Top 5 Trade Deadline Targets and Chiefs-Commanders MNF Recap!

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0:54Nick Shook:A 10-yard strike, and the Chiefs have coveted second-half two-possession lead. Great call there by Mitch Poultis. How many times have we heard him calling a Travis Kelsey touchdown on NFL Daily and around the NFL back in the day? Well, probably not 83 times, but yes, he has now tied the all-time record in the storied history of the Kansas City Chiefs. That was a highlight from a great second half of football by the Chiefs. They win 28-7 against the Washington Commanders, and the Chiefs are looking like one of the best teams in the league. Commanders are looking like a team without great future.

1:39It's a big night in sports, Shooky, so we got to stay focused here, and we appreciate everyone watching us live on YouTube. We're going to get to some trade talk a little bit later, hitting the five most interesting trade targets with the deadline coming up. But first, we got to give Travis Kelsey, Kansas City Chiefs, and this offense, their flowers for that three touchdown performance in the second half on Monday night.

2:04Nick Shook:Yeah, and I feel like I'm going to sound like a bit of a broken record because every time we do a Chiefs game on here, it's just like, yeah, their offense is awesome. Like the Chiefs are for real. They're one of the best teams in the NFL. We can all stop pretending like they're not. And this is another example of that. And the beauty of it, I think, for Chiefs fans who are looking for something additional to get excited about is the fact that they overcame a slow first half. They overcame a Washington defense that suddenly played blanket coverage, which is not usually what they do, and then rolled to victory, cruised to a win.

2:34Nick Shook:It was so out of hand. It was so decided that I had time to get four of my five points done already for what we learned. That's a win for me. Yeah, that's a little peek behind the curtain. Shook is writing normally on Monday nights, but he loves our audience so much. You know, he puts that on hold and finishes it after we're done. And it did feel inevitable at that point when Travis Kelsey scored the touchdown, but you mentioned it the first half of this game, they pick off Patrick Mahomes twice in the first quarter. I believe one off of a fantastic play by Marshawn Lattimore. You're thinking, okay, that's the type of play you're going to need to, to beat the chief.

3:13And once off a little bit of luck off a drop by Travis Kelsey, but that was really the last mistake Kelsey would make. He ends up catching six balls for over 90 yards tonight and had for the second time in two games since Worthy and Rasheed Reiser on the field. Just a play where the defense completely forgets about Travis Kelsey and he's just walking down the field. and I was thinking late third quarter as this turned into a blowout that Marcus Mariota played well in this game that they stopped Patrick Mahomes and got two interceptions off him in the first half and yet they still got blown out and that just shows what a difference these two teams were.

3:54What do you think the biggest difference was between the commanders and the Chiefs tonight?

3:58Nick Shook:I mean, not capitalizing on the turnovers that you forced early in the game is a big part. You know, not having a kicker that you could trust well enough when you're in field goal range to go out there and try and hit a relatively long field goal to get you three or six points, which would have made it more interesting, which would have probably given you either a one-point deficit or a halftime lead. That's one of the big things, but you can't blame it on the fact that you don't have your regular kicker available because he's hurt. Well, you can blame it on it. Well, actually, you can blame a lot of it on injuries if you think about it.

4:22Nick Shook:They don't have Jaden Daniels, your turn to Marcus Mariota, a plus backup in this league. Like you said, played well in this game. The stat line lies to you because two picks were garbage time. He was largely competent in this game and also through the craziest moon ball I've ever seen from a play that originated the 11-yard line, the plus 11-yard line ever. The ball on his touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin hung in the air for 2.4 seconds, okay? From a play that started at the 11, the ball was in the air for almost two and a half seconds. That's insane. He tried his best. Their defense came out and brought the fight to the Chiefs, but ultimately over four quarters, unless you capitalize early, they are going to overwhelm you because they are one of the best teams in the NFL.

5:04Nick Shook:and they are inevitable. They're pretty complete right now. And since you brought it up and we're going to get to kind of the huge mismatch, I thought, between the Chiefs offensive line and a ragged looking Washington defense that to me, I think that's going to be the death knell for their season. They have no pass rush. But since you mentioned the Mariota throw, it was nice having Scary Terry back. He had a number of impressive plays tonight. Let's hear that touchdown call. They might need to look at this. They don't. Here's a snap to Mariota. He steps back. He throws up. He's got it open, but cornered the end zone.

5:35Nick Shook:Can he keep his feet in? What's the goal? After reviewing the play, it is a touchdown. Let's go. Trick or treat. Scary Terry arrives. It is so good having Bram Weinstein back on the show. And that was London Fletcher and a great job by our producer, Chris Pabona, tying that all together. Because, yes, it was not called a touchdown initially. Upon review, they made it happen. and Terry had an outrageous catch on the sideline later in the game. If you're looking for some positives, he ends up with three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in this game, and their offense is just going to be better with him.

6:16So you mentioned interesting timing of how long that ball was in the air, and yeah, Mario had to put too much air under that. In a game where he was almost flawless through three quarters, and it still didn't really matter. That made it a little too hard on his receiver. also flawless was Mahomes after that first quarter. But they made it easy for him. He had three touchdowns tonight, Shook, where he held the ball over four seconds. That's the first time that has happened in Mahomes' career, according to NextGenStats. And if you give Patrick Mahomes that much time, you're just there.

6:49Nick Shook:Yeah, it speaks to what you said, which is that the commanders have no pass rush. And it was very visible pretty much all night for him. But it also, I think, kind of underscores the annoying part of their offense for most defenses, which is that just when you think you have everything covered, somebody slips out of the backfield or Travis Kelsey just slips out into open field and they complete a pass for a big game. It happened twice. It happened on that Kelsey completion that moved him into scoring range. And then it also happened on the touchdown pass to Kareem Hunt where Mahomes drops. He looks, he pauses.

7:18Nick Shook:Nobody's open. Like the first three options are not open. Oh, and there's Kareem Hunt leaking out of the backfield for a wide open touchdown. That is why they're so difficult to defend and why Mahomes is the perfect quarterback for that because lesser quarterbacks don't keep their eyes moving, aren't able to maybe break a pocket and improvise like he does. And it's what completes them. That and the return of Rasheed Rice, who has made this offense just another level or two better. He is so dynamic. He's such an important weapon for this offense. And that's why people should be afraid of the Chiefs.

7:46Let's listen to that touchdown to Kareem Hunt. And to me, that's the signature Patrick Mahomes play, which is, like you said, staying calm, but then ultimately putting a defender into an impossible run-pass conflict where if the defender did not go after Mahomes and stayed with Hunt, then Mahomes would have just run it in. Let's look.

8:08Nick Shook:Chiefs are going for it. Fourth and goal at the 2. 10-19 to go. Third quarter, 7-7 time. Hunt the running back. Snap to Mahomes. Retreating. Moving to his right. Now pump faking. Throws it late. Wide open. Touchdown! Kansas City! Kareem Hunt has his 18th receiving touchdown. The Chiefs take the lead on the second touchdown of the night for Kareem Hunt. I mean, shout out to Mitch Holtis for just knowing off the top of his head. I guess he's got a spotter there. Maybe, but how could they be that fast that he has 18 receiving touchdowns? Incredible. And that was on fourth down. And it's one of the points I really wanted to make tonight.

8:50Andy Reid has found fourth down religion. And with this offense specifically, it just changes how dangerous they are because Andy Reid has left so many points on the board in the history of Patrick Mahomes' career with the Chiefs, and he's no longer doing that. They went for a fourth down in their own end in the first quarter of this game. It was, I think, around the 42 or so, you know, on their own side, and they went for it and they picked it up easily with a run. That was the drive where Mahomes got picked off later. But it's giving them literally extra scoring opportunities because for the rest of Andy Reid's career until basically this year, maybe a little last year, he was kicking a field goal there and it just makes them even better.

9:34Nick Shook:Yeah, he has embraced modern football, I think. Not that he was behind in any capacity except on fourth down decisions. And it scares me as somebody who would look at the Chiefs and be like, all right, so how do they get off the field here? Because they're already really difficult to get off the field on third down. You get them to fourth down, you feel like you've won the Super Bowl against them sometimes. Now they're going for it on fourth down. Like that touchdown pass to Kareem Hunt, that's a fourth and goal situation in a tie game. And they don't even think twice about it. Early third quarter, because they trust all the options that they have.

10:05Nick Shook:And it's what makes them, you know, one of the most intimidating offenses in the league. And not only that, but also how they can do it. And I keep thinking about, all right, so what's the difference between this Chiefs team and last year? Why is their offense suddenly back to being a well-oiled machine like they were in the Tyreek Hill days. There's two parts to it. One is the offensive line. It is so much better than it was last year. We talked a lot about Josh Simmons taking that left tackle role, but it's not just him. They're protecting well. They are blocking for the run well. They have a number of skilled runners that can capitalize on that, whether it's Hunt, Pacheco, the rookie as well back there.

10:38Nick Shook:And then it's also, like I said, Rasheed Rice, because you have so many different options and so many people can leak out one way or the other that it's almost impossible to defend because it makes you defend the entire field because Mahomes is a scrambler as well. Man, I can't say enough good things about them. They're fun to watch and they're going to be a tough out for anybody in this league. That's what I was asking for coming into this season. Just make Patrick Mahomes fun again. The best quarterback I've ever seen enter the league and it was a tough watch for a couple of years. You mentioned Josh Simmons.

11:09He's still out with a personal issue. Just reading between the lines, it doesn't sound like they're going to have their left tackle their rookie back for a while early in this game. Jacob Martin of the commanders actually gave Jalen Moore the left tackle, the Chiefs, the business a couple of times. But it was really just a couple of plays. When I looked at the end of the first half, they had four QB hits in the first half, which is amazing. That was their only four pressures of the first half. And then when you get to the end of the game, they're at 22 percent pressure rate, which is very low, especially considering Patrick Mahomes was just holding the ball forever.

11:45Like his average time to throw was, you know, as long as this recap is going to be, it just felt like that he had all day to throw and he still wasn't getting pressured. They're trying to play zone and they just don't have answers. And, you know, we appreciate everyone in the chat, you know, right now. Well, you know, I admit it, we got the world series on and Bobona is getting on me because if you watch on YouTube, like I might have some wandering eyes, but we're pros over here and we can focus on multiple things at once, just like, you know, Patrick Mahomes did. But I just don't know where this commanders team is going.

12:19And we have a comment from one of the commanders fans who said, I'm officially done with football for 2025. Just cancel the whole commander season at this point. It's like, I get being a fan is tough. and you look at the schedule, they're home for the Seahawks and the Lions the next two weeks. They are going to have to pull off an upset and they can do it, but they're going to have to pull off an upset in one of those two games, Chuck, or they're three and seven. And it just feels like, yeah, I don't think you should cancel the season. I think there's a lot to be gained by watching Jaden Daniels play football.

12:56There are positive things here, but I do think this pass rush in particular and like the rest of the lack of team speed is gonna kind of kill this team in the long run how do you stop sam darnold to get after him how

13:07Nick Shook:do you stop jared god to get him off the spot they're not going to generate that in either of those games not to give you a complete like woe is me that the sky is falling outlook for the commanders but the the challenges are going to be great and also i'm not a doctor but jane daniels has a hamstring injury i don't think he's going to come back from that very quickly and if he does it's a risk as we all know with the history of hamstring injuries so it's going to be difficult for this team to battle through the toughest portion of their schedule which started tonight and continues for the next two weeks.

13:34Nick Shook:And even though you get Miami in week 11, they also just went to Atlanta and dropped the bomb on the Falcons. You get a bye week in week 12, which is timely, but might be even too late for that. And then you come out and you play Denver. I mean, you'd have to really run the table down the back half of this schedule to be able to make the playoffs, which is a bummer because this was one of the most exciting stories in the NFL last year. Dayton Daniels and the turnaround of the commanders and everything else. But the signs were evident with this defense, their age, they're just kind of slow. Even when they fight hard in the first half, the night they crumble under the weight of the pressure over four quarters.

14:05Nick Shook:It's going to be a tough ride for them. They lost Javon Kinlaw during this game to an injury and he's been okay, not worth the money that they gave him, but one of their better defensive linemen, certainly Duran Payne has been the best one along with Doran Armstrong, who's now out for the year. So it's just adding injury to insult. Laramie Tunsil, their great left tackle also left this game, was in and out during the first half. He has a hamstring injury. He did not return for the second half, so they had their second-year player, Brandon Coleman, at left tackle. Before, we just move on totally from this game.

14:40And like I said, we're going to talk quickly on some trade candidates before we get out of here and just previewing the trade deadline that's coming up in a couple weeks. I just made a list of things and ways they let Marcus Mariota down. You ready for it? Yeah. Okay. Number one, you know, Laramie Tunsil got hurt. That's just bad luck. Laramie Tunsil got hurt. Jeremy Lane. I keep wanting to call him Jeremy Lane. Jalen Lane. Jeremy Lane was Seahawks' third receiver. Similar. Slot player, wasn't he?

15:11Nick Shook:Not to be confused with Jeremy Lin. Yeah, cornerback back in the day. But Jalen Lane had a drop on third down that led to the very first punt of the entire game between either team. And that was midway through the third quarter. So when the commanders were trying to match that fourth down touchdown by the Chiefs, he has a drop on a nice play by Mariota. The commanders go for fourth and six early. He makes a really nice play. And Zach Ertz made a good play, but he ends up coming up five inches short, which I don't know if you were watching the broadcast, but there was like an unfortunate graphic where it just said, you know, five inches short.

15:50and you know the the meme you know they they had it they they were having their fun with it

15:55Nick Shook:they're gonna run they're gonna run their head with that yeah no because it was a bad spot that should have been oh you thought it was a bad spot i also said yeah the internet also did it where they replaced short with average but that's just up to you um we're getting wild here nick at night uh you thought it was a bad spot though yeah it was it was a bad spot and it was a rough night for the stripes i'm not gonna lie they missed a lot of calls they had to go to review a lot of Sometimes there were some things where you're like, what did you just not look at it when it happened? That was one of them.

16:23OK, more letdowns for Mariota. Debo Samuel, and I think this was one of the biggest plays in the game, lets a pass go right through his hands, then off his helmet for an interception on the first drive of the game in the red zone. And they were humming. That was the best the running game look all night. They had a great opening script. Mariota was running a lot. And that is officially the most embarrassing way that you can drop a pass is to drop a pass. have it go through your hands off the helmet for an intercept. And so that hurt Mariota there as well. And then they had a third and long late when they still had a little bit of a chance down a couple scores on the third and long.

17:02And the two blockers in front of them, it was Sam Cosby and Josh Carnally, just let Mike Dana, the defensive end for the Chief, just go completely free and sack him on a third and long. And you saw the frustration, and Mariota just slamming the ball or slamming his hand on the ground afterwards. And I felt bad for him. I got a text before tonight from our friend Nick Wesseling, and he was remembering, you know, what a big fan of Mariota. Chris Wesseling was back in the day. Says he's going to be watching and rooting and showing how Mariota is better than Jameis Winston, that Chris was right all those years ago.

17:36And I got to say, Mariota is playing pretty well, playing better than Jameis Winston right now, even if it was also.

17:41Nick Shook:Yeah, you're right. And if I had to choose between the backups, I'm obviously taking Mariota. it's kind of depressing that the top two picks of that draft are now just veteran backups, but that is life in the NFL. It's also this game tonight was played at the place where Mariota once made one of those heroic plays where he caught his own batted pass and scored a touchdown, which was cool, you know, back in the day when he was a Titan. Very good point. Man, this chief steam. I, I know we've been talking them up and I, and it just seems obvious, but when I've had conversations with people like, you know, of friends of like my son's dad's at school or my family earlier tonight.

18:20And I mentioned to them like, oh, yeah, I think I think the Chiefs are the favorites. I think they're going to the Super Bowl. Like, I think they're going to I think they're the number one favorite right now. And they're like, really? I thought my dad was like, really? I thought this is the year they're supposed to be bad. They're four and three. And no, no, no, no. It's not that way. But we'll find out for sure the next three weeks at Buffalo, bye, at Denver, and then home for the Colts. So I love that. It's not going to get easy. You're probably not going to run that table either, but that is as tough an AFC schedule.

18:53If you were going to pick the four prime contenders in the AFC, I actually think those would be my four apologies to my New England Patriots. At this point, I would say Bills, Broncos, Colts. That's about as tough a slate as you could have.

19:06Nick Shook:You know, just when I start to lose faith in the schedule makers for the Monday night double headers or the occasional clunker of a primetime game, they come back and they they redeem themselves by giving me exactly what I thought as I was riding tonight. God, I would love to see the Chiefs play the Colts right now. We're going to get that soon enough. I'm excited for that one. Can we flex that in? That is a 1 p.m. game on the East Coast, a 10 a.m. game. That'll at least get moved to later in the afternoon. But I want that as a night game. We should start doing the Monday night flexes. We got Arizona-Dallas next week.

19:41Don't really need that. But yeah, this team's just different with Rishi Rice, Worthy, and Kelsey on the field. Okay, let's wrap this show with a different sort of segment. We got the trade deadline coming up in a couple of weeks. And Shook, I just thought it would be interesting to go through who you think are the most interesting, realistic candidates. We'll actually go back and forth. So we'll do about five or six, depending on if I want to jam one in. And why don't you get going? The most interesting trade candidates you think that are going to be available for the deadline?