🎙️ ‘New Beginnings’ – Broncos vs. Chiefs Preview w/Ken Walker | Defending The Kingdom

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hey, Matt, do you ever get into the old Jeopardy shows?

00:00:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like the sports Jeopardy that’s on now.

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, it’s pretty cool. We’ll kind of play that version of it. So pick a category.

00:00:11
Speaker 2: AFC West.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: AFC West for 200.

00:00:15
Speaker 2: Give me a thousand.

00:00:16
Speaker 1: Oh, for a thousand. The answer is zero.

00:00:22
Speaker 2: Times the Broncos have opened at Arrowhead.

00:00:25
Speaker 1: Ding, ding, ding.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: You get it.

00:00:27
Speaker 1: Add a thousand to your total. How about that? Welcome to Defending the Kingdom. New studio, new look. Those of you who are just listening and not watching, you’ll want to watch soon because your life will change because we are in a craft, a spacecraft hovering above the earth in this new studio. That means we’ll be around the world later in this episode. So stay tuned for all of that. But how cool is this, Matt? The fact that brand new studio. Kind of brand new Defending the Kingdom.

00:00:58
Speaker 2: It’s a bit overwhelming. I liked the old studio. That was like our classic spot that we did so much stuff in. But this kind of feels like we’re in the space shuttle. And that was like the little teeny… capsule that went down to the moon on the Apollo missions. I mean, this is like next level. We have couches now. We no longer have the headsets. We’re on these arm microphones. This whole thing is amazing. Shout out to everyone that made this possible. Notably, Dane Van Wye, who’s behind the camera, put so much TLC into this. We appreciate Dane. We appreciate everybody, and this is super cool.

00:01:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dane’s super talented. He also, I call him Shingle House, and that came from Defending the Kingdom. Because we had Kingdom Defenders from Shingle House, Pennsylvania. Dane is from Pennsylvania, not exactly Shingle House, but hey, he’s close enough. So speaking of close, can you believe the Broncos have never opened a season in Kansas City? We, this is 67 years of history now. Because the two teams were original AFL members in 1960. We’ve opened there five times. They’ve never opened the season here.

00:02:06
Speaker 2: When was the last time we opened there?

00:02:08
Speaker 1: Do you know? 2004, I believe. Yeah, 2004 and lost. We were one and four in those games. The only one that we won in those five games in week one was 1963. And the Broncos were awful. I think they still had the brown and yellow, like horizontal socks that are on display in our hall of honor. But it was the old AFL and the Broncos were the worst team in the old AFL. And so we blow them out. That was the first year the Chiefs were in Kansas City. They had to play road games because the Kansas City A’s had games scheduled during. So they had to go on the road. So the Chiefs are playing. The Broncos. But again, to never come here in 66 years to me. OK, it’s history. So let’s make history.

00:02:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like this is a good opportunity to to beat the Broncos to open the season. And, you know, one thing that we’ve been talking a lot about ever since the schedule came out is this is such an amazing opportunity to set the tone for the year. So last year is like not what we expected at all. It’s below the standard of what we’ve set here in Kansas City. And Denver won the division. And they deserve all the credit. They had a great year, went to the AFC title game, nearly went to the Super Bowl. They’re feeling really good right now. And I think it’s an incredible opportunity for our team after a season to forget to remind everybody, like on the national stage that we’re still here and we get to do it against Denver. It’ll be tough. I mean, they’re a good team and we’re going to talk about it, but it’s an awesome opportunity and I just can’t wait for it to get here.

00:03:38
Speaker 1: To accentuate your point. These two teams account for the last 16 division titles. This goes back to Matt Castle and the 2010 Chiefs winning the division. Then the Broncos get Peyton Manning and go for five. We go for nine, second in NFL history with nine straight division titles. Broncos won it last year. So these two teams to lead off the NFL schedule in the AFC West, or at least the last game of the opening week, a little bit fitting, but 16 straight titles from these two teams.

00:04:09
Speaker 2: And looking at last year, coming into this season, I think these two teams are like mirror images of each other almost in terms of how they won games last year or lost games in our case. So Denver was 11-2 in one score games last year. 11-2. That ties the NFL record for one score wins with the 2022 Vikings and us in 2024. Conversely, we were 1-9. and one score games last year. So what I think it shows is even though we had a season to forget and Denver was in the AFC title game and hosting it, I don’t think we were that different from Denver. It’s just, they made the plays when it mattered most in the end and we didn’t. And a microcosm of that is our game in Denver last year, which I think that’s where the season kind of divulged. That’s where it kind of went off the rails for us and began to unravel. We had the lead in that game in the fourth quarter. We had a tie game at one point late in the fourth quarter and had them in a third and 15 and couldn’t get off the field. They deserve credit for making those plays last year. They had five fourth quarter comebacks last season. And I think that their point differential in the fourth quarter was like plus 64, which is crazy. We didn’t make the plays when it mattered most and they did. This is another chance, I think, to put the blank slate. to make those plays when it matters most and to win this game. I’m assuming it’s going to be tight like it always is and to set the tone for the entire year.

00:05:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, if the Chiefs get a stop on third and 15, we’re one first down from field goal range with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. And even then, after the Broncos got the ball, they get the 20-yard gain. There’s a virtual measurement for a first down. And then Chris Jones has a neutral zone infraction. But the game even in December when Chris Oladokun quarterbacked, it was there. Even with Oladokun.

00:05:59
Speaker 2: And we were down half of our guys in that game. If you think, if you look at the injury report of that game. The Chiefs are going to win the game. I’m sitting there looking at it again. It’s third and five, third and 10. They get 17 yards and go on to win the game. But the Chiefs, again, are in a position to win that game if they can get a stop on third down and long, but couldn’t.

00:06:20
Speaker 1: So to your point. Give Denver credit, they made those plays, but you’re hoping that the Chiefs, that was a little bit of an issue all last year, would make those plays in 26.

00:06:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think with where we struggled last year, a lot of the offseason was aimed at fixing those areas. So one would be pass rush. And a lot of those long third downs, which were an issue throughout the season, but particularly against Denver, we couldn’t get off the field on third down because our pass rush couldn’t get there. So you add a guy like Peter Woods in the draft, you add R. Mason Thomas in the draft, And there’s fun parallels here with Nick Benito, which I think are fun because Benito obviously has been a thorn in our side and suspect he’ll be right in the middle of this game on Monday. Him and our Mason Thomas both are from Fort Lauderdale. Both went to Oklahoma and you talked to our Mason at camp and he was all about like, I watch every single bit of film from Nick Benito. Like he wants to be Nick Benito and this would be a great coming out party. I think to show the NFL that we have our own version of a speed rusher now. and to try to disrupt those long third downs.

00:07:19
Speaker 1: Or Mason embraces it. In fact, he said he went to OU, probably mainly because of Nick Benito. Okay. But the ball comes out so fast for the Broncos. Less than two seconds. It just came out just lightning fast. Now, I’m curious to see what adjustments they’ll make in 2026, because I want to ask you about these things. When you look at, this is a team that went 14-3, okay, with those 11 wins you talked about in the one-score games. But they were 26th in passer rating, Broncos.

00:07:47
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:07:48
Speaker 1: 30th in air yards per completion. 30th, only two teams were worse. 25th in completion percentage and 28th in yards per attempt. The question here is Davis Webb now takes over as offensive coordinator. Ironic here, Davis Webb gets hurt at Texas Tech. Who takes his place at quarterback but Patrick Mahomes? And I can’t believe Baker Mayfield was there with those other two guys. Mayfield takes off. Davis Webb gets hurt. Patrick Mahomes goes in. The rest is history. But now Davis Webb’s the offensive coordinator at 30 years old, or close to 30 years old, is the Denver Broncos. The question is, because they were grousing throughout the offseason, that the ball has to come downfield. But the ball came out so fast. What about disrupting plays? Because you may not get there for the sack, but being disciplined— affecting aerodynamics of the throw or getting tip balls on these quick throws that Denver has made a staple with Bo Nix.

00:08:47
Speaker 2: That’s something that we talked about in the preseason a lot. because Coach Cullen is emphasizing that with the defensive line, that they have to bat down passes. It’s kind of interesting. This was Coach Cullen’s idea, and I dug into the numbers on it all. So in both 2022 and 2023, we led the NFL in batted passes. It makes sense when you think about it, but the correlation is crazy that both years we did that, win the Super Bowl, and the defense, especially in 2023, was a primary reason behind it. Last year, near the bottom of the league in batted passes, and those quick throws are just killer. I mean, if you don’t get your hands up, And for 10 yards down the field, it’s a first down the flip side. Get your hand up. You’re looking at third and long. So that was an emphasis, I think, throughout the preseason and throughout camp. We saw it a little bit in the preseason. Our Mason Thomas, I think, had a big one against Tampa. So we need more of that, particularly against these guys. To your point, though, they’re interesting because if you look at pro football focus. So Knicks led the NFL in throws that went behind the line of scrimmage last year. He was third in the NFL in throws between one and nine yards of the snap. They traded for Jalen Waddell, and it makes me wonder if we’re going to see more of that or if they’re going to try to stretch the field. I mean, Waddle, for his career, averages 15 yards per catch. That’s like third in the NFL since he entered the league. I have to imagine, particularly early on, just like we’re excited about kind of changing our identity a little bit with the run game. They’re going to come out early and try to throw some deep shots to Waddle. Got to be ready for that. But I agree that their bread and butter has been this short stuff, this lightning quick stuff. And we have to be ready for it. get your hands up, you know, let’s disrupt the throw. Let’s get after Knicks.

00:10:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. And they’ve mentioned Waddle. Cortland Sutton has been really good, good and consistent for years. Especially against us. And Franklin has been good. He had a big 32 yard catch in that game in December that people look past. So this is a good receiving room for them. And they added Jonah Coleman in the draft, but this is a Denver team. Really interesting study. When you go in to look at them, they did the least of any 30 of the 32 teams in the NFL. They didn’t do a whole lot. They do the Jalen Waddell trade. They lose John Franklin Myers, and that’s about it. And then they trade the picks. They trade out of the first round to do the Waddell trade. And so Jonah Coleman becomes a big draft pick for them. But this is a Denver team that basically said, we’re good. Compare that to the Chiefs, who now have 11 rookies on their roster going into this game. But Denver said, we won 14 games. And Nix gets hurt, he can’t play in the AFC championship game, should have kicked the field goal instead of going for it on fourth down. We don’t go, but we’re good. We’ll just take the same guys from 25 into 26.

00:11:23
Speaker 2: I saw something that I think they had like 51 of the 53 guys that were on the roster for the title game were in camp with them this year.

00:11:31
Speaker 1: Which is crazy in this day and age of the NFL.

00:11:33
Speaker 2: Reminds me a lot of the 2020 Chiefs, the true like run it back, like let’s just bring everybody back. They feel good about it. You know, I do think the NFL is about constantly evolving. changing and i think the chiefs on paper have done a great job of that this off season curious to see if denver can replicate what they did last year because coming off the 2024 season we went 11 and 0 and won score games and there was a lot.

00:12:00
Speaker 1: Of though you can’t live that way that’s what i’m saying there.

00:12:02
Speaker 2: Was a lot of talk about how they’re going to regress they’re going to regress i haven’t heard a lot about denver regressing they were gritty yeah It’s just a different narrative.

00:12:09
Speaker 1: They were gritty. We were lucky. It’s okay.

00:12:11
Speaker 2: And listen, they made plays when it mattered most. I’m not saying that they didn’t deserve it, but the plays were there for the opponent to beat Denver, including when we played them. And again, I think the theme of this season has to be the opposite of what last year’s was. We need to make those plays when it matters most. And again, against Denver that had so much success late in games last year, what better time than to flip the script and to beat them at their own game?

00:12:35
Speaker 1: Matt, what excites you? about the Chiefs defense this year?

00:12:39
Speaker 2: I think it’s the blend of veteran players, like guys like Chris Jones, George Karloftis, with our rookies that we’re really excited about.

00:12:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of a new school, old school approach. And we need defense. And in the kingdom, we know that championship success starts with defense. Think of 2023, right? Our defense carried us to a Super Bowl title or helped us carry this to that. Anyway, 10x. ai is the AI security operations provider protecting organizations from cybersecurity attacks at machine speed, but with human analysts on the loop 24-7. Experience cybersecurity that’s AI-native and human-led, united against every threat. Visit 10x. ai for details. Sounds to me like what you want from the Chiefs defense.

00:13:22
Speaker 2: I love that idea.

00:13:23
Speaker 1: Let’s roll. Denver’s defense, I can see why they stayed where they were, because you can argue this is the NFL’s base defense. They will not have Cooper. That’s a big blow for them on the commissioner’s exempt list. You mentioned Benito already. Zach Allen might be the most underrated inside defender in this league. We know about Patrick Sertan II at corner. This is a defense, though, front to back, side to side with no weakness.

00:13:48
Speaker 2: So Zach Allen, this surprised me. I didn’t know this. Zach Allen has led the NFL in quarterback hits each of the last two seasons. And you combine that with Benito, who I think only Miles Garrett has more sacks over the last two years. It’s pretty good. And it’s a test for our young offensive line. But I think one of the best ways to combat a great pass rush is to run the football and to use the screen game. And I think with what we’ve done in the offseason, we are in a great position to do that. We’ve talked all about Ken Walker. Let’s talk about him some more. Walker for 61 missed tackles last year. That was third best in the NFL. He had more than 600 yards after contact, 33 runs of double digit yardage last season. 10 runs of 20 or more yards. For some context, the Chiefs had three runs of 20 or more yards all of last season. Walker had 10 all by himself. So you add him to the mix. You add that explosive running game. It makes the pass rush think before they are going to just pen their ears back, right? They’re going to think about it. They’re not going to be able to just go after you. Like, frankly, I think they were able to last year. Emmitt Johnson factors into this as well with what he can do in the passing game. He was second among all running backs in the FBS and catches last year. Rashard Smith looks like a different player, I think. So all of those guys, what they can do as runners, what they can do as pass catchers, I think helps us against this great pass rush.

00:15:07
Speaker 1: Pull up on what you said, talking about Zach Allen. The Broncos and quarterback hits in hurries. The gap from one to two, they were so far ahead of everybody else in the league. It’s the same as the gap from two to 26. Crazy. Tells you how good they are. But also to your point, The Chiefs will take Ken Walker III into this game, the Super Bowl 60 MVP. One of the things I look at, Matt, is when I look at 100-yard rushing games or 300-yard passing games, what did you do with those? When you look at Kelsey’s 100-yard receiving games, he’s won almost all of them. Ken Walker, when he rushes for 100 yards, has only lost one game. You know what it was? Was it here?

00:15:47
Speaker 3: Here.

00:15:48
Speaker 1: On Christmas Eve.

00:15:49
Speaker 2: That one-degree game or whatever?

00:15:50
Speaker 1: One-degree game. I’m banging the drum. A minus 10 windchill. Not smart. Hey, what is smart is signing the Super Bowl 60 MVP who acts like he has been here every day of his life. Big game week one. Let’s start big by bringing in Ken Walker III as the first guest of the year. It seems like you should have been here all along from day one. It feels like you belong. What have you learned and why have you fit so well so soon?

00:16:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I believe it’s got to give credit to, you know, the guys around me. the way they accepted me when I got here, you included. You know, when I first got here, I talked to y’all and, you know, just going around the building, everybody was so welcoming and it meant a lot to me. And yeah, we could just continue this.

00:16:36
Speaker 2: When you first signed here, you heard a lot about Coach Reed’s training camps and how tough they were. What was the experience like in St.

00:16:41
Speaker 1: Joe?

00:16:42
Speaker 4: Honestly, it was way worse than I thought it was going to be. You know, I heard about it and I was expecting it to be hard, but it exceeded expectations. So it was definitely a hard training camp, but I feel like we got to go through that to get us ready for this, uh, long season.

00:16:55
Speaker 1: I remember seeing after an OTA, you’re looking at me like, this is an OTA. It felt like camp. Um, you though, as a weapon in this specific offense, as a runner and as a receiver, you told me a camp, it’s like, you’ve been waiting all along to be in an offense like this. Tell us about that.

00:17:13
Speaker 4: Yeah. Um, you know, uh, even coming from high school, I used to play wide receiver and running back.

00:17:17
Speaker 1: So I used to switch out.

00:17:19
Speaker 4: Um, And I feel like that just makes it harder for a defense to key on the offense because you got so many weapons and running back being able to go and catch the ball out of backfield. It was a lot of times coming out of college, they would say I couldn’t catch. But really, I just didn’t get the opportunities. And so it’s exciting to be able to get the opportunity here with Coach Reed.

00:17:36
Speaker 2: When you’re looking at this Broncos team, obviously they have a great pass rush. What way you can combat that is running the football and catching screens. How excited are you to show everyone what you can do here in week one?

00:17:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I’m really excited.

00:17:46
Speaker 4: You know, you know, like we say, we worked at it during OTAs and camp, and it’s just exciting to be able to go out there and showcase what we’ve been working on and all the hard work we put in.

00:17:54
Speaker 1: But you went for a hundo on these guys. It’s like you’ve seen them. It’s not like these guys are foreign to you.

00:17:59
Speaker 5: Right.

00:18:00
Speaker 1: What have you learned what it takes to be successful against a good defense like this?

00:18:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, like starting off, like you said, with the run game, we’ve got to be successful in the run game. We’ve got to start off, run the ball and, you know, hopefully open up everything else. You know, that’s what really the run game is. So start off, run the ball and, you know, just wear them down for all four quarters. And then I feel like that’s when it really breaks out.

00:18:21
Speaker 2: You’ve had a chance to get to know Coach Murray so far. What do you think of him? How’s he been as a coach?

00:18:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love Coach Murray.

00:18:27
Speaker 4: You know, he’s played the game, so I feel like that makes it much easier to really listen to what he’s telling me. And, you know, also he understands the way I run and what I see. So if I do something and a lot of people don’t know why I did it, he understands why I did it because he’s played the position. So it’s good to have him in the room with me.

00:18:44
Speaker 2: You want a guy that led the league in rushing talks, you tend to listen.

00:18:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, definitely, bro. this game, Monday night football division opponent to open a season after you’ve just been Superbowl MVP. Do you ever think, man, this was crazy because I’m going to go from something really high into something really high.

00:19:02
Speaker 4: Yeah. Um, I haven’t really looked back at it as much, but, um, looking at the game, like a Monday night to start off your season is, is crazy. You know, I, I’m happy about it though. You know, I was telling Emma Johnson, like how crazy it is. Cause obviously he’s never played a Monday night, but, um, You know, I’m really excited about it. And I feel like the atmosphere is going to be crazy.

00:19:22
Speaker 2: When you first signed here and we did that podcast that you were referencing, we were already talking about that first night that you were going to run out of the tunnel. Have you thought about that? I mean, it’s coming up here.

00:19:29
Speaker 4: No, I haven’t. You know, coach just told us not to play the game before the game. So I’m trying my best not to really think too far ahead. But I know around Friday or Saturday, I’m already be thinking about it, you know, getting a.

00:19:39
Speaker 1: Little butterflies in your stomach.

00:19:41
Speaker 4: So but I’m really excited for that night.

00:19:44
Speaker 1: Final question. But that same day we met your pops. How much? he’s helped you to prepare you because we’ve watched you work from day one thinking he’s felt like he’s been a part of this since day one how much is your structure around you especially your pops.

00:20:00
Speaker 4: Mean to you yeah it means everything to me you know um because i wouldn’t be here without my pops you know uh it’s As far as I made it, you know, he instilled the work ethic in me since I’m growing up. I’ve been working out, you know, so that hard work really comes from him. And, you know, I feel like I let him down if I wasn’t working hard.

00:20:18
Speaker 1: Just remarkable. And I know I keep repeating it, but his work ethic, the way he approached the very first day from free agency all the way through the spring and summer to training camp. This guy is so ready to play Ken Walker and he’s ready to play for the Chiefs. It seriously felt like meant to be from the very first second.

00:20:41
Speaker 2: So I think it’s so cool that he comes in here very accomplished, like Super Bowl MVP, clearly like a big ticket free agent. And he was ready to work. He was ready for like a hard training camp and embrace it like he was just trying to make the team. That’s something that’s made our team and our culture so impressive, I think, over the last decade is that every training camp, it’s guys like Mahomes and Travis Kelsey and Chris Jones that are competing like they’re trying to make the team. They don’t have to do that. They can just show up, be like, ah, veteran rest day, all that stuff because they’ve earned that, but they don’t do it. And Ken Walker is the same way. Like, I feel like he embraced our culture right away. And that tells me he’s going to fit in just fine here.

00:21:19
Speaker 1: I love the question you asked him though, about DeMarco Murray, because we have seen his impact because Ken’s got help. Yeah. Emma Johnson will help this team and can help this team from the first game. Rashard Smith does not look like the same player. No. He actually looks like a running back in the NFL now. Could be a third down back type. Before it looked like, hey, he was a wide receiver. They tried to fit him into being a running back. He looks different now and potentially could be help in the return game. So that room is very different than what the Broncos saw and have seen the last several years. Now we’re looking at the Broncos going, they look pretty much the same. We’ve seen Waddle. We haven’t seen Jonah Coleman, but. There are some things in this game for the Chiefs that the Broncos have not seen. And the running back room kind of jumps to the top of the list.

00:22:10
Speaker 2: And the commitment to the running game and using the running game in more varied ways than we have in the past. We saw a lot of things in training camp that I’m just excited to see take place against Denver. I don’t think it’s going to be just the same old offense that they’ve seen in the past. Because with what we have personnel-wise, I think we have the ability to do different things with our scheme that maybe we just couldn’t do in the past because we didn’t have the personnel. And you add Ken Walker, you add Emmitt Johnson, who was so impressive in the preseason. And just like the best guy ever. I told my wife the day after I met him, I was like, I think I found your new favorite player. And he’s only upheld that reputation since we’ve gotten to know him more over the course of the summer. And he was great in the preseason. I think among all running backs… to play three or fewer preseason games because one team played four or two teams played four. He led all running backs and broken tackles. It says a lot because in the preseason, especially for a guy that’s going to make the team, that just tells me want to. That tells me energy. And he has that. He showed it in the preseason. He’s going to show it on Monday, I think. And I agree about Bouchard. I mean, DeMarco Murray has done wonders with him. Looks far more comfortable. Looks stronger at the position in general. And yeah, I’m just so excited to see what our running backs can do against Denver on Monday.

00:23:22
Speaker 1: And Burchard looks more confident, too.

00:23:24
Speaker 2: Definitely.

00:23:25
Speaker 1: In those runs. And we know that he can be explosive with his speed and pass-catching ability. Well, one guy who’s… It’s fascinating. In the NFL, we’ve seen him do… How about this? Let’s start week one. We’ll start one day earlier, but we’ll have a rematch of Super Bowl 60.

00:23:42
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:23:43
Speaker 4: All right?

00:23:43
Speaker 1: Let’s just get everybody fired up then. Oh, let’s have a game in Australia, and let’s make that a divisional game. And then you have the first Monday night game, these two teams… So you kind of front loaded week one in the NFL, but we’ve seen the league do that. They’ll do it at the beginning and at the end. That’s kind of the way they want it.

00:24:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, not to put too much stock into this game, and I do think it can set the tone for the whole year and get off to a good start and all that. But we expect to be competing for the division and come November, December, January, you might look back on this game and say that was a tiebreaker or that was the reason that we were able to win the division or whatever it may be. again, every game matters. But as far as week one games go, this one matters a lot.

00:24:28
Speaker 1: Our guy who keeps an eye on the league, especially the AFC West, is our guy Ari Wolf. So great again during the preseason. It’s fun to work with him again, right?

00:24:38
Speaker 2: Ari’s the best.

00:24:39
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:24:40
Speaker 2: I really appreciate his professionalism and how over the years, he very much is like inside the fort. Like a lot of the preseason broadcasters, they are just like mercenaries. You know, you just bring them in. They’re in your building for a couple of weeks and they leave. Ari like lives and breathes and eats Chiefs football. He loves it year round. He had so much fun in the pod last year. So we said, Ari, why not come back this year? So Ari is back to talk some football with us.

00:25:06
Speaker 1: It’s not the Wolf of Wall Street. It’s the Wolf of the West. Here’s Ari Wolf.

00:25:11
Speaker 5: Hello to Chiefs Kingdom and welcome to Out West. It’s episode one of our second season together. Matt, great to see you.

00:25:17
Speaker 3: It’s been a couple of weeks.

00:25:18
Speaker 5: Since I last saw you at our final preseason game. But what an offseason it’s been for the Chiefs. And here we are just days away. We’re recording this on Thursday afternoon. The NFL season started last night. It was great to have the NFL back. A lot of storylines from that first game last night between the two Super Bowl teams of last year.

00:25:36
Speaker 3: But Matt, let’s focus on the Chiefs.

00:25:37
Speaker 5: What was your biggest takeaway from this offseason as we get ready for the 2026 Chiefs season, which will start on Monday?

00:25:46
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, great to see Ari coming to you from the new studio, which how cool is this place? I still can’t believe it. So many storylines, I think, going into the season for the Chiefs. But I think the major one for me, and it’s something that we’ve talked about a lot, is we have an opportunity to remind the rest of the NFL that we’re still here.

00:26:02
Speaker 1: Right.

00:26:03
Speaker 2: And I think it’s very easy in the modern NFL landscape to just go after the new exciting thing. And the Chiefs had this run of dominance for so long. And there’s new teams that are ready to kind of take that mantle. And the Chiefs are going to say not yet. So I think that’s what I’m excited about. It feels like the Chiefs for the first time in a long time are kind of flying under the radar. And honestly, I think that’s a good thing.

00:26:27
Speaker 3: I agree with you.

00:26:28
Speaker 5: Look, you know, again, the perspective of what we’re doing on this podcast within the podcast is sort of give a bigger picture look from a perspective out West. And we’re going to focus on the AFC West, but also on the entire National Football League.

00:26:40
Speaker 3: And, you know, I remember feeling excited.

00:26:43
Speaker 5: It was strange to me to realize that people were tired of talking about the Chiefs because when you’re a part.

00:26:47
Speaker 3: Of Chiefs Kingdom, you can’t get enough of it.

00:26:49
Speaker 5: I think that everyone feels like the Chiefs got humbled last year. And I think now there’s a hunger to see Patrick Mahomes excel again. I think there’s a desire for the league to see the Chiefs excel because it’s one of the greatest brands in all of sports. To me, the biggest takeaway is the return of this guy. That’s why I wanted him to be the backdrop today.

00:27:08
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes, because.

00:27:10
Speaker 5: his commitment to getting his body right to be available to start week one really is, it’s the headline of the whole off season for me, for the entire national football league that a guy basically nine months has, you know, had major surgery and he’s good to go. I mean, the way he looked at training camp, watching him run out there. If you didn’t know he had surgery, you wouldn’t believe it. So to me, I think the NFL is ready and excited for Mahomes to have this comeback season. So I actually think there’s going to be a lot of people in the media that are going to fall in.

00:27:40
Speaker 3: Love with the Chiefs again. That’s at least my hope, and that’s my expectation.

00:27:44
Speaker 5: So I do want to… kind of put a bow on what we learned in the preseason. And by doing that, I want each of us to pick a position group and what we’re most excited about, what we saw in the preseason and what we think that’s going to mean for the regular season.

00:27:57
Speaker 3: I’m going to start this off.

00:27:59
Speaker 5: The running back room to me is the most improved part of the roster. I mean, going out and getting the Super Bowl MVP in Kenneth Walker completely changed the room. What we saw from Emmitt Johnson is a guy who is NFL ready. I mean, he looked totally prepared for a rookie. You know, he looked like he was very comfortable out there. There was he was.

00:28:19
Speaker 3: What I would call he was really decisive with the football and what he wanted to do.

00:28:23
Speaker 5: And Brashard Smith, to me, did what was asked of him. He needed to get bigger. He needed to get stronger. He needed to lift weight. And he needed to become dependable and pass protection. I think he improved in all those areas. So to me, the most significant improvement that the Chiefs made this offseason was the running back room.

00:28:39
Speaker 3: Now I turn it over to you, Matt.

00:28:40
Speaker 5: What area of the team by position group excited you the most as we get ready.

00:28:44
Speaker 3: For the season?

00:28:45
Speaker 2: Well, just to tag what you just said, I’d add one more name there. It’s DeMarco Murray. I think DeMarco Murray has done wonders with this group. I think you know what you have in Ken Walker, but what he’s been able to do with Emmitt Johnson and especially Rashard Smith, who is a former wide receiver who’s still kind of learning the position. I think he’s been amazing for that room. So I’m with you. Running back, honestly, is my answer, too. But for the sake of conversation, I’ll give you another one. How about interior defensive line? That’s another area that she’s had to get better going into this offseason. And they certainly did that on paper. Getting a guy like Kairos Tonga from the Patriots, an awesome run defender, a classic kind of nose tackle. who can be in there on early downs. I’m getting Peter Woods at the back end of the first round, I think was just a steal. I mean, Peter Woods is a player that if you follow the draft year round, back in August, so this time last year, he was being projected as like a top five, top 10 kind of talent, maybe even the top guy off the board in the draft. Clemson had kind of a weird year They had him playing a bit out of position, I think, during the season, and a lot of those Clemson guys that maybe should have gone higher didn’t because of just kind of a bad season overall by the football team at Clemson. Peter Woods falls in that category, falls all the way down to the bottom of the first round, and Chiefs end up getting a player of his caliber, and I mean, you saw it in training camp. We saw it a bit in the preseason. He’s just going to be a monster. I think I’m going to grow into a very good player next to Chris Jones or being in there for Chris Jones at times. So, you know, if running back is the area we’re most excited about on offense, I think we both agree interior defensive line is an area that I’m so excited about on defense. And I’d add one more name to something interior guy, but our Mason Thomas, what he can do from the outside is, I mean, he had eight pressures in the preseason, led all Chiefs defenders. Just has the look of a player who adds a dynamic we haven’t really had before on this defensive front, at least for several years. So I’ll go interior defensive line and also add R. Mason Thomas in there as an edge rusher.

00:30:37
Speaker 5: Well, he really flashed, right? I mean, you saw a level of quickness, his get off. R. Mason Thomas, to me.

00:30:43
Speaker 1: Just because.

00:30:44
Speaker 5: It’s a little flashier position, right, than the interior guys. I think Chiefs Kingdom and fans are going to notice R. Mason Thomas maybe more quickly than Woods just because the outside guy, it’s just from your point of view of watching a game, those edge guys are very easy to pick up.

00:30:58
Speaker 3: And I think what.

00:31:00
Speaker 5: Brett Veach and his staff did to improve that overall defensive line group. I would say that side of the ball, the defensive line group to me is the strength. And then obviously on the offensive side, when you take quarterback out, because Patrick to me is still the best quarterback in the league. It’s then that running back room.

00:31:16
Speaker 3: All right. So the focus here primarily during this season is to go in depth on the AFC West.

00:31:21
Speaker 5: So what’s going on with the three other teams that the Chiefs are going to play twice every year. Now this division is, last year saw the Denver Broncos emerge as an elite team. And it came as a surprise. They won a lot of really close games. In fact, it felt like the ball bounced their way most of the time. And you look back to two years ago when the Chiefs had the year where it felt like everything went right.

00:31:43
Speaker 3: Well, then last year, everything didn’t go their way. I actually think the Broncos are going to come back to the field a little bit.

00:31:49
Speaker 5: But the thing I’m most intrigued about with the Broncos is that Sean Payton is no longer the play caller. He’s the guy who, to me, likes to control everything. You know, if he could, he’d coach offense, defense, and special teams. So I think this was a significant change. Davis Webb is only 31 years old, former player. He was known as a cerebral player. A lot of people thought he would go into coaching. But you’ve got a 31-year-old offensive coordinator, Now coaching Bo Nix, everything we’ve seen, he looks like he’s healthy. He’s back from his ankle injury. But how is this Denver offense going to look different? Jalen Waddell gives them another big play threat alongside Cortland Sutton. When I look at their offense, if Bo Nix can grow, this offense has a chance, I think, to be really good.

00:32:34
Speaker 3: And again, I don’t know if the overall.

00:32:35
Speaker 5: Record is going to be as good as next year, but they might actually end up being a better team. How do you expect Davis Webb to change this offense? Because I know from what we saw in training camp, it looks like the vertical passing game will be a bigger part of it. And that is an area that they didn’t ask a lot of Bo Nix to throw it down the field. How do you expect the Broncos offense to look different?

00:32:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it’s a big question going into both this game and also just the season as a whole. I think this is the first time that Sean Payton has given up play calling duties. I think he’s always been the play caller, whether he’s in New Orleans or in Denver. So I think that’s a big deal. I’m curious if he if Davis Webb really has full control. Sean Payton, I’m sure, is still in his ear every once in a while. But I do think you combine Davis Webb and his tendencies and being like a Texas Tech kind of guy and adding a player like Waddle, who Mitch and I have talked about, average 15 yards per catch up to this point in his career. Obviously, a big play threat. They’re going to want to stretch the field. And that’s a big thing. left turn from what Nix has been so good at early in his career, which is the short passing game. Something else Mitch and I have discussed is all the throws behind the line of scrimmage and all the throws within nine yards of the snap. Are you now going to add that deep element? And I think they’re going to. And I think it’s something that you have to be ready for in this game. Like early on, they want to establish like, hey, we have this new weapon and this new philosophy offensively. And it makes sense that Nix now entering his third year in the NFL and you believe he’s a franchise guy. You kind of give them all the tools and say, Hey, we need you to be able to do this as well. So the chiefs have to be ready for that. And, you know, it’s interesting if I didn’t mention interior defensive line as the area I’m most excited about on this team, at least on the defense. I’m excited about the secondary. I think the secondary has a lot of potential with guys like Noel Williams, who really impressed me at the end of last season and throughout the entire offseason training program. You draft a guy like Monster Delane because you think he can be a superstar at corner and bringing LeJarrius Snead back and possibly putting him in the slot where he was so good for this team for so many years. And plus, there’s depth there as well throughout this group of some young players. So those guys have to be ready for the deep ball. It’s something that the Chiefs haven’t done a lot of in terms of allowing big plays down the field. The Chiefs defense has been in terms of like traditional numbers with scoring defense and defense. yards allowed has been among the best in the NFL even last year. Got to get better at takeaways and sacks, though. And if we’re talking about the interior defensive front and talking about our Mason Thomas, let’s get more pressure on the quarterback. We need the secondary to convert some of these deep throws, maybe into turnovers as well. So I think the success of the Broncos vertical passing game in a lot of ways will explain how their season goes. And hopefully for our sake, it doesn’t go very well.

00:35:15
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I’m curious, even though Sean Payton’s not calling the plays, the relationship between a head coach who’s an offensive-minded head coach and the quarterback is the most important relationship. I mean, it’s Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Something isn’t right with Sean Payton and Bo Nix. I don’t know it personally, but something doesn’t seem right. I think that’s part of the reason for the change, going with the much younger OC. Look, if it gets off to a good start, I think the Broncos will be fine. If it doesn’t get off to a good start, it wouldn’t shock me if Sean Payton has that Call sheet in his hands. So I’m taking a wait-and-see approach. Sean Payton, they overachieved last year in my estimation. I thought they were crazy to talk about they were going to the Super Bowl. Look, they ended up being a Super Bowl contender. We’ll see what happens now this year. All right, let’s turn our attention now to the Los Angeles Chargers. They, too, have a new play caller. It’s an interesting mix. You’ve got Mike McDaniel, who I think is one of the more fascinating, fun guys to follow in the league, just because the way he does things, he’s just kind of a different cat.

00:36:17
Speaker 3: He’s now married to Jim Harbaugh.

00:36:19
Speaker 5: I wouldn’t normally put those two guys together. It’s like, those are two guys we’re going to hang out, but… You know, they were trying to do something different with this offense. I think it’s been a fairly predictable offense for the past few years. McDaniel comes in. He’s going to have a lot of motion. He’s going to have a lot.

00:36:34
Speaker 3: Of quick reads.

00:36:36
Speaker 5: Things that really worked for Tua in Miami. I mean, you think about the first couple of years down there, that offense was really explosive. They had great weapons. The Chargers don’t have the kind of weapons that McDaniel had in Miami. I mean, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddell, you look at, Ladd McConkie’s a nice receiver, but you look at after that, Quentin Johnson’s your number two. Like, I don’t see their wide receiver group as being an elite group. But how does McDaniel change Justin Herbert? Does he now finally reach the level of an elite quarterback? Because when you look at his skill set and the way he can throw it, He’s got it all right. I mean, there isn’t, but he’s had very, he’s had zero postseason success. So I think this is an interesting marriage. What’s your take on how this Chargers offense is going to look in 2026?

00:37:23
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:37:23
Speaker 2: So I’ve read a lot into this. I think the idea is it’s going to look a lot like the scheme in Miami under McDaniel. No surprise there, but the hallmark of that scheme was the quick passing game. Like the ball has to be out lightning quick. And if you look at Herbert over the years, he’s been hit a lot. I mean, he’s almost consistently injured and to his credit, he plays through a lot of injuries, but he’s been hit a lot, sacked a lot, pressured a lot. And I mean, he’s a really good player. So oftentimes there’s like players hanging on to him and he’s able to make plays. Reminds me a lot of Ben Roethlisberger from back in the day, but I think the idea is they want to get away from that. And the best way to make sure that your quarterback doesn’t get hit is the ball is out before the pass rush can even get there. And that was the whole concept in Miami under McDaniel with Tua or Tua. I remember doing a lot of research on them going into our game in Germany against the Dolphins back in 2023. I mean, Tua was getting the ball out like historically quick to the point where your pass rush, even if you have a speed rusher on the outside, they just cannot get there in time because he’s getting rid of the football so quickly. I do wonder, to your point, if the Chargers have the skill position guys to really make that scheme work. Because, I mean, Jalen Waddell and Tyreek Hill are getting off the line so quickly.

00:38:35
Speaker 3: We’ll see.

00:38:36
Speaker 2: But I think that is the plan, is they’re going to try to get the ball out super quickly. And for the Chiefs, when we play the Chargers later this year, one thing that I think we did a great job of against the Dolphins when we played them in McDaniel’s scheme is two things. One, get your hands up. And we talked about this in the preseason. Batted passes are so important against an offense like this because oftentimes the quarterback is throwing the ball where the receiver is supposed to be. The receiver isn’t even open yet. So get your hands up and also try to cover that first read if you can, because in a scheme like that, if the first read is covered, oftentimes it creates problems after the fact. Herbert is a good quarterback. He can make all the reads in an offense. But in McDaniel’s scheme, we saw with Tua that if you can cover that first read and get your hands up, you have a chance to defend against it. But I think that’s the plan. It’ll be interesting. I mean, Herbert hasn’t run an offense like this during his pro career, but I think that’s the idea is the ball has to get out super quick. And when we see them a little bit later this year. we’ll have to be ready for it.

00:39:31
Speaker 5: And the other wrinkle, everything I’m reading is Omari and Hampton, the running back, is going to be a huge part of this. I mean, he will be the featured back, but it’s also going to be his ability, not just carrying the football, but catching the football. Because the running backs, when Tua was in Miami, he’d get that ball out on those quick running back screens.

00:39:49
Speaker 3: They want to get the ball out very quickly.

00:39:51
Speaker 5: It’s just another one that’s going to be fascinating to watch. I don’t know who Hard Knocks is doing in season, but I’d sure like to see what’s the meeting room with Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel together. Just because, look, they’ve both been very successful.

00:40:05
Speaker 3: They’re both just different kinds of guys.

00:40:07
Speaker 5: And I just think it’s another one of these marriages that are by necessity.

00:40:11
Speaker 3: And I’m very curious to see how it plays itself out. All right. Now let’s go to the final team in the AFC West. They have a new head.

00:40:17
Speaker 5: Coach who will also be their play caller in Clint Kubiak. The Raiders had the number one pick for a reason. They were a mess last year. Fernando Mendoza, the number one pick, will not be the starter to start the season.

00:40:29
Speaker 3: It’ll be Kirk Cousins.

00:40:32
Speaker 5: I wasn’t a Kirk Cousins fan until he was on that quarterback show on Netflix a few years ago, and I realized I think he’s a great guy. He actually has so many of the things that I love.

00:40:40
Speaker 3: In a quarterback.

00:40:41
Speaker 5: Right set of leadership skills, right values, cares about the right things. But he’s in a tough spot. I mean, they’re changing this offense. For all you fans at home, think of what the Seahawks have looked like for the past few years. That’s what Kubiak.

00:40:55
Speaker 3: Wants to do.

00:40:56
Speaker 5: It’s going to take some time for this offense to develop, but Ashton Gentry will be the focus of it, right? I mean, the running back has to be great. Picture Kenneth Walker in the Super.

00:41:06
Speaker 3: Bowl last year.

00:41:07
Speaker 5: That’s basically what Clint Kubiak wants to do is it’s going to be a run heavy offense. It’s going to be a zone running scheme with inside and outside zone run schemes. But Kirk Cousins, I think, is pretty limited as a quarterback now.

00:41:19
Speaker 3: Their offensive line struggled last year. Will they be able to protect him?

00:41:23
Speaker 5: Will this Raiders team be an offense that the Chiefs have to be concerned about, or are the Raiders going to need a year or two to get this thing going in the right direction?

00:41:32
Speaker 2: Well, I think they’re still working through some things, and it might take a little bit of time. Brock Bowers is going to miss week one. We’ll see how significant that injury is throughout the course of the year. We know how good he can be when he’s healthy, but obviously had some injury issues last season. I am watching the Kirk thing because I’m guilty of this myself, because we saw it in 2017, where if you can sit your high profile rookie quarterback behind an established veteran and a starter, I think long term it could work out really well for the young player. And it worked wonders here with Alex Smith being ahead of Patrick Mahomes in 2017. We remember this fondly, but if you go back to early in 2017, I think everyone in KC sports media was saying, what’s going to happen with Mahomes? How quickly can Mahomes get out there? Like when Alex Smith has his first like three interception game. Are the calls from the crowd going to be saying Mahomes? Now, to Alex’s credit, he played like an MVP that season, particularly early on. I mean, he was unbelievable to the point where that conversation kind of went away because he played so well.

00:42:33
Speaker 3: In a good way, right? It helped the team that it didn’t, right?

00:42:36
Speaker 5: It didn’t fester the whole season wondering when Patrick was going to play because Alex played at such.

00:42:41
Speaker 3: A high level.

00:42:42
Speaker 2: Exactly. But I think other teams have tried to emulate that. And it just it hasn’t worked out because you really rely on that starter going out there and playing great football throughout the season. And the reality is, if you’ve drafted a quarterback to be your guy, you probably don’t have that player ahead of him who can go out there and be a great player all season long. So we’ve seen it over the years. And we’ll see if this time around with Kirk and with Fernando Mendoza, Kirk can go out there and have a really solid season to the point where people aren’t saying, hey, give us Fernando. I just don’t know. So we’ll see how it goes over the course of the year. But that’s kind of the thing I’m watching is the minute that Kirk has a few bad games. Do you start to see that support for Fernando start swelling? And how does Kirk handle that? How does Mendoza handle that? I think that will be the story of the Raiders season.

00:43:30
Speaker 5: Well, the one thing I do think is positive, I think both those guys are real class acts. I do think that they’ll support each other. I don’t think that there’s going to be a fracture in the quarterback room, not with a guy like Kirk Cousins and not Mendoza. I mean, they just both seem like they’re wired the right way in terms of being team first kind of guys. But look, their skill position guys aren’t scaring anyone. I don’t think it matters who’s a quarterback. I just don’t see the Raiders as they currently are as being really a threat. Now, look, week to week in the NFL, anything can happen, but There’s a lot for the Raiders to prove, and they have a lot of holes to fill.

00:44:03
Speaker 3: All right, so the.

00:44:05
Speaker 5: Season, while it has one game as played, I think it’s still fair that we can do predictions for some of the big things.

00:44:11
Speaker 3: And so I decided that.

00:44:13
Speaker 5: Each of us would pick three contenders in the AFC and the AFC and make a little bit of a case of why they’re Super Bowl contenders. And I’ll lead with the NFC, and there are really no surprises there. I mean, I think everybody thinks the Rams– are the most talented team on paper currently in the NFL. And I think it’s kind of hard to argue with that. I mean, their offseason was through.

00:44:33
Speaker 3: The roof, right?

00:44:34
Speaker 5: I mean, if Miles Garrett alone joined your team, you’d be like, well, we’re a much better football team than we were before.

00:44:40
Speaker 3: Give in to Aaron Donald to come out of retirement. You’re going to be a little bit better.

00:44:45
Speaker 5: You got McDuffie and Watson, two really good corners from the Chiefs. So it’s easy to make a case for the Rams. Matthew Stafford’s the reigning MVP. So, like, everything sort of.

00:44:55
Speaker 3: Points to that. But I always think that’s cautionary.

00:44:58
Speaker 5: You know, most of the time, whoever everybody thinks is going to win the Super Bowl doesn’t win the Super Bowl, right? It’s almost impossible to repeat. Obviously, the Chiefs have done it in recent memory. But for the Rams, and I say repeat because I feel like right now the league feels like the Rams are the it team much more than the Seahawks. To me, the Rams have a bigger target on their back than the Seahawks. It’s like the roles have been flipped. Normally, when you’re the defending Super Bowl champ, you kind of like at least are the default if your team stays intact.

00:45:28
Speaker 3: Supposed to be the number one team. So it’s interesting.

00:45:30
Speaker 5: The Rams and Seahawks played three incredible games last year. They were razor thin margins. But right now, it seems that everybody is going with the Rams. The Seahawks dodged a bullet last night because I thought for sure that Sam Darnold was done for the year. The early reports are that the injury is not season ending, which I’m really happy. I mean, nobody wants to see a starting quarterback hurt in week one, especially a guy who’s as likable as Sam Darnold.

00:45:52
Speaker 3: And then the third team I’m throwing in the mix there is the Eagles. And. Just bear with me here. They seem to be really good every other year.

00:46:01
Speaker 5: If you go back over Sirianni’s run there, the first year they were just OK, which I understand was the first year. You know, that second year they they lose to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Then the next year they have a terrible year. Then the next year they win the Super Bowl. Last year they were pretty average. They made wholesale changes to this offense. Sean Mannion comes in as a first time ever play caller in the league. So I think there’s a lot of change there. Change doesn’t work everywhere. I think the early reports are positive, but their wide receiver room is not as good as the Rams. But I think that the Eagles defense is comparable to any defense in the NFC. People love to hate Jalen Hurts, and I get it. When he’s bad, it doesn’t look very good. But when he’s good, it does look very good. So to me, those three teams stand out in the NFC. I turn it over to you.

00:46:51
Speaker 2: Well, I’m with you. I think looking through this, the Rams are an obvious one. And for all the reasons that you stated, and I think the cautionary thoughts about them are also well-founded because, yeah, the teams that normally win the offseason, how often do you see them lift the Lombardi trophy? I don’t think super often. They’re really talented, though. It’s hard to doubt those guys. I mean, they’ve got talent on both sides of the ball and veteran experience and all that. So the Rams obviously are in that conversation. Philadelphia, I agree as well, because the Eagles, I could see them having one of those seasons where there isn’t a lot of fanfare. They just very quietly win like 12 or 13 games and then they get to the postseason and you’re like, oh, man, I feel like it was kind of that way in 2024, where I’m sure if you were an Eagles fan, you were locked in. But like, yes, Saquon’s having a great year, but I don’t think there was a ton of buzz about the Eagles, at least early in 2024. And then ended up being, I think, one of the best teams ever, honestly, when you look at that team front to back. So I agree with those two teams. I’m going to throw one more in there, though. How about the Detroit Lions? So I talked about it earlier with the Chiefs. So I think there is a fascination with teams at times nationally. And either that team becomes like a villain, kind of like the Chiefs did, Or the Lions, in their case, they got close so many times, couldn’t make it happen, couldn’t get to the Super Bowl. And then a lot of injuries last year. They missed the playoffs. Kind of feels like everyone’s forgotten about the Lions. I have not. I mean, that’s a team that is so talented on both sides of the ball when they’re healthy. I still really like their scheme. I think the Lions have a chance to surprise some people this year, which is. Funny to say, because they’re super talented and have all these good players and they’ve been very good recently. But I think people have just kind of forgotten about them because they don’t have a lot of success last year. So if they can stay healthy, which is always the question with the Lions, they’re a team I think everyone needs to watch. But the NFC West in general, I think, is the division that everyone’s going to have their eye on. And with that in mind, I’m curious if a team like Philadelphia or Detroit or somebody else can kind of sneak in as that team that ends up making it to the Super Bowl.

00:48:55
Speaker 5: And part of why I feel like the Rams, even if they were to finish with the best record, I live here in Los Angeles.

00:49:02
Speaker 3: They have no home field advantage.

00:49:03
Speaker 5: Whoever, if they were to play a Detroit or Philadelphia at SoFi, they do not have a home field advantage. With a lot of teams, if you’re Seattle and you have home field advantage, it’s.

00:49:13
Speaker 3: Huge, right? It’s one of the toughest places to play. SoFi does not have that characteristic.

00:49:18
Speaker 5: So the Rams are not a scare team to have to go play there because the home fans in LA.

00:49:23
Speaker 3: Most of people are transplants from someplace else they didn’t grow I mean the Rams have only been.

00:49:27
Speaker 5: Back here you know for less than a decade so it’s just It’s a strange place to be as a football fan because I feel like most people are always talking about the teams from where they’re from and not the teams that are actually here in Los Angeles. It’s even worse for the Chargers than it is for the Rams. There are some real Rams fans here. The Chargers fans are few and far between. All right, let’s shift to the AFC. And I struggled a little bit here to come up with my three teams. But the one that I don’t think is getting as much attention as they should, I really think that what I saw from the Texans at the end of last year, that is an incredible defense. That defense is stacked at all three levels. When you have that good of a defense, I think it can make.

00:50:08
Speaker 3: Up for the fact that I’m still not sold that C.J.

00:50:11
Speaker 5: Shroud is a quarterback that can lead a team to a Super Bowl.

00:50:15
Speaker 3: Can he manage a team that can go to a Super Bowl? I think so. But boy, that defense… The end of last year, nobody wanted to have anything to do with the Texans. I’ve got the Texans.

00:50:24
Speaker 5: I have the Bills, and I feel a little guilty falling back on the Bills. I think We all know how great Josh Allen is. It sort of feels like, isn’t it inevitable that he’s going to get to a Super Bowl or is he going to go his whole career and never get to one? I feel like every year, as long as he’s their starting quarterback, much in the same way I feel about Patrick Mahomes with the Chiefs, if you’ve got a quarterback that good, you’ve got to have a shot.

00:50:44
Speaker 3: And if the Bills were to have home.

00:50:46
Speaker 5: Field advantage, nobody wants to go to Buffalo in January, right? I mean, I know the Chiefs did it a few years ago and they won, but most teams would think, okay, that’s not a place I want to go.

00:50:56
Speaker 3: And then I’m keeping the Chiefs out of this, not because I.

00:50:59
Speaker 5: Don’t think they’re in it, but I think you and Mitch will cover that part of it. I think that the other one, the Broncos were close enough last year that I think that those three teams, the Bills, the Texans, and the Broncos, any one of those.

00:51:11
Speaker 3: Three teams could make it, and I wouldn’t be surprised.

00:51:13
Speaker 5: But I sort of think that the underdog story, if you can believe it, and the comeback story is the Chiefs. And if that story were to happen… I think the whole league would get behind it. Nobody loves a comeback more than American fans. I’m telling you, if Mahomes comes back and plays an elite level, I think that the love that the Chiefs felt during their start of the dynasty comes back.

00:51:34
Speaker 3: All right. Now tell me who you like in the AFC.

00:51:37
Speaker 2: Well, you know, per usual, we have a mind meld here where Buffalo is one of the teams because, yes, it’s Josh Allen. It’s the Bills. I’m never going to count them out, just like I’m never going to count the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes out. I thought I’d surprise you with Houston. I thought I’d be like, hey, how about the Texans? And you’d be like, oh, interesting. Now we’re both on the same page with that. I’m with you. Their defense is so impressive, really at all three levels. We saw it firsthand last year. Incredible. I mean, so talented to the point where I don’t know how they got all of these guys. They’re finding players in the second and third round that end up being like all pro caliber defensive players. So Houston, to me, because their defense is so good. And yeah, I don’t think Stroud played to the level he can play last year. Now, is he ever going to be a superstar?

00:52:20
Speaker 1: I don’t know. Maybe.

00:52:21
Speaker 2: But I also don’t think he’s a player that’s going to throw four interceptions in a playoff game. I mean, that was out of nowhere. And, you know, seeing Sam Darnold lead a team to a Super Bowl championship tells me that C.J. Stroud has the talent and the ability to certainly be at that level. So he has to find that this year. But that’s why Houston, to me, feels like a team that could kind of be like a dark horse to go on a run because their defense is so impressive. And yeah, for me, it’s the Chiefs are the third team. And I’m glad that you mentioned them because, first of all, I can’t in the studio in good conscience not say I think the Chiefs can go to the Super Bowl. I do believe they can do it. And I think because they’re going under the radar a little bit this season, it’s an opportunity to take advantage of that and to surprise some people. And I think this team over my time here, I’ve certainly seen this. This team kind of feeds off of that doubt. And there’s a lot of doubt right now. And, you know, I’ve talked about this with Mitch. I’ve talked about it with you. This whole offseason has reminded me so much of the 2022 offseason when it’s easy to look back at that and not think there was a lot of doubt. But there was. There was so much doubt around the NFL about the Chiefs. Mitch was on NFL Network having to defend that the Chiefs would even make the playoffs that year. And what do they do? They go to three straight Super Bowls after that and win two of them and go back to back. So I’ve seen what this team does when they’re doubted. They’re doubted right now.

00:53:34
Speaker 3: And.

00:53:35
Speaker 2: You know, I’m sure when we get to the end of the year and the Chiefs are hopefully in the Super Bowl, everyone’s going to say like, oh, no, I believed in the Chiefs all along. You and I believed all along and we’re saying it right now. So, yeah, I think the Chiefs have a shot. If the team that we think they can be, they can go out there and be it. Got to improve this running game. We know they can do it based on what we see on paper. Got to go out there and do it. This pass rush has to be better. This young secondary has to show confidence. That’s what they showed in training camp during the regular season. But I’m never going to doubt the Chiefs when they have Patrick Mahomes and Coach Reed in this building.

00:54:07
Speaker 5: And also the one thing that, you know, I follow Andy Reed very closely from his time in Philadelphia and the opportunity to get to work with him at this stage of my career. You know, he’s on my Mount Rushmore of the greatest coaches I’ve ever known. I would love to see him make a full season commitment to running the football because I think his nature is when things are going well is to throw it because you got Patrick Mahomes.

00:54:29
Speaker 3: I understand that.

00:54:29
Speaker 5: But for the purposes of the long view, the big picture of this season, if this team can have great balance, that team is a team that can win a Super Bowl. I think if you go super pass heavy and we don’t develop this running game, I think that the team is more limited in its future. But if this team decides that it is committed to running the football, you spent all this money to get Kenneth Walker.

00:54:51
Speaker 3: And when I say the running game, I.

00:54:52
Speaker 5: Include him also in the passing game because he can be a threat catching the football. We saw that in the postseason with the Seahawks. That running back room, if it delivers, it makes this offense complete. in a way that those championship winning teams that the Chiefs have had have never had the level of complete balance that I think this offense has a chance to do this year.

00:55:12
Speaker 3: All right, we got to move on.

00:55:14
Speaker 5: So we’re going to talk about three season ending awards, MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

00:55:19
Speaker 3: And since it seems like I.

00:55:20
Speaker 5: Sort of stole some of your picks, why don’t you go first on MVP and then I’ll go after you.

00:55:26
Speaker 2: I was fully mentally preparing for you to list off all your awards and maybe like, you know what, Ari, I had.

00:55:31
Speaker 3: The same ones.

00:55:32
Speaker 2: And it’s not because I’m just trying to agree with you. It’s because I just I agree. So MVP, I can go a bunch of different directions here. But in the theme of what we just talked about, how about Patrick Mahomes for MVP? And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Chiefs guy. There is precedent for this. Again, go back to the 2022 offseason. All that doubt about the Chiefs. What does Patrick Mahomes do? He goes out there and sets the NFL record for total offense by a single player with over 5000 total yards, which included a bunch of passing yards, a bunch of rushing yards. And also one reception for like nine yards. It’s one of my favorite stats ever. So Patrick Mahomes, again, when he is doubted, he is at his absolute best. I mean, would you be surprised at all if coming off this injury, knowing everything that we know about Patrick Mahomes, he goes out there and has an MVP season? Because I wouldn’t.

00:56:18
Speaker 5: He, to me, is the Michael Jordan of modern day NFL. So when he’s doubted, when everybody thinks that Patrick’s not going to be the guy, I’m betting on 15 every time. So we can sound like we’re all just in Chiefs kingdom and we’re blurry because I always see is the right color red. I think this is the Mahomes year when Mahomes just reminds everybody how good he really is.

00:56:40
Speaker 3: So we are in total alignment there. I would say that my my.

00:56:43
Speaker 5: Next candidate is Joe Burrow, because if he stays healthy, his stats are likely to be incredible.

00:56:49
Speaker 3: I mean, their receiver room is as good as there is in the National Football League.

00:56:53
Speaker 5: He’s coming off an injury, too, where he barely you know, he didn’t get to play the majority of last year. So we could be back to Mahomes and Burrow and you got to include Josh Allen. I mean, those three guys really, I mean, those guys are the three elite quarterbacks. And notice Lamar Jackson is not on this list for me. I’m just, I’m waiting to prove it with the new regime in Baltimore. I’m curious to see what it’s going to look like. So Lamar is normally in the conversation, but for me, those are the three offensive player of the year. You talked about the Detroit Lions. With David Montgomery now with the Texans, Jameer Gibbs is going to get a lot more carries. He’s going to get a lot more catches. I don’t know if there’s a better running back in the National Football League than Gibbs. Every time he touches the football, I feel like a touchdown could happen.

00:57:40
Speaker 3: So how good is Detroit going to be? I think we both think they’re going to be good.

00:57:43
Speaker 5: I think he, based on the fact that he no longer has to share the ball, he is clearly the number one running back. I think Jameer Gibbs is right now the faraway favorite to be the offensive player of the year.

00:57:54
Speaker 3: What would you say, Mr. McMullen?

00:57:57
Speaker 2: I think that is probably the answer, but for the sake of conversation, I’ll give you a different one. How about Dijon Robinson? B. John Robinson with the Falcons. Every time I watch that guy, he reminds me of like old school football. He’s the kind of running back that in the early 2000s would be a perennial MVP candidate. And for some reason, we just don’t look at running backs that way anymore. But B. John, to me, whenever I watch that guy, he’s running for like a 95 yard touchdown. So I’ll say B. John Robinson, but I’m with you on Jameer Gibbs, too, because he is such an effective pass catcher in addition to being a great running back. I mean, he’s the kind of player that can have You know, like how LeSean McCoy and Jamal Charles were back in the day, where you have a guy that has like 2000 scrimmage yards, like 1000 receiving yards and 1000 rushing yards like Jameer Gibbs could be that guy. But Bijan to me, if I don’t go with Jameer Gibbs, Bijan has a chance, I think, to have another great season. And if we’re being honest, he keeps having these great years despite not having a lot else going on around him.

00:58:56
Speaker 1: Right.

00:58:56
Speaker 2: And Their quarterback situation has been kind of in flux in recent years, and he still gets his numbers. So I think Bijan Robinson having a good season is a decent bet.

00:59:04
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:59:06
Speaker 3: All right. I’m going to let you go first on defensive player of the year.

00:59:10
Speaker 2: It’s very kind of you. I don’t think I’m going to say the one that everyone thinks I’m going to say though, because everyone thinks it’s Miles Garrett, right? I’m going to say Will Anderson Jr. How about that? Again, we talked about how good this Texans defense is. I look up and down the roster. Like I said earlier, I don’t know how they got all these players, but Will Anderson Jr. is one of those You know, their GM deserves a lot of credit because when they made that deal to move up in the first round to get Will Anderson, it was the same year as C.J. Stroud, right?

00:59:38
Speaker 3: I believe so.

00:59:39
Speaker 2: I think it was.

00:59:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:59:40
Speaker 2: And at the time, I think there was a lot of people saying, hey, you’re rebuilding like you want to have more picks, like you don’t want to give up all your picks just to get a couple of players in the top 10. I mean, I think they were correct in what they decided they wanted to do by getting Will Anderson Jr. Because what a player he is. His numbers have gone up every single season. Twelve sacks last year. First team all pro. finished second in defensive player of the year voting last year. And if the Texans can be the team that we think they can be this season, he’ll be right in the middle of that. So I’m going to zag instead of zigging or the other way around and not say Miles Garrett. Let’s go with Will Anderson Jr.

01:00:15
Speaker 5: Well, Matt, just to show how much we think alike, if you can read my handwriting there, it’s Will Anderson Jr.

01:00:21
Speaker 3: Is this good radio? For all the reasons you just stated.

01:00:24
Speaker 5: Yeah, part of why I don’t think it’s going to be Miles Garrett is is that he’s on a better team with other guys making plays. I don’t know if he’ll accumulate the same numbers, unless Garrett is just far and away the obvious guy.

01:00:35
Speaker 3: I think it opens it.

01:00:36
Speaker 5: Up for somebody else to get it, so we’re perfectly aligned on Will Anderson Jr.

01:00:41
Speaker 3: Yes. So for those of you who didn’t watch this.

01:00:45
Speaker 5: Segment of the podcast last year, we always have a parting thought at the end of each episode, and I think it’s better so I can wrap it up and bow it up. I’m going to have you give your parting thought, then I’ll give mine, and then we’ll wrap it up.

01:00:57
Speaker 2: Well, you know, this is probably similar to what you’re going to say, which is the theme of our our time together today. But I’m just so appreciative to do another one of these seasons. And we talked about it a little bit in the preseason. This is your number 10 for me, which is so hard to believe. I still feel like I just got here. I grew up watching the Chiefs. I love this team just as any fan does. And I just so happen to work here. And I just can’t wait for the opportunity to go out there and watch the Chiefs play football again this season and to travel on the road and to wear red and opposing stadiums and to share all the time with people like you and Mitch and others. It’s just such a blessing. So I have so much fun doing this. It’s a blast to do stuff like talk football with you, Ari. And I just try not to lose that perspective because. If I told 12 year old me I was doing any of this stuff, I wouldn’t believe it. So my parting thought is I’m glad to be here with you and glad to kick off another season. And we’ve been waiting a long time. This has been a long off season. Again, the perspective element, I’m ready to play some football.

01:01:53
Speaker 3: Well, I’m with you and I am super grateful.

01:01:56
Speaker 5: Being a part of the Chiefs organization now since 2019 is one of the most humbling and flattering things that’s ever happened in my career. And I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of big things, but working for an organization that cares so deeply.

01:02:08
Speaker 3: About the people that work for. It really is a family-like atmosphere. And I am.

01:02:13
Speaker 5: Forever grateful to everyone with the Chiefs for making me feel like a part of the family. And getting to do this with you is amazing. But my final parting thought is just about 15. It’s about Patrick Mahomes, because I feel that We’re watching something happen in front of our eyes that we’re just so fortunate to see, to watch a player who’s absolutely the best at his craft. And he’s still literally, I think, in the first half of his career. I mean, consider that. He can easily play another 12, 13, 14 years. If he’s like Tom Brady, he’s not even halfway, guys. So he’s already won three Super Bowls. But to me, maybe his greatest accomplishment will be what he’s going to do this year. Because to suffer that kind of injury, and work that hard seven plus hours a day. Most of the time, you’re by yourself, just working with people trying to help you.

01:03:03
Speaker 3: There’s no glory there.

01:03:05
Speaker 5: All that work that he’s put in to get himself ready to play on Monday night, I just have so much admiration for the way he carries himself. Because to me, being a franchise quarterback is a lot more than just what you do on the field. You represent that franchise in everything you do. You are the face of the franchise. There has never been a hint of any scandal with him. There’s no off-field issues. He has always represented the Chiefs in the absolute best light. So I feel incredibly grateful that we get to cover a team that has a quarterback that I am so in love with watching. I love his leadership. I love the way he plays. And I cannot wait to see the comeback tour, which hopefully ends.

01:03:42
Speaker 3: With an MVP.

01:03:43
Speaker 5: And it would be his fourth Super Bowl MVP, which sounds pretty good. So that’s going to do it for our first episode of our second season. Glad you joined us for Out West. Matt, a huge thanks to you. And looking forward to talking with you and Mitch Holtis throughout the season.

01:03:57
Speaker 1: Ari’s on it, man. He’s a spy versus spy. He’s looking at everybody in the league, especially the AFC West teams. One thing that I think can get lost, the 53-man roster for the 2026 Kansas City Chiefs for week one has 11 rookies. 11. All seven draftees. Then you’re looking at two guys who were added, along with the two undrafted free agents that made this team, and Khalil Benson and Xavier Wampa. But 53 guys in the team and 11 are rookies.

01:04:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty remarkable. I need to stop myself from continually making this comparison because it’s unfair to our team, but I’m going to do it anyway. Reminds me so much of 2022. And the parallels are incredible because coming out of the 2021 season, we kept dealing nationally with, is the Chiefs run over? This isn’t the same Chiefs, all that stuff, because a lot of change had occurred. Tyreek Hill was no longer here. Even though we made the title game, we had fallen short of expectations. And remember that off season, a lot of teams geared up, like the Raiders got Devante Adams, the Broncos got Russell Wilson, the Chargers got Khalil Mack, like all the teams in the AFC West are making all these moves and it was time to dethrone the Chiefs. And what did the Chiefs do? We drafted this incredible class in 2022 that all went on to have great success for the most part and help us win Super Bowls. So that’s the opportunity now in front of the Chiefs. And again, you have these young players that already kind of remind me of that class because of their energy and their attitude and their excitement to make an impact right now. Isn’t always the case with rookie classes that we’re seeing that with this one. I think they have the ability to do that to help us win right away. They have to go out there and play and make an impact, but that’s what this reminds me of. And that’s exciting because you think about all the success that we had with those rookies in 2022, maybe this class can be kind of like that. And, This is the maiden voyage of this group on Monday night. Let’s see how they can impact the game.

01:05:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, I’m very curious to see how they do. And there’s something unique about these 11, at least part of them. And I’ll get into that next week. I don’t want to scoot my own minute with Mitch. That’s next week. But we’ll talk about it on Defending the Kingdom and just see how these guys do in this Monday night opener against the Broncos. OK, we told you we have our new space station hovering above the Earth, looking at The rest of the solar system. But as we do, we’re going to go around the world. And then we’re going to give you something really to get excited about for defending the kingdom. But first, let’s go around the world.

01:06:27
Speaker 2: Got one for you today.

01:06:29
Speaker 3: Yes.

01:06:29
Speaker 2: Just one.

01:06:30
Speaker 1: For Xavier Worthy.

01:06:31
Speaker 2: For Xavier Worthy.

01:06:31
Speaker 1: Who’s going to make a big play in this game.

01:06:33
Speaker 2: That’s a big game, Xavier.

01:06:34
Speaker 1: You know he’s going to have a big game. I believe it.

01:06:36
Speaker 2: This is a cool one. This is a firsthand one. So my grandpa is in Scotland right now. In Edinburgh. And his bus driver on their tour. Her name is Kirstie. She’s a huge Chiefs fan. I don’t know how this all came up, but it turned into she’s a Chiefs fan and he mentioned me. And I guess Kirstie watches Defending the Kingdom. So Kirstie, shout out to you. Thanks for giving my grandpa a great time in Edinburgh. Thanks for watching the Chiefs representing the kingdom over there.

01:07:03
Speaker 1: A kingdom defender driving a bus in Scotland.

01:07:06
Speaker 3: Yeah. How about that?

01:07:07
Speaker 1: Wow.

01:07:07
Speaker 4: Yeah.

01:07:08
Speaker 1: And had to be somewhere in there. She got a t-shirt for the Scottish Claymores.

01:07:12
Speaker 2: I hope so.

01:07:13
Speaker 1: From the old NFL E-team.

01:07:14
Speaker 2: Is that Dante Hall’s team?

01:07:15
Speaker 1: Dante Hall.

01:07:16
Speaker 2: Let’s go.

01:07:16
Speaker 1: You’ve got to have a Scottish Claymore jersey with a little Chiefs logo. What a name. Okay. That’s pretty awesome. Isn’t that cool? Yeah.

01:07:24
Speaker 2: Shout out to you, Kirstie.

01:07:25
Speaker 1: Way to go.

01:07:26
Speaker 5: Yeah.

01:07:26
Speaker 3: All right.

01:07:27
Speaker 1: Here’s where this is going to be fun for the rest of the year with all of you, because we want to have some more interactive reaction with Kingdom Defenders. And we’re going to start something kind of cool here where y’all can get involved.

01:07:44
Speaker 3: Yeah.

01:07:44
Speaker 2: So this is another invention of Dane Van Wye, who I mentioned earlier, who is our producer extraordinaire. We’re going to do like a mailbag or like a text line or something. We don’t really know how we’re going to do it yet.

01:07:54
Speaker 1: We’re making it up as we go along.

01:07:56
Speaker 3: We are.

01:07:56
Speaker 2: We’re figuring this out as we go. But some way that we can like answer questions on here or maybe even like a voicemail. I don’t know. We’re figuring it out. Let’s keep it PG, everybody. Okay. I know what you’re thinking right now as we’re mentioning this. Let’s try to keep it PG. But we’re excited. We’re going to tinker with this as we go. It’s all a work in progress, but pretty exciting. Yeah, it’s going to be fun. So we want to hear from you, basically.

01:08:17
Speaker 1: Uh throughout the entire season around the world because we know obviously scotland we’re big there we’re big in the philippines once we figured out what hemisphere they were in we know we’re big in lao there we go and so we’ve learned so much over the last couple of years the only the only continent’s antarctica we haven’t.

01:08:34
Speaker 2: Heard from yeah still waiting on that.

01:08:35
Speaker 1: One so if you’re from antarctica hey chime in next week uh but anyway.

01:08:39
Speaker 2: Dk metcalf said about antarctica what’s that did you hear what dk metcalf said about antarctica He thinks it’s all.

01:08:45
Speaker 1: I listen to everything DK Metcalf says, but I didn’t.

01:08:47
Speaker 2: He thinks it’s all a conspiracy and it’s like a portal to the hollow earth and all this stuff. Can you imagine if we were doing the Steelers podcast and DK just said all that stuff and we’re like, oh, cool, cool.

01:08:58
Speaker 3: Awesome.

01:08:58
Speaker 2: Did he go down there and check the- out i don’t know if so maybe he could write in.

01:09:03
Speaker 1: You know he might have but he had found an igloo with aaron rogers in it that’s true yes like just you know getting ready for his last season yep yep wow yeah some of the stuff we unearthed here yeah um I mean, I’ve read all of DK Metcalf’s books, listened to all his podcasts. The guy’s a philosopher of our time. Yep.

01:09:23
Speaker 2: In Antarctica, there you go.

01:09:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay. Anyway, we digress. But we do get ready for Monday Night Football. It is the Chiefs and Broncos and an exciting new setup, exciting new year, because we want to bring the best to you on Defending the Kingdom.