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January 16, 2025 11 mins
Sterling Holmes is a mid-day host in Kansas City on 810 WHB and he joins The A-Team to give us insight into the Chiefs side of Saturday's game. He talks about the impact that some former Texans have made on this Chiefs team. Plus, he believes this Texan is the key for them having a chance to win on Saturday. Also, why teams have such a tough time beating the Chiefs at home. 
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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now time to visit Kansas City Sports Radio eight ten WHB,
co host of The Zone mid Days is Sterling Holmes,
and he's nice enough to carve out a little time
for us for our listeners here today in Houston. The
Chiefs and their billions of days of rest, have like
the cleanest injury report I think you could ever see.

(00:21):
And it's very unlike the last meeting when we were
all worried that Pat Mahomes and his one healthy leg
would find his way through the football game. But in
all reality, this is truly the healthiest this team has been.
They've gotten guys back like Marquise Brown specifically to the offense. Sterling,
how much do you think the Texans really might not

(00:41):
know about how Pacheco and Hunt will be used, how
Worthy and Brown, etc. Kelsey will be used this time
around against the Texans.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, fellas, thanks for having me on.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
I think even here in Kansas City, we're still a
little wondering how it's going to play out with DeAndre
Hopkins and hollyod Brown who was getting eased back into
the lineup. But you have Xavier Worthy, who's really taken
over that wide receiver one role. You have a healthy
Patrick Mahomes. You have Kareem Hunt who got worn down
as the season went on. You have Isaiah and Checko who,
while yes he did come back, was very ineffective. I

(01:15):
think those twenty four days off will help him.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
And then you have someone like.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Chris Jones who was injured, was gonna miss Week eighteen,
whether they needed to win that game or not. He
was injured with that calf strain. Chris Jones will be healthy.
I mean, yeah, this is great news for Kansas City.
I feel for you guys out there in Houston, the
plethora of injuries to your wide receiving core and now
the news about Joe Mixon. Honestly, I kind of feel
for you folk down there in Houston.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, the news on Joe Mixon is much more alarming
in print on an injury report than I think it's
likely to be on Saturday. I don't know that for
a fact, but my belief is since he was limited
yesterday and did not participate today, that's the designation that
goes along with it. Fully expect him to be out
there on Saturday afternoon and leading the rushing attack as
he has throughout this season and certainly last week. Against

(02:04):
the Chargers. If I were to ask, and knowing the
answer can't be Chris Jones or Trent McDuffie, who's the
most important defensive player or who might be the most
other impactful defensive player in this game on Saturday, you
would say for the.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Chiefs, yeah, I'll give you two names.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
I'll give you one obvious one and then one I
think underrated player. The obvious one Nick Bolton, the Chiefs
middle linebacker.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
He is the engine in the middle.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Especially with the Houston Texas what they try to do,
especially with the injury that wide receiver, you know they're
gonna try and run the rock a lot.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
That's at least expectations here in case.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Nick Bolton is one of the better run stuff in
linebackers in the NFL. So I think Nick Bolton should
have a big game, you know, on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Then more underrated.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
I think it's gonna be church On Wharton Turk Morton
alongside Chris Jones, given to tackle.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Everyone knows, you know, George Carlofis.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
And Charleson Vanu has come back, but Churk Barton has
had a really nice underrated season.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Great year to start the year, got a little overworked tarns.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
And men who came back Turk Morton snapped out went down,
but the effectiveness of those snapcowns really sny rocketed.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
I got took a little bet right now.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
I think Turk Morton gets at least one back a
head of the Houston Texans offensive line is down the
best in the NFL by any means.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Larrmy Tunsil will do his thing on the left side.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Going against George I think Turk Morton gets a lot
of one on one, but he will win a few
won on ones in this one.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Do we want to reconnect, Yeah, let's give it a shot.
Work all right, We're gonna see we can fix the
line a little bit if you don't mind, Sterling, because
we'd like to hear more of what you have to say.
And I do think one of the things well, their
defensive line. That's why I brought it up every day
this week i've been here. It's so much more than
Chris Jones Bolton because of the rest of the team

(03:53):
gets far less mentioned than he should have. Sterling Holmes
back here with us, and I want to ask you
something quickly and sorry about that connection issue. Did you
guys at any point this week or maybe before the game.
On the twenty First Get conversation with Charles Amena, who
about his extreme disdain for the Houston Texans.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
No, we have not heard about his disdain the Houston Texans.
I will say he's been such an integral part of
the Chiefs defensive line, no, ever since he come back
from came back from injury, because it really pushes everyone down.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
He's the guy who can win one on one.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
But No, I did not know he had this sort
of disdain for the Houston Texans.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
To explain it, it doesn't really have much to do
with this version of it. It's much more to do
with those that were here then and the management and
the coaching staff that was there then. It's just something
that I know he wasn't real excited about how his
time went here, and it's probably because of what you
now see on the field, a much more helpful player
than I think the Texans ever let show. And there
were instances on both sides where it probably could have

(04:55):
gone more smoothly.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
But he's in a.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Pretty good situation now. And I think you'd say the
same thing for e each of the three former Texans
that were there in Kansas City for that twenty twenty
game in the postseason that are now members of the Chiefs,
Justin Reid and DeAndre Hopkins being the other two.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, Justin Reid specifically has really taken on a leadership role.
Don't know what he was like down there in Houston.
I know when he first came to Kansas City, there
were some questions about his overall outlook, his impact. You know,
the PFF grades if you want to go by that
were not great when he was a Texan. But he's
come to Kansas City, He's been a real leader both
on and off the field.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
He's a guy that gets that secondary going.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
Obviously very good in the run game, but I think
his coverage has really improved and matured as he's been
here in Kansas City. DeAndre Hopkins, obviously we've seen him
take over a game when he was here in Kansas
City when they played against the Buccaneers. But it almost
feels like they're saving d hop for the playoffs. Don't
know if that has anything to do with that lingering
knee injury when he came over from Tennessee or not.
But DeAndre Hopkins I think is going to be unleashed

(05:56):
in the playoffs, a lot more of him, Xavier and
a Hudwood Brown on those trip set to the left.
You saw it just as smattering of that as the
regular season came to a conclusion. But that bunch set
on the left was very effective.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
Sterling, you know about this having been there a while
and seeing this kind of dynasty unfold with the Chiefs.
You know, when you win a lot, and we went
through this with the Astros in the last several years,
and you have an aura, and so when you show
up to the venue, you already kind of have that,
you know, that one foot up or whatever. And I

(06:30):
think that to me having Joe Mixon specifically on this
Texans team, given that he was on one of the
teams to actually derail that monster at one point in
the last several years, you know, how much do you
think that can be an intangible something like that, Because
anybody that's coming into Arrowhead, doesn't matter who you are,
whether you're an upstart like the Texans or you're you know,

(06:51):
one of the heavyweights like the Ravens or the Bills,
You've got to have a certain amount of We're not
going to be intimidated or you've already lost the game.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
Well, I think it's a really good point, and I've
been bringing this up for a long time. Everyone wants
to talk about white teams collapse in the fourth quartering
Ins case c it's because I think teams are so close,
like we're gonna beat the Chiefs, We're gonna do it,
and all of a sudden it goes to their fingertips.
They get nervous. The Chiefs don't beat themselves very often.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
You saw.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
I know these are bad teams, but the Raiders, for example,
with the snap. How many teams does that happen to?
Because they get scared, they get nervous, the moment gets
too big.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Very good calling Joe Mixon.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
That is a guy who will not be blown away
by the Arrowhead crab. They've been there, They've done that before.
If you can get that message to C. J. Stradnico
Collins and the rest of the guys, I do think
there is something there.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Arrowhead will be laughing, it will be rocking.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
There's a reason why it's the loudest stadium in the
NFL one hundred and forty two point two decibels. Mix
is gonna have to be the guy that calms Joe
Mixon down and hope of the offensive line of Houston
in that instance, they don't have too many false starts.
I know there's been a lot of moving pieces on
that offensive line all season long.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Sounded like you were trying to speak that into existence,
and I bet she'll be right at least once Sterling Holmes.
My money's on LARAMIZNSOL Sports Radio eight to ten WHB
in Kansas City. I'm curious what it was like there
in Kansas City during this fifteen win season. I'll tell
you what it was like here talking about this isn't
the same team. They're so beatable, which was being said

(08:23):
every week after they would not get beaten every single week.
And remember, this is the only time during this run
they've had a fifteen win regular season, and they got
it in sixteen games. What was the view of the
people covering this year's Chiefs about this year's Chiefs kind
of as it relates to what we might see on
Saturday versus what they've always been.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Well, you had the optimist, right, you had the optimist
that says it doesn't matter how it happens as long
as you win, which in the grand scheme of things.
That is true, But then it also took a little
bit of digging to see why the Chiefs played in
such close games, but also why they kept winning in
such close games.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yes, they had some luck. Call it variants. I don't
like using no word luck. I like to call it variants.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
The Chiefs had some variants go their way this year,
that is for sure. But they were so effective on
third down. They were so inexplosive. Now that might change
with Hollywood Brown being back in, DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy, right,
but they came into this season with a lot different
game plan. They expected Hollywood the entire year they had
Rashi Rice, who was their wide receiver one you thought
you might get a little bit of Xavier Worthy. So

(09:24):
they had to adjust on the fly, and so they're
often looked a lot different. They had to go out
and bring in Kareem Hunt, who is good for three
point five yards to carry pretty much just anytime he
touches the ball. He does not break off large carries,
but he gets you into a lot of third and shorts,
where Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback on third down.
So I think what you saw is them putting up

(09:45):
twenty one twenty two points. They're a very well rounded team,
maybe the most well rounded team in the Patrick Mahomes era.
The defense's top ten, the offensive top ten when you
break down some of the underlying analytical numbers. Special teams
has been solid, but a little bit of a concern.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
With Harrison in the injury. I just think it looks different.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
So everyone's trying to figure out why they don't look
the same as when Tyreek Hill was here, even a
couple of years ago, when the offense was still moving
the ball very effectively through the air.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Just before we let you go, He've left you barely
enough time for a prediction on the game.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
Oh man, I don't mean to do it to you, guys.
I have a lot of respect for Houston. I have
a ton of respect for that Technans defense. They're outstanding.
Al their alsha Here's great, Will Anderson's outstanding. Daneil Hunter
loved the Texans defense. But I think the Chiefs offense
does enough.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
I think it's a twenty seven to twenty game.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
That means the Texans cover, so at least I'm better
than Vegas, right, give me that. I just think the
Chiefs offense in Patrick Mahomes. In the playoffs, they will
be too efficient.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
With all the.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Injuries to the Houston Texans on offense, I think it's
going to be a struggle.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Very different than the twenty seven to nineteen game that
was just played there in December, a twenty seven to
twenty finals Sterling. We actually really appreciate it. He's going
to hit the extra point in sight and uh, we
look forward to what takes place on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
Hey, thanks fellas, appreciate it.
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