Chargers vs. Chiefs Brazil Game Recap!

22:57It was like 2 or 3 yards in front of him. Anytime they tried to go down the field, it wasn't working. At one point, they had nine targets to Hollywood Brown, and he had 16 yards. He had a bad drop during that. And I'm just thinking, oh, my gosh, this is the worst possible start. And it reminded me a lot of Thursday night, too, with Jalen Carter getting knocked out like right away, a really key piece getting knocked out, and they just didn't seem prepared for it.

23:19Nick Shook:Yeah, that was one of the notes I took, I think, in the second quarter was, oh, my God, Xavier really must have been a key part of their game plan because they are absolutely just lost for what to do offensively. I think at one point there was a botched snap where Mahomes like falls down. to pick it up and just like flips it out on what was intended to be a bubble screen. And it's a play that goes for basically nothing. Uh, they just, they just look disjointed. And I think that kind of set the tone for them and also kind of put them behind the eight ball because the chargers were very prepared and executed and suddenly they look at the scoreboard and they're trailing.

23:47Nick Shook:But this is also why we got the same feeling in the second half, which is that the chiefs are going to find a way to come back and, and win this game. And they're going to break the charge's hearts again, because this is a team that you have to absolutely put away. They are essentially the undertaker rising out of the coffin. Like this is just who they are. They're too good to just have some mistakes completely blow up what they're going to do over the course of four quarters. They fight their way back. And I was thinking late in the first half, they just got to get to halftime. They got to calm down and get reorganized.

24:13Nick Shook:And also, Chargers, you cannot give them time, even less than a minute, to have an opportunity to put points on the board because they're going to do it. That's just what they do. And that's ultimately what they did. So kudos to the Chargers for holding them off in the second half. But yeah, I absolutely agree that the Chiefs looked very disjointed because Worthy got knocked out early. I mean, they had to get to halftime, but I was a little worried like they would get distracted. We have a comment from one of the watchers here who is saying Nick looks nothing like he thought he did. I mean, we talk about what he looks like, but I hear you.

24:44You never quite know until you meet someone. It was like when I managed the former guy, Evan Silva at Roto World, who now does great work with Establish the Run. and I first met him and he was about like 14 inches taller than me I was like man I would not have been as tough on you over the last like nine months but that was that was back in the day when you just well people around on instant message and text that's true but the fun thing

25:08Nick Shook:too and this is uh beneficial to you Greg is that we're in two boxes across the country right now because you only see me from the shoulders I mean you're you're a lover not a fighter anyways That's true. Unlike, yeah, unlike these teams tonight, which was, it was spicy. Like, I know they had to get to halftime, and I think that Taequann Thornton catch before halftime, you know, let them loosen up a little bit. But when they went on that long drive where they kicked a field goal to finally get some scoring, and it was just dinks and dunks, and it was juju, and Kelsey had not been seen, like, at all.

25:46and the running game was pretty lackluster and it was mostly just Mahomes taking charge and scrambling. I'm thinking they talked all offseason about we want to be a big playoff offense. We want to be different than the Chiefs. We want to be fun to watch again. And they tried that for two or three drives and it did not work at all. They lose worthy. Mahomes is getting hit. They forced a couple shots down the field that don't work. And it felt like midway through the second quarter, it was just like, oh man, we need to go back to what we actually know what to do, which is really not that fun to watch.

26:18But as the game wore along, Patrick Mahomes started doing things like throwing while midair, levitating over the scrimmage line while completing a pass. It was just like, we're getting so used to this. It is, it is ridiculous. Like what he is making us get used to.

26:34Nick Shook:He's, I think any other quarterback in the NFL does that. And I'm going to social media to comment on it, but because Patrick Mahomes did it, it's just like, yeah, that's, that's just, that's what he does. And, you know, we talked about how we felt like they were going to come back, right? They were going to win this game. When he hit that pass to Travis Kelsey, which was the product of great play design, by the way, basically faking a bubble screen. They used a ton of motion to try to create some mismatches and confuse the defense and get them disorganized. They fake the bubble screen. Kelsey acts as if he's going to block and then leaks out down the sideline.

27:02Nick Shook:When they hit that pass, I was like, oh, that's the one. That's the one that breaks open the dam. Here it comes. And again, it didn't happen. But they still have that in them. They still do have the big play in them. Well, if you're going to mention it, let's get the call. First, a comment, Triple G, much love. How do you feel about Worthy's durability going forward, knowing that they're missing Rasheed Rice for five more weeks? It's a great point because there is a Super Bowl rematch on the docket against the Eagles next week. And even the Kansas City Chiefs do not want to start the season 0-2, especially not against the Chargers and the Eagles, just like two teams that are so, I believe, important to them.

27:42And I think Xavier Worthy is really important to them because I love that they're turning Taequann Thornton's career around, but he's not Xavier Worthy. And this offense just lacks explosiveness. Unless, you know, Travis Kelsey said this offseason he's trying to get a little faster. And on that touchdown, granted, he was wide open. I did think he looked a little faster. Let's listen.

28:05Nick Shook:From the Los Angeles 37, Mahomes with pressure finds a wide open Kelsey. Travis Kelsey, touchdown! 37 yards for 87.

28:23Nick Shook:And Mahomes to Kelsey strikes again against the Chargers. One of the longest touchdowns Kelsey has had in years. It was the longest for a long time. Only two catches tonight for 47 yards. And it was a reminder, not that he looked incredibly fast on that play, And he actually had a costly miscommunication near the goal line on the Chiefs final drive where they would have made the Chargers really sweat. But Kelsey slowed down while they were improvising. So a rare time that him and Mahomes was not on the same page. But it's just a reminder, man, they will come up with solutions, Nick, schematically that not many teams can.

29:03Because Derwin James fell so hard for that fake on that play. I mean, he just bit and was nowhere near it. And they were absolutely attacking Troy Dye, who was in as the second linebacker because Denzel Perriman for the Chargers got out. So that's Kelsey and Mahomes, but especially Andy Reid kind of putting a circle, a target on a guy's back and figuring out where their weaknesses is. And in the end, their offense was playing well by the end of this game, like the second half of this game. They mostly did what they wanted.

29:34Nick Shook:Yeah, it just took them too long to find their rhythm. And you can't blame Derwin James for biting on that, by the way, because how many times are you going to get poked in the nose by somebody before you decide, all right, I'm going to react, I'm going to block this, and right when you go to block it, they punch you in the gut. That's essentially what they did here. All right, we're playing the flats, we're playing the flats, we're playing the short game because we know we can't go down the field to save for just a one-off here and there. Oh, now we're going to take the shot, and now we're going to get within an extra point or a two-point conversion of tying this game.

30:02Nick Shook:I mean, that's what they do, and that's the genius of Andy Reid. Again, that's why you have to put them away when you can, And luckily, the Chargers did do that tonight. But, Greg, I think at some point, we have to have a discussion about this Chiefs defense. Lead the way. Lead the way, Nick Schuch. They got shredded by Justin Herbert. Yeah. And I hate to say it, but Chris Jones didn't feel like much of a factor in the interior, which is a credit to the Chargers' interior offensive line. And outside of Karloftis beating Pipkins, I mean, Spaggs in the second half pulled a Matt Eberflus from last night, which is, all right, I don't know what else to do, so I'm just going to start sending blitzes.

30:37Nick Shook:non-stop and they actually got some stops that way they send tranquil on a blitz off the edge he shoots through the b gap gets a sack they send you know a number of different pressure looks i mean most of the second half they're sending zero blitzes they're sending different types of pressure like that that's the only way they can manufacture and yet the chargers had an answer for it i am gravely concerned and that is super hyperbolic at this point and i acknowledge that but i am gravely concerned that they simply don't have the personnel to make up for this and to patch things up and that this is going to have to be their identity, which then makes them easier to game plan against.

31:08Nick Shook:And we saw it in that final drive when there was even that one pass where Herbert just ran backward because he knew the blitz was coming just to buy himself some time and find a guy open. That's a huge tell. That's a major weakness over the course of a long season. Yeah. I, I do wonder if they're just short a body or two. In the secondary line in the secondary, both, both places because you know, the numbers I hear you are not feeling Chris, Jones and so that's why I'm looking for the numbers as you're talking. You know, he did have three pressures in this game, one quick pressure. Pressures can be a little misleading.

31:41It was double teamed obviously a lot. Karloftis had four and they did blitz Drew Tranquil quite a bit and he got near the quarterback. But it's just, that's even not enough. I know you'll get better games out of Chris Jones, but you just can't have two guys. And Karloftis is good, but he's not great. If it's a huge fall off where everyone else on the line are losing their battles, that's not a winning formula. Look, I wonder, too, and Jalen Watson made a nice play in this game. There are players that they can trust in the back end, but they have guys like Shamari Corner playing a decent amount at safety who was not good for them a year ago.

32:24And really the secondary losing Eric Reid, Jordan Reid rather, to me could be a guy that they end up missing quite a bit. So I just feel like both groups are just a little thin in a way that I think the offense is going to need to be better this year because I think the defense is going to be worse.

32:41Nick Shook:Yeah, I felt like the read departure was going to resonate in this coming season. And I hate that I was right in week one because, again, if you're going to be the Spags defense, which sends pressure at good times to get these big game-changing plays, you have to be able to stand up and be strong enough on the back end another play and like get them in those situations where it's third and long and they need longer dropbacks they need longer developing plays and you can get after them with pressure if you're never in that situation it's a bad formula so i mean you give guys the course of a season to figure it out and improve and you know you might get stronger there but in the second half of the season or whatever it is but just overreaction week which is week one i'm very concerned about this defense yeah shamari connor 61 snaps basically played uh the entire game.

33:24So did Jalen Watson. They did get Christian Fulton on the field for a little bit of this game. And he's someone who I think is going to be a full time player, but he's coming off an injury. So sometimes early in the season, like, you know, you don't have everyone quite ready yet. And I didn't really realize it until I looked at the game log right now. I mean, the Chiefs offense after those first three punts on very quick drives, when field goal, field goal touchdown touchdown field goal this was not this was not a dry a game with many drives at all and the chargers just matched them the last three possessions they have were both touchdown were touchdown drives and then running out the clock so it basically was the chargers winning kind of in an old school chief's way which is like get a little bit of a lead and then you just keep scoring.

34:18You can keep giving up points, but you can keep scoring. Let's throw that comment up. I appreciate you, Winthrop. Noticing we got hundreds of people watching. I love that after a game and it's going to give us some wind in our sails to keep doing this on Monday night. Noticing over 300 people watching, but only 33 likes. So smash the likes. That will help us out to grow this. Like, subscribe, do all the thing. It is kind of crazy though. The But Chargers didn't have Rashaun Slater in this game. Like, they played that well without Rashaun Slater. And they're not going to get him back this year.

34:53And it's going to be a what-if all year. But their offensive line played really well. I don't know if that was because of the opposition, Nick. But what do you think about them overall moving forward? Like, do you think they'll be good enough?

35:04Nick Shook:Well, I think the start of the game, it was the game plan. The script, the opening script was fantastic. A lot of play action, booting to the right, that sort of thing. Getting the flow to the left and running away from it. Buying Herbert time to find guys. and usually in those situations when they're run committing, you know, first read step is a run, and then you have to double back and cover the pass, you've given up a step or two on a receiver, and that's why Herbert was able to find guys open early in those drives. And then in the second half, it was a bit of a chess match, but it was also a team that had a lot of confidence behind them that they could continue to throw the football because they knew that their passing game was superior to what the Chiefs were bringing in the secondary.

35:36Nick Shook:And again, if they knew that the blitz was coming, they could call their plays accordingly. Give yourself a hot. Tell Herbert, hey, they're going to blitz everybody here, and you better just back up and get the ball out. It was an example of game flow, I think more than anything, but it started up front where they appeared to be much better even without having your typical, well, your right tackle is playing left tackle available at your disposal. And I don't think it's going to be that lopsided from week to week because once that tape gets out there, you're going to have to adjust. Sometimes your scripts aren't going to be as effective, but it's an encouraging sign for this team.

36:09I know we're going to be wrapping up pretty soon, But there's a few things I do want to get to. While we're on offensive line play, I was texting with our friend Steve Weish, and he was noting he thought left guard was really a problem for the Chiefs. Kingsley Suamatea, who was a guy who had to be moved inside to replace, you know, help replace Joe Tooney, who got traded away. And he struggled in this game. And he was a problem. Their right tackle, Juwan Taylor, kind of has been a problem. Didn't have a great night. I don't think definitely had penalties. Josh Simmons, who I thought for the most part looked good as far as I could tell, but he had penalties in this game.

36:48So, you know, that'll happen to a rookie. I do think there was like a mental error on one play with him where I don't think he knew what the play was, knew who to block, and he gave up a free rusher. But for the most part, I thought he was fine. But that's a little concerning for their offensive line. If left guard is a problem, they could potentially move Jawan Taylor in there.

37:11Nick Shook:Um, God, because then what's your option at right tackle? We have talked about how Juwan Taylor. I meant Jalen Moore, by the way, the pick that that is very much on the table. I would not at all be shocked if he ends up. I mean, they're paying him 15 million dollars a year. And if Kingsley Sumataya, who struggled to tackle last year and is struggling a guard now is not doing the job, they will make that change. You knew what Juwan Taylor was. He makes too much money for how he plays. And you know that he's good for a false start or two in a game. He got drilled for a holding call. It's just who he is.

37:42Nick Shook:But on the left side, Josh Simmons, I thought he had a bit of an up-and-down game. Early on, he was really solid. He was doing a really good job. He had a great block on a draw. I think it was a handoff to Pacheco approaching the red zone, where he just basically baits. It doesn't bait, but basically the technique is on the draw, you take a pass set, and then you let the guy get on your outside shoulder, and you throw him back. We need some sort of sound effect when Shook really gets into the football. I apologize for interrupting you. Keep going. I just need it. I love it. I love it. Oh, actually, no.

38:15Nick Shook:So you essentially take a pass and then you throw the guy back, which then creates the running lane, which is exactly what happened. He threw Mack back out of position, gives up his running lane. Pacheco darts through the left side for a big gain to get inside the red zone. And I was like, that is a hell of a play against a veteran, but still an upper tier edge rusher. That's the good of Josh Simmons. the bad of josh simmons was late in this game where he got he just flat out got beat a couple of times there were a couple times where he would engage a defender got his hands knocked off and then fell forward bit of a leaner in those situations those are things he's going to have to improve and clean up so it wasn't 100 good it wasn't terrible just up and down that's what you get from a rookie making its first start at left tackle in a prime time setting in brazil by the way which is that adds the trip itself adds to the adversity and the challenge of of of this start but not as good as I think I would have expected given the vibes that were following him from training camp, but also wasn't bad.

39:09Yeah, wasn't bad. Justin T says week one's always an outlier. Remember how the Saints started last year? Believe in the charges, but let's take it one week at a time. I hear that in week one, week two, week three. It's all really just a warm up for the season. It's not extended preseason, but it's just rounding into shape for the games that matter. Think about what the Eagles looked like last September. They were just figuring out. I totally agree. The only thing I would push back on a little is division games matter no matter where they are, just for the reality. When you really do believe in the teams and the quarterbacks, I just think these two teams and these two coaches are too good not to be in the mix in December.

39:51And for the Chargers to already have clinched like a split at worst and to have a chance to now sweep the Chiefs, that alone is massive. not only the confidence that they'll get. I'm also getting some comments that I look tired or something. I mean, daddy's got to go to bed. I mean, it's 9 p.m. on the West Coast. I'm fine. It has been a long week. And I'm looking at the cup. We're doing lots of things. I'm checking the stats. You mentioned the two-point conversion, which was so big, you know, after the Kelsey touchdown that they stopped the Tierra Tarp play. They only were going for two because Harrison Bucker missed an extra point.

40:26That was kind of how this game, if you really look at it from a Chiefs perspective, they started to look like they started to charge or some things like that was their original sin was the Harrison Bucker extra point.

40:39Nick Shook:Yeah, that's actually absolutely what it was, because if they I think it took a little bit of the energy out of them. Yeah, maybe you're out of the fact that they were, you know, overtaking the momentum battle, whether momentum is real or not. We'll get into that later. But like they were going to tie the game and that. OK, also, that's a new ballgame. Oh, no, wait, we're still down by one. we still have work to do the Chargers score they go up a we got to convert the two you don't get it the Chargers score again they're up by nine now we need two possessions to potentially win this game a tie is essentially out of the equation yeah that had a huge impact on that game and really I think defined a lot of the way the game flowed in the second half but you know what Greg I do now that we have two games in two primetime games okay done two shows and everything we are so fortunate to have seen four teams play with four quarterbacks who all played really well who all tried to put the team on their back granted not all four teams can win but I mean for a first couple of games to start a season when teams some teams start slow and they're still working out the kinks we got some great performances from Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert.

41:45It was week one-ish like it doesn't shock me that these were week one games but I was thinking the same thing that they were relatively crisp games cross your fingers and it's hard to say that when Xavier Worthy left with a shoulder injury and everything but sometimes in these week one games it's like carnage of injuries right away and Ben Van Sumeren got hurt last night I'm not saying no one got hurt but it wasn't out of the ordinary I was thinking it was pretty healthy it was pretty clean it looked like good like professional football and it makes sense because you put you know four teams that you know cowboys accepted you know but they have a quarterback that that's excellent but four teams I also think that that are run well and I think Brian Schottenheimer in their offense when I watched that film today I thought it was pretty good uh Mikhail Stanbury said Chiefs killed a lot of folks with survivor picks this week happy about that myself I I mean if you took the Chiefs that to me was a pretty bold pick.

42:41I mean, I took the Chiefs to win, but I would never have taken them as my survivor pick. Couple last things. Two games in, the kickoff is totally different this year. It is a thing. I need to check the numbers, but the field position I feel like has changed to the negative. I don't even know if NFL will like this so far if it somehow continued because they're nailing hitting these line drive kicks. And it's a lot of drives starting below the 30, below the 25. It's absolutely been a difference, just something to watch. And then the fourth downs in this game shook, in the first half especially. I mean, Jim Harbaugh, old school, went for fourth and one at his own 35-yard line.

43:24And Hampton picked it up with a big run, and they ended up scoring on that drive. And Andy Reid went for, I think it was a fourth and two, was it? on his side. Maybe it was like the 41-yard line, 43-yard line, and got it too. And now we're just so used to this. You know, when Bill Belichick did it against the Colts in whatever year that was, 2009 or something like that, it's like we spent 12 days talking about it, like 17 straight hours on SportsCenter. It was like the craziest thing ever that Bill Belichick went for it in his own end against Peyton Manning because he didn't trust his defense or whatever.

44:02And that was like in the fourth quarter when there wasn't much time left. They're doing this in the second quarter. No one's even noticing anymore. It's great. Like we won the fourth down. It happened. And like football is better. There's more points because of it. It's amazing. And you know what that is? That's the lasting legacy of Brandon Staley. Right. Yeah. Yeah. The key. He walked so Jim Harbaugh could could run like everything else didn't go well for him. But but no. Yeah. Yeah. The commenters are liking the new kickoff. I totally agree. And no more. We did have one big return. The opening return was pretty big.

44:35Yeah. And I do think because there's more kicks, there will be more kick, like good kick returns, too. But the odds are that's not going to happen like too often. And it's just part of it really feels like it's been part of the game, which is very exciting. Last thing I got is just on that touchdown that was wide open. I think it was the second Clinton Johnson touchdown, if I remember right. They caught the Chiefs in a cover zero, and they were switching the coverage in the middle of the play or as the play was starting. And so the players back there were way too slow, and it looked like a busted coverage essentially.

45:18It was wide open. And I was just thinking like that's the type of thing that an undermanned, maybe not ready for that sort of advanced calculus defense is forced to do because they're not getting enough pressure. So you have to just send everyone cover zero. And but you have guys back there that aren't really ready to handle all that responsibilities in a play like that, like that can just end the game. So they're just like little little warning sign there for the Chiefs.

45:44Nick Shook:Yeah. And especially when an opposing offense knows that that's their only option. because then you can just prepare for it. It's not like you're shocked by a blitz there. And that's the tip of the cap to Greg Roman. Again, preparation won out for the Chargers tonight. Tip of the cap to my friend Shook. Appreciate you. You know, I asked, are you in? Are you in for the kickoff game? Are you in for the Friday night? We're going to set the table here for what's going to be a primetime season with Shook. He said, of course I am. He's a great teammate. This is fun. I'm looking forward to a season's worth of this stuff.

46:16Nick Shook:And thank you to everybody who watched. Getting into the chat and contributing to the show just makes it more lively and more fun for us. I loved it. And yeah, like I said, we're going to be doing Thursday Night Recaps all year. But I'm going to be from the studio. So no YouTube that night. But we will be doing it on Monday nights. And more importantly, we're going to have that podcast. I'm a podcast evangelist. I've been doing it since you had to download the podcast onto your iPad. I mean, back in my day, before I would get on the Metro North in New York and go up to work at Roto World. And I would listen to my Bill Simmons podcast on the way there.

46:52But you would have to doubt. Like, I love the audio. I listen to nonstop audio. So we love you, all our podcast listeners. And we will be back in your ears on Sunday night. Hey, you know, I remember the days when I used to download the PTI Around the Horn Shows. Our first YouTube live, our very first recap show of the season. My favorite show, Patrick Claibon, Jordan Rodriguez, who's going to the Rams game and then coming on the show. And Nick Shook recapping every single week one game. Football is so back.

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