The Kevin Sheehan Show - Beating Green Bay = "We're Close" Again

Episode Date: December 4, 2019

Kevin opened with more on the "what if" the Redskins beat Green Bay. Michael Phillips/Richmond Times Dispatch joined the show to discuss Dwayne Haskins and potential coaching candidates for next year. ESPN's Stanford Steve was a guest on the show to talk College Football Playoff Rankings and Championship Weekend. Kevin and Aaron finished up the show with some Terps-Notre Dame hoops talk. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I'm here and Aaron's here. We may have some guests. We may not. We are still waiting to see who is available and who isn't. Not as much confirmation in advance per usual, but we're going to have a good show anyway. I urge you, by the way, if you're not listening to my morning radio show on the team 980 and on 95.9 FM here in DC. on the Team 980 app and the Team 980.com. I had a couple of really, really good interviews today. I felt they were. Navy coach Ken Neumatollolo,

who just continues to do the same thing every year. Last year was his only bad year at Navy. He's 9 and 2 this year. He was very close to winning his division of the American conference. I just find the way they play football to be so fascinating. and to sort of understand from him whether or not it's translatable into like a Big Ten East or an SEC West. Like think about Rutgers in Maryland here in recent years, Aaron. You know, they're non-competitive in that division.

What if they went to triple option football? What if they committed to that? You know, would they have a better chance? Think of what Navy's done when they've played high-powered teams. They've beaten Notre Dame with Coach Ken. They've beaten UVA by a lot. They've blown UVA out in a bowl game. They beat Pitt in a bowl game.

Their style of play, that triple option football works. You know, it's almost like the comparison. Think back to college basketball before they had a shot clock. I mean, it was dreadful to think about it without a shot clock. But when you were completely undermanned, you had teams that would hold the ball, that would slow the pace down, that would take forever on a possession. would only take a backdoor layup or a very easy shot.

And they would keep the possession count very low. And they would keep the score very low, which would give them a chance. Triple option football in many ways takes an underman team size-wise, talent-wise, and creates an opportunity for them to compete. It's very difficult to defend, especially a team that does it well. Georgia Tech's pretty much the only major conference team that isn't an academy that does it. I wondered why other teams didn't do it. And his answer was, I don't know why other teams don't do it,

other than most ADs believe that it doesn't sell tickets. Well, you know what sells tickets? Winning. I'd be fascinated to see, you know, a Maryland or a, it's not going to be Maryland right now under Loxley, but a Rutgers or an Indiana or, you know, a team in, take the ACC Coastal, which, you know, is it actually has been a very. balance league. Take the ACC Atlantic, you know, and take a Syracuse or a Boston College or, you know, Wake Forest. Wake Forest plays a lot of, you know, option football.

They're very well coached. We saw it with Georgia Tech. I said, Georgia Tech is pretty much the only major conference team that does it, you know, and they've had success over the years. You know, Paul Johnson. They went away from it, too. Yeah. So we don't have it right now. The triple option is different than Zone Reade, you know, out a shotgun or out of pistol, you know, much different. But it was a, I really enjoy that guy. He's smart. He's figured it out. He wins. He wins big. They play Army next week in the Army Navy game, and they'll probably be in that military bowl playing in their home stadium, which will be good for Steve Beck, who's a friend of mine who runs the military bowl to have Navy hosting that game. Probably, I'm guessing, usually

it's against an ACC foe, you know, a pit or somebody like that will be, North Carolina maybe. listen to that interview if you get a chance. Also, I had Mike Shanahan on the radio show today. He had watched tape on Dwayne Haskins. He's encouraged by what he's seen with Haskins. And the thing that I think he's most surprised at is his ability to, you know, feel in the pocket and escape and make plays outside of the pocket. That conversation was very good as well. So you can get that on the Team 980 app. You can get that on the Team 980.com and listen to the podcast of that show. I'm on 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. And then I also do the podcast, as you know, afterwards. So Tommy brought this up yesterday on the show. The Redskins nightmare, which would be beating Green Bay. You know, the Redskins beat the Packers last year. It was the most

impressive game, really, of the year in many ways for the Redskins in 2018. You know, they started off five and two, ended up six and three before Alex Smith got injured. You know, they're headed to six and four in that game, as we've talked about many times in the past. But the week three win over Green Bay, which moved their record to two and one, was, you know, a 31 to 17, basically a one-sided beatdown of the Packers. Alex Smith had a great game, threw for two touchdowns, 220 yards. Adrian Peterson, you know, went for over 100 yards. And the game was never in doubt. They were up 28 to 10 at halftime over the Packers. Alex Smith had a 46-yard touchdown pass to Paul Richardson, you know, had a nine-yard touchdown

pass to Crowder. It was an impressive day. It was his best day by far in terms of yards per pass. He averaged 11 yards per completion. It was 12 for 20 for 220. So it was, he had an 86.1 QBR that day, had a 110.4 passer rating that day. You know, that was really, you know, early last season. whoa, okay. They laid an egg against the Colts and the home opener the week before,

but they beat Arizona in the opener. Bad team, but they came back and beat a good team in the Packers in week three. Got a lot of people believing. They had a by week. They had an early buy week last year, and then they came back and they got absolutely slaughtered in New Orleans on a Monday night before winning three in a row to get their record to five and two. So anyway, Tommy brought this up yesterday. The beating Packers nightmare scenario. And it is that. You know, let me present it to you. It's a long shot them beating Green Bay, but, you know, I can see that up front.

But they're going to go ahead and play the game anyway. You know, the Redskins are still an NFL team. They had this game scheduled back in April when the schedule came out to go to Lambo on December 8th. It's December 8th, right, Sunday? Yes. And they're not going to cancel the game. The Redskins are going to show up. They're going to play the game.

like they do every NFL Sunday. Every team continues to play out their schedule, no matter how bad they are. I concede up front that it's a long shot that they win it. But if the Redskins, as a 13-point underdog, go to Lambo Field on Sunday and beat Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers, then yes, well, first of all, it's possible that at that point, the Redskins actually legitimately might be in the playoff race in the NFC East. the pathetic NFC East.

You know, because the Cowboys play at Soldier Field Thursday night, and, you know, the Eagles played the Giants on Monday night, but, you know, they would legitimately be in a playoff race if the Cowboys lost and they won on Sunday. They'd be two games back of the Cowboys, and they play them one time. Cowboys still have the Rams and the Eagles. So you would have that. But more importantly, what also would be in play at that point

would be everybody coming back. wins over Miami with Josh Rosen mostly a quarterback. The Lions with Jeff Driscoll at quarterback. The Panthers with Kyle Allen at quarterback. Those three wins out of their 12 games are one thing. Beating the Green Bay Packers at historic Lambeau Field as a massive underdog for a third consecutive victory would absolutely be different than their three-party.

previous wins, and would absolutely make people, important people at Redskins Park, start to once again, if they hadn't already given up thinking this, it would absolutely convince them that, wait for it, they are close. Bruce, Bill, hell even Minusky might be back if they beat the Packers. There it is. Beating the Packers Sunday in Green Bay is a completely different situation. than beating the Panthers in Carolina and creates a nightmare possibility. Three wins in a row with the third win being over a really good NFL team, a playoff team in Green Bay on the frozen tundra of Lambeau field. I checked the weather forecast, rain and snow showers in the forecast for Sunday at Lambeau.

If that happens, that limo ride out of Lambeau to a private airport in Appleton, Wisconsin, will be filled with Coors lights on ice and so many cigars and the celebration of we told you so would be in full effect. It will be a celebration of being close like you read about. This game Sunday is the game for the future. You beat a struggling Philadelphia team or a bad giant team or a Dallas game at the end of the season if the Cowboys have already clinched something. thing. Doesn't mean much. All a distant second to beating the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Now, the good news is they can't beat the Packers Sunday in Green Bay. They really can't. Now, Green Bay has been destroyed a couple of times in recent weeks. The 49ers destroyed them.

The Chargers destroyed them. The Redskins aren't, you know, they're not good enough to go into Lambow. And again, that Green Bay really needs to win. But if they did, if they did, then get ready, for a Bruce Allen lecture on what damn good culture looks like at his next press conference. Oh my God, how chesty these people would get. If they beat the Packers, Bruce might even hold his own press conference or move Bill aside and say, Bill, I know you like to talk for an hour and a half straight. But I got some things to say today.

First of all, how do you like me now? And then second, let me tell you about our damn good culture. A red skin nightmare if they beat Green Bay. A nightmare. Just think about it. I think you all agree with me. There are some things that if they beat Green Bay could be positives. You know, if Dwayne Haskins takes another big step forward and has a big day,

and they, you know, Darius Geis in the running game, and some of the young offensive linemen and some of the young players on defense and Terry McCorn steps up big. It's like there would be a good feeling. about the future talent on the team. But the problem is if that future talent comes back with Bruce Allen and Bill Callahan and company, we're going to have the same conversation a year from today. Mark it down. If those guys come back, December 4th, 2020, we are sitting here as a collective group, as a community of wallowers. We do, we wallow together. We, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we,

We rejoice very, very infrequently together about this football team. But mark it down one year from now. If they beat the Packers on Sunday, and that leads to Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen, basically propping each other off, doing chest bumps in the limo ride, back to the airport on Sunday in Green Bay. And it leads to all those people coming back, mark it down. We're having the same conversation a year from now with a four and nine football team. or a three and nine football team, or maybe they're five and eight, or maybe they're six and seven.

Here's what they're not going to be, okay? They're not going to be 10 and 3. They're not going to be nine and four. They're not going to be headed to the playoffs. These people have had plenty of time. They suck. They're not any good. 62, 96 and 1.

That's the record since Bruce Allen got here. on no planet that you know of, would somebody with a 395 winning percentage continue to be employed in a big-time business unless he's a family member? Let me let you in on something that I have a very good feeling about as of right now, before the Green Bay game, before the possibility that I just presented. And again, it's a long shot. I don't expect it to happen. and I don't think it'll happen.

As of right now, and I've mentioned this for over a month, Bruce is not coming back. There was some indication through reports over last weekend that Bruce's exit could be in play. For me, it's been a hunch. I would refer to it as an informed hunch over the last month. Things could change, but I don't believe that they will. Also, just keep an eye and in each.

ear open for next week's league meetings in Las Kalinas, Texas. Okay. Owner meetings, this is when Dan fired Vinicerado back in 2009. I believe there's a chance there could be some news about the Redskins coming out of those meetings next week. I'm trying to nail more of this down. I have been, this is not what I do as most of you know. I'm not a reporter. I love when some of you say, stick to the reporting. Be objective. That's actually, my job description is actually the opposite of that. I'm not a reporter and I'm not supposed to be objective.

I'm a talk show host. I am supposed to give my opinion. It's more of like an editorial, an op-ed. I'm not a reporter. I don't have to be objective and I'm not objective. I try to be objective on things. I try to bring some objectivity into it, a lot of different things. things, but that's not really in the job description, nor is breaking news. Occasionally in the

past, you know, you all know this. Aaron knows this. I've had some things that I've been stone cold dead to write on, you know, and I've gone with it more officially than just saying I have a hunch, but I can't do that in this situation right now because that's really all I have. I have an informed hunch that Bruce Allen won't be a part of the football operation in 2020. Again, I've mentioned this before, I had that same informed hunch a year ago, and it didn't work out. So it probably won't work out this year. But I think there could be some news on this, maybe as early as next week. But anyway, back to the beating the Packers possibility. I realize it isn't likely to happen, but if it did, I think a lot of you out there would agree with me that while there would be

some benefit from it, there would also be a nightmarish element to it. Because these people live in, really in alternate universe at times. They're really lacking in self-awarenesses we've talked about many times. They don't seem to have a good sense of what reality is. They just, they love to prop each other up. You know, they just got back from Charlotte where there was a big old, you So, Rally, Redskin Rally with a lot of Redskin fans down there. And they bathe in that stuff. They really do. They drench themselves in the adulation from the out-of-town fans.

And they make themselves believe that it's reflective of the majority of their fan base, that their fan bases, I've said to Tommy before, isn't angry or apathetic or worse apathetic. It's just disappointed. You know, they believe that all of us just chalk up last year as, oh, well, Alex, Scott Smith. I mean, what can you, Alex Smith got hurt? What can you do about that? You know, two broken legs on two quarterbacks. I mean, that's terrible luck. You know, they chalk up this year to, you know, we didn't have really a quarterback situation. You know, if we had Alex, we would have been coming off a playoff season and we would have been a Super Bowl favorite. Everybody knows that.

Our fan base knows that. No, we don't. We don't agree with you. All right, most of us don't. So something to consider this Sunday in Green Bay. By the way, just as an aside, I've mentioned this a couple of times over the last couple of weeks. Good God, the NFL has had a great and very intriguing season, and there are massive games to come. You know, this week, you start off with a Thursday night game, Cowboys and Bears, both six and six teams. Now, it's not an elimination game for the Cowboys because of the division they are in. But the Bears have a chance to get right back into the thick of this. very good defense. They've won three of their last four. This could be a third win in a row

that would get them to seven and six and back in the conversation because they still play the Packers and the Vikings. Sunday, how about Ravens at Bills? Yeah. You know, how about that game? How about 49ers at Saints? One o'clock window again for the 49ers against the Saints. Why is it a one o'clock game? Because your Sunday night game is Seahawks at Rams. They didn't want to to flex that out. And it's a CBS doubleheader for a second consecutive week. 49er Saints is on Fox so they can't move it into the 425 window. And why would you want to do that? Because you've got the Chiefs in Foxborough against the Patriots. It's kind of amazing that the Chiefs Patriots game honestly might be the least interesting out of

the games you mentioned. Yeah. Then the following week, week 15, you get Lamar Jackson in the Thursday night game. Not a great opponent, the Jets, but it's still the race. and Lamar Jackson on Thursday night, December 12th. And then you get the first of two games over the final three weeks of the season that will decide more likely than not the AFC South. Texans at Titans. Also, that day, you get late in the afternoon, 425 Fox Rams at Cowboys. The Rams are 7 and 5.

You know, the Cowboys are going to need these games for the division. It's going to be setting up a showdown in the second to last week of the, the season against the Eagles, but the Rams, this could be a huge opportunity for the Rams. And then the Sunday night game was flexed. I don't know if you caught this. The Vikings and Chargers were supposed to be the Sunday night game. That got flexed back to 405 and into that spot, the Bills at Steelers. A huge game in the AFC wildcard race. Absolutely. Then the Monday night game is Colts at Saints. Not a bad game. By the way, this Monday night game coming up, while it looks bad on paper, just got more interesting

because it's Eagles Giants. Eli Manning is going to be starting for the Giants because Daniel Jones is a high ankle sprain. Wow, I did not know that. When did that? It just popped up. Interesting. Eli Manning is actually going to play football again. Eli Manning on Monday night football.

Then in week 16, all right, it's the weekend going into the holiday week. Saturday triple header, Aaron. You get Houston at Tampa to start with. Not going to be an easy game for Houston. And then how about this? at Patriots at 430, Rams at 49ers at 815. Not bad. Not bad at all. Then you get to Sunday. You could have a massive game for two teams playing for a division, not for division, playing for seating in the Saints case, Titans for the Division, Saints at Titans in the one o'clock

window. You also get late that day, Cowboys at Eagles. I think there's still a chance that that could decide the NFC East. And then the Sunday nighters, the Chiefs at Bears, the Bears could be out of it at that point. And then how about on Monday, December 23rd? The night before Christmas Eve, Packers at Vikings. Monday night for Kirk. Packers at Vikings

could decide the NFC North that night. Then your week 17, your final week games, you've got a couple of games that look like, I think I called this a while back, Aaron. I think I did. That the 49er Seahawks would be the

flexed Sunday night game. That's almost a lock at this point. I mean, I can't imagine. It would take one of the teams losing twice, but yes. Titans, Texans could be in play for that Flex Sunday night game. But anyway, some really, really good NFL football

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promo code Kevin DC. That's K-E-V-I-N-D-C. You get a special offer that includes a four-week trial plus free postage and a digital scale. No long-term commitments or contracts required. Go to Stamps.com. Click on the microphone at the top of the home page. Type in Kevin, D.C. That's Stamps.com. Enter Kevin, D.C. if you're a small business, I promise you it's worth it. Stamps.com, never go to the post office again. Let's bring in Michael Phillips from the Richmond Times Dispatch, follow him on Twitter at Michael PRTD. I love having conversations with Michael, and I'm going to catch you up to speed on what I opened with today on the podcast, and I did the same thing on the show, on the radio show earlier

this morning and took calls. I don't know what made me think about this, but I'll just cut to the chase. This Packers game, I'll concede up front that their chances of beating the Packers are slim and none. I think we all understand that. But if they were to beat the Packers, Michael, this is a potential nightmare situation for those of us that want change, because we all know how arrogant these people are and how they'll chest bump each other and how there will be a limo ride back to the airport with Coors lights, you know, floating around and cigars. And we told you so, you know, being screamed out the windows as they pull away from Lambeau Field. And I think this is a very dangerous situation for the team's future

if somehow they were to pull off a miracle because of what it would solidify in the minds of the team's executives. What is your reaction to that? Well, yeah, you know, I certainly get where you're coming from. I think to me the biggest thing is putting Bill Callahan in play to be the head coach. That's something I've been really dismissive of. I don't think Bill Callahan is going to be the head coach. but if he meets the Packers, a team that, by the way, they couldn't beat the playoffs. It's a named team. I think you'd have to consider that Calahan might be one in the running. Yeah, I believe, and I think we've had this conversation, I have felt this way for about a month.

And it's an informed hunch. It's not just a hunch. But I believe that Bruce is going to exit at the end of the season. I think there could be some news as early as next week during the league meetings in Texas. But the Callahan thing is interesting because, you know, you're not just beating the Packers. You're beating the Packers at Lambeau Field. This is not a win over the Panthers, Lions, or Dolphins. You know, this would be a legitimate win to add to what would then be a three-game winning streak.

And potentially, if the Cowboys lose to the Bears, actually put them within, you know, a long-shot reach, but actual discussion reach of being in a play. off race, which would be nuts, you know, by itself. But just the notion of this guy coming back, you and I would be having the same conversation a year from now if that happened, about a four and nine or a five and eight football team. Oh, goodness. Yeah, nothing would change. Nothing would move forward. I take solace in the fact that this is not a winnable game and they're not going to win. But, you know, I think it's a really good measuring stick game for Haskins in terms of you know, how will he handle what will be a very good defense?

Kind of the second time around, he got really roughed up in Buffalo. Everybody saw that. He now taking a second run against the team that's pretty good and is going to get to him creatively. Can he be a little bit better? So what do you think they internally really believe about Haskins through four starts? Well, I think Dan loves him. I don't think anything else matters.

I think Dan thinks he's got his guy. I think there's been enough there. on the field to show that, you know, you can see the steps forward. If you want to see the step forward, you can see a guy who's not NFL caliber. If you want to see that, you know, I see a guy who has the raw skills who needs a lot of training. And, you know, I don't know if the current staff is the right group of people to provide that to him. I think with the right training and playbook and stuff, you could get to the point where he's an NFL quarterback and he could be a really, really good NFL quarterback. I'm more high on them than I was on draft night when I was against

taking up. I just don't know that this is the right organization to say, you need to do things the right way. You need to learn the process. There's a lot of, I keep coming back to Robert because that's the easy parallel here. A guy whose raw talent carried him early on in the league, but then when he had to hunker down and learn to do things the right way, it's just, you know, he was exempted from having to do that by the ownership of the team. And I think this is a redo in a lot of ways. Askins is a kid whose raw talent can win you football games, but he's only going to be great if he learns the process, if he learns how to do things the right way,

if he learns how to play within an NFL system, will he be made to do that, or will a coach in a system be brought into cater to him and his raw talent and allow him to, quote-unquote, make plays? So I'm picking up on something here from you, and I had Mike Shanahan on the radio show earlier, and he said something very similar to what you just said. I heard this a few weeks back, and so I'm just going to go with it right here and get your response.

So I agree with you. I am so much more intrigued and more impressed, quite frankly, than I ever thought I would be on draft night. I was not a big Haskins guy. I didn't think that he was a first round talent. There were four or five quarterbacks that if the Redskins had a chance to take in the second round, I would have personally been happier that they had taken those quarterbacks instead of Haskins. With that said, you know, I'm watching him now as an NFL quarterback, and I've watched him start four games, and I've seen him make progress. And there are things he does naturally that I never thought he could do. I think he's incredible in the pocket with his vision and his escapability and his mobility and his extend the play ability. I think all of those things are really impressive.

I love the way he competes. I think we saw that even in the preseason games. And I think that that's something. Somebody tried to compare him to me, Michael to Jason Campbell. And I said, no, no, no, no. He's the opposite from a personality, a competitive personality than Jason Campbell.

But you said something that's interesting, and that is, you know, he's got to be in the right spot where they can teach him how to, you know, prepare and how to learn and, you know, how to work. And I think that the criticism of him, if those people were injected with truth serum and were told to publicly state their concerns, that maybe we would hear that they are concerned about his preparation. What do you think?

Yeah, you know, I think that your assessment is probably about where I am. I love him more than I loved him on draft day, and I think he's got great potential. The thing I say, whether it's on Twitter or else where the ticks the fans off the most is, I think he could be really successful in the NFL, just not here because of the environment and because of the vibe. But that's how I feel. I feel like he's a guy who could benefit from a lot more structure and order of operations than exist here. You know, I've been concerned by, you know, there was the, I can't read defenses that's a joke comment. People made it out what they were.

I was more concerned after the game a few weeks ago when he had the good fourth quarter. where we say, oh, yeah, you know, they just let me play in the fourth quarter. That's what I do. I'm good at making plays. Like, well, that's not a good way to stay in the NFL for 12 years is to tell yourself you're just going to go out there and make a play. There's like five guys in the entire world that can do that. You're not one of them, and all five of them know how to run an NFL offense anyway,

so it doesn't matter. You know, you can't just rely on that natural talent. You've got to put in the work. You've got to prep, week, and week out. I hope he's coming closer to understanding that. I fear that this organization will not put him in a position where he's able to understand that. I think that's a legitimate concern. Michael Phillips from the Richmond Times Dispatch is joining us here on the podcast.

I think that's a legitimate concern because it's not an organization that has really mentored young people, taught them how to work, taught them how to learn. You know, the way Dwayne does it is maybe the way he did it in high school and the way he did it in college, but it takes a lot more and maybe he thinks he's doing enough. But we all know people who get it and people who don't get it. And sometimes you've got to have a real leader that explains what really working and what really preparing is. One thing that fascinated me, by the way, is that Casey Gannam is still the captain of the football team and not Dwayne.

You know what? I'm okay with that because too many times in the past, we both know this. new people or people who were just elevated into starting roles all of a sudden became captains and you're like what? And it was more sort of organizationally driven and probably, you know, not earned. I don't have a problem with that. I mean, I know what you're saying, but I'm glad that he's got to earn this. You know, I hope it doesn't happen this year. I hope it happens at some point down the road, but it's got to be earned. And you know what? The one thing you can say about Callahan, and I'm not a big fan, and good God, I mean, you know, the length of these press conferences, I mean, Tolstoy would cringe. It just, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's, it's it's, it's, it's, it's, intuitively to me that this is the kind of guy that, you know, leads a winning organization. Um, but there is, you know, a, and he said it over and over again with respect to Dway. it's got to be earned around here now. You know, it's got to be earned around here now.

And I think he's probably, you know, sticking to that at this point. No question. I think that's one of the few positives you can take out of this so far. I think one measuring stick will be, you know, Brandon Sheriff assuming he leaves or, you know, if he's just franchise tagged or whatever these guys who you would say there's a handful of guys in there, Jonathan Allen, obviously among them, guys who get it and I think have the work ethic and are driven like that.

you know, you want to keep those guys in the building. And to build a culture, you keep those guys, and you don't sign high-priced free agents who are on dancing with the stars. It's not how you build a culture. You build it around the guys like sheriff and guys like Allen. I think creating a culture where those guys want to stay to their second contract is the most important factor here, not just in the coaching search, but also, as you mentioned, potentially post-Abruse as well. What did you think of Darius Geis and his first, you know, sort of, you know, sort of, breakout performance, and who does he remind you of? Man, he's exciting. He's just really fun to watch.

He's one of those guys who the injury things could stay with him for a few years. That's how it is. I hope he's more Chris Thompson than anything else. You remember, but he'd written off Chris Thompson had all those injuries the first few years. He bounced back to have a very nice productive career. Obviously, guys, he's way, way better than Chris Thompson. I'm certainly not comparing it to in that regard. But just, you know, I really hope for the kids' sake he has a great NFL career

because I love guys who are fun to watch. You roll that all the way back to your Barry Sanders' and guys like that. They're just guys who are really electric when they have the football and can make a play. I think he's that guy when he's healthy. I think he can make great head-turning plays. I want to see a lot more of it because it's fun to watch. What's his NFL comp for you? We did this on the show on the radio show yesterday.

Did we do it on the podcast yesterday? I forget if we did it on the podcast yesterday. But I comped him to best case Marshawn Lynch because the style is similar. And sort of worst case for me is a guy like Chris Ivory, who I was always a big fan of. And I just think that injuries and he never got in the right situation. But I thought he was a competitive, tough, hard-nosed yards after contact kind of guy. Do you have anybody in mind as a comp? I'd be right there maybe a little Derek Henry as well.

I think he's got a little bit of that at him. Yeah, Henry's a bigger back, I think, but God, man, Henry's going to get paid here in the offseason. And I know it's risky paying some of these backs, but he is a lights-out player. I think guys have a little attitude to him when he runs. He's not the big guy, but he takes guys on. Yeah. What do you make of the Redskins playing their best game of the year without Ryan Carrigan and without Josh Norman? Is there anything to be made from that?

Maybe from the Norman perspective. I would say no from the Kerrigan perspective. And I think Montez Sweat played his best game, but I don't think it's because Kerrigan was out. I think it's because he had a lot more favorable matchups. He was overtighted ends a lot. But I also think he's thinking less and he's reacting more. I think that's a positive.

One thing I said about Nate Orchard watching him come in off the street get a couple sacks, here's a guy who he has not been bogged down. by the Minnowski method. He comes in and he's playing ball and he's playing free. I think Sweat might be in a better spot without the Meneschi method. I think if you just put him out there, tell him to go get after the quarterback, I think that might be a net positive for him. I think a good coach is always better than no coach. But sometimes no coach is better than a bad coach, Kevin.

And, you know, I do think that there's something to be said for a guy who comes off the street uses his athletic ability to make plays get a couple of sacks before being immersed in the system. I just read that Tressway was named Special Teams, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, which I'm thrilled for. I hope he gets that Pro Bowl bid. I think he's going to be an all pro pro this year. I hope he gets the Pro Bowl bid. He's deserved it. He's actually having, you know, one of the better years any punters had in a long, long time. He needs a signature moment, and I was hoping somebody would get to. to that punt, the 79-yarder and down it? Yeah, right.

That would have been in. Yeah, and it ended up being only a second touchback of the year. I know. Last thing, and I'll let you run, and I appreciate the time per usual. I did this segment on the radio show this morning and thinking about, you know, assuming that there is going to be massive change in the offseason, you know, and taking it, you know, to the coaching search level. The Redskins are going to be, I don't know, one of seven or eight teams looking for a head coach.

I came up with the list. I had the list at the Redskins, the Cowboys, the Giants, the Panthers, we now know because of Ron Rivera, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Cleveland, and the Chargers. So I think I had eight, you know, opening. So it's going to be, you know, plus or minus, you know, two, you know, in that range somewhere. Who's getable for them? And let's assume that Bruce Allen isn't here because if he is here, that's really going to limit, you know, their, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, overall potential of hiring, you know, coaches. If he's not here, who's getable? Yeah, well, let's start with the Bruce Anglos. He's here. That's a disaster in your coaching

search. The same thing as the defensive coordinator search last year. None of these guys wanted to, wanted to come join Jay on a staff. You know you're going to get fired right away. There's no long-term security that you don't want to play for a general manager who might not be the general manager in six months. New guy wants his new guys, all of a sudden you're on the out. On the other hand, you can find a good pairing of the shannahan and Lynch in San Francisco, you know, give them the keys. I think that's potentially a very appealing thing. One of the things that, you know, obviously appealed to Shanahan and Lynch was they got their six-year deal, they got their assurances they could do it their way, and they'd be insulated from the criticism

or potential early firing for the first few years, which allowed them to do what they want to do. I think you've got to go offense because the defense is so well taken care of. as long as you get somebody good in here. One intriguing thing that I thought of as Rivera was fired was Rivera pairing with O'Connell, keeping him in the building and having Rivera be the head coach and, you know, your defensive guru. But I think you go offense. I don't know.

I think it's a lot stronger of a job that people give it credit for. I think, you know, obviously it's going to come with the caveat that you've got to work with Haskins. He's got to be your guy, assuming Bant Snyder's still the one calling those shots. But I think you could see through it. You remember Jay took the job. He wasn't wild about Robert, but he was not, you brought here to fix Robert, gave it the year, moved on to his guy, started doing things his way.

I don't think that bothers somebody in a coaching surf that being tied to a quarterback like that. I really think it's one of the more appealing jobs. I think I'd rather have the Washington job than the Dallas job, or maybe even the Giants job if it came down to that. I think it's a gig that's going to sell itself better than people give credit for. Boy, you and I are going to disagree on that. Yeah, I just, I think the Dallas job is clearly the number one available job in this offseason. Even though you've got to work for Jerry, you're going into a place that really cares and they've got, you know, they've got a roster.

You know, you could look at even Cleveland's roster and say that's an attractive roster if it isn't, you know, a great position. But you'd have to be convinced, you know, by the owner that you don't have to have to go. the Mayfield route. I think the Giants job is a better job. Working for that family is a hell of a lot better than working for Snyder. I think the Atlanta job's better working for Arthur, Arthur Blank, with Matt Ryan and with the talent they have on offense. I think the Redskins are way down the list. I think with respect to the roster, it's not the worst roster in the league, and there's some intriguing young players for sure. I think, think one of the things to watch too, and I haven't said this actually, so I'm going to say it

with you and we can talk about it, is what Kyle Smith wants to do. I, Kyle Smith and the football people were not happy on draft night last year. You know, this was a year-long process to develop and to work at developing a draft board, and they basically got, you know, trumped by the owner and even the team president on draft night. That's, it's not the kind of organization that I think Kyle Smith wants to be in. And I don't know if he's now going to almost require, you know, some sort of elevation to general manager to really want to stay here. And maybe if Bruce goes, he wants to stay.

But that's one of those things that I think is going to be interesting to look at. Because I think he's talented, you know, and I think that, you know, they've done a decent job, not great job, not over the top job, but they've done a decent job as a football staff and identifying players and being focused on sort of the right areas of the team. That'll be interesting. And whether or not, you know, that's a requirement too by the owner. Let's say Bruce goes and he gives Kyle Smith the general manager title and elevates him and gives him some, you know, true decision-making authority and a promise not to be intrusive.

You know, does Kyle have a say in the next head coach? That would be interesting, too, from my perspective. I like the Rivera thing, especially if Rivera doesn't get hired as a head coach. Rivera is a potential defensive coordinator. I don't think Rivera, the defensive coordinator is coming here. He'd be able to go to a really good spot for a defensive coordinator for a championship. I get what you're saying, though. Why not dream big?

You know, I think another name to watch would be Eric Schaefer, a guy who I think would be able to drum up league-wide interest. If he were interested in bouncing, he's done a nice job structuring these contracts. in a way that drives me not, because I keep telling him the plan for the future, but his instructions are planned for the president, and he's done a great job of structuring contracts to do that, certainly, in my opinion. Kyle Smith, an interesting one, because it would represent a little more status quo. I think another thing to watch, you mentioned the lead meetings at the start, I think at some point there's going to be pressure from the league.

And you think about the Brian Lassamina thing going wrong, and what was interesting was the ESPN piece a couple weeks ago about everything that's gone on in L.A., he was going to go fix LA before the Redskins hired him, which tells you what the league thinks of him, which is very highly for him to come in and be run out less than a year, for this disaster to happen for the TV ratings to be as down as they are, which is a very, very big deal, obviously. At some point, league intervention is going to happen. Dan Snyder will never be stripped of his ownership.

That's not a thing the owners do to each other. But it wouldn't surprise me if there was some form of, you know, the hidden hand of Roger Goodell moving here to stabilize the... this thing. That wouldn't surprise me either. I think the Eric Schaefer thing, just one comment on this, and I've always felt this way about any similar situation, when you have somebody who's been in a bad organization for as long as he's been in a bad organization, and yet he's talked about as being so talented, sometimes we make the mistake of, well, yeah, he's good compared to the people that he's around. But if he were that good, why has he?

hasn't he gotten the opportunity to be a team president or a general manager somewhere else? Now, it may be that he didn't want to move and he did get these opportunities that we don't know about. But Eric Schaefer's name is not a name that comes up with team president and general manager openings around the league over the years. I think, you know, I think what we do here and, you know, it's part of our environment. and we can't blame ourselves for it, is we just compare him to everybody else and say, well, at least he's smarter and a hell of a lot more professional than the people that he's around.

So in dating, you'd call him Ashburn Pretty. He's Ashburn Pretty. I mean, he is 2 a.m., and they've already had, last call was 30 minutes ago pretty. Seriously, because, I mean, why hasn't he? Have we ever heard Eric Schaefer's name mentioned any, any opening around the league at a better place? I have not. I've always thought he might go the other way and become an agent or that sort of thing.

Yeah. I know. I think agents like Eric Schaefer, and he's been creative with the cap, given that he's worked for Dan and Vinny and Dan and Bruce, and, you know, it's been quite the challenge, I'm sure, for him over the years. I just, I hear so many of our fans say, oh, well, Eric Schaefer is this and that. Well, if he were all. of that, he'd be somewhere else by now, more likely than that. If you were to rank the guys in the building, then Kyle Smith would be your number one? Well, in terms of potential, and I've always, I've been more intrigued with Kyle Smith for a while because people who I believe in, like Mike, you know, and Mike's, Mike loves Kyle, you know, coolly, you know, who identified

Sean McVeigh as a head coach when he was, you know, here with Mike and Kyle in front of him. Coolie's always said, you know, Kyle Sharp, he loves ball, he knows ball, he talks ball, he lives ball, and he's the kind of guy that you'd want in that spot. So yeah, I mean, again, though, does he want to be here? You know, that's the issue, because he certainly doesn't want to work on a draft board 12 months out of the year to only be trumped on draft night. We're going to be coming back to that for a long time. We really are. No doubt. No doubt. Now, you and I both have come around a little bit on Haskins. Maybe Snyder got it right.

We'll talk next week. Man, if they put up a good showing against the Packers, I think everybody would have to acknowledge he's the undisputed QB1 going into 2020 and the future is bright. Or, you know how it is? It's a week-to-week league. He can be deep-pantsed on Sunday,

and we can be right back to week. It's so week-to-week. But it really, I mean, when you think about it, what a dilemma Sunday. If you're a fan of this team, it really is a dilemma because that is a game and that is a win unlike any other that they can have the rest of the way or that they've had already. How about them? Go ahead. Sorry to step on your toes. No, no, it's fine.

How about them beating the Giants and Eagles finishing second place in the division getting that second place schedule? Well, again, I think that this Sunday is the potential mind changer. If minds are already leaning in one direction, they could start leaning back in the old direction that we're close and we've got damn good culture direction again. I agree. Because it's just, it's one of those wins that would really look and feel to be totally improbable. And it wouldn't be out of nowhere. it would be in the midst of a three-game win streak. Including, you know, a road win in Carolina against the team.

Yeah. You know, what wasn't terrible, terrible? No. Kyle Allen was terrible off Sunday. But yeah, what's the line right now? 13. Yeah, it's a 13-point game. Yep, it's, this one's interesting.

All right, I always love doing this with you. Thank you so much. I'll talk to you soon. Great time. We will catch up soon. All right. Michael Phillips, everybody. follow him on Twitter at Michael P-R-T-D.

He does a great job with the Richmond Times Dispatch covering the team. A quick word about mybooky.ag. It's an exciting time for sports, none more exciting than the NFL. Lamar Jackson's redefining what it means to be a dual threat quarterback. Odds on Jackson to win the MVP race were 50 to 1 to begin the season. They've plummeted ever since, making My Booky's prop selection. more attractive than ever. Then next week, we've got one of the most stacked UFC cards in a long time.

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and we're going to get to the college basketball from last night. Maryland's got a big one tonight in the ACC Big Ten Challenge. That's coming up here in a moment. But Stanford, Steve, from ESPN's Scott Van Pelt show, who's a good friend, joins us right now, I'll follow him on Twitter at Stanford Steve 82. He likes gambling just a bit. By the way, how are you doing this year?

Because remember that weekend, the last time you were on with me, you and I collectively gave out, I think, like, a 16-1 weekend. And then pretty much starting in the middle of October, it went south for me in a hurry. Like, I'm back to 500. I've been able to stay over 500. I've got in, I think I'm like six or seven games over. And I had an 0 and three week in there, but I've been battling, man. Two and three, three and two here.

It's been an absolutely brutal year, I think, to stay ahead of the numbers. And I just think it's a tribute to those guys out in the desert, man. Like the lines are that much better, the over-unders. Everything is so tight. And it's tough. You've had to be, I mean, Joey Galloway has obviously been the talk up here in Bristol, Van Pelt can't believe it, because he just gives out every public favorite. I know.

And he ended up going 22 and 5, and including that Notre Dame win against Stanford last week. And he also had another horrific beat that he was on the right side of the week before. He's had like five games that were on bad beat on Monday. And he's texted me on Saturday saying, got another one. I mean, that's incredible. You know, I know that I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. big trouble and I've had a bad run. When my guy says to me, I'm getting crushed. You must be getting crushed too. Some of the Vegas books have had some just horrific weekends here over the last

month and a half. Last weekend wasn't nearly as bad. I think I knew about the Galloway thing. Does he do the picks with Jesse Palmer? Do they both do them? Yeah, they do two a week. It's actually a really cool segment. And he's probably, I saw him last night after the rankings show, I'm sure which we'll get to. But he's done. They're done because now it's,

you know, champ week. But that, they did, it's called the virtual locks. And they do this 3D virtual locks with all this imaging behind those guys all year. It's really turned into a really cool thing.

Must be TV for me. I thought they did an awesome job with the production crew behind it. And it also helped that, that Joey and Jesse had an awesome year, too. I think Jesse might have a lot of it. been around like 17 and 10 right around there, which I think is awesome. Oh, my God.

17 and 10, we'd pay for that. Exactly. So those guys have really gotten into it. And it was funny. Like, they got nip and tuck like at the end. And Joe just ran away. But like, no one would speak to each other on Thursdays before they tape the element. So it was funny.

It's just another way of seeing how people root for their own picks more than. than they might anything else in the world Kevin. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, 39 and 15 collectively as a show is getting paid, is getting people paid. You know, whatever. I mean, everybody does it differently. I can't imagine 22 in 5 is ridiculous. Then again, the last time you were on the show and maybe we'll strike gold again

here this weekend, but I think we were a combined 16 and one. And at that particular point, I got to like plus 26 over 500 at one point. Wow. And now I'm back to even. All right. I want to talk about the rankings that came out last night because I think there are a number of intriguing possibilities. Everybody keeps dialing it. They're dialed in on the one spot if Georgia loses to LSU in the SEC title game and the challenge for that.

I want to start with this. You don't think Clemson makes the playoff if they lose to Virginia. going to happen. I realize that. But they would get knocked out if they lose to Virginia, don't you think? If all, if we have two other one-loss conference champions, I think it's the real possibility. I understand it, Scott did this one big thing last night on Clemson and the idea that he said two months ago, you know, this is what you're going to have. No one's on your schedule, and you're just going to have to beat up on teams and not have any substance to your schedule, and that's all come true. But, yeah, I, I, yeah, I,

don't see how you do it because I understand you have the role in they had last week over South Carolina. And, you know, this isn't even taking account what George is going to do. But I don't think they're in. I don't, like you said, I don't think it's a possibility. I think they should steamroll the Cavaliers who are coming off with a crazy emotional win. That was one of the best games of the year last week in their win over tech for the first time in 16 years.

So I'm with you. I don't think they're in. Yeah, I mean, I just, they're not going to lose to Virginia, but I was watching the show last night, and I was surprised that all of them essentially said, regardless of what happens this weekend, Ohio State, LSU and Clemson are in. And I'm like, totally buy into Ohio State and LSU. They're already in. It doesn't matter what happens Saturday. But I can't imagine Clemson loses to Virginia in a shocking upset, and they're still in with that schedule.

So let's assume that it's Ohio State, LSU, and Clemson. I think that's a pretty safe assumption. Even if Ohio State and LSU lose, we both still believe that they would be in the final four, right? Yes, yes. My issue is if they both win, who's the one seat? Because I'm on an island, I feel like, with that one. I'll get to that too. It sounds like you and I might agree on that.

But if it's Ohio State LSU and Clemson, it's definitely Georgia if they beat LSU, let's assume that they don't. Now give me the Utah, Oklahoma, Baylor, Wisconsin talk. Oh, Wisconsin, no way. I don't see that. That Illinois loss is worse than the South Carolina loss, in my opinion. I still think if you follow this, and if the committee, I mean, they've made it standing to me with Utah since they started this ranking. They have held this team way higher than I thought they would because of how.

not in the spotlight Utah is. And what I mean by that is they're probably the least watch team in this top six when you look at it. I mean, I think Clemson's up there also because people are just tired of them already. But I think Utah is just not that brand name. But this committee has really held up them really high up with the quarterback efficiency, the way they have one game. The running back, I mean, he's brought it up three weeks in a row, how loss got hurt and that USC loss.

If you go back and look at that game, I know of the third string quarterback, but there's like six jump balls. Oh, yeah. You know, that game did feel like that. I had SC that night. I had SC that night, and I felt very lucky to have gotten that win. It was a weird game that Utah really was the better team for much of that night. So with that, I think Utah, if they win and they look fine, you know,

this is where the handicapping thing gets into me because I think the Oklahoma is the big 12 game, if you, if that's open, the big 12 game while this pack 12 game is going Friday night and Utah's struggling, I think it's worth a shot to take a shot on Oklahoma there knowing they have to roll Saturday. So that was just the handicapping thing involved with the rankings, if that makes any sense. Yeah. But I think it's Utah. I really do as long as they don't screw it up. I think from what the committee has said and where they have held them this whole time since they did the rankings. I feel there's substance there, and I feel they really like them,

and we'll give them that four spot. I agree with you wholeheartedly. The eye test for me is that Utah is not only the team that should be placed in if Georgia loses, I think they actually can compete in the playoff. I think their defense is right up there with Ohio States, Clemsons, Georgia's, and Florida's in terms of the best defenses that I've watched. this is what bothered me, though, about last night, is bailers jump up to seven, you know, really gave the Big 12, you know, some real credibility. If Oklahoma pounds

Baylor, you know, and they're a bigger brand, I have a feeling if they crush Baylor and Utah Eeks won out over Oregon, Oklahoma is jumping into that Georgia's spot if Georgia loses. I could see that. And that's what, I mean, and this is terrible, but I, I kind of have a little bit of Oklahoma fatigue, man. And I know that's not supposed to be part. But, I mean, I don't know how people aren't, you know, a customer or have feelings about that. Like, if you watch them for the last month,

they should have lost four to five games they played. It feel like they peaked way early in the season. And I thought Mike Gunney, he couldn't stop them. But I thought he was totally right last week when he talked about this Oklahoma offense and how it's a glorified triple option. And he mentioned all the Oakland. Oklahoma quarterbacks in the prior, in the history of that program, and how Jalen Hurts is

that much farther ahead of them, and quarterback carries in his season, he doesn't run the option. So I feel like Rule is in a great spot here with Baylor, knowing the motivation they have built in with how they blew the game, and they've already seen him. The issue I have for Baylor here, C.D. Lamb didn't play in that first game, and I think he's the best receiver in the country. So that game's a fascinating matchup to me. And I can't wait to see it. I think that Oklahoma Baylor game was one of the best football games of the year. And it was the first time, I agree with you.

I've got some Oklahoma fatigue as well. As I've had Alabama and Clemson fatigue in a similar way, that was the game where, to me, Jalen Hertz had an urgency. I think he's a very casual player. I've talked to a couple of people about him, and people are saying, you know, Jalen Hertz could be the next Lamar Jackson or could be whatever. He's too casual with the football. He has bad turnovers, like turnovers that are totally unnecessary.

You know, when you watch him play, the ball's always out there. It's always exposed. You know, he'll throw a bad ball. But that Baylor game, he put that team on his back as a runner and a thrower. And I thought it was one of the better games of the year, and that comeback was great. And you're right, they didn't have their receiver. So if they blow Baylor out in this game, I think it's going to be really close with Utah. What if Baylor gets their revenge and wins and Utah loses?

I have a horrible idea, but how bad is Georgia going to get beat by LSU? If that, I could see, I don't know about this Baylor thing, man. Like, you go back and look at the body of work. I mean, you talk about sure to lost some games. They had nine last. I know. The Iowa State game, they got lucky. I don't know.

I don't see Baylor getting it. I don't. I don't know what will need to happen in order for that to do, but I just, I don't see it, man. I really don't. And that's what surprised me behind Baylor and Wisconsin. Wisconsin being ahead of Florida is an absolute joke to me. A complete joke.

Yeah. And then it's just, like Scott did too, they're cooking the books for this Ohio State resume, which is complete BF to me because the, the strive for the one seed, to me, you have to have some deserving parts in there. I get we want the four best pieces in a playoff, but when you're talking one and two, there should be some deserving things, and the deserving part should be LSU if they win this game against Georgia,

is going to have the best resume I've ever seen in the top-ranked team. Totally agree with you on that. So let's put that to the side B's. We both agree, and we finally got to that point that I think if LSU beats Georgia, I think they should be the number one seed. part of me wonders whether or not, you know, if they just wanted to see a different semi-final matchup, we've seen Ohio State Clemson before in a semifinal matchup, and Clemson ran them out of the building. But, you know, one thing on Baylor, because I agreed with,

I agree with you, or I did agree with you, when they survive TCU, which they should not, they should not have won that game, their most impressive games have been their last three by far against Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. No doubt. No doubt about it. I've always liked Brewer. The quarterback, I love Rule. This could be one of the last game he coaches down in Waco if all these rumors are true

about the NFL and even his alma mater at Penn State, if there's shake-up there. But I love the story. I think they should get in. I just don't see that happening because of the. the brand and all that kind of stuff. So they're coming in hot, they're coming in the right time. And, yeah, that would be their best win, obviously, a win over Oklahoma. So I just, I don't know, look at the jump that, what were they, 14, two weeks ago?

Yeah, I know. It just seems crazy to me that that would happen. But, I mean, it would be the ultimate, you know, this is the most teams we've had in the mix, it feels like for that last spot. I agree, yeah. But this would be the first time that so many teams failed. You know, that first year we had TCU and Baylor that didn't play that week because there was no conference championship.

So this is, I mean, everybody's talking about the two-loss thing, the two-loss thing. You know, they were all worried about Bama getting in just like they did in 17. And I kept saying, yeah, but there's no one-loss conference champion ahead. There wasn't any one-lossed champion in 2017 that could argue with Bama. which is them. This year you have plenty of contestants for it. It's just a matter of who's going to go out and play their best game in the biggest stage with the most pressure on. So it's fascinating. I think this weekend is so awesome. It's so hard for me to handicap, but I think it's great to sit back and watch games. We'll do the handicapping in a moment. But you just reminded me of that 2015 season because it happened to have been my son's freshman year at TCU. So I was into TCU. and there was no big 12 championship game that year. And, you know, you had the, you had the TCU Baylor thing,

and then you had Ohio State, and they got it right. You know, they got it right with Ohio State, obviously. So there's some of that history this year. Here's a very simple question that has nothing to do with resumes or anything else. It's totally the eye test. Who are the best four teams in the country right now? I think it's Utah. So you would have Ohio State LSU and Clemson and Utah?

Georgia has deteriorated to me over the... They can't score. Yeah, and now they don't have the receiver who got, what was he thinking with the fight, and then Cagers hurt, and something really looks off to me. I wanted to watch a little more tape the last three weeks. From, I don't know, the ball's not coming out the same. I don't know if it's lower body or his mechanics or whatever,

but something just doesn't look right to me. The offensive line I thought was going to be. I picked Georgia to win the national title at the beginning of the season. I felt really good about it. But the secondary is really good. That's where they have a thing. Florida's receivers are really good, and Georgia went toe-to-to-toe with them and played them man-up.

So that's where you're going to need to do against LSU. I just don't think they have, I mean, a great game by Georgia's defense. I think it's holding LSU to 24 or even 28. I think it's a great defensive game. If you could do that, I don't see Georgia's scoring 30. I mean, how could anybody see them score 30, the way that, what they put on the field? Yeah, I like Utah over Georgia, but maybe I asked the question in the wrong way because you were just considering the teams that are really in the running for the playoff. Because to me, Auburn, Alabama, and Florida, and I love Utah are all better than Utah and Georgia and Oklahoma and Baylor.

All three of those teams. Okay. I think if Florida and Utah played tomorrow, who would be favored? Yeah, I know this game, and when you're saying the best team, I heard the guys out in Vegas talking about it yesterday. Obviously, Alabama, I think they had Alabama. No, they had Oklahoma on a neutral minus three over Utah. They didn't get to Florida, but I don't know if Florida would be favored.

What about Auburn? I mean, I guess they... No. How big of a favorite would Bama be against Utah? I think it's like six or seven. Yeah. I love Utah, too. I think their defense is nasty.

Moss is great. I like them, too. I hope they get in. It's not going to be easy Friday night, though. So let's get to that. They are six and a half point favorites. I guessed before I saw it that it was going to be somewhere around six. I think the number's right.

Do you think that they handle Oregon? Here's the deal, Kevin. I've played in the Pac-Twinn. I love the Pac-12. I have a little bit of bias in me, but I know this conference more than anything. And every time this conference gets this stage, somebody pees down their leg.

And I'm deftly afraid that it's going to be Utah. In this stage, we got our eight team going out there. Fowler and Herb Street are calling the game. It's on ABC Friday night. Everybody be watching. and I just feel like it's not going to be pretty. And nothing was as ugly as last year's back to the title game when I think, was it 10-3, the final option to be Utah.

This, I mean, the way, the inconsistency I've seen from Herbert, I still haven't seen enough from Hunley where I'm like, you know what, that guy could, he could do it in a big spot. And I worry that Oregon is just going to have enough motivation here where they, because they have, they have a great, right offensive lines, so maybe offset that Utah defensive line. Like there's matchups there where I think they're very advantageous to the ducks. So I would take the point there.

I could see Utah winning an ugly game or maybe even losing a field goal game. But it's just, I've seen it too many times and I can't get those thoughts out of my head. But it scares me. If Utah rolls there, I'll be super pumped for them because they would deserve that four spot. And obviously it would depend on the Georgia game. But six and a half. I mean, now the option on our accounts online, you know, you're five to seven. Why not take a full touchdown with a duck here?

I mean, you're getting a full touchdown with a really capable team that just played their worst game, like I just talked about, in their biggest spot on an ABC game down in Tempe, Arizona a couple weeks ago. You know, here's one thing to just consider, and I may be way off. But I know what you're saying about them peeing on their leg, down their leg, and totally choking in the moment. But it's easier to choke offensively with the ball in your hands. This team is led by its defense where all you've got to do is be physically aggressive. I could see Oregon having a very difficult time moving the football against that team.

Yeah, and the inconsistency with Herbert is like his good, really, really good, and that might only need a couple plays. And I just see Utah, like if Oregon takes the lead here, You know, I can see Utah pressing a little bit. Now, I know the run game, and they rely on loss, and I love the kid. I think he's absolutely phenomenal. But it's just the circumstance, man, like they're going to be the first one playing here. I understand there's going to be no scoreboard watching or anything.

They could go out there and play their game. I just, like I said, the thoughts in my head, I just can't. When I'm thinking about the spread here and it just keeps going up, you know, a couple weeks ago, it was three. And then, you know, before Oregon lost, people thought that Oregon might even be favored in the game, which I was laughing at because I'm like, there's no way. Give me Utah as a dog in this game all day long, so it's kind of like flipped a full, you know, eight, nine points. So I would lean here taking the points with the duck.

I think it's going to be a really, really tightly played game. All right. You haven't given out your plays yet, I don't think. So just give me your, what are you looking at here? What are you leaning towards? You've sized up the board already. Yeah, call me crazy. I like Wisconsin

and the points. I understand. I've seen Ohio State stealing, and they're stealing, I don't think anybody could touch it. If they play well against anybody left, you know, that they're going to play, they're going to walk away with that trophy

at the end of the year. But there's a couple things. First of all, Wisconsin's game playing against Minnesota, I don't know if you got to watch that game last week. I was watching the SEC game, the Iron Bowl, a little bit of it. I got to have two TV.

I know, I know. I had a bunch of people over. It was a weekend. There were multiple TVs on, but I was paying attention more to the Auburn. Alabama game, which was a great game. But I saw some of it in the snow. So tell me what was wrong with it. I just loved Wisconsin's attack.

Like, it's an absolute blizzard. He's throwing the ball down the field, which you don't see from Wisconsin. Minnesota gets a lot of momentum. Wisconsin comes back with a reverse on a kickoff that gets. gets it down like a 70-yard return. The defense was great. Their corners played excellent against Minnesota, who I think has two NFL wide-ups on the outside. And when you watch the Ohio State-Michigan game, I know it down crazy, but Chase Young was not, I didn't even notice them out on the field. And that just shows me

that you can game plan for him. So Wisconsin with another chance, because that was the difference, Chase Young was the difference in that Wisconsin game, the game in Columbus when they played and got beat 38-7. He was a record ball. They couldn't stop him. To Michigan, who has inferior talent to Wisconsin's offensive line, game plan for him, and I know they should have scored more, and people want more out of Michigan, but they put Chase Young out of that game.

So I think Wisconsin, with knowing how good that staff is, I think they have something else rolled up for him. To get Taylor going and that run game, what are the great conditions in Columbus for that game? It was raining sloppy. Cohn played terrible. I just feel like a second shot in a, an opponent that's familiar with it.

I love Leonard's defense coordinator for Wisconsin. I think he should be a head coach next year somewhere. So I'm 16 and a half, man, that's a lot of points. And you know Wisconsin wants to try and play with the leave here to keep that Ohio State offense off the field. So I think they're going to do anything in their power to do that. I like 16 here with the Badgers. But as an aside, I like Jim Leonard a lot too.

I think he's smart. He's smart as a pro. You know, it was such an underrated player. I completely agree with you. You know, we've talked about Georgia, but, you know, one of the biggest public plays of the weekend is going to be LSU. That number is actually a little bit short when you really think about, you know, the numbers they've given to, like, Florida to Auburn.

They were a dog, obviously, in Tuscaloosa. You know, they were 17.5-point favorite last week against Texas A&M, and they're only laying seven in the SEC title. game. And so far, it looks like, you know, the LSU is one of the biggest public plays of this championship week. I mean, people were talking, same thing I talked about with the Utah line. Last week, this line was like three and a half. And now it's, I mean, I saw, I got at seven and a half yesterday. I just get worried. No one, I mean, people are talking around the Georgia fans, people I know that, you know, are close to the program, just how banged up they are.

they obviously, you never hear this. And that's what makes it so different this year. And what LSU has done in that conference is, there's Georgia have enough to keep up. Like, who would ever have to worry about scoring up voice in an SEC title game until this recent future? So I have to, if I'm getting more than a touchdown with the dogs, I'll take a shot there, just knowing that they do have talent.

I thought they had a great game plan last year for Alabama in this SBC title game. So Kirby definitely has. something there. So, I mean, more than a cut, it's just, I mean, that LSU offense,

you're talking about a foot on the gas offense, you just got to hold your, you got to hold your breath the whole game, which I know no one wants to do, but Georgia just feels like

they could do something here. I mean, that's a lot of points in a, in a conference game. They played last year, and LSU smoked them. So I feel like maybe an extra motivation.

I don't know. I like every underdog. Yeah, I think I do too. It's scary. It's very. really scary. Two quick ones, I'll let you run. Is Penn State going to go to the Rose Bowl if Wisconsin loses?

I would think so. That's the conversation. I know Herb Street talked about it. And then is Georgia definitely in the Sugar Bowl if they lose? No. No, not at all. They could take Bama. Yeah, right? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. All right. Thanks for doing this. I have a question for you. What's the best win in the country? The best win this year?

Yep. The best win this year. I've got to think about this. You've caught me off guard. I mean, you know, certainly LSU and Tuscaloosa. Yeah, that's it. It's got to be. Getting back to that one speed,

you're going to try and tell me that now they move Penn State, obviously, up, you know, you saw how far they dropped Alabama, and now they're going to just tell you right now, Ohio State's going to end up with one, and they're going to say that's the best win, which is absolutely not. nuts that they're going to say Ohio State is the best thing because they beat Penn Stages ranked 7 and they were a 20-point favor in the game and LSU was a six-point dog

in Tuscaloosa and that's what they're going to use and it's going to drive me crazy. Drive me nuts too. The LSU profile is one of the best you will ever see in college football going back to the beginning of the year and that win in Texas and I know Texas didn't turn out to be what a lot of people thought Texas would be. although they got it done last week as a nine-point favorite, which I was thrilled about against tech. But yeah, I mean, come on. I mean, you know, the one thing about LSU, I do think if they had played Florida with Florida having those two really good defensive players who did not play in that game, if they had played in that game, that would have been their toughest test because I never felt like they were in danger against Auburn.

But I did think watching that night that Florida had a legit shot. That was 28-28 early in the fourth quarter, and Florida was without both of those guys. They're two best defensive players that night. But Florida had a chance to be in this thing had they beaten Georgia and they didn't. So there you go. Yeah. Yeah, and Georgia's got enough guys. I appreciate it as always.

Good luck this weekend. Who should I bet to be the next head coach to the Redskins? Greg Williams. Really? I don't know. I am serious about that. Okay. No one's going to want the job.

That's part of the problem, is that they don't have a full, they're not going to be in the same position that the Cowboys are going to be in, or even the Falcons are going to be in, or even the Giants are going to be in, where people will want to work for those places. If Bruce Allen's still here, they're not going to be able to hire anybody. No one will want to come in. But, yeah, Greg Williams, with some power, maybe. That's been my guess for a while, but who knows.

third playing nine and a half tonight watch out yeah it seems a little bit short but Notre Dame 6 and 1 they lost to North Carolina that was it should be fun they're they're real good this November and December basketball doesn't mean much but at least they're building up a resume here so that they

they're not playing in a four or five game in March I just don't want that in the second round just be happy you don't have to watch the game with Van Pelt and I do Well, I feel like I am because there's one text after another. But yeah, enjoy that tonight. That should be fun with him. See you. Appreciate it.

All right, brother. Thank you. All right. Stanford Steve, everybody at Stanford Steve 82. Of course, Scott's sidekick co-host of Sports Center with Scott Van Pelt and co-host of Stanford Steve and the Bear, the podcast that he does as. well. He is the best dude. The best. Played football at Stanford. You know, he was the number one rated tight end, his high school senior year, and does such a great job with Scott. And he's become

a good friend, and I like him a lot. So always good to catch up with him. Real quickly before we leave. Last night, Louisville handled Michigan. I mean, that was really a one-sided beatdown. Louisville's really good defensively. I don't know what. to make of it at this point. I don't know what to make of Juan Howard. They run a lot of the same B-line stuff. They were really defended well all night long. Duke surprised me. I liked Michigan State last night laying that number. Michigan State is, I know

the Cassius Winston family tragedy thing is part of this, but there's something not completely right there. It's going to take them time, as it usually does, Aaron, with I zos teams. It's going to take them time. I wish Maryland got them early rather than both of those games against Michigan State being late. Then we get to tonight, Maryland home against Notre Dame. They're a nine and a half point favorite.

I would have thought it would have been a little bit more, to be honest with you. But a big opportunity for the Terps in the ACC Big Ten Challenge. Notre Dame's lost once. They lost to North Carolina. Maryland's ranked third in the country. Two games this week against Illinois. Notre Dame tonight, Illinois on Saturday to kick off the Big Ten schedule. gets real now up in here.

I like them tonight. They should beat Notre Dame, I would think. Yeah, I agree. They can't have those early first half woes like they've had a lot this season, but they seem to cure it a little bit in Orlando, so hopefully that keeps going. Yeah. Also, I was happy last night that Markell Fultz had the best game of his career.

This was a guy that was clearly suffering from anxiety issues, You know, the Yips, as a basketball player, he played it to math. It was the number one pick in the draft. He's playing for Orlando right now. He came in last night. I would have loved to have seen the Wizards win. Beale had 42, but Fultz had his career high 20 last night. So he seems to be making progress, which is a good sign.

And my God, are the caps ridiculously good? They won again last night, and Carlson's just having an incredible season. but the caps now with 45 points tied with Boston, I guess. I think Boston's like one seven or eight in a row. But the caps are just unbeatable. I think that's it for today. I think that was all I had for today. Thanks to Michael Phillips.

Thanks to Stanford, Steve. Enjoy the day. Aaron did a great job today, per usual. We're back tomorrow with Tommy. Talk a little Maryland basketball, whatever happens tonight, and lots of Redskins in NFL as well. Have a great day.