Patrick Mahomes Exposes Predictable Sean Payton With Perfect Prognostication Of Broncos Play-Calling On ESPN ManningCast
Two years ago, ESPN introduced viewers to the "ManningCast." It's an alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football featuring Peyton and Eli Manning. But, people aren't tuning in like they used to. So, the show invited the biggest star in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, onto the show.
As I wrote last week, the ManningCast is losing badly to the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman version of Monday Night Football.
Part of the problem is that they keep inviting people on the show who don't really have anything to do with football. Some of the biggest-named guests this season include John McEnroe, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Kimmel, Tiffany Haddish (why? no clue), and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
They did have Aaron Rodgers in Week 7 and Trevor Lawrence in Week 9, though. Still, who are they trying to attract? Non-football fans? That's never going to work.
For Week 10, the ManningCast attempted to get back to basics. They invited Patrick Mahomes onto the show, which makes much more sense.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes appeared on the ManningCast on ESPN for Week 10's Monday Night Football game. (Photo: Getty Images)
The Chiefs are on bye, one of the biggest stories in sports and pop culture is the budding relationship between Mahomes' teammate Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift, plus the Chiefs and Eagles have their Super Bowl rematch on Monday Night Football next week.
Credit to Peyton Manning and his team, they crafted an excellent promo to let people know that Mahomes was coming on the show. Plus, Mahomes shared it with his 2.5 million followers on X.
Patrick Mahomes joins ManningCast on ESPN, perfectly predicts Sean Payton & Broncos play-calls three snaps in a row
Mahomes joined the show toward the middle of the first quarter. He stayed through into the second quarter.
He added some actual football knowledge, which is cool to see from a guest. Mahomes perfectly called out the Broncos' defense prior to a third down play for the Bills.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of his appearance is when the Mannings asked him to predict what the Broncos would do on a first-and-10 from the Bills 15-yard line.
Mahomes said they would run the ball twice and then go with a play-action pass on third down. He said all of that before the first down play. He was exactly correct.
I don't think it's a great look for Sean Payton, who many believe is an elite play-caller, that an opposing quarterback can call out your entire plan on a series. That probably means Buffalo knew it, too. Which might explain why the Broncos didn't get the first down.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton looks on during a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
However, Russell Wilson actually made a Patrick Mahomes-like play and Courtland Sutton made one of the best catches of the year to bail out the terrible play-calling.
Even that play didn't go according to plan, as Buffalo was ready for it. The Bills weren't ready for the heroics, though, so credit to Wilson and Sutton for those.
With the crowd noise in Buffalo, Mahomes admitted that there are only two places where he cannot hear at all. Neither of them was Buffalo, either.
Outside of the football talk, Mahomes delivered some other fun moments.
He talked about wearing the same pair of red underwear -- that everyone's favorite NFL WAG, Brittany Mahomes got him -- for every game. I hope he's joking.
Overall, a solid appearance for the Chiefs quarterback. Except, they didn't ask him once about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. That's journalism malpractice.
Did Mahomes ultimately draw more viewers to the ManningCast on ESPN?
We'll find out later in the week when ESPN releases the ratings.
Until then, back to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman!