After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. Normally as soon as a game ends, especially one with a wild finish like the AFC Championship, I am ready to go. I want to talk right then.

I don't want to wait. I don't want to have to drive into work and sit around waiting for the show to begin, which is, that's really overstating what happens here. We need every last second to get ready, and there are times when the first hour, hour and a half, I'm still scrambling to be caught up with all of our audio and make sure I've got everything I need. But I'm usually so fired up that I've got words. I've got things to say right away when the game is done, and often you'll see my posts on Twitter.

Now, those are two fold in purpose. Number one, I tweet because I need to remember what I was feeling and what I was thinking in the moment. There's a lot crammed into this brain. I can't possibly remember everything in the moment, and so I tweet.

But also, I tweet because it's an outlet. I've got to sit around and wait, like I said, until the show begins. But here we are, and on this particular night, this Sunday night, Championship Sunday, as we now know, it's the Eagles and the Niners who played the NFC Championship to just an unfortunate turn for San Francisco.

It's the game itself that throws you curveballs. It's part of playing football that there are going to be injuries, and sometimes they happen at the most inconvenient times. The Niners did a phenomenal job to get to the NFC Championship to win 12 straight games, despite having used three quarterbacks, and the second half of the season relying on a rookie. These types of injuries, they stink. They suck.

I hate it for Brock, his face. But that's not the Eagles' problem. No one's going to feel sorry for you in this league when you have injuries because everybody has injuries. Jalen Hurts mistimed himself. And so that game, while it was not competitive once they got past the second quarter and really once the Niners couldn't throw anymore, and even with Josh Johnson, you obviously could see that the offense was not going to be the same.

They're not going to be in sync with a quarterback who's just coming in. It was a really tough situation for the Niners, but the Eagles, they deserve their spot in the Super Bowl. They worked hard for it. They were one of the best teams in the league the majority of the season.

So theirs is a body of work. So yes, that NFC Championship took a drastic turn, but it's not just about one game. It's about a season. It's about a culmination.

It's about the Eagles being the last team standing, injuries and all. And then in the AFC, where there's this crazy finish, not only did I need extra time to process, I had to figure out what exactly I wanted to say about those final 30 seconds. And no, the game was not only about those final 30 seconds. You know me, I tell you all the time, no game ever comes down to one play, one moment, one snap, one call, one bad call that you don't agree with. I mean, goodness, if social media was any indication, this game was rigged. It was only because the NFL wanted to see the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl. You guys, you crack me up. Those 30 seconds though, twists and turns like you would see on Broadway, not at borough.

Oh sorry, Arrowhead. So much delicious drama on the field and then postgame. You could tell the Chiefs had saved it up for a week. They had kept it all to themselves, but they were listening. They were hearing. They were processing. They were using all of the slights, even the taunts. Man, the mayor's tweet was really uncomfortable.

They were using everything as fuel. And from the very top of Arrowhead Stadium to the field, it was a total community team, city, stadium effort. I had no idea who was going to win this game, but for those people who predicted a Bengals blowout, I couldn't help but chuckle.

I don't think you know who you're dealing with and that's what you thought. And so we have two completely different championships, two completely different reactions. And we are set up for Eagles and Chiefs in the Super Bowl in two weeks.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So excited now that I've got my thoughts organized and my notes finished and I've heard a lot of the postgame reaction. We're going to spend this first half hour on Chiefs and Bengals and then we'll shift and we'll go to NFC Championship and talk Eagles and Niners. And yeah, the Eagles won in a blowout. But as you can imagine, the Niners are devastated. They had this prime opportunity in the palm of their hands, feeling like they were riding some kind of a wave, regardless of everything that had been thrown their way.

Not only had they been able to adjust, they've been able to address those concerns and thrive. And so for them, I don't know that you ever can think about this season in a 12-game win streak and think, man, that's a painful missed opportunity, though I admire them for what they navigated this season. And so you hear from the Niners, certainly from the Eagles, Nick Sirianni in his second year as a head coach is taking his franchise to the Super Bowl. And you remember when people, including me, wondered aloud if he got that job in Philadelphia because of who he was tied to. Because of the potential quarterback they could bring in. Not that different than, say, the Nathaniel Hackett hire in Denver and who he was tied to. The Eagles surprised a lot of people by getting to the playoffs last year as a wildcard in the NFC East. And lo and behold, they are the number one reason for that division becoming the toughest in football and the one we call the NFC Beast.

So Eagles and Niners, bottom of the hour, Chiefs and Bengals now. You can find me, whether it's Twitter, whether it's Facebook, we'll talk about it. Though I reserve the right to make fun of you when you send me tweets like this one. I have to read you this one.

This is fantastic. You can go and check out who sent it on your own time. Do you feel there was any issue with the officiating in the Chiefs-Bengals game? Your answer will demonstrate your journalistic integrity. So if I sit in here and I tell you I believe the game was rigged, that has zero impact on my integrity, talk about a leading question, Mikey. Yeah, my integrity is not in question. Never in question.

I'm way past that point in my career, but that's a nice try. I've received many tweets such as that about the NFL and its attempts to rig this game. Just as a side note, I don't suppose anybody wants to remember that the Chiefs lost both an interception and a touchdown on penalties or nah, that doesn't fit the narrative.

Yeah, I didn't think so. It's selective retention, you know. So let's talk about this AFC championship, the fifth straight at Arrowhead Stadium, though some would have you believe it needed a new name and would have a new nickname once this championship was done. And honestly, it was a dominant first quarter for Kansas City on both sides of the ball. The crowd fueling, you could feel the energy even with Patrick Mahomes being limited and unable to really scramble and extend plays.

How many times did we see him checked out or get rid of the ball quickly because he knew he wasn't going to be able to extend the play and elude the pressure. But it wasn't just about the offense and the long stretches in which they possessed the ball in the first quarter. How about the defense coming out on some kind of a mission in the first quarter alone, three sacks of Joe Burrow. Do you remember last week how the offensive line for the Bengals outperformed expectations in the snow in Buffalo?

Why? Well, because they had three starters missing. And so you had three guys step up on that offensive line that played otherworldly. That unit was so critical in the Bengals blasting the Bills in the snow on the road. But still. That was a different team. That was a different challenge. And for this offensive line to sub in three different guys, there was always the potential that they wouldn't quite be in sync or wouldn't perform quite as well as they did last week. And man, from the start, that KC defense, that KC front was a load.

And so this is crazy. I don't know how many times I wrote this in my notes this season. Probably not very many. The Bengals had zero offensive yards in the first quarter. Zero. They barely possessed the ball and they did not even get into positive yardage. Meanwhile, Kansas City has a pair of field goals.

They don't capitalize on their opportunities. All they can get are a pair of Harrison Butler field goals. And that was when, in the first quarter, they had a touchdown wiped out on a holding flag in the red zone. So then after Kansas City returns the favor and keeps the Bengals out of the end zone, even though they had four tries inside the 18. So that's a missed opportunity for the Bengals, right? A credit to the defense. Last week, you gave Joe Burrow four shots from inside the 18. The Bengals probably have four touchdowns. I mean, that's how locked in they were last week.

But a completely different set of circumstances here. And the Chiefs defense wasn't allowing them the rhythm. And so it's a field goal instead. 6-3.

Barnburner baby. Two of the best offenses in the NFL. Then Kansas City finally is able to put together a longer drive, a longer march. 75 yards. You start to see Mahomes look for his receivers and really spread the ball around. Four completions by him that gets them to fourth down at the 14-yard line. Fourth down at the 14-yard line. It's a 6-3 game and the Chiefs choose to go for it. The Chiefs go with three tight ends and a shotgun.

They roll it to the right side. Mahomes pump faking. Now fires it late for the end zone. Touchdown!

Kansas City! Travis Kelce from Patrick Mahomes! And the Chiefs lead 12-3. And now Mahomes to Kelce in the postseason for the 13th time.

That's second in National Football League history. What do I tell you about Pat and Travis? They are one of the most productive old married couples in sports.

They can finish each other's sentences. Oh and Travis Kelce actually did interrupt Patrick Mahomes in a post-game interview and finish a sentence for him. You'll hear that coming up. So it's 13-3. Kansas City has its first double figure lead.

Not that that's safe. Remember last year in the AFC Championship at Arrowhead. Very next opportunity for the Bengals, Jalen Watson, the rookie, comes away with an interception. Now this is late second quarter, but the Chiefs do nothing with it.

And I'm thinking, oh man, this could be one of those opportunities that's wasted that comes back to haunt them. So the Bengals defense was flying around as well. And again, you could see where Patrick Mahomes was not able to use every tool in his box, so to speak. He wasn't in his bag. I know, I should never say that.

That's so not my lingo. So Kansas City goes three. Jay's like behind the computer nodding like, yeah, I don't think you should say that. Kansas City goes three and out after that interception and gives the ball right back to the Bengals. So the Bengals then march downfield again.

Now at this point, you could see it's a little better rhythm. They pick up five first downs, but once again, two incompletions near the goal line. I say this a lot about the Chiefs defense over the past three, four years. You may not think that they are one of those stingy, smothering defenses like, say, San Francisco or Philadelphia, but they're a big play defense. They tend to come up with the major either takeaways or stops when they need to. So it makes you think that they're not very good.

But you know what gives them such a great advantage is that they have so much experience. They've been in pretty much every big game that you can, although not Jalen Watson. He's a rookie, but that's his second interception in these playoffs. So the Bengals settle for a field goal again, and at the half it's 13-6. Yep, it was 13-6. But as Tony Romo and Jim Nantz talked about late in the first half, the Bengals had the ball to start the second half. And coming out of the locker room, there were adjustments.

They got right into a groove. Joe Burrow is able to scramble for 11 yards to get a first down. And this is more like this particular drive felt more to me like what we saw against Buffalo in the divisional round. Shotgun snap to Joe. He throws it down the left sideline. A leaping catch for a touchdown. T. Higgins, full-grown man, leaps at the goal line and reels it in for a potential tying touchdown. A 27-yard thing of beauty on the throw from Joe Burrow.

Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham on Bengals radio. Full-grown man with a ton of size, a lot of bulk, and no problem leaping up over or in between. I guess there were two defenders that were around him, and he's kind of in the middle. And he's able to leap up between the two of them and grab that ball for 27 yards and the touchdown in the end zone. And so just like that, the lead gets wiped out. And this is what the Bengals can do.

They have quick strike ability. Did you notice, by the way, they abandoned the run altogether? The team we saw, the offense we saw last week in Buffalo is not the offense that we saw in Kansas City.

Now, it's good because they can take on a variety of looks and they can beat you a variety of ways. But neither team was really able to get much going with the run, and the Bengals didn't even bother. They very rarely even tried the run. So Kansas City at this point in the second half has got a limping Patrick Mahomes. As you can imagine, he's getting hit, the pocket is collapsing here and there, but mostly he's trying to move around and it's cold. Oh, by the way, I cannot repeat or read the text that Boomer Esiason sent me from Kansas City. Just suffice it to say it was cold, and he was cold. And if you didn't see him on the CBS pregame show or at halftime on the NFL and CBS, he was wearing a hat, earmuffs, and gloves, obviously. And he's wearing enough clothing to make him look like he's about four sizes bigger than what Boomer Esiason is. I wasn't about the acting. So I texted him back after his proclamation about the temperatures there in Kansas City, and I just said, Boomer, you're tough.

You got this. He did not respond. I think his fingers were too cold.

Anyway, it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So it's frigid. So as you can imagine, every time that Mahomes steps or missteps or has to plant on that ankle, it sends shooting pain up his leg. Because there's no way, real way for that ankle ever to warm up.

There's nothing warm about being in Kansas City with your real field temps at five degrees in the second half. So he's trying to move around, but really needs to rely on his receivers. Only what's happening? Juju Smith-Schuster is out. Mikkel Hardman, who just returned, is out. You had other guys that were off the field as well. At one point, Tracy Wolfson delivers this report, and I'm pretty sure lists four different receivers, three receivers and Willie Gay, who are questionable and unlikely to return. And so this is the point of the season in which is a war of attrition. So what does Pat do?

Well, he turns this drive into the MVS drive. Aaron Rodgers, eat your heart out. I know you trained this young receiver, but now he belongs to the Chiefs.

Marquez Valdez, scantling. He has a 25-yard reception. He has the first down where he reaches the ball.

Oh, that was scary. Reaches the ball over the line, so sees the marker, reaches the ball over the line, and then brings it back before it can get knocked away. And finally, on third down, he runs a post route. By the way, he was not Pat's top option. Mahomes out of the pocket, throws on the move downfield to the end zone.

Valdez, scantling is there for the touchdown. In a sitting position, he holds it in. Kansas City regains the lead, a 19-yard BB from Patrick Mahomes.

A BB? I like that. I'm not sure I've ever heard that before, but that's fantastic. Is that Ian Eagle? No, that's Ian, yes. On Westwood 1, how could I not know his voice?

There's lots of voices in my head right now. Uh-huh, that's what I mean. So, it's 20-13 at this point, but then Patrick Mahomes fumbles, and Cincinnati right away is in Kansas City territory and is stuffed on three plays, but facing a fourth down, completely bold, completely aggressive, and in no way is going to back down. On fourth and six, he catches the shotgun snap. He's back to throw. He flings it deep downfield. Chase makes the catch at the six-yard line. He beat Brian Cook, leaping for the football at the six, and it's first and goal, a 35-yard gain. Peyron to his right, motion man Higgins to the left. Takes the snap, handoff, Peyron trying to bulldoze.

They will push him in. Touchdown, Bengals. Cincinnati an extra point away from tying this one up. So, you have Bengals' radio, and then Westwood won, and that is early in the fourth quarter, and lo and behold, we are tied at 20. So, you know what?

We're going to take our break because we're running a little bit late, and we'll get to that final seven minutes, but more importantly, the final minute of the game that you had to see to believe. Is that a tease? Is that mean?

Uh, maybe. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You can find me on Twitter, A Law Radio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It is amazing how often the radio host becomes your punching bag when you're mad about an outcome of a game. Ooh, football fans are salty. But bring it.

Try punching me, you're going to hurt your hand. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast.

Music. The Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals. Chiefs lead 13-3, 2-31 to go in the first half. Burrow, under pressure, now floats a pass left side, intercepted at midfield. On the right side, it's Watson who's got it, and will go out of bounds in front of the Cincinnati bench at the Cincy 39-yard line. Jalen Watson with the pick-off, his second in as many post-season games.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Lest you overlook the Kansas City defense, you do so at your own peril. Mitch Holtus on Chiefs Radio, that was the first interception by the Chiefs' D. There was a second in the fourth quarter, game tied at 20.

That's where we're picking it up. And it's a tipped ball, actually, that ends a Cincinnati drive. But once again, the Chiefs do nothing with the interception, except take time off the clock. Ultimately, the Bengals get the ball back, and with a minute to go from the category of you can't make this stuff up.

Now, here's the deal. The Chiefs had pinned the Bengals back to the point where they're facing a third and 16 in that final minute, and they are able to convert it. Hayden Hurst got a step away from his defender, turns toward the out, and the ball is waiting for him. And at that point, it felt like Joe Burrow preferred the higher degree of difficulty, the pressure, it just rolls right off him. Third and long, no problem.

Except the very next third down that he faced, it wasn't quite the same result. So you have them moving forward, kind of inching, not really going very far, but at least having the football, trying to run that time off the clock so they can get into field goal range. But Chris Jones, he's got other plans. Dunlap also lining up inside. Over the right guard, Max Sharpering. Third down and eight, Cincinnati Burrow retreating.

And now he's going to be sacked! Down he goes, down he goes, Chris Jones destroying the blocker on the near side. With 44 seconds to go, that forces a punt. So that begins this final wild sequence in the AFC Championship.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We have all of the plays cut up, and at some point we'll let you hear the ball kind of right in a row. But for the sake of time, since I will have to take another break here pretty quick, Sky Moore feels the punt and goes 29 yards up the sideline on the return, or he breaks out to the sideline and ends up over there. And on the return, he gets the Chiefs back to midfield. So now you're talking about 30 seconds left in the game.

We're tied at 20. The rookie running back, Isaiah Pacheco, goes six yards on first down. The Chiefs get a couple yards on second down. And now with 17 seconds to go, it's third and four for the Chiefs. And they're at this point not in field goal range.

17 seconds left in regulation, 20-20 tie, AFC Championship. Third and four, Kansas City at the Bengal 47-yard line. Chiefs out of timeouts.

Bengals four-man rush. Mahomes trying to buy some time on that bad ankle. Moving to his right.

He is now scrambling, and he's going to get a first down. He gets hit late. He gets hit late. He gets hit late. Mahomes gets hit late. It'll be a 15-yard penalty on top of the gain, and the gain should be bound to the 35-yard line.

Mitch Holtus on Chiefs radio, and Danan Hughes is the analyst. I'm not sure if that was him clapping or if it was a stats person in the press box there at Arrowhead, but, man, you knew as soon as Joseph Asai hit Patrick Mahomes and he went flying. Well, there were two thoughts in my brain. Number one, that was dangerous. Osai hit him when he was already completely out of bounds. You go back and you look at the freeze frame.

You go back and you look at it in slow-mo or even at full speed. Mahomes is already out of bounds. That was a classic late hit. That flag had to be thrown.

You want to talk about integrity. That flag had to be thrown. So as Mahomes gets out of bounds, he's shoved by Joseph Asai, and it's a late hit. First of all, so glad that Pat was able to get up and the guy that Osai crashed into.

It was dangerous for all kinds of reasons. There's people on the sidelines that were in his path, and Osai himself suffered a bit of a knee injury it looked like, though it seemed that he was able to walk away on his own power. So the penalty then put Cincinnati on the 27-yard line with just enough time left for a kick. This will be a 45-yard attempt from the far hash. At eight seconds to go in regulation, Cincinnati does have one timeout left. Harrison Butker, the biggest kick of his chief's life. Placement is down. Butker's kick is up.

The spinning kick high, floating in the air, and it is good, good, good. Did Cincinnati call timeout? They did not. They did not.

They did not. It's a field goal from 45 yards out by Harrison Butker with three seconds to go. In just over a year, the Bengals and Chiefs have played four times. Do you know that every single one of their games has been decided by three points?

Wow. So instead of bitching about the refs or bitching about the calls, how about be really excited and maybe even a little bit thankful that we've got these two teams plus the Bills, and we'll see who else kind of puts themselves in that conversation. These two teams could give us an awesome extended rivalry if they continue to play the way that they have. The leadership, the quarterbacks obviously, but it's not just them. Seriously, this was not Joe Burrow versus Patrick Mahomes. This was a Chiefs defense that was game. This was a Bengals defense that also was doing the best they could to get Patrick Mahomes uncomfortable. This was a phenomenal game of grit and guts on both sides. There were wasted opportunities for both teams, and there were chances that they took that turned out to be golden. It's a three-point game.

I'm not sure how much more you could ask for. And, yes, were there missed calls, calls that were questionable? Absolutely.

But they all even out. No, I do not believe the game was rigged. No, I do not believe the refs had an agenda.

And, no, for the love of God, I do not believe the official decided this game. That's an insult to these two teams. These two teams left everything they had on the field. You had guys playing hurt.

You have guys dropping like flies. You have guys pouring blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul into this game. To say it was decided by the officials is to take away from what they just left on the field in Arrowhead, to take away from the fact that these two teams fought to the very last seconds of this game, one that was decided by three points. To say the officials played a role in the outcome is an insult to the Chiefs and the Bengals.

You're going to hear from them. The Chiefs were listening even if they saved all their talking for Sunday night. Third Super Bowl appearance in the last four seasons. Fifth Super Bowl appearance in Chiefs franchise history. Right now, they're 2-2 in the Super Bowl.

That will change soon. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast.

Music The Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals. Holmes with a deep drop, now moving in the pocket, running to the right and running well. He's at the 50. He's trying to run for the first down. He goes out of bounds. And the Bengals push him after he was out of bounds. Multiple flags are going to tack 15 yards onto this play. Eight seconds left in regulation. And with that penalty, the Chiefs will be in field goal range. But through is ready. Now the snap, the placement, the kick is up.

And it is good. Three seconds remaining. And the Kansas City Chiefs have a three-point lead, 23-20.

Off the field, on the money, and after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence. The Bengals' version of two of the plays in that final minute. Man, the final sequence of this game from the Chris Jones sack to the Sky Moore 29-yard run back on the punt to the Isaiah Pacheco getting really tough. He got hit a couple of times before picking up six yards on first down. The obvious Patrick Mahomes scramble on one-and-a-half legs. And then the Joseph Assai late hit. You can hear the reaction of Dave Lapham because he knows. He knows that was a penalty.

He knows that Assai hit him too late and that they were going to tack on 15 yards. And then, of course, the Butker 45-yard field goal, which wasn't a gimme. Harris and Butker had had some kicking issues going back a few weeks, but returned to playoff form in order to help propel the Chiefs. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So by now, maybe you have seen or heard some of the reaction by the Chiefs to what they perceived as a major slight, major disrespect, calling Arrowhead, Burrowhead. To be fair, this was not the Bengals themselves, so it did come up in some of their press conferences leading into this game. But as Patrick Mahomes is speaking with Tracy Wolfson on the field right after this game is done for the NFL on CBS, Travis Kelsey, you know, he can never stay away from Pat for too long.

He interrupts. Oh, thank God, man. Yeah! Whoo! Burrowhead in my ass! Whoo!

It's Mahomes' house! We did it. You know what I mean? We had to come back out here. You know, last year this time, the same team sent this home, man.

You know, very disappointing season. I don't know who the hell they think they was calling this Burrowhead. I don't know who the hell they thought they was talking about. They was going to finish us off. They're going to take their bum ass back to Cincinnati.

Man, they came to the Chiefs, came and got their ass thumped on. I don't know what number one did. I told him to holla at me.

I don't know what this band is. I told them all holla at me. I told them last year they didn't get my best. I told them this year they barely got my best. I told them at the playoffs, though, I'm the king. They got to holla at me every game.

Let's go. I'll tell y'all something, man. Don't ever, ever, ever, and I'm looking at the camera when I say this, disrespect Arrowhead. I don't care how many times you done beat us.

Don't ever disrespect Arrowhead Stadium. Okay, I can't help it. It's just so funny.

Men acting like boys. Ever. Ever. Ever. You know, it reminded me of Taylor Swift. Ever.

We are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together. Okay, so in order, Travis Kelce, who butts in, and it's so funny. It's just ironic when it happened. Patrick Mahomes is thanking God for the fact that he was able to be healed and get healed, and he also thanked the training staff and get back on the field, but all he gets to you is, I'd like to thank God and Travis Kelce. It's like, oh, hey, here I am, and pops in. Arrowhead, my ass, he says, and then you hear Frank Clark, who of course is screaming about who they think they are, and he backed up the, well, I guess he played first and then talked second, and that really should be how it goes, right? But, Frank Clark with a sack and a half in this game, three other hits of Joe Burrow and a tackle for loss, and then finally, Chris Jones, who I think says it best. Tell y'all something, don't ever, ever, ever, and I'm looking at the camera when I said this, disrespect Arrowhead. I don't care how many times you done beat us.

Don't ever disrespect Arrowhead Stadium. I love that it's members of the defense who are doing the mic drop. Chris Jones with Tom Pelissero on NFL Network. He has two sacks, five QB hits, and three tackles for loss. Those two were monsters. They were nearly unblockable. Jones was unblockable in this game. That's why this is not just about Patrick Mahomes. It's not just about Joe Burrow.

These defenses, special teams, they have a say in things too. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. You can find us on Twitter, After HoursCBS, or on our Facebook page if you want to weigh in.

We'll put a post up at some point. But as I say, the Chiefs were paying attention. They may not have responded publicly to what the Cincinnati mayor put on his social media account. I'm going to read it verbatim. It's a little creepy. Joseph Lee Burrow, who's 3-0 against Mahomes, has been asked by officials to take a paternity test confirming whether or not he's his father. Ew.

Ew. And so that obviously made the rounds in the Chiefs locker room, not to mention the yapping about Burrow head. And so whether it was Travis Kelce interrupting on the NFL on CBS, whether it's Frank Clark and Chris Jones on NFL Network, whether it's Kelce on the podium, for heaven's sakes, someone needs to Google jabroni for me. Hey, I got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor. Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni.

You gotta fight for your right to party! I don't know what a jabroni is, and I don't think I want to Google it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. And Jay's so laughing at me right now, he's like hiding his face. So I'm sure he's going to try to tell me when we get to a break and I'm going to cut him off and say zip it.

I don't want to know what a jabroni is. Anyway, so Travis Kelce is speaking for the Chiefs. Frank Clark, Chris Jones, Andy Reid, he's a little calmer in his postgame press conference. Our guys did a great job of not going that direction. You know, their mayor said it all.

So I'm glad our mayor just did what he did. So yeah, some people heard it. I think guys were probably the most pumped up I've seen them going into a football game. A lot of trash talk coming from a lot of different places. I think no one picked us to win.

If so, it was like 5% of people. And we think we've built up enough respect to have a chance to go out and win every game. So whenever you feel like you're the underdog, when you're playing at Arrowhead Stadium, it gets guys ready to go.

You got Burrowhead. I mean, they beat us last time. They were talking about we got to play them.

There was a lot of stuff. I mean, the mayor came at me, man. I mean, I understand he's the mayor of Cincinnati, so he has to think about something. But I mean, it's something that you just got to play the football game and then let your play, do the talking. You know they have waited all week to be able to clap back. But they chose to keep it under wraps. I'm sure. How much do you want to bet that it was a daily reminder from the coaching staff, from the captains?

Zip it. Don't say a word. Let your play do the talking. You can talk after. Problem is, you put the talk out there, and then all of a sudden, it becomes a source of extra motivation and fuel.

But also, if you don't walk the walk after you talk the talk, well, there's a problem. Again, just to be fair, it wasn't the Bengals themselves who were doing the trash talking. Though Burrowhead was tossed around in some of their press conferences, I'm sure they were laughing about it. But it wasn't them. That was started by fans.

It was started externally by the mayor and everything else. But you know the Chiefs waited and waited and waited and bided their time until they could respond. And Travis Kelsey took it upon himself to respond in place of Patrick Mahomes.

And yes, it is still Arrowhead. There's nothing like winning the championship at home. That's just a special feeling. Not that the Super Bowl is not. I don't want to say that. That's a pretty good feeling too.

But to be at home and do it, it's unbelievable. So I'm riding a wave right now. And as for Andy Reid, not only does he pick up his 21st postseason win, half of which came with the Eagles and now half which have come with the Chiefs, but he gets to face his former franchise in the Super Bowl, one that he took to a Super Bowl in 2004. Anyone remember Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens? Terrell Owens had just come off a broken leg. So this Patrick Mahomes returning from injury like it's a miracle?

Well, it's been done before. It sure was impressive to see him running for that first down in the final 15 seconds. I totally blew that whole hour and went right through the AFC and still haven't let you hear from the Bengals. I will, but we'll pivot a little bit to the NFC championship straight ahead.

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When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself, because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive.