Kansas City Chiefs great Priest Holmes details why he’s not concerned with team’s 0-2 start and his new podcast, “The Holmes Stretch.”
Playmaker
Priest Holmes doesn’t believe the Kansas City Chiefs are in a decline – he believes teams in the AFC have simply gotten better.
The Chiefs are off to a 0-2 start this year following losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. When factoring in their loss in Super Bowl LIX against the Eagles, Kansas City is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Holmes, who is well-known for his Chiefs tenure (2001-2007), isn’t sounding the alarm just yet.
“If you’re a betting person, you’re going to think out of the last eight trips, Kansas City is 7-1 against the Chargers,” says Holmes in a one-on-one interview. “That was a different Chargers team that came out and Justin Herbert was definitely the quarterback that was in control of that entire game, and his receivers were showing up and catching the ball.”
Priest Holmes On Chiefs’ Receivers: They ‘Weren’t Executing’
The 51-year-old Holmes has a point – the Chargers appear to be much better this season. While it’s early on in the year, Los Angeles is 2-0 and playing sound football. They rank 11th in scoring and third in defensive scoring. The most glaring statistic is that Herbert has zero interceptions and the Chargers have just one turnover total.
When factoring in the disparity in receivers, that proved to be a pivotal difference in the season-opening game between the Chargers and Chiefs. Los Angeles has three receivers playing at a top level in Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnson.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ top wideout, Xavier Worthy, was injured on the first drive. Kansas City is also operating without its other starting wideout, Rashee Rice, who is currently suspended for the first six games of the season.
In other words, the Chiefs are operating once again with an underwhelming wide receiver core.
“Patrick Mahomes, his receivers weren’t executing,” says Holmes “That’s something that I don’t think that they’re on the decline, but I definitely think that teams have gotten better. While you’ve been good for over eight years, eight seasons, and winning the AFC Championship, these teams have been scheming, plotting and putting themselves in position to be able to unseat the Kansas City Chiefs.”
Things aren’t getting any easier for the Chiefs moving forward. While they should be able to take care of business against the New York Giants in Week 3, they’ll face the Baltimore Ravens, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Detroit Lions in three consecutive weeks.
Following a matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, they’ll host the Jayden Daniels-led Washington Commanders and visit the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos in consecutive weeks.
All of those aforementioned teams are serious threats and arguably better than they were last season.
“Getting that first division loss that was a surprise to many, but it was a different Chargers team that showed up in Brazil,” says Holmes. “We know what type of team that the Philadelphia Eagles are, and between Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, two individuals that did some incredible things last year, they’re continuing that with their 2-0 season.”
Priest Holmes On Why He Created His Own Podcast, ‘The Holmes Stretch’
Holmes, who was one of the best running backs in the NFL at the turn of the millennium, is the latest athlete to launch his own podcast. The former three-time Pro Bowler recently launched “The Holmes Stretch” with Playmaker HQ.
The show is two episodes in and airs new episodes every Friday. Holmes details that this podcast stands out because it features in-depth breakdowns and analysis along with high-profile guests. Holmes mentions that former Chiefs and Broncos lineman Neil Smith and former teammates such as Jamal Lewis and Will Shields have already appeared on the show.
Holmes details why he’s dipping into the podcasting space, saying that he attended “broadcast boot camp” many years ago after retiring.
“Coming out of playing professional ball, I decided to go to broadcast boot camp,” says Holmes. It was something that I said, ‘Okay, this is a journey that I think I might want to go in.’ Obviously, you see tons of former players that come out of the league and they go right into broadcasting. I went through that element that was provided by the trust, which is a part of our NFL Players Association benefits.
“In 2011, I participated with the inaugural year of the Texas Longhorns Network,” Holmes continues to say. “Did some commentating, then got my feet wet. Really enjoyed that particular season where I joined the Longhorns Network. Got busy, started doing much more with my foundation, and then I decided to kind of sit in the back burner — I stopped commentating. For the last 15 years, I’ve had a chance to watch how this content creation has created a whole entire type of new revenue. It brings about different networks and different conversations as well.”
Along with former teammates of his, Holmes reveals he recently had the opportunity to interview Seattle Seahawks great Marshawn Lynch. He says a big part of why he’s getting into the podcasting space is to tell and share stories with the fans.
“I’ve been pretty excited about this opportunity get a chance to really get some stories told that people may have never ever had a chance to hear about,” says Holmes. “It connects me to former players, whether I had a chance to talk with them in person, or they’re younger players that I get a chance to meet after the fact.
“I had a chance to interview Beast Mode, he’s got a podcast called ‘Da Get Got Pod,’” says Holmes. “I wasn’t sure exactly what I was walking into, but it was a great time talking with him and his fullback (Michal Robinson) as well. Marshawn Lynch is a great guy, and every time I see him on a commercial, I already know it’s going to be hilarious. It’s going to be funny.”
Holmes says he definitely prefers the podcast space over traditional broadcasting because it’s more of an open forum to talk and he’s having actual conversations.
“I certainly prefer the podcast base because it’s more about just having a conversation,” says Holmes. “You can interject any of the storytelling that you want.”I definitely like this podcast space. It just opens the grounds for so much more conversations. Part of it is scripted. There’s a little bit of a run to show. But outside of those four or five points, you just let it flow, and the conversation goes wherever it goes.”
When asked about the long-term objective of the podcast, Holmes says that it’s about bringing more stories from former and current players, along with analyzing the game from a betting perspective.
“These next two years, you’ll definitely be having ”The Holmes Stretch” that will galvanize all these different stories and bring about all these different former players and see what kind of content that we can create,” details Holmes. “Definitely like talking sports, we have an incredible sponsor that’s behind me with bet365, and we’re talking unders and we’re talking overs.”