Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Offers Five Monster Reasons for Optimism in the 2024 Raiders Post Super Bowl LVIII
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:08 It's great to be with you.
00:09 We're literally just a few moments ago, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl here
00:14 at Allegiance Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.
00:19 Several things I want to talk about as I recap this game for you.
00:22 And it's not really a recap of the game per se.
00:28 It's, I need to rephrase that, it is a recap of the game, but it's going to be reasons
00:35 I think there should be great optimism among Raider Nation as we sit here tonight.
00:40 A couple of things I want to point out to you.
00:44 The Raiders went into Kansas City on Christmas Day and thumped the Super Bowl champions.
00:51 In fact, the last game they lost was to the Raiders at home on Christmas Day.
00:57 Now that clearly tells you this is not a team in rebuild.
01:03 Now all the credit in the world to Patrick Mahomes.
01:07 I think he's the best quarterback in the National Football League.
01:10 I do.
01:12 That being said, I don't think that they're insurmountable in the least bit.
01:23 There's nothing I've seen to them that's like, "Oof, ain't nobody going to beat them for
01:28 a while."
01:30 Then you flip to the 49ers, who the Raiders did joint practices this year before AP.
01:40 And forget the game, but in the joint practices when you saw Trent Williams going one-on-one
01:47 with Max Crosby and you saw the Raiders thump them very good, I mean, they won the game,
01:53 but I'm not counting the preseason game, but I am going to count them at the joint practices,
01:57 you saw the Raiders thump them pretty good.
02:00 There were a lot of reasons to come away from this game tonight.
02:05 Clearly if you're a Raider fan, you're not happy it's at your stadium, your two biggest
02:09 rivals, yada, yada, yada.
02:11 I get all of that.
02:13 That makes complete sense to me.
02:17 But you also want to come away with, this isn't the same Raider team.
02:23 This is a Raider team that went three-and-one against the AFC West under AP.
02:31 This is a Raider team that's going to get better.
02:35 This is a Raider team that is going to have the OTAs, the mini-camps, training camps to
02:42 prepare with a new scheme.
02:45 This is a team that's going to be more competitive because they're going to be significant.
02:52 They're going to go after this offseason hard, hard.
02:58 So there's a lot of reasons for you to be excited.
03:03 And so as we close the 2023 season, I know we're sitting here in February of '24, but
03:08 we just closed the '23 season.
03:10 I want to give you five key things that I think should give every member of Raider Nation
03:17 optimism.
03:18 Now, my job is not to be a cheerleader, and I'm not, but there are five succinct things
03:26 that I think is very important for this franchise.
03:30 Number one, this is a team now that's gone back to its roots.
03:36 This is a team that plays smash-mouth football.
03:42 And one of the reasons why that's good is you may beat the Raiders, but you're going
03:46 to feel it.
03:49 It's going to be physical.
03:51 You're going to have to want to play a physical brand of football, and you've got to be able
03:58 to dish it, and you've got to be able to take it.
04:01 The Chiefs wanted nothing to do with that against the Raiders.
04:06 None.
04:08 And they lost.
04:12 Tonight, the San Francisco 49ers beat themselves.
04:18 I'm not trying to be cute, and I'm not trying to be fancy, but you saw a more physical San
04:26 Francisco team on both sides of the ball, and you saw them.
04:35 Chiefs didn't want anything to do with it, but the 49ers kept making ridiculous mistakes
04:45 that kept Kansas City in it.
04:48 Now you've heard me say this many, many times.
04:52 Teams aren't good enough to go beat another team in the NFL and have to beat themselves
04:56 with penalties and stupid mistakes.
04:59 So the first thing is a return to your roots, physicality.
05:05 Second, discipline.
05:07 You saw tonight San Francisco cost themselves a football game because of lack of discipline.
05:13 That is not how the Raiders played in nine games with AP.
05:18 That should encourage you.
05:19 In fact, at one point I wanted to tweet out San Francisco's playing like the old, the
05:27 old Las Vegas Raiders.
05:32 Not the AP version.
05:35 Sloppy turnovers, mistakes.
05:37 I mean, start out, first drive of the game, they were driving down the field to score
05:43 and fumble, put the ball on the ground.
05:47 Can't do that.
05:48 Multiple mistakes.
05:50 So the first one is they're back to their roots of physicality.
05:53 Number two, discipline.
05:57 Number three, even with all of these things that the Raiders have done to improve, there's
06:03 going to be free agents and draft picks and the Raiders will be better next year as a
06:11 roster.
06:13 That's a big deal.
06:14 That's a humongous deal.
06:19 And you've watched the two teams that just played in the Super Bowl this year.
06:24 The Raiders smacked them both.
06:26 Now, they had a huge lead on the Chiefs the first time, gave it up, I think it was 14-0.
06:35 Then you saw them the second time beat them on Christmas and you saw for three days in
06:41 joint practices they whooped them.
06:43 Now, they whooped them again in the preseason, I don't count that game, but they did in the
06:47 practices when everybody was playing.
06:51 So when you see a return to physicality and then you see a return to discipline, not a
06:59 return but a maintaining discipline, that should encourage you.
07:04 And the third one is you're going to see an improved roster.
07:08 That is a big deal.
07:11 The fourth thing that you're going to see is a significantly improved coaching staff.
07:19 That is a big deal.
07:22 There was just some, and not a lot, but there was some bad coaching on the Schrader team.
07:29 And that's been swept away.
07:33 You're going to see improved coaching.
07:36 Physicality, discipline, improved roster, improved coaching.
07:46 But I want to get to the fifth one.
07:49 And the fifth one is really important.
07:55 As this game went on, you could sense as San Francisco was not putting their foot on the
08:05 throat of Kansas City and letting them stick around, you begin to watch San Francisco panic,
08:16 less a little bit.
08:20 And you saw Kansas City begin to laugh, not laugh disrespectfully, but laugh and kind
08:31 of like, "All right, been here, done that.
08:34 Been here, done that."
08:36 Now, the fifth, and this is the biggest thing, you watched that San Francisco team get tight
08:50 and panic.
08:53 The Chiefs got confidence the longer they stuck around.
09:00 And what happened?
09:02 They won.
09:03 Now, follow me for a minute, because this is super big.
09:06 Tom Izzo, the Hall of Fame coach, college basketball coach, once told me, "The hardest
09:12 part about winning a title is getting your guys to learn how to win."
09:20 Most NFL games are close into the fourth quarter.
09:25 The Raiders found a way, they found a way to learn how to win some games this year.
09:34 They lost some too, but next year they're going to come in with the confidence.
09:39 Now, you've heard me say this before, you can't have faith without hope, but hope isn't
09:46 faith, because faith is the substance of things hoped for.
09:55 And you saw the Raiders this year lose some games earlier in the tenure of AP that I think
10:03 they would have won at the end, at the end of the tenure, as an interim, because they
10:09 were playing with hope, but not confidence.
10:15 You saw it in the first Kansas City game.
10:18 There was hope, 14-0, there wasn't the confidence.
10:28 This team has a little bit of swag now, but they're going to come into 2024 expecting
10:36 to win.
10:39 They're coming in no longer hoping to win.
10:43 They're in the faith room.
10:46 We're going to win.
10:47 The breaks are going to go our way.
10:50 It's going to happen to us.
10:53 That should encourage all of you who are Raider fans.
10:59 That should thrill you.
11:02 That should take you into the proverbial moon and back.
11:08 That we're in a place now where we expect to win.
11:16 That's the mindset.
11:18 Me, that's them.
11:19 They're in that.
11:20 I told you earlier this week when Max was at Mass 2U Rootin' for, he goes, "Chiefs,"
11:25 because I want to take them down.
11:27 I want to take them down.
11:30 And that collective, the physicality, the discipline, better roster, better coaching,
11:38 and now performing at a level of faith, monstrous.
11:44 I want you to point out something.
11:51 I'm not friends with Travis Kelsey, but I have relationship to him.
11:57 As many of you know, Butch Jones, my dear friend, has been on this podcast a couple
12:03 of times, was his coach at Cincinnati.
12:08 And so I know Travis through Butch, not claiming friendship, but I know him.
12:14 I've always liked him, okay?
12:18 But you saw him on Christmas throw a helmet.
12:24 Earlier tonight, or when you're watching this yesterday, you saw him bump into Andy Reid
12:29 and nearly knock him over in a fit of rage.
12:34 That's panic.
12:38 And the more they win, the pressure.
12:42 Now, I'm going to go back to Tom Izzo again.
12:45 Nobody in his tenure as a coach has been to more Final Fours than him, including Krzyzewski.
12:52 And Tom told me a story once.
12:57 He was talking to a very respected coach who had really started winning.
13:05 And he said to him, the only thing harder than learning how to win is learning how to
13:12 stay a winner.
13:15 Because this guy had sought Izzo out for some advice.
13:18 And he said, because the more you win, the higher the standard.
13:25 Being what used to be acceptable is no longer acceptable, and people aren't happy, though.
13:31 He says people used to be happy at Michigan State if you got to the tournament.
13:36 Then they used to be happy if you went to a Final Four.
13:39 Now at Michigan State, with all of his success, you're not winning titles.
13:43 He's taking grief every year.
13:48 There's going to be a ton of pressure.
13:50 And when I was sitting there tonight in the stadium watching Travis Kelsey talk about
13:55 going for a three-peat, going for a three-peat, I thought, wow.
14:01 I'd already saw him be out of control with Andy Reid.
14:05 That was just completely unacceptable.
14:08 I'm sorry, you just don't do that.
14:11 I don't care if your coach is a complete loser, which Andy Reid isn't.
14:17 But you're up there putting yourself on, okay, we're three-peat, three-peat, three-peat.
14:22 Okay.
14:23 That's a little bravado.
14:25 But guess what, Travis Kelsey?
14:28 We've watched you twice under pressure.
14:32 Act the fool.
14:36 I think they are throwing pressure on themselves.
14:41 And I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not a fan of any team.
14:47 I will be stunned.
14:51 No, stunned is not the right word.
14:55 But I will be shocked if Kansas City wins it next year.
15:01 Now, listen, you can't call them out because to be the man, you got to beat the man.
15:07 I accept that.
15:08 They're the world champions.
15:12 They found a way this year after playing terribly to get their act together.
15:17 That's a lot of Andy Reid and a lot of Patrick Mahomes and a lot of that defense.
15:26 But there's going to be so much pressure.
15:28 Travis Kelsey, man, he was throwing the dirt on them tonight.
15:35 I could not believe my ears.
15:37 I couldn't believe it.
15:40 And there's going to be a lot of pressure on them.
15:42 No pressure on the Chargers.
15:44 If you're one, no pressure.
15:47 Denver, going to have a new quarterback.
15:53 Especially if it's a rookie, no pressure.
15:58 Raiders, no pressure at all.
16:04 Outside of Raider Nation, nobody has any expectations for them.
16:10 It's going to be interesting.
16:13 I think there's a lot of reasons, Raider Nation, for you to be excited.
16:18 A lot of them.
16:19 Tonight, the Chiefs won with defense, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.
16:27 But they really didn't win.
16:32 San Francisco lost.
16:33 Now, wait a minute.
16:34 Before anyone, and it doesn't matter if I say before because somebody's going to flame.
16:40 But I need to make this clear.
16:45 I'm Kansas City.
16:46 I'm not giving back the Lombardi.
16:50 You won it fair and square.
16:53 But is there anybody who watched that game that is above fandom that would say, "I think
16:59 San Francisco cost themselves the game"?
17:04 That's 100% what I believe.
17:07 And Travis up there running his mouth and acting the fool in the second quarter when
17:11 things weren't going well.
17:15 A lot of things going on here.
17:17 A lot.
17:18 And I think things have set up for 2024.
17:22 Teed up.
17:23 Teed up.
17:24 It's going to be fascinating.
17:27 It's going to be a great year.
17:31 I am so privileged to be able to cover this team for all of you.
17:35 I can't wait to cover this team all offseason.
17:40 I can't wait to cover this team and go into the draft.
17:45 And, man, we are putting up tons of draft prospect articles.
17:49 Next week I'm going to be interviewing a kid, a young man that could be an interesting player
17:56 in this draft.
17:57 He's going to be joining me on the podcast.
17:59 We're going to bring on another guy to talk about another potential prospect.
18:05 We've just got a lot of guests lined up.
18:08 This is going to be a really busy offseason.
18:12 Super excited about that.
18:14 To cover this team for you guys every single day.
18:17 To be bringing you the top-notch quality.
18:20 Clock's ticking.
18:23 You heard AP say it this week.
18:25 The road to the AFC West doesn't have to go through Kansas City.
18:30 They're not entitled to the title year after year.
18:35 They're not entitled to the Lombardi year after year.
18:37 You just watched San Francisco give it to them.
18:42 And you just saw earlier this year the Raiders give one to them.
18:49 Listen, they're the world champions and until somebody beats them, they're the odds-on favorite
18:55 and should be, by the way.
18:58 But there's cracks in that armor.
19:02 Remember the old Rocky Balboa fighting in Russia against Ivan Drago.
19:08 And after all the long butt-whooping, he hits Drago and he bleeds.
19:16 You heard the announcer say, "He's bleeding.
19:18 The Russian bleeds.
19:19 He's human."
19:23 You saw on Christmas Day the throwing of the helmet.
19:26 You saw at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders gave them that game.
19:32 You saw tonight Kelsey acting the fool.
19:39 You saw tonight San Francisco give them a win.
19:44 There's cracks in the armor.
19:45 Now, Andrew Reid's the best coach in the NFL.
19:50 I have zero issues with that, man.
19:52 I respect him.
19:53 I honor him.
19:55 Patrick Mahomes, great quarterback.
19:57 Respect him and honor him.
20:01 That defense is good, but there's still cracks.
20:07 And AP's coming.
20:11 AFC West is up for grabs next year and it doesn't have to go through Kansas City.
20:18 Ain't no Raider going to kiss the Kansas City ring.
20:24 They're motivated.
20:27 They're inspired.
20:30 They're on a mission.
20:31 It's going to be a great offseason.
20:35 Now listen, please follow me on IG @HondoSR.
20:45 Please follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
20:52 Go to si.com/NFL/Raiders for all of our articles.
20:59 Click on the upper right-hand link.
21:02 You don't want to miss it.
21:03 Sign up for the newsletter.
21:06 There's cracks in the armor in Kansas City.
21:09 I gave you five big reasons to be encouraged.
21:14 The AFC West doesn't have to go through Kansas City.
21:22 And AP's coming.
21:25 Have a good night.
21:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]