(00:00) Chiefs def. Saints 26-13
(35:18) Derek Carr oblique injury
PFT Live with Mike Florio
Chiefs remain undefeated in MNF win vs Saints + Derek Carr suffers oblique injury
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So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at Progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, national average 12 months savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. Big win for the night football, man. No cheese, dog. Oh, my dog, man. Yeah, lift up. Chief Kingdom, we back, baby. Got the job. Yeah, left right. Your boy, Juice Michuso is locking in. It's the best, man. Appreciate you, guys. Yo, it's time to see if she's from me, you got the dog. Bad little messed up, that's all good, you tell me. She just ain't problem, man, look, y'all. Getting City Chiefs pull off the victory gets a 5-0 on Monday night football. It went from being kind of like sluggish and inevitable to, oh, I think we got something here, to sluggish and inevitable all over again, and I feel like that should be, you know, the T-shirt phrase that every team has, no pain, no gain. That was the first one I ever saw when I was a kid, and it's like, what does that mean? No pain, no gain, but sluggish and inevitable. I think that's the Kansas City Chiefs T-shirt slogan for 2024. Good morning. Devin McCording, he is not sluggish, but he is inevitable, except when he's not available on Tuesdays, but he is here this Tuesday. The one thing about you, it seems like every week now, you're going to just create new T-shirts slogans, like we've really got to start a business out of P and T-shirts. I know we do. We do. We do. We do. We're going T-shirts. I just thought of that one, too. I just thought of it when I sat down, not even when I sat down. I'm just thinking, what are two words to describe what we saw last night? How about sluggish and inevitable, because isn't that how it felt? I mean, it did, and I think especially the way the game started. You just came into the game thinking, okay, Kansas City is down. So many weapons. You have this Saints team that's explosive. They're moving a ball well on a drive to do it. And then Derek Kargets, a little bit of pressure, and he lobs the ball up. I'm sitting there like, that's a good decision. Throw the ball out about, oh, no, the ball's not going out of bounds. And when you see things like that in a game, even though it doesn't tell the whole game, it just feels like, all right, the Saints are going to make a few more mistakes in this game that make no sense. And all Kansas City is going to do capitalize on the mistakes and just do what they do. And like you said, you knew this was going to happen. And I know last week we had to pick which team was more likely to lose. And I think you and I both said Kansas City because we didn't know what the Jets could do to Minnesota and the Jets still, we didn't know what they were going to do and they didn't show up. But Kansas City, they continued to just not beat themselves. And that's one of the best ways to not lose football games in the NFL. And one of the points Chris Sims keeps making over and over again, they have morphed into a defensive team. We get so caught up in Patrick Mahomes, what he can do in Travis Kelsey and all the things that go along with him at this stage of his career. With the defense capable of suffocation, Chris Jones took a while to get going but once he decided to step up and he waits for the right moment. He's got a sense of artistry, he's got a sense of flair. When they need him, that's when he accesses a level of disruption that I don't think anybody is capable other than Aaron Donald of sustaining all the time. And when they need it, that's when he does it and it's effective. And that, that just helped underscore as it was, you know, as I was trying to fool myself into thinking, the Saints had a chance and we were going to have some great finish and something that would, would take up the first hour of the program unpacking, wow, can you believe that? Wow, I can't believe that. Once he kicks it in, once that defense decides to put the clamps on you, that's it. And the thing that sticks out to me is even though, like Sim says, this is morphed into a defensive team, it's how well they compliment each other in these big games. Yes, defensively, they stepped up, start off with an interception, but the way Kansas City to open and drive, everyone's talking about the Kelsey connection. I'm not, I'm not exactly sure why the Saints decided in this game, they would sit back and play zone and force Kansas City to drive the length of the field, making good decisions because Patrick Mahomes just showed he will do that, he can do that, yes, he might make a mistake here and there, but their offense is very capable of sustaining long drives. And that's what they did. They just wore down a New Orleans defense, short throws at Kelsey, can't throw's over the middle, throws outside, then it ended up freeing up Juju Smith shoe store plays, cream hunt, ran the ball for over a hundred yards. It's just the way the Saints defense decided to play, I wasn't sure if that was the best way to approach a Kansas City team that we're sitting here talking about, they lost Rashi Rice. They don't have Pacheco, I thought the way it was to get up there and challenge them a little bit, maybe lean a safety over Xavier worthy to take away his speed, but it's just, it was too easy for this Kansas City offense. I thought all night for them to just say, hey, we don't have to try to make the big play over and over again. When it opens up, we'll do it when it's not there. If we can throw the ball to Kelsey and get six, seven, eight yards every time, we'll gladly do that. And then finding guys like Noah Gray, I thought it was a really massive class of Patrick Mahomes saying, hey, we're not going to worry about who's not here. We're just going to take advantage of what the defense gives us all night long and they continue to put pressure on the New Orleans defense. They're thinking and pressing me about the Chiefs offense. When they have a bad play, they literally and completely forget about it. They just forget about it. It's like it never happened. They just keep going like because there were some stinkers last night. There was one where Mahomes was kind of falling down and he threw it to a nice big patch of green grass and you know, and it's like, it's not beautiful from start to finish, but they, they just forget about it and they move on to the next play or the next drive or the next whatever. They just don't, they don't get bogged down in their failures and they understand there will be failures. There will be successes. It will be sluggish. It is inevitable. And the other thing that they're doing to fill the holes that develop on the roster, especially on offense, they just have this friends and family program, but they bring guys back. And the next thing you know, next thing you know, they're, they're stars to get Kareem Hunt. It was 2017 all over again. You were probably having flashbacks to week one of 2017 when he was tearing you guys up after. I'm sorry, but I was there. I couldn't believe it. Here comes who's Kareem Hunt, oh, that's Kareem Hunt. And of all the teams in the NFL that I thought he would never play for again, and he probably thought this as well, Devin, Kansas City Chiefs, because they cut him in 2018 Thanksgiving weekend, that video surface of him kicking the woman in the hotel in Cleveland. He lied to the Chiefs about it. That's why they cut him. He lied to the Chiefs. They said, sorry, we can't have this. He told Lisa Sauders last night, she relayed this story during the game. He never thought they would bring him back. So not only do you get a guy who's got gas in the tank, you got a guy who feels a sense of loyalty, which is going to cause him to work harder, run harder, do everything with a higher degree of passion and intensity. I think it's a hundred plus rushing yards in his second game back on the field. So oh, what are we going to do without Isaiah Pacheco? Hey, there's probably some guy out there that used to play for us that we can bring back who we can turn into a guy as good as he's ever been with us, if not better. What do you think of? You're just Ms. Schuster. Exactly. And I agree with you a hundred percent on even the first point you made about them not panicking over any bad play. There was a second and 34 in the game, second and 34. You usually say, hey, this series is drive. It's really over. They complete a short throw, maybe get eight, ten yards on second and 34, and then you throw it to Kelsey throws a ball across the field to P rhyme for like to get a yard and a half, two yards away and then go for it a fourth down. Like that to me is utterly ridiculous. And then you speak about Juju Smith, Schuster. I was critical of the Patriots when they let Jacobi Myers go to the Raiders and they signed Juju Smith, Schuster, and it did not work out at all. He couldn't help or have had any kind of impact for the New England Patriots offense. And it also is a reminder in this league the difference of player can, you know, look like the impact he can have on where you're at. When you're around an offense, it's just bad football everywhere. You usually look like a bad player too. You just fit right into what's going on there. You have to be really special to stand out on a really bad team. You put Juju Smith, Schuster, back in Kansas City, all of a sudden wide open, they decide at one point in the game that the New Orleans Saints are going to match Juju Smith, Schuster with the safeties. He gets Tyra Matthew one play, then he gets John Abram one play and he runs around, he gets open. He's open by like five yards on the play, you know, like how's he wide open? It's like, hey, if you're going to match a safety up on me, I'm going to go win exactly what receivers should think. And I think I got to give a lot of credit to Juju Smith, Schuster. Seemed like his career could be kind of over when New England cut him. He said, no. This is a blessing. Go to Kansas City, reunite with Andy Reed and come out and have over a hundred yards receiving and make play after play on Monday night when everybody was watching this game. Really a credit to Juju Smith, Schuster. Another 2017 rookie who was a flavor of the month with the Pittsburgh Steelers had a chance to be number one receiver, realized if you can't run fast enough to draw a safety over the top, you really can't be a number one receiver. Seemed with Pittsburgh longer than I think many thought he would. Goes to Kansas City, gets paid, goes to New England, gets paid. And I think that the explanation might be as simple as you bring a guy in and you try to jam him into your offense, whereas in Kansas City, they tailor the attack to suit the guy. And they already knew the guy. So they know what he can do, they know what he can't do and let's have him do the things he can do. And let's get the ball to him when he's open. If he's open, if he's the guy on the play who's open, he gets a ball last night, he gets it seven times 130 yards. It's amazing. It really is. It's three, three guys drafted in 2017, my home's in round one, Smith, Schuster in round two and Hunt in round three. And they had a need. They bring him back. Now, I don't think they had a particular need when they brought Smith, Schuster back. But it's just, hey, it's another guy that we can have underneath. We got all these guys are going to stretch a field. This is another guy who can take advantage of that. If we're going to draw everybody deep, we got Kelsey and we got Smith, Schuster that we can get the ball to. But with Rashi Rice out and they didn't bring in a replacement for him, creates opportunity. And Smith, Schuster, I never, I mean, I started thinking last night, was this some kind of a long con by him to get out of New England and get back to Kansas City. Like all of a, is he tanking? So they cut him because he just assumed he's done. And all the talk was always knee, can't run. Yeah. Last night that I saw was running pretty well. Yeah. And I agree. And as a player, it wouldn't have been a bad approach to getting a better situation. Hey, you're like, they're over there talking three people over here talking rebuild in New England. It might be. We're talking three wins. We're lucky. Exactly. And one of the things you started off the show talking about Kansas City has turned into a defensive team. So we can't fall into the trap of only talking about what they did offensively. I thought Nick Bolton was an animal on the field last night. Almost every, it seemed like running play or short pass was being finished by him coming downhill, hitting somebody. And I think again, the secondary, everyone had questions. I know I had questions from the Jerry Snead left because of the impact he had last year on saying, you know what, I'm taking this guy and I'm erasing him from the game. I'm going to get up there. I'm going to jam him. I'm going to be there all day. And it was like, how did they replace that? Yes, McDuffie was really good. But the duo was really good last year. Who becomes the second guy? And all he did was throw in jail and Watson. He's been in there. Johnson's been in there. And they've all stepped up and made plays against this Saints. Dolphins that, you know, obviously hasn't looked the same as the first two weeks. But you look at Shaheed every week, he runs by somebody and he did it again last night. But other than that one play, this defense made it hard for New Orleans Saints to drive the field, to get anything ever going and have a rhythm, even though the game just felt like it was close. And like you said, it felt like New Orleans would make a play or two to maybe take the lead or have like this huge moment at the end of the game. The Kansas City complimentary football set it Sunday night. When you have a good team and a championship level team, they know how to compliment each other. It doesn't mean it's just blow out and you making every other team, every opponent look bad. It's these close games in different moments at one point it was 13 to 16 and somebody makes a play. Whether it's an offense or defense, you make a play to change the game. And New Orleans, to me, the reverse side of that is it's a close game. We're going in at halftime and Jamal Williams catches the ball and he should stay in the end zone, but he doesn't stay in the end zone. He kind of, you know, almost takes a knee, but he doesn't. That's complimentary football right there because then a special teams play, impacts your offense. They don't pick up a first down to get a drive going, gets the ball back to Kansas City. And none of that matters unless you take advantage, drive and kick a field goal before the hat. Like those are different situations and plays that Kansas City makes to be a championship level team and to go win a football game, the other team's struggle to do. And you can speak to this better than I can, not that the Patriots were ever on the wrong end of many two score leads going into halftime, but you probably sense that coming from the other team, you take a game that's a one score lead as you're getting ready to go in and regroup. And then just like that, opportunity arises and it's a two score game. And I just feel like that changes the whole vibe of maybe both teams, especially the team that's losing. But you know, that's how I think it's important to think of football in number of scores. The points are relevant, but how many times do we need to muster a scoring effort to get back into this game? You take a six point lead, you turn it in nine point lead, and I just think that changes everything about the atmosphere, the mood, the tone, when you're going into the locker room to figure out what you're going to do in the final 30 minutes of football. It's everything we used to talk about in New England. If we can get the ball before that half, like you would sometimes take the field as a defense, and it would be maybe three minutes and 30 seconds, and coach Belichick will come over there and remind you, we got to get off the field to get the ball back to our offense to have that two minute drive, however that happens. And then offensively, it's drive down, get points, and then when we get the ball back to start the second half, we go in basically in the game because momentum score, all of that becomes in our favor and not to go on a tangent, but the time I saw this and it didn't happen was in our Super Bowl against Atlanta, Super 51, where we're down 21-3, and all we could think about even coming out of the half was, okay, we get a stop, we go score, it stops the bleeding. We get a stop on defense, we don't score, they get the ball back, it goes to 28-3. Exactly against what we had talked about all the time in New England, and that almost felt like, what are we going to do now, they just did exactly what we used to talk about doing to teams, but that shows an NFL, it doesn't always work out, but everybody watching that game back in 2017 was thinking, well, there goes the game because of how Atlanta took over and took advantage of the second half, but that to me was the key, how you can have that first half swing into your second half to really essentially go close out a game. And look, again, it felt like the Saints had an opportunity to second half, and we'll break down a couple of things that went well, but it was because of that systematic, although at times sluggish Chiefs offense that they got it done, let's hear a little bit from Patrick Mahomes after the game on his two fellow classmates from the 2017 draft and also a little bit from Juju Smith-Shuster himself on the unexpected big game he had. I think it's a credit to not only the guys, I mean, how hard they work, but coach Reed and his knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions, and I mean, Karine just runs extremely hard, he gets every yard out there, catches the ball, does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win, and then Juju, even when he wasn't getting as many reps, he was in the playbook, he was learning the things that he had lost over one year, but I mean, y'all saw them two years ago, I mean, he fits in well in this offense, and so he did a great job today, so it was cool to get those guys going, and then to step up, and it's going to be like that until we start getting some of these guys back, it's going to be everybody's going to have to step up and make plays. I was okay just being, you know, the leader in the room, I was okay with just, you know, being the role of God, I try to help our young guys to get right, and yeah, you're right, I think when the opportunity presents itself, you know, I want to step up. I love, I love the adversity, I love being down, I love the doubts, you know, I've always you know, bet on myself, I came here on a one-year deal, bet on myself, and it worked out for me, so coming back here was kind of like a no-brainer, and you know, when I love the pressure, my teammates, they put on me, helps me make me a better person. Now what a story to, and as there was something about Mikko Hardman, they came up recently, oh, it was on the weekend when the final injury report showed for the Monday night game, he was questioned real play at any injury mispractice on Friday, and it's like, hey, there's a blast from the past too. Now he's not contributing the same way Juju was last night, but he catches the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, and he's kind of available in free agency, and I put up the depth chart, like he and Juju Smith-Shuster are buried on the depth chart. That's what makes what Juju did last night even more remarkable. They're both listed as third stringers on the depth chart for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Kareem Hudd's listed as second stringed to Samaje P. Ron. It really is just amazing. They treat each game, I think, Devin like its own thing, and opportunities arise, and I feel like with Kansas City, you get rewarded in-game. If you're making it happen that night, they have a keen sense of understanding. He's on it tonight. Let's keep finding ways to get him the ball, whether that's something Andy Reed's thinking on the sideline, Patrick Mahomes is thinking on the field, they're talking about when they're together, or it's just this visceral sense that's unspoken, that, hey, you know, and football is pretty simple. Figure out who's having a good game, figure out who the planets have lined up for, figure out who's got the right bio rhythms, and just get that guy to football. And those are the good offenses we watch. We watch some of these other offenses that it feels like, hey man, like that guy's really got it going today, but you know, we have this superstar on the other side that we just, we got to make sure he gets the ball, we got to make sure we feed him out, and sometimes we watch that, and we're just like, why though, like, he's a superstar, it's just not his day today, but you think about Kansas City over the years, whether it's been Chris Conley, whether it's been Justin Watson, there's been some of these games through years that these guys have come in and you'll be like, I'm not really sure who this guy is, but they have trust in them, they developed them maybe over the years, and the guy steps in usually on a big night like last night, and they step up and have big games. You spoke about it 2017, Kareem Hunt's rookie here, comes out of Toledo, fumbles on the open and snap, worn a sideline as a defense like, he's a rookie, we got him, he's rattled, he's got it, and all he did was continue to kill us, whether it was running the ball, catching the ball, he did everything that game, and to me it just shows that Andy Reed and that coaching staff, they build their own trust with players, they see what they see, whether it's in games for other teams when they bring them their free agency, whether it's in college watching guys, they know in the practice field every day, they build up and they say, hey, we trust that this guy can go out there and execute at this level, we don't care what everybody else says, we're going to go, we're going to put that guy in that position, and we're going to go win football games, and it's a credit to even last year, all of the struggles that they had, think about Rashi Rice, having him in there, they kind of knew like eventually this will pay off, eventually he'll make plays, and then the beginning of this year coming off last year, he's been a stud, so really I give a ton of credit and understanding what good coaching looks like, that's what Andy Reed has been doing, we've talked a lot this year about different jobs in NFL that is like, oh, is this coach going to beat her, this is a bad coaching job, that's not done well, Andy Reed, whether we talk about him or we don't, he just knows how to get his team ready to go each and every week, each and every season that they play at a certain level, no matter who the names are in there, you can replace them with anybody, but the Chiefs have a standard under Andy Reed. You know, I'm at the point now, Devin, where I've got the 2019 roster, that's the year they won their first Super Bowl, and I'm looking for names to see who's out there that we should be watching that might show up again, if they have another need, especially a receiver. Sammy Watkins, maybe Sammy Watkins shows up, maybe Byron Pringle, that trade for Demarcus Robinson, who's done well with the Rams, and the one name he keeps hovering, of course, is Tyree Kill, although last week that issue came up, could Tyree Kill be traded back to the Chiefs, that's highly unlikely, given what the Dolphins undoubtedly would want for Hill, and I don't think the Chiefs really want him at this point, despite the need, there was a reason why they moved on, be a huge debt money charge for the Dolphins in 2025 if they trade him, but regardless, they know who's out there, they know who's got history with the team, and it's one thing to take a stranger to your organization and plug him in, it's another thing to bring someone home who's been there, who's been in the offense, who's been around the homes, who's been around the other players, and can get re-aclamated and get it done, and really that was the story for the Chiefs last night, oh, and the Travis Kelsey lateral, Samajipiron said after the game that it was not scripted, and this is another, I don't think this is as good of a t-shirt idea, but I thought of this one while I was shaving, Travis Kelsey worked with me, Travis Kelsey is in the NFG phase of his football career, no F's given, I mean he turned 35 over the weekend, he's going to do whatever the hell he wants, and nobody's going to do anything to him about it, what do you do, fire me, I'll go make a billion dollars in Hollywood, right, I'm going to do whatever I want, and that was a I'll do whatever I want play. Hey, but shout out Andy Reed a half time, when Lisa Salter's asking about, he said we do that every day in practice, because they probably do, it's probably just the end of a play, Travis Kelsey someone tags his hit, and he sees somebody across the field, and it's like if we ever need this, let me just throw it across the field and see what the guys do, and we saw it last year against Buffalo, and even though the play didn't count, it was just another one of those plays of like it's a good job, right, he throws the ball underneath, the Saints come down, make the tackle, hold them to three, Kelsey's like hold on Andy Reed, let me give you something to think about all fourth down, throws the ball across the field, and I love, I saw after the game my homes talked about his young daughter of, I tell he said he told Kelsey in the huddle, hey I'm going to throw you the ball when getting field go range, kick the field go, says like I'm talking about daughter Sterling, tell her one thing, she goes and does the opposite, doesn't matter what I say to her, Kelsey's the same way, because I agree with you, you get to that point in your career where you know there's not many games left, you're like yeah, Andy Reed, he knows me well, when I do something just like that's Travis being Travis, so let Travis be Travis, be free Travis Kelsey. Hey once you go up to Andy Reed during the Super Bowl, scream in his face and shove him, and he doesn't do anything about it, that gives you a lot of other stuff less than that that you can do without consequence, and you're right too, the beauty of the fun they have in practice and the things they experiment with, yeah if they don't do that stuff in practice, so my GP rounds got no idea that ball's coming, he's going to be running, he's going to be like what was that, what was that thing that just flew by my head, so I think that's the beauty of the looseness, I think Peter King's talked about that before, being at Super Bowl practice this year, this past year, that there's just a looseness to the group, and there's a fun to the group that you know I don't think you can force it, it just has to happen, it's driven by the personalities of everyone involved, and it probably all starts with Patrick Mahomes, and when you're that supremely gifted and you have a true love for football, and that's what he has, and that's one of the reasons why he's never changed, he hasn't gone big time, he doesn't snub people, he just loves football, and he yes, he has all the great things that go along with that, and the success he's had, and it would be tempting for many to change, he hasn't, and I think he's the guy that keeps that that going, yes what people say, he's a football guy, yes he's a mega superstar, you know my kids don't watch a ton of football with me, they know who Patrick Mahomes is, they're fully aware of that, and even though he's reached that status at his heart, he's just a football guy, he just wants to be good at football, he wants to enjoy the things that come along with playing a game, and that's winning Super Bowls, and that's why it's fun for me as a player who spent 10 years with Tom Brady to look at Mahomes, and his approach, how he plays a game, how he structures his contract, all of it is meant on I want to win Super Bowls, yes I want to do all the other things, I want to have big numbers, I want to be one, I want to be the best quarterback in the game, one of the best all time, but a part of that it goes to winning championships, and you can see that's his focus, how they build the team, how he approaches each and every game, how he gets other guys involved, and he continues their encouraged guys, he said after the game, it was great to see Juju Smith choose to approve, he still has it, and he said, until we get other guys back, each and every game, it'll be somebody else that steps up, he's not in here harping on Xavier Worthy, you have to go be that guy, he's like no, every week we're gonna get a guy in here, it's gonna be his night, we're gonna game plan, do different things, the defense isn't gonna really focus or target in on that person, and we're gonna get them to ball, we're gonna get them to them over and over again, and they're gonna deliver and make plays, that kind of truss you in still and confident you in still in your guys in the locker room by speaking that way and then doing it and practice every day, like that's the leadership that they need, and they've gotten from Patrick Mahomes, really since he's taken over as a quarterback in the Kansas City Chiefs. 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Because if it's not right for us, it's not right for you. Deats and Watson, it's a family thing since 1939. Let's hear a little more from Mahomes after last night's 26 to 13 win on this concept of playing complimentary football. It's we've won different ways. I mean, at the end of the day, our defense is playing the tell off and I think people are starting to come to realize that even more. And so even when we're getting these field goals or keeping us in these games, and so obviously offensively we had a better day today, a lot of yards. Now it's about final ways to finish with touchdowns in the red zone. So we can make these league bigger faster than we can really let spags be spags. And I think if we can do that, it will contain to get better and better as the year goes on. And that's true. And that's the thing about the Chiefs. They do get better as the year goes on and they show up for the games that have higher stakes. And here they are, five and oh, money in the bank. Those early season wins, Devin, money in the bank. And it makes it easier to win tie breakers, force the road to the playoffs through Kansas City. They had to go on the road for two postseason games last year. They won both, but they probably realized through that experience, it's a little easier to do this at home in the future. And the future, let's keep our stuff buttoned up so we can do this at home. And that's what we've been talking about. It feels like each and every week when we talk about some of these other teams, whether it's like it's only, you know, last, you know, a few weeks ago, it's only September. It's still early. These teams will get better or hey, this team, like the Bengals, they get off to a slow start. All of these different things that we continue to throw out there. The thing we talk about the Chiefs is they go and they play in preseason. They understand how important each football game is. And they're the back-to-back champions and they're going for a three-piece. So my whole thing is like, well, that's the standard. That's what we need to be talking about. Teams that are not doing it that way. Hey, you're chasing a team that is doing it that way. So let's not crown you or think that you're going to have this supreme shot. It doesn't mean you you won't win or you won't have a good season overall and be able to come back out of the out of the slump. But for a team that comes out and shows they have things that they need to work on, we're not saying Kansas City's perfect. Each and every week, we walk away from the game and we're like, they need to do better at this. Patrick Mahomes just said it. They need to execute better in the red zone. But in all of that, when they come in the film room, this time Tuesday or Mondays, they come and say, hey, we need to get better. But we're doing it while also winning. And that to me is the key because it sets you up. Like you said, at the end of the season, you're going to be exactly where you want to be. And I love when Mahomes talked about how they're complimenting each other, the defense is stepping up. And if they are able to score touchdowns, what that allows spags in that defense to do. Because when you look, they give up one big play to Shaheed. And then other than that, it's two field goals. Like as a defense, they know if we hold teams to field goals, it is going to be really hard for the other defense to hold Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense to only field goals or to not score one more extra field goal or one extra point more than you in a game. It just, when you have a quarterback like that, you know defensively, if you hold a team of 13 points, you just firmly believe Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reed and our offense, if we hold them at 13, they'll get 14. If we hold them to 10, they'll get 11. Like it just, it always, I think for a defense like that, the math equation shows this will usually be the final answer no matter what that we hold a team to that low scoring. By the way, I need to rewind the tape a little bit. I really do appreciate how committed you are to the bit that the Bengals start slow and the Bengals start slow because this year that the slow start has become the slow middle and we get them on Sunday night. So that adds a little extra spice to football night in America because it's Bengals Giants this weekend. The Saints offense and you know, you made this point and I think it's absolutely right. It, it almost felt like random like random play generator and we're just going to try different things and we'll get lucky and one of them is going to work. There was what we were watching the games on Sunday, they had like the Fox baseball pregame showing Gronk wanders in and they put a blindfold on him and he's flailing around with a baseball bat at a pinata and I almost feel like that's what the Saints offense was last night. Just kind of flailing around. You're eventually going to get lucky. You're going to hit it, but then you're not going to know where the hell it went like he did. I mean, it really, it's, I don't know, it was so bad it was good to watch him with that, but this is it. This is the one moment that they swung the bat and hit the pinata, but they couldn't sustain it and and that, you know, again, it's the Chiefs defense, but still, I don't feel like they really had a plan of attack that was something that layers on top of itself that builds on top of itself that has an overarching strategy. Here's who we're going to feature. Here's who the ball is going to get to. It just really did like and for as good as that offense was the first two weeks. It really did feel like just a patchwork of randomness last night. Yeah. And they have to figure out how they're going to get what they essentially want to get to going. And that's that play we just saw the deep play action shots. That's what they want to get to, but to get to that, they need to be more effective running the ball. And one of the issues they've had is they've had injuries on the offensive line and that makes it a little harder to come out and establish the running game. And, you know, the deep connection to Shaheed is awesome, but if you actually watch the game and you see he throws one interception while trying to throw the ball out of balance and then Brian Cook actually drops another interception where he throws a Shaheed and kind of doubled a triple coverage on a on a similar route as that. So to hit that one big play, you almost walk away with two deep interceptions in the game that when you actually do the math of it, it probably wouldn't have been worth it anyway. So until they find ways to establish a run game or get to a point where they can use Camara and different players and a short passing game to try to get the defense to move up and feel like they have to be more aggressive to take that away because they have the guys that you can get the ball to on five, four, you know, zero yard throws that turn into big plays. They have that when you look at Shaheed, Alave, Camara, like you can do that and get the ball to those guys, but right now over the last few weeks, they haven't been able to find a way to get back to what we saw the first two weeks. We turned on the Cowboys game. It just felt like it was deep over route, long postplays of Shaheed, like they were setting that all up over some off of some shorter things and run game that they haven't been able to do since those injuries. So they're gonna have to figure out a way and it doesn't look as good with car leaving the game. But even with him, like he has to be better in these harder moments. Kansas City got some pressure to him last night and I felt like watching the game, it totally changed how he played the game. They had one deep shot where they had a guy open and Aikman said, you know, he threw everything he had on it, but they had the pressure coming and when you go and watch the replay, yeah, the blitz was coming, but he had time to step up in the pocket similar to what we see. Jane and Daniels do a few weeks ago on Monday night as if pressure's coming, step up, make the throw. And it seems like those are the moments where a car has to be at his best for this team and be better. And you mentioned Derek car leaving the game. He took a big hit on a fourth down play. You could see him grabbing it aside when he landed. They checked him out in the tent. They took him into the locker room out with an oblique injury. He said after the game, he's not sure whether or not he'll be able to go this weekend against the Buccaneers and this is why and this isn't specific to any team. I remember a couple of years ago when there was a rash of what Chris calls nothing the passer penalties where they had quick trigger on throwing the yellow flag. Anytime anyone breathed on a quarterback, Troy Vincent, the executive VP of football operations was on the ESPN Sunday morning pregame show defending this sensitivity to calling roughing the passer. And it was the first time that I saw the firewall between football and business really get obliterated by the NFL and they admitted it. I think it's always been there, but they admitted there is no wall between the two that, hey, look at all the highest rated TV shows. Look at all the most watched events of a given year, their football games and one of the reasons their football games do that well because the quarterbacks are really good and we need to keep our starting quarterbacks on the field. And I know last year the ratings still did well even with a rash of quarterback injuries. But think about how you felt, folks, if you were watching that game last night and if you're watching now and thank you, if you're watching now, the moment you know cars not coming back, that's the moment you turn it off, right? And if car can't play this week against the Buccaneers, that game all of a sudden has a lot less luster. That's why the NFL goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks. That's why you see the flags come out. I'm surprised one didn't come out there. Frankly, you see flags come out because they want to do everything they can to keep quarterbacks on the field. And that's why there's natural skepticism and suspicion by those watching when Toa has a back injury. When Josh Allen's only out of the game for six minutes and six seconds of total clock time to do a full concussion evaluation. Hey, maybe I'm a fast cook as the witness once told Vincent LaGuardia, yeah, I mean, I'm a fast cook, I guess. If you can, if you can do the evaluation and get the guy back in in six minutes and six seconds, great. But it leads to suspicion. The business, the bread is buttered by quarterbacks. And if the quarterbacks aren't available, the business suffers across the board. So that's, Hey, Devin, if I didn't have to talk about this game today, I'd have bailed out the moment Jake Hainer went in. Yep. Yeah, I mean, you said a lot right there. And as you watch that play with Derek Carr, you can see the official in the back. He is like this locked in eyes on the throw as he goes to the ground. He's staring to see if he falls on like what's going to happen? You can see how important that is and the impact of what they're trying to do. And side note, Derek Carr, shout out Derek Carr criticized the throw on the pressure. That's an absolute beauty right there that they have to catch. But on the other side of the is what you just spoke about as much as they talk about player safety and all those different things is as we were watching the game Sunday and we saw Josh Allen go down, we were like, oh, oh, he's out of it. And it stuck out to, I think everybody watching the game. So when you saw Mr. Trebinsky go in there after a defensive possession, a quick three and out, and you saw him go in there. You were like, all right, here, like we got a chance like we saw it. And now we're at Trebisky. Like, what are we going to get now? This game's over. And then the next play you see Allen run out of 10, putting his helmet on. And you're like, oh, man, like, did they really check in? Because the spotter up there, no matter, and I know he was down on the play, but no matter what he said hurt, it just felt like the spotter and independent neurologist would be called in there right away because how that play looked because even at times when I was in a game and I think once time I got my shoulder hit and the doctor came down and our trainer was like, no, they said we need to evaluate you for a concussion. But because I'm just a defensive back, there's no like instant rush. Like, we got to get this done. We got to get this done. And I think that's the thing in the NFL, we have to pay attention to who gets hurt, who gets put in concussion protocol and then determine is it the same operation? Do they rush it a little bit? That's the thing when you talk about player safety that the NFL is always going to be under a microscope from the fan base and people watching of how those things get executed. And there's a level of sensitivity at 345 Park Avenue to this, but I think you hit the nail right on the head for certain players. It's almost like what we saw at the end of the game on Thursday night where they wanted to kind of help the Falcons get the ball, like everybody moves faster. We got to move. We got to move. We got to move because they have a chance. They have a chance to clock it and kick the game when our game time feel go to force overtime. So let's go, let's go, let's go. And you're right. If it's, and I remember this coming up in the aftermath of the to a debacle where I think they still maintain you had a back injury, but the NFL PA got involved when they were doing an investigation. There was an unaffiliated neuro trauma consultant who was relieved of his duties at the behest of the NFL PA because the guy was being in their opinion somewhat belligerent and combative in the interview process. But it was explained to me, we don't want this to be a checklist. We want this to be health care. And in certain moments, Devin, we all sense it. And even if folks don't like it who are responsible for the checklist or the health care, there are times where it feels like an expedited checklist, not true health care. And I think we've articulated the core of the concern here. That's why people get a little squeamish when we see Josh Allen grabbing his helmet and rushing back to the field. Like, does he really like, wait a minute, he hasn't been out there that long. And I remember there was a time Russell Wilson just grabbed his helmet and ran back onto the field. And I don't think anyone even told him he could. So it's the urgency that everyone feels that butts up against this notion of we're providing health care to the player. I think it's almost impossible to reconcile the two in real time. Yeah. And we got to remember, like it's human nature. And that's why you need procedures and protocols put in place to take away that human nature. Because when Josh Allen gets hurt and he's on the sideline, the trainer knows that they need Josh Allen back in shoe. He wants Josh Allen to get back in the game because everybody in the organization wants to win. But you need the right protocols put above everybody else. You need that you have to answer to certain things that are checklist, whatever you want to call it, to make sure that you don't send a player back out there. And he's just not right. And that's the thing that's always talked about in the NFL, whether it's the players checking on each other when they get on the field. But when you have these big moments, they have to do a good job of that because as important as it is to keep these quarterbacks on the field, I think the worst thing we see is when, you know, obviously any player, but when the quarterbacks stay out there longer than they should be or they return too soon, as you see some of these really bad looking plays that overall, I think is the worst for the league because parents watch, you know, young kids, while and you see this and you're like, wow, this game is really scary. And we get it. The game of football is violent, has some really bad things that can happen. But as anybody who's played the game at any level, you understand how much fun and joy and strategic planning goes into the game of football that you want to be showcasing, you want to be seen. So it's something I think it's hard to, I think it's hard to accomplish weekend and week out because you do have to have the NFL passing down this information and these protocols to each and every team and you have to have a presence there outside of the team to make sure you mandate things. But being on sidelines in the NFL, you know how hectic those things can be. You know how a player can come to the sidelines saying, hey, it's not my head. It's not my head. It doesn't hurt. It was my chest or it's my ink, like whatever it is, you know how those things get rolling in the heat of a game. But it just always feels like each and every year we have a few of these plays where it's like, wait, didn't they say the procedure and protocols or this? Did that really happen in that amount of time? Like did this? So it just seems like there's a better job that can be done for these situations. And you're right, Devin, it is human nature. And you think about how, I mean, the goal is to win football games. And you think about how your former head coach Bill Belichick would take whatever the rules are, understand them, and then come up with a strategy that allows him to use those rules to achieve his goal. So when they tell you these are the steps to get a guy clear to get back on the field. I mean, the coach's inclination is going to be okay. These are hurdles that we have to cross as quickly as possible to get my guy back on the field. And that's where the disconnect needs to be. The strategy goes out the window and this is about health care. And it's easy to say it. It's impossible to do it. It's one thing to do it after the game in the week leading up to another game. We're focused on the health care of the player. Focusing on the health care of the player at a time when the team has an agent urgent need to get the player back on the field. And there's a series of boxes that can legitimately be checked to get the player back on the field. Start checking the boxes and get the player back on the field. There's one other thing now that we're in the neighborhood of generally pissing off the folks who run the sport. And this probably upset them. I'm probably on their side here. This is where I piss off other people in the media, although I'm not going to fire a shot directly at Troy Aikman in part because he can kick the shit out of me. But second of all, I like him and I don't think he meant anything by it. Okay. Sorry, London, but but hey, he's a big guy. I mean, you get around these quarterbacks. I remember the first time I was ever around. I was around Boomer Assassin and Dan Marino at the Super Bowl at the media week stuff. And I said, where's the beanstalk you guys came down from? Holy crap. I mean, they, they, they, it's just, they're so much bigger than you realize on TV and Troy Aikman is just like that. Anyway, like the officiating on the passenger clearance calls and non calls last night was a little questionable. There was the time that Xavier Worthy got wiped out and there was no flag. And then they did the makeup call later where it wasn't as bad and he gets the flag. And I say that because when Jake Hainer came in, there was a blatant instance of past interference. I mean, just classic. Even you as a defensive player would admit it was past interference. He lays on him before the ball gets in there and Troy makes the comment and I believe he makes it tongue in cheek. The officials probably just want to go home. Okay. The problem with that is people believe that stuff. You got to be so careful in this day and age where everybody wants to put on the tinfoil hat, especially with gambling. You can't put that out in there even as a joke because there will be people who believe it. And I think they started to convince themselves and maybe they do, maybe they do want to get out of here. We want to get out of here. We know this game's over, but again, I'm not trying to be critical. Troy, it's you never know what that trigger is going to be Devin that gets people to say, Hey, he's right. And then when we start, when we start down that path of thinking about motivations other than just doing your job to the best of your ability, what other things could could undermine it? The guy with one eyebrow and the gold chains in the, you know, at the back of the the room at the bar who's got a pocket full of cash. Does that does that affect things too? So I just think it's a dangerous joke to tell. I got it. He didn't mean it, but you got too many people out there who are looking for anything they can say to point to to say that the game is corrupted in some way. And then that that's just it. That's a that's a that's a risk that I think you don't want to take. I just visualize the guy with one eyebrow and the gold chains in the back of the bar. So like, I'm like really focusing on if I'm ever at a bar and I see that one eyebrow and the gold chains. Go the other way. Go the other way. Unless you need some money. But I mean, it is true. And I think even for Troy, you're sitting there and you're like, I mean, we're all kind of trying to get out of this game now. Like this, this game's wrapped up. We're trying to figure out how fast can we beat the traffic? How and again, going back to it's kind of human nature. And when you see a play like that, I'm sure Troy Aikma is sitting up in a booth and he's like, that's passing interference. Like he hits him early. He wraps his hand around the other side, which is a defensive back. They always told us if you go to get a pass breakup and that other hand swings and pulls, it's an automatic flag. And you have all that right there. He's early, he swings and pulls, and there's no flag. And it's a whole other issue. I think the inconsistency of passing interference in the NFL and what it looks like. Because I know Xavier Worthy is a small, fast guy. So like some of that contact to me is incidental, but because he's small and he falls right away, it looks like this like big contact like the guys pushing them. So, and again, it's really hard for the referees to to officiate these things. But as you watch the games, like you turn on the jets in Minnesota game and it's like every time the jets put a finger on the Minnesota receivers, it was like flag passing interference, passing interference. And to me, it's like, if you're going to call it like that, then there should be like 15 passing afferences every game. If you're going to do that, and it was always one of the things we talked about in the NFL as defensive backs, I was like, hey, we need to know who the crew is, how they call passing interference. And then during that game, pay attention to how the game is being officiated. So right there, it felt like it was up and down in that game. And that's the worst as a player and a coach of, we can't figure out are you being very strict to the rule that any contact you're going to flag? Or are we going to get away with a little bit like you couldn't tell because it was like, well, one play Xavier worthy, it feels like they're all over them. There's no flag. Then the next play, all right, you're trying to make it up. But then there's another player right there where Brian Cook and a lot of people are like, well, like, how are we supposed to play the game? And I know that play was late in the game. But the mentality of players is they understand how hard it is to officiate the game. They're just trying to pay attention to how it's being done that night and adjust to that. So the hardest thing is when you can't get a consistent kind of feeling of how the game's being officiated. And I know it's hard for the rest. But again, everyone has a job to do like you said. So there has to be a standard of how that job's being done. And especially when we start talking about the overs, the unders and all of these other things that go into these football games. This is just a semi educated guess on my part, but I can envision Bill Belichick having a file on every member of every crew supported by film to show what the person throws a flag on and what the person doesn't throw a flag on. And that's probably some of the hours you guys would spend in the meeting room, not just studying the opponent, but studying the sensitivity or lack thereof of the officials who will or won't be throwing flags for a legal contact or pass interference. Especially if it was egregious, like whether it's offensive line, holding, passing interference, we would go and like he would show that show us that on Saturdays before the game of, look, I'm telling you this is how they're calling it. But now I'm going to show you exactly what I mean. And we would know, hey, this crew is really into calling late hits, personal fouls. They don't, they don't want to take anything unnecessary after the whistle. So anything you do, this crew, they're going to flag it right away. Like we wouldn't go into the game, knowing all of those small things about how the game is going to get officiated. Because when you think about it, those plays sometimes change games, you know, the big passing appearance for New Orleans, it's like a 40 or 50 yard bomb that Kansas City really wasn't complete in all night, but they got it with that passing interference call. Yeah, I mean, that's a great point. It just shows you how many different details are out there and how many different ways you can attack your preparation for a game. And it's why coaches sleep in the office multiple nights a week because there aren't enough hours to do everything you can do to address every possible variable. Even though you ultimately can't control the things that determine the win or the loss, there's a lot of things that you can control that help better position you to maybe overcome the things you can't control. And I think that's what it's all about at the end of the day. One last point, speaking of late hits, I want to tie something together about Xavier Worthy. You were saying how easily, you know, when you're jostling with him in coverage because he's small. When Marshall and Latimore hit him on the sideline and basically put him in the front row, that's an example of how small Xavier Worthy is. And I'm surprised he didn't throw a flag there because it looked like it was blatant simply because a legal hit at the sideline of a guy that size is going to send him all the way to the wall. I mean, it sent him all the way to the wall, Devin. And I think Troy or Joe, but I think they said it on the broadcast of that that like that looks late and and it didn't get called. And I remember to play because after it looked like Latimore was looking at the fans shaking his head, like, come on, I hit the game bounce. But that's the thing. He's he's small. He's really fast. But Rodney said in an open at night of like, Hey, he's skinny. He's small. But again, it I love it about the game in the fellas because Xavier Worthy could be out somewhere and someone have no idea he plays football and they'll look at him and go, you play football with the big guys there? Like how? And he has something special about him. He's very fast. But I do think you're going to see over the years that he puts on some more playing weight and has more playing strength out there. The kids going to be pretty dangerous. He's already a threat right now. But he's really he's really going to be good when he I think he gets a little stronger and he's going to be good this year. But he's going to be a special type of player. He scored a touchdown last night. He gave the ball to his mother. It was his mother's birthday. There's a great story of how close they've always been. And his mother should be very happy that Rodney Harrison has been out of football for 15. Because could you imagine Devon? Could you imagine? And I don't advocate this. I'm not trying to glorify it. I'm just stating facts here. Could you imagine if we could take those two errors and fold them together and have Rodney Harrison patrolling a secondary? Was Xavier Worthy out there? It would not. It would not end well. It would not end well. That's all I have to say about that. And part of me thinks Rodney there's part of Rodney that would be like oh this kid's too small to now. And then the other part of Rodney would take over. The Rodney from 1994 to 2008 would eventually take over. There's no doubt about it. Him or Cam Chancellor that would not that would not be a pretty sight at all. All right great stuff to get the show started. We almost went a four hour talking about a game that was sluggish and inevitable. Hopefully they never use that. I don't think there are many things that you can call this show. Sluggish and inevitable does not yet fall into that category except what I'm trying to throw to break. We'll be back with more PFT library. Building a business may feel like a big jump but on deck small business loans can help keep you afloat. With lines of credit up to $100,000 in term loans up to $250,000 on deck lets you choose the loan that's right for your business. As a top rated online small business lender, on deck's team of loan advisors can help you find the right business loan to fit your needs. Visit on deck.com for more information. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by on deck or Celtic Bank. On deck does not land in North Dakota, all loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Deets and Watson's been making meats and cheeses the right way since forever. What's that mean? It means never cutting corners, ever. It means cooking, not processing. It means our Virginia brand ham that's cooked to perfection, then twice baked to layer the flavors. It takes more time, but you can taste the difference. We come to work every day to do it the right way, even if it's the hard way. Because if it's not right for us, it's not right for you. Dieten Watson, it's a family thing since 1939. [ Silence ]