HEAVY IS THE CROWN 👑 Why the Kansas City Chiefs have the most OUTRAGEOUS schedule | Get Up

HEAVY IS THE CROWN 👑 Why the Kansas City Chiefs have the most OUTRAGEOUS schedule | Get Up

What happened? Why are you laughing? Because it’s just funny. The Browns, right? Here we go. Would Kimberly be shocked if Mike Tomlin has his first ever season finishing with a losing record? It pains me to say this, but I would not be shocked. Uh, this team is so inconsistent. They’ve beaten Jeff’s Colts. Wow. And yet, that was a straight for no reason. When you expect them to kind of close out and win the division, they just everything’s open. Now, the Ravens are ahead of them. So, I I don’t know. I would not be shocked. I mean, perhaps it should just be said they’re just not that good as you watch him. It’s the way it looks. And here’s the next one. Let’s talk about a guy who is that good. Would Kimberly be shocked if Miles Garrett breaks the sack record before Christmas? Amy, I would not be shocked. He’s a monster. This man sacked Lamar Jackson four times a couple weeks ago. He sacked Gino Smith three of the 10 sacks that he had. He is on such an impressive tear and it is a shame that Miles Garrett is being wasted another season in Cleveland. I know he’s getting his money, but still. You’ll be there this weekend to see it in person against San Francisco and then finally tomorrow night. Will you be shocked if Joe Burrow upsets the Ravens in his return? Hear me out. I would not be shocked. You know why? Because I see the AFC North more than any other division. And I have seen the Ravens and the and the Bengals go headto-head. I’ve seen Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson trade blows. Lamar Jackson has the toe injury, the knee, the hamstring that he’s dealing with. The Ravens offensive line an issue. So, as much as the Bengals, there’s a lot of pressure on Joe Burrow to be back, the Ravens, they have some issues as well. I want dive into that game, but first, let’s hear from Burrow. He talked yesterday because you you’ve heard it. There’s so many people saying, “Why is he coming back? He’s got all this history of injuries. He’s got the toe. The team feels out of it.” Here was Burrow yesterday on why he’s coming back to the field despite the injury risk. I’m not going to ever go to somebody and say, “Yeah, I’m healthy, but you know, I don’t think I don’t think I should go out there and play. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening.” And I have so much admiration for that perspective. I mean, just in an honest moment because it’s so the opposite of the way my mind works. And I I mean that like seriously my mind is trained to always consider the worstc case scenario and work my way from there. That’s how I make decisions in life. That you want to know why people get to be Joe Burrow is because he says I’m not thinking that way. I’m thinking I’m going to go out there and I’m I’m healthy now and I’m going to go beat these guys and that’s one of the ways you get to be Joe Burrow. I mean, you know, it’s Joe Burrow is a special player, but that’s just football. Like there’s a sorting process from the time you’re eight to the time you get to the league. No one’s in the league like, “I don’t want to play. Let me not play.” There’s not a soul in the NFL that’s afraid of like contact or physicality or afraid of getting hurt. Like, they don’t you don’t get there. At some point along the way, those guys are sorted out. So, I like that Joe Burrow has this mindset and as long as you’re still in the race, they want to be competitive. However, if they’re out of it, somebody else got to make that decision. It ain’t up to you anymore, Joe. That that that’s the only point that I would make about this. Look, ACL, PCL, meniscus, torn wrist ligament, uh, surgery on a turf toe. Look, I understand Joe’s an alpha. He is the alpha of alphas, okay? And he has he can single-handedly end Baltimore’s fivegame winning streak. Him and Jamar have torched this team since those two have been together. They have put up ridiculous numbers. So, I get he’s probably sitting there going, “Hey, look, look, they’re paying me a lot of money. I’m a bad dude, okay? I know what I bring to the table. I don’t care if we’re out out of it or not. But as you said, if I was management right now and I was looking at that list of injuries and I’m sitting there thinking, what’s the realistic possibilities of us making it in the postseason? I would have a long conversation with him about Joe, I understand you want to play. I want you to play. I also want you to be our quarterback for another five, six, 10 years. Of course, he could get hurt at any point in time. It would be something that would be on my mind, though. But you’re right. There is nothing but respect for this dude. Nothing. He has fought through everything behind an offensive line that is like Swiss cheese since he’s been there. It’s been awful. And he has continued to answer the bell. Simple as that. Yeah. I I mean, listen, I I I appreciate Lou from the management side. As a player, bro, if I’m in my locker room, my quarterback decides, hey, season’s not really worth it, you’re going to lose a lot of respect in the locker room. Yeah. You you you the leader of your team cannot be cannot be, you know, can’t can’t be saddled with, well, the season wasn’t going great, so everybody else can play, but not me. Like, I and I get it. Like I understand for management like you don’t want your your your quarterback to be injured. There’s a lot of decisions, a lot of money, all of those things. But I but but if as as guys who have been in the locker room as long as we all have, we all know if that happened, we would lose respect cuz you we know he could argue that point if I’m going to get back on the field. I I just I would never I have no doubt he’s not arguing. No, I’m just saying if I was management, I’d be sitting there going, “Oh, you’re scared.” Ain’t no doubt. That’s why they’re not football players. Exactly. Think about But look at their schedule. Look at the last six games that they had. If they sweep the Ravens, they have a change, which I don’t think will happen, but it could happen. And that to me is the toughest that’s the toughest test trying to sweep the Ravens. But it it’s not impossible for them to run the table. You watch the Ravens closely every single week. They they they haven’t looked that good. The offense, something’s not right with Lamar, right? Yeah. Things don’t seem right with Lamar. Uh Kyle Hamilton got hurt at the end of that game. He is the difference maker on that defense that makes everything they do so difficult to stop. So, I think there could be a problem with this team if they can’t protect Lamar. Lamar also feels like he can’t really protect himself. The run game that we just thought was always automatic in Baltimore has not been consistent or effective. This team is leading the division right now, but it’s not because they’re the same Ravens that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. A lot of these AFC teams, and the Ravens are included, are not nearly as good as we expect. I think all those things are related though like their offense not being you know as productive their run game because when you look at Lamar even when he came back off injury the first week he he does not look right and and when you you’re your defense is schemed around protecting Lamar being able to do special things and he’s he’s limited and he looks limited even even when but even when it’s clean pocket throws intermediate throws when he’s trying to hit Mark Andrews how many throws have you seen him miss over the past couple of weeks like whoa look at the screen we got we got A clean sweep of Ravens. You know which way I’m going, baby. Oh yeah. You know which way I’m going. Bengals are a lock. Bengals are lock simply because of we pick. Go the other way. Always go oppo. Fade the public. Fade the public. GoPo. It always works. Use that. GoPo. I mean you relax. Cool guy. I didn’t play football. Switch out the other side. Fade the public. I’m a cool guy. Fade. He said fade the public. That’s what he said. We’ve got two number one receivers. And that’s just exceptional. Right at the time when guess what? Our quarterback is probably the best that uh uh he’s ever been to have two receivers wide outs of this caliber. He’s an outstanding Let me emphasize this again. outstanding teammate. You know, he brings energy to the to the team uh even when he’s not making some of those great receptions. It’s an interesting little storyline here to to consider, right? So, we all thought George Pickkins go somewhere, have an enormous year, ball out to use the expression that and then go get me your money. Well, now here’s the problem. I’m on one. It’s all right. My preth Thanksgiving excitement, but all kidding aside, you’re already paying CD Lamb an enormous amount of money and he’s worth every penny out of it. is a great player. You can’t pay two guys, right? I mean, you’ve got the quarterback that you’re paying already. What are they going to do with George Pickkins? Probably franchise tag. Are they going to franchise tag George? I mean, you can’t just let him go. I mean, you know, you have to kind of I hate I’m not I’m not going to say the word controlled because that’s not what that’s not what the tag is intended to signify. But look, I think you have to keep him under contract. Look, you know what I’m saying? I’m not I’m not using that word, but he he is a guy you have to try and figure out a way because look, Cincinnati figured out a way to do it. Right. Right. They figured out a way to do it with course. Of course, but what what I’m saying is like this is one of those things where it’s a good problem to have. I mean, they they took they took a chance. He has paid off. I think one of the reasons why he has paid off though as well is something that Jerry touched on. Dak Prescott right now you would have to say as far as leading their football team what maybe him and Matthew Stafford are right now kind of like separating themselves as far as guys who are just elevating their football team to to levels where you’re sitting there go look I think with the Rams you expected it with Dak everyone always had these questions Dak’s influence on this offense and on this man in particular you saw those what is he 15 tight window catches this year cuz Dak’s figuring you know what three is always open he’s always open and and you can tell he’s rewarding Dak with some of the most spectacular catches as you’ve seen in the past 10 15 years when it’s not open you throw it over there and he’s going to cancel anyway but I mean I think to the contract point I think often times we make much a lot of where the money is allocated they can afford to pay most of those guys you can definitely restructure contracts push money later and put it the uh money where you want it to go and they’re playing well on defense if you assume that this was Micah’s money that was going to go to Micah Parsons to bolster that defense now they’re playing good defense you can give that money to George Pickkins they don’t have to franchise sack them they could pay all those guys and still be fine. It’s a way to do it just because the Bengals couldn’t make it and avoid some drama by avoiding the franchise. Well, well, yeah. I mean, obviously it takes two to tango, right? George is going to have to want to accept a contract that fits into the overall salary cap structure. And if I’m George Pickings right now, I’m looking I’m going, “Hey, look, man. I got a lottery ticket sitting right here, okay? I’m cashing that thing in.” I’ll just add the salary cap is going to go up even more this year because of the new media rights deals and because of the new broadcast partners. Now you’re talking, Peter. be more in the pie for them to actually do that and reward here. So, look, I mean, you played on those teams that had those two great receivers. You had Marvin Harrison, you had Reggie Wayne, and that was a critical component to what you were doing. This team may have lost. Look, I I would love to see them make a late season run here. Maybe they do. They may have buried themselves in too deep a hole early on to make it work this year, but you made the point they have actually started to build something that looks like it could going forward be special. Yeah, this is a foundation. I mean, you look at the foundation of this football team, it is built like this is built for the future. You think about Williams and Clark in the middle and Overshon and Wilson and now you flip it over their offensive. They drafted Booker and they for the Cowboys, they do a good job drafting offensive linement. They got him going in there. They got they got a young offensive line, they got Dak, they got Williams, now they got Pickkins, they got Ferguson. I mean, CD Lambs, right? All the pieces and parts for this team are there. They have finally started to come together. And to to Nick’s point and to Peter’s point, it can be done. Don’t miss the don’t don’t don’t miss the force for the trees, folks. Like it’s it can be done and they should get it done. So the oft maligned Jerry Jones and frequently deservedly so may have actually gotten one extremely right into that one. I want to flip to the other side of this game. Peter, there’s something I’ll give you the credit for it because you have been sort of trying to make this point to me for weeks now and I think this is the right time to do it. the Chiefs, their schedule. I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for them, but when you combine all the years, all the playoff games, Patrick Mahomes has played 21 playoff games in his career, so that’s more than one full season. And in particular, their schedule this season, how it has been a complication. Well, to your point, don’t don’t feel bad for the Chiefs. They raised their hand. Who wants to go to Brazil? We want to be the world’s team. We’ll go to Brazil. Who wants to go to Germany last year? We want to go to Germany. We want to be the world’s team. There is a concerted effort to always be willing to be on those biggest stages. So last year, Black Friday, Amazon’s first time, Chiefs were on that game. Christmas Day, Chiefs were there for Netflix. This year, Thanksgiving Day, Chiefs are there for CBS. Christmas Day this year, Chiefs are going to be there. Brazil on a Friday, Chiefs are there. It’s got to be exhausting for these players and coaches to play on Fridays, Thursdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. The schedule doesn’t treat them the same as they do everyone else. Heavy is the crown. We get it. And the Chiefs front office and their ownership are willing to do it. But at some point, it does show wear and tear. And there’s a cost on the field. They have played two Sunday at 1:00 games this season. Two. And what was right? That was this past weekend. And you were saying this was you had a taste of this during your days in Indie when you guys were the stars of the league. Yeah. and and and we didn’t have the Brazil trips and all the different, you know, out of the country during the season. But I I mean you if you understand like most most teams get a consistent schedule, right? And it’s like teams that play Sunday at one, it’s like a it’s a refreshment. It’s like, oh, we get seven days. Now you start talking about Monday night games, Thursday night games, Sunday night games, and and and that your schedule is never the same. And and listen, there there’s something about getting everybody’s best shot. And when we were in Indie, we did all of those things. we and and every game was a marquee matchup, right? It was this defense versus this offense, it’s, you know, it’s the Patriots, it’s the Colts, it’s the Steelers, the Colt, and it was always these big moments. And and you love it as a player, but it is fatiguing. And it’s especially fatiguing for the guy who leads it all, 15. And and I’m just telling you, like there is something about what’s asked of them, and this was asked of Manning. And when things don’t go well for those guys, it gets very chaotic in their world. And it hasn’t really gone great for the I mean, the Chiefs are still in it, but it hasn’t been like we felt it. There’s a lot of weight being carried in in in Kansas City. And you were saying that you don’t think he looks as crisp as he usually does. He’s not. No, he he’s not as you you can see you can see some you saw some of the missed throws in Denver. Yeah. You saw the interception right out of the bat here in in this in this game against the Colts and you can see it on Patrick’s face like look as accomplished as he is and he’s going to go down as one of the best if not the very best one of the most talented passers this game has ever seen. You can see with the kind of things that Peter’s alluding to and the kind of things you know that Jeff is alluding to. This guy has been in the at the forefront for a long time already in his young career. Yeah. And this team knows that every single week as many people are rooting against them as are rooting for them if not more. There’s a lot. There’s no stat for these things. And I think we underappreciate the things that we can’t measure. And there’s no stat for the psychological exhaustion that a player could feel like Mahomes that is always hitting the best shot. And this whole team that’s always up against it, always facing the the team, always playing at 8:00, always playing in the playoffs every year in the conference championship. And I know we start this by saying you don’t have to feel sorry for him. We aren’t. But I cannot imagine like every season being the guy that we’re all looking at. Then you put on top of it dating a superstar that even more attention. Like it has to wear on this team and they have to run out of gas at some point. Every year it seems like they’ve been charged with having to reinvent themselves on offense or figure out, you know, the offense was carrying them. Now it’s like, okay, the defense is going to carry them. Sat down with Chris Jones in the offseason. He said, “Defense wins championships.” And everything just looks hard. But last year things looked hard at times, but they felt they got lucky. The luck is sort of hasn’t picked up yet. But again, for them to still be in it speaks volumes about their quarterback and the talent that they do have. They are still in it even if they lose tomorrow. They still have nearly a 50/50 shot of making it into the playoffs with a loss tomorrow. We’ll see. It’s a monster game. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Kimberley A. Martin, Peter Schrager, Louis Riddick, Domonique Foxworth and Jeff Saturday join Mike Greenberg on Get Up to preview a big Thanksgiving Week in the NFL and discuss all the biggest storylines.

0:00 Would K-Mart Be Shocked If…
2:08 Joe Burrow returning from injury
6:05 Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens
7:04 Jerry Jones on George Pickens
8:06 How to pay all the Dallas Cowboys
10:16 Dynamic duo to make the playoffs?
11:38 Kansas City Chiefs’ schedule challenges
14:10 Years of success catching up to KC?

✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ http://espnplus.com/youtube
✔️ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
✔️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
✔️ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN
✔️ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV

#ESPN #NFL