After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split. I have one tattoo that covers my entire body.

Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. He wanted to fight. Daniel LaRusso's gonna fight?

Just kidding, I'm sorry. That's what I thought of when I heard Andy Reid say that Patrick Mahomes wanted to fight. Could you imagine? Mahomes is usually goofy, happy-go-lucky. Now, does he get fired up?

Absolutely. But his energy and his enthusiasm is generally positive. It's about pumping up his teammates. You rarely see him angry like that.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. You just don't see Patrick yell at people or throw his coat. And so when Andy makes that comment about how he wanted to fight, first of all, I thought of, Daniel LaRusso's gonna fight?

Like that dramatic moment in Karate Kid. Anyway, it was some kind of drama for Patrick Mahomes and with a high ankle sprain, you would expect he'd be out like most normal average human beings. That he would be out for multiple weeks or severely limited, but apparently that is not the case. We heard the update from Pat himself, and there is video of him working out with his teammates at practice on Wednesday, though the video is limited to their stretches and their warm-ups, not the throwing portion of practice, really.

And so he says that he's got no restrictions. He was a full participant in practice, at least according to the Chiefs. That is great news for those of us who love football and want to see the best of the best. Now, a half hour from now, we'll go deep dive on your QB news. So when it gets to this time tomorrow, we'll be in the throws of our championship weekend preview, and then we'll kind of go more full body, if you will. Tonight, we're gonna look at it through the eyes of the quarterbacks and those who are talking about the quarterbacks. And we do have a poll up. This is not which game is the game of the week.

This is a different poll. We'll do our game of the week poll tomorrow. But which matchup, if you could pick one, would you most like to see in the Super Bowl?

What do you want? Just tell me what you want for Super Bowl 57. Chiefs and Niners, Chiefs and Eagles, Bengals and Eagles, Bengals and 49ers. We saw Chiefs and Niners not that long ago. That was when Andy Reid won his first Super Bowl as a head coach, and obviously Patrick Mahomes was the quarterback. And then you had the 10-point lead for the Niners in the fourth quarter, only to see the Chiefs come roaring back. Chiefs and Eagles is interesting. Eagles and Chiefs are both recent Super Bowl winners.

Going back to, was it 19 and 17? They all blend together, you know. But the fact that we have two teams that have won more recently, it's kind of a different element. You don't have two starved fan bases. Oh my gosh, even right now as I'm talking to you about Patrick Mahomes, what do I look up and see on NFL Network? Him screaming at Andy Reid and vehemently throwing down his jacket.

He was so angry. It's funny because Tom Brady throws tablets. Who did we see throw his, oh my gosh, was it Nick Bosa who bounced his helmet twice? No, not Nick, sorry, Joey Bosa who bounced his helmet twice. He first threw it on the ground because he was ticked off about a call or a non-call on the line.

And then as Brennan Staley picks it up for him, he just throws it down again. Well, that's a little disrespectful. Anyway, so Chiefs and Eagles both have recent hardware in their history. Bengals obviously do not.

And so I think there's a sentimental component to Bengals. And then Niners haven't won a Super Bowl since the early 90s. It's kind of funny people talking about Niners versus Cowboys and how the Niners are a much better franchise, blah, blah, blah. Well, the Niners and Cowboys, each of them is going through a fairly extended drought now back to the early 90s since they last won Super Bowls. Have the Niners been there?

Yes, but they've lost. To the Ravens in the 2012 season, that Super Bowl, which was 13 obviously, early 13. And then that was the Colin Kaepernick-led year with Jim Harbaugh. And then they also lost to the Chiefs, as we just talked about.

So they've had a little extra opportunity, but they've not won a Super Bowl going back now for three decades. I think the Bengals, because they got there last year and came up short, it's kind of fun to see the redemption story, right, if they can close it out. Either team though, whether it's Eagles or Niners, let's just say for the sake of argument Cincinnati gets to the Super Bowl. Eagles and Niners both have extremely tough defenses. And also both of those teams can run the ball. And so I think about their game against the Ravens in the wild card round. Obviously the Ravens know the Bengals very well.

And so when it comes to divisional games, you kind of have to take everything with a grain of salt. But Eagles can run the ball. They can bash you and gash you with the run. And they can dominate the time of possession. Bengals don't generally do that. Now they are hard hitting. They go vertical.

They are quick strike ability. But remember what Joe Burrow said after they ran the ball so effectively in Buffalo in the snow. You know, we weren't expecting to run the ball that much.

That's not what we do. Yeah, they have a Joe Mixon who can run it. But they're not a ball control team. And yet we have seen that element from them. But when they nearly lost to the Ravens, it was because the Ravens were wearing out the defense.

Putting together these long drives. Almost boring you to death, if you will. No, it's not true. But remember Tyler Hundley turned the ball over trying to reach across the goal line from the two yard line, right? But the Ravens had gotten there. They were knocking on the door. Otherwise that game could have been completely different if not for the fumble and the recovery by Sam Hubbard for 98 yards.

He's on my ass. So it's as dominant as the Bengals were against the Bills. And yes, they have won 10 games in a row.

It's a franchise record. They were not dominant against the Ravens. That game was still hanging in the balance. It reminded me a lot more of Cowboys and Niners. I mean, the offense was hard to come by. So my point in saying that is that both the Eagles and Niners have physical, tough defenses. And they could make life much more challenging for the Bengals. But I do think there will be some sentimental value for the Bengals if they get back to the Super Bowl because they were denied a year ago.

And because of their history, their franchise history. I remember Boomer Esiason in the Super Bowl with the Bengals. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We've got a bunch of goodies up on our social media. So check out our show Twitter or my Twitter. So After Hours, CBS or ALaw Radio.

We've got the poll up where we're asking you which matchup you want to see in the Super Bowl. And then I was thinking about this. Inquiring minds want to know. Hearing a report on the news about how Amazon Prime kind of accepts the fact that they've maybe maxed out. Subscriptions are slowing down mightily now. It's becoming too expensive for a lot of families. So they're pricing people out by raising their rates. And by raising their rates, they're trying to cover the money that they're paying out for football. At some point, you're going to tap out.

You're going to get to a certain number of families. And there just won't be a lot of other subscribers because people can't afford the extra expense right now. And so that's where Amazon is.

So they're kind of shifting their strategies. Now they're adding over-the-counter drugs, subscription drugs. And it's a subscriber service.

So if you have Prime, you have access to these kind of over-the-counter generic drugs or subscription drugs that you need. But you can do it by paying an extra fee per month. So Amazon's strategy is becoming, hey, let's not continue to pursue new subscribers.

Let's milk the ones that we've got. Netflix has kind of hit a ceiling as well when it comes to subscribers. To the point where they're now putting these mechanisms in place where you can't share logins. I wonder if the other streaming services will do that, right? Because Disney Plus can be shared. Paramount Plus can be shared.

Some of these other apps and logins can be shared and can be used not just in multiple places but at the same time. So we're asking you in light of the fact that there is, I don't want to say a mass exodus because we're not there yet. But there is a definite migration.

Oh, such a good word. There's a migration from network TV and even the over-the-air channels. We've seen this in the last decade where it's no longer ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS who have all of the top events. Now more and more it's TNT, it's TBS, it's... What's that other channel that the college basketball tournament uses?

Shoot, what's it called? It's like the one I have to find on my cable package every year. USA has games I know. Well, USA does but there's another network that I only watch. I only watch during the college basketball tournament and I have to find it on my cable package every year. Nickelodeon is now carrying some football games. But also think about where we've gone with the baseball playoffs, Fox Sports 1, MLB Network, NFL Network, NHL Network. They're all carrying their own games so you're no longer able to just watch games on the over-the-air channels.

Again, your basic network packages. Now if you don't have the cable packages, well then you're missing out on a lot. And further beyond that, more and more there's money that's going toward games on streaming services exclusively.

And I think that's turning off a lot of fans. We talked to you about the ratings for Thursday Night Football being down this year for obvious reasons. Because fewer Americans have access to Amazon Prime.

And it's going to continue that way. Apple Plus has games. You've got games on ESPN Plus and other streaming services. I can definitely access some sports, not a lot, but I can access some sports on Paramount Plus. And so in light of that, in light of this extra revenue source for a lot of these leagues, we're going to see more of these games, and I mean important games and important events that end up on streaming services. How do you use them to watch sports? Which ones do you use and where do you draw the line?

Are you willing to be left out in the cold? And what sports are you willing to miss because you don't have streaming? I know that it's frustrating for me and I work in this business to try to figure out what my priorities are and where I can spend. And so what I do, I have Amazon Prime, but I had it before football. So I would have purchased it if I didn't have it because I need to watch the football. But I also have Sirius XM because that really covers my rear. Not only do I have the actual radio, Sirius XM, but I have the app.

And so I can listen to the home broadcast of any league, any game. It's amazing. And there are times when they attempt to rob me blind. This is crazy. I haven't told this story.

I told Jay this story and we still can't get over it. So with Sirius XM, I was paying $15 a month for my package. And as I say, I have a radio in my car, but I also have the app on both my phone as well as on my laptop.

So I essentially can pull up the audio streaming of any game that I need that I can't access on TV or on video in my market, which I'm part of the New York market. I saw my credit card bill, so it's automatically billed to my credit card. I saw my credit card bill jump from $15 a month to $30 a month. There was no notification. There was no, hey, your service is about to become more expensive.

Here are some options. No, there was no indication that my service was about to double in cost. So I caught it on my credit card bill and I thought, you know what, I'll go a few months without it. Football's ending. Right now, I can watch a lot of the NBA games on the various networks I have or NHL.

Baseball hasn't started yet. For the most part, I can see what I need. So I'll just let it go for a few months. I can catch up on YouTube if I need to.

I've got a DVR, blah, blah, blah. So I call up with the intent to cancel it because $30 a month, first of all, they didn't even tell me. Second of all, it's double the amount that I was paying for the last year. I call up. It's an automated system and they ask me, what would you like to do when I say cancel my service? So as I'm on hold, the automated lady puts me on hold. As I'm on hold, she starts talking about this incredible deal that she can offer me. Again, automated lady, this is not a live human. Automated lady offers me the platinum subscriber package because I've been such a faithful subscriber of Sirius XM.

Get this, you guys. It's not even back to what I was paying for the last year. It's $11 a month and that's with fees and taxes. So the actual package itself, $8 a month. So if I had not called and said I want to cancel my service, essentially they have a mechanism that triggers. If they hear the word cancel, they offer you a cheaper package. So here I am paying $30 a month when the same services, I didn't skip a beat.

None of my services changed. Now I'm paying $11 a month. It's a scam. That's a scam. All you have to do is call up and say I want to cancel and oh, wait a minute, wait a minute.

We've got this incredible new offer for you. Jay, if I had never called, I would still be paying the $30 a month for the same services that they're offering to people who do try to cancel for $11 a month. It's so wrong. It's cheaper than what I was paying the year before.

It's like a disgusting practice, honestly. And it's the fact that the woman who was an automated voice message wasn't even a live person who was like oh, let me deal with what you're asking. I didn't even have to negotiate. All she said was here's your package.

It's all the same services. I'm going to read you the terms. You just need to say yes at the end and we'll do all of, she gave me, this is your credit for the month.

This is what your bill's going to be. It was all automated. It wasn't one live human that I spoke to. It all got triggered by the word cancel. That's it. Basically is what happened is you caught them and they go no, no, no, no, we weren't doing that. We weren't doing that.

Here you go. We'll give you a better deal. But if you don't catch them doing the wrong act. Well if you don't call up.

If you don't call up. That's what I mean by like catching them like in the wrong act. So if you don't catch them, then they don't act like they did anything wrong. And how is that, I don't, I just don't get that practice. I mean I understand it from a business standpoint. Of course.

No, come on. Think about it. Think about the number of like different services you pay for that automatically renew. And if you never check your credit card and you don't pay any attention, apparently, and I've heard news stories done on this too. And it's not just streaming, but it's also like services that you might get online.

Like I have a one particular news service that has a bunch of different commentators that I really like. And so I pay for it. But if you forget about it, apparently there are a ton of Americans who are subscribed to various websites or extras or streaming and they just don't think about it. And they forget. And it just keeps renewing on their credit cards. And if you're not like me, I'm a little bit anal retentive when it comes to my bank account and my credit cards. I pay them off every month.

But I also look at, you know, I'm really meticulous. I look at the line items to make sure I'm not getting like scammed or someone stole my number. And so if you don't pay attention, they just renew. And you're paying all this money that you don't even know is coming off of your credit card. And yes, they will, in fact, raise the rates without telling you, which to me is seems very sketchy. All I had to do is call is and say I'm canceling my service.

And that was it. They offered me this incredible deal. Yeah, it's really just if I'm paying for a service, say Uber Eats or something, I don't know that I'm paying for Uber Eats Premium because I did it months ago and I just forgot. I don't really use it.

I guess that's a little bit more like on me because I forgot, but I did sign up. So that's how they bank on it. But if I then call and say, oh, I want to cancel this and they go or if they if they raise my price, like you say, like they do do. And then I realize that they raise it and I call them and I say, oh, actually, I don't want this.

And they go, oh, wait, no, never mind. We can pay this for five dollars, whatever, less like Sirius just did. I don't think that should be a legal practice. I really don't because then you can offer the product for less. You're saying you're not going to lose money and that's what it should be the price. But then you're not going to tell me and charge me more and I just find out how much do you want to bet that it's in the fine print.

Right. Like you agree to the terms of service so that what it probably says in the fine print is at the end of a year. You know, your your this rate, this discount rate, this special offer that we have given you will no longer apply and you will automatically see the increase to the standard rates. So it's happened to me every year with Sirius XM.

The different thing about this year and this renewal is that I didn't have to speak to anyone. So I always call up and say, I can't afford this. I'm going to you know, they charge me extra every year.

I'm going to need to have a different package. Can you can you tell me what offers you have? There have been a couple of times when I've said, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cancel. I can't afford that. Oh, wait a minute.

I think we can come up with one more offer. So cancel is the trigger word, but it's never happened to me before that it was completely automated. They're banking on people calling up to say, I need to cancel this. And the second you do, they offer you a much better offer that you can't refuse. But again, if you ignore it, let's say you have Spotify and you pay for Spotify Premium.

You don't really realize it. It's just continued to get billed to your credit card and you're not looking. Well, they're also counting on the fact that there are a lot of people who just never check. And so now they've doubled your cost and they're raking in the dough, even though, you know, people, if they knew, would not be willing to pay that amount. Yeah, I think they're banking on the people forgetting and not knowing that it's in there.

But now that you're saying that it's all automated, they have that kind of last mechanism to keep you in. Is that crazy? That's such a shady practice. Yeah, to me, it's a total scam. I do call every year and I've done this every year with Sirius XM.

I've had it for 15 years now and I need it. But I couldn't believe that. Not only did you double it without telling me, but then you dropped me to a price that was even cheaper than what I was paying the year before without batting an eyelash. The lady didn't bat an eyelash. She didn't say any words wrong.

It was a robot. I know. I was being facetious. She perfectly, perfectly offered me this deal that I could not refuse. All right, so we're asking you about streaming services.

What do you use? Where do you draw the line? Some of you are pretty fired up about it and I do understand.

It seems unfair, but at the same time, there are people who are willing to pay. Otherwise, these streaming services wouldn't survive. So yeah, find us on Twitter, ALawRadio, or on our Facebook page. Coming up, we've got an update on the tennis. I know a lot of you have been excited that we've even spoken about the tennis this week. The women are into their semi-finals down under and it's Victoria Azarenka who eliminated Jessica Pegula. She is actually trailing by a break in the first set. And even if you don't know who they are, I've got a better storyline for you if you're an American tennis fan.

Tommy Paul will be taking on Novak Djokovic in the men's semi-finals. And so we'll give you a little bit of that, plus QB news on the back as we look ahead to Championship Sunday. So we've got polls. We've got questions. We're looking for your input.

There's always photos. Our social media provides the full service half of this operation. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. I just learned that I get an extra badge when I come back here next year, so I'm pretty stoked about that.

Now, in all seriousness, I'm really excited, man. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The last American standing, Tommy Paul into the semifinals of A major for the first time in his career. He's 25 years old and he defeated the 20 year old Ben Shelton in an All-American quarterfinal matchup that we were watching here as we started our last show. So it was just finishing as we were starting our show on Tuesday night. But now he's got the test of a lifetime, although the opportunity of a lifetime as well, with Novak Djokovic across the net in the semifinals.

Now, just a couple of things. The first American man to reach the semis of the Australian Open since Andy Roddick in 2009. And we know that it's been scarce, these appearances by Americans in semifinals and then finals of any major tournaments, the high profile tournaments. We've got a bunch of good young talent that are trying to bust through. But man, it's been dominated, the men's draw by Novak and Rafa and Roger, who of course is retired and I miss him incredibly.

A little bit of Andy Murray in there too and some of the others. So there have been big names that have kind of formed this elite at the top and it's been really hard to break into that group. Well, here are some young Americans who maybe, maybe could be the next generation that are able to raise the level for the red, white and blue where it hasn't been since the days of Roddick and Marty Fish.

But even then, I don't want to say there were flashes in the pan because that's not true, but it wasn't it wasn't a long stretch where they were at the top. Roddick competed for a while, had the one championship, Marty Fish was derailed by injuries and some other personal and medical challenges. You really have to go back to Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi for a rivalry that came from the United States and that was so delicious that it drew in a ton of fans here stateside. So Tommy Paul faces Novak Djokovic and at this point, all the pressure is on Novak because he's the last big dog remaining. He's far and away the favorite, right?

He's the best player still in the draw. So many upsets to this point, which means he's expected to win, whereas Tommy Paul theoretically could go out there and play a lot freer. I can't really say that this is as confident that I ever felt because I've had some incredible seasons, years here in Australian Open and some matches that are really unforgettable for me. Tough to compare because I've been fortunate to really live through a lot of success in Australian Open. But last two matches, playing against two guys that are really good players, informed players, to beat them dominantly in three sets is something that is definitely, you know, something that I want in this moment, something that sends a message to all my opponents remaining in the draw. And so with this kind of game, of course, the confidence level rises considering, as you mentioned, the circumstances. So, you know, I feel about, I feel good on the court, better and better as the tournament progresses.

I've been in this situation so many times in my life, in my career. You know, never lost the semifinals in Australian Open and hopefully that will stay the same. So, yeah, a bazillion reasons to be confident and he also has a little extra motivation. You hear him reference it there. Djokovic was not allowed. In fact, he was deported. That's the official word from Melbourne, from Australia last year because of his vaccination status.

You may remember the whole drama. It seemed like it took a couple of weeks where he was stuck in a hotel room. He was under house arrest, essentially.

He was watching this play through the court system. So at first he was denied entry and, you know, was kind of stuck there near the airport. And then there was a particular governing body who said, OK, we'll give him an exception. And then it was at the prime minister or somebody said, hell no, we're not making an exception for a tennis player and nixed it again. And so he essentially got ejected from the country.

And now that everything has changed, at least in Australia, and he's playing, he's not forgotten. You could say that there is something extra this year. Yeah.

You could say because of the yeah, as you mentioned, the injury and, you know, what happened last year. And then I just, you know, wanted to really do well. And so far I have I have a perfect score in Australian hard courts, you know, in Adelaide and here. And I've been playing better and better. So I couldn't ask for a better situation to be in at the moment. I do.

I do appreciate. Where Novak is coming from and he whether or not you agree with him, he stayed true to his convictions and did not cave simply for the purposes of sport. But he did miss out on a lot last year. It was his choice. Yes, but he did miss out on a lot.

And I can understand, too, why it would feel like a little extra something, something. Here's the thing, though, he doesn't actually need that because he's already so dang good even after he's dealing. And we talked about the injury. It was a hamstring.

It is a hamstring. And he'd been taking a bunch of whatever, AIDS, painkillers, all that kind of stuff to help him get through it. And it seems to have become a non factor because he's won his past 11 sets. And here he is chasing, this is also obscene, his 10th Australian Open Championship.

Wowsers, 10. And so Novak is a formidable opponent. No matter who is across the net, it'll be the first time in this situation for Tommy Paul. So all the experience is on the side of Novak. Paul's heart rate is going to be escalated.

The adrenaline. Not everybody's Joe Cool, right? But even Joe Cool would tell you that this is these are last year.

These are new situations. So I'm excited. I'm really hoping that we get to see it here on the air, but I don't actually know anymore. OK, so it's 1030 Eastern Time, 730 Pacific on Thursday night. So we'll have that to keep us company as we prep and then presumably when we're first on the air. Yeah, it's going to take some kind of a Herculean effort against Novak to unseat him in the semifinals. But how cool is it that we get to root for an American against him?

All right. Coming up, QB news. Championship weekend through the eyes of the quarterbacks and some of the people who know them the best. You are listening to The F. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibe. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. It's time for QB news on After Hours. We heard straight from Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday about his high ankle sprain. Maybe he was misdiagnosed. Maybe it wasn't a high ankle sprain.

Maybe it was just a high ankle bruise or an ankle bruise or he's got some type of miracle workers on the athletic training staff. It was really good to hear from him. I'm so glad that we're not going to be missing one of the fun, dynamic quarterbacks this championship weekend.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yes, he is good to go. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. I'm doing good, you know? AFC Championship week, ready to go. A few days of treatment, a few days of rehab. I felt better than I thought I was going to be after the game. Moving on it during the game definitely hurt. But after the game I was able to rest it and kind of ice it up and do different stuff like that.

I felt in a little bit better position and obviously the next morning felt a little bit better and I've continued to get better throughout the week. He's had injuries before so he can bank on, you know, that past experience that he's had. But, you know, he'll do fine.

It's just a matter of making sure that he's safe to, you know, safe as you can be out there. I love that Andy Reid chucks it up too. Eh, he's done this before.

In fact, he is a walking miracle. No, actually we've seen him gut through these types of things before, right? We've seen him kind of suck it up as many quarterbacks do. And not just quarterbacks. I mean these guys all play with injuries.

At this point in the season you're talking about being, you know, 21 weeks in. And so these guys are battered and bruised and a lot of times it's the tape. It's the therapy. It's the rehab.

It's the ice bath. That's what keeps them going. They're just not getting the rest that they need in between games.

And won't get it until the season is done. So, yes, good to hear about Patrick Holmes and from Andy Reid. As for the Bengals, there's a lot of familiarity with the Bengals and the Chiefs. And when Pat looks at Bengals defense, he knows exactly what he's looking at. They're coached well, man. Their defensive coordinator, Coach Anaromo, has done a great job of changing up the game plan. I think that's been the best thing. It's very game plan specific.

It's never the same. He gives you different looks out of the same. The same look, but different coverages. And that's what I think a lot of great defensive coordinators do, is they're able to coach your team up and do a lot of different stuff and a variety of stuff, but still be sound in it. And I think that's what they do well. And then they have great players. I mean, at the end of the day, they have great players that are extremely coachable and go out there and do their job to the best of their ability. And so when you're at this point in the playoffs, you're playing against great teams, and it's about who can execute at a higher level. We've been in these spots. We have the experience. We know what team we're playing, the team that's been to this game the last five seasons, and they've all been in that stadium. So to me, they're still the team to beat, and then we're coming for them. But we know it's going to be tough. We know it's going to be hard fought, and we know the kind of players that they have on that side. We've played them twice the last two seasons and really basically a month apart each time. So we know them.

They know us. It's going to be a fun one. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, a QB head coach duo that has gone to five straight championship games. 2018 to now 2022, matching Ken Stabler and John Madden going back to the mid-70s.

They went to five together. And yes, Kenny is a Hall of Famer. And then Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, eight in a row from 2011 to 2018. We'll see if the Bengals, the Bills, some of the other AFC powers can interrupt that streak.

But for now, the Chiefs are still the team to beat in the AFC. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I love how calm, almost, you would think that he doesn't have a pulse, as Joe Burrow is talking about the game and what's to come. Zach Taylor, obviously, watches his quarterback operate in pressure cookers all the time. And he's so impressed with what he sees in action. He trusts his preparation.

You know, and your preparation leads to confidence. And that's just what you see from Joe and all of our players is they know that they've prepared themselves to reach their potential as a player. And so when they walk on the field on Sunday, they're relaxed. Zach Taylor's a fan of Joe Burrow. So is Ben Roethlisberger on his football podcast, footballing.

He singles out the Bengals QB. To sit there and actually watch Joe, Joe is one of the elites in the league. Like, he is good. His pocket presence, he can move, he can run enough. You know, he's a sneaky good runner. Great decision maker, great throws. And then, you know, he got hurt too, so you're like, okay, how's he going to come off the knee? I'm telling you what, I really like, I don't think it's too long until he's in MVP-like talks.

I really believe that. MVP-like talks. And so I just, I can't say enough about Joe. It hurts me to say that about a division opponent, but I'm not in the division anymore, so it doesn't matter. Ben Roethlisberger on football and wondering if it's tough for him watching others play in the postseason.

Of course, he's got plenty of bling himself. Maybe he didn't know that, yes, in fact, Joe Burrow is a finalist for the MVP, as voted on by the Associated Press. So there are five finalists, four of them quarterbacks. Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts.

Well, that's funny, considering that three of them are still standing. Brock Purdy, he's not logged enough games. So then Justin Jefferson, a receiver who's in there, and he said on Wednesday he's just happy to be included with the quarterbacks. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. That's your AFC through the eyes of the QB position.

How about the NFC? Glad to have Jalen Hurts return from his injury. And boy, did the Eagles offense look locked in against the Giants. He was just chomping at the bit to get out there. I just have the desire to win. I think I have a desire to win. I put the work in for it. Try and be diligent with everything.

Try and be the best teammate and leader that I can be. And ultimately try and set the pace and set the temperature of the room. He and Brock Purdy coming at this championship game from two opposite ends of the spectrum, right? Jalen Hurts, highly touted draft pick.

A guy that they tried to put weapons around for the express purposes of bringing out his abilities. And he has grown into that role and is now an MVP candidate. Whereas Brock Purdy, he's got a thrust into it. And he has embraced it and he's been tremendous because he's relying on his weapons. I have a lot of respect for him. He's always been a really good player.

Has a lot of moxie. He makes plays. And he's been doing that since college.

So there's no surprise to him when he was given this opportunity to see the success he's having now. So it's Jalen Hurts and those Eagles. We'll hear a little more from them as we head toward championship Sunday.

Brock Purdy, once again, all new territory for the rookie. You know, in these kind of games, it's all about communication. How can you operate smoothly, get in and out of the huddle, get the play off in the right way, make sure everyone's on the same page. So it's definitely a big emphasis this week just at practice with the little things, the details of communicating and being on point.

And that starts with the cadence. So it's going to be huge for us. Everybody that watches Brock says he's got the it factor. He's prepared. He's ready to go.

And they trust him completely. But how did he actually end up on the 53-man roster, Kyle? When you get a quarterback where we did and you already have two guys, in an ideal world you're hoping to keep that guy on the practice squad. But he was looking so good in his reps in practice that eventually we let him go in the game and then he looked that way in the game. So we thought it would be way too much of a risk to lose him.

That's why we ended up having to make the decision we did, which isn't always fun for an overall roster. But I'm sure glad that we did it. I've seen him grow throughout the whole year from getting zero snaps to being the starter of this team. And with the guys that we have around him, like from our guy Trent, being the leader that he are and everybody else just honing around and just giving him confidence to be who we need him to be. Good stuff, right? From Brock Purdy seeing where he's come from, the last draft pick, forcing the Niners to keep him on the active roster where a lot of teams, they don't use that spot for a third quarterback. But man, it's a good thing they didn't lose him to another team.

Could you imagine? He may end up being their starting quarterback moving forward and they may have a choice to make about Trey Lance. All excited to see these two games on Sunday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.

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