00:00Listen, I don't ever like to overreact to anything you see in preseason, but man, I
00:06got to tell you, I keep looking at the, uh, the West here, the, and I keep looking at
00:11this chargers team in the AFC and I just keep seeing more injuries, more blah when it comes
00:19to offense.
00:20I'm not sold on the defense.
00:24I, I think that's going to be a very interesting conference this year with Denver and obviously
00:29the return of, you know, who in Kansas city, but I am not, I mean, at plus one 90, I
00:36don't
00:36look at this chargers team as plus one night.
00:39They're like Baltimore.
00:41Everybody's penciling them in, but I have more questions than I have answers here, Tom, heading
00:45into the season.
00:47Yeah.
00:47And regardless of the division odds, which I don't agree with, um, Bo Nix being back when
00:55you're looking at just to make the playoff odds in the AFC Denver at minus one 46 and
01:02the chargers at minus one 62 and a minimum though should be flipped.
01:08And I don't think the chargers really should be, should be minus one 50 ish.
01:12They should be maybe inching closer to plus money.
01:15And maybe that's just a risk thing from the books because people, you know, the books
01:17don't want to put them in closer, but the fact that Bo Nix is back, he looks good.
01:22Jalen Waddle looks good.
01:24The Denver Broncos have the best offensive line in football.
01:27They have a great defense.
01:29They have, they will always have tremendous home field advantage being there, cold weather
01:33in altitude, Denver at minus one 46 to make the playoffs.
01:38That seems pretty good.
01:39Like it's, I know it's a little bit of juice, but it seems pretty good to me.
01:45I, so here's my question.
01:47Bo Nix, obviously was a little banged up at the end of the year, had surgery.
01:51We knew that, right?
01:52We know Stidham is going to be his backup.
01:55Who's been in that system, like or hate him.
01:57And seasons are not one, right?
02:00Superbowls are not one in September here, but I think the chargers, it comes down to
02:08how much are you expecting Herbert to have to carry this team early on?
02:12Are they going to be able to run the ball, Tom?
02:14Because to me, I think the only way in a Harbaugh run team that we can try where Herbert is
02:20really going to make a difference.
02:22He cannot be Josh Allen.
02:24Like it can't be the begin all and end all with Justin Herbert, because that doesn't
02:29work against better defenses.
02:30At some point you're going to get lit up here.
02:33I would love to see the offensive line gel together.
02:36There's no reason with as much money as they have tied up in two tackles that they can't
02:41protect him.
02:41I do think the ceiling is the highest in that division for him, but man, I have to see it
02:47before I can believe it with them once again.
02:50I do too.
02:51And for the chargers, to your point with Herbert, I know a lot of people keep asking about
02:56when Herbert's going to take the next step.
02:58Is Herbert in the MVP conversation?
03:01All these sorts of things, you know, frankly, a part of me wants to think, and I know this
03:05sounds a little weird, but I think if Herbert is legitimately in the MVP conversation from
03:11accounting stats standpoint, things aren't going well for the chargers because it means
03:15that their defense is terrible and they have to score 30 a game.
03:19But Herbert can be good, like fundamentally and have really good, you know, underlying metrics
03:24because that means the team is well overall.
03:26They're running the ball effectively.
03:27The defense is good enough.
03:28If they're protecting Herbert, who has dealt with enough injuries, like people don't talk
03:32about the Herbert is a little bit always banged up.
03:34So if Herbert actually can have fewer counting stats because he's effective and they can run
03:39the ball and the defense is fine, he doesn't have to be an MVP type type of care of, you
03:43know, MVP type of quarterback, but the team can be better overall because if he needs to
03:49throw for 300 yards game, something's probably wrong with the defense.
03:54Yeah.
03:54And that's my, that's the big question, right?
03:56What is that defense going to look like here this year?
04:00Some changes across the board.
04:02They got a little bit older.
04:04So there are some questions there, but I also, are we just penciling Kansas City into being
04:11number one or number two with, I am just shocked on everything that we're hearing with my homes
04:16on how fast he's come back.
04:18And don't forget his knee injury was what, December, Tom?
04:23And already he's on track to start the season in game one.
04:26So I love what they did.
04:28They upgraded the running game.
04:29I think that's fantastic.
04:32But, you know, and it doesn't really make a difference.
04:35If it takes them the first month in September, they could still win games, even if he's not
04:41truly 100%.
04:44And that's, that's what I keep saying about Kansas City.
04:48And frankly, I think a lot of people are going to be hesitant because the ability for people
04:54to be wrong about Kansas City is there.
04:56And what I mean by that is if Kansas City comes out of the gates rolling and the homes
05:00looks healthy and everything's fine, obviously Kansas City is always going to be one of the
05:03front runners.
05:04They will always be one of the leads in the AFC to win the conference.
05:07They'll always be at the top towards win the Super Bowl.
05:09But the ability for them to get rolling smoothly, that's where I have my concerns.
05:14So I'm almost in like a wait and see mode about Kansas City, because if they start off
05:18two and two or two and three, I think there will be a better buy low spot on them, at
05:21least from a futures perspective.
05:23And I'm not saying I'm running to the window to bet Kansas City, but I'd rather just wait
05:26to see it.
05:27And then if Mahomes does struggle, but he ends up being great November, December, as
05:30he always is, I can just buy in at a better point at the end of September.
