Countdown to Kickoff Presented by BetMGM

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports Radio. Football fans, Welcome to
the biggest tailgate party in the nation. Fox Sports Radios
Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Fat MGM, the King of
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(00:21):
need to watch your team win. Let's go. We're here
to break it all down. Let's go, Let's go. This
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM.
We're live from your tail game. Here's Brian No, former
Penn State All American, Rich Hornberger and fs ARE betting

(00:43):
analyst Jared Smith. Oh, what's going on? Everybody? Welcome in
here on the eve of Championships Sunday. All the ball
all year long and it's down to the final four
teams just raring to go over here. We'll break it
all down some laughs along the way. Rich Ornberger, the

(01:03):
Penn State All American, is with us. Jared Smith FSR
betting analysts on the way as well. We'll start with you, Rich.
How's everything going, man, how's the shaved clavical today? Yeah,
things are good. The shoulder feels great. Um, you know
that was a rookie year. Uh surgery. I've had several
sins and so all of them have healed up relatively nicely,

(01:27):
and uh, all of them are reminders of what these
guys are going through out there on the field through
twenty weeks of hard hitting NFL football. Like that's the
one thing that we oftentimes gloss over as a result
of our love and passion for watching this great game.
And it is a lot of fun to watch. Is

(01:49):
it is truly a war of attrition, like the only
way you make it to the tippy top of the
mountain where you're the last one of the last four
teams that are left before or you know, truly championship
weekend which is the Super Bowl. Uh, you gotta be durable.
This is a long haul now, Brian, so I am.

(02:09):
I'm fascinated to see how Patrick Mahomes health holds up
after suffering a late injury, uh in this season with
that bad ankle injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I'm interested
to see if we see any shades or signs of
injury with Jellen Hurts moving forward or in this game

(02:30):
it didn't appear that the shoulder was bugging him last weekend.
We'll see, but man, oh man, it is a long season.
I'm just reminded of that. I'm actually like rubbing my
knee right now, just remembering some of those times. Yeah,
it's not not easy getting through at all. It's funny
because I'm on the same page as you, and as
you were saying that, I was just jotting down a

(02:52):
quick injury list and what we've had to deal with
and what these teams have had to deal with the
war of attrition, if you will. But of course Patrick Mahomes,
that's the ankle injury that stands out first and foremost.
But you start going through the list, you mentioned Jalen Hurts.
How effective will he be running the ball, not just
throwing it against the forty Niners tomorrow. Then you look

(03:13):
at the Bengals offensive line. They're down three starters. Hello.
Now we have Travis Kelsey, the Chief's tight end. He's questionable.
He's gonna play spoiler alert, but he's got a back issue.
You have Christian McCaffrey, the forty Niners running back, who
had that calf contusion. We can't say calf bruise, that's
not fancy enough. He's got a calf contusion, but he

(03:33):
was working that out last week. Against the Cowboys on
the sideline only ten carries. And then of course you
get to Lane Johnson, the stud right tackle for the Eagles,
where he played last week at the very beginning of
the game against the Giants with that what was it
a sports hernie injury? Again, he's just grimacing, working it out.

(03:54):
He got better towards the end of the game, looked
a lot more like his normal self. Just managing injuries.
It's fascinating in football because you saw it with Mahomes.
One hit and one injury can completely change everything. And
that's always the X factor, especially in football. You don't
know who's gonna go down and when and what teams

(04:16):
have to do to compensate for it. Yeah, And as
a result of that, and what we do uh on
this show is we talk a little bit about the
strategy of these games, whether it be college football or
now we transition the pro football and the betting side
of it. And you just listed it like, if there's
one thing that has become more and more important to
people than ever before in the history of my time

(04:39):
in the league or since broadcasting about this league, is
people's interest in the injury report. And we talked about
this season. During the college football season, I think it's coming.
I think that you're gonna start seeing college football teams
required to report injuries during the week so betters don't
feel like they got got Like that's going to be

(05:02):
a really important thing to establish trust with betters at
the college football level. And if you're going to have
all of these entities be woven together, you know, if
you're going to have sports books partnering with schools and
sports books partnering with professional leagues, you can't have any
stone left under unturned as as you head into a

(05:26):
game weekend, because otherwise people who feel like, well, wh
whoa Okay, the starting quarterback of the team that I
laid whatever amount of money on isn't available to play
and that information is just coming to me on game day,
like I had no privy to that information prior to
So there's going to be a change of the guard

(05:48):
at the college level. But but now with fantasy football
and sports betting being so so uh accepted countrywide, at
least in the United States, I mean, I've never been
asked more. I'm like, hey, do you think Hayden hurts
Calf is gonna be all right for the ANFC championship game.
I'm like, whoa, I mean, that's a that's a little
bit of a deep track there. Yeah, I mean he's

(06:09):
gonna go, there's no question about it. But holy smokes man,
I mean people are really diving into the numbers and
and really into the value of position players as we
get closer and closer to Super Bowl. Yeah, it has
been interesting in college ball where just before game time
you're like, oh, Cam Rising, the Utah quarterback, he's inactive.

(06:31):
Great example, good to know because I took him the
day before and that's a kind of useful information right there.
So yeah, it'll be interesting in college football to see
if we do get more of an injury report and
this isn't completely held under wraps, but certainly not the
way it is in the NFL. And I would argue this, Rich,

(06:52):
I think it's good for the NFL, might not be
great for the players whose injuries are out there and
it's well known and all of that, But in terms
of talking points and like you've been asked about Hayden
Hurst and his availability, if that's that on an injury report,
we wouldn't even know about it, right right, That's the

(07:13):
see that's the perfect example. So like now with player
props becoming so popular of a play, and we have
Shamus McGee on all the time, and I like asking
him about what the handle looks like on player props
because bet MGM obviously does a good job put in
numbers on as many players as they possibly can, players

(07:34):
of interest, players that people want to bet. But there again,
there are some second running backs on those lists, and
there are some second tight ends and sometimes third tight
ends on those lists as you're heading into game time
and people want to know this information, and if it's
not made available, holy cow. I mean two things. One,
it obviously is going to affect people's trust in how

(07:57):
much money they're willing to bet on certain players or
sides or totals, etcetera. And then also it's going to
have effect on people's just general awareness on these players.
Like Hayden Hurst is a story. Yeah, he had a
couple of big catches in the divisional round and he's
a good player. Trust me, he's a good player. If
you haven't paid attention to the Bengals tight end that's

(08:19):
who we're talking about, uh, you should because he's he's
uh he can be a game changer. But but but
a guy like that you may not have an awareness of.
All of a sudden, you hear he's got a calf injury,
your ears perk up. You're like, maybe I'm gonna take
an under unreceiving yards, you know, maybe I'm gonna take
an under on receptions, like like, that's part of it too,
that's part of sprinkling more interest on player props. Maybe,

(08:44):
uh yeah, it's It's just I'm so fascinated with the
way this wheel is turning. Because when I started playing
in the NFL back in two thousand nine, when I
was drafted by the New England Patriots, it was almost
like church and state. You couldn't talk about sports betting.
You could barely talk about fantasy football in an NFL
locker room, otherwise you would probably be in trouble or

(09:05):
questioned by somebody. And now it feels like the wild West.
The doors are wide open. They're taking bets. Now players
still camp bet. Obviously we saw the Calvin Ridley outcome
when the player gets involved. From that standpoint, but it
is far more acceptable for players to be promoting things
like this because it's it's becoming part of the game well,

(09:26):
and I think that Listen, everybody can relate to this.
If you ever go to a restaurant and there's bad service,
you might not go back, you know. And there's a
story when I first got to a Portland I was
doing local radio out there. I went to a pizza
place and I went paid for the pizza and I
needed like I don't know, five cents change or something

(09:47):
like that, and the lady goes, I'm out of Nichols.
And that was that. Like, I guess I don't get
changed because you're not on your game, you know what
I mean. Like I never went back rich. I was like, yeah,
I can get petty, right, but if the point is
if you treat me badly, I might not come back.
And so I look at it in terms of betting

(10:08):
on college props. If you bet on a college prop
and then the game rolls around and it's like, oh, yeah,
that player is inactive or or they're significantly hampered even
worse where they get out there for like a series
or two and then they're done, so you lose your bet.
You might be like I'm out, I'm out here, and

(10:28):
that's not what college football want. Once that's not what
the n C double A wants. They're gonna want the
gamblers or whatever gets you invested. That's what they want.
If it happens to be gambling, great. They don't want
dissatisfied customers who might say, you know what, screw this,
I'm gonna go to the NFL, where at least I'm
not blindsided because there's an actual injury report and you

(10:51):
might lay off the props a lot more. In college football,
you know, it might not be as attentive watching these games.
That's not good for them. So I'm curious what the
progression is as far as that goes as well. But man,
we gotta turn our attention to these games. Man, Rich,
I don't know if you're ready for deep dives here.
I know you are. I know we're talking about running
games and the the forty Niners Philly game that's gonna

(11:15):
be huge. We gotta get to the Mahomes injury and
all that good stuff. I might do backflips today. The
only thing is I'm gonna be so ready for these games.
And I just thought of it a second ago. I'm like,
that's right there. Tomorrow. We're we're so used to having
games the day of this show, and we're gonna have

(11:35):
to take a time out for not for a little
over twenty four hours before these games rolled around, rich
I intentionally made plans today to be out of the
house all day long because I would be pacing if
if if I didn't like, we're taking the kids, We're
doing weekend fun stuff. We're doing it all on Saturday
because Sunday is all ball. Like I just I can't.

(11:59):
We can't do it any other way because I'd be
I would. I mean, I I look at the investment
that so many of us have in football as we
whittle it down to the final four teams, then the
final two teams, and the fact that we have a
two week by week you want to talk about having
to wait patiently, we're gonna be sitting on our hands
next weekend. Um. But yeah, we got forty Niners, Eagles,

(12:22):
we got Chiefs Bengals. We have storylines all over the place.
We got the rookie quarterback who may make history if
he wins and advances to the Super Bowl. Got Jalen
Hurts who still feels underrated like people. I mean, this
guy was on an m v P chase before his
injury this season and he still feels underrated. And then
you talk about Mahomes facing the the worst adversity late

(12:43):
in a season that he's ever faced in terms of
his injury status. And then Joe Shysty, you know, just
talking quarterbacks alone, the fact that Joe Burrow has again
taken the Cincinnati Bengals team that everybody was looking at
like no doubt there there You know what, bowl Hey,

(13:04):
be sure to check out the new looking features in
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code Countdown in the bet MGM app. All right, we
are often running We Got Rich orin Burger, the Pence
Day All American. Jared Smith on the way, FS are

(13:24):
lead betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Coming up next, what
the Bengals have in common with fireworks? We'll explain. It's
Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM right here on
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome to the biggest tailgate party in
the nation. You're locked into Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to

(13:46):
Kickoff Touchdown and it's presented by bat MGM, the King
of sports books. Once again. Here's Brian no rich orin Berger,
and Jared Smith. Welcome back to Fox Sports Radio Countdown
to Kickoff, presented by Bett m GM. New users download
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(14:11):
Rich Hornburger, the Penn stayed All American with us Jared
Smith soon to be on the way FS are betting analyst.
I'm Brian No. Uh you know what, rich I was
thinking about this with the Bengals. They're taking on the
Chiefs tomorrow in the a f C title game. I
was thinking about the Bengals defense. It's a lot like fireworks,

(14:32):
I think over here, because we've been ooing and eyeing
about the Bengals offense, which we should. They played very
well last week against the Bills. Joe Burrow unflappable, down
three starting offensive lineman, and the Bills had one sack
in the entire game. And so it's like going to
a firework show on the fourth of July and you

(14:54):
see these beautiful fireworks, You're like, ohh, that would be
the Bengals offense. The Engles defense was lights freaking out
against Josh Allen and the Bill's offense. It's like, we
don't and ah the same way you ever see those
fireworks where they go up and it's kind of like
they're just duds or they sort of like backfire and

(15:15):
it's just a big boom. You don't, you don't oo
and ah over that. That's what I think the Bengals
defense is. And you think not only about last week, Rich,
but the previous week against the Ravens, the scoop six
or the thick six, whatever you wanna call it with
Sam Hubbard, that swung the game. They won that game

(15:35):
because of a defensive play where they scooped it up
with nineties some yards against the Ravens. So the Bengals
defense has been huge in the playoffs collectively, and yet
we largely overlook it. Oh yeah, oh yeah, we do.
And look as a as a a you know, sports
viewing public, I think there's a lot to pay attention to,

(15:58):
and I think it's really difficult to pay attention to everything.
And so as a result of that, with a divided attention,
it's a lot easier to focus in on stars. So
you think of like defensive stars in this league that
you really really can like wrap your arms around and say, yeah,
I know that guy. You know you're it's feeling far between.

(16:20):
I understand. Like some of them stand out Aaron Donald, right, uh,
Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, depending on health, He's been unhealthy
this season. But you know what I mean, Myles Garrett. Yeah,
there's a couple of names that come to your mind immediately,
but then a lot of the names that you associate
with when you're a football watching person, even if you're

(16:44):
like invested, even if you even have a team that
you root for or if you bet on a consistent basis,
you may not pay his close attention to those defensive names.
But the Cincinnati Bengals have a great defense. They really
truly do. I mean, what's the most important statistic in
all sports in my opinion, it's points. You know, if
you're a team that can put up runs in baseball

(17:04):
or points in basketball or points in football, you're gonna
win a lot of games. If you're a team that's
going to uh disallow opponents from scoring a lot, you're
gonna win a lot of games. And that's exactly what
the Cincinnati Bengals do. This is a top ten defense
and virtually every single metric, and they've been like that
way all season long. But they don't have stars. They
just don't, and so people have a hard time of

(17:27):
following it. I mean, it's only it's only this week
that I've heard anybody talk about defensive coordinator, uh, the
Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator's name, and nobody's pronouncing it correct.
So it's it's it's one of those it's one of
those things that we just don't want to focus on because, look,

(17:47):
Joe Burrow is fun to talk about, he has uncommon composure,
he's surrounded by talent, offensively great storyline with the offensive
line sort of depleted heading into that last match up
against the Bills, and the defense, it's just a bunch
of guys who play really quality defense, and they have,
you know, sort of a puppet master behind the scenes

(18:08):
pulling all the right strings. Yeah, it's crazy. Rich. I'm
literally looking at their defensive depth chart right now, and
I'm looking at it and I'm like, I think if
you went up to legitimate football fans and just said
name as many Bengals defensive guys as you can. I
don't know that you get to two. I mean really

(18:31):
with big time football fans. Trey Hendrickson is fantastic as
a defensive end. Jesse Bates is a really, really good safety.
But these are not to your point household names at all.
Who's saying, oh, Jermaine Bratt, like you know what I mean?
Like you don't have these big time names. And uh,
that doesn't mean they aren't special collectively, because they certainly are.

(18:53):
They just don't have the name recognition they have nobody
close to not just Joe Burrow, that's obvious, but Jamaar Chase, Uh,
that name recognition of him. They don't have anyone like
that on the defensive side. It's not to say they
aren't as good at their position as Jamaar Chases. Trey
Hendrickson is a baller, but he just doesn't have that

(19:16):
name recognition. And that's largely why they go either unnoticed
or not as noticed as they should be. Because you
hold the Bills to ten points. The Bills couldn't do
anything last week. That's impressive, man, and they deserve more
flowers than they yet I think, yeah, yeah, that that
defense played their hearts out. Yeah. Speaking of which, I

(19:36):
remember I put out a tweet last weekend about Mike
Hilton and I was like, oh my gosh, he's balling. Uh.
He's reminded me of Troy Palamalu, And people were like,
who are both of those people? You know, because obviously
the name Paula Malu hasn't come out of a lot
of mouths in a while, and Mike Hilton is basically anonymous.
But he was a huge factor during that game, both

(19:58):
in coverage and blitzing, uh, the rushing the passer against
Josh Allen, and that that paved their way to getting
to Allen and and putting pressure on Josh Allen and
getting him panicking a little bit in the pocket. And
then you look to the offensive line for the for
the Cincinnati Bengals and the job they did. You mentioned
the one sack that was impressive, but but Burrow wasn't

(20:20):
under a lot of pressure, and then the run game
was going, mixing over a hundred yards, you know, one
seventy two total on the rushing totals. It just was
a dominant performance for any group of offensive lineman against
a really good Bill's defense, and they dominated it just
and they were backups. You know. It's just those are

(20:42):
the sort of stories that emerge during the postseason that
people will talk about if you win a championship, Like
like people in Cincinnati forever will remember those storylines if
they win a championship with Joe Burrow and this this
twenty two, twenty two Bengals team, Um, it's it's just

(21:04):
gonna be forgotten, though if they go out this weekend
and they get worked out by the Chiefs, So we'll see,
I mean the Chiefs. That is a pungent offense that's
difficult to ignore. It's even even though mahomes Is has
been limping around a little bit this week, although I
saw videos and and I I took it into the

(21:25):
lab and I made sure to analyze his gait, and uh,
I don't know if I I don't know if I
saw a limp, but not a noticeable one. You know,
I was just thinking real fast. They always call it
a silver lining, you know, if there's like a grim
picture and you can point out something that's positive. I
just figured out the opposite of that. We'll call it

(21:45):
a gray lining. I don't know what the opposite would be,
but as we're giving the Bengals defense their recognition and
their flowers. It just dawned on me that they totally
screwed me last week because, yeah, you mentioned Joe Mixon's
rushing total that prop hit. I had Burrow getting to
at least forty passing attempts, which he easily would have

(22:06):
gotten to if it had been a game in the
fourth quarter, which it wasn't. And so they were just
running the ball, running the ball, running the ball. So
that Bengals defense that was so so great last week
against Josh Ellen and the Bills, it actually it costs
me money now, but I figured it out. Yeah, it's
the gray lighting and the whole thing right there. But
nothing gray about this guy whatsoever. Mr Isaac Lowan Kron,

(22:30):
He's got an update for you, guys. I love what's
going on. But good morning, fellas. Busy night in the NBA.
On Friday, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors thirty
five points, seven rebounds, eleven assists in there one nine
one seventeen triumph over Toronto. Janice on Tea Cumpo dropped
forty one in Milwaukee's one forty one one win at
Indiana Pacers have lost nine of ten. Timberwolves over the

(22:53):
Grizzlies one eleven to one hundred despite a John Moran
triple Devil Minnesota's won four or five. Jimmy Butler twenty
nine points, six rebounds and six assists in Miami's one
ten to one oh five victory over the Orlando Magic,
and Shay Gildris Alexander dropped thirty five in Oklahoma City's
one twelve to one victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. And finally,

(23:17):
I'm outraged outraged at the people rich who said that
they hadn't heard of Troy Paula Malo because of his
hair alone, not the least of which the fact that
he's in the Hall of Fame. I'm outraged. There was
a recent video that's circulated of a young football player
who was sharing like an award daist with Paula Mallow

(23:37):
and didn't know who he is standing next until they
announced his name. He goes, wait, your Troy, and he
shakes his head and then he's like tapping him up
and he's giving him a hug, like, oh my gosh,
I'm sitting next to the Hall of Famer. It's like,
how do you not know this person. It's important. It
breaks my heart, it hurts my soul, really does. You
should know him by haro at least he did all

(24:00):
these hair shampoo commercials exactly, you should know by his talent,
but at the very least as a backup the hair.
It's staring you right in the face. How do you
not know it? It unbelievable? All right? Uh, it is
Fox Sports Radio Scaptdown to Kickoff, presented by Bett MGM.
I'm Brian no rich orin Berger with us. Been state

(24:21):
All American Jared Smith on the way. He's present, just
working out the gremlins, that's all. We're getting everything set
up over here, but we gotta get to this rich right,
We have to get to Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, we just
talked about it, but yeah, this is all anybody was doing.
The online salutes and the the orthopedic detectives across the

(24:44):
interwebs was hysterical this week. This is the only thing
man with Patrick Mahomes in the high ankle sprain. It's
one thing we've seen a little bit of grainy video
in practice, and it's not like he's rolling out at
full speed. He's just jogging a little bit, and I'm

(25:06):
astounded by how many people are like, Oh, he'll be fine,
he's good to go. It's like, based on what based
on him barely jogging, not even at half speed, you
think this guy is gonna be totally unaffected. I don't
see that at all, Rich, because this is the thing.
He doesn't have a game like Tom Brady where he's
just typically confined to the pocket and that's it. He's

(25:30):
rolling out, He's doing all these crazy things. We saw
him last week against Jacksonville with a jump pass, neither
foot was on the ground. He's throwing the ball. We
saw in the first drive, that touchdown pass that Travis Kelsey,
there's a linebacker draped around his waist, doesn't affect him
at all. Then later in the game we saw him

(25:50):
one hopping a screen pass to a guy, and we
see some grainy footage of him jogging in practice, and
the takeaway is, Oh, it'll be good to go, He'll
be fine. I'm not rooting for him to be affected.
I would love to see him at one because he's magic,
but I just don't think we're gonna see that this week.
That is such an important word. There's no such thing

(26:13):
as magic. All right, every parent who's in the car
right now with their kids shield their ears. I apologize
if I may have just blown something for you, But yeah, listen,
that is that is the reality of the NFL. Is
health is so important that if you even tweak something
minor like this is an ankle, like this is a

(26:34):
really important part of the body, regardless of what position
you play. But had this been uh, an index finger,
or you know, a slight strain on the rib cage,
or you know, I mean, name it something minor, a
forearm impingement. I mean, those little things could could have humongous,

(26:54):
humongous impacts on how comfortable a quarterback feels throwing a football.
To take away his foundation, take away his plant foot
when he's hitting, you know, the the last step of
his five step or seven step drop, and he needs
to drive a football over the middle of a defense
or connect accurately on the sideline thirty forty yards downfield,

(27:17):
you're going to change how a quarterback throws. So, I
mean completely, So I'm with you. I think this is
a little bit of fool's gold. I think there's a
lot of delusion going on around this belief in magic.
This idea that because it's Patrick Mahomes, just for football watchers,
that he's gonna be healthy and this is gonna be
a great game. And everybody's counting on that, because if

(27:39):
Patrick Mahomes isn't healthy, are we really gonna see a
great game? If he's at seventy at six, we could
end up seeing one of these two games really sort
of be a blowout. And that's the truth. Now, I'm
not counting on that. I think that Andy Reid is
UH brilliant practitioner of offensive football and he'll make a
just means to protect Patrick from himself and protect the

(28:02):
Chiefs from being limited by his limitations if injury is
such an issue. Um, but that is a delusion because
we want to see a great game. Chiefs fans. I
know they're delusional because you go on any single one
of these these Chiefs UH websites where you know fan
pages or or or you know whatever it is UH

(28:26):
fan sites, you have you have people talking about Mahomes
like like he's like this mysterious healer, like he's going
to play great no matter what. Well, he's a human
being and if he has a severe high ankle spraying,
it's going to limit him. So I'm with you. I
think I think watching the line movement, especially after they

(28:48):
they had some some film of him at the at
the practice field and saw him like kind of hop
down off of the podium after addressing the media. Right, yeah,
I was like, why is this line changing so much?
We haven't learned anything yet, but people were pounding the Chiefs,
the public money was pouring in. Oh, it's crazy to
be And look, Mahomes is such a special quarterback. He

(29:11):
can still be affected while having this ankle injury. We
saw it last week where he threw a touchdown past
two mvs and he had enough against Jacksonville to get
the win. So we're not saying that he can't do
anything tomorrow against the Bengals. But to think that this
is going to be like normal Mahomes is freaking crazy

(29:32):
to me, just absolutely crazy. We've seen this guy this season.
Remember the game against the Bengals where he's rolling out
far to the right and he has that little excuse
me pass plays like that, the special Mahomes type plays
where he's just buying time. I think it was against Tampa,
whereas by the goal line he rolls to the right,

(29:53):
waits to the last second, does a spin move, throws
it for a touchdown like stuff like that. I don't
think we're gonna see that. I don't think he's gonna
be healthy enough to do stuff like that. That's huge
in this game. I will say this though, and this
is such a cool conversation that I have with someone
who is a die hard Chiefs fan this week. We

(30:15):
were just discussing the game and I didn't know the
stat before this conversation. He goes, do you know who
the best or most efficient pocket pastor was in the
NFL this season? And I was thinking about him, like, well,
there's a lot of good ones, and maybe it is
Joe Burrow, Tom Brady, right, he threw the heck out
of the football this year. It's all they had in Tampa,
he goes Patrick Mahomes. I was like, okay, yeah, you

(30:38):
know that makes sense because they played a little bit
more of a conservative style football. He was in the
pocket more often because there is no Tyreek Hill, so
the scramble drill is a little bit more limited. I
get it. Yeah, okay, I can make sense of that.
And he goes, do you have any idea who the
best or most efficient passer out of the pocket is
And then I started thinking to myself, I'm like, oh,

(30:58):
there's a lot of good ones. I guess you know,
Josh Allen leaves the pocket a lot and uh Lamar
Jackson when he was playing or No, it's definitely not
Russ right, can't be russed Gino Smith. I mean earlier
this season he goes it's Patrick Mahomes. I was like, whoa, Okay,
you know it's It's one of those things where you're right.
I mean, that's that is kind of half his game
is when he's on the move. He is so deathly

(31:20):
accurate with the football. He's surgical. So if you take
away or limit him to just having to sit in
the pocket and and and be in one spot, and
it limits his mobility, his ability to create, especially in
the low red zone. That's where he saw the most
escapability and the most Hey, I'm just gonna start dazzling
you with a little bit of my a little bit

(31:41):
of my improvisation because people are gonna get uncovered for
me down here near the end zone. You didn't see
as as much in the middle of the field this
year because a lot of teams were playing that deep
coverage set against him trying to take away the big play,
the chunk plays from the Chiefs. But when you got
down near the goal line, that's when the Mahomes magic
comes out, and that maybe missing in this game. That's

(32:04):
what I think Rich. I would compare mahomes talent to
a high end sports car. Okay, and so what you're
talking about in the pocket, he's special there. So we'll
start like, this is a high performance sports car. He's
elite when it comes to that. But when he gets
out of the pocket, that's when you're adding all the

(32:24):
bells and whistles to the already premium sports car. That's
when you're talking about anything that you want, the high
end stereo system, you know what I mean, like the
automatic start, like whatever you want to all of those
bells and whistles. Mahomes out of the pocket is what
makes him truly special, you know what I mean. So

(32:46):
it's not to say that he's uh a Buick Skylark
without escaping the pocket. He's still elite in the pocket,
But what really makes him magical is what he does
outside of the pocket. And I don't think that we're
going to see the element that we normally see from
Mahomes to that same degree, and that's enormous. We'll get

(33:08):
to a little bit later in the show to blitz
or not to blitz Patrick Mahomes because I think there
is a strategy that makes way more sense. We'll dive
into that at the top of the hour. Coming up next,
we hear a lot about fly Eagles Fly. Is it
by Purty by this weekend? Are we gonna finally see

(33:28):
the end of Brock Purty at least for this season
as the quarterback. We'll dive into that right around the corner.
I'm Brian No, He's Rich, Orne Burger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith on the way, lead betting analysts at Fox
Sports Radio. We'll get to all that good stuff coming
up here. So is it by Purdy? Bye? We will

(33:51):
investigate as we look at the NFC Championship game. Coming
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(34:13):
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(34:35):
wherever you get your podcasts. Cono en Rich, give me
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(34:57):
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(35:18):
the King of parlays. You know we were talking about
the high ankle sprain, the injury. I think we have
to say that with Patrick Mahomes. But I think when
you get beyond that and ask yourself, what's the biggest
injury concern of Championships Sunday with these two games, I'm

(35:38):
curious what you have on your list, Rich I would
actually put Christian McCaffrey on my list. The forty Niners
running back where he's got that calf contusion, gotta bruised
calf over there, and you saw him be affected against
the Cowboys last week, and you just think about how
everything's tied together. For the forty Niners. You really need

(35:59):
to have an effective running game, which you might have
against Philly, who's been leaky against the rush at times.
If you've got Christian McCaffrey who's ready to go peak CMC,
I think that's a big, big deal on the road.
You don't want Brock Purty, your quarterback, to have to
do too much against the NFL's number one past defense,

(36:20):
so to limit what he needs to do, you need
to have a good running game, and Christian McCaffrey is
a huge part of that. I think that's the biggest
injury concern outside of Mahomes tomorrow. As far as these
games go, I don't disagree with you. I think that
when you look at Patrick Mahomes, that is going to
be the most impactful of of all these injuries. Um

(36:43):
and and it also you know, to look at that
from another angle before I give you another injury or
another player to focus on. And we mentioned his name earlier,
but but just with Patrick Mahomes, what a lot of
people don't talk about is how clever defensive coordinators and
defensive play yars are and how quickly, how quickly they're
able to diagnose what they're seeing on the field. So

(37:06):
think about like when a brand new starting pitcher comes
into a game, um And, I'm talking about a rookie
or or maybe a player who has been bouncing around
as a journeyman making his MLB debut even at twenty
eight years old, maybe played a lot of international ball.
The first five innings, usually that picture is gonna look unhittable,

(37:29):
like you're gonna be like, whoa, you know, he's throwing gas,
nobody's catching up to the fastball. Nobody really has a
good feel for this picture yet. But all of a sudden,
go go twice through the batting order, and that third
time people are timing his fastball, and then and then
that that picture just experiences whiplash watching balls leave the yard.

(37:52):
That's what happens sometimes with an injured player, especially one
at a position is important as quarterback, because all of
a sudden, you might say to yourself, Hey, Mahomes, he's
looking okay, other than the fact that he's only escaping
the pocket to the right. If he has to leave
the pocket to the left, you know, he's just struggling. He's,
you know, because of the ankle, you know, so so hey,

(38:12):
let's key on that right. You know, now you're calling
blitz is to force him too. It's almost like forcing
a point guard to go to their off hand and
try to dribble drive away from their strong drive side.
That's what you start doing to a quarterback, right, That's
what a defense starts focusing on. So there's no question
in my mind, from a lot of different standpoints that

(38:33):
the Patrick Mahomes injury is going to be the most impactful.
But another one in the same game, and like I said,
we mentioned his name was Hayden Hurst. I mean, there
were a couple of plays against the Bills, and I
know that, like we mentioned, back part of the second half,
that game was really one already, but Hayden Hurst had
a couple of big plays. And I think Joe Burrow

(38:54):
when time's up in the pocket, he's looking for mixing,
he's looking for hers, He's looking for his shallow receiving options,
and if they're not available for him, he'll struggle, right,
He'll have to swallow the football and take some sacks
and and not give a catch and run opportunity to
a player down field. And so that's that's another one
to key on. It doesn't seem like a big deal,

(39:14):
but it can be a huge factor going into this game.
It's just so interesting when we get to as I
call it, purty Palooza. It has just been a love
fest for the San Francisco forty Niners quarterback. And I
think that you need to accomplish two things at once,
and they seem to be combating each other. Where you
do need to give Brock Purdy his love. He's the

(39:37):
last pick of the draft and he hasn't lost a
start and he's rarely turned the football over. There's a
lot of good there. So if you want to give
him props that that makes sense. It just depends on
how far you go with it. And I don't think
there's anything wrong with saying, hey, Dak Prescott gift wrapped
two interceptions last week. It should have been three. If

(39:58):
Dre Greenlaw could have caught that one would have been
a pick six. That would have been one of the
worst playoff performances ever. If that were the case, what
happens tomorrow? If Jalen Hurts isn't handing the ball over
to the forty niners and Brock Purty has to be
special and he's got to make a lot more plays,
what then? You know? So it seems like those two

(40:19):
things are completely like rams on the mountain side, just
headbutting each other. But both things are true. You can
give him his flowers while still being skeptical if he's
got to do a lot more than he has done
in the past. We'll get to Purty Pelosa a little
bit more in depth coming up here. Also, the biggest

(40:39):
key for each team to win, We'll have it for
you next here on Countdown to kick Off. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart radio app search f
s R to listen live. Oh what's going on? Everybody?
Welcome in. I hope your Saturday is just magnificent. As

(41:01):
we count down toward Championship Sunday kickoff, not too far
from now, we're talking what quick math twenty nine hours
I believe from right now three pm Eastern times, so
a little less a little more than a day away,
but not too far away. Rich orin burger with us.

(41:22):
Here we'll have Jared Smith momentarily I'm Brian No. You know, Rich,
if we dive into the biggest key now we're getting
full geeky. We've got the tape in the middle of
our glasses right here. You know the biggest key for
each team to win. Let's start with the NFC, right,
it's the first game tomorrow for San Francisco and for Philly.

(41:44):
What is the biggest key for each to win. I'll
tell you real fast what I think it is. I
think it's forty Niners run the ball effectively. You want
to take as much pressure off of your rookie quarterback
Brock Purty as possible. Philly has been a little bit
leaky against the run, If you're able to run the
ball effectively, now you're able to mix in the passing

(42:04):
game a lot more easily. Uh. And this is the
number one past defense in the NFL. So I think
running the ball for San Francisco is huge to their
success tomorrow. And by the same token, sometimes we don't
have to overthink it. I think for Philadelphia, I think
the biggest key is limit the rush. If you can
stop the rush and you're forcing a rookie quarterback to

(42:27):
beat the number one past defense on the road in
the NFC title game, it's advantage Philly. So I think
it's for the Niners run it, for Philly stop to run.
I think it's that simple. Well, I I don't I
I don't disagree too far from what you're saying, um,
because I do think that both of these teams, oddly,

(42:47):
both emerging out of the NFC, are mirrored images of
each other. They're built identically. Brian. You look at this
team in Philadelphia and you say, Okay, how did they
get great? Right? Because they were great? They want a
Super Bowl with Peterson and Carson Wentz and Nick Foles
and that offensive line group and that defense. How did

(43:09):
they do it? Well, they were really good in the trenches.
They had enough skill around talented quarterbacks and they got
the job done. Well, that's exactly how they're built again.
They're really good up front on both sides of the ball,
protecting the quarterback, opening rush lanes, rushing the passer, and
they got enough skill on offense to support a talented quarterback. Well,

(43:30):
the forty Niners are built exactly the same way they
built from the trenches out. They have some of the
best skilled position players on offense in the NFL. And
so you look at these two teams and you say, yeah, yeah,
they're they're really evenly matched. But keys to victories for
the Philadelphia Eagles would be um getting Jalen Hurts loose.

(43:52):
Like you, you have to make sure he's the rock
star of this game. Nick Siriani has sculpted his entire
offense a round Jail and Hurts. Where so many people
were saying he wasn't an NFL quarterback, Nick Sirian it
kind of scratched his chin and went, well, let me
see what I could do. And he's turned a guy
who was doubted by everybody coming out of Oklahoma to

(44:14):
a NFL MVP candidate this year. So I'm i'm I'm
telling you, if the Philadelphia Eagles win this game, it's
because jail and Hurts has a huge day. So in
any way possible to San Francisco, forty Niners need to
find a way to counter that, you know, limiting his
ability to escape the pocket, limiting his ability to rush
the football on those planned QB runs, which isn't an

(44:36):
easy task because obviously you add a rusher when the
quarterback runs and then on the other side of it.
In order for the forty Niners that have success, they
gotta keep brock Party confident. And how do you do that.
You keep them clean. Now, this this Philadelphia Eagles rush
group is phenomenal upfront. I mean, when you really look

(45:00):
at what they've done, they have seventy five sacks through
eighteen games. That's the most in NFL history. And or
excuse me, no, it's not the most. It's the third
most in NFL history, and nobody's talking about it because
again there's a little bit of anonymity on that Eagles defense.
But Hassan Reddick, he's been sensational as a pass rusher.

(45:21):
Compare him to Nick Bosa. They're very very similar players
this season. Jordan Davis really impressive upfront, um in the middle.
Um this defense, they can get after the pastors. So
those are the two keys. On one side, it's about
the quarterback. On the other side, it's about getting to
the quarterback. And I think that's the key to this
NFC side. It's interesting and you look at Philly like

(45:43):
you're pointing out four players with double digit sacks this season.
Hassan Reddick had the quietest sixteen sacks probably in NFL history.
Like this dude was a baller for the best team
in football and nobody's really anonymous. Yeah, it's crazy. And
then you also have Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham.

(46:05):
Each of those guys have eleven sacks. You've got four
dudes with double digit digit sacks on that Eagles defense.
And that's why I think running the ball is so
important for the forty niners, because if you're not able
to run the ball, and if you happen to be
trailing and you become one dimensional and the Eagles are
able to just pin their ears back and hunt the quarterback,

(46:26):
that is not where you want to be. If you're
San Francisco at all, no question about it. I mean,
Brock Purty, for as good as he's been, and he's
been good, he hasn't been stress tested enough for me
to completely throw in and say like, yeah, this foundation
to this house is one d percent ready to build,

(46:46):
right Like, I need you, I need you to call
in a couple of other city inspectors to tell me
that this is this is ready to truly build your
your house on top of. Because if you get this
wrong the quarterback position, if you're not well, then the
whole structure can crumble around that one decision. And we've

(47:08):
seen that so many times in so many franchises history,
where they throw in around the wrong quarterback. Now, I'm
not saying that's necessarily Brock Purtty. It's been a pretty
good run for Brock, but um, but it could be.
It could be, and he could get found out by
this Philly pass rush. Uh if this offensive line doesn't
protect him up front against the Eagles. Okay, Rich Fox

(47:30):
Sports Radios count Down to Kickoff presented by Bed MGM.
Let's look at the A f C side here, a
lot of keys to victory. Right, you could go with many,
many things But what is at the top of the
list for both teams, the Bengals and the Chiefs. For
the Bengals, Rich, I think it's protect Burrow because think
about it this way. If you're able to protect Burrow

(47:52):
the way they did last week against Buffalo, you see
what Burrow does, and especially against a very very suspect
path defense of the Chiefs that has routinely given up
Big Blaze to Joe Burrow and company. If you're able
to protect Burrow, he's gonna do what he does. The
guy is unflappable. He's gonna find his receivers. He's gonna
have a good day if you're not able to protect him. Man,

(48:15):
and you see Chris Jones, Frank Clark get after the
quarterback on the road all of a sudden, You've got juice,
You've got life. I think it starts with the Bengals
protecting Burrow. Certainly way more keys to a victory than that,
but I think that's at the top of the list.
And as far as the Chiefs go, I really do
think it's play solid pass defense that's collectively, that's not

(48:38):
just the secondary that is the pass rush. Find a
way to affect Burrow find a way to make him uncomfortable,
because if the pass rush isn't getting there, it's a rap.
If the secondary is leakey on top of it, it's
a double rap, you know. But I think you've gotta
protect Burrow if you're the Bengals, and you've got to
play legitimate pass defense if you're the Chiefs, because with

(49:01):
Mahomes affected, you've got to step your game up defensively
and not take a step back. That's really wise because
I think a lot of people would have looked at
that differently. But I agree with you. I think that
this Chief's past defense is so important. Slowing down Joe Burrow.
All you ever hear about is how is anybody gonna
slow down the Chiefs? How about slowing down the Sinsea

(49:23):
Cincinnati Bengals on offense? I mean, they can score points
and bunches and real fast. We saw that against the Bills.
Every time it felt like the Bills answered the bell
a little bit, Cincinnati was in the end zone like
a minute later, and you're just like, how are they
in the red zone again? Oh my gosh, they scored again.
It's like you look up and and Joe Burrow is
just leading another eight play, ten play, leven play, twelve play,

(49:48):
drive down the field and just cramming the ball down
the next of these defenders. So I'm with you. I think,
if you are going to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, if
if the if you're the Chiefs, you're you're you're, you're
have taken the top off the defense and you're forcing
Joe to really take what what you're giving him and
keeping everything in front of you and avoiding the chunk plays.

(50:08):
But for me, I think the Chiefs have to limit turnovers.
Like the key to victory overall is it doesn't matter
if it's you know, the turnovers we saw in the
NFC Championship game against the Bengals last year where in
the second half Mahomes he just started malfunctioning and he's
tried to do too much and he threw some ill
fated throws that ended up in the hands of Bengals defenders,

(50:29):
not all his fault, but some. Yeah, you know, you
gotta be careful with the ball, especially in the second half,
especially when it's winner go home. The other thing I
look at is and and actually two of their past
three games have resulted in losses due to uh, fumbling
issues or turnover issues, because remember the Kelsey fumble and

(50:49):
I can't remember if that was this season or regular
season last year, but Kelsey had an opportunity and fumbled
away the game basically, and a missfield goal decided the
other one. But so that's the reason why Joe Burrow
is three and all against the Chiefs because in two
those games, the Chiefs turnover the ball and lost the
turnover battles. So if they win the turnover battle, I
think they win the game. Moving on to what the

(51:12):
Bengals can do, it's that defense. It's lou at a Rumoh,
it's it's the guys who are anonymous, you know, the
von Bell's of the world, and the Mike Hilton's of
the world, and the Hendrickson's of the world, and and
the guys who don't get enough love from the national
press because they're kind of anonymous. On that that Bengals

(51:32):
defense who have been stomping the yard around the NFL
and just having their way with opposing offenses. If this
Bengals d can get to Mahomes and rattle his cage
and force him to make some ill fated throws, then
I think since he wins. So it all comes down
to who protects the football more Bengals are Chiefs. I

(51:55):
think you get back to this too Rich to blitz
or not to blitz if you look at Anna Rumo
And by the way, how have they been mispronouncing it
during the weeks. I've heard people go out a Moromo
like it's because we haven't heard about you know, you
hear about Martindale. He's got a cool nickname, you know,

(52:17):
but nobody, nobody's really talked about this guy. He's a
New Yorker too, so I think that's part of the
reason why I like him. Lou needs a nickname, Sweet Lou.
I don't know Sweet Lou out a Rumo something, yeah,
but an a Rumo does. It's a tongue twister over there.
But it's gonna be really interesting to see how Sweet
Lou attacks the Chiefs because I think it's better to

(52:38):
not blitz Mahomes. Think about it this way. Rich, the
guy's affected. He's not gonna be a percent with the
high ankle sprain. So what do you do. I think
you play coverage. I think if you blitz Mahomes that's
actually helping him out. He's so good at seeing the
blitz coming, diagnosing it and just throwing hot. Throwing to
the area that you're just blitzing from, you actually are

(52:59):
giving him get out of jail free card. I would
rush three or four. He's done this before where he's
dropped eight. That's what he did last year in the
a f C Championship game. I think you play coverage
against Mahomes. I think your Brackett Kelsey and you say, Okay, Mahomes,
who's not a mobile is gonna have a hard time

(53:19):
extending plays and moving out of the pocket and throwing
effectively on the run. We're just gonna play coverage and
we think eventually are three or four guys are gonna
put enough heat on you where you gotta get rid
of the football. But we're not gonna blitz you routinely
and let you just throw hot on us. I think
that's the better way to approach it. Don't blitz Mahomes.

(53:41):
I I agree with you in fact, and I know
we're up against it here, but my thought process is
you can line up four guys with their hand in
the dirt up front if you're the Cincinnati Bengals, and
what I would get in the habit of doing is
dropping eight, but doing it in a clever way where
you're rushing three, one of your defensive lineman, one of

(54:02):
your faster defensive lineman, can sort of be instead of
in his rush protocol, he can be a QB spy.
You know, you bounce him off the ball, you have
him hovering over the middle of the defense. You know,
maybe he could get his hand on some shallow throws,
but mainly he's there to be sidelined to sideline, just shadowing,

(54:22):
mirroring um Mahomes to make sure that he doesn't escape.
And so you add someone to coverage when it is
a pass, and then when it's a run, you've got
enough hands in the dirt to defend that. And that's
what Ada Rumo does. He doesn't blitz a time, especially
against the Chiefs. He does like to run coverage. But
if there's a way, because if if I'm Andy Reid,
I'm coming up with a game plan that really does

(54:43):
highlight Isaac Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon out of the backfield,
and I'm trying to take some of the pressure off
of Mahomes so you can't fall asleep on that Chief's run.
Game because in certain games they've really gotten to it
and have had success with it. So you got to
commit to stopping the run while being able to do
what you has talked about. And I think there's sort
of a happy medium there. If you drop a down

(55:04):
lineman off the ball and he becomes your over the
middle defender and a QB spy. Now we're talking, we're
getting to simulated pressure and it looks like you're gonna
rush these four guys, but it's actually you drop one
of the d tackles or whatever and you bring the linebacker.
You're still bringing four, it's just not the four that
the offense thought you were bringing. Now we're talking. Now

(55:26):
we're in full geek moade over here. But that can
be effective against mahomes. You're varying the looks, but you're
not sending more than four. I think that could be
effective as well. We'll see what Sweet Lou rolls out tomorrow.
Very excited about that. Hey, every time you make a
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(55:49):
rewards points that can be used towards dining shows and
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are more than often running. We've got rich or In Burger,
Penn stayed all of the arikin. We will have Jared
Smith momentarily FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No coming up next.
This is alarming and this is a joke. Two different

(56:11):
stories for you around the corner. It is Fox Sports
Radio's Countdown to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Welcome to
the biggest tailgate party in the nation. You're locked into
Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff touchdown and it's presented
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(56:32):
Here's Brian No, Rich Hornberger and Jared Smith. It is
Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM.
A every Thursday, be sure to check out our Countdown
to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Original podcast features yours truly,
also Jared Smith and Bill kracken Burger. We give our
takes and all the key lines get you set for
the weekend. In betting, playoffs are here. Playoffs are here.

(56:55):
Take advantage every Thursday. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever
you get your podcast. We would like to get the
trumpets ready here. We'd like to roll out the red carpet.
Jared Smith FSR, Betting analyst is with us over here.
After the gremlins have We told him to take a

(57:16):
hike over It was the best hour plus you guys
have done all the year. Everything good, It was smooth,
it was devoid of clutter and and nonsense. No, it
was I'm glad to be here with you guys. I
got all my college basketball prep work done this morning, though,
so we're good. Good. That's what I was doing exactly.

(57:37):
I mean, you know, there's only so many hours in
the day. You're gonna talk college hoops with Jamus here
coming up? I can't. I've got a few picks. Most
of them are totals though I'm a I'm a nerd,
I'm a numbers nerves. Give us one to give us
one that you like a lot. I like the Green
Bay right State under Wow, So I can't. So the
two conferences, it's two conferences like CAP pretty exclusively, are

(58:02):
the Mountain West and the Horizon. Um. Those are the
two that I do the most work with Um, I
was on the Green Bay Northern Kentucky under the other
night that hit. Um. Yeah, that's uh, that's the one.
That's Those are the vibes. We Horizon League and Mountain
West State, San Diego State later or a Fresno State.

(58:25):
Some good games tonight later. That's awesome. You know, Jared,
we're gonna dive into obviously championship Sunday with you. But
what we're gonna do real fast is talking non championship Sunday,
just for a couple of minutes before we get to
Shamus McGee from bet MGM. But two stories caught by
eyes so to a tongue of Iloa. The Dolphins quarterback

(58:46):
still in concussion protocol. He's not gonna be taking part
in any of the Pro Bowl festivities because he's still
in concussion protocol. It's been over a month. He got
injured against the Green Bay Packers. That was the Christmas
Day game, and so a month later he's still in
concussion protocol. That's alarming, man, to say the least, because

(59:07):
I mean, you have to really ask yourself the question
as an organization, is this our guy going forward to
miss the final three games of the season. He missed
the better part of six games. Throughout the entire season,
the Dolphins have said he's our quarterback going forward. Of
course that's what they're gonna say. They're not gonna be like, no,
we're gonna kick him to the curb if there's a
better option that presents itself. But that's clearly what they

(59:28):
would do. You have to ask yourself the question as
an organization, can we count on this guy to be
our quarterback of the future, not just production wise, but
health wise as well. That's a legitimate question at this
point when you when you look at when you look
at sports overall, I think productivity is one of those

(59:51):
it's it's one of those words that is misused almost
like what what is what is productive at the end
of the day? Right? I mean you could look at
it from an individual standpoint, you could look at it
from a team wide standpoint, but at the end of
the day, are you winning or losing? Like I think
we get caught up way too much in metrics. Sometimes

(01:00:12):
I think we get caught up way too much in uh,
in in our own thought process about what we're gonna
see and and I know it's not sexy, and I
think it's very Belichickian in some ways to look at
the world in black and white and stay out of
the gray area. But winning and losing is the only

(01:00:32):
thing that matters at the end of the day. So
I mean, just to speak it, speak about it plainly.
In the NFL playoffs, for example, like if if we
look at if we look at these four teams and
we say, hey, you know, Tea Max had a really
productive season defensively, a really productive season offensively, and they

(01:00:52):
don't win the Super Bowl? Do we care? The answer
at this point is no, you know what I mean.
So it's it's just it's just all is a matter
of how we want to bend the rules to fit
a narrative. But at the end of the day, if
you're winning, sexy or not, if you're winning, that's the
only thing that matters. And at one point two it
was eight no in games he finished this year and

(01:01:15):
then just the injuries, and I think that's that's the issue.
I mean, how could you give And I don't want
to be the GM because I'm not that that's not
my role, But if I was a g M, I
don't know if I would give a long term deal
to a guy who is incapable of finishing a season,
and it's been multiple seasons now, it's not like this

(01:01:37):
is his rookie year. And meanwhile, you've got a lot
of other quarterbacks in the NFL that are starting to
make their name for playing through difficult injuries. And I
know to uh Is, his injury is different because it's
a head thing and it's not an ankle or an
arm or or a knee, and that makes it scarier. Frankly,

(01:01:57):
it makes it you know the fact that we're over
a month out from that concussion and he still has
not been cleared. If the Dolphins were playing in the
a f C Championship Game, it would be Skyler Thompson
or Teddy Bridgewater this week. That's a scary thought. And
I think too has to reevaluate his priorities as well,
because I'm sure he wants a life after football and

(01:02:18):
his football career is only a small slice of his
entire life. So there there's a lot of questions about
Miami's future because this team, they need a lot um defense,
didn't have a great year. They signed Tyree Kill. That's
a signing you make when you're ready to win right now,
and I don't know if they they are with the
quarterback situation. Yeah, that's where the conversation gets real because

(01:02:42):
they've got to exercise the fifth year option by May one.
And then you're thinking, like you're saying, Jared a monster
contract extension. That's what you're looking at, is that the
guy you commit to. And I think a lot of
organizations they look at it and they say, wow, we're
not a grease fire, So that's good. Let's pay an
average guy elite money like that can screw you as well.

(01:03:04):
That's what the Giants are talking about with Daniel Jones.
That's what the Arizona Cardinals have done with Kyler Murray.
You're paying an average guy elite money. Is that what
you want to do with tu? I mean, really, that's
what it becomes a real conversation, and all the wins
and losses that's greatly affected when you're committing way more
of your salary cap to a guy that might not

(01:03:25):
be in the lineup to often. That's such a good point.
That's such a good point. And and think think about
where Mike McDaniel came from and the problems that that
team has. So Mike McDaniel was on that forty nine staff.
What you're describing is exactly what the forty nine are
dealing with with Jimmy Garoppolo. They signed kind of a

(01:03:47):
second tier Kirk Cousins light quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo to
a long term, big money deal. Now, it wasn't huge money,
it wasn't top of the quarterback market money, but it
was a big money contract and they got stuck with
it because he wasn't durable enough, and a lot of
teams are like, we don't want or need Jimmy Garoppolo

(01:04:07):
in trade. We don't want a guy with kind of
a glass jaw and an average ability to lead a
team during a postseason run That was really stacked when
you look at the forty Niners teams that Jimmy Garoppolo
had been paired with. Uh, we're all set. And that's
exactly what the Miami Dolphins have. Now they have to

(01:04:28):
a tongue of volo, who, let's be honest with each other.
At this point in this league, he is kind of
in that second tier that Kirk Cousins Jimmy Garoppolo tier.
Maybe he's slightly higher or lower depending on the week
or injury situation, etcetera. But he is surrounded by this
offense with just playmakers all over the place. They've rebuilt

(01:04:49):
that offensive line, that defense is great, and you look
at the quarterback position and you think to yourself, just
like in San Francisco, to A could probably be repl
place by Brock Purty and the Dolphins would look just
as good. And that's the reality that you're faced with
in Miami. And that brings me to another hypothetical, not

(01:05:09):
to change the subject, but how differently do we view
this Niners Eagles game tomorrow if it is Jimmy g
under center? Do we feel differently about the Niners at all?
And again, it it just excused the conversation to where
if you look at the four teams left in the field,
three out of the four have quarterbacks on rookie deals.

(01:05:29):
And I think that's important. So if I'm the Dolphins,
I'm drafting a quarterback for signing one drafting a quarterback,
and then you let the chips fall where they may,
because to me, the recipe for winning in the NFL
is you get the right quarterback on your team in
the in the rookie window, and you capitalize in that

(01:05:51):
window That's what the Chiefs did with Mahomes. That's what
the Eagles are looking to do with Jalen Hurts. Obviously,
the Niners with Mr. Elevant and the Bengals window still
very much open. They got two, actually three, their best
three players are on rookie deals, Higgins, Chase, and Burrow.
So that's how you win in the NFL. It's not

(01:06:12):
name me a quarterback besides Patrick Mahomes that that can
do this long term. Maybe Brady right, Rogers. I mean,
there's maybe five of them in the entire planet that
can do this. So very hard to give a guy
like two of that long term deal considering the shelf
life for what these quarterbacks have proven and the recipe
for winning in the NFL, which is clearly, get your

(01:06:33):
best players on your rookie deal and then go out
and sign the Tyreek kill and then go win a
Super Bowl. And I think the Dolphins window right now
is kind of on the back end, I'll say super fast.
It's funny because it's a copycat league in the NFL,
but you don't see a lot of franchises trying to
copy what the Chiefs did. The Chiefs were okay at
quarterback Alex Smith actually led the league in pass A

(01:06:56):
rating when Patrick Mahomes was a rookie, So they were hey,
but they didn't over commit and say, well, will let's
just not be a disaster at the quarterback position. He
gives us a shot, and they just talked themselves into it.
They said, no, no, no, are we special? No, let's
try to go out and be special. I'm waiting for
more teams when they have an average quarterback to say

(01:07:17):
it's not good enough, let's go out and try to
find a guy that makes us special. And instead you
see these fear based signings of like, oh, what if
we're a disaster again at quarterback. It's like, bro, if
you overcommit to an average guy, that's gonna end up
screwing you too. I'm just waiting for more teams to
do what the Chiefs have done and look at the
position that they're in right now. Now we're in a

(01:07:37):
great position as well because we have Isaac Lowan kron
on the updates. Let's go ill. What's the latest budgellos.
Another twist of sorts on the NFL coaching carousel, with
NFL media reporting that the Baltimore Ravens have interviewed national
champion Georgia Bulldogs offensive coordinator Todd Muncan for their offensive
coordinator job. Georgia fans on Twitter do not want Monken

(01:08:01):
to leave, including at Deputy Football pH D nice user
name by the way, who posted simply but eloquently quote,
the Ravens can bleep off unquote. Meanwhile, Connor came up
with a potential conspiracy theory, posting quote half convinced the
Ravens did this so John Harbaugh could help Jim's team

(01:08:23):
have a better chance of winning a national championship unquote,
as I had further down the rabbit hole anyway. In
the NBA on Friday night, Steph Curry at thirty five points,
seven rebounds and eleven assist says the Golden State Warriors
top Toronto to one seven team Yadisan Tenna coopo forty
one points in Milwaukee's one one, one one victory at Indiana.

(01:08:45):
Pacers have lost nine of ten Timberwolves over with the
Grizzlies one eleven to one hundred, despite a John Moranch
triple doubly at twenty seven points, ten rebounds and eleven assists,
the Timberwolves have now won four of five. Fellas, all yours,
thank you very much. I Low. It is Fox Sports
Radio's Countdown to kick Off, presented by bet MGM. Let's

(01:09:06):
dive into this follow the money, real good money. We
are following the money with our guy, Shamus McGee, team
lead of sports Trading at bet MGM. Good morning, Shamus,
Hope all as well. Let's dive right into the a
f C Championship game line movement galore based on the injury,
the ankle injury of Patrick Mahomes. What do you make

(01:09:29):
of the line movement throughout the week? Hey, thanks for
having me back. Guys. Uh, Chiefs, Yeah, Chiefs bangles. A
lot of speculation around Mahomes and the uh the lack
of wearing a boot or any sort of rapid practice.
Uh So there's a lot of speculation towards how healthy

(01:09:50):
he was. Earlier in the week. You saw the Bengals
favorite at one point, and then you know he comes
out of the press conference, no limp, he's practicing like
Norma's not even listening on the in report today. So
now you have the Bengals back to being the Chiefs,
fact to being favored. Yeah, and I didn't I couldn't
fathom living in a world, Shamus where Patrick Mahomes was
a home underdog in an NFC championship. I just I

(01:10:14):
just couldn't. It was bizarro world. The asteroids struck the earth,
We're all living underground type stuff, and I think cooler
heads prevailed in the market. But I was able to
get one of those Chiefs teaser tickets through both keys.
There's no chance this gets back to a pick them
right Mahomes in. This is only going to move in

(01:10:35):
one direction. Maybe it doesn't get to three, but I
just can't see this getting back to where you know
Mahomes isn't favored in this spot. I completely agree, especially
the fact he's I even listed on the injury report
coming out. I think is is huge and it is
wild to think that Mahomes, I guess he was like
he wasn't limping considerably in that last playoff game we

(01:10:58):
saw him play, But I mean he is Statistically he is.
He performs outrageous in the playoffs, and to think that
you're right, it's almost unfathomable that he'd be home underdog
at any point. So I can't see this line going
towards the Bengals again. To be honest, you know, shame
is this is kind of off the beaten path, but
it's something me and Brian we're talking about earlier in

(01:11:19):
the show about how player props just feel more trustworthy
at the NFL level, Like when you are going to
bet on a player to hit over his receiving totals
or over his passing yardage, whatever it may be, you
feel more comfortable at the NFL level because of that
injury report, whether that player has been injured recently or not.

(01:11:42):
At the college level because and and Brian pointed out,
because we don't know if like Cam Rising is going
to start at quarterback when Utah is playing, do you
think that has an effect on the betting market and
do you think as a result that's gonna change soon
at the college football level old because it kind of
feels like one of those things that needs to I

(01:12:04):
definitely agree. I mean, we offer player props throughout the
year on college and obviously NFL and NFL, it's it's
so hard to to to win it those markets at
the college level. NFL it's a there's a lot more
liquidity in the market for player props. Uh, the injury
reports are very well known. They almost have to me

(01:12:25):
at this point in college football, there's so many players
that are pretty important to teams that are game time decisions.
You you don't even know if they're gonna play the
whole game. So I definitely agree with that. I think
there should be a change coming soon. You know, shame As.
I love you and I want the world to know it,
you know, because it's not just it's not just that

(01:12:46):
you look at the betting landscape and what's the handle
here and which team is getting more money and all
that type of stuff you talk betting. That is why
I have love for you. So if you look at
these championship game match either sides, totals, props, what are
some things that you really love this weekend. I've been

(01:13:07):
on the Eagles all year, preseason, during the season. I
really like them again this week. Granted we're seeing in
the ocean of Philly money coming in. I mean, it's
really lop sided towards the Eagles this week. I took
a couple of big bets on the Eagles, but I
can't help but really like the Chiefs this weekend. I

(01:13:32):
Ohio betters have come out in droves to bet the
Bengals this week. We took a couple of big bets
on the Bengals as well, even at the Bengals minus
one and a half time where we were taking big
We're talking like five or six figure bets on the Bengals.
So I I really like the Chiefs at home. I
think I think they can get back to the Super
Bowl this year, especially if Mahomes is as healthy as
the Chiefs claiming it. I agree. I mean literally reading

(01:13:57):
my mind, and we're gonna get two weeks of Andy
Reid installed j um in the media with with this
Chiefs Eagle Super Bowl matchup. Let's get into the Eagles
game for a second, because I think we saw a
couple of shops here in town flash three for like
a hot second and then it just got gobbled right up.
And I think that tells us where the stopping point

(01:14:19):
is in this number. And even though everyone's on Philly
this week, I can't help but but be on that side.
And I think it comes down to just the quarterback
situation with Brock and Jalen. Do you is that what
tips the scales for you for the Eagles? Is there
something else in this game, because I don't think we're
gonna see three, so it's gonna be two and a
half probably or maybe a two point seven five. Is

(01:14:39):
there something else in this game that really makes you
like Philly besides the obvious Jalen Hurts over Rock Party. Yeah,
I think I think this team is is just better
built right now. I think the defense for San fran
is definitely legit u Fred Warner one of the best
linebackers in the game right now. But I mean, you
look at the firepower at the Eagles and match up

(01:15:01):
with I think this is this is a team stand
France really hasn't them this year, and let alone, you
gotta go to Philly on in freaking February or January,
and it's gonna be really hard, especially with a guy,
a rookie quarterback going into easily the toughest atmosphere I
think he's ever played in, and it's it's I don't know,

(01:15:24):
it's it's hard not to like Philly for me this week,
all things considered, whether it's Hurts first party or just
the home field advantage, I think it matters a lot
to me in this one green excuse me shame is
have you taken a hard look at Green Bay Right
State yet today because Jared Smith just told us that
he's in love with and a half. Yeah, are you

(01:15:46):
taking the under there too? Uh? Miss? You know, out
of the hundred and sixties some odd games today, I
didn't get a chance to take a deep dive into
that one. What a surprise. I'm the only sucker that did.
I mean, had an hour before we are having some
technical difficulty, so I had a chance to hop on,
had some college basketball numbers in, and yeah, Green Bay,

(01:16:07):
uh right State looks like an under game for me today, Shamus,
take a look at that one when you get back
to your screen. But days like today, I mean, it's insane, fathoms.
It's so hard to book these games when they're all
happening the same day, and we got conference championships to
worry about. There's still a bunch of NBA games that
we're gonna take a bunch of action on. We just

(01:16:28):
took a huge bet on the mix today for like,
that's gonna be That's gonna be a big one. Um.
I mean, but yeah, I usually am pretty tuned into
the to the hoops that I've mainly been looking at
the Big twelve sec challenge. Alright, Jamus, I'll d m
me some picks on the side, but all are welcome,

(01:16:48):
All are welcome. Save us to the band, but I
hope you enjoy the college tubes and of course championships
Sunday tomorrow. Thanks guys, thank you. There is Shamus McGee,
team lead of sports Trading at at MGM. Alright, we've
got Jared Smith from picks Wise, uh from FSR betting
analysts over here. Right, we've got Rich Hornberger shaved me no, no,

(01:17:12):
saved clavical, kidding myself, Brian No over here. Coming up next,
a possible new nickname for Jared Fly Eagles Fly Smith.
I don't know if it's gonna stick or not, but
maybe it's it's a thing in the works. Over here,
we'll dive into that. It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff,

(01:17:32):
presented by Bett MGM. Kickoffs are coming, Sue, and we're
leading you up to that. This is Fox Sports Radio's
Countdown to Kickoffs, presented by Bett MGM. The kick of
sports books once again. Here's Brian No, Rich Hornberger and

(01:17:54):
Jared Smith. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented
by bet MGM. No time to waste, let's dive into this.
Check this out r late letter may be sure to
follow bet MGM across all socials at bet MGM. Okay,

(01:18:17):
we've got Jared Smith. Excuse me, Jared Fly Eagles Fly
Smith unveiling the parlay platter over here. What do you
have cooked up over there in the lab besides Green
Bay right state, Jared A little correlated flight or fight action,
and I think it is gonna be flight for the
Eagles in this game. So I love betting parlay's that

(01:18:39):
have correlation to them. We don't do this a lot
during the season because there's so many games. I'd like
to get some more in there, but now we're obviously
hyper focused on just two games. And I singled out
this Eagles game because I think Philly, like they've done
all year, he's gonna get off to a fast start
in the first half. So they're averaging eight teen points
in the first half this season, nineteen at home. Their
team total in the first half is sitting between eleven
and twelve. We're actually gonna sell a point here, go

(01:19:01):
over twelve and a half points in the first half,
so thirteen is a win, and we're also gonna bet
it with the Eagles first half spread link just a
point and a half. By the way, they're thirteen and
five against the number in the first half this year.
That's the best, the most wins of any team against
the spread in the first half this season. And of
course the cherry on top. If the Eagles score more
than two touchdowns in the first half and they cover

(01:19:22):
the first half spread, probably gonna cover the full game
spread as well. Again, very correlated. Parlay plus two forty
for the Eagles first half team total over twelve and
a half. Eagles first half spread Eagles link two and
a half of the game hundred bones makes it two forty.
Not bad, gents, what do we think? It's not bad?
Not bad? I think it's uh. I just had shades

(01:19:42):
of Brett Maher, the Cowboys kicker, because extra points. Yeah,
if you don't get to thirteen in the first half,
you've probably got ma heard most likely you know it's
a verb now, h yeah, yeah. I doubt there's gonna
be four field goals in the first half, so it's
probably be missed extra point if you it's to be
a T shirt. I got got hurt. I made it

(01:20:06):
through this think It show and all I got was
MA heard. That's right. A lot of possibilities right there,
all right, coming up next. It's entertaining, but it's stupid.
We'll give you a couple of stories on the way.
Hang with us. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I

(01:20:27):
Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
Oh what's going on everybody? I hope you're enjoying your
Saturday morning ramping up, ramping up to words Championship Sunday.
We are now twenty eight hours away until kickoff in
the NFC title game. Very much looking forward to that.
So um. It's entertaining, but it's stupid. Some smack talk

(01:20:52):
going on before the games here. And I don't have
a problem if it's a player that can back it up.
But we've got a mayor. We've got the Cincinnati mayor,
aftab Peeravall, and he is talking major trash over here.
Listen to what he has to say about Patrick Mahomes,
the Chiefs in general. This is uh, there's a lot

(01:21:13):
of smack talk going on here. Here's the Mayor, Good
afternoon to Cincinnati. I have a proclamation from the desk
of the Mayor being proclaimed. Whereas the Cincinnati Bengals are
headed to Burrow Head Stadium for their second consecutive a
f C Championship game. Whereas last year's game, the Bengals
scored more points than the Chiefs, resulting in the Bengals
victory and the Chief's loss. Whereas Joseph Lee Burrow, who's

(01:21:37):
three and oh against Mahomes, has been asked by officials
to take a fraternity test. It's confirming whether or not
he's his father. Whereas all season long, Cincinnati has been
on a path of destiny, fighting out to overcome anyone
who stands between them and a Super Bowl win. And
Whereas Kansas City is named after its neighboring state, which

(01:21:58):
is you know, just kind of were Now. Therefore, I
at hap pure of all, Mayor of the City of Cincinnati,
do here my proclaimed January as they got to play
us day in Cincinnati. Thank you. M okay. Yeah. So
here's the thing. I love smack talk, but if you're

(01:22:19):
not even in the fight, why are you talking trash?
It's one thing for a player who can back it up.
But for a mayor to do this, I don't know. Man.
You never know what sticks with athletes. Athletes are funny.
Sometimes it's obvious, like Joe Burrow last week saying, send
those refunds to all the tickets sold. If it was
Bill's Chiefs in the a f C Championship game at

(01:22:40):
a neutral site, that's an obvious one. But a mayor
talking about, hey, Joe Burrow might be mahomes father. You
never know what's gonna make an athlete look back and
be like, oh yeah, okay, you just raise the stakes
a little bit right there. I just think it's a
bad move by the mayor. It's it's so funny. You
know what this reminds me of is it reminds me

(01:23:01):
of when the Saints got knocked out of the NFC
Championship game by the Rams and it was on that
non call p I where clearly there was past interference
but it just went uncalled. And then the Rams advanced
to the Super Bowl. There were New Orleans politicians who

(01:23:21):
were like stumping, They're like, if you elect me, I
will make sure the NFL is held accountable for this atrocity.
It was just ridiculous. That's what this like. It just
and I watched this video two guys and it. You know,
the mayor had something typed up by probably one of
his press people who's a football fan, and they're like, no,

(01:23:43):
it'll be funny. Here. Look, I'll set up my tripod.
All you have to do is read this. And so
he keeps looking down at the copy and then looking
back up at the camera, trying to make make eyes
like he's selling the bit. This was stupid. This was
one pent stupid and so I mean, I'm enjoying it
because we've gotten a lot of laughs out of it,

(01:24:04):
but I really don't think that Mahomes or anybody in
Kansas City can possibly take this seriously. Yeah, I don't
think it's gonna inspire anyone on the Kansas City side.
But I don't I'm not a political commentator. It's not
really what I do. But my guess is that the
Cincinnati Mayor's office has better things to do. That's that's

(01:24:26):
just that was my first reaction. And I'm not gonna
look at the rankings of where they rank in terms
of the best places to live, affordability, crime, etcetera, etcetera,
because again I'm not a political commentator, but I think
the world that we currently live in, there are way
more important things that can be done by the mayor's

(01:24:46):
office of one of the biggest cities in our great
nation then spending and wasting time on this nonsense. Mayor
of Cincinnati, leave the commentating on sports to us. That's
what we do for a living. You'd be the mayor
of Cincinnati. It's a difficult job. That'd be funny if
we just weighed in on Cincinnati right Like, you don't
see me talking about Cincinnati's politics. Guys have a prepared

(01:25:09):
statement about is gonna go off on you know, school
District number nine here and what they need for funding. Yeah,
I got to clean up the community parks in Cincinnati,
and it's been something I've been waiting to talk about.
They're on countdown to kick. Yeah, that's right right here,
right now, leading into the AC Championship game. But you
know to your point, and I think it's I think

(01:25:30):
it's why is we bring this up. I think it's
smart that we bring this up because that whole commentary
the Hey, I hope they refund those tickets. As the
Cincinnati Bengals were walking to their locker room, and Joe
Burrow said it on the field. Hey man, I'll tell
you what there are. I mean, these these these coaches,
these players, they're like elephants. They never forget. That's right,

(01:25:54):
sticking in the craw of. And that's the other thing.
I'm glad you mentioned that because Chris Jones, the stud
defensive tackle of the Chiefs, in his press conference he
walked off, say and see you guys at Burrowhead Stadium,
like sarcastically, like that's motivating, right, you wanna they're calling
it burrow Head Stadium. If you've got any competitive bones

(01:26:15):
in your body, you're gonna take that. You're gonna take
exception to that. And it just raises the stakes, like
I mean, like I I understand it's like low hanging fruit.
But well done by whoever came up with that Borrowheads.
That's but but here's the thing, like the Chiefs. Look,
they're not guiltless in all this. The Chiefs, for example,

(01:26:36):
like John gruden Um, they they did a lap around
Arrowhead and slap high fives with Raiders fans before you
saw that little ring around the rosy play. Uh and
and they and they score a touchdown with Kidarius Tony
in their game against the Raiders earlier this season, they
intentionally did something embarrassing to the Raiders down there in

(01:26:56):
the low red zone to get them back for that display.
By the way, that was two years ago. Yeah, I
mean so pettiness. It runs rampant in sports. We see
this all the time. We see this with pictures and
hitters sometimes inter league play. These guys don't see each
other for years, and then all of a sudden you
realize this picture through at that hitter because back in

(01:27:19):
in that hitter pimped the home run on him, and
you're just like, really, yes, really, it happened with the
San Francisco to look it, Shannon Sharpe. The thing that's
going on right now with with the Grizzlies. They haven't
won since that incident. Yeah, it's happening everywhere. Well, and
that's the other part is another trash talking. I guess

(01:27:41):
gesture this time was somebody put a forty Niners shirt
on the Rocky statue. That I don't mind as much.
That's just I know, it's it's not right, that's it's random. Yeah,
but it's one of those things you mentioned the Memphis Grizzlies.
Some of this stuff. It's like, while you want to
make things more difficult for yourself. Sports like John Murants

(01:28:05):
saying I'm not worried about the West, and now they
can't win on the road in the West. Think that
little Yeah, you're making things more difficult on yourself by
doing some of that stuff. And so I don't know
what resonates with the Chiefs, but some of the comments
the mayor said, yeah, brohead for for a guy like

(01:28:26):
Chris Jones, who clearly has got a lot of things
to worry about this week to say that there is
talk in the locker. Yeah, And the best coaches do this,
like the pettiness of Bill Belichick at times too right,
you know, because everybody talks about he's like this great
tactician and this great strategist, strategist, and he is, oh,
he's all those things. But he also pays attention to

(01:28:48):
the media. He knows exactly what's being said about the
New England Patriots, I promise you, and he would put
that up in front of us. Now you could call petty,
or you could call it smart, because what I would
call it, Yeah, if you put that in front of
your players, and the players have all of a sudden
this this refound uh renewed anger and and ferocity at

(01:29:11):
this team that they're about to go face. Well, great,
you accomplished the task. You know that sometimes you do
have to manufacture energy. I'm not Look, there are times
where on the football field it's a job. It's like
any other job. It's not like any other job, but
but it becomes a job if you do something for
long enough. And there are certain days where whether you

(01:29:31):
know you're getting over a cold or a virus, or
I don't know, you've got a lot going on in
your own life. You know, sometimes you show up at
the stadium and you're just not quite there mentally yet.
Sometimes you gotta trick yourself that there's a storyline brewing
underneath all of this, that that you actually hate this team,
that you actually despise the opponent you're gonna go against,
and you know he's done something to you. Jordan talked

(01:29:54):
about it in that MIDI documentary. There were things that
he just flat out made up about. That's the I see.
That's the best is when they make stuff up and
you're just like, wait a minute, don't even do that.
When I heard him say that. When I heard him
say that, I was like, you get your inside your
own head, which serves another purpose. I'm like me and
Michael Jordan are the same guy because I used to
do this too. I used to even sometimes when I

(01:30:16):
was training, I would act like I was being chased
by wild animals sometimes just I'm not even kidding, like
I would just have anything to Oh no, dude, Yeah,
I would lock myself in the worst mental circumstances and
and and it would be legitimately survival and I would
say to myself, I'm going to finish the task or

(01:30:37):
I'm gonna die and there's no way out. And so
that's what an athlete's mind looks like. Just to bring you,
guys inside of the psychopath that you have to be
to do this. Sometimes it's it's real. There was a
story with the old Lions linebacker Chris Spielman, and he
did this for years. He would he would get it

(01:30:58):
in his head that the osing offensive players were coming
after his family and they were trying to harm his family.
And that's how he got himself ready for game day.
And so you're right, Rich, some athletes do stuff like this.
They just invent stuff. Jordan did it, Spielman did it,
Ornberger did it. Right, it just invent stuff. But when

(01:31:18):
something is real in front of you that you don't
have to invent, that's even better. That's even better if
you wanna look at a perceived slight or anything like that,
And there's a lot of ammunition if you want to
look at it this way. During Championship Sunday, now we
do have a little bit of time down wild tangent.
Let's dive into this right here. Not live yet, okay.

(01:31:42):
In game betting is what we're looking at here. When
the games kick off, maybe there's a scenario we can
take advantage of. We'll start with you, Jared Smith, when
the games roll around tomorrow. What are you thinking about
diving in on now? I'm just getting thinking about being
chased by wild animals? Was it a wolf? Green Rich?
What was the animal exactly? I remember when I was younger,

(01:32:05):
I watched this documentary on how wolves hunt together, and
they'll like stalk their prey for miles, and sometimes they'll
wait till they're too exhausted to defend themselves. And so
I just would say, don't you know, I would just
in my mind, pretend like I'm in the woods and
avoiding being eaten by wolves. That is incredible. That's how
I feel most weakenst betting a lot of these NFL Alright,

(01:32:28):
I think so. I like the Chiefs in the first half.
We'll get to that later in the show. If it
plays out game script wise the way I think it's
gonna play out, you're gonna have an opportunity to get
the Bengals at a pretty decent underdoged price. Maybe three
and a half, maybe five and a half. Seven would
be WHOA, what's going on? But to me, that's the
early look because Blue Ana Romo's adjustments are going to

(01:32:49):
take effect throughout the course of the game, and I
think the Mahomes Vitamin T shot will likely slowly wear
off as we get throughout the course in the game
as well. So I would say, look of the Bengals,
it maybe something over a field goal if it is
Chiefs early like I do expect it to be. Wow, Yeah,
I do like that one. I'll give you one. Um

(01:33:10):
So brock Purty, it's a little bit of magic. And
I've been saying this for weeks now. It's a little
bit of Kyle Shanahan handing him that Place Mack cover
coloring book, right that you get at the restaurant and
they give you four crayons and then they get they
just say, hey, color in the Lions, kid. And so
that opening script is so important for the forty. So

(01:33:31):
if you're loving the Eagles but you're just you're not
sold on minus two and a half, I think the
forty Niners score first in this game, I really do.
I think the Eagles will answer. I think ultimately they'll
win that football game and we'll get to our picks
later run. But if if you if you're if you're
digging that Eagles team but you're just not in love

(01:33:53):
with taking him at minus two and a half, that
that that number could drop if the Forty score first
and uh and maybe even add before half. I I like,
I like, I like to look at that Eagle's number
coming coming down a little bit. I would look to
the a f C title game if the scenario presents itself,

(01:34:16):
maybe an in game under because think of it this way,
the first drive for the Chiefs gonna be highly scripted.
Andy Reid is fantastic with that the vitamin T as
you said it, the tour it all shot might help
out Mahomes, you know, he's feeling good initially, might see
some fireworks against what the Bengals going up against a

(01:34:36):
very suspect pass defense. If you get a couple of
scores early, I would look to the possible in game
under because the Bengals have a really good defense and
you have Mahomes who's not gonna be a d I
like it. Plus, you have three offensive lineman starters out
for the Bengals, so if they get off to a
hot start, that doesn't mean they're gonna sustain it. So

(01:34:59):
I think in game under in the a f C
title game could be a way to go. Yeah, I
think that makes me connes sense. Again, now that we
only have two games game script each one out in
your head, how do you see it going? And that's
where you can maybe find some value. But to me,
it is it's it's it's Chiefs early and then hold

(01:35:20):
on for your life, because I do think eventually there's
a chance of Patricks also re aggravates the Andrew You
know that re injury risk because of the shortness of
the of the break time is pretty high as well.
From what I've heard from the professional medical doctors this week,
not me not being wonderful. Yeah, but on in your
off time, you're inabl Yes, hey. Every Thursday, be sure

(01:35:41):
to check out our Countdown to Kickoff presented by bet MGM.
Original podcast features yours truly, also Jared Smith and Bill Krakenburger.
We give our texts and all the key lines. Get
you set for the weekend. In betting, playoffs are here.
We're talking sides, totals, props, all that good stuff. That's
every Thursday. Just search Fox Sports ready wherever you get
your podcasts. Okay, Rich Ornberger is with us Penn State

(01:36:04):
All American, Jared Smith is with us fs are betting analyst.
I'm Brian No coming up next. It's not just about
the big names on Championship Sunday. Who are a couple
of role players who could play huge roles. We'll compare notes.
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by bet MGM.

(01:36:28):
Welcome to the biggest tailgate party in the nation. You're
locked into Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff Touchdown and
it's presented by bat MGM, the King of sports books.
Once again, Here's Brian No, Rich Ornberger and Jared Smith.
Welcome back to Fox Sports Radios. Countdown to Kickoff presented

(01:36:49):
by bet MGM. New users download the bet mgm app
today and use code countdown for a special offer. That's
code countdown in the bet MGM app. Alright, fellas, we're
looking for role players who could play big roles on
Championship Sunday. It's not just about the quarterbacks, right, A
lot of it is, but not all of it. So

(01:37:11):
we're looking for these under the radar guys that can
make their presence known. If we start with the NFC game,
I'll give you a couple of names. Diama Door Lenore
is the is one of the cornerbacks of the forty Niners.
He's got an interception in each of the two playoff
wins for the Niners. He picked off Geno Smith. Last
week he picked off Dak Prescott. Diamador Lenora is a

(01:37:34):
guy to watch um for the Niners. You gotta try
to force takeaways. They've they've won the turnover battle in
ten straight games. That's crazy to me, So I would
watch Lenora if he can make the hat trick. He's
trying for a turkey in bowling, like three games with
interceptions in them. And another guy, I think Miles Sanders,
the running back of the Eagles, is very underrated here.

(01:37:55):
He's fifth in the league in rushing. That's what he
did throughout the regular season. He had more rushing yards
than Christian McCaffrey, he had more rushing touchdowns than Christian McCaffrey,
and yet he's largely an afterthought. I think Miles Sanders
could be a big, big deal in that game tomorrow.
So give me Lenore of the Niners, give me Miles
Sanders of the Eagles. How about you, guys, some of

(01:38:18):
the role players that you expect to step up possibly well,
we mentioned we mentioned Hassan Reddick's name earlier in the show,
and he really he seems like a role player. He's not.
He's an absolute star on this defensive line for the
Philadelphia Eagles. But I think if the Eagles are gonna win,
it's gonna be because he is a factor, and so

(01:38:38):
that pass rush in general, that defensive front for the
Philadelphia Eagles, if they can get him loose, you're going
to see an Eagles win. I mean, that's that's the reality.
You get to Brock, you force him to make one
errant throw, you know, one one past that you know
should have been in the hands of c mac or

(01:39:00):
I you downfield, and all of a sudden he has
to think about the rush and what it's doing to him.
We could start to see a rookie look like a rookie.
And then on the other side of the ball, if
we're looking at San Francisco, probably one of the more
unheralded players throughout the course of this season, and he's
so important. He's sort of like the Swiss army knife
of this offense. Is Kyle juice Check. What he does.

(01:39:23):
I mean, it's like it's like whoever in your household
takes out the trash right underappreciated but valuable, Like otherwise
you're gonna have piles of cardboard boxes next to the
sliding glass door and trash bags next to the dog ball.
Somebody's got to do the dirty work. And that's Kyle
juice Check. And I love watching the way he plays.

(01:39:43):
He's physical. Uh. They can use him as a tight end,
as a fullback, and occasionally they can use them on
one of those gadget plays. Shanahan will throw him a bone,
literally because otherwise he's just a dog out there, and
and I think he's gonna be one of those role
are stars of the game for the forty Niners. I

(01:40:06):
don't know if we have Jared. I'm not sure. Um,
we'll see if we can get him back if he's
not here. But how about the a f C side, Rich,
if you look at role players who could play big
roles on Sunday, I'll give you a couple of names
of the Bengals. Give me Jesse Bates, the safety. He
might be matched up on Travis Kelsey at times, and
you obviously have to limit his effectiveness. On the chief side,

(01:40:31):
I would look at MVS. Look at Marquez Valdez Scantling,
the wide receiver, because if if Travis Kelsey has doubled,
if he's bracketed, somebody else could have to step up.
MVS only had one catch, but it was a touchdown
catch last week against Jacksonville. I would look from possibly MVS.
You're talking complete role player and maybe making a big catch.

(01:40:54):
It could be MVS. So give me Jesse Bates and
MVS tomorrow. Okay, I I just got a message in
my ear to just keep on rolling over here. That's
fine because I will tag team in n w O style.
I don't know if I'm Hollywood Hull Cogan and he's

(01:41:16):
ex packer, I don't know what it is, but I'll
tag in Scott Hall, Mr Isaac Lowan Kron with the
latest what's going on? I low actually Brian, to be honest,
I'm more of an old school w w F guy
from the eighties. I never really got into it. I'm
afraid when Hull Cogan went over to his alternate identity

(01:41:45):
into uh, you know, Holland Nash and never no like
staying pointing the bat from the rafters. Nothing. I hate
to say it. No, for me, it was just w
w F. I mean, that was the identity of my youth.
That's the thing. I mean, the people we grow up with,

(01:42:05):
you can't top them, no matter what comes ahead down
the line. It was just like our earlier conversation about
Troy Paul Momma, I'm talking about Hull Cogan Ultimate Warrior
Dino Bravo. By the way, you would love this, Yeah,
to tell you a very quick story, Ilo, So I
read this piece you would love it about um. It

(01:42:28):
was sting and he wrote this piece on I think
it was the player's Tribune. You gotta read it. It's
this long piece, tremendously done. But he used to live
with the Ultimate Warrior, and he told the story about
the Ultimate Warrior having this little tiny dog. I forget
the dog's day, but like the Ultimate Warriors, this really

(01:42:48):
intense dude, and he loved this tiny little dog. You
would love that story, man. I encourage you to look
it up. Like a chihuahua, Yeah, something like that. It's
a little tiny dog and he just pampered this little dog.
He loved it to death. You know what I'm looking.
I'm looking at the article as we speak, and the
first line is I'm dangling out of a helicopter. So

(01:43:10):
that's a pretty good lead. That makes me. And how
about our friends at the Players Tribune. I don't hear
much about the Players Tribune anymore, by the way. You
always used to hear these articles every so often, you know,
players writing pieces and the Players Tribune. I don't remember
the last time I saw an article for the Players Tribune.
But good on them, uh to be asking Sting to

(01:43:33):
do an article back in the day. By the way,
I forgot about one other prominent wrestler from the eighties, Yes,
former Cincinnati Red's minor league player. If I'm not mistaken anyway,
speaking of what's going on right now NFL media reporting,
but the Baltimore Ravens have interviewed national champion Georgia Bulldog's

(01:43:54):
offensive coordinator Todd Munkin for their offensive coordinator job in
the NBA. On Friday night, the Golden State Warriors top
Toronto on to one seventeen. Steph Curry thirty five points,
seven rebounds and eleven assists. Also on Friday night, yatis
on Tedna coon Po dropped forty one is. His Milwaukee

(01:44:14):
Bucks were victorious at Indiana one one to one thirty one.
Paces have lost nine of ten. Timberwolves have won four
of five. On Friday night, they defeated the Grizzlies one
eleven to one hundred despite a John Moran triple w
at twenty seven points, ten rebounds and eleven assists. Jimmy
Butler twenty nine points, six rebounds, six assists for Miami

(01:44:35):
and there one ten to one oh five victory over
the Orlando Magic. Shay Gilgist Alexander scored thirty five is.
The Oklahoma City thunder defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers one twelve
to one hundred. Now back to the fan of w
c W. To my w w F Brian, No, w

(01:44:56):
c W, you gotta say it like Scott Hall over there,
you know, and then throw a to see That's that's
the terrible thing. I was so into w WF that
when someone says Sting, I think, you know Sting from
the music group The Police. And when I think Scott Hall,
I'm like, is he from Hall and Oates? So yeah,
it's you're either a w w F guy or a

(01:45:17):
w c W guy. I guess you got you got
some work to do over there, ill no doubt. It's
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Bett MGM.
Let's dive into this player plays man, prop bets galore.

(01:45:38):
Just a sea of prop bets over here. I'll throw
a few of your away. Now. It's a bad beat
last week, and we can't be bitter in betting, but
it does make for a bad beat story. Joe Burrow,
I was on his attempts last week, had to get
over thirty nine and a half and the dude easily

(01:45:59):
would have done it hadn't been a game in the
fourth quarter, but it wasn't Bengals defense came to play.
The game was out of reach. Bengals just ran the ball,
ran the ball, ran the ball down the stretch, and
we didn't get there. I'm not expecting that comfortable of
a win from the Bengals against the Chiefs. Now. The
thing that you gotta think if you're looking at a

(01:46:20):
attempt prop what Joe Burrow is I mean, do you
get some chunk plays last week? I anticipated correctly even
though it didn't hit, that Burrow is gonna be thrown
a lot of quick, short stuff. You've got three starting
offensive lineman out. I gotta get rid of the ball quickly,
and he did. It just wasn't a competitive game. I

(01:46:42):
think it's gonna be a competitive game on the road,
even in burrow Head Stadium, as it's been coined over there.
I think Burrow gets to forty passing attempts. I don't
know that Joe mixing and the running game is gonna
be as effective. If you think about the Chiefs, you
just saw it last week, how effective that Bengals running
game can be. So they're gonna be aware of it,

(01:47:04):
and they're gonna try to limit the effectiveness of Joe Mixon.
So I look for Burrow to have to throw it
quite a bit. And it's possible that the Bengals are
trailing late, it's a close fourth quarter game, what have you.
But I could see a couple of chunk plays. But
based on three starting offensive lineman being out, I think
Burrow throws it short and quick often. I'm gonna take

(01:47:27):
Burrow to get to forty passing attempts. You can get
it at plus money at bet MGM. It's plus one
for forty plus passing attempts. So I'd look to jump
on that one. A couple others here to look at
this one stands out like a sore thumb. Get it

(01:47:48):
because you gotta lay more than you might like to.
But if you look at the interception props just for
all four quarterbacks, Mahomes is at minus a dollar five
US money on both Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts. So
if they throw an interceptions at plus one oh five,
then you get to brock Purty. Yes, brock Purty, the

(01:48:11):
Messiah in cleats is I have coined him with all
the love that's going on over the top, Um brock Purty,
what do you think his interception prop is that it's
at a mind, it's at minus a dollar twenty sixty
five minus one sixty five for brock Purty. So what

(01:48:32):
that means is you would have to risk a hundred
sixty five to win one hundred. Obviously you would get
the money that you placed back as well, but you
would have to risk one six five just to win
one hundred. So Vegas the sports book, they're telling you, yeah,
Brock's probably good for at least one interception against the

(01:48:54):
Eagles on Sunday. And again, I don't know that you
want to race out and lay a dollars sixty five,
but that just stands out, not just from a betting perspective,
but just from a football perspective that Vegas is that
confident that Brock Purty will throw at least one interception.

(01:49:14):
Another thing that stands out, again obviously related to the
game and related to betting, Isaiah Pacheco. If you look
at his rushing prop bet, it's at forty seven and
a half seems really low, doesn't It seems very low.
But it's one of those lines where I say they
they might be onto something here, might be on to said, Okay,

(01:49:35):
the crew is back. Let's get everybody in here all right, Rich,
Where are we at? What are we doing? I was
just waxing, poeted a lot of information. You deserve a
raise after that, A Brian, you really do. Thank you.
I appreciate that. Jared prop bets, I know you're not
just previewing green Bay and Wright State. They're all over
the championships. Want the green Bay rights State prop numbers? No, No,

(01:49:58):
I love that, trust yoursifying your four pafolio. It's not
just about thing that exists. I like your look on Pacheco.
One of a very a very prominent betting podcast, gave
out the under on on his rushing yards this week,
and I think that's why the number moved down a
little bit. But if you do look at the carry
load for Patchecko against McKinnon, McKinnon actually is is out

(01:50:22):
carrying Pacheco in some key areas and and and I think, um,
we're gonna see a lot more McKinnon this week. So
I like his under there. And I don't understand how
you don't play Jamar Chase in some capacity. I mean,
the dude twenty nine targets, catches, seen yards, four touchdowns,
in three games against the Chiefs. Now, maybe they try
to scheme him out, they play cover to whatever. I

(01:50:44):
don't think you can scheme Jamar Chase completely off of
the game. So I would look to play Chase in
some capacity in that ANFC game. Yeah, yeah, I think
that's really smart. Um. You know, you talk about you
talk about Pacheco. I want to look at the other
side and and talk about Joe Burrow. So I think
there's gonna be a little bit of scheming on the

(01:51:05):
side of the Chiefs to get him off this spot.
And I was just peeking around. You know, it's this
sounds so ridiculous, but like, what what is Joe Burrow's
rushing number on this game? And it's seventeen and a half?
And I sort of feel like we forget that he
can run a little bit. I mean, he's not a
great athlete. Nobody is mistaking him for Patrick Mahomes, but

(01:51:27):
he's healthy, he doesn't have the ankle, and I think, well,
everybody's looking over at this hand, there's something up the
other sleeve. So I like the over seventeen and a
half for Joe Burrow on the rushing total in this
game because I do think he's gonna have to create
outside the pocket at different times, and he's gonna he's
gonna be on the move. And then Jerick McKinnon receiving yards.

(01:51:50):
I think he's gonna be really impactful in this game
out of the backfield. If I'm the Cincinnati Bengals, I'm
trying to shut down Travis Kelsey. I'm looking at the problems.
Jerk McKinnon is a problem, But you're gonna commit one
defender to McKinnon. His receiving total is at nine and
a half. I think he goes over on that number

(01:52:11):
during this game. You know, it's interesting, Rich, we were
talking about how healthy is Mahome's gonna be, how effective
will he be, where will he be limited? All of
that type of stuff, and you look at hey, what's
his rushing prop bet? You know, like, what what's his rushing?
I would bet the over on Mahomes. You're getting again
by low on the most generational quarterback we have. But

(01:52:32):
most shops there isn't a line. They don't we don't
even have a line from mahomes rushing total, right, Joe
Brows at seventeen and a half, But Mahomes in a
lot of places it's not even available, it's not there.
And so that makes me think, Okay, the books in
some areas he got it. Bet the over there, it's
one run for him. Basically, that's basically one one run.

(01:52:56):
I just I don't know how healthy he is that thing.
I just I think he's healthy. Then we all think
he is. Let's just leave it at that. That doesn't
mean much to me, right, Like, if he's healthier than
the market thinks he right, that's all we care about. Well,

(01:53:17):
and the truth is straight line and and this is
coming from somebody who's had multiple terrible sprained ankles and
played on them at different points in my career. When
you're running straight ahead, that's not the problem. It's you know,
so if all of a sudden Elaine opens up in
front of him and he rushes for ten yards and slides,
you hit your over on that number, Garrett, to your point,

(01:53:39):
it's it's going to be it's going to be how
well he's able to start and stop and move well
in the pocket. You know, some of those more laterally
explosive moment moments that I mean have really been a trademark,
a hallmark of his career as an athlete. As an
athlete playing the quarterback position. We'll see if he can
do that stuff. But I'm with you, like, if you
can find a number on the homes, it's not it's

(01:54:02):
not on. But I don't think bet MGM has it up.
I can't find it anywhere to hunt for it. There's
a couple of shops that do have it, though. Man.
I just think back to the game against Jacksonville. Again,
it was the day of his injury, and there's been
a full week now, so he might be a little
bit better, but there was a lane that opened up
early in the third quarter, and he's just like trying

(01:54:23):
to limp and jump on one leg and get any
game maybe like four yards. I just curious how affected
he is. And the other thing you've got to consider is,
if I'm the Bengals. We mentioned this earlier, I'm not
blitzing Patrick. I'm playing coverage because he's gonna be limited
extending plays and I don't know how many rushing lanes
is gonna show up. They were very effective using Hendrickson

(01:54:46):
as a spy last year, and you don't hear that often, right,
defensive lineman spy that last year and they were so effective.
It's exactly what I was saying earlier. I was I
was saying, if the Bengals are smart, they're going to
disguise three in four men rushes for three in four
men fronts by by committing to stop the run with bodies.

(01:55:09):
But then they're gonna drop defensive lineman, especially with the
bad ankle, and I think it's going to be what
they see that we did. We basically did the show
without me even on the show because we're on the
same page. That's exactly what I would have That's exactly
what I would have said, and and that's why I
like the under two and we talked about that as
well during your live that ex segment, Brian, because I
do think the chess match of defensive you know, Queen

(01:55:33):
to to Night f eight or whatever the you know,
the Queen's gambit stuff, that to me always favors unders
because the defense has the first crack and then the
offense has to adjust to it, and sometimes it's not
part of your game plan and you have to adjust
on the fly, and then you have a couple inconsistencies, inefficiencies,
a couple three ounce and boom, all of a sudden.

(01:55:54):
It's ten seven in the in the in the third quarter,
So that could be an interesting under rategy because of
the different defensive looks we're gonna see because of the ankle.
Very well, very well could be the case. Okay, we're
gonna close it down in style. We've got Jared Smith
FSR betting analysts. We've got Rich orn Berger who pretended

(01:56:14):
that wolves were chasing him when he was in the
weight room doing squats over there as a football player.
I'm Brian No. Coming up next, We've got some picks, Picks, Picks,
Pick Scalore. We'll get you all set for championship Sunday tomorrow.
Can you throw in right state in Green Bay? Is
one of your picks? Jared? And I don't know if
that's allowed unless we're gonna change the show to count

(01:56:35):
down the tip off? Ye could be? Could I like
what you're thinking right there? For it is Countdown the
Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Hang with us right here
on Fox Sports Radio. Kickoffs are coming, Sue, and we're
leading you up to that. This is Fox Sports Radios
Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Bett mg the kick of

(01:56:59):
sports books once again. Here's Brian no Rich Hornberger and
Jared smit Yes it is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to
kick Off, presented by Bett MGM. Big things to the
crew as always, Ryan Burr, Shinger, our trusted producer, Iowa
Sam who had his track shoes on today battling Gremlin's

(01:57:23):
running from spot to spot. Over there also Isaac lowenkron
tremendous job on the updates, Top of the Hour, up
on game, LaVar Arrington, t J Hushman's out of Plaxico,
Burris cat y'all set for championships Sunday and beyond. Definitely
want to hear what those guys have to say. Are
we owe you some picks? Let's dive into this rapid fire,

(01:57:47):
all right, Jared, we'll start with you. Three picks man,
What do you like? Yeah, two and one, last week's
good stuff, thirty four and twenty six on the air.
So again, even if we go oh and six down
the stretch, we're still gonna have a profitable year. But
we're not gonna do that. Jalen Hurts anytime touchdown plus
one fifteen. He's scored in ten of sixteen games this year.
Simple map, that's sixty two and a half percent. That's
the equivalent to minus one sixty seven odds. We're getting

(01:58:07):
plus one fifteen. Love that bet, Eagles laying two and
a half. Listen, I talked about this. One quarterback is
gonna be on the m v P podium. The other
one is not. Take the quarterback that's gonna be on
the m v P podium laying less than a field goal.
I like the Birds, and I'll take the Chiefs in
the first half on the money line. About to pick
him here minus one ten on both sides, maybe minus
one fifteen Vitamin T for Patty Ice should be feeling

(01:58:30):
good early in the game, and I think those Lou
and a Rumo adjustments will start to take effect. But
the Chiefs have the element of surprise early. So we'll
go Jalen Hurts anytime touchdown. Eagles laying two and a half,
the Chiefs first half money that alright, alright, alright, alright.
Out of the NFC. The Philadelphia Eagles are favored by
three in this matchup over the San Francisco forty Niners.

(01:58:50):
I think the Eagles soar led by Jaell and Hurts
in the offense. A lot of people are loving that defense.
I'm loving on Nick Sirianni and what he's done with
Jellen Hurts. Moving on to the a f C. Chiefs
favored by one and a half at home. Do we
really think that Patty Mahomes and Andy Read are gonna
allow themselves to be beat by the Bengals four times
in a row. I don't see it. I got the

(01:59:11):
Chiefs and finally, take a look at that total, the numbers,
forty eight Chiefs Bengals. This game's going over. It's never
been under forty eight in any of the other three matchups.
So I got the Eagles by three, I got the
Chiefs favorite one and a half and eight in Kansas City.
I'm taking the over all, right, I'll go fast because

(01:59:32):
again I have no choice. Philly minus two and a half.
I'm with you, guys. I like the under rich. I'm
gonna getch you. I'm under in this Bengals Chiefs game,
and give me the under Deebo Samuel forty nine and
a half receiving yards. Pertty ain't ready for prime time.
What's the play of the day, Jared, You know what
it is. It's Green Bay and it's right state under
one and a half let's go playing big. Take the under.

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