Danan Hughes, Kansas City Chiefs Radio Analyst

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2024 Santa Fe, available early 2024. Dana, thank you for taking the time to hop on. Viva Las Vegas, baby! Yes, good to be on.

No doubt about it. How are you feeling? I know you were a part of the whirlwind. How are you feeling? What's going on with the team?

What's the latest? Are they still in Vegas? Are they flying back? What's up? Yeah, the team is on their way back.

My voice is on its way back, I think. But I'm still in Vegas. We'll be here until tomorrow, still soaking it up. An amazing game, an epic game, probably one for the ages. It's interesting because just as we thought maybe last year's Super Bowl was so epic that it couldn't be topped, it took us, what, 74 minutes, 57 seconds to seal this victory. And overtime and everything you wanted in the game, I thought it was an amazing, amazing event the entire week. And it was fitting that we got a chance to be out here at Arrowhead West, aka Allegiant Field, the home of the Raiders, that we could get an opportunity to take another Super Bowl back home.

Yeah, and getting a win in that building before they do as well. Dana needs to see it with us, Kansas City Chiefs color analyst. You know, it's hard to decipher when you watch at home or you listen on the radio.

You can certainly look at the visuals. What was the vibe like, you know, at the stadium last night? Are we talking heavy Chiefs? Is it heavy Niners given the proximity? What was the vibe like in the building?

You know what? It was surprising because normally, and it wasn't an indictment on the Chiefs fans, but I think we showed up in great fashion. But the Niners did have a good crowd.

I don't know if it was bigger or not. They were loud when we came out to warm up. There's a thing in Kansas City when they do the national anthem, they say the home, instead of the home of the brave, they say the home of the Chiefs. That was still echoing throughout the stadium.

I feel like there was equal representation on both sides. So it was great. It was just the field was in incredible shape.

The stadium is the best in the league. The convenience right off the strip, the parties, everything else. It was just an amazing, amazing overall event. The radio booth, some of the radio booths are questionable, but here we were right on the 50-yard line. So we got to partake in everything.

The Usher concert, all of it. So, yeah, it was a great experience. I'm glad the Kansas City Chiefs fans came out. Well, the Kansas City Chiefs fans have to be absolutely thrilled with the results and then what the future might look like.

Well, Dana, you played, I believe it might have been kind of the end maybe of Joe Montana's career. And then you've also been able to witness, you know, Patrick Mahomes. You know, are there any similarities, not necessarily on the field, but in personality or leadership that you've been able to deduce from both?

Yeah, I think the silent or, you know, kind of moderate approach. Yeah, there are times where there's fire that comes from Patrick Mahomes. But for the most part, like you don't see him screaming in the huddle, you don't see him pointing out guys or doing anything like that, especially on this stage.

It's just you go by the way of your leadership. And that's what I remember about Joe Montana. When I played, we got to the AFC Championship my rookie year with him at the quarterback position. And it was there was never any like there was nothing ever that was kind of help the skeleton.

There was nothing ever, ever that was like chaotic. And I think that's why we were able to take on the identity of him that every situation we got into, we there was an opportunity to get out. And that's what you're seeing from Patrick Mahomes now. I mean, just give him some time on the clock. We saw it last year with 13 seconds against the Buffalo Bills. Move the ball down the field like it's nothing. Get into a field goal position. Tie the game, beat the bills in overtime. You come here, you're in a situation where the defense has to play top shelf and just for us to have opportunities. And then we get the ball back in overtime down. And I don't think there was any doubt that we wouldn't at least get into a field goal position. Now, as far as the touchdown, you know how things go. We only scored those only two touchdowns we scored in the day.

But, yeah, it's just there's just that calming demeanor that I think guys latch on to. Dana Hughes is here with us, the chair of sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. What, what can the team do next year to improve? We saw the drop passes. There were questions about the receiving corps, et cetera, throughout the year. What can they do to improve next season?

Yeah, I think that's where they can improve. The receivers being more consistent. I mean, we lost six games this year. I believe we ended the season officially with 38 passes dropped. Now, for me as a former wide receiver, I probably saw maybe eight more that would be considered drops in my world. If they touch your hands, it should be caught. But 38 drops is way too much.

And so I feel like that's an area that they can definitely improve upon. And you can make an argument, if you watch the games of those six games we lost, there were four specific drops that cost us the game. Like, if the guys just caught the ball, the games would be ours. They wouldn't even have to run after catch.

Just catch it and fall down. And we would have been 15-2 and the number one seed. So, at worst. So, I think when you look at it from that perspective, those losses mounted up. We lost five games in eight. Five out of eight games during a stretch of the season. And then we were able to correct things after Christmas after an embarrassing loss to the Raiders. So, improving at the wide receiver position. To me, you've got to give Patrick Mahomes some consistency because he's so dynamic, so magical. Defense, stay the course. I think this defense was strong throughout this season.

And, you know, you just want to be able to build on that and not necessarily rest on your laurels. Dana Hughes is here with us, Kansas City Chiefs radio analyst. We know that Chris Jones, there's not a guarantee that he comes back. And when you think about Andy Reid, he says he's coming back. They were already talks this year, especially early on, that Kelcey is getting older. Realistically, when you look at the core of the team, outside of Patrick Mahomes. You know, how many more seasons do you think that we might see this iteration of it?

Yeah, I don't think there's any plan to break up the band anytime soon. I feel like these guys recognize that this is a magical window. And even though they may not, some of them may not even been alive when I was playing. And we went through these droughts of losing the AFC Championship. And then for, I believe it was 15, 20 years, we didn't even win a playoff game.

So, you go from that to where we are now. I feel like the Chiefs' Kingdom wants to keep this band together as long as possible. We know the business comes into play. I don't know what the fate of guys like Le'Jarius Snead, who I believe is the number one shutdown corner in the league. Chris Jones, probably a top three defensive tackle in the league. They're both free agents. We have several other guys, Willie Gay Jr., who is going to be a free agent.

Marquez Valdez Scanlon, you've got to make a decision on him even though he's got one year left on his contract. So, there's going to be some decisions. The business is the business and there's nothing you can do about it.

But hopefully these guys recognize how special things are in Kansas City. You look at a guy like Tyreek Hill. He left. He wanted to be paid the highest as a wide receiver. You know, some of that to me is a little immaturity because when it's all said and done, how long was he paid the highest? Five minutes before somebody else got paid higher than him.

So, in reality, was it all worth it? Because he hasn't sniffed a playoff, you know, an AFC championship yet. So, you just wonder. Guys will watch that and say, you know what, this is a special place to be, a special town to be. These are icons that will be, you know, probably won't ever buy a drink again in Kansas City.

And, you know, you might as well keep it going. Well, Dana, speaking of drinks, they were flowing last night. We all saw the drinks flowing.

Patrick Mahomes had some drinks flowing. And then they made the guy do that traditional press conference. What the hell were the parties like last night, man? Yeah, they were pretty live.

Ludacris performed, Post Malone performed. Yeah, it was pretty live at the hotel. The postgame party, the postgame locker room scene, the champagne was popping in there, cigars. And as we mentioned earlier, how great it was to be in the home locker room of the Raiders, taking over their entire facility and then being able to celebrate to that extent was really cool. So, yeah, I'm sure those guys were sleeping on the plane back this afternoon and getting ready for the parade on Wednesday.

Lovely. Final question for you. A lot of controversy and overtime as to, you know, Kyle Shanahan and his overtime decision and whether or not the players were prepared enough for it.

Anything questionable for you in real time as you evaluated what took on what went on after the coin flip? Yeah, no, that's the X factor is the coaching. And I heard Chris Jones, he was asked the question is press conference. He said, we practiced that last week.

They knew exactly what they were in store for. It's on Instagram, the recording of him saying, we knew that you were going to get the ball. And normally in that circumstance, whoever wins the coin toss, you're supposed to give the ball to the other team. Because if you get them three and out or you can, you know, the best case scenario is you give them the ball, they're three and out. They're punting from their twenty five and now you're almost in field goal position just by catching the punt. The worst case scenario is that they drive the field, score a touchdown.

And now, you know, you're in four down territory for the rest of the game, however long it takes for you to get down the field. So our guys were prepared for that. Their guys weren't. Kyle Shanahan even spoke about not having been in that circumstance in the past.

Well, neither have we. We were part of the reason why the rule changed. If you remember, the Buffalo Bills made the complaint. So it's fitting that we were able to get another championship on the Raider turf based on the Buffalo Bills changing a rule. And the San Francisco forty nine is not really knowing what to do. Yeah.

Well, it looks like we're going to see a whole hell of a lot more of the Kansas City Chiefs into the future as well. Dana, and I appreciate you taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow you? And I know you're going to be at more of the parades and the parties. Fill us in. Yeah.

You can follow me on Twitter slash X at at D.A. Hughes guy. Eighty three.

And then on Instagram at Dana Hughes. I lied. I got another question. How many more chief Super Bowls we going to see? As many as they keep coming. I don't mind these 50s. We got 54 and 57, 58. So we might as well keep it going strong at least till 60 and see how that how that fares.

Yeah, I think they'll be in consensus. Hey, Dana, safe travels. And I'll talk to you soon down the line. Appreciate it.

No problem. Go Chiefs. 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. OK, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H track, all wheel drive and three row seating.

My whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit Hyundai USA dot com or call five six two three one four four six zero three for more details. Hyundai.

There's joy in every journey. Twenty twenty four Santa Fe available early. Twenty twenty four. I'm Tony and this is the Tony Kornheiser show. Well, that makes it sound a bit more serious than it really is. So what exactly is the show about? Been almost 30 years and I still don't know. Right now, we have some of the best voices in football come on to explain to us what we need to know in the college and pro world.

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