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00:00There ain't nothing better than this.
00:02I like, I've been waiting all week for today, just because I knew you could feel it from
00:06the fans.
00:07Everybody's been focused on it all week, but today is kind of that you're like walking
00:12around or you're doing work or whatever it is you've got today, but you can feel it.
00:17You're like, as soon as we get done with whatever we're doing today, boom, ladies and gentlemen,
00:22the weekend, two more sleeps and we know exactly what this weekend is all about, man, Super
00:27Bowl rematch.
00:28Let's go.
00:30Let's go.
00:31So when we say let's go, let's go out to the River Islands guest line because one of our
00:35absolute favorites, kind enough to join us today.
00:39We feel there is an analyst like no other, and that is Sean Salisbury, who's joining
00:43us now on Weatherden Dibs.
00:45Hey Sean, what's good?
00:46Hey guys, all good and it's a pleasure to be on with you.
00:50You know, I love joining you, so thank you for having me.
00:52Yeah, no, thank you for doing it.
00:53We're excited about this one.
00:55Thousands of questions.
00:57Let me ask you this, though, when you look at the Kansas City Chiefs now, how would you
01:01describe the evolution of a team that used to kind of be about Patrick Mahomes and right
01:07now, Sean, honestly looks like it's more about their defense.
01:11It is.
01:12And even think about this last year, guys, for part, I mean, Mahomes is always Mahomes
01:17making plays, but you tell me who carried them most of the year last year.
01:21Defense.
01:22Steve Spagnuolo right now is the NFL's best.
01:27And I don't mean just pressure blips wise.
01:29He's the best like under pressure defensive coordinator.
01:32He loves big games, and this is another one for him.
01:35You should expect him to thrive, but it really has been about a year and a half that the
01:40Chiefs defense has been, I don't say the only reason, because when Mahomes and Kelsey and
01:44Andy Reid are on the team, you got to, you can, well, you'll find ways to put the ball
01:49in the end zone or win games, but isn't it amazing?
01:52This team, you lose a fast receiver, somebody else comes in, you lose a running back, you
01:56go get cream hunt, you lose somebody, I mean, there's nobody better at restocking.
02:01And even if the stock, the restock is not an A, it's a B or a B minus.
02:06Andy Reid elevates them.
02:07But just when you need somebody to step up and play dominant, the defense has been really
02:11good.
02:12Their front seven's fierce.
02:14They can cover on the back end.
02:15They'll pressure in.
02:16Spagnuolo is the best at finding that little gap and says, here's how we attack this weakness.
02:22And man, they got a lot of buy-in.
02:23And it really, if you look at them, guys, do they look like a dominant team?
02:27Statistically, they don't.
02:28I'm talking about overall.
02:29You get every time, if it's late and they got a chance, the field goal kicker is going
02:33to make it.
02:34Mahomes is going to get you a few plays off schedule and then make that one comeback throw
02:38first down.
02:39Andy's going to give you something in the red zone.
02:41And Kelsey erupted last week, but in truth, the first three or four games, he hadn't been
02:46doing much either.
02:47So this team finding, I mean, so cliche, but in truth, it is their defense that carries
02:54them.
02:55And we're saying that about a team that's got the best tight end in football.
02:58I mean, I'm an outdoor kiddling, but the best receiving tight end in football, normally
03:02the best quarterback in football and the best play caller and head coach, offensive coordinator
03:08combo in the league.
03:09And yet it's the defense.
03:10If the defense doesn't play well, I'm not sure they scare you anywhere other than quarterback
03:15and tie it in offensively, which is a tribute to them.
03:18Yeah.
03:19And defensively, they scare you because the coordinator and also for Chris Jones and Mark
03:22and I were just talking about what do you do with a guy who can wreck you in the a gap?
03:28You can double them, but if he beats your double team, what are you left with Sean?
03:32Yeah.
03:33That's such a great point because we hear it every, well, chip, no, we don't chip backstone
03:38chip in the interior.
03:39You know, you guys did say, well, how do we double them?
03:43When you do that.
03:44And you know, guys, we've watched Chris Jones beat double teams too, in this league, right?
03:47That poses a problem.
03:48So you double him on every pass player when you double him.
03:51And then the guard gets up to the linebacker in the run game.
03:54However you go about it, the crazy thing about it has been, it frees up a lot of people to
04:01do their thing.
04:02So they're going to see a lot of one-on-one and protection.
04:04Even as presence.
04:05What do you like?
04:06We used to see that with the Rams guys.
04:07I'm still, when Aaron Donald was playing it and when an MVP is like, and JJ Watt, it's
04:12like, we're going to double him.
04:14And Aaron Donald, especially inside Watt moved around, especially inside, you're like, well,
04:17that's fine.
04:18He still can beat it and push you back into the backfield in the run and pass game and
04:22get your quarterback's vision at his legs in the middle of it.
04:25But it just makes everybody, your second and third guy, it's like having two phenomenal
04:29receivers.
04:30Then the third guy catches 90 balls because he can't double them all.
04:34It's much more difficult when you've got a guy who's a run, not only a good run defender,
04:39but a run disrupter, but also has the pass skills of a guy who plays on the edge.
04:44So that is such a good point and not only valid, but something that we did that is one
04:49of the greatest advantages.
04:50I don't know how you guys are, but I've always said I built football teams and defenses.
04:55I guess kind of like baseball, you know, up the middle, but inside out.
04:59That inside, the dominant guy who can disrupt and rush the passer, a quarterback, a great
05:04center, you know, a middle linebacker.
05:06I do.
05:07I believe you build it inside out and they've got a guy that everybody else feeds off and
05:11he is a game wrecker to every sense of the word because of his ability to do both.
05:16He's a two dimensional football player and he plays with an attitude and a motor so he
05:20doesn't take many plays off and it's hard.
05:23So what you do is you double team him and you better hope your tackles are at their
05:27best and then they start to do those games outside, loops and stuff outside to try and
05:32create confusion to get your good players off their good players.
05:35And then all of a sudden you get a free runner with a linebacker.
05:38So incumbent that backs are going to have to step up and thump, but it is really, really
05:42hard to spend 60 plays, 65 plays a game, double in the guy and then hoping everybody could
05:48hold up on the outside because you cannot chip on the inside.
05:52It does require a 300 pound double and if you're going to just block him by yourself,
05:56well you better be able to dress in a phone booth because that guy's really good.
05:59Sean Salisbury joining us here on Willard and Debs 95, seven, the game, Sean, this is
06:04just me, the sports fan talking.
06:06I feel like when there's a matchup where one of the teams kind of clearly needs the game
06:11more than the other team, they usually get it.
06:16That's not to say the chiefs aren't motivated, but I clearly feel like the 49ers need this
06:21game more than the chiefs.
06:23And for that reason, I give them kind of an edge is, have you been in that situation?
06:27Is that a thing?
06:29I think it is.
06:30And you know what's crazy about it guys, and I don't mean, it's not like I'm blowing smoke
06:34at Kansas City, but Andy Reid sure doesn't feel like the guy to let the, take it for
06:38granted.
06:39Right.
06:40And I don't, and here's another thing, and it's a very valid point that you're making,
06:44but think about this, we've all watched, it seems like they're on national TV every frigging
06:48minute, right?
06:49Every week.
06:50So we all see most of their games on a national level, even when it's the game of the week,
06:55whether it's Sunday in the afternoon this week or Monday or Sunday or Thursday.
06:59Have you seen them play a great game yet this year?
07:02I'm talking about where it's like, you come out of it saying that's a Superbowl champion.
07:05You haven't.
07:06It's been bits and pieces and defense.
07:08So when you go through that, and I'm only going to say this about the compared to the
07:12Texans because I'm around it every day here, they're five and one and guys, they've played
07:17kind of average at times, been good in parts, they have not played a complete game.
07:21And so last week, everybody called it a trap game playing, you know, their game last week.
07:25Well, this looks like a trap game in new England.
07:27No, they buried them because they realized they haven't played a complete game.
07:30So with Kansas city, I don't believe their team feels like that.
07:34They've been that team.
07:35Oh my gosh.
07:36So explosive.
07:37They're going to hang 40 on you.
07:38They've kind of had to grind it out like a blue collar team that doesn't dominate you.
07:42They're good at a lot of things and we know they can do it, but they're not great at a
07:46lot of things on offense.
07:47Now you get, Dave, you're worthy of the ball in space, which Andy will create stuff like
07:51that and create, he's like a good, bad, you guys know this with the great basketball teams
07:55you have there.
07:56And he's the guy who gets his guy, the ball on the spot where he wants to catch and shoot.
08:01He does that with his players on offense.
08:03So they're comfortable, even though they're not filled, you know, Juju Smith, Schuster
08:07coming back after he's gone again, I mentioned Kareem Hunt.
08:10So I, I, I believe that the 49, I think the 49ers are going to win the game.
08:14I do because they also, there's got to be a sense of urgency, finally getting at least
08:19close to as fully healthy as they can be, even though McCaffrey, I think Jennings is
08:22out as well, but they still have weapons and they also have struggled to put that full.
08:28Oh my gosh game recently.
08:30I liked the San Francisco 49ers at home and that has something to do with it.
08:34And I don't think the chiefs are going to come in.
08:36Oh, we're okay.
08:37We can afford to lose because of the element of who they're playing.
08:40They're not playing a team.
08:41They're supposed to dominate.
08:42The 49ers are supposed to be a dominant team in the NFC.
08:45So I think that helps them guard against it.
08:47But yes, if you're talking about urgency and putting yourself at a point where you're in
08:51a chase mode, that's not the chiefs, that's the 49ers and teams that are well-coached
08:56and disciplined that feel like that they understand the sense of urgency.
09:00I like a close one, but I actually think defenses are going to win in a lot of these battles
09:03this week.
09:04I think the 49ers are a field goal favorite in my mind at home.
09:07Yeah.
09:08I'm Sean Salisbury here on 95.7 The Game.
09:10When you talk about closing, why have the Niners been unable to close in these games
09:15where they've got, you know, three losses, but two of them, they had big leads in the
09:20second half.
09:21Yeah, guys, I don't like that trend.
09:23Do you?
09:24I don't like the trend at all.
09:26It kind of goes with what you said about, well, you know, the sense of urgency for the
09:3049ers in this game over the chiefs yet, where has been the 49ers sense of urgency with leads
09:36to put their foot on the throat?
09:38Now, guys, we can sit back and say it has to be injuries and it does matter.
09:42Let's face it.
09:43You can't take McCaffrey, even though they've had some production in the backfield.
09:47You can't take McCaffrey out of the lineup and say, hey, we're just as good.
09:50No, you're actually not.
09:52But that's why this team is consistently winning the last handful of years.
09:57Somebody else does their gig a little bit better that day.
09:59So, yeah, that's something, guys, that time, you know, what happens once you say it's called
10:04the NFL happens twice, you say, all right, we're going to get this is the 49ers or this
10:08is the chief.
10:09So this is Baltimore when it happens three times.
10:11If it happens again and they've got a lead and can't close, then you start to say that
10:15the trend and I got a problem.
10:17But the reason I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on that and say, you
10:20know, I don't know if I believe much in coincidences, but the other team's getting paid to is because
10:24of where they come from, who they are and the roster guys, when they're healthy and
10:29playing the roster is really, really good.
10:31We know the quarterback is efficient and can make every play.
10:34We know that they're getting healthy and they can run it when they got there with Debo and
10:38McCaffrey there.
10:39But once again, how's Kyle going to dial up in a pressure game in a big moment and being
10:46able to offensively get the things going you want to get going when, in fact, you don't
10:51have your best weapon to get him in the pass game in the run game.
10:55So, yeah, man, this is a this is something the sense of urgency.
10:59And I want to see a fast start, but I also, to your point, want to see them score 17 points
11:04in the fourth quarter to prove to us that this is who they are, because I have a hunch
11:08that there's a chance that now they got to pick it up.
11:10But we could very well, because the NFC, the up and down and the 49ers and the Vikings
11:15and the way the NFC North is playing Detroit, I mean, there's good teams.
11:19We could very well see this team again, because at some point the 49ers are going to go on
11:23a roll where they win five, six in a row.
11:25And so you'll start to get the talk again.
11:27It'll just be a rematch of another rematch.
11:30And grudge doesn't matter.
11:31That was last year.
11:32We're heavy into it.
11:33There's injuries.
11:34It's not a Super Bowl.
11:35But you still have it in your crawl that says these guys have gotten us a couple more times
11:38than we've gotten them.
11:39It matters.
11:40So I would expect them to be able to close with the lead this time, even though they
11:43don't have their closer in McCaffrey.
11:46Sean, emotionally, what does it do for the 49er locker room to have Ricky Pearsall making
11:51his debut?
11:53Listen, you're always guarding me, like, okay, because he's back and he's able to play, is
12:03it...
12:06Do you feed off the energy?
12:07Sure, you are.
12:08Now, you wish that wasn't the way you had to get it, but there's always that energy
12:12with a teammate that's your shot of Red Bull.
12:15But you guys also know, well, pregame and the week going on, he's going to be jacked
12:19up.
12:20They're going to be fired up.
12:21And it's going to be awesome.
12:22They're going to go nuts.
12:23But like anything, with the old Mike Tyson, once you get punched in the face, his performance
12:28on the field is going to be more important than...
12:32That energy can't carry you through four quarters, because once you get it in the mouth, now
12:36you're fighting and scratching to battle the team that you're playing against and the guy
12:39you've got to block and the guy you've got to tackle.
12:42But there's no doubt, not just the energy of a football game, but the guy's life.
12:46You never know what could have happened and he's rehabbed it and back, and I think we're
12:49all anticipating it.
12:50It'll be a great story.
12:52But still, while the energy leading into, you're going to have to just have football
12:55energy regardless of this, but it's going to be a great energy and great pregame and
12:59watch them come out of the tunnel in the locker room.
13:01But I'm sure when I get to the stadium and all practice week long, there's been a different
13:05vibe on the practice field, knowing that a guy was shot a while back and now he's going
13:10to make his debut and it's going to be pretty exciting.
13:12But the Kansas City Chiefs don't care about that.
13:15They care about the player, I'm sure, but they don't care about the momentum you've
13:19got going into a game.
13:20They plan on thumping you and saying, now it's football once all that hype and all the
13:25talk is gone after pregame.
13:26Yeah, no doubt.
13:27And you know, the emotion of it is huge and when he came to practice this week, it became
13:31a big thing and the team rallied around him.
13:34But even beyond that, I think about Ricky Pearsall as a player who looks to be a good
13:39route runner and possibly a good man beater.
13:41How important would it be to have that sort of a receiver against a KC team that all but
13:46pressed you into submission last year in February?
13:50I think it's awesome and you're right.
13:52All the talk, of course, the story of the guy overcoming this, I think it's a phenomenal
13:56story and I'm sure it would have been fun to see the practice and the vibe and see the
14:00reaction all week long.
14:01I can tell you this, though, he is a very precise and dynamic route runner.
14:05And how awesome would this be?
14:07Don't you guys kind of feel when you're riding that in-game momentum, then wouldn't you come
14:11out of the tunnel and in your first series, get him the ball just to get his hands on?
14:15Yeah, I would.
14:16Get him the ball, get him going, because guys like this can make a difference.
14:22And we talked about full team energy.
14:24What about just a single guy energy, how they elevate in times when they're like, man, if
14:29a bullet hits somewhere else different, who knows where I'd be right now?
14:32So it's all the emotions he'll go through, but precise route runner.
14:36And regardless of the grudge of coming back and trying to win, you don't want to get pounded
14:40into submission because you're a little bit embarrassed at times.
14:43And that doesn't go away.
14:45When you're bullied, you can get beat by a team finessing you to death.
14:48We've all been there.
14:49It's like, come on, you got a lucky knockout punch and you landed it.
14:52I want a rematch.
14:53It's when the guy comes and hits you in the mouth 10, 15, 20 times.
14:57And Kansas City's defense did that some at a Super Bowl, that that's the one you want.
15:01You want the rematch.
15:02So Piersol's energy, a little, you know, getting some revenge on a Super Bowl game they want
15:08and hoping that they get a chance again at the end of the season.
15:10But the psychological thing carries over here, guys.
15:13You get your butt whipped in this one, and then you're like, well, wait a second now.
15:17I don't like that trend.
15:19But you go beat Kansas City and you send a message before the midway point that last
15:23year doesn't matter anymore.
15:24We'll see you guys again.
15:25Sean Salisbury with us on Willard & Dibbs.
15:28Sean, before you go, would love to get your perspective on the conversation we've been
15:33having before you came on.
15:36And there's so much talk about how the Chiefs have had the 49ers number.
15:40And sure, there's Andy Reid and there's Kyle Shanahan in their matchups.
15:44But I start thinking about this today and I'm like, I see the Brock 49ers as a different
15:48entity than the Jimmy Niners.
15:51And therefore, I look at Brock's Niners as 0-1.
15:55What is your perspective on that conversation?
15:58100% agree.
15:59100% agree.
16:01I just think that Brock's a better playmaker all around.
16:05I do.
16:06That doesn't mean one ten times more.
16:07I just do.
16:09And you guys know we've had conversations about Jimmy in the past.
16:12How about at times Jimmy got an unfair wrap and every time they lost, it was blamed on
16:15him.
16:16But Jimmy missed throws that you have to make in big games.
16:19Now, I'm not talking about the tight, even the tight window play.
16:21I'm talking about the guy that's wide open.
16:23The easy ones you can't miss.
16:25The best players in the world, they'll make the big plays or the tight window plays.
16:29But Breeze and Manning and Mahomes, the great ones, make the simple play all the time.
16:33They're the ball to hit the ground.
16:35And I think that's where an advantage.
16:37And I just think there's a little bit, when you've been a seventh round pick, you've been
16:40a guy who wasn't supposed to be playing NFL football or just grinding to be a practice
16:45squad guy.
16:46And now you're the guy and he's proven it over now two plus years.
16:50Yeah.
16:51This isn't this different.
16:52And if we're going to put all the emphasis on that position, which we do at quarterback,
16:56then how can we talk about, well, all they got, they got their number one.
17:00So you're exactly right.
17:01And now fully get them healthy and get them going at least as close to health as you can
17:05get.
17:06Not having McCaffrey in that gig there.
17:07But I think Brock Purdy, in truth, there's just a different mentality about his game.
17:13I just think he's a better quarterback than Jimmy.
17:15Doesn't matter what you got to do.
17:16I just do.
17:17And I think he thrives on these moments.
17:18I expect him to have a big game tomorrow and at least handle the duress that he's going
17:22to face Sunday.
17:23That he's going to face.
17:24Sean, you're the best, man.
17:25Thank you so much for making some time for us.
17:28Guys, you're always great with the questions.
17:29It's always awesome to come on with you.
17:31I look forward to it again.
17:33There it is.
17:34Gary on Willard and Debs on 95.7 The Game.