JR SportBrief Hour 1

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. This is the JR Sport Pre-Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Happy Friday to everybody locked in and listening all over North America. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Shout out to our producer holding it down tonight, Ryan Botcher. He's holding it down for us in New York City. Much love and many thanks to everybody listening all across North America.

Friends here in Atlanta with me, folks in New York with Ryan, people at West, the Midwest, all of our friends in Canada. Wherever you're listening, whatever you're doing, thank you for tuning in. This is the beginning of the show. It's when I get started. Every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. It's real simple folks. You know what it is.

It's the Friday before the AFC and NFC Championship games. We got a lot to talk about. And we even have some guests who are going to be joining us throughout the process.

How about this? 20 minutes from now, we're going to be joined by Sam McDowell from the Kansas City Star. And then next hour, how many people ever really listen to anybody from Detroit? So next hour, we're going to talk to Tim 20 minutes covers of the Detroit Lions.

Insider knows everything about what's going on in the D. And let's be real. They could be going on a magical run or these Detroit Lions could be the season could be coming to a close against the 49ers. So we know we have a big week in front of us. And so we got you covered. All things AFC, all things NFC. We'll talk about the status of folks like Debo Samuel.

We'll talk about the status of individuals like Mark Andrews. We got you covered in all facets in every single way possible. If you want to holler at us, it's simple. We got a phone number. It works.

We have paid our bills. The phone number is 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. If you want to get a hold of me, you can also do so. I'm everywhere on the Internet.

That could be a good or bad thing. I am at JR Sport Brief. I appreciate you listening in your car, at home, on the road, getting ready for early weekend. Go ahead and have some fun.

Please go out there and do it safely. Thank you for listening on the Free Odyssey app. Your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. SiriusXM channel 158. And everybody tuned in on a smart speaker.

Just get its attention. Call it Siri, Alexa, Google, whatever the hell you got and just ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. We know it's been a busy week.

We're going to get into all of the football action that we have in front of us. I do want to go ahead and ask our producer for tonight, Ryan Botcher. Ryan, how are you, man? You doing good? I'm doing great.

Well, that's good. You man a few words, Ryan, huh? It's tough, tough.

What's tough? Are you OK? Putting things into speech. Putting things into speech is tough?

Correct me if I'm wrong, Ryan. Don't you also talk and host from time to time? I don't host.

Today? You've never hosted a radio show in your life? Not here, of course. I'm not talking about here. I'm talking about in general. Oh, yeah.

I've done off campus college. Well, Ryan, I'm trying to I'm trying to let people know who you are and elevate you. Don't doubt. Don't bring yourself down. That's not the goal. What's not the goal? It's being real.

No, no, no, it's not being real. Ryan, you're here with us. You have spoken off campus, on campus.

It doesn't matter. You're here on CBS Sports Radio. So while you're here with us tonight, feel free to talk, OK? It's not just me talking. Who wants to hear me talk for four hours?

Nobody. So feel free to chime in and feel free to be a little bit more verbose, OK? I will do. My main man, Ryan Botcher, holding it down. The JR Sport Reshow is here for everybody.

It's just not just for me chatting. Thank you so much, Ryan, for all your help today and helping to construct the show. Let's go ahead and get on down to brass tacks. OK, this has been a busy week. We're going to get into Kansas City and the Ravens.

I'm going to give my predictions on both games and what have you. But it's been a busy week. And so let's let's quickly recap some of the things that have gone down. It has been absolutely wild from a coaching perspective, both in the NFL and the effects that we've seen in college with Harbaugh moving on from Michigan to the NFL.

And we could take a look at the NBA next door in Wisconsin as the Milwaukee Bucks move on from Adrian Griffin and snatch up Doc Rivers. This has been quite a week and it's it kind of punctuates how busy the week has been. When you have John Harbaugh getting ready for the Ravens to take on the Kansas City Chiefs who are making their sixth straight appearance in an AFC championship game. And John Harbaugh is being asked about his own brother. John Harbaugh is answering questions about his brother, Jim, going from Michigan to the Los Angeles Chargers. This might have been one of the biggest stories of the week. Take a listen to what John Harbaugh was asked and listen to his response about Jim.

My thoughts are we play him next year. So we're looking forward to all of it. You know, I'm just very happy for him, proud of him, excited for him, excited for his family.

He I heard my mom and dad told me that he called back in the evening and he found out that all of his kids, starting with Eddie and Katie, had their bags packed already. They're ready to go. So they're excited, too. So it's going to be great.

He's well deserved. And I'll say this, the Chargers just got themselves one great coach. Chargers got themselves a great coach.

And we talked about this all week. You think about the Los Angeles Chargers and going from Anthony Lynn to Brandon Staley and bringing in Jim Harbaugh. There are massive expectations now for them to move towards the Super Bowl.

I mean, damn it. We had Jake Butt joining us yesterday, played tight end for Michigan, played in the NFL for the Denver Broncos. And he had a pretty big prediction. Jake Butt said, I expect these Chargers to go ahead and compete for Super Bowl next year. Pretty aggressive now, isn't it?

I'd say so. I mean, give him give him a few years, Jake, before we see the Chargers, you know, moving towards any type of championship. Let's see what Jim Harbaugh can go out there and do with that roster first. And then the other big news, I guess, with Jim Harbaugh getting that job and in Los Angeles with the Chargers, we've seen some of the other head coaching positions get filled in the NFL.

Right now, we only have two openings in Seattle and then also Washington. Man, Brian Callahan, former offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, he's now running things for the Tennessee Titans. And for the life of me, this took place yesterday. I have never heard a human being cry so much about loving the Bengals. Listen to Brian Callahan. He he loved and thanked everybody. I would like to thank the Cincinnati Bengals organization. Mike Brown, who is one of probably one of the greatest men that I've ever met. I'll get it together in a second.

Don't worry. Katie and Troy Blackburn, their daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline and Duke Tobin and his staff. They gave me an incredible opportunity to grow and they were patient and they invested in me. And I'll forever be grateful for that.

The next one. You can see you can see how much these people mean to me. I'll get it together.

All right. And then probably most importantly, Zach Taylor. He's a great friend. He's been an incredible mentor. He's a fantastic football coach.

Thank you for everything. Oh, wow. Damn. When is the last time you heard anybody ever cry about leaving the Cincinnati Bengals? When is the last time you ever heard anybody just shed a tear over Mike Brown, one of the cheapest owners in the entire NFL?

I guess the Brian Callahan. I mean, what can you do? You say thank you and you move on to try to help out. Well, Levis, I'm speaking a cry. There was no crying in Milwaukee.

Not a tear shed. We know that Adrian Griffin is gone. Doc Rivers will be leading the way now for the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Atteracumpo said I had nothing to do with it. Damian Lillard said I had nothing to do with it. Giannis talked so openly about inviting Adrian Griffin to his wedding. That's how much he liked him. Well, sure. That's nice.

And Damian Lillard. He said he loved the guy. Griff was a great dude. You know, I enjoy being around him. You know, he was very accommodating to me and a lot of my personal situation.

So I appreciate him and I appreciate the time that we had together. But it's like I said, it's part of the game and it's the unfortunate side of it. Yeah. So sad.

None of the players had anything to do with his firing. Oh, so sad. And then we also got All-Star announcements, right? We we found out LeBron James is going to be making it to his 20th NBA All-Star game, which happens to be a record. We had Terry Rozier get traded down from Charlotte to the Miami Heat where last night he stunk. It takes some time. Scary Terry will put up the numbers.

You don't have to worry about that. And then we've also had just an awakening. I don't know if an awakening or realization that we might have an NFL without Bill Belichick in 2024. After the Atlanta Falcons here decided to hire Raheem Morris. Callahan goes to the Titans. Washington doesn't want Belichick. I can't imagine Belichick going to Seattle.

Why? They just got rid of Pete Cowell. Pete Cowell pretty much said it was because he was old. They were trying to move on.

They got better things to do right now. And then you got Mike Vrabel. Is he a candidate as well to sit out? Ben Johnson with the Detroit Lions is extremely hot as a commodity right now. Helping to lead the Detroit Lions offense.

Is he going to end up in Washington and and what happens in Seattle? This has been a ridiculous week. Australian Open is going on right now.

Coco Goff gets eliminated. And then we know the big stories that we know what's going to, quote unquote, finish off the week or at least move us into the weekend. That's the AFC in the NFC Championship Games. Big storylines. This is not TNT. The games will be on CBS and Fox respectively.

But there's a lot of drama here. Is Lamar Jackson going to be able to go out, which likely is going to win his second career NFL MVP? Is Lamar Jackson going to finally get to a Super Bowl? Is he going to move Patrick Mahomes the hell up on out the way? And try to win what Patrick Mahomes has.

And that's two of them, but at least one championship. Is Patrick Mahomes going to walk out of Baltimore M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday? Is Patrick Mahomes going to have his hands on that that crap AFC championship that nobody wants to hold? And is Patrick Mahomes going to be going for a third ring? The first time he took on Tom Brady, people were saying, oh, my God, if he beats Tom Brady, he can he can start his own dynasty. You don't think picking up multiple Super Bowl rings is in the back of his head?

You may not be out here hunting for six and seven, but, man, you're trying to build your own legacy. You want a handful if you're Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid, along for the ride, is going to a championship game in the NFC or AFC more than just about anybody. Forty four percent of the time in his coaching career, whether it be with the Eagles or now these Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid knows how to get to a championship game. And then on the NFC side, we are all very much aware, dare I say, of the plight of the Detroit Lions. A team that this iteration, since the NFL has merged and existed since we got the start of a Super Bowl. The Lions have never been.

This will be a first for the city. This will be a first for multiple generations of suffering Lions fans. Whether you got to suffer with Barry Sanders or whether you had to suffer with Megatron, whether you really had to shed a tear when they both decided to quit and retire because the organization was a joke.

That's a lot of suffering. The Lions have a chance to erase that and help lift the city up. And then we have the Niners, who I feel have been in this position to win a championship, you know, dating back to Colin Kaepernick. And yes, they've had to go from from Harbaugh and fix things and snatch up Shanahan from the Falcons.

Yes. The 49ers have been in the mix for quite some time now. Are they finally going to win a Super Bowl? Are they finally going to advance and go back to the Super Bowl?

And I don't know, maybe this time actually win it. So many questions and as many answers that I can give you. I'm going to share them with you. We're going to talk about the status of Deebo Samuel. We're going to talk about the status of tight end for the Ravens Mark Andrews. We're going to talk about who I believe is going to win these games, what they need to do to win.

I got you covered. We are just getting started. It's the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

What we are going to do is take a break. And on the other side, we're going to go right to Kansas City. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We know we got a busy Sunday coming our way, the NFC Championship game, as well as the AFC Championship game. And this is familiar territory for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Having accomplished this goal for six consecutive years at this point in time, it feels like a birthright. They're going up into Baltimore. This is going to be their first time on the road trying to get this done. So to talk about what's up with this team, some of their injuries, how confident they might be, and additional insights. It's time to have a conversation with Sam McDowell, who covers all things Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star. Thank you, Sam, for taking the time to hop on. Hey, man.

Yeah, thanks for having me. No doubt about it. I guess as an overall, I know that there might be some injury concerns with the Kansas City Chiefs playing up in Baltimore. Where do we stand when it comes down to the offensive line and some of those additional pieces? Yeah, I mean, Joe Tooney is an all-pro for a reason. I mean, he's as good as they have across the offensive line. The Chiefs ever since, really, that day in Tampa Bay and that Super Bowl that everyone remembers how poor the offensive line was, built a lot of their team around the interior of the offensive line.

And Joe Tooney is the biggest piece of it. So absolutely, he's an absence. You know, they'll go to Nick Allegretti at that left guard spot. He has started about a dozen games over his Chiefs career. It's not a complete newcomer. It's not throwing a rookie in there.

But anytime you're missing an all-pro, you know, it's certainly a storyline. Sam McDowell is here with us to share our sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. Some of the additional names that I've seen kind of pop up on the injury report that happen to be in the wide receiver room. I think he might have butterfingers. You know, what is the status of Mr. Drop-A-Lot-Of-Balls? Well, unfortunately, you're going to have to be more specific when you're talking about the Chiefs wide receiver room, because they've had so many drops this year.

But I assume you're probably referring to Kadarius Tooney. And look, I mean, Tony's Tony's missed about a month and a half now, ever since his last drop against the Patriots resulted in an interception in New England. And I think, you know, even if Tony does find his way onto the field, it would be a pretty limited part of the game plan anyway. And really, since the Chiefs offense has gotten moving over the past, like, three starts with Patrick Mahomes, it's been, at least in part, a result of shortening that wide receiver rotation anyway. This team unusually kept seven wide receivers at a training camp. You saw a lack of chemistry with Patrick Mahomes.

I constantly thought part of that lack of chemistry was that just revolving door about sending three and four substitutions with every play. And so the injury situation, a wide receiver, while sure, you'd like to be fully healthy there, it's given the Chiefs the benefit of shortening a rotation that frankly needed to be shortened anyway. Well, Sam, Patrick Mahomes has been very complimentary over the past few days when it comes down to Lamar Jackson, has pretty much said, yes, he's going to be the MVP. He's talked about his talent out there on the field.

He's bigged up their offense and their defense. You know, what's the overall vibe, I would say, for the city, you know, playing in an AFC Championship game, but knowing it's going to come on the road against a team that's been dominant all year? Yeah, I mean, I think the first part of it doesn't really intimidate the team as far as playing on the road. And I know, I mean, you said it in the opening, it's the first time in order to get the Super Bowl that requires winning road games. And they won one last week in Buffalo. I think the way Patrick Mahomes' mentality works is he was excited for a different challenge. Because when a challenge has not confronted him before, there's doubt about whether or not he's going to get through it, and he feeds off of that stuff.

The second part, though, is absolutely a factor. This will be the toughest team the Chiefs have played all year because for every team that's played the Ravens, it's the most difficult team they've faced all year. I mean, the Ravens' defense is good in all aspects.

Short pass, deep pass, intermediate pass, left, right, middle of the field. They defend everything well, so that challenge is real. And it doesn't matter where they played the game. It's going to be a tough challenge with the Ravens. I mean, look, it's the biggest underdog Patrick Mahomes has ever been.

But there's a reason for it. It's the opponent more than where the Chiefs are right now. Sam McDowell is joining us from the Kansas City Star. You know, we all know about the big names. There's no bigger name than Patrick Mahomes. You can obviously look at someone who's elevated his Q rating and Travis Kelce as well. Who are some additional key players that we may not hear about all the time, but may have an impact on this game? You know about Chris Jones on the defense.

Who are some other folks who might have a direct impact? Yeah, that's a good question. You know, defensively, I really look at the guys that are going to be most responsible for covering the middle of the field because it's where Baltimore likes to go. So then you're looking at the safeties. You talk about that injury report. I mean, Mike Edwards is potentially out. He's questionable for the game. He came out of last week's game against Buffalo with a concussion. If he does not play, that throws a fourth-round rookie into the mix with Shamari Connor.

Shamari Connor is a guy with a bright future, but the Chiefs mostly expected the bulk of that future to come over the next three years, not so immediately. So I think if he's on the field, particularly with Mark Andrews coming back this week, the Ravens would try and isolate him, I think, as much as they could. Justin Reid covers the middle of the field. Nick Bolton covers the middle of the field. Drew Tranquil.

So defensively versus this potent Ravens offense, especially Ravens offense that could move the ball in a variety of ways, I think you mostly should look at those guys that are responsible for where the Ravens like to attack. Well, Sam, you mentioned the return of Mark Andrews. We got the word officially that he's going to participate.

John Harbaugh says there are no restrictions. But reality says, yeah, the man is coming back from ankle surgery. This is his first game back. You know, do you believe he is going to be more of a decoy? Is he actually going to be fresher than everybody else? How do you think his standing will be in the game knowing that he hasn't played in a while?

Yeah, that's definitely one of the questions I have myself, too. It's like how big of a factor can he be in a game? How big of a factor is he even in the game planning leading up to the game itself? One of the things that's come out of his injury is that likely has played really well. And so I thought when Mark Andrews went down in that game against the Bengals that it was going to be a really, really significant loss. It's a credit to the offensive coordinator, the whole offensive staff, to Lamar Jackson, to just their whole operation. The fact that the Ravens offense has not taken a step back since they lost a guy that is a Pro Bowl caliber tight end. And so you think about adding a guy like that back to the mix. If he's healthy, it's a really significant piece.

But I'm with you. I'm hesitant to say that they're getting the full Mark Andrews back this week on Sunday. Sam McDowell here with us representing the Kansas City Stars, the J.R.

Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. This has been bandied about a lot, thinking about Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and MVP award winners and Super Bowls, hopefully maybe somewhere down the line for Lamar as soon as maybe next month. But when you think about the coaches here, there's also a battle of the minds between Harbaugh and Reid. Is there any such thing as a coaching edge when you think about the success that they both had?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think most games these guys walk into, they have to coach. They're two of the best to do it. You know, Andy Reid told a good story here in Kansas City this week that he actually met John Harbaugh and John and Jim Harbaugh's father first. And he had, I think, some sort of like internship type thing where they ended up at a hospital for a charity event meeting for the first time. He said it was one of the smartest people had ever been around. And so when John Harbaugh first asked about being on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia, he said, If you're half as smart as your father is, you've got a spot here.

And he's just been impressed with him ever since. I mean, it says something about how many different facets of the game over his career. John Harbaugh has been in charge of and had his hands on, you know, that the secondary special teams now he's a head coach. So yeah, I think most games he he's got the edge and sort of the analytical side of the game.

You know, he's hired a full analytical staff there. But when Andy Reid has a lot of time to prepare for teams and the Chiefs basically spent week 18 as a bi-week to look ahead at potential postseason opponents. That stuff favors the Chiefs.

There's a reason he paid his success after buys is really good. And so yeah, I think there's always some stuff that Andy Reid holds back for the playoffs or spends the regular season setting up to work better in the playoffs. And it let me look the Chiefs had their best offensive week of the season last week and Buffalo and I don't think that's a coincidence.

Sam final question for you here and this is going to be a big one. We know that this game is likely going to come down to a play at the end of the game who has the ball last a turnover. This this might be a very close game. Who do you favor to walk away with the AFC Championship in a berth in the Super Bowl? Yeah, I've kind of gone back and forth this week. I totally agree with you on the turnover aspect and I think the Ravens are plus 12 Chiefs are minus 11.

It's going to be hard. I think for the Chiefs to win a game if they're negative in the turnover differential. It's kind of hard to predict those some of those plays that can be a little bit more on the flu key side. But look in this type of situation Patrick Mahomes has only lost three games of 11 when he's been an underdog.

I think he feeds off of these situations. It's hard to pick against them when he's an underdog and therefore I'm just going to go with the better quarterback and I think right now that's Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, that's that's easy cut and dry. Hey Sam. Thank you so much for taking time with us to share your insight, especially from all of your knowledge with Kansas City. Where can people follow you and your work with the Kansas City Star? Yeah, the Kansas City Star website is Kansas city.com and we've got all sorts of great coverage. We've got a lot of people going to the game in Baltimore.

So we'll have plenty of it. I appreciate it. Oh Sam. Are you ready to potentially go to Vegas?

It's it's been a little bit enjoyable having a week and these Super Bowl coverages and I would be bummed if the if the year the Chiefs did not make it was the Vegas year. I understand Sam fingers crossed for you. Okay. Good luck. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Sam McDowell for joining us here the JR sport we show on CBS Sports Radio and Sam does an excellent job covering the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and like a lot of fan bases. We haven't even gotten into this.

Yes. The Super Bowl is going to be in Vegas. The Super Bowl is going to be a complete madhouse.

I guess the city is going to be a madhouse. I even learned today that Siesto one of the most famous recognizable DJs on planet Earth. A Siesto is going to be the in game DJ for the Super Bowl. You probably won't hear him at home, and the people in the crowd at Allegiant Stadium, they might be too drunk to hear him, or maybe not. I think after a few days in Vegas, let's just say there'll be quite a few people who will be kind of wasted at that point.

I know there's a lot of fans in Detroit who want to go fans in San Francisco, Kansas City, and Baltimore they're ready to turn the city to Vegas upside down. It's the JR sport we show here with you on CBS Sports Radio Thank you again to Sam for joining us. The phone number if you want to holler at me is 855-212-4CBS that's 855-212-4CBS, we're going to take a break.

When we come back on the other side. We're going to talk about somebody who's missing out on the Super Bowl. He's missed out on quite a few Super Bowls, he might be missing out on a job for 2024. We're going to give you an update on Bill Belichick, and then at the top of the hour.

We're going to talk about the Lions in the 49ers, it's the JR sport we show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Hey Mel, Bri here. Got to work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty... Hey Mikey, if you're going to puke, find the popcorn bowl. But my availability is 110%, coincidentally so is my fever.

Kidding, Mel I'm so cold but hot. But I'm going to get you that budget just as soon as... Mikey, popcorn bowl! Press 1 to use Instacart and get your family sick day essentials delivered in as fast as 30 minutes. Press 2 to keep working.

Do not press 2, just use Instacart, Brian. 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. 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 returns... 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. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to Sam McDowell for joining us on the other side of the break, coming through, giving us his perspective as he covers the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star. I'm going to go ahead and give you my thoughts on the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. We will get to that later on in the show.

And then it's I'll tell you, we heard what he had to say. He's picking the Kansas City Chiefs because of Patrick Mahomes and is without a shadow of a doubt that he is a better quarterback overall through and through the Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson might be the NFL MVP for this season. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the game, also without a shadow of a doubt. But I think if you are going to go ahead and start a team today with any quarterback, I think consensus and certainly there will be people who will say otherwise. Consensus would probably go with Patrick Mahomes. So we're going to talk more about that later on in the show.

I do want to let you know that you need to think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all of your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Here's the deal. We also with Sam, who joined us, talked about this coaching matchup on the AFC side between John Harbaugh and then also Andy Reid. Without a shadow of a doubt, you got two coaches here who are veterans. We have two coaches here who are going into the Hall of Fame and they are still kicking. And in John Harbaugh's case, we know that he's also going to be back in the NFL with his gym with his brother, Jim, on the other side of the country as his brother takes over the Los Angeles Chargers.

It is still kind of wild to think about someone who's not going to be participating in the postseason this year. Not unusual, given the way his New England Patriots were performing. And that's that's Bill Belichick. He's not going to be with the Patriots.

It doesn't appear that he's going to be coaching for anybody later on this year, especially when you think about the head coaching vacancies that have already been filled. And for about two weeks, and especially here in Atlanta, where I had to hear it all day, every day, all the time. Is Bill Belichick going to the Falcons and Arthur Blank wants Belichick with the Falcons and then the obvious started to occur to folks, well, maybe everyone in the Falcons isn't in lockstep with Arthur Blank and wanting Bill Belichick in. And it was always.

And this is one of the reasons why I felt it didn't make a ton of sense. Because the Falcons need a little bit more than just the head coach, the Falcons need more than just the system, the Falcons need a quarterback. They have the number eight overall pick in this upcoming draft. Are they going to trade for a guy?

Are they going to draft someone? I think that's just as important to the franchise in its future than just just bringing in a head coach. I think that's the reality, because bringing in Bill Belichick, I don't think that's enough to push you over the edge. But I mean, if Bill Belichick could go out there and and you felt comfortable that he was going to throw for 30 plus touchdowns without turning a ball over and drive the ball up and down the field, then hell yeah, go ahead and bring in Bill Belichick. But he ain't a quarterback. He's a coach. And to borrow a tire cliche with Bill Belichick, the juice was not worth the squeeze to bring in Belichick to then also bring in a head coach and to bring in Belichick isn't just to bring in a coach, just to bring in a personality, is to bring in an icon.

Whether you love him, whether you hate him, you bring in Belichick. Things are going to change. The power is going to shift. And the idea is he's not going to be around for a long time. You're going to switch things up completely in an organization to let a dude run the team for what, four or five years max. And then he's going to leave with no guarantee that it's sure there's no guarantee you're going to win a Super Bowl, but with no enhanced certainty that you're going to do so.

That's a tough thing to do. And so I have no issues with the Falcons bringing in Raheem Morris. We had calls last night, people hitting us up here on CBS Sports Radio calling me, telling me how terrible of a hire and a pickup it was for the Falcons. And it's just like, do you understand Raheem Morris's background, his contributions to offense and defense and the Super Bowl he just won and what he just did in Los Angeles with the Rams?

You got to look a gift horse in the mouth and be appreciative of it. And so Raheem Morris, he's in his coach. What do they do next with quarterback, offensive coordinator? I think we'll say a whole hell of a lot more than just not hiring Bill Belichick. It's just crazy when you think about the jobs that have been filled. Man, early on months ago, it was Bill Belichick is going to the commanders. Well, it's been reported the commanders don't want them.

And if they did, I think they would have struck by now. We know Antonio Pierce is sticking around with the Raiders, which is crazy to me. But yeah, this guy, Mark Davis, actually did something worth a damn. Dave Canales, he takes over for the Carolina Panthers. I didn't think Belichick was going there.

The Chargers. I thought Jim Harbaugh might have been a Raider. I thought the Chargers would have been a great destination for Belichick because, quite frankly, they got themselves a quarterback.

That spot is filled. Tennessee Titans went young. Hired Brian Callahan. No way in hell you're going from Mike Vrabel, basically a Belichick former player disciple, to now moving over and bringing in Belichick wasn't going to happen. And there's no way in hell the Seattle Seahawks will dismiss Pete Carroll to bring in Bill Belichick.

Not going to happen. Listen, folks. The last time that you might hear Bill Belichick in the year 2024, unless he's going to jump on television and do TV or potentially do radio. This is the last time you might have heard Belichick. This was from his final press conference when he let everybody know, yes, myself and the Patriots were going our separate ways. Robert and I, after a series of discussions, have mutually agreed to part ways. And for me, this is a day of gratitude and celebration.

Start with Robert and his family. It's great. So much thanks for the opportunity to be a coach here for 24 years. Thanks to assistant coaches. You know, I've had so many great coaches here. I've been very, very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players that have ever played so many fond memories and thoughts that I think about the Patriots and always be a patriot. I look forward to coming back here.

But at this time, you know, we're going to we're going to move on. Man. Isn't that the most human that you've ever heard Bill Belichick and at the most relatable you've ever heard Bill Belichick? Most times he sounds sounds like a grumpy old man. He sounds like those two Muppets who sit in the window and just talk crap to each other.

Can't think of their names, but I think you know who the hell I'm talking about. He sounds miserable. And so at least if we are hearing Belichick talk for the last time in 2024, at least this time, this time came across as human.

Thank you, Bill. Maybe you'll get another coaching job. Maybe just maybe he sits out a year. I think they'd be interested next season. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Let's go to Michigan.

I heard there's a team up in Michigan trying to go to the Super Bowl. And let's talk to Greg. Hey, Greg, you're on the JR sport brief show. What's on your mind? JR, my man, Mr.

Positive. Got to tell you, yesterday in your show, I was listening. You're spot on about the MVP and it's how you said Lamar Jackson is the most valuable player of the Baltimore Ravens. And it's the way you said it. You defined it without even defining what an MVP the award goes to. It was just incredible. It made it so well sentient and so clear in the clarity was just unbelievable.

I loved it. And you're right about the quarterback being the number one position in all of sports, bar none. But the Lions, I believe the Lions can beat San Fran. We've got to run the ball. We've got to put pressure on Purdy.

But I got to ask you, my friend, what makes Purdy good? Does he have a strong arm? Can he read defenses? Is he a good scrambler?

What makes him? And the other question I want to ask you out of the four teams, are you 100 percent confident on any of these games that one will beat the other? And I know that's a wild question. The second question is very easy. And that's a quick answer. No, I am not 100 percent certain on anything.

But on the fact that one day I will perish and then throughout the course of being alive, somehow, some way, I got to pay taxes. Those are the things that I am I'm very 100 percent certain on. And when it comes down to Brock Purdy, I think and we talked about this with Mark Schlereth as he joined us yesterday on the show, is that Brock Purdy, I think his biggest asset is in between his ears. I think it's his brain.

I do think it's his ability to go ahead and read defenses and then also utilize the weapons that he has in front of him without turning the ball over. And this is what I think and why. Excuse me. This is why I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves. And thank you, Greg, for calling from Michigan.

I really appreciate you, man. What I don't understand is the fact that people can't understand is that just because you got a crap ton of weapons at your disposal, that does not mean that you're going to be efficient in using them. I can go ahead and tell somebody, hey, I need a car fix. I can put the car in front of them. I can give them the tools. I can give them a manual. I can tell them to sit down and watch a YouTube tutorial.

There is no guarantee that they're still going to go out there and just, let's say, change the oil in my car. OK, you actually have to know what you're doing. You have to have practice with it. Some people have an innate ability to go out and have success. And so I think it's a credit to what Brock Purdy has done just to say, OK, yeah, sure. It's so damn easy to throw the ball to Debo or Kittle or or hand it off to Christian McCaffrey.

Oh, my God, that's so easy. That's easier said than done, because, yeah, we got some dumb ass bad quarterbacks here in the NFL who would be pass happy and they'd be turning the ball over all over the damn place. And so you got to give him credit for his 31 touchdowns and the fact that he was not a turn over machine. I mean, there's a good reason that he's been included in the MVP conversation. Is Brock Purdy going to walk away with MVP?

Hell, no. But I do think, you know what, I'll save this. I was going to tell you my my prediction in the NFC, but we're going to take a break. Eight, five, five, two, one, two, four. CBS is the number. I'm going to give you my prediction on the other side of the break. We're going to hear from the crazy coach of the Lions, Dan Campbell. We're going to hear from Shanahan.

Don't move. It's the J.R. sport reshow here on 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 returns. 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. OK, picture this.

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