Chiefs Road to Three-Peat: Are Ravens the BIGGEST Threat? 🤔 (2024 Opponent Breakdown)

Kent Swanson and Matt Lane kick off their opponent breakdown series by taking a look at the Baltimore Ravens.
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hair looks great Kent don’t worry we’re not that late I’m wearing a hat the chief’s biggest Challenger to their three Pat just might be the Baltimore Ravens and they face them week one let’s talk about it this is casy Sports Network proudly presented by m priz bank it’s a lie regl edition of the KC lab presented by impr prise Bank member FDIC are incredible Partners impossible here at KC Sports Network we are incredibly thanful for them being day ones with us here at KC Sports Network any banking needs you might have whatsoever they are your go-to I am here with my go-to Matthew Lane Matthew how are we doing listen it’s G it’s going to be different here for for a couple ghosts you know Craig Craig is gone from this podcast but not forgotten by by this podcast and we are obligated to say he is he is great and he is doing fine he is okay everything is all right with Greg he’s just you know he’s got a lot going on so for the foreseeable future it is just Kint and I and uh you missed listen the food scale oh the food scale’s done isn’t it yep S T Smith T Smith says he misses Craig and the food scale already I you know listen I love Craig and I miss him but now that you just like double whammy Me by reminding me that the food scale is also gone I don’t know what we’re doing here wait wait can the food scale leave with Craig’s like re regularity on this show too like is that how this you sent a DM to me the other day already pitching ideas for next year’s food scale I leaned into the bit for one time and that this is how I’m repa uh one time um I do want to say something really quick uh Craig went out in the fashion that he would prefer to go out he said we’re going to do it at the end of the show we’re not going to let Craig we’re not going to let Maddie or Kent say anything about him we’re just going to close the show out and just leave it and I love it I kind of respect it I know exactly what he was doing I almost cried once Maddie remained indifferent the entire time as usual uh but I will say um we love Craig madley we are incredibly excited for him and his kind of next phase of life and it’s not that he’s going to be just absent from anything doing anymore it’s just that you’re probably not going to see him for a while and you’ll just kind of see him intermittently as you know as he’s able to pop in and say hi so I uh I told him we have to do a few three box shows uh in the next like year so like it’s not gonna just be when we need a replacement like he’ll be around from time to time but we are incredibly happy for Craig and uh you know I think it was he made the right choices for the right reasons and I’m very happy for him I don’t know if you have anything to say you probably don’t but make you anyway do I want to do a Craig scale where we do it based on his greatest accomplishments I think that is what next year’s roster scaling is going to be I’m GNA start working on that now at oh that’s perfect that there is no better way to honor Craig than inventing an entire scale to his greatness and using that to judge the Chiefs by what if Craig praise is just the third character on our show and we just us randomly praising him like he would despise it so so much like he would actively stop listening and that would be kind of funny I want him to listen so we should probably we should move on to some Chief’s talk you know we got it’s gonna be you know it’s gonna take Kent and I probably a little bit to find our feet you know we’re fine doing shows with one another but you know as you guys have said there’s tension here sometimes Kent hates me sometimes I love him too much and it just becomes a problem and so we’ll just have to see if we can figure this out long term with just the two of us but um you know we’ll be here I I will say um oh we do have some we have some stuff in the works for like how this show will look during the season 2 so we’re kind of working through some stuff to try to get this show you know it’ll look a little diff different during the season and we’re really excited about it and so you know uh there will be more about that as the you know as we get closer to the season but we are in Peak summer mode I was literally Maddie I was literally at the pool 5 minutes before the show started I was walking back from our from our neighborhood pool I’ve been there five times already and it’s only June 3rd I am going to try to live the pool this year I don’t you guys you guys you guys get out to the pool very much uh we have season passes to like the local water park so it’s not quite as big as like Oceans of Fun For those people in Kansas City but like you know a little smaller version we have season passes for that there is a neighborhood pool down the not down the street but like you know a mile or so away that we can go to from time to time it’s just you know with extra kids not being walking distance it’s not as frequent so we had an above ground pool but like you know one that you like had to clean and stuff for a while the past two years it finally bit the dust so uh you know we have a pond we also have a pond I send the kids out into a pond so that also happens you put them in the pond yes so where where do you where do you drink your where do you drink your gin and gin and tonics is it in the pond is it was it in the above ground pool do you drive a mile where do you go where do I I I get in the hammock or on my couch or on the front porch not like a a pool Jin and tonic guy I mean not when I’m just sitting around with my kids no okay well you know you never know uh anyways so if you’ve been watching uh the lab for I don’t know ever we’ve been doing this kind of every year I think that we’ve done this show uh we kind of go game by game and we look at the the matchups this team will the Chiefs will be playing go in order of the schedule uh we talk about various different things you know about the about the team uh kind of about the staff some of the changes that the roster has made for each of these teams that kind of stuff and so it’s our uh it’s our game preview series and we are starting with week one we are starting with the Baltimore Ravens Maddie what do we think the quality of this roster is uh and no don’t don’t get like you know muscle memory this isn’t on a food scale you can just go ahead and just just talk about the roster in its totality it’s okay oh I was because I was gonna say like Nebraska fresh fish was like what I was going with like Mahi from nebras no I’m kidding uh it’s a good roster I think there’s a little bit more turnover to this team though and we got to talk about you know guys that they are missing from last year to this year so we’ll we’ll talk about that in a minute but overall the roster is still very good I think there’s a little bit more uncertainty with this team than there has been in years past and I think even when we did this exercise last year I went on a big rant about how this isn’t the same Ravens team that we have gotten used to and well they weren’t but yet somehow they still had the best record in the AFC so they were a lot better the way it played out um throughout last season than I think this year but it’s a good roster obviously they have an MVP caliber player at quarterback that they add it they add Derrick Henry spoiler um they have Z flowers like they have a lot of good players on this roster I do think though this team has a few more holes than years past and they’re kind kind of desire to not bring in very many or high price free agents or to constantly cycle in young guys that they draft it’s a little bit catching up to them I don’t know if they have as many guys in the tank who just ready to step in and ready to roll because they don’t like to sign guys to Big second contracts they don’t like to bring in bigname free agents so I do think there’s a few more holes on this roster than there were last year and we’ll just kind of have to see if they did have young guys ready to step up or not yeah it’s it’s an interesting like talking a little bit about the turnover for this team so if you I think we talked about this when we were talking about the Ravens a little bit earlier in the summer but if they were eligible for more than four compensatory picks the Ravens would currently have seven compensatory picks that’s the amount of roster turnover they had no team other than I think I mean I think the Cowboys have lost five and it’s like not even close after that everybody else is three or less so you know the Ravens have lost a lot of players that um have been contributors than that have earned money elsewhere you’re talking about Patrick Queen javien Clowney Kevin zeitler Gino Stone John Simpson Ronald Darby Devin duvar Gus Edwards some of those guys are players that they hit on uh you know in the draft some of those guys are players that you know they’ve had under cost control for you know an extended period of time that that that are now walking out the door and I do think it’s a little bit interesting you’re right that I mean that’s an unprecedented like that’s a ridiculous amount I don’t know if there’s been very many other teams that have been able to achieve seven teams wanting you at a or seven you know players being wanted at a level that would warrant a compensatory pick like that’s really an impressive feat but this is also like like to to mti’s point this is kind of what they do this is how they do it this is their model they like they they love compensatory picks first off this is a team that really does like to churn and burn and accumulate more swings and more bites at the Apple and then draft all the players that social media likes with all of their picks like it is it is it is it is always like every year there is going to be two or three guys you that that the that the Ravens wind up taking that everybody else is like oh why is he still on the board oh of course he went of course he went to to to Baltimore this year TZ Walker in the fourth TJ Tampa in the fourth Prime examples of a couple of the guys that they started falling down the board a little bit and this and this team takes advantage of them but yeah I mean before I was say before we move on like just you’re talking about like yeah they have a lot of comp picks coming in and this is the this is how this team runs but then that means guys have to step up guys have to step up and replace the guys that get those comp picks and for this entire stretch uh since 2000 the Ravens have been great at finding guys that are ready to step up and they very well could again this year right I can’t sit here and say they won’t for sure but like when you’re looking down the Rost like is Kyle Venoy really about ready to replicate what last year was without Javon Clowney who was having a great season for them across from him is Ada daf o ready to finally take that step and be that star number one Edge rusher because they Clowney is now gone is David AJ like they have a handful of guys that need to step up to replace Clowny then you go to the back end and like okay Brandon Stevens is now playing a lot of extra reps because they’re missing some guys coming in or you flip it over to the offensive line Ben Cleveland Andrew Vorhees guys that were either too injured or unable to win starting jobs last year now have to start so it’s just they have a lot of roster spots where these guys were either not available or not good enough to start last year for that team and now they’re going to be expected again the Ravens are really good at this but at some point in time you might not hit that in offseason and if this is that year and then you look at some other questions that they have like you know there’s a chance that this is a slight step back from what they were last year in terms of roster talent and I think it’s valid and I I think it’s a valid argument to be made and by the way not only did they lose seven players that would have been eligible for the compensatory pick but they also had four that were non-free agent loss that got a little bit of money from other teams too so like they lost a lot of their role players a lot of you know contributors onto this team and I think it’s a I I do agree with you it’s a lot more than the norm which is I mean that’s it’s an absurd amount to let walk out the door and not even really try to replace they’re continuing to play that comp game and it’s for four it’s for three six round picks by the way it’s a fourth and three six round picks like that’s not life changing but F yeah I think the thing with with the Ravens is you know they got good contributions from this list of players but they they stumbled into a javian Clowney right and javian Clowney wound up having a career year goes out and gets paid $10 million so like you’re talking about losing the edge you know losing some of your one of your best not your best Edge rusher losing Kevin zitler an experienced guard Gino Stone a you know a a solid safety another interior offensive lineman and John Simpson like these are these are pieces and some of the value pieces that they’ve lost played well like a Ronald Derby playing well adding himself to the compensatory for m so yeah it’s a lot lot of turnover on this roster and you you know you wonder you look at some of their you know the players that they’ve added to this team um you wonder yeah it’s a good question are they going to be able to uh you know kind of kind of sustain the model especially with the turnover on the staff Matthew what do you think the quality of the Raven staff is I mean this is I guess so last year Todd monin comes in the offense kind of gets revamped it looks better it looks fresh we will see how the NFL adjusts after one season to where Lamar Jackson wasn’t a as much of a designed run threat and the team while they still leaned on the Run game you saw them try to pass the ball a little bit more frequently in high leverage situations and I don’t want to sit here and say it caught teams off guard but like it had success now how are teams going to adjust to that what will they do still a little bit of an unknown but it’s the other side Zack War takes over as their defensive coordinator and here’s the big thing they lost like three or four defensive coaches from last year’s staff this offseason that went on to become head coaches or defensive coordinators of other teams now Zack or is the guy that they chose he is the guy of all the assistant coaches to they come in and take this job he is the one that they chose so you gotta first of all like consider that he was their first choice after you know they lose their DC and Michael mcdels um but then they come back and he’s the one they bring in now What’s it gonna look like though is this going to be the same defense is it going to be the same stuff they’ve been running this past year with all the Sim pressures and bringing guys from all these different angles or is it going to be a little different or played with the Ravens while the defense was still under a similar system back and I think in the mid 2000s he was a player for them as a linebacker so he’s been around that Organization for a long time they have a lot of trust in him but we just don’t know what it’s going to look like we don’t know what this is going to do now that they are under a new coordinator for I what the second time I think it’s four years now three years now something like that yeah it’s a it’s a it’s a tough ask for this team to continue to churn on that side too and that is that I will say that is one of the marks of John harbuz he’s been an outstanding uh hirer of coaches he’s been really good about picking coaches uh especially on the defensive side of the football I think um I think he’s done a pretty good job there Todd Todd monin I think in year two is really big for this this team in for Lamar you know I I I think you I like what they did offensively continuing to help build and accentuate Lamar without running him into the ground I like the you know I like how Todd Mon’s been able to utilize the you know the pass catches that he’s had the offense that he you know has kind of put together with the running game it’s going to be interesting to see what that version is in in year two for uh Todd monin maybe he should run the ball a little bit more if if they get into a they get into the AFC Championship game again though only thought I don’t know uh maybe just a little bit of that but you know John Harbaugh is one of the best I think one of the best head coaches uh in football and he’s done a great job adapting and building and growing uh throughout his time uh in in Baltimore so I I like what they’re doing and I mean Chris Horton special teams coordinator I mean that’s really where it at where it’s at I mean he just has to tell Justin Tucker to kick it from 64 yards away without any problem it we good so do you think he can tell him which side he needs to warm up on I don’t think so which is why there was a problem anyways we are going to take a break and we’ll be back with more about the Ravens right after this we appreciate you supporting KC Sports Network by listening to our podcast you have helped us become the highest ranked Chiefs podcast Network in 2022 and 2023 and don’t forget about our daily substack newsletter the best written analysis you can find on the Chiefs straight to your inbox every day kcsn dos substack docomo for for five years now it’s one of my favorite things to do in this world I absolutely love it and for years I’ve been hearing people uh say you know hey nobody makes glub clubs like pxg and they’re right I went for a fitting and I saw for myself self I went and swung the pxg Black Ops driver I’ll tell you it is a absolute Game Changer you no longer have to sacrifice distance for forgiveness and I learned that better than anybody when I went in and had a fitting at the O Overland Park location at pxg went in 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the Baltimore Ravens like two free agents and a bunch of draft picks talk about a new uh new addition oh Derk Henry sign I mean I mentioned him earlier but we’re gonna go with Derrik Henry um the the Ravens bring in one of the few running backs who’s been an active massive differenc maker in the NFL for the past you know five six seven seasons practically carrying the Titans offense to large you know big records playoff runs and now he goes to the Ravens a team that should be perfect for him if it was last year or the previous few years but then you look at this offensive line ahead of Derrick Henry like Ronnie Stanley last year was in a time share at left tackle something you don’t see except for in like college because he was coming back from an injury and they haven’t been able to trust him to stay healthy and then they’re next to him is Vorhees I already mentioned is starting at left guard for them finally lender bomb very good Center he’s stable then you have Ben Cleveland and probably starting across or next to him is Roger rosengart and a rookie or Daniel fele like that’s not that’s a lot of uncertainty ahead of Derrick Henry so yeah the team makes sense when you think of ravens you think of a downhill rushing attack that would fit Derrik Henry perfectly but then you look at the players that are going to be blocking for him and you start to you know maybe get a little hesitant like is he the type of running back that is going to make those guys always look the best is he gonna be the guy that’s going to be able to make guys miss at the line of scrimmage in the backfield we’ll have to see I think we all remember Dan senson hitting Derrick Henry right in the thighs at the line of scrimmage numerous times in the playoffs like that was a huge deal in that game was Henry not being able to get going downhill I wonder how well this team will be able to run downhill if they can Henry’s a great addition if they can’t and it’s got to a lot more creating the lanes himself then I wonder if this is going to be a little bit of a disappointing match that was made this past off seon do you think just sidebar do you think that the Chiefs like Eric dasta the general manager of the Baltimore Ravens insinuated that the chiefs were the team that was interested on in Roger Rosen garden and and that they needed to make sure that they were going to get him instead of Kanas City do you buy that it was Roger rosengart instead of Kingsley Su Mata I don’t and I’m going to lean heavily on the Andes preference for longer armed offensive tackles now the Baltimore Ravens also like longarm offensive tackles in fact their offensive tackles the majority of them that they have drafted have been have a longer average arm length than the Chiefs to so that argument works on both sides and the Ravens still liked Rosen Garden so you could say that the chiefs were gonna have see him as an outlier as well but I think at the end of the day like if you look at what the Chiefs have done historically it’s unlikely that Rosen Gart was the guy it’s less likely that he was this perfect outlier for two different teams that prefer long armed offensive tackles than it was that he was just an outlier for one and not the other and then I go back and look at everything that has been said about suuma coming out of the Chiefs camp and their side I think it’s pretty clear he was a guy that they were targeting for a while and it was not Roger rosengarden now do I think that the 49ers may have been interested in him because I know that was also swirling around in there yeah that’s a possibility but I don’t Chiefs when you’re looking at the Baltimore Ravens roster they really I mean they they hit about every position group with a draft pick I mean it feels like they were really intentional about trying to add young controllable depth at just about every every room even even quarterback they draft a de Devon lry in the sixth round but um I you know I think you know they’ve continued to give themselves wory worthy swings Nate Wiggins at the end of round one’s a really solid pick Roger Rosen Garten we talked about the right tackle there but you know doing what they do on on day you know day three and like look this is yielded good results this isn’t just swings and you know interesting swings Isaiah likely like they’ve hit on they’ve hit on guys like him in in round four and like they’ve been able to find and I think I think some people liked Isaiah likely a little bit more but you know like this is what this team does they they give themselves a lot of bites at the Apple and they’ll take swings on guys but you know Adisa Isaac TJ Tampa uh TZ Walker you know round three round four guys like I think that’s a that’s a those are good additions and you know TJ Tampa has his red flags because of the athletic profile but the tape’s really good uh TZ Walker little bit of a one trick pony but you know in round four like that’s that’s a that’s a great swing on on a guy that has a as a singular dominant trait that I think plays well with the room that they have currently like I think when you look at what they have outside of getting a guy that can kind of stretch the field a little bit and being able to find someone that could play that role specifically in round four I think that’s a really good really good pull for them so um I think they did a pretty good dra job drafting this year again uh which is not surprising at all all right Matthew give me a player to watch for the Baltimore Ravens oh um okay I’m gonna go with Z flowers um second year wide receiver out of Boston College I think you know Chiefs fans remember him because he had the lerus need caus the fumble on him right at the end zone which kind of I don’t want to say sealed the game but made it look very very unlikely for the Ravens to come back in that game very good wide receiver last year for the Ravens he was kind of he became their wide receiver one as the year went on they relied more and more on him and less and less on Odell Beckham Jr or rot baitman and I think that they really need him to take that next step now the thing is he’s really small and so that limits him to the slot sometimes and like he’s a very good athlete his start stop is exceptional but I do wonder if he’s ready to take that next step and be this full go-to outside or inside wide receiver on every single down that uses the whole field I think we got to see that step from him this year we got to see him re in some concentration issues in terms of drops and Route depth because I think that was a big issue for them was his in particular spacing and timing on a lot of routes so there’s a lot of upside there with flowers but I do think that he needs to take another step if they are going to rely more on the passing game again Todd monin is going to keep bringing that along if they are going to lead into Lamar Jackson being a thrower and not just a runner I think they need flowers to take a big step and this also leads us to a question that I think we got from uh Eric Duke here more confidence in Z flowers coming into the NFL last year or Xavier worthy this year I’m GNA take the easy way out I have more confidence in Xavier worthy right now than I did Z flowers last year because of the teams they went to worthy gets to go play with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and Andy Reid flowers had to go to Baltimore and play with I mean great year great year from Lamar Jackson but he’s not Patrick Mahomes right Todd monin good year he’s not Andy Reid so like the situation for Worthy is better than what flowers was and we saw flowers have a really good year last season so it’s not downplay playing him at all I just think the situation for Worthy is really good you look at their college production and some of their profile it’s a lot of similar stuff just worthy happens to be a little bit faster so I I think I have more faith at right this moment than I did a year ago in worthy panning out and a lot of it’s because of his situation and I mean look Z flowers was awesome in his rookie year too like he had a very strong rookie year so like credit to him for what he was able to do I’m a little curious I’m trying to see if I can figure out what grades we had for these two players Z flowers we had like a okay like a mid two strong to and then yeah I think that’s about where we had Xavier worthy too so like I think we had him tiered very similar when we were kind of going through our NFL you know our draft stuff but yeah I think yeah the situation with with Patrick Mahomes and Xavier worthy and a guy that has the ability to stretch the field vertically but has already shown an ability to build off of that where if he’s really threatening vertically down the field and and creating that stress he can do a lot of stuff with the underneath stuff with a underneath the vertical like a curl and a comeback and like a hitch he’s got you know some some easy completions kind of you know coming down the pike for him if if he’s able to continue to build off that vertical plane and that’s just what something that not very many other guys that the Chiefs have had in that vertical ability outside of Tyreek Hill have really been able to add kind of as a layer so um yeah I think that’s a really good question uh okay uh players to watch mine was going to be Mark Andrews uh when this offense was humming for Baltimore it was because Mark Andrews was involved like he is a game-changing player he’s a safety blanket for uh Lamar Jackson I know he played and struggled through some injury down the stretch when he’s healthy that is a a very dangerous combination Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews and so I think it continues to uh to be a uh you know a key component in this team’s able ability to have success and get over the Chiefs Hub if they’re going to speaking of that how does this team beat the Chiefs Matthew oh I’m going take a step back I just want to say pairing with your Mark Andrews thing I I think that combo you you got to slow down there’s not a buffer now you got to slow down you know what you could let it lie you could just maybe save it for the when M when when Tucker throws the bumper up at the end we could just you could just blurt it all out at that point I don’t know no there’s way too much way too much to say um I Mar Andrews I think is a good one I think the pairing specifically how are they going to use him and likely together because when Isa anytime Isaiah likely has to step on the field good things happen like he does a good job replacing Mark Andrews can they figure out a way to use both of them at the same time putting them both out there on the field at the same time goes against their identity of this downhill physical run game so like I think that’s been the hesitation but can they figure it out can they figure out how to use likely and Andrews together this season because I think that could be that could be a huge step for them so that you know it it relates hey Matthew I got a question for you oh you should do a great transition right here how does this team beat the Chiefs oh well they play him in the regular season that’s when the Chiefs decide to lose to AFC teams right I mean yeah okay they win because the game plays out similar to last year for the Chiefs offensively they they maybe start a little bit hot but after the scripted plays once both teams kind of settle down a little bit the Baltimore Ravens defense happens to be good enough to slow down the Chiefs offense which is still trying to find its footing from what was a very sluggish season last year for the most of the season in terms of like the passing game especially and the Ravens defense is really good the Chiefs offense kind of hits this l in the middle couple quarters and maybe the Ravens do lean on that run game and the physicality a little bit more maybe the Ravens do find a little bit more working in the passing game whether it’s a big step from flowers from baitman or finding a way to use Andrews and likely together they just get 10% better on offense while the Chiefs don’t get any better on what their offensive performance was last year like the Chiefs controlled that game after the fir you know the first quarter they were in control the entire game but they didn’t blow the out they were having a hard time you know really putting the game away till deep into it and the offense never really made the plays so if that continues again and the Ravens find some success with one of those things I mentioned that could lead to them winning I think the Ravens have to throw the ball uh to win this game too and um look this is going to be a Chiefs team in week one that is going to be feeling some things out with their secondary a little bit they’ve lost lerus sne so they got to figure out how to account for that so that could be a potential detriment to this team’s early passing defense success and so if the Ravens can get out there and Chuck the ball around the yard a little bit and exploit that I think that I think you know that could be you know a dangerous outlook for for the you know the Chiefs trying to slow this team down I think one thing that we don’t think about too much with this team too is you know the Ravens are very good at starting fast as well they are a team that comes out the gate very strong they are apt to blow teams out in week one I think as we talked about at one point here too so you’re you’re looking at two teams that like to start fast that do start fast weird the Andy retree having some teams that come into the season ready week one ready to go um you know so I think I think that’s uh you know I think that’s uh that’s a that’s how I’d do it if I were the Ravens I’d try to exploit the passing game a little bit and see if we can challenge this uh this secondary that might be figuring some things out a little bit by the way we’re going to answer some chat questions both about the Ravens game anything else you guys might have to close the show out while you get those questions in though we got a couple other things to talk about so Maddie who is the chief’s non Mahomes MVP of the game against the Ravens okay so the Ravens have a very good safety in Kyle Hamilton but as we saw the Chiefs have this guy named Travis Kelce across from him and so that’s a pretty big matchup but Tucker cue the trumpets cue them up get the bugle ready [Music] the bit has to go I can’t do Travis Kelce for every non Mahomes MVP for the rest of our lives there’s only two of us it’s not fair to you the listeners to only get one non Mahomes MVP every show so we are right now retiring the Travis Kelce non Mahomes MVP bet and we are looking deeper we are going farther we are putting on our best Craig Stout hat and we are giving you a defensive player and under the radar pick I am going with and don’t lose me here I am going with Drew tranquil playing his first game is the starting linebacker next to Nick Bolton against a team that wants to rely on the Run getting that extra backer on the field the Chiefs being able to live out of a nickel a heavier nickel it’s going to require tranquil to come up play The Run take on these big offensive linemen and the few times the Baltimore Ravens try to get into play action he’s going to play a big part containing Lamar Jackson play a big part and kiing catching an Andrews or a Henry or whoever they’re trying to leak out in the flats so I think Drew Tran’s play a pivotal part in this game that was The Most Beautiful Eulogy I’ve ever heard I just I love I even started to roll my eyes when you said Travis Kelsey and you just flipped the script on me that was great thank you Tucker tuck Tucker is The Man Behind all that Tucker is the best you just had that ready tuck uh you can call Maddie in the middle of the day I can also talk to MD in the middle of the day as well that’s so great oh man uh what a what a job there Matthew Lane um that was great I love the bit the bit was a lot of fun I just want I didn’t want the people to think I forgot I didn’t forget it’s just it’s got to go it ran course it did its thing it did its threp it had its 3pe it had its time in the Sun and now it’s time to move on I the funny thing is I’m not even joking you so many thoughts rushed to my head while you were bringing Travis Kelce up and one of them was oh no I’m gonna have to carry this segment every single week because you’re gonna still pick Travis Kelce every time it’s like we we’re we’re a team of two now and now it’s just me having to just pick one player um that might have been just as good of a bit honestly yeah you would have liked that one too uh I’m gonna go you know what I’m gonna go I’m not going Rashi rice I’m gonna go Xavier worthy uh I think the team I think this team is like I buy every single thing about this team wanting to air this thing out so I do think that um they’re going to try to you know Chuck the ball down the field a little bit be more aggressive more intentional down the field and I think Xavier Worthy is here to do just that this is the fastest player in the history of the NFL combine he’s definitely more than just that that but he still is that he is a vertical stretch player that can really affect the game lighten the load up for Travis Kelce and whenever rishy rice is on the field I think the team the Chiefs are going to be very intentional about getting the ball down the field early and often setting the tone for the entirety of the season I think they’re going to hit a big one I think they will hit a big one in this game uh guess the line Maddie I think I’ve already seen the line but guess the line uh is this a this game is in Arrowhead Cor in Arrowhead Banner dropping uh closest thing the Ravens will be to a ring okay I don’t I don’t do a lot of sports betting what’s HomeField go for these days is it still three is it a little less I think technically a little less these days but you know okay three and a half Chiefs by three and a half I have seen Chiefs favored by three uh so that is you know that’s that’s about right I think I think that’s a fair line I think I’m taking Chiefs minus three though Not Gon to lie uh I think I like that a little bit I just I do think there is a lot of change coming to the Baltimore side and you know I think the Chiefs are more stable I don’t think I part of me wonders too real quick I I do wonder if what happened last year it’s weird because yes this team won the Super Bowl but they have the Pains of everything that they went through to get to that point and I don’t think they want to go through that again they don’t want this they don’t want to go through this again I don’t think this team makes it again I don’t think you can run back some of the especially on the offensive side of the ball they had to deal with I don’t think you can run that back again and have it work right like if things play out the same if there isn’t a more smoothness isn’t there more cohesiveness if things don’t fall into order I don’t think you can handle the ups and the downs and the frustrations in that locker room and the coaching staff with the players back-to-back seasons and have come out on the other side I really don’t so I just think the intentionality of the start of the season for this team and how they’re going to want to start fast and how they’re going to play you know get get off to you know a good good speed on offense and all that stuff I just I think the response from this team will and and what they went through last year will actually help them push through the wall of coming off a Super Bowl and being hung over from the Super Bowl right I mean they’ve already done it twice but I do just kind of think they’ll they’re going to respond differently and it’s going to be the threee it’s also like hey look we kind of had some fatal flaws last year we got to fix and we’re not going to let those effect this year’s team we’re going to put ourselves in better situations so we know maybe we can get the one seed and and be you know one win away from hosting the arrowhead Invitational again so I just I just have a feeling that this team’s response is going to be really strong anyways let’s jump in and look at a few questions uh that you might uh you guys might have had so drop any questions if you’ve got them uh zavier number four in yards uh does he mean yards on the team I I’m taking it that way I’m thinking we think I’m assuming this is a Xavier worthy ending at number four in the Chiefs and receiving yards this season so you got Kelsey You Got Rice you got Xavier I mean I think he’s I think he’s top I think Xavier I think Xavier worthy could lead the Chiefs receiving this year if he plays 17 games and not on a per game basis not on a per game basis um and and I mean the receivers sorry not Kelsey I just meant like of the receiving group I think he could be second on this team in receiving first of the receivers just because you know we don’t know how long R race is gonna miss but I think because of that like I think Xavier worthy can rack up some yardages and actually lead this team in receiving are you forgetting about Hollywood Brown no I genuinely think I genuinely think he could I I I think rice I think it’s worth noting that Rice may or may not be suspended we don’t know so him missing time kind of opens up number four and receiving a lot for me because I I if you’re going to play like your you know safe bets here at Kelce Rashid rice if he’s healthy and Hollywood Brown again if healthy they should all probably have more yards on paper than Xavier worthy it’s just Hollywood Brown has missed time if Travis Kel’s even a step slower during the regular season than he was last year that’s even attainable and then Rashid rice might be suspended so Xavier worthy if he plays more games in all of them yeah there’s a chance I would lean Hollywood Brown as my favorite to lead the team in yards that might even be over Kelce I’m not sure if I want to go there yet or not still debating but uh yeah I think worthy being number four in yards would be good for the Chiefs if he’s number four and receiving yards for this team assuming rice doesn’t miss an extended period of time like a long time and no one’s injured I think that’d be a good case scenario for the Chiefs WOD asks which rookie are you most intrigued to see in their first game against NFL level competition I have mine I don’t know if you have yours um you go first because I I don’t want to take it from you if you have one I’m really excited to see Kingsley suam Mata against NFL competition and it’s just because you know left tackle is such a huge position they took him in the second round the developmental Arc of of him is going to be so crucial to determining like whether or not the Chiefs are going to be able to play him in week one and I think that’s one of the weak spots on this team potentially if Kingsley isn’t able to take a step if W is not able to take a step so getting eyes on Kingsley early uh and getting a you know a chance to see what he’s made of against NFL competition that’s a guy I’m really looking forward to seeing in the one I want to to get eyes on the most yeah I mean that’s probably the correct answer right I don’t know if you could really come up with a a better answer than him um so I’m gonna go with Jaden Hicks just to be a little bit different and I don’t even know how much he’ll play right I don’t even know how much he’ll play early on because that’s a strong safety room but if he gets out there that’s a step up in competition going from the Pack 12 to the NFL he’s young can he mentally play fast enough because he’s not the fastest guy not the rangi of safety but he’s a big versatile downhill kind of guy can he keep up with the speed of the NFL in Spagnola system to make a presence kind of be felt this first this first year as a rookie kind of like Conor did down the Gary asks what’s your biggest question mark coming into training camp uh Gary himself believes Mahomes has his best version of the Chiefs he’s ever had interesting I mean it’s a left tackle spot for me I don’t I don’t think they felt great about W Morris being the only left tackle on the roster and their only competition they’ve brought in so far is sua who is a rookie a young rookie coming out of BYU which is a heavy RPO system with essentially one year of left tackle experience at the college level coming in and that’s your competition for w Morris who again I don’t think they’re overly comfortable with being the left tackle so hopefully it somebody really stands out during training camp because as of right now that’s a scary spot to be in in my opinion I think it’s cornerback too like that’s the other one I think that is a little bit tricky is you know hey look the je are trying to replace you know uh you know figure out the left tackle spot with two un and they’re saying goodbye to leria Sneed and trying to replace him you know with a lot of young developmental guys that they’ve had on their roster for the last few years but you know and yes you have the the allpro and Trent McDuffy but you’re not truly replacing a leg Jerry sne as Dave Merritt said this week you know you’re trying to you know you’re maybe not even trying to go like for like you’re just trying to you know have a solid group there I think how they figure that out is going to uh is going to really determine how far this defense is going to be able to go okay let’s see here um what else we got uh oh I got a couple no you go one you if you got one you’re excited about go for it I listen we got to get this one in here does my guy Nico Romeo make the 53 man roster listen I want to say yes I leader of the Rio Revolution here I I want to say yes but it’s a really crowded spot for a shallow underneath wide receiver that might see the most of his time in the slot right there’s not a ton of roster availability for that guy when you have worthy when you have Hollywood Brown not that they’re limited to the slot but they’re going to play there a lot and rice is playing there a lot and then oh hey cadarius Tony and Sky Moore kind of have to play there the majority of their reps you get deep down the depth chart with guys that are crowding where I think he’s going to be at his best I do wonder if the new kickoff rules help him a little bit I haven’t heard much about him as a returner but he was a good returner in college so maybe there’s a little bit there I have hopes we’ll see how training camp goes I think he’s either going to be the guy a lot of us fall for in training camp and he goes off the sign with another team or he’s going to be a guy that you know does slip out the bottom end of the roster I’m thinking of Amir Smith marett last year that Chief fans kind of started to really like and then he goes off and gets signed by the Panthers and it was just a little frustrating given how the wide receiver room played out all right I’m gonna close on this one perfect Rory DEC Rory deck I don’t know how how you want to say this uh what do you think is going to be the score of chiefs Ravens Matthew oh my goodness [Music] uh Chiefs are going to score 24 points and the Ravens are going to score 20 points so the Chiefs wenton by four I’m gonna go 2820 Chiefs win uh Xavier Worthy is catching a touchdown over 40 yards I’m buying I’m buying the Xavier worthy hyp man I’m all in I can’t wait to see what happens hope he I think both teams come out slinging I think both teams come out trying to make a statement on offense so I think that’s why you see a little bit more points between these two teams and I think some might think also a little bit better weather than the last time that they played where it was freezing cold right so I I think both offenses are going to come out with a purpose and you’re going to get some points early teams will look good and then the uh defense kind of lock it up in the later half of the game you heard it here first Matthew Lane has predicted good weather in early September that is going to do it for this episode of the KY laboratory thank you all so much for listening for supporting KY Sports Network we appreciate you we love you we’ll catch you we’ll catch you later Craig is great poor