12 Penalties and a Prayer: Blaes & Gottsch Break Down Week 1 of Preseason

Teresa Blaes and Mischelle Saunders-Gottsch are back after a break (Teresa’s been recovering from surgery, and yes, the power rankings are still coming) to dig into the first wave of preseason football across their three teams.

Teresa opens with a hard take: the Chiefs looked rusty, with a lackluster offense and 12 penalties — a game that felt more like college ball than pro. Mischelle pushes back, pointing out that Andy Reid leans heavily on rookies and roster-bubble guys in preseason and it’s far too early to judge. The two hash it out respectfully and land on common ground: nobody’s calling the Chiefs bad, but the penalties, the offensive line’s ability to give Mahomes time, and the risk of becoming a one-dimensional offense are all real things to clean up.

Denver, meanwhile, lit up the scoreboard without leaning on Bo Nix, and Arizona has been a mixed bag — a loss in the Hall of Fame game where Carson Beck still threw lights-out numbers, followed by a win over the Raiders built on the ground game. The Cardinals’ momentum comes with a cost, though: injuries at running back and a leg injury that looks season-ending. Teresa also weighs in on the Kyler Murray departure, the Gannon firing, and what Mike LaFleur’s punch-you-in-the-mouth style might bring to Arizona.

Along the way they tamp down Carson Beck hype, explain how waivers and practice squads actually work for cut players, and look ahead to the Chiefs–Broncos opener on September 14 and the Mahomes vs. Nix storyline. The faith thread ties it together: it’s about putting in the reps — on the field and in God’s word — with a nod to Kirk Cousins mentoring his own competition on the Raiders as a picture of football as a brotherhood.

They close with personal updates — Mischelle’s nonprofit expansion and Global Podcast Network work through Altered Stories Ministry, and Teresa’s new shows, upcoming book, and her band, Ragged Thread, with roughly three albums’ worth of songs written and a Patreon on the way — plus a call for listener feedback, favorite teams, and faith stories from around the league.

Still worth a quick check on a few garbled player names in the transcript (a couple of Cardinals players, and “Bakerfield” for Baker Mayfield) before this goes into show notes.

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