Colts vs Chiefs preview + Pacers coach Rick Carlisle

Segment 1: Pacers coach Rick Carlisle

Segment 2: Colts beat writer Stephen Holder of ESPN

Segment 3: Kansas City radio host Soren Petro

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
We know you're busy, bills to pay, mouths to feed,
and the man.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Eats another favor.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
So just in case you missed what happened, I'm a
Fan today, we.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Got your back, and even if you did hear it live,
you probably need to hear it again.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Here you go, all in one place and in just
one hour, the best of the best from today on
ninety three to five and one oh seven five the Fan.
This is instant replay.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
This morning I'm a Fan morning show.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
Well you appreciate his time after a late one last night.
He is the head coach of the Pacers. He is
Rick Harlyle coach. Good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
How are you.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm okay, let's get to I guess I'll start with
last night.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
Obviously, the return of Benedic Matheren probably a tale of
two has there, you know, both teams down some key personnel. Ultimately,
what do you point to is kind of the hole
being you know, too big to dig out of despite
Matherin's efforts there in the third and fourth.

Speaker 5 (00:56):
Yeah, yeah, we've had struggles really sides of the ball.
That said, you know, in looking at the stats and
looking at the overall picture, we got to look for positives.
Positives were you know, we out rebounded him for the
game towards the great rebounding team. We end up reinvinding

(01:18):
him by a couple and then, uh, you know, we
won the second half by a point, and you know
Ben's return and him getting into a rhythm, particularly in
the fourth quarter, was a big part of that. And uh,
you know, things are things are rough right now, but
the guys had a good spirit last night. We didn't

(01:40):
play well, but we hung together and we got to
keep doing that.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
When you mentioned the struggles on both ends right now,
do you see one side of the floor contributing more
to the others struggles? You know, his defense leading to
the poor shooting numbers we see vice versa. Has some
of the poor shooting led to the defensive struggles or
think it's pretty balanced.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
I you know, it's probably a little more tipped one
way than the other, but it's it's been it's been
both sides of the ball. That's Uh, it's been tough.
But look, there's a lot of a lot of excuses
that can be made. We've gotta we've got to ignore
circumstance and just work at doing better.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
Rick, You've talked about that a lot throughout your career,
not making excuse of ignoring circumstances. So what is that
balance like when the reality is, Okay, we don't have
our normal rotation of guys, but we saw have games
to play and ultimately want to win.

Speaker 5 (02:39):
Yeah, it's it comes down to, you know, where your
focus is. Our focus has got to be very much
on what's happening right now and what's about to happen
next when it comes to games. You know, in the
in the Toronto game, one of the things that was
a difficult that game was we had a very good start.

(03:02):
I mean, we're up ten halfway through the first quarter,
and then we allowed the lead to go away with
some controllable things, unforced turnovers, some decisions that needed to
be better, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, right now,

(03:25):
you know we're we're trying to get back on the
on the winning side of things. A big, a big
part of being successful in the NBA is good starts
and you know, finding a way to win the first quarter. Uh,
you know, the stats will tell you that the best
way to win an NBA game is to be ahead

(03:47):
head going into the fourth quarter. And the best way
to do that is to win the first quarter. The
NBA is much more of a first quarter league than
a fourth quarter league. I mean, the statistics just say that. So, look,
start's got to be better. Overall, plays got to be better,
defense has got to be tighter, communication has got to

(04:09):
be has got to be really good, and you know,
then we've got to get the ball in the hole.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Rick to follow up.

Speaker 6 (04:16):
Defensively, there's been some slippets there for your team, and
often I've been there in the media where it's like, oh,
they haven't tried hard enough, where's the effort? And I
feel like effort is always distributed to defense, but not offense.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
There are some tactical things.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
So what things do you look at defensively for your
ball club to say, here's what we can be better
to get stops here.

Speaker 5 (04:36):
Well, the easy answer to that is transition defense. And
we gave up a ton of transition points against Toronto.
We made some adjustments for the Detroit game. We did
better against Detroit. Well, look, it's you know, your defense

(04:57):
starts with the shot that you take, and you know
your your assault on the offensive boards. And it's very
important that everybody is doing exactly what they're supposed to do.
If you're supposed to crash, crash, and if you're supposed
to be back, be back, And so you know, we've

(05:18):
we've tried to clean things up there and then you know,
the first three steps back in transition. I think the
stats will tell pretty much any NBA team that they're
going to do better defensively when they're guarding a team
in the half court rather than in transition. So the
huge chunk of points we gave up in the first

(05:39):
eight seconds against Toronto is an area where we're focusing
heavily and we got to do better.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
It's a voice of Rick Carlisle.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
He'sp to see you on the payloss slickers, hotline, pacers,
hornets back inside of gamebridge Field House coming up tomorrow night.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Coach.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Some of the.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
Shooting numbers are pretty historic, obviously not in the positive
light there.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Do you feel like the.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Do you think the the the the equality of the
looks has matched the poor shooting numbers.

Speaker 5 (06:14):
At times. At times we've had some very good looks
at having gone down and in most cases you know,
we we need to try to get better shots. And
so you know, as you as you mentioned early on
here the you know, the the effect that defense has
on offenses is very important in in vice versa. So yeah,

(06:40):
it's it's a it's a tough stretch and we just
gotta we just gotta work work at improving and just
simply be better.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
Well, a few guys that has been healthy for you
here to start the season has been Jaris Walker. You
use the word force quite off. Done with him in
our off season conversations in that department, I guess the
forced department. What have you seen from Jaris here this season?

Speaker 5 (07:09):
Well, this is a this is an amazing opportunity for
him right now, you know, the chance to you know,
he's had a significant stretch of games that he started,
you know, when he hasn't started, you know, sometimes it's
been through the matchup or matchup stuff or whatever. But

(07:29):
he's he gets in the game quickly and as a
as a lot of leash. You know. So what we
need to see there is hard running, rebounding defense, you know,
simple decisions on offense and make the simple play. You know.
It's yeah, I think the Toronto game was was a

(07:52):
good example of I think what he's naturally good at
is rebounding. I think he had eight or nine rebounds
in the Toronto game. He's done some good things with
attacking the paint, attacking space. We know he can pass
the ball, we know he can shoot the ball. You know,
right now, when you're under manned, everybody has more responsibility

(08:15):
than they probably should, and as a coaching staff, our
job is to try to alleviate that as best we can.
Make sure guys aren't trying too hard to do too
much and really focus on the simple things. And I
think with with Jaris, it starts with defending and rebounding

(08:39):
and it builds up from there.

Speaker 6 (08:43):
Again, we have Rick Carlile, Pacers head coach joining us
on the Payloss Liquors hotline. Rick going back to Benedict
for a second here, we know how confident he is
as a player and what he can do as a scorer.
How much do you think his shot creation and just
the ability to get his own look can help alleviate
some pressure on other guys when it comes to helping

(09:03):
the flow of the rest of your offense, because you know,
if push comes to shove, that's someone who can still
get you a pretty good look.

Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, we need him. That's pretty clear. And yeah, yeah,
I mean it's it's shot creation. It's the way that
he stretches the floor with his ability to shoot long range.
I've been I've been very pleased with his shot selection
in a lot of cases. I mean, he's spacing the

(09:33):
floor better. He's finding the space on the floor to
release the shots of the shots that he's very good at.
And we haven't seen him a whole lot this year.
I mean, this is a third game he's played, but
his awareness of the floor has got better and he's
passing the ball more effectively all the time. So yeah,

(09:58):
definitely need more scoring. You know, early in the year,
in the first couple of games he was he was
taking the hard matchups to start games. You know, he
was guarding SGA and he was he was guarding some
of the better players. And so as he returns to play,
we're gonna need him to be a very good player,
not only offensively, but on the defensive side of the

(10:19):
ball as well. And uh, you know, when he was
drafted here, he talked about the fact that, you know,
he wanted to be pushed to be great on both
sides of the ball. And this is this is a
great opportunity for him to help us, to help his
teammates and truly work at getting better.

Speaker 6 (10:37):
Last one on Matherin and I have to appreciate his
confidence no matter what. Reading a story from Dustin de
Pierreic this morning, Andy Starr and mather Instead, according to Dustin,
why can't we win ten games in a row? And
you know when he says stuff like that, he's dead serious.
So you have someone who's as confident as Mathering, how
much does that help when times are hard? And it

(10:58):
has to be sort of this in fornsic motivation from
players to go out there and play hard even if
things might look a little bleak, because you know, Matheren
doesn't care who it is. He's gonna go out there
and think he can probably win anything.

Speaker 5 (11:13):
Well I think, I I mean just answered this question.
We need him, you know, we need him back, and
we need him in it's and it's great to have
him back. And you know, the return to play stuff
is is challenging too, because you know, little take the
guy that's been out for three and a half weeks
and throw throw him in there for you know, thirty

(11:34):
five or forty minutes. The great thing last night was that,
and you know, the way the game was going, you know,
all of a sudden, he had four thousand in the
third quarter, and you know, I left him in because
I thought it was important, and he tried to get
some kind of rhythm going. He hit a couple of
shots early in the fourth as as you guys saw,

(11:56):
and did get it going. And then you know, at
one point he's playing pretty early in the fourth quarter,
I think, with five fouls, you know. And so anyway,
right now, right now, we've got to focus on little things.
We've got to look for positives. And the pretty significant
positive is having him back and.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
PACER's Hornet's coming up tomorrow night. Just a couple of
minutes left here with her Carli. We appreciate his time
and flexibility here on this Tuesday morning coach. Yesterday, we
played some Pascal Siakam audio. I believe it was after
the game on Saturday night, and you know, I've been
rather blown away by his leadership over the last few years.
This year, I assume it's a different type of leadership,

(12:38):
but I thought the words were pretty strong Saturday night
and describing the start to this season specifically with Pascal.
You know, the numbers are obvious, but maybe what have
you seen behind the scenes from a leadership standpoint this year.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
Yeah, he's been great. You know, you can't say enough
about his approach, and he's been patient, he cares. I mean,
there's there's certainly an element of frustration there and you
can you can since that when he talks about how
difficult it is to to have this kind of a start.

(13:12):
But yesterday, you know, in our prep session in the
morning and during the game, even when it was really difficult,
you know, he was he was staying very positive, very encouraging.
And right now we have to we have to work
at being a very well connected team even though things
are tough, and you know that that can be a

(13:33):
very difficult task. But he's he's a big part of
our ability to continue to do that even though things
are tough.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
Coach one end of this, you know, you mentioned a
few weeks back, you know, about your history in the league,
and as think, I asked you something along the lines of,
you know, have you ever dealt with this type of
attrition available bodies, et cetera, et cetera, And you did
reference the brawl and you've mentioned how the NBA can
be you know, such a humbling league. Have you ever

(14:01):
I guess in your thirty plus years of coaching, been
a part of something like this from a whether it's
an available bodies or just a general start to the
season like you've had this year.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
Probably not, Probably not, But you know with with this
kind of adversity comes opportunity. We got to find the opportunity.
As I mentioned, we've got to continue to find things
to be positive about and not kid ourselves about how

(14:34):
dig we have to how deep we have to dig,
you know, to have successes. So touch stretch are you know?
Our fans have been have been great. They've given us
great support even though it's been difficult, and we're going
to continue to have to lean on them and lean
on each other.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Back in front of the home fans tomorrow night again
Pacers and Hornets, seven o'clock tip ins of gamebridge Field
House coach and that was a long night, so we
appreciate the time as always.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Okay, thanks, I think us the best of the best
from today's broadcast lineup. Instead, replay continues in a moment
on ninety three five and one oh seven five the Fan.
This is instant replay today on Quarian Company.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
It is time to guess or figure out people's ages
by their age when this song hit in the summer
of nineteen ninety. First of all, Stephen Holder, is Humpty Hump?
Is that by request by you? As far as like
your intro or walk up music on this year program?

Speaker 2 (15:51):
It was not by request? But I respect it. I
respect it. Look, I mean I didn't catch it with
a digital underground that was of.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Course, it was absolutely okay, and I saw.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
I like I discussed it's so funny. I'm pretty sure
Jake and I had a conversation about this like in
the past month on the air. I don't know how
it came up, but I mentioned that that they had
a huge impact on zip hop because that gave us
the birth of tip boxtecur of course, there you go.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Of course, so were you know when Humpty Dance first
broke in nineteen ninety you were howled?

Speaker 2 (16:31):
Let's see, I would have been probably in ninth grade,
so however old that is fourteen maybe.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
So in today's lessons we learned Stephen Hold and I
are the exact same age. So now we know the
answer that question, because that's exactly the way that it
played out in my world too. How was your bye week,
my friend?

Speaker 2 (16:52):
It was nice and quiet, which is which is the
way I like it. I watched football about that. I
never get to do that, right, I'm thankfu.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
Last night I was having trouble getting to sleep and
I put the Cowboys and Raiders on. Five minutes. That
game knocked me out cold.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
That was an awful football game. I tried to watch
it and I literally sat there on my phone looking
at everything under the sun and not watching the game.
It was on, but I wasn't watching it, So no
awful football game. And you know, I think we have
to see whether we actually get some flex Monday nighters.
I think that's on the table, I think, but I

(17:31):
don't know if they're actually going to do it. They're
not going to flex the Cowboys, let's be honest. But
you know, we just have to suck it up and
watch it because they're never flexing the Cowboys. It is
what it is. But that game America did not deserve.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
That game, no for and as bad as the Cowboys
are have been et cetera, the Raiders even worse, which
is why that one went the way of the Cowboys.
So you're telling me you did not feel the need
to go to Panama for stem cell treatment during year vibe.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
No, because I'm not doing any thing that would require
me to need themselves. So unlike the Forest Buckner, who
has a very dangerous job but is very good.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
At it, we can kind of chuckle and laugh at it,
but obviously this is a pretty serious matter. What have
you kind of gleaned on his injury recovery timetable again?
You know, the hope is that we see him in December,
but I think that is a hope any anything you
can can shut on that story.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, I don't think timetable is something that we can
establish just yet. What I'd say is there has been
consistency on the question about whether he is expected back.
That question continues to be yes. Now I think there's
a caveat there, which is hopefully and we think but

(18:52):
certainly there's some positivity about the likelihood of him returning.
You know, I think it's huge for the cook if
they can get to the finish line and wrap up
the division without him, you know, more power to them.
But I think you're gonna want a guy like that
in the playoffs. There's no question about it. So if
you can get back to the playoffs, that would be plenty.

(19:14):
And I am not rubber stamping all those games in between.
They got a lot of work to do and this
thing ain't even close to finished. But I'm just sort
of looking at it, you know, with maybe some realism here,
and I think what you what you hope is that
they can finish the job and have him for the postseason.
And the reason I think that's so important, other than

(19:34):
the obvious because the games are important, is because you're
going to face some top notch quarterbacks and you want
that guy going after those quarterbacks that you were going
to see in the postseason. So I think that's really that,
you know, if they get an outcome that's maybe not optimum.
Optimum would be four games, but anything less than that,

(19:55):
I think what you're what you're hoping for is you
get him for the start of the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
This turns into like a defense philosophy x's and o's conversation.
I'll acknowledge that. But and now again Whereby's healthy, and
there's still not exactly clarity on mooney Ward yet either,
but literally lining up on the line of scrimmage with
Sauce Gardner, Mooney Ward, and Kenny Moore. The second, how
does that allow you to mask not having it to

(20:19):
Forest Buckner?

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well, the whole the whole point about you know, rushing
or covering is we cannot look at them singularly. They
are always linked. So the idea here is get that
quarterback to hold onto that ball a split second longer
and good things can happen. I actually have maintained all along.

(20:43):
I think that their defensive line is not far away
from really being very impactful. I actually think the number
suggests that they have been pretty impactful, even though I
think on a down to down basis there are times
when maybe it doesn't feel that way. I think that
that's just the NFL today. Quarterbacks make big plays, they're

(21:03):
getting interference calls, they're throwing the ball down the field. Look,
that's just the NFL. This is happening to every team. Okay,
so understand that part and then to your point, I
think the bottom line is you can compensate for it
a little bit, for that loss of Buckner a little bit.
He's great. You can't mask it completely, but you can't

(21:24):
compensate a little bit with some really good coverage on
the back end and from where they started the season
at cornerback to where they are now or where they
hope to be. I guess if Mooney Ward comes back
this week, which seems hopeful, I mean, you're talking about
night and day. So this is an incredible opportunity for

(21:45):
them to go out there and really be dominant on
the back end for maybe the first time.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Frankly, when you're eight and two, you don't have anywhere
near the amount of questions that other teams have. And
if there have been question marks about the Colts, it's
been more on the defensive side than the offensive side
until the last couple of weeks, and all of a sudden,
Daniel Jones has been seeing more pressure. Having time to
go back and watch these last two weeks. I know
that the conversation in terms of player and coaches pick

(22:11):
up as of tomorrow, but but just with a little
more you know, room in the rearview mirror. Thoughts on
on why suddenly there's been a lot more traffic in
and around Daniel Jones in the backfield in the Pittsburgh
game and in the Falcons game.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
It's it really defies logic, honestly, because I think going
into that Pittsburgh game, I personally I can attest to this,
or I mean, I guess admit to this. I was
on record saying I don't know if I've seen this
offensive line play better, and I mean over the over
the years, so over the last I don't know, decades

(22:49):
or so. I think, even going back to like the
beginning of the Quinton Nelson era for example, Like I was,
I was actually convinced this might have been the best
performance in that era, this offensive line, and we've thrown
from that to what we've seen the last two weeks.
It's not okay. It's not acceptable. And I think the

(23:10):
tackles in particular, that's where I didn't expect the problem
to be, and that's where the problem has been. The
two tackles. The interior I think has been acceptable. I
don't have a big problem with that, but they're getting
edge pressure. Look, they faced some really good edge players,
don't get me wrong. Pittsburgh certainly and Atlanta, you know,

(23:30):
gave them all they can handle as well. But that
doesn't explain all of it. I mean, it's not as
if other teams don't have high end pass rushers. They
have faced high end pass rushers. I mean, they played
Denver for crying out loud earlier this year, right, So
I don't I don't have a good explanation for it.
I want to say after the Pittsburgh game, I said, Okay,

(23:52):
bad game. You know, maybe they can maybe they can
just put in a re mirror. Maybe it's just a
one off. The Atlanta game raises the prospect that it
was not, and that should be alarming. And I think
what also has to be addressed is that in the
midst of all of that, Daniel Jones has to do

(24:14):
a better job of holding onto the ball. Look, he's
getting just absolutely bombarded. I get that, and I'm not
blaming the victim here, but he's got to be aware
of what's happening and when they're getting after him like that,
he's got to be smart and he's got to get
rid of the ball or hang under the ball. And
the last thing I would say is that there have
been a few instances, I think in the last two

(24:36):
games where he has held the ball in the pocket
a split second too long, and that has added to
the problems that we are seeing as well. So it
is a collective issue. But I would go back to
the tackles being the starting point of all this.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
Let's get to award season, shall we? The realistic I
guess the percentage verbalize every you want to say, just
how real is JT being an MVP? How legitimate is that?
Seven weeks left to go?

Speaker 2 (25:07):
I think it's real. I think he's gonna have to
do more, though, and which sounds crazy coming off the
game that he just had, but I just think the
margin for error for a running back to win that
award is so slim, Like he has to be dominant.
You can't play the way he played in the Berlin
game every week, granted, right, I mean that's the ridiculous,

(25:28):
But I do think you have to be pretty dominant consistently.
You know, you look at the Pittsburgh game the week before,
and if you have a couple of those back to back,
now you're the conversation fades and people were already probably
not inclined to vote for you as a as a
running back, and he could lose steam really quickly, right,

(25:50):
So I think it's really just going to boil down
to consistency. And I think this Kansas City game is
a great opportunity, like a lot of the country is
going to be able to watch that game. I think
there's some anticipation clearly about, you know, how the Chiefs
are going to perform. You know, there's going to be
eyeballs on that game. You've got to go out there
and perform I think at a really high level in

(26:11):
the games people are watching. They've got a Monday night
game next month, They've got a game at Seattle. I
imagine that's a game where there could be lots of millions,
you know, maybe millions of viewers for that game. So
what I would say is that's what he's got to do.
He's got to come through in the games people are watching,
and he's got to really just be consistent overall. I

(26:33):
do think it's still on the table though he is.
I mean, what he's putting together is remarkable. And then
this season the likely suspects are persentally not there. You
know them mahomes. If they lose on Sunday, are we
really talking about a five and six quarterback of the
five and six Chiefs being in the conversation? What are
we talking about?

Speaker 5 (26:52):
Right?

Speaker 2 (26:53):
So it's a perfect storm for him to do it
if he can, you know, not lose.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
Team on the flip side. I was a flip side,
but I guess to a smaller scale, who is Tyler
Warren competing against for Rookie of the Year?

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Hmm, that's a great question himself, right, I don't know.
I mean he is he is really doing a great job.
I actually think, I actually think that he is in
the running for All Pro at that position right now.
I mean, that's how good he's been this season. That's

(27:27):
a great question. Let's think about this. I don't even
know who would who would really be who would really
be the the the leading candidates outside of him, I
guess the ag Luca from Tampa Bay. I believe it's
a rookie correct, correct? Right? So like he'd be one

(27:49):
the what is the Browns running back Judkins? He's had
a really interesting year. I mean, look, they're the Browns,
and no one knows the kind of season he's having.
But he is having a really good season. I think
that's kind of it. And McMillan in Carolina's having a
good year, I think, quietly having a good year. And

(28:12):
Bryce Young, by the way, really coming on. So if
Bryce Young finishes really strong, you got to think McMillan
would would be a big part of that. So I
think those are kind of the and I believe it's
offensive Rookie of the Year and correct, correct, So those
would be his, those would be his competitors. But I mean,

(28:33):
let's be honest, Kyler Warren's probably gonna end up or
very possibly could end up leading this team in receptions
and receiving yards and he's in effect their number one
receiver many days. So that's a pretty impressive thing to
say about the offense that has been pretty much the
number one offense all season long.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
Again, Steven Older ESPN joining us on the Java House
peel in poor guest line. It's Gregor ray Straw in
for j Query here on ninety three to five and
one oh seven five the fan. What sense, if any,
can you make of the fact that the last two
times the Indianapolis Colts can see the Chiefs have played
the Indianapolis Colts have been the game, Well.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
I think the only real takeaway because there's really no
like connective tissue between those things. But I would say
the takeaway is that you know, that's why they play
the games, right, And I know that's that's cliche and
all that, but but it it says something about how
you know, I think, look at look at the Colts

(29:37):
right there, eight and two. Forget about this game, let's
talk about just in general, Like they're going to have
a couple of games against Houston, Jacksonville, et cetera down
the stretch, and they're gonna be heavily favored. You would think, right, right,
but we know better, we know better. But but I
guess what I'm saying is, look, you gotta go out there,
and you got to finish, and you got to actually
show up and do it. That's all I can say.

(30:00):
And then, frankly, the other thing is is about rising
to the occasion too. There's there's something to be said
for getting up for a big game. And it's a
weird sort of deal, right. Michael Pittman was talking about
this last week, the fact that for the Colts, this
feels like a game that they're getting up for, like
it's a big game, that's a big challenge. They got
to go play this five hundred team on the road.

(30:23):
But that five hundred team happened to have been in
the last three Super Bowls, so they they actually don't
feel like the team that's that's got the upper hand here.
They're kind of taking this underdog approach. I don't know
if anybody's buying it, but but that's kind of how
they're operating, and I think it's working for them. So
they don't They don't really feel themselves as being sort

(30:44):
of this this you know, this this favorite and this
this overbearing favorite from week to week. They still think
they got a lot to prove. That's a good thing.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Fil beforeward let you go, and again I made represents
in the last segment of the show. If if some
one is not on board with the Colts, it is
easy to look at their schedule and say, are right,
they're eight and two. Now here's the seven teams that
are left. Maybe this is a ten win football team.
And every time we do predictions like these is in
in a vacuum. You never know who might miss for

(31:15):
getting injured, whether it's your team, their team, whatever the
case may be. Eight and two. Now, if you and
I are having this conversation on January the fifth, as
you see this team as it's built, now, how many
wins do you think they have after January the fourth?
So you're talking about in the playoffs, I'm talking about

(31:38):
what is that regular season record going to be going
to the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
I got you, that's a great question. I think they've
got seven left. I think they've they've got to win
four these last seven tho, which gets you the twelve, right.
I think twelve is a really nice number and an
achievable number. I'm gonna give them some grace down the stretch.

(32:02):
I think they'll lose a couple of these and there's
there's too many pitfalls for it to not happen, you know,
And you're gonna have some teams that are scratching and clawing,
you know, desperation situations. You know, down the stretch, they're
gonna slip up. You know, we've already talked about them
missing the Forest Buckner. So I'm gonna give them some grace.

(32:22):
But getting to twelve gets you a whole lot right now.
So I think that will they be the number one seed?
I don't know. We'll see that. They got the work
cut out for them, but I see them winning the
division and being, you know, one of those top seeds
in the AFC. If they can just finish the job,
then that's going to be the key.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
Thanks for the time of the inside. My friend, I'll
see tomorr ak the complex. All right, you got it again.
That is Stephen Holder of ESPN and he is joining
us courtesy of the Java House, Peel and poor guest
line the best of the best.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
For today's broadcast lineup. Instant replay continues in a moment
on Letty's five and one oh seven five the Fan.
This is instant replay earlier this afternoon.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
I'm a ride with JMV.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
He is a longtime friend of mine and unfortunately his
time slot now overlaps with mine, so we have a
head We haven't chatted in a long time. W HB
in Kansas City Sorenpetro dot com. He's diversified in a
large scale fashion. Sworn Petro covers the chiefs and everything

(33:39):
in Kansas City. Now joins us something Andy Moore Automatic
Group hootline. So, man, thank you very much for the time.
My brother, how are you.

Speaker 7 (33:46):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. It's great to be
on with you.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
You have a website, you're on the radio, You're like
mister Kansas City anyway, So you're just raising the bar
on that stuff there.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Well done.

Speaker 7 (33:57):
Yeah, well, hey, I don't know about that. You know,
like like the digital world is real, so I felt
like I needed to put my foot in it. I
don't know that I needed to do two Chiefs podcasts
and two Royals podcasts every week. But if there's some
displaced Casey sportsman, yeah, you can get there from my website,
which is really just a placeholder. Don't build over to
the website, Sirred Petro Srenpetro dot com, and I'll take

(34:18):
you to all our podcast Red, Golden, Bold and Cough
my corner. And if you're a displaced Kansas City fan,
like I said, you can check them out. I think
you'll enjoy them.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
No, go check it out and do that right now
as you're listening to our conversation. I thought about you
this morning. I was down in my basement washing some
clothes and I have I've got to go get them
dry clean too. Count them two nineteen mid eighties starters
Royals Jackets Strong. Seriously, I look like when I walk
if I put one on and walk out of the basement,

(34:45):
I look like the late great Dick Hauser coming out
of my basement.

Speaker 7 (34:50):
Coming out to go Saberhagen for Quickmanberry.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
I think I'm on the bench there. I'm Jamie Quirk.
That's what I look like.

Speaker 7 (34:58):
I like it. I like it.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
But I thought of you this morning. I also thought
about you because we're talking about Week twelve. Colts are
on the road in Kansas City, the Chiefs are in
unfamiliar territory. How damaged is this group right now? And
I guess I'm saying that in terms of the amount
of fight the Colts and the fans should expect to
see from an even on the season squad coming up

(35:21):
on Sunday, and KC.

Speaker 7 (35:23):
Said Patrick Mahomes aside to answer this question, because I
think Patrick Mahomes is one entity. I mean, there is
no lack of fight ever. He fights to the last
brath on every single play that he has. He puts
everything into the season, and I think there's no lack
of fight there, and there's no lack of confidence there.
And Patrick Mahomes and sometimes even because some people are
letting him down, he tries to do too much and

(35:43):
he's had some bad interceptions this year. And there's some
people like, well, poaters don't play really, I'm like, well,
when everyone's dropping the ball and nobody's blocking, and you know,
you see if you don't try to be Superman from
time to time when you have the kind of abilities
that he has. But I mean for the team, I
think you put it a good way. How much fight
do they have? And I'm not going to tell you
they have a whole lot left because they came up
a buye after their worst performance of the year with

(36:05):
the Bills right before the bye. Patrick Mahomes was fifteen
to thirty three in that game. I think largely because
of a bad game plan. It was the first time
he'd been sub fifty percent throwing the football since his
freshman year. I think it was at Texas Tech where
he came in relief and went like five of eleven.
Since then, he had never gone below fifty percent. That's
how bad the game plan was against the Bills. But
they still had the ball with six minutes to go

(36:26):
with a chance to go tie it in that game.
Didn't get it done right, then they get the buy
we call bye. We comes at a perfect time. Yeah,
this is great. Recharge self, scout, figure out what you're
doing wrong, and come out. Let's take care of business
against the Broncos. And they led nineteen sixteen and at
nineteen sixteen and possessing the ball. I thought they're going
to go down, They're going to get a touchdown. This
is going to be the double digit win I predicted.

(36:47):
And you know, here we go. They take off from
the second half seven and one, you know, at least
six and two, but maybe seven to one, maybe eight
to o. And they roar back into the number one
seed and lo and behold there was nothing left. They
were on empty and they couldn't get it. They up
phunting that time. Broncos go down fairly easily, tie it up.
Chiefs have a chance to go back at a score.
They're three and out with a sack of Patrick Mahomes.

(37:08):
Broncos go down fairly easy kick an easy game winner.
They get out with a twenty two to nineteen wins.
So you know, there are moments, there are pockets where
you go, Okay, there it is. That's the old Chiefs.
But it's not there for sixty minutes.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
So soir in Petro joins us fro Kansas City sore
in Petro dot com to find his latest stuff to
uh Kansas City Radio WHB as well. He's a friend
of mine, longtime friend of mine, talking Chiefs and Colts
on the Andy More Automotive Group hootline. So where's the bar?

Speaker 5 (37:35):
Now?

Speaker 3 (37:35):
What do they have to do? Let's just say, for example,
starting on Sunday at Arrowhead, what do they have to
do to get back in the thick of things, both
in their division and in the entire landscape of the AFC.

Speaker 7 (37:47):
In your estimation, I mean, I think it does start
with a win against the Colts. I think they are
almost pushed against the wall. I mean at five and
six you can say, okay, but if they win their
last six, they're eleven and six and they're in. I
think eleven and six will get them there because there
will be some ten and sevens the Chargers. But like
right now, the biggest problem for them is if you
look at the wildcard, fifth place Bills has a head
to head win against the Chiefs, sixth place Chargers head

(38:10):
to head win against the Chiefs, seventh place Jags head
to head win against the Chiefs. So they've got a
problem when it comes to tie breakers, and the Colts
will fall in that category. Although I don't think anyone
thinks the Colts are going to be in the wildcard mix.
They're going to run away with that division. But then
that's just another conference loss, right, They're piling up conference losses,
which will be a factor in three team tie breakers.
I mean, the reality is this team's going to be

(38:30):
eleven and six, ten and seven, and that's going to
require winning tie breakers, and they're not in a position
to do it. So they desperately need to find a
way to get to eleven wins. This is a home game.
The Colts are very good, but it's a home game.
You're supposed to be winning those home games, and I
don't think it's one that they can let get away
from them.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Yeah, I mean, offensively, we've been pointing the finger there.
I guess defensively, I want to focus in on that
a little bit because at times I thought on Sunday
they let bon Nicks off the hook. I think you
can kind of let bon Nicks walk into something sometimes
and he'll do that and kind of mess things up offensively,
But that ultimately did not happen. In the last two weeks,
at least for the Colts. Pride of the bye week,

(39:07):
they've won one and lost one. However, things have certainly
looked a bit more discombobulated offensively and That's what concerns
me the most from a Colt's angle here, Sarin is
Steeve Spagnulo, you know, coming up with a plan to
do a little bit combined of what Pittsburgh did with
dudes we know and then what Atlanta did with a
full house blitz of guys we really don't. Because the

(39:30):
last two weeks that has significantly impacted this Colts offense.

Speaker 7 (39:34):
Yeah, and I think that's one of the keys here.
They did a good job of slowing down the Broncos
running game, but there was no JK. Dobbins in that game,
and so you know, I think the Broncos knew that
they were going to have to throw it, and that's
what scary is. I think the Chiefs knew they were
gonna have to throw it, and they still didn't have
the answer for that. Chiefs don't pressure well. They Spagnola
blitzes are necessary at times, they're a luxury that are
knockout punches. This year, it's necessary to get pressure on

(39:58):
the quarterback. They just don't consistently pressure the quarterback. Chris
Jones is not what he used to be, although he
is coming off his best game, so maybe maybe there's
a little hope that okay, he's finding a little bit
more in the tank as they come into this game
with the Colts, but they've only got twenty two sacks
on the year. And George co Offtics is good at
left defensive end. He's not spectacular, but he's good. And

(40:19):
Chris Jones is a declining entity, but he's still good.
And he's the guy that the Colts will focus on
and draw the double teams, but they'll be effective with
the double teams. He's not splitting any of them. So
then it requires the other guys to get something done,
and they really can't do it. They haven't done it
all year. You know that the pressure, the extra pressure
comes from, you know, a corner, a safety, a linebacker
having to come on that blitz. And Spago's as good

(40:40):
as it gets at dialing those up, so he'll have
to be effective at times with it. But that's not
something you can live with. This defense is not as
good as it was last year. It's still good. There's
still a lot of good personnel. They're very deep in
the secondary of the corners are good even down to
the third and fourth corner, so you know they'll be
able to do a nice job back in coverage, and
they have to because covered sacks are what they really
get it when they do finally get to the quarterback.

(41:02):
But they really need to play from in front. It's
a lot better when the offense is having a day
and the opposing offense. Colts offense would have to say, Okay,
we're down ten, we've got to get away from the run.
But if Jonathan Taylor is up seven points and a
factor and they've got to account for him every time,
they just can't really get after the quarterback. So Daniel
Jones will have a good day. If Daniel Jones has

(41:23):
a bad day, I'll tell you that they played the
whole game from behind. If they play the game from
in front, Daniel Jones has a chance to have a
nice day and really, you know, get the full effect
from Jonathan Taylor.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
It's interesting you mentioned this where in Petro joins us
from Kansas City. He's on the Andy More Automotic Group
potline because I've said all year long, I have felt
that the Colts best defense is an elite level offense,
and in Kansas City, you know you're searching for that
right now. The Colts have seen it the last two weeks,
haven't had it now. The one position they did have
it in Berlin was that of Jonathan Taylor. Expectation on

(41:54):
the Chiefs in Spagnulo defensively trying to deal with who
arguably certainly should be at the top of the list
of MVP balloting as of right now the NFL this season.

Speaker 7 (42:05):
Are you talking about the guy who went nine picks
after Clyde Edwards Hilaire?

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Are you trying to yeah, that that's exactly Yeah? Does that?
Does that sting there? In case at all? Does that
talk about fact?

Speaker 7 (42:15):
The fact that Taylor or Edwards Laiir went thirty two,
t Higgins went thirty three, and Michael Pittman went.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Thirty four to two?

Speaker 7 (42:21):
Bold players are better? Yeah, might I might be bringing
it up a couple of times. Yeah, it's stings. It
stings a lot.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
I'm not gonna lie to you.

Speaker 7 (42:28):
Yeah, I mean that is where they will start. They
say they always start with the run. But they are
a defense that's built for stopping the pass, which I
think most defenses are today. It is the more important
part of the game. Unless you have a guy that's
just as elite as Jonathan Taylor is and then all
the things he opens up. I mean, everybody needs to
run the ball. You can't just throw it on every down,
and if you're effective running it, then that's a problem.

(42:49):
So I think Jonvin Taylor will have a day. I
don't know that he's going for two forty right like
he did a couple of couple of weeks ago, but
I think he will have where moments where he's effected
because the Chiefs just aren't built to consistently stop the run.
And look, I'll say this, the Chiefs are top ten
in yards allowed, top ten in points allowed. They're top
ten in yards, they're top ten and in points right,

(43:10):
they are a defense that they are a team that's
somewhat of an enigma. They've got one of the better
point differentials in football, yet there's still five and five.
So it looks like they're really good, you know. So
you get to the part of the game that really matters,
and then they're really bad because they keep losing every
close game. Last year they won them all. This year
they lose them all, and there's a variety of reasons why.
That's what makes Andy Reid's comments of well, we got

(43:31):
a couple of things we need to clean up. So
scary because it's not a couple of things. There are
a lot of things. But I will say though, if
this game, you walk off the field and it's thirty
four to ten Chiefs and everybody goes, what the hell
was that dumbass saying when he came on from Kansas
City about like all these problems. I'm telling you there
is a lot to still like about this team. There
are a lot of things that work well. They hammered
the Raiders thirty one nothing. They took a part the

(43:53):
Detroit Lions from quarter two through four. I mean they
have ability to do things. They just keep getting in
their own way. Penalties or a problem. It's a bad
interceptions from Patrick Mahomes have been a problem, Lots of
drops from guys like Roushie Rice and Travis Kelcey that
are supposed to be sure handed, and a lack of
pass rush tends to keep teams in games or even
put teams in front.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
So if the.

Speaker 7 (44:13):
Chiefs put it all together, got to be a really
long day for the Colts. They they've really only done
that against Detroit for three quarters, against Washington for two quarters,
and against the Raiders for four quarters.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Well, Petro is a radio dude in Kansas City. More
than just that Sirmpetro dot com. You can also find
his stuff. He's on the Andy Moore Automotive Group plotlines.
So with a five and five and a disappointing, I
want to call it more than a start right now?
Is their conversation surrounding resetting some things as we move forward?

(44:45):
I guess in this case, if this level of play
and expectations aren't meant if this continues, has that conversation
been prevalent?

Speaker 7 (44:53):
Yeah, resetting from the standpoint like, no one's going to
fire Andy Reid after one off year, but it'll be troubling.
I mean, when it's already going south in Philadelphia kind
of kept going south. And Andy Reid himself said after
fourteen years, I did the first interview with him when
he came to town. I said, how would you characterize it?
He said that the organization needed a new voice and
I needed a new team, and that proved prophetic. He

(45:14):
immediately went nine to zero to start for the Chiefs
and the Eagles won a championship with Doug Peterson, one
of his disciples, running the same type of offense. You know,
a couple of coaches after after Chip Kelly failed there.
But you know, and so that proved good, is it
coming to that time maybe? Maybe? I mean, does do
they need a reset? Yes? They need to quit trading
up in the draft and get more picks. They need
to quit signing positions that aren't top priority to high

(45:37):
level contracts. I mean, they have the highest paid center,
of the highest paid guard and one of the highest
paid middle linebackers. You know, to go along with already
having the highest paid defensive tackle and the highest paid quarterback.
You know, those makes sense, so expensive positions that great
down a little over. We're not talking that rusher and
by the way, you turn around, Trump McDuffie top paid him,

(45:58):
and you know you're gonna have that on even more.
They're having a hard time. Guys like Joe most are
available on year twelve million. You need to be a
position to grab a guy like that, and they weren't.
They didn't have money and so that was their biggest
need and they had to watch the Buffalo Bill sign
them on a very affordable one year contract and he
destroyed them in that game against Buffalo. So yeah, a

(46:18):
reset not necessarily a cleaning of the house. But a
reset happens are done. Yes, it's already being discussed.

Speaker 3 (46:24):
He is, Sir m Petro. He's kind enough to join
us on the Andy Moore out of Motive group hootline.
How about a guy like Travis Kelcey? Are we seeing
nearing the end of his time in Kansas City again?
Of this season? There are a lot of ways you
can save an individual and a team from conversation like this,
and that is, you know, a reclamation project of swords

(46:45):
from five to five where the chiefs are right now.
But is that a conversation that's also being had just
out of curiosity for that position.

Speaker 7 (46:52):
Yeah, And that's another one guys, I should have said.
I think he was the most expensive tight end. I
think he might be the second highest paid tight end.
But he's on pace for eleven hundred yards this year.
He's on pace for seven touchdowns or so this year.
He is having a heck of a bounce back year.
He does have some drops. I think he's his five drops,
so like fifth in the NFL right now. But he
gets a lot of targets. I mean, there's a lot
of opportunities. Has drop percentage, isn't that high, but you

(47:15):
know their critical ones and then when you're when you're
not necessarily having the best, you know, run of it
in other spots, you need your key guys to come through.
So look he is. If he wanted to come back
and they can find the right number, I think that
would be fine. But look, they're way over the cap
for next year. Everyone knows Jonathan Taylor is going to
be gone at right tackle. A lot of people are
asking why Jalen Moore hasn't replaced him with all the

(47:37):
penalties that he's had already at right tackle. But you know,
right now, Travis Kelcey's not part of the calculus for
next year, and if you're going to bring him back,
that gets you even further over the cap, right and
they need new players, not to just be keeping together
what's putting him at five and five? So you know,
I think it was the idea was this would be
his last year. It would be a pretty good year.
Hopefully they win a championship and both sides hug and

(47:59):
go their separate ways. That was playing so well, people
are wondering what could he come back? Well, he does,
they don't really have the capitol for him, so it
could be pretty interesting this offseason if he decides he
does want to keep playing.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
He is, Sir m Petre Before I let you go
your thoughts on what you've witnessed so far in an
eight and two start. I know it's kind of on
the outside looking in here, but within the AFC and
the accomplishments in the bounce back we have seen, and
Daniel Jones re establishing after six seasons with the Giants
and doing what he has done so far. What's been
your impression on the Colts leading up to Sunday?

Speaker 7 (48:30):
You know, I think they've always been a team that's
had a good roster, you know, kind of someone I
talked about where the Chiefs are paying money, roster very
good and maybe the spots that weren't the most important
and they were looking to try to figure out how
to solve those things and getting a quarterback that could
steady the you know, the ship, and then Jonathan Taylor
being healthy running the ball. They've always had good offensive
line and I think they've got a great game an

(48:52):
I think Shane Stikeen's doing a great job, you know,
in managing his team. That being said, just full disclosure
when it gets brought up up about you know, well,
if the Chiefs can get into the playoffs, no fear
of Daniel Jones in the playoffs. And that's not to
say that the Colts couldn't beat the Chiefs. And frankly,
right now, I don't think the Chiefs can win four
road games. People talk about two years ago they won

(49:12):
two road games in a neutral game, but they won
the division and played at home in the first game.
I don't think the Chiefs are good enough to win
four games. But you know, I don't think Daniel Jones
is good enough to do it either. So I think
it's a great story. It's a great turnaround. I see
him as the Alex Smith of the Colts, and you
need to have your head on a swivel, still looking
for the Patrick Mahomes that can take you to the
next level. But in the meantime, it's a team that

(49:32):
I think could go to a conference championship game, maybe
even get to a Super Bowl. But I don't think
they can win three in a row against playoff caliber opponents.
At some point, you're going to need your quarterback to
just pick the team up and carry him, and I
think Daniel Jones is a good quarterback, but I don't
think he's a great quarterback that can do.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
That, sir, in outside of Jonathan Taylor, who do you
believe to be the most dangerous player for the Chiefs
on this team.

Speaker 7 (49:56):
I'm oh Tyler Warren. The Chiefs have really had a
hard time the tight end. They hadn't given up one
hundred yard receiver in like thirty some odd games, and
then Dalton Kincaid went for one hundred on the Chiefs
against the Bills. We've got another couple of tight ends
that have been in the nineties. Tight Ends give this
team a problem. And when you've got good receivers like Pierson,
Downs and Pittman and you know all the other guys

(50:18):
that are out there, you can't just ignore them and say, Okay,
we're gonna we're gonna throw Trent McDuffie on the tight end,
like that's not really an option with the Colts. So
they've got a nice array. It's done a really good
job of putting weapons around Daniel Jones and having a
lot of options and a lot of variety. So if
Steve Spigel wants to take one thing away, there's other
guys that they can get but I think the guy that,
based on what the chiefs have done so far, will

(50:40):
present the biggest problem would be warned from the tight
end spot.

Speaker 3 (50:43):
He is Sir M Petro Kansas City Radio. What time
are you on in casey two to six two six
Central Time? And then Sir m Petro dot com. He
is much like me, a radio dude slash radio lifer.
We need more of us in this world already and all.

Speaker 7 (51:00):
That, Yes we do. People who are not afraid of
the microphone.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
Don't be afraid of it. You don't have to voice
track everything, do you now? Come on, no, let's do
it live. Hey brother, it's great to hear from you.
Let's do this again soon. Enjoy the game coming up
on Sunday.

Speaker 7 (51:15):
Sounds good, jamb Good to talk to you.

Speaker 3 (51:17):
Sir M Petrow is a friend of this show Kansas
City WHB afternoons just like this and Sirmpetrow dot com
thanks again.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
For listening to instant replay because second helpings are always
best when the main course is still fresh. Instant Replay
on ninety three to five and one oh seven five
The Fan