Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #21: Super Bowl matchup, Season Rankings superlatives, 49ers QB questions, and SB Storylines

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#21: Super Bowl matchup, Season Rankings superlatives, 49ers QB questions, and SB Storylines · NFL Power Rankings

0:04
Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the
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Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings podcast, presented by Energizer. Still Going This show,
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Speaker 1: Still Going, Dan Hans, joined by my lovely co host
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Speaker 1: Colleen Wolf Connie and then there were two Yes, we
0:35
Speaker 1: are still going, and so are the Eagles and the Chiefs.
0:39
Speaker 1: What a weekend of football we had. What a weekend
0:43
Speaker 1: it was for the city here in Philadelphia and in
0:45
Speaker 1: Kansas City. Not so much for the poor mayor in Cincinnati.
0:49
Speaker 1: But that's okay, he'll he'll have to deal with it.
0:52
Speaker 1: I mean, how does it feel as an Eagles fan
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Speaker 1: to take out Daniel Jones and the Giants and then
1:00
Speaker 1: the fourth string quarterback of the forty Niners to get
1:03
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl? I mean, it must feel like
1:06
Speaker 1: you've already in a climbed a mountain. What an achievement?
1:09
Speaker 1: Is this? Is this about the empire state building? Is this?
1:12
Speaker 1: Is that? What this is about? Like if I was
1:15
Speaker 1: a Giants fan, Yes, if I was a Giants fan,
1:20
Speaker 1: I wouldn't even be doing this show with you. Yeah,
1:23
Speaker 1: that that was the spectacular misfire on their part. But
1:27
Speaker 1: something that all Philadelphia really loved and backed in. But listen,
1:31
Speaker 1: like you can't You can only control what you can control, Dan,
1:35
Speaker 1: You can't control who your opponents are. You can't control injuries.
1:39
Speaker 1: The stars have to align in so many different ways,
1:42
Speaker 1: and as it turns out, they aligned for the Eagles.
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Speaker 1: They did in congratulations to you, Colleen and all the
1:47
Speaker 1: Eagles fans. You guys had a tough go of it
1:50
Speaker 1: for like fifty years, I remember that. And now in
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Speaker 1: the last five or so, the sun has been shining
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Speaker 1: upon your fair city and now you get to get
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Speaker 1: ready and get pumped up for your second Super Bowl
2:02
Speaker 1: and half a decade. And of course it is the
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Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs that are waiting, and I think Patrick
2:07
Speaker 1: Mahomes will be playing in that game, so that will
2:10
Speaker 1: be a bigger challenge for sure. While we're here, why
2:13
Speaker 1: don't we do a little power Moves presented by Energizer.
2:17
Speaker 1: Let's take a look Connie at the teams on my
2:21
Speaker 1: power rankings, which, by the way, if you're scrambling over
2:23
Speaker 1: to NFL dot com, where are the power rankings? None
2:26
Speaker 1: this week, but they'll be back right after the Super Bowl,
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Speaker 1: so you know, once that panic is flushed out of
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Speaker 1: your system. We can move forward, Connie, pause for panic
2:34
Speaker 1: to flush out of system or panic flushed. Here are
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Speaker 1: my power rankings for the season, most weeks as a
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Speaker 1: number one team, Connie, there you go, nailed it. Eiggles
2:48
Speaker 1: weeks at number one. You can fairly point out they
2:52
Speaker 1: weren't at number one last week, but things change. The
2:55
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills seven weeks at number one. That was a
2:58
Speaker 1: first half of the season phenomenon. Obviously, the Bills kind
3:02
Speaker 1: of fell off a little bit as the last week
3:04
Speaker 1: to the season, progressed and missed out even on a
3:07
Speaker 1: title game. The Niners, the poor Niners, and we learned
3:10
Speaker 1: that brought Purdy tore a ligament in his elbow. It's
3:14
Speaker 1: hard to believe that they had so much injury luck,
3:16
Speaker 1: but they were four weeks at number one. The Chiefs,
3:19
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I had
3:22
Speaker 1: them just one week at number one. Same with the
3:25
Speaker 1: same with the Bengals. But this is why context is important. Connie.
3:28
Speaker 1: Let's take a look now at the chart that shows
3:31
Speaker 1: us the trajectory of both our teams in the Super
3:34
Speaker 1: Bowl on the power rankings. Because you had the Chiefs
3:38
Speaker 1: riding in the top five throughout the season. Eagles and Chiefs.
3:43
Speaker 1: What are we looking at here? Is this Eagles? I assume? Yes.
3:46
Speaker 1: So Eagles started at fourteen in week one. Uh, you know,
3:49
Speaker 1: they were a kind of a team that was hard
3:51
Speaker 1: to figure out initially, Connie I had him in the
3:53
Speaker 1: top ten by week two, and then they kind of
3:55
Speaker 1: rode into into top five status from basically Week five onward.
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Speaker 1: The Chiefs started at seven, and we're in the top
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Speaker 1: five virtually the whole season as well. So these are
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Speaker 1: obviously two number one seeds, Connie, and now they play
4:09
Speaker 1: each other for the big Trophy. Well, it seemed perfect
4:11
Speaker 1: when we had championship weekend upon us and the final
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Speaker 1: four teams or four of the best teams who had
4:18
Speaker 1: been the best teams for basically the entire season, and
4:21
Speaker 1: we knew that it was going to come down to that.
4:23
Speaker 1: There were no Cinderella teams left at that point, and
4:27
Speaker 1: it was a bummer. I mean, I hated the fact
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Speaker 1: that Rock Purty got knocked out of this game because
4:32
Speaker 1: that is going to be the narrative now, like, oh
4:34
Speaker 1: my gosh, they oh they beat the Giants, and the
4:37
Speaker 1: Giants looked like crap in that game anyway, and then
4:40
Speaker 1: the Niners they were on their fourth string quarterback. I mean,
4:43
Speaker 1: this is a game that I wanted the Eagles to
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Speaker 1: beat the Niners at full strength, even if their full
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Speaker 1: strength was with Rock Purty, and it didn't happen. We
4:52
Speaker 1: didn't get that, and I think that's sad for everyone.
4:55
Speaker 1: But listen, it's too bad. We're not going to find
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Speaker 1: out what would have happened. We're not going to find
4:59
Speaker 1: out things like that or if Devanta Smith catch was
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Speaker 1: a cash We'll never know. But no, we know that
5:06
Speaker 1: at this point. They have cameras and replays. But that's
5:10
Speaker 1: not your fault either. That's Kyle Shanahan's fault and the
5:13
Speaker 1: eye and the sky's fault for not catching that. No,
5:16
Speaker 1: everything broke Philly's way, and that's fine, But this is
5:20
Speaker 1: now going to be the challenge of them to you
5:23
Speaker 1: know what they're kind of it could work out in
5:25
Speaker 1: your favor again, because that's a nice little bit of motivation.
5:29
Speaker 1: Talked about it around the NFL podcast after the Championship games.
5:32
Speaker 1: That motivation is a sneaky, huge part I think of
5:36
Speaker 1: the professional sports experience, any sports experience, these teams find
5:39
Speaker 1: something to like kind of sink their teeth into and
5:41
Speaker 1: it serves as something that can really lift their game.
5:44
Speaker 1: I think we saw that in Kansas City with all
5:46
Speaker 1: the hype around borrow Head and the Cincinnati mayor being
5:49
Speaker 1: a dummy and all of that. I think the Eagles
5:52
Speaker 1: now are going to be able to And you know, Sirianni,
5:55
Speaker 1: you know, he's like basically a dude of DJ's down
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Speaker 1: in Belmar. He's going to use this to tell the Eagles, Listen,
6:01
Speaker 1: everybody thinks we don't even deserve to be here and
6:03
Speaker 1: all that, and that is I think that could work
6:05
Speaker 1: to their advantage because we know that this Eagles team
6:09
Speaker 1: is legit. We know they're awesome on both sides of
6:12
Speaker 1: the ball. They are dominant in the trenches, and I
6:15
Speaker 1: think as we kind of begin to spend to their
6:18
Speaker 1: opponent this this upcoming Sunday in the Super Bowl, we'll
6:22
Speaker 1: talk about Patrick Mahomes at a bad ankle and what
6:24
Speaker 1: that line that had seventies sacks in the regular season
6:27
Speaker 1: can do to a quarterback who's maybe not moving at
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Speaker 1: his best. Yeah, the the Eagles pass rush has been ferocious.
6:34
Speaker 1: It's been that way all season long, and the Eagles
6:37
Speaker 1: team in general, it's healthy. Their ground game is so good,
6:40
Speaker 1: but that defensive line, like Hassan Reddick was I think
6:43
Speaker 1: one of the best pickups of the entire offseason. Howie
6:46
Speaker 1: Rosemand has received so much credit, but this one in
6:49
Speaker 1: particular just went so far and just the moves that
6:53
Speaker 1: they made to to share up the interior of that
6:56
Speaker 1: front seven two bringing in Limball, Joseph bringing in and
7:00
Speaker 1: Dominican Sue. But they can play so fast, they're so deep,
7:04
Speaker 1: they can rotate all around and it's not like it
7:07
Speaker 1: was funny kind of comparing the Eagles and the Niners
7:10
Speaker 1: going into that game, because looking at their pass rush
7:14
Speaker 1: and looking at Nick Bosa, that's where so much of
7:16
Speaker 1: that pressure came from. That's where they got so many
7:19
Speaker 1: of their sex. But with the Eagles, they have so
7:21
Speaker 1: many different players that can get you. Josh Sweat, you
7:24
Speaker 1: even have Fletcher Cocks that can come in from the inside.
7:27
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many different ways that this Eagles
7:30
Speaker 1: defense can come and get you. And then the secondary
7:33
Speaker 1: was finally healthy again for the first time since Week
7:36
Speaker 1: eleven when they played the Colts with Avante Maddox back
7:39
Speaker 1: in there. So they have so many great things going
7:42
Speaker 1: for them on that side of the ball. And I
7:43
Speaker 1: really am interested with a hobbled Patrick Mahomes. He has
7:46
Speaker 1: had time to heal at this point, so hopefully he
7:50
Speaker 1: won't be as limited as he was in the game
7:53
Speaker 1: against the Bengals. We saw how he was hobbling around
7:56
Speaker 1: and he did honestly, he's a warrior like that effort.
7:59
Speaker 1: Was so impressive to see Patrick Mahomes scrambling on a
8:03
Speaker 1: leg that he didn't even want to put pressure on
8:05
Speaker 1: when he was hopping on his other leg, and then
8:07
Speaker 1: you see him scramble for first downs. I mean, he
8:10
Speaker 1: cannot be stopped. And that is just one of the
8:12
Speaker 1: most interesting things going into this game. I know you're
8:15
Speaker 1: nervous about that, but all right, let's let's just spend
8:19
Speaker 1: through all the teams in the top four of the
8:21
Speaker 1: Power rankings, and they were the top four teams in
8:23
Speaker 1: the league heading at the championship Sunday. Yeah, the Niners.
8:26
Speaker 1: They were number three in my rankings. I had the
8:28
Speaker 1: Eagles just ahead of him. And it is you feel,
8:31
Speaker 1: if you're a Niners fan and a certainly Kyle Shanahan
8:34
Speaker 1: and that whole organization to feel like the little cheated
8:36
Speaker 1: by the football gods. Obviously, the injuries unbelievable. The quarterback position.
8:41
Speaker 1: Rock Party. We learned shortly after the NFC title game
8:44
Speaker 1: that he had suffered a complete tear of his elbow ligament.
8:48
Speaker 1: He's gonna need surgery to repair that. It's gonna put
8:50
Speaker 1: him on the shelf for they believe. I think six
8:53
Speaker 1: months is the number. And you could look at that
8:56
Speaker 1: and do the math and say, Okay, he should be
8:58
Speaker 1: ready for training camp. Well, we'll see. I mean, that's
9:00
Speaker 1: a that's a serious injury. You don't know how his
9:04
Speaker 1: rehab comes on that and whether they feel comfortable with
9:07
Speaker 1: part even being their starter long term. You have Trey
9:09
Speaker 1: Lance still obviously in that building as the number two
9:12
Speaker 1: overall pick a couple of years ago, Jimmy g we
9:14
Speaker 1: assume almost certainly is finally going to be out the door. Conny,
9:18
Speaker 1: is it possible that Tom Brady now enters the equation
9:21
Speaker 1: for the Niners. He's a free agent obviously his boyhood
9:24
Speaker 1: team or at the Niners. He grew up in that region.
9:27
Speaker 1: Think Kyle Shanahan is thinking about that now that there's
9:30
Speaker 1: ever more uncertainty at that position as we hit the
9:33
Speaker 1: off season, anything is possible. But I would not be
9:36
Speaker 1: a fan of that move just watching all of the
9:39
Speaker 1: injuries that happened this year at the position and having
9:44
Speaker 1: a quarterback like Tom Brady who is the goat, who's
9:47
Speaker 1: so good, but he's not exactly a mobile quarterback. That
9:50
Speaker 1: is the way that the entire league is moving. And
9:53
Speaker 1: then you're going to bring in Tom Brady who is
9:55
Speaker 1: forty five years old, going to be forty six years old,
9:58
Speaker 1: and he doesn't move around. You need to make sure
10:01
Speaker 1: that you have everything in place. Like I think that
10:03
Speaker 1: when Josh Johnson and came into the game for the Niners,
10:07
Speaker 1: we saw how limited they became, and it kind of
10:10
Speaker 1: made you. At least it made me appreciate brock Purty
10:13
Speaker 1: a little bit more. And I think that they have
10:15
Speaker 1: been able to find ways to win with all of
10:18
Speaker 1: these different quarterbacks. But I think they just stick with
10:20
Speaker 1: that plan. Why spend money and bring in Tom Brady
10:24
Speaker 1: when you can use the guys that you might have there,
10:27
Speaker 1: make it work for a little bit, and then use
10:29
Speaker 1: that other money to allocate to other things that they need.
10:31
Speaker 1: I don't agree. I think they should have ten quarterbacks
10:34
Speaker 1: on their roster next season to make sure Josh Johnson
10:37
Speaker 1: does not ever play for them again. No offense against
10:40
Speaker 1: Josh Johnson, but that the game felt over once you
10:43
Speaker 1: got to that point real quick. On the Bengals, Connie,
10:45
Speaker 1: your thoughts on them, My thoughts are, it's tough. I mean,
10:48
Speaker 1: you you come so close, you have the ball in
10:50
Speaker 1: your hands with a chance to win the Super Bowl
10:53
Speaker 1: against the Rams, and then Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati
10:56
Speaker 1: offense gets the ball twice in a game at Arrowhead
11:00
Speaker 1: and they can't find a way to get it done.
11:02
Speaker 1: I know Cincinnati fans will always remember the push out
11:05
Speaker 1: of bounds by just a side that gave Harrison Bucker
11:08
Speaker 1: a much easier kick to make. It's tough to get
11:10
Speaker 1: this close and get turned away two years in a row.
11:12
Speaker 1: You know, It's such a shame because that game, first
11:15
Speaker 1: of all, was so good. It was so close. It
11:17
Speaker 1: felt like at any point in the game anything could happen.
11:20
Speaker 1: Either team was going to win, which was so different
11:22
Speaker 1: from their earlier game, the NFC game with the Eagles
11:25
Speaker 1: and the Niners. But for the Bengals, they just came
11:28
Speaker 1: so close and they were able to tie it, and
11:29
Speaker 1: they were able to keep making plays and it felt
11:31
Speaker 1: like they weren't going to be denied, and maybe they
11:34
Speaker 1: would find a way even if Patrick Mahomes was constantly
11:37
Speaker 1: finding Jason Kelsey or Travis Kelsey and finally making these
11:41
Speaker 1: plays happen. But Joe Burrow and this team, they have
11:43
Speaker 1: so much personality, they're so good, they want ten straight games,
11:47
Speaker 1: and it just seems like they kept gaining momentum every
11:51
Speaker 1: single week. They would go on on both sides of
11:53
Speaker 1: the ball. They kept getting better, and when they tied
11:56
Speaker 1: the game early in the fourth, I thought this was
11:58
Speaker 1: going to go to overtime. I thought for sure. But
12:01
Speaker 1: the Bengals offensive line weaknesses, it's the same thing that
12:04
Speaker 1: at them last year. We saw it happened in the
12:06
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. We saw it happen again, and then obviously
12:09
Speaker 1: the untimely penalties were the thing that really took them down.
12:13
Speaker 1: But it's just it's such a shame because it felt
12:16
Speaker 1: like this was a team that was destined to get back,
12:18
Speaker 1: and there is so much talent in the a f C.
12:21
Speaker 1: But they have so many good building blocks that they
12:23
Speaker 1: have so much to look forward to. But that doesn't
12:25
Speaker 1: really help now that their season is over. Yeah, and
12:28
Speaker 1: here's a difference to me, like the Niners can rightly
12:31
Speaker 1: feel like fate intervened and took away an opportunity to
12:34
Speaker 1: go to the super Bowl. Cincinnati had the shot there
12:37
Speaker 1: and it just didn't work out. I'm annoyed. I mean,
12:39
Speaker 1: this is the Power rankings. I had them at number
12:41
Speaker 1: one after Divisional round weekend, and it just felt like
12:45
Speaker 1: it was their moment. It felt like it was Burrows moment,
12:48
Speaker 1: and then the moment arrives with the ball in his hands,
12:51
Speaker 1: and for that not to work out does kind of
12:54
Speaker 1: just show you how unpredictable football is. And also it
12:57
Speaker 1: shows you the Chiefs are. You understand why after the
13:00
Speaker 1: game all they could do was talk about how they
13:03
Speaker 1: were overlooked and you know, Burrow head my arts, as
13:07
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey said after the game, because yeah, like this
13:12
Speaker 1: wasn't some I had them number four entering Championship weekend.
13:15
Speaker 1: But I even said on the show, Connie, like, this
13:18
Speaker 1: is ridiculous to have to do this, because you could
13:20
Speaker 1: flip the Power rankings and I would have been able
13:22
Speaker 1: to sell that to the Kansas City Chiefs are locked
13:25
Speaker 1: and loaded here. They have some injury issues, obviously, but
13:27
Speaker 1: you expect this break to really help them. I cannot
13:30
Speaker 1: wait to see this matchup. The Chiefs have a lot
13:35
Speaker 1: to prove and the quarterback wants to be the goat.
13:37
Speaker 1: We're going to get to that, but let's take a break.
13:42
Speaker 1: We'll be back with more on the Power Rankings podcast.
13:53
Speaker 1: All right, Welcome back Super Bull fifty seven Connie Sunday,
14:01
Speaker 1: February twelve from Glendale, Arizona, Stay Barn Stadium. Eagles be Chiefs.
14:09
Speaker 1: About some bangers storylines going into the big games. Some
14:13
Speaker 1: are going to feel a little bit on the nose,
14:16
Speaker 1: some but need to be addressed. Some are gonna be
14:19
Speaker 1: a little People aren't talking about it, not yet. Anyway,
14:22
Speaker 1: we're ahead of the curse. Let's start with one that
14:24
Speaker 1: already instantly people are buzzing about. Did you hear about
14:28
Speaker 1: the Kelsey brothers? Oh? I don't know what you're talking about? You?
14:33
Speaker 1: I know, I know you're you like this one, because
14:35
Speaker 1: where does Jason Kelsey rank on like favored sons in
14:39
Speaker 1: Philadelphia At this point in his career, He's up there
14:42
Speaker 1: with Alan Iverson. He can do no wrong. After the
14:46
Speaker 1: Eagles won their first Super Bowl, in his iconic speech
14:52
Speaker 1: on the Art Museum steps, it was just one of
14:55
Speaker 1: the most famous moments in Philadelphia sports history. He is
14:59
Speaker 1: so beloved. He goes to the local Jersey shore bars
15:02
Speaker 1: and bartends wearing the staff Earth, He's at the O D.
15:06
Speaker 1: He's all over the place. He is a son of
15:08
Speaker 1: the city. He is absolutely and Travis on the other side, he's,
15:13
Speaker 1: you know, one of the greats, if not the greatest
15:14
Speaker 1: tight end of all time, depending who you talk to
15:17
Speaker 1: and what we saw of course after the an f
15:20
Speaker 1: C title game and his Dwayne Johnson routine, getting after
15:24
Speaker 1: Burrow head talk, getting after the mayor of Cincinnati. The
15:28
Speaker 1: man is basically like a pro wrestler who happens to
15:31
Speaker 1: be an amazing football player. They both are still charismatic.
15:35
Speaker 1: They have a podcast and I'm not gonna plug because
15:37
Speaker 1: I consider it a competitor to around the NFL. But
15:40
Speaker 1: it's really good. Also, these guys are fun, so that
15:43
Speaker 1: will be a great week of media lead up. They
15:46
Speaker 1: are a dream pairing for what the Super Bowl is,
15:50
Speaker 1: which is a media event ultimately before yeah, their personalities
15:55
Speaker 1: will be an engine in this. I love seeing their
15:58
Speaker 1: mom already with the split jersey that she's going to
16:01
Speaker 1: wear with the Chiefs and the Eagles. And then also
16:03
Speaker 1: I just think it's so funny overall with these two brothers.
16:06
Speaker 1: How they're both so charismatic, as you said, but they
16:09
Speaker 1: are both so different too, Like Travis has a little
16:13
Speaker 1: bit more swag, he seems a little bit cooler, and
16:16
Speaker 1: then just in a different way, and then Jason is
16:19
Speaker 1: more of a burly almost like a lumberjack. But like,
16:24
Speaker 1: they just have two very different styles. But they're both
16:28
Speaker 1: so cool and so genuine and such like fun nice
16:31
Speaker 1: people to be around. So it is it's so awesome
16:33
Speaker 1: to now see them compete. Yeah, who do you think
16:35
Speaker 1: is better husband material? It's got to be Jason, right,
16:38
Speaker 1: So hard to answer, I guess Jason, I have no idea.
16:43
Speaker 1: I feel like you'd protect you'd protect me, Jason. Um,
16:46
Speaker 1: here's another question. I love this one. Patrick Mahomes, He's
16:50
Speaker 1: the big spoon. Patrick Mahomes and his quest for double
16:55
Speaker 1: big spoon, Yummy, Patrick Mahomes, his quest for a second title.
17:00
Speaker 1: Connie Mahomes is just this is his third Super Bowl.
17:05
Speaker 1: This is a guy who's been to five consecutive a
17:08
Speaker 1: f C title games. It's been an incredible career. Tom
17:11
Speaker 1: Brady obviously has set the bar. And when you talk
17:14
Speaker 1: about the greatest quarterbacks, both because of his own just
17:17
Speaker 1: greatness as a player, but also the longevity that allowed
17:20
Speaker 1: him to end up with seven rings as I believe
17:23
Speaker 1: it's seven by seven rings, which is unbelieva. So obviously
17:31
Speaker 1: Mahomes has a lot of work to do, but to
17:34
Speaker 1: get a second chip here would be a big step forward.
17:37
Speaker 1: When you talk about literally the greatest player of all
17:40
Speaker 1: time in the NFL. Yeah, he's just part of this
17:42
Speaker 1: next wave of young talented quarterbacks and Mahomes can't be denied.
17:48
Speaker 1: From the moment he took over for Alex Smith, everyone
17:51
Speaker 1: knew that this guy was special and what he could
17:54
Speaker 1: do was not like others, and he's just continued that.
17:57
Speaker 1: It's not like we saw it in blips and then
17:59
Speaker 1: he had down years or there was something that he
18:00
Speaker 1: had to overcome. No, he's been doing the crazy side,
18:03
Speaker 1: armed path is and everything else since he came into
18:06
Speaker 1: this game. He's so good, he's so young, and he's
18:10
Speaker 1: just he's a player that you want on your team representing.
18:13
Speaker 1: He's a great face of the franchise. He he knows
18:16
Speaker 1: how to how to be a quarterback. He knows how
18:19
Speaker 1: to get a city behind him. He's likable and he's
18:21
Speaker 1: good at the same time, so that recipe, he's he's
18:24
Speaker 1: going to go in the Hall of Fame as soon
18:26
Speaker 1: as he's sun. Yeah, he could retire after this game
18:29
Speaker 1: winner lose, and he's a Hall of Famer. And you know,
18:32
Speaker 1: maybe I would feel different if I was a fan
18:34
Speaker 1: of an a f C West team that wasn't the Chiefs. Um,
18:37
Speaker 1: but I'm all good. I like seeing the Chiefs in
18:41
Speaker 1: these big states on the big stage year after year
18:43
Speaker 1: because it's just Mahomes is at that level of superstar,
18:48
Speaker 1: like an iconic level player that kind of want to
18:51
Speaker 1: see what he does next and how he can outdo himself,
18:53
Speaker 1: and playing the way he did on one leg in
18:56
Speaker 1: the a f C Championship game is a perfect example.
18:58
Speaker 1: He gets two weeks, obviously to rehab and hopefully be
19:02
Speaker 1: at top four against that fierce Eagles defend. Another big storyline, Connie.
19:15
Speaker 1: We hit it on a little bit earlier, but let's
19:17
Speaker 1: touch on it again. There's going to be a drumbeat
19:21
Speaker 1: that the Eagles have to prove some doubters wrong who
19:25
Speaker 1: saw the playoff run in the NFC is underwhelming in
19:29
Speaker 1: terms of competition and UH in general, Connie and I
19:33
Speaker 1: tell me if you agree as an Eagles fan, just
19:36
Speaker 1: kind of a nice clear path from September onward. It
19:39
Speaker 1: felt like it was a very nice schedule for Philly.
19:41
Speaker 1: Things kind of fell their way, and now they get
19:43
Speaker 1: to say, shut up, everybody, We just one and one
19:46
Speaker 1: and one and then we one again on Super Bowl Sunday.
19:49
Speaker 1: Eagles proven their doubters wrong. Big storyline, and the Eagles
19:52
Speaker 1: don't care if people don't like them. Philadelphia doesn't care
19:55
Speaker 1: if people don't like them. It doesn't matter because even
19:58
Speaker 1: if they end up winning the Super Bowl, it's still
20:00
Speaker 1: going to be people being like, oh, well, you know
20:03
Speaker 1: they did this and that, and they didn't have to
20:05
Speaker 1: play these people, and like, you know, they're playing Black
20:08
Speaker 1: Brock Party and Josh Johnson whoever else doesn't matter. Like,
20:12
Speaker 1: no matter what, people are still going to doubt the Eagles,
20:15
Speaker 1: and that's when they play their best. Now, it's tough
20:18
Speaker 1: to kind of spin that narrative. When they were the
20:20
Speaker 1: number one seed and they were the last undefeated team
20:23
Speaker 1: and they had such a great deal and they beat
20:25
Speaker 1: teams all different types of ways no matter what. They
20:28
Speaker 1: were beating bad teams by a lot too. It doesn't matter.
20:32
Speaker 1: Teams are going to try and drum up that narrative
20:34
Speaker 1: no matter what happens. But Dan, I have a really
20:37
Speaker 1: great one that I'm watching in this game. Because clearly
20:40
Speaker 1: Andy Reid facing the Eagles who he used to coach,
20:44
Speaker 1: It's kind of like he's facing the entire city of Philadelphia.
20:47
Speaker 1: But for me, it's Andy Reid facing the coach that
20:51
Speaker 1: he fired when he got to Kansas City, in Nick Sirianni.
20:55
Speaker 1: Because when he got that job after he left Philadelphia,
20:59
Speaker 1: he had David Culley with him and that's who he
21:01
Speaker 1: wanted to bring with him. So he got to Kansas City,
21:04
Speaker 1: fired Nick Sirianni, and then that actually super charged Nick
21:07
Speaker 1: Sirianni's career and got him to where he is now
21:10
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia and at all. And I like, how you
21:14
Speaker 1: somehow spun the Andy Rebowl into a Nick Sirianni revenge Bowl. Perhaps,
21:19
Speaker 1: I guess. I mean, that's that's interesting. I didn't know that.
21:21
Speaker 1: I'm sure Nick Sirianni will be asked that many many
21:24
Speaker 1: times and Andy Reid and Read will sidestep it with
21:27
Speaker 1: grace as he always does. Like Read is another guy
21:30
Speaker 1: that's very easy to root for. He almost got the
21:33
Speaker 1: Eagles to the mountaintop many times. I think the Eagles
21:36
Speaker 1: went to four straight NFC title games at one point,
21:38
Speaker 1: got to a Super Bowl, fell short, but he's obviously
21:42
Speaker 1: cemented a Hall of Fame career with the Chiefs Now
21:45
Speaker 1: nice little subplot the Andy Reid Bowl and yes, okay,
21:48
Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni wanting revenge who could have bad feelings toward
21:52
Speaker 1: Big Red though I don't. I don't know if I
21:54
Speaker 1: buy that. I bet Sirianni is respectful of of Read
21:57
Speaker 1: and his place in football history. I'm sure he's thankful
22:00
Speaker 1: because now look at him. Look at him. Now, he's
22:02
Speaker 1: going to a Super Bowl. Look at me now, Dad,
22:05
Speaker 1: you still want to fire me? Dad? Finally, one more Connie.
22:08
Speaker 1: The Eagles defense. This is gonna get more and more
22:11
Speaker 1: buzz as we get closer to the game. Where they
22:14
Speaker 1: stand historically, this is a team that had seventy sacks
22:17
Speaker 1: in the regular season, one of the great pass rushes
22:20
Speaker 1: we've seen, really solid at all levels, and rolled through
22:24
Speaker 1: the NFC playoffs on defense, obviously against a lesser Niners
22:27
Speaker 1: team because the injuries, but really embarrassed the Giants as
22:30
Speaker 1: well on their way to the Super Bowl. And when
22:33
Speaker 1: you talk about the best defenses of this century so far,
22:36
Speaker 1: everyone you start obviously at the beginning of the century
22:38
Speaker 1: with those two thousand Ravens who won a Super Bowl.
22:41
Speaker 1: You go to the legion of boom Seattle Seahawks teams
22:45
Speaker 1: of the early two thousand tens, they also won a
22:47
Speaker 1: title nearly one a second. It's kind of if you
22:50
Speaker 1: look at the timing of things, it is time for
22:52
Speaker 1: another great defense to get its recognition. Will it be
22:55
Speaker 1: this Eagles defense after Super Bowl Sunday. This Eagles defense
22:58
Speaker 1: is so talented at every single level, and that hasn't
23:03
Speaker 1: been the case in so long. I can't even remember
23:06
Speaker 1: the last time there was an Eagles defense that was
23:08
Speaker 1: this talented. Because usually it's okay, their front seven is
23:12
Speaker 1: really great, their defensive line is really good, but they
23:15
Speaker 1: don't have corners that can cover, and so they need
23:17
Speaker 1: to get that that heat up front in order to
23:19
Speaker 1: cover up all the deficiencies on the back end. But no,
23:21
Speaker 1: no, no no, no, they have. They went out they did
23:23
Speaker 1: such a good job bringing in Sligh, who has an
23:25
Speaker 1: unbelievable personality, and he's going to be all over the
23:29
Speaker 1: place through the media week. I mean, he's gonna be
23:31
Speaker 1: on every single microphone look look out for him to
23:33
Speaker 1: be dropping all sorts of sound bites. But having Avante
23:36
Speaker 1: Maddox back healthy, bringing in James Bradberry from a division rival,
23:40
Speaker 1: all of these moves paid off to the point where
23:43
Speaker 1: now the Eagles are able to play in the Super Bowl.
23:46
Speaker 1: And look at how healthy they are from top to
23:49
Speaker 1: bottom on both sides of the ball. It's like you
23:51
Speaker 1: have so many different things that you can talk about
23:53
Speaker 1: of why they can succeed. And it's almost like an
23:57
Speaker 1: embarrassment of riches that they have because they're able to
23:59
Speaker 1: run the ball on the other side and throw the
24:01
Speaker 1: ball they got. Hey, how did they get a J. Brown?
24:03
Speaker 1: This doesn't even right, It doesn't seem fair. But right
24:07
Speaker 1: now this defense really does need its flowers. Oh you're
24:10
Speaker 1: so excited. I'm happy for you, but also envious. What
24:14
Speaker 1: do I do? How? Dan? How do I How do
24:16
Speaker 1: I cover this team? These teams the Super Bowl? I
24:19
Speaker 1: don't know how to do it without being biased, and
24:22
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try my best. But how do I do this? Yeah,
24:24
Speaker 1: you're asking the wrong guy because I root for a
24:26
Speaker 1: team that hasn't been in the Super Bowl in fifty
24:27
Speaker 1: three years, so just do your best, I guess, and
24:30
Speaker 1: or just leaving into it and just like throw any
24:33
Speaker 1: idea of being a journalist to the wayside until February.
24:37
Speaker 1: I would lean that way. I mean, what's the point
24:40
Speaker 1: of pretending at this point? That's what I think. Yeah,
24:43
Speaker 1: we didn't even get to Jalen Hurts, by the way,
24:45
Speaker 1: who could match Patrick Mahomes as the youngest quarterback to
24:50
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl? So many storylines. Next week we
24:53
Speaker 1: will be a video only a show, not an audio podcast,
24:56
Speaker 1: for the NFL Power Rankings Show, and then after the
25:00
Speaker 1: Super Bowl we're back with the whole enchilada, the whole
25:03
Speaker 1: thirty two team run down, led by, of course, the
25:05
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champion probably, although it'd be cool if I
25:07
Speaker 1: didn't lead with the Super Bowl champions at number Anyway, everybody,
25:11
Speaker 1: thanks for following along. Uh enjoy Babe game Heed the call.
25:19
Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
25:22
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
25:25
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
25:28
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.