Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, let's talk about it with James.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Palmer spoke with James right before the game between the
Chiefs and Texans in mid December, before those teams were
fully finished with their three games in eleven days Underdog Fantasy,
some of the many places Bleacher Report as well where
you're find James work. I did have something to pass
along for Steve Smith, if you wouldn't mind, James, as
(00:24):
I talk about how awesome Nico Collins is. Nico Collins
is so awesome that he actually averages more yards receiving
in his playoff career per game than Steve Smith, who's
phenomenal at ninety one yards per game in his eleven
postseason contests.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
And that's pretty good, and Steve's gonna Steve would have
immediately been like, are you taking a low blow at
my lack of postseason Super Bowl Super Bowl appearances?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
But hey, did you know Steve is I think on
the cusp, maybe he doesn't get in this year. I
think in the next two to three. He's a semi
finalist this year for the I think he gets in
in the next couple.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I would have actually used that number to say quite
the opposite Steve Smith in the postseason, better than Julio Jones,
better than Andre Johnson, better than Isaac Bruce, better than
Devonte Adams, better than Michael Irvin, and eleven games worth
of that should suggest it. To make my point about Nico,
He's only three games in to last year, won this
(01:24):
year obviously, all with CJ.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Stroud.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
This is the guy in the past game for the Texans.
Everybody knows it. The Chargers know it, The Chiefs knew
it in December, They're gonna know it in January. Is
Trent McDuffie tasked with making that stop the connection between
Nico and CJ?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And can he?
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I wouldn't honestly say that, you know, the Chiefs don't
shadow Trent's on the smaller side as a corner. I
say he's one of the best corners in football, for sure,
but they use him in so many different ways defending
the middle of the field. He still is honestly a
better corner on the inside than he is on the outside.
(02:06):
And they have some size with some other guys and
with Spags. It's pretty damn unpredictable about how he goes
about his business. Once in a while, specifically when he
has some extra time to prepare. I wouldn't be surprised
because they got some size with some other corners that
they try to combat size with size, give it extra help,
and then let try kind of go somewhere else. Oftentimes,
(02:27):
Spags has implored that kind of like Belichickian way of
playing defense guys, where it's you don't put your number
one corner on the number one receiver, you put your
number one corner on the next option. They take that
completely away, and then you give the added help to
the number one. I could see that being something that
he uses, but I don't see Spags sticking with one
(02:50):
way to go about Nico Collins the entire week, I
mean the entire game. I think they're gonna use a
variety of ways after him.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
With all the attention on both of these quarterbacks, Robb reasons,
you know CJ's trend to make that take that next step,
and then we all know what Mahomes is and what
his legacy is already becoming. Is that what you think
this winds up coming down to is this game is
determined by which defense, which is probably I don't want
to say the Texans defense is underrated, but I think
(03:18):
we talked about this earlier. The Chiefs defense has outshined
its offense for this particular season, and considering what the
Texans defense did against the Chargers, is that what you
think ends up determining this game.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, I completely agree. I think I don't think that
the Texans defense has gone under the radar nationally by
any stretch. I think Sting has gotten the appropriate amount
of attention that he deserves. I mean, he's been just outstanding.
But the other members of the secondary are young and
playing well. I think if they can get after Patrick Mahomes,
(03:52):
obviously that's that's how they win this game. To me,
what comes out of this is really if they can
continue to force turnovers. And I think if you want
to upset that you know within one of these games,
and obviously the Texans winning in Arrowhead in the divisional
round would be an upset, you have to create some
splash plays. And to me what stands out is this
Texans defense has the ability to do it right, like
(04:12):
you have the ability to force some turnovers. And I think,
you know, my buddy Albert Brier, fellow Buckeye, no big
deal national championship around the corner, guys, But he pointed
this out, and I think it makes perfect sense. You
look at what Justin Herbert did during the regular season
three picks, four in one game against the Texans to
a tongue of Bayo LOOA, what do you have seven
picks this year? How many have against the Texans? Three?
I think golf had twelve for the year. He had
(04:34):
five versus the Texans. So like guys that have the
ability to protect the ball, and Mahomes has done that brilliantly.
Hasn't throwed a pick since I think November seventeenth, where
he threw two against Buffalo. He's protecting the ball well.
Guys that do protect it can still turn it over
against his defense, and I think with the pass rush,
with the ability to turn the ball over in the secondary,
Houston has to do that to win. I think that
(04:56):
has to happen for them to win, and they clearly
have the ability to do it well.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
To add to your point, before I pat you on
the back for bringing Bert into our conversation, A, We've
probably got time for one Buckeye fighting Irish question before
we let you go. But the top four teams in
the NFL this year in fewest giveaways are the team
the Texans just knocked out of the playoffs, and the
(05:21):
three other AFC teams that are still in the playoffs
that they could face, Buffalo, La, Baltimore, and Kansas City.
That is the problem with what you do against them.
Beating them straight up becomes almost impossible, and that's what
the Texans tried to do in Kansas City. As it
turned out, they didn't force any turnovers. It was nearly
a tie game late in the game. It ended up
(05:41):
being a one score game. The Chiefs only have one
score games outside of the Miami game to open up
their postseason last year. The other eight games over their
last nine playoff games have all been one score games,
and they've won all but one of them. There has
to be more to it beyond mahomes magic or Reid's
play calling. Is there something you could pinpoint as to
(06:04):
how come they just keep winning all these close games
year in and year out, and especially in the postseason.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
Yeah, I think honestly, what it comes down to a
couple of things. One, Mahomes doesn't make mistakes and crucial moments,
he just doesn't. They wait for other teams to make mistakes.
That's often the case when they're a defense. You've seen
the defense come up.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Big late in games, whether the ball bounces off Aidan
O'Connell's chest when they're trying to run one more play
before they kick a game winning field goal, or somebody
falls asleep on the Broncos field goal team and gets
obliterated and they block the field goal, like they just
wait for you to make the mistake. And they're so
well coached, and their attention to details is through the roof,
Like I don't think people do understand that all of
(06:48):
these off seasons are not equal. And I'm not trying
to just like toot the chief's horn, but the amount
of time that that Andy Reid spends on situational football
during OTAs, during training camp, mini camp, at the end
of periods during the week where it's hey, it's two
minutes to go what happens here is far and away
more than most teams in the NFL. And so they
(07:09):
are so overly prepared for these one score games and
for the tightness that you participate in those games. They're
so loose and relaxed because of their preparation, and they've
been there so many times, and I've talked to players
that have gone against them, and it's been this like
there's a vibe about the Chiefs that they're just they
just feel like they're going to win, and you have
to overcome that in a sense. And I think that's
(07:31):
why teams like the Texans and others in the past
have tried to display this to their guys during meetings.
But I don't think you get over it until you
just naturally feel it in the moment that you can
do it. I think CJ has the ability to feel
that in the moment. I think you just have to
get over it. They've toyed with fire too much, guys
this whole year for I picked, honestly for the Texans
to win this game, just because the Chiefs have been
(07:51):
teetering on this edge for so long, it eventually has
to not go their way.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I mean, right, yeah, no, I'm right there with you.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
I just we've been talking about it all and long,
and they just keep finding ways to win. And that's,
you know, that's a testament to them in credit where
it's due. But you're not seeing the just insane offensive numbers, particularly,
and we went over this a couple of segments ago.
They're way down from from the standpoint of their points
being scored, and that's that's good for a defense coming
(08:19):
in playing, you know, with their hair on fire like
the Texans were last week and then coming in But
that's what I wanted to get to next. And we
discussed this earlier, the whole rest versus RUSS thing. If
it were anybody other than the Chiefs, would you maybe
think not that they're at a disadvantage. But the layoff
has been so long, and I don't we talked about
this before the Astros ran, you know, to the to
(08:41):
the World Series Championship in twenty twenty two, and it
just wasn't It wasn't a factor.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Is it different for football?
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Do you feel like it might in some ways be
too much of a of a layoff or is this
just them getting healthier and their bodies getting so much
needed rest?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Well, they needed the rest. Adam, for sure, I would
say this, and I maybe you guys know this sat
to me, it blows my mind. Do you know who
had the longest amount of rest healthy that they sat
before their first playoff game of that season? Do you
know who it was? In what year? That was? Houston
Euler's quarterback Warren Moon in nineteen ninety three had twenty
(09:18):
two days rest between the end of his last game
because they lock things up in his first playoff games.
These guys break that with a twenty three day rest
now for Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones and company. So
I would say that is a very abnormal long period
of time. I would also say nobody handles buys better
than Andy Reid in the history of the NFL. I mean,
(09:39):
his record is astonishing. Patrick's is equally amazing, but obviously
a lot of it's done together. But they do find
a way. And I've talked to head coaches about this
with the rest versus rustling, and it's this, as long
as your practices. If you're resting, guys have a significant
purpose and meaning to them, and you can accomplish that.
And I think they have the proper leadership in place
player wise too to do that. They'll throw the pads on,
(10:01):
they'll get physical, and he has a good vibe and
pulse because he's done it before to get through this.
But I do think that's a really long period of time,
like it really is. And so I'm curious if Houston
has the thought process of how do we try to
jump out early, right, how do we try to get
out of the gate quickly to maybe before they settle
in Because some of these guys haven't played, we can
(10:23):
take advantage of it quickly.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Well, you got five seconds, James.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
By how many points will Ohio State be Notre Dame
for the national title?
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Probably forty two. No, I'd say we're gonna win by
We're gonna win by ten. We're gonna win by ten
in this one, man, I'm gonna be a very happy camper.
I had a ticket, but where it comes first, guys, so.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Wese have it.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I love hearing you say that you and Bird have
a great time, enjoy this game, and we always appreciate
this money.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
They took my money. I deserve to say we for
college sports because I paid to go there.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Totally understand that my friends is James Palmer