The Kevin Sheehan Show - 12-5! Tampa Bay Next

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

Kevin in with a post-game pod after Washington's 23-19 win in Dallas to cap a 12-5 regular season. He had his "Game Take" and a look ahead to next weekend's playoff match-up...Commanders at Tampa Bay.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. It's second and goal. End zone shot for the lead. It's 10 is in front.

Not a bad way to end a 12-win regular season. 12 wins for this football team in 2024. I can't believe I just said that. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is win donation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to windownation.com. I waited for the 4 o'clock window games to end before recording this show tonight because I wanted to know who Washington was going to play next weekend in the first round of the playoffs. And the answer is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Rams gave it a good fight against Seattle with Jimmy Garoppolo. and a bunch of backups playing, but they lose to Seattle 30 to 25. That makes the Rams, the four-seed, Tampa Bay, the three-seed, three-play six, and that's where Washington lands after Terry McClurent caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Marioata with just two seconds to go to lift Washington to a 23 to 19 season-ending win over the Dallas Cowboys. Now, they actually didn't need it because moments before, and I am assuming many of you were watching the Bears and the Packers kind of simultaneously, but literally three or four seconds before that ball was snapped to Marioada on that final play that ended up being the game winner, the Bears kicked a 51-yard field goal at Lambo to beat the Packers. Washington needed either a win over the Cowboys or a Packers lost to the Bears. They ended up getting both of those things, and they locked down the six seed with a 12-and-5 record.

And then it just came down to this afternoon. If the Rams won, Washington would have gone to L.A., but they lost, which means Washington heads to Tampa. That game will be either Saturday, Sunday, or Monday night. My guess is that it won't be played on Monday night. And the reason being is that I think tonight's loser between Detroit and Minnesota, they'll probably get some extra time and they'll push them into the 4-5 game on Monday night. And that would be against the Rams. The loser of Detroit, Minnesota plays the Rams next weekend,

while the winner will have the one seed in the NFC playoffs and have a first round by. Now, the date and time of Washington at Tampa will get announced at some point during the Detroit Minnesota game. If for whatever reason it pops up before then, I'll give it to you, but I'm assuming they will announce that sometime in terms of the full first weekend of wildcard games. That schedule will be out at some point during the season finale tonight in Detroit between the Lions and the Vikings. But look, this game today, it wasn't pretty, that's for sure, for much of it anyway. But this game, just like, you know, last week and the week before, and the week before that,

and just so many of the games that were played this year by this team, a wild game and an ending that was memorable. And the game had so much to it. I'm going to try to get to as much of it as I can right now. What I miss, I hope to get to tomorrow. I will be in at some point. Big storms usually don't stop me from getting to work. They haven't in the past. This one looks like a pretty big one.

I mean, where I live here in the close in D.C. to Maryland line, I'm in the district, but just barely over the D.C. Montgomery County line. And we're expecting 10 to maybe as much as 12 inches and maybe a lot of it overnight. But I will be in to do the radio show. This podcast will be out tonight. Sunday night, you'll have it all day tomorrow. And I hope to get in or hope to be able to stick around to do kind of a follow-up podcast for you guys for maybe tomorrow evening or for tomorrow night. Because this game had a lot to it.

And I'm going to try to get to as much of it as I can. So let's just start with this, 12 and 5. You know, the best regular season since 1991, as we all know. A five-game win streak to end the season. By the way, Dan Quinn now, in his last four games as a head coach in a season, is now 20 and 4. 20 and 4. He was in Atlanta as a head coach. He went 2 and 2 in his first year.

and a second year, three and one, three and one, four and oh. That's 16 and four in the final four games of a season as a head coach. In his final season in Atlanta, he never made it to the final four games because he got fired after the first five of that season. And here in D.C., he's four and oh in his final four games as a head coach. 20 and four as a head coach in the final four games of the year. Pretty good. And a trend that ends up explaining something like they get better as the season goes along where they're super prepared for these games at the end of the year. I don't know, because the bottom line is a couple of these games, you know, five turnovers against Philly, 13 penalties against Atlanta. I mean, one of the worst halves of football offensively for sure today

of the season, and yet they won those games. So, look, this season was a huge surprise. I mean, I know I predicted 10 and 7, but I was not expecting anything like what we got. This season produced, you know, so many memorable moments. It produced the league's offensive rookie of the year, and that player happens to play quarterback.

This season resulted in the all-time franchise mark being set today for touchdown receptions by the team's number one wide receiver, Terry McClorin. There's a lot more to look back on, and there will be time, you know, to look back on this incredible gift of a season and a surprise of a season. And there will be a lot to discuss in terms of, you know, where they go from here. You know, a 12-win wild card season. How do you get to 12-plus?

wins to produce a division title and home field advantage in the years ahead. You know, they have plenty of cap space. They have a healthy stash of draft choices. And apparently they have a very competent talent evaluating front office that can produce even better regular seasons ahead. But the time to talk about, you know, this just completed regular season, a joy. and what they need to do to improve on it, that comes later. Our team is in the playoffs.

They are one of 14 teams that will play beginning next weekend for a championship. Yeah, I said it, a championship. I'm not predicting it. Certainly not after today's performance. But you guys know this. The NFL playoffs, they get crazy. You know, every sport that has a won-and-done person, postseason is vulnerable to unexpected results, you know, and the NFL playoffs produce the

unexpected all the time. Realistically, you know, the NFC right now, who the hell knows? I mean, Philly looks really good and looks complete. Minnesota is a damn good team with a great home field advantage. If they win tonight and clinch a one seed, they'd be a tough out in that building, but they also have zero playoff experience with their quarterback and their critical players. I don't think anybody right now in the NFC is as daunting as, say, the 49ers were last year. It looked like the Lions might be that team, but they've had too many injuries. I can't wait for next week. I can't wait to see our team and our young quarterback in particular play next week.

in a do-or-die pressure-packed playoff game. I mean, nothing reveals what you are as a player, as a coach, as a team. Nothing reveals it like a one-and-done do-or-die, win-or-go-home game. You know, and on the road to boot, you know, these games are the moments, more than any other, that the team, the head coach, the players, the quarterback, back, most of all. They get judged on what's coming up. And while, yes, there is a little bit of playing with house money in terms of the feeling right now as it relates to this team, because this was unexpected, I want to see if they can produce their best football next weekend,

because they didn't do it today. That's for sure. And we'll get to that in a moment when I get to my game take. But next week is a clean slate. Health is going to be crucial for our team. You start with Jaden. Dan Quinn just said after the game that it was mild soreness in his leg, which is why he kept him out in the second half. The plan was not to play Marioada in the second half. This was something new, injury-wise.

It got reported on during the game that he was in the tent at one point with, I think Christina Pink said hip or knee. Once I heard that, I was like, man, I don't want to see him in the second half if there's any risk at all. So I actually completely agree with the decision that Dan Quinn made at halftime to bring out Marioota in the second half, even though, you know, it could have meant the difference between a six seed and a seven seed, you know, going to Tampa or going to Philadelphia. I mean, the Bears made that point moot. But the good news is it does not sound like anything serious. Jaden would have played if the game had been a must-win game. He would have come out and played in the second half.

There were other injuries during the game, Brandon Coleman, Frankie Louvo. Louvo came back into the game. Echler was back. I thought he looked pretty good. That was good news. But man, does this team need to be healthy next week? They need Tyler Beaudish back badly. They could really use Mark.

Arshon Lattimore, healthy next week. You know, if they can get to next week with their best players, that's big. It's very important. They need some of these key players that were out today. If they can all go next week, they got a shot for sure against Tampa Bay. The early look-ahead line that I had seen and I had talked about on Friday's podcast was that Tampa would be about a two and a half three-point favorite. I don't see any number up yet.

we probably won't have a number for another hour or so. No guest on this podcast from the locker room down in Dallas. I talked to them and they were trying to do it, but they were getting to the plane quickly to get back home before the storm hits. So no guests from Dallas on the show. But I do have a full game take. And I'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, no man wants to lose his hair, but for men it's actually very common. And now with

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Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. The Game Take brought to you by Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head towindonation.com if you need new windows. and if you've got older windows, you should do it sooner rather than later. Window Nation can save you big money by replacing your cold, old, drafty windows with energy-efficient ones from Window Nation. If you go to Window Nation.com right now or call them at 86690 Nation, you'll save big. The month of January offers 50% off on all windows and Windows styles, plus zero percent interest with no pay. for two full years. Wind Donation's products are built to protect your home with top quality insulation and seals. They often outperform the expensive guys so you'll save money on your heating bills and your air conditioning bills, utility bills savings year round. Windows from Window Nation come with a lifetime warranty. They can be installed in a day or less. And if you call them and mention my name, they'll come out when it's convenient, for you and they'll give you a free, no risk, no obligation in-home estimate. At now,

their current sale ends January 31st. Don't miss out on your chance to save 50% off on all window styles plus zero percent interest and zero payments for two full years. 86690 Nation window nation. Windonation.com. All right. What I liked, what I didn't like in other observations. We'll start here with the things that I liked. Second half offense, I guess, because the first half was just horrendous. That may have been the worst half of this season offensively, right? I can't think of one that was worse. Maybe the first Dallas game, that first half against the Cowboys back in November.

So to see the ball moved up and down the field with Marcus Marioata, throwing for 161 yards in two touchdowns, and rushing for 50s, 56 yards to lead the team to 20 second half points, including a 91-yard game-winning drive at the end. I mean, that's number one on the list. You know, it's a short list of things that I liked from today's game, but four second-half possessions, three touchdowns, the touchdown drives were 70 yards, 70 yards, and 91 yards. They were four for six on third down in the second half, one-for-one. on fourth down, and it was a big one on that final drive.

And they were three for three in the red zone in the second half. I thought Cliff made some changes in the second half. Went with a lot more quick stuff in the second half versus the amount of quick stuff that he called in the first half. And I thought that was big because I thought they struggled up front in this game. Second half offense leads the list of things that I liked from this 23 to 19. season finale win over the Cowboys. By the way, to snap a three-game losing skid to Dallas.

Number two, on the list is Marioita himself. 12 for 15 for 161 yards, two touchdowns, five rushes for 56 yards. In 30 minutes on just four chances, four possession chances, he generated 217 total yards of offense. there were a couple of not so attractive moments, like the one drive in which they didn't score, where they went three and out with him taking two sacks, where he was kind of stumbling and bumbling around

to the tune of 25 lost yards. But overall, his second chance this year to play meaningful football, the first one coming in that game against the Panthers, went well. You know, the fourth and one 33-yard run with 33-yard. three seconds left at midfield was awesome. He's got good speed still, you know, for his age. Really good feel and vision as a runner.

That was a massive play on that final drive. The third and five throw to Zekees on the first drive of the second half was outstanding. His RPO touchdown throw to Ertz. It wasn't the best throw I've ever seen, but it was good enough. His read option touchdown run where he broke a tackle and got into the end zone to give him a 16 to 12 lead was a really good play. He had the slant to Terry McLaurin on 3 and 3 earlier in that drive that was big time. He had a quick throw to Echler on a 3rd and 3 that was nice. He also had a ball dropped by Bates.

Bates has had a couple of big drops, had a big fumble too, remember. in the first Dallas game. But that would have been a big play. That wasn't the only drop, by the way, on the day. Mariotta's poise on that final drive, 11 plays, 91 yards, converting the fourth and one at midfield. And then really the only throw they could make with six seconds to go at the Dallas 5, it had to be quick and it was a quick fade and it was a perfect throw.

Great catch, great throw, ball game. He's an excellent backup quarterback in the NFL, period, you know, especially in Cliff Kingsbury system. It was an A game for Marioada in relief. Next up on the list of things that I like Terry McClarns on this list, it was really the second half. Because let's face it, you know, he's been MIA for about a game and a half before the second half today. you know, he and Jaden have just been off, and they were off again in the first half. He had one catch for five yards in the first half. And then Mariotta comes in.

Look, I think the game plan was adjusted a bit in the second half. There was a lot more quick stuff going on. But Terry had seven catches for 57 yards after halftime, including the game winner, including the third and four on the final drive, which was a great catch. catch. Eight for 62 total. I mean, it's not, you know, the all-time greatest day by a receiver, but seven for 57 and some big-time catches in the second half. They only had the ball four times. And that catch for a touchdown set the franchise record for touchdown receptions in a season. 13 for Terry. Record-setting day for Terry. He's had a hell of a season. He's on the

list of things that I liked. There's not a whole hell of a lot defensively that I like from this game, but they did get it done in the red zone, sometimes with help, but Dallas went one for six in the red zone. And that was huge. That was critical to the outcome of this game, holding them to, you know, the number of field goals that they had four field goals in the game, and by the way, just a fourth and goal stop, although that was more on Trey Lance. But just the fact that Dallas got to the red zone six times is a bit troubling, you know, against our defense. Not an encouraging thing. But, you know, if you go through the five red zone stops, the first one, tipped ball by Duran Payne, a near interception by Louvre. He actually should have had it on a third down.

That really held them to a field goal attempt on that drive. The next one was after the fumbled punt return by Crowder with some help from McCaffrey. Chin got a huge sack that led to another Red Zone Dallas field goal. Red zone stopped for the defense. Look, they got flat out lucky on the fourth and goal at the end of the half when Lance made an absolute horrendous, you know, throw, pulled the string on it to a wide open Rico Dowdell in the end zone. But they got off the field on that one. They had the big sack on the first drive of the second half in the red zone. Fowler Jr. got pressure. John Allen got the sack.

And then Lance, remember, was late on a couple of throws into the end zone, had the one to Ferguson that was challenged, but was upheld. And the defense got a stop on that one, held Dallas to a field goal that made it 12 to 10 in that spot. Five red zone stops. Pretty good. Not all because of the defensive play, but The results, Dallas going one for six, critical in the outcome of the game. What else here as I'm going through my notes? A couple of other players stood out on a positive, more positive than negative. I thought Ertz once again, five catches on five targets, the touchdown. It's a good catch too because it was not a clean throw.

It's hard to mention a lot other than red zone defense, but Wagner, Sanra still, chin kind of stood out. I thought Wagner in particular stood out a lot. They all had good moments. But that's kind of it for now on the things that I like to list. So let me get to the ugly part of the day, which is the list of things that I didn't love. And we'll start with first half offense.

You know, it was the worst of the year, right? three points, four punts, 64 total yards, couldn't run it, couldn't protect, drop balls, bad decisions, busted plays. It was brutal to watch, considering just how good this offense has been. When did Jaden get hurt? I don't know when Jaden Daniels got hurt. I know that Quinn called it mild soreness in his leg and Christina Pink, you know, talked about it on the sideline that he'd gone into the tent. The good news is, you know, it's not serious. And they said after the game that if this had been a must-win game, like a playoff game next week, he would have stayed in it. And remember this. You know, the last time they played the Cowboys, everything was off in the first half against Dallas

the last time. It was very similar to this first half. You know, they got it rolling in the second half against Dallas in a major way. We didn't get to see that today or we didn't need to see him do that. today. But the problems they had in the first half today against the Cowboys were similar to the problems they had against the Cowboys on November 24th. They were dominated at the line of scrimmage in particular. No Biotish was a problem. They need him next week, but they just got whipped up front. You know, I also thought that Cliff in the first half could have called more quick stuff, you know, like he did in the second half. I thought that was part of the adjustment. in the second half that really impacted their productivity on offense. There was less

dropback, more quick game, and it worked. You know, it was obvious, too, that they didn't really want Jaden to run that much, you know, especially after he got banged up. And let's face it, right now, their run game on this team is at quarterback. It's Jaden and then Marioio was their run game in the second half. You know, so that's a bit of a problem and a concern. Brian Robinson, Jr. 5 carries 10 yards. You know what he was against Dallas the first time? Five carries 13 yards. Dallas was a problem for Washington in these two games, for Washington's offense. Echler got some chances. I actually thought he looked kind of spry and healthy, and that's really good news. But it's not like there was a lot of room for him, three carries 12 yards. the two of them carried, you know, eight times for 22 yards. That's what you got from your running backs.

McNichols had a couple of decent runs, but it's just not good enough from the running backs right now. The offense in the first half really was just unrecognizable, you know, other than to say that it looked similar to the first half against the Cowboys back in November. Jaden wasn't good, you know, I don't know how much of it was him. How much of it was him hurting a bit?

He missed some throws. He had a ball or two dropped. You know, he and Terry once again were off. He led him too much on one throw in particular. Terry dropped one another time. He had the one big run on third and ten when he scrambled right up the A gap for 16 yards. But, you know, he took a four-yard sack on the sideline when he could have easily thrown it away. That was not a good decision.

there was a busted read option play. I think with Echler in the game, that could have been Echler. I'm not sure entirely. He was off, the offense was off, the play calling didn't help in the first half. The O line was a problem. He had a bad half. He got banged up. I think, you know, if I'm going to grade him for the half, I'd probably give it an incomplete.

You know, if I was just to grade him for the half, I guess it would be C, minus D plus somewhere in that neighborhood. But because he didn't get a chance to come back in the second half, like by the way he did in November against the Cowboys, the grade is incomplete. But number one on the list of things that I didn't like, the first half offense, anemic. I mean, how many times have we seen Tress Way punt that much in a game,

let alone a half? Second on the list of things that I didn't like, the defense. It just wasn't good again today, minus the Red Zone where they held Dallas to just one for six. But it was a bad day, another concerning day, in some ways more concerning than in recent games. That was Trey Lance they were facing. He hasn't looked anything like an NFL quarterback in any of his other opportunities in Dallas or in San Francisco. And he probably had the best day of his career.

He hasn't had that many opportunities. but I bet you he hasn't thrown for 244 yards or if he has maybe one time, 20 of 344 for 244 in the game. Look, he missed things, man, like an easy touchdown pass on that fourth and goal to dowdle. He was late a lot, and because of it, Washington's defense benefited because there were open receivers. As I mentioned, I mean, the discouraging part of the day is that the Cowboys dominate, time of possession. They ran 20 more offensive plays. They reached the red zone six times. Once again, the run defense wasn't good enough, not against that team. You know, 150 yards rushing for the Cowboys, even with heavy boxes for much of the game. Dallas had 378 yards of

total offense. And look, they had so many penalties in the game that really cost them yards and perhaps points. They had four false starts in the game. They had open receivers that Lance was just late on. But they were 7 of 17 on third down. That's not bad. Their fullback had two huge short yardage runs that Washington seemed to have no clue were coming. There wasn't enough consistent pass rush pressure. The coverage behind it wasn't very good at all except for Sanra still. St. Juice again struggled, penalties, although one of them, the two on the one drive, the DPI that he got called for against Mingo was a terrible call.

Eight different Dallas receivers had catches with Trey Lance at quarterback, and none of them were named C.D. Lamb because he didn't play. When you consider the opponent and the quarterback, the defense wasn't anywhere near good enough. What happens next week against Mayfield and Evans in Bucky Irving? Next up on the list of things that I didn't like. Drops. They had a lot of drop passes in this game for minimum, I think. Zakias on the Diami Brown would be touchdown throw. I don't know why they're using some of the trick stuff in this game, but Diami Brown left

hand it threw a perfect ball to Zekees and he dropped it in the end zone. It would have been a touchdown. Zakeas has, you know, had a couple of big drops this year. Remember last week against Atlanta? I can remember the Baltimore game had a big drop in that one. He had a good second half and he had a great game overall last week. I like Zichias. But occasionally he will drop a football or two.

He dropped one from Jaden in the first half. Bates dropped one from Marioota. Terry dropped one in the first half. drops were a problem. They lost the turnover battle. The Crowder fumble was kind of caused by McCaffrey getting pushed into Crowder. You got to get the hell away from your returner in that spot. Washington finishes the season after losing the turnover battle today, minus one.

They got no takeaways and they had the one giveaway. They finished dead even in turnover margin. 12 wins dead even in turnover margin. Just eight takeaways in their last eight games, zero today. The takeaway D never materialized this year. Louvo had a shot at an interception. Lastly, on the list of things that I didn't like, you don't go for two up by four with that much time left in the game.

I don't know what you're doing there. You go for two up four to try to make it a six-part. point lead. The card may say that, but it's got to be with like no possession, like one possession left in the game, you know, where the other team gets one last shot at it, and you're going to go two so that if they do score a touchdown, they have to make the extra point to beat you. You don't go for two when Washington went for two, which was with still 11 minutes and 18 seconds left in the game. There were too many possessions, too many scoring types. Take the lead 17 to 12, and when they score, if they do score, make them go for the two to get a three-point lead.

By missing that, you were down three and could have only tied with a fuel goal. Rather than, you know, if it was 17, 12, when Dallas scored, they would have gone for two, but if they had missed it, it's 18, 17. Could have been 20 to 17, but force them to make the two-pointer. There's zero reason to go for two up four with 11 minutes and 18 seconds. left in the game. Don't do that. If you want to tell me that, oh, you got to get to a six-point lead because Dallas is going to kick two more field goals because they've already kicked four. Okay, but it's not the play. You want to go up by five and force them if they score touchdown to make a two-point conversion, and if they don't, then your field goal wins the game rather than ties the game.

Yeah, what else did I have? I think that's it on the list of things that I didn't like. Pass protection, a problem, as I mentioned with kind of talking about the first half offense. It was a problem all game. They got to get healthy. They do. All right. A few other observations and a quick look ahead to next weekend and the playoff game against Tampa.

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All right, this final segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. If you want to bet on the NFL playoffs, go to mybooky.orgie.orgie. promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will give you a 50% cash bonus on your initial deposit. MyBooky has five of the six wild card points spreads and totals up. They just put them up. One of the games is to be determined. The Rams will host the loser of the Minnesota Detroit game tonight.

But the other five games are set. The points spreads are as follows. Washington is a three-point underdog at Tampa. Again, the day and the time of the game will be announced sometime during Sunday night football tonight. The total in the game is the highest so far at 49 and a half. Now, Detroit Rams or Minnesota Rams, they'll have a pretty high total as well. But of the five games that are out there, it's the highest total over-under number at 49.5. Tampa Bay, though, opens up as a three-point favorite at my bookie.

The other NFC game that is up, Green Bay is a four-point dog at Philly. Green Bay had injury issues today in their game against the Bears. The big injury being Jordan Love got hurt. Malik Willis quarterbacked much of that game. I don't think it's serious. I think if it were serious, the number would be on hold for now. It would not be up. It would be off the board at this point.

But Philly's a four-point favorite over Green Bay with a total of 47. the three AFC games which are set. Buffalo's an eight and a half point favorite over Denver. Pittsburgh is a big dog at Baltimore. Baltimore, a nine and a half point favorite at home against the Steelers. And the Chargers are a three point favorite at Houston. So there you go. My bookie's got everything up already. You can count on my bookie to get everything up quickly, especially for significant events. like the NFL playoffs. Go to my bookie.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin, DC. They'll give you a 50% cash bonus on your initial deposit. So there you go. Tampa Bay, minus three, a total of 49 and a half

next weekend. My smell test picks, pretty good again. Three and one today. Had Denver, had Carolina. I had Pittsburgh last night. That was a nice little backdoor, late game cover. and the loser was the under in the Tampa Bay New Orleans game. So four and two for the entire week when you count the two college games that I had that I went one and one on. So four and two to end the regular season, that means I close the year with 10 winning weeks over the final 12 weeks of the year. I'll take that. All right. Let's get to a couple of other observations here and get out of here and then we'll try to get back tomorrow.

I thought it took way too long for Washington to spike the ball at the end of that game before the final play. Mario da through a pass to Ertz. That play started with 25 seconds to go. Washington didn't have any timeouts left, but it was a quick bang, bang play, and they didn't get up and spike it until there were six seconds left. I thought it could have been a faster operation there, and maybe you would have had two snaps had the first one not scored. I had no problem clearly with them running a play there with six seconds to go.

They did not at that point know the result of the Green Bay game. It's interesting, though, if they had thrown an incompletion there, right? And let's just say they brought out their field goal team to kick a game-tying field goal. Or if they had gotten word that Green Bay lost before the field goal attempt, maybe they just would have gone for it with two seconds to go. if the first one had been incomplete, because at that point, they had already clinched the six seat. I don't know that they would have known because it happened in such, you know, close proximity to one another. The Bears game-winning field goal and the snap that came a few plays later,

but it would have been interesting to see how they would have played the overtime. Yeah. Anyway, Washington, I thought, got up to spike the ball, bit too slowly. It was not the fastest operation. By the way, does anybody else think that the face mask that started that drive back, you know, on their own 15, Marioo went back to throw, he got sacked, it was a big loss, and there was a penalty called on Wilson for face mask. I don't think he grabbed the face mask. I don't think it was a face mask penalty. I think he grabbed just part of the helmet. I think you're allowed to do that. I could be. wrong about that.

What else? Oh, Dallas, so when a team is running a play with six seconds to go, you know, and it's essentially their last play before a field goal decision, a field goal or go-for-it decision, what you should really do in that spot is you should hold immediately off the line of scrimmage and not let them get a quick throw. because it's then just a holding penalty, three or four seconds go off the clock, it's half the distance to the goal, and then Washington's got one play, and they've got to make the decision on kicking the field goal or trying to go for it

and trying to win the game. Now, there are rules where you can't do that over and over again, or they will put the time. I mean, they'll either get called for unsportsman-like conduct or they'll put the time back on the clock. Remember, they addressed that a few years ago, but you can do it the first time. time. So with six seconds to go, Dallas should have been in across the board. We are mugging Terry McCorn and every other receiver so that they can't get a quick throw. And if we get flag for it, fine. It's fine. It's half the distance. The ball goes to the two and a half

yard line. And now there are two seconds left in Washington can make the decision from there. What else did I have on the? That might be it. the Ferguson challenge was worth it. And then you saw that that other foot was actually out before he was able to scrape the right foot. Yeah, I think that's it for now. I might have more tomorrow. Again, this is kind of quick first blush. And if I'm missing anything significant, I'll include it on tomorrow's show. Look, the first look ahead to next week is this. They played this team in the opener, but that doesn't mean anything at this point. That's so long ago. Week one is always such a head fake. The first four or five weeks of this season aren't really indicative or reflective of

anything. They also have a slightly different team. You know, there's no Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, who actually caught a touchdown pass against Washington, has really emerged as a big-time receiver. They struggled today against the Saints. in a game in which they went off as a 15-point favorite. They needed to win or Atlanta lose. Atlanta ended up losing in overtime, 44 to 38 to Carolina in the game that they had to have. But Tampa was down 16 to 6 at halftime. You know, Tampa, New Orleans was up 1913 heading into the fourth quarter.

Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan, which was sick. and then Bucky Irving capped off a 12-play 94-yard drive to ice it. They actually, in the fourth quarter, had a 12-play 82-yard drive that took seven minutes and nine seconds and a 12-play 94-yard drive that took five minutes and 47 seconds to come from behind to beat New Orleans to clinch the playoff berth. Now, if they had lost that game, then Atlanta's loss would have kept Tampa in the postseason, but it would have made them and rendered them a four-seed, and Washington would have been going to L.A. They got a couple of things working right now offensively. Baker Mayfield's

having a hell of a season. He's a baller, flat out. Bucky Irvings turned into a rookie running back star. He rushed for over 1,100 yards. He was a fourth round pick out of Oregon, took Rashad White Spot really. He's been awesome. recently. As mentioned, Mike Evans came back from the injury. He had, I'm looking at a box score right now, nine catches 89 yards today. But Jalen McMillan's really become that second

go-to guy as a rookie without Chris Godwin. They lost Jordan Whitehead, who was back and then got in a car accident defensively, their DB. That'll be a big loss for them and probably was today. But defensively, they are well-coached.

You know, Vita Vaya, Levanti David, KJ Britt. I don't know what Antoine Winfield's, what his status is for next week. I don't. They've got a very good kicker in Chase McLaughlin. He was one of the best kickers this season.

Ended up this season, 93.8% on field goals. Tampa, you know, there were a couple of games in which they won where I didn't think they were that impressive in the moment, but as it turns out, you know, like they barely beat Carolina, and they got lucky to beat Carolina in overtime at Carolina, but Carolina played so well. They destroyed the Chargers, and then they had a tough game with the Cowboys

and lost to Dallas on Monday night a couple of weeks ago. I think, you know, right now, and obviously a lot more to come at the end of the week, defensively, they've got to be better than they've been. It'd be huge to get Marshawn Latimore back. They've got to stop the run. Bucky Irving's legit, and then the play action off of that. If they're in down-and-distance advantages, it's going to be hard to get off the field against this team.

They've scored in their last, going back to the stretch that ended up six wins in their last seven, they've scored 30, 26, 28, 40, 24-and-a-loss, 48, and 27. They've been one of the higher scoring teams in the league all season long. Tampa ended up with, let me just see where they finished in points. They ended up with 502 points second to Detroit in the NFC and offensive points per game. Third in the league, fourth in the league behind Buffalo, Baltimore, and Detroit. They can move the football, they can score, and they are well-coached defensive. I think the key is somehow, somehow you've got to get off the field on third downs half the time.

You know, if they're going to, the totals high in this game at 49 and a half because the odds makers believe both teams can score. You've got to hold them to, you know, in 10 drives, five scores with, you know, three touchdowns max, you know, and you're trying to win at 28, 27 or a 31-27 kind of game. I have no idea what the weather will be like in Tampa. It's going to be cold everywhere, but it won't be cold cold in Tampa, but might be in the 40s or 50s, and I have no idea if there's any storms or wet weather. Haven't looked ahead yet. I will this week. But for me, I trust the offense, and I know today shouldn't have given me any reason to trust the offense, but I trust Jaden Daniels. I trust the offense to be able to move the ball and score points.

They can't self-destruct with penalties and turnovers. Then this game, I think, would get sideways. I do in a game at Tampa in the postseason. But to me, the key is, can they get enough stops and get off the field giving up either field goals or forcing punts? They'll have to have a big day in the red zone because Tampa will get to the red zone. But you got number five?

you got Echler back, you got Terry who had a big breakout second half even though it was with Marioada. And, you know, I kind of envision a game that'll go back and forth with two offenses that'll score. You know, and a couple of mistakes here or there, maybe just one big mistake will decide it. Can't wait. All right, that's it. Enjoy the snowstorm. I am going to try to put out another show late tomorrow, maybe with a guest. All right, enjoy.