Week 2 Hangover: The Chiefs are back, the Seahawks look dominant, and the Steelers are sad
episode
The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL
1h 1m
2 speakers
7 chapters
transcribed 12 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What did the hosts discuss in the opening recap of Week 2’s biggest games?
Welcome to the Athletic Football Show brought to you by the U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card. I'm Robert Mays. From week two hangover today, me and Derek dug into three games that we did not get to in depth on the Sunday night recap. Chiefs, Colts, Seahawks, Cardinals, and Patriots Steelers. Let's get to that conversation with me and Derek right now.
Digging into three games today from the week two slate that we did not have the time or space to really chew on during our week two recap. Derek, we spent some time talking about the end of the Sunday night game at the beginning of our recap show last night. I don't think we have to rehash the decisions that Shane Steichen was making in overtime and what the Colts decided to do in kicking that field goal. If you guys want to hear our thoughts about that entire situation, you can go back and listen to yesterday's show. show, I want to spend most of this conversation really digging into the nuts and bolts of what this game felt like for the first four and a half quarters, let's say. I wanna start by floating a theory to you that I started
ruminating on after week one and I think the Colts game really crystallized for me yesterday. I actually did my morning brew video about it like twenty minutes ago that you guys can watch on our social media probably tomorrow. There was a moment last year early in the season when I was watching the Bills offense and I was watching the way the tight ends were blocking. And it was a kind of a light bulb moment where I was like, I think that Good offenses, you can feel like this isn't a true for everybody, but you can feel the good offenses by which tight ends are capable, committed blockers. And that proved to be so true over the course of the season at at the 13 personnel stuff and then into this offseason.
This year, it's gonna be linebackers.
Yes.
The good and bad defenses are going to be dictated by what your linebackers can do in space and in coverage. Because we've gotten back to this place, and the Chiefs, you watch the Chiefs' offense and what the Chiefs' offense specifically is doing, the Chiefs ran seven play action passes from under center yesterday. That is the most tied for the most in a single game during Patrick Mahomes' tenure. So they are such a good example of where the league has. has swung back to But we're still in a place where everyone's playing too high and playing with fewer defenders and blockers in the box. And so we're in this moment where the structural stuff has swung back for offense, but not all the way for defense.
And then you add layers on top of it. The number that really stuck out to me through two weeks this season, teams have used motion at the snap on 44% of run plays for next gen. It was twenty seven percent in twenty twenty. So I legitimately, when you think about the changes on offense and the changes on defense, think it is harder to play linebacker in coverage right now than it has been at any point since I started covering the sport. And we're gonna really feel the difference between the teams that have skimped at that position and have no answers and the teams that have guys that can live in the conflict that offenses are creating for them. And the Colts to me are the purest. example of that that we could possibly see right now.
We're gonna talk about a number of teams today where I think that's true. We'll get to the Steelers and their linebackers later. But I do think that like the Colts have been a huge I mean, th it's two weeks now in a row where teams have just picked on them very, very badly, both in the passing game with some of the movement stuff that they're doing and some of the play action stuff, getting tight ends running out. I wanna say too, I think Obviously what the Chiefs do with their tight ends is not going to be like the Bills. They are not asking them to block the way that those guys are blocking. But I do think that what they're doing with their tight ends right now is kind of interesting. You saw in this game a lot of like full house pistol stuff where you can have these guys, it's like, okay, are they both gonna slice left?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What did the hosts discuss in the opening recap of Week 2’s biggest games?
0:00–11:22
2
How did the Chiefs’ offense perform in the overtime thriller against the Colts?
11:22–21:56
3
Why are tight ends such a focal point in the Chiefs’ game plan this week?
21:56–33:13
4
What challenges are the Colts facing on defense, especially at linebacker?
33:13–42:26
5
How did the Seahawks dominate the Cardinals and what stood out about JSN’s play?
42:26–53:15
6
What makes the Seahawks’ defense so disruptive against the Patriots?
53:15–1:00:16
7
Why is the Steelers’ offense struggling against the Patriots and what could change?
1:00:16–1:00:58
Speakers
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