AFC West DEEP DIVE with Matt "Money" Smith & Pete Sweeney

Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company.

They're one of America's largest financial services companies.

Like how I'm more than just Peyton Manning.

I'm also motivating Manning.

When I say insurance, you say financial services.

Insurance.

Financial services.

Insurance.

Financial services.

Now when I say nationwide, you say is both.

Nationwide.

Nationwide.

For your insurance and financial needs, nationwide is on your side.

Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, Ember Finrick, Columbus, Ohio.

I have nothing negative to say about either of those teams.

I hate the Raiders.

F them.

You know, the stupid Raider chant drives me crazy whenever we play in Vegas.

It's one of the dumbest, most ignorant-sounding things I've ever heard in my life.

And I don't know.

Yeah.

There you go.

Yeah, and you hear Pete because I'm sure Pete feels the same way.

Like, oh my god.

Hey, oh, welcome to Heed the Call, Heed in the Call.

Hump Day, Dan Hansis,

Mark Sessler.

I like this one, Mark,

because the AFC West is a spicy division, perhaps the spiciest.

Is it the best division in football?

I mean, maybe the NFC North lays claim to that.

Maybe the NFC

NFC West has a bounce back year.

I don't know.

But the AFC West has, I feel like pound for pound is the spiciest little triple red pepper.

So we're going to get into that with two very, very qualified guests in Matt Money Smith and Pete Sweeney.

I think with the AFC West, teams have changed pretty rapidly since last season, a number of them.

And so you look at all four teams in that division and say, I can make a case they could be a postseason team.

And to have Pete and Matt Money on today,

I mean, these are friends of the show and these are pros.

Absolutely, Mark.

Absolutely.

How are you, by the way?

I'm doing fine.

Yeah?

I'm doing fine.

I was alerted that the show was beginning a little bit earlier than I planned today or our day was and I took what was, you ever do this?

I took like a 40-second shower

and then rapidly

I tried to look, I look like I maybe prepared more than I was.

And like from a physical angle, there's more clothing that needs to be added, some footwear at some point.

But other than that,

doing well, if that's what you were asking.

Sometimes

you just throw something out there to the sess dog and just let him go.

Let him go.

All right.

Well, if you have to take another shower after the show, you will have that option.

But

just that's something to think about during the program today.

All right.

Yeah.

We're going to have a nice conversation about that division and a beefy one.

So let's not waste any time.

Let's get right into it.

Before we do that, there's some news to hit.

So let's do it.

That time,

it was out of Tamawa at a barrel as Indianapolis now officially leads the NFL in impossible names to say.

See,

I thought that was like the investigative reporter of the Fort Wayne local television station.

So you give him a little pass for not knowing how to pronounce names, pronounce the names.

But that's Jerry Sandusky of Ravens radio but that that is a challenge i would imagine if it's not your team and you have a opposition rolling in we have money coming on maybe we'll ask him about this it's got to be tough when you got a lot of those uh different sounding names and the ones that are not phonetically right there for you we um we deal with this all the time

in this case he does we deal with this all the time and what we tend to do is you just go first name or you create a nickname uh to look creative.

Jerry Sandusky, tough name for a number of years there.

If you recall the events at Penn State, that wasn't a great name to be rolling around with on a public platform.

Yes, I know, Mark.

Let's give let's give Sandusky a break.

He had to deal with that for a long time.

He's a good Sandusky, not the bad one.

Uh, the example of this prominent example, we love talking about Francesa on this show.

Mike Francesa, I remember he did like an interview with Simmons like about three or four years ago.

Um, and I actually struggle with his name.

Graver, you're a real ball knower in the NBA.

Who is the great center for the Milwaukee Bucks?

His full name, Iannis Nintende Cumpo?

Yes.

So Francesa clearly could not attempt what Graver just nailed.

So he's talking to Simmons and he goes, yeah, that

Greek freak.

I'll tell you what, though.

The Greek freak.

And then, you know, you use the nickname once, and it is, I guess it is his nickname.

I just call him Yannis or whatever.

But like,

he kept, I don't think he knew how to say the first name either.

So he said, yeah, but, you know, Bill, Greek freak.

Greek freak was said 14 times over the course of a five-minute conversation.

You're really circumventing the issue there, yeah.

Is Giannis a center?

Sorry, that's not.

That's neither here nor there.

My bad.

Jesus Christ, Justin.

All right, power forward slash center.

Take it to the Titans podcast, please.

Exactly.

Derail your own show.

All right, let's get into it.

Packers, a little bit of bad news, but could be worse.

Jordan Love, this is the biggest thing you worry about.

You're just trying to get your key players in preseason games long enough to knock off the rust and feel comfortable, and you can't get them out of there without an injury.

So the Packers and Jets played over the weekend, and Love banged up the thumb on his left hand, an injury that was causing him discomfort and trouble gripping the ball in practice.

So they decide he should undergo a procedure to deal with a ligament issue on that left thumb.

The team is confident Love will return to practice next week, and the Packers expect him to be ready for the regular season opener.

So, you know, that is, could have been worse, Mark, but could have been better.

And that's a very, again, we've talked about it, that's another very fierce division with a lot of good teams.

Now you got your QB1 that's going to be playing from behind a little bit.

Not the best news, but could have been worse.

They've also got Christian Watson with a knee injury right now, expected to begin the season, the PUP.

I would say one thing about the Packers, because I'm the guy that put them, I think, third in my power rankings, which I think

old Sessler kiss of death.

Yeah,

I jarred you guys with my suggestion that they would be that.

But

of all those teams that you think are playoff teams, like, and it's just one preseason game, they looked terrible against the Jets.

They did not play well.

That was a drifting, strange game.

And now you've got Jordan Love banged up.

So why'd you do it, Mark?

Why'd you do it?

Those are good people in Wisconsin

despite some comments that Connor made recently that the DUI and

domestic violence rates are higher or something.

That's not true.

These are good Midwestern people who love the Packers and

now you put this on them.

It was not to snow them under or to cause them pain by any chance.

If anything, I think I've been dogged for over 10 years for being too down on the Packers by our listenership.

Yeah, but

one could

sniff that one out and be like, maybe Sestog knows that his powers

to whammy a team, he uses them for evil now, and that's exactly why you put them high in the power rankings because you knew what would happen.

I get where you're coming from here.

I think it more comes down to if we were to pick the team of, you know,

team of heat the call, like that's the team that need, that's a fan base that needs to be concerned if I'm involved in that process.

Am I right?

That's a little more trenchant.

Well, I think when it's coming just from Mark, that's the real like whammy.

Yeah, well, I did Titans once, too.

Remember that, Justin?

Yeah, oh, yeah, I do.

And I think, Dan, to your point, I think Mark has to genuinely be feeling good about that team for the power of the curse to take hold.

Like, he can't fake it because

he's leaner.

Well, it's not a power that I asked for.

Sorry, Packers fans.

In other news, Bill's running back James Cook has agreed to a four-year, $48 million contract extension,

$12 million per year if you do the basic division.

$30 of that guaranteed.

Ends what was, you know, maybe

like maybe, I was going to say maybe we get some juice into hard knocks after that underwhelming first episode.

In fact, they already aired the second episode.

I got to catch up.

Was the second episode anymore?

Give us anything more in terms of, did anybody check it out yet?

I don't know.

Sounded like that.

The first episode was so boring.

I said, I'm not watching number two.

Yeah, I'm off my radar.

It's not.

Yeah, it's off my radar a little bit, but I was also busy.

It was my son's birthday.

I was at Benny Hana.

What a show they put on at Benny Hana.

I'll tell you what.

I mean, you want to get some Japanese cuisine done with a little bit of panache?

They're cooking it right in front of you.

They're not even a sponsor of this.

This show.

Yeah.

Oh, he did this egg trick that just blew all of our minds.

It's in like that kind of thing that young, like, if you have young sons, like, um, they're going to freak out over that.

So, nice job by you to make that the birthday locale.

Oh, hi, smoking onion volcano.

Nice to meet you.

Stupid.

Anyway, I will check out episode two of Hard Knocks because I am loyal to the brand, but it is, it will be wavering if

this doesn't go where we want it to go.

But anyway, Cook wanted the money.

Now he's got the money, so one less distraction at Bill's Camp.

This one's a little spicy, Sassy.

Nevada Supreme Court sides with John Gruden,

brother of Jay Gruden, the founder of the

Gruden, which was a five-count Tito's with a seltzer water and then an orange slice for those following.

Anyway,

the Nevada Supreme Court sides with John Gruden in case versus NFL, blocking arbitration.

Gruden, as you may recall, sued the NFL and Roger Goodell in November of 2021 after he resigned as coach of the Raiders, a decision he made after racist, homophobic, and sexist emails, the big three, the old hat-trick from Gruden in an email server, emerged from an investigation into the NFL's Washington franchise.

In the suit, I'm just going to spin through this, Mark, and I want to get your thoughts on it.

In this suit, Grudin accused the NFL of leaking those emails through a malicious and, quote, orchestrated campaign saying that the NFL and Goodell sought to destroy the career and reputation of Gruden.

And now Gruden has a chance for this.

And I always, Mark, follow,

I check in with Mike Florio, who lives for this shit.

And he's obviously comes from a law background to make it make sense to a law dummy like myself or just an all-around dummy.

And he said like,

this elevates it to something exactly the NFL hates to do.

When things go to arbitration, they go behind closed doors and it's a controlled situation.

The fact that it's snuck out of the Nevada Supreme Court sided with Gruden means this is a public situation.

And John Gruden is exactly the type of guy, a renegade type dude, that doesn't might have nothing to lose where it becomes a public case that can be very ugly for the NFL.

And that's why John Gruden should keep his head on a goddamn swivel in the ramp up to this trial.

That's all I'll say.

Yeah, I mean,

I think there's two things that can be true here.

Like, one, he sent some pretty crazy emails.

And, you know, tiss, tiss for that.

I don't downplay that.

But then this was attached to an investigation about the Washington franchise.

And, like, nothing came of that for a very long time.

And they elevated these Gruden emails into like kind of a headline.

And it ended his career.

I mean, it ended his career.

He had like a 10-year contract with the Raiders that came to a close because of this.

I know that when covering football in general, because like when you get into football, you realize, wait, there's a lot more math than one would be hoping for at times.

And then also when I see like a headline in our news rundown and it's about the Nevada Supreme Court, I'm like, run in the other direction.

I don't know, I don't do Supreme Court things, but

this is a tangibly thorny case for the NFL to deal with.

We'll see what happens.

I like John.

I don't do Supreme Court things.

Well, I run in the other direction because I know it's, to your point, it's like when it comes to deep legal stuff, it's like I'm not deep legal.

I'm,

you know, I'll sit here.

Deep illegal.

Ow!

Yeah, a little bit more of that.

The bad boy.

All right.

This is not something that I'm happy about, Mark,

because we want good things to happen to our teams.

But Browns quarterback Shador Sanders, injured and oblique.

That's like the rib cage area.

That's not good.

Throwing the football on Wednesday morning of practice, according to the team who's held out of the first of joint practices with the Eagles.

Kevin Stefansky, Browns' coach, told Sal Powell, Sal Powell's still doing it for ESPN after practice that Sanders suffered oblique discomfort during warm-ups and the plan for Sanders to practice was scrapped last minute.

There's an MRI coming up, so we're going to know where that comes.

Obviously, the timing isn't great, Mark, for obvious reasons.

Most of all, these coming off a quality debut, and instead of gearing up for a second preseason appearance where he could really, you know, continue to mold thoughts around where he fits in the hierarchy there with all those quarterbacks, he might miss the game, and missing time could be the death knell to his momentum here.

I don't think it will change anything about this year's experience with Shador Sanders in the sense that I think from ownership especially, they want it is you look at Cleveland's schedule.

It is a nightmare.

It is very possible that multiple quarterbacks are starting, and I think it is an absolute steadfast rule from the top down that we are going to see Shador Sanders start this year to find out what you have before they go into a draft where they have two first-round picks.

I don't think he would have played a ton in this game to begin with because I think they want to see Dylan Gabriel too.

So I wondered just how much time he'd get.

But yeah, an injury is annoying.

It just sets back because he's not, the one thing about Chador is he's not gotten a lot of first-team reps.

He's been practicing with like guys on the sideline.

And so it's just like less NFL snap and exposure time.

But I don't know, in that game, he looked to me like that didn't matter that much.

But yeah, I don't like it because like enough new, every news item about the Browns in this summer has been relatively negative.

And there's more to that, too.

Along those lines, in other Browns news, Miles Garrett cited at 2.01 a.m.

Saturday for going 100 miles per hour in a 60-mile per hour zone in Strongsville after the team landed from Charlotte after their preseason game.

Of course, Garrett was in a serious car accident

a few years ago after he flipped his Porsche.

Here's what Stefansky said on Wednesday at practice.

Extremely disappointing.

It's been been addressed with Miles, with the football team.

He needs to slow down for his safety and the safety of others.

All right.

And yes, that's now Shador Sanders, who we just talked about, had multiple speeding tickets before that.

And I think we have to go ahead, Justin.

Good afternoon, and thank you for holding.

I have Mark Sessler on the line from Quiet Storm Crisis Management.

We're patching Mark through right now.

Yeah, hello.

Let me just jump in here.

I'm

Mark's assistant.

Thank you for everyone joining us today.

Before Mark hops on, please be advised that Mark will address this Garrett speeding ticket, but Mr.

Sessler is also available for any questions about Shador Sanders' game against the Panthers and where it sits in the conversation of greatest athletic achievements in American history.

Okay, looks like Mark has just jumped on.

Okay, I'll get out of the way now.

Hi, everyone.

You know, I think when it comes to this particular case and the kind of person and player that Miles Garrett is,

now we understand that Miles Garrett has had, I think it's five or six or seven occurrences of driving at alarming speeds.

Now, here's the thing.

He's prompt.

He likes to get to places on time.

I'm going to leave it right there.

We love him because he's not going to show up late to things.

And whatever it takes to get there on time, that's what Miles Garrett will do.

Thank you, everyone.

All right.

Well done.

Well done.

Injury run through.

Vikings wide receiver Rondell Moore.

That man will, he'll kill.

He'll die to be on time, that man.

Vikings wide receiver Rondell Moore will miss a second straight season after hurting his knee in his comeback attempt right in the beginning of the Vikings preseason opener.

The Texans are placing tight end Brevin Jordan on injured reserve, ending his season.

Knee injury suffered in Monday's practice.

Saints center Will Clapp suffered a season-ending foot injury that requires surgery.

It's a brutal game, folks.

Brutal game.

Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor underwent a scope on his knee.

He's out for the rest of the preseason.

They hope he'll be ready to back up Justin Fields week one against the Steelers.

Also, Alan Lazard will miss a quote couple of weeks, according to Aaron Glenn, with a shoulder injury.

Jets don't have a lot of depth at wide receiver,

even if Lazard isn't the dude.

Eagles guard Landon Deckerson.

Here's good news.

He avoided a major injury to his knee, but the plan is for him to get a trim of his meniscus.

They hope he'll

be able to return early in the 2025 season, maybe even by week one.

But that is obviously

the optimistic viewpoint on that.

Eagles guard Kenyon Green, they was picked up in an offseason trade.

Shoulder injury, that will end his preseason.

We'll see how long he is out.

Chop Robinson, Dolphin's Edge, carded Wednesday,

but he said on Instagram, I'm good, nothing serious.

That's nice to hear.

And finally, time for a little Immortal Watch 25, Mark.

Let's go.

It's a lion.

It's a lion.

It's a lion.

Matthew Stafford is in the tube, the silver tube, the reflective silver tube, sitting on the Rams facility, but he's still not practicing.

I mean, at what stage do we start to become very concerned about this position for the Rams?

Oh, I'm way more concerned about Matthew Stafford than the quarterback position at this point.

It's bigger than the who's QB1 now.

I mean,

this is a mortal corp we're talking about.

You trust them, buddy?

You don't seem like somebody would trust a

potentially evil corporation.

The one thing about calling it amortal is like all I can think of is the other word immortal and it's an annoyance to me.

Also

amoral.

Yeah, right?

Yeah, I think it makes you think of

immortal, amoral.

I don't know what again, I don't know.

I want to see the layout of this craft that they have him sitting in, what's happening inside.

I'd like to know more about that.

It's all very Ramsish.

Anyway, we're keeping an eye on that one for you.

Yes, we are.

All right, that's what's happening in the news.

We will be right back to dig into the state of the AFC West, Pro Football's most interesting division.

Stay right there.

Did you know that getting Heed the Call three times a week is just the beginning?

If you want more, if you're a true hedonist, head over to patreon.com slash heed the call, where you can get all the Mark Sessler you could ever desire.

Maybe more than you need.

Um, I mean, I've got, I do have the Rolling Thunder show with Jason Zumwalt, we've got our Silver Horses newsletter, but it's not just me.

You've got the throwback pod, Dan.

We've got our Friday fun show, you've got a came from the subreddit.

There's just a cornucopia of incredible content.

Yes, a little teaser.

I will be appearing on the next episode of Rolling Thunder, a topic that we will not tell you yet.

But yes, another thing to look forward to.

So, patreon.com/slash heedthecall.

call join the revolution hedonists

all right we're back all right sese so the afc the afc interesting

battleground here and i'm looking at the divisions sesse

okay

all right we know the bills are the bills right the rest of the afc east

from bad to grab bag, depending on the patriots.

The AFC North, we know we got the Ravens.

Some people might talk themselves into the Steelers.

We got Check on the show tomorrow.

I'm sure he might, but maybe not.

We'll ask him about that.

We'll see about the Bengals.

But again, big question marks there.

The South is the South, and forever.

Well, you've left one team out of the North, but I understand

why you did that.

Okay.

Okay.

But then there's the AFC West, and that's where it gets interesting.

So we're going to have a couple guests on now

that are going to deep dive on this very interesting division.

And let us start with the man we must start with.

One of the great,

great rockentors

of the football gagna sente.

Matt Money Smith.

What's up, buddy?

Ah, God, what an intro.

What an intro.

The Zeuser, the cess dog.

Listen, I got the Zeuser neon behind him.

If I can get a little cess dog neon going, I'm going to feel really good about myself.

I'm going to feel...

I hear him call you sessy, and it's just like a kick to my balls, sess dog.

And I see it on the screen and I'm like, you know, I guess maybe he doesn't like the cess dog.

Maybe all these years I've called him the cess dog.

He's not a fan of it.

So if that is the case, I apologize.

Sessy, it will be moving forward.

Well, no, it's very special.

You actually once.

Sessy made it sessler.

I mean, how about that guy?

Who is that?

But you once called me Sess Dog on NFL Network, on national TV.

So

that stuck in my conscience, and I enjoy it.

Thank you.

That's right.

And am I employed by NFL Network anymore?

No.

Well, or any.

Probably because of behavior like that, but whatever.

That's where I hang my coat.

That guy's got a personality.

Get him off the air.

Exactly.

Yeah, Mark, just for the rest of the, and we got it.

We got to get to it.

Yes, I know.

I'm sorry.

He's cool with Mark.

As far as I know, he's cool with the sess dog, sessy, quiet storm.

Just don't call him.

Meark.

No, do not be going down that road.

Oh, Mijark.

I will not do that.

I don't know if my voice can even do that.

I don't know if I could purse my lips enough to do New York.

Maybe I can.

Money doesn't.

There we go.

But I'm going to give it to him anyway.

He's an icon

in the radio game, Petra Simon on 570 here in L.A.

Also, the voice of the Chargers.

Ever hear of him?

Yeah, that's who he is.

Also, the original voice of God for around the NFL.

So that should probably be the top bullet, I would say.

Yeah, in some circles.

Yeah,

I want to get to you know what i want to ask you about your past career before all that but let's get to that at the end of the conversation let's dive into the afc west um

let's start with the chargers obviously how do you feel about this team they they've had some injuries obviously they're coming off the the buzz and excitement of the the jim harbaugh era starting and and getting double-digit wins getting to the playoffs like where would you put the anticipation level as the chargers voice uh compared to past seasons Yeah, I think it's every year with Harbaugh, it's at a 10, right?

It has to be.

It's the way the guy operates.

And I think that's why he ran himself into a little bit of trouble in Michigan is the second you roll up there, it's not, hey, beat Ohio State or win the Big Ten.

It's win a national championship.

And I think that's just the way it works with Harbaugh.

I mean, the guy, you know, goes to the NFC championship game, what, three consecutive years, a Super Bowl, loses it, and somehow finds his way out of San Francisco.

I think that's just reality with him.

So, yeah, expectations are high.

We're going to find out who they are.

You've set it up perfectly, Dan, in context of this division in a hurry because we open in Brazil.

They open in Brazil.

I'll be there with them, hence the we, but they open in Brazil with the Chiefs.

Week two, Monday Night Football in Vegas, and week three is the Broncos at home.

There it is.

Each of your AFC West opponents in the first three weeks when you hope teams are as healthy as they could possibly be to kind of give the rest of the country an idea of how good is this division and could it send three to the playoffs again?

Yeah, and we were talking about Harbaugh, and he's such a fire starter.

And he gave an interview, and you know, he's one of the best quotes, really, in the modern era of football.

Here's a quote he gave to Rich Eisen in the offseason.

And I don't want every Chargers conversation on our show just to focus on is Justin Herbert elite?

But when you have a guy like Harbaugh, that's kind of like his main talking point, letting people know that's who this guy is, it kind of invites that discourse to the chargers let's let's listen to uh jimmy jimmy h

i just woke up the other day i said i

got to get justin herbert to the hall of fame oh must get justin herbert to the hall of fame you woke up and said that yeah yeah it's just one of those things where you wake up and kind of like three 334 in the morning right and uh sometimes that's when your best ideas come yeah i know and uh

you know you kind of process that and that that would mean winning a couple super bowls and uh and there'd be a lot of there'd be a lot of people would benefit from that.

So

that's a worthy goal.

And I think it's necessary that we get him

surrounded with as many good football players to his level as possible.

All right, money.

Have they done that?

Because I look at what they did in the offseason.

I believe, I don't know if this is still where it is, but it's got to be around there, that they have the most leftover cap space in the league.

They invested, obviously, in the line, line, the offensive line with Beckton, although they've been thinned out, obviously, by the terrible Slater injury.

They drafted the running back.

They bring back Mike Williams, and then that goes off like a wet fart.

Like, if the goal is to get Justin Herbert to play to the level that gets you a jacket in 15 years, do you think they've set him up for success?

Well, I mean, look, I think as far as that calf space went, you know, a lot of it went to Slater and the, you know, 90 million bucks he got with the extension.

And unfortunately, that went horribly wrong on an afternoon training camp session, and that's a huge hit that they're going to take.

I think, you know, $8 million just went to Keenan Allen, and I think the Chargers operate on

a Baltimore.

You know,

it's not a coincidence that they look very similar, that Joe Hurtis spent 23 years in Baltimore, that Jim Harbaugh is the brother of John Harbaugh and is seeing how consistently that team has performed and at least given themselves an opportunity, you know, by punching their ticket to the postseason year in and year out.

And I think they build it similarly.

They're not going to go out and reach and scratch out, you know, an $80 million check for Banks or a $60 million check for Will Fry's and parentally injured, you know, because he's later in his career.

Ryan Carpenter, like, that's just not how they're going to operate.

They're always going to go sort of shotgun approach, right?

Let's go sign four corners.

Let's sign two linebackers.

Let's sign four defensive linemen and trust our coaches.

And the one thing that

they have on this team, I think, that's really that, I mean, one, they have Justin Herbert, and he's special, you know, like with the injury to Slater, as I'm trying to calm the masses through all of that, which, and I'm not making light of it, it's a huge injury.

They had a huge advantage over their competition because they didn't have to provide help to either of their tackles.

They could put either Joe Alt or Rashawn Slater on an island and not have to worry about it.

But now I think by shifting, you know, they do have the benefit of having an elite tackle in Joe Alt that you can now shift to left tackle and help on the right side, and that means just more, you know, 12 or 13 personnel out there to help on that side.

But

Justin Herbert threw for almost 5,000 yards as a rookie in 32 touchdowns behind an offensive line of Sam Tevy, Forrest Lamp, Dan Feeney, Trey Turner, and Joe Barksdale.

Like, so that's the that that's how good he is.

So, I think what coach is talking about is you have to just incrementally get get better.

He made Jalen Guyton a 600-yard five-touchdown receiver.

You saw what he was able to do with whatever was presented to him.

Good season from Gerald Everett, from Jared Cook, no matter what tight end you drop.

So I think that's what Coach is talking about.

So while Tyler Conklin isn't necessarily

George Kittle or Travis Kelsey, he's a big upgrade on what they had last year.

And so I think that's the sort of stuff that happened this year.

Omarion Hampton, that dude's legit.

He is legit.

He has got a trunk the size of an oak tree, and he's still explosive.

And so that's a bell cow back that you have.

Bringing in Makai Bechton at right guard.

And the idea was here's Mount Bechton and Joe Walt, the biggest right side of an offensive line in football, so we can now run the ball and we can get play action to work and put that incredible accuracy plus a cannon for an arm to use and some downfield throws.

Like all this stuff was lined up for it to take a step.

And unfortunately, it's kind of unraveling a a little bit because of this injury to Najee Harris, who's supposed to be their four-minute drill back, because of this injury to Rashawn Slater, you know, and that's just football.

And if there's anyone I think can get over it, it's Coach Harbaugh, and in particular, what I think is in the conversation is the best staff in football.

The coaching staff here is incredible.

I mean, it is really, really something.

I like the concept of you calming the masses over the Slater injury.

That seems like a good role for you.

I would ask you this, just like, I think there was this assumption, you know, going back to last offseason that it's a horrible team.

They just want to run the ball 700 times and Herbert's going to be, his production is going to go down.

Like, what, like, with Joe Hortiz and

what kind of team do they actually want to be?

Because I almost feel like it's become a talking point that may be more mythological than real, that they just want to run the ball more than any team in the AFC and be like a 1945 version of a pro football squad.

Like, is that real, or is there something else that they're trying to build themselves into under Harbaugh?

Yeah, sis, I think it is real.

I think, like, that's what they want their identity to be.

You know, I believe on both sides of the football, they want to punish teams.

You know, that's what Derwin James wants to do.

That's what Denzel Perriman and Deion Henley want to do.

That's what Tui Tui Pelotu and Khalil Max certainly want to do.

So I think you have those.

those players that that's the type of football they want to play.

They want to play a violent brand of football.

And while he's soft-spoken and incredibly intelligent guy, both of them, really, and Rashawn Slater and Joe Walt, I've been around them enough to know they want to hurt people.

They want to go out there and they want to punish people.

So that's, I think you have the players that want to play that brand.

And then I think all you'll have to do is, you know, come whatever that cutdown day is, and they make their 53.

If you see them keep Scott Matlock, Will Disley, Tucker Tucker Fisk, if all those guys are on this team and Raheem Sanders, who's 6'3, 30, undrafted free age, if he's your, you know, if he's your fourth running back, I think it tells you they're not going to say it, they're going to show it, right?

It's like, okay, well, we're the only team in the league that's got two blocking tight ends on our 53-man and a fullback, Matlock.

I know he plays, you know, three, all three phases, but you got Matlock, Tucker Fisk, and Will Disley all on this team.

I think that's really your indicator that, oh, yeah, they're not just saying it.

Look at their 53-man roster.

They've got the roster to do it.

I also,

you know, you trust Harbaugh and you trust this staff, but the defense doesn't on paper look like a great defense.

And

they lose Joey Bosa.

And I know Bosa wasn't Bosa five years ago at this point, but he still had 28 pressures, 13 QB hits.

Puna Ford was a top-run defender for them.

Morgan Fox was gone, another big-time interior lineman.

Then you have Christian Fulton that gone from the secondary.

Asante Samuel Jr.

Like, is this the biggest concern that Chargers fans should have, that this defense goes from okay to good to potentially a major problem, and then the offense isn't really built to make up for that?

Well, you know, I guess this is the way I would answer that, is, you know, last year they weren't good.

They were exceptional.

You know, they were the number one scoring defense in the league at 17.7 points per game.

And when they signed Puna Ford and they signed Christian Fulton and Morgan Fox came back, what did everybody say?

They're like, well, you know, they'll have an opportunity next year to maybe get the guys they really want.

They have this cap situation with Bosa and Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and all of, and they don't have any money to spend, so they're bargain shopping.

And all this staff did, Mike Elston is the, and I'll throw him out by name.

I shouldn't because I'd like to keep it as big of a secret, and we know the reach that Heath the call has

inside the buildings around the NFL.

But Mike Elston, the D-line coach, Navarro Bowman, the linebacker coach, Steve Klinkscale, their secondary coach, their corner coach, and they lost Chris O'Leary last year, their safety coach, who really helped make Elijah Molden Elijah Molden.

He's now the D.C.

at, I think, Western Michigan is where he went.

So they brought in Adam Fuller, the former D.C.

at Florida State.

Like, these guys get their hands on these players, and they made Puna Ford Puna Ford.

Like,

he was not even getting playing time in Buffalo.

He wasn't getting on the field, and they turned him into a $10 million a year player.

So I think when

you see the way they operate in free agency, I kind of talked about that shotgun approach.

You know, Christian Fulton was thought as a guy who couldn't stay healthy, and when he was on the field, he's okay.

Clink gets his hands on him, and he gets some big contract in Kansas City.

Well, this year, it's Dante Jackson, you know, a guy that's got a nose for the ball, that's had some issues tackling.

They did it with two fifth-round picks last year, and Tarheep still and Cam Hart.

I think they got another one in an undrafted free agent, Nico Reed, who was just small coming out of Oregon, and people worried

this a press man corner who's at 5'9, 180.

Is that going to work in the NFL?

And he just sees it.

Like, that's the thing about Jesse Minner.

I still can't figure out what football world we're living in that that dude did not get a single interview to be a head coach in the NFL and even more so in college with what he did with that team last year, how much these players loved him, the career years, you know, LeBron James.

Derwin James.

How dare I?

How dare I put that disgusting label on him?

Fair mistake in Los Angeles.

Derwin James.

L.A.

radio guy gets mad at LeBron.

Derwin back to an all-pro level.

Deion Henley should have been a Pro Bowler, you know, and on and on and on.

And turned Elijah Molden into one of the better free safeties out there.

So,

yeah, I think to,

I guess the best way for me to answer that, Zusser, is to say I trust Jesse Minner implicitly.

Whatever he puts out there, I believe is going to work.

I have a personal question for you because I would suggest that 99.9% of the people listening to this have never been tasked with announcing

a an NFL game like is it hard I once interviewed you about this and you said you do a radio

Lakers game I think and like an old vet told you like oh you're screwed if you've never done radio but like is it like just hard to do um

the job is it or does it just come naturally to you?

Yeah, this is my ninth year, I think, doing it.

So they came in 17, yeah.

So this is my ninth year doing the Chargers, but I started doing football in

2010.

So I've been doing it 15 years.

So yeah, it comes

naturally to me now.

But originally, when I first started doing it, and I started with basketball, it was the Pac-12 tournament, Pac-10 tournament back then, and it was Barry Tompkins, the longtime vet, that was coming up to wish me luck, thinking I was doing TV.

And when he goes, oh, you're doing radio?

And I said, yeah.

And then he said, oh, you're effed, and walked away.

Because radio,

you feel the burden of painting a picture for the mind's eye.

You know, you're not just along for the ride.

You're providing the listener everything in the hopes that you can create an image detailed enough for them to see what's happening without seeing it.

So I think you feel like you have to include everything.

And you can't.

It's just not possible in a three to seven second play.

So you have to figure out what you want to include, what you want to leave out.

And I think that's the hardest thing, especially in basketball, which I still do.

I still do college basketball on radio, which is a play-by-play sport.

Football is an analyst sport.

So all I want to do is get the call in and get the heck out so DJ Daniel Jeremiah can spin his magic.

Because football is hard to understand.

There's 22 pieces moving at the same time, and he's got to be able to share

because he can see it like that.

And it's the craziest thing to me that he sees what the

guard was pulling, and he got picked up by a linebacker that was on a run fit, but somehow was able to get through him.

That's what knocked that run off.

And how to, like, that's what I need to get to.

So, for me, it's all about economy of words.

And, and, I, I, can I, can I say what I just saw and how happy I am that I just saw it?

Freaking the graver sucking on that robot D in his house.

Graver, again.

I love it, dude.

No, listen,

I love it.

That made, that made this interview.

Oh, I love it.

You know, it's crazy.

Right there in your mouth, and taking a poll made me so happy.

I hope there's weed in there, Green.

We're so used to that.

There is.

It happens all the time, and we've gotten used to it.

But you know what he did last episode?

And all the audience knows this because it was a major talking point.

Really, the only thing people wanted to talk about after our last show, he takes a gigantic bite out of an open-face sandwich in the backstage.

And I'm like, Justin, we can see you.

Mark's trying to make a point about the Jets quarterback room.

It's so good.

And he's an open-face sandwich, no less.

The YouTubers came came to my defense like a flock of incredible supporters just saying, let Justin eat.

Justin deserves to eat.

If Justin were to take a lunch break, the pod would be out 30 minutes later.

It's like, it was.

Host is making a rule.

We're cool with the vape.

This is the ruling.

If you're going to take a giant bite out of an open-faced turkey sandwich with egg white all over it, turn the camera off, then turn it back.

Take the bite.

That seems easy enough.

Yeah, that feels like

a compromise.

You mentioned Jeremiah, by the way, money, the ego on him, huh?

He's got.

You know, that's a battle that you two can fight.

I find him to be humble.

He's one of my best friends.

We get to do football games together and travel now all over the world.

We've been to England together.

Now we're going to Brazil together.

We've been to Mexico together.

He got a horrible stomach parasite while down there that affected him for like two years.

So I'm anxious to see the difference in how we each behave in Brazil.

It'll be our first international trip since Mexico City.

And you know me, guys.

I am already planning my escape and, you know, finding my way out the back door.

I've made a connection with a former pro surfer that's got a four or eight unit Airbnb down on the beach that's like two hours away.

And I'm like, we're landing.

These people are not going to see me till Friday.

And DJs, I'm sure, like, where's the catering?

How do I get my chicken and my rice?

And my, you know, whereas I'm going to be out about the town for three days.

So, yes, DJ's doing great.

It's the best, man.

He's such a great dude and such an incredible analyst.

It's

been a lot of fun to do this with him.

Yeah, I agree.

Hey, any big picture AFC West thoughts?

We're going to have Pete Sweeney, who does an awesome job covering the Chiefs on in a few minutes.

I mean, you watch the tape.

You've been studying what's been happening with these teams in the offseason.

You see them two times a year in person.

You know, whether it's the Chiefs, the Raiders are obviously improved.

The Broncos are the buzzy team.

They're even getting a lot of internal hype on this program as potentially the team of HTC.

What jumps out to you in this division?

I think you've hit it all.

All of it.

Look, the Chiefs,

it's crazy to pick any team besides the Chiefs to win the division and really the AFC.

That has been what the AFC has been for six years.

Why would it be anything different?

Patrick Mahomes is still operating at the highest level of any quarterback in the league when games are on the line and when games count.

You know, you can say that maybe with his surrounding weapons and current level of play, that you can make a case that Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert are better on a down-in, down-out basis talent-wise, but the guy is just an assassin.

He's got that

quality to him, that Kobe Bryant-level quality of I will not lose a game.

And it's hard to overlook that.

And they're still incredibly talented on defense.

So it's, you know, they're what everyone's trying to get.

And until someone gets it,

that's the standard, and you've got to figure out how to match it, how to match it.

The Broncos are really good.

They are really good.

I mean, defensively, they're deep.

Sean Payton's, you know, one of the best offensive coaches that we've seen in the last 30 years.

So it's going to be a doggy.

You know, yeah.

Most definitely.

There's that.

And I'd love to see

the humble pie.

And it was great that the Chargers swept them last year.

and I'd love to see them do the same.

So

I have nothing negative to say about either of those teams.

I hate the Raiders.

F them.

You know, the stupid Raider chant drives me crazy whenever we play in Vegas.

It's one of the dumbest, most ignorant-sounding things I've ever heard in my life.

And I don't.

There you go.

There you go.

Yeah.

Yeah, and you hear Pete, because I'm sure Pete feels the same way.

Like, oh, my God, am I really going to have to hear these idiots screaming, Raiders?

every home game?

I guarantee it drives him crazy.

I can guarantee it.

So, yeah, outside of that, it's a heck of a division.

Are you buying into the idea with the Raiders real quick that the Brady-Carroll combination can almost double their win total and he's a coach of the year type candidate?

Or do you just hate them too much where you can't see them with clear eyes?

No, I just, I think they still have issues.

I think they have O-line issues.

You know, look, Brock Bowers is exceptional.

Jacoby Myers has been a really good receiver.

I just think it's not, it might be a year, right?

I have full faith that Ashton Genti is going to take the league by storm.

He's that good of a back.

You look defensively, you know, you lose Christian Wilkins.

I still don't know who their starting corners are going to be.

I think there's some issues there, right?

You know, and I think you talk about Sean Payton with the Broncos, Justin Herbert with the Chargers, and obviously Patrick Mahomes, and it's like, okay, do they have enough pass rush?

And do they have the secondary to match it?

And I just think some of that stuff is going to be a little hard for them to line up here in year one.

I certainly think they're better.

I think Pete's a great coach, and I expect him to be better.

I just don't know.

And I think it's a lot of the stuff that people were saying about Harbaugh last year, right?

It's like, yeah, he's a great coach, and we'll see.

The cap situation's not great.

Might it be a year two thing?

I remember that's kind of what the narrative was.

And Harbaugh just went out and won.

So I could see Pete doing that.

It's just when I look at their roster compared to the other three teams in this division, I think there's still maybe a little gap there

between those three, the Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, and the Raiders.

All right.

How many teams make the playoffs out of the division?

I think three.

All right.

I do.

I think they're that good if you match them up with the rest of them.

Although I will say it's a really tough year schedule-wise.

You know, when you're pulling, when you've got to pull the NFC East and like the Chargers get hosed at the end of the year, the league does it to them every year.

I don't know why, but they feel the need to.

You got the Eagles on Monday night, and and then you follow that up with a trip to Kansas City that's scheduled for 10 a.m.

Pacific time right now.

So it's like, oh, yeah, going to have you play the most physical team in the league on a Monday night, and then on a short week, we're going to fly you to Kansas City in December to take on the Chiefs in a 10 a.m.

Pacific kick.

It's the wildest thing every year.

Well, that's your schedule, too, which is an annoyance, I'm sure.

Right.

And Justin is scribbling that down because he's a burgeoning gambling addict, and that sounds like maybe a little connection there.

It's also the Chargers lose a home game the opening Friday night of the season because they have to play that in Brazil.

And it's a big game against the Chiefs.

It's a division game.

Yeah, it's not ideal.

At the same time, I think Harbaugh's the kind of guy that can

get the team like, this is an opportunity.

This is an opportunity for us.

This is not a challenge.

This is a positive for us to drag these guys all the way down to Brazil.

So he'll figure out a way to spin it.

But yeah,

it's a tough schedule

for the AFC West, for certain, because it's a lot of travel.

Yeah, we talk about there's like six or seven coaches who truly matter in the NFL.

You can make a case that like maybe three are in the in this division alone.

So it will be a lot of fun to watch.

Now, before we go, I want to try maybe a new recurring segment.

I don't know if everyone knows this,

but Matt Money Smith, before he became a famous sports broadcaster, was very successful in the music industry.

He was a high-ranking A ⁇ R executive.

Promotion.

Oh, promotion executive.

Promotion in the record company, music director in radio.

Right, at world-famous K-Rock here in L.A., which is really the only station that matters in terms of breaking acts and things of that nature.

Now,

with that said, Money and I have talked...

music a lot.

Sometimes he thinks some of my musical taste is a little off base.

We've done it.

I still have the photo saved.

Yes, he has a saved tweet where I listed the top five live songs of all time as an example.

Travis.

This is what I want, man.

Travis has taken some hits over the years.

I would say that selling the drama might be the best live song, but that's not what we're talking about.

A story today, Tales from the Music Industry with Matt Money Smith.

Oasis is back.

Right now, they're conquering Europe.

It's become a cultural moment.

I've talked to Hanson Hank about that.

I'm going to see them twice.

I'm going to see him on the East Coast and on the West Coast here at the Rose Bowl.

Do you have an Oasis story?

We have a lot of international listeners.

And of course, there are a lot of Oasis fans here in America as well.

Not as many, but many.

Any great Oasis story from your past?

I do, yeah.

So for a while, I was working on both sides of the fence.

I was, when I was in college, I worked for the morning show on K-Rock, and then they recognized, hey, why don't we put a 19-year-old in the music department?

He knows what's going on in music, and he can share with us kind of like what's happening in college that might, you know, kind of go off our radar.

So

I was also working at London Records.

So when I graduated, I got a job full-time at London Records as a record promoter.

And I was still being invited to the music meeting, though.

So it was kind of weird.

Like they were like, who's this label guy that gets to go to all the music meetings at K-Rock?

This is, this doesn't seem, this isn't kosher.

It's like insider trading.

So

Oasis hit American alternative rock radio at the exact same time as, even though they had already been out, you know, they'd been a band for a long time, but

I can't remember what label.

I think Blur was on Columbia.

Epic had Oasis, and it was this big island.

Creation Records, I believe they came out with.

Yeah.

Yeah, so it was, but in America, I mean, who was licensing them?

The record label of America that had the rights to them.

So,

and then Pulp was on Island.

So you had Pulp Common People,

you had Blur Boys and Girls, and you had Oasis Supersonic, all at the exact same time.

It all hit.

And it was, and I remember being in the music meeting and hearing Supersonic and being like, holy S,

this is like,

it was one listen.

And just blew your.

And then we actually ended up tracking the record.

And when we heard Live Forever, we're like, this is going to be the biggest song of the year, like, off one listen.

So that's Oasis.

Blur

was

I knew Blur.

You know, I worked college radio, so I was very familiar with Blur, and I was like, oh, yeah, they're going to play this.

And then Pulp, I love Common People.

It's still one of my all-time favorite songs.

But I was like, eh.

And at London,

here we go, London Records, Little London Records.

London/slash MoWax.

I'm working DJ Shadow Records and I'm working Steel Pole Bathtub.

And I'm working Drugstore Drugstore and the Tinder sticks, and all these bands.

I'm trying to get played, and I can't get a sniff on anything.

It's not true.

We had Porter's Head, which was pretty sweet, so we had worked the Sour Times record, which ended up going to number one.

You know, just pat myself on the back.

But, but London's got a band.

And here we go, and we're in this British Invasion music meeting.

And the guy who runs K-Rock, Kevin Weatherly, and he's like, all right, what else we got?

I'm like, hey, K-Dub, if you don't mind, man, we got something at London.

They are exploding in the UK right now.

And we just did the deal, the licensing deal, and it's this band called Menswear.

And the song is called Daydreamer.

And since this is the British Invasion, here we go.

Let's pop this baby in.

And you have not heard the best of the British Invasion yet.

Here we hit Daydreamer.

It's playing.

Everybody's listening.

And end of the song, he turns around and injects the CD, and he goes, this sucks.

I was like, oh.

And so that Tuesday,

that Tuesday, I believe they added Common People because they had a very good relationship with Island.

And so they did the K-Rock announces the new British invasion.

I'm kind of exaggerating a little bit.

I believe they did add menswear for me, and they just played it like it overnight.

So they added all four records in the same week.

They added Supersonic, Boys and Girls, Common People, and Daydreamer.

The other three went into like power rotation, and Little Menswear was played between midnight and 3 a.m.

You know, every other day.

And so my boss at London Records was like, the hell, dude.

The Common People's working.

Blur is going to number five and Supersonic's at number one.

And you've got four spins between midnight and 3 a.m.

What are we doing?

So that was a little bit of ego death.

Yeah, that was my recollection of the arrival of Oasis to the States.

And I remember it vividly because it was music that I loved.

And it was a seminal moment during an era of corn.

And I don't know if the corn stuff was going yet.

I don't.

This was 94.

This would have been 94 when all this stuff was going down.

Corn, I think, was a little bit after, yeah.

Yeah, so I think it was a little bit after that, if I remember right.

Yeah, so that's a

lot of stuff.

I could listen to Money tell these stories forever.

Money's been on our throwback pod with Bob twice, and they're like the most popular episodes we've ever done.

And I will.

Well, wait, I was on that show, so like I, so I don't rank in the upper echelon there.

Okay.

Speaking of ego death, I will be checking out Menswear Daydreamer after the show, and everybody else should too.

And maybe

let's give our own assessment of whether it deserved the popular

push.

Did it deserve better?

That's the question.

Money, thank you so much, buddy.

You are the man.

We love you.

We We love you.

I love being here.

Thanks, Money.

Absolutely love it.

Graver keeps sucking on that robot D, dude.

That was awesome.

Thanks, Money.

There he goes.

Matt Money Smith.

We love that guy.

And we are just getting warmed up here because going right from money to another total stud.

He's the editor-in-chief of Arrowhead Pride, the author of A Dynasty Begins.

And he's been covering the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning AFC champions for the past 11 years.

Pete Sweeney, welcome back to Heed the Call.

Good to be back.

It's that time of year where we're actually starting to see some things, so it's exciting.

Yeah, Mark,

only now am I realizing that the last time we were in Pete's orbit, it was in New Orleans.

He came to the heat house.

Right.

It was a more innocent time.

We even shot some b-roll of Pete entering the heat house and did a nice sag with Pete.

And

then after the game, Pete was nice enough to jump on.

And just the dichotomy of those two is like the before the apocalypse and after the apocalypse.

The state of the Chiefs after obviously a very humbling night there

in New Orleans in February.

Yeah, I think there was a lot of disappointed fans here.

I know that right now, there's often these comparisons to the New England Patriots and what they did and how hungry that like their fans were.

And I think especially in the immediate aftermath, there was this feeling in Kansas City that the year was a complete failure.

And it's like, this Steve went to three Super Bowls in a row.

That's what happens.

That's what happens.

Yeah.

Had a real.

Take it from a Yankee fan.

That's what happens.

And that makes it very difficult to be a fan at a certain point.

Nobody will feel sorry for you, but it changes your chemistry and it fit you up.

Yeah,

it's almost all or nothing at this point.

And right, like this is a team that won 17 games with a lot of injuries, a a lot of adversity.

The patchwork offensive line, very clearly in that final game, you just knew it wasn't going to cut it.

And I think much like the Tampa Bay Bucks disaster, I think there were some parallels there.

And right after that, Super Bowl, you really saw the front office say, we have to fix this.

And I think you have seen a similar sentiment to that in this offseason's moves that the Chiefs have made.

When you look at a team like Kansas City that has played, you know, on average, three to four more games than any other team year after year,

and I think that Andy Reid,

it seems like he's found a way

with each training camp to make it new again, to get the thing started again in a way where it's like there's not the hangover, there's not the exhaustion of doing so much more and doing it all over again.

Like, do you sense that this training camp that Andy Reid, the whole team has found, like, are they renewed?

Are they ready to go?

Is there any psychological weight here or is it fresh and new?

I think

it's a little bit of a cop-out answer, but I think it's a little bit of both, right?

I think this is still a team that has had a lot of success, but there is a tinge of a different feel.

And a lot of media members will ask every player and even to the coaching staff similar questions at the podium of like, how did that night drive you?

And for Mahomes,

he's just a freak.

And so I think he'll be just as motivated if they had won three in a row, like, cause I think he would have been, no, I want four, you know, and I think that is something that bleeds into the rest of the players.

But you just saw in the GQ article with Travis Kelsey, he was open and admitting maybe some of those.

off-the-field movie stuff, relationship, attention, celebrity, maybe it did draw me back a little bit.

And he certainly is somebody who really feels reignited.

I know there was a report that he lost 25 pounds.

It wasn't 25 pounds, but he certainly slimmed down and I think does look better.

And you could see that Andy Reid is managing his snaps.

And just to the greater picture of what you were talking about, all these games, all these extra games that they played, I've been fortunate to cover the Chiefs in a really great time.

I mean, I've covered.

an additional season and change in playoff games.

So like Dan mentioned, I covered 11 years.

Really, it's 12, 12 seasons of games, and that wears on players after enough years, and you have enough of these returners.

And for example, one slight change that they made earlier in the camp, and then I'll give you one today.

Earlier in camp, they decided to just blow by rookie and quarterback week.

Came a week later.

They could have started earlier because they got the Friday game in Brazil and they didn't.

And then today we found out they're going to rest starters, the primary star players looks like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, maybe Nick Bolton, Chris Jones in this second game and maybe give them a little bit more in the third game.

And so I think that is something that Andy Reid acknowledges.

He adjusts in terms of scheduling and playing time and whatnot.

And then from an emotional standpoint, you didn't win.

I know that, again, my first point was that they've had all the success and the fans are unsatisfied.

Even the players, I think, realize how special of a time this is.

And it is all or nothing for them.

And I think there has been some of that drive within training camp.

Yeah, I knew the Chiefs were screwed the second I saw the Micole Hardman cameo and holiday touchdown.

I said,

this is just going to be a problem.

And then if we're talking about

if they didn't win last year and Travis Kelsey became one of the least down-to-down, least productive tight ends in football, and he did that because he was in fucking Happy Gilmore 2, what a waste.

At least being in a top film.

But that's save it for the Happy Gilmore 2 review.

Seriously, though,

bits aside, because you're you're a serious man.

You deserve the respect of a serious man.

No, Mahomes, we talked about it, and you helped us out because I hit you up on text earlier this week.

How Josh Simmons, how much is riding on him becoming that lockdown left tackle?

You talked about the LTSD that has seized this organization.

Good stats from the FTN Football Almanac.

In 2024, Mahomes was under pressure 34.5% of his drop backs.

That is 34th out of 39 passers in 24, and it has been a bigger and bigger issue.

And then here's the big one, because of all the things, I believe, even though by certain metrics, the Chiefs are one of the luckier, if not the luckiest team ever in terms of actual win total to what the Pythagorean theorem said they should have won, even above that Vikings team from a couple of years ago.

I still just believe that they're always going to find their way to

the playoffs, and then they're always dangerous.

That said, the one thing that could change everything is the thing that they've been able to avoid, the catastrophic Mahomes injury.

Okay, but Mahomes led the league last year with 80 quarterback hits, okay?

That's not including sacks.

After 83 quarterback hits in 2023, it's a ticking time bomb.

It really is.

And it's just, they've been extraordinarily lucky.

I know he's played through so many injuries through the years, and he's a warrior.

But if they don't get this thing figured out, none of it's going to matter.

And it is also attached to this setup with they can't be explosive on offense if they can't give the guy time.

So the offensive line,

is that the key to unlocking this offense again?

Or is there more to it than that?

Yeah.

Well, real quick, Hollywood touchdown, C minus, Cappy McGilmore 2, B plus.

That's most important.

Second, LTSD is real.

I joked about it with you in the text,

kind of a joke on PTSD.

Should we be joking about that?

I don't know.

On the show again, yeah.

Yeah, Chiefs fans are sick of really the rotating left tackle.

They haven't really had a consistent left tackle since the days of Eric Fisher, the big fish.

And I think that's been a long time.

And I think they've been seeking it.

I think they've been wanting to find a way to get somebody here.

People don't really remember this probably nationally, but they were in on Trent Williams when Trent Williams was going through free agency and they really wanted to try to get him.

He ends up staying with the 49ers and they, I think, eventually would go with Orlando Brown.

And that was surprising that the Ravens kind of helped him out.

And I think that was

an average to a slightly above-average answer for a little while.

Couldn't really figure out a contract with him.

He ends up going to Cincinnati.

And then you were kind of rotating, and eventually you had to put a left guard at left tackle.

And Joe Tooney is fantastic, all-pro.

You know, I think some people think that he could be a Hall of Famer potentially at the guard position.

Wasn't going to cut it against that front that was the Eagles.

And so here you have a scenario where

an injury helped the Chiefs significantly.

If Josh Simmons does not get injured in October, there is no way the Chiefs even sniff him because they're not a team that wants to trade their pick.

I mean, they did with Mahomes, but you know, that's an outlier, obviously.

They're not going to want to trade up so high of where Simmons would have went had he been healthy.

And so they even admitted it, like in more or less words

than coming out and saying it, they were like, kind of a blessing that he got injured and he fell and he fell and he fell.

And they were even able to get a small trade back with the Eagles to get a fifth rounder, which helped out.

And I think there was a general consensus among NFL decision makers where they were worried about whether Simmons would be able to play period in 2025 and be okay.

And what has broken the Chiefs way is apparently as soon as he suffered the injury in October, he started working, working, rehabbing, rehab.

He mentioned Tua Days.

And even when OTAs broke, he stayed in Kansas City rather than going to California, where he's from, or going to Ohio State to train United Stolle Town.

He stayed with the trainers and just ultra determined to be healthy.

And as it turned out, and it was crazy to see, but the first week of training camp, Jawan Taylor's on the PUP, the right tackle, with a knee cleanup in his recovery.

And Josh Simmons is fully healthy.

And Josh Simmons, we just finished up camp an hour ago.

Josh Simmons did not miss a snap of left tackle at training camp.

So I do have to imagine that there's a a lot of NFL decision makers that are looking at this and saying, did we miss something here with our trainers or our evaluation?

Again, it could all change in the matter of a minute.

That's the NFL.

But so far, so good.

And he looks the part.

I have more concerns, quite honestly, with the left guard position.

You trade away Joe Tooney.

You put all your stock into Kingsley Suomataia, the second-year player out of BYU, who was a complete failure at left tackle.

I don't think anyone is hiding away from that fact.

And he's gotten most of the snaps at left tackle.

They did bring in Jalen Moore, who was Trent Williams' backup, and he's rotated in a little bit at left guard, mostly rotating at right tackle with Taylor.

I think they kind of see him as a jack of all trades guy who can swing maybe inside, outside.

But again, for me, Simmons looks good.

As long as he's healthy, they might have solved it for the next decade or so if they can keep this player in the building.

I honestly have more concerns at the left guard position and offensive lines are so important when it comes to cohesion in the NFL.

One guy could kind of mess up everything for everybody.

And so

in the second game, it doesn't look like Mahomes is going to play, but I think the first team offensive line is going to play on Friday night, 9 p.m.

local time, terrible time.

But I'm going to be watching Kingsley Suamate.

I think that's of greater concern.

You mentioned

the next decade and that Simmons could be there.

A quick one on Andy Reid.

How long does he do this?

Like, I mean, he's in a great spot with a great team that could win more Super Bowls.

Is he just a lifer?

Do we have another decade of him?

Or

is there any roadmap of when he might hang it up?

I think as long as he can keep going

and feel healthy about it,

he'll stay there.

I mean, I just think Donovan McNabb was one thing.

Michael Vick, right, Alex Smith.

I've said this often in Kansas City.

Patrick Mahomes is his creative player in Madden.

I mean, I know it took 20 years to find him, but he found him.

And I often remind people this, too.

I think Andy Reid and my nemesis, Florio, is a proponent of this where he always brings up him retiring.

But Belichick, I know he's coaching UNC, is six years older than Andy Reid.

No one's ever like, when's Bill Belichick hanging up?

Pete Carroll is ancient.

He's an ancient man.

He's an ancient man.

Now he's in division.

And I believe he's eight, seven, eight years older than Andy Reid.

So I just think it's that, again, physical appearance.

He's a heavyset guy.

He might look a little older, slash, unhealthier, for lack of better words.

And I think that's driven into it.

But as long as he feels good, I think he's going to try to ride this out.

And I do think,

again, hidden in this, you know, if you want to talk about coaching,

and some Chiefs fans hate when I say this, I do think they have a little bit of a McDaniel thing going on where Andy Reid is like remolding Matt Nagy to be that guy.

But I think Andy Reid wants to stay and continue doing it for as long as he can.

Like these guys never really say it directly.

I'm talking about Reid and Mahomes now, but Reid wants six and Mahomes wants seven.

And I know it's like, oh, you know, you're just going to say they're going to win championships.

I don't, I'm not saying they're going to do it, but I think it really is truly a goal in their mind.

And that's why you see Mahomes just devastated when he loses that swing match to Brady or, you know, was able,

couldn't do anything in this last Super Bowl because these opportunities are fleeting, right?

The AFC is good.

I think all of the top quarterbacks really in the league, or most of them, are in the AFC.

And so it's a tough ask, but I think these guys have that sky-high aspirations.

The last one I got

is the wide receiver room.

And I know there is general optimism, I feel like, in the greater discourse that, okay, Rashi Rice was really breaking out in year two before the knee injury and he's back, even though he's got the suspension.

Xavier Worthy, a little bit of a mixed bag, but he flashed more in the playoffs.

Although that some of the numbers, the pop the hood numbers are skewed in the playoffs because he did some real damage and garbage time in the Super Bowl.

But still,

there's ability there, but we didn't see it enough in year one.

Hollywood Brown, obviously last year was kind of a mess with the summertime injury.

When you take that wide receiver room and you take what's left of Travis Kelsey, and I'm setting aside all the summer trope stuff around Kelsey, because I think once a tight end gets at this age, when he's showing this many signs of decline, I'm just not going to buy into some type of magical bounce back.

I know he's a Hall of Fame player, but that's just where I'm at.

I just don't see it.

I don't see, even if the offensive line does improve, I still see this as a team that's going to underwhelm offensively.

Is there a path to that not being the case, that they're going to be more exciting than they have been in past years?

yeah i mean before you get to the wide receiver i don't have to get back into the details because we already kind of talked about it i think there's an understanding or an expectation that the protection is going to be better and if mahomes has protection then i think it kind of opens everything up now with the wide receivers i think on the night that hollywood brown you know is is signed and and you know you're able to get xavier worthy

I think there's a lot of people that are looking at this wide receiver trio, talking about Rashi Rice, Worthy, and Brown and being like, man, this could be another coming of the bengals trio that we saw uh with tyler board that was you know that third man uh within that and if we're being honest though like is this trio ever going to get on the field together because you look at like they didn't play one snap together last year yeah you look at yeah you look at last year and you're like well uh worthy you know he's smaller size this rookie is he going to be able to hold up in the nfl it's the only receiver of the trio that was able to play most of the games right rashi rice goes down in in week three with a that freak injury where mahomes barreled into him.

Hollywood Brown had a freak injury to his shoulder in the preseason.

He was never able to get going.

And so now you enter a scenario where Hollywood has been out the last 10 days dealing with an ankle injury.

It supposedly is not a high ankle, which is good.

So I think they're probably eyeing maybe the last week of the preseason if he can get in for a snap.

Probably more likely the first time you see him again is week one on Friday night.

But, you know, at that time, even if you have Brown and Worthy, Rice isn't expected to be there.

And then you're thinking, well, all right, let's just assume it's six games because it was the disaster on film.

Is

Hollywood Brown going to be healthy by the time week seven rolls around?

Like, I don't know if the streams are going to play together.

The good news is, and I feel pretty good about saying this, I think the team feels, and I could kind of see it, where Xavier Worthy has a much better understanding right now than he did last year.

And that's going to happen with any rookie.

And he looked really good.

down the stretch and one thing that andy retold me at the combine i told a group of the reporters to you know to decide with the writers was

they were very pleasantly surprised about Worthy being an all-around receiver versus maybe just one of these speed guys that

you use the word gadgety sometimes.

But again, as you're mentioning, Travis Kelsey is really old now, probably in the twilight here of his last year.

And you need at least two of these guys to be available to you.

And it has been a disaster in a sense of getting them all on the field at the same time.

Now, if the protection is there, I think Mahomes can look good with anyone.

You've seen some of these names pop here in training camp and Tyquan Thornton and Jason Brownlee are re-emerging.

And Thornton has been a pleasant surprise, a second-rounder, you know, really in camp.

If you're looking for a dark horse, you still have Juju Smith-Schuster.

Somehow he's still under 30.

It doesn't seem like possible, but he is.

No,

I don't buy into that narrative anymore.

I don't believe that.

He's 37 years old.

For him still to be under 30, Pete, that means he had to come into the league at 12.

I just don't think that happened.

He played with Jerome Bettis's first year.

No, and then Jalen Royals.

Royals is a player who

they kind of think is Rashi Rice Light.

I mean, I'll buy it when I see it because it's still a rookie.

Andy Reed's playbook is complex, but there are some answers, but it has been frustrating kind of seeing what they're trying to blueprint up.

And, you know, just never for different types of reasons being able to come to fruition.

All right.

And Pete Sweeney, you could check him out on Arrow Ahead Pride.

We closed our money conversation with a little music talk.

I guess I'll do it with you too.

Life of a Showgirl, the new Taylor Swift release is coming out.

It was teased on the Kelsey podcast, The Heights.

I mean, Arrowhead Pride, where is the line drawn in terms of coverage of an event like this, of this stature?

Well, Pete Sweeney is a friend of the Swifties.

I noticed when Travis Kelsey spoke, it was on day 13 of training camp in year 13.

So I made sure to highlight that for my girls and

guys.

There we go.

I suppose.

And we'll check out the podcast tonight.

I'm sure there's going to be a lot of nugs that we'll want to cover.

SEO is king, and I'm not going to shy away from the clicks where I can get them.

That's

total coverage of the

I do have one grievance to bring up, and this was a tough moment for me in the summer.

Mark did Justin take a bite out of a sandwich or smoke something that distracted you during the segment.

Is that what it was?

No, Mark, Mark,

during the summer, somehow said he was in Missouri.

So I broke away from the group text and I said, look, man, the next time you're in Missouri, hit me up.

I'll

bring you to the coolest dive bar I know.

Radio silence, big league.

Tessler.

That was a terrible job by me.

I was like in deep Missouri, though.

Like deep woods, where like the house house that I was at, you couldn't even see the house next door.

So it was that kind of yeah, but I come on.

I mean, they have cell phone towers still, I would think, and in and around that area.

Like you probably came back into a coverage zone.

Pete's a friend of the show, and that when you break off the group chat like that, that is actually that's Pete put himself out there a little bit.

So to be left unread, was it read?

Do we even know if he ever saw it, Pete?

Let's be real.

I'm sure he'll see what he'll say.

I'm sure what he will say is he never got it, but it was just a devastating moment for me.

And

that's the toughest thing.

Silence is definitely not a problem.

No, I feel devastated by my.

It was not intentional, but by the results there on my part.

And so I don't know.

Next time in the middle of the area,

we'll go to Kelly's West Porn Inn.

So just keep that in mind.

I mean, I'd go back there this week to do that.

So it's like

my intentions are

good.

A lot of talk now.

After, you know, there's the realities in this talk.

You have to prove it to Pete now.

You had to break off the text chain.

I do.

Actions speak louder than I will.

Yeah.

They do, and I will act.

Pete Sweeney, Arrowhead Pride, you are the man.

Thank you, buddy.

Thanks, guys.

All right, there.

He goes, Pete Sweeney, Arrowhead Prime.

Love that guy.

What do we learn today?

We learned the AFC West is going to be spicy.

Like, we knew that, but I just feel, Mark, that we're more educated on the topic now.

I mean, I think it's why we picked this division to kind of zone in on.

And

it's the spiciest division in the conference, but I'd say even in the NFL.

And I don't know, talking to Money and Pete and they're like going to these games, I kind of want to kind of made me want to get back out on the road and go to games ourselves, except the tickets are very expensive for us because we don't have credentials in.

Oh, yeah, well, that's fair.

That's fair, Mark.

And I kind of feel like I shorted the head coaches in the division.

I think I said to Money that, you know, three of the four coaches are on the list of the six or seven guys who matter.

It could be a clean sweep.

I mean, you have Jim Harbaugh, you have Sean Payton, you have Pete Carroll, and Andy Reid.

Like, who wouldn't it be?

It would be four.

Well, I don't know if I agree with money that three teams come out of that division because it feels like it's probably fairly uncommon for that to happen two years in a row.

Although I don't have the data to back that up, but Justin will spend the next six hours digging in on that.

Thank you, Justin.

But it's certainly possible because you can make a case for all, even the Raiders and Raiders fans out there that probably say we're kind of overlooked.

There is a lot of room for that team to jump up with a replacement level or higher quarterback and a head coach with a pedigree to sniff around nine or ten wins if the ball bounces their way.

So very interesting division.

Justin, that is two shows in a row that either the hosts or the guests have clocked you doing something.

And I just, again, this is now just private talk with the, you know, me, Mark, you, and the audience.

Like,

you have to understand, just because you're not on camera for the audience come YouTube, it doesn't mean the people on the show can't see you.

We always are seeing you.

So.

Right.

I apologize for being a distraction.

Never want to be a distraction.

We want to eliminate all locker room distractions here.

But

is Justin a locker room lawyer?

Is that what's happened here?

I think he stunned stunned

our guests today, and that's not the first thing you're looking for.

It's true, because we're used to our producer taking a wicked, huge rip from something that pierces

non-stop during the show.

Like a bowl or some type of vape pen.

We're just used to it, but I have to understand that that's not going to be necessarily the case for someone who's not regularly on the program.

Right.

Yes.

I'll be more conscious of that going forward.

And again, my deepest apologies to Matt Money Smith, to the two of you, and most of all, to our wonderful hedonists out there.

You were generally better behaved during the Pete Q ⁇ A.

So that, you know, progress.

Lessons learned.

I mean, Mark, you know, we kind of run our own small business, and it's just part of it is just putting out fires all the time, you know, and this is just the latest one.

This is the latest fire.

You know, and I do appreciate Justin.

kicking on to the broadcast itself to suggest that almost all the listeners back him and and want him to eat as you discussed an open-faced sandwich.

Like, even if they did, that's not the point we're trying to drive home with Justin.

Right.

It's almost like

he's like, sorry that you were offended or whatever, that type of apology.

Like, well, you know, I have the court of public opinion on my side, so, you know, eat.

You can eat as well.

Eat shit.

Like, that's how that kind of felt to Mark and I a little bit.

It did.

But that's okay.

That's okay.

It's like one of those things where you get in trouble, but then everyone thinks you're really cool.

So you're like, hmm, maybe I should get in trouble.

That's fair too.

And you're also maybe that, because you're such a great and important part of our show that you know it, and now you're testing boundaries.

You're like, what can I, what can I get away with?

All right.

What are you going to do?

Fire me?

Good luck.

All right, that's it.

Fun show.

We'll be back in just 24 hours or so with

Dave Damashek, one of our favorite episodes of the year.

Over-under.

Predictions.

We each make four picks.

Will Sessler get off the Schneid in 25?

We'll find out.

Till then, heed the call.

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