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Chiefs Radio Network's Joshua Brisco checks in.
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00:00And now, digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider interview on KFH.
00:08And we welcome back in Joshua Briscoe.
00:13Thank you, Joshua, for being here.
00:15Our Chiefs Insider at JB Briscoe on X.
00:18Hear him on the Chiefs pre-halftime and post-game show.
00:22I have caught a lot of Joshua Briscoe the last couple weeks to two weeks.
00:26I've been driving during games, and especially at halftime.
00:30Appreciate all that hard work that you guys do.
00:32You can hear it each week, of course, over on 98.7 on the Odyssey family of networks here.
00:40Brady, I'm going to steal Brady's thunder, Josh, and ask, are the Chiefs back?
00:44He loves that question.
00:46Are they back?
00:47I want to know what you think about that.
00:50I guess it depends on who's asking.
00:53Not you or Brady, but, you know, if Eric Bien-Ami was asking me that question, I would say no,
01:00because I think that's the answer he would want me to say.
01:02If the Miami Dolphins were asking me that question, or if the rest of the AFC was asking me that
01:08question, if I was a defensive coordinator elsewhere in the league, I would say yes, because you are, once again,
01:16afraid to prep for the Chiefs.
01:18You're afraid to game plan for a version of this offense that has an easy button in Kenneth Walker, and
01:25now with Sunday Night Football in the rear view, that has explosive passing plays back in it again.
01:31One of the only negatives of Week 1 offensively was that there were, I think, what, 37 total yards to
01:37the wide receivers?
01:38Tyquan Thornton had more than that on his longest catch of the day, so I really do think that, particularly
01:45offensively, I'm sure we'll talk about the defense, ups and downs, and whatnot, but I think the Chiefs have some
01:51of that mystique right now that comes with being back.
01:56Quick follow.
01:57You mentioned Tyquan Thornton.
02:00I think he's better than Xavier Worthy.
02:02I just, 30 minutes ago, I was on 96.5 up here in Kansas City, and that was one of
02:09the first questions was, hey, who's wide receiver two?
02:11I think he's better.
02:12I think Tyquan Thornton is an awesome story, and I'm hedging my bets here.
02:18I think the Chiefs are still relying on Xavier Worthy to raise the ceiling of this offense, but if Tyquan
02:24Thornton, if he goes zero for zero and four for 86,
02:29every other week throughout the rest of the season, you would take that every time.
02:34I love Tyquan Thornton.
02:35And which guy, when he gets crushed over the middle, is going to hold onto the ball?
02:40That's the thing.
02:41He just wasn't ever, I don't think, really in his scouting report.
02:44The big plays we knew were a potential.
02:46You know, that's why he was drafted so highly, and you saw a little bit of it last year, of
02:49course,
02:49but Thornton needs to keep a, at minimum, legit wide receiver three role.
02:55He needs to be out there for 50 or 60% of the plays, which he was on Sunday night.
03:00I wonder if that tradeoff will happen between Worthy and Thornton at any point, but this,
03:07a shout out to Maddie Lane of KCSN, who's been on this for a little while.
03:10The Chiefs have really, through these first couple of weeks, they've drawn up some wide receiver one stuff for Xavier
03:17Worthy.
03:17He just hasn't been able to capitalize on it yet.
03:19So, if he does, this wide receiver room could be kind of frisky.
03:23If he doesn't, then I think Thornton ends up being even more important than we knew he was going to
03:28be for this offense this year.
03:30And, Joss, right now, the Chiefs have the number one seed in the AFC if the playoffs started today.
03:37They're the number one seed.
03:38Vikings aren't the number one seed right now on the NFC side, actually.
03:42Really?
03:43Yeah.
03:43Yeah.
03:44That's crazy.
03:46You know, Jacob and I were talking about this yesterday, where it just feels like, for the first time in
03:51a long time,
03:52especially compared to the last couple years, we've really been zeroed in on the defense
03:56because we haven't felt that confidence we used to have in the offense and feeling like, boy,
04:03it really feels like it's up to the defense for this team to succeed to make up for some issues
04:08on the offensive side.
04:09But now it feels like the old days where it's kind of like, as long as the defense holds a
04:15team around 25 points or below,
04:18we should feel fine, especially with the passing performance that we saw on Sunday night with the offense being balanced.
04:25Is that kind of your vibe as well, where it's just kind of like you're not as anxious about the
04:30defense this time around,
04:32like we have been the last couple of years because the offense feels so much better?
04:35Yeah, I think that's at least helping considering, you know, looking around and going, well, 30 points at the Colts.
04:41But didn't you just dominate the Broncos for 60 minutes and you needed 70 for Indy?
04:45I do think that I am not in any sort of like defensive panic mode now.
04:50But the thing to kind of combine all of this again, I guess I'm just going to hedge all day
04:54today, I suppose.
04:55But the thing about this team right now that is so exciting is that offensively, they have shown we have
05:01multiple ways that we can beat you.
05:03Defensively, to your point, you saw a really remarkable performance with great pass rushing in week one,
05:11and they've been essentially without monster delaying for two games now.
05:14And they just barely held on just enough against Indy.
05:19I'm not like necessarily singing the defense's praises from Sunday night football.
05:22But you look at the team overall, and it does feel like either side can help out the other side
05:28of the ball.
05:29It does feel like you could have a stuffy game offensively, and maybe that's a time when the pass rush
05:35just totally takes over on the other side.
05:37You can have a game like you did against the Colts, where the defense is on its heels a little
05:40bit too much.
05:41The Colts are in advantageous down and distance situations, and they're able to stay ahead of the sticks.
05:46But the offense can dig you out.
05:50I was going to say you have to be able to do that in the NFL.
05:52The Chiefs have won with more dominant places in one spot or the other.
05:57But that often, I think, goes back to having Patrick Mahomes.
06:00If you want to be sustainably excellent and win 13 or 14 games in the regular season and then make
06:07your playoff push,
06:07you just want to have as many ways to win as possible.
06:10And I think this Chiefs team has shown you they do have some diversity that way.
06:13Which defense is for real, Josh?
06:16Joshua Briscoe, Chiefs insider.
06:17The defense of week one that stifled the Broncos, sacked the quarterback three times, forced the turnovers,
06:25or the defense in week two that really couldn't get a stop until very, very late in the game.
06:31They made a couple of big plays, but otherwise just could not get off the field,
06:36which was a concern coming into the season.
06:38And I don't want to gloss over it.
06:40Some people are glossing over it because the offense looks so good.
06:43And I'm like, remember, hang on.
06:44Like, we were a little worried about the defense coming in, and they did not look good in week two.
06:49Well, if I can just go ahead and hedge my bet for the third time in this very young segment
06:53already.
06:53I would say they are both real, but I'm going to answer your question because it's a good question.
06:57I'll answer it in a more honest way, I think.
07:00The week two performance confirmed a lot of priors.
07:04Week two was our off-season conversation of do they have enough on the defensive line?
07:10Is LeJarius Sneed going to play every snap for this defense in 2026?
07:15Is Christian Fulton going to have a significant role?
07:19I think that Delane being out there whenever that happens, and that was all a little bit strange when he
07:23practiced.
07:24He was active.
07:25He didn't play kind of an emergency role.
07:26I don't know what your injury status has to be to be active but an emergency player.
07:31That happens sometimes, but it's always a little bit funny to me.
07:36LeJarius Sneed's been targeted a lot.
07:38He played so well in week one that I feel like the, oh, okay, LeJarius Sneed's just back from Tennessee
07:42and back from the beyond was exciting for the time that it lasted.
07:47But I do think that you could probably see the advantages of not putting him under a bullseye for so
07:53much of what the defense is going to do going forward.
07:55Noel Williams is great.
07:57Montserr Delane, I think, is going to be great.
07:59So however they manage the slot, I think, will be figured out.
08:01They've been doing it without Shamari Connor, which I do think still matters, even though Jaden Hicks played pretty darn
08:07well in week one and I'm guessing was probably responsible for a couple of the issues in the secondary in
08:12week two.
08:13But so much of that was Josh Downs, and he is such a specific kind of receiver who I thought
08:18was a little underrated coming into this game.
08:20I do think that you probably need to go back to tinkering with the slot position there a little bit,
08:26figure out how much Sneed is the best amount of LeJarius Sneed, both for him and for the team.
08:32The pass rush is the thing that I am the most shaken by after that performance because, you know, Spaggs
08:40said this last week, but like Daniel Jones is in a statue.
08:42He can move a little bit, but he is also Daniel Jones.
08:46Like I expected him to have a similar time to Bo Nix trying to read Spaggs' defense and navigate the
08:52pocket.
08:52Jones has much more experience.
08:54He's been playing longer.
08:54So, you know, they weren't catching him off guard as much as they were Bo Nix and then Davis Webb
08:59is the first time offensive coordinator.
09:00So I get all that.
09:02I think that's the one thing, though, where you had a couple of plays from R. Mason Thomas.
09:06You had a couple of plays from a few guys across the D-line, but it was so good against
09:10the Broncos.
09:11And it felt, and this is partially because of how quickly Jones was getting rid of the ball and you're
09:15getting some short completions, two downs out of a slot.
09:18You know, I think it was what was a third and 11 on the play when Karloftis jumped and they
09:22had third and six.
09:23And then right after that, it was a quick throw right to the marker.
09:26And, you know, okay, well, you know, if that was third and 11, that ball can't come out that fast.
09:29And then one of those guys probably gets there.
09:31So I think I am going to feed the optimist and say that what we saw in week one from
09:38a guy like R. Mason Thomas is going to continue this season.
09:42It's not going to be completely linear.
09:43You're going to have the ups and downs, especially for those young players.
09:47But I am certainly down a click.
09:51I've just been building my excitement for the offense through two weeks.
09:55I've receded a bit on what I think about how specifically the front four performed against Indy.
10:01And we knew linebacker was thin and then Cooper McDonald got hurt.
10:05And so Jack Cochran's playing more.
10:07Drew Tranquil and Nick Bolton, for all of their strengths, their athleticism is not what their calling card is.
10:12So, look, I'm glad the Broncos didn't try to run the ball more in week one and try to push
10:18that particular button.
10:20I think it's probably a mix of truths from both of these two weeks, though.
10:26Josh, we've always been talking the last couple of years about Travis Kelsey.
10:30And it's like, is he coming back for one more year?
10:33You know, how much does he have left in the tank?
10:35And it seems like he has plenty.
10:37And I just wonder how much the Kenneth Walker effect is helping out Travis Kelsey a little bit,
10:42especially when you consider that Walker, who we kind of wondered about this part of his game,
10:47because this isn't necessarily what we saw all the time in Seattle.
10:50But so far this season, Kenneth Walker already has nine catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
10:57It's just amazing how much he is really just opening up the offense and opening things up for Mahomes
11:03and probably taking a little bit of pressure off some guys like Travis Kelsey.
11:07Yeah, I think there's something to that, especially, you know, you think of that late third down play
11:11of the floater over the defender to Kenneth Walker.
11:14If you're in those situations last year or the year before or the roughly, you know,
11:19almost decade before that, that ball feels like it's almost telegraphed to Travis Kelsey.
11:23Not always, but that's certainly the first place you're looking.
11:25You go, OK, Mahomes is in a got to have it situation.
11:28Got to move the sticks.
11:30Look for 87 and both on the ground and to a lesser but still important extent through the air.
11:35And in situations like that, Patrick Mahomes has another player who can share the burden with him
11:41of who is going to be the go-to guy in these situations, who's going to take a little bit
11:46of what is expected in this offense.
11:48When Walker is electric on the ground, defenses, of course, have to respect that.
11:53But even in the passing game, when you have that opportunity to say,
11:56I have a couple of, you know, quote unquote, safety blankets or safety valves or whatever,
12:03like you have more ways that you can make Patrick Mahomes' life easier
12:08when his quarterbacking life has been pretty tough these last couple of seasons.
12:12It feels like it's always threading a needle.
12:13Got to be the perfect ball at the perfect time.
12:16Kenneth Walker can make you right when you are merely neutral.
12:20And Travis Kelsey can do that to a huge extent as well.
12:23To the beginning of that, of just him turning back the clock yet again.
12:27He has one of the, I assume one of the longest yak plays of his career in week one.
12:32And then goes nine for 101 and a tutty in week two.
12:36If you didn't know any better, you'd say, oh man, what year is that box score from?
12:40And I'm not sure you would have even gotten into the 2020s.
12:44It was awesome to see.
12:46He looks really, really strong this year.
12:49And I do think Brady's on to the Walker effect.
12:53Look, we talked about it.
12:54Play action Mahomes to Kelsey, who's stopping that even now.
12:57But I think philosophically, this is going to be fascinating.
13:01Eric Bien-Ami and Andy Reid are sitting there now with an offense that appears like it will be able
13:07to attack however it wants.
13:10I absolutely, though, still think their strength is their run game more than it is their pass game.
13:16In that first half, when the defense really struggled, Indianapolis controlled the clock, controlled the ball.
13:24Only six carries.
13:26And they were effective carries when he got them.
13:30Is the offense going to be able to not take the temptation, if nothing else, to help the defense and
13:38just say, let's control the clock?
13:40That's what they did against Denver.
13:42Now, Walker got there before the end of the game, right?
13:45He got to his 24.
13:47But, man, it took a little convincing.
13:50In the first half of game one, it took Mahomes looking at the sidelines saying, just run the ball.
13:57How hard is that going to be if the passing game really is good?
14:01The one sequence that feels nitpicky given the result, but in the moment, I cannot say that I was handling
14:09this with the most calm and professionalism of my life.
14:13That last drive, not the final, final drive of regulation, and the Chiefs had a very little bit of time
14:18to try to cover a lot of ground, but the last full possession before that, the last three plays were
14:23Mahomes incomplete on first and 10.
14:26Mahomes throws to Walker for three on second and 10.
14:29Mahomes incomplete on third and seven.
14:31You punt it to the Colts and you go, oh, no.
14:34If Indianapolis goes on an actual drive here, they can win this thing with the field goal and regulation.
14:39And that, to me, that was the first time this season that I thought, oh, no, no, no, no, not.
14:45These are old habits.
14:47These are forgetting how good Walker has been for you so far.
14:50This is getting just, it all takes us three plays.
14:53And really, like, you know, throwing the ball on third and seven wasn't a problem.
14:57So we could just really be nitpicking the first down play call.
15:01But when you are in those crunch moments, when every snap is so vital, when the clock is running down
15:07and you have a chance to win it in regulation or you have a chance to make a mistake and
15:11give it up in regulation, that, to me, was really the only time so far this season that I had
15:15a little bit of that fear.
15:17And then in overtime, they figured it out.
15:20And obviously not that they drove down the field and punched it in for six or won that easily in
15:25overtime.
15:26Three field goals in one overtime period has to have only happened a handful of times in NFL history, right?
15:31We have to, we got to find stats on that.
15:33But I do think it's going to work out.
15:36I do think that the enemy being on that level is going to be helpful.
15:40I think Andy Reid is well within his rights as an incredible offensive coach to want Patrick Mahomes to have
15:46the ball in his hand when the game counts.
15:48But I think even through two games, I think Walker has shown that he also deserves that trust to say,
15:53hey, you can also be a closer of a different sort and be completely foundational to this running back room
16:00or to this offense, I should say.
16:01And then you have Emmitt Johnson, who's going to have to take some carries to make sure Kenneth Walker gets
16:05to December and January and hopefully February.
16:08But I think Emmitt Johnson's looked pretty darn good in his limited work, too.
16:12Yeah.
16:14Yeah, Josh, on the defensive side of the ball, I want to talk a little bit about FAU and the
16:18strong start to the season he seems to be having as far as since he's been drafted.
16:23Actually, it seems like this is kind of the best start he's had.
16:25He's been been the guy on QB hits at the very least.
16:29He does have a sack.
16:31He does have a forced fumble.
16:33It seems like he's finally starting to kind of show why he was picked in the first round a few
16:38years back.
16:39Yeah, and I don't know how much of it goes.
16:41I think some guys, I think, I don't know if it was Cullen or Spag, somebody I think around training
16:45camp kind of like offhandedly mentioned that his hamstring that finally went on him last year had really been nagging
16:50on him for basically his entire NFL career.
16:53I don't have any further details and all that, so don't quote me, but I don't know how much he
16:58was, for lack of a better word, hamstrung by that through those first few years.
17:03And now it really does feel like the start of a contract year for Felix.
17:06It obviously literally is.
17:07But in terms of like, hey, can you and whatever your limited workload may be, we don't need you out
17:12there for 75% of the snaps.
17:14I'll see what he played actually on Sunday night, but being able, 45% of the snaps, that's great.
17:20You need rotational defensive linemen that can have some juice when they're out there.
17:24And I'd rather have Felix and Gelati, 29 and 28 snaps for those two.
17:29And R. Mason Thomas for 27.
17:31R. Mason Thomas has the highest ceiling of that group.
17:34I think he could be a really important player for many years to come, but I don't need any of
17:37those guys in the 60 or 70% range because there's a benefit to some freshness on the defensive line.
17:44The thing that Felix has done this year that we knew he'd done a teeny bit of, and it was
17:48starting to work on it in camp as well, it seemed.
17:50Having him rushing from the interior, which you think of as being a very different body type in that role
17:57usually, that has been really interesting.
17:59And it's something Charles Amenehu also did, not a defensive tackle body by any means, but a ton of length
18:05for Amenehu.
18:06His arms just went for days.
18:07But Felix being able to kind of find those matchups and to have a little bit too much length for
18:13a guard and being able to create some inside pressure is really, really intriguing.
18:18And I think it says very good things about what he and hopefully this whole line can do.
18:22Again, they didn't get the Daniel Jones quite quickly or quite often enough on Sunday night.
18:26But if this pass rush does restabilize, I think he's going to be a real part of it.
18:30It's the road trip.
18:31It's the noon game.
18:32It's all of those things that make this one interesting.
18:35We'll be listening along.
18:36Josh will have you pre-halftime post-game coverage on the Chiefs radio network on Sunday.
18:41Follow him at KCSN.
18:43Follow him on X at JB Briscoe.
18:45Our Chiefs insider, Josh, nicely done.
18:48Thank you very much.
18:48I got to set an alarm for Sunday.
18:50That's weird.
18:51It's going to be early.
18:52Thank you, Josh.