The Gang Talks 53-Man and Threepeats with Rany

well I uh informed you earlier this Summer that I was playing a simulated football game you remember that the isfl the international simulation Football League yeah and the the listeners were fired up about it you even had a couple uh in the couple join that's right yes it was very fun um so shout out to anybody on the isfl that is still a regular listener of It's Always Sunny and Chiefs Kingdom I appreciate you uh and just wanted to update everyone that Jack Cannon my quarterback extraordinaire is quack rookie quarterback's about to win m P of the development league uh before the Big Show so uh that's a lot of fun it's voted on by your peers and and I'm running away I can see the ballot results right now and uh it's been a it's been a good year for Jack Canon I'm really fired up now how did Jack Canon do in the playoffs well he made it to the championship game which the the ultim mini which is fun that's that's uh you know got a first round by won the division got into uh the championship and then uh didn't perform as as well as I would have liked defense also had a really tough game and we lost to the Portland pythons but the Northfolk seaw wolves will live to fight another day starting up in about two weeks when season 50 of the isfl begins [Music] welcome in to it's always sunny and chees Kingdom I'm awesome find me on Twitter at real bird lawyer here with me as always my co-host Taylor the uh it's like a is it like a ratou e situation with you and Jack Cannon like I was I was trying to describe you're kind of the creator of Jack Cannon but also you're I mean but you're not like it's not like Madden where you're like inputting information in him in the game it's all simmed right so is it a Ratatouille or is it not a Ratatouille situation it is it is similar no it's not a Ratatouille I wouldn't say I control him I uh but what I do is I influence his stats so when I earn stat points through the game I choose whether to put it in throwing power throwing accuracy intelligence Etc and so he is a build of my creation and I and I when I earn money to buy him new equipment and stuff like that that all makes him better so it it's kind of like an RPG character I would say except for there's less control than it would be a traditional like tap top RPG Taylor wit on Twitter ladies and gentlemen uh what's going on uh not much I'm uh recovering from uh being sick the last couple weeks so I'm I'm still a little froggy sounding and uh I might random mute without expecting to to cough but other than that doing great and excited for both football and surprisingly in late August baseball it's been a lot of fun well uh spoiler alert we'll get to that but uh do we have any updates on the listener fantasy leagues we do have some updates we have a draft all the leagues are filled so thank you for everyone reaching out and uh dming me and getting all that settled in so we were a couple spots short but we no longer are so our redraft league is drafting tomorrow night we've got a um a Cutthroat League that's drafting next week we are ready for the new season ready to plow it's going to be a lot of fun and we are going to have a lot of fun on tonight's show we are brought to you by fans sited of course it is Tuesday August 27th which is roster cutdown day so news news news will be wholly dedicated to the news regarding that 53 man roster and there is a lot of it we've got trades we've got extensions we've got surprise Cuts some surprise makes on the roster as well that's going to be great and then we are joined by our friend the one the only Randy jazer who of course you know from his podcast on our dear Royals the boys playing the ball that's not the name of the podcast but that is what he's talking about and you said it hey uh game out of first place uh in late August for a team that was 50 games under 500 one year ago today uh pretty fun EX exciting little time to be a k sports fan very crazy and they're a game out but right now they are leading Cleveland in a rain delay that will resume at 920 I was just informed by the Royals so maybe by the time people are listening to this tomorrow uh the Royals will be in first place in the AL Central it's been it's been a blast they've been you know they their job is to get us through training camp or to training camp really is kind of the the agreement that we have with Kanas City and the Royals is just get it to where by the time the Chiefs start up training camp we've been thoroughly entertained for the and they've gone they've blown past that in this uh fun 2024 season it's going to be a lot of fun and we will talk I'm sure a little bit when rany about that of course it'll be mostly about football but stay tuned for that but first well the Chiefs have a 53 man roster tailor and I can't think of any better way to talk about all the news the past week and there is a lot of it than to just go through the roster position by position let's start with the quarterbacks this one is easy it's not surprising Patrick Mahomes of course and the backup is going to be Carson Wentz we've talked about this a little bit on the show but uh I I mean I hope we never have to see him Carson Wentz but if we do I'm kind of excited about Carson Wentz on this team I think uh he certainly brings more upside than your Matt Moore than your Chad Henny and those guys as we know have done work in an Andy Reid offense filling in for Patrick Mahomes over the last three or four seasons when he couldn't go I mean both of those especially uh of course Chad Henny making big plays and playoff games for the Kansas City Chiefs in two of their Super Bowl runs excuse me one of their Super Bowl runs and then you know another one where they didn't quite win the Super Bowl but still an iconic performance against the Browns by Chad Henny it's uh it's kind of exciting to have Carson went back there yeah it is you know you don't want to have to see your insurance policy but you still want a good insurance policy you still want to be able to be covered as well as you can in case you need it and um I mean like you said it's it's better he presents a higher upside especially if it has to be for a longer stretch than one drive than some of the past Chiefs backups that have played significant roles on this team so uh yeah I I liked the signing at the time I think it's a good fit um you know might as well have a guy that was uh close to an MVP candidate at one time back there and uh you know hopefully as as you said as as everyone thinks hopefully we never have to see play but if you do have to see him play at least you know that he's capable of going out there and doing some fun stuff and you know what I I put this on Twitter last week but uh I really enjoyed seeing Carson Wentz on the sideline I I sure listen I mean some of this is of his own making but the guys had a pretty miserable time in the NFL especially the last couple of seasons and uh I thought it was really fun to see the camera cutting to him you know after the behind the back Pat and just see him grinning his ass off you know the sidelines you know laughing at everything that Mahomes is doing out there I think it'll be a good presence there let's get to the running backs not really any surprise Cuts uh daic prince who we were both kind of high on just based on his athletic profile but really didn't consistently flash in the preseason and Lis re zamit both cut uh Luis ramit of course has the option and I would fully expect for him to come back to the practice squad under that International pathway program spot he's kind of got a guaranteed practice squad spot and the Chiefs can stash him so I'm sure he'll be back two running backs two running backs make the 53 isaia Peko and Clyde Edwards hair who we have not seen in a couple of weeks obviously dealing with uh some mental health complications two running backs that's it uh that's the surprising part to me not necessarily who was cut who was kept two guys that's it well I mean I can hear the people clamoring now Austin it's three Austin Austin there's a third running back on this spot so yeah it's all right it's kind of three let's talk about the Man of Steel Carson steel call him a fullback call him a running back he's the third guy in that room he is listed as a fullback but I mean come on like yeah and we've seen now not only him pop in the preseason but there's been some Buzz coming out of chiefs land that Chiefs Kingdom I should probably say that's really the fan base I you know what I mean some Buzz coming out of the chief's camp that Carson steel might end up getting quite a bit of goal line work like he might be sort of your preferred option when you're in the red zone and that is I mean frankly scary for opponents of the Kansas City Chiefs like we all know how physical Isaiah Peko is and then imagine that he rotates out of the game in the red zone and they bring in a guy who is arguably even more physical who looks like Thor and runs like Thor and you know he's got the uh the whole alligator thing you know he's just uh his AA is unmatched I mean he he's got this just great story and great look and great performance so far the Vibes are an all-time high with Carson steel and you know I I mean again it's basically it's three running backs it's Pacho it's Clyde and it's steel and I think that you're going to see you know like uh you and I were talking off off air earlier today about jet McKinnon and how much I I missed his presence and I liked his I liked what he brought to the table and stuff and like they played McKinnon at the fullback like slot quite a bit now he's not a traditional fullback he's not built like a brick [ __ ] house or anything like that but like he would line up you know split from the quarterback and block in there and do some full backy type of stuff and so if you're not going to have jet McKinnon which the Chiefs don't this year sadly much to all of our sha grin uh at least they're going to come in with a guy that presents more of a fun fullback role than like a you know if this had been daic Prince let's say as the third running back instead of Carson steel which I think if we were to project the 53 back in June that's kind of how we would have had it go we we would have had Pacho and Clyde and then probably Prince or or you know definitely Carson steel came out of nowhere which is a lot of fun but point being that I don't know if I would have been excited at all about the third running back there and in fact I'm not excited about the second running back CDE edir so you might as well give me two running backs to be excited about and that's definitely what the Chiefs have with PCO and steel I'm fired up about it I'm also not going to rule out a Jeet McKinnon reunion he is currently unsigned I I just checked again just to see if there's been any official news about his retirement you would think that a guy that is unsigned you know with a week to go before the actual game start like if he wasn't planning to play he probably would have told us and to be honest with you you know a guy that just w back toback Super Bowl rings I mean shoot tell us on the podium if you're not intending to play again so I'm not certain that we've seen the last of Jeet McKinnon uh I think if the you know if the circumstances are right like let's say for instance that for whatever reason Clyde just can't go this year like mental health physical health whatever it might be I wouldn't rule out a reunion there and we'll see if Den Prince makes it to the practice squad have to think that he probably will there are some intriguing names out there to but uh for right now that's what we got pajo Clyde and Carson steel let's go to the wide receiver room and uh let's start with the guys that made the cut and then we could talk about the ones who did not Hollywood Brown of course Rashid rice of course Xavier excuse me Xavier worthy you got it nailed it Justin Watson Sky Moore and micle Hardman at the bottom of the cut list and new news a familiar face returning to the Chiefs Juju Smith recently cut by the Patriots and reigned with the Kansas City Chiefs those are your seven wide receivers yeah um you know I'd like to say that this was a surprise but it really wasn't there you know now I would maybe the juju reunion was a bit of a surprise although as soon as the Patriots cut him loose right I mean you could throw a rock on Twitter and find somebody saying oh I bet the Chiefs bring him in I mean that was not a not a shock to see a reunion with the uh a guy that performed very well in 2022 but you know the rest of the group is a lot of people that either deserve to be on the roster if they are on the roster or don't deserve to be on the roster if they're not or skymore that's basically the three groups sure yeah no that's great um let's talk about Juju really quick I was not shocked to see the Patriots release him because he I mean he wasn't healthy last year and he wasn't very good and you know the news out of Patriots Camp was not super positive as far as you know his ability to separate but let's be honest I mean he was playing on the worst offense in the NFL last year and what probably will be one of the worst if not the worst offense in the NFL this year we're only two years removed from him being the wide receiver one for this Chiefs team 14 starts 933 yards for a Super Bowl winning team in 2022 and I I mean you have to think that I mean he's been he's been out there you know for a couple of days the Patriots released him last week the Chiefs had time to do their due diligence on his health and you know obviously we heard when he signed with the Patriots that the Chiefs wanted him back but they weren't willing with his knee to pay what the Patriots were going to pay well you know now they're paying in the league minimum because he's still getting paid by the Patriots but you have to think that they wouldn't give him a roster spot if they weren't at least somewhat convinced that he can contribute with his current level of Health right like obviously it's not nearly as risky as it would have been to pay him the contract the Patriots did but you have to think that the Chiefs feel at least somewhat confident about his level of health and for him to contribute and gosh I mean for him to come to in as like the wide receiver four at most uhuh when he was the wide receiver one for this team two years ago by a mile yeah I mean it's a good situation to be in it's much better situation for Juju and for the Chiefs for both parties and you know the calculus there was do we want to add Juju or do we want to keep one of you know the guy Kadarius Tony Justin Ross Nico rho pick your pick your poison there but like the Chiefs clearly thought okay well at least we would rather have Juju in the building we would rather have him he can he can line up you know that was something that uh between Tony and Ross I now Rdio I I think more just athletically did cut it but the other two guys were clearly not grasping the the chief system they they clearly still had some issues with just the Playbook and the and the mental side of it I mean at least from the outside looking in and after multiple years with the team which by the way by the way guju was here for a year yeah and he was awesome I mean he's a smart kid and they think that guju has a better like understands the Playbook better than two guys that have been with the team for two seasons so and I'm sure he does he obviously his play on the field demonstrated that he did so yes he did and you know the the health stuff is one thing um he had some horrible quarterback play in New England I mean you mentioned it that they were you know one of the worst offenses if not the worst offense in football and not only can that wear on your on your box score production but it can wear on you mentally I mean I I having never been a professional football player before like I I'm sure that JuJu's level of of enthusiasm and of and of just his desire to go out there and perform on the Chiefs when they won the Super Bowl and Pat was MVP and the the team was awesome and the stadium was rocking and versus what happened in New England I'm sure he showed up there to training camp the first day and was like oh oh I maybe I maybe made a mistake for some dollars or or whatever but you know I mean the Chiefs the Chiefs let him go in 23 they they could have brought him back and they decided not to and now a year later for a lot less money I like the reunion I think it's cool uh you mentioned obviously the three guys that probably were on the bubble or closest to making the roster who did not make the cut cadarius Tony Justin Ross niik rigio it's still TBD whether any of these guys will be back I think rigio and Justin Ross you know those guys at least have a chance to make it back to the practice squad we'll see I don't know if either of them have signed if they have I missed it cadarius Tony according to shefer and all the guys Tom peliso will have a market elsewhere which is I guess not surprising given his pedigree former number one or former first round draft pick you know he he's had one good game in the NFL it was not as a Kansas City chief it was as a giant in his rookie year against the Cowboys you know where he went off for 170 yards or whatever but right I don't think any of these are necessarily surprises I guess the the the surprise aspect of this would be you know Sky Moore making the team over maybe a guy like Justin Ross or Nico rigio I think we saw the writing was on the wall for kadaria Sony and you know micole Hardman who really did not contribute very much at all last year after coming back over in that trade from the Jets but those are guys that I mean you mentioned it already the Chiefs want guys that know where to line up and it's ironic given that Sky's only touchdown in the NFL he did not he did not line up correctly but but uh it seems clear if you just kind of read between the lines it seems clear that the Chiefs and it's also ironic because mcole also has had some issues with maybe not where he lines up but with with how and where he runs his routes over the years but yes if you read between the lines it's clear that the Chiefs felt that those two guys were ahead of Tony and Ross maybe not rigio but you mentioned you know he maybe doesn't bring quite as much athletically as those other guys do I don't think any of this is really surprising but uh but here we are yeah um you know also uh just credit to Sky Moore he did have one regular season touchdown after his Super Bowl touchdown he scored that one in in Jacksonville that nobody cares about but um certainly has has had his issues with that so that is a hilarious Point by you that um they still kept him around uh you know he he flashed a little bit on on Kick returning in the in this preseason and up to where and and mcole Hardman was the best kick returner that the Chiefs had this preseason he was awesome so which is wild which is wild and if if we're speaking about kick returners and we've already talked about running backs and wide receivers we might as well mention also that Luis ree samit oh yeah you did mentioned that because he probably has a practice squad spot from but uh you know that group there I don't think there's really much of a surprise I think the best players made the rosters and and that's um that's what you want as the two-time defending Super Bowl champs you want this cutdown day the guys that leave you know you want to be able to kind of see that they still decent football players they're just not good enough to make a championship roster like this so I don't think you know everybody that was super high on like rigio for example is a is a great example of a guy that yeah I get it he was a new face and it's really fun to kind of cheer for these new faces and especially when you're rooting for them to make the team over MCO or Sky I mean yes ex or guys that have driven you nuts the last couple all those guys exactly I I you know I was happy to see cadarius Tony just because I've just done with I'm done with cheering for the guy like it's fine he's you know it's just it's too frustrating and we were probably two of his bigger I would imagine bigger Champions throughout his Chief's career just as far as the hype and the the fit how it could have been it could have been really cool it it absolutely could have worked out The Vision by V there was great of course Tony didn't live up to it but like that Twitchy kind of high athleticism guy like you want to put guys out there and see if they can cut it or not not and he couldn't so credit to them for not sticking with him longer than they had to and uh I I think these seven guys that are on the wide receiver room I think they can go out there and really play yeah I mean you know uh at the very least having Sky Moore and micle as the last two wide receivers on the roster is a huge improvement over where the Chiefs have been when those guys were wide receiver two wide receiver three the last couple of Seasons so that really speaks to the job that Brett be has done turning over that room let's look at the tight ends we've got four Travis Kelsea Noah gray and Jared Wy and it looked for all the world like the chiefs were going to break today with 53-man roster that included only three tight ends but then they sent a conditional 2026 seventh round pick to Dallas which is almost it's it's one pick off it could have technically been a 2027 seventh rounder and that would be the lowest value pick but this is the second lowest possible pick that you can possibly trade in the NFL a conditional seventh one year or two years out from where you're at right now uh pton Hendershot is now a Kansas City chief and he is the fourth tight end in this room interesting I I like it I I like it because unlike Irv Smith who kind of did a lot of the same stuff that um the other three guys do as far as he was more of a a slender pass catching tight end and pton hendershot's a big boy he's like 6'4 I 260 or something like that and and he's apparently a special teams guy like uh you know he's going to be out there on the kick blocking and all that stuff and so I do think that this is more of a toad pick than a than a tight end room like I he'll sure technically he'll play tight end but really he's a special teams guy and and he's a bigger guy and uh I think that you know they probably didn't see much of a future for IRB Smith on this team based on also based on Jared wy's development like Jared wy's been a dog and and if he had maybe been kind of slacking a little bit or if they were a little worried about his development I could have seen Irv Smith fitting into his type of role but between Kelsey gray and Wy you do not need Irv Smith on this roster so get a big guy in there that can block yeah and uh Nate Ty uh now formerly the athletic now of Yahoo uh he tweeted out earlier today actually can play in line a little bit way more useful te than you usually see available on cutdown day so that's fun I mean I like useful useful tight end and you know uh that the Chiefs are probably going to run some kind of direct snap to pton Hendershot and he's going to be new Lake belt like that won't go out of the Playbook it it won't work because it stopped working like three years ago but uh that play is staying in the Playbook and it will be pton Hendershot running at 100% he's gonna run it out of the Hender shotgun or they'll do some they'll do something cute there uh yeah they will it'll be great uh offensive line 10 guys we've got your five presumptive starters and I say presumptive we' we've got four four spots locked in Kings Le sua MAA was the highest rated rookie pass Blocker in the preseason per PFF uh obviously um with W Morris being a little bit banged up it seems like this is kingsley's job it hasn't been officially announced but you have to think he's going to be the week one starter at uh left tackle you've got Joe tuni at the left guard spot Trey Smith on the right side and Jawan Taylor of course at right tackle and that leaves the highest paid Center in the NFL Creed Humphrey uh those are your starting uh those are your starting offensive linemen and Creed highest pay guy in the NFL pretty good group pretty fun um that was great news to break right before the Chief's last preseason game that um he he beat the average aav for the next highest Center by four and a half million out of water and he deserves it he's uh he's a monster in there and you know it's um long time I mean I guess not a long time coming cuz he's still young but but he's earned it since the day he walked in I mean he took over as the center and other than some concerns that some people have had about a low snaps which he's been working on he changed his grip yep yep he's trying to get that ball up a little bit higher but other than that um he's great and and I'm super excited for creed and you know Trey Smith's probably right around the corner I would imagine for those of you who may not remember this fact about Creed Humphrey he is the most athletic center right in the history of the NFL draft his relative Athletic score is a 10 which means he has a 100th percentile relative Athletic score which means he is more athletic than any other Center that has ever done athletic testing ever going back to the late 80s so a pretty good guy to have on your team he plays like it he obviously is a leader on the team you know other than the intermittent snap issues which you pointed out and he's obviously is trying to fix and we saw some Improvement on I thought in The Limited action we saw him in the preseason he's been Rock Solid and richly deserved contract for him the backups are the presumed backups I should say since we still don't know about the left tackle spot but you've got the aformentioned W Morris you've got Mike cendo Hunter NORAD of course who the Chiefs like his versatility Ethan Driscoll and CJ Hansen really the only notable cut here and not notable because it's surprising but notable because he was a third round pick a couple years ago is Lucas Nang but those are your 10 offensive linemen that's kind of right around where the Chiefs want to be 10 guys you've got five starters you've got five backups you've got your uh your swing tackles you've got your you know doit all interior guy in NORAD they think he can fit that role and you've got your rotational pieces so pretty solid group there yeah V is really uh he's he's covered himself he's you know I I mean this is a group that would stand up against any of the the offensive line groups that have been here in the Andy Reed era I would say as far as their their ceiling their depth their their athletic skills I mean they've got it all I'm I'm really uh pretty fired up about this offensive line in general yeah so let's kick it over to the defense we've got the defensive tackle room four guys Chris Jones obviously you got Turk Warren uh Turk Wharton excuse me Derek nauy and Mike panel any surprises here um not really I mean these are all familiar faces all these guys have have spent time with the organiz ation they've all um you know had relative success and and other than Chris Jones they're three guys that you know aren't going to jump off the page at you but n's been around the block now for a while and panel was a Super Bowl hero and Turk Wharton you know still a young guy and and has shown some upside he's had some injury history but I mean all the guys are are certainly serviceable um I don't know if you would call this the best interior defensive tackle room you know around um you've got one super St and then three guys that can show up to work and that's fine yeah and of course the Chiefs do have we'll get to the defensive ends in a second they do have a lot of guys on the outside that can that can kick inside I mean pretty much every guy in this defensive end room that we'll talk about in a second has that kind of flexibility allowing you to get you know your best four or your best five depending on what kind of front you're playing or your best three uh on the line if you need to do that um Mike penelo is a cool story and I feel like we're not talking about it enough we just talked about him last week obviously when we were recapping the Super Bowl win but you said it I mean a Super Bowl hero who again just to reiterate I mentioned it several times in the last podcast was not playing football Midway through last season and then showed up and was absolutely Mossing Trent Williams future Hall Famer and one of the greatest tackles of all time in the Super Bowl it's cool to see him get a full-time role back with this team again even at his old age uh the defensive end room Five Guys George carus Mike Dana Malik Herring Felix and DK uzama and who is this cam Thomas Chief's traded a 2025 seventh round pick to Arizona for cam Thomas he is a big spags defensive end who is is gonna beat you more with power than he is with speed and bend 87th overall in the 2022 draft so a third round pick just from two seasons ago and had three sacks his rookie year uh didn't do anything really last season he was dealing with a little bit of uh of injury stuff from what I understand um but he had three sacks and 10 pressures in the preseason this year so I mean the guy's healthy and I mean he fits he fits a type that Steve spago has and I mean for a seventh round pick seems like a really a pretty strong addition to this defensive end room yeah uh I I like this I I hadn't really he wasn't on my radar um but you know as soon as the Chiefs pick him up um he's uh he switched defenses after his rookie year where he had a he had a good rookie year switched from a 34 to a 4-3 and and you know sometimes maybe learning a new playbook two years in a row maybe that's not a ideal thing for a young football player to do and and I do think that he uh like you said spazy right like like he's he's just a guy that you kind of based on his measurables and based on the profile and and what he can do he just feels like he fits this te team and again you know they they traded a seventh so it's not the it's not a big splash trade by any means but it's a draft pick and it's a draft pick that they would have otherwise spent on trying to get another young guy into the room so they like him enough to do that um we'll kind of see if he ends up getting some play I mean this defensive end room in general you know I think everybody's pretty pretty pleased and pretty high on klaus' development so far he was a little raw but but has really really turned into a fine defensive end in the NFL and Mike Dana Motors and and gets after it and and definitely shows some some pop uh maybe not as consistent as you would think for like a you know a guy on a team that I mean this defense was basically second across the board in most metrics last year on defense they were an unbelievable defense and and other than him though you've got really you know I mean Herring and FAU aren't aren't popping off the page at anything which means cam Thomas has a chance to show up and show out and and become a defensive end that this team might be able to play in some important Spots I'm looking forward to his development yeah and you mentioned I mean the high motor thing that's the other thing that everybody says about cam Thomas is that he never I mean like he's very active on the the defensive end spot I mean he's always he's always going and that's what yeah that's what George was his rookie year right like he wasn't necessarily effective but he damn it he showed the effort and yeah he did and caraus has really developed into a really nice piece and cam Thomas has the measurables to be able to continue to develop and this has really been you know a part of the Chiefs roster that I think has overperformed relative maybe to their talent level uh so it's going to be interesting to see what they can get out of him and then of course uh BJ Thompson is kind of in that defensive end linebacker pass rush specialist area he's on the non- football injury list after he was dealing with that Cardiac Arrest incident scary there but it sounds like he has a chance to play this year uh and then of course you got Charles omeno he's on the pup list so he'll miss at least the first four games but they're on track back for a November return for him which considering you know he blew out his knee in the AFC Championship game uh would be would be great if they're able to get him back and get him healthy in November have him you know playing December January down the stretch getting him ready for that playoff run I mean adding omahu to that group of defensive ends I don't know that's a pretty good group I feel pretty good about those guys remember him and that situation when it comes to like trade deadline time because the Chiefs are going to consider him just like a deadline Edition and right he's going to be hungry you know he missed out on his chance to play in the Super Bowl which has got to be I know the team won and I'm sure he's happy about that and all that stuff but he's definitely going to have his own chip on his own shoulder he's going to be one of the few guys in this room that doesn't have a Super Bowl I mean anybody that has been around for a little bit has got played in and won a Super Bowl and you know so so am men who is going to be jacked up and he's going to be ready to roll and when he was playing he was awesome um you know even before his injury he had the strip sack on Lamar in the AFC title game and and all the other big plays that we saw him get so I'm I'm frankly I I think that him coming in fresh at a time of the year where everyone else is going to be a little cold and a little little worn down and all that stuff that's going to provide some juice in that room and uh I I think it's going to work out really well for the Chiefs on the linebackers we've got five Nick Bolton Drew tranquil Leo Chanel No Surprises there and then Jack coch and cam Jones rounding out this room uh I mean no real surprises here this is kind of what we expected uh to see with the linebacker room and really I mean that top three you feel pretty good about that you've got gay out but you think Leo Chanel after he bowled out in the Super Bowl is probably ready for a bigger role there and Drew tranquil in his second year in the system and he obviously did a great job filling in for both gay and Bolton uh at various points last year when they were banged up with injury so uh nice tidy little linebacker room probably not the most talent that Chiefs have had there over the last couple of Seasons but still a solid group yeah sure I mean you know it's um I'll miss Willie gay I liked his personality I think he was a a good athlete and could play side to side and all that stuff but that being said it was kind of an embarrassment of riches for the Chiefs at linebacker with Bolton tranquil gay and Chanel like that that was just too there was too much talent there to stick around for very long without somebody trying to go get two second round picks and a third round pick I mean you know they invested in it you know they invested in and they brought in Talent so and it paid off and they they won back-to-back Rings Willie Willie won plenty of games here in Kansas City and then went and got a a decent contract with New Orleans so I mean I think that um the linebacker group like you said maybe not the most talented you know the Chiefs have had some some baller linebackers over the last you know 10 12 whatever years and and I like Nick Bolton I like Drew tranquil I like Leo Chanel I I think think they're going to play fine for this team and that's really that's what you need absolutely so the quarterback room which we were interested in throughout Camp ends up being pretty chalk but we do have a couple somewhat surprising names there at the end Trad McDuffy Jaylen Watson Joshua Williams nazy Johnson uh boy Brett F really knocked that draft class out of the park right those are all your 2022 defensive backs and they are all going to be playing Major snaps for the team this year you've got Nick Jones and then probably the most surprising name that ended up making the roster for me anyway Chris Roland Wallace an undrafted free agent uh that means Eko boy boyo uh who you liked quite a bit got cut and then sixth round uh draft pick from this draft Kamal Haden does not make the cut hope he gets back onto the practice squad because he was a guy whose athletic profile we kind of liked but uh pretty unsurprising cornerback room with the exception of uh Chris Roland Wallace making a late push push and making a roster yeah Roland Wallace is a guy that um played both corner and safety at um uh I think he was a USC guy and was an undrafted free agent but had had a great played out of the slot a lot in the preseason and and had a great performance and and really was always at the top of the list of like guys that were notable for the for the lower death chart guys after all these games like it was a it was a nice preseason for him and he deserved the roster spots so congrats to him um I mean you nailed it about the 2022 class what more can you say about McDuffy Watson Williams and Johnson that is your top four cornerbacks on the roster um you know crazy nazy got hurt we'll see kind of how he bounces back um what they do about um just kind of the the the transition from from inside for Trent McDuffy to the outside or if they're going to do that or if McDuffy is still going to play inside and maybe they'll maybe they'll roll with both Watson and Williams out outside or so I mean I don't know spags is a wizard and whatever he comes up with with this group you know it's going to work out and you know that these Corners are all going to develop probably better than they would have in any other spot in the NFL I mean they're again we've brought this up time and time again but you just have to trust the this whole brain trust with with the Chiefs and with the DBS and and how they've developed them and how they've drafted him and spotted the talent and yes I'll miss lerus Sneed of course I'll miss lerus Sneed he was a baller and and I'm glad that he went and got a bag but like maybe he maybe it wasn't all about lerus sne maybe a little bit of that was about the system and the coaches and spags and and just the the scenario that they put all these quarterbacks in to succeed and we'll see how this room develops as the year goes on but um yeah I I think it's a pretty like you said kind of chalky quarterback room for the most part now of course the Chiefs have always uh given their quarterbacks a lot of help and the safety room is exactly as we expected but the four guys that made the roster Justin Reed Brian Cook Jamari Connor and Jaden Hicks obviously their fourth rounder this year Dion Bush cut probably will see him back on the practice squad little bit of a bummer because he's a he's a fun personality we uh we all remember his introduction to cheese Kingdom a couple of years ago when Tyreek Hill was traded and uh great he posted the uh the GIF um you know sling back slinking back into the bushes uh but this is I mean I I don't know if I'm qualified to make this pronouncement because I'm not I have not studied every safety room in the league but I I have to think that this is one of the best safety rooms in the NFL that's some of that's projecting obviously what we expect Jaden Hicks to be and what we think chamari Connor can be he's been a little bit up and down in the preseason and we've heard sort of some mixed reviews from him out of camp this year but he did a good job last year and you've got you know Brian cook and Justin Reed when those two guys are healthy and playing at the top of their game are both excellent options and if Jaden Hicks is anything close to what he's shown in practicing in the preseason I mean again you have to think that is there a top 10 guy in this room maybe not but like this is a really deep strong safety room crossboard yeah I I love the safeties I think they're one of the strongest rooms outside quarterback maybe uh on the on the roster it's just very um exciting ball players explosive you've got guys that are versatile you've got you know spags loves to do the the multiple safety looks the the three safety looks rotate them around bring them up do fun stuff with them and all these guys fit that bill I think this is probably the room on the defense that they you know that can most unlock the potential of the defense I I think if this team is playing well on defense you're probably going to look at the safeties first as the reason why and you know you've got coverage guys you've got you've got Thumpers you've got ball Hawks you just they're they they kind of have the whole thing run and that's without Jaden Hicks possibly being a another another superstar in the making in the secondary that I mean like you said if he's anything like what what he's the early returns if he's 75% of the early returns he's going to be a pro bowler so like yeah you know let's uh let's get it fired up and let's see these safeties go to work and uh I I love this group top to bottom yeah I I think it's going to be really uh an exciting one a fun one and that leaves us with the last three spots on the roster the Specialists Harrison bucker the kicker not a surprise after obviously the chiefs made him the highest pay kicker in the NFL Matt Arisa the punt God at punter and then of course the longest tenear chief on the roster I guess he's tied actually with Travis Kelce but James Winchester will be back as the Long Snapper he got banged up in he got dinged up in the preseason so it's good to see that he had to snap for him yeah exactly it's good to see that uh Winchester is feeling good for week one I mean I feel really good about this room as well obviously you know the Long Snapper he's the longest 10e player on the team Mata showed some real juice which is not surprising given his pedigree and we've been very open about the fact that bucker is the best kicker in the NFL at this point so shoot uh pretty good little room there as well I mean is this not the best Trio of specialist in the NFL if it's not I don't know I mean you know uh I no disrespect to the punter for the Ravens Jordan Stout who I don't really know you know too much about but like just just given the I mean given bucker is the best in the NFL given that James Winchester is a 11-year or whatever it is vet that clearly we never who we never talk about by the way which means he's yeah like that's the point of a Long Snapper right yep exactly if we're not if we're not talking about Winchester snaps being too high or to the side or whatever if we're not talking about like we were talking about Creed Humphrey snap for a little bit then uh then you know that he's doing it and I mean Matt Arisa all the kid did during the preseason was just boom him I mean he you know he's got the leg that everybody advertised him to have and uh it's a lot of fun that is your 53 man roster and by the way that is the fourth youngest roster in the NFL for that's unfair for backto back defending Super Bowl champions uh to also have the fourth youngest roster in the NFL I mean you know it's going to be a grind it's going to be a long season to three repeat you know when you've played all the extra games that used to played over the last couple of years it helps to have guys who are young with fresh legs and you know we all know it we're both on the back half of our 30s you know you know uh we're not professional athletes you know the body was more willing and it was more able to recover in the 20s than it is now this is an astonishing feat frankly by Brett beach in the front office guys to have the fourth youngest roster in the NFL playing for the chance for a three repeat that's going to do it for the news joining us now on the program of course we are excited to have back anytime it's Chief's hype season you know him you love him from work uh either on the ringer or probably over the years covering the hottest team in baseball the Kansas City Royals it's Randy jazer at Twitter or X ja a Za a y RL I and please check out Kaufman Corner wherever you get your podcast uh he does a great job with saren Petro on covering the Royals it is Randy jaeri Randy how are you tonight I am well guys uh the Royals uh just won their third in a row and moved into first place uh against the Cleveland Guardians incredible I you know I I I just want to make it clear I was ready to do this uh podcast before the game ended because I'm a professional damn it but no Taylor you're like absolutely not the Kansas City Royals are on my television and I am not starting this podcast until they win this game so um we are in heady territory guys we got defending defending Super Bowl champs and now the hottest team uh whose playoff odds are probably over 90% as as I speak this is not something we have seen very often in our lifetime both teams being this good at the same time and with the uh you know the new MLB kind of playoff system and buy System since the last time the Royals were relevant in the playoff race um they might skip the Wild Card round entirely if they win the central so it's uh definitely a lot of fun stuff on the line um before we get into the football stuff where the podcast is about we definitely would be remiss if we had you on and didn't talk a little Royals hype uh you tweeted earlier that the Royals only have or have only the third Trio in franchise history with 94 or more RBI each there's still I mean this is it's August 27th tonight there's still a month left to play which group on the team has surprised you more the trio of Bobby Vinnie and salvi or the starting rotation I mean it's got to be the starting rotation I mean I I don't think nobody expects Bobby wit to put together what may very well be the greatest season in Royals history um but we we certainly knew before the season he had you know he was the most talented Royals position player since at least Carlos beltron um and you know Vinnie and S are having you know good years salvi certainly more than than Vinnie a really nice season for you know guy who's 34 years old but I don't think anybody's playing out of their mind among that Trio but the rotation to be this good one through five really one through six now you know even you know trading for Michael Lorenzen and having you know he came into the today's game with I think a 199 ER as a member of the Royals rotation um and you know that rotation has stayed healthy and every single pitcher in that rotation has been good to Great you know uh you know someone like Seth Lugo is kind of backed up a little bit the last month or so Michael Waka has taken taken uh the Reigns and has has been one of the hottest pitchers in the sport for the last six weeks this is I mean maybe the best rotation in the sport I probably put Seattle's ahead of it but certainly top three and let's not forget two years ago the Royals had statistically speaking not just the worst pitching staff in the American League but you you could make a case no team had been that bad in every pitching category in terms of they were dead last in the league in strikeouts dead last in walks dead last in homers dead last in hits dead last in runs no team had done that since the 2006 Royals I was G to say it sounds like an early 2000s Royals team I mean but the 2006 and 2022 Royals are the only two American League teams to finish last in each of those categories in the last 60 years that's crazy all right and the season ended the you know they the the plane hadn't cooled down yet that brought them back to Kansas City and JJ PCA had fired Mike mintini and more importantly Cal Eldred the pitching coach um see see if this sounds familiar a uh a Kansas City sports team gets rid of the guy in charge of keeping the other team from scoring hires a new guy in charge of that part of the team and quickly things turn around you're so good at this well I mean comparon there's a there's a reason I've been calling Brian Sweeney baseball spags for the last six months um because you know in some ways this turnaround may be more miraculous I mean last year the team was still I think second to last in runs allowed it was still a very bad pitching staff overall but there were glimmers of hope they traded for Cole Reagan's uh midseason you know quadruple guy couldn't really stick in the in the Rangers bullpen thought of a new pitch in om comes back a month later and is immediately the best starting pitcher maybe in the American League the last two months of the season and is you know a I I would call him definitely a top 10 and maybe top five starter in all of baseball this year so you know there were glimmers last year but what we're seeing here with you know Seth Lugo being one of the already one of the best free agent signings in Royals history um Michael Waka being very very good although he I mean he'll probably he's he has player option for next year but he may be gone after the season but if so what a year um and then Cole Reagan proving that last year was not a fluke which you know it didn't look like a fluke but you know things lots of guys have a great two month stretch I mean you know Ryan oarn was like an MVP candidate as a rookie for two months and didn't didn't hit again as a royal for four years um so Cole Reagan's you know actually turning into a legitimate Ace that's huge Brady singer bouncing back in being a quality number three starter and then even Alec Marsh who you know was had had great stuff in the minor leagues but the numbers never matched his uh his skill set wasn't good as a rookie last year and has been you know pretty compy he's been up and down but overall has been pretty pretty much an average starting pitcher as the number five guy for much of the year and they sent him down anyway because they were they traded for Michael Lorenz and on on a bet that they could that he would be better than he had been when uh he had been pitching for uh I believe it was the rangers they got him from and sure enough he's been he's been excellent now they have six starting pitchers they have enough starting pitching depth that they moved Daniel Lynch that brought him up to be in the bullpen and he threw three shut out Innings yesterday and and looked good doing so um the I mean this is like one of the deeper pitching staffs in all of baseball not just the best rotation but adding you know Lucas ersc has just completely changed the the complexion of the bullpen they've got both Chris bbic and Daniel Lynch who were you know the part of that 2018 draft class where they drafted five College starting pitchers with their first five picks and it's you know it's been it was controversial then and it's probably still controversial but and now it looks like they have Brady singer and then two guys who aren't in the rotation right now but could be absolute weapons out of the bullpen as left-handers in September and then in into the the postseason um it's it's it's a just it's a good pitching stuff up and down maybe the Royals best rotation one through five since the 198 Royals won the World Series um it's it's really just an incredible job done by the by the front office to put together a pitching staff from from nothing from less than nothing in the span of two years well real quick where would you slot Lucas ERS into the 2014 back end Would It Go HD would it go that's a good hdhe he's unbelievable rainy I mean he has been phenomenal and I mean we knew he was you know talented when we got him what's interesting is the big change is he you know this is a converted position player right he was he was still uh you know a a position player up until looking I think he was still hitting up until three years ago yeah he was still um and you know took to the mound pretty quickly but you know three years ago he was in double A pitched for the first time and and was not impressive at all and one of the issues was his command he walked consistently walked over five batters per Innings at every level up until this year um so even last year as a as a rookie in the A's Bullpen walked 36 guys in 55 Innings yeah this year with the A's he dropped that to a walk rate of about one every three Innings but so you could see the command coming but you couldn't be sure that it had you know clicked and oh yeah it's clicked I mean he walked the batter yesterday it was the first batter he walked as a member of the Royals so you com by 99 mph heat with that kind of command and that you sometimes see this with with relievers who are just you know who've got great stuff but are just wild is sometimes they can harness that control overnight something something clicks whether it's with their uh with their pitching motion whether it's you know mastering a secondary pitch that batters have to have to respect them so they're more likely to swing at pitches outside the strike zone whatever it is sometimes they just start throwing strikes and it really looks like that's happened for him and the Royals really got it just before he went you know you know nuclear I mean his trade value now is so much higher than it was when they got him so yeah um I would man yeah where do you put him where do I put him I mean from a an experienced perspective right you almost like you know he'd only been in the major leagues just over a year like he'd have to earn earn that spot uh to to move ahead of of Holland and Davis and Herrera but yeah at least on Talent I think he he goes at he he pitches after Herrera I mean I probably I mean that would be clearly the greatest bullpit in the history of baseball HDH has already had pry much was it already was I don't I mean I'm glad that we saved him for for the 2024 because this team needs him a hell of a lot more than that 2014 team did yes they sent him forward in time thank god well uh Chiefs fans you can tune back in we of course are still super hyped on the Royals but we are a Chief's pod So Randy we're going to we're going to move on to some some three beat talk of course one of our favorite discussions and uh something that you know big picture-wise that's always been kind of one of our favorite things to talk about so what I'm going to do first before we really get into the questions is I'm just going to summarize the eight teams that won two Super Bowls and kind of what happened to them and why they didn't repeat or at least what happened the next year and just just for fan education listener education to make sure we're on the same page the Packers won the first two Super Bowls ever in ' 66 and 67 they missed the play in 68 entirely going six and seven missed their opportunity to threee the Dolphins lost the Super Bowl in 71 then went back toback in 72 and 73 so one of the best three year stretches ever with two wins and a loss and of course that included an undefeated 72 season so the dolphins that stretch is is you know an all-tim they then go 11 and3 in 1974 looked like they're right on the way but they lose the divisional round on that sea of hands play where their their Raiders are thrown into triple coverage with 20 seconds left and somehow Raiders end up with it and not the Dolphins and they they beat him by two and and end up dethroning one of the greatest runs in NFL history and then the 70 Steelers they had two shots at three repeating they went back toback in 74 and 75 and then um they got back to the title game in 76 but they lost badly to the Raiders The Killers of back-to-back uh Super Bowl teams they lost to them 247 in the in the playoffs in the conference title game and then they win two more in 78 and 79 but in 8 0 their Steel Curtain defense was completely old dropped way off in their effectiveness they gave up a bunch of points they went nine and seven missed the playoffs entirely so they didn't three repat either time then you have to fast forward about 10 years to the late 80s San Francisco won it in 88 and 89 but in 90 they lost 15-13 to a team that kicked five field goals in the NFC Championship Game the Giants they San Francisco beat the Giants earlier that year seven to three so I guess when the these two teams matched up nobody ever scored any points but uh then they um Joe Montana was knocked out of that game with 10 minutes to go and Roger Craig fumbled the ball with two minutes to go the Giants kicked the gamewinner and stopped their opportunity to repeat there then you go to the 90s Dallas won back-to-back titles over the bills both in 92 and 93 and then in 94 they matched up for the third year in a row with the Niners in the NFC title game Niners finally got him that time uh after losing the two previous so they couldn't re they couldn't thre repeat there Dallas did go on to win the Super Bowl again in 95 so they went Super Bowl win Super Bowl win conference title loss Super Bowl win so probably the best four-year stretch in NFL history and then uh I mean I guess there was a team in the late 90s that won back toback but nobody really cares about um that team or anything they what did they do apparently what happed there they lost the most perfectly mediocre quarterback uh in NFL history retired exactly right that was enough to tip them over they missed the playoffs entirely after that so they um their their run doesn't matter and then the last run before the Chiefs New England they had their 03 and 04 back toback after winning an 01 but then in ' 05 they went 10 and six and a division round lost by two touchdowns and so didn't even really come close to a three peat there so um Austin you've got the other teams and just kind of who has three repated from the other sports we just want to summarize that real quick too yeah I mean we got to throw it out there Randy because obviously none of those NFL teams did it but you do have four teams in baseball that did it three of them as I'm sure you aware were the Yankees the 36 to 39 Yankees with the four Pete the 49 to 53 Yankees with the five Pete then you got the A's in there 72 to 74 and then one team to do it in the Wild Card era of course it was the Yankees 98 to 2000 and that of course was the only team to do it really in the you know ERA in baseball a little bit harder to find than the NFL at the Super Bowl era but you have the Yankees outspending God and Jesus Christ in the 90s were able to to get it done you have five in the NBA and obviously two of those were Michael Jordan's Bulls uh with you know the gear that he took off for yeah maybe he was suspended for gambling who knows you know conspiracies whatever we don't pay them any mind you have the Celtics who eight peed but of course there were only eight NBA teams right in uh 1959 and by the end of that run there were only 10 NBA teams you had the miniapolis Lakers in the early 50s so you got the Lakers and that's really the the most recent American sport team and any of the major sports to do it the 20202 Lakers did it and I don't know if you watch hockey at all but there actually have been five hockey teams to three or more Pete the Maple Leafs have done it two times the Canadians have done it two times including a five p and a four Pat and then the Islanders are the most recent NHL team to do it 80 to 83 they did a four Pat in the NHL but of course none of those teams are really comparable to what we're dealing with here 2024 the Chiefs in the NFL going for the three Pat and so let's kick it off here after that little history lesson why is it so damn hard to three peat in the NFL rainy why can't a team just three repeat why haven't we ever seen it happen okay we got we got a lot to discuss right there this this uh you throw a lot of stuff out there let's let's go over this so first thing um is when you compare football to other sports what what struck me about so much of what you said there like let's take baseball as an example right you take the 36 to 39 Yankees the 49 to 53 Yankees setting aside you know this is an era before um you know things like free agency and salary caps it just kind of there free free and Fair competition in the sense where you know there there was no draft Etc right you say say what you want about um the fairness of you know forcing a a kid signing signing with a team like right out of high school or college to be committed to that team for you know potentially a decade or more of his life um but from a pure competitive standpoint it makes it makes for more parity which means less dynasties right so but the other thing is there was only one Playoff round right the World Series the 72 to 74 a there were two playoff rounds and that 72 to 74 A's team it's it's to me it is kind of it it's probably the most overrated Dynasty it's certainly in baseball history in the sense that if you look at the records of the 7274 A's they weren't very good teams they W like 90 to 95 they I don't think maybe they won 100 there one time but I don't even think they got to 100 wins and then in the playoffs I mean they they most of those rounds I mean they won two of the the the three World Series they won went seven games and I think a bunch of the um LCS rounds were were five Gamers like they were squeaking by uh every year yeah so so in 72 and 73 both the their League Championship Series and World Series went the full five and seven games they won three games to two and four games to three um and yeah they won 92 93 and 94 games so they just it just got sometimes you just get lucky I mean there's a lot of luck involved in that but the more playoff rounds there are the harder it is to luck your way into uh a dasty right sure and that and that leaves really the one the one Dynasty in at least in baseball in a three Playoff round era which was the 98 to uh to 2000 Yankees and that came right at the beginning of the Wild Card era you know 1995 was the first year where there were eight playoff teams instead of four and you know they already won the World Series in 96 and then in 98 they won what was 116 games um right something insane4 I think it was yeah 114 but then like when like 12- two in the playoffs you know even in retrospect we look back at that as maybe the greatest baseball team ever um and it looked like well if you're just if you're just dominant enough the fact that there are three playoff rounds doesn't matter you you you can be good enough to guarantee a championship and in retrospect a quarter Century later it looks like actually no I they probably you know I I don't want to use the word luck too frivolously but what they did is not necessarily repeatable just because you have a truly great team does not mean that you can win three playoff rounds some of those being best of five rounds um consistently because there have been a lot of great teams I mean it was one year later the 2001 Mariners won 116 games right broke the 98 Yankees record for wins in a season and lost to the Yankees before they even got to the World Series and to this day the mar are the the one baseball team that has not made it to the World Series um a lot of dominant teams in baseball have failed to move forward but the reason for that nowadays is there are three rounds now potentially even four but even if you're a great team even you won 110 games you're going to be playing three playoff rounds to win a championship there's just a lot of luck involved in that and yeah you could you could do it one year maybe two but three in a row is extremely difficult um I I think that applies as well in in basketball I you mentioned how you know yeah the Celtics won eight in a row it was eight teams and I think there were two playoff rounds but like you know generally there's eight teams and you're the you're the best team in the regular season you're playing the fourth plus fourth place team in the first Playoff round which is to say a team that's barely 500 right um it's really almost a completely different sport um and so again the Lakers uh run from 200 to 2002 is really the one real uh you know Dynasty I would say in an era where they were playing not just three but four playoff routes and that's sport where the better team usually wins there's the two main factors to determine the likelihood of the best team in a particular season being the champion in that season there the two factors are how many rounds do they have to go through in the playoffs so how much uh how many opportunities are there for them to be knocked off by by a team on a hot streak and then how How likely is it that the better team wins in that Sport and that is something inherent to each sport baseball is I think famous for the fact that it is the sport where even the worst team can beat the best team on any given day because the pitching match up is so important and just because you know the best teams in baseball win two-thirds of their games whereas the best teams in basketball might win 75% of their games the best teams in football might win 85 or 90% of their games so um so you know in basketball the better team usually wins home field advantage also usually matters so you have um an a built-in Advantage there but you have to go through four playoff rounds right in baseball you don't have to you don't have to go through four but you have to go through three and the better team only wins maybe 60% of playoff series you put all of that together it's harder than ever in any sport to put together a dynasty as as defined as three championships in a row because there are more playoff rounds you know now there's you know more in baseball now there's seven playoff teams uh in each conference in football instead of six so now the number two seed if you're one of the top two teams you're not guaranteed right so um they've made it harder in that in that regard and you combine that with um the fact that in football the better team usually wins HomeField usually matters this maybe not as important as basketball um but when you put all that together it it really lends the case that what the Chiefs did this past year is one of the most impressive playoff runs we've ever seen for a team trying to establish itself as a true Dynasty because even though you know we could say on paper they were you know the the core of that team is still the the greatest team in football they did go 11 and six right they did they had by their standards an off year they had yeah they ased it you know they just yeah well but they but they also ended up with a threez right like they they were not the best team in the regular season they had to go on the road twice and when the lights went on it didn't matter so the question is does the regular like doesn't matter at all that the Chiefs have to play three or four playoff rounds doesn't matter that they have to go on the road when they have Patrick Mahomes um and I think certainly the league thinks that after what they did last year I think the league is scared to death if they're going to do it again like I don't I don't think anybody is is taking lightly the fact that the Chiefs could be the first team in like you said American Sports in in 20 what 23 years or so to pull off a three beat I think everybody realizes this is absolutely on the menu this year it's crazy because obviously unlike any of those other sports you have a single elimination playoff format and yet at the same which of course would you would think lend itself to I it would make it more difficult in a single elimination format that the odds of the worst team winning should be higher right because it's it's a single game Anything Could Happen Any Given Sunday and yet as you point out the best teams win in football at at much higher rates I mean we have teams with 800 900 we have undefeated Seasons you know for these teams part of that's because they play fewer games but I mean you look at a team like the Patriots and you know they're they're winning games and playing in the conference Championship game every year and now you have the chiefs doing the same thing so turning to the present if you're making the case for the Chiefs being the first NFL team to three repeat where do you start so one of the things I want to point out as I was actually interesting when you're going through the list of uh NFL teams that had won two but didn't win three there there was a I thought a really interesting Common Thread um that ran through so so that you could divide up the teams into two groups one was just the teams that ran out of steam and you know got old their quarterback retired Etc we'll put those aside those are the teams I mean I don't think anybody expected the Broncos to to three repat after John Elway retired after the 98 season right so but the teams that actually looked like they had a to do it and fell short and a lot of times they fell short valiantly like losing in the playoffs sometimes in the conference Championship Game by you know in a a close game the the 49ers against the Giants the um was it the Dophin the Raiders the Steelers against the Raiders yeah right both what is the common thread there they all lost to an exceptional coach like we we we we forget this now John Madden is one of the greatest football coaches is in NFL history before he became arguably the greatest football announcer who ever lived and those those Raiders teams were phenomenally coached and he took down both the Dolphins and the Steelers in their run for a three-peat um and then the 49ers you mentioned was like you know the Joe Montana offense you know they just crushing everybody um you know they had scored 28 points in their previous playoff game they lose 15 to 13 who's who's the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants Bill bich sure bill barcel is the head coach bichi is defensive coordinator the following week yeah he's okay exactly and the following week the you know one of the most famous defensive game plans of all time allowed them to beat the heavily favored offensive Juggernaut Buffalo Bills 20 to9 on on you know when Scott nor would miss the field goal but you know the Giants were able to get to that game this despite not scoring a touchdown in the NFC championship game against the freaking San Francisco 49ers great coaching so what what when listening to that list what was going through my mind is who's the great coach that can stop the Chiefs this year right like that's the thing we have to think about here um and you know there's there's no shortage of candidates but you know do you worry about John har uh John Harbaugh with the Ravens is it you know I I'm trying to think of who's the coach out there that has Andy Reid's number you know I'm not sure it's not bill bich because he's he's podcasting right exactly both yeah both because he's not not coaching and because Andy's so good against him well that's the thing I feel like you know Andy has acquitted himself very well against the great the greatest defensive mind ever um I mean and I I mentioned John Harvard just because the Ravens you we're playing them obviously in week one but we just we just played them in the you know in the playoffs in their Stadium you know with them being the number one seed and beat them it's not just that we beat them but we we beat them with the game plan that we put together like we beat them exactly the way that Chief wanted that game to go um so I don't know I I don't I don't know if I can see that team in the AFC is Sean McVey with the Rams I could see that being you know a a guy who you know you look back 20 years from now at the team that kept the Chiefs from from winning uh you know from a three beat and you know who's who's that great coach it could be Sha mcfey but I'm not sure the Rams even get there and and you know the Niners obviously we beat them twice in the Super Bowl shanan so it's not Kyle shanan like the guys that you know on paper you'd say yeah he this is a great coach capable of doing great things and yet those are the guys that Andy Reid has already proven he can beat in the play off so maybe it's your guy maybe it's Jim Harbaugh let's let's I mean don't don't scare me there I don't think the charges are quite you know I'd be a little more worried if this was his second year there I don't I I even I don't think that he can take a 5- 12 team to a team that's going to knock the Chiefs off in the playoffs uh in his first year and God forbid if that happens man we are not going to live that one down um but if you want me to put together a case for why the Chiefs can do it maybe it's because I don't know that there's a coach out there that scares me that you know those other teams like the Dolphins were still a championship caliber team in was it 7 sure and the Steelers were obviously Championship caliber team because they would end up going to win two more you know two years later you know what it took a Hall of Fame caliber coaching effort to derail them and so the argument is I'm not sure I see a Hall of Fame caliber coaching effort out there capable of stopping an Andy Reid coached Patrick Mahomes helmed team uh come playoffs because ultimately this is all about what happens in the playoffs I don't think we're really you know too concerned that the Chiefs are going to miss the playoffs so it's really about those three or four playoff games can they be outplayed or out coached yes it could happen but the the the the times that they have lost in the Patrick Mahomes era it was Bill bellachic you know shutting down Patrick Mahomes in just his second playoff game in the first half and you know weathering a 31o assault in the second half and then winning the coin flip um it's a game where you know the entire offensive line got hurt before the game oh yeah and then a game where the the Chiefs had an 18-point lead at halftime and then just beat themselves right right I I don't you know the the only coaching effort that really um you you tip the hat to the other the opposing coach was that first first match up with belic and again Patrick RS was in his second game uh second playoff game I don't think that happens you know now I think Patrick has seen absolutely everything that def defenses can throw against at throw atam you know he's beaten you know when they've taken away the Deep ball he's beaten them when they they've taken away the short ball he's got weapons now at at every level of the offense you know once Hollywood Brown gets back so if this team stays healthy right that's that's to me the the number one concern it's it's a cliche but it's absolutely true this team has incredible Frontline Talent the depth is a little bit lacking sure I we just saw them today make two trades of like you know seventh round picks to to pick up some um some talent to add to the to the 53 man roster and you know this is you know BR Beach just being Savvy and always looking to add talent but at the same time like I'm not sure they add they they they on the last day of cutdowns they trade even a seventh round pick for a guy that another team is going to release if they felt really good about the quality of their backup players so that concerns me that's the one thing that really hurt uh that worries me but the Frontline Talent here the way the off defense is constructed the way they have the Deep thread uh in in the wide receiver room with with a worthy they have Hollywood Brown who can play you know more the more mid-range game um and then Rashid rice who can you know is is starting to to to master not just man but Zone and of course Travis Kelsey is everywhere it's just like they have a guy for every level of this uh uh that Patrick mes can throw to I feel really good about this team I don't know what to tell you yeah I it's it's hard I was going to ask you know what's the biggest obstacle outside of Health but I think like it's crazy and your your point about the competition is wellmade because really other than luck which you know again Any Given Sunday the way the ball bounces in a football game sure you know weird things can happen and health you know weird things can happen I don't see a lot of obstacles for the Chiefs to overcome which is a crazy thing to be saying about something that's never been done in NFL history but let me ask you this would the first NFL threee by this 2024 Chiefs team be unequivocally the greatest team accomplishment in american professional sports history and why is the answer yes um I I think you could you absolutely make that case a couple things one is the the odds of winning a championship this this is really complicated math guys but the odds of winning a championship go down as the number of teams in the league goes up oh and it may seem simple you know it's it's a simple thing to say but 32 teams is more than you know the the the the 28 teams that were in Major League Baseball when the Yankees repeat or the right you know when the Packers won you know because the Packers won two Super Bowls but I think they won the N the NFL Championship the year before the Super Bowl right um but you know that that year they were going up against that's the equivalent of going to you know going to the Super Bowl now there were 10 10 or 12 teams in the NFL that year and then 20 teams in all of uh all of football when they won their first two Super Bowls 20 or maybe 24 but less than 32 so winning a championship when there are 32 teams is a yeah it's a more significant accomplishment in a sport which has made parody you know it's buzzword for since since I was a kid really that that's idea that you know the the draft is stacked for bad teams to pick up Talent the salary cap makes it so difficult to you know keep a good team together which means the only way to continue to win is to replenish your talent base through the draft through inexpensive players year after year after year um because you know it doesn't matter how great you know your your talent is in a sport where even a first round pick is eligible for free agency after five years and if it's not a first- round pick after four years I mean it's funny because I come at this from you know the baseball perspective where you know we we we we we're already worried you know with you know Bobby wh hadn't signed a a contract extension with the world we were already worried in year three it's like how much longer can they keep him because you know he'll be a free agent after year six and um you know they may have to trade six years is is more than five or four right but football players because they they come out of the draft and expected to contribute immediately we don't really think about it but it's like you know if you draft a player and you know after he takes a year to develop and then suddenly he's really good in year two and he was a third round pick in three years he's getting paid market value either he's gone or you have to pay a market value or close to it and so the Surplus value which is how you build a championship right by having more value from a player than their their salary uh would command because everybody's limited the same amount of salary so the the the talent on a team is equivalent to the there the salary plus Surplus value Surplus value is where it's at the surus value is pretty much gone I mean Creed Humphrey just signed a four-year extension it doesn't kick in until next year right so he's playing on the last year of his rookie contract so this year he has tremendous Surplus value next year he's getting paid what the market will bear I mean he's getting he's got the the highest salary in the history of of centers in the NFL by four million he crushed it too right so so his Surplus value next year is minimal he's a very good player but he's you know he's taking up a portion of the payroll which is commensurate with his talent so in order to be better than other teams you have to find Surplus value through the draft now the the the the trump card you know the the the the hidden not not hidden the the the obvious Surplus value the r have the Chiefs have is that um no ma no no matter what Patrick mahomes's salary is he's offering about you know a hundred million worth of surplus value there's no there is no contract figure that can encapsulate the value he brings on a football field so that's that is really that is why have to get Elite quarterback right is is so important in sport because the true value of a quarterback there's just no salary that can really um you know take take take that into account the economics of the sport don't work that way um throwing the fact that like Travis Kelce for variety of reasons makes you know probably quite a bit less than his value on the uh on the football field so there there are there are things that the Chiefs obviously have to their advantage but that's why they've won three of the last five Super Bowls in the first place but in order to keep that going it has to be through the death that's why the Tyreek till trade is the the most important thing that the Chiefs have done since they drafted Patrick Mes in the first place because it took a guy who is a great player but was making was about to make the money of a great player and had zero Surplus value and turned him into Trent McDuffy who has incredible Surplus value um and I guess was it Brian Cook I'm trying to remember all the guys the specific players they drafted but the point is that that's how you do it but you have to nail the draft in in order to do that and to me that's why the if we want to talk about what really are the chances that they can pull this off again we got to look at the the last couple of drafts since the 2022 draft and say did they do a good job here are these guys ready to contribute are these guys ready to to be better than they were last year in the case of the 2023 draft or in the 2024 draft are these guys capable of contributing right away yeah uh another angle to the the difficulty of winning a championship in 2024 that I kind of I don't know if this is a prisoner of the- moment thing or or how much truth there is to it but you know the the scrutiny the hype the coverage the information about the league in an internet age in an age where everybody can see every angle of every play you've ever called it just feels like with so many more eyeballs and brains focused on the league the the dollars involved in the league are so much higher so so many people are chasing these you know extraordinary accomplishments I don't know I just feel like in the 70s or or whatever like yeah I get everybody who was in the NFL was trying really hard of course they were they were professionals and they were athletes and they were competitive but like it just feels like the microscope is so heavy on the current version of the NFL that there are 32 teams out there that are just as equipped and just as hungry and just as capable of winning as or 31 others as you are and I just always feel like today's version of sports has got to just be if you climb that mountain that's as hard as it gets there is absolutely no question in my mind that the it's not just that the quality of play on the field in professional sports has improved dramatically just in my adult lifetime just in the last 25 or 30 years you know we we we we can measure those things right we we we have you know numbers from the combine we have like you know for for baseball we have average velocity for for a fast ball you know we can we can say definitively guys throw harder they run faster Etc than they did even 20 25 years ago so when you hear some of these Old-Timers and it's fewer and fewer every year but you still hear guys saying you know that they guys today don't play as well it's it's just it's [ __ ] like we have we have objective data saying you are wrong um but be beyond that there to me I think that the quality of competence in in front offices in professional sports I would argue they Pro it's probably improved more than the quality of play on the field over the last 25 to 30 years when you know analytics was you know was a sideshow that like you know to be an expert in analytics Mo most of the the smartest analytics people in the world in the mid 90s were like teenagers because we were we were the first generation that actually grew up with this stuff and and understood it as like yeah this is this is obvious when like every everybody in a a front office in any sport looked down upon using data as you know as as as a juvenile Pursuit I mean that's what people thought it was when we started doing this um and you know football has been among the slowest of the sports to to adopt this right like the worst I I've said this several times the worst front office in baseball today might might have been the best front office in terms of the you know they the data they have the decisions they're making just 25 years ago maybe not the worst uh because the Chicago White Socks are reallying wor but uh you know the fifth worst front office in baseball today would run circles around the fifth best front office in in baseball 25 years ago and I think that's I mean we see in basketball with the anal I you know look the three-point shot was controversial in basketball not not from a from an aesthetic standpoint from an actual does this help you win standpoint comp until like 15 years ago right right um and uh you know but football's been much slower but I do think you know we're we're really starting to see I think every year now we're seeing improvements the stuff that you and I can see the obvious stuff like you know do you punt on fourth and one right we that stuff we're we've seen that change dramatically over the last five or 10 years I think with football so much of the analytics work being done is being done at a level you and I can't see with you know they're they're grinding tape in an analytical way right they're able to actually right you know they've got sensors on players to actually measure not just oh you know he's got a great 40 time but like you know the appli ability to yeah to turn on a dime to to you know the equivalent of the the three cone drill but an actual in an actual game right like meaningful uh metrics to to measure what a player can do and and what he can't do and and improving it I mean the big thing in baseball over the last 10 years has not been measuring how good a player is it's figuring out how to make him better by you know teaching him how to gain velocity we used to think it was impossible for a pitcher to add velocity if you threw 90 miles an hour you were going to throw a 90 for the rest of your life and now after 125 years of professional baseball for the last 10 years teams and and not just teams but like private and you know places like drivein which are you you not even affiliated with the sport have figured out that you can actually get you know add 5 miles an hour to a guy's fastball we're seeing the same thing uh with with athletes uh in football so the the bar for competence keeps going up which to get back to the original Point yeah makes it even more impressive that the Chiefs are staying ahead of the game because the the the quality of the average team now is so much better than it used to be right I mean pet homes is a cheat code we know this but even with the cheat code like you think about how close they have come to not winning all three of their super BS right and the the the contributions of other players um it's an incredible accomplishment and um you know it it it feels you know in retrospect it always feels pre-ordained that they would win what they you know that they would accomplish what they've accomplished but they they came very very close to not doing so um and it's not just Patrick mesus the reason why they did the margins are so thin but I mean to your point like it's G to be really hard if they pull this off I want to turn from what it means as a team accomplishment to what it means as an individual accomplishment and I'm talking of course about Andy re and Patrick Mahomes and I'm talking about B bich and Tom Brady uh Andy and Pat would each have four rings obviously Tom has seven bill has six eight if you include the two that he won as defensive coordinator of the Giants so you would still be I mean in Andy's case he'd have half as many rings as Bill Bel we'll give him credit for the ones that he won I mean he he did a lot of work as you already shouted him out on the show I mean he did a lot of work his defensive coordinator of the Giants I mean he was his his fingerprints were all over those two championships and Pat would be still three- ring shy of Tom Brady but you would have this accomplishment that neither of them ever accomplished that no coach or player in the NFL has ever accomplished and really I mean we've had teams that have gotten back to the championship game but even to even to make it to a Super Bowl I mean you know the the Dolphins sited on the front end you know they lost and then they won two in a row but would that just that accomplishment alone close that Gap to where we're talking about the greatest coach and quarterback of all time I I mean I I think there's a reason why the Chiefs are almost you know single-mindedly focused on winning the championship this year like you sure every team wants to win a you know the every team says we're you know we have one Focus the season to win a championship right I'm sure the Carolina Panthers are saying that right now um but you know the Chiefs know that they're they're their competition this year is are are you know the week one their opponent is not the Baltimore Ravens it is history they are measuring themselves up against something that no team has ever done and the opportunity to to Mark themselves as the first team in history to do this I mean you know we saw we saw it from you know the the podium when they won the second one and you know it's like is Travis Kelce retiring hell no no he's coming back Chris Jones you're coming back right yeah you Chris Jones is coming back like they they brought the band back together here um and it even it even feels like in some ways the way that they are they are using payroll like I thought it was interesting that they signed Creed home free to this extension but it wasn't they didn't rip up his existing contract and make it a five-year deal they made it a four-year extension on its existing deal now with you could play with signing botus Etc and the cap pit would have been pretty small this year um but like they already had him on like I think a $4.8 million cap for this year and it's like they don't want to do anything to weaken the the the the roster this year even if it means maybe weakening things a little bit the following years you know like I said they traded a couple seventh round picks okay not a big deal um but I I feel like the focus of this team is that they understand if they win three in a row it means so much more than if they lose this year and then win one next year right um and the Legacy for like you said for Patrick and and Andy as much as anybody because Tom Brady never won three Bill bich never won three in a row um nobody no nobody's done it um has anybody got even gotten into the Super has ever any been one team one game away I know the Dolphins used to did it on the front end yeah on the back end they all lost in the the conference Championship Game correct no one has a right that and that I mean look and we we all know you know fans will always say you know oh the the NFL wants the Chiefs to win the refs are biased against the Chiefs that's what 31 teams are always going to say right right but I mean this is the one year I was like I have no doubt Roger Goodell wants the Chiefs to make the Super Bowl they don't have to win but just the two weeks of hype around them being in the Super Bowl sure sure they you know it's an incredible story for the NFL to have the Chiefs try and do something that no team has ever done um but yes I think if if they if they pull this off it is going to make the argument that Patrick Mahomes is a better player than Tom Brady when all is said and done much easier and it's still way too early to say that because he's still you know 28 years old um I think for for Andy Reid though Andy's what is he 50 wins behind B bich for you know career uh victories as a as a as a head coach and Bill bich ain't getting any wins this year I don't think so so if he adds a third in a row to his resume um yeah I really feel like people underestimate the the um odds that Andy Reed retires as the winningest coach in NFL history with the reputation as the greatest coach in NFL history over bellich because that's going to happen a lot sooner than than Patrick passing Tom in the quarterback rankings yeah that's fair uh one more three repeat related question uh more of a hypothetical I I want to talk for a second about a undefeated season in a non-repeat year versus the accomplishment of the three Pat so you know undefeated has been done once before we talked about by the 72 Dolphins but not by Tom Brady Tom Brady once said I believe that he would trade his 2007 season like if he would rather have won that one than winning two of his other Rings because the undefeated season was a big deal for him um we talked about this as as we brought up earlier before last season and then we promptly lost that first game so we're not talking about the 2024 team going undefeated this is a if momes strictly hypothetical okay could only have one on their resume which would you as a fan of those two choose the three Pat or the undefeated season o which one because to me that the the yeah the I I thought that you were trying to go towards the uh the gold season which is to accomplish both in the same year right saying we can't talk about the 202 now maybe 26 s and8 could could have end in in an undefeated but in this case I just I'm curious in this case in a vacuum The Undefeated it's hard to answer because of course we're not in the vacuum because we won two in a row you know if we were starting fresh you ask me the question two years ago right I would probably say I i' rather take three in a row because guess what that's three Championship that's three you're basically saying do want to win one more Championship it just has to be this year or go undefeated that's some undetermined yep you know I I actually think if I had to choose I would still take the three repat that's where I leaned on it and I think the reason is just like look I mean not you know not that any team can have a one good season or and not any team going defeated but it's still it's a moment in time yep if it's one one team I mean that 72 Dolphins we remember them because they're the only one but even then I don't I don't ever get the impression that when people talk about the greatest football teams of all time not Seasons but like teams as a a holistic you know hole the 72 Dolphins don't come up a lot people always talk about how their their schedule was really really weak um and you know in the context of the sport like they were a very good team but but the Steelers who won four championships in six years have a much greater claim to be the the the team of the 70s right when we talk about Legacy to me we're really talking about sustained dominance um so to me people remember the Chiefs winning three in a row I think even longer than they would remember oh the 2027 Chiefs went undefeated and the extent to which that's the case is only because the 2027 Chiefs would exist in a universe which they had already won the the Super Bowl in 2020 and 2023 and 2020 2022 you know you know what I'm saying yeah so um yeah I think I think three in a row still matters more but and it it's also a longer we don't we don't we could have both it's also a longer period of time for us as fans to enjoy you know you think about like if I mean if they win these three in a row these three years are going to be pretty damn hard to top like this is a a long thousand day run of just complete reign of terror on the league that yeah one year of of never losing a game is is special and it would go down and and you would remember it but I don't know I I think that I would rather have three years ending in championships right in a row that's why problem to have but having one two of them already that's why you know it's easy to say well maybe I'll take an undefeated yeah but I'm sure I'm I'm already spoiled by these two but but no to have yeah to hold the the Lombardi trophy for I mean I guess it would end up being yeah 1100 1100 days you know throw throwing a a a Royals World Series championship in 2024 and having both the major trophies in Kansas City yeah you know that that would that would be special that would be something that people would remember for decades Generations probably as long as I'm alive so um yeah I think that would that would be my my pick so yes I mean I'd love the idea of the undefeated season but like just like last year the odds that we you know Los in week one cannot be discounted against the Ravens um and uh you know with Hollywood Brown out that's you know we we could easily start 0 and one and at least then you get it out of your system and then you just focus on okay how do we get ourselves in Prime position to win in the postseason regular season be damned because that sure as hell worked last year do you have a game circled on the on the schedule as most important to you or to the team or or is there any one a as we sit here on August 27th I get that later on as the playoff race comes around and stuff we're going to have different opinions on these on these later games but like is this Ravens game maybe the most important just like from a you know AFC standings and all that stuff or if it's not that one which one would it be you know I I kind of think it is yeah you know I I I do really think and that's I think what what's makes the season a little bit weird from the perspective of you know does the regular season matter because like if they win that game and then they beat the Bengals in week two yeah then we start you know but I mean it's like okay that then really at that point I'm almost I I mean I I won't be able to help myself mentally I'll already be shifting into okay how long can they keep this undefeated stretch going right can can they do 17 and0 yeah um but if they lose that Ravens game then I mean you you the worry you have is that that's going to determine HomeField advantage in playoffs um but in terms of other games on the schedule yeah I mean yeah they play the ners but who cares like right we beat them in the two games that matter like it's it's a you know non-conference game it's just it's a great game for the the NFL to to to you know Mark it but like from a standpoint of how does this impact the chief's ability to thre peat not that much unless it's a you know just a preview of them playing again but if anything in that case you almost don't to show them too much right you don't want to you don't want to put your full hand out there so um but you know starting with the Ravens I guess I mean honestly the the if you want to say one other game later in the year that could end up being you know something really big it depends it depends on what on you know whether this team is going to be the team that I think they could be but it's the Texans game yep the Texans you know I'm not I'm not saying that they're going to be the the the the best non team in the AF AFC but I you can certainly make a case for like there is a scenario in which they are you know the best team in the AFC in a way in a in a way that we've not seen from the Ravens even like last year the Bills over the years like they they would present a completely different threat and I talk about you know talking talking about like you know the head coach that stops this dynastic run and I you know we're throwing I was throwing names out there it's it's hard to say who that might be but the only reason this guy's name didn't really come up it's because it's his second year as a coach 20 years from now we might Look At Dem o Ryans and be like yep that's the guy who you know brilliant coach who stopped the Chiefs Ron at a threee so he's I mean I I don't think I realized just how young he is he's like 40 so he's he might be doing this for a couple of decades um and that first season was impressive you know and then the other thing is you know yeah Patrick RS has had the better of Josh Allen he's had the better of Lamar Jackson we haven't faced CJ strad in a you know you know playoff situation yet so um that is the one game that kind of Scar I want to say scares me I Circle but again even then it's more as a preview for the playoffs all of this comes down to playoff seating for me the game that I'm circling is not on the schedule yet right it's it's a game hopefully at Arrowhead in late January um that you know will get get us back to the Super Bowl Randy what is the biggest nonre repeat storyline or or thing that you're interested in or following and I get that this is sort of like a tricky question because Legacy wise like there's so little on the table this year that doesn't involve another ring like we've we've talked about it like it it the regular season probably matters less this year than it ever has for us as Chiefs fans other than as a means to an end get us back into the playoffs and we Circle those games in late January but is there anything that that catches your interest that isn't 3p related whether that be you know the possibility of Mahomes winning another MVP uh the possibility maybe of the offense you know getting back to historical territory uh maybe Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift getting engaged finally you know those those two crazy kids getting hitched uh what is it um nonre repeat division that's uh that's captivating you about the 2024 Chiefs well putting Tavis aside for a moment because yes that's everybody everybody's rooting for those two those two you know for for for Travis to make an honest woman out of Taylor um but um I to me is definitely can you know can this off we I was you know going back and reviewing some of the you know 2018 2019 Chiefs you know numbers and it's it's AB it was absurd at the time and I think I almost appreciate it more now in the sense that the offense has been not nearly as good and yet they've won two Super Bowls right like that the they they had a much better offense in Patrick mahomes's first year uh as a starter than they did in the past years when they won the Super Bowl which is just kind of absurd um but that wasn't because Patrick Mahomes couldn't you know had declined as a quarterback it was because of the receiving room and so to me it's really looking at the receivers I what I'm really intrigued by and one of the reasons why I am optimistic that they can pull this off is talking about like you know the talent they added in the draft to this Year Xavier worthy look we haven't you know none of these guys have played a real game yet right and so it's easy to Hype up a guy before he you know makes contact on the on the battlefield um but man Xavier Worthy is going to be starting week one we know how hard it is for any rookie receiver to get on the field and yeah he's not a second round pick like Rashid rice was or mcle Hardman or Sky Moore you know you expect more from a first round pick but you know the the the the talk about him coming out of the draft was you everybody's focused on his 40 time which which papers over not papers over kind of just ignores the fact that he is he has Elite receiving skills above speed and you know you so we've seen we've seen it out in the preseason we've seen the moves he we saw it in preseason in Camp but actual games the routes he runs the Stutter Step the acceleration and he knows where he's supposed to be Patrick clearly trusts him already and you know you know this first game is going to be you know I'm I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much for the for for the you know the undefeated season in part because you know Hollywood round is out right like in a game where we could really use him but at the same time ri rice at least so far you know cross your fingers yeah not suspended yet right he's got to play all year Raj Dr that on Wednesday afternoon kickoff prob what if they Dro that on like the AFC Championship game like it finally goes through the courts I mean they can't they couldn't do it they try to think of a precedent where they actually suspended the guy for the playoffs for something that happened before the season that like could it happened midseason yeah that would suck but honestly it it almost would work out if he if if if I could have Cho if I could choose now do you want him suspended for the first six weeks or the second six weeks of the Season obviously I choose second six weeks in part because all brown will be back in part because if you're worthy L six games of experience and they may have figured out you know which of the other guys in the in the receiving room can actually play but Baltimore in Cincinnati pretty pretty important there and I'm assuming you know we we we're almost certain you know Hollywood won't be back for week one and maybe not for week two but you know he might even be back for week two I mean there's 10 games off 10 days off there but by week three I think could be back so but the point is if they can beat Baltimore even if it's a home game if they can beat Baltimore without Hollywood Brown that gets that's going to get my attention and especially like I If Xavier worthy comes out of the gate with like a 100 yard game yeah and you one 160 yard you know yeah where he just gets behind the defense speak it into existence right yeah I mean but that so that excit so you know if you're you're talking about the like the 99th percentile like uh upside here of like could Zia worthy like start challenging like rookie receiving records or or be the best rookie receiver I since Randy I guess Randy Moss being set such a absurd you know kind of he's unfair yeah the standard for rookies might be a liot but like you know Xavier Worthy on Pace for you know 1,200 yard season or something like that that would definitely get my attention um but you know between him and then you know and then Kinga is you know second round pick everyone's like you know we thought there was talk that he might they might consider him at the end of the first round and you know we were not nobody was surprised at all that the Chiefs took him like the chief's cleer had his eye on him and he won the job at left tackle like you know you know W Morris maybe wasn't great but like w Morris played left tack you know he actually started games at left tackle last year um and Kingsley is clearly better and we've W what what's really fascinating to me is how important the left tackle position is and yet how the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls Without Really ever having an elite top five or even like top seven top eight left tack who what season was the best left tackle in you know I mean it was Eric fer probably in 2019 y yeah so and that was you know he was I don't think he was top five he might have been in the six to n range yeah he fine he he was above average um and you know he was you know he he he had the athleticism the speed that you know you you couldn't run around him but like power guys gave him gave him a problem and then they they went completely the opposite direction with Orlando Brown right where he was a brick wall but you could run around him yeah um and then Don they survived with Donovan Smith who was kind of you know sort of a you know like brown you know very strong dude but maybe a little speed deficient ksle to me is you know comes seems to come out with a Fisher uh model but maybe with a little bit more upper body strength a little bit more ability to to hold off so you know I don't expect him to be elite in year one but like if he you know top 15 in the league as a left tackle as a rookie that sounds that that bodes very well for him but if he can be top 10 yeah coming out of the gate like this the offensive line you know if if Joe tuni is healthy and I guess we we really don't know that yet for sure they've been very conservative with him but signs point to yes and I think Joan Taylor has to be better than he was last year I think that that the the talent there is much better than he showed and it wasn't entirely his fault that you know the league decided to pick on him and mentally screwed him up for the first half of the year and he was much better in the playoffs um so the offensive line still you know these guys tend to age better linemen age better than than uh defensive backs you know this is why trading ler sne makes all sorts of sense and why it's important to constantly replenish your your defensive back uh you know ranks whereas the offensive line you could keep those guys together for years and we all still remember that the amazing Chiefs offensive line from like you know 2001 to 2005 the dick for year after year with the same guys and they were great year after year and they were all in their 30s so I mean yeah by the end they were all like you know maybe you know Brian Waters was like maybe the baby of the group and he was like by the end he was like 30 and and Willie Ro was like 35 and will shield been around was there forever it's like so you can you can absolutely have a bunch of guys on an offensive line four or five years together and if anything those guys because you are bunched up tight like it actually helps to play with the same guy over and over you know his his Tendencies um you know cre and he got that old manand strength you know like you got to have some seasoning in there you got so if so but adding a little fresh you know a little a little fresh Talent with at left tackle yeah is it just there there's a world in which this is the best offensive line that the Chiefs have had since the dick for era yeah you combine that with you know Xavier worthy Hollywood Brown seconde r Rice and everyone's saying that Ry rice is looks even better than he did like last year like he has made improvements in his ability to run routes his understanding of where to position himself the holes in in in you know in zone right this this has a chance to be an elite offense again um that I think is what what excites me because you know I even when you know as much as I wouldn't trade the last two years for anything like I do miss the the year the the year or two where the just scored 30 points every single game um and I do wonder if they can get back to that a little bit and still have a really really good defense jayen Hicks talking about draft picks I mean Jaden Hicks everyone's like this guy's gonna be really good really quickly um so I you know again we've yet to play a game that actually matters but it signs point to this draft being a good draft again you know maybe not the 2022 draft but at least those three guys I don't know about Jared Wy we'll see um but if you have three you know two and a half starters Jaden Hicks is I don't know if I call him a full starter but two and a half starters out of the gate from a draft that's a good draft and um that's I think you know that's the step forward I think this this team needs to be even better than they were last year at least during the regular season Randy I'm going to give you uh I'm going to give you one here to close this out you've been very G generous with your time and we always love chatting with you but you mentioned earlier the possibility of the Chiefs and Royals winning championships in the same year and I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit as we like to do on this show um because I didn't ask you to research this question beforehand we don't know what the Royals are going to do and this gets a little bit tricky because the NFL annoyingly does not play their Seasons within a calendar year uh but I just want to ask what it would take through a combination of the Royals and Chiefs for this to be the greatest year in Kansas City Sports history and I will leave that somewhat open-ended to you whether you I mean I feel like we probably have to extend this through February right but you've already got a Super Bowl banked you've got the Royals sitting at probably 90% or something like that to make the playoffs when they were 50 games under 500 a year ago today uh just going back through I mean we've got you know now 60 years of the Chiefs and Royals uh in Kansas City and it's so rare for us to be in this position that we're in here at the last week of August having this conversation with you where the Royals are in contention they're tied for first place and the Chiefs are about to go out and play for the possibility of a three Pat Uh are we already there what what do we need what do we need from these two teams over the next five six months to make this like I mean shoot extended Beyond Kansas City Sports history like where where are we at I mean we might already be there we're very very close because the thing about the Chiefs and the Royals is they have almost literally never been both teams good at the same time right yeah right I mean the chiefs were winning you know the the the early Chiefs era where they you know went to the Super Bowl one and then won Super Bowl four like the the the Chiefs won the Super Bowl the year that the Royals began existence as an expansion franchise and then 1971 they lost the Christmas Day double overtime game that was the Royals first winning season and then the Chiefs didn't go back to the playoffs for 15 years um 1986 which was one year after the Royals Wes the World Series but the entire like golden age of the Kansas City Royals was contained within that 15-year drought right yep all right so the we all know what happened after the Golden Age of the Royals well yeah I mean it's been it's been and that's the thing that actually makes it really easy to evaluate because then it's like okay the next 29 years we can rule those 29 years out of you know is this the best best year in Kansas City history there's only one time there's only one season in which both teams won a playoff game and that's the contend that's to me the standard is 2015 right the Royals won the World Series in October and then three months later the Chiefs won their first playoff game they just make the playoff they won their first playoff game in 22 years since 93 that's right that was the uh yeah I remember that that that moment I remember thinking it's never been as good as it is now where the Chiefs got to play Brian Hoyer as quarterback of Texans yeah uh we know Davis off return down and all that yeah yeah we always you know talk about how you know we we you can't win the playoffs without a quarterback and we never had the best quarterback I mean Alex Smith wasn't a superstar but Alex Smith was sure as hell a superstar compared to Brian oyer sure and uh and it showed up in that game like 30 to know he shut out the Texans right and then the following week that was the game we uh that you know Andy re I I wouldn't even say Andy Reid was out coached by Brian by Bill bich so much as he just he Andy readed himself and like ran like a 13 minute drive to get the chief within one score with 14 minutes left to go or something something like that um it wasn't quite that they didn't they didn't quite have the horses though either the chap I mean it would have been tough but like yeah we got the ball back down what 14 with six and a half minutes and they finally scored a touchdown with a minute 18 left sure late so you know it was like it good try it was a good season again first first playoff victory in 22 years and coming three months after the Royals accomplished what's you know we all thought to be impossible and win a World Series after year after they had been to the World Series that was the high point to me um and you know as long as we you know Patrick mes is here you you figure as whenever the Royals are good in the Patrick Ms era that's going to be the contender I didn't expect it to be this year right but this is right now if the CH if the Royals win a Playoff round if they get I mean certainly if they get to the ALCS the final four I mean it because at that point it is going to become a a uh uh you know Sports Talk fodder it's going to be the the dominant topic of discussion is title town are you is Kansas City title are are is Kansas City going to hog all the trophies yeah right well and not to mention 2015 you know the the Chiefs and the Royals C couldn't claim the best player in each sport whereas y they're pretty close that's a very good point a huge factor in being a fun time is we get to watch Patrick Mahomes and Bobby wit it's crazy I I just it's been uh it's been a great run I no that that's actually a really good point and that's a tie I think that might be a tiebreaker because like when you know the worlds drafted Bobby Whit and I heard some people uh you know Scout Scouts who were saying you know this guy could be the Patrick Mahomes for the yes I just thought it was such a cliche I'm like yeah Patrick mes but there's like no baseball player can be a Patrick Mahomes and that's still the case like there's just right the Patrick Mahomes would be the equivalent of sh Otani you know not just being a two-way player but like never getting hurt for one thing you know making every start as as a starting pitcher throwing a complete game every time out right then also not just being a d but actually being a go like a a Bobby weight caliber shortstop right and even then I'm not sure that such a player H would have as much impact on a team's chances of winning a a a championship in baseball as Patrick RS as in football like it really it's it's hard to um it's hard to Fathom you know the value of of Patrick RS in baseball terms but I mean the Angels just had Mike Trout and show Otani and didn't make the playoffs exactly so but but what Bobby Wht is doing though it's not just he's he is as close as you could be to Patrick RS not just in terms of his value because you know he is an MVP absolutely MVP candidate no worse than the second best player in the sport this year that's all because Aaron judge is just doing bab Ruth things while being a center fielder but it's it's the style with which he does it because Bobby Wht maybe Aaron judge is better but Bobby Wht does more things at an elite level than any player in the sport and really than any player in the sport in a long time I mean if you ever look at his baseball Savant page It's the funniest thing in the world because this is you know the the the it's actually B's own website where you can you know look at a player's um you know uh all of his you know Elite analytics statistics and Bobby Wht Jr I'm pulling this up right now just to look at all the the the numbers on his page yep as of right now batting run value his value as a batting run he's 99th percentile in the sport he is 99th percentile as a base runner it's pretty he is 99th percentile as a Fielder it is it is absolutely the most absurd thing I'm not sure I have ever seen a player at 99 in all three categories there's three categories of value hitting running Fielding he is in the top 1% of every major player in all three that is something absolutely freaking absurd maybe mooki bets has done it it's possible mooki that I'm trying to the closest thing Mike Trout might have done it when he was uh ear Al I if he was ever 9 as a Fielder he was a very good center fielder I don't think he was ever Elite so um again that doesn't mean he's the best best necessarily because you know 99th in batting but Aon judge is 100th and the Gap there is huge um but he is so much fun to watch he and and of course like you said he the sport is marketing him in just just in the last four months in a way I cannot recall any worlds player since Bo Jackson like he has become you the worlds won a World Series and it was it was a it was a collaborative effort you know there was no superstar that was part of the fun of the team it was an incredible Bullpen but you know Greg Holland was not the face of baseball was the face of baseball the closest is probably Lorenzo Kane maybe I mean he was the best player overall maybe H but yeah had the flare for the dramatic Alex Gordon of course you know was like the Rock and and salvi was this like you know the the young veteran then um who you know was like the joyful catcher but yeah there was no one player that that represented the team the way Bobby wit is doing now and hasn't there hasn't been one like I said since Bo Jackson was the most famous athlete in America um Bobby Whit is not the most famous athlete in America but that's because the most famous athl in America plays an arrowhead and I'm not sure who it is yeah because it could be Travis Kelce or it could be Patrick Mahomes um so yes Kansas City Sports dominates the cultural sight gist of America and way that it has never done before um and it dominates the standings currently in a way that it almost never has before either you have a Super Bowl champion on one side and a team that as you and I speak are in first place in the American League Central with one month left in the season these are the these are the good old days guys this is the Golden Age enjoy it um I I you know we've already said that about the Chiefs we've we it's not the first time we've said you know appreciate the moment um somehow it's even gotten better because a baseball team that lost 106 games last year is on Pace for the greatest season overseason Improvement in modern major league history let's throw that into your story uh you know of a story book season and um yeah I don't know how it gets better than this so let's just let's just hope he keep going let's hope that the world's bringing home and let's hope that both trophies are in Kansas City and then the Chiefs go out there and ensure that they stay in G the city for a while longer couldn't think of a better way to wrap up the show Randy appreciate your time and uh hopefully we'll talk to you about uh the champion Kansas City Royals in November how about that that sounds like an awesome plan [Music] oh [Music]