After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey, and Westwood One brings you the AFC and NFC Championship games.

Streaming live for free this Sunday on the Odyssey app. The 49ers visit the Eagles. Touchdown Jalen Hurts! And then it's a rematch between the Bengals and the Chiefs. Wide open, Jamar Chase takes it in. Touchdown Chiefs. Catch all the action from Westwood One. Your playoffs, your Odyssey.

Get in the game 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. Even if I wasn't planning on talking football, I would want to now with that NFL films music. It's fantastic. Halfway through, final show of the work week.

If it's still your Thursday, well hurry the heck up. Beeps. Did I just say beeps?

I was going to say babe and then I was going to say peeps and it came out beeps. That could be a new slang word. I like that.

Such an idiot. And then there was this second in my brain where I thought, oh just played off like it didn't happen. Just keep going and no one will notice. If you don't draw attention to it, nobody else will. A little bit like when you discover that you have toilet paper hanging out the back of your pants. Not that I've ever done this, but people have told me, just pull it out and act like it was never there.

It doesn't matter. You know what? Booger hanging from your nose. Just grab it, pull it out, act like it was never there.

Just keep on going what you're doing. My brother every now and then. No, I'm not going to tell that story. Never mind. I can't.

That's TMI. So I was going to play it off as though it sounded completely normal, but I can't do it. All right.

Funny. It's after hours. Beeps. You know, the emoji about crying so hard, you're laughing. That happens to me at least once a night on this show.

But every single time I'm either laughing at me or Aaron Rodgers. It's one of the others. Okay. All right.

Can we, can we just possibly chop off the beginning of the show and star all over again? No, I'm offended. How could you possibly say that? I hope you're not offended by me saying beeps.

Somewhere in some culture, maybe that is highly offensive. All right. Take two. I don't even know what I was saying. Nevermind. We're just moving on. If you are just waking up on your Friday morning, well, sorry about that.

If you're still awake on your Thursday, yeah, try sleeping now. On Twitter, A Law Radio, also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence. So we still have the poll running for another hour. The one that we ask you which Super Bowl matchup you would like to see. What do you want to see? Not what do you think we will see. Not asking for your predictions. You know how I feel about predictions. Instead, we're asking which matchup do you want for Super Bowl 57. And it fits so perfectly in a Twitter poll.

We have four options. And the closer we get to championship Sunday, the more players have inched closer to the trash talking. In some cases, they try to play it off like it's not trash talking. But if you're looking for bulletin board material this weekend, there is plenty. Yeah, so I know a lot of you are fired up too. I'm glad I'm not the only one planning my Sunday around championships. And if last weekend's rate, well not ratings, we'll go viewers. If last weekend's viewership for say Cowboys Niners, two of the higher profile franchises in all of sports, not just the NFL.

If that's any indication, we are talking about 50 million plus for these games this weekend. We know what the Chiefs bring to the table. Patrick Mahomes, he's can't miss TV. Even on a high ankle sprain. If you've seen the video of him though, moving around in practice, he was a full participant yet again on Thursday.

No restrictions whatsoever. And we'll hear from him in a little bit. But if you were watching, he's doing spin moves. I wonder if he knew the camera was on him.

He just wanted to show off that his ankle was fine. Yeah, he's out there leading the stretches and the hopping and the different warm-up drills and then spinning off and heading in a different direction. So it's good to see him. He brings people to the TV.

He does. I think Joe Burrow is falling into that same category now too. Also the fact that they've won 10 games in a row, a franchise record. Man, they had 30 first downs in Buffalo last week.

Also a franchise record, by the way. It's almost like the snow wasn't there. The snow did not seem to bother the Bengals at all. But will the noise at Arrowhead for a playoff game bother these Bengals? Well, if any team is used to it, if any team can cut through the noise, it would be these Cincinnati Bengals because of the number of high-profile games and the pressure they've stared down since Joe Burrow became their quarterback. However, Burrowhead might be taking it just a little bit too far.

That's what's happening now. There are Bengals fans. There are references in Cincinnati to Arrowhead as Burrowhead. And Travis Kelce, the great tight end for the Chiefs, caught wind of it and was telling his brother, Jason Kelce, the center for the Eagles, who's also playing this weekend. Getting everybody fired up. We are the loudest stadium in the world on record.

42, 142 decibels. Did you guys break the record this week? I don't know. I don't know. Maybe we're gonna have to break it this week because a lot of Cincinnati Bengals fans are calling it Burrowhead instead of Arrowhead.

Whoa. Disrespect. The Arrowhead continues.

They're throwing a lot of bullets and board material out there. So Travis Kelce admits that. Just as a side note, how cool is it that these two are still doing their podcast even though they're both playing this weekend? It's my new obsession among podcasts is the New Heights podcast with the Kelce brothers. Great access in these podcasts where they're actually real and authentic. I know some people, they differ over what we hear from Tom Brady on his podcast. And I would agree with you, there still is a layer, I think, of impenetrability where he's going to play his cards close to the vest. He's been a superstar and he's been a household name for far too long.

He recognizes that if he blinks funny, if he's got an eyelash in his eyeball, it becomes big news. With the Kelce brothers, I don't want to say they're obscure, but their podcast is a little more obscure. And these guys, as much as they are, they're funny and they're demonstrative and they're unique personalities. We hear from Jason a lot, Travis more and more now. This, I think, their podcast is a hidden gem.

This podcast, a hidden gem. I'll sign it, baby. But Jay and I are deciding that from now on it's going to become part of our weekly routine. Clearly it would take us into next year unless they continue it through the off-season. Bring the babies.

Burrowhead, whoa, the disrespect. They should. Imagine the Super Bowl week build up if both those guys make it in. Or if only one of them makes it in. Still, I hope that they will do it. I don't know that they will, but you can imagine they would be really supportive for the other.

I know I would. I would rather see my brother win and succeed in anything than me. But yes, it would be awesome if we had two Kelcys. I believe, I think I read that they'd be the first pair of brothers to face off in a Super Bowl. To face off in a Super Bowl? Yeah, to be on different, different teams. Maybe they've been on the same team before. Too bad we didn't get that with Arizona and Pittsburgh. I mean, that would be a rematch of Super Bowl pass, but JJ Watt now retired, but his brothers are both with the Steelers. Could you imagine? Oh heavens. That'd be a good one. The media storylines leading up to it. Are you kidding me?

So Burrowhead, huh? I don't know. Do you think the Chiefs really react to that in their locker room? Do you think that makes them angry and gives them extra motivation? It seems kind of cheesy to me. I mean, they probably hear it.

They probably would. It doesn't actually get you angry, Kelsey says. Yeah, the disrespect of Arrowhead continues. It is disrespectful. There's no doubt. Oh, yeah. But it's not as though it's coming from the locker room. It'd be different if it was coming from the Bengals.

Don't tell me they haven't giggled over it, though. Burrowhead. It's after hours. I guess I put the wrong one on. I guess I called it the wrong thing.

Now, if it was here on this show and I said Burrowhead, it wouldn't be a sign of disrespect. It would just be a side of me being a dodo, which does happen. Beeps. Let's go, beeps. That's it. I'm using it from now on. New phrase.

Oh, my gosh. Yep. Dodo.

That's me. Isn't there a dodo bird? Not anymore. They are extinct. No way.

Quite a while. What about the blue footed booby? Oh, the blue footed booby.

I'm not positive. They're so attractive. The blue footed booby. Are they?

Yes. You've never seen one. Having to come across. You never saw one in any one of those documentaries done about animals all over the world. You never encountered the blue footed booby or more to the point, none of your elementary school friends ever brought it up to you so you could all giggle like total idiots. I just Googled the blue footed booby for the first time.

I don't think I've seen this animal before, and it's incredible. How could your elementary school class, your little group of boys not laugh over the blue footed booby because every time we needed to giggle in one of our classes when I was growing up, somebody brought up the blue footed booby and we all lost it. My schooling system failed me. Look at this. I don't know about this thing. Wow.

I don't know. But it's feet color. My work here is done. I told you it's feet are amazing. It's beautiful. All right.

That's it. Find a photo of the blue footed booby and put it up on our show Twitter so we can all giggle, but it's a very striking bird. It's gorgeous.

It might be my new favorite bird. I don't know much about it, or it's a 30. Well, almost 31. Isn't it exactly a month from Friday? Yeah, look at that.

It is seriously. Not only do I introduce you to the blue footed booby, but I also remember the exact date of your birthday. And in the moment it's a month to go. That's good, right? I've decided to in 2023 to cut back on all gifts since the economy is so bad.

Oh, yeah. Good thing we got the Christmas gifts out of the way. We got that done. So from in 2023, we're going gifts.

Done. That's it. Just smiles, smiles. And hey, happy birthday. Not even a card. I mean, those are expensive these days.

Cards can be five bucks. You guys, Jay gave me a singing card for Christmas. It sings.

That was pretty good. It sings. It's not only the peanuts, which he knows I love. And actually, my Christmas tree skirt has the peanuts on it. Jay tried to steal it, but he gave me a Christmas card with the peanut singing heart the Herald. Come on.

That was good. I'm actually really impressed that on his limited budget, he not only bought me a card with the singing peanuts, but also a gift. Wow. I mean, I feel like that kind of puts you over the budget. So don't worry about April. What did you say? But oh, yeah, I'm broke.

Yeah, that's it for me for the year. I mean, okay. Did you steal it? Shoot. Did you see it? Jay, did you steal it from the Jay only shops at gas stations?

Did you steal it from the gas station? I cannot confirm or deny. Oh, no.

Okay. Post the photo of the blue footed booby. Should we adopt one here on after hours? The after hours blue footed booby. Can we adopt one?

Is that anything to annoy the boss? Absolutely anything. Where are they indigenous? Oh, you mean adopt one as in sponsor it. Right. Yeah.

Like, actually. All right. This is I don't know.

Maybe not. It's beyond my purview, but we'll look into it. We can look into it. I told you it's a striking bird. Eastern Pacific Ocean. Aptly named tropical region. Aptly named. Correct. Oh, I'd say so. Yes.

All right. Share it with people who've never heard of the blue footed booby. And yes, I am going to continue to say it now that the dodo bird is extinct. We have to have a new bird that we choose to protect.

How in the world do I get on these tangents? I don't I can't even blame it on Jay. This is all me. The dodo. Well, it's the dodo bird. And then he said the dodo bird was extinct.

And well, I started with the dodo though. See, I can't even blame it on you. I would try.

I would definitely try. Okay, let's go back to more football players acting nonsensical. So after we hear about burrow head, Joe Burrow himself, the man for whom the stadium has been renamed, he fielded a unique question at one of his press conferences this week. And I actually didn't hear this originally. I've gone back to hear it now. It's pretty funny coming out of Burrow's mouth. The mic caught you last game screaming at your hand. What is it saying on him? Did I say that?

Sometimes you black out out there. I guess I don't know. It's Joe. I'm not surprised. That's who he is, man. His confidence level is at all time high right now. He's playing great for us, man.

And that's our leader. Jay, in your life, have you ever used the phrase I'm him? I have not. I have not.

Not even in a joking matter, actually. But no, I mean, I can't use it because I'm not a him. But so you would be the one of us that could use it. I'm him. No. Would you like to try to explain to people what that means?

I think it's just me. Like, you're the man. Like, you're the guy right now. Like, you're him. You're the goat. Oh, let's not get carried away. I'm sorry.

That's what it means. Okay, but he's not the goat. He's pretty damn good.

But come on now. Patrick Mahomes still has a better resume than he does. It's funny how all of a sudden people are pointing to Burrow and his, I'm using my air quotations and my salty tone of voice, his head to head record against Patrick Mahomes. Which one has a Super Bowl MVP? Which one has a regular season MVP and about to win another MVP?

Which one has made another Super Bowl appearance and has gone to five straight AFC championships? At least Burrow himself had the sense to point out that that's the standard. That's what they want. So I would hope he's not buying into I'm the goat. I don't know if it means that. I would agree with you that it means I'm the man. Right now, I am the freaking man.

That's what it means. Like, in the moment. Like, I'm the man. I just did that. Like, if you need something done, call me. I'll get it.

But sorry. I mean, Mahomes is him though, actually. NFL Films captures all types of great stuff when these players are miked up. But Mike Hilton says absolutely. He said his confidence is at an all-time high. Did you guys hear who Patrick Mahomes is getting advice and counsel from these days?

Did someone say the goat? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Jim, if I knew what I was gonna do, I'd have already done it.

Okay, I'm taking a day at a time. I sense you're antagonized by the question. You're scratching. It's only the question that everybody wants to hear.

You're scratchy. I appreciate your asking. Thank you.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is definitely authentic Tom Brady, to be sure. He's still thinking. He's contemplating. He's weighing his options. We do not yet have a decision from either Tom or Aaron Rodgers. Certainly, the world continues turning. Though, I feel like a little bit more slowly as we wait and wait and wait.

And wait and wait. There are a lot of personnel questions yet to be answered. One, one of the head coaching jobs has been filled.

That's it. Though, we now know that Dan Quinn will stay put. And I guess theoretically, unless Kellen Moore takes a late interview with another franchise somewhere else, the one he interviewed with was the Carolina Panthers.

So that would close the door for him. Though, Mike McCarthy's indicated he doesn't yet have anything to say about Kellen because they haven't had a full sit down. Think about the number of coaching jobs open, the number of coordinator jobs that are open, and the number of big names that have yet to make decisions. And then we think about quarterbacks. For now, at least, quarterbacks have to take a back seat. A little bit of a back seat anyway. It's ill-advised to find a quarterback and to bring in a quarterback before you have a head coach.

That's not a good idea. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. But lest you think that Tom Brady is bored or that he has nothing to do, oh no.

Au contraire. He is the voice. He is the wise counsel. He is the guiding light for one Patrick Mahomes as he attempts to get as close to 100% as possible for the AFC Championship.

I have a good relationship with him now and the NFL playoffs live on Odyssey and Westwood won your playoffs, your Odyssey, get in the game 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 talked 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. He gives me a lot of advice. He gives me some advice to help me. Why would you not want to learn from the GOAT, man? So anytime anybody like that wants to give me advice, I'll take it in. It's cool to see the guys that you've watched growing up your whole life be able to talk to you on that type of platform.

That's kind of neat, right? I feel as though that should create fear among the rest of the NFL. Patrick Mahomes, who's already otherworldly, is getting advice from Tom Brady. Ruh-roh, talk about a power couple.

Sorry. Tom's going to spend a lot more of his time mentoring and pouring into his guy friends, his male relationships, just because he's got extra time on his hands. But I think that's good, actually. If Tom Brady can pass on some of the wisdom and some of the experience that he's accrued, I wouldn't say he has to. It's not required. This is professional sports, right?

But we're not talking about big brothers here, big sisters. We're talking about pro sports. And I understand what Ryan Tannehill was saying before the season started. My job is not to mentor a younger player. However, if you remember, and we talked about Kobe earlier in the show, it being the three-year anniversary of his death, as well as a handful of others in that helicopter crash, January 26, 2020, mentioned Kobe. He talked about how later in his career, relationships around the league became so important to him.

And he attempted to start pouring into some of the younger players, some of the players that he saw great promise and great potential. Well, we already know about the potential and the promise of Patrick Mahomes. And he certainly gives proper respect to Tom Brady. But that is a power relationship right there.

That's super cool. I mean, Brady and Rogers have played in golf tournaments against each other, right? And Josh Allen, too. So there's definitely a camaraderie among the quarterbacks who play at the highest level.

I'm just saying, I don't think Patrick Mahomes needs an extra edge anywhere. He's already got plenty of tools in his tool kit. He's in his bag. Is that what the kids say? Something like that. I think that fit there. I'm him.

I'm in his bag. Oh, no, that's not how. Never mind. That's not how it should be said.

Neither one of those things should ever come out of my mouth as in ever. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. A little bit of a rally for Tommy Paul, the unseated American at the semifinals of the Australian Open. He was on the verge of getting run in the first set. Djokovic was up five games to one and Tommy Paul was spraying errors all over the court. I mean he clearly was nervous but now he's won eight of his last ten points or eight of the last ten points and he's serving to make it 5-3.

So we'll have one back-to-back games if he can hold here. I can't obviously tell what's happening. I don't know what Djokovic was arguing about with the chair umpire. Yeah, now nine of his last 11 points and back-to-back games for Tommy Paul against Novak Djokovic. But Djokovic a little bit rattled because he went over to the chair umpire. He was arguing about something.

Again, I don't know what it was, a line, a call, something like that. And since then, Paul has been able to grab the momentum. It can be fleeting against a player as talented as Djokovic.

And a guy is mentally tough, right? So he's been in these situations before but good for Tommy. That's going to give him some confidence and help him find some stability here because he was clearly nervous.

There was a lot of adrenaline pumping through his body when they first started. Back to the quarterbacks. That's tennis. This is quarterbacks. Mahomes indicated that he is no longer worried about if he can play against the Bengals on Sunday.

It's now more about how effective can I be. And mobility is such a big part of his game. We're not necessarily talking about designed runs like Josh Allen and Daniel Jones, Lamar Jackson. No, we're talking about a guy who extends plays, who moves around in a pocket that, let's face it, collapsed a lot.

Uh, in their last game, right? He's a guy who uses his legs to not only create time but space and these wonky angles. It's part of his game to move around. His legs make him a better quarterback. What did Boomer Esiason tell us, was it two years ago?

It was two years ago. We asked him why Patrick Mahomes is so good and he said it starts with his ass. No, actually he said it starts with his wide ass. I think that's what he said, right?

Yeah. Or maybe he said he has a big ass and a wide base. I kind of feel... Something about his ass.

Yeah, no, he definitely dropped. He was either big ass or wide ass, one of the others. And because of that, it gives him a lot of balance, that wide base and that solid base.

I was all about the beefcake boys. Right! I mean, it comes back to haunt him over and over. So anyway, Mahomes needs those legs to be able to move around. He'll scramble for a first down here or there. Last game he hobbled for a first down, but it's mostly about creating space and finding angles and waiting for his receivers to get open.

And boy, do they do a good job responding to his scrambling as well. I dare say it is an art form to be a receiver for Patrick Mahomes. So what about that element of his game? Will he be limited? Will his mobility limit him on Sunday against the Bengals? I feel like I can still do a lot of things, but we'll see as we get closer and closer. And we'll see during the game. I mean, you can't fully do exactly what you're going to be in those moments in the game.

But all I can do is prepare myself the best way possible. And then when we get in the game, you hope adrenaline kind of takes over and you can make those throws when you need to. The Jaguars defensive line did a really good job of collapsing the pocket and putting pressure on him.

So he was facing a lot of it over and over again. And we did not see him throw a pass outside the pocket in the second half of the game. Remember, he came back, he was heavily taped. He was moving a little better than the few snaps in the wake of the injury. But if he can't move around at all and he isn't able to throw outside the pocket or isn't able to dodge and sidestep and elude, there's extra pressure then on the offensive line. They've got to be up to the challenge to be able to protect their QB. Yes, they'll pick him up when he hits the ground.

We saw that last week, but can they keep him from hitting the ground? Because that's just as important. In addition to the burrow head comments from fans, I don't know if you could call that trash talking. It's not trash talking if it comes from the fans. That's a little odd, right? It's trolling kind of, really.

It's attempting to get under their skin. It doesn't mean that the players can't react to it, but I don't know if I'd call it bulletin board. Or maybe, do you put it on your bulletin board? Do these guys really have bulletin boards in their locker rooms?

No, they don't. That's such an archaic and old phrase. On the whiteboard, it's whiteboard material. Maybe you do. Maybe you say, welcome to burrow head in the chief's locker room just to get these guys really fired up. But there has been some trash talking, but I would say it's more subtle. You really have to pay attention.

So Willie Gay, he first tries to make you think he's above all of that. I'm just excited to be playing football, man. That's what comes with the game. You know, like Coach Reed said, we don't do no talking. We just go handle business when it's time to go.

What is it about that Bengals offense that maybe impresses you the most? You've played a few times? No. So after saying he's just happy to be here, I'm just ready to go.

This is a great honor. He's asked what impresses you about the Bengals offense? Not just once, but twice. He replies with nothing. Nothing? And he didn't think that was going to get back to the Bengals or maybe he was hoping it would get back to the Bengals. Jamar Chase. Well, you know, the media has a responsibility. I mean, it's a it's an ethical responsibility to trot back to the Bengals and say, oh, guess what Willie Gay said. Willie, the linebacker.

Yeah. I ain't got no response to him. We won't get him. I got no response. Oh, nothing. We go from nothing.

Nothing to wait. Willie Gay? Who's he exactly? The linebacker.

Yeah. I ain't got no response to him. We won't get him. Is he the kicker? Who's Willie Gay? Actually, if you say that really fast, you get yourself in trouble. So you have Willie Gay saying nothing and not just once, but twice.

Nothing impresses him about the Bengals offense. And then Jamar Chase with a classic response. Wait, who? Willie, the linebacker.

Yeah. I ain't got no response to him. We won't get him.

We got no response. I like that. In fact, if someone ever comes to me and says, hey, do you know what producer Jay was saying behind your back? Or did you hear that he said nothing really impresses him about you? My response is going to be, wait, Jay? The linebacker. Jay? The eighth producer that I had here? Shoot, who? I don't recall a Jay, but I'm sure he's in there somewhere. Who? I ain't got no response to him. I ain't got no response to him. I love that.

Hey, don't look now. Tommy Paul has won three consecutive games off Novak Djokovic. Novak had a double fault in his last game.

And now Tommy is serving to even the first set at five to five. I don't know if Djokovic is hurting or he's just frustrated. He doesn't appear to be limping. His left thigh is heavily taped. And he was dealing with that. Was it a hammy earlier in the week?

But it doesn't appear to be movement. I honestly think this is mental with him. He's frustrated about whatever that beef he had with the chair umpire that didn't go his way.

And now Paul is on fire himself. He is pounding that ball. So here he is up 30 love, two points from evening the set at 5-5. I know I'm not supposed to do play by play here on the air. So I'm going to take a break. We'll get your update.

And I swear to you that I will keep you posted. Djokovic now has 24 unforced errors. Who's spraying the ball all over the place? Oh, now I have to wait.

Okay. He just aced his next shot. So here he is with three points, three attempts and three chances to be able to tie it up.

Djokovic was winning the set 5-1 and was carousing to an easy first set victory. And now, well, I guess I'm just now I can't. We got to take a break. I don't want to be too. I don't want to be too late on this and watch them have like a 27 point rally or something. Okay.

We'll update you when we return. Find me on Twitter. A-Law Radio. Willy? Wait, is he like my seventh producer? Willy, the linebacker.

I love how he says that. I ain't got no response to him. We won't get him. I got no response. What impresses you? Nothing. Nothing, honey. Absolutely nothing. So good. So delicious and juicy. Okay.

On Twitter, on our Facebook page. Love you. You are listening to The After... 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. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. NFC Championship 2 physical tough defenses stingy stifling. Man, they'll bully you. Both the Niners and the Eagles will bully you into submission, but they also have a variety of ways they can score against you on offense.

It was fun to talk to John Kincaid yesterday morning. He actually believes that the Eagles are going to race out to a double figure lead in the first half. They're going to be aggressive as opposed to ball control. They're going to start chucking and ducking against the San Francisco 49ers.

And he believes they'll have 17 points by halftime. Last week we saw two teams slug each other and they could barely manage two touchdowns between them. So we shall see if this NFC Championship takes a different tone. But I do believe defense wins championships, baby. So first you have Greg Papa on Niners Radio.

Merrill Reese on Eagles Radio. Yes, Philadelphia has earned that top seed and it will be a raucous atmosphere there in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. But Nick Bosa sounds very calm. As a defensive leader, he thinks the Niners are ready. This team rises to the occasion of each next step that we take. And I'm really confident in this squad. All right, short and sweet. It's so funny because now maybe he's not always soft spoken, but very often in interviews, he's calm, he's chill.

It's like he has no energy left after the game he just played, except there would be no excuse here. That's just him walk softly and carry a big stick. Do you remember learning that in history class? So you didn't learn about the blue-footed booby.

Blue-footed booby, which is our newly adopted after-hours mascot. But you learned about walk softly and carry a big stick. Did you just Google it? You did, didn't you?

No, I know that phrase, of course. So who said it? Was that FDR or was that Theo Roosevelt? I think Theo.

I'm gonna go with Theo. Okay, I'm pretty sure I saw you type something in there. So I think you Googled it. You can check. Nah, I trust you.

Kind of. Jay? He was like my seventh producer. Who? Who's that? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

So soft-spoken Nick Bosa, Diomindor Lenoir. Well, he's all in. Bring it on, Philly. When we played Josh Allen at Wyoming, that crowd was crazy. They was throwing beer.

They was throwing beer on us. But yeah. Do you feed off that? I mean, do you feed off of a super negative crowd?

Or does it get into your psyche? Oh yeah, yeah. Because when I make a play, I'm gonna run over there. You know, I'm gonna run over there. I'm gonna get hyped.

How about that? Bring it on, Philly. You want to jeer and... Well, please don't throw anything, Philly. Don't throw beer, please. That will get you ejected.

But if you can dish it out, well, then you better be prepared to take it. So yeah, he mentions going back to his days when he was in college and he had started for... I don't know how many years he started, but he played for Oregon. And so now as a cornerback for the Niners, he's all in. He knows what he's in for. Just a quick update from the semifinals at the Australian Open live on ESPN right now. Novak Djokovic did stabilize. And after giving up four games in a row to the unseeded American Tommy Paul, he came back and won two games in a row himself to be able to end that first set. So they... Yeah, they're into the second set. Novak, just very uncharacteristic of him.

I mean, he's had mental lapses in the past in big matches, but not since he became the number one player in the world or at the point at which he became the number one player in the world. But good for Tommy Paul. That was fun to see. Okay, back to football.

D'Amadore Lenoir is expecting the hate in Philadelphia. Well, Nick Sirianni, how does being at home offer an edge to you Eagles? You have to do different things with your snap count. You have to do different things with your signals and your communication out to the perimeter. You got to do different. It's just everything's got to be done.

I mean, without being able to speak to each other. So you have to signal different things. And so there's just a lot that has to happen because of the noise. And we know how much work we put in when we go to a rowdy stadium. There's a lot of work that has to be done. You don't just do it game day.

You have to practice it just like you practice everything else. And so that's a big advantage. So does he have a message for the Philadelphia Eagles fans who will get to welcome the Niners in all of their glory? Somebody asked me last week what my message was to Jalen going into this game.

It's his second playoff game. What's your message to Jalen? Be you. Almost that'd be my same message to our great fans.

Oh, dear. Our great city is just be you. The reputation of having to come into Philadelphia and play is the reputation that we have because it's intimidating and it's loud and it's hype and they're passionate fans.

We got great passionate fans. And so be who you've been for the entire time the Eagles have been here. Okay, well then expect it. Just expect it. Eagles fans, he's counting on you to be you. I'm him. Just be you.

We are thrilled to be back here in Philadelphia where the first draft was held. Oh, dear. Just be you.

But maybe be you without throwing things. That's all we're saying. Deebo Samuel, he's got a long memory. He has not forgotten some of the recent playoff heartbreak for the Niners.

And that's what is fueling him heading into Philly. I could just go back to, you know, my rookie year making the Super Bowl and just you still just have that bad taste in your mouth. And as you go back to last year, you know, we were a couple of plays to making the Super Bowl again and you just kind of like, dang, like, what's it really going to take for us to get there?

We just have to minimize the mistakes and everybody had to be on their assignment for us to be where we want to be at the end of the year. Yeah, both these teams have recent trips to the Super Bowl. Eagles won, obviously, in 2017. The Niners haven't won a Super Bowl since the early 90s. So it's been 30-ish years for them, but they've been twice. They were there with Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh going back to the 2013 Bowl. So after the 12 season and they were there a couple of seasons ago against the Chiefs in which they had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but failed to protect it. It's not all of the same Eagles.

Nah, there's been a fair amount of turnover, but there are enough of these guys on the roster who have good veteran experience like Jason Kelce when he's not doing his podcast with his bro. Just try and think about the game and focus on taking in the moment and being 100% there. You know, it's hard enough doing it that way.

It's going to be a lot harder if you're not focused. All right, that's the veteran. That's the experience talking.

How about Brandon Graham? He actually sounds a little giddy. This is a big deal, right? Especially if you've never been to this point before. You're one game away from the Super Bowl.

Bang, boy. We're playing for the NFC Championship game. And I haven't only played but one time in and you know what we did that year.

And so it's cool to be in this moment again. And I know that our team going to put our best foot forward this week to make sure we go out there and give our chance, give us a chance to go get this win. It could be really physical. Could be bloody. These guys can be battered and bruised. And yet that is part of football.

So George Kittle, you know, he loves contact, actually. Can the Eagles match how physical the Niners are? It's the NFL. When you look at paper, it should be like, oh, yeah, we can match their physicality and stuff like that.

And then you get on the field on Sundays and the film after the game will show you exactly what you're asking. So I know we're going to come out. We're gonna be violent physical.

I'm expecting them to be the same thing, but we'll see. Oh, strength on strength. When I think about this NFC Championship, that's what I think.

Strength versus strength. You're going to have defenses who set the tone. And I kind of think back to the game against the Cowboys, right? Because that defense and the way they were able to match the Niners and hold the Niners offense at bay certainly gave a bit of a blueprint. Can the Eagles do the same thing? They're going to put a lot of pressure on Brock Purdy and Brock Purdy as a rookie.

How does he get ready? We'll talk more about this game and the AFC coming up next hour. Thanks for hanging out with us.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. 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 talked 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. All the action from Westwood One. Your playoffs. Your Odyssey.

Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey and Westwood One brings you the AFC and NFC Championship games streaming live for free this Sunday on the Odyssey app. The 49ers visit the Eagles. Touchdown.

Jalen Hurts. And then it's a rematch between the Bengals and the Chiefs. Wide open. Jamar Chase takes it in. Touchdown, Chiefs.

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