Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast: What I Want To See vs the Kansas City Chiefs
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00:00 Hi, everybody.
00:03 Merry Christmas Eve to all of you.
00:05 This is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's FAN Nation Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:11 Just want to take a few moments on today's Christmas Eve podcast, talk to you about a
00:16 couple of things.
00:17 Literally, as soon as we finish here, I'm headed to the airport to Kansas City.
00:20 But I wanted to talk to you about what my expectations are for tomorrow.
00:27 I have already, before we get started, let me just again wish all of you a very Merry
00:32 Christmas and hope that you're doing well.
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01:22 I appreciate you and want to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas.
01:26 Now what are my expectations for tomorrow?
01:31 I have already said, and you know this, that there are 10 criteria that I pick games on
01:37 and I do relatively well at it.
01:42 Not because of me.
01:43 It's smart people who taught me what to look for.
01:49 My criterion for this game is 6-4 Chiefs, but I said to you, if the Raiders are able
01:56 to control and to continue to not give the ball away and to be very small league penalized,
02:09 they're the least penalized team in the NFL, that I believe they go to Kansas City tomorrow
02:14 and get the upset.
02:16 And I do believe that by the way, 100%, as long as turnovers against stay minimized penalties.
02:25 But what am I specifically looking for?
02:29 So let's start right there.
02:30 The Raiders are not good enough to go up to Kansas City and to have to beat the Chiefs
02:35 and beat themselves.
02:38 Now it's just not the way it's going to happen.
02:42 It's a nationally televised game.
02:45 So we know, I mean, all games are televised, but this is going to be to a national audience
02:53 Christmas day.
02:56 And a lot of us who are going to be working, covering the game had our Christmases earlier
03:00 this week, but a lot of people sit at home in their jammies, watching and enjoying Christmas
03:06 and watching football.
03:10 So you know, it's going to probably be officiated a little bit different.
03:15 You know, and you just, you can't let the officials decide the game.
03:20 You can't.
03:22 So that means number one, you have to continue to stay very minimally penalized.
03:29 That's just the way the game is going to have to be played.
03:33 Games like this, you don't want one penalty to decide the game.
03:38 You can't put it.
03:39 Now I've had a lot of people say to me, I know the Raiders are the most heavily penalized
03:47 team and that's been true.
03:49 Well let's also be truthful.
03:52 They like to be the swag.
03:55 Okay.
03:56 Antonio Pierce likes swag, but he likes it with discipline.
04:01 The Raiders are just going to have to be disciplined.
04:03 It's Arrowhead, Christmas day, a Monday game.
04:08 You just expect something to happen and you can't allow it to get to that place where
04:16 an errant penalty or a lack of a call harms you.
04:20 They've got to continue to minimize penalties.
04:24 They're the least penalized team.
04:27 They will not win in Kansas city if they go up there with a bunch of penalties.
04:30 It's not going to happen.
04:32 They're not that good.
04:34 I've told you all year, I thought they were a 9-18 and I don't think they're a team that
04:41 makes a Super Bowl run.
04:43 Doesn't mean I think they're a bad team.
04:45 I just don't think they're that good and you can't go up and do that.
04:48 Number two, turnovers.
04:50 You can't give up opportunities to the Chiefs.
04:54 You can't give up possessions to the Chiefs.
04:58 This is too important.
05:00 Even if you don't score, you got to get a drive in, give your defense a blow, let them
05:08 have a break.
05:10 Got to do that.
05:11 It's very important.
05:13 And the Raiders have been very good protecting the football.
05:18 Very good.
05:19 That has to continue.
05:20 The third thing I'm looking for is the continued emergence of Aiden O'Connell.
05:25 He's got a lot of confidence.
05:27 The last time the Raiders played the Chiefs, he was the highest rated quarterback.
05:32 The Raiders did not lose that last Chiefs game because of Aiden O'Connell.
05:38 Now he could have went out and won it.
05:40 Didn't lose it because of him.
05:42 His confidence is high and they're going to bring a lot of different looks at him tomorrow.
05:50 You just watch the game closely, you're going to see some looks you haven't seen from the
05:53 Chiefs this year.
05:55 That's how they play.
05:56 That's how they're going to go after it.
05:58 They're going to attack him.
06:00 That does not concern me.
06:03 I think Aiden O'Connell has the ability to be under attack and become cool and collective.
06:11 But he has to continue to play at that level.
06:13 Now again, I've mentioned this to you before, and this should bring some solace if you're
06:19 a Raider fan.
06:21 You're not asking him to do anything he hasn't already shown you he can do.
06:29 That's interesting.
06:32 That's interesting.
06:33 Now if I said to you, "This game is predicated on Zemir White getting 100 yards," that would
06:39 be a concern because he's not demonstrated an ability to do that yet.
06:44 We think he can?
06:46 Yeah.
06:47 But having not done it, it's hope.
06:51 Remember, you don't win on hope.
06:54 But faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things you can't see.
06:59 And so you can't win on hope, but you can win on faith because faith is belief.
07:05 It's assurance.
07:06 It's confidence.
07:08 And when you're asking a player to do something he's never done, like, "Okay, Zemir, go get
07:14 us 150 yards," you can't really be in faith over that.
07:18 It's hope.
07:19 You can't be in faith.
07:21 But if you said, "Hey, we need Josh Jacobs to go get 150," sorry, I had to do that for
07:27 Zeke.
07:28 He's the 50.
07:30 But you can have faith because you've seen him do that.
07:37 Now I don't think that's necessary, 150 yards from the back, on tomorrow, on Christmas Day.
07:45 But I'm trying to explain there's nothing that you need to see out of Aiden O'Connell
07:51 that he has not heretofore demonstrated.
07:54 That's a big deal.
07:56 Next, this is very imperative.
08:00 The offensive line have to keep Aiden upright.
08:04 They've done a good job of that.
08:06 Some of it has to do with him getting rid of the ball quicker.
08:10 Some of it has to do with how they're playing.
08:13 I think both Aiden and the offensive line have been playing better.
08:17 It's got to continue.
08:19 And I don't think there's a big reason to be concerned that it can't.
08:22 Why?
08:23 Because we've seen it, track record.
08:26 The first one is penalties.
08:27 The second one is turnovers.
08:28 The third one is keeping Aiden upright.
08:34 Here's a fourth one, and it's the intermediate in the short range offensive game.
08:42 This is going to be vitally critical, is Austin Hooper, Hunter Renfro.
08:49 Now listen, everyone who watches my podcast know I really like Hunter Renfro.
08:54 I think he is just top-notch human being, good person.
09:00 He has proven to us to be a pro bowl caliber player.
09:07 But guys in their first, second, third year, you know I call the third year the money year.
09:13 Look at Koons.
09:16 But he's past that.
09:19 He's got a second contract, a big contract.
09:23 He's played well.
09:24 He's gotten a lot of accolades.
09:27 This short to intermediate range game, which is if they're bringing pressure on Aiden,
09:32 Aiden looks to check down, whatever.
09:35 Hunter can't have a, this has got to be a mistake-free Hunter.
09:40 Means no bad drops, no fumbles.
09:44 No fumbles.
09:48 No fumbles.
09:50 Just go out and play Hunter Renfro football.
09:54 There's been a couple of games this year that he's really hurt them.
09:59 This is one of those games.
10:01 The Raiders cannot afford to hurt themselves.
10:05 And when you're playing that short intermediate game, we know what Austin Hooper can do.
10:11 We've seen him.
10:13 I think it was back during the Cowboys preseason game, he had a very big blunder, but that's
10:20 not been the case since.
10:23 He's made some big, huge, impactful plays.
10:25 And with Mayer out, this is a hoop game.
10:29 Him and Renfro, that short intermediate range game.
10:33 Next, so again, penalties, turnovers, keeping Aiden upright in the short and intermediary
10:41 game.
10:43 Next, Yak, yards after the catch.
10:49 This is going to be vital.
10:52 Now you're going to have to stretch the field.
10:54 We're going to get to that in a minute.
10:57 But when you know that KC is going to bring a lot of different blitzes and some looks
11:01 to shorten the windows of Aiden, which is fine.
11:07 Then when you get the ball, if it's a one, two, three out, but all of a sudden now it's
11:14 a one, two and the guy's there, so you got to get rid of the ball.
11:18 What does a Trey Tucker, a Devontae Adams, Jacoby Myers, Hunter, Hoop, DeAndre Carter,
11:29 what do those guys do to get yards after the catch?
11:35 Because if they're blitzing, one cut, one juke, one foot in the ground and getting north
11:42 and south, you can pick up some very critical Yak, very critical Yak.
11:52 Those are vital.
11:55 Excuse me, very vital.
11:58 And so I am very much interested in watching that Yak.
12:05 Next, getting the ball down the field.
12:10 They don't have to have 10 bombs to win this game at all.
12:16 That's not even no.
12:17 In fact, you want to be able to control the ball, eat clock, time of possession, but you
12:24 got to stretch the field.
12:26 Three, four times in this game, you got to take shots.
12:31 Trey Tucker has speed now, speed kills.
12:39 Send him flying, send DeAndre Carter, maybe do some pick routes, try to create some space
12:44 for Devontae down the field.
12:46 But you got to do that because it's going to back them off on their blitzing.
12:53 It's going to help Aiden.
12:54 If they can connect on a bomb first quarter, good night, Irene.
13:03 That's a big deal.
13:06 Making them have to account for it is one thing, punishing them for it, right in the
13:12 kisser.
13:13 That's a big one.
13:15 Next, the running game.
13:17 They have to be able to run when they want to, not when they have to.
13:24 That's vital.
13:26 And I think that create Josh Jacobs is a tremendous weapon, tremendous weapon.
13:33 He is at his best when they can't stack the box.
13:38 And if you're killing them with intermediary and you're doing your long shots, it just
13:42 opens up windows for Josh.
13:45 And he's a game changer.
13:46 Let's go over to defense.
13:48 What are some things I'm looking for from the defense?
13:51 Because there's some very critical things.
13:53 We know Max is going to be Max.
13:56 He's the best defensive player in the NFL, in my opinion.
13:59 He's one of the top five players in the National Football League.
14:06 If I was starting a franchise tomorrow and was told, you know, the first guy I'm going
14:12 to look for is a quarterback.
14:14 Second thing I'm going to look for is Max Crockett.
14:17 So I mean, you could technically say he's, you know, I think personally, you're going
14:22 to see two of the best players in the National Football League tomorrow, Patrick Mahomes,
14:28 Max Crockett.
14:29 Max is going to eat.
14:30 Max is going to be Max.
14:31 I mean, his work ethic, he's ready.
14:36 I'm going to tell you all something with his injury.
14:41 This may be one of the greatest football performances we've seen over a season with what he's done
14:49 with his injury.
14:51 He is, I feel bad when I talk about how good of a player he is.
14:59 And I'll explain why.
15:01 Because he's a better person.
15:03 He's salt of the earth.
15:06 To the best of my knowledge, I've never met his family.
15:09 If I have said that before, and then I found out I met some people's parents and I felt
15:13 bad about it.
15:14 So I don't believe I've met his family.
15:17 Talk about mom, dad, whatever, extended family.
15:21 But you can tell that guy was raised right.
15:23 Comes from a solid, good family.
15:25 Just the way he approaches life.
15:28 And I just hope Raider Nation appreciates him.
15:35 Because there are a few guys that come and do well for the Raiders.
15:40 Then there are guys that become part of the brand.
15:44 There are the Ken Stablers, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Ted Henricks, Jim Otto, Jim Plunkett,
15:56 Tom Flores.
15:57 And again, there are others.
15:59 I know them.
16:00 Matt Millen.
16:02 There are those guys.
16:03 Again, there are guys who come and play for the Raiders and have an impact.
16:07 But then there are guys that become part of it.
16:11 You don't know where the Raider patch and shield ends and they begin.
16:17 They are the franchise.
16:19 That's one thing I really respect about Mark Davis is the way he incorporates the alumni.
16:26 And so Max is one of those guys.
16:30 He is iconic.
16:31 A hundred years from now, people will still be talking about Max Crosby.
16:38 Just like all these years later, people still talk about Jim Otto.
16:44 People still talk about Kenny Stabler and he's gone.
16:48 Kenny Stabler will, his legacy will live forever with the Raiders.
16:51 A hundred years from now, if people don't ruin this great sport, they'll still be talking
16:57 about Max.
16:59 So we know he's going to do.
17:01 So when I don't mention this is what I'm looking for, it's because there's some things you
17:04 don't have to look for.
17:07 You just know.
17:11 You just know.
17:14 But they're going to do everything.
17:17 And so if you've watched the Chiefs against the Raiders in the past, they like to move
17:22 Patrick away from Max, which is smart.
17:25 It's what I would do.
17:29 But now there's a guy over on the other side across from Max who's playing at a really
17:33 high level.
17:35 He's a guy that we don't have to say anymore.
17:37 Like I mentioned earlier, we hope.
17:39 That guy's Malcolm Coons.
17:44 And now he has demonstrated over several games.
17:49 So again, you're not asking him, just like with Aiden, you're not asking him to do something
17:53 he hasn't done.
17:58 I want to see Malcolm Coons eat.
18:02 I want to see him just go out and do what he does.
18:11 He's a wonderful kid.
18:13 He's a great kid.
18:16 And I genuinely really like him personally.
18:21 He is a guy with so much talent.
18:24 And it's coming together.
18:26 And his coaches, from the defensive line coaches to Patrick Graham to AP, I mean, these guys
18:32 have just done a tremendous-- since AP has taken over, the coaching has been outstanding.
18:43 And Coons has been the beneficiary of it.
18:47 I want to see him eat tomorrow.
18:50 To me, tomorrow, I want him to treat it like Thanksgiving, and he's a hungry man.
18:59 Next, interior pressure.
19:04 That's vital.
19:05 Now again, we go back to coaching.
19:08 When they got four defensive ends on the line, that is a ton of speed, speed kills in the
19:14 National Football League.
19:16 But there are going to be some times when you got to get internal pressure to be able
19:21 to make Mahomes move, make running backs have to change gaps.
19:28 That's going to be big, big.
19:33 And this is very much a compliment to him, is Divine Diablo.
19:40 That young man, another great kid.
19:43 And I got to tell you, there just isn't-- yeah, there's no more.
19:48 There is just not one young man on this football team that I don't like.
19:53 It's just not a good person.
19:55 Just good, good people on this team, really good people.
19:58 In fact, I was at my Christmas with my family yesterday, and somebody had asked me about,
20:07 "Are you guys on the team you don't like?"
20:11 No.
20:12 No.
20:13 An entire organization is made up of really good people.
20:16 From Mark Davis all the way down, it's really solid good people.
20:22 But we're talking football, and Divine Diablo is just another one of those good kids.
20:26 And we have seen what he can do.
20:30 I think that they're going to probably do some scheming to try to minimize Robert Spillane.
20:36 I would.
20:37 And Andy Reid's an offensive genius.
20:41 And he's going to try to minimize what the Raiders do best, Crosby and Spillane.
20:47 So Divine's going to get a chance to eat now.
20:52 To me, the story of tomorrow is the young players.
20:56 And dear God, we know Max Crosby's young, but I'm not including him in that.
21:01 To me, it's the young players.
21:04 Who makes the next step?
21:06 Who steps up?
21:08 Who just comes and eats?
21:11 And I just expect Divine Diablo to have a very big game.
21:15 Next, those corners.
21:18 Jack Jones playing out of his mind.
21:22 And Nate Hobbs.
21:23 Man, is he good.
21:27 Okay.
21:28 But what happens with a JB?
21:30 Amik Robertson.
21:33 I want those corners.
21:37 Kendrick Mahomes is already frustrated with his receivers.
21:42 So you guys are going to get your chance to lock on.
21:47 Let that defensive line do it.
21:48 Let Koonce and Crosby create pressure.
21:51 There's going to be some turnovers out there.
21:53 There's going to be some balls that you can go up and get.
21:58 Go get them.
22:00 And when I hear people talk about the Raiders, it's a rebuild.
22:05 I look at so many of these young players and think, okay, so you want to get rid of young
22:10 players that have already showed you what they could do.
22:14 To go get young players that you hope can do.
22:17 Come on.
22:18 There's a lot in it.
22:19 Doesn't mean you don't go out looking for another CB1.
22:25 But I think we all believe Jack Jones has the potential to be that guy for sure.
22:29 For sure.
22:30 Nate Hobbs, Amik and JB in some really strong roles.
22:35 This is a very talented Raider team.
22:39 And then I just expect AJ to be AJ.
22:44 But Daniel Carlson.
22:47 Just go be Daniel Carlson.
22:52 Again, this is not a game.
22:55 You can go win it by a field goal.
22:58 But it isn't a game that you're going to go out there and hit four field goals and win.
23:03 Nah, you're going to need touchdowns.
23:05 You're going to need touchdowns.
23:08 And at some point, there's going to be a critical field goal in this game.
23:13 Critical.
23:15 And is there anybody that you would want making that kick not named Daniel Carlson?
23:21 I mean, he is the guy you want making that kick.
23:28 And you know what?
23:29 He missed one last time.
23:30 Okay, that happens.
23:32 That happens.
23:34 Nobody in this organization has lost any faith in him and neither should you have.
23:38 When he gets that shot, boom it.
23:42 When it's over, penalties and turnovers, if those are handled the way they have to
23:53 continue to be handled, it'll be Carlson's field goal that wins him the game.
23:59 24-21.
24:00 It is going to be a terrific football game.
24:03 I'm really looking forward to it.
24:05 I love football and I love to go watch games at Arrowhead because it's such an environment.
24:12 And again, if you're a Raider fan, this is your team on national television.
24:23 At Arrowhead, you go shut up the crowd at Arrowhead, you guys are going to go strutting
24:30 into your offices after the Christmas break like Ric Flair walking out for a fight.
24:39 And it's going to be an interesting football game.
24:43 But I need you to hear something.
24:44 All the pressures on the Chiefs, there's not one lick of pressure on the Raiders.
24:51 Now I could be wrong here, but I'm the only media member that I'm aware of at this point
24:57 who's picked the Raiders.
25:00 I'm sure there will be others, so I'm not, "Ooh, look at Hondo."
25:03 I'm not making this about me, but there's not going to be much pressure on the Raiders
25:07 at all, except what they put on themselves.
25:10 And that's good.
25:11 Remember, stress is bad, pressure is good.
25:16 Stress is bad, pressure is good.
25:17 I learned that from Michigan State Rose Bowl winning coach Mark D'Antonio.
25:22 Stress is bad, pressure is good.
25:24 Put the pressure on and go eat.
25:28 This is going to be a game that I believe when it's over, if the Raiders have minimized,
25:36 continued to be very low penalties and controlled turnovers, I think this will be a game that
25:42 we're talking about a Raider win.
25:46 But I think if they win, we're going to be talking about a lot of young players, talking
25:50 about Devine.
25:51 We're going to be talking about Malcolm.
25:53 We're going to be talking about a Dylan Parham.
25:56 We're going to be talking about a Nate Hobbs, a Jack Jones.
26:01 We're going to be talking about these young guys.
26:03 We haven't even got to, what about Marcus Haps?
26:07 I mean, some of the hits that he has been delivering, that man is a headhunter.
26:18 Holy Toledo.
26:21 And he just comes up, bam, right in the kisser.
26:25 Just wham.
26:26 I mean, he just impacts the football game with bone jarring hits.
26:32 And I think it was the Charger game.
26:35 Comes out, wham.
26:37 And I don't want to hear about who's not playing for either team.
26:44 Best team win.
26:47 And we know the Chiefs are the world champions and they're a finesse football team.
26:56 That's who they are.
26:57 They're a great football team.
26:59 And I don't think the Raiders are a bad football team.
27:06 And they're the opposite of finesse.
27:08 They're physical.
27:09 They want to beat you up.
27:10 They want to pound you.
27:13 It's going to be cold.
27:16 It's going to be football weather.
27:20 And that's what you want.
27:22 That's what you want to see.
27:24 And this is the game that you want to see.
27:26 So there you go, everybody.
27:29 Again, Merry Christmas to all of you.
27:31 I'm going to go jump an airplane to Kansas City.
27:33 Big old jet airliner.
27:35 I hope some of you are old enough to remember that song.
27:37 Great song.
27:39 But I appreciate all of you.
27:41 Merry Christmas.
27:43 We'll be talking to you tomorrow before the game.
27:45 Very, very quickly.
27:47 And then, of course, with my post-game complete game recap podcast.
27:51 So from all of us here at Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders,
27:55 Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network, thank you for joining us.
27:59 Merry Christmas to all of you.
28:01 Hope you get to enjoy your family.
28:03 Hope you get to be with your family.
28:04 Thanks, everybody.