Matt Verderame, Sports Illustrated NFL Writer

Hey Mel, Bri here. Gotta work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty- Daddy! Hey, Mikey!

If you're gonna 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 gonna get you that budget. Just as soon as- Mikey!

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Just use Instacart, Brian. 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. Um, 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. Matt, how are you, man?

Thank you for taking the time. I'm doing good. How are you?

Listen, I got not a complaint in the world. Listen, I guess to start off, are you gonna be at the parade? Are you making a trip?

What's going on? I literally just got into Kansas City. I'm in the car right now. So yes, I will be, uh, I will be at the parade. Uh, I figure, you know what? It's not that far of a drive from where I'm, uh, where I live these days.

It's going to be 65 degrees out. So I felt like it was the right move. Oh, listen, that's, that's not the worst thing in the world. When, when you take a look, and we discussed this to open a show last night, we all got the ratings and found out this is the most watched program that we've ever had here in the United States of America. A surprise to you? Or are we looking at Taylor Swift factor here?

Yeah, I'm not surprised. I mean, definitely the Taylor Swift factor didn't hurt. But then on top of that, you have, uh, you know, the NFL is only getting more and more popular by, uh, by the hour. And so, you know, you have, you have the Mahomes factor, you have, you know, she's going for a dynasty.

And then on top of that, you have Taylor Swift. So I'm not surprised that it did huge numbers. I mean, that being the most watched thing ever.

Yeah, that, that was maybe a little bit surprising, but I'm not surprised that it did an absolutely massive rating. Matt Bertram is here with us from SI. When you look towards next year, of course, Vegas already has the odds out. The 49ers are sitting on top there.

Is that a little bit of a surprise? Why wouldn't the Chiefs, in your opinion, be posted as, as the odds on favorite right out of the gate? You know, it didn't surprise me in the sense that when you really think about it, the Niners have a much easier path, at least right now. And of course you're afraid to deal with the draft and everything else.

You got to go through all that. But like, as we sit here today, the Niners have an easier path and the NFC, you know, there aren't as many great quarterbacks, aren't as many really good teams. And so if you're San Francisco, you're looking at it as, okay, look, there's, there's maybe Detroit, maybe the Packers love the Cowboys are kind of there, but I don't know that you think about them as a title contender with the way they've been in the playoffs under Mike McCarthy. And so I think the Chiefs, there is that factor of, oh, look what they're going to have to navigate. And of course it's proven they can do it time and again, but it is Buffalo.

It is Baltimore. It is what you would think is an approved Chargers team with, with Harbaugh now coming in. It is the Miami team that's dangerous. So I think, I think there's a lot of that, that factors into those odds, not just, Hey, this is the best team. And so that's where we're picking it. I think it, it's just, it's, it's, it's more than just about the best team. It's also about how hard it's going to be for that team to get to where they want to go. Well, Matt, you're, you're very familiar with, with the Chiefs from your coverage.

Also the launch of your new show. We, we, we saw the issues earlier this year, whether it was dropped passes and continuity, what are some of the, the issues that need to be addressed for the chiefs this off season? We know Chris Jones has his contract.

What are some other areas that we need to pay attention to? Oh, I think, look, this off season, they have a litany of defensive starters who are hitting free agency, whether it's Chris Jones, Ella, Jerry Snead at the top of that list, Willie Gage or Tranquil, Mike Dana. They're going to have to figure that out and they have some cap space. They're actually in a pretty good position cap wise. And they can, they can open up a lot of money. They can open up 12 million. If they cut MBS, they're going to do, uh, they can extend Justin Reed. They can, they can open up some money there. They can do a simple restructure of Mahomes' contract and save $37 million against the cap. So financially cap wise, they're not going to have any problem. I mean, if they want to open up 50 million in space, they can do it at the snap of their fingers. Um, the question is going to be for general manager of red beach.

If, and when you open up that space, how do you prioritize it? Do you say, okay, look, we're going to bring back Jones and Snead and we're going to draft a, you know, another receiver like a Rashid Rice where they drafted him last year in the second round, it panned out. Uh, do they say, Hey, look, we're going to go out and get a second tier receiver for agency. A guy like a Calvin Ridley, um, you know, a guy like a Hollywood Brown, maybe somebody enameled, maybe not a Mike Evans or a T Higgins to Higgins hit the market.

Um, but I think, look, if you know anything about beach, he is very aggressive when he sees that he's got to fill a need. I would be shocked if they sit pat throughout phrase and see a receiver. They may not go out and get the biggest name, but they're going to go out and they're going to go out and get a meaningful player and free agency at that spot. They have to address it after what we saw this year. Matt Bertram is here with us from SI, you know, taking a look at the losers from this past Sunday. Unfortunately, the 49 has have felt this before the past couple of seasons, whether it's losing in an NFC championship, obviously the super bowl injuries, what have you, how much more rope does Kyle Shanahan have? Oh, I think he's got quite a bit. I mean, look, realistically, he's an excellent football coach and I really thought to his credit, I thought he coached a decent game on Sunday.

I really did. I know a lot of people have given them grief about the third quarter and maybe, maybe not, you know, running the ball as much as some people would have liked. They got a little pass, happy for a couple of series. But if you really go back and look at those series, the Niners are in like second and 15, second and 18, you know, like you're not going to run the ball very much out of that. And they did target McCaffrey in the passing game. It wasn't as though they just said, Hey, we're moving away from McCaffrey completely. I thought the big sin of that game for the 49ers and I thought it in real time. It's not a hindsight thing. I thought taking the ball to start over time was insane, insane.

And I still feel that way. I know Shanahan ended up saying, Hey, look, it was because if the game was still tied, after these teams touched the ball, we want to have that first shot in sudden, sudden death. I understand that. But to me, if you don't score a touchdown, and you give the ball to the home, that is sudden death, you're losing. You're not surviving that at that point in the game, the defense is both being gassed. I thought if you're going to take the ball there, you've got to get in the end zone like at that point, third and fourth and nine yard line.

That's true not territory for me. I'm not kicking that field goal. There's no way I'm kicking that goal. That was where I thought I thought the overtime, both at the coin toss and at third and four, that was where I had my issues more with Shanahan than anything else.

Well, Matt, let me ask you this. We talk about the pathway for the 49ers next year, probably a little bit easier coming out of the NFC, the Eagles. This is a team that that fell right the hell off at the end of the season. They were conversations definitely about Nick Sirianni and his return. What do you see with the Eagles? He is certainly on thin ice.

Yeah, I mean, Sirianni, listen, I'm from the East Coast. And if I know one thing about those fans, they're not going to be very patient. If the Eagles start out and they're one and two or something like that, it's going to be a problem.

I mean, let's just be real about it. It's going to be a lot of why do we keep them? Why is he here? What are we doing?

How do we fix this? And so I mean, they they kept them, but at the same point, they didn't keep all the coaches on that staff. So, you know, when that happens, you are on thin ice.

You are going to be looked at as, hey, you're here, but this isn't forever. And, you know, I think Sirianni deserves to have another shot at it. He's been the coach for three years. They've been to the playoffs three times.

They they went to the Super Bowl in the second year. At the same point, that collapse is unacceptable. And you can't be the guy who's kind of an in your face personality. And then you lose a few games and the whole thing just completely falls apart. You've got to be able to rally guys and get guys back into it.

He wasn't able to do that. And so I think he deserves another shot. But I also think realistically, if they don't get off to a good start next year, the calls for his job in Philadelphia are going to be deafening. Well, Matt, yeah, we know Philly.

Well, depending on what time of the year they might throw snowballs, they might throw other things, but it depends on the time of the year. We've had a lot of turnover here this past offseason when it comes down to coaching. We know Belichick doesn't have a job. Rabel doesn't have a gig. We saw the success in the first year from from Houston, the Texans with D'Amico and also C.J.

Stroud. Is there a team that made an adjustment with the coach that you think can have some success later on this year? You know, I think the Chargers are very interesting. You know, they're a team that you look at and say, all right, look, they finally went out and got a head coach to have some confidence. And not not that not that it's perfect, because they're going to have to they're going to have to really redo that roster.

They have the cap crunch. There's some guys that the big name guys are not going to be back here. But you have Harbaugh, you have Herbert. I think you've got to at least feel like you've got the basis for something pretty good.

And then, you know, I look at some of the other openings. I think I think Raheem Morris is a good hire in Atlanta. I think he's going to do a nice job there. He deserved another shot as head coach. I think that he's going to provide a boost in Atlanta after really look, Arthur Smith just never got it off the ground. It was it was a team that when you looked at him, you always felt like there should be more from that team.

Right. I mean, offensively, they just kind of underwhelmed with all those first round picks in London, Pitts and Robinson. So I think both those coaches could have immediate success to a degree. I don't think you're the ones going to Super Bowl next year.

I wouldn't be surprised if you don't want to make the playoffs up. Well, on the other end of the spectrum, Raheem Morris, we know that the Falcons are in the market for a quarterback. You know, when you think about these these names, the Russell Wilsons of the world, you think about Justin Fields and his status, where do you think either one of those two guys are going to end up? You know, Fields is fascinating.

He really is. Because when you look at the Bears, that's a team that, you know, early on in his in his career, first first year especially, they really gave him absolutely no chance. And now he's a guy that you look at and say, OK, they're probably going to move off of. I think that's reality. Whether they should or shouldn't, I think that's probably coming. And so if that happens and they and they move off of Fields, you're you're probably looking realistically at a situation where, you know, they get a second round pick.

I think I think Pittsburgh would be ideal. And I know that's exploded out there. Mike Tomlin is an excellent coach, an excellent coach. And they've got weapons. They've got chickens.

They've got Friarmouth. They've got I mean, they've got Deontay Johnson. Like I look at a guy like a field and say, if I'm if I'm a team that needs a quarterback, especially if I'm a team tight on cap space, he's somebody I'm looking at that I'm interested in. I think he could be a really intriguing piece. Look, it's a little boomer bust. Maybe he goes somewhere.

It doesn't work out. I'm betting on the talent. I'm betting on the kid. I've never heard a bad word about him in the NFL. I think that I think he would be a very intriguing piece. And I think if you're a team like Pittsburgh and you're stuck with Kenny Pickett, it feels to be a huge upgrade.

Stuck with Kenny Pickett and Russell Wilson. We know that he's owed a lot of money. They just gave him a lot of money. Now, Sean Payton is in there. What happens with this 35 year old quarterback? You know, we just talked about the Falcons.

I could see that being an interesting fit there. You know, if he goes there, that's a team that, as I said earlier, they've got talent at all. That's not a team you look at and go, they just have nobody and it's a total tear down.

That's not the case. I mean, they do have real talent. They do have guys on that team that go, hey, you can move the ball. And he's going to cost nothing.

He's going to cost the veterans minimum because he's getting all of his money still from Denver with all the offset language or anything else. So if I'm a team like the Falcons, I'm calling on Russell Wilson saying, hey, we'll bring in. We'll give you a shot. Come play in the dome. Come play with some really talented offensive players. And we're going to give you a good defense. We're going to give you a really rock solid defense. We're not going to ask you to do everything. We're going to just ask you to play a little point guard for us. I think Atlanta makes a lot of sense for a guy like Russell Wilson. It might.

You certainly know his wife is from down here. So that might be an easy kind of flip over. Final question for you, Matt. We've never seen a team go to three Super Bowls win three in a row. Odds of that happening for the Chiefs.

Hahn next year? I mean, look, if you're saying, hey, take take the Chiefs or take the field. I mean, I think the smart money is always taking the field because it's just it's so hard. I mean, it's so hard to win one Super Bowl, not even one two. At the same point, I'm not betting against the homes.

That's that's great. I mean, like right now, if they bring back Jones and they bring back me, the team is ridiculous. I mean, especially if they add in another receiver, which you'd expect they would do, whether it's for agency or the draft or both. They're just so talented and they have the quarterback. I mean, the NFL, if you got the coach and you got the quarterback, you got a shot.

And again, it's going to be hard. But who else did you pick over? Who's the team you look at and go that team over there? I don't know who that team is. There is none until they get knocked off again next year. And somehow, some way, I guess there's still an underdog level role.

Let's see if that continues into next year. Matt, I want to thank you for taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow you? You work with S.I., your brand new show.

Fill us in. Yeah, thanks. You can go to at Matt Verderam, V-E-R-D-E-R-A-M-E on Twitter. I'm on there way more than I'd like to be, but you can certainly catch all my work on S.I., tweet it out there. You can just follow it over at S.I.com. And as far as the Matt Verderam show, it's on Patreon. It's all, that podcast is geared towards the Chiefs.

My national one is at the M.M.Q.B. So any and all support, I always appreciate it. No doubt about it. Listen, man, have a great, are you gonna have a great time at the parade or are you working? I am doing, it's kind of a combo. I brought my dad out here because he's been a Chiefs fan for 55 years. So enjoy it with the old man and I'll probably write a column off of it.

Beautiful. There's nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun with family and then also being able to work. Hey, Matt, have a good time. Thank you again. We'll talk to you down the line. Absolutely.

Take care. 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. Okay, 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.com or call 5 6 2 3 1 4 4 6 0 3 for more details Hyundai.

There's joy in every journey 2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. 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 and we get weekly picks from a monkey. Do you really need more than that? I might just tell you about my bunker game in the latest failed entry in my quest to find the best coffee ice cream. No schmutz please. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.