The Chiefs and the Week 2 NFL Panic Button

Hang Up and Listen

Slate Podcasts

News, Sports, Sports News

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs discuss the beginning of the NFL season, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ 0-2 record; their worst start since 2014 when they last missed the playoffs. Has their aging lineup started to catch up to them? Plus, the return of tush-push discourse. Next, the 38-year-old Sidney Crosby has played a whopping 20 seasons for the Penguins and is arguably the best player of his generation. But as the Penguins continue to flail, Crosby’s management is signaling he may not be long for the team. What do teams owe to their oldest, most storied players, and is it the end of the one-team legend? Then, Angel Reese publicly criticized her Chicago Sky teammates in the Chicago Sun Times, calling out weak recruiting and their reliance on injured players. Reese and the team have reconciled, but for how long? We also catch up on the WNBA playoffs: The Lynx may feel inevitable, but Lindsay argues there may be some meaningful challengers as the playoffs roll on. In afterballs, the Tyreek Hill’s domestic violence allegations are barely registering in conversations about his rumored trade to the Kansas City Chiefs. Lindsay looks back at the details of the claims against him, and why they’re important to remember. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses Phillies Karen, the ball hawker who went viral after demanding the return of a ball from a child. After several false accusations and an ongoing campaign to unmask the ball-taker, have we taken bad ball park etiquette too far? . NFL Week 2 (3:52): A panic button for the Chiefs Sidney Cosby and the Penguins (19:22): The end of an era? The WNBA Playoffs (34:54): Angel Reese and Lynx domination (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen. You can email us at [email protected]. Podcast production and editing by Benjamin Frisch, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is Monday, September 15th, 2025.
0:09.6	Welcome back to hang up and listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
0:13.3	Back with you, yet again.
0:14.6	I'm a contributing writer for Slate, and I co-host the college football podcast,
0:19.6	Split Zone Duo.
0:22.3	A lot of people right now are downright despondent about the state of things. Don't think the forces of evil will ever be
0:27.1	contained. But the Kansas City chiefs are Owen too. So who really knows? We'll talk about that,
0:31.4	as well as a simmering trade saga around one of the greatest players in hockey history, Sidney
0:35.6	Crosby, and a public dust up between one of the WNBA's most famous players
0:40.5	and the franchise that staked its future on her just more than a year ago.
0:44.6	As usual, joining me this week is Lindsay Gibbs, the publisher of PowerPlays,
0:48.4	a newsletter that covers the biggest stories of the moment in women's sports.
0:51.9	But not just that now.
0:53.3	Lindsay is also the women's sports lead at CBS Sports as her portfolio grows.
0:58.2	Congrats, Lindsay.
0:59.0	Thanks so much.
0:59.9	Pretty exciting to start working with the women's basketball team right before the
1:04.8	WMBA playoffs.
1:06.3	My head's spinning, but feeling really lucky.
1:08.8	It's fun to do what I do.
1:10.7	We will talk about those WMBA
1:12.3	playoffs in the course of our WMBA segment today. And of course, we've got Ben Lindberg
	...

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