Chiefs: Transformed and Primed to Rule Super Bowl LVIII
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:05 But do you think this Kansas City Chiefs game, as you watch it from a little bit
00:09 from afar, do you think this Kansas City Chiefs team is different than the one
00:13 that the Eagles played a couple of months ago?
00:14 I do. I think that they're very different. I think they've hit stride.
00:17 And the one thing that you can't do with players of the caliber that the Chiefs
00:22 have is let them hit stride. Once they hit stride, it's this snowball effect
00:28 of success. And I would not want to be the 49ers' young quarterback.
00:34 I love Brock Purdy. I think that he's got a huge future.
00:37 But coming in to play a guy with Mahomes' credentials--and I was listening to
00:43 Brandon Cooks before my segment and heard him talking about what he thinks of Mahomes.
00:51 And I don't disagree. I think Mahomes is a phenomenal quarterback.
00:55 I'm not ready to give him one of the best of all time yet.
00:58 I think he's got some years ahead of him. But he's certainly on a great trajectory.
01:02 But this team also has a very, very underrated defense.
01:08 People want to talk about the defensive players in the 49ers.
01:11 They don't talk enough about the defensive players in the Kansas City Chiefs.
01:15 So when you have a guy like George Kittle in the Niners, the Chiefs have responses
01:20 to that. They have people that can get out and cover a guy like that.
01:23 Christian McCaffrey is going to be the determining factor as to how the Niners go today.
01:28 Sure. I agree. On Sunday, Super Bowl 58.
01:32 I think you're right. I'd concur in saying that you have Chris Jones and George Karloftis up front.
01:39 Karloftis is really showing that he's a great young player. First-round draft pick for them.
01:43 You have Nick Bolton in the middle, who's racked up--not last week against the Ravens.
01:48 The Ravens didn't run the ball all that much. But the previous three games, double-digit tackles.
01:52 Nick Bolton obviously had one of the biggest plays in the Super Bowl last year,
01:55 where Jalen Hurts dropped the ball and Nick Bolton picked it up and ran it back for a scoop and score.
02:00 That was a play early on in that game that had a huge impact long-term.
02:05 Hurts played a nearly perfect game, but that one drop led to a touchdown
02:09 that kept the Chiefs close in that first half.
02:12 So you have that. And then on the outside, I think two guys that are a huge impact in this game
02:19 is Greenlaw and Warner, obviously on the San Francisco side, but I've been talking about it all week.
02:23 Trent McDuffie and LeJarrius Sneed and their ability to potentially limit Kittle,
02:29 but more importantly, Iuke, and possibly limit the explosive plays,
02:34 I think is really something that's important when we head into this weekend.
02:37 So you know, Mike, it's interesting. If you look at Super Bowl MVPs over the past 26 seasons,
02:44 or 26 Super Bowls, four times you had a defensive player.
02:49 That's right.
02:50 Four times. You never had a tight end.
02:52 Correct.
02:53 But four times you had a defensive player, Trent McDuffie is plus 50,000.
02:59 I love it.
03:00 Plus 50,000. And that's the guy that I'm looking at.
03:03 You know, he had huge shoes to fill with the Honey Badger leaving, right?
03:06 And he plays that same type of game. I'm not willing to give him the credentials yet,
03:10 but he plays that same type of game.
03:12 Sure.
03:13 He's an exciting guy. He's a game changer. He's a guy who can come out,
03:16 and at any given moment he can shut somebody down, he can lay the wood and hit hard,
03:21 and he can be somebody who can really affect change.
03:24 But you know, look, the Niners have a great linebacker core.
03:29 Warner's awesome. Bosa's awesome.
03:33 But you know, they're going up against a guy who I think is going to go down as the best tight end
03:37 in the history of the game.
03:38 Right. So let's talk a little bit about that and your Niners perspective.
03:42 You've given us some already, but you have Warner and Greenlaw in the middle,
03:47 Bosa and obviously some big name defensive linemen up front.
03:51 But as you can see, we're live. It's a live show here.
03:54 We've got a lot of characters out here. I don't mind it.
03:57 That's part of why we're here, right? People rooting for the Niners and the Chiefs.
04:01 So Greenlaw and Warner in the middle.
04:03 What I think is going to be the key for Kansas City is Isaiah Pacheco
04:06 and trying to get him the ball often, early and often.
04:10 I like his over on rushing attempts.
04:12 What do you think is the best way to attack this Niners defense?
04:14 So I agree with you with the over because McKinnon's not in.
04:17 So they're already down a man. And Edward Talaire, a lot of people like him.
04:21 I just don't think that he's the player that people think he is.
04:24 I don't think he's a big part of the City plan at all.
04:25 I don't either. And I saw some props.
04:28 Checked the test ball 28 times last week.
04:30 Right. And the guy's a machine. And everybody talks about him running angry.
04:34 I don't know if our viewers really understand what level of anger he runs with.
04:39 Every step he takes, he takes with intention.
04:42 So I agree. Look, I think that the big advantage is Mahomes isn't going to have to throw the ball.
04:49 He will throw the ball, but they have the ability to use Pacheco to get out there
04:53 and to help balance the game plan, balance the time, balance the play clock.
04:58 And, you know, I think the Chiefs being an underdog is kind of crazy on this thing.
05:05 These 10 weeks, we've seen a lot of players come out of the box.
05:08 (bells chiming)