“Amazing that the last player picked in the NFL draft has now played one full game and 56 minutes of another (and) has beaten Tua Tagovailoa and Tom Brady.” – King on 49ers rookie QB Brock Purdy
“It’s no longer the same old Lions. We’ve overcome that. Now we’re on our way to becoming a really good football team.” – Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson to King
“With 48 hours from getting here till gametime, this is number one for me. It’s not just the moment. It’s everything that led up to it. It’s just special. Unforgettable.” – Rams QB Baker Mayfield to King on leading Los Angeles to a win on Thursday night after joining the team on Tuesday
“I think this is the first time I’ve started to think about the end of the road for Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.” – King on the future of Buccaneers QB Tom Brady
STAMFORD, Conn. – Dec. 12, 2022 – Peter King speaks with Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield and Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also recaps Week 14 of the NFL season, discusses the Eagles’ 12-1 start, the Chargers’ win over the Dolphins, the Chiefs’ win against their division rival Broncos, and more.
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The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
AIDAN HUTCHINSON & THE LIONS
Lions rookie DE Aidan Hutchinson to King on playing for Detroit: “I got the chance to come somewhere and be part of coming alive and building a great team. I just wanted to come into the season and learn something every single game and make strides every game. I’m happy with my development so far.”
Hutchinson to King on the Lions’ resurgent season: “We’re so complimentary right now offensively and defensively and we never flinch at the end. It’s no longer the same old Lions. We’ve overcome that. Now we’re on our way to becoming a really good football team.”
Hutchinson on playing for his hometown team: “It is bizarre, to be honest with you. I’m taking the same freeway I took to Divine Child [High School] on my way to the Lions’ practice facility. I just get off [Interstate] 96 a little bit later. It’s so weird. I’m just so grateful to be in this position and to have the ability to be close to my family. I’m already a homebody. Being in this environment just allows me to thrive. I’m able to be myself.”
BAKER MAYFIELD & THE RAMS
Rams QB Baker Mayfield to King on where leading Los Angeles to victory over Las Vegas on Thursday after being with the team for only 48 hours ranks in his career: “This might be number one, to be honest with you. With 48 hours from getting here till gametime, this is number one for me. It’s not just the moment. It’s everything that led up to it. It’s just special. Unforgettable.”
Mayfield to King on quickly learning the Rams’ offense this week before their Thursday night game against the Raiders: “In the middle of it, I did not feel like switching offenses that many times was good, but now, for me, it really is a blessing. I could think about learning most of the plays before, and knowing how they work against certain coverages I might see [against the Raiders]. I’ve gotten to be confident I can figure it out.”
Mayfield to King on Rams WR Ben Skowronek’s 32-yard reception with 80 seconds left in the game: “Those are the moments in a two-minute drill, somebody’s gotta make a play. Catching it right on top of the DB’s head, with the safety bearing down on him? That’s a guy I’m gonna trust, a lot.”
Mayfield to King on throwing the game-winning touchdown to WR Van Jefferson: “Obviously, I was shocked. Not only because they were in press coverage, but because they didn’t have a two-shell-safety defense, so the safeties could react to the play in front of them. But good for us. I mean, I just put the ball up there for Van (Jefferson), just like with Ben (Skowronek), and they made plays.”
Mayfield to King on a conversation he had with Sean McVay on a flight in 2018: “We really started talking about Lincoln Riley and his scheme, what makes him such a good coach, how I saw the game. (Riley was Mayfield’s head coach at Oklahoma who now coaches at USC.) … To me that was so eye-opening to see a guy at the NFL level, that had had so much success leading up to that point, still asking a college kid about a college scheme and what we were doing.”
KING’S TOP FIVE TEAMS – WEEK 14
1. Philadelphia, 2. Kansas City, 3. San Francisco, 4. Buffalo, 5. Cincinnati
Peter King on the Eagles: “They’re explosive in the run and pass games. They’ve got a quarterback playing with Mahomes-like confidence. They’ve got the best offensive line in the game. On the other side, they’ve got the best pass defense in football.”
King on the Eagles’ chances of earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC: “Think of what it will take for the Eagles to lose the top seed in the NFC. Dallas or Minnesota would have to go 4-0 and the Eagles, playing a soft slate, would have to go 1-3. So it’s over, pretty much.”
KING’S MVP WATCH – WEEK 14
1. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia, 2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City, 3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati, 4. Josh Allen, Buffalo, 5. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota
King on Hurts: “Jalen Hurts overtakes Patrick Mahomes by a smidge. The Eagles are football’s best team. Hurts has turned it over five times in the 12-1 start, while accounting for 32 touchdowns - 22 passing, 10 rushing. Eagles are scoring 41 a game since Thanksgiving, and Hurts is in the middle of all of it.”
KING’S WEEK 14 AWARDS
Offensive Players of the Week: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers, Brock Purdy, San Francisco, Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville, & Jared Goff, Detroit
King on Purdy: “Amazing that the last player picked in the NFL draft has now played one full game and 56 minutes of another, has beaten Tua Tagovailoa and Tom Brady, and absolutely, totally looks like he belongs in big December games with playoff implications.”
King on Herbert: “At 7-6, the Chargers don’t have much margin for error in the playoff race. But Herbert’s play, along with inspired play from a beleaguered defense, installed the Chargers as the seventh seed, temporarily, in the AFC playoff chase.”
Defensive Players of the Week: Willie Gay, Kansas City, & Brandon Graham, Philadelphia
Coaches of the Week: Steve Wilks, interim head coach, Carolina, Ken Dorsey, offensive coordinator, Buffalo, & Dan Campbell, head coach, Detroit
King on Wilks: “Since (being appointed interim head coach), Wilks has gone 4-4, the Panthers are running the ball as well as any team in football after trading Christian McCaffrey, and went into Seattle Sunday and ground down the physically imposing Seahawks. Carolina’s one game out of the lead in an awful NFC South with four games to play, and the players’ desire to win for Wilks is a big reason.”
King on Dorsey: “The Bills had to struggle for everything against an excellent defense, but it’s the kind of day when coaching can make a big difference. And Dorsey made a difference Sunday.”
Special Teams Players of the Week: C.J. Moore, Detroit, Calais Campbell, Baltimore, & Jermaine Johnson II, New York Jets
Goat of the Week: Derek Carr, Las Vegas
NEWS & NOTES
King on the future of Buccaneers QB Tom Brady: “I think this is the first time I’ve started to think about the end of the road for Tom Brady in Tampa Bay…Brady playing again in 2023 seems absurd on one hand and totally logical on the other. I doubt we’ll know much before February.”
King on Bills DE Greg Rousseau: “I think the Bills will need Greg Rousseau to be the star Von Miller’s been mentoring down the stretch in the absence of Miller.”
King on the Titans firing GM Jon Robinson: “For owner Amy Adams Strunk to fire her general manager, a man who built the team on its way to a third straight division title, with five weeks left in the regular season is certainly her right. But what purpose does it serve, other than to embarrass him?”
King on Commanders owner Daniel Snyder: “The larger point is this: How can the other 31 owners in the league witness this, and how can (Roger) Goodell watch it, and think there is any way Daniel Snyder should continue to be an equal partner in the NFL? Snyder’s got to go, and he’s got to go yesterday.”
Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:
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- ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest news and updates.
- NBC Sports EDGE’s Rotoworld Football Show continues the NFL discussion and Bet The Edge Podcast provides daily betting insights.
- The NFL on NBC YouTube channel offers daily football content for free, with exclusive videos from Peter King – including his interviews with players and coaches at training camps – Mike Florio, Chris Simms, and more. To access all of these videos and more, click here to subscribe
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
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