After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them.

The trick? Simply start with bite-sized steps, like Goalie's Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha Gummies to help you relax, restore, and unwind.

Mmm, tastes like wellness just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie, taste your goals.

Learn more at Goalie.com today. I am still waiting for someone to tell me, intelligently, why the NFL would want the Chiefs in the Super Bowl instead of a team that I feel like has some incredible superstars and flavors of the month. And that is not a negative, I'm not being sarcastic, I mean it. Joe Burrow right now has got to be one of the most popular players in the NFL. Jamar Chase, incredible. There's some really sharp, interesting personalities on the Bengals roster, not to mention Zach Taylor is a star too. And they got a lot of attention around the situation with Jamar Hamlin that took place in Cincinnati in early January. And the way that they handled it on their own field and their compassion for the Bills and their teammate as he was going through his cardiac arrest and then into the hospital. I think there's a lot of interest and respect for the Cincinnati Bengals, not to mention they were in the Super Bowl last year and so we had a chance to see them. I don't know, feels like the Bengals were the team that most people wanted to see as opposed to the Chiefs who, I don't know, people may be having Kansas City fatigue. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, of course that's not how it worked out in the AFC Championship and we're still processing and sifting through.

And it happens to 31 of 32 NFL teams where ultimately it's a eulogy instead of a championship and trophy ceremony. And with that penalty, the Chiefs will be in field goal range. But Drew's 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 to 20. I'm just proud of this team. I'm proud of the character of these men and this is where your character is going to be tested the most in moments like this when it's fresh and raw and you were so close to winning an AFC Championship back to back, going to the Super Bowl on the road. There's been a lot of obstacles thrown in front of this team, they've knocked them all down and we just couldn't get past this last one here.

That is the voice of Zach Taylor and yes, the emotions raw and it doesn't go away that quickly. You don't move forward that quickly except in the NFL, life comes at you fast and there are already the majority, the vast majority of NFL teams who have moved forward into their offseason and have gotten a bit of a head start. That's the one advantage of not being part of the postseason, though obviously no one would trade for that advantage using my air quotations. Dan Horton, Dave Lapham on Bengals radio even now as I'm looking up and that field goal is on NFL network in front of me. It was time to speak to the media, the exit interviews taking place on Monday in Cincinnati, the majority of the locker room available for comment and in the middle of all of it Charlie Goldsmith who is an insider for the Bengals and the Cincinnati Inquirer.

Actually pretty soon we'll have to shift to baseball, but Charlie given that it was not even 24 hours after the Bengals lost by three points in Kansas City, a tight affair that really was emotionally and physically challenging and took all of them. How would you describe the tone around the players and the coaches from what you observed Monday? So the message from Zach Taylor was all about appreciating one of the best teams in franchise history, appreciating maybe the most talented team in franchise history, but it was a day where everyone was thinking one what could have been and two how it might look differently next year. Jesse Bates, Eli Apple, Jermaine Pratt, Von Bell, all reflecting on maybe their last day in the Bengals locker room. They had a very emotional talking, you know, for those players as they spoke to the media today. So those emotions again were being balanced as they tried to also reflect on a really good season.

They maybe started a little slowly but came on as one of the top teams in the league, including a franchise record 10 game win streak and some other milestones along the way. Were there specific moments or plays that were talked about on Monday? Well, everything Chris Jones did. The Bengals last year lost in the Super Bowl because Aaron Donald showed why he's a Hall of Famer and he was pointing to his ring finger after making the game winning stack in the fourth quarter.

And then yesterday, Chris Jones didn't do the point, but he did do the wave to the crowd after he sacked Burrow on the Bengals final play on offense. The difference was the Bengals were down three starting offensive line and they were down three backups, three young guys who had been really working to develop behind the scenes to a great Buffalo that didn't carry forward. It does show that the Bengals need to specifically do a better job in the draft with how they build their offensive line depth.

And I think that's something they're really going to try to address this offseason. Obviously the offensive line was a challenge against the Kansas City Chiefs, but yet they dominated in Buffalo. Why such a difference between the way the O-line performed in those two games? I think the offensive line really wasn't tested as much in Buffalo. The snow really made a huge difference for the pass rushers. Like a bunch of Bengals defensive players actually said this, when you're a pass rusher and you don't know where you're going as much, it's harder than when you're an offensive lineman and you do know where you're going in the snow. So the Bengals had that edge in Buffalo. And also the difference between Chris Jones and the Bills best pass rusher, defensive tackle Ed Oliver, is pretty much the same as the difference between Joe Burrow and Kirk Cousins. So the Bengals were facing a much stiffer test and again Chris Jones took over the game.

From your perspective, Charlie, what are a couple of moments or factors that, in addition to Chris Jones, that you will remember from this AFC Championship Game loss? I think the biggest thing is just the feeling of, you know, Joe Burrow gets the ball with two minutes left and every time in his life he converts in that situation. Every time this season, you know, that's when incredible moments happen. I could point to four or five times over the course of the year where Burrow got that ball, throw, throw, throw, and then they're in the end zone and they come out with a win.

And this time that didn't happen, even for one of the most clutch players in the NFL. It's always surprising to see a passing offense that's so dynamic and so explosive come up just short. Were you surprised at all that they didn't turn to the run the way that they had against Buffalo?

Again, another factor that was so different. Samaje Pea-Rine, their backup running back, actually played about twice as many snaps as Joe Mixon. They were so concerned about pass protection that they used Pea-Rine, who's their pass protecting back, in that expanded role. That shows that, again, pass protection and the idea of needing to protect Burrow was that much more of a priority than even establishing the run game. Bengals historically have shied away from the run in huge games and put as much on Burrow's play as possible.

I'd do the same thing. I'd go down with the MVP candidate and your superstar receivers over the run game. But that certainly wasn't the first time the Bengals run game hasn't really showed up in a massive playoff game. Again, they just were trying to go down with Burrow and the passing game as best they could. Although I agree with you, there definitely was an anticipation in the fourth quarter when the Bengals would get the ball.

And yes, Chris Jones, over and over again, seems to spoil those plans. We're spending a few minutes with Charlie Goldsmith, who covers the Bengals and was there at the AFC Championship game for Cincinnati Inquirer. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. How much was said about the Joseph Assai late hit and then his reaction following that moment? The part of that that's really become viral is in the postgame locker room afterwards. Bengals defensive tackle BJ Hill, a veteran standing right next to Joseph, putting his arm around Joseph, responding to some of the questions Joseph received. And really, again, showing support through leadership and showing support and adversity in that way. A lot of players around the league, John Calipari, all tweeting about what BJ Hill showed in that moment.

I spoke with BJ today. He said in that moment, all he could think about was, he said he comes from a big family. He knows how many times he has had to really stand up for his literal brothers and sisters through adversity. And that's just what he defaulted to in that moment. And again, it went viral. A great example of leadership as BJ Hill stood up for his teammates.

Agreed. I loved that, that in that moment there were teammates, specifically Hill, who cared more about Joseph than they did about the outcome of the game. I was also really impressed that Joe, at 22 years old, took questions following the game.

Was he available again on Monday? He was not, but again, he certainly gave a lot of explanation on Sunday. Joseph Osai is one of the most energetic, enthusiastic players in the Bengals locker room. On top of that, he might be the best hustle player on the Bengals. His effort and his intensity is why they drafted him. It's why his role has taken off in the second half of the season. And you know, unfortunately, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time against Patrick Mahomes. And led to the play that changed and ended the game, really. But again, Osai, everyone pretty universally today, yesterday, I would never ask about him in the media. Very supportive things to say.

It was a tough mistake to make in that moment. So, Charlie, you mentioned a few names at the start of this conversation. Changes that could be coming for the Bengals in the offseason. Who do you think are the most significant potential departures from the Bengals roster? Well, for the secondary, the secret of the whole Bengals roster over the last two years is the secondary has been about as, really has been, as consistent of a unit as there is on the entire roster, as dynamic of a unit as there's been on the entire roster. It's this veteran group with the most energy that you'll see anywhere across the NFL.

And now, pretty much half that group is set to hit for agency. Most notably, the co-quarterbacks of the defense, safeties Von Bell and Jesse Bates. The guys who make all the checks and the reads at the line of scrimmage.

The guys who do everything from guarding Travis Kelce one-on-one to double-teaming the superstar receivers they face, like Stephon did, to playing deep zone coverage down the field, as well as anyone together. So, the Bengals, they'd like to bring both of them back, but they don't get to live in that world now, as their biggest priority is preparing for Joe Brewer's contract, which is expected to come this offseason. So, that's leading to some tough decisions. In talking to Von, there were a lot of questions about what it's going to look like. But then, especially Jesse and quarterback Eli Apple, they seemed pretty confident that this might be their last time in the Bengals locker room.

Yeah, it seemed like they were issuing more goodbyes, or maybe preemptive strikes, if they don't have an opportunity to say goodbye. It was a little bittersweet to see what they had to say. And Jesse, I mean, he was a 21-year-old kid coming out of Wake Forest when the Bengals drafted him. He said he was an knucklehead.

He was reflecting on this yesterday. He thought he could make every play in the defense, and then Lou Annaromo changed the Bengals defensive coordinator, changed the way he viewed himself, changed the way he viewed leadership, teamwork, playing the safety position. Jesse Bates became, you know, in 2020, he was PFF's highest-graded safety in football.

This year, he was playing at a Pro Bowl level completely. Bates bet on himself twice looking for a big contract, and I think he's certainly going to earn it when he hits the open market. Well, speaking of big contracts, as you point out, the number one priority is figuring out common ground with Joe Burrow.

What kind of range are we thinking here for Joe Burrow? There isn't a deal he could sign where my reaction as someone who covers the team would be the Bengals overpaid. I think Burrow should be the highest-paid quarterback in the league as he now is the latest guy with the chance to set the market.

He is in a league where Mahomes and Allen and maybe to an extent Lawrence and Herbert are going to be competing for conference championships for the next decade. Burrow is a guy who gives you as good of a chance as quite literally anyone, and again, the price tag on that you can't underestimate. I get the sense that the Bengals are very confident in where these conversations are going to be trending over the course of the offseason. Burrow has said he wants to get this done. The Bengals obviously want to get this done. If Jamar Chase wants to get this done and then start working on his own deal next offseason, the Bengals know who they are and they know who they're building around. Are we thinking north of $50 million, though, since that's what Roger's got? What the Bengals said before the season was what they would love is for Burrow to take the Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes approach and just sign him up to the exact same contract with that long-term security that Kansas City and Buffalo both have.

I forget those terms, but it's over 50 a year average for Mahomes and Allen. Charlie Goldsmith is with us from Cincinnati after covering the AFC Championship and, of course, another stellar Bengals campaign for the Inquirer. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio, so there's certainly player personnel decisions that have to be made. What about the coaching staff? Lots of rumblings around the coordinators. Yeah, Lou Annarumo and Brian Callahan, their offensive coordinator and their defensive coordinator.

There was some, I guess, mist might be the best word that they hadn't been receiving interviews. The secret of the Bengals is they have one of the best coaching staff in football. You know, Jamar Chase missed time this year. D.J. Reeder missed time this year. A bunch of their key players had to miss time. The offense had this evolution beginning in week five where they completely changed the identity of the unit on the fly and became the most efficient offense in the league.

The defense is this versatile, adaptable unit that turned all these free agents into the most cohesive group in the NFL. And, you know, of course, Brian and Lou deserve the credit for that. They hadn't been rewarded yet with interviews.

And it sounds like that changed yesterday. Brian Callahan set to go to Arizona. Same with Lou Annarumo for interviews. Brian Callahan will have a second interview with the Indianapolis Colts.

Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher, according to head coach Jack Taylor, remains in conversations with a few teams about offensive coordinator openings. So the Bengals are certainly getting the attention and the recognition for the work the coaching staff did this off-season. When you think about priorities in terms of putting them over the hump in 2023, what would you say are a couple of areas that they need to address? Well, that's the thing. Like, I really think they were the most complete roster in the NFL this season. Then three offensive linemen got hurt and that changes everything. And that shows you, like, you got to be better than you were this year, even though it was the most talented team in franchise history. If you're the Bengals, you do hope your offensive linemen don't get hurt all at the exact same time in the postseason next year. But you, again, have to do a better job drafting and developing the young players in the building. You have to continue to maintain waves of defensive linemen who are able to consistently create pressure. And then the biggest thing really is, again, with the free agents we mentioned, you're going to have guys like, you know, last year's first round pick, Jack Taylor, Jack Taylor's safety stepping up in the starting roles. With Jermaine Pratt likely to leave at linebacker, you're going to have fourth-year player Akeem Davis-Gator, who's been, I'm really hiring him. He's developing in the wings. He's going to have to step up in his first opportunity to be a full-time starter. So it's really about, like, again, this next wave of young players who could either be drafted this year or who have been developing behind the scenes for the last few years.

When they get their opportunities, there has to be as little drop-off as humanly possible. Do you remember when the Bengals started out 0-2 and then when they were 2-3? That seems like a long time ago. I mean, another example of what they accomplished this season, when they were 0-2, Zach Taylor could have said, you know, we'll be fine. We made the Super Bowl last year.

We have Joe Burrow. But he took the opposite approach. He started scrapping the whole offense. They changed the whole run scheme. They started really, really working with Joe Burrow to play an entirely different way, prioritizing efficiency over explosive plays.

They made some changes to some of their analytical approach. They decided to take the ball first when they won the coin toss. They did all these things after they started 0-2 that shaped the course of the season and gave the Bengals their identity that they had in the 2022 season.

And again, they wrote that identity as the SE title game. And Patrick Mahomes, you just tip your cap to him after he outplayed them. But it was also huge plays by the defense, too, as we've talked about with Chris Jones and that D-line. Frank Clark, he was all over the place, too. So yeah, it's nice to know that we'll have some of these teams continuing to butt heads like Bills, Bengals, and then Bengals and the Chiefs.

It certainly was a season of a lot of milestones, as we talked about. And you want to make sure you find Charlie on Twitter because he's got a lot of quotes from the players that were speaking in their exit interviews on Monday. So he's at Charlie G. underscore.

Charlie Goldsmith, still working. So both Reds and Bengals. I hope you have some time off before baseball starts to capture a lot of your hours. Well, I'm heading to Arizona in a couple of weeks, excited to shift gears. But as you know, football season never truly ends. That's true.

It is all consuming and it is round the clock. Well, we appreciate a couple of minutes with you. Thank you so much. Thank you. See, Bengals fans or Cincinnati sports fans, if you don't go to Arizona for the Super Bowl, well, you can still go to Arizona for spring training.

Arizona? It's nice this time of year. Good to catch up with Charlie. And yeah, he posted a lot of quotes on his Twitter about not only the Bengals season, but what we heard from Zach Taylor and Jesse Bates and some of the others who may very well have played their final snaps. That includes Jermaine Pratt. And that was the reason for his emotional reaction to the Joseph Assai penalty when Pratt was in the tunnel following the game.

So there's a lot still that we could talk about here. He does. He does bring up B.J.

Hill, but if he didn't, I was going to. Because B.J. did interviews even on Monday about supporting his teammate, Joe, and why he believed that was the right thing to do. Wait until you hear B.J. Hill in his own words as we look back at what was a fateful moment. Certainly a moment that I will never forget.

He's 22 years old. He was sobbing on the sidelines following the Harrison-Bunker field goal, but also an opportunity for his Bengals teammates to show they care more about him than they do about the game. Even as painful as that loss was. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, and then our Facebook page, too. We always post the link to our podcast every weekday morning in case you're not able to listen in da moment. We've got QB news coming up a little bit later on. Also, Jalen Hurts was on a recent episode of the podcast with the Kelsey brothers, and producer Jay found some good stuff with him. Yeah, we've got plenty to keep us busy over the next couple of hours. Novak Djokovic moving to number one again in the World Tennis rankings.

Boy, speaking of crying, he was an emotional mush following his victory down under on Sunday morning. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. 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, and now 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 game, and the game should be bound to the 35-yard line.

It didn't come down to that. You know, there was a lot of other plays that we just missed out on, and they made one more play than we did. This is emotional. We worked really hard to get here, and, you know, any play that people feel like is left out there, you're going to take it hard. And we want guys like that, that this means a lot to, they care about it, care about their teammates.

Joseph comes to work every day, man. He loves ball. He loves being a part of this team, and it didn't come down to that play.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Once again, Zach Taylor, head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. So that's from Sunday night when he was asked about Joseph Asai and the late hit on Patrick Mahomes with, what was it, 12 seconds to go in the game. It gave them an extra 15 yards and right away put them in field goal range. So there's still a chance that they could have put themselves in a spot to kick a long field goal.

It was a 45-yarder for Harrison Buckner with three seconds to go, but the 15 yards put them instantly in field goal range. And as I was watching the play again and again on Monday, because I'm astounded by the number of people who don't believe it was a late hit or shouldn't have been flagged and that that's their evidence for the NFL rigging the game, I mean, you know how I feel about that. I've watched the play so many times, and first of all, as I said last night, Mahomes was completely out of bounds. Every single bit of him was at least two, three steps out of bounds.

So Asai made a mistake. He said he lost track of where he was on the field, and I can understand that. He's trying to make a play. Does it mean he isn't a good Bengal or the Bengals don't appreciate him?

Heck no. He made tackles in the backfield in this game. He had a really good game as a 22-year-old, and in what was probably his first moment that was devastating and that is going to go viral and that people are talking about, he was very emotional, taking all of this on himself and feeling like he lost the game.

And so there were other teammates that came up to him that tried to not only encourage him and lift him up and say, man, it wasn't your fault, similar to what Zach Taylor just said. This is not on Joe. We had an entire 60 minutes of football.

We had wasted opportunities. This is not on Joe. But still, his tears and his refusal to get off the bench, even as the Chiefs are celebrating and they're getting ready to award the Lamar Hunt trophy.

And it's B.J. Hill who sat next to him and finally encouraged him, man, you got to get up. We got to go. Let's go in the locker room. And so I was pleased with the leadership, number one.

Number two, I felt like the Bengals had the right perspective. Now, Jermaine Pratt has apologized for his outburst. We'll hear from him first and then B.J.

Hill. I don't know if you have the video from the tunnel. So Pratt was leaving the field of play on Sunday night.

We didn't play this last night only because I wasn't sure I wanted to pile on, but also because I needed a little more context. So I've since kind of seen the video and have heard what he had to say. So he had this reaction in the tunnel that went viral and he was spotted and caught on camera by Spectrum News Ohio. Even as he's getting into the locker room at Arrowhead Stadium, yelling about that flag against OSI. He says, why would you touch the quarterback?

And he's screaming about how this is my last year. Why would you touch the quarterback? So in that moment, he's thinking about him, obviously frustrated and disappointed with the loss, angry about the way things happen, tried to set the record straight on Monday. It's a reaction that anybody have a competitor, you know, you know what? What was the state, you know, the time and moment, you know, I mean, I love this game.

No doubt in my mind. They tell my my character as a teammate. You know, some people don't never play this game.

They don't know how much effort guys put in the game. You know, I got to make a mistake over and done with. I was emotional.

I was in the moment. I was wrong. I would say I was wrong as a man. You can look at yourself in the mirror and say, I was wrong.

I wasn't a great teammate at that moment. But they don't define me as a man, you know, but it is what it is. Twenty four hours. I'm going back to work. I got a great off season ahead with my kids and family. That's all that matters. And in a day when I go home to my kids, they love me. I go on to my fiancee.

They love me. That's all that matters. So all the other stuff is relevant.

Back to work. All right. It was an apology of sorts from Jermaine Pratt. He did say I was in the moment. I was wrong. I would say I was wrong as a man. You can look yourself in the mirror and say I was wrong. But he also said it's what anybody would do in that moment. And that is not the truth because we saw other teammates like B.J. Hill come alongside Osi after that play.

As it turns out, this is kind of cool. My friend, Jade McCarthy, who is not only a host on Sirius XM radio. She also is a former ESPN Sports Center anchor.

Now she's with a thirty third team. She had a chance to talk to B.J. Hill on a video podcast on Monday. And she sent me the video so that I could see it.

And we pulled the audio. I said to her, can I have this to use on my show? She said, yes, we had already previously scheduled her to join us later in the week.

So we'll ask her about this moment. But yeah, she wanted to know why he felt Hill felt it was so important to come alongside his young teammate, even in the disappointment of that loss. I just knew he needed somebody beside him right there. He played his butt off the whole entire game. He just felt like the whole game was on him. But it really wasn't.

I feel like I should have made the play the same bus. He got the sack. I missed it.

He got out, scrambled. It wasn't all on him. I just know he needed somebody to step up, be a leader and somebody to be there for him. I was I was that guy. And I knew right when the media came in, who they were going to target. And I was like, dang, what happened on my watch today? And I've been in a situation where you where you felt like you should have made a play.

You didn't make it. I've been there, done it. And I just want to be there for him, just knowing that. Just let him know that I care about him, that he's going to make big plays for us next year.

And I just want to let him know that I love him at the end of the day. Isn't that great? That is what matters the most. I know the loss is devastating. They came so close to getting back to the Super Bowl, feeling like it was a mistake here, a mistake there. Obviously, in the fourth quarter, about midway through, they're still tied. Well, they were tied until three seconds to go, but they had opportunities. And to say that this just came down to one late hit, that's just wrong. And I appreciate that Zach said publicly, that's not why we lost the game.

That B.J. Hill talks about how we all make mistakes in those moments. Obviously, this one went viral because of the stage and the platform and because of Joe's reaction. And I hope, I did not check, sometimes I assume the worst of fans and I probably shouldn't. I hope that he did not receive nasty messages on social, although that's probably what happened.

You know, fans get really carried away and in some cases threaten harm or talk trash to athletes. The 22-year-old who may never forget that moment, feeling like it was his fault. And so what he needed most was his teammates to pick him up. And we did hear from him after the game.

I thought it was very mature of him that he would step up and he would answer questions. And he said, my teammates encouraging me and reaching out to me is giving me some peace. But of course, I'm broken up about that moment and I messed up. So, yeah, it's the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. And sadly, as sports fans very often, well, and I would say as media members too, we look for scapegoats. They wouldn't play 60 Minutes if the game was all about one play. So anyway, I actually still have people trying to tell me that the NFL has rigged the outcome. Yes, they in fact got Joseph Asai to agree to do a late hit on Patrick Mahomes so they could throw the flag. And, you know, it all worked out so perfectly for the Kansas City Chiefs. We've been hearing this, but look, is it naive to think that, you know, you could have like an official, like, yeah, these things could happen. I'll play here. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to rig an entire 60-minute game?

We have no idea what's going to happen? Yeah. Like that's the part that like... And the NFL too. I mean, you know, sports, it's hard. You have to get a lot of people involved. I mean, it's not as simple as, oh, they want it, so that's it. Well, yeah, all right. Well, can you give me a reason as to how they're going to be able to pull this off? Like, look, there's so much money and I get it with gambling involved in this and people talk out of their wallets and I understand the disappointment. And as much as the NFL may prefer certain matchups and certain things, that's true, but to get it done in a one-spot instance when you have no idea that an instance is going to happen, it's very, very, very difficult. Oh, yeah. It's impossible.

And also, people don't stay quiet these days. There's no way you can have an officiating crew of that size because you don't know where the plays are going to happen, right? You don't know which official is going to be responsible for throwing the flag or not throwing a flag. You don't know what part of the field or what moment or that whole thing with the clock. It's very clear that the clock kept running, even though the clock operator was supposed to stop it. So was he in on it too? And then the officials were trying to stop the play. I'm not saying it worked out perfectly.

Did I agree with all the calls? No. But for heaven's sakes, there's no way that you get what dozens of people involved in a conspiracy and all of them stay quiet. Well, that's the thing, because you wouldn't be able to get that many people because it's too much money. So you're only going to get a handful. That's right. Right. So you're only going to get two or three people, but you don't know who the two or three people are unless you have both quarterbacks. I mean, then.

So dumb. And then you're talking about guys that make, you know, 30, 40, 50 million dollars a year. You're going to get them to throw a game, but it doesn't make sense. These guys don't care about money over getting to a Super Bowl. Yeah, none of it makes sense.

And yet some people still really believe it. So we're going to kind of laugh it off and move on. Both coaches spoke on Monday, Andy Reid, as well as Zach Taylor. Also, we didn't get a new Travis Kelsey, Jason Kelsey podcast, but Jay was able to dig up some recent material in which Jalen Hurts was talking to the guys. And so we want you to hear that coming up a little bit later on, too. Let's see. We've got some coaching news, which I know Marco will go over and we'll kind of piggyback on top of that. You can find me on Twitter, A-LOL Radio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. 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 got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor. Know your role and shut your mouth. You jabroni.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The Cincinnati mayor responded on Monday saying fairly succinctly. It was deserved. I deserved it.

Yes, okay. I'm all about the trash talking. I already told producer Jay that we've got to put together some kind of a montage of the crazy trash talking from the Chiefs as we get ready to get to the Super Bowl. Because after that, who knows? Who knows whether there's trash talking after the game in Glendale. Because if the Eagles end up winning, well, certainly it'll be a lot more subdued from the Chiefs' sideline and their side of the field. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Thanks so much for hanging out. Even as I started the show the way I did, sharing our announcement about the Super Bowl. And if you missed it, you can go back and you can get it. Some guy writes to me on Facebook and says, I hope they're not going to pull you off the air.

Why is that always the default? I get a day off and people are like, oh, you got fired, didn't you? I'm gone without telling anyone where I'm going. Oh, my gosh, she got pulled off the air, didn't she?

I literally said we're working on plans for the next two weeks and we're excited about what we're going to do moving forward. And some guy's like, oh, my gosh, I hope they're not pulling you off the air. A, I have a contract, so even if they do pull me off, well, they can't pull me off the air.

But even if they would, they still have to pay me, so trust me, they're not going to pay me to do nothing for the next two years. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a call about an hour ago saying, whoa, you guys are off the air, what's going on? OMG, people do not listen. You guys are worse than my dog who's half deaf.

At least he has an excuse. Sometimes you all just only hear what you want to hear, which I guess was the D word. And who knows whatever else led you to the assumption that we were getting pulled off the air. Promise you, I will walk away before they walk away from me. Just take my word for it.

So, yes, you can find me on Twitter or Facebook unless you have questions like that, in which case I'm just not even going to respond. Both coaches spoke on Monday and, yes, the trash talking was, again, a topic of conversation for Andy Reid and Zach Taylor. And so Zach Taylor, as well as the rest of the Bengals, licking their wounds and definitely hearing what some of the Chiefs had to say on NFL Network and on CBS. This team has an edge and a confidence about them. At the end of the day, we always want to represent our organization, our city, the right way. And that's with class, respect, and, you know, there's plenty of times you get right up on that edge. I get that.

And I love our team. They always come from a good place, you know, and so we always keep those conversations pretty internal. When you win, you can say what you want to say, you know, and again, we give them a lot of credit. It was a heavyweight fight yesterday and they came out on top and they get a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

And so when you're in that position, you get to say what you want to say. I don't know this for sure. I hope at some point we hear it.

I would bet most of what I'm worth. I am fairly positive that the Chiefs' coaches and captains made a concerted effort to squash any type of talk. They're providing us with, quote, unquote, bulletin board material. We're not doing the same. We're going to let our play and our fans do the talking for us. Even when the mayor of Cincinnati came out with his whole paternity test because Joe Burrow is Patrick Mahomes' daddy and it was awkward and it just it wasn't delivered in a way that people would find humorous.

Even then, the Chiefs didn't respond. And now, of course, they can say what they want. But still, Andy Reid, he has such a kind of a calm demeanor most of the time.

And you can see the sly humor on his face when he talks about it now. Well, listen, everybody, they're excited. I mean, they were excited to have their team there. So everybody jumped in on it and the mayor was part of it. It's a tribute to him for being so excited to have this football team.

But at the same time, you probably don't you probably don't want that. I'm sure Zach probably don't want that out there. And but listen, it happened. Our guys, obviously, Kelsey noticed it being from there. So, you know, he threw out a little rock on him and that's what that obviously they heard it. Oh, yeah, you think they definitely heard it.

Zach Taylor still reflecting not even 24 hours after this game. You heard him call it a heavyweight fight. They're exhausting, but but they're heavyweight fights, you know, and that's that's that's what is fun about this league. That's what you want to be a part of you.

Again, you want to put it all out there. You're going to feel tremendous joy or tremendous agony when you walk off the field. And that just means you're in the right profession, doing the right thing when you get a chance to to feel those emotions. And that's what keeps me going, you know, and it's not always there's only one team that's going to be really happy at the end of the year. And you're always fighting to be that one team.

And we think we've got the potential to do that at some point. It's crazy how quickly it turns over right when the Cowboys lost. That was really all anybody, anything anybody could talk about the week before that. It was the Buccaneers. And could this be the end of Tom Brady the week before that?

It was the Lions knocking the Packers out of the playoffs on their own field. Man, life comes at you fast in the NFL and Zach Taylor is right. Every team experiences this except for the one that ends up on top. It's not going to be any easier for the Eagles or the Chiefs that they were in the Super Bowl. No, they both have the same goal and it's going to be just as devastating if they don't win similar to the way that it is for the Bengals right now. And obviously the Niners who are in a different space. We haven't yet heard their exit interviews.

That makes sense because they had to travel cross country and get back to San Francisco, the Bay Area. We did hear though about Brock Purdy and the proclamation for his injury. And also we've got more QB news and we've got more former QBs getting hired and moving on to new jobs.

So we'll continue with some of the host championship Sunday fallout straight ahead. Good to have you with us after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals you can actually taste them. The trick?

Simply start with bite sized steps. Like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore and unwind. Tastes like wellness just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie, taste your goals.

Learn more at Goalie.com today. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. 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 test results. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive.