Chiefs-Bengals The Best Rivalry? (Hour 1)

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There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Live from the police show yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, it's a football Friday! Addition of the Zach Gelb show as we broadcast from the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street right to you across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. 855-212-4CBS, remember to jump on in.

855-212-4227, you can always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing, or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Coming up, 20 minutes from now, Willie Gay Jr. will join us from the Kansas City. How about those cheese? And then also later on in the program, we will talk to some 49ers of Matt Myoko at 7.20pm Eastern, 4.20pm Pacific, and then we will chat it up with the color analysts and former Cincinnati Bengal and Dave Lapham, who will be swinging by at 8.20pm Eastern, 5.20pm Pacific. But first up, producing this extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Kiki.

I don't know about that Hot Take Kiki. I don't know about you, Hickey, and maybe it's just because we're all just waiting in great anticipation for these games, and maybe it's more so in the Bengals and Chiefs game, because they've had three recent matchups, and there's been a one-sided kind of approach here, and a one-sided outcome, with Kansas City losing all three to Cincinnati, and Cincinnati finding a way to beat them last year in the AFC Championship game, when the Chiefs were up 21-10 at halftime. We know the Chiefs lost to the Bengals last year at the end of the regular season, 27-24. You've just seen some really good games between these teams where they've been close. Even this year, the game was close, but the Cincinnati Bengals keep on winning. So, recent history, and the bigger the stage you play in definitely does play a factor, but in this Chiefs-Bangles game, it seems like there is a lot of genuine animosity, and sometimes in our sports society now, like go look at the NBA, there's not a lot of great rivalries. It feels like there's so many players that just try to be buddy-buddy, like LeBron James I love, but the one thing I dislike about LeBron James is he seems to try to be friends with everyone in the NBA. These two teams, the Bengals and the Chiefs, they don't like one another.

That is crystal clear, and that's the way that it should be. Now, there could be mutual friendships, right? There could be players on the Bengals that have friends that are on the Kansas City Chiefs, but Willie Gay Jr. is going to join us coming up in about 15-20 minutes from now. He was asked a pretty easy question, I thought, and we'll ask him about it. What impresses you about the Bengals offense? And he said nothing. And you saw Mike Hilton to really kick off the week when things were wrapping up in Buffalo said that the Bengals are going to burrowhead. And Chris Jones in his press conference, he kept on mentioning burrowhead. So clearly the Kansas City Chiefs have been made aware of the comments because sometimes things are said, right?

And players go, oh, I'm not aware of it. And it's like, oh, come on. But when you have a player, especially at the magnitude of Chris Jones, making mention of these comments multiple times in a press conference, I don't know how much it does annoy, like to what level the Chiefs, but it has to annoy them to some extent if your stud defensive player is bringing it up at a press conference. And if you're the Bengals who kind of started all this smack talk, and this is like the fun part of football too, you started all this smack talk with the Mike Hilton comments and then Eli Apple as well.

I guess you could get annoyed back, right? Like the offensive side of the ball guys for the Bengals did nothing here. I haven't heard any crazy quotes from them this week. But you just heard Willie Gay Jr., who's going to join us once again coming up in 15, 20 minutes from now, said that nothing impresses them on the offensive side of the ball. So how chippy back do the Bengals get? So like there's one thing, like obviously you always want great AFC and NFC title games.

And you don't really need any extra motivation. But it does feel like there is some hatred and some extra motivation for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals. And then on the other side, I think this one is maybe not to the degree that it's playing out, but what Deebo Samuel did the other day, which I don't think it was this crazy comment. But when you're getting ready to go into Philadelphia, and he's talking about the Eagles fans and he goes, Oh, well, no one's louder than our fans.

I don't think that was meant by Deebo Samuel in a malicious way. Like anyone with a brain in the right state of mind would say, Of course, you're going to praise your fans first. And you're going to say, Oh, yeah, no one's better than our fans. You know, they're as loud as could be.

So we won't be intimidated by any environment. But you know, Eagles fans and I lived in Philly for seven years. I'm going to the game on Sunday. Very excited to be back in South Philadelphia.

I was there last weekend. You know, the Eagles fans are going to feel like that's a shot at them, and they're going to take that personally. And that's going to be some scene to see it unfold on Sunday because you know the Eagles fans early on. And we'll see who gets out to the better start because that every crowd will get quiet if your team doesn't get off to a good start or it will just get to a degree of just absurdity that like you've never seen before. If the Eagles go right down the field, first drive of the game, score a touchdown, then Deebo Samuel, let's say, drops the ball right out of the gate and they go three and out and then the Eagles go get another touchdown.

Then it goes to just the level of it being so raucous and bonkers that like you probably can't even hear yourself think straight. So I don't think Deebo meant it in a bad way or anything. I don't think he was trying to stir up the pot. But you know the Eagles fans, they find any little thing to make it into a big thing. And really, you look at both those teams, the Eagles and the 49ers, everyone's trying to discount the Eagles all throughout the year, right? There's been a lot of people, even though the Eagles are the number one overall seed, they're just waiting for the other shoe to drop or the other shoe to fall in their season. And people doubted Sirianni two years ago, people doubted Jalen Hurts going into this year, and I think a lot of times we're stubborn as sports fans. So you could have the take that you thought the Eagles were going to make the playoffs before the start of the year, but no one would have thought they would have been the number one overall seed. So people try to take away from them when they have their success and they've been proven wrong for the majority of the season. And on the other side, you have the 49ers, who we all acknowledge, they have one of the better rosters in the league. When you look at McCaffrey, you look at Deebo, you look at Kittle, you got big Trent Williams. Defensively, you got Bosa and Jimmy Ward. Like, we could do an entire show on how many different ways the 49ers could beat you and then who their coach is, as well as Kyle Shanahan. But when you go from Trey Lance to Jimmy G and then Brock Purdy, everyone's kind of waiting and Brock Purdy hasn't lost the game yet that he started. Everyone's waiting for the clock to strike midnight and Cinderella to be exposed, right?

This is Mr. Irrelevant. So you look at both those teams where I think the Bengals and Chiefs, it's going to be a great game. It's going to be like a back and forth game, potentially, depending on the health of the Holmes. But I do think there is legit hatred between those teams. I don't think the Niners and Eagles hate one another, but you know what's on the line.

And when you've been doubted, like the Eagles have been throughout the year and the 49ers have been throughout the year, and you get that much closer to giving people like the first middle finger of winning the NFC, and you give someone another middle finger two weeks from now winning a Super Bowl, I do think it brings out the best of you. And the stakes just are obviously getting brought up to a higher and higher degree because you know what's on the line this weekend and then two weekends from now. So, Hickey, like I am really excited for these AFC and NFC title games, and I think both these games are going to be vicious.

I think they're going to be personal. And I think both of them, even if they may not be the cleanest games that you'll see, they'll be within a score and they're both going to come right down to the wire. And when I start to look at who are the two biggest people this weekend, and I was thinking about like who are the two biggest people that I'm most curious to see what happens this weekend, usually that conversation starts and ends with the quarterbacks.

And for me, it's the same thing. With the Philadelphia Eagles going up against the 49ers, with how close those two teams are, with how great the Niners' O-line is, how great the Eagles' offensive line is, we know all the skill position players, the Niners have, all the skill position players, Dallas Goddard, Devontae Smith, you got A.J. Brown, you know we already went through the names on the 49ers. You look at both those defenses. We went through the names of the Niners. You know Hassan Reddick, you know Fletcher Cox, you know Brandon Graham, you know Darius Slaife for the Philadelphia Eagles. Those teams are almost identical. Like you could say that Kyle Shanahan, maybe they had the coaching advantage before the start of the season, but Nick Sirianni has done a wonderful job in a year and a half, two years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the one difference, the one position that you look at and you go, wow, there should be a drastic difference is the quarterback position. And I know Brock Purdy hasn't lost the game yet, but Jalen Hurts has played in an MVP level this year. The games he starts this year because he missed two because of injuries, he's 15-1, right?

He's 15-1 if you include the playoff games as well. So I look at Hurts and this is not dissing Brock Purdy. You know Brock has been rocking out with his Brock out in the last two months. He's been looking Purdy awesome. You know all the puns and the sayings that we could go for Brock Purdy. But you look at the entire season, Brock Purdy didn't play an entire season.

Jalen Hurts did and he played it at an elite level where if he didn't get hurt and missed those two games, I think he would have won the MVP. So for me, I believe the pressure in that 49ers Eagles game is on Jalen Hurts because Jalen Hurts is expected to win at home. Jalen Hurts has had a great season. And if you lose, I know this Purdy story will be front and center and it will be unbelievable. But Jalen Hurts should be able to outscore whatever Brock Purdy is going to post up because these teams are so evenly matched. So instead of saying, all right, the wild card, that means there's more pressure on Brock Purdy.

I'm going to say it's on Jalen Hurts because he's been an MVP type of player this year. So go on out there and dominate. And then that Chiefs-Bangles game. The narrative heading into this one to me or the storyline heading into this one to me is the Bengals confidence.

And right. And I think a lot of us are confident in the Cincinnati Bengals. They beat the Chiefs the last three times.

They're really the only team. And I don't want to say that they've made the Chiefs look human. Because the Chiefs at stretches up against the Bengals have had dominant performances for a half.

But then when the second half rolls around, Luanna Rumo dials up something different in the first half and they basically get the Chiefs offense to stall. So I look at this one, I think a lot of people have confidence with the Bengals because of the way the last three games played out. But not only that, just Joe Burrow, as great as Mahomes is, Burrow has totally changed that organization in Cincinnati. And now you look at the Bengals.

I know some people before the year, they said that they were going to regress. But I think right now everyone knows how good the Bengals are going to be. Not only coming up on Sunday, but for the foreseeable future, as long as you could keep Joe Burrow upright. So I look at Mahomes and to me, he has the most pressure in that game, even though he's already won a Super Bowl, even though he's on the verge of winning two MVPs. Because what makes Mahomes a wildcard for this weekend, even though he's off the injury report and they said he's been a full participant in practice right the last few days.

We don't know truly how healthy that ankle is because the facts are he suffered a high ankle sprain. So the key of how Mahomes-like is Mahomes going to be can really determine this game. And can Mahomes win a game when he's banged up?

Absolutely. That's how great he is. Like even if he's at 70%, he's still Patrick Mahomes.

But it could take away a little bit from his game if this is a shootout. So I can't wait for Bengals and Chiefs. I can't wait for Eagles and 49ers, which will be the first game coming up on Sunday. And the two players that I think about right away are Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. And I can't wait to see how those two do perform coming up on Sunday.

Hickey, real quickly, who are the two and then we'll get to just some predictions right at the gate and we'll get to Willie Gay coming up in about five minutes or so. Who are the two people that you think of first right away if you had to take one from the Bengals-Chiefs game and then one from the 49ers-Eagles game? I will talk about a unit for Bengals-Chiefs because if the offensive line for Cincinnati can replicate what they did last week in Buffalo, I think this game is over. Kansas City is not keeping up with what Cincinnati can put up. I think the Cincinnati defense is better than Kansas City's defense.

Mahomes is gimpy. So if you have an offensive line that is pushing in front, getting a run game established, protecting Joe Burrow, this game is over. Cincinnati is winning.

That's what I'm looking for. And the other game will go to Christian McCaffrey. Because for the 49ers, they run the ball, they win.

Period. And he's dealing with an injury too, McCaffrey. He is. Caffrey Andrew, which is something to watch for, did not finish the game last week. Elijah Mitchell, in the biggest moments, running out of bounds, almost cost on the 49ers, kind of closing that one out.

Now, he said he's not going to miss the game. We'll see how healthy he is in the limited. But if that run game, especially led by CMC, out of the backfield and also, you know, catching the ball out of the backfield, if he can get a run game going here, don't really care how great Jalen Hurts is, that to me is, again, a game where the 49ers will win without a doubt. And I do think people are kind of sleeping on this Chiefs defense just because we've talked about them and can they get the championship form and all that. You know, they do have the second most sacks in the league this season.

And that's one thing. Buffalo, last week, and we know Cap is out. We know Williams is out.

Once again, we know Lyle Collins, he's done for the year. That Bill's defense did not make Burrow sweat. So it's one thing, and I know Burrow gets the ball out so quickly, but it's one thing when your offensive line is banged up.

It's another thing for the defense to take advantage of that. And we'll see if that Chiefs defense will be able to take advantage of it coming up on Sunday in the biggest stage in the heavyweight fight, the main event between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. What are your predictions? Give me the scores.

I'll give you mine. Let's start off Eagles and 49ers. Who are you taking to win and what score are you going with? I will go 27-20 49ers win the game. 27-20? 27-20. I'm going 8-point game. I'll take the Eagles 24-16. 24-16, I'll take the Eagles. Bengals and Chiefs, I'm stuck on this one.

I really am. And all throughout the week, I started Bengals and I won Chiefs. I'm going back with the Bengals just because I don't know how healthy Patrick Mahomes is going to be.

I'll take the Bengals by three in a familiar score of 27-24. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, Willie Gay was asked, what impresses you the most about the Bengals offense?

He said nothing. Well, we'll have Willie Gay on the line next to expand on those comments. It is the Zach Gelb show coming back in five minutes right here on CBS Sports Radio. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from.

There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey. And Westwood One brings you the AFC and NFC championship games.

Streaming live for free this Sunday on the Odyssey app. The 49ers visit the Eagles. Touchdown!

Jalen Hurts. Off the middle into the end zone. And then it's a rematch between the Bengals and the Chiefs. Wide open.

Jamar Chase takes it in. Touchdown, Chiefs. Catch all the action from Westwood One. Your playoffs, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. We continue it as the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on a football Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio.

AFC title game coming up on Sunday in Arrowhead between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals. And now joining us is a linebacker from the Kansas City Chiefs and that, of course, is Willie Gay Jr. Willie, appreciate you coming back on the show. How you been? Good, man. Thank you for having me.

Well, thanks for coming on. So the big news headed into this game is going to be the health of your quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. We saw last week he sustained a high ankle sprain.

Just how do you kind of observe Patrick throughout the week? And what can you tell us how he's looking headed into this one? I'm not going to speak on that, man. I'm sorry. I can't speak on that. Did it surprise you, though, last week when he came back?

Oh, no, not at all. He's a fighter. I think a lot of people doubted the Chiefs going into this year after losing Tyreke Hill. But what do you think you guys have proven so far this season with Mahomes having another MVP type of season, you guys 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl? Oh, man, that we are the same team. You know, we lose a couple pieces, but we can make up for with a, you know, with a multitude of other guys, you know, and we have often offensive playmakers, defensive playmakers, and we proved that this year. I mean, we're playing an AFC Championship game, so we're ready to, you know, take our chance and get to the Super Bowl. Did you ever doubt this team headed into the season or did you know that this team could get back to this spot?

What kind of question is that? Of course not. I got to ask you because, you know, headed into this year, there was a lot of noise about all these other teams in the AFC West and it seems like people forgot about the Chiefs. Yeah, they better not forget about us. Where is this defense at headed into this game in your opinion? Oh, we ready. That's all I'm going to say.

We ready. Their offensive line banged up. We know the Bills weren't able to capitalize. We know you guys had the second most sacks in the league. How do you kind of expose what those guys did last week up front of the offensive line? We just do what we're supposed to do, man, and play hard, honestly, and give our all every play just to get to that quarterback each and every chance we get. Something I've observed with your team this year is Trent McDuffie, who's a rookie and has done a lot of good things for your team when he's out there on the field. What have you seen out of your teammate Trent McDuffie?

A lot of growth, man. Trent and all the other rookie corners as well and the state rookie safeties. All those rookies, honestly, just a lot of growth from those guys. Like you say, man, Trent's the baller himself.

So you get Trent, you get Jalen Watson, you get Joshua Williams in the back end, and Brian Cook and whoever else, man. We got a lot of rookies that's ready to play whenever. How do you think you've grown as a player as well your first three years in the league? I've grown a lot, honestly. I'm still learning, and I feel like that's what comes with this game.

You can't not know enough, you know what I'm saying? You got to keep learning, man, and keep building on your knowledge and your game so that you can take your game to the next level. That's where I'm at right now, trying to take it to the next level and get me a Super Bowl. What type of player do you think you could turn into?

The best, honestly. I like that answer. Yes, sir. How far away do you think you are from that, just wondering? I'm already there, man. I just got to continue to prove it and continue to make plays and stay healthy. What's your work gone, by the way, the most this offseason, Willie Gay, Jr.? Man, just really just my flexibility and continuing to use my speed to get to that ball, man.

That was my main focus. Do you think the defense in Kansas City gets the respect that they deserve? I mean, of course not, but we all know we don't. I mean, we play an AFC Championship game, so we don't really care what outsiders think. We don't do what we're supposed to do to make sure our great quarterback, our great offense, scores more points than your team, and that's why we're here today. What have you learned from your head coach so far in Andy Reid? Man, he's a great coach, the best coach in the NFL, I think. Great player as coach.

He treats everyone the same. So there's been a lot of conversation headed into this game, Willie Gay, Jr., and most of the times it goes right to the quarterback, Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. What do you say to people that believe Joe Burrow is a better quarterback than Patrick Mahomes? Man, I mean, I've played against Joe. He's a great quarterback, but I've been with Pat three years, and he's also a great quarterback. So there's just two guys that's competing, trying to prove themselves in his league. Well, already proved themselves in his league, and they are just a new generation of quarterbacks, man.

What's the toughest part when you prepare for a Joe Burrow? I mean, he's a quarterback, man, so he can pick you apart if you let him. If you're not doing your job, you'll definitely find a weakness.

So that's any quarterback, honestly, but definitely a good one like Joe. So you've got to do your job, man. He will expose you. The Burrowhead comment by Mike Helton, does that annoy you guys in that locker room? Not at all.

Like I said earlier, that's what comes with the game. That's what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to talk smack. It seems like Chris Jones was annoyed about it because he made it a point of emphasis in his press conference to keep on bringing up Burrowhead. So that hasn't really been talked about in the locker room? No, not at all, man.

I didn't even know Chris said anything. Okay. Well, I also saw a clip of you saying when you were asked what impresses you about the Bengals, you said nothing. Why is that?

Why is it nothing? Well, I mean, what you want me to say, man, they got the best offense in the league. I mean, they're a great team.

People kind of blew it up. I understand that's what y'all do. That's what y'all are supposed to do, but I was not impressed by just anything specifically. I think a lot of people just see the comments, and you said earlier how much respect you have for Joe Burrow, but you just look at all the names they have on their offense. You thought you'd probably get a response on how good Joe Burrow was, right? And Jamar Chase and T. Higgins probably as well.

That's what probably people were looking for, I would imagine. Oh, I guess so, man. But, you know, like I say, I'm just ready to play this game. Of course, they're a great team. They wouldn't be here if they wasn't, you know, great players all over on both sides of the ball. So we're just ready to, you know, get on that field, man, and let the work do the talking. I know you don't need any extra motivation for an AFC title game, but the fact that they beat you the last three times, is this one a little more extra personal?

No, man, we treat them all the same. We don't overdo it, overthink it, you know, steal a football game. There's a lot on the line, obviously, but, you know, when you go into games like this, you don't want to think too much on it, you know, because that's when people get ahead of themselves and the game gets away from you. And you get too emotional and you lose it before you even start it, you know, so we don't think about it for real. You tell me Willie Gay, Jr., why this time will be different, unlike the way that it ended the last three times.

I mean, I can't tell you. I just know we're going to go play and get it all and hope for the best. And I know we are well prepared on both sides of the ball. So we're ready. What do you kind of sense from your teammates leading up to this one this week? We're ready, man, is all I can say, honestly. Well, you got it. Well, we'll be watching.

We're excited for this game. I do appreciate you carving out some time today and good luck coming up on Sunday. Thank you so much.

And download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. First of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. I also saw a clip of you saying when you were asked what impresses you about the Bengals, you said nothing. Why is that?

Why is it nothing? Well, I mean, what you want me to say, man, they got the best offense in the league. You know, like, I mean, they're a great, great team. You know, I just, you know, people kind of blew it up. I understand that's what y'all do. You know, that's what y'all supposed to do.

But I was not impressed by just anything specifically, you know, so. I think a lot of people just see the comments and you said earlier how much respect you have for Joe Burrow, but you just look at all the names they have on their offense. You thought you'd probably get a response on how good Joe Burrow was, right? And Jamar Chase and T Higgins probably as well.

That's what probably people were looking for, I would imagine. I guess so, man. But, you know, like I say, I'm just ready to play this game. Of course, they're a great team. They wouldn't be here if they weren't, you know, great players all over on both sides of the ball.

So we're just ready to, you know, get on that field, man, and let the work do the talking. It is the Zach Gilb Show on CBS Sports Radio. So that was Willie Gay, Jr. from the Kansas City Chiefs, who the other day was asked in a media scrum, what impresses you the most about the Cincinnati Bengals offense? And he said nothing. And that created a storm a little bit. So I texted Willie earlier today, asked him if he would come on. And he got back, said he would come on. And we would talk about the game and obviously the comments and everything else, lead it up to this AFC title game.

And that's how he elected to respond about it. I'm just a little bit confused, honestly, because, you know, I get it being in those locker rooms before. Sometimes these players leading up to these games and these are emotional games where they're high stakes, late in the year, team that has been habitually in this spot like Kansas City in the last five AFC title games home. And you know that Willie Gay, Jr. has been a part of the last three, right? In his rookie year, he lost in the Super Bowl.

Last year, they lose in the AFC title game. So you know that there's a human element where they probably don't want to have to talk that much about the game. They just want to get to the game in great anticipation of the matchup on Sunday. But when you get asked the question, what impresses you about the Bengals offense and you say nothing, that makes me think you don't respect the Bengals offense. Now, to be fair to Willie Gay, earlier in that conversation that he had with us, not the comments from yesterday, he is talking about how good of a quarterback Joe Burrow could be. But Hickey, like when I explained it to him, and you could answer whatever way you want, that's the great part of our country, right? But when I explained to him, when you get asked, say, what impresses me about the Bengals offense, like we kind of just expect like that's a layup question. That's like a softball question.

It's an easy question to answer. Oh yeah, Joe Burrow's great. Jamar Chase, one of the better wide receivers in the league.

T. Higgins is unbelievable. So for him not to say that, even though he praised Burrow with us, like I just don't know where he was getting at really on that response from the other day. If this was a matchup where even if the Chiefs have lost all three games, but it's 17-14, 21-17, it's a defensive struggle, okay. We're looking at now three straight games when the Chiefs and the Bengals have played where the defense has been chewed up, especially the second half, all three games where the Chiefs offense, now you can get on them for not playing well in the second half, but at least the first half, has gotten leads each and every time they played so far and the defense has not been able to hold up their end of the bargain. Look, you could say maybe he's just talking about the scheme and they don't do anything crazy and that's what he's talking about, but either way, maybe that's what he was going at. They have gotten toasted three games in a row.

So something's obviously not working out with this Chiefs defense that they can stop Joe Burrow. Look, there's a lot of sides talking. I love the smack talk personally.

I love it. But now you can't say nothing impresses you and then go out and lay another egg for the fourth straight time. And then when he started off the comment with us, he's like, I think you guys just like blew it up to a bigger deal than what it is. Maybe that's just the player view and maybe we just don't have that that mindset or that mentality. And he just like didn't want to answer any questions about the game.

But then he's willing to do the interview with us, which we appreciate. So it just kind of it's bizarre to me to say that there's nothing that impresses you about the Bengals offense. I think everyone could admit the Bengals have been so impressive of the of the offense, but just listen back to it. And in the moment, I think it's just really that's what I could chalk it up to. It's the player mentality where maybe he doesn't want to compliment his opponent too much heading into the game because he did compliment Burrow. Right. Like he did that in that in that conversation with them.

He he praised Burrow. He thinks he's a great quarterback. Right. So I guess it's just that that player mentality of, you know, an alpha sport. Maybe you don't want to compliment the other guy. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe when you've lost three times in a row, like I said, you don't want to give them the credit that maybe they deserve. So it's just like, oh, they don't do anything. It's more on us, you know, not figuring out like we got to do more than they're just better than us.

No one ever would admit that guy's better than me. So that could be part of it as well. But now the other part, when I asked about the Burrowhead comments and he doesn't care, he thinks that's part of the game. Like, I understand when Mike Hilton is on the sideline and that is in the elation of beating the Bills for him to say, we're going to Burrowhead. Yeah, it is a bold move. Don't get me wrong, but I kind of give him a pass for that because it's in the euphoria of while the game is wrapping up.

You know, you won. You're talking to the cameras you have in your moment. Like, I do think some of that is part of the game. But the other part of it is everyone now.

Right. And what we do on talk radio, what other people do on television, they make that a big deal. A, it's catchy and B, it's like, OK, let's get Kansas City's thoughts on that. And I was a little bit surprised because if you talk about that frustration and just, you know, being annoyed with the Bengals, you would think Willie Gay would have a problem with the Burrowhead comments. But he elected to kind of just say, yeah, it's part of of the game.

And I do kind of get that answer. Doesn't mean that he's not actually annoyed by them because you go see what Chris Jones basically said. You know, Chris Jones goes, oh, yeah, we'll see you at Burrowhead. He knows now that not that you need extra like it's stupid to say you need extra motivation for an AFC title game. Not that the Chiefs are a sleeping giant, but the bear has been poked. And in this sport, with how deep you are late into the season, you shouldn't need any extra motivation. But teams are always whether they actually do it or not.

But we think they're always looking for that extra little crack of motivation or just any of that old fashioned saying right of bulletin board material. I think what we're seeing in front of our eyes is the best rather right now in the NFL. You kind of talked about in the open, but right now with the back and forth, I mean, back and forth nature, at least of talking to young quarterbacks, you could say one in one day if you want to say that in terms of in the league to young teams that, you know, again, it's. This seems genuine, like there with the Chiefs bills, that was kind of billed as maybe the rivalry of the past years, because those men in the playoffs and they've always been to the better teams this year in the last few years or the last three years. There's not a lot of true animosity. There's not a lot of smack talk back and forth. We have seen now the Bengals are not shy about speaking their voice. And now we have seen the Chiefs as well, whether they're getting annoyed, whether they just want to play the game as well.

It's been a lot of fun. It's been for the most part to homegrown, not really forced, you know, like. Yeah, because you could go your traditional rivalries, like, for example, the Eagles and the Cowboys, or you could go your Green Bay Packers against the Bears or whatever you want to do. Right. With all these rivalries.

You are right. That's not a rivalry that's just based off division or geographic location or history. The Bengals. Here's the biggest reason why Bengals and Chiefs is now probably the most entertaining rivalry in the NFL is because, number one, the Bengals are a team that's built off confidence. Joe Burrow, if you're ever around him and I was able to spend like an hour or like 30 minutes, let's say, within the day before he won the Heisman and then that night when he won the Heisman.

So, yeah, like about an hour. And when you're around Joe. It's not like an arrogance. And I don't want to say it's like a cockiness either, but he is someone that is confident.

And it's kind of like a quiet, confident when he was in college, like he knows he's the man, but he'll not really give you that much when you're asking quotes. But he knows how good he is. He knows what his team has accomplished and what however you want to describe that cool Joe Burrow confidence, because some guys are confident and arrogant and it's obnoxious. Like there's a way to have this cool confidence about yourself that Joe Burrow just has swag. Like he just has it. And everyone knows that in that locker room. Whether it's the cigar, it's the dancing afterwards that Joe Burrow does and the entire team feeds off that.

But also, when you have the mix of that personality, plus you would probably say for last four years or so, five years or so. The biggest question has been, who's going to take down Kansas City? And even though Kansas City has just one ring right with Mahomes and they've been defeated before, they always seem like this unbeatable force. And there's years where people try to peg them down like this year. Hey, no Tyreek kill.

We're going to knock it down a few pegs. And they still have the number one overall seed. They still have the AFC home title game. But the one team that has been able to solve them in the regular season and postseason are the Cincinnati Bengals.

Like you look at Buffalo. Buffalo's had their success against them in the regular season, not the postseason. So even though we want to say, oh, Mahomes and Allen is this great rivalry, you got to beat them. Now you could say, Zach, the Chiefs haven't defeated the Bengals, but they're the team that everyone's hunting. They're the team. They have the best quarterback in the league.

And you look at the one pain in there, you know what? It's been Cincinnati. And it's one thing when you get all those wins in a quick span. Like, for example, you got the two wins last year, but then they beat them again this year in the regular season. And now they're here in the AFC championship game. If the Bengals win this weekend, they're the team that everyone starts hunting in the AFC. And we didn't think, right, the Chiefs would ever fall down to that. But if the Bengals now beat them, which they've already done twice in the regular season and back to back years, but then more importantly beat them twice in the AFC title game, in their house, too, in Kansas City, how can't you say that the Bengals are the team to beat, regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, in the AFC entering that season? So we look at this Chiefs team as we should, as like this unbelievable force that's going to win multiple championships and be great for 10 years, and they may be. But the team that's been putting a big dent in their armor and their invincibility and has made them look human in unexplainable ways, like you talked about all the leads that the Chiefs have had. You know, Mahomes, he always looks like Superman. He made one mistake before the end of the first half last year in the AFC title game.

He didn't recover for an entire half and overtime. So I think we were all looking for someone to really compete with the Chiefs. And the Bengals not only have competed with the Chiefs, they're on the verge of dethroning them, really. Because you beat a team once in an AFC title game, that's one thing. You then beat them back to back years in their house in the AFC title game, they're then the champs.

It's not you anymore. So that's why, Hickey, because of that stage and that way that Kansas City's only look vulnerable against Cincinnati Alley, vulnerable, they've lost all three. You are 100 percent right as why there's so much bad blood there, why there's so much trash talking, because the Bengals are going to say, well, we keep on kicking your ass.

We're not getting the credit. And the Chiefs are saying, oh, please, you're coming into our house. We're going to show you that last year and even this year, the regular season was all farce. That's why I think you have all this trash talking and you have these two teams that are just all riled up, ready to prove what they they have to prove a line this weekend. And they're running a full steam 500 miles at one another.

And it's going to be awesome coming up on Sunday. You know what it feels like? It feels like a college rivalry a little bit, because at least like when we look at Chiefs bills, there's like a mutual respect of like, I know they're good. They know we're good. You know what it'd be like? It would be like Alabama and A&M with what happened this year, except A&M actually being a good team.

That's what it kind of feels like. One of those in-state rivalries where it's like it's disrespect, frankly, it's just like the Bengals talking. And again, they deserve to. They've won three in a row. They have no fear of the Chiefs. So they talk, talk, talk, burrow head, all these other comments, not scare the Chiefs.

And it's just like now the Chiefs are kind of talking that, you know, I don't you know, there's nothing they do scares me. It is like borderline disrespect, which is I personally, I think it just adds more fuel to the fight. It's so much fun. And you only get that in the NFL, especially when it's team versus team, maybe sometimes player versus player. But you get a lot of it in college. Those old, deep rivalries usually in-state as well. We are really starting to get a college-esque rivalry developing with Bengals, Chiefs. And usually because I think some people say, oh, it's like Alabama and Georgia or Alabama Clemson from a few years ago. The difference is the team that is the hunted got slayed early. Like usually like you have Clemson or you have Georgia fall to Alabama and then eventually they get them. This Bengals team from the start has defeated the Chiefs three times in a row with Joe Burrow. And now it's can the big bad Kansas City Chiefs deliver that counter with their backs up against the wall and their quarterback in Patrick Mahomes?

Not 100 percent. Oh, I can't wait for it. It's going to be absolutely awesome.

Take a break. We'll come on back and we will discuss about the future of to a tongue of eye low in the NFL. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibe. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split. I have one tattoo that covers my entire body.

Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibe. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from.