Speaker 1: Welcome to playmakers everyone. I'm your host, Haley Elwood. It
Speaker 1: is week eleven. The Los Angeles Charters return home for
Speaker 1: their second Sunday night football game in as many weeks,
Speaker 1: this one against the Kansas City Chiefs. So joining me
Speaker 1: to talk about this game and this opponent is Haley Lewis,
Speaker 1: a fellow Haley from the NBC affiliate in Kansas City. Haley,
Speaker 1: thanks for coming on. I think you were the only
Speaker 1: Haley I've ever met who spells your name the same
Speaker 1: way like the double why if you mean business? I
Speaker 1: love it. That's it. I mean, we could do a
Speaker 1: whole separate podcast. I'm sure on how many various spellings
Speaker 1: we've gotten right indirectly right? Yeah, Well, anyways, thanks for
Speaker 1: having me on. I love that. No, but I didn't
Speaker 1: want to get on the record. The double why is
Speaker 1: the right way? Right? Oh? Absolutely, yeah, there's no other way.
Speaker 1: Everyone else just spelled it wrong. So exactly. Yeah. With
Speaker 1: that being said, super excited to talk about this matchup
Speaker 1: with you. The game obviously gets flex to Sunday night football.
Speaker 1: Everyone loves Justin Herbert and everyone loves Patrick Mahomes. Everyone
Speaker 1: gets to see it on the national stage. We talk
Speaker 1: about it. On the Charter side, these games are always wild,
Speaker 1: They're always funder when James is saying, they always come
Speaker 1: down to the fourth quarter, which it always feels like
Speaker 1: from your perspective on the Kansas City side, what are
Speaker 1: these Chargers Chiefs games like? I mean it's another AFC
Speaker 1: West you know game. They're always the divisual games always,
Speaker 1: no matter what the record is, are always going to
Speaker 1: be crazy games. It doesn't matter if it's Broncos, who
Speaker 1: you would look at and be like, at this point,
Speaker 1: that's an easy win. Somehow, it's going to be something
Speaker 1: crazy and right. You got the Chargers in the Chiefs
Speaker 1: who both have these young, dynamic quarterbacks who always are
Speaker 1: ready for a shootout. The passing yards are always absurd
Speaker 1: in these games. I think you can never count out
Speaker 1: a matchup like this being just an easy blow up
Speaker 1: or excuse me, blowout. It's always going to be something
Speaker 1: weird or wonky happens. I mean it just does. It
Speaker 1: delivers good primetime television. I think that's why the game
Speaker 1: got flex right because everyone sees what happens when you
Speaker 1: put a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes who hates losing and
Speaker 1: anything to do with it against another quarterback who's kind
Speaker 1: of pushing at knocking at the door. Now, we might
Speaker 1: not have, you know, the glorified postseason run that Mahomes
Speaker 1: has right now, but he also has it had the
Speaker 1: utilities Mahomes has or the coaching staff that the Chiefs
Speaker 1: have been able to put together under Andy Reid's trees.
Speaker 1: So I think that this is always a fun one.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if the Chargers are as beat up
Speaker 1: as they are. This is a game that is a
Speaker 1: divisional game and it has a little extra meaning behind it.
Speaker 1: So I think the players come to play, not that
Speaker 1: they don't on every given Sunday, but this is a
Speaker 1: matchup that I think is going to deliver. And I
Speaker 1: think the NFL gods and obviously NBC saw that this
Speaker 1: was worthy of primetime. Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker 1: And I laugh when you say weird, because that is
Speaker 1: always how we describe it is bizarre. It's bizarre any
Speaker 1: AFC West gave, truly, But they're just always weird. They're
Speaker 1: just always weird and wild. It's like the Wus in
Speaker 1: the West. I guess you can just call it that
Speaker 1: a weird wild and what were we I don't even
Speaker 1: know what that would do. Yeah, there you go. But
Speaker 1: you know it's funny too, because I want to talk
Speaker 1: about the Chiefs specifically with you, and Chargers fans listening
Speaker 1: are probably gonna go, it's the Chiefs. We know the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: But granted these teams are different. They last met in
Speaker 1: week two, they're gonna meet here again in week eleven.
Speaker 1: How is Kansas City a different team from the last
Speaker 1: time the Chargers saw them. Well, I think one of
Speaker 1: the biggest things is that the Chiefs have one of
Speaker 1: the best, if not the best kicker in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and that's Harrison Bucker, who's basically at the top of
Speaker 1: all kickers, and he was out after having an injury
Speaker 1: during Week one against the Cards slipping on the turf,
Speaker 1: had an ankle I don't't think it was a high
Speaker 1: ankle sprain, but definitely an ankle spring that is still
Speaker 1: bothering him to this day. And now we're a week eleven.
Speaker 1: He was out in that game and they had to
Speaker 1: rely on another backup kicker, which people don't realize how
Speaker 1: much special teams matters until it matters, And I think
Speaker 1: that that's going to play a big role when they
Speaker 1: have that unit. But also, you know, flash forward to
Speaker 1: a team that now has a dude like Darius Tony
Speaker 1: that they just got from the Giants who's been putting
Speaker 1: up amazing, you know percentages. He put up another his
Speaker 1: first touchdown in the league, his first touchdown with the
Speaker 1: Chiefs last weekend. So you have sometimes I literally have
Speaker 1: to sit back Haley and be like, how many more
Speaker 1: offensive weapons does Patrick Mahomes need. They just continue to
Speaker 1: bring in people. They bring in Jujus Smith Schuster during
Speaker 1: the offseason. I'm like, great, awesome, that's a great you know,
Speaker 1: a great catch. It's gonna be amazing. Mcole Hardman's on
Speaker 1: a contract year. He starts to pick up. Then we
Speaker 1: bring in more offensive power. We're bringing more defensive power.
Speaker 1: And it's like Brett Veach, who's the general manager for
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, he just is he would trade his mom
Speaker 1: away if it meant that the Chiefs are going to win.
Speaker 1: So the man brings in anyone and everyone to build
Speaker 1: up Mahome's arsenal. So I think the Chiefs also in
Speaker 1: those first couple of seasons, just naturally as any other
Speaker 1: team does, they work through those kinks they work through
Speaker 1: keeping getting away from keeping games close, not playing with
Speaker 1: your food right, getting rid of it, finishing the game
Speaker 1: as quickly as you can. And so I think that
Speaker 1: they had a few of those key injuries in the beginning,
Speaker 1: and they were also still trying to work through the
Speaker 1: timing because the biggest thing in football is that chemistry matters.
Speaker 1: And if you don't have chemistry with your QB one
Speaker 1: as a receiver or as an offensive weapon, or even
Speaker 1: as a running back, if you don't have that developed
Speaker 1: quite yet. There were a lot of new pieces, so
Speaker 1: week two, they weren't all together quite yet. Feel like
Speaker 1: now mid season they're hitting their stride. Which is the
Speaker 1: perfect time to hit your stride, right, this is an
Speaker 1: opportunity to be up three games in the AFC West
Speaker 1: if they win on Sunday. So this team is hitting
Speaker 1: their stride, and I think with the new additional pieces
Speaker 1: they brought in, that's the difference you're going to see,
Speaker 1: especially going up. And I hate to say the Chargers
Speaker 1: are so banged up right now. And I know you
Speaker 1: guys might have a few of those key receivers back
Speaker 1: this week, it's still going to be a really hard
Speaker 1: matchup when you're down that much in your depth chart. Oh,
Speaker 1: it always is, and they're always a team that you
Speaker 1: know offensively, they have so much firepower. I mean, dear God,
Speaker 1: God bless Veach's mom and hopefully she doesn't get out
Speaker 1: because you're right though. I mean, even when the Tony
Speaker 1: trade happened, it's like, Okay, well, you know, he hasn't
Speaker 1: totally panned out in the NFL yet, but then he's
Speaker 1: done what he's done with the Chiefs thus far, and
Speaker 1: it's like, of course, of course he's working out, And
Speaker 1: we make the joke on this side like I'm surious. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll get to him in a second. But I want
Speaker 1: to go back to Patrick Mahomes because he's having what
Speaker 1: many are calling an MVP caliber season at this point.
Speaker 1: What is working so well for him when really the
Speaker 1: whole offseason story was what is it going to be
Speaker 1: like without Tyreek Hill? And I think you're right. You
Speaker 1: hit the nail on the head. That was the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes without Tyreek Hill. And
Speaker 1: I think this is the year that he is proving
Speaker 1: that he still is going to be great with or
Speaker 1: without Tyreek. And also Tyreek vice versa is proving that
Speaker 1: he's still Tyreek Hill without Patrick Mahomes, and I think
Speaker 1: that was a really big thing for both of those
Speaker 1: players to prove. And it's really Mahomes now that we
Speaker 1: I mean, if you look at the rest of the league,
Speaker 1: the MVP is Mahomes is to lose if he continues
Speaker 1: to just put up those average Mahomes games, and that's
Speaker 1: your He doesn't need a throw or have four hundred
Speaker 1: plus yards every game, as long as he's in that
Speaker 1: three hundred yards you know, a touchdown here or two.
Speaker 1: He leads like drastically in touchdowns, so he's far ahead
Speaker 1: of where he needs to be to lock in that MVP. Again,
Speaker 1: if the Chiefs keep winning and he keeps putting up
Speaker 1: average Mahomes games, then he's going to be great. And
Speaker 1: I think the biggest difference is proving that down. You know,
Speaker 1: he's fifth year as a starter, proving that he can
Speaker 1: continually do that. Because they're greats all the time, right,
Speaker 1: but continually being great is what makes you one of
Speaker 1: the goats, right, That's what makes you. With Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: it's continually putting those type of years back to back
Speaker 1: to back, and I think he's proving, Hey, I am
Speaker 1: taking the checkdowns, I'm not always throwing out Mahome's magic.
Speaker 1: I'm maturing in my game. I'm comfortable staying in the pocket.
Speaker 1: I think for him that's been a really big advantage
Speaker 1: of why he's being in this conversation of MVP this year.
Speaker 1: I think it's a great point you make, because sometimes
Speaker 1: I think we take greatness for granted. I think we're
Speaker 1: sometimes so used to it, we're numb to it. Because
Speaker 1: when these certain caliber of players do it at a
Speaker 1: high level, it's even like justin Herbert last season, it's like, well, great,
Speaker 1: you know there's another like record setting year, Like there's
Speaker 1: another franchise, you know, record rookie, you know, first two
Speaker 1: year player record, whatever it is that you almost take
Speaker 1: it for granted. But the consistency is so key, and
Speaker 1: that is what we are seeing from him when you know,
Speaker 1: we've sort of seen them maybe have go through some
Speaker 1: rough patches over the last no season or so, but
Speaker 1: then they figure it out, and he's certainly got it
Speaker 1: figured out this year. It seems to be clicking and
Speaker 1: I'm not going to complain. So yeah, so let's get
Speaker 1: to Kadarius Tony you met. He scored his first touchdown
Speaker 1: last week. What has he added to this offense? He's
Speaker 1: a smart man. I'm gonna tell you that he is.
Speaker 1: He's a young kid, but he's smart. We're even talking
Speaker 1: with Travis Kelsey the other day, who was talking just
Speaker 1: about how high his football IQ is and whenever a
Speaker 1: trade happens, the guys are in the locker room and
Speaker 1: they're kind of thinking, Okay, this is great, but what's
Speaker 1: wrong with him? You know, like, does he have an
Speaker 1: attitude issue? Is he not a team player? What's gonna
Speaker 1: be what's gonna be the factor that were It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I get it. That's why it wasn't clicking in their
Speaker 1: locker room, and that's why we're gonna have like what
Speaker 1: are we gonna have to put up with to use
Speaker 1: his talent? And and speaking with Travis, he was like,
Speaker 1: there's nothing, there's nothing. I'm I'm just as shocked as
Speaker 1: everyone else's. The guy is smart, he's a hard worker.
Speaker 1: He puts his head down, he learns the playbook, coach
Speaker 1: read Patrick Mahomes. They're all singing his praises of how
Speaker 1: quickly he's picking up this offense, and Andy Reid offense
Speaker 1: is not easy to pick up, especially for what he
Speaker 1: asks of his receivers to do. It usually takes them
Speaker 1: multiple years to kind of get that second nature of
Speaker 1: what route they're going to be. But he has been
Speaker 1: just phenomenal off the bat, and then you see him
Speaker 1: in practice. You see how well he did on the
Speaker 1: few special teams reps he was getting, and then you
Speaker 1: see he has just an amazing game against the Jags.
Speaker 1: He basically hop scotches into the end zone on one foot,
Speaker 1: open right and then down the field. He has two
Speaker 1: defenders on him and he's, I think the best word
Speaker 1: to say, he's calm and comfortable, and that's something that
Speaker 1: they need in the receiver room. They have a lot
Speaker 1: of speed, they have a lot of skill set, but
Speaker 1: can you pair that skill set with the high football
Speaker 1: IQ and come together with a kid who's actually all
Speaker 1: about the team first and rather winning in his own
Speaker 1: individual stats. And it seems like that's what they have
Speaker 1: found in Tony. When we talk to him, the man
Speaker 1: is humbled down to earth, easy to talk to, but
Speaker 1: to hear that from other players, that's when you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this kid is really the real deal and he's showcased
Speaker 1: it here in Casey and maybe this is a system
Speaker 1: that better fits his skill set and it's going to
Speaker 1: prove why he deserved to be a first rounder. So well,
Speaker 1: just a very tip of what we've seen for him.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious to see how he goes down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I bet he's going to be a huge part in
Speaker 1: this postseason. Well, I think he's a huge part right
Speaker 1: now because as much as you mentioned all these different
Speaker 1: weapons for Patrick Mahomes, there is some attrition that the
Speaker 1: receiver room is facing right now. What are some updates
Speaker 1: that you may be able to share on some of
Speaker 1: those guys who may or may not be available on Sunday.
Speaker 1: So we had good news today. Marquis Valda Scantlin is
Speaker 1: back at practice. He was dealing with some kind of
Speaker 1: illness yesterday. He was back on Thursday. It's looking like
Speaker 1: he should be able to go this weekend. The biggest
Speaker 1: one is really Juju Smith, Schuster and McCole Hardman who
Speaker 1: McCole has been out. He missed last week. That was
Speaker 1: his first NFL game since being drafted in twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: to ever miss, and it's due to what they're saying
Speaker 1: is illness in the abdomen. We don't know exactly what
Speaker 1: that means, but we do know it's serious. We know
Speaker 1: that he has from other reports been in the hospital
Speaker 1: dealing with certain things. And again we don't know what
Speaker 1: it is and I can't officially say anything that it is.
Speaker 1: It's just from speculation of Okay, he's not feeling luck
Speaker 1: because he missed the game and now he's been out
Speaker 1: all practice this week as well, missing yesterday and today.
Speaker 1: So that's not looking hopeful. And that's you know, one
Speaker 1: of Patrick Mahomes's favorite targets, especially outside of Travis Kelcey.
Speaker 1: That's the main target for him. And then you look
Speaker 1: at Jujus fith Schuster, who has again hit that stride
Speaker 1: with Mahomes and now kind of they're finding that perfect timing.
Speaker 1: You saw him come up big in the last three games,
Speaker 1: and he took a violent hit last week against the Jags,
Speaker 1: and I mean he took a hit so hard that
Speaker 1: you know, the brain injury is so serious. When your
Speaker 1: hands we all saw Twa do this, when your hands
Speaker 1: start going back. It's just a brain's natural reaction to
Speaker 1: taking damage like that. And so he was in concussion
Speaker 1: protocol immediately, he's still in protocol, Hecko Jenny Reid saying yesterday,
Speaker 1: it's a day by day thing. We'll find out maybe
Speaker 1: Friday if he is able to get out of that.
Speaker 1: But we you know, that's an up in the air thing.
Speaker 1: So if those two top receivers are out, a lot
Speaker 1: of that work is going to have to fall on
Speaker 1: other receivers like Justin Watson, who they got from Tampa,
Speaker 1: who he's been huge and clutch opportune times, and then
Speaker 1: also rely heavily on their new edition Tony. It's kind
Speaker 1: of interesting because it's like two down, there's still four
Speaker 1: to go. So unless you get rid of a six
Speaker 1: man wide receiver room all in one plague, I don't
Speaker 1: know how you're going to really stop the Chiefs, but
Speaker 1: I think they'll have enough weapons. It's just that those
Speaker 1: are two key weapons they're gonna be missing, So especially
Speaker 1: against the Chargers defense, it's gonna be a it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a challenge for sure. Well, moving from the air
Speaker 1: to the ground. Another challenge that this Chargers defense will
Speaker 1: face is going up against the Chiefs run game. They
Speaker 1: saw a lot of Clyde Edwards Hilaire in week two.
Speaker 1: But what is going on with that rotation right now? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's not there, he's they say, they said today the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Eric being me saying today that we give
Speaker 1: it to the hand that's hot. It's nothing to do
Speaker 1: with Clarde. It's just having to do that. Checo, the
Speaker 1: rookie is hot right now. So we're going to keep
Speaker 1: continue feeding him and feed Jerick McKinnon in those third
Speaker 1: down situations and that's going to be the rotation and
Speaker 1: tell something switches. Clyde's handled it like a professional. He's
Speaker 1: been coaching up Pacheco on the sideline. You see him
Speaker 1: after a fumble or after Pacheco had a fumble, He's
Speaker 1: the first one over there telling him keep your head up,
Speaker 1: keep yourself in the game. I mean, he's been a
Speaker 1: class act through and through for a rookie who seems
Speaker 1: to have taken his starting position. So, I mean, from
Speaker 1: what they're saying this week, expect to see very little
Speaker 1: of Clyde Edwards Laire. Expect to see a lot of
Speaker 1: Jerick McKinnon and Pacheco. That's going to be. You know,
Speaker 1: if they're going by the whole feed the hot hand,
Speaker 1: then that's probably what's going to be happening, and it's unfortunate,
Speaker 1: but it hasn't worked out for Edwards Laire it really
Speaker 1: hasn't and he had a bright start to the season,
Speaker 1: but again it kind of faded back again in the
Speaker 1: run game, and that's something the Chiefs have not been
Speaker 1: able to develop fully or to the ability that they've
Speaker 1: wanted to develop it. So we're going to see how
Speaker 1: things shake out. But I expect to a lot of Pacheco,
Speaker 1: especially against It's kind of nice running against the Charger,
Speaker 1: so I know that they're going to probably try to
Speaker 1: plug it as much as they can. A lot of
Speaker 1: attrition there, a lot of two more defensive linemen placed
Speaker 1: on injured reserve. This we have been a tough go
Speaker 1: up front. I mean I've been with the team for
Speaker 1: nine seasons and twenty fifteen was a really horrible injury
Speaker 1: riddle year. This is probably second to that. It is
Speaker 1: just really but you never want to hear that too.
Speaker 1: I always you always want the Chiefs to play the
Speaker 1: most healthy team right and everyone to be healthy because
Speaker 1: you want to see the best with the best. But
Speaker 1: that's what football is, and we'll just have to see
Speaker 1: how it pans out. It is, so now let's flip
Speaker 1: to the Chiefs defense. I was listening to Sirius XMNFL
Speaker 1: radio the other day. Pat Kerwin was on his Moving
Speaker 1: the Change program and he was talking to a Chiefs
Speaker 1: fan who called in and they were talking about the
Speaker 1: Chiefs defense and he mentioned, yeah, it's all good. As
Speaker 1: the season rolls on, it's a good thing for you guys.
Speaker 1: Packerwin was saying, as the season rolls on, he feels
Speaker 1: like the Spags defense really finds its groove and hits
Speaker 1: its stride. Is that how you feel? They're like a
Speaker 1: week eleven, week twelve kind of crew. Maybe we'll throw
Speaker 1: a Week ten in there. Spags has a hard defensive
Speaker 1: I mean a hard defensive playbook to learn and talking
Speaker 1: with veterans who have come we had a guy named
Speaker 1: Justin Reid come in this past season as a safety
Speaker 1: from the Texans, and I remember one of the first
Speaker 1: things he said was, this is the deepest, hardest playbook
Speaker 1: I've ever had to learn. And his I mean, this
Speaker 1: is a this is a engineer from Stanford who's got
Speaker 1: a football IQ probably higher than most of our regular IQs.
Speaker 1: Like this man is smart, and he was like, this
Speaker 1: is a deep playbook and it takes a long time
Speaker 1: to learn, and I think that shows by the Chiefs
Speaker 1: defense hitting their stride late. You got, of course, a
Speaker 1: lot of returning players who already know the defensive playbook,
Speaker 1: but you're bringing in a lot of rookies this past offseason,
Speaker 1: and you also brought in a veteran like Carlos Dunlap.
Speaker 1: Frank Clark was out the past two couple of games.
Speaker 1: So now it's kind of everyone's healthy and everyone's back,
Speaker 1: and all these rookies are no and they even said
Speaker 1: it today, the rookies are no longer considered rookies. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's week eleven. You either got it or you don't,
Speaker 1: and you're either learning it or you're not. And the
Speaker 1: defense seems to be like hitting their stride because they're
Speaker 1: all sudden learning it. And I don't know what it
Speaker 1: is to do with Spags system or what it is
Speaker 1: to do with this Chiefs unit, but for some reason,
Speaker 1: it picks up at the right time, and that means
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are winning at the right time down the stretch,
Speaker 1: which is postseason play. So I mean, it's all good
Speaker 1: things here. So when it comes to some of those rookies.
Speaker 1: One that the Chargers did not see in Week two
Speaker 1: was Trent McDuffie in the secondary. He is now back.
Speaker 1: What is he shown in his return to this defensive lineup. Well,
Speaker 1: he had one hell of a past breakup last last
Speaker 1: week against the Sorry I don't know if I'm supposed
Speaker 1: to say that, but against the Jags, because it's it's true.
Speaker 1: It was so impressive that this rookie also he you know,
Speaker 1: he went to like the DV Nation in Washington, which
Speaker 1: they really pride themselves on their secondary. But the thing
Speaker 1: is that Chiefs traded away or Shad Finn, who was
Speaker 1: their kind of their their veteran player in the second dairy,
Speaker 1: and now the majority of their players in the secondary
Speaker 1: are all like twenty three, twenty four and under. I
Speaker 1: think twenty six was the oldest, and that was Rashad
Speaker 1: and they obviously were part of ways with him. So
Speaker 1: this is a very young defensive secondary and they've picked
Speaker 1: up things pretty well. And like I was saying, the
Speaker 1: rookies are no longer the rookies anymore. It's week eleven,
Speaker 1: and they pride themselves and that. When we're talking with
Speaker 1: Trent earlier this week, he was saying the things along
Speaker 1: the lines of, we take so much pride in the
Speaker 1: fact that we're able to have the success we do
Speaker 1: at this very young age, and we're going to continue
Speaker 1: to use that as motivation to show this league that
Speaker 1: we mean business. And he is a key element of it,
Speaker 1: not only because of his athleticism, but his football IQ
Speaker 1: and the fact that he is a natural born leader.
Speaker 1: And if a team trust a secondary that is that
Speaker 1: young to be in the hands of this new rookie,
Speaker 1: then obviously this kid's something special. So he immediately showed
Speaker 1: an impact in the past at these two weeks that
Speaker 1: he's been back now and I continue to fully against
Speaker 1: a quarterback, like I asked him about that yesterday, Like,
Speaker 1: you're going up against Justin Herbert. This is a guy
Speaker 1: who you know can sling it and he can throw it,
Speaker 1: throw it very long downfield. Are you guys ready for that?
Speaker 1: And he's like, honestly, I'm just eager for the challenge.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying I'm not gonna talk any trash from Herbert.
Speaker 1: I'm just ready for this challenge. So it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see. But he's been he's been a dynamic part,
Speaker 1: not only because of his skill set, but because of
Speaker 1: his leadership. Well, we look forward to this challenge. Final
Speaker 1: question for you, what do you think is a Kira
Speaker 1: a factor in how this game plays out? I think
Speaker 1: it's Special Teams. I know again, I know that we
Speaker 1: both know this. We both know that both offenses are
Speaker 1: going to do exceptional things. Whether that's because of Herbert
Speaker 1: or Holmes, who knows, but they always just do freakish
Speaker 1: things when they see not even yeah, I'm not even concerned.
Speaker 1: And then you see the defense, and the defense always
Speaker 1: comes up big and somehow Mahomes and Herbert always gets
Speaker 1: sacked in these games. So I'm not I'm not concerned
Speaker 1: about that. I'm concerned about whose third unit, which is
Speaker 1: going to be Special Teams, keeps it intact, keeps all
Speaker 1: those little things you don't think of during the game
Speaker 1: in a very very clean unit. And if they can
Speaker 1: have a clean game, then I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be really important. They're missing one of their big guys,
Speaker 1: Chris Lamon's he's in concussion protocol for the Chiefs. He's
Speaker 1: kind of one of those multi phase Special Teams guys
Speaker 1: that they use a lot, and so they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to use multiple people to fill in that role for him,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a lot of young guys to
Speaker 1: do that, so leadership in the secondary. Also, now that
Speaker 1: they have their starting kickerback, he's missed a lot of
Speaker 1: pats and field goals in the past couple of games,
Speaker 1: and that is so uncharacteristic, like out of him because
Speaker 1: he's still injured. So I think that third unit. A
Speaker 1: lot of people think, oh, yeah, it's just offensive defense
Speaker 1: win the game, but it really special teams. That's a
Speaker 1: huge role that we almost just take for granted. So
Speaker 1: I think that's going to come into play. And this
Speaker 1: one because mahomes Magic Herbert throwing a long ball, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's just going to happen. We know, it's just the
Speaker 1: tired you know storyline. So this one's probably going to
Speaker 1: come down to who can keep it clean on special teams.
Speaker 1: I love that answer because that's a phase that never
Speaker 1: gets talked about. It's like an offensive lineman. You never
Speaker 1: want to talk about it. You never want to hear
Speaker 1: the numbers called unless it's something good, because usually amazing,
Speaker 1: it's something bad. But it's a great answer. Haley, Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining me. Thank thank you so much. We
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I appreciate always being here, and I wish,
Speaker 1: I wish I could see you a person, and we
Speaker 1: could we could meet up in LA. But hopefully sometime
Speaker 1: in the postseason, we'll see how things go, we'll do
Speaker 1: a little Haley meet up. That's the go