In this episode, Taylor reacts to the Kansas City Chiefs NFL week 17 comeback win over the Denver Broncos. When he talks about the Chiefs, he praises the play of Patrick Mahomes and his use of his offensive weapons, his expectations for the offensive line with and without Joe Thuney and lauds the play of the running back tandem of Isaiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon. When he switches to the Denver Broncos, he talks about the play of Russell Wilson and the offense post the firing of the Nathaniel Hackett, what he thinks the Broncos can do to improve going forward and what kind of coach he thinks they need to be successful.
In this episode, Taylor reacts to the Kansas City Chiefs NFL week 17 comeback win over the Denver Broncos. When he talks about the Chiefs, he praises the play of Patrick Mahomes and his use of his offensive weapons, his expectations for the offensive line with and without Joe Thuney and lauds the play of the running back tandem of Isaiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon. When he switches to the Denver Broncos, he talks about the play of Russell Wilson and the offense post the firing of the Nathaniel Hackett, what he thinks the Broncos can do to improve going forward and what kind of coach he thinks they need to be successful.
Taylor: What's up, everybody? It's the round table sports podcast. My name is Taylor McLean, and we're coming to you after a down week for the Roundtable Sports Podcast. We have had a whole ton of personal issues pipes freezing, my truck got broken into and was undrivable for Christmas. My parents Internet is still a little suspect, although it's a lot better. So I spent some time with them and kind of got me off my podcast game. But we're back, going strong, going to finish up the season here. And it's been so exciting to have all these different playoff implications on the line for all these different games. So I'm way into it. And just because we had a little down time for the holidays doesn't mean that we're not super excited about this football. Starting the week off with the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Denver Broncos, as the first game, I wanted to wait a little bit and give myself some time to think about the Vikings and packers and the like. So I wanted to start off with Patrick versus Russell here. I want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of the podcast, evergreen Power Solutions, for our Texas listeners. Give them a call. They can save you money on your power bill currently. Cut out a bunch of the fees and try and shop around to get you the best rate possible now. And then they'll also go back and renegotiate your rate lower if there is a lower rate when it's time, or they'll be able to keep your rate the same so you don't have to participate in all the increases that could come along in the power market going forward. Give them a call at 8886-6586, use prompt number two and let them know that the Round Table Sports Podcast sent you. There are solid people that are just looking to save you some money, so give them a call and let them know that the Round Table Sports Podcast sent you. Now let's get to the football. And of course, we're starting with the winner of the game, as I usually do with the Kansas City Chiefs. That wasn't a gimme in this game as much as the line would have had you believe before the game. I don't think that line was unfair necessarily the way that the Broncos had played up until this point. But certainly the Broncos were able to keep this closer and were able to show us something a week after they got their coach fired. So definitely kudos to them. And we're going to get into what was different about the Broncos attack and what they can do going forward. But for the Chiefs, you don't like that you weren't able to pull away from the Denver Broncos as poorly as they had played this season. But I still think that you have to give yourself some credit for being able to gut out this win and get the job done in the end. I still think that some of the lulls that the Chiefs are having at times on offense can be a problem. But with everything that had gone on into the game, it was good for the Chiefs to be able to pull off the comeback. Even though you don't like that you had to come back. You want your team to have faced adversity in the regular season so that they're prepared for it when you hit the postseason. So having some ups and downs, having some comeback wins, and being able to stave off a team that potentially shouldn't have been in the game with you according to the line and according to the way I think everybody felt going into that game, that's a plus. When it comes playoff time, even though you want your team to be looking like a juggernaut all the time and just running through teams, that's not typically how the NFL goes. This isn't college football, where you're going to have some games, where you're playing some directional school. You're playing a divisional opponent that sees you twice every year. They're always a little bit more prepared for what you do. So that's one of the reasons you want to be a little wary of big lines when it comes to divisional matchups. Because a lot of times the lesser team is able to either disrupt the offense or maybe they have a little bit more insight into what it takes to stop them. Because they've studied that team over and over again, year after year. It's not like you're playing across the conferences and you're only going to see that team every so often. It's just different. And I knew going into watching this film that I was going to need to come up with reasons why the Chiefs were down in this game and what happened to get them to this point. A big part of it is that the Broncos absolutely still have talent on defense. Justin Simmons made a big play to pick Patrick Mahomes in the end zone. That was a beautiful play by him that kept the Chiefs out of the end zone early. I think if the Chiefs would have been able to get up and put pressure on the Broncos, that's when you're going to get your 15 point win, because I don't think the Broncos have the downfield passing chops to throw themselves back into games a lot right now. So having your defense come up with big plays, making a couple of big special teams plays as well, that could darius Tony fumble to get the ball back was a killer. And then also, I point pretty heavily as far as the points go, with the Broncos scoring that last touchdown to get it close, there was a hands to the face penalty that got the Broncos the ball back when they had been stopped on fourth and seven. And then when you're able to put the defense right back on the field like they did with the Tony fumble and with that play right there. That is really deflating. And more oftentimes than not, you're going to see the other team score right after that because the defense wasn't ready to go back on the field, and they're also a little more tired. It's less tiring to play offense than it is defense, in my opinion. Maybe not every position, but that's why you see a lot of teams cycling in defensive players throughout the game, because pass rushing is harder than pass blocking from a physical standpoint. It may be harder from a technique standpoint to take on all the different rushers and all the different moves and stuff, but as far as a physical effort, rushing the passer is exhausting. So that's why you need multiple guys out there that can rush the passer, because there's going to be times where not all your best pass rushers are in their peak physical condition right at that second. Stamina wise, the Denver defense did a decent job of moving Patrick around and making him scramble a bit, and of course, he was able to play some backyard football there and get the job done in those moments because he is one of the best improvisational passers and playmakers in the NFL. There's just no doubt about it. One of those plays did lead to the Justin Simmons interception like we talked about. But ultimately, I will say before we get to the Broncos, they definitely need more pass rush. And their strength right now is their ability to COVID And they did do a good job of that, holding the Chiefs to a lull in the third quarter especially. And while I do think that Patrick carved them up a little bit and made them look bad at times, they still did a pretty good effort to COVID things up overall. And I think with some improvements in personnel and some improvements in the past rush, that Denver could have an even more dominating defense. Don't forget, they traded their best pass rusher or who was supposed to be their best pass rusher when they traded Bradley Chubb in this season. So put that together with some solid coverage, and I think you really have something here. Having Patrick's or Tan to throw over the top of that defense also really makes things go. So credit them for playing Patrick tough and making him and the offense earn everything with solid play calling and solid play design. Just the things you're able to do with Patrick and not only his physical tools, but now his know how, and just his completely professional quarterback play at every step. The off platform throws and the pitches and the rushing around and the big time throws get the pub, and that's well deserved, but Patrick is really that good. And you can tell that the downgrade from Tyreek to Marquez Valdez Scantling has affected the offense in a negative way because marquez just isn't quite same guy or even close to the same guy, really. That Tyrique is at the point of catch. That's what makes Tyreek different from other speed guys, is he's also really good for someone of his size to go up and get the ball and make plays on the ball. Marquez just isn't quite as coordinated despite having superior size. The speed is similar. Tyreek has better acceleration and whatnot, but the long speed is similar. But the Chiefs have done a good job of spreading things around. So you can't key in on any one guy, and they don't rely too much on MVS necessarily, or any one guy, because leaning on him to be a possession guy would be a mistake, and you have other guys to spread the ball around to. I'm interested in seeing Cadarius Tony get some more snaps. I love the way it looks with the ball in his hand, but he's still kind of new to the offense, even though he's had time to work his way in, and he had the fumble, so that's part of it. But to my point, it's good to see him out there, and I'd like to see him out there more. Same thing with Sky Moore, even though he's even less polished as a receiver than the rest of them. He hurt his hand in this game, though, so that's something to watch for to see if he can get back out there. The other injury to watch is Joe Thuny re injured his ankle. No news has come out about how serious it is to this point yet, as I'm recording Monday morning, but that's definitely something to watch. The Chief offensive line has seemed to gel a bit, maybe not to the level that I hoped when they first put it together. I was really hoping this would be a big time strength of the team and be a domineering unit. But it's gotten a lot better as the season has gone on, and you really need Thuni in there at left guard to make that happen and make that unit full. Offensive line is something that requires a little bit more continuity than the other units on the football field. It just does. You need to be in sync. Quarterback and wide receivers, don't get me wrong, but the offensive line kind of has to move as one, whether it's pass blocking, you have to all know your assignments and pick up guys and push guys off to one guy and be able to deal with the stunts and twists and blitzes and everything. And then on the running side, everything has to line up, and everybody has to get a hat on a hat to make these holes and make these running plays work. So to miss even one guy can cause a big problem, especially when he's one of your best guys. So definitely something to worry about. But that's every team at this point and really I spend nearly every game just watching who's going down during those games because that's going to make a big difference going forward. I mean, Nick Alleghetti didn't come in and absolutely **** the bed necessarily, but you don't want your line to have a Waldo. That means a team can look for that guy and try to set him up in situations versus their best pass rushers or someone that can dominate them strength wise. Luckily, when it comes to thuni, it doesn't seem like he broke anything just off of the first reports, but still, it's something they're going to have to monitor and just underscores how good it could be if the Chiefs were able to get the first pick, were able to get the first seed in the playoffs. I'm recording this on Monday, so we don't know the results of the Bingles versus Bills game, which of course, if Buffalo were to lose, that could put the Chiefs in the driver's seat for getting that first seed, which of course is the only seed now that gets to buy week. It used to be two, which made things a little less exciting and made the contenders not play as hard. When it came down to it, there was always that one team that was already kind of clinched and then it would come down to the second seat. But this gives us more interesting games in the last week, which is something that we definitely need. And of course, it gives us the additional playoff game on both sides, which leads to one of the best weekends in football. Wild card weekend is incredible still, and we'll see if the Chiefs are able to keep this going and are able to clinch that seed at some point. The other thing I don't want to gloss over before I move on to the Broncos here is how good it is to see Jeric McKinnon and Isaiah Pacheco serve as the two headed monster of the Chiefs backfield. I think both of them are a better fit than Clyde Edwards lair for the way that the Chiefs do things. Somebody just needs to be able to take advantage of the space that Patrick Mahomes and his arm, along with Kelsey and the receivers create. You have to COVID the Chiefs in every part of the field because Patrick is able to touch every part of the field with his arm with such conviction and with such ease, whether he's on platform or not. So to have running backs that are capable of taking advantage of that space, that's provided Jared McKinnon with the check downs from Patrick and then Isaiah Pacheco being able to run it between the tackles and then do a little bit of everything else, that just provides so many more options for Patrick. And the check downs, especially at the goal line, have been really crucial for the Chiefs getting over these different humps that they've been getting into, and with the line being a strength at this point. Like I had said, given the health of Duny and everybody else on there, that's something that they haven't had going into the playoffs in previous seasons. They haven't been able to take advantage of that space that teams have been providing them by playing back with their safety. That gives you more room to operate in the short parts of the field in between Isaiah Pacheco, Jared McKinnon, and then you throw Tony and then possibly getting back Nicole Hardman two to that mix. And that's a lot of explosion around Patrick. And Patrick can just kind of point guard. He doesn't have to go two on two with anybody necessarily. And then you've got somebody that you're capable of going two on two with at any given time. And Travis Kelsey, that gives him the security blanket and some explosion. Then you just need some contributions from everywhere else, which is absolutely what their contribution guys are capable of giving them. And it's been a curvy line for Jared McKinnon to get here with the injuries and with the moving around teams and everything. So it's a credit to him for staying with it and then finally finding himself in a situation that takes advantage of his skills. So it's a credit. I believed in him when he went to the San Francisco 49 ers. I drafted him thinking he could be their number one back that, you know, is super valuable in fantasy. And now to see him some years later finally putting it all together, good for him. On the Denver Broncos side, obviously, any sort of good game or solid play coming out of firing your head coach after the type of year that you've had has to feel at least a little bit good. I know for a fact there's been a lot of angst in the Denver Broncos scene stemming back basically from the minute they saw Russell Wilson play. There's been a lot of angst from these fans that have been clamoring for a hero for so long at the quarterback position that I have to think that everybody, when they saw that they traded for Russell Wilson and brought him on board. There's been all kinds of hating both player and otherwise, when it comes to Russell and the Broncos this season. And I don't think that this performance made me feel like Russell Wilson is all the way back and that you shouldn't feel any sort of anxiety going in the next season when it comes to what you're going to get out of Russell for what you're paying him. And I hate to say it, but you're locked in at this point. There's no cutting him, there's no dealing with all that going into next season or probably the next season or probably the next season. So really firing Nathaniel Hackett and trying to find a coach that can get more out of Russell in this situation was always going to be the move and was really the only choice that the Denver Broncos had to try and move forward with. So to see the team kind of play better, play with a little bit more fire and just seemingly having weeded out some of the problems in the special team area and then just having everything overall look a little bit more continuously and smarter as far as the game plan goes, definitely has to make you feel a little bit better. I will say that I don't want to put too much into the coaching staff looking better or looking like or saying that this is what we expected it to look like, this is what we're going to move forward with. The offense still felt pretty flat. They still weren't able to get the vertical passing game going very well, even though that's a point of contention with Denver Bronco fans right now with that Courtland Sutton pass interference call, that would have been a big, deep play and a lot of the depth has been taken out of the Broncos receiving situation. Tim Patrick before the season and then just inconsistent play from the third and fourth receivers after that, including inconsistent play from Jerry Judy and Cortland Sutton as well. It hasn't been in sync for the entirety of the season. It looked a little bit more in sync today. Everything seemed to flow a little bit better with the heavier sets and getting the running game going. There's also an interesting little triple option thing they had going throughout the game, kind of in a more Lamar and the Ravens type role as well. And while that was fun and stuff, I don't want to get too excited about that because they did a lot of things that they hadn't been doing going into this game. That part is encouraging, but it also means that the Chiefs were caught up a little bit more by surprise by a lot of that stuff than you would normally be from a division opponent going into Week 17. So you got a little bump by the Chiefs being surprised by that. If this was six games into what they were doing today and teams had lots of game tape to go in there and look at this, I think there'd be a lot more of the similar results to what they had been getting in the season versus what they got today. However, just schematically it did make a little bit more sense to kind of bring in some bigger people, bring on Oakleybanon who has a lot of talent and just hadn't been seeing the field. It had like five snaps since they brought him out of the lineup. And then, of course, in other games next season, you have Greg Dolchus as well, who I really like and I think really brings something to the tight end position. So maybe this is something to build on and maybe this gives you a little bit better game plan. If you're the next coach on kind of what you'd want to do to get more success out of this team, because clearly the three wide Nathaniel Hackett stuff that they were stubbornly locked into was not the way to go. And while, like I said, it wasn't the best thing I've ever seen, and I didn't feel like they opened things up to the point where I'm like, hey, we need to hire this staff to be the staff going forward. It still was encouraging, and everything just seemed to make a little bit more sense. And then you could rely more on the play action to get the ball out and not be rushed unmercifully. Because that's the other problem with this whole situation we talked about with the Chiefs. The line being an advantage and having the continuity and everything to make all this different stuff work, and then also having the backs to take advantage of that. And while I like Latavius Murray and Chase Edmonds, let's not forget that we were supposed to get a lot more out of this running back situation going into the season with Givante. And if Melvin had been up to the level that he had been at in previous years, then you would have had a lot better running situation to work with. So that went against you in a big way if you're the Broncos. And then the line, as I was alluding to, has been a mess this season. And in this game, Russell was under constant pressure. And while he was able to get away from some of that, when you're not super in sync with your downfield passing game, you're not able to take advantage of those Russell plays with as much consistency as you would need to for this team to be successful. And of course, losing your best lineman is really tough. Garrett Bowles hadn't been as good as I think as he had been in the previous season, but still, having him would have settled things down a lot. And then you consider that really your only keeper lineman at this point that you played in this game is Quinn Minera. He's okay, but he's not great. Glasgow is an issue that wasn't who you plan to start this year. And maybe cushionberry is better, but that's the position you need to look at. Billy Turner at right tackle is a disaster. He cannot be your guy at right tackle. Fleming is decent, and maybe he can be a right tackle, but he's more of a swing tackle, and he's done an admirable job of filling in at times, but he's damned near their best lineman at this point. And when you're playing teams that have pass rush like you are in the AFC West, that's a big problem. Max Crosby tearing you apart. Chris Jones, Frank Clark, Carlos Dunlap, Carl Optus, they're all tearing you apart and getting to Russell, and he can't handle that all the stupid time. He's not fun running right now. He's not breaking the pocket and getting it downfield. He's running for his life right now, and he's been running for his life. And they finally kind of gave him a little extra protection and gave him some more tight ends and some heavier sets and they were able to get the run going. But if you don't have plus offensive linemen around him, then it's going to be a bad situation overall because you're not going to be able to get that run help. You're not going to be able to get that protection. And Russ is going to need that on an increasing basis going forward, not a decreasing basis. He's not getting younger at this point. So you're going to have to invest in the line. You don't have your first round picks to do so, so you're going to have to hit on some draft picks. You're going to have to sign some guys to make up for this offensive line because I don't even think that I like Dalton Reisner either. There's three offensive linemen at a minimum on the field at all given times, and sometimes it's four, depending on how you feel about Glasgow at a given time. And like I said, it's not like Quinn is just blowing the roof off. So super below average offensive line not going to get the job done going forward. And of course, you got to have Giovante back too. That's going to be a huge part of this because you have talent around the field. Judy and Courtland might be a little inconsistent and that's just kind of piled on to everything else we have going here. But I also don't think that this is completely Russell's fault or completely a situation that can't absolutely be salvaged here. I think there's something that you can salvage from all this, but it's going to be super on who the Broncos hire at this point. The coach is going to make all the difference. I saw them talking about Sean Payton. I don't know if you have the draft capital to trade for him because you have to trade for him to get it done, but that's the kind of thing that we're talking about. That's the kind of move that they would need to make. I was always really interested in what Russell would look like with Sean Payton because there's a lot of Drew breeze to what Russell's game used to look like when he was at his best at Seattle. And I think Sean Payton is the kind of guy that could bring his system in there and get something out of that and make this look good. But once again, do you have the draft capital to do that? Is that going to be the most attractive job for Sean Payton? Because he's going to have his pick of the litter here when this comes up. So I don't think that the Justin Herbert job is going to be open now that they've made the playoffs, but Cowboys could be there, depending on how bad the playoff losses. If it does happen here, hopefully they win the Super Bowl, because I'm a Cowboys fan, admittedly, but that could be on the table. I think I'd rather take that job the way everything is looked, and especially if you're Sean Payton who wants to live in Texas. But that's the kind of splashy thing that you need here because you've locked yourself in to win now with Russell at this point. So you have to go for it no matter what. No matter what. You're in for a penny, you're in for a pound. And I know it's been this constant heartburn this season to see just how little they've gotten out of this, but I also don't think that it's just all Russ. It's a bunch of different things coming together and cratering this offense. And while I don't think Russ is blameless by any means, any means, he's lost a bit here, and he might not be able to elevate a team in the same way he was able to during his absolute prime, but I also think this was a complete s show. As far as this coaching goes. I haven't liked the offense at all. I think it's unimaginative. It was unimaginative when Nathaniel Hackett was there and he didn't adjust at all, whether that was in the game or whether that was in the season to what he had. Because some coaches can kind of mold themselves into whatever personnel they have. Like Brian Dable has really molded that Giants team and made them into something that they weren't before. Right? What would have happened if the Broncos make that hiring instead of this one? I think that Russell is better than Daniel Jones, or at least he was. I just have a hard time believing that Russell has cratered to this point only based on his ability. I just think this is a nightmare season and really you don't have any choice, so you might as well take some solace that it looked a little better today. Well, that's what I've got for this game. I appreciate your time. Just game one. We're definitely going to get to four, hopefully five or six. That's always the goal. But life has been pretty crazy recently, so we're going to do what we can. Should be plenty of videos. There's lots of good plays from this game and other ones to get out there for that, so look for that. I think Patrick Mahomes video is definitely on the way here. He had plenty of plays that I want to go back and look at and talk about, so look for that. Appreciate your time. Download the podcast if you haven't already. Like and subscribe is also important for my YouTube listeners and have a great rest of your day. Bye.