- 17 hours ago
Mitch Holthus joins 96.5 The Fan in-studio to break down the Chiefs' win over the Jets, Chris Jones’ dominant sacks, and Justin Fields' sneak.
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00:00We're very happy right now to be joined in studio by Mitch Holtis, voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
00:06Mitch, what a beautiful day outside.
00:09You know what? Let's start with this.
00:11I've never asked you this question, but I'm sure by now you've seen the video
00:14where Travis and Taylor were leaving the stadium in that old school Cadillac.
00:19I don't know if you've seen the video or not.
00:20And I was just saying one of the reasons I think that video resonates
00:24is because in every man, we all got a dream for that old school car.
00:28Maybe you're a Corvette guy. Maybe you're a Cadillac guy.
00:31But everybody has an old school car.
00:34What's the Mitch Holtis old school car that you just wanted when you were a kid?
00:40Mustang convertible, right?
00:43Actually, my aunt, my aunt who was, I remember as a little kid,
00:48she had a Mustang convertible. It's like the coolest thing ever.
00:51And she would take us for rides in it.
00:54And I thought, I got to have me one of these.
00:55I might have been like second grade or something.
00:59So, yeah, there we go. Mustang convertible.
01:01How many is Trav got, though? He's got like dozens.
01:04But that one, though, just, that's why I think it resonates.
01:07Like, if you see them two getting into a black Escalade or something
01:11and getting driven offshore, it's going to go viral.
01:13It's them two.
01:13But I think it's just, you're the football player.
01:16You got the pop star riding shotgun.
01:18It's the old school Cadillac.
01:20You're waving. It's a beautiful fall day.
01:22That's a nice Sunday car.
01:23Pretty much, yeah.
01:26And a good Sunday to go for the ride.
01:28But, yeah, he's got a bunch.
01:30That's just kind of where he puts them, right?
01:33Because we knew where he used to have them.
01:34I think he moved them all.
01:35And I think they're in the caves somewhere.
01:37But he's got a few now.
01:39So, there's a lot I want to get your opinion on.
01:41Good and, I guess, bad, so to speak.
01:43But I at least want to start here.
01:44It just felt really good to watch the Chiefs dominate an opponent.
01:48That didn't really happen a whole lot last year.
01:51I would say two years ago, it was a lot of last-second weird games in the fourth quarter
01:57where you felt like the Chiefs pulled it out of the fire.
02:00I mean, basically, after the Harrison Bucker missed field goal,
02:03the Chiefs just dominated the final 30 minutes of the game.
02:05We're heading into the fourth quarter.
02:07Somebody like you, you got to start telling stories to keep people engaged.
02:11You know how baseball announcers are.
02:12It just felt good for the weather to be good.
02:15And the Chiefs handled one of the worst teams in the league.
02:18It ain't happened much down through the years.
02:22But, yeah, it was kind of good to see it all kind of work together.
02:25Now, at halftime, it was a little wonky.
02:28But not quite as good as week one when you get a 21-point win over the Broncos to win
02:3431-10.
02:35But this one, and to see things kind of snap together,
02:39that's why I was saying, it was after I talked to you Monday, but the week was different.
02:44Like, the week after the Seattle game was kind of, oh, my gosh, just got handled,
02:49and I got to try to figure out a way to beat the Broncos.
02:51But after the Bronco game flying home, you kind of felt like something was starting to happen.
02:58And that's what happened yesterday in the second half.
03:01Because the run game got going, there were three double-digit runs that were a thing of beauty.
03:05The screen pass, I asked Coach Reed tonight, that should be at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum on display.
03:11Right?
03:12And then, but you look at the runs to start, the first-down runs in the third quarter,
03:20that might be as good as Kingsley Suamati has played since he's been a chief.
03:26And Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, they were getting after it.
03:29And so, to see that happen, and then the sacks come, strategic sacks, not just, oh, they got some sacks.
03:35They came at the right time.
03:36So, it was all good to see that.
03:38I don't have the answer for this.
03:39I don't know if you have the answer.
03:40I don't know if anyone does.
03:40We've got to see more of it going.
03:42I wonder if that's the game that kind of gets Chris going.
03:45I know he said last week, I don't care about stats.
03:47And he said this week that he lied.
03:49I mean, you're a $44 million player.
03:51They're paying you to be a disruptor, to bat down passes, to get to the quarterback, to force pressures, to
03:56hit the quarterback.
03:57Like, that's what they're paying you for.
03:59I wonder if those two sacks kind of getting that monkey off your back a little bit,
04:03especially as this team has a couple of ramp-up games before the schedule really gets going there, about that
04:09five, six-week stretch.
04:10I wonder if yesterday is that positive momentum to kind of get the ball rolling.
04:14And I'll say this, and I didn't realize this until I reviewed the video this morning, because when you're doing
04:19the play-by-play, you've got to follow the ball.
04:22But I think a precursor to the sacks was how disruptive he was on those third-down stops.
04:28You go back, they stopped him at the 5, the 30, the 27, the 36, and the 22.
04:33Four field goals and a missed field goal.
04:35Any one of those as a touchdown, it could have been a different game.
04:38Now, he was so disruptive on those third-down plays, even before his sacks happened.
04:44And I just felt like, now that I look back, that he was kind of just revving up to the
04:51point to get those two giant sacks.
04:53I did ask him after the game, you remember in the 22 AFC Championship game, he moved Carlos Dunlap inside?
04:59He said, you go in here, because I'm going to go.
05:01Actually, it was Akeem Adeneji, the guy that played at KU.
05:05But he wanted to whip him on the outside and get to Burrow.
05:08I go, did you do that again in that last sack?
05:09Because he came from the outside.
05:10He goes, yeah, kind of, maybe.
05:12He says, I think Tranquil was supposed to be out there in one of the, you know, kind of funky
05:17things that Spags likes to do and move guys around.
05:21So he moved outside, and he came around.
05:23It looked like Derek Thomas.
05:24He was so fast and so big around, had to get that sack.
05:28And then now he's second all-time in Chiefs history behind the late Derek Thomas.
05:32But I think, yeah, he started to feel a little bit like an NBA player hitting some shots.
05:37But it was prior to the sacks that he got going.
05:40Right now, we're joined in studio by Mitch Holtz, his voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
05:43His appearance on the show is brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.
05:47Discover the benefit of the blue and also by Ryan Lawn and Tree.
05:50They're pros to take care of your outdoor space.
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05:58All right, Mitch, there's a lot to get into.
06:00I would say, again, both good and bad.
06:02And let's start with the quarterback sneak.
06:04It was such a conversation last week.
06:07They then run the quarterback sneak this week.
06:10What was your read on the play?
06:12Why do you think the play wasn't successful?
06:16Well, I looked at it.
06:18It's a matter I think probably feels looking back at it would have maybe handled it differently.
06:26It looked like a little bit of a Josh Allen quarterback sneak where he wanted to go left.
06:30He'll dive over it almost the B gap.
06:32That's exaggerating.
06:33But that's kind of what Justin did.
06:35And then he had the ball where it could have been punched out.
06:39So I think he probably, if he had overs, would go straight ahead and just cradle the ball and give
06:43it a shot.
06:44But I think they'll keep working on it.
06:48It was hard not to start chuckling like, now what are we going to talk about all week in the
06:52news conferences?
06:53But you remember when Andy said, I think one of his answers, I wasn't there, but he said, yeah, we're
06:58going to run that first play.
07:00And when you see fields run out there, it's usually to set up a single wing play.
07:04And they had it ready to go at the goal line again yesterday.
07:08But I thought, ooh, they're going to run a single wing play here on a fourth down at that.
07:12But to sneak it was, the way the game turned out, it's okay to chuckle.
07:17But at the time, like, oh my goodness.
07:19But you've got to give credit to the defense.
07:21It's a sudden change that deep in your own territory after the other team just had the ball for eight
07:25minutes and 13 seconds.
07:27That's tough on a defense.
07:28And for them to dig in and hold it to just three was big.
07:31My fear is that I don't want the failed quarterback sneak to deter them from doing it again.
07:37It's 15 years.
07:38It'll be 10 more years.
07:39That's what I'm saying.
07:40Because you and I both know if it had worked, it would have been everybody saying, see, see, we told
07:45you, we told you, run the sneak.
07:47Now that it failed, hey, we tried it.
07:49It didn't work.
07:49So now we go back to what it is.
07:51I mean, nobody came to the conclusion that a quarterback sneak is 100%.
07:55It's at 83%.
07:57Sometimes it's going to fail.
07:59Sometimes you work really hard at something and you don't achieve your goal.
08:02That doesn't mean you shouldn't work hard the next time.
08:04So I want them to run the quarterback sneak again.
08:06I do fear that they're done running it for the rest of the 2026 season.
08:10Well, it could be 2030 or bring in the new stadium at 31.
08:14First play.
08:15It's going to be a quarterback sneak.
08:16First play.
08:16Just call it the sneak.
08:17It'll be until that long.
08:19No, I could.
08:20I figured we might see it again.
08:22But, you know, some teams get the whole, it feels like the Bills kind of have it down.
08:26But I think they do it a lot.
08:28Um, and then the whole tush push thing, like the Eagles had it as an art form, but you've
08:34got to block it.
08:34You got to block a difference.
08:36You got to block it low.
08:37Those defensive linemen are going to kind of dive into the gap.
08:40You got to try to get as low as you can to get some leverage.
08:43And then, man, you can't mess around with it.
08:46Many times you got to go straight ahead.
08:48You just don't want a linebacker sitting there waiting for you.
08:50I just don't think it's part of their culture.
08:52Like I made the analogy earlier.
08:53You're a K-State guy, like for 15, 20 years, Bill Snyder teams had a certain DNA and a certain
09:00culture.
09:00This is what we do.
09:02I think the Chiefs have established what they do.
09:04I just don't know if it's always what fans want.
09:06When they ran that play to Travis Kelsey at the goal line, the little out, that's the
09:10diamond.
09:11That's the Chiefs.
09:12That's the plays that I think Andy wants to run at the goal line.
09:15I just don't think they're a quarterback sneak, short yardage run kind of team.
09:19He's got three dozen goal line plays.
09:23And again, some of those are single wing, 1948 kind of plays.
09:27The diamond, it's a surprise.
09:31And he'll usually get up on the ball quick and snap it quick.
09:34I even thought in Denver, at the end of the game, they might have used the diamond.
09:39It's really hard to defend.
09:40You got Kelsey behind three guys in like a flying wedge kind of look.
09:44And the ball gets out there so fast.
09:45But usually they line up quick to do that in a quick count.
09:48But yeah, it's well executed.
09:50Right now, we're joined in studio by Mitch Holtz, his voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
09:53Let me give you a little bit of breaking news.
09:54Puka Nakua is heading to the IR with a knee sprain.
09:58That is courtesy of Sean McVay.
09:59So adjust your lineups accordingly.
10:02I'm trying to think, Nathan, can you look it up?
10:04Would that mean that he's out for the Chiefs game?
10:05I'm just trying to think weeks-wise what that would be.
10:08Because, well, it goes.
10:09It might be.
10:09It might be.
10:10It might be.
10:11Oh, yeah.
10:11Because you got Thursday, Thursday.
10:13No, we go this week.
10:14It'd be right at there.
10:15It'd be right at the, right at the.
10:16Yeah, so Puka Nakua heading to the injured reserve list.
10:18That is according to the coach of the Los Angeles.
10:21That would be the fourth game, though.
10:22That would be.
10:23So, yeah, he'd have to impress our game.
10:25Because it would go where they are.
10:26Chiefs have four games.
10:27So, I'm assuming it's four for the Rams as well.
10:29So, yeah.
10:30Chiefs have these two games.
10:31And then Buffalo, that's the third game.
10:32And then the Rams game.
10:33Yeah, it would be four games.
10:35He's out for the, yeah.
10:36Man, they're a little bit like JSN with him.
10:38With the Seahawks with JSN.
10:39He has so much of their offense right now.
10:42Not as much as JSN is for the Seahawks, but a lot for the Rams.
10:45Yeah, this is one of those things this year for the Rams.
10:47I mean, everything that kind of could go wrong.
10:49Basically, other than quarterback.
10:50Everything that could go wrong for them is going wrong.
10:52Donald has missed a little bit of time.
10:54Miles Garrett has missed a little bit of time.
10:55Puka Nakua has missed some time.
10:57Devontae Adams is out for a long time.
10:59Like, there was a lot of talk about that roster.
11:01Certainly understandable.
11:02They haven't had really all those guys on the same field at the same time this year.
11:06They're going to try to get Miles Garrett to play offense since they got him back.
11:09But it's kind of an L.A. thing.
11:10How about the – you know in the back of the minds of a lot of people in the NFL
11:14that they wanted this year's Super Bowl 61 to be the Chargers and the Rams.
11:20Now it looks like it could be the Clippers and the Lakers
11:22who put the Ducks and the Kings out there and skate around a little bit.
11:26But, yeah, that's – man, sometimes when it rains, it pours in this league.
11:29We've seen that on the other side last year as an example.
11:32Let me ask you this about Harrison Bucker.
11:35How much of it do you think is physical?
11:37How much of it do you think is mental at this point?
11:40Man, it's a really, really challenging and perplexing situation
11:46when you see a guy that has made so many not only long kicks but big kicks,
11:52the kicks we've forgotten about.
11:54We forget about the AFC Championship game in Baltimore
11:57when he hit the one right before the half,
11:59and that psychologically just hammered the Ravens.
12:03They were down 10 points, two scores for the first time all year.
12:06It's those kind of kicks.
12:08We know about the Super Bowl winners and the winner against Cincinnati.
12:12But when he is somewhat short, like the kick against Seattle,
12:17it feels like, man, did he use it all in the 69-yarder in the preseason?
12:22And then when he's missing, like pushing it to the right,
12:25that one feels like it's mental.
12:28What's interesting is this week, you know where he's from?
12:32Atlanta.
12:33That's his hometown.
12:34And he got put into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, I think, during the bye week.
12:38And so that makes the week for him challenging if the Chiefs decide to do something else.
12:45You just want him to come roaring back, especially in his hometown
12:50and where he played college football and now in their Hall of Fame
12:52to hit like five of them or extra points.
12:56Let's hope he hits six extra points, and that's 42 points.
12:59Yeah, I just wonder right now from a confidence standpoint,
13:03because I understand he missed the first one.
13:06Missing that second one and missing it in the exact same way,
13:10and just, you felt it.
13:12The boos that just rained down in that moment.
13:15Like it feels like one of those moments where, all right,
13:18you've got to make a decision here as an organization about what you want to do.
13:22And the Chiefs have stood behind Harrison for these last two weeks.
13:24But when you miss that kick at home where the weather is just absolutely ideal,
13:29you could not have asked for better weather in that situation.
13:31It feels like we are heading towards a Wednesday press conference.
13:35The very first question is, what's the plan with Harrison Bucker,
13:38and that being the talking point that drives the rest of the week?
13:40It's got to be a point of discussion.
13:42I understand it.
13:44Right now, though, the margin is so slight in this league,
13:47and in this division with Denver pulling another one out yesterday,
13:51man, they could have lost that game easily.
13:55But the margin is so slight, you don't want a game decided because of it.
14:00And I think that's where the discussion has to be.
14:03But Butt knows that too.
14:04And, again, he's hit so many ones to win a game and big games
14:09that it's not an easy decision.
14:13But I'm sure it's being discussed with a lot of things,
14:15including trying to maybe get a trade done.
14:17Yeah, that was the point that I made right before you got on the air
14:20is just, like, you've really been talking about these margins
14:22over the last couple of weeks.
14:23You're 100% right.
14:24I mean, there's five teams in the AFC that have a legitimate,
14:27I could be the best team in the AFC, we could be the one seed,
14:31and one missed kick, one fumble, one injury.
14:34That could be the difference in you being the two seed
14:36and being the six seed.
14:38Now, I'm not saying you can't go to the Super Bowl as the six seed,
14:41but your pathway is radically different if you're a wild card team
14:44as opposed to being one of the division winners.
14:47So you can't lose on those margins.
14:49And you follow this league, there's going to be another kick
14:52that either you need to make right before the half
14:54or a kick that it is a one-point game,
14:58and now you can make it a four-point game,
15:00so now they've got to score a touchdown.
15:02That's the margins that you've been talking about.
15:04Or you start to think about when you're in that no-man's land of plus 35
15:09to plus 40 where the 35 is a 53-yarder, the 40 is a 58-yarder,
15:17you start to rethink those.
15:19And, like, do you go for them?
15:20Do you set up a third-down play to try to make it four-down territory?
15:24And even if you keep but in a while or depending on the game
15:28and the situation, do you treat it differently and try to get a first down there
15:32or try to get closer?
15:34Because I heard Butts comments after the game.
15:36I didn't get to see him.
15:37But the fact that he is nailing those PATs, that's 33-yarder, right?
15:43And that's not – you're saying, well, that's not enough.
15:45No, but if he stays, do you rethink the ball at the 32?
15:50Or I've got third and six at the 38.
15:53Do I run it twice?
15:55Do I think about being in four-down territory at that spot
15:58instead of just always running him out here?
16:00At least until he maybe gets his confidence back
16:03that you're not running him out there for 55s or 56s.
16:06What do you make about Jacksonville?
16:08Because Jacksonville – I don't know if you saw this.
16:09They've been super.
16:10Oh, no.
16:11I don't know if you've seen the most recent training.
16:12They made a trade in the last, like, 30 minutes.
16:14I know.
16:15No, no, no.
16:16I've seen it.
16:17And they have shoved all the chips into the middle.
16:22And they've been to the AFC Championship game,
16:24but I don't think – they've never been to the Super Bowl.
16:26And I think with – they're starting to feel it a little bit.
16:29And then they look at their division.
16:30That division's a wreck.
16:33So, like, the Chiefs and Broncos are going to fight it out to win the AFC West.
16:38You've got the North.
16:39That's going to be a battle.
16:41The East looks like it's going to be the Bills.
16:43But they're going to cruise in that division now unless Houston starts to get ornery.
16:49But Jacksonville's thinking we're going to zoom in on a one-seed here.
16:53And so, yeah, I understand it and see that they're all in.
16:55And there's talent on that team.
16:57Yeah, I looked at it as a couple of different things.
16:59Number one is the point you made about the AFC, the margins, and it being wide open.
17:04Nobody in the AFC has really made a move.
17:06Kansas City hasn't made a move.
17:07Buffalo, Denver.
17:08So, the teams that you were expecting to go up against,
17:11I think they see it as we got a chance to just be better in this situation.
17:14You mentioned the division.
17:15They should win that division.
17:17It'd be an absolute shocker if they don't win that division.
17:19I also wonder, too, how much of their urgency is built into the fact that they're not going
17:24to have a typical home game next year.
17:26And just, like, wanting to do it right now for this fan base.
17:29You guys have stood by us.
17:30These games are going to be in Jacksonville.
17:32We owe it to you guys to push our chips in the middle of the table.
17:35I don't think we've ever seen a team be this great.
17:39They traded their first and their second round pick for next year.
17:43You might trade one of the two.
17:44You'd never see a team make both of those trades in the NFL.
17:47And you've got to have everybody sign off on it.
17:50The owner's got to sign off.
17:52Obviously, the GM's doing the deal.
17:55And this is a team, too, that's how many games have they played in England?
17:58I mean, they've had a home game every year, right, that they go over and play
18:01either in Wembley or to play in Tottenham.
18:05So, I think they're trying to show their fan base, yeah, we're going for it this year.
18:09And your point's well taken because they're going to play in Orlando some, right?
18:12Yeah.
18:12And they're going to play in Gainesville, wherever they're going to go.
18:15Valdosta, I don't know.
18:16But, yeah, I mean, they're going for it.
18:20And it's, you know, power to them.
18:23They've done some really bold moves here.
18:25Just the AFC's going to be tough all the way through.
18:27You're going to have a rock-hard seven seed in the AFC.
18:30Am I crazy in – I'm not going to pick against the Chiefs these next two weeks.
18:35But I think Atlanta is just kind of squirrely enough offensively that, like, one of these three games is going
18:41to be close.
18:42I don't see the Chiefs blowing three teams out consecutive in the NFL.
18:46Somebody just keeps it close.
18:48You turn the ball over.
18:49Something happens.
18:51Atlanta can score enough.
18:53They're at home.
18:54Maybe you look past them a little bit.
18:57Atlanta worries me a little bit.
18:59And the only thing that scares me about the Arizona game is the idea of a trap game.
19:03It's the same week as that game against Buffalo.
19:06You've got that Sunday, Thursday.
19:08It's Thanksgiving time.
19:10You've got people coming in.
19:12Both games scare me for different reasons, even though I'm picking the Chiefs to win both games.
19:17Atlanta, and I've been studying for a couple weeks, kept an eye on that game yesterday.
19:23Man, they're the weirdest team right now in the National Football League.
19:27When you're San Francisco's only loss, that gets your attention.
19:32And Michael Penix, Jr. is just all over the map.
19:36He had a – what was his quarterback rating?
19:39138, I think, against San Francisco.
19:41His rating against Tampa Bay was 12, 12.0.
19:45That was like my ACT score, right?
19:48I mean, he gets three touchdowns, no picks, to beat San Francisco.
19:53He throws no touchdowns, four picks, and Tampa Bay beats them without completing a pass.
19:59That's hard to do in the NFL.
20:02So what are you getting here?
20:03Now, you know you're going to get Bajon Robinson, and he's outstanding, not just as a runner,
20:09but as a receiver.
20:10People forget last year you had almost 900 yards receiving or right about that spot.
20:14So you've got to account for him all over the field.
20:17Now, losing Brian Robinson, Jr. to IR hurt them because that was a pretty good one-two punch.
20:22That felt a little bit like K-9 and Emmitt Johnson.
20:25But Kyle Pitch, Jr., you look at their receiving core.
20:29I mean, this is a team that's just dangerous.
20:32But what are they doing?
20:33They trade Jesse Bates III.
20:35So you're trying to get in their head a little bit, and what are they thinking?
20:38Now, they could challenge in that – somebody's going to win that division.
20:42And the Falcons go 8-9 every year.
20:44They've been 8-9, 8-9, 8-9, 7-10, 7-10.
20:48That's their last five years.
20:49This year, you're like, hmm, 8-9 might win it.
20:51For sure.
20:52But then you trade Jesse Bates III.
20:53So on your way back from Spain.
20:56And the other thing is it's odd about this game for them.
20:59They don't get a bye week after their game in Spain.
21:02They have to play.
21:03Then they're bye week.
21:04So I don't know who – Kevin Stavansky made somebody mad.
21:07But as long as Bajon Robinson runs on the field and Drake London runs on the field
21:13and Kyle Pitts Jr. runs on the field, you're going to have to knock these guys out.
21:17What do you guys have coming for Chiefs Kingdom today?
21:19Your favorite player.
21:21Your favorite player will be at the Kingdom show tonight.
21:23This could be anybody.
21:24Who is this?
21:24No, it's your favorite player.
21:26Who is it?
21:27Nick Bolton.
21:27Nick Bolton, not M-I-Z.
21:29See?
21:29M-I-Z.
21:30Am I wrong?
21:31He's not my favorite, but I like Nick Bolton.
21:33And we had Texas and Mizzou in back-to-back weeks because we had Xavier Worthy last week.
21:37Don't even mention Texas to me.
21:39I don't even want to hear about him.
21:40I just had to bang it.
21:41That's a real touchy subject for me this weekend.
21:44Who's Mizzou got this week?
21:45It doesn't matter.
21:46At Georgia.
21:47I've got to find a player that follows Mizzou's schedule.
21:49Yeah, at Georgia.
21:50Anyway, no, Bolton will be there.
21:52And Bolton's been – actually, he's been incredible.
21:54In many ways, I think it's been his best year.
21:57When you look at what he's had to do –
22:00That forced fumble yesterday was impressive.
22:01It was impressive.
22:03But he's six in the league in tackles, and that's with one less game than everybody.
22:08But I think everybody in front of him at one's got nine games.
22:12So, Bolt will challenge again for the NFL – not record, but the lead in tackles.
22:16So, if he stays healthy, stay healthy, Bolt.
22:18That is Mitch Holtis joining us on the show today.
22:20Oh, 95th and Antioch, by the way.
22:21Hy-Vee.
22:22Got to go to 95th and Antioch.
22:23That is Mitch Holtis joining us on the show today.
22:25His appearance is brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.