Evolution of the Safety | Chiefs vs. Vikings Preview feat. Mike Edwards | Defending the Kingdom

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Speaker 1: It’s starting to become big news in the National Football League.

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Speaker 1: That is the Kansas City Chiefs defense, which has been

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Speaker 1: stellar in the first four weeks of the season. This

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Speaker 1: episode of Defending the Kingdom will dive even deeper into

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Speaker 1: that defense, especially the safety position as Mike Edwards, the

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Speaker 1: former world champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beating the

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Speaker 1: Chiefs in Super Bowl fifty five, has moved over to

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Speaker 1: the good side. But Steve Spagnolo is changing the way

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Speaker 1: that we in the Chiefs Kingdom look at safeties and

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Speaker 1: it’s changing in the NFL as well. This Defending the Kingdom,

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Speaker 1: of course, is brought to you by ticket Master, your

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Speaker 1: new best friend in getting the hottest ticket right now

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Speaker 1: in the region and maybe in the country, and that

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Speaker 1: is tickets to the Kansas City Chiefs football games at

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Speaker 1: home or on the road. Hand off near.

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Speaker 2: Side Brook and Tackle.

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Speaker 1: It’s Pacheco forty online, thirty five Jersey at twenty five

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Speaker 1: twenty anglic fifteen ten five touchdown Kansas, Hey, Welcome home.

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Speaker 1: Isaiah Pacheco gets a forty eight yard touchdown run for

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Speaker 1: the Chiefs Kingdom. How everyone, I’m Mitchelt’s voice of the

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Speaker 1: Chiefs joined by senior team reporter Matt McMullen. This episode’s

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Speaker 1: going to be a fun one because we’re going to

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Speaker 1: talk about the evolution of the safety position, not just

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Speaker 1: in the National Football League, but especially with the Kansas

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Speaker 1: City Chiefs, because honestly, I think the Chiefs matter leading

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Speaker 1: the way in this in the way that they’re employing

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Speaker 1: the so called safety position.

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Speaker 3: This is something that we’ve talked about for years now

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Speaker 3: with Steve Spagnolo that oftentimes defensive backs are that they’re

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Speaker 3: defensive backs, they’re not safeties or corners. And we’re definitely

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Speaker 3: seeing that with our safeties this season because they’re so versatile.

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Speaker 3: They can do so many different things. And when you

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Speaker 3: see three safety sets, even four safety sets, that’s Spags

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Speaker 3: showing confidence in his guys that they can do various things.

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Speaker 3: They can be a hybrid linebacker, they can be a

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Speaker 3: hybrid corner, a slot corner. They can do all this

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Speaker 3: different stuff because if they were just pigeonholed as a

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Speaker 3: free safety or a strong safety, they wouldn’t be out

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Speaker 3: there in this defense. And we’re so fortunate to have

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Speaker 3: some really versatile, athletic, dynamic safeties on this team that

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Speaker 3: we’ll talk about over the next twenty minutes.

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Speaker 1: So again, Mike Edwards will join us later on in

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Speaker 1: the podcast. Just really a fascinating guy for a lot

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Speaker 1: of reasons, but coming in here as a undrafted a

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Speaker 1: free agent, I should say, an unrestricted free agent coming

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Speaker 1: after his time in Tampa Bay. But before we do that,

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Speaker 1: and before we go into the versatility of the safety

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Speaker 1: position and how it’s changing in the league, let’s travel

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Speaker 1: around the world.

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Speaker 3: Got five for you once again, trying to get into

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Speaker 3: the rhythm with the five every week. I’ll get to everyone, though,

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Speaker 3: I promise we had lots of submissions this week.

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Speaker 1: We’ve got any Saudi Arabians that got a lot of

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Speaker 1: you defending the Kingdom. Podcasters were like, oh, that’s cool,

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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia.

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Speaker 3: Nothing from Saudi Arabia this week. If you’re in Saudi Arabia,

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Speaker 3: let us know. I do have Brandy from Winterport, Maine,

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Speaker 3: yep Oscars from London and he’ll be going to the

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Speaker 3: Chiefs game here in Kansas City on Christmas Day against

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Speaker 3: the Raiders. He’s very much looking forward to it. So

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Speaker 3: pretty cool.

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Speaker 1: He’s not into the London Jaguars, who’s playing in London

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Speaker 1: every week? It seems like this year.

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Speaker 3: Well, I bet he’s wearing his Chiefs jersey around London

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Speaker 3: this past weekend and this upcoming weekend, when for sure

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Speaker 3: the Jags play in London once again.

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Speaker 1: Against the Bills. Wear that jersey, man, we’ve already played

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Speaker 1: the Jags beat the Bills.

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Speaker 3: Carlos is from the Dominican Republic listening to DTK, Steve,

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Speaker 3: this is a cool one. He’s in the Phoenix area.

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Speaker 3: He was a season ticket member though for twenty three years,

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Speaker 3: and his move to Phoenix was contingent on the fact

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Speaker 3: of getting ANFL Sunday ticket so he could still watch

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Speaker 3: the Chiefs every single Sunday. And he listens to every

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Speaker 3: episode of DTK. So that’s one of my favorite things

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Speaker 3: is for people that move away from Kansas City, we

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Speaker 3: can still give them a part of home. So Steve, thanks.

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Speaker 1: For listen about priorities in life. Now it is that’s

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Speaker 1: a big priority. Where am I moving. I’ll think I

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Speaker 1: can I get direct TV if I go to Phoenix,

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Speaker 1: And he had to love Super Bowl fifty seven right

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Speaker 1: in his backyard.

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Speaker 2: And now it’s YouTube TV, so it’s much easier.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for sure.

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Speaker 3: The last one for you, we have Perry in Doma

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Speaker 3: get Day City, Philippines do mcgittay City, Philippines. I practiced

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Speaker 3: that a few times and probably still butchered it. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: listener of the Philippines, shout out to Perry.

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Speaker 1: Love it. Love our defending the Kingdom fans all around

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Speaker 1: the world, and you should be loving this Kansas City

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Speaker 1: Chiefs defense, which has really been one of the surprise

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Speaker 1: of the National Football League in this first four game

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Speaker 1: stretch of the NFL season, the Chiefs at three to one,

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Speaker 1: and you can say, now, Jacksonville and the Jets game

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Speaker 1: has been caused mainly by just great defensive stops in

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Speaker 1: the Jacksonville game, something you rarely see in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: where the Chiefs had stops and no touchdowns for the

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Speaker 1: Jags with they had first down at the seventeen to

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Speaker 1: fourteen and the one on three separate possessions and scored

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Speaker 1: no touchdowns. Okay, in the Jets game, which ended up

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Speaker 1: being a knockdown dragout, the Jets had the ball near

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Speaker 1: midfield three critical second half possessions after a forty three

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Speaker 1: yard run by Breise Hall, and they got no points,

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Speaker 1: zero zero zero. That’s hard to do. Matt In this

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Speaker 1: day and age of the NFL.

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Speaker 3: Particularly in that Jets game, think about the circumstances. The

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Speaker 3: Jets have absolutely nothing to lose in that game. They

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Speaker 3: lost Aaron Rodgers five snaps into the season. The season

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Speaker 3: is kind of gravy for them. Whatever happens happens. There’s

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Speaker 3: no expectations, so they were playing with no pressure. They’re

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Speaker 3: just going out there and seeing what happens. And all

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Speaker 3: of a sudden, when momentum starts going against the Chiefs

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Speaker 3: and we’re facing a very good defense in New York,

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Speaker 3: New York starts thinking they can win that game, and

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Speaker 3: it’s tied, and Breese Hall has that huge run gets

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Speaker 3: the Jets to midfield. Then all of a sudden, the

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Speaker 3: Chiefs defense said, enough of this. We’re done with this.

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Speaker 3: We’re going to win the game right here and now

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Speaker 3: and get the ball back to our offense. Even though

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Speaker 3: the offense is struggling, we know they’re going to find

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Speaker 3: a way to win this game. And on three straight possessions,

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Speaker 3: the Chiefs just close the door and we’re going to

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Speaker 3: talk to Mike Edwards later. And Mike was right in

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Speaker 3: the middle of several of those third down stops but

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Speaker 3: to make sure that New York, with all the momentum

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Speaker 3: in the world, could not really have a real shot

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Speaker 3: at taking the lead late in the fourth quarter was

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Speaker 3: all on the defense. They were spectacular, of course, the

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Speaker 3: fumble recovery on that last possession for New York with

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Speaker 3: like eight minutes left. The Jets never saw the ball

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Speaker 3: again after that. And Brian Cook at safety for the Chiefs,

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Speaker 3: a player that we’re going to talk about a lot

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Speaker 3: this season. His open field touchdown saving tackle on Breis

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Speaker 3: Hall to make sure that the Jets didn’t take the

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Speaker 3: lead might have seemed inconsequential. At the time you’re watching

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Speaker 3: the game, You’re just upset that Breeze Hall had this

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Speaker 3: big run, but Brian Cook saved the touchdown there. The

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Speaker 3: Jets never moved further into Chief’s territory the rest of

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Speaker 3: the game. That play might have won the game for

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Speaker 3: the Chiefs.

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Speaker 1: It was the equivalent of a pick six. Now we

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Speaker 1: like to study numbers and look at it, but this

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Speaker 1: game again, we talk about the things that you forget

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Speaker 1: in five or six weeks that won’t show up necessarily

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Speaker 1: in a stat sheet, that will only show up as

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Speaker 1: an unassisted tackle. In essence, The value of that play

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Speaker 1: by Brian Cook was seven points. That leads us into

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Speaker 1: what we want to discuss in this podcas cast before

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Speaker 1: we talk to Mike, and that is what the Chiefs

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Speaker 1: are doing at the safety position. Now they set up

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Speaker 1: a go pro camera in the broadcast booth. During the

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Speaker 1: play by play of these Chiefs games, we see the

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Speaker 1: edited version. In the unedited version, you would see Matt,

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Speaker 1: who is spotting for me. Because all right, Matt, full

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Speaker 1: disclosure here for those of you who are listening, he’s

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Speaker 1: going to make a sign. For those of you watching,

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Speaker 1: you’ll see it. But this is a very common sign.

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Speaker 1: Do it, Matt, Sop that what we’re talking about, we’re

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Speaker 1: talking the safety position.

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Speaker 2: You’ll give it.

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Speaker 1: You’ll we have meetings before the game, and I said,

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Speaker 1: when we go to three safeties, talk safety. You got it,

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Speaker 1: Sop is a whole other episode. We did that last year,

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Speaker 1: but any we’ll do it again. But you’ll tell me

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Speaker 1: right before the snap because it’s such an integral part

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Speaker 1: of the Chiefs defense.

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Speaker 3: Now, sure, three fingers, three fingers up if you’re just listening,

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Speaker 3: three fingers up, and then I draw an ass in

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Speaker 3: the year three safeties or four safeties.

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Speaker 1: Because it’s so different in the last two to three

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Speaker 1: years in the National Football League the Chiefs right now,

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Speaker 1: you could argue, and I don’t have the exact formation

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Speaker 1: by snaps so far in the first four weeks, but

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Speaker 1: it’s almost turned into the base defense. Three safeties on

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Speaker 1: the field with two corners, two linebackers, and then four

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Speaker 1: up front. And those three safeties usually are Mike Edwards

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Speaker 1: we’re going to talk to in a second, Brian Cook,

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Speaker 1: you’ve already talked about, and then Justin Reid, who is

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Speaker 1: just having a magnificent start to the season, and then

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Speaker 1: you know the mix and match at the corner spots.

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Speaker 1: But to play three safeties in your nickel is not

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Speaker 1: normally the case, or hasn’t been the case in the

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Speaker 1: NFL over the past ten years.

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Speaker 3: And that’s why we call it big nickel, right A

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Speaker 3: big nickel is three safeties, and like I mentioned earlier,

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Speaker 3: you have to have the personnel to do it, otherwise

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Speaker 3: they’re going to get beat. The Chiefs are fortunate that

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Speaker 3: they have four players who are capable of starting safeties

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Speaker 3: in the NFL, and Dean Bush is on the practice

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Speaker 3: squad and played a bunch of games for this team

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Speaker 3: last year too. So when you have four safeties, maybe

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Speaker 3: even five if you bring up Deon Bush, you can

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Speaker 3: all start in the NFL and make plays. It’s a

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Speaker 3: great luxury to have because you can use them so

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Speaker 3: many different ways, and it puts so much pressure on

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Speaker 3: the opposing quarterback. Think about Justin Reid, for example, a

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Speaker 3: player who’s capable of playing that coverage free safety kind

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Speaker 3: of position. We saw what he did with his forcing

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Speaker 3: the interception essentially with his tip drill against Chicago a

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Speaker 3: few weeks ago. But he can also be like a

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Speaker 3: box safety. He can come down on a blitz. He

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Speaker 3: can stop a running back on a running play. Same

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Speaker 3: thing with Brian Cook. It’s one of the things I

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Speaker 3: loved about Brian Cook coming out of college. He split

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Speaker 3: his snaps his senior year at Cincinnati between running plays

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Speaker 3: and passing plays. He can go out and cover, but

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Speaker 3: also be an enforcer in the box. Mike Edbwoard’s coming

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Speaker 3: over from Tampa Bay where he was a starting safety

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Speaker 3: and they’re just Tampa two defense with two safeties for

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Speaker 3: the most part, comes in here now as the third

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Speaker 3: safety for the Chiefs. I mean, what a luxury to have.

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Speaker 3: You have a player who’s capable of being the second

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Speaker 3: safety anywhere else, and right now he’s our third safety.

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Speaker 3: And Shamari Connor, rookie out of Virginia Tech, super versatile

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Speaker 3: player for the Hokies who’s already making an impact during

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Speaker 3: his rookie season here in the NA. So it’s such

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Speaker 3: a luxury to have. These guys are so athletic, dynamic

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Speaker 3: and versatile. And I know SPAGS is having a great

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Speaker 3: time deploying them in different ways.

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Speaker 1: And fitting right into the room is Samari Connor, the

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Speaker 1: rookiet of Virginia Tech. And there will be times you’ll

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Speaker 1: give the four draw safeties and I’m like, wow, we

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Speaker 1: got four of these guys on the field. But it’s

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Speaker 1: almost like SPAGS requires these guys to be bilingual.

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Speaker 2: L J.

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Speaker 1: Snead was primarily a safety at the end of his

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Speaker 1: time at Louisiana Tech.

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Speaker 2: He’s now a corner.

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Speaker 1: But these safeties are asked to have corner skills, no

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Speaker 1: better skills with ball skills than maybe Mike Edwards. Matt

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Speaker 1: and I had a chance to catch up with the

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati native who now loves being in the Chiefs Kingdom.

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Speaker 1: This podcast featuring on the safety position in the National

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Speaker 1: Football League, and no better person to bring in than

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Speaker 1: Mike Edwards, who joins the Chiefs Kingdom this year. Now,

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Speaker 1: those of you who are watching and listening and Matt,

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Speaker 1: you know, the stories are always awesome when the bad

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Speaker 1: guy turns into the good guy.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: I brought my Super Bowl fifty five all right, spotting

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Speaker 1: boards right, and oh yeah, he’s right down here. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that flesh hitting secondary that the Buccaneers had. That’s when

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Speaker 1: he’s a bad guy. Now he’s a good guy. Here’s

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Speaker 1: the current boards right down here. You’re in the same

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Speaker 1: spot man.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So anyway, Mike Edwards, it’s awesome to have you here

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Speaker 1: and be a part of the Chiefs Kingdom.

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Speaker 4: And man, you’ve made an immediate impact, yes, sir, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: I love being here. That’s why I came here forward

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Speaker 4: to make some immediate impact plays.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 4: Grant turnovers is my big thing, trying to get the

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Speaker 4: ball back to our great offense.

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Speaker 2: So that’s what I’m trying to do. We gain a

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Speaker 2: week out.

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Speaker 3: We’ll start with the Jets game last week, particularly the

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Speaker 3: last three drives for New York. Game was really in

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Speaker 3: the balance there. The offense was having some struggles. You

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Speaker 3: guys stepped up big time, and you in particular. If

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Speaker 3: you look back at those final three drives, Mitch before

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Speaker 3: the fumble, So the very first drive I’m talking about,

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Speaker 3: you had to tackle on third down, Jets had to punt.

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Speaker 3: The very next one you had a PBu almost to

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Speaker 3: pick on third down, Jets had the punt. Just what

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Speaker 3: was the mentality like those last few drives making sure

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Speaker 3: New York didn’t get an inch there?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it was a big thing, a big,

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Speaker 4: big series, every every series we had. Like I said,

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Speaker 4: it’s crucial plays. They need to be need to be made,

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Speaker 4: and like I said, I gotta get about back the

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Speaker 4: ball to offense and those plays that third down we

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Speaker 4: got off the field by that tackle and then the

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Speaker 4: crucial third down third and eleven.

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Speaker 2: I take it through that play.

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Speaker 4: We was actually doubling Garretson in that play and l

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Speaker 4: J Man he’s he’s a phenomenal player, and he ended

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Speaker 4: up strowing him at the line, and I was like, oh,

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Speaker 4: I don’t have to worry about him. So I ended

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Speaker 4: up helping trend out and and I tried to break

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Speaker 4: on the ball and unfortunately I couldn’t get it, but

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Speaker 4: I made it made good.

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Speaker 2: Play, but I need to make it. Yeah, yeah, still

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Speaker 2: a PBu though, Yeah, for sure, for sure.

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Speaker 1: Well, you’ve been a playmaker and the ball hawk, and

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Speaker 1: I know that’s one of your nicknames. We know about

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Speaker 1: the pick sixers, but I want to ask about the

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Speaker 1: flee flicker play because ends up being another big play

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Speaker 1: minus ten. You get a minus ten sack, And we’re

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Speaker 1: talking about the safety position and how it’s changed and

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Speaker 1: how much have you seen it change in this league

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Speaker 1: since you joined it at nineteen. But let’s just take

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Speaker 1: the recognition on the fleet flicker play and making that

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Speaker 1: a big play defensively.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we was in man coverage and had a tight end,

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Speaker 4: my tight end up blocking and I actually didn’t see

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Speaker 4: the fleet flicker, but I did see h Da McCook

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Speaker 4: had the ball at first and I didn’t I seen

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Speaker 4: Zach Wilson had it at the end of Oh wow.

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Speaker 4: So I ended up chasing him down and got the

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Speaker 4: got the sack, but I didn’t see until the replay.

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Speaker 4: I ended up watching it. We had some guys open it.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it’s a it’s a trick play, so but

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Speaker 4: it was a big, big time play and I mean

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Speaker 4: helped my guys out.

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Speaker 2: So glad I got that.

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Speaker 4: Well.

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Speaker 3: Speaking of big time plays, you had your first pick

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Speaker 3: as a Chief against Chicago a few weeks ago. Now,

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Speaker 3: Justin made a great play on that to deflect the pass.

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Speaker 3: I want to ask you this, though he called it

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Speaker 3: a bait and take tip drill, was that just a

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Speaker 3: great reaction by him or was he actually playing mind

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Speaker 3: games there with Justin Fields and duping him out of football?

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Speaker 2: I believe he was a baiting him.

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Speaker 4: He’s a smart guy, wow, and and he was kind

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Speaker 4: of baiting him into thinking he was gonna take that

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Speaker 4: snag underneath and then he ended up dropping back and

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Speaker 4: getting a tip and phenomenal played by him.

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Speaker 2: He he was there as much credit that as me.

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Speaker 4: I had to eat the job. He made a phenomenal

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Speaker 4: play and I just have to come down over it.

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Speaker 4: All credit to Jay Red.

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Speaker 3: But when you’re watching that, because you’re a bit further back,

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Speaker 3: could you kind of tell what he was doing and

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Speaker 3: then all of a sudden you were ready for it,

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Speaker 3: like to walk us through that.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So we was getting like a cover two concept

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Speaker 4: and so my eyes is kind of go through my progression,

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Speaker 4: you know, to cover to number on receiver to the quarterback,

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Speaker 4: back to the number two receiver. So going through different questions,

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Speaker 4: I kind of seen Jay Reed jump up and I’ve

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Speaker 4: seen Claypool come across my face. So I was like,

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Speaker 4: all right, either Jay Red is gonna tip it or

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Speaker 4: Claypool was gonna try to catch it, and I have to,

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Speaker 4: you know, knock the ball out. Whatever I seen Jay

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Speaker 4: Ree get up, like jump up highs on the artist

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Speaker 4: might be a little tip where a little tip drill

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Speaker 4: would it was. So it was a great play by

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Speaker 4: him when the ball’s floating like that. Are those of

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Speaker 4: the hardest ones. Oh yeah, tough, especially when it’s like

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Speaker 4: going into high Yeah, that was tough. I mean it

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Speaker 4: might not look like it on TV or anything like that,

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Speaker 4: but yeah, that was a tough like.

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Speaker 2: The ones you’re supposed to case. Yeah, the tough one.

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Speaker 1: Matt and I are waiting for the first Chiefs Kingdom

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Speaker 1: pick six could be this week. You know, Minnesota leads

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Speaker 1: the league and giveaways, They’ve got eleven of them, but

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Speaker 1: we’re waiting for that pick six. If it happens, it

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Speaker 1: would be your fourth. You talk about being a ballhawk,

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Speaker 1: and you got the Cincinnati Reds lid going on for

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Speaker 1: those who aren’t watching, and that dude plays third base

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Speaker 1: for them. I mean, that’s the next star in the MLB.

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Speaker 1: That guy crazy.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, he’s crazy.

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Speaker 1: He looks like he could be in the NFL.

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Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, he’s so fast, he got a strong arm,

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Speaker 4: like either freak.

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Speaker 1: I’d pay money to watch him play. So I’m against

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Speaker 1: the Royals actually the summer. But Ballhawk, it’s like, did

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Speaker 1: you play some baseball?

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, big time baseball player.

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Speaker 1: So is that where it comes from, all these ball skills.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that was my favorite sport. Uh, probably my number

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Speaker 4: one sport growing up. I always play baseball. Played short

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Speaker 4: stop for the most, for the most play all over

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Speaker 4: the field, but short start was my main position, and

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Speaker 4: that’s why I kind of felt like I got my instincts,

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Speaker 4: my range and everything, so tracking the ball a little bit,

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Speaker 4: you know, the short stuff. You gotta make a lot

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Speaker 4: of plays back there, cover a lot of grounds, so

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Speaker 4: I feel like, definitely feel like baseball kind of helped

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Speaker 4: me playing safety back there, definitely.

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Speaker 1: Now you’re talking about quick reaction, I mean you’re you’re

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Speaker 1: walking through that flea flicker and we’re sitting like in

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Speaker 1: real time. That’s like, you know, metaseconds or right, but

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Speaker 1: you’re seeing them, you’re seeing everything in slow motion. How

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Speaker 1: much did the short stuff thing help?

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Speaker 4: That helps a lot? Helps a lot. Like I said,

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Speaker 4: you got to be on your toes. You got to

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Speaker 4: be able to move different real quick, and the ball

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Speaker 4: comes at you real quick, you know off of Baseball’s

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Speaker 4: comes rench you real quick.

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Speaker 2: So uh so, yeah, it.

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Speaker 4: Kind of just slows down for you when you think

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Speaker 4: about like the baseball instincts and things like that. So

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Speaker 4: it kind of just goes through progression and it kind

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Speaker 4: of slows down for you a little bit and just

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Speaker 4: got to come and make the play.

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Speaker 3: I want to ask you about one of your teammates

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Speaker 3: before one of your third down stops against the Jets,

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Speaker 3: Briest Hall had a forty three yard run and at

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Speaker 3: that point seemed like the Jets had a lot of momentum.

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Speaker 3: He didn’t score though, because of Brian Cook amazing open

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Speaker 3: field tackle for a young player to not give up

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Speaker 3: on the play and to make sure he tackled Breese

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Speaker 3: Hall there and then you guys got off the field

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Speaker 3: soon after.

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Speaker 2: What’s that say about Brian Oh, he’s he works.

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Speaker 4: Harder than I mean, you see him every day, every

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Speaker 4: day after practice working on just like little things. It’s

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Speaker 4: always something different, working on tackling, working on you know,

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Speaker 4: working on catching or whatever it may be. He’s always

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Speaker 4: after practice working and you know, I try I talk

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Speaker 4: to him, you know, just trying to be because I

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Speaker 4: know he’s only second year, his first time starting, so

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Speaker 4: I know he’s going through those different pains and everything,

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Speaker 4: different learning experiences things like that. But he’s taking on

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Speaker 4: really well. And like I told him after that play,

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Speaker 4: after we got off the field to the sideline, said dude,

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Speaker 4: like you don’t understand how big that play was.

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Speaker 2: Like I’m like, that does not go on in order.

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Speaker 4: I noticed, and I told him and I was like, dude,

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Speaker 4: like that’s phenomenal and like like I said, like I

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Speaker 4: was a look at the score right now, Like the

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Speaker 4: score would not we would be down right now if

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Speaker 4: it wasn’t for you. So that’s a big time play.

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Speaker 4: He was like, I appreciate it. I was like, yeah, good,

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Speaker 4: good play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Like it wasn’t a pick six or a touchdown,

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Speaker 3: but that play was one of the top five players

423
00:18:17,840 –> 00:18:20,439
Speaker 3: that won the game, hands down, no doubt. And you

424
00:18:20,480 –> 00:18:22,680
Speaker 3: told a soft camera that you played against Brian in

425
00:18:22,720 –> 00:18:23,440
Speaker 3: high school.

426
00:18:24,240 –> 00:18:26,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, well he did. He didn’t play.

427
00:18:26,320 –> 00:18:28,480
Speaker 4: He was a freshman when I was a senior, so

428
00:18:29,320 –> 00:18:32,399
Speaker 4: he didn’t he wasn’t playing. But yeah, they want Gomery

429
00:18:32,480 –> 00:18:35,119
Speaker 4: to run back for the uh for He was the

430
00:18:35,240 –> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 4: actual quarterback against that’s in that my senior year in

431
00:18:38,800 –> 00:18:39,360
Speaker 4: the playoffs.

432
00:18:39,400 –> 00:18:41,400
Speaker 2: Wow, so he’s big.

433
00:18:42,920 –> 00:18:45,600
Speaker 1: It’s a Cincinnati thing, you know, it’s just all Cincinnati

434
00:18:45,720 –> 00:18:46,040
Speaker 1: going on.

435
00:18:46,760 –> 00:18:47,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, Cincinnati guys.

436
00:18:47,800 –> 00:18:49,919
Speaker 1: How many quarterback powers did they run on you? Guys?

437
00:18:50,040 –> 00:18:54,919
Speaker 4: He was just running wing tea quarterback powers, half back sweep.

438
00:18:55,080 –> 00:18:58,400
Speaker 4: I’m like, dude, and the safety you like, you got

439
00:18:58,440 –> 00:18:59,440
Speaker 4: pass the ball once?

440
00:19:00,160 –> 00:19:02,480
Speaker 3: Come on, Now, you were probably okay, but there were

441
00:19:02,480 –> 00:19:04,080
Speaker 3: probably a bunch of guys that looked like Mitch and

442
00:19:04,119 –> 00:19:06,440
Speaker 3: I on that defense trying to tackle David Montgomery.

443
00:19:06,760 –> 00:19:11,199
Speaker 4: Yeah, like I said, we what sixteen, however old you are,

444
00:19:11,240 –> 00:19:13,480
Speaker 4: and it was like they got some big guys out there.

445
00:19:13,560 –> 00:19:15,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, like David Montgomery. He was.

446
00:19:15,480 –> 00:19:17,800
Speaker 4: He was a big back then too, so he got

447
00:19:17,800 –> 00:19:20,159
Speaker 4: some He grows some pounds on now, but he was

448
00:19:20,200 –> 00:19:21,720
Speaker 4: still pretty big back then.

449
00:19:21,880 –> 00:19:24,159
Speaker 3: Yeah, some one hundred and thirty pound linebackers trying to

450
00:19:24,200 –> 00:19:25,959
Speaker 3: tackle right David Montgomery.

451
00:19:26,160 –> 00:19:29,159
Speaker 1: Well, let’s don’t undersell the Wintonwoods Warriors here, which is

452
00:19:29,160 –> 00:19:32,879
Speaker 1: the alma mater of Mike Edwards. And one thing we

453
00:19:32,880 –> 00:19:36,040
Speaker 1: always look into the background. But you were transformational in

454
00:19:36,160 –> 00:19:39,920
Speaker 1: changing Kentucky football. You got him to a top ten

455
00:19:39,960 –> 00:19:43,400
Speaker 1: battle against Georgia. It was eight versus nine and Kentucky

456
00:19:43,800 –> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 1: thought to be Hoops right all that and with coach Stoops,

457
00:19:47,920 –> 00:19:50,720
Speaker 1: Matt House who was here as defensive coordinator, as your guy,

458
00:19:51,160 –> 00:19:53,120
Speaker 1: but you guys changed Kentucky football.

459
00:19:53,200 –> 00:19:56,240
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, Yeah, I was pretty much the main reason

460
00:19:56,280 –> 00:19:59,119
Speaker 4: why I came to Kentucky. Why committed to Kentucky. You

461
00:19:59,240 –> 00:20:02,280
Speaker 4: had some top off we offer them all over the place,

462
00:20:02,320 –> 00:20:04,920
Speaker 4: but I wanted to go to a place where I can,

463
00:20:05,160 –> 00:20:06,639
Speaker 4: you know, say I was one of the guys that

464
00:20:06,640 –> 00:20:10,280
Speaker 4: could change the program around. It started in thirteen. He

465
00:20:10,320 –> 00:20:12,000
Speaker 4: got the Stoops got there in thirteen. I got there

466
00:20:12,040 –> 00:20:14,800
Speaker 4: in fourteen, and our class was that class. It was

467
00:20:14,880 –> 00:20:17,399
Speaker 4: just like, all right, it might be that class, you

468
00:20:17,480 –> 00:20:19,720
Speaker 4: know what I mean. So we got some guys come

469
00:20:19,760 –> 00:20:23,199
Speaker 4: in and we just we just felt it like we

470
00:20:23,240 –> 00:20:25,480
Speaker 4: always felt it from the day we stepped on campus.

471
00:20:25,560 –> 00:20:27,800
Speaker 4: We was like, yeah, we go take this program over,

472
00:20:27,840 –> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 4: in which we did, and every year we got better,

473
00:20:30,680 –> 00:20:32,000
Speaker 4: like literally every year we got.

474
00:20:31,840 –> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 2: Better, improved our record every year.

475
00:20:33,880 –> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 4: I think my last year, senior year, we went ten

476
00:20:36,040 –> 00:20:39,000
Speaker 4: and three maybe yeah, ten and three, So that was

477
00:20:39,040 –> 00:20:41,280
Speaker 4: a big I think that was the biggest, the best

478
00:20:41,280 –> 00:20:43,040
Speaker 4: record we’d had in school history.

479
00:20:43,160 –> 00:20:43,840
Speaker 2: So that was big.

480
00:20:44,160 –> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 4: Beat Florida for the first time in thirty one years

481
00:20:46,320 –> 00:20:49,240
Speaker 4: over thirty one years my senior year. So yeah, we

482
00:20:49,280 –> 00:20:51,960
Speaker 4: did some things at my college career.

483
00:20:52,000 –> 00:20:52,479
Speaker 2: For sure.

484
00:20:53,280 –> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 1: We’ll close it out this way. But I want to

485
00:20:54,960 –> 00:20:58,199
Speaker 1: ask you, and again we’re talking with Mike Edwards. The

486
00:20:58,240 –> 00:21:02,840
Speaker 1: safety position seems to be in this whirlwind change. What

487
00:21:02,880 –> 00:21:05,119
Speaker 1: have you seen since you entered the league? And what

488
00:21:05,119 –> 00:21:08,240
Speaker 1: do you see with spags? Because Matt and I Matt

489
00:21:08,240 –> 00:21:11,639
Speaker 1: helps me spot during the games. Three safeties for safeties.

490
00:21:11,920 –> 00:21:13,960
Speaker 1: I mean, it’s getting crazy. What are you see in

491
00:21:14,000 –> 00:21:17,359
Speaker 1: the NFL? In disposition, you have to be versatile, You

492
00:21:17,440 –> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 1: got to be interchangeable. I mean, back then, you know

493
00:21:21,880 –> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 1: the traditional safeties, you know box safeties. Are you gotta

494
00:21:25,880 –> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 1: those two hundred and fifty pounds safeties pretty much light linebackers.

495
00:21:29,920 –> 00:21:32,240
Speaker 4: But now you have to be able to cover receivers.

496
00:21:32,440 –> 00:21:33,840
Speaker 4: You got to be able to blitz play in a

497
00:21:33,920 –> 00:21:37,240
Speaker 4: post play deep half. You got to do a lot

498
00:21:37,240 –> 00:21:39,959
Speaker 4: of things, especially in this in spags defense, you got

499
00:21:39,960 –> 00:21:43,639
Speaker 4: to do. He likes the safeties interchangeable, lik him to

500
00:21:43,760 –> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 4: play out over the field, and like the way he’s

501
00:21:46,320 –> 00:21:48,879
Speaker 4: using me. You see, I’m all over the field, blitzing

502
00:21:49,760 –> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 4: up in the up in the A gap and they

503
00:21:52,320 –> 00:21:54,360
Speaker 4: don’t know if I’m coming or if I’m dropping back

504
00:21:54,440 –> 00:21:57,080
Speaker 4: or whatever. So I love the way he has our safeties.

505
00:21:57,840 –> 00:22:02,760
Speaker 4: We have phenomenal safeties. Jay Ree is our a vocal

506
00:22:02,840 –> 00:22:05,640
Speaker 4: leader back there, and he takes a control over defense.

507
00:22:05,680 –> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 4: And like I said, Brian Cook, he’s learning very well.

508
00:22:08,800 –> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 4: He’s doing good on that back end. And tomorrow’s rookie

509
00:22:12,880 –> 00:22:14,440
Speaker 4: it comes in. So like I said, we have four

510
00:22:14,440 –> 00:22:16,440
Speaker 4: Saftis in there. We might have fourth ades in there

511
00:22:17,880 –> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 4: at a time, you know what I mean. So it’s

512
00:22:20,000 –> 00:22:22,200
Speaker 4: it’s a great defense, great defense to be part of,

513
00:22:22,320 –> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 4: great defits to play for, and I just love it.

514
00:22:25,160 –> 00:22:27,480
Speaker 1: He is the ballhawk. Mike Edwards. We’re waiting for that

515
00:22:27,560 –> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 1: first Chiefs Kingdom pick six coming soon. So we’re waiting

516
00:22:31,640 –> 00:22:33,960
Speaker 1: on that pick six from Mike Edwards. You know it’s coming.

517
00:22:34,080 –> 00:22:36,439
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he’s and he’s got those baseball skills, it

518
00:22:36,480 –> 00:22:39,000
Speaker 1: may all make sense. He has such good ball skills

519
00:22:39,040 –> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: once again fits into the whole versatility of the safety position.

520
00:22:42,240 –> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 1: You see the Cincinnati Red shortstop in this guy.

521
00:22:45,600 –> 00:22:48,240
Speaker 3: One thing that’s kind of hard to quantify beyond like

522
00:22:48,280 –> 00:22:51,879
Speaker 3: the obvious with like interceptions and pick sixes, is just

523
00:22:51,920 –> 00:22:54,480
Speaker 3: the ability to make plays from the safety position and

524
00:22:54,600 –> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 3: really defensive backs in general. There’s a lot of players

525
00:22:57,800 –> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 3: that come through the NFL who are maybe very good players,

526
00:23:00,640 –> 00:23:02,960
Speaker 3: but they just don’t make plays, if that makes sense.

527
00:23:03,000 –> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 3: They don’t take the ball away, they don’t make big

528
00:23:05,080 –> 00:23:08,680
Speaker 3: plays on third down. They’re fine, but they don’t have

529
00:23:08,720 –> 00:23:11,160
Speaker 3: big moments like Mike Edwards has had in his career.

530
00:23:11,440 –> 00:23:13,960
Speaker 3: Mike Edwards makes plays, and that’s something that we were

531
00:23:14,040 –> 00:23:16,719
Speaker 3: excited about with him coming over from Tampa. He has

532
00:23:16,760 –> 00:23:19,320
Speaker 3: a true ballhawk. I mean three pick six’s in his career.

533
00:23:19,400 –> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 3: That’s hard to do. He did that in a two

534
00:23:21,000 –> 00:23:23,760
Speaker 3: year span as well, and also has gotten his hands

535
00:23:23,760 –> 00:23:26,120
Speaker 3: in the football many other times and just not scored.

536
00:23:26,200 –> 00:23:28,000
Speaker 3: We saw it in Week three against the Bears, and

537
00:23:28,080 –> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 3: I just know it with a guy like that, the

538
00:23:30,000 –> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 3: football finds him, So hopefully it finds him this week.

539
00:23:33,400 –> 00:23:35,679
Speaker 1: You just wonder if that opportunity will be there for

540
00:23:35,800 –> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 1: Mike this week. The Minnesota Vikings are really, really talented.

541
00:23:40,359 –> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson’s amazing. He’s shattering records in his first three

542
00:23:44,640 –> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: years and four games in the National Football League, But

543
00:23:47,960 –> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 1: they have eleven giveaways. The Vikings right now are one

544
00:23:51,080 –> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 1: and three, primarily because they have eleven giveaways. They have

545
00:23:55,160 –> 00:23:59,880
Speaker 1: lost lost seven fumbles in four weeks. You just one

546
00:24:00,040 –> 00:24:01,639
Speaker 1: or if there’s not going to be a chance here

547
00:24:01,960 –> 00:24:04,960
Speaker 1: for the safety group and especially Mike Edwards to get one,

548
00:24:05,280 –> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: either a pick or a fumble recovery and do something

549
00:24:08,000 –> 00:24:08,239
Speaker 1: with it.

550
00:24:08,520 –> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 3: Minnesota is a super interesting study really on both sides

551
00:24:12,040 –> 00:24:14,120
Speaker 3: of the ball. But we’ll stick with the offense. It’s

552
00:24:14,119 –> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 3: the number nine total offense in the NFL, so they’re

553
00:24:17,560 –> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 3: racking up a bunch of yards. Kirk Cousins has the

554
00:24:20,080 –> 00:24:23,760
Speaker 3: most completions and the most passing touchdowns in the NFL

555
00:24:23,800 –> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 3: this season, Justin Jefferson leaves the NFL and receiving yards

556
00:24:27,680 –> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 3: and receptions of twenty five or more yards. They have

557
00:24:30,520 –> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 3: the most twenty yard passing plays in the NFL this

558
00:24:33,560 –> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 3: year with nineteen, and that includes an NFL most five

559
00:24:36,880 –> 00:24:40,760
Speaker 3: passing touchdowns of twenty or more yards. They’re throwing the

560
00:24:40,800 –> 00:24:42,840
Speaker 3: ball a lot. They have the third most passing attempts

561
00:24:42,840 –> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 3: in the NFL with one hundred and fifty seven. And

562
00:24:45,200 –> 00:24:48,160
Speaker 3: they’ve got playmakers guys like Jordan Addison, first round pick

563
00:24:48,160 –> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 3: out of usc kJ Osbourne is a big play threat.

564
00:24:51,240 –> 00:24:53,520
Speaker 3: So why are they not winning more games?

565
00:24:53,520 –> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 1: And don’t forget TJ.

566
00:24:54,480 –> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 3: Hilkinson in this sure really good tight They traded four

567
00:24:57,680 –> 00:25:00,040
Speaker 3: at the deadline last year. Well, why aren’t they the

568
00:25:00,240 –> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 3: scoring more points? The answer is the turnovers. And if

569
00:25:02,920 –> 00:25:05,120
Speaker 3: you look at the red zone efficiency this year, they

570
00:25:05,119 –> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 3: are tied for the lowest red zone scoring percentage in

571
00:25:08,040 –> 00:25:11,240
Speaker 3: the NFL at sixty seven percent. They have four red

572
00:25:11,320 –> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 3: zone drives this season where they have not scored. I’m

573
00:25:13,960 –> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 3: not talking about just touchdowns. They have not scored on

574
00:25:16,080 –> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 3: four red zone drives this year. It’s the most of

575
00:25:18,359 –> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 3: any team in the NFL. They have three red zone giveaways,

576
00:25:21,800 –> 00:25:24,200
Speaker 3: so they have eleven total, which leads the NFL. Three

577
00:25:24,200 –> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 3: of those in the red zone. It’s very difficult to

578
00:25:27,040 –> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 3: win in the NFL. Are few are turning the ball

579
00:25:28,760 –> 00:25:31,840
Speaker 3: over in the red zone. Now, those kinds of things

580
00:25:31,880 –> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 3: are kind of random at the same time. So the

581
00:25:34,200 –> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 3: Chiefs have to be ready for this opponent because they’ve

582
00:25:36,000 –> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 3: shown that they can move the ball. They have lots

583
00:25:37,760 –> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 3: of talent, and if Mike Edwards sees the football flying

584
00:25:41,119 –> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 3: his way in the red zone, just you know, have

585
00:25:43,280 –> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 3: a nine to nine yard pick six like we saw

586
00:25:45,040 –> 00:25:46,920
Speaker 3: the Panthers have against Kirk Cousins last week.

587
00:25:47,400 –> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: But if you want to respect the Minnesota Vikings and

588
00:25:50,840 –> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 1: respect the safety position, maybe the screen shot for safeties

589
00:25:54,600 –> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 1: right now in the National Football League is Harrison Smith.

590
00:25:57,400 –> 00:26:01,360
Speaker 1: He had fourteen tackles last week and probably maybe save

591
00:26:01,480 –> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 1: Minnesota season because he came on a blitz on a

592
00:26:04,640 –> 00:26:06,879
Speaker 1: sack strip that was taken all the way back for

593
00:26:06,960 –> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 1: a scoop and score. Harrison Smith is what we’re talking about,

594
00:26:11,400 –> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 1: these wildly talented safeties who can he can cover, he’ll tackle,

595
00:26:16,400 –> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: he’s a rough tackler, good player, he can come on

596
00:26:19,280 –> 00:26:22,480
Speaker 1: a blitz like a speed rusher. And so we talk

597
00:26:22,520 –> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: about the safety position and how it’s being revolutionized in

598
00:26:25,040 –> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 1: the National Football League, you have to look no further

599
00:26:27,760 –> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 1: than the Vikings.

600
00:26:28,440 –> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 3: Harrison Smith, really good player, three sacks on the year,

601
00:26:32,320 –> 00:26:33,520
Speaker 3: and they’ll use them in different ways.

602
00:26:33,560 –> 00:26:34,199
Speaker 2: As you mentioned.

603
00:26:34,600 –> 00:26:38,119
Speaker 3: Really interesting note though, on this Vikings defense, they blitz

604
00:26:38,200 –> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 3: a ton. They have the highest blitz rate of any

605
00:26:40,280 –> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 3: team in the NFL. They’re blitzing sixty percent of the time.

606
00:26:44,119 –> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 3: A couple weeks ago against the Chargers, they blitzed Justin

607
00:26:46,840 –> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 3: Herbert forty two times. Forty two times on Justin Herbert

608
00:26:50,440 –> 00:26:52,880
Speaker 3: they brought a blitz. They blitzed the Price Young eighteen

609
00:26:52,920 –> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 3: times last week. And even more interesting, note they have

610
00:26:56,480 –> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 3: the fifth lowest pressure rate in the NFL. So they’re

611
00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 3: blitzing but not getting a lot of pressure. But when

612
00:27:02,080 –> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 3: they do, obviously can throw the offense off balance. So

613
00:27:05,320 –> 00:27:06,960
Speaker 3: for the Chiefs in this game, cannot let the blitz

614
00:27:06,960 –> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 3: get home because they’re gonna blitz Patrick Mahomes.

615
00:27:08,680 –> 00:27:09,200
Speaker 2: It’s what they do.

616
00:27:09,280 –> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 1: And how many receptions did Keenan Allen have in that

617
00:27:11,440 –> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 1: game for the Chargers eighteen underneath reception, all underneath it. So,

618
00:27:15,600 –> 00:27:18,240
Speaker 1: but it’s just about the safeties for the Chiefs and

619
00:27:18,280 –> 00:27:21,200
Speaker 1: really around the National Football League, and that is the

620
00:27:21,240 –> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: evolution of the safety position. He’s Matt McMullen, I’m Mitchelter’s

621
00:27:25,080 –> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 1: voice of the Chiefs. Time to go get a fourth victory,