Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: As you could expect, we have spent a lot of
Speaker 2: time talking about the big games yesterday as two teams
Speaker 2: punched their ticket to the Super Bowl. Very familiar faces
Speaker 2: when it comes to late runs in the postseason. I mean,
Speaker 2: the Chiefs could win their third in a row. How
Speaker 2: many do they have overall? Like with Mahomes, would this
Speaker 2: be four for him? I think it will be right,
Speaker 2: This will.
Speaker 3: Be number four for him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not exactly keeping up with his you know,
Speaker 2: his stats, but yeah, four sounded four, honestly, sounded like
Speaker 2: it might be low, Like maybe he has more than
Speaker 2: three right now. But the Chiefs, they are currently in
Speaker 2: the midst of a dynasty and I don't really see
Speaker 2: it slowing down anytime soon. But the Eagles, they've been
Speaker 2: a real I mean, what's been a down year for
Speaker 2: them lately. I mean, I know that haven't been nearly
Speaker 2: as good as the Chiefs, obviously, but they're also a
Speaker 2: team that I don't think anybody can be shocked has
Speaker 2: made it back to the super Bowl. And I'm gonna
Speaker 2: be pulling for the Eagles, but you know, I also
Speaker 2: am going to expect the Chiefs to win, because one
Speaker 2: I think they're deserving of you know that they've proven
Speaker 2: that they when they get here, they win, right. I mean,
Speaker 2: who in fact did they lose to last time in
Speaker 2: the postseason?
Speaker 4: The Chiefs? Yes, the Eagles, right, yeah? Okay?
Speaker 3: And then last year the Eagles they lost to the Bucks?
Speaker 4: Was it last year? Okay? I kind of don't remember that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was very they had They started off so
Speaker 5: hot last year and then they kind of like fell off.
Speaker 5: I think that was last year, right, I mean, I
Speaker 5: may be wrong. I'm pretty sure that they lost the
Speaker 5: Bucks last year.
Speaker 4: I just don't remember.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't remember the Bucks making a big run
Speaker 2: of the playoffs, although I do know that they made
Speaker 2: it because I remember Baker being back in the playoffs
Speaker 2: with the Buccaneers and winning.
Speaker 4: Like that was that was a that was a story.
Speaker 2: But either way, it's the Eagles and it's the Chiefs,
Speaker 2: and I was hoping we got the exact opposite match
Speaker 2: up Bill's Commanders, and neither team was able to pull through.
Speaker 2: And I'm just trying to figure out how I'm gonna
Speaker 2: you know, get it. I want to be excited for
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, and I usually have been able to
Speaker 2: be excited for the Super Bowl regardless if I have
Speaker 2: a real team to pull for, because sometimes I'm just
Speaker 2: pulling for a team that I that I you know,
Speaker 2: doesn't matter. It's not about who I'm wanting to win.
Speaker 2: It's about who I'm wanting to lose. And I guess
Speaker 2: that'll be that'll be the case with the Chiefs. But
Speaker 2: I've just I realize now, like if I am going
Speaker 2: to just make it all about anybody but the Chiefs
Speaker 2: and really root and pull for them to lose games
Speaker 2: and come up short, I'm gonna be a miserable person,
Speaker 2: aren't I Like, they're.
Speaker 4: Not like they're not going anywhere. I mean, this isn't
Speaker 4: ending anytime soon, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then you have the history of the Chiefs and
Speaker 5: Patrick Mahomes in the last five years of being in
Speaker 5: the Super Bowl, and when we talked about this earlier,
Speaker 5: for we're just fatigued at all of the Chiefs being
Speaker 5: in there or the same old teams, and how someone
Speaker 5: likes dying I can I could sort of get with
Speaker 5: both sides.
Speaker 4: By the way, the Buccaneers, Oh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah, it was like a
Speaker 3: blowout if I remember.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I'm on I'm on both sides of like
Speaker 5: I like the dynasty, hate it, but also kind of
Speaker 5: love seeing new matches, but on like the converse end
Speaker 5: where we really all that pumped a couple of years
Speaker 5: ago about the Bengals and the Rams making it. I
Speaker 5: guess it was pretty nice because it's too I guess
Speaker 5: new war teams. We saw the the Rams in there
Speaker 5: a few years ago when they had golf and McVeigh
Speaker 5: and they went up against the Patriots Tom Brady's last
Speaker 5: as a Patriot. But like and then you have people
Speaker 5: rooting for the Bengals to finally get one. But I
Speaker 5: can understand if that didn't draw as much as you
Speaker 5: have like the Chiefs coming up and then another rematch
Speaker 5: with the Eagles. Of course, the forty nine ers did
Speaker 5: it last year, almost the same scenario, Like they kind
Speaker 5: of improved on things that they didn't have before. They
Speaker 5: went out and got an elite running back Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 5: That kind of helped them out. Now the Eagles go
Speaker 5: out and get an even more elite running back with
Speaker 5: Sakwan Barkley. So it's it's it almost plays out exactly
Speaker 5: how the rematch was last year with the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the Super Bowl that had the Rams
Speaker 2: and the Bengals, there's no doubt that big picture that
Speaker 2: probably wasn't good for the NFL.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of hype around here, of course, because.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Like for me,
Speaker 2: I know so many people that love the Bengals. A
Speaker 2: lot of close friends of mine love the Bengals, and
Speaker 2: I remember kind of just I mean, I was pulling
Speaker 2: for Cincinnati because I'm I mean, I'm kind of a
Speaker 2: fake fan where I can't act like I have any gift.
Speaker 2: I don't really care if they win or lose, but
Speaker 2: I prefer them win because I don't dislike them, and
Speaker 2: I want yeah, and I want my friends.
Speaker 4: To be happy.
Speaker 2: So the Bengals, it was just a it was such
Speaker 2: a storyline that they were even there, especially locally, Like
Speaker 2: can you believe that Joe Burrow in his second season
Speaker 2: as a quarterback has the Bengals in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: I think before that you could have told people my
Speaker 2: age that are diehard fans of the Bengals that they
Speaker 2: never lived to see the Bengals in a Super Bowl
Speaker 2: and they probably would have believed you. So there was
Speaker 2: like a local element that made it kind of cool
Speaker 2: for me, but I'm sure overall nationally it wasn't that
Speaker 2: big of a story. It was probably a matchup the
Speaker 2: NFL did not want. Now, the best storyline right now,
Speaker 2: at least for me to root for, is Sequon Barkley
Speaker 2: because he's been able to put together such a phenomenal
Speaker 2: season with the Eagles, and you know, I think it's
Speaker 2: been awesome to see how I guess mature he's been
Speaker 2: throughout the whole thing. I don't really know if he
Speaker 2: has any real reason to be like bitter towards New York.
Speaker 2: But they didn't put a lot of pieces around him.
Speaker 2: They let him walk at the end and didn't keep him.
Speaker 2: And he's been nothing but mature and you know, respectful
Speaker 2: about his time in New York and not really wanting
Speaker 2: to kind of dance on their grave. And he seems
Speaker 2: like a really easy guy.
Speaker 4: To root for.
Speaker 2: And man, look, Derek Henry and Barkley this year, I
Speaker 2: think had special seasons at the running back position that
Speaker 2: I hope kind of, you know, changes how the league
Speaker 2: views that position, I doubt it will. I think you're
Speaker 2: still going to see very few running backs actually get drafted,
Speaker 2: especially early on in the earlier rounds, because again, let's
Speaker 2: be real, they are the outliers. Henry being able to
Speaker 2: play this good as he did this late in his
Speaker 2: career is something you just haven't seen for a while
Speaker 2: out of running backs.
Speaker 4: I mean, Barkley, I don't know.
Speaker 2: If he ever looked like he was washed up, but
Speaker 2: he had injuries and it never I mean, he had
Speaker 2: a better year this year than he ever had in
Speaker 2: New York. And again, I think more than anything, it's
Speaker 2: because he's with a winning culture. There's better pieces around him,
Speaker 2: so that stuff does matter. But that guess that's what
Speaker 2: will probably get me pulling for the Eagles and actually
Speaker 2: really wanting them to win. I mean I do, but
Speaker 2: it's more so right now because I just don't want
Speaker 2: it to be the Chiefs.
Speaker 4: But it would be a really good story.
Speaker 2: For Saquon Barkley to be able to not only win,
Speaker 2: but maybe he ends up being the MVP. And look,
Speaker 2: if he keeps playing the way he's playing, I think
Speaker 2: that'll likely be the who who the trophy goes to.
Speaker 2: Because he's just been he's just been that good. So
Speaker 2: I have fatigue with the Chiefs in a major way.
Speaker 2: But in the last twenty four hours roughly, since it's
Speaker 2: kind of set in that here they are again. They're
Speaker 2: probably gonna win, I certainly, and who knows, maybe they
Speaker 2: don't win, but I certainly won't be surprised if they do.
Speaker 2: And I just you know, I'm kind of at a
Speaker 2: crossroads here. Not that I'm gonna like start being a
Speaker 2: fan of the Chiefs and cheering for them, but I
Speaker 2: gotta find something to kind of just you know, neutralize
Speaker 2: it or not care as much and not be as
Speaker 2: big of a hater. Because if I'm sitting around on
Speaker 2: the edge of my seat just anybody but the Chiefs
Speaker 2: wanting them to fall apart and be bad, I think
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be miserable for many years to come, because
Speaker 2: I don't see this thing slowing down anytime soon. In fact,
Speaker 2: this year, they haven't looked as scary. They didn't visually
Speaker 2: put a lot of fear into teams. I don't think
Speaker 2: just because you know, they just didn't mean they still won.
Speaker 2: And that's all that really matters, right, You're not playing
Speaker 2: for style points in the NFL. Your resume doesn't matter
Speaker 2: in the NFL. You just need to win, and that's
Speaker 2: what they do. But I kind of felt like I actually,
Speaker 2: now that I think about it, I probably didn't say
Speaker 2: it much on the show. In fact, I probably continued
Speaker 2: to talk about how they don't look that great, but
Speaker 2: you know, you can never count them out. I think
Speaker 2: deep down, maybe I was lying to myself, and I
Speaker 2: was just thinking, Okay, they're gonna get humbled, right, they're
Speaker 2: gonna get beating the playoffs, going to start the conversation
Speaker 2: about their demise and that their best years are behind
Speaker 2: them and not in front of them. But I was
Speaker 2: lying to myself because you know, here we are like yesterday. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they had some things go their way, especially with that
Speaker 2: spot on fourth down. I mean they had some breaks
Speaker 2: go their way. Both teams did. In fact, every team
Speaker 2: that plays has occasionally a call that maybe went their
Speaker 2: way that shouldn't have. But you remember it about the
Speaker 2: Chiefs because more so than anybody else, because you hate
Speaker 2: them so much and because they make you pay. But
Speaker 2: like yesterday, they were just better than Buffalo, right. I
Speaker 2: don't think there was any luck with that. They were
Speaker 2: just a better team.
Speaker 3: On their first match up, Buffalo didn't.
Speaker 4: Trail like the entire four dominated them.
Speaker 5: And now the roles were like reversed, and you give
Speaker 5: Andy Reid an opportunity, and so I wouldn't even say
Speaker 5: so many people overlook them. But that's gotta be probably
Speaker 5: like the best coach in NFL history, right, he's got
Speaker 5: to be etched up there, Andy Reid does.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, and he's been so good there. I forget
Speaker 4: that he coached the Chiefs or that he coached the Eagles.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and that was this thing you could never get
Speaker 5: over the hump in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: Did I see something that he has more wins than
Speaker 2: is he the That can't be right. I thought I
Speaker 2: saw something that said he has the all time wins
Speaker 2: for both these franchises, the Eagles and the Chiefs. I mean,
Speaker 2: that doesn't sound right because he wasn't that good with Philadelphia.
Speaker 3: But there wasn't a lot at Philadelphia.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know he won. In fact, he made the
Speaker 4: Super Bowl. I remember that was the McNabb too team.
Speaker 5: But I don't know, I can't think of any like
Speaker 5: great Kansas City coach Hank Stram, that guy that used
Speaker 5: to roam the sidelines with like the with like the
Speaker 5: top pat Herm Edwards, he has to have more wins.
Speaker 3: Than Herm Edwards.
Speaker 4: God, I forgot about Herm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I obscurity of coaches that that that organization has had
Speaker 5: over the last few years.
Speaker 2: Andy Reid, he I've always thought he was a good
Speaker 2: coach and unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Romeo Crenell Todd Romeo.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But like there's Andy Reid has had some headlines in
Speaker 2: regards to like his family that have been something you
Speaker 2: don't typically see from NFL coaches, like his son and whatnot.
Speaker 2: And so I've always I mean, to me, he's somebody
Speaker 2: that I've just known is to be a good coach
Speaker 2: in the NFL. But now like he's clearly I mean
Speaker 2: he's legendary. I mean he's he's already done enough as
Speaker 2: it stands as far as just making the Super Bowl
Speaker 2: as many I mean, heck, if you make the Super
Speaker 2: Bowl with two teams in the NFL, like during your
Speaker 2: time as a coach, and you don't even if you
Speaker 2: don't win one, you still can claim that you know
Speaker 2: you've had success. But look there they're not. I don't
Speaker 2: see the Chiefs slowing down, and we're just gonna have
Speaker 2: to live with it. I will say this one of
Speaker 2: the things we did not talk about yet that I
Speaker 2: know has been a big talking point after the you know,
Speaker 2: and this is an this is an obvious thing anytime
Speaker 2: you watch football. But I think the Chiefs maybe maybe
Speaker 2: benefiting from there, you know, there being no technology technology
Speaker 2: involved a's far as spotting the ball. That's when it
Speaker 2: becomes a bigger conversation where you see people saying, well,
Speaker 2: the NFL, with a billion dollar business, you got to
Speaker 2: be able to do something to where they can't just
Speaker 2: trust the judgment of some guy on the sideline that
Speaker 2: the ball got to where it needed to go for
Speaker 2: a team to get a first down or be denied
Speaker 2: of a first down.
Speaker 4: That kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: And I mean wouldn't be shocked, It wouldn't shock me
Speaker 2: if they were able to develop something. In fact, I
Speaker 2: didn't even realize this until last night when it became
Speaker 2: a bigger talking point that the USFL they put a
Speaker 2: recent chip in the ball that they use and they
Speaker 2: that's how they spot it. And I guess the UFL
Speaker 2: does something similar with cameras, so like it is possible,
Speaker 2: and I guess these two leagues have shown that, like
Speaker 2: from a technological standpoint, like you can do it.
Speaker 4: I've just assumed that that would be way that would be.
Speaker 2: There'd be You're opening up so much opportunity for the
Speaker 2: technology not to work and it get you know, like
Speaker 2: I just I don't know. There's amazing things we can
Speaker 2: do technologically that that blows my mind. So having you know,
Speaker 2: something inside of a football they can quite literally tell
Speaker 2: you somebody got to the line they needed to get to,
Speaker 2: like they wouldn't be crazy. I just feel like if
Speaker 2: that wasn't to work and you were trusting it, like
Speaker 2: you'd have the ultimate like not know what to do.
Speaker 4: But it is, you know, to see.
Speaker 2: That other leagues that you know, play football that don't
Speaker 2: have the budget the resources that the NFL does, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe eventually they will do something. But again, I feel
Speaker 2: like that's the kind of thing that comes up that
Speaker 2: only comes up the way it does. And there's that
Speaker 2: many people outraged about the NFL not having technology be
Speaker 2: a part of it because it's the Chiefs and everybody's mad,
Speaker 2: Like I bet that happens in every playoff game to
Speaker 2: an extent, right, there's a guy going forward on well, actually, no,
Speaker 2: you could even go for a third down and not
Speaker 2: get it, so then you got a punt, right and
Speaker 2: if the if they had the technology then you then
Speaker 2: maybe you would you would have gotten it. It would have
Speaker 2: extended the drive and you could win. So the one
Speaker 2: thing that that is worth mentioning, and I don't know
Speaker 2: when they do it, but there are plans apparently to
Speaker 2: address the problem with Mahomes doing his flopping and sliding,
Speaker 2: which again that's I mean, I get why that's I mean,
Speaker 2: that's probably been talked about more than anything when it
Speaker 2: comes to Mahomes and preferential treatment is that he is
Speaker 2: Manique mulating officials and they don't know what to do
Speaker 2: because man, they're forced to always keep players safety in mind.
Speaker 2: These players, you know, built like automobiles are coming at him,
Speaker 2: and Mahomes knows how to how to get away with it.
Speaker 2: He knows that refs are going to always probably want
Speaker 2: to take care of the quarterback and keep him safe,
Speaker 2: especially him, you know, the face of the league. So
Speaker 2: I mean I kind of fe I get while Mahomes
Speaker 2: gets criticized for that, but again, as a competitor, he's
Speaker 2: probably just realizing, Hey, if I got the ability to
Speaker 2: take advantage of this.
Speaker 4: I'm going to take advantage of it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's smart.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So there.
Speaker 2: Was the late call that they yeah it was it
Speaker 2: was a roughing call on Mahomes when he tried to
Speaker 2: slide when they played the Texans and two players collided
Speaker 2: and they were clearly not They were trying to figure out, Okay,
Speaker 2: we know what we can't do. Does it look like
Speaker 2: he's about to slide? And it's like he knows as
Speaker 2: soon as he can read that the defender has committed
Speaker 2: to making some level of contact. He's got the ability
Speaker 2: to just you know, make it look like he was
Speaker 2: trying to slide ahead of time. And you know, again,
Speaker 2: nobody's got to like this. And I'm sure it's not
Speaker 2: something that's premeditated, but refs are humans, and I think
Speaker 2: more often than not in that situation, Patrick Mahomes, you
Speaker 2: know the face of the NFL. A guy that's that good,
Speaker 2: he's gonna get that call more times than he's not.
Speaker 2: And that's that's just the way that it is. But
Speaker 2: I'm seeing here that there. Yeah, this is from let's see,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna cite my sources here. This is from ESPN
Speaker 2: dot com. I'm reading an excerpt that got put up
Speaker 2: in Barstool Sports, but the original article is from ESPN.
Speaker 2: It says amid Mahomes angst NFL eys replay on sidelines
Speaker 2: for all. It says, for all those complaining that the
Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls,
Speaker 2: relief soon could be on the way. NFL Replay Assist
Speaker 2: is expected to expand this offseason into plays that could
Speaker 2: include the quarterback slide. That's something that was said over
Speaker 2: the weekend. According to ESPN says, the NFL enacted Replay
Speaker 2: Assist in twenty twenty one to allow replay officials and
Speaker 2: designated members of the official Officiating Department to assist with
Speaker 2: on field calls in limited game situations. Replay Assist has
Speaker 2: been used during games where there is clear and obvious
Speaker 2: video evidence such as the spot of the ball or
Speaker 2: a foul, a complete or incomplete pass and touching of
Speaker 2: the ball, or a line.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, that replay assists this year has been so weird.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they can pick and choose when they want to
Speaker 5: use it, and different foul calls don't count face mask
Speaker 5: and other personal It's just been weird. If you're going
Speaker 5: to have that extra eye in the sky, then commit
Speaker 5: to it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in the NFL, by the way, they could have
Speaker 2: some goofs and still not have to worry about losing
Speaker 2: viewership because that's how much they dominate. But where they
Speaker 2: really should consider like consistency and you know, like you
Speaker 2: shouldn't have people confused. And I know that can happen
Speaker 2: for those who don't watch football that closely, who really
Speaker 2: don't understand the rules, But people who've watched it their
Speaker 2: whole life are probably questioning what Austin just mentioned, like
Speaker 2: wait a second, if they have the ability, why aren't
Speaker 2: they looking at it more? But then again you think
Speaker 2: to yourself, well, that'll impact the experience if we have
Speaker 2: to call if we have so much stoppage where.
Speaker 4: You're reviewing everything.
Speaker 2: But that's why it's tricky, Like if you have the
Speaker 2: that's why when it comes to having the ability to
Speaker 2: go review anything in sports, I just think you put
Speaker 2: your I mean again that you would think that's what
Speaker 2: you want right, make sure you get it right. But
Speaker 2: when it's selective and you don't always go double check
Speaker 2: something that you have the ability to review, to me again,
Speaker 2: I get why that you only do it on certain
Speaker 2: instances because you don't want stoppage after every dead ball.
Speaker 2: And you may have that right if if reps could
Speaker 2: tell you every time they think you got a call wrong,
Speaker 2: you need to go look at it, Like I mean
Speaker 2: that you would never be able to do that.
Speaker 4: That's not realistic.
Speaker 2: But there being things that you know you can't review,
Speaker 2: but you know it because you got it wrong. It's
Speaker 2: going to impact who wins or loses. Like that to
Speaker 2: me is just an awful, awful thing that is that
Speaker 2: exists currently in sports. I don't know how you fix it,
Speaker 2: because again I think when you have the ability to
Speaker 2: fix it, you should And there's been many times where
Speaker 2: you're glad your team was able to have the benefit
Speaker 2: of a replay to change it. But there's also times
Speaker 2: where well, you can't review that, so therefore, what are
Speaker 2: you going to do? Like again, we're all fans of sports.
Speaker 2: I don't think there's much they could do to make
Speaker 2: us not watch it. But whenever it's selective and it's
Speaker 2: not consistent as far as hey, our job out here
Speaker 2: is to get it right.
Speaker 4: Like I just think it's not steered me away.
Speaker 2: From watching, and clearly viewership and the most popular sports
Speaker 2: around here is not declining because of the stoppage and
Speaker 2: the inconsistencies with what you can and can't review. But
Speaker 2: to me, it's just never really made a lot of sense. Look,
Speaker 2: if you have the ability to go fix it, go
Speaker 2: fix it. Don't tell me, well, we can review this,
Speaker 2: but we can't review that. But then again, as I mentioned,
Speaker 2: you're opening up a whole new can of worms and
Speaker 2: have even more stoppage than we have now, and that's
Speaker 2: the exact thing that you don't want.
Speaker 4: But I will say this about the Chiefs.
Speaker 2: I mean, even though I can think of many instances
Speaker 2: during their run here, not just this season, but of
Speaker 2: course in the midst of this dynasty where touching Patrick
Speaker 2: Mahomes was called targeting and it shouldn't have been. Or
Speaker 2: you know, they got new life because of a call.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you that I believe they're in this
Speaker 2: position potentially going to win their four super Bowl, third consecutive.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you that I believe it's because they
Speaker 2: get preferential treatment. I think they get preferential treatment, but
Speaker 2: I don't think that's why they're as good as they are.
Speaker 2: And I think that here I am talking talking through
Speaker 2: it with you guys as I I guess, you know,
Speaker 2: try to deal with being just a hater. Like maybe
Speaker 2: the more that I do in fact recognize their greatness,
Speaker 2: it'll help me deal with it better.
Speaker 4: But I don't think anybody, even.
Speaker 2: The most vocal anti Chiefs people out there, if you
Speaker 2: were being honest with yourself, you would acknowledge both things
Speaker 2: are true. Yeah, they do in fact get some benefit
Speaker 2: that maybe others don't get, certainly the whistle that Mahomes gets.
Speaker 2: But they're also just really good and they make it
Speaker 2: look easy and we hate that. At least I know it.
Speaker 5: And want to talk about rooting on some downfall. I'm
Speaker 5: surprised they haven't talked about it yet. But you saw
Speaker 5: who was in the locker room yesterday celebrating with the Chiefs,
Speaker 5: right which one? Yeah, the Patrick Mahomes look a light guy.
Speaker 5: He's annoying. You're you're a grown man, dude. Well, I
Speaker 5: mean I don't.
Speaker 4: Remember if you were here the day we talked about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was okay, like a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Because I for those who don't know what we're talking about,
Speaker 2: the Nebraska quarterback he is doing Patrick Mahomes cosplay. He's
Speaker 2: a he's was a freshman in Nebraska last year. I mean,
Speaker 2: had a good season. They snapped their huge bowl streak
Speaker 2: and and you know, I'm not saying they're great, but
Speaker 2: like he he was a big time commit for them,
Speaker 2: and he is a Patrick Mahomes fan clearly, But I
Speaker 2: mean he he which is fine, Yeah, which is fine,
Speaker 2: But one he rubbed me the wrong way when he
Speaker 2: acted like he couldn't he doesn't know why people like
Speaker 2: think he looks like him.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, dude, you.
Speaker 2: You have deep rooted issues that need to be dealt
Speaker 2: with as a human being, not an athlete. If you're
Speaker 2: sitting here, straight faced, being honest and telling us that
Speaker 2: you don't know why people think you look like you,
Speaker 2: I mean, I think he does every little thing every
Speaker 2: day of his life, trying to do it exactly the
Speaker 2: way he envisions that Patrick Mahomes would do it.
Speaker 4: Abs And it's cool to be but I.
Speaker 2: Guess what irritates me is that it's there's nothing wrong
Speaker 2: with you saying you idolize this player and that you
Speaker 2: think he's great. He's a great guy to idolized. Look
Speaker 2: how successful he is, but like the hairstyle.
Speaker 3: The headband, the headband.
Speaker 2: The way he like pumped this pumps, like there are
Speaker 2: things that like, look, even if you did all that
Speaker 2: and acknowledged it, I still think it'd be weird. But
Speaker 2: for him to like be offended when people bring it
Speaker 2: up like he's got is Like again, I'm not trying
Speaker 2: to like, I mean, I get I'm not even trying
Speaker 2: to make fun of him. I'm being serious, like that
Speaker 2: guy's got problems, Like that's not normal for you to like,
Speaker 2: if Patrick Mahomes ever ends up dead, I'm thinking that
Speaker 2: guy had something to do with it, like or he
Speaker 2: just tried to like get rid of him so he
Speaker 2: could be like maybe he would show up to the
Speaker 2: to the Chiefs facility as the new Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 5: Like yeah, I'll interer if anyone will notice this. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean like Romeo and Juliet's it, like Pat, I
Speaker 5: can't live in a world where you're not living.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and like there are plenty of athletes that that
Speaker 2: you can see at times have picked up certain things
Speaker 2: from a different era.
Speaker 4: This is not that like this is this is just
Speaker 4: a little bit different.
Speaker 2: Yes, and it wouldn't have even been I mean it's
Speaker 2: it's clearly a talking point within college football, and people notice, Hey,
Speaker 2: this this quarterback for Nebraska. Man does he love Patrick Mahomes?
Speaker 2: He really tries to be dislike him? But whenever I
Speaker 2: listened to him, be like I don't even like like
Speaker 2: he didn't know why. It's a thing, like come on, man,
Speaker 2: like you're serious, aren't you? I think that's that's that's
Speaker 2: my thing.
Speaker 5: Weird.
Speaker 4: I think he was.
Speaker 2: Serious that he doesn't he doesn't think people like are
Speaker 2: onto him, Like, no, you're like you're you might be
Speaker 2: a psychopath because that's not like I had idols growing up,
Speaker 2: but like I never tried to actually, like, you know,
Speaker 2: be them.
Speaker 5: If he is stone cold Steve Austin is my idol.
Speaker 5: I'm not shaving my head and drinking be.
Speaker 2: You're not walking You're not walking into her boss's office
Speaker 2: and giving him a stone cold stunner.
Speaker 3: Right and stopping a mudhole in someone's ass.
Speaker 2: If he has a girlfriend, which I'm not sure if
Speaker 2: he does or not, but like, if he has a
Speaker 2: girlfriend and we see that, like she is identical to
Speaker 2: Brittany Mahomes, who's surprised, right, and nobody'd be shocked and
Speaker 2: everybody'd be laughing, and I'd be like, we need to
Speaker 2: stop laughing and get this person some help because this
Speaker 2: is just weird. It's weird, all right, Let's talk some
Speaker 2: hoops on the other side. Coffee and Company.
Speaker 4: Feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: So we've got both Louisville and Kentucky back at action
Speaker 2: tomorrow night. Kentucky of course, trying to give back to
Speaker 2: their winning ways after losing Sevanderbilt on Saturday. And Louisville,
Speaker 2: I mean they're going to try to continue their winning ways.
Speaker 4: In fact, they mean.
Speaker 2: We've got a couple people ask on the text line
Speaker 2: if I worry about any kind of a letdown because
Speaker 2: they had a week off.
Speaker 4: I mean, maybe you might.
Speaker 2: See like some rust or something, but I don't know.
Speaker 4: I'd be shocked.
Speaker 2: I think you're so deep into the season that having
Speaker 2: a week off without a game. I mean, I would
Speaker 2: hope that it's more it's more of a beneficial thing
Speaker 2: for the team than it is anything else. And I
Speaker 2: would imagine if you ask Pat Kelsey behind closed doors
Speaker 2: he probably would not have wanted to have a week off,
Speaker 2: but you know it's part of it. So I mean,
Speaker 2: if they have a bad game tomorrow, when they lose,
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll never know if it was because they
Speaker 2: had a week off of anything. I guess you could
Speaker 2: say they were just due to have a dud type
Speaker 2: performance because you know they've been playing so well as
Speaker 2: of late. But I just until I see any sign
Speaker 2: of this team, you know, having that kind of a performance.
Speaker 2: And I don't mean like that they that they can't lose.
Speaker 2: But when it comes to how well they've played in January,
Speaker 2: what has given them such a boost as far as
Speaker 2: not just winning, but how well they're playing, Like they're
Speaker 2: dominating some teams. We went through it earlier. They're four
Speaker 2: point win at Pittsburgh. That's the only close game they've
Speaker 2: had in this stretch of play to where they've won
Speaker 2: nine overall. And really, I know the Florida State win
Speaker 2: and the Ekau win they count to, right, they haven't
Speaker 2: lost a game since December fourteenth, been a long time.
Speaker 2: That was the Kentucky game. But it really changed for
Speaker 2: me when they played Carolina on New Year's Day and
Speaker 2: they just came out with a little bit more intensity.
Speaker 2: They were really good defensively, tension to detail on the scout.
Speaker 2: I mean, they were just outworking their opponents. And even
Speaker 2: in some of those games they didn't shoot well. I
Speaker 2: mean they had bad nights at the free throw line,
Speaker 2: or at least one. It stands out to where like
Speaker 2: you felt like, man, it's gonna be tough for them
Speaker 2: to win. They really are struggling at free throws. I
Speaker 2: think it might have been the Carolina game and certainly
Speaker 2: the Pit game, but it hasn't mattered because they've just
Speaker 2: been so good in every other area. And what is
Speaker 2: we can't ignore the shooting performances they've had along the way.
Speaker 2: I mean it wasn't just Rain Smith. I mean he
Speaker 2: hit ten of them against SMU and that was awesome.
Speaker 2: But when they went on the road to Syracuse, like
Speaker 2: that was another game where they shot it really well.
Speaker 2: I mean Chucky would he go five of seven or
Speaker 2: five of eight from three. So when they are knocking
Speaker 2: down shots and shooting, you know, forty ish percent as
Speaker 2: a team, making ten or more, and then they're doing
Speaker 2: all the other things that are easier to control, right
Speaker 2: like playing really hard defensively, outworking your opponent. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's when they become really dangerous to where they could
Speaker 2: they could be a really tough out for anybody in
Speaker 2: the NAA tournament. So what has me so confident, I
Speaker 2: guess in this group is their consistency in the last
Speaker 2: month and that what's made them again, what's made them.
Speaker 2: I think a team that is in this position is
Speaker 2: what you can control.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: It's coming ready to play, being locked in. I mean again,
Speaker 2: they're going to make mistakes, They're not perfect. But until
Speaker 2: I see any sign of like a letdown, I'm going
Speaker 2: to assume they come mount tomorrow and continue to take
Speaker 2: care of business and beat Away for his team that
Speaker 2: they should beat. And when you've won nine in a row,
Speaker 2: you've put together a fifteen and five record, you're a
Speaker 2: top twenty five team, you know, I think we can
Speaker 2: say that, right, Like I thought this year would be
Speaker 2: a year where really no game was I going to
Speaker 2: be super confident in. And I'm not, maybe overly confident,
Speaker 2: but like I would have to really lie to myself
Speaker 2: to not approach this game tomorrow from a fans perspective.
Speaker 2: Of course, this may shock you. I'll have no outcome
Speaker 2: in the game. But like, I'm expecting my team to
Speaker 2: continue to do what they're doing, and if they do that,
Speaker 2: I know they're going to win because they're better. So
Speaker 2: until I see I guess I was thinking, until I
Speaker 2: see a sign of it coming, I don't even really
Speaker 2: know where you'd find a sign that they're going to
Speaker 2: have like a letdown. But I mean, they just keep
Speaker 2: getting better. I mean that SMU performance was dominant, and
Speaker 2: you're not going to be able to bank on somebody
Speaker 2: making ten threes in a game or anything like that.
Speaker 2: But they didn't need the ten threes from Rain in
Speaker 2: order to win that game with ease. They were already
Speaker 2: you know, in good control. So if he's hitting four
Speaker 2: a game, I mean, that is that's gonna make the
Speaker 2: world a really dangerous And by the way, right now,
Speaker 2: I mean he's up there as far as I mean,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be shocked if he's Maybe because they didn't
Speaker 2: play last week. I actually need to look at this
Speaker 2: because the uh he had more threes than anybody from
Speaker 2: the Power five conferences after the SMU game, as you
Speaker 2: could expect, he made ten, But because they didn't play Saturday,
Speaker 2: I wonder if he's still he's still up there.
Speaker 4: Yeah right now.
Speaker 2: When it comes to three point field goals made per game,
Speaker 2: his three point nine leads all of college basketball, not
Speaker 2: just the Power five, but all of college basketball, and
Speaker 2: as far as the total threes made. For some reason,
Speaker 2: they don't show that in this breakdown here at ESPN
Speaker 2: Stats page. But yeah, I mean, I'm excited for tomorrow
Speaker 2: knowing that, hey, it'll just be another day where you
Speaker 2: probably take care of business and fans are going to
Speaker 2: enjoy it.
Speaker 4: I hope there's a great crowd there. Won't care if
Speaker 4: there's not.
Speaker 2: As far as the numbers, I know those that are
Speaker 2: going to be there are going to be rowdying into
Speaker 2: it because that's how much the fans love watching this
Speaker 2: team play. So I'm excited, but I am a little
Speaker 2: bummed to know that I believe and I you know,
Speaker 2: it's just my belief, which isn't worth anything because you know,
Speaker 2: it's just just I can't prove this, and perception is reality.
Speaker 2: Wake Forest I think is a good team, Like I
Speaker 2: think wake Forest should easily be a team right now
Speaker 2: that looks like they're in the tournament, and maybe you know,
Speaker 2: I don't want to act as if they they should
Speaker 2: be safely in and have like a really good seed.
Speaker 2: But right now, let's go to bractology and just the
Speaker 2: first one that comes up. It's usually Leonardi, but you
Speaker 2: know he doesn't update his a whole lot. His last
Speaker 2: update was three days ago. Let's see with Jerry Palm.
Speaker 2: Let's see when he did his his His was updated today.
Speaker 2: So Jerry Palm and I guess we can give you
Speaker 2: the update.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So he's got Louisville as a five seed right now,
Speaker 2: and he's got Kentucky now as a four after their
Speaker 2: loss to Andy. And he's got Carolinas one of the
Speaker 2: last four. Actually he has Wake he has wake Forest
Speaker 2: in as one of the last four in. But their
Speaker 2: net is seventy one. Let me give you an example,
Speaker 2: and this is where you have to kind of just understand.
Speaker 4: The net is not the end.
Speaker 2: All be all, but it is a valuable It is
Speaker 2: a valuable I mean, actually, I'm gonna I was gonna
Speaker 2: lie to you. I think the net sucks, to be
Speaker 2: honest with you. The net does not factor winning and
Speaker 2: losing as much as it should. But I just know
Speaker 2: that that's what the committee uses.
Speaker 4: It's not the only thing.
Speaker 2: But when it comes to the different formulas out there, right,
Speaker 2: the RPI, the strength to schedule, the kin Palm, the Net,
Speaker 2: the bart Torvik, the Sagarin like they have they can
Speaker 2: utilize all those, And I know there's more than just
Speaker 2: the net, but the net is their own, like the
Speaker 2: net was created by somebody at the NCAA hired to
Speaker 2: create it. So I'm not defending the net like it's perfect.
Speaker 2: I just know that it matters. It's not the end
Speaker 2: all be all, but it does matter. And whenever you
Speaker 2: know how it works and you choose not torategically schedule,
Speaker 2: like knowing like you're gonna put yourself in a bad spot,
Speaker 2: Like it's just it's indefensible to be honest with you
Speaker 2: like that. I'm resetting from last week, but I feel
Speaker 2: like I feel even stronger about this than I did
Speaker 2: a week ago because I've now watched wake Forest play.
Speaker 4: I watched him beat North Carolina.
Speaker 2: They were I mean, I think it was like fifty
Speaker 2: six to fifty one at some point late in the
Speaker 2: game against Duke, and then they ended up ended up
Speaker 2: losing to Duke.
Speaker 4: But Duke's I.
Speaker 2: Mean Duke's great, Duke's number one. See Duke, Maybe the
Speaker 2: best team in the country when it's all said and done,
Speaker 2: in wake Forest, you know they've competed with him. And
Speaker 2: in fact, I wouldn't be shocked if I don't have
Speaker 2: the net pulled up and in the kin Palm, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Wake they went from number let's see. Yeah, they jumped
Speaker 2: up like they lost to Duke, but they jumped up
Speaker 2: four spots because it was a competitive game. So my
Speaker 2: issue with Wake is their scheduling in the non conference.
Speaker 2: So let me go back to the net really quick
Speaker 2: here and then I'll run down like Wake Forest is
Speaker 2: seventy three in the net. I'm sorry, seventy three in
Speaker 2: Kin Palms, seventy one in the net. The other teams
Speaker 2: that are on the that are in this group of
Speaker 2: last four in Texas their net is thirty two. North
Speaker 2: Carolina their net is forty. New Mexico's net is fifty six.
Speaker 2: These are bubble teams that are on the outside looking in.
Speaker 2: First four out Ohio State twenty ninth, SMU forty fourth
Speaker 2: BYU thirty eight. Again, Wake Forest has a worse net
Speaker 2: than all these bubble teams, and it's not even close,
Speaker 2: and that could have been avoidable. And what I mean
Speaker 2: by that is if you didn't play the worst of
Speaker 2: the worst and barely get by them, you would have
Speaker 2: a much better net. You would be a team that
Speaker 2: has a fifteen and five. They have the same record
Speaker 2: as Louisville, the same exact record, fifteen and five, and
Speaker 2: yet they they do not only need to beat a
Speaker 2: Louisville or a Duke at some point to feel safely
Speaker 2: in like they need to like blow out teams like
Speaker 2: Cal and NC State in Virginia and Georgia Tech. Because
Speaker 2: you're now playing league team like other leagues are doing this,
Speaker 2: they're going to the bottom of the barrel when they
Speaker 2: you know, when they play the bums of their conference.
Speaker 2: But even the bums of the SEC, the Big twelve
Speaker 2: and the Big ten are like in the top fifty
Speaker 2: or the top sixty. The ACC has got a bunch
Speaker 2: of teams that are nowhere near that, so you have
Speaker 2: to beat them badly. And I just think Steve Forbes
Speaker 2: last year Wake was a bubble team and they ended
Speaker 2: up losing late and there was a lot of there
Speaker 2: was a lot of yapping from ACC coaches, and I
Speaker 2: don't really blame them because you know, there's no harm
Speaker 2: that can be done. But like it would. Also, I
Speaker 2: don't know, I get it. You're gonna advocate for your
Speaker 2: team and your league and it may never help you,
Speaker 2: but if it, by chance, you know, if it does,
Speaker 2: maybe resonate with a committee member and they realize, you
Speaker 2: know what, he's right. His team is better than a
Speaker 2: lot of people are giving him credit for. We should
Speaker 2: put him in Like there's really no harm. And if you,
Speaker 2: you know, it's almost almost like if you're not advocating
Speaker 2: for your team and using your platform to do so,
Speaker 2: then like are you really trying? So at times I
Speaker 2: feel like, you know, I would probably do the same
Speaker 2: thing if I was an ACC coach in that position.
Speaker 2: But you also have to kind of look in the mirror.
Speaker 2: Like last year, Forbes was really vocal about the ACC
Speaker 2: not getting enough credit and how the ACC network needs
Speaker 2: to step it up and start really advocating for their league,
Speaker 2: and I'm just sitting here like, dude, I hear you,
Speaker 2: but you got to go earn it. Like last year, wait,
Speaker 2: I think I don't even know what their schedule looked
Speaker 2: like last year, but they were very much a bubble team.
Speaker 2: But this year, like the fact that you played coppin
Speaker 2: State North Carolina State, USC Upstate, Western Carolina, Detroit Mercy.
Speaker 2: Those are some of the worst teams in college basketball.
Speaker 2: And you knew when you scheduled them that if you
Speaker 2: play them, you have to beat them bad. And they
Speaker 2: barely got by some of them. And I'm not arguing
Speaker 2: that that's the way it should be, because I think
Speaker 2: when I talked about it last time, there were a
Speaker 2: lot of folks that were acting like I'm claiming that
Speaker 2: it should matter. I'm not, like, you shouldn't have to
Speaker 2: beat a bad team by forty in order to not
Speaker 2: fall in the net the kin palm whatever, Like that's flawed,
Speaker 2: and I've been pretty vocal about that, but it is
Speaker 2: what it is. It's not been changed. It still matters.
Speaker 2: So when you schedule and you know what the criteria is,
Speaker 2: you know how this works. You can't play victim right,
Speaker 2: like you're fifteen and five and quite literally, the only
Speaker 2: reason you're a bubble team is because of who you scheduled, Like,
Speaker 2: don't go play a team from the three hundreds, play
Speaker 2: a team from the two hundreds. Like the average college
Speaker 2: basketball fan wouldn't know this, but like there's a big
Speaker 2: difference in playing Coppin State usc Up State and Radford
Speaker 2: or sam Houston State. Like again, you could even be
Speaker 2: a big college basketball fan of your of you know,
Speaker 2: high level college hoops and not realize there's a two
Speaker 2: hundred plus difference between those teams I mentioned that Wake
Speaker 2: played and the longwoods of the world, the mains of
Speaker 2: the world, even Southeastern Louisiana is in the two hundreds.
Speaker 2: Like again, if you're going to play one, I mean,
Speaker 2: and look, everybody does it. Everybody plays teams of that caliber.
Speaker 2: But when you choose to play teams that you know,
Speaker 2: and by the way, it's not like it was a
Speaker 2: random one off. These teams that Wake played, they scheduled.
Speaker 2: They've been the worst of the worst for years every year.
Speaker 2: Coppin State, North Carolina A and t usc Upstate, Western Carolina, Detroit, Mercy.
Speaker 2: I'm not kidding you. You could go back for the
Speaker 2: last ten years and I bet those schools we were
Speaker 2: consistently in the bottom tier of the sport, and just
Speaker 2: choosing to play them is foolish. You stand nothing to
Speaker 2: gain by doing it unless you beat them by fifty,
Speaker 2: which again, who would want to do that? And you know,
Speaker 2: easier said than done to beat somebody by that much.
Speaker 2: So I'm kind of angry because I wish Wake Forest
Speaker 2: didn't do this because the ACEC would be benefiting from
Speaker 2: having at least another decent to good team, and there'd
Speaker 2: be some like.
Speaker 4: Here's what's wild.
Speaker 2: If Lousville loses to Wake tomorrow, that's like a quad
Speaker 2: three loss. And I know that Wake is a better
Speaker 2: team than that, but because of how they scheduled, that's
Speaker 2: where we are. It's just foolish and it would be
Speaker 2: different if the league wasn't so vocal about, you know,
Speaker 2: being treated unfairly. Anyways, quick break, we'll come back on
Speaker 2: the other side and wrap this thing up or here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's On
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine.
Speaker 2: Day, somebody asked an interesting question during the break there
Speaker 2: on the text line, and I don't know this for certain,
Speaker 2: but you're probably right. So Tyler Johnson plays for Wake Forest,
Speaker 2: so he'll be back in Louisville. In fact, he might
Speaker 2: be back in Louisville as we speak. And somebody asked,
Speaker 2: is this the most Louisville former Louisville players that Louisville
Speaker 2: has had to play against in the same season, and
Speaker 2: I mean it has to be. You've got Jalen Withers
Speaker 2: at Carolina, Matt Cross at SMU, Dre Davis when he
Speaker 2: was at ole Miss, and then Tyler or Tomorrow. So
Speaker 2: I mean you got to keep in mind it was
Speaker 2: very rare for guys to even transfer until the last
Speaker 2: five years or so, so I doubt there's been a
Speaker 2: previous season where Louisville has played as many former players
Speaker 2: as they have, And honestly, two of them, you're only like,
Speaker 2: they're only still playing college basketball because of a global
Speaker 2: pandemic gave them an extra year of eligibility. That's Matt
Speaker 2: Cross and Andre Davis. So like Skytt Clark is is
Speaker 2: that UCLA, you won't play them unless they go to
Speaker 2: the tournament. Mike James has heard, but brand Hilly Hatfield
Speaker 2: is playing for Ency State. You'll obviously play them coming
Speaker 2: up a little later this season. So yeah, I would
Speaker 2: imagine that's probably a record and probably won't be broke
Speaker 2: because again, even in the portal era, the likelihood of
Speaker 2: Louisville having so many former players currently playing in college basketball,
Speaker 2: it would take something like what happened here recently where
Speaker 2: you have to start from complete scratch and build a
Speaker 2: brand new team, which you know that's a scary thing
Speaker 2: to think about, but I know Louisville fans, we're ready
Speaker 2: to embrace a fresh new start, completely brand new and
Speaker 2: here we are, and man, it's been awesome. I think
Speaker 2: the one complaint that I've heard, and it's not genuine,
Speaker 2: it's not.
Speaker 4: Like people are upset.
Speaker 2: But if there is a way to be upset, it's
Speaker 2: that you only get this this whole group for one
Speaker 2: year because you know, some of these guys are going
Speaker 2: to be exhausting their eligibility, but no clue exactly what
Speaker 2: we should expect from guys that are that do have
Speaker 2: eligibility left. But you know, like Javon Hadley can play
Speaker 2: an extra year if he wants, and I would love
Speaker 2: to have him around. I mean, i'd say he's enjoying
Speaker 2: his experience here. Caseon Prior could play two more years.
Speaker 2: Corn Johnson he's gonna get a medical red shirt. So
Speaker 2: you know, again, you never know when it comes to
Speaker 2: what guys are going to do, because they can leave
Speaker 2: and they have way more power and control than they've
Speaker 2: ever had before. But I think if we keep the
Speaker 2: guy that's kind of in charge right, not to say
Speaker 2: he'll be able to bring in these kind of players.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think Chucky Hepburn. If I'm being real
Speaker 2: with you, it's one of the best players we've had
Speaker 2: in a long time. Like he's going to be the
Speaker 2: ultimate fan He already is the ultimate fan favorite. And
Speaker 2: we only get him for a year, which is unfortunate.
Speaker 2: But you know, let's enjoy it while we got him.
Speaker 2: All Right, we're out of time. Enjoy your evening. We're
Speaker 2: back at it tomorrow Game Day Edition to Coffee and
Speaker 2: Company tomorrow at three right here on Sports Talk seven
Speaker 2: ninety