's a Hall of Famer. And you know,
maybe I would feel different if I was a fan
of an a f C West team that wasn't the Chiefs. Um,
but I'm all good. I like seeing the Chiefs in
these big states on the big stage year after year
(18:43):
because it's just Mahomes is at that level of superstar,
like an iconic level player that kind of want to
see what he does next and how he can outdo himself,
and playing the way he did on one leg in
the a f C Championship game is a perfect example.
He gets two weeks, obviously to rehab and hopefully be
at top four against that fierce Eagles defend. Another big storyline, Connie.
(19:15):
We hit it on a little bit earlier, but let's
touch on it again. There's going to be a drumbeat
that the Eagles have to prove some doubters wrong who
saw the playoff run in the NFC is underwhelming in
terms of competition and UH in general, Connie and I
tell me if you agree as an Eagles fan, just
(19:36):
kind of a nice clear path from September onward. It
felt like it was a very nice schedule for Philly.
Things kind of fell their way, and now they get
to say, shut up, everybody, We just one and one
and one and then we one again on Super Bowl Sunday.
Eagles proven their doubters wrong. Big storyline, and the Eagles
don't care if people don't like them. Philadelphia doesn't care
if people don't like them. It doesn't matter because even
(19:58):
if they end up winning the Super Bowl, it's still
going to be people being like, oh, well, you know
they did this and that, and they didn't have to
play these people, and like, you know, they're playing Black
Brock Party and Josh Johnson whoever else doesn't matter. Like,
no matter what, people are still going to doubt the Eagles,
and that's when they play their best. Now, it's tough
(20:18):
to kind of spin that narrative. When they were the
number one seed and they were the last undefeated team
and they had such a great deal and they beat
teams all different types of ways no matter what. They
were beating bad teams by a lot too. It doesn't matter.
Teams are going to try and drum up that narrative
no matter what happens. But Dan, I have a really
great one that I'm watching in this game. Because clearly
(20:40):
Andy Reid facing the Eagles who he used to coach,
It's kind of like he's facing the entire city of Philadelphia.
But for me, it's Andy Reid facing the coach that
he fired when he got to Kansas City, in Nick Sirianni.
Because when he got that job after he left Philadelphia,
he had David Culley with him and that's who he
(21:01):
wanted to bring with him. So he got to Kansas City,
fired Nick Sirianni, and then that actually super charged Nick
Sirianni's career and got him to where he is now
in Philadelphia and at all. And I like, how you
somehow spun the Andy Rebowl into a Nick Sirianni revenge Bowl. Perhaps,
I guess. I mean, that's that's interesting. I didn't know that.
(21:21):
I'm sure Nick Sirianni will be asked that many many
times and Andy Reid and Read will sidestep it with
grace as he always does. Like Read is another guy
that's very easy to root for. He almost got the
Eagles to the mountaintop many times. I think the Eagles
went to four straight NFC title games at one point,
got to a Super Bowl, fell short, but he's obviously
(21:42):
cemented a Hall of Fame career with the Chiefs Now
nice little subplot the Andy Reid Bowl and yes, okay,
Nick Sirianni wanting revenge who could have bad feelings toward
Big Red though I don't. I don't know if I
buy that. I bet Sirianni is respectful of of Read
and his place in football history. I'm sure he's thankful
because now look at him. Look at him. Now, he's
(22:02):
going to a Super Bowl. Look at me now, Dad,
you still want to fire me? Dad? Finally, one more Connie.
The Eagles defense. This is gonna get more and more
buzz as we get closer to the game. Where they
stand historically, this is a team that had seventy sacks
in the regular season, one of the great pass rushes
we've seen, really solid at all levels, and rolled through
(22:24):
the NFC playoffs on defense, obviously against a lesser Niners
team because the injuries, but really embarrassed the Giants as
well on their way to the Super Bowl. And when
you talk about the best defenses of this century so far,
everyone you start obviously at the beginning of the century
with those two thousand Ravens who won a Super Bowl.
You go to the legion of boom Seattle Seahawks teams
(22:45):
of the early two thousand tens, they also won a
title nearly one a second. It's kind of if you
look at the timing of things, it is time for
another great defense to get its recognition. Will it be
this Eagles defense after Super Bowl Sunday. This Eagles defense
is so talented at every single level, and that hasn't
been the case in so long. I can't even remember
(23:06):
the last time there was an Eagles defense that was
this talented. Because usually it's okay, their front seven is
really great, their defensive line is really good, but they
don't have corners that can cover, and so they need
to get that that heat up front in order to
cover up all the deficiencies on the back end. But no,
no, no no, no, they have. They went out they did
such a good job bringing in Sligh, who has an
unbelievable personality, and he's going to be all over the
(23:29):
place through the media week. I mean, he's gonna be
on every single microphone look look out for him to
be dropping all sorts of sound bites. But having Avante
Maddox back healthy, bringing in James Bradberry from a division rival,
all of these moves paid off to the point where
now the Eagles are able to play in the Super Bowl.
And look at how healthy they are from top to
bottom on both sides of the ball. It's like you
(23:51):
have so many different things that you can talk about
of why they can succeed. And it's almost like an
embarrassment of riches that they have because they're able to
run the ball on the other side and throw the
ball they got. Hey, how did they get a J. Brown?
This doesn't even right, It doesn't seem fair. But right
now this defense really does need its flowers. Oh you're
so excited. I'm happy for you, but also envious. What
(24:14):
do I do? How? Dan? How do I How do
I cover this team? These teams the Super Bowl? I
don't know how to do it without being biased, and
I'm gonna try my best. But how do I do this? Yeah,
you're asking the wrong guy because I root for a
team that hasn't been in the Super Bowl in fifty
three years, so just do your best, I guess, and
or just leaving into it and just like throw any
idea of being a journalist to the wayside until February.
(24:37):
I would lean that way. I mean, what's the point
of pretending at this point? That's what I think. Yeah,
we didn't even get to Jalen Hurts, by the way,
who could match Patrick Mahomes as the youngest quarterback to
win a Super Bowl? So many storylines. Next week we
will be a video only a show, not an audio podcast,
for the NFL Power Rankings Show, and then after the
(25:00):
Super Bowl we're back with the whole enchilada, the whole
thirty two team run down, led by, of course, the
Super Bowl champion probably, although it'd be cool if I
didn't lead with the Super Bowl champions at number Anyway, everybody,
thanks for following along. Uh enjoy Babe game Heed the call.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
(25:22):
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