[Kirk] Most of my bodywork centers around trying to get rid of inflammation
so that my joints don't ache,
and I don't feel the aches and pains of the daily grind.
[sighs]
Monday morning, I usually get into the cold tub to ice my lower body.
[exhales sharply]
[interviewer] How cold is it?
[Kirk] Probably fifty-something.
The goal is to go numb as fast as possible.
I used to just go up to my knees, but…
[players grunting]
[Kirk grunts, groans]
[tense music playing]
I had to go up to the ribs.
That's a bruise.
Got some bruises on my arm from the game most recently.
Back in Michigan, I'll go into Lake Michigan sometimes when it's cold,
and say it's just the world's largest cold tub.
There's games where you think, "Man, this has to be the worst job alive."
Where you're just standing in there,
and you can't brace yourself for these hits.
The key for me is not just being able to survive a game, or the hits of a game.
The challenge is can you come back six days from now, and do it again?
And then can you do it again and again
and again, for an entire season?
Hut, hut!
[players grunting]
[Patrick grunts]
-[grunting] -[whistle blows]
[grunting]
[whistle blowing]
Playing quarterback, it is a violent sport.
And I think guys understand that.
[commentator] Marcus took a big shot when he got to the end zone.
[Kiyomi] Okay.
[softly] Oh my God.
I know what I signed up for.
But the best way to describe it is getting in a car accident every weekend.
[grunting]
Dang, that was a hard tackle. Ouch.
Just imagine getting hit like that every time.
White-white.
-[grunting] -[whistle blows]
Set, hut! Hut, hut!
[Patrick] I'm a big compliment guy.
They get close to me, "Hey, great rush, dude."
Good rush, 9-9.
First, I have a ton of respect for those guys.
They're playing their tail off, trying to get me at all costs.
Good rush, big dawg. Good rush.
Good play, big dawg. Come on.
Good play, big dawg. That was a touchdown. Great play, dawg.
I've always said I wanna make sure those guys like me.
Good rush, big dawg.
That's a good-ass hit, though.
Good rush, 5-5.
They have the decision if it's consciously or subconsciously to finish those hits.
And I feel like if those guys like me, they won't finish them as hard.
-Appreciate you, dawg. -Yep.
[slow music playing]
When you're throwing in the pocket, you're kind of in an exposed position.
[grunting]
I've had bumps and bruises this season.
It started off with the wrist, then I had my thumb, jammed my thumb.
-[trainer] Tell me about this bruise. -That's from the first game.
[trainer] You kidding me?
[Patrick] Then I did my knee,
where I had a weird thing where I kinda… my knee swelled up a little bit.
-[trainer] Just wanna get that, okay. -Oh man.
I had a bruised quad, where a helmet hit me in the quad.
Those hits add up throughout a season.
[Kirk] Endurance is arguably the biggest challenge you face as a quarterback.
[grunting]
Physically, mentally, emotionally.
It's an every week thing, and there's a level of intestinal fortitude it takes
to say, "Sign me up for that. I'll do that again and again."
-[grunting] -[whistle blows]
[Marcus] At the quarterback position,
the expectation is to play week-in and week-out.
Durability is a huge asset.
Getting in the training room,
make sure that your body is prepared for Sunday is very important.
After that first day of training camp, like, you're never feeling 100%.
Oh my goodness.
End of the day, you just gotta be able to buckle your chin strap,
get ready to go, and do what you can.
Down, set, hut.
Oh, good feed.
Many times I'll get home from a game on a Sunday night,
and I'll have a hard time opening a door
because my hands are swollen.
-You all right? -Yeah, just my finger. I'm good.
And you'll be like, "How am I gonna grip the football on Wednesday and Thursday?"
Somehow you do, and by the following Sunday, you forget you had that injury.
[Patrick] People really started recognizing that with Tom Brady.
And how much he takes care of his body, and why he's still playing.
He's 45 years old.
To me, I saw that, and was like, "I need to take my game to the next level."
Bobby Stroupe is my trainer. I've been working with him since I was in 4th grade.
So he's someone that I've known for a very long time.
So I convinced Bobby to move up here to Kansas City.
And we work out three days a week outside of the facility.
To make sure I can have my body in the best position possible
by the end of the season to play my best football.
We train to be able to move in as many ways as possible.
-[exhales] -[Bobby] Let's get ready to get strong.
I believe in armoring the body in different movements
to make sure that you are prepared to go where you don't wanna go.
-All right. You ready for back bends? -[Patrick] Yeah. Kind of.
[Bobby] I'll start when you come up.
And we're on.
You have to be comfortable in those uncomfortable positions
or you're gonna be hurt.
That's five.
There's something that we focus on called tissue resilience.
-Right there? -[Patrick] Yep.
[Bobby] Working in different positions,
to where his tissues literally have to create density,
and have to adapt to these positions I'm putting him in.
And those things give you a little more of a resistance to injury.
If you can reach back and hold them, and breathe, both of them, that'd be good.
[Patrick] If you look at the beginning of my career, when Bobby wasn't here,
I had a couple of high ankle sprains, a couple little injuries here and there.
And since, knock on wood, since Bobby has been here,
we've kinda got rid of those things.
[chill music playing]
[Bobby] What we like to do is have an A day, B day, and C day in the season.
An A day is focus on rejuvenation,
renewing of the tissue.
This involves a lot of manipulating the body in space.
Checking to see if everything works the way it should.
Get to zero, get to base.
[energetic music plays]
B-day is focused on movement literacy and power development.
So that Wednesday, I want him moving in the way he needs to move on Sunday.
And then C day is full speed.
I want him to have movements that are faster
than any movement he'd do in the game.
Because then where he'll operate at the game is gonna feel very slow.
It's gonna feel very comfortable.
Speed. Your fastest is right here.
All the way. All the way. All the way.
That's Friday in the books, man. Your body looks prime and ready.
-Good? -Yep.
-Ah… -[Bobby laughs] Again.
-Velcro. -[Bobby] It's in there this time.
Does it always do that with Velcro?
This is my last year with the hair.
-[Bobby] No. What are you talking about? -Hair's gone next year.
-[Bobby] Huh? -Going with different hair next year.
-[Bobby] What, are you shaving it? -I don't know yet.
-I'm doing something different. -[Bobby] Braid it?
Almost did this year. Head & Shoulders would've been mad.
[Bobby] You could braid it into one long… I don't know.
-Thought about twisting it a little bit. -[Bobby] Yeah.
I don't wanna dread it. I don't mind twisting it.
Does it get on your nerves in your helmet and hat?
No, I'm just like, I can't have two kids and a mohawk.
[Bobby] Why not?
-'Cause I got to be a dad at some point. -[Bobby] Come on. You are a dad.
[Patrick] Imagine me 40 years old with his haircut. I mean, come on.
[analyst] Well, one of the spicy matchups coming up this weekend,
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs facing the Niners,
who they beat in Super Bowl 54.
It's pretty impressive to watch Nick Bosa get off the block.
He is so big and so fast and explosive.
[analyst 2] I don't care how explosive
or how dynamic Kansas City's offense is with Mahomes.
-San Francisco's defense is legit. -[analyst] Yes.
[analyst 3] Another way to say that, that defense is stacked…
-[analyst 4] Stacked. -…and it starts up front.
With those defensive linemen, and no one other than Nick Bosa.
[on-field chatter]
[energetic music plays]
[commentator] Rodgers back on third down, here they come again.
Nick Bosa's got a sack there.
Nick Bosa slams the run game.
Here's Cousins, stepping around Bosa. Bosa will get him from the back side.
"You can't stop me."
-[commentator 2] Dominant. -[commentator] They really cannot.
[air horn blows]
You going back shoulder?
Set!
[analyst] The Chiefs are looking to come off of that loss to the Bills last week.
[analyst 2] No, the Niners, we know their defense is terrific.
I think the Chiefs win.
A freakin' dime.
But I think they should be on upset alert.
[commentator] Well, today the Chiefs meet the San Francisco 49ers here
in Santa Clara, California.
Kansas City coming in, of course, with their 4-2 record.
San Francisco is 3-3, but very stingy on defense.
We know about Bosa,
but nine players in the NFL enter this week with 16-plus pressures.
San Francisco has three of them.
Hey! I need more energy. I need more energy from everybody!
Accept the challenge!
Accept the fucking challenge every fucking play!
Fly around, play for the guy beside you, and let's go win a football game!
-Chiefs on three. 1-2-3… -Chiefs!
[players whooping]
[commentator] And our ceremonial captain, the great Joe Montana.
What an exciting day. We gotta calm down before kickoff.
That's Joe Montanya.
[whistle blows]
[Patrick] Here we go.
[analyst] This Niners defense reminds me of the Bucs,
reminds me of the old Ravens, the Steelers. They have an identity.
When you go up against a great defense, like the Niners have,
they're obviously aggressive. That's what makes them so great.
[commentator] That's the bull rush. Way down low in his track stance.
Good rush, big dawg. Good rush. Good rush.
[commentator] Mahomes, a cut block, gonna be a flag thrown.
Pass caught in the back of the end zone.
He's in the line!
[commentator] Touchdown! But this is gonna be a penalty on Kansas City.
[analyst] There was a block below the waist on Bosa.
[official] Personal foul.
[analyst 2] Question is does he actually block outside the tight-end box?
That's the new rule.
Looks to me like that might be right at the edge of the box, to me.
He's in the line of scrimmage.
He is… at tackle.
-Outside the box, man. -That's not outside the box.
-Yes, it is. -That is not outside the box.
-Yes, it is. Bring it back. -That is not outside the box.
Good play, dawg.
[commentator 2] Chiefs, first and ten at their own 20.
Set.
[players grunting]
[commentator] Nick Bosa comes around, gets him from the back side.
[commentator 2] Tremendous get-off by Bosa.
[analyst] They just have so many ways to come at you.
Set.
[commentator 2] Third and seven. Mahomes with time.
Fires… Oh, it's intercepted!
It was bounced in the air, and then Hufanga came on and dove
and intercepted it for San Francisco.
[analyst] Gibson, he kind of jumped that in-breaking route.
Hufanga made the diving interception.
I've played a while in the NFL now,
and last year a lot of teams started playing higher safeties, way deeper.
I'd kinda gotten used to that. People are gonna play deep coverages,
I'm gonna throw it underneath and make stuff happen.
That first drive, I went to throw a throw that I knew was going to be open
'cause the safeties were gonna be deep, and the safety drove it immediately.
And that kind of just told me, if they're gonna come down and play their safeties
a little bit shallower than these other teams are playing me,
we can go back to throwing deep shots.
Picking me off with a shallow safety,
they know better than to put safeties down like that on me.
They're acting like I'm not gonna throw it deep. I'mma throw it deep.
Waiting on someone to put safeties up so I can throw deep.
Set.
[commentator] Third and 11, Chiefs at their own 19-yard line.
He's launching it.
He's got Marquez Valdes-Scantling wide open at the 35, 30,
down to the 24-yard line.
-They don't know I watch tape. -[player laughing]
I got tape, brother.
I got tape.
[tense music playing]
Mahomes grips the ball, fires it late,
caught in the back of the end zone. Touchdown!
Time to throw, over the middle, Juju Smith-Schuster wide open, 25, 20.
One man to beat.
Jukes the safety, ten, gets a block,
angling near side, touchdown!
[Patrick shouting]
Hey! Hey! Hey!
[Patrick screams]
Great job. Great job, 5-2.
[Patrick shouts]
I wasn't even mad I threw a pick.
I felt so disrespected the safeties were jumping down.
You already know. That's game.
-Hell yeah. -Know what I mean? I'm like…
Nah, I'm gonna go over your head.
You're a dawg, man. Get healthy, go out there and ball.
-I am healthy, brother. -Yeah. No…
Nah, I know better.
[Marcus] Hey, go Roger. Roger Roger, yeah, 5-4, 5-4.
Two!
[on-field chatter]
We running hills today, OZ?
Yo, we're gonna run hills, right?
-Hills? -[air horn blows]
Hey, good job today. See you in the afternoon.
-Qs on three. 1-2-3… -Qs.
-Get your group. -Yeah.
Where you going?
[upbeat music playing]
[grunts]
[Marcus panting]
Thanks, guys.
Appreciate you.
[chef] My name's Taylor.
I'm Marcus's personal chef.
I make his meals for him, and I keep track of his nutrition.
He's not a healthy eater if he was to do it by himself, so…
Me being the cook kinda just helps
force good habits on him when it comes to nutrition and things like that.
[Marcus] I'm a big McDonald's guy. Big.
The breakfast, the sausage McMuffin with egg. Bro.
-[player] Sausage McGriddles. -Ooh, okay!
I get Mondays off. That's like my cheat day.
And since I was a kid… I love McDonald's breakfast.
It's like my little, like, go-to.
So Monday mornings, I'm always there.
Sausage McMuffin with egg, I'm good to go.
But he gets me right the rest of the week.
I've been friends with Marcus since the fifth grade.
We initially met on our Kalani Falcons Junior Peewee football team.
I was the running back, and he was the quarterback.
I never thought I'd be cooking for Marcus.
It was kind of like this running joke that we had when I started culinary school.
Like, "How cool would it be that you get to make his meals someday?"
And Covid hit.
So once that happened, Marcus gives me a call and is like,
"Do you wanna come make my meals for me?"
And so, I packed my stuff from Portland, drove down to Vegas,
and this is my third season now.
[Marcus] Not only is he my chef,
but he's also been one of my closest friends.
And to be able to have that relationship
is something I'm always gonna be thankful for.
He's really kind of helped me develop a nutrition plan,
and gotten me to a point where my body feels great.
To be able to play week-in and week-out, nutrition is a big factor in that.
It's so important, because
your availability, your durability, is most important at that position.
-Always good, bruv. Thank you. -Yeah.
[commentator] Back here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
couple of trips to the West Coast, and now all the sudden you're back.
Whoo!
[Marcus] Work all week to play Sundays, baby.
Those damn hills. We had to run those damn hills on Wednesday.
I know.
Set, hut, set!
[commentator] Cleveland bringing heat. Marcus gets rid of it. And a diving catch,
and a first down.
[analyst] It's a big-time throw with a defender coming right in his face.
Yeah, I'm good. I'm good.
The try is away by Koo.
And Atlanta leads, three to nothing.
Way to get points. Good drive, boys. We'll finish the next one.
Being 2-2 instead of 1-3 is night and day.
The opportunity to get things going after starting off 0-2 was huge.
[commentator] Part of what Cleveland tries to do to you
is they try to wear you down physically.
-Set! -[players grunting]
[commentator] Fires across the middle, and that's intercepted.
[analyst] Marcus one for his last eight with an interception.
It's all right.
It's just stressful.
Stressful.
-It's all about energy, right? -Yeah.
Go get your guys going, man. Get them together. Let's roll, dude.
-Yep. -All right?
Gotcha.
It's all good. It's all good.
Drive that bus, 1. Drive that bus, dawg.
White-80! White, set, hut!
[commentator] Marcus, now to his left on the run.
Trying to make something happen. Flips it down the field, it's caught.
Great improvisation by Marcus Mariota.
Drive that bus, baby. Drive that bus, 1. Let's go.
-Set! -[commentator] First and goal at five.
Here's Huntley, left side.
Touchdown, Atlanta.
[screaming] Yeah, touchdown!
Let's go!
-What a play on that play extension. -Good job, man.
They're so scared of us moving around.
Week to week, game to game, it always seems to come down to the very end.
I think, all in all, our guys feel comfortable in those situations and…
Just go play and find a way to win.
[commentator] It'll be at the nine, 3:10 to go.
All right, guys. Let's go win this thing.
[Marcus] Control what we control, one play at a time.
Everybody do their job.
[commentator] Now it's up to Marcus Mariota.
Mariota looking to throw here. Pressure's coming, he steps up.
He's got a wide-open Zacchaeus, at the 32.
Zaccheaus, breaking free up to midfield.
How about this throw by Mariota?
He's running to his left.
Mariota leaps in the air off of his left foot,
and throws it back across his body.
He's put Atlanta in a pretty good spot.
[commentator 2] And here comes Koo to kick a field goal.
Snap, spot.
And it is… good.
Yes!
Falcons are gonna win for the 2nd straight time and go to 2-2.
Let's roll, baby.
[sighs]
Nobody said it would be easy.
-We got a little one coming in December. -Yeah.
-I'm gonna have to ask for some advice. -No worries.
-I got a third coming in December. -Oh my goodness.
-Yeah. -Congratulations.
-How you doing? -I'm good. Excited.
It's nice to be back with Art. You know, it's fun to be back playing.
-How you feeling? Healthy? -Feeling good.
-Good, man. Damn, dude. -Keep this thing going now.
-Hey, good to see you. -You too.
-Say hi to the wifey and family for me. -You too. Good luck.
Thank you. You too.
[analyst] This is a really superb week-ten matchup.
It's one we've been looking forward to.
-It's the 6–2 Bills. -[analyst 2] Yeah.
[analyst] They're hosting the 7-1 Vikings.
Could it be a Super Bowl 57 preview? I'm just…
-[analyst 2] It's fun. Why not? -[analyst] It's an option.
[analyst 3] You talk about two fan bases who are so hungry,
so starved for that Lombardi,
that if this was the Super Bowl, Vikings-Bills,
I think fan bases of other franchises would be like,
"You know what? Good. Those fans deserve it. They've been through a lot."
[Kirk] Oh, everything hurts, Josh. Agh!
[sighs]
I'm pretty beat-up. The bruises on my ribs on both sides are not visible.
They may come to the surface at some point.
When you have pain right here in your midsection, it's kind of hard to…
um…
you know, hard to think about much else.
-More so right through there. -[Kirk] Yes, sir. That's the spot.
Wednesday I get into the building, I go into the training room,
I know that I'm gonna get on that table, and they're gonna make me feel better.
I try to be in here as little as possible 'cause of the time commitment,
but if you're in pain, you don't have a choice.
[tense music playing]
The ones that leave a mark, it makes the next series harder.
Pass rushers know that if you can beat him up physically,
he's not going to be the same player.
You have to learn to play through that
and to fight through that, and grit your teeth and dig deep.
[analyst] Cousins, the most hit quarterback in the NFL this season.
[groans]
[analyst 2] He will sit in that pocket and take a shot.
Forget the dad jokes. Kirk Cousins is tough.
[Kirk] Like, when we hit the long ball to Justin in Washington,
I don't know who hit me. I don't know where it came from.
And the D-lineman said to me…
You'll be all right.
[Kirk groaning quietly]
-"You're fine. Get up." -[whistle blows]
You all right, brother?
And I was thinking to myself,
"Usually I am, but on this one, I am not fine."
Down, one, set.
Sometimes movement's the best thing for it.
Just getting out and practicing, and kinda get it to loosen up.
How are you feeling physically right now?
I'm, um… I'm gonna be great.
It will come down to how much I get hit.
If I get hit a lot, it's gonna start to compound.
Big difference between how I feel on a Monday or Tuesday
and how I feel on a Saturday, so you kinda trust the process of the week to play out.
And you trust that, as you get closer to the next Sunday,
um, things'll be feeling a lot better.
On Friday evening, I just sit in my basement at the house
and have some people come over
to help kinda get me geared-up and fine-tuned for Sunday.
And push both legs to the right for me.
Good. And to the left. Push in.
Push in, push out.
Push out.
Push out. Good.
Breathe in.
Good.
Breathe in.
And let it out.
Good.
-[neck cracks] -Ba-boom.
Kirk called us up one day.
I, of course, thought it was one of my football buddies playing a joke on us.
When I realized it was serious,
I called back and said, "We'd love to work with Captain Kirk."
Open your mouth.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
[Kirk] I had a teammate in Washington named Santana Moss who played 14 years.
Next one.
[Kirk] And I got to play with him for his 12th, 13th, and 14th year.
And he would tell me how in year 14, he felt just as good as he did year one.
I also knew he had a bodywork person come over to his house
multiple days in the week to work on him.
So I started going over there, and saw the work that it took for Santana
to be in year 14 and still,
not only healthy, but fast and athletic.
And he kind of gave me a vision for what it could look like as I got older.
And make sure I'm out there playing as opposed to standing and watching.
Unfortunately, or usually, the most productive sessions are the most painful.
That means we found something that needs to be released.
[relaxing music playing]
It's very tender.
Golly.
[exhales slowly]
-Do you feel it go down? -[woman] Mm-hm. I do.
Man…
[woman] And I'm feeling it release too.
[Kirk sighs]
-That's pretty gnarly too, Ann. -[Ann] It is.
His throwing arm comes across the body.
We want that flexibility, so if he gets hit really hard,
it's absorbed and released.
If this is tight and locked up, the injury is gonna go to a joint.
So you're gonna get more joint injury.
Okay. Let's stand you up and see how you're doing.
-How's that feel? -Just feels really open.
Good. That's exactly what we need.
Okay.
Can you come? Bart, come over.
-And push it back even more. -Yeah.
Okay, now let's have you curve down like you're gonna really launch it.
-Perfect. -Yep.
[Bart] Awesome.
[commentator] The 6-2 Buffalo Bills,
first place in the AFC East.
The Minnesota Vikings at 7-1, first place in the NFC North.
[analyst] By a lot of people's rankings the Bills are the best team in the NFL.
Let's go!
-Go, Vikings! -Let's go!
-Go, Vikings! -Yeah!
I've never been to a game with an environment like that.
The stands totally packed.
The fans standing the entire game.
It was really exciting.
-Alrighty. -Have fun today, honey.
-How was your trip? Good? -It was awesome.
-Good. Love you. -Have fun.
-All right, guys. -Let's go, Kirk. Let's get 'em.
[Kirk] The game in Buffalo,
the quality of the team we were playing, in their place…
I knew it was gonna be a tall task.
[commentator] Kirk Cousins, he has JJ to his right.
Thielen to the left, and now Adam goes in motion, now four.
Kirk, fade, end zone,
and… it is… caught!
Touchdown!
Kirk Cousins has thrown a touchdown pass
in 38 consecutive games.
Fifth-greatest streak in the history of the NFL.
Nice job. Hell of a ball.
It was a great start.
But then we really weren't able to sustain it.
-Ready, set, hut! -[players grunting]
[grunting]
[groans]
[grunting]
[panting, groaning]
-[groans] -You good?
[commentator] He took a big hit in the game
against the Commanders last week. Very similar.
He's a tough guy.
That's back-to-back weeks he's taken a big hit
standing in that pocket throwing the football.
When I saw that play happen, I was thinking, "Oh no."
[Kirk groans]
[Julie] "This is a big deal."
-You all right? -[groans]
[groaning]
I'm tired of getting hit every time.
[shouts]
-You all right? -Got the wind knocked out of me again.
[groans]
Feel the same as it did last week?
Yeah.
It felt like I was starting to get agitated, almost,
with how I was feeling.
So I had less patience to listen to somebody.
Or hear a player's feedback in the huddle.
What's that? Huh?
-Did the nickel fall off of me there? -Yeah. I don't know.
I don't know.
[groans]
I don't wanna talk.
I just wanna sort of focus on my job,
and block out everything else.
Ready!
Hike, set!
Oh no! No, no, no! Agh!
[commentator] Right to a member of the Bills.
An awful interception thrown by Kirk Cousins.
I think anytime you turn the ball over, you feel like, um…
you know, you're allowing them to beat you more than they're truly beating you.
I literally thought it was JJ.
[groans]
I turned and looked, saw him standing. I thought that was the curl.
[commentator] The Bills have not lost a game at home
when leading by 14 points at halftime since 1968.
[Kirk groans]
I think at that point, we've thrown two picks,
we're down… You know, there's a little bit of just, "Screw it."
[energetic music playing]
[grunting]
[analyst] How about that? How about Cousins just putting that shoulder down?
Boom! Wow.
[Kirk] Guys started making plays,
and next thing you know, the lead was shrinking for them.
Set, hut!
[commentator] Thielen in motion, they fake the jet, give it to CJ.
And he's in the end zone!
Touchdown, Vikings!
[Kirk] Suddenly, I looked up, and we were able to crawl back.
[analyst] Everybody said, "Prove it." "Seven and one, but prove it."
"Go into Buffalo and do what you've been doing."
Vikings trying to do just that.
I did feel like we could move the ball. And so, when you get the ball back,
I think you have confidence, but you know everybody's gotta execute.
One play can be the difference in the game ending or staying on the field.
-Come here a second. -Yeah.
We're gonna go win this game. Just trust me.
-I got you. -Just trust me.
[commentator] 27-23, Buffalo.
Fourth and 18 for the Vikings
from their own 27.
I told Justin in the huddle, "This is probably gonna be a jump ball."
"Not a lot of great play designs for 4th and 18."
We're gonna go twerk and pearls here, with a dagger, okay?
Gotta throw this pylon-up, probably. Gotta launch the pylon.
[dramatic music playing]
[analyst] This could be the game right here. Two minutes to play.
And they're going for it on 4th down They have to.
[commentator] Cousins, empty backfield.
The Bills' safeties are 25 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Kirk back to pass. He's gonna heave one to JJ to the right.
Jefferson leaps to catch it.
[Kirk] I think he got it.
He caught it. He caught it.
[commentator] He caught it! At the Bills' 40!
What a grab!
Are you kidding me with that catch, JJ?
I threw it, but couldn't really make sense of what was happening.
So I was judging what happened based off our sideline's reaction.
And I'll never forget seeing Eric Kendricks
making it clear that we got that ball.
That's when I knew.
When I saw Eric on the sideline reacting like that, I thought,
"Here we go." [chuckles]
There's a lot of trust there that, even in tight coverage,
when you put the ball out there for Justin, he'll make a play.
Great catch, JJ!
We didn't get any points off that play, so we need to go to score.
There's a bit of a "What's important now, what's next?" mentality that you have
that sort of prevents you from being able to enjoy those moments at times.
[commentator] Fourth and goal from inside the one, trailing by four,
with 50 seconds to go.
I just said, "Screw it. Let's sneak this, win it right here, and get out of here."
Smooth quick two, on the quarterback sneak.
-Hell yeah! -Yeah. Here we go.
Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.
Here we go. Hey, I-right Acer.
Quarterback sneak on the smooth quick two. Ready?
[commentator] The game comes down to this.
Set, hut. Hut!
Cousins under center. Kirk sneaks!
Pushed by C.J. Ham.
-And… -[whistles blowing]
No signal?
-I was in. -No signal?
-I was in. -Oh, he didn't make it!
-They said he didn't make it. -[analyst] They said he didn't make it.
[crowd cheering]
I think I… I think I got in.
[speaking indistinctly]
-Did you call that on your own? -Yeah.
I was gonna call timeout, man.
Oh. Okay, I couldn't hear you.
That's my fault.
[analyst] The shoulder is gonna be down.
And that football is right there. I think it's short.
Did you get in?
-I don't know, but I went left… -You didn't get in, brother.
In that situation, you can go over the top.
Yeah, I know. I know.
[analyst] You're one inch away from a win. How about that?
[Kirk] It was my fault that… you know, I called the QB sneak. We didn't get in.
And so I'm kind of having to process,
you know, a pretty critical error there.
The ruling on the field stands as called.
It'll be Buffalo first down.
[crowd cheering]
-I could've gave you a better formation. -I got you. Okay.
You know, you just gotta let me help you, okay?
All right. All right.
I think any time you deal with,
you know, ultimate competitors and guys that just wanna win,
you never wanna take away from that. But in that moment,
it was a very critical situation.
There was a chance that that play could've really defined our whole season.
[analyst] You can essentially run the clock out.
You have 44 seconds left. The Bills are gonna take over on the 1/2-yard line.
[Julie] Oh no. We came all the way here.
And we're gonna have to walk out of here with… this loss.
And just absolutely all of us praying for a miracle.
[analyst] But the Bills have to QB sneak themselves. They cannot go backwards.
Or it could be a safety.
[commentator] The ball is, I mean, right next to the goal stripe.
So Josh Allen needs to get this thing out somehow.
White-80. Ready, set!
-He didn't get out of there! -[analyst] He didn't get out!
[commentator] Oh, the ball came out!
-He fumbled. -Yeah!
[commentator 2] Scramble for the ball.
Do the Vikings have it?
It is a touchdown!
On their last breath!
[official] The ruling on the field is that Minnesota dived on the ball
in the end zone, for a touchdown.
[commentator] I mean, to have this game come down to that
is pretty remarkable.
[analyst] These teams continue to take turns defying logic here down the stretch.
[commentator] Now we have 41 seconds to go in the game.
They can go kick a field goal quickly with what they've been doing.
My mindset was, with the amount of time left on the clock,
we've gotta be ready for overtime.
White-80, set!
[commentator] Allen, takes the snap.
He's gonna throw to the left, and…
They said he caught it! He got out of bounds at the 40!
Holy cow, clock stopped at 18 seconds.
They're gonna kick this, and then… see you in OT.
[commentator 2] They got a chance to send it into overtime.
From 29 yards, it's Tyler Bass.
And he hooks it through!
[analyst] This has been the most amazing
two minutes of football I have ever seen in my entire life.
[commentator 2] The 7–1 Vikings and the 6–2 Bills
are headed for overtime.
We knew they were gonna kick to us. We get to start with it.
You know, it's sink or swim.
[commentator] If the Vikings get a touchdown, then the game is over.
If the Vikings get a field goal,
the Bills have an opportunity to tie the game with a field goal
or win it with a touchdown.
The bruises on my ribs, in overtime, was when I started to really feel it.
Down, one, set!
[commentator 2] Cousins wants to throw.
Looking for Jefferson, and he makes the catch.
[grunting, groaning]
[analyst] This is all Kirk Cousins. This is phenomenal.
He's got Ed Oliver bearing down on him.
I don't even know how he got enough on that.
[commentator 2] This Bills' pass rush right now ain't no joke.
[commentator] No, it's not.
[grunts]
[groaning]
[continues groaning]
[commentator] Third and ten from the Bills' 26.
Kirk, straight in the pocket, throws to the right.
Caught, Jefferson,
at the two-yard line!
Boy, Kirk has shown up on this drive,
with some unbelievably cold-blooded throws.
I thought, "We're gonna score a touchdown and get out of here."
[players grunting]
[grunting]
[Kirk] Again, we had to settle for a field goal.
And put it in our defense's hands.
[Kirk groaning repeatedly]
By the end of the game, I was just out of gas.
I gave it everything I had.
I got nothing left.
[continues groaning]
-Are you okay? -[Kirk] No, I'm hurt.
[Kirk shouts]
[player] Way to go, Kirk.
Good drive, 8.
[Kirk groans]
-[coach] Got shaken up? -Yeah.
Ah! Everything hurts right here.
[groans]
Ahh!
[groans quietly]
[tense music playing]
[commentator] From the 20-yard line, 1:19 left in overtime.
[commentator] The Bills can get a field goal and tie it.
Allen, back to pass, in the pocket, to the end zone.
-Yes! -Intercepted by Patrick Peterson!
And he slides down!
And the Minnesota Vikings are 8-1!
[analyst] What a game!
[Kirk] "Crazy" is a good word to describe that game.
It's really not the formula to win most games.
I think that, more times than not, you're gonna get beat.
You are one freakin' tough sucker, bro.
-We got away with one there. -Tough sucker, man. Great job, man.
[Kirk] But somehow we found a way.
And so, to beat such a good football team at their place,
there's a lot of confidence our team can draw from that.
Thanks, guys.
[crowd cheering]
Thank you. Thank you.
-Great job. -Love you, man.
-Keep battling. -Love you too. Great job.
Thank you, guys. Thank you.
-Love the Starter jacket. -[fan] Hey, you like that?
You like that?
[Kirk] Why do this?
At this point, I don't think I could walk away or stop.
I think there's a part of me that would feel like a quitter.
Father, we thank you for this season,
for this opportunity, that we're healthy, Lord.
I do think that God's given me a gift to do it,
and I want to steward that as well as I possibly can.
So that's part of it.
I do think there's a part of me that maybe is just sick and just likes it.
You know, I think sometimes you get hit, and you like it.
[grunting]
[Kirk] I love that!
I mean, it's crazy. I've asked myself that a lot.
Why do I put myself through this?
I firmly believe that if you love something,
you're passionate about it, you'll find ways to get through it.
Yes!
Come on.
I love to compete.
I love the game of football.
I love the relationships that come with that.
-Love you, man. -Love you, Marcus.
Get off the ball, let's go.
I wouldn't trade it for anything.
You gotta love this shit right here!
I love to go out there with your brothers,
and just have a common goal of how are you gonna win?
You gotta want it. Gotta want it.
It's not all gonna be perfect.
The goal is the Super Bowl. You have to maximize every opportunity.
[shouting]
You have to lay it on the line. That's why I put my body out there every time.
[Marcus] Playing quarterback is more about the mental side.
-22-X. -22-X.
[Kiyomi] Every week we do his play calls.
Bunch right, Zeke, Counter Fly, 19-wash.
[Kirk] You can't afford to know it pretty well.
It has to be locked in.
And that takes a whole other level of commitment.
[Patrick] We make up so many plays. A lot of interesting names.
Weedwacker right. Pac-Man. T-bagel.
-What? -Call Brutal for protection.
Nothing's set. I don't know who's coming from where.
-I got to time the motion. -You'll beat it.
[commentator] What a comeback by the Chiefs!
This is what I do! This is what I do!
[closing theme music playing]