After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place to gather. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a Solo Stove Fire Pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged, football is revered, and food is enjoyed.

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$10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. Happy Monday to you. Even you Lions fans. Oh, even you Ravens fans. Except not every loss is created equal.

Tell you that much. And we had a couple this weekend where the losses are even more painful than what you would expect for your average, run-of-the-mill, everyday championship game loss. We're going to talk more about the Ravens coming up because they had a prime opportunity, though they were trailing all of the second half and just never could find a whole lot of room to work.

I take that back. They found room to work against the Chiefs defense, but the mistakes came back to bite him in the rear end. Collectively, so many mistakes. Taunting penalty, other penalties that kept the Chiefs moving, kept the ball with the Chiefs. A fumble on the goal line recovered by Kansas City in the end zone and how about a ball thrown into triple coverage intercepted in the end zone. Enough to make Lamar Jackson slam his helmet on the sidelines. We knew that the Ravens had some challenges this year, of course, and we talked about their red zone issues and different stretches during the season.

And they definitely had those, but I also had trouble just getting into the red zone. If you didn't believe in the Chiefs defense before now, I hope you were paying attention to the AFC championship. So we will talk Ravens perspective and give kind of an early eulogy. And when I say early, I know it's too soon. The game was, what, 12 hours ago? And so I get it.

It's too soon. But Rob Long will join us from our Baltimore affiliate, 105.7 The Fan, coming up in 20 minutes here on After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Hope that you enjoyed the weekend despite the football or maybe because of the football. Either way, it's still just football. Hope your weekend was exactly what you needed. And also, if you're one of those peeps who goes through withdrawal when football is done, not me.

I'll just be honest. I'm okay with the NFL going away for a while. We've got one big game left. It's a buildup to the Super Bowl. Exactly two weeks from right now, we'll be processing a new or repeat NFL champion. In the case of the Niners, they have been champs since the mid 90s. 30 years since the Niners have won a Super Bowl. It doesn't feel like that because they're in a lot of them, but it would be 30 years in between Super Bowl wins. So the Niners fan base is hungry. They've come close.

They haven't been able to punch their ticket. In Super Bowl 54, they had a 10 point lead on the Chiefs in the fourth quarter and couldn't hold it. That was really the beginning of this Chiefs run. We had a call earlier who mentioned the, what, four AFC Championship games? Oh no, it's six.

Six in a row. And while Patrick Mahomes won't use the D word. Well, he'll talk about the defense.

He won't use the other D word. People around him are going to say it louder and louder because if they win another Super Bowl, even just getting there is a huge deal. This is their fourth one in five years, right?

Even just getting there is a big deal. They lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, right? Pat likes to remind us that was really kind of a road game. So they lost to Tampa and then last year, of course, getting there, beating the Eagles in what was an epic game. What do they have in store for us now? I'm not going to say dynasty yet.

It's the Pat chuckle. Alright, so we'll talk about Chiefs and Ravens coming up. We just spent most of the last hour on it anyway.

We'll get back to the NFC Championship. If you missed anything, you can always go and listen to our podcast. The link will be available or the podcast is separated into four hours plus our guest available right after the show is done.

You can find the link on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence or on our show Twitter after hours CBS and while you're doing it might as well vote for Monday MVP. We've given you a defensive option and an offensive option for each of the two winning teams this weekend. It's hard to believe only one game left. Lions appeared to be on their way to their first ever Super Bowl. They raced out to a lead in the Bay Area Lions now from the 42 of San Francisco. Gosh going to work out of the gun with Montgomery to his right three receivers to the right side off takes fakes to give goes on the end around. That's Jameson Williams. Williams inside the 40 to 35 cuts it back in the 30 Jamo inside the 25 Jamo inside the 20 stays on his way to the end zone. Touchdown Detroit Lions. Jamison Williams weaving through traffic Frank right now with a big block and Jamo takes it to the house. Second and goal from the one for the Lions golf in behind center single back is Montgomery. Jared takes the snap turns gives the demo left side fighting get the one. Did he get in?

Yes sir he did. Touchdown Detroit Lions. David Montgomery takes it home. They're an extra point away from doubling up their lead. Dan Miller second down. I love how he puts all of himself into his calls. Second and goal from. We love Dan Miller.

He was just a guest on the show a couple of weeks ago on Lions radio. So yeah between Jamison Williams and the 42 yard reverse he traversed after the reverse David Montgomery and then before the half was done a rushing TD for the rookie Jamir Gibbs. They also attacked on a field goal to end a 17 play drive. 17 play drive.

And so they were leading 24 7 at the half. Had nearly 150 rushing yards already. Nearly double the total yardage of Brock Purdy and the Niners. Now they got one 75 yard drive in which it was a lot of Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk. But Brock Purdy throws an interception. He gets smacked in his throwing hand right as he's releasing the ball.

It didn't look like it affected the ball that much but maybe held it up some and Malcolm Rodriguez picks him off. And you can hear the Brock Purdy haters. The Brock Purdy party died down. It fizzled out.

The Brock Purdy haters. They were loud and proud when it appeared as though the Niners would be ushered out of the postseason unceremoniously by these Detroit Lions. And then when San Francisco desperately needs to put points on the board they start the second half with a field goal. To me that felt like a wah wah wah. You get the ball to start the second half.

You need to stop the bleeding. You're trailing by 17 and all you manage is a field goal. So this felt for all the world like the Lions were finally going to be in the NFL's biggest game.

The biggest stage in sport. I mentioned this earlier but it's worth repeating. I got a tweet from a listener named Joe who was very clever in pointing out that the season started with the Lions and the Chiefs and the last game of the year to close it out would also be Lions and Chiefs. Uh oh.

I think I'm good. The Niners defense is as much to blame as anybody. I know the offense couldn't generate a whole lot and Brock threw an interception. But the Niners defense is full of all pros and pro bowlers, veterans. They're supposed to be one of the best defenses in the NFL Nick Bosa. It was embarrassing.

Yeah it was embarrassing. Kind of felt helpless and we didn't want to go down as failures and we know our defense is way too good to play like that. So San Francisco defense decided we're not going out like that. We're going down. We're going down in a blaze of glory. And when Dan Campbell decides to go for the first down on fourth and two. When he's in field goal range. Now they're up 24-10. It must have felt like the most benign moment.

What's the big deal? Even if we don't get this we're okay. In fact it's not like we're giving them the ball in our territory.

Right? I mean they've got to go the length of the field. But they get stuffed on fourth and two. Instead of taking a field goal, they're still up 24-10 but could have restored that 17 point lead.

Shoulda woulda coulda. I think that sparked the Niners defense. That moment reminded them what they can be, who they are, fill them with adrenaline, a little extra energy. They give the ball back to their offense and now it's a different Brock Purdy.

It really is. He directs a quick TD drive and here is the turning point. The moment you can watch over and over on a GIF, on a quick video, on YouTube and you still aren't going to believe it. Purdy sends Kittle in motion right. Purdy, out of the shotgun, drops a couple of steps, going to take a deep shot to Brandon Iuke. It's the flush and caught. Iuke caught it out of the air.

A flag is also down. Did Iuke score? He got touched out on the two yard line.

McCaffrey runs around Purdy, pressured, Purdy throws. Caught by Brandon Iuke. Touchdown San Francisco Iuke. Iuke is on fire. Some of you are writing to me and telling me that Brandon Iuke should be part of our Monday MVP poll and that's probably the case.

Maybe he'll win with write in votes. But yeah, Iuke is going hard. Post route baby. He is straight down the field.

Let's go. And Purdy chucks in the ball except it's a little short. It bounces off the face mask of Kendall Vildor of the Lions right into the hands of Iuke. Who's able to dive, well he dives forward. It was a heads up play.

It was amazing. Now he's down so they don't get the touchdown on that particular play but then you hear the call right after it with Greg Papa on Niners radio. May have been the turning point. Because right after that Detroit makes a massive mistake. Hands off. Awkward hand off to Gibbs. He fumbled the ball. He got hit. He fumbled the ball but 49ers have the ball. Eric Armstead recovers the fumble.

There's an eye formation. Second down goal inside the two of Detroit. Purdy enters center. Snap. Spin. Handoff. McCaffrey. Touchdown.

Over the guard. Boring his way through for six. What a comeback by San Francisco. Now late in the third quarter they've come all the way back from two touchdowns down to within a point with the extra point coming up to tie this game.

Kevin Harlan there on Westwood 1. What you don't hear, the play that we don't let you hear there is Brock Purdy's first 21 yard scramble into the red zone. So as much as Brock Purdy will own his mistakes and he said over and over he did not play well against Green Bay until that very last drive. This second half he did everything right and proved once again he belongs on the stage regardless of where he was drafted, regardless of how he got the job, regardless of whether or not you think he's a game manager. He deserves to be on this stage and just as a reminder he's in his first full year as a starter. He's not a rookie of course but he's in his first full year as a starter.

He's still grown into it. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. San Francisco defense at this point is up for the challenge. Forces a three and out by Detroit and then it's back to back scoring drives for the Niners. In there of course you've got another opportunity for Detroit to put three on the board. And Dan Campbell makes the same exact call. It is fourth and three with 750 to go in the NFC Championship game and the Lions will go for it down three.

Golf is going to work out of the gun. He'll go empty. Lions need to play right here.

Got to keep this drive alive. Jared with four on the play clock takes the snap. He's back. Jared looks. Jared looks.

Jared rolls to his right. Still looking. Crows downfield. Incomplete. Lions come up empty.

Was looking for Amand Rasen Brown and there was a man underneath the route that time. Fred Warner got a hand on it. And for the second time in the second half the Lions come up empty on fourth down and plus territory. Once again Dan Miller on Lions Radio and that one may be a little bit tougher because they're trailing by three when they choose to go for it on fourth down. Trailing by three.

I don't think there's a math for you. You know that a field goal ties the game. And so Dan Campbell answering a lot of questions about those aggressive fourth down calls. I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball. You know they were bleeding the clock out.

That's what they do. And I wanted to get the upper hand back. You know and it's easy hindsight and I get it.

You know I get that. But I don't regret those decisions and that's hard. You know it's hard because you know they didn't we didn't come through. It wasn't able to work out. But I just I don't.

I don't. And I understand the scrutiny I'll get. That's part of the gig man.

But you know we just didn't work out. Tough for Dan Campbell. I made this point in my CBS Sports Minute. It's respectable to lose to the Niners on their own field in a conference championship. All right.

It is the Lions to get to an NFC championship in this third year with Dan Campbell and so many young players. If you lose you you fight hard you battle to the end you lose. Well OK.

It's respectable except when it's like this. Oh this has got to be more painful. Definitely crushed for Lions fans as much as I get that Niners fans that the San Francisco organization has been through the wringer too and has not won a title since the mid 90s. This has got to be even more painful for the Lions because it was right there. And so you'll hear from Dan Campbell Jared Goff about what went wrong in the second half. They did tack on another Jamison Williams touchdown in the final minute but they don't recover the onside kick and really do the work had already been done by the Niners 17 points in eight minutes for this stunner and 27 unanswered points. They can go from being down 24 7 at the break to being up 34 24.

And it happened pretty quickly. Lions just never could find their footing and as much as people debate about whether or not experience matters in the playoffs. I think in this case for both the Niners and the Chiefs it definitely made a difference in the second half. To that end we will welcome our friend Rob Long to talk about the Ravens. Well not putting their best foot forward in the AFC Championship at M&T Bank Stadium and then we'll finish up with reaction from guys like Trent Williams 14 years in the league first ever Super Bowl.

Some good stories out there even though you may think oh yawn Niners Chiefs on Twitter a law radio it's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the Sultan of sizzle the Titan of toastiness the kingpin of kindling. These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place to gather. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a solo stove fire pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit.

It's a place where friendships are forged football is revered and food is enjoyed solo stove the perfect flame for the big game. Your fever is high and the pressure to log in at work is too. But when you finally decide to take care of you there's instacart just because that one perfect co-worker of yours is attending all meetings camera on while she's sneezing coughing and aching doesn't mean you have to do the same.

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Oh sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

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No long term commitments or contracts that stamps dot com code program. The after hours podcast. Second down and 10 for the Ravens with 654 left to play in the franchise's first ever home AFC Championship game will be J splits wide to the left. Bateman Agalor likely to the right. Lamar to throw looking to the right. Nothing there fires down the middle back of the end zone. It's intercepted. It's picked off in the end zone. Dion Bush with the interception and with 645 left to play in the AFC Championship game. Yeah, three defenders owning a third Ravens turnover could signal a hill too high to climb.

This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. There was helmet slamming. There was anger. There were tears on the sidelines. A lot of emotions for these Baltimore Ravens and no doubt their fans as well hosting the AFC Championship the number one seed the best record in the NFL. So likely the NFL MVP and yet a game in which they never really could get rolling offensively. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We're pleased to welcome our friend Rob Long who's getting ready for the big bad morning show on our Baltimore affiliate. Rob, what were your emotions like watching this game on Sunday afternoon?

What happened? What did you see that stands out about this game against the Chiefs? I just didn't seem like the same Baltimore Ravens approach to a football game that we come accustomed to down the stretch to me.

I mean the Baltimore Ravens offers to seem to be really really off. They ran the ball 16 times. Maybe I mean you got that was three carries Justice Hill three carries, you know, six carries by your running backs that had not been the formula, you know, leading into this game. The team was was a little bit more balanced and if it swayed one way or the other it was more Russians than passes, but you know Lamar Jackson 37 attempts and and and 16 Russian. It's just one game that was in the seven at halftime to the seven after three quarters. So you're not thought about where you're playing from from two or three touchdowns behind right now and it was close throughout the course of the game. It wasn't like it finished at 17 to 10, but the Ravens were down 17 nothing. That was never the case. It just seemed like in a very uncharacteristic approach on offense for them 37 attempts passing attempts at 16 Russian tips.

Keep in mind out of those 16 Russian tips eight were by Lamar and two were by Zay Flowers. Right. Well this thing is really it was really really swayed in the wrong direction in my opinion.

Any idea why? No, sometimes you out think yourself. Sometimes you outsmart yourself. Gus Edwards at three carries averaged at 6.7 yards a carry. Justice Hill couldn't get it going, but he only had three carries to do it. I mean, I think the biggest out of question is what were you thinking?

This is very tough. I'm Todd Monk and like and and you know, it was a lot of head scratching the Baltimore Ravens held the Kansas City Chiefs scoreless in the second half and that that's not even gonna be talked about because they lost the game. How tough is it to keep the Kansas City Chiefs scoreless for the entire half of football? There was three points total in that second half and the Ravens defense is not going to get the tip of the cap on this because they lost the game.

This should have gone down as one of the better defensive performances by this team against arguably the best quarterback in the league. Well then what stands out about the Chiefs defense? The Chiefs defense seemed to keep Lamar off the spot.

He was running for his life a lot. You saw the strip sack there early in the game in the first half. They just seemed to take Lamar off the spot a lot and I think some of that also Amy was they were pinning their ears back. Ravens was dropping back the past six consecutive times.

After a while you just pin your ears back and assume they're going to pass the football and more often than not that assumption was correct. It just seemed like they never allowed Lamar to really get comfortable in the pocket and when he was comfortable in the pocket he made some pretty good throws but that was the key to me. The key to me was that and also I would love to see from the all 22 because I couldn't but it didn't look like anybody was opening down field because Lamar was holding it and holding it and waiting and looking. Check it out to the second or third but he was a lot so it looked like they played way off the ball and to me that interception that he threw attempting to get the football to eyes there likely in the end zone with three defenders back there. Bad throw number one. But with three defenders back deep it looked as if the Kansas City Chiefs defense was okay with giving up the underneath stuff. They just weren't going to let the Ravens over the top.

Rob Long is with us from Baltimore where he's getting set for his morning show on one of five seven the fan it's after hours here on CBS porch radio. Let's talk about the rookie because he did get behind the defense on the touchdown and he's able to haul in that incredible throw from Lamar so that's the first quarter. Then in the second half he has another awesome play great throw huge chunk right was a 54 yards I believe and he stands over a luxurious need and gets called for taunting and then turns around a couple minutes later and fumbles on the goal line courtesy of one luxurious need.

Talk about I don't believe in karma but what goes around comes around. How would you describe the performance by the rookie? Number one the taunting call was trash with all the trash talking in that game and all that was said and done and all the guys get it but the thought taunting flag there to me was garbage.

Absolute garbage. You could have thrown that flag a hundred times earlier on both teams to be honest with you to take that to use that moment right there to throw a taunting call was the referee not watching the game that was trash talking before the game. Kelcey threw a kicking tee out of the way.

This whole game was trash talking so that to me was a garbage foul. One thing you got to know when you leave your feet you got to secure the football. That's football 101. He left his feet he didn't secure the football. Great play made by Kansas City defenders.

I'm not taking anything away from that. You got to secure the ball around the goal line when you leave your feet and that's a tough lesson to learn in the AFC Championship game. I thought Jay Flowers again it's sort of like the Ravens defense. It's a great game not to be talked about because of the results. Jay Flowers had five catches for 115 yards and should have had two touchdowns but we're going to remember that fumble and we should because that fumble you can look back now and say that ultimately possibly could have lost the game. Who knows whether they would have got the field goal later on but that's seven points taken off the board when he fumbles at the one yard line.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio with Rob Long. I know it feels pretty quick to start thinking about what else they need or what they do in the offseason but they did deal with a ton of injuries. Love the connection with Todd Monken and Lamar Jackson. Back to earlier I'm sure you were sleeping but I was comparing it to this Dallas situation where Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott combined for his best season ever and yet it's going to get lost of course because of the playoffs and what happened. So I hope that's not lost with the Ravens because they did make that change.

One that you've been asking for for years. Get away from Greg Roman to bring in somebody different for Lamar. But what should be their next job when they recover emotionally from this game? Got his rest in the secondary quarterback position in my opinion to be specific. Marlon Humphrey hasn't been healthy in a while.

Who's the number one corner? I think that's the position he got addressed. I don't know if they addressed the left tackle position but another guy who hasn't been healthy is Ronnie Stanley. They have to address that offensive line position and I think they have to address the pass rusher. I think Cloudy came in and played great this year. Will he be back next year?

I don't know. Kyle Van Noy filled the spot as well but it seems like in the past the young guys that have been drafted in that position haven't quite panned out to be those number one studs getting to the quarterback. So if I'm king of the world for a day I'm addressing that quarterback position, the offensive line position and someone that can get their hands on the quarterback. And it's the best players available at those three positions of who I address first. If the first one is a pass rusher he grades out higher than everybody and I get him. Officer Wyman, I'm not really putting it in order.

I'm putting it in order of the best players on the board at the time. I know the Ravens have won a Super Bowl in the not too distant past. In fact it was our first one here at CBS Sports Radio. But how does the let down, maybe the failure of this one compare to some of their recent playoff exits?

Oh, that's a great question. I think this is pretty high because I remember losing to Pittsburgh Steelers and Joe Flacco's first year in the AFC Championship game. That's a team that nobody expected anything from. They came off of maybe a five win season the year before then. Nobody expected a lot from that. Losing to the Tennessee Titans in 2019, that was tough but that was early.

You didn't really get teased. This one was tough because the expectations were so high and considering what they did to some great teams on a regular season a long way. The Ravens went into the best team in football.

I don't know the last time we could say that going into the playoffs. They were the best team in football. And not only by their record, but the rest of the championship resume that they were building along the way. The two teams in the NFC Championship game were demolished by the Baltimore Ravens. You saw what they did to Miami. You saw last week what they did to Houston.

They weren't just winning games, they were just destroying people. And to get all the way to this, again, to give up 17 points to the Kansas City Chiefs and lose that game when you're just putting 30, 40 points on the board against other people, I think to me, this goes up at the number one most disappointing moment. Because two Super Bowls, they haven't lost one. I don't know if I've ever been more disappointed with the results of a Ravens game than I am right now. Does it make the NFL MVP feel empty? No, because you earn that. If you feel empty, he might feel empty because he's playing for a championship. That's probably a better question for Lamar.

For me, it's not empty because you earned that. He played 16 games this year. He missed one and missed the last game. And his performance was MVP worthy. You don't include a playoff for that. You don't.

So what he did for the regular season to me was to have an MVP performance and he should be rewarded with that trophy and have NFL honors. You can find Rob on Twitter at Rob Long Sports getting set for his Big Bad Morning show on our Baltimore affiliate, 105.7, the fan. And you can hear him. He says this has got to be tops on the list when it comes to let downs and disappointments because of all the potential and expectation. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes, Rob. Good morning to you. Good morning to you.

Have a good day. It's going to be spicy, scintillating potentially on their morning show and certainly throughout the day, even throughout the week. This is going to sting for a while and it feels so different. All losses are not created equal because of how well the Ravens defense played and because everything we talked about with Rob, they had that stacked up for them to advance back to the Super Bowl. In the case of the Lions, the expectations weren't as high. Granted, they finally made history with their home playoff games.

They won the NFC North, but the expectations weren't as high for them. Except in their case, they've got a 17 point lead and it disappears like that. So these losses are not the same.

The perspectives are not the same. And yet, man, there is plenty of dejection and that pit in your stomach to go around for both fan bases. You're back in the dumpers again.

On Twitter, also on our Facebook page, the matchup is set two weeks, two weeks, you guys, until Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas. We'll be taking our show on the road, actually, courtesy of Southern Recipe Small Batch Pork Rinds. We've got a lot of adventure ahead, but a couple of weeks in which, you know, us media people will be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But there's some really good stories, actually. We'll tell you a couple coming up. OK, picture this.

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Yeah, Graybar does that. Welcome to the After Hours Podcast. It's third and goal at the 6th of Detroit in the shotgun pretty receivers in tight shotgun snap four man rush moves to the right throws a wine drink pass caught leaping catch touchdown back in the end zone. 9 yards deep in the middle 6 yard touchdown pass by quarterback Brock Purdie in San Francisco late in the third has just brought the San Francisco 49ers to within a 24-16 reach of the Lions.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The great Kevin Harlan on Westwood 1. Brock Purdie is for some reason the target of much ire and consternation and ribbing and even those who would respectably say he's not that good still won't give him the benefit of the doubt. And I don't know what else the man has to prove he admitted that he played poorly against Green Bay he sailed a lot of throws and yet led them on a game winning drive in the late stages. And going into the NFC Championship yet no one played real well in the first half.

But man, it was a second half that should have answered all the questions there should be zero questions about Brock Purdie anymore. Not just what he did to lead the team, the throws that he made, the Brandon Iyuk, oh gosh there were a bunch of throws, chunk plays, a bunch of throws as he was spreading the ball around. But just as impressively, he also, Juwan Jennings is one of them, another one that stands out to me when he had to have a reception or had to have a pass to move the chains that's another one that stands out.

But he also used his legs. Is he Lamar Jackson? No. Is he as elusive as Patrick Mahomes?

Well no. But those two are unique cats, they're MVPs. The way that Brandon delivered the football in the second half and the way that he converted a pair of third downs by running 21 yards, heads up, smart. And to a man, everybody you ask in the Niners locker room, they just want to tout Brock Purdie because they hear it and they don't think he deserves the criticism that he's getting. I don't have enough good things to say about Brock. All he's done since he's been here is play at an elite level and everything starts with him. And we're lucky he's our quarterback. He takes a lot of heat for absolutely no reason. All he's done is been a great leader, been a great player, and I'm so proud of him and pumped up that I get another one with him this year.

I thought it was the difference between winning and losing. He made some big plays with his legs, getting out of the pocket, moving the chains in some first downs, getting some explosives. He competed his ass off today and it wasn't easy for any of us, but he kept grinding and it was unbelievable there in the second half. Heck of a game manager.

Wow. Managed the heck out of that game, boy. He's the reason we're going to have a chance to win us a ring. I love him. Fred Warner, defense before that. Here, Kyle Shanahan and then Christian McCaffrey. They rave about this guy. Fred, by the way, on NBC Sports Bay Area.

And you can tell they are getting defensive about the criticism that he takes. Deebo Samuel was back. He says there was no panic in the halftime locker room.

I don't think it was any concern. We just knew what we had to go out here and do the second half. And that was to score points and defense had to get off the field. And, you know, starting the third quarter off with, you know, three points. And then Gipp made a big play in the fumble. We go down and score.

And then this is a chain of events. It's my fifth year and I've been to one Super Bowl and that was my rookie year. And these past couple of years, you know, we kind of fell short at, you know, the NFC championship.

What a coincidence. Last year, you know, we lose Brock. But the year before that, you know, we just lose the game.

And, you know, we're down 17 and a half and it's just like whatever is it going to take for us to get this win? And we went out there and did it. That us in the first half, not going to lie. But, and here we are now.

Let's go faithful. We're back, baby! I will never forget George Kittle, fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, Super Bowl 54. When they had lost their 10-point lead, remember they had a double-digit lead on the Chiefs in the fourth quarter.

And they, they blow it. And in doing that, George is captured on camera, NFL Films, saying, we'll be back. We're going to get back here. We're going to get back here.

Of course, the last two years, they fell short in the NFC championship. That was George on the stage, the NFL on Fox. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Just one with Brock Purdy and then we'll let you hear from some of the Lions.

Five scrambles for 48 yards. And then, of course, the comeback in that third quarter. And I don't know how much he pays attention. His teammates say he doesn't.

But sometimes it's impossible to ignore what people are saying. We've got a core group of guys that have been here for the last couple of years and the standards and culture that they've built. And then the guys that Kyle and John brings in, like everyone fits that mold. And, you know, it showed tonight in a huge moment, like if you're down 17, you got to care about each other and you got to love each other to get a comeback going. And so I think we showed that tonight and I'm really proud of this group.

So the Niners are headed to the Super Bowl. And here's one of your first really cool human interest stories. Just a story that you'll probably hear about. It's somewhat about football, but it's also about realizing a dream and a goal and so much work. Blood, sweat, tears put into this for Trent Williams. He's 35 years old. One of the offensive linemen for the Niners. He's been in San Francisco since 2020. But those of you who are NFC East fans, you may remember the bulk of his career decade. I guess it was a decade spent in Washington. First Super Bowl.

His first Super Bowl appearance. I mean everything. I mean everything. I love this team to death. You know, we fought for another two weeks with each other, man. And, you know, obviously it's my first time in the Super Bowl. You know, I just can't, I couldn't be more excited. Congratulations to Trent.

And again, there will be other stories like that. It's just that he's 35 years old. And you know what? Every year that he's been with, well, the last three with San Francisco, he's been an All-Pro. He's playing his tail off. An All-Pro first team. And here he gets to go to a Super Bowl at 35 years old. This is like the Matthew Stafford situation, right, where he won with the Rams.

He'll become a sentimental favorite. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Who is your Monday MVP?

You can vote on Twitter after hours CBS. Dan Campbell, what happened? What happened in the second half? We've always been able to get our momentum back. And it's hard to say.

You know, I honestly right now, I can't put my finger on that. That's not like us. You know, we had plays to be made that we just didn't make.

We normally do. And, you know, some of the things third quarter we came out, I thought we did a really good job defensively, man. Held them to three and then got the ball back, moved it, you know. But we just couldn't, we just couldn't quite make those plays. And so third quarter, you know, we've been in there. We've been there before. And so fourth quarter, you feel like we're going to get it back. And we just couldn't quite get over the hump. And, you know, and we just, that hasn't been us all year.

And it showed up today. We'll get more because the Lions will do their exit interviews their Monday, Tuesday, probably traveling back from the Bay Area. Yeah, this one's painful.

It's definitely crushing when you're so close and you think you have it. And this is where I believe experience plays a major role for both the Niners who had the yeoman share of experience. And of course, the Chiefs as well with all of their AFC championships. All right, producer Jay dug this up.

We're going to leave you with this. The Korean radio call of Patrick Mahomes to Marquis Valdes-Scantling to seal the AFC championship. They remind me of Dan Horne and Dave Lapham in Cincinnati. The way they yell and scream together. Yeah. See, the United States most the time, you're not supposed to be yelling over your play by play announcer.

You can imagine if Kurt Warner does that to Kevin Harlan on Western 1. See what I'm saying? All right. Enjoy your Manic Monday. We're back tonight.

We'll continue sorting through. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. A peanut butter M&M's production in a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring. But the runners up get nothing. One retired cop. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. For more details. Hyundai. There's joy in every journey. Twenty twenty four Santa Fe available early twenty twenty four. Nobody wants a surprise in their jelly doughnut.

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