The Kevin Sheehan Show - 49ers Recap + Wentz Next?

Episode Date: December 26, 2022

Kevin with his thoughts on the likelihood that Carson Wentz will be the starter for the final two games of the season which will determine Washington's playoff fate. Kevin also with his recap of the 37-20 loss to the 49ers. One final "Smell Test" pick as well to finish up the weekend at the very end of the show.  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. Second down in seven. Short pass. Oh, it was picked off by Ward.

Scoops it up, jumps to his feet, an entourage blocking to the end zone. Touchdown. Touchdown. San Francisco. It will not be a pick six. Well, that may have been the final throw of this season. for Taylor Heineke. Heineke pulled in the fourth quarter on Saturday for Carson Wentz after that interception. Ron Rivera said he'll make the decision on who starts against Cleveland

early this week. I hope you had a great holiday weekend. My game take from the Saturday 37 to 20 loss to the 49ers coming up in a few moments. But their playoff position hasn't changed a bit. They're still in seventh, and the final wild card spot right now is theirs in the NFC. They got every result they needed this weekend to stay in that spot. They still control their own playoff destiny, win this coming Sunday against Cleveland, and the following week against Dallas. Both games are at home, and they're in as either the sixth seed or the seven seed. Yeah, they still could end up the six seed, depending on what the Giants do.

if they can win their final two games. So really just netting it out, they can actually clinch a playoff spot this coming week with a win. Two they're in, no matter what happens, they can clinch a spot this week with a win against the Browns and losses by Seattle, Detroit, and Green Bay. Seattle plays the Jets at home, the Lions play the Bears at home, and the Packers after beating the Dolphins. yesterday on Christmas Day, my God, did Tua have just a nightmarish fourth quarter? The Packers host the Vikings on Sunday at Lambo. Now, Washington could be eliminated with a loss to Cleveland at home

if both the Lions beat the Bears and the Packers beat Minnesota. And the reason for that is that the winner of the Lions Packers game in the final Sunday of the year, would end up with nine wins. Washington, the best they could do if they lose to the Browns, would be 8, 8 and 1. Now, would they be officially eliminated? They would, even if the Packers and Lions tie, Kevin? Yeah, they would because the tiebreaker between three teams would eliminate the Packers first

from the division tiebreaker with the Lions because they lost to the Lions earlier. and the Lions, if they were to finish 8-8-1, and Washington were to finish 8-8-1, the Lions beat Washington earlier in the year. So again, win the final two they're in, win this weekend against the Browns and get losses by Seattle, Detroit, and Green Bay, and they clinch a spot no matter what happens in the season finale.

And at the same time, if they lose to the Browns, they could be eliminated if, both Detroit and Green Bay win. So this coming weekend, control what you can control, which is beat the struggling Browns. Okay, the Browns aren't very good. They have been terrible offensively with Deshawn Watson. Pretty stout defensively.

Washington is a two and a half point favorite Sunday kickoff at 1 o'clock. They're going to honor the hogs on Sunday. I did see that. I guess that was always kind of the plan with this Sunday Cleveland game. They're going to honor the hogs in a pregame thing with Joe Gibbs. They're also going to announce their new mascot Sunday, if that interests you at all. But Sunday at one, weather, by the way, looking ahead, warm but maybe wet for that game. When Washington takes the field Sunday against the Browns,

my belief is Carson Wentz will be the starting quarterback. I mean, that is the heavy betting favorite at this point. But I want to emphasize two things with that statement, which is I do believe Carson Wentz will be the starting quarterback against Cleveland. Number one is this. I'm actually not totally convinced it's a slam dunk. You know, I'd lean heavily, very heavily in the direction that they'll make that change, because I think it's the change they've wanted to make for a while now.

But my one hesitation right now is if they do make that change, it's interesting that they'll make that change after what I believe was the best three-quarter stretch of the season for Taylor Heineke. I actually think he played his best football, and he knew he was on a short leash coming into the game. But I think he played some of his best football, really until the fourth quarter on Saturday. He made some big time, big time third down throws. And that last productive drive, that four-place 75-yard drive that included the bomb to Terry and the touchdown pass to Terry with, you know, two and a half minutes or whatever it was late in the third quarter. I know what happened afterwards, okay, two turnovers, game over.

but, you know, it was after that drive that made it 21-14, it was still a game that they were in legitimately, even though they weren't the better team. I'll get to that in more detail coming up. But there were plenty of reasons for the loss Saturday. You know, the two turnovers were a part of it, but it wasn't the whole story. You know, you could say the two turnovers and the giant games were more devastating.

the three total turnovers in the two games against the Giants, the one early in the third quarter in the Meadowlands, and then the two last Sunday night, I think actually were more devastating in a game that they were playing against a team that I think they were very much an equal with. The two on Saturday were hurtful, but there were lots of reasons they lost to San Francisco on Saturday. You know, the number one being the 49ers are just a better team. You can't really say that so convincingly about the Giants. But I do think that the three-quarter stretch for Taylor was some of his, you know, some of the best football he's played all year long.

So while I do think they'll go to Carson Wentz, part of me is just sitting here, you know, thinking, and I've been thinking this since Saturday, is it totally, you know, a reach to think that they're going to look at this game and they're going to say, you know, Taylor played pretty well. for three quarters. And we've been in all of these games against teams that were equal with with a chance to win. And we're going to play Cleveland and maybe Dallas, with Dallas having nothing to play for, more on that coming up.

But I don't know, I think they will go to Carson. But again, number one is I don't think it's as much of a slam dunk as maybe others do. Number two is this. You know, this is not a choice for Ron. Ron Rivera and Scott Turner between, say, the Ritz Carlton and the four seasons. I mean, this is, you know, this is Holiday and Express versus Hampton in. They're in a bad spot right now at the position. A lot of teams are, I get it.

But they don't have an answer to quarterback. Not now, not anytime soon. It is going to be the number one priority again. I think it will be in the off season because we know what Taylor is. He's a backup quarterback, a good one. He's an excellent backup quarterback, you know, and if you need to start him for several games during a season, you can do a lot worse, all right? But that's really what he is, which means you've got to keep looking. And I think we know what Wentz is, even though there's a pretty good chance he's going to get an opportunity here to prove us wrong.

You know, number one, overall, I think Ron's going to move in this direction. But off of that, number one, I don't think it's as much of a slam dunk as everybody else does, but I think he will choose Wence. And number two, what are we talking about here? You know, Wence or Hineke, you know, it just isn't an ideal situation. But what is true is if their position, and it would be a reasonable position, and the position being this, look, Wence is a physical upgrade. I mean, even in those two measly game-ending drives. I mean, one of them was at 30 to 14, two-score game potentially. I get it.

And he looked good on that drive. You see the obvious physical differences. If you don't, you're blind. Okay, he's a big dude. He can see down the field. You know, he has arm strength. He's got a quick release. All right?

And I think, you know, it's not unreasonable for them to say, look, we're a different team than we were earlier in the season. We're a better team. We've got Brian Robinson, Jr. We've got Dotson who's further along. We've got an offensive line that's a little bit better off than it was earlier in the season. And the defense is a much better defense. And really, the hope more than anything else, is that receiver core that he's got around him. This is a very good receiving core.

Terry, Dotson, Samuel, you know, add the backs to that mix. with a team overall that's better than it was early in the season. You know, and you have to hope, and they may think this is true, that three months of sitting back and perhaps getting more comfortable with the offense, which went struggled with early on, that maybe just maybe they can score some points. You know, if their position is, we've got a guy that's just better physically in every way, And now the team is better, and he's further along. Let's try this because what's our downside?

Like, how much worse could it be? And when I say how much worse could it be, that's not meant to knock Taylor because it's not been awful the entire time. Taylor's made some really big time plays, you know, for them. But the team, you know, they haven't been able to score points. they can't score enough and they've got so many weapons offensively. They really do. So Carson has had time to sit back. He's more comfortable with the offense.

If that's their position and then we know how big of a difference there is physically, you know, they just have to hope that the negative plays that Carson's capable of making the sacks, the turnovers, you know, that it won't be as big of an issue as it was. But, you know, we've seen Taylor make those big negative plays here, you know, in some of the biggest games of the year here for the second straight year. Look, if the reason to stick with Taylor was his record, and I don't think that's a good reason to stick with a quarterback. I think, you know, record, look, all of those games were 50-50 games with the exception of the Houston game. And the team was led by its defense and running game and most of those. But if that was what they were using, you know, he was 5-1-1, well now he's 0-2-1 in his last three, you know, with the season on the line.

So I think they're going to give Wence a shot. I don't have a problem with them giving Wence a shot. I'm not convinced that it's going to produce a lot better. It'll look different because of the obvious physical differences. But for this to be the right decision, they need to win. of course, they need to score more. It doesn't mean, by the way, that they should move away from a formula of run first, you know, stay ahead of the chains.

I still think that will benefit Carson significantly, as it would, by the way, any quarterback. But they need to be an offense that can put up 24 plus on the board, you know, with the weapons that they have. And they just haven't been that with Taylor Heineke. And they're just not going to be that with Taylor Heineke. So, again, I think they're going to make the move. I think that's the heavy betting favorite right now. They've wanted to make this move here over the last couple of weeks.

They may behind closed doors be kicking themselves for not making the move before the giant game on Sunday night last week. But I thought that Taylor actually in some ways made the decision a little bit tougher because I thought he played for the first three quarters, two and a half to three quarters, the best that he's played all year. All right, let me get to my game take. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Pay attention is Kevin's Game Take. My Game Take is presented by MyBooky.

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By the way, Washington to make the playoffs right now is plus 155. So they're actually an underdog to make the playoffs right now with two games to go. They're almost really in a dead heat with Green Bay. I mean, how much of the conversation with Green Bay's win over Miami yesterday was about the Packers and they're going to make the playoffs because all they have to. to do is win two home games against Minnesota and Detroit and get one Washington loss and they're in. Well, the one Washington or two giant losses could put them in as well. The one Washington win is really, I mean, first of all, the Packers, will they beat Minnesota at

home? Will they beat Detroit at home? Two tough games. They're a three-point favorite over Minnesota. My expectation is if they got to the Lions game and needed to win, they'd probably be, you know, roughly a three-point favorite over the Lions as well. But Washington losing one of its final two, most people are probably looking at the season finale against the Cowboys, and that's the game that they're like, Washington will lose to the Cowboys. Well, that's if Dallas has something to play for.

So really coming up this week, there are two critical games. We've already mentioned Washington, you know, beating Cleveland's obviously important. And then Seattle, Detroit and Green Bay. results are important as well. But if you get to Sunday and Dallas is already beaten Tennessee on Thursday night, and they are a nine and a half point favorite to beat right now, the Titans who have fallen apart and are starting Malik Willis at quarterback and it looks like Jacksonville is going to win the AFC South. All right? So if Dallas wins that game, the critical game Sunday for Washington and maybe everybody else in the NFC other than their own games will be Philadelphia and New Orleans. Philadelphia right now is a seven-point favorite.

There's still no definitive word on Jalen Hertz's return. I mean, Gardner Minchu played pretty well Sunday. I mean, he threw for 355. I think it was 350. There was 300 plus. He's an excellent backup quarterback. I actually think he, you know, would be a low-end starter for a lot of teams in the league. But if Philadelphia goes into that New Orleans game and doesn't clinch two things, won the NFC East with a win, also the number one seed overall in the NFC with a win, Minnesota still has a chance if Philadelphia were to lose the final two and Minnesota were to win the final two. Minnesota, by the way, still battling for the two spot as well with San Francisco, which is why they want to beat Green Bay on Sunday. But,

that Eagles Saints game Sunday will probably dictate whether or not Dallas has something to play for on the final Sunday of the year against Washington. And for all of the teams, including Washington, but all of the teams that are chasing probably that last wild card spot, if you assume the Giants are going to win one more, and I do, I think the Giants will beat Indy this week. They certainly had a chance to beat Minnesota on Sunday where Daniel Jones, I've told you guys for now, I don't know, two months how bad Minnesota is defensively. Daniel Jones threw for 334 yards. The Giants rolled up 450 yards of offense against Minnesota. I think everybody but Heineke's thrown for 300 plus against that Minnesota defense.

But if the Eagles were to lose to the Saints who are still battling for the NFC South, they're still in the hunt for the NFC South with two games to play. If they were to lose to the Saints, then Dallas would have a chance to win the division with a win over Washington and a Philadelphia loss to the Giants in the season finale. And both of those games would be played simultaneously. That's the way the league's been doing that. For competitive reasons, they would play both of those games either at 1 o'clock or at 425, most likely in the late afternoon window. They would play all the teams that have something to play for and are kind of tied and linked to each other's results.

It would probably play them all in the same window. So for Washington, the prospect of losing one of the final two, most would say it's the Dallas game. but the Dallas game for Dallas may mean nothing if Philadelphia beats the Saints. You know, if Dallas beats the Titans and Philadelphia beats the Saints, Dallas would be penciled in to the five seed, and they would be traveling to the NFC South winner in the first weekend of the postseason, and they may decide to rest their starters and treat that Washington game like a buy week. Anyway, my bookie.org for all of your sports betting needs.

promo code, Kevin D.C. All right, before I get to my game take, I just want to say one kind of big thing overall. This was the first game in a while for Washington, you know, probably since the Philadelphia game on Monday night, because the giant games, the Falcons game, the Texans game, you know, it's the first game they've played in a while, and I think that's now maybe almost two months, right, where they were playing a team that was just flat out better. Okay, the 49ers are better offensively, defensively, special teams, and the coaching staff is better.

You know, the Niners with a third-string quarterback who isn't even 100% healthy. You know, Brock Purdy is not 100%. You know, and without one of their best players, Debo Samuel, are still a much better team than Washington. You know, I want to start with that overall. They are a legit threat the Niners are to get to the Super Bowl and even win it. They're that good. Okay.

What I liked, what I didn't like, and then several other observations from the 37 to 20 loss to the Niners on Saturday. I'm going to start with the list of things that I liked. The Washington Receiving Corps, 15 catches, 203 yards, three touchdowns between Terry McLorn, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel. It should have been a lot more if Dotson catches that early third and six pass from Heineke, one-on-one coverage. Defender kind of turns the wrong way. It's right in Dotson's hands.

If he catches that and it's, you know, he catches almost everything. If he catches that one, that might be a 79-yard touchdown pass. That actually would have really changed the look and feel of that particular game. Several plays, by the way, kind of fit that description of, you know, if it had gone another way, maybe the game would have been more competitive. McClorn's 51-yard catch that set up the touchdown to make it 21-14 was just vintage, Terry. I thought there was some defensive pass interference on that play, too, that wasn't called. His touchdown catch in traffic two plays later was outstanding.

Man, they have a legit upper-tier, you know, call it, let's be aggressive here. Upper quarter of the league, that would be eight teams, right? Do they have a top eight receiving group? They certainly have a top third receiving group, you know, in the NFL. We'll take some time after the season to rank it. But, man, Terry and Dotson alone are a very good one too, and Samuel is damn good. I loved a couple of his catch and runs. The third and 14 conversion in the first half was a great effort.

And man, before the fourth and one sneak that got stopped, did you see the hit he took as he was trying to get to the sticks? Man, their receiving core is outstanding. It is. And that's, I think, part of the frustration for Washington's coaching staff is, you know, they've had some O-line issues for sure. Pass protection issues all season long. That's been a big issue for them. They've had quarterback issues, too. and they can't take advantage of what is really a very difficult to cover group of receivers.

You know, it really is. And I think they'd like to take advantage of it a little bit more. And that's why I think we will see Wentz on Sunday against Cleveland. Number two on the list of things that I liked. How about their red zone defense? The 49ers were one for five in the red zone. Washington had the early fourth and one stop. You know, really good job on that option play there at the end on the, you know, the handoff to the back,

who then tried to pitch to McCaffrey. I thought Danny Johnson did a good job of playing the pitchman and then coming off at late. That was a big time stop. They also had really good early down run stops, which ultimately led to third down and you know, distance, which led to three short Robbie Gold field goals in the second half. They were outstanding against the run most of the day. I'm going to get to that in a moment. No Debo, understood. No, you know, no Purdy, no Brock Purdy at 100%. You know, you had an unhealthy third-string quarterback, but Washington's defense stood up big

time in the red zone. If they hadn't, San Francisco would have hung 48 on them, you know, and won this game by 30. On the list of things that I liked was their run defense. The final numbers are deceiving, and I know you, you know, I say this all the time. Yeah, well, I mean, you can't just take that run out like it wasn't, you know, like it didn't exist. But the Ray Ray-Rae McLeod, 71-yard touchdown run was the only play they really got out of their running game. McCaffrey was 15 for 46 yards, 3.1 yards per carry. Davis Price was 9 for 30, 3.3.3 yards per carry.

By the way, he was in for Jordan Mason, who's really been good recently. Mason was banged up and they missed him. Davis Price also, just as an aside, I think I've mentioned this before. I think that's who Washington wanted to take in the draft had he been there. But instead, they got Robinson Jr. And so far it looks like they got lucky that Davis Price from LSU wasn't there because Robinson Jr. has been so good. Lots of five-man front in this game.

I don't know. I didn't count the snaps, but I guess there had to have been 25 snaps somewhere in that neighborhood of five-man fronts. And they did a good job, even without Cam Curl in this game, stopping the run, minus the McLeod, 71-yarder. And by the way, McLeod, Ray Ray MacLeod from Clemson,

pretty good impersonation of Debo Samuel out there. Run defense, despite that 71-yard run was on the list of things that I like from the game. Also on the list of things that I liked. Chase Young's debut in 2022. He played 30 snaps in the game. He was supposed to go for 12 to 16. Rivera commented on his conditioning being outstanding. I can't think that we could have asked for much more in his first game, you know, especially considering the expert. I think for me anyway, had become very low. I wasn't even expecting him after we didn't see him in the giant game last week. But, you know, Rivera made that announcement late last week that he was going to play.

Man, he looked athletic. He was fast. He was aggressive after those first few, you know, feel-it-out snaps for him. He had a pass deflection early in the game that I thought he might have been able to pick off, may have lost it in the sun. He chased down, you know, McCaffrey and a couple of the runners from the backside with great speed. He read a screen or two really well, put some pressure on the quarterback on at least one occasion versus Trent Williams. He had, you know, the play on a McCaffrey run late on a third goal that he did a great job. I don't know. To me, Chase Young exceeded by. a long shot what I expected. I didn't expect more than 10 snaps. They were planning on 12 to 16.

He got 30. He looked great athletically. And if he's ready to be to Chase Young from, you know, the second half of his rookie season, look out because this defense just got a lot better. Next on the things that I liked list. Their third down offense, you know, mostly in the first half. and I'll get to Taylor Heineke's performance in detail when I get to sort of the other observations. He didn't make the list of things that I liked, in part because of two more turnovers. But man, did he make some throws on third and distance in the first half? They were in the first half, four for eight. They ended up being seven for 13 overall.

That may be the best they've been on third down since the Monday night upset win over the Eagles. But they were four for eight in the first half with conversion. of third and 13, third and nine, third and five, and third and 14. And they should have had the third and six on the opening drive of the game for a touchdown, but Dotson dropped the ball. I mean, that was pretty impressive for Taylor Heineke in particular when we've been saying all year, can't be in third and long, you know, he's actually converted some third and longs this year.

I mean, I'm not changing my mind that for him to be. at his best, you've got to run the football and stay ahead of the chains because I think for the most part results would say that that's true. But he's overcome some longer distances at times. And this was against, you know, the 49er defense. You know, third and 13, third and nine, third and five, third and 14 should have been the first one at third and six. By the way, Wentz had three third down and long conversions on his, you know, drives in the second half. I mean, albeit, I'll be it, I'll be it the score was, I mean, it was 30, to 14, still two-score game when he took him down the field and scored to make it 30 to 20.

If they get the two-point conversion, you know, it's now an eight-point game. They didn't. He got sacked on that play. But he had some third and long, three of them, third and long conversions, one of them for a touchdown to Samuel on what was not, you know, ideal down-and-distance situations. They overcame that in the game. So that made the list of things that I liked. So, you know, overall, their receiving core, which is really outstanding,

Dotson really shows incredible promise. I mean, he is exceptional as a route runner. We know what Terry is. I think Dotson also has even more of an ability to take the top off a defense. But the two of them together with Curtis Samuel and the backs, and, you know, Logan Thomas, I think he really struggles at times as a blocker, but he is a big-ass target. you know, in the pass offense.

That is on the list of things that I like. The red zone defense was outstanding. I think the run defense minus the one against a team that loves to run the football with a quarterback, by the way, that was a little bit limited. That probably helped if they knew it. The run defense was good. Chase Young's season debut was great, and their third down offense, you know, was really good and was really good in the first half.

All right, the list of things that I did not like. number one, and it was, you know, there was some competition for number one here. I'm going to go with the explosive plays allowed by the defense. So while the defense was really good in the red zone and was pretty good against the run all day, they gave up four really, really explosive plays that hurt a lot. The McLeod 71-yard touchdown run, when they had stopped the run all day long otherwise. That was a killer. two touchdown passes to Kittle, 33 and 34 yards out.

Kittle, by the way, on that first one, he and Ray Ray McLeod were right in the same area. I think that ball was supposed to go to McLeod, and I think Kittles stole it. Both of those guys weren't supposed to be in that same location. That seemed to be a mix-up defensively on that touchdown pass. It actually looked like they did what Kooleys talked about before, which just kind of flipped their cover one into a cover two post-snap. but they didn't cover the middle of the field and they didn't execute whatever they were trying to do very well. And that was a third and four play early in the third quarter in a seven to seven game.

The second touchdown to Kittle was a bootleg into a blitz, which Reeves was the blitzer off the corner, and it was just perfectly called in terms of timing. And that goes to Kittle for 33 yards for an easy run after catch on the bootleg. And then, you know, after Washington cut the lead to 21 to 14 on that 75-yard drive and four plays, then you get that ridiculous and trust me, special teams are on this list for this game, that wild goose penalty. They get to start from their own 40, and, you know, IUCs wide open for a 54-yarder. So a 71-yard play, a 54-yard play, a 33-and-yard play for touchdowns.

Too many explosive plays. really, really hurt them in this game. It made what could have been, could have been a much more competitive game, ultimately non-competitive at the end. On the list of things that I didn't like after explosive plays allowed. The two turnovers, you know, I mean, the turnovers have really, really hurt them. They got a turnover in the first half, which was really a turnover on a Jennings drop. And that got bobbled into the air and picked off by four. forest, and that was a big play for Washington because that ultimately set up their first score and their only score on a 31-yard drive. Again, their inability to score offensively all season

long has been an issue. And they've needed the defense to score. They've needed the defense to create short fields, and the defense created that short field. But the two turnovers and a game in which I think I said, you know, they needed to be plus two for the game to be tight, plus three. to win the game. They ended up being minus one. They lost by 17. And the two turnovers were, of course, after, you know, a game at 24 to 14, Heineke being bum rushed again. I don't know how much of this you put on Heineke. There was some weird motion in the backfield with bates. It really kind of made it all jumbled up in there. I didn't like the situation for Heineke, but he's got to protect the ball. I mean, it was Bosa. Bosa's just completely unblocked.

They tried at times with one-on-one didn't work. They tried chipping, but Bosa obviously impacted the game. We knew he could, and that fumble, you know, the defense held to a field goal, and it was still 27-14 when they got the ball back, but then came what was really, I thought, I mean, look, they may say Gibson sat down the checkdown in the wrong spot. He was supposed to move or, I don't know, that's just a bad throw. under duress, but a bad throw from Taylor Heineke on the checkdown. That gets picked off by Ward.

Again, the defense holds to a field goal. But I think when you're talking about five turnovers in the three biggest games of the season, all of which, you know, well, yeah, all of which led to points. And crucial points, I think that they had seen enough. Even though prior to that fumble, you know, Washington had. gone in the previous drive four plays 75 yards and had, you know, I thought some big time conversions and a pretty good game for Heineke. I mean, Heineke ended up, we'll get to him in a moment. You probably know his stats already. We'll get to some of those numbers in the way

he played. But two turnovers, crucial. Ultimately, the two turnovers led to two field goals. That was it, thanks to the defense. But the second turnover, I thought, looked like it was all on Taylor. Next up on the list of things that I didn't like. Two fourth downs. You know, the fourth down at the goal line that they didn't get in, you know, it was interesting on that goal-to-go situation in that, you know, first drive.

Washington had a legitimate drive going. It was a 17-play 10-minute 48-second drive. that traveled 84 yards and ultimately produced no points. That's a shame because they converted a third and 13. They converted a third and nine. And then they had, you know, after the Dotson pass from Heineke, which, by the way, was on a bootleg that actually was called perfectly by the San Francisco defense.

And he got outside of the pressure, which was a great play by him to throw to Dotson down to the five-yard line. And then, you know, you've got four straight runs. And I don't know, I saw a lot of complaining about play calling and decision-making and coaching. Come on, people. The 49ers are better. I didn't see a massive problem in coaching. I'll get to the special teams part of the day here in a moment. This idea that they weren't prepared for the game, get out of here. Game was seven to seven. They had a 10-minute and 48-second drive in the the second quarter of a scoreless game. You know, first quarter into second quarter.

I don't know what, yeah. They stopped a fourth and one on the 49ers opening drive of the game at their 15, then forced a three and out punt on the next drive. I don't get the, whenever, some of you, whenever they lose, it's always, they weren't prepared. Biggest game of the year, they came out flat. They didn't come out flat. They played with urgency throughout.

They played, I thought they played fiercely. and they just were matched up against a better team. And once again, in some of these key games, even in a game in which you're outmatched, Washington ultimately made too many mistakes in the game. But I wanted to get to a couple of the runs in the first and goal at the 49 or 5 situation, because this was a chance for Washington to take, you know,

an early 7-to-nothing lead in that game. They had already had a dots and drop, which could have gone for a touchdown on their opening, drive. And, you know, here they are in the midst of what is their third drive of the game. And they are moving the football and they're in a really good situation to take a 7-0-0 lead. And Robinson goes, no gain on first and goal. And then that second and goal run, I made a note, I said, that's about as good a four to four-and-a-half-yard run as you are going to see. Good God, has he been a revelation? And I know what I said earlier in the year. I wanted Gibson, a

more than Robinson. And they were right. They knew what they had in Robinson. They knew what they had during the summer. They know what they would have had early in the season with Robinson, which is one of the reasons probably they have been chomping at the bit, I think, to get back to Wence, is that Wence didn't have Robinson Jr. until what, the Chicago game, I guess briefly in the Tennessee game, where he made his debut. But that's just an outstanding run. Just as a side note, not that it happened on this particular play. But I wrote down this note, I hate when referees this year are whistling plays dead when forward progress hasn't been stopped. That's been maybe a this year thing, maybe a last two years thing. You know, the pile's still moving, the running back still churning, and they want to avoid

any sort of, you know, injury situation with the pile up and the whole thing. And they whistle plays early too quickly, I think, with some of these big backs that keep the pile moving. He didn't on that play, but it was just something that I thought of on that particular run, because it happened at another point during the game. The third and goal from the one, man, Trey Turner got beat. And if he doesn't get beat, I think it's a walk-in touchdown. Trey Turner got beat on that play. I think it was by Greenlaw inside. It may have been somebody else. But Robinson, I think, you know, early may have had a chance to cut it to the outside, but I think if he doesn't get tripped up there, it's a touchdown.

And then fourth and goal from the one, he puts Gibson in the game. And Gibson is close. And Gibson doesn't reach the ball out when he still has a chance to stick the ball out. It's fourth and goal from the one. And, you know, Gibson needs to stick the ball out and try to reach it over the goal line. It looked like on one of those replays, he had an opportunity to do that. didn't do that. So the fourth and goal from the one had no problem, by the way, with them going for it there. And I just thought they needed to punch it in there. And I thought there were a couple

of opportunities. Trey Turner got beat on the third goal. And then Gibson, you know, I don't know why Gibson more than Robinson. I know Robinson had gotten a ball in three straight plays and had gotten a ball, you know, a bunch on that drive to begin with. But they went with Gibson on that final play from the shotgun. All four of those running plays were shotgun runs. They like shotgun runs. Okay, they do. Rather than under the center runs. Should they have tried a play action throw? I don't know. I mean, if they had and the ball had been deflected, you would have said, come on. It's third and goal from the one. Run it in. You got B. Rob. You got Gibson. I would have liked to seen Robinson get the fourth down pick. I think with Gibson, they were hoping he could jump and

leap over the line of scrimmage. Never really got that opportunity. But should have reached the ball out. All right, the second fourth down miss. I didn't have a problem at all with Ron Rivera going for fourth and what was really almost a foot. It was a half yard maybe. It looked less than a half yard after the Curtis Samuel, third and four reception where he was trying to get there and just got walloped.

I don't have a problem with that at all. I mean, I'm sure the analytics say fourth and less than a yard from your own 34-yard line, third quarter, 14-7 game is to go for it. And you got a quarterback that should be able on a sneak with his, you know, athleticism and mobility, you should be able to get a foot to a foot and a half. And they didn't. Ron seems to think they did, but they didn't have a replay angle that proved it. But Heineke, you know, left it in doubt. And, you know, that's a play that to me was a little bit on him, you've got to be able to get that. I don't have a problem with them going for that at all. I have a big problem with what the result was on that play.

All right. Also on the list of things that I didn't like. This was a terrible day for the special teams, and it was costly. First of all, they had a bad opening kickoff return. Secondly, they had a delay of game on their very first punt. Thirdly, they had an unnecessary roughness on their second punt. Butler went helmet to helmet on their. the tackle. I think that's what the unnecessary roughness was. Gibson bobbled a kickoff return and then got hit at their own 10 after the touchdown pass that made it 14 to 7. They had a short punt by Tressway when they needed a big one from deep in their own territory. It was a 42-yard punt. Not a big return in a 14-7 game gave the 49ers possession at midfield. They had the wild goose unnecessary

roughness penalty after the kickoff at 21 to 14. Are you fucking kidding me? They get it back to 2114. It's still late in the third quarter. You just had one of the most explosive drives, quick drives. You've had all season long. All right. And it's a seven point game.

And Wild Goose gets an unnecessary roughness penalty, which allows the Niners to start at their own 40-yard line instead of the 25-yard line. That was an awful, awful call. I still am not sure specifically what it was. They didn't do a good job on TV showing it, but I think it was a late hit or a push in there. And then the onside kick after it was 30 to 20. The ball went five yards, then came back to three yards.

Sorry, but Joey, the kick's got to go at least 10. I mean, that was a pathetic onside kick, you know, overall, you know, a chance there. It's 30 to 20. If they'd gotten a two-point conversion and that was the on-side kick, you'd have really been pissed. Bad day for the special teams. By the way, I'm not sure why Dax Milne came back, came in on kickoff returns for Gibson. Gibson wasn't hurt in the game. I don't know, maybe the bobbled kickoff return at his own 10.

but, you know, Milne's a zero on returns in terms of a threat. You know, he's not going to fumble, but he's zero in terms of a threat to break it. And you need Gibson's, you know, ability. He's, you know, he had a big return. He's had some big returns as a kickoff returner. So that's the list of things that I didn't like. Lastly, to finish up this show, I'll get to several other observations, including sort of a grade on Taylor Heineke.

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Call Windonation at 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation. So, you know, the list of things that I liked, just recapping, simply put, I like the receiving core, man. Washington's got a legit, you know, upper third of the league receiving core. Now they've got to add some offensive linemen. They've got to add. They've got to find a quarterback for sure. And they could really be, with that defense, they could be a really good team in the coming years. Red zone defense was outstanding. Their run defense minus the one Ray Ray McLeod, a 71-yard touchdown run was good all day. It was one of the reasons, by the way, that they did a really good job in the red zone is because they really shut down the run in the red zone.

Chase Young's season debut was on the list of things that I liked. And their third down offense, especially in the first half. I mean, they were seven for 13 for the game, four for eight in the first half. Should have been five for eight. And all of them were third and longs. The list of things that I didn't like, too many explosive plays on defense. That's been a problem at times for this team this year, you know, particularly early. in the season. They're playing a very explosive team clearly, even without Debo Samuel and with their

third string quarterback, who wasn't 100% healthy, but a 71-yard touchdown run, two touchdown passes to Kittle of 33 and 34 yards. By the way, that's second one. You talk about a bootleg versus an outside blitz from Reeves, perfectly timed with Reeves diving for the pitch fake. It just left everything open. And then the big 54-yard bomb to eye. after the Wild Goose penalty in a 21-14 game. That was crucial. Two turnovers were bad, obviously, fourth downs. The results were awful. I thought that Gibson should have stuck the ball out, and I thought Heineke needed to get, you know, less than a yard. It was probably less than a half yard on fourth down to get it. The special teams were atrocious on Saturday. All right, other observations

from the game. Let me first get to Taylor Heineke. I'll give him a C. I'll give him a C. I'm not going to bury the lead. I'll give him a C. He had two more turnovers in the game, but I'll tell you what, for three quarters, given what they ask him to do in terms of executing the game plan, and by the way, Washington's inability to run the football. I mean, Robinson made some good runs,

and there were a couple that were brought back for penalty. But Washington overall, 33 for 79 yards, 2.4 yards per carry. And Gibson, Robinson, you know, after touching it just 12 times with heavy criticism, including Scott Turner's admission that he should have gotten it more against the Giants, 22 carries 58 yards, 2.6 yards per carry. And I'm telling you, those 58 yards, he pretty much earned all of them. So it was a rough day throwing the football, which meant running the football, excuse me, rough day running the football, which meant that you had to

rely on a guy that you don't want to have to rely on to move the football. and he delivered for three quarters. He really did. Let's just go through the good and the bad from Taylor Heineke's Day. You know, the first third and six bombed to Dotson, he puts it up there. He's got some time. He's got a guy that's a great, you know, playmaker, a guy that adjusts to the ball perfectly in the air.

The defender got turned around. That should have been a 79-yard touchdown pass to open up the game. Because if he catches it, he's gone, right? I don't know. Maybe the All-22 will. show something else. He had the third and three to McClure on their third drive for a conversion. Great timing throw. Cooley's been talking about those, you know, mid-range, you know, 15-yard or less, where Terry sits down, comes back for the ball, that those are the balls that Heinecke throws

well and in timing. That was a great throw. He had the third nine to Dotson for 10 yards on that third drive. He had the second Nate throw, you know, to Dotson for 24. yards again, a bootleg kind of-ish play against pressure right there, and he avoids the pressure and makes a really good throw to Dotson on immediate pressure. That was an excellent, excellent throw. Actually, by the way, earlier in the game, too, he had the third and 13 where he escaped pressure and threw to McClure. It actually almost got picked or could have been picked, but he did such a good job escaping pressure. He had one called back by offsetting penalties, that deep shot to Dotson, which was a good

ball. He had the third and 14 to Samuel for 15 yards. Great route by Curtis Samuel. That was on Washington's fifth drive of the first half. And then he had the touchdown pass to Dotson, which is a great throw. And Dotson does a great job of getting the... the feet down. By the way, Bosa was bearing down on him. That was just a really good throw. His first half, I mean, he was eight for 11 for 89 yards, but he had four third down, long third down

conversions and should have had five. I mean, I think I tweeted it out. I'm like, that may have been the best half for Taylor Heineckee all year long. You know, in a game, he seems to respond to the pressure of being, you know, about to be benched, about to be pulled. He had a 126.7 passer rating in the first half. 126.7 passer rating. And again, it would have been so much better had Dotson had held on to that ball on the opening drive of the game.

In the second half, on their third drive, I mean, he's got the bomb to Terry. I mean, it's a perfectly thrown ball. There was pass interference that wasn't called. Defensive pass interference. And it's a, you know, he's given his best player a chance to make a play with a really good ball. By the way, that first down throw before the bombed, Dotson was a good one. The touchdown throw, I'm going to give kind of a mixed thing here because he does end up throwing a ball to Terry after extending the play. But the truth is he missed Dotson on what should

have been an easy read against a defense really focused on Terry. And if that ball's out in timing, it's an easy pitch and catch touchdown to Dottes. So it's kind of a mixed result play, but, you know, he extended, extended, and then through to Terry in coverage, contested throw. Terry came up with it. You know, Terry McCorn is so special. So, you know, then the fourth quarter obviously got completely sideways for him. You know, the bad plays for him, if you go through him, you know, he really didn't have that many. There was a third and six. on their fifth drive, a ball that was behind Dotson that he ended up catching for a first down. It was thrown behind him, if we're being truthful there. The second half, the first drive, you know, it was probably, other than the touchdown that he missed to Dotson, where he threw to McClure for a touchdown, third and six, he's got Gibson on one of those choice routes out of the backfield, Gibson's wide open, and he beats his man and Terry misses him badly. You've got to be able to make

those throws. You just have to. By the way, on that play, Logan Thomas is too close to Gibson. You know, I remember in that first year, 2020, I said, man, there are a lot of routes where there isn't great spacing between receivers. And it's gotten much better as the, you know, as the players have learned the offense. But you go back and watch that third and six miss, and it was a tailoring. Heineke miss, okay? It's a bad throw. Thomas is too close to Gibson, but still Gibson with a good throw makes a catch and moves the chains. You know, quarterback sneak fourth and one. I'm sorry, it's not fourth and one. It's fourth and, you know, half a yard to less than half a yard. You got to, it's got to be a no-douder. I mean, the percentage of makes on those on a sneak is like well into the

90s, and he got stopped. And if he didn't get stopped, there wasn't enough review. You know, a replay review to overturn it. Again, I think part of the touchdown pass to Terry is he should have hit Dotson earlier on the play. And then you get the two negative plays. I don't know what he could have done with the Bosa sack fumble, but he's been sacked and fumbled a lot. So he's got to protect the ball better. I mean, Bosa's just ridiculous. I thought, you know, when he was matched up one-on-one, whether it was Lucas or Leno, it was a problem.

They chipped him a little here and there. Again, I think I mentioned this already. On that play, there's too much going on in the backfield with baits in particular. Like, he's moving right into the middle of the backfield from his tight end position. I don't know if there was any sort of bad execution on the play. I just didn't love the overall look of that play. And then the interception, that's a checkdown throw to Gibson that he just completely misses. He's pressured, and he's small.

and he's got to throw with touch over the top of people. Limitation for sure, and the two turnovers hurt. So overall, and I just give him a C for the day. The two turnovers hurt. I kind of want to give him a C plus because I think he, you know, I'm going to give me a C plus because I think the first three quarters are as good as he can do it from, you know, play action or, you know, drop back. I think that was about as good as he's ever done it, really, from those situations.

Anyway, I mean, you take away the interception to Gibson. They checked down to Gibson that got picked off. I don't know what you do with the Bosa play. I don't know how many quarterbacks hold on to it. I mean, he has certainly shown the inability to protect the football and traffic in the pocket for sure. But you take away that Gibson interception and you can't. It would have been a B-plus performance. 13 of 18 for 166 yards.

I haven't seen his QB rating. I should look at that real quickly because I bet it was one of the highest of the year for him. An 84.1 QBR for him. And if Dodson had caught that first one for 79 yards in a touchdown, he would have been 14 of 18 for 245. I mean, his yards per completion would have been outrageous as they were against the Giants on Sunday night. But, you know, anyway, C plus for Taylor, take that interception away. I would have had him at a B-plus. I probably would have had him in that QBR range

at 84.1. Carson Wentz real quickly. First drive at 30 to 14 was against their starters. The second drive, I know Bosa was out. I didn't do a head count. He was 12 of 16 for a buck 23 and a touchdown. You can just see the differences. You're blind if you say that there isn't any difference physically with him throwing the football versus Taylor, throwing the football. Of course there is. It gets out quickly. It gets out there with velocity.

It gets out there with the vision of a guy that's six foot five in the pocket. But there are a lot of other things to playing quarterback. But no grade for Carson Wentz. I mean, we've got to see what he looks like starting a game with the other team waiting for him. Cleveland has been eliminated from the postseason, but they've had a stout defense here in recent weeks. Anyway, some other observations from the game.

Number one is this. My God, are the 49ers fast on defense? They are so fast. I mean, we know what they are up front, especially with Bose, so they had Ken Laugh back for this game. Fred Warner, their backers just can flat out fly. Some of those runs that Robinson got hit, you know, bounced outside and maybe in weeks past it would have turned into a nice-sized run

were just the lateral team speed of the Niners. And then Bosa in particular, I said this on Friday's show, I think you could make the case that Bosa is the best player pound for pound in the NFL. I don't know that that's that much of a reach. There was a second in 18. in this game. In the first quarter, Washington had it from their own seven. Remember what happened after the sketchy holding penalty on Lucas last week, second and 18? Sack, force fumble by Tibbado touchdown, game changer. Well, they didn't run a drop back on second 18. They ran a draw on this one. I just made

the note that Scott Turner was not going to drop them back, certainly not against this defense from their own seven-yard line. on second and 18 in a zero to zero game at that point. Where are some of the other things I wrote down? Again, I didn't have a problem with Rivera in this game or the coaching staff in this game. You know, I just didn't. They were playing a better team. And by the way, they were playing a better coach team. The fourth and one's not a bad decision at all.

I didn't see it that way. I would have gone for it in that same situation as well. I think, you know, overall, they were ready for this game. They were urgent for this game. If you want to criticize him for starting Taylor Heinekeen, that he should have started Wentz after you watched Wentz pick a part of defense. It was kind of soft there, especially on the final drive. That's fine that he should have made the change before the game.

I saw some of that out there. But, again, Taylor played probably the best three quarters. of a three-quarter stretch in a row that he's played all year. And I understand that it led to, you know, a whopping 13 points, right? 13 or 14 points. I know. Just 14 points. But Washington had a bunch of deflections in this game.

I had three counted. Chase Young had the one. Ridgeway had one. I thought Jeremy Reeves was really close on a couple of plays having to play more with Cam Curlout. a near interception against Iyook in the third quarter. Really saw the 49ers, I think, you know, basically saying against the five-man front, we're going to throw it against the four-man front, we're going to run it. But they didn't run it well against any front, with the exception of the one long run.

Trey Turner had a false start. Also had the missed block on the goal-to-go situation that I think Robinson would have scored on. Yeah, I think they missed Cam Curl. I wrote that down. That's kind of it, I think, from the overall game. I mean, it was 37 to 20, a game won by the better team, whereas I think the last two weeks or the last two games, they lost one, they tied one against a team that I think, you know,

you line them up and play 10, and Washington wins five or six, and the Giants win four or five. but they ended up going zero one and one in those two. You know, the bottom line is Washington gave up too many explosives and made too many mistakes. Last week, they gave up, they made too many mistakes to win the football game. Just too many.

I don't understand these penalties on special teams. They have been really, really hurtful. The Wild Goose penalty, the Butler penalty, and the, yeah, overall, I don't know. I mean, I thought I was sitting there watching a game in the first half that was winnable against a really good team, you know, against a quarterback. I know that Purdy, I know the 49ers talked about how he was not 100%. He made some really good decisions. By the way, here's the other observation.

I was surprised the Niners went for that fourth and three late. It was 30 to 20. They kicked the field goal. Then Washington needs two touchdowns. on, you know, at the end, it was fourth and three with like three and a half to go, something like that. Washington had been using their timeouts. They were out of timeouts. And I don't know, if you turn it over there and then Washington just needs a, if you don't get it, Washington needs a touchdown and a field goal, which means they can get into range quickly and kick a field goal.

They would still have to convert an on-side kick. I guess Kyle probably looked at it and said, you know, it's a two-score. score game if we kick a field goal or if we miss on the fourth down, they're going to need two scores. Yeah, except two of them would have had to be touchdowns had you kick the field goal. And he went for it and they got it. They made a really good play. So, yeah, I think that's it. I thought Montez Sweat, by the way, I wanted to mention Drew a holding penalty or two. And some of those penalties for the 49ers against the 49ers were big penalties. in the game.

But ultimately, look, they didn't have a chance. You know, at 21-7, I think most of you probably said this game's over. And it wasn't because Washington struck back quickly. There were opportunities in this game. You know, the long drive in the first half to take a seven-to-nothing lead. I mean, imagine capping that drive off early in the game, you know, on what would have been a near 11-minute drive, 17 plays and you've got a 7 to nothing lead, you know, with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

That really would have been big. Now, giving up a 99-yard drive was hurtful. 71 of it coming on that run to McLeod, which there was a really good block by Jennings on that play, right? Really good block on Jennings. But look, bottom line is Washington's still alive to be in the postseason. I still believe even after the last three games that they could certainly give Minnesota a very difficult game if they got into that seven or six seed and played the Vikings if they were the two or the three. I think the Vikings could get caught by the 49ers for the two seed. Minnesota finishes with the Packers and the Bears, I think. I think that's what it is. And I'm pretty sure the 49ers would win the tiebreaker with Minnesota, if Minnesota has another in-conference loss.

And so the 49ers still have a chance to get to the two. So if Washington ends up being seven, they'd have to play the 49ers again. That's not a matchup I love, obviously. But you saw a game that was, you know, I think the final score was indicative of a blowout. And certainly if Samuel's back and Purdy's completely healthy, but Washington has Cam Curl. and a Chase Young that's further along. I don't know. I just think this team's one of the best seven teams in the NFC. You know, I really do.

I think they're better than Green Bay, who's making a late surge here, not better at quarterback, obviously. I think they are better than Seattle. And I think, you know, Detroit is kind of a coin flip between the two. But Detroit, you know, they got run on by the Panthers.

That was a smell test pick. Smell test two and two this weekend. another 500 a week, second straight 500 a week. But my God, Carolina ran all over Detroit to the tune of 320 yards. I mean, that's a big game for Detroit. Carolina is, you know, the winner of the NFC South, if it isn't Tampa and it's either Carolina or New Orleans, I actually think it's going to be, in the same way I think Washington with the right matchup could be difficult for somebody. I think the NFC South winner

if it's Carolina or New Orleans could be a problem for Dallas if Dallas is the five seed because they would have home field advantage in one of those two games. Overall, the NFL weekend was pretty crazy weekend. By the way, Nathaniel Hackett after they got beat 51 to 14 yesterday. Look, disaster if they had pulled off the trade for Russell Wilson,

understood, certainly would have made the trade at the time. They were poorly coached all year. Hackett was in way over his head. But Brady bringing them back after it looked like they were going to lose another game, and he did not have a good night. And them winning that game. There they are at 7 and 8 in that division with the Panthers on Sunday. The Falcons, the Panthers control their own destiny with the Buccaneers

because they already beat the Bucks once. So this game Sunday really kind of determines or could determine the end. NFC South. Carolina's stout defensively, man, and they can run the football. They're similar to Washington in many ways, and they could be a tough out in that first round. And then the AFC, man, God, the near comeback by the Patriots, two extra points away from a three-in-one weekend. They missed two extra points in that game. Okay, now, they would have gone, yeah, I mean, New England missed two extra points in their comeback against Cincinnati. I had them plus three.

They lost by four. Painful. But the AFC playoff picture right now, Jacksonville looks like they're going to win the AFC South. And the Chargers tonight with a chance against the Colts. And that's where I guess I'll finish up the show. Let's just get to it here. Smell test pick number five for the weekend.

Tonight in a game in which the Chargers really need to win. the game for whatever reason they're only laying three and a half at indie i'll take the colts plus the three and a half tonight on monday night football uh for a smell test pick all right that's it back tomorrow with tommy