The Kevin Sheehan Show - Championship Picks + Sue Palka On The Storm

Episode Date: January 24, 2026

Kevin opened with some Commanders' defensive coordinator talk before getting to his preview and picks on the AFC and NFC Championship games. Jay Gruden jumped on to preview and pick both games. Jay also gave out his "Lock of the Week". Longtime Fox 5 legend Sue Palka joined Kevin to talk about the weekend storm and reminisce about some of the big storms in the past. Kevin finished up the show with two "Smell Test" picks. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match 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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Jay Gruden will join me on the show today. We'll get Jay's lock of the week and get him to preview both championship games. After Jay, a very special guest.

I'm very excited to have Sue Palka on the show. It's been a while since Sue has been on the show. And that's because after 36 years, doing it. weather at Channel 5, she retired a few years ago. We had her on the show as she was getting ready for her retirement. Well, she's going to join me today to not only talk about what she's been doing in retirement, but of course to preview and project what this storm is going to do Saturday night through Sunday night. So Jay Gruden and Sue Palka on today's show, the show who's presenting sponsor as always is window

nation 86690 Nation windownation.com if you need new windows. This from Kevin in Northern California, Kevin's a friend of mine. Kevin's actually a big help to me and this podcast. He's a huge skins fan

and Kevin writes, the de-coordinator position is not attractive because Quinn's seat is hot if they struggle next season. Quinn should call plays. His job's on the line. He should do less CEO coaching and more just leading the defense. He can hire somebody to groom and promote down the road. Jeff Hathley is going to call plays in Miami. McDonald calls plays in Seattle.

It's becoming more common for defensive head coaches to coordinate and call plays on D. This actually made me search out the actual numbers on defensive head coaches who call plays. He's right about McDonald in Seattle, and Halfley, Jeff Halfley, who got the Miami job, is going to call defenses and plays in Miami. If you look at the past season from the beginning of the season, because things changed like here in Washington, where Dan Quinn took over play calling in November. But if you look back at the beginning of the season, there were 11 defensive head coaches out of the 32. there were 20 offensive head coaches, and then Harbaugh was neither. Even, you know, guys like Braybill and Tomlin, you know, they had defensive backgrounds.

So I kind of threw them on the list of defensive head coaches. But if you look back to the beginning of the year, 11 defensive head coaches, four of them actually called plays. McDonald in Seattle, Bowles in Tampa, Gannon and Arizona, and then Sean McDermott called plays, even though he actually shared in those duties with his defensive coordinator. But I gave him sort of a defensive head coach who calls plays. When Leslie Frazier was there as the defensive coordinator,

for most of McDermott's run in Buffalo, he actually did not call plays. But four out of the 11, McDonald, Bowles, Gannon, and McDermott called plays. D'Amico Ryan's, used to do it, but he bailed on doing it very early in the season. So I could add D'Amico Ryan's, but basically after they lost their first three games, or first two games of the year, he gave it up. So let's look at those four and say four defensive head coaches call plays. By contrast,

of the 20 offensive head coaches, 16 call plays. Now, I'm guessing you would have guessed that more offensive head coaches call plays than defensive head coaches. But basically 80% of offensive coaches, head coaches, call plays, and a little bit more than a third of the defensive head coaches call plays. I was interested in what those numbers were. I would have guessed more offensive guys call plays than defensive guys. But I guess I was a little bit surprised that it wasn't more. like a guy like Aaron Glenn, first time as a head coach. You know, he was the defensive coordinator in Detroit last year. He did not call plays.

He decided he wanted to be more of a CEO coach, as Kevin described Quinn. And others have described Quinn that way. That's a fine way to describe it. I mean, he is not an offensive play caller, not a defensive play caller. He was at the end of the season. He is more of an overall, you know, big decision, big picture head coach. So let me just say this, Kevin.

I don't think Quinn's going to do it. I think he believes his best version of being a head coach is coaching the entire team rather than one side of the ball. Now, if they don't end up with anybody on their short list, maybe he'll do it. That list, by the way, which I am guessing included Brian Flores and Jeff Albrose. in Atlanta. Those two guys now are committed to staying. Oldbrook's staying with Stefansky in Atlanta. Brian Flores has signed a contract to go back to Minnesota to be the defensive coordinator

if he does not get a head coaching job. But I'm sure that Ulbrook and Flores were on the short list. Maybe Rahim Morris and Al Harris are on the short list. I don't know what the short list actually is. I'm just guessing. But let's just consider the possibility that the short list gets to, to the point of everybody on it is deep down the list. And maybe then Quinn decides to do it himself.

I doubt it, but I can't rule it out. I think the reason for Washington's defensive coordinator opening being somewhat less attractive, and I don't think Kevin is wrong about that, I think it's more than just Quinn's seat may be hot next year or at the end of next year, warm going into the year. I think it has to do with talent. It's just not comparable to the other positions. Actually, ESPN did a ranking. ESPN did a ranking today of the top four best available defensive coordinator openings. Washington wasn't anywhere near that list. Number one was Green Bay. Yeah, they've got Micah Parsons. San Francisco with all that talent, even though they were

injured this year. Number two, the chargers are talented defensively, number three. And then the Giants were number four. The Giants have a lot of talent on defense. You know, those situations are attractive because there are players. There's talent. Washington's not so much. Now, Washington has a lot of cap space. They've got the number seven pick in the draft, a draft that may produce a star player at number seven on defense. But yeah, if you're out there looking to be a defensive coordinator and you're one of the more attractive candidates, there are just jobs that are better. And remember, there are a lot of jobs. You know, in addition to Green Bay, San Francisco, the Chargers, Giants, Washington, the Titans are looking for a defensive coordinator.

The Jets are looking for a defensive coordinator. Baltimore, they hired Jesse Minter, but they're going to be looking to hire a defensive coordinator. And then Halfley's in Miami, but they have not hired a defensive coordinator, although that one, because Halfley's going to call the plays. And I would bet Jesse Minter in Baltimore in his first year calls plays as well, although I would have thought Aaron Glenn would have called plays in New York this year. There are just a lot of openings all over the league. Head coaches, coordinators, Dallas filled their defensive coordinator opening today. Christian Parker, who was in Philadelphia under Vic Fangio, is the Dallas defensive coordinator. You know, it's very possible Washington could end up with a hire that's similar to Christian Parker,

you know, like a Carl Scott in Seattle, somebody who hasn't been. done it before. You know, that's not necessarily what Quinn wanted. I don't believe before this process started, but it could end up that way. Now, they interviewed Terrell Austin today, according to Nikki Javala. I think she had it first. Nikki reported that Washington interviewed the Steelers defensive coordinator. He's been in Pittsburgh for the last four years with Mike Tomlin. Now with Tomlin gone, Austin's available. He was a defensive coordinator in Detroit for a few years, also Cincinnati for a year. He's experienced, really experienced, much more experienced than some of the other guys they've interviewed. He's got nine total years as a defensive

coordinator. My first blush on him is that, I don't know, it would feel a little bit underwhelming. They've had a lot of talent in Pittsburgh during his, you know, four years. I mean, it's not bad to have T.J. Watt and Cam Hayward, for starters. But add him, add Austin to the list of coaches that have been interviewed candidates who have been interviewed for the position. Patrick Graham, Denard Wilson, Carl Scott, Joe Cullen, Al Harris, Jonathan Gannon, Brian Flores. Flores is locked into Minnesota if he doesn't get a head coaching job. I would imagine that Raheem Morris is still a guy. near the top of any sort of list they've put together.

But Rahim, remember, is kind of like Mike McDaniel. He's out there trying to get a head coaching job. Speaking of Mike McDaniel, you know, we talked a lot about him on the show yesterday and about him being hired by the Chargers to be the offensive coordinator in L.A. Well, that's only if he doesn't get a head coaching job because he interviewed reportedly with the bills. for their head coaching job, you know, which really does speak to with McDaniel and the conversations that we've had, Tommy and I had one yesterday, that even if Dan Quinn was interested in McDaniel, it was going to be a process before he became available.

And then, you know, then you had to have him pick Washington over, you know, L.A. as an example, where his wife is from. but they would have risked losing blouse. I do believe that, waiting for McDaniel. But Rahim Morris, now on the defensive side, you know, they don't have somebody in house that they are going to lose by waiting so they can wait, but they also may have to move quickly and maybe pay somebody a lot. In Rahim's case, remember, he's getting head coaching money.

Atlanta's going to be paying him for the next few years. All right. Buffalo interviewing Philip Rivers for the head coaching job. That's pretty interesting, right? I mean, Philip Rivers came back to play at the age of 44 for the Colts, and their head coaching search and interview process list of candidates includes Philip Rivers. He's never coached at the college.

or pro level, but he's been the coach for that team in Alabama where his son plays. So he's been coaching at the high school level. Interesting. I mean, yeah, you know, his last game before coming back this year was a playoff game is the starting quarterback of the Colts during COVID at Buffalo. And they almost won that game. He played very well in that game. and they almost pulled it out, but he didn't.

I have no idea really whether or not Philip Rivers is a serious candidate to be the head coach in Buffalo. Mike McDaniel has interviewed for that job. Brian Daible, you would think would be in line potentially to return. Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator. Davis Webb, the guy who played there is Josh Allen's best friend. I think they interviewed, I think. I think they interviewed Anthony Weaver, the Miami defensive coordinator. They interviewed Anthony Lynn, our running backs coach, and Anthony Lynn, of course, was a head coach with the Chargers.

So, yeah, Philip Rivers is being interviewed or was interviewed today by the Buffalo Bills. All right, let's talk Championship Sunday. It was a year ago we were preparing for our team to play on championship. Sunday. That was exciting. First time in 33 years on that stage. And I still maintain that the final score, 55 to 23, was not necessarily indicative of the game itself. The Eagles were the better team clearly, and they probably could have named the number of points that they wanted against our defense. but Washington's offense had much more success against that dominant Philadelphia defense at the end of the year than anybody. Kansas City could barely move the football.

They didn't get into Philadelphia territory until the third quarter of the Super Bowl. And Washington was down, if you remember, they were down 34 to 23, end of the third quarter on the move at midfield when Austin Eckler fumbled. and that was the third of what turned out to be four turnovers on the day, and that doomed them. But, you know, they were moving the football. I mean, this was a team that had scored 36 points against the Eagles, you know, a few weeks earlier in the regular season after turning the ball over five times. And they won that game 36 to 33, but, you know, they rolled up 350 yards. They were 7 of 17 on third down.

That's not terrible. four for six on fourth down. You know, they were a fourth down going for it machine in 2024. Jaden threw for 255. He rushed for 48 yards. It was the turnovers. Now, you know, I don't think they were ever going to outscore Philadelphia, although they did do it a month earlier.

But it's hard to say they were in that game when the final score was 55 to 23, but they were in that game late in the third quarter. They just had to hold on to the football. That was fun, but that seems like a lot more than just a year ago at this point. All right, the two games on Sunday. The AFC game goes first, New England, at Denver. Of course, it's tainted by the loss of Bo Nix. Denver is a four and a half point underdog.

More on that coming up in the smell test. The Patriots go in as a healthy team, a team playing very well defensively in particular, and they've played two very good defensive teams in the Chargers and in Houston, and they were able to win both of those games. I mean, Houston helped out a lot. They really helped out a lot. They're going to play another very good defensive team, but of course, Bo Nix, the starting quarterback, is out. And Jarrett Stidham is in, and they've got a lot of confidence in.

Jared Stidham. This game kicks at 3 o'clock. The weather in the mid-20s at kickoff in Denver. A little bit of wind, but not crazy wind. A chance of a snow shower during the game, but nothing significant to impact the play on the field. I think this is a game in which, you know, Stidham can't lose the game for Denver. C.J. Stroud lost the game. The Chargers offense lost the game. The Patriots defense had a lot to do with it. They did. Jared Stidham needs to, you know, manage the game. They have a lot of confidence in his ability. Look, the Patriots drafted him. Josh McDaniels took him to Vegas. And the first guy, Sean Peyton signed when he got the job in Denver, Jared Stidham. I'm curious to see what Jay thinks about Stidham's chances to play well.

That was a draft, remember, in which Washington selected Dwayne Haskins. But I think there are a couple of things here that could really help Denver out. Number one is it's very possible that J.K. Dobbins is back for this game. This was a team that was really running the ball effectively. First half of the year, J.K. Dobbins was having a big year, and then he got hurt. He always gets hurt. If he's back, that's a big deal, because, I don't think R.J. Harvey is a guy that you can really count on to be a 15 plus carry a game guy.

Now, New England's defense is awesome. I just think with Dobbins, they would have a better shot offensively at running the football. And I think with Jared Stidham, you got to run the football a little bit. I mean, you're not going to put the game on him. So running the football will be important. We'll see if Dobbins actually has a shot. But I think for Denver offensively, it really comes down to Stidham not giving the game away like C.J. Stroud did last week. Because Denver's defense is excellent and it's at home. You know, Houston's defense dominated New England's offense. And that was a road game. And they kept having to go back out there on short fields, et cetera, after turnovers. I think I mentioned this on Monday show. Houston had 15 possessions in that game,

which means New England had like 14 or 15 possessions in that game. Insane number of possessions. But Stidham can't lose the game. He's got to be a guy that manages the game, and if they can run it, and I do trust Sean Payton as a play caller, no doubt, then you can work in the play action and the bootlegs. And, you know, you can use the tight end. You can use R.J. Harvey out of the backfield.

You can certainly throw to some of those receivers who, you know, there's not a superstar in the Denver lineup, but they have a lot of guys, and they've got team speed. I mean, Mims can really run. And obviously, Cortland Sutton is a big target. But, yeah, I mean, I think really it comes down to Denver can't lose the game. on offense. Anything they get from Jared Stidham positively in terms of playmaking, you take and run with it, but I'm not expecting a lot of it. I think the key, though, is they've got to be able to run the football a little bit, and it won't be easy. On the other side, it's all about

protecting the football for Drake May. They're going to get a number of opportunities. I don't think Denver is going to possess the ball a lot. I don't think they're going to be on long drive after long drive scoring, you know, over and over again. So, New York, England can't give them opportunities. And Drake Mays put the ball on the ground in two games six times, six times. Lost three of them should have lost one more in the game last weekend. He's thrown two interceptions. One of those, to be fair to him, was an end of half, Hail Mary. He's also made some big throws. And his receivers have made some great catches. You know, just go back to last week's win over Houston.

I think overall the game shapes up as New England against Denver without Knicks is a better team, a better overall team, two incredibly well-coached teams. Denver gave up some yards on the ground last week to Buffalo. James Cook had a much easier day running the football against Denver's defense than he did the week before against Jacksonville's defense. Can New England get a running game going, which they did. at the very end of the game when finally Houston was gassed a little bit on defense. But Stevenson and Henderson,

I think they've got to run the ball a little bit and take the pressure off of Drake May. The corners in this game, Christian Gonzalez, certainly for New England, Carlton Davis, and then you got Pat Sertan on the other side. You've got Mills, Riley Mills,

who ends up committing a lot of penalties and probably should have been called for a crucial DPI in the game against Buffalo. But I think this is going to be both quarterbacks have to protect the football. Neither one of them, especially Stidham, can cough it up and hurt any sort of outside chance Denver kind of has of winning the game. Now, I actually think they do have a chance to win the game. But, okay, you know what, just in, I'm just looking at this, three of the four, players on injured reserve who practiced this week. J.K. Dobbins included ruled out will not play.

So there you go. Dobbins not going to play. Would have loved to have seen him in that game for Denver healthy because he was really good for Denver this year. Remember, J.K. Dobbins, you know, was a guy that during the off season, I was kind of pushing for. I thought, you know, that was a decent guy to go out and look at as a veteran back for not much money because, you know, at the time, we weren't thinking necessarily of Chris Rodriguez or Bill. I know some people thought the moment they drafted Bill that he would be a star. But, you know, during the offseason, I talked a lot about, you know, Dobbins and Nick Chubb, who ended up in Houston. Dobbins was really very good before getting hurt. So they now have to count on R.J. Harvey. I think you got to be able to run the

football, and I don't think it's going to be easy for Denver. So be prepared to punt and be okay with that putting your defense on the field. Look at what Houston did. Houston, if they just punted more and turned it over less, probably wins that game in Foxborough. At home, if they punt more and not turn it over. Can their defense do what Houston's defense did? It's been capable at times. I don't see them being as dominant against the run, but their pass rush was as good as anybody's. Nick Benito is a total havoc wreaker. And he's the kind of guy that could end up, you know, giving Denver a chance. I do like Drake May. I think he's been way too careless. He's held onto it too long. He's gotten sacked too much. And yet he's also made some really big plays. I do like Denver's

chances. There's just something about Sean Peyton and the idea of how confident he is in Stidham and how confident others have been in Stidham. And look, none of us were massive fans of Boe Nix going into this postseason. So call it a hunch. I like Denver to win this game. Maybe they get a big special teams play from Mims on a punt return. Maybe they get a couple of turnovers deep in New England territory. I like them to win the game. Something like 27 to 24, maybe a higher scoring game than some are thinking, and maybe that's because we get a couple of non-offensive scores. Yeah, Denver to the Super Bowl. To face either Seattle or the Rams as they get ready to play for the third time this year.

The first two wild games. The first one at SoFi, Sam Darnold threw four interceptions, and Seattle still had a chance to kick a long field goal at the end of the game to win it. They lost 21 to 19, but pretty amazing that that Seattle defense kept them in that game despite Sam Darnold throwing four picks. Then in the rematch, just over a month ago, unbelievable game. one of the great games in recent memory in the NFL, 38, 37, Seattle. They were down 16 with eight minutes to go.

Rashid Shaheed's punt return really changed the entire game and really changed the landscape of the NFC playoffs because this game would be played at SOFI. Had Rashid Shahid not returned that punt for a touchdown. Of course, Shaheed was huge last week, getting Seattle off to a big start with the kickoff return to start the game. But they came from 16 down, scored twice to two-point conversions, including that insane two-point conversion that tied it. The Rams missed a late field goal. The game goes to overtime. The Rams score on their opening drive, and then Seattle scores, and they go for two, and they win at 38 to 37. But in that game, the Rams had 58-81 yards of offense.

Stafford threw for 457. They rushed for 124 yards. 581, nearly 600 yards and 37 points against that Seattle defense. Think about that after what we've watched Seattle's defense due to the 49ers in two straight games, including the playoff game last week. You know, the Rams have had success against Mike McDonald defenses. In Baltimore, they scored a lot of points against Mike McDonald's defense at M&T Bank. And then last year, when Mike McDonald was in his first year, they won a game 26 to 20 at SoFi.

And then they played with their reserves the Rams did against Seattle's starters in the season finale. And the Rams scored 25 points with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback and went over 400. yards against Mike McDonald's defense. This is something to keep in mind. They just rolled up 581 and 37 points against Seattle's defense. And that is amazing considering what Seattle's defense was at the end of the year. Last year, they rolled up a big number in a win. And then with their reserves, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ronnie Rivers at running back, none of their starting receivers. Over 400 yards, 25 points with Garoppolo throwing for 334 against Seattle's defense. For whatever reason, Sean McVeigh and Matt Stafford have had success and a lot of it

against Mike McDonald coached defenses. I like the Rams. I think the key to this game will be they've got to run the football, they've got to possess the football, because the Rams defense, as good as it was at one point this year, has not been great down the stretch. I mean, think about it. You know, they gave up in the playoff game, they gave up a lot of yards and a lot of points to Carolina. Chicago moved the ball kind of at will in the snow. They gave up yards and points in a loss to Atlanta in week 17. I mean, in their week 18 finale playing their starters, Jacobi Brissette threw for $2.50 against them. So their defense is not as imposing, especially against the pass, as it was at one point.

So I think that the Rams best defense needs to be their offense. And I think they can against Seattle's defense. And I wouldn't say this about any other team, but I think that they can possess the ball. They've done it. They've proved that they can do it. And I think that's the key to the game. They can't turn it over. I mean, Stafford's done that a little bit.

He's put the ball up for grabs a little bit. He may not have been perfectly healthy in the Chicago game. I'm a little bit concerned about the RAM defense in this game. I am. Now, I think Seattle's missing Zach Charbonnet is a big deal. He is a banger. He's a smasher. He is a red zone and short-yardage runner.

Kenneth Walker, the third's outstanding. Don't get me wrong. And I think they can run the ball and move the ball against the Rams. Again, the key is I think the Rams, if they possess it and their offense is their best defense, I think they win the game. But this has so many great aspects to it. I mean, you talk about the receivers in this game. I mean, Jackson Smith Najigba has been as good as anybody this year.

They didn't even need him last week in their win against San Francisco. And then is there a better pair than Puka Nakua and Devante Adams? And then with all those tight ends. I like the Rams ability, I think, even against this defense, to score some. I think, you know, for Seattle, it's really simple. I think they'll move the football as long as Sam Darnold doesn't take big sacks and doesn't make big mistakes. and that does happen with him on occasion.

I mean, you know, I think back to the week 18 game in Santa Clara. Their first and goal at the one, and for whatever reason they called a pass, maybe he checked to it, and he took a 12-yard loss on a sack. He can't do that. He's played well. He's made big throws. He did last year. I still don't trust him, certainly not as much as I trust him at Stafford.

And for Seattle, I think they'll be fine offensively if he doesn't take big sacks. if he doesn't, you know, throw the ball to the other team. But I think the Rams are going to have success offensively against Seattle's defense, and not many teams have, but they have. Special teams, Shaheed, you know, the Rams have struggled on special teams. They changed special teams coordinators. Ben Kotweka is there now. Replace the other guy that was there.

So they've really, you know, had a difficult time on special teams. I would not be surprised if the Rams kick it out of the end zone and don't give Shaheed any opportunities. I would not be surprised after Shaheed essentially brought them back or sparked the comeback if they don't punt to him. So, you know, Seattle could get some really good field position opportunities if the Rams don't kick to him and they shouldn't. I like the Rams in this game. 23 to 20. I think both games are going to come down to a field goal either way. I like the Rams 2320 in this game.

I'm taking Stafford and McVeigh over Darnold and McDonald. I love Kenneth Walker. I think he could be a big factor in this game. Shaheed could be, but man, Puka Nakua might be the best player in the game. Really, he might be the best player in the football game. God is he good. And they just have so many ways to move the football. It's a great matchup, the third this year.

and if we can anything even close to the last one, it'll be epic. So I like the Rams and Denver to advance to the Super Bowl. Smeltest Picks, plural, coming up in the final segment of the show. I did want to mention that Tommy, when he's on this show on Tuesday, we'll go into this Nats trade yesterday in more detail. McKenzie Gore being traded to the Rangers for five prospects. you know, kind of another rebuild after the Juan Soto trade was supposed to be the beginning of a rebuild, which they got McKenzie Gore.

But he'll have more on that. I'll save that for Tuesday because Monday's show will certainly be a football show. All right. Let's get to Jay Gruden. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. The big games almost here, and there's no better way to cash in during America's biggest sporting event. than with prize picks, where it always feels good to be right. And since the big games right around the corner,

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All right, joining me from comfy, cozy, east coast of Florida is the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden, who's with me every Friday. Two more Fridays left this one and before the Super Bowl. I assume, you know, you're going to play some golf, maybe, you know, take some walks on the beach this weekend. What's the weather supposed to be like down there? You're not missing it here, are you? Yeah. No, I already went on the beach today. I stuck my feet in water.

You know, it's good to get the cold water plunge type thing, you know. Nice. And then I want to play golf at 12 o'clock. Got a big match today. It's about 65 degrees here today. What's the weather like up there? It's going to be nice. Now, is this something that you'll sit back and watch on the weather channel and just kind of laugh at?

Yeah, yeah. Well, my son, Jack lives up there, so he lets know. Hopefully he doesn't get locked in. He doesn't know how to work a snowblower, or he's never shoveled in his life. So hopefully he doesn't get stuck it out. You didn't have him shoveling as a young kid when you were coaching here? We had people do that for us. Yeah.

You know, we're very fortunate. It only happened really one time was the big snowstorm. It was the only time we really had to do it. I went out there and tried to shovel a couple times, but I heard a lot of people get a heart attack to a shoveled if they're not used to it. So I stopped. You know what? You do have to be careful for those of you listening out there, especially considering the possibility we're going to have, you know, the ice. on top of the snow, which is never fun.

But yes, you were here for the 2016 Blizzard, unless you had already, you know, it was in January, it was championship weekend, actually, 2016. So you guys had already been ousted in the playoffs. So you had already lost to Green Bay at home. Were you in town for that one, or had you already... I was in town.

You were? No, I was in town. Yeah, it was brutal. Yeah, it was. You know, when you had bad weather, and you certainly had some bad weather during the season, snow, ice, that kind of thing. How much did it disrupt practice, you know, especially during those days? Because you were here, you were here before the bubble went up, right? No, we had the bubble, I think, every year.

It might have been before. I think they built it when I was here. Yeah, they built it when you were there. That's the always the big dilemma. You know, if it's going to rain on Sunday and it's raining on Thursday, do you practice rain to get used to it? You know, Tom Brady and New England Patriots, they swear by the fact that they practice outside, it got used to the cold weather so they knew what to wear and how to prepare

for the cold weather. I was kind of saying, I mean, why do you have to freeze on Thursday if you're going to freeze on Sunday? Why freeze on both days? You know what I mean? I'd rather have a good practice and have a good tempo, and I want to see the balls completed and all that stuff. I don't need to, I don't know.

stand out there and freeze my ass off. Yeah. Three days in a row. Why not just do it one day? Well, Gibbs was a big believer in that. He thought you had to, you know, practice in the elements and it made, it made you prepared for Sunday. There's a famous story, and I'm probably going to butcher it, but when Spurrier was here with Marvin Lewis, there was a day, you know, in November, maybe one of the first super

cold days, late November, early December, you know, some sleet or freezing. rain falling and Spurrier said something like, well, we're not going to practice today. Weather's too bad. And Marvin Lewis said, coach, that's not what we do at the NFL level. We're going to practice. He thought they were going to cancel it. Yeah, yeah. Spreier would rather be inside, I'm sure, or on the golf course. Did you get to know him? We have a lot in common. A little bit. Yeah, I actually went to high school with his daughter, Lisa. Oh, really?

She's the same age as me. And, yeah. Yeah, so I went to his house a couple times. and Saul's Heism Trophy. He's a good guy. He is a great guy and one of the all-time great, you know, media guys for the media and for the fans, because he was such a great, such a great quote

and such a great character. His, do you recall at all his two years here? Or have you heard stories about his two years here? I've heard some very good stories about us two years here. Yes. You know, he came out. I remember we played him in the preseason. I think they let us up.

something like that, and they didn't get a yard after that. But, yeah, Fred Svooke told me some stories and some other ex-players told me some stories about the locker room. They got their ass beat the game. He came and I said, well, boys, let's three of get your escut on the bus before they come in here and kick our ass again. That was his post-game talk. Yeah. You know, his first year was 2002, and they played a pre-season game in Osaka, Japan, against the 49ers.

and they lit up the Niners, 38 to 7. And Shane Matthews, Danny, I think it was Worfell, was, you know, threw for like 300 yards and touchdowns and his Florida receivers, Chris Doring. I remember that name, and I'm sure I'm missing a couple of others. And he essentially said, well, I didn't think it was going to be this easy. It was the first preseason game. He didn't understand the whole concept of NFL preseason football.

This is a guy that played in the NFL. And he thought everybody was playing their starters trying to win the game. And he had his starters in there for three quarters. And they lit up the Niners. And when they played him in the regular season, it was like week four or week five that year. And they played them out at Candlestick. And they got beat pretty soundly. It was like 24 to 10 or something like that.

And afterwards, he said, I was kind of surprised they didn't run some of the stuff they ran in Osaka. Yeah. The cover three, uh, base defape, well, no blitz of, none of the, none of the players that played in Osaka played for the 49ers in the regular season. You know, it was like Jeff Garcia didn't play. T.O. didn't play. Um, yeah, he was, he was something else. Um, all right. Well, you're going to, you're going to be able to enjoy your weekend your way and we'll enjoy our weekend, our way. Uh, yeah, he just watch Netflix and chill and do all that fun stuff in front of your television and fireplace inside. It sounds like a good weekend.

Yeah, while you're walking down in flip-flops to get your donut and coffee. All right, so the Denver situation. Let's start with that. Jared Stidham is going to start this game. You have had a lot of experience in getting guys that haven't played much. You know, Josh Johnson comes to mind. You know, obviously Mark Sanchez had played a lot. But in terms of backup quarterbacks, getting a guy ready, what's important during the week?

I mean, this is a unique circumstance. We've never had the guy take his first start in a title game. But what do you think is really important this week to kind of inspire confidence in the rest of the team? Yeah, it's going to be tough. But I did, Jared, to come out of Auburn. him a lot. This kid is a tall kid. He's got a good arm. Not as mobile as Bo-Nicks, obviously, but he does have a little bit of movement skills. He's not like he's totally sticking the mud. But he's a good player. I like him a lot.

He's very smart. But get the guy ready. You've got to kind of just cater to his strength. You've seen him practice doing the scout team work. He does probably a couple number one reps a week, not many. He doesn't get many number one reps. But you kind of have a good understanding what he's good at. And Jared's pretty good at a lot of things. He's a good drop-back pastor. He can do the playout. action is very good. He's got a decent arm. I think he's going to do some good things. The issue with Denver is, are they going to be able to run the ball at all? And that's kind of, they weren't able to run the ball very good against Buffalo.

He was going on the worst run defense of the football. But they've got to get R.J. Harvey going and give him a little bit of area to just hand the ball off and have some success. But I think they're going to be okay with Jared. I think he's a good player. And I think, Sean will have a good game platform and cater to his strength because he does a quick game very well. He does a play action very well. Obviously, any quarterback, even Bo Nix and some of the quarterbacks nowadays, that are still playing.

You get third long, it's going to be a tough day. That's the same for Stafford. That's the same for everybody. Drake May. Everybody's playing this weekend. You've got to stay out of those third long situations. But Jared, we'll be able to have some success. He's a good player.

You know, you just reminded me that's the 2019 draft. That's the Dwayne Haskins draft for our team. So you were looking at quarterbacks right before that draft. Yeah, that's actually who I kind of had him targeted, like, in the later rounds. I'm not sure what round he went. He went to New England. Fourth round.

at the Brady. Yeah, fourth round. That's a good round for him to go. And he was very funny. We had him in for one of the visits, one of the visits with our building. He was a very impressive kid. He was very smart. He handled himself well.

Good looking kid. Yeah, I mean, New England drafted him, and then Josh McDaniels took him to Vegas. And then Sean Payton, the first free agent signing was Jared Stidham. And he obviously swears by him, but, you know, he's got, what, three starts in his career. So did you have any thoughts, and maybe you missed it, on how Sean Payton handled the news of Bo Nix? He held his press conference, went back afterwards, found out that Bo Nix, that the ankle was broken and that he was out, and then he called the

media back into the press room and gave the news on Bo Nix's injury himself. I was curious if you had any thoughts on that. the way he had. Yeah, I don't know. That was a weird thing. I don't know. Then I heard he got hurt in the locker room, celebrate not in the game. So I don't know what the issue was. When he got hurt, how he got hurt. But interesting turn of events for the Denver Broncos because Boe was playing pretty good. He's playing at a high level. It's unfortunate for them. But I think Jared will do okay.

But I'd never heard anything like that before. Like, why wouldn't he find out when if you started a quarterback, you'd think he'd find out he just broke his ankle. So where did you, where did you, hear that Jared Stidham may have heard his ankle celebrating in the locker room? Bo Nix? I saw it on TikTok or something. I mean, Bo Nix, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. I saw him shaking hands with after the team, he looks fine, he's walking around and shaking hands with Josh Allen and all that stuff. He looked like he's walking around fine. I mean, to have a broken ankle, I don't think that would hurt. Yeah. I don't know what to believe anymore

on social media. I don't either. Can you play with a broken ankle? Just act like it doesn't hurt at all. I don't know. I mean, to break your ankle, that's some of a gun hurts, right? Well, yeah. A high ankle sprain actually hurts more and lasts longer sometimes, right? Yeah, so I don't recall him getting hurt in the game.

It was at the very end. It was at the very end. It was the next to last play of the game. Wow. All right. Weird. So, you actually kind of feel like there's a chance that Stidham can play well. Is Sean Payton a really good coach to kind of handle this? You gave us some thoughts last week on a few coaches. What are your thoughts about Sean Peyton?

He's one of the best play callers that ever play. But he's also smart about, you know, when he was in New Orleans and Drew Breeze left, he coached Book and a couple other quarterbacks. They were awful. And then he said, you know, I don't want to coach these guys anymore. So he retired for a year and then picked a spot. So he's a pretty smart guy. He understands the value of a quarterback.

and then he went and had Russell Wilson, and that failed visibly. And obviously the draft of Bowden, so now he's done a great job of Bo. But, yeah, he's one of the better play callers. He understands off-puff, he understands personnel groups, you know, changing up motions and making plays that look similar to look different. And he does a good job. He's a very good play caller. It's obvious. He's a one of Super Bowl and won a ton of games.

Let's go back to last week real quickly before we get to these two games in your lock of the week. I think, well, let's start with Buffalo Denver. and the end of that game and the Cook's catch, which then got, you know, picked off and ruled an interception, and all of the, you know, experts, the referee experts say it was the right call. What did you think of that call? I don't think he had the ball. I think the interception was a good call. I hated the two pass interference calls at the end of the game.

I hated both of them. I thought they were both horrific. You know, they could have called the PI on Riley Moss at the end of regulation on Cook's balls out of bound. that, you know, cooks have got to do a good job of selling something. Yes. My God, he just totally agree. He just got to the head down. I mean, what a dork.

I mean, even the interception, I mean, if he gets up and says it's a catch, like, goes crazy and adamant about it, they'll challenge it and take some time and maybe give it to him. He just, I mean, golly. I mean, sometimes these referees see the antics and they say, oh, maybe he did have a ball and they think about it, or maybe it was PI and they'll throw the flag. But, yeah, the interception, I thought was a good call, but the, uh, too fast interference at the end I thought we're awful. And I thought the one on Riley-A-Moss should have been called.

He held his arm or he couldn't go up for the ball in the end zone. But the interception, I think it was a good call because he never really had the ball. I actually disagree with you on that. I thought not only did he have the ball, but there's like, you know, there are stills that show that he survived the ground. But whatever, I think your point, and I made the same point, you got to get up and sell it better. Like, he looked defeated on the interception, like he knew it was in a

interception. And you're in overtime. Give the first down signal and celebrate. Exactly. Good God. A hundred percent. And to your point, the Riley Moss, he should have complained and threw his arms and flailed all around on that one.

You know, one of the... In the sideline, they were going crazy, but Brandon Cook did nothing. Nothing. Nothing. You know, one of those two defensive pass interference penalties on Buffalo in overtime, I agree with you. actually thought the last one, the Tradavius white one, was actually legit, but then you should have called the one on Riley Moss. But the other one that was a terrible call, that was the one also

where Joey Bosa had a roughing the passer. So they would have had a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down had they not thrown the flag on that anyway. I thought, and I talked a lot about this this week, and I just want to hear what you think. I thought that the conversation, and there was plenty of it, that the loss was on Josh Allen, that he was the reason Buffalo lost the game because of the four turnovers. I thought that was a bit much. What did you think? I think the turnover at the end of the half was one of the most careless turnovers I've ever seen. It was ridiculous. Josh is way too good to do something. That's stupid. There's 17 seconds to go and a half. Number one, I'm not too sure they even should have put him in that position to

have a turnover. Just run the ball or run a screen, and if you hit it great, then you can go on with your series. But he scrambled around one arm on the ball. It looked like he fumbled on purpose. It was the damned interception or fumble ever. It was weird. You know, the other, yeah, obviously the one that cooks was a bang, bang play that could have gone either way. He missed Doss of Knox there at the end of the game wide open. That could have ended it. So he didn't play his best game and his careless with the football, which there has to be some blame to go to Josh Allen because you can't be careful. with the football in playoffs or any time.

And he was very careless on a couple. The other fumble wasn't his fault. He got blindsided and fumbled. But yeah, he was a little careless there. So definitely he deserved some of the blame, but not all of it, obviously. Yeah, I mean, that's interesting. I mean, I just feel like they have zero chance without him. And he made one big throw and one big run after another.

He counted for... Oh, he's the best. Yeah. They're not even... They're two and 15 without that guy. The throw to Knox was the one pro because really of the four turnovers, to your point, he had no shot on, it was two seconds on the strip sack, Benito's strip sack. He had no prayer on that one.

And then the controversial one at the end, so we had two turnovers. The one at the end of the half was awful. But I thought the missed to Knox is the one that he probably look at and say, oh, my God, that's game. That's ball game. And it's an epic ending. And he usually doesn't miss that throw. No, no. It was very uncharacteristic of Josh Allen.

You know, the end of the half was that that was three points they gave them. Yeah. That was different from the game. So all those points matter. But yeah, he was, you know, he had a couple plays that were head scratched. But Josh has really always been like that. He does, if you have a knock on Josh, it's his accuracy from time at time. He can overthrow balls, underthrow balls, you know, some simple throws.

It seems simple for most quarterbacks. He misses. But he is an unbelievable player, and I think he's the best quarterback in the NFL. but he didn't play his best game against Denver, obviously. All right. So from that description of Josh Allen occasionally to Caleb Williams, who seems to make every hard play look easy and every easy throw look kind of difficult.

We've seen now two seasons of Caleb Williams and an unbelievable sort of comeback, you know, week after week season this year. So what's your two-year take on Caleb Williams? Yeah, he's gotten better. I think Ben's done a great job with him, and he is a clutch player. So, you know, you worry about some of these quarterbacks and clutch situations, and he's mastered it.

I mean, you're never out of the game with Caleb Williams on your roster, which is a great – it's great to have on your football team, obviously you feel good about going into the fourth quarter, whether you're up or down, you have a chance to win every game that you play. So he's getting better and better. You know, just a matter of him staying honed in and working his ass off in the off season, and going in every day. He should be in right now watching film and study it and getting better,

because he has the armed talent. He's got the athletic ability. Obviously, Ben Johnson has a good feel for what he's good at, what he's not good at. They're going to get better and better. The Bears are going to be a very good team for a long time with this kid. What do you think, though, about his accuracy on just the normal play? In the pocket, you know, wide open receiver,

and that's where he seems to, you know, miss on those. Why does that happen with him? They're very similar to Josh. You know, it's weird. They miss some very simple pros, like a little, flat route to the back, he'll throw it in the first row of the stadium. You're like, God, Dale, what the hell happened? I think sometimes they have such good arms, and sometimes their feet, their fundamentals

kind of get out of whack. They can throw from awkward positions so easily that they don't have to do it all the time, but they do it on simple pros instead of their mechanics are not sound all the time because they have such good arms and they can make such difficult pros. They don't feel like they have to get their feet right and their shoulders right and all that stuff. they can throw from awkward positions when they don't have to. They do it.

Texans Patriots, have you ever been in a game where your defense was so good? And you certainly weren't in that situation here at any point. But where literally all you have to do offensively is not lose the game. You can punt 10 times and potentially win the game. How is it that they kept dropping C.J. Stroud back in that game? I don't know. You know, you could see the first throw of the game. First throw. Boatley throws it in the dirt.

The guy's a light open on the flat route. You know, there's a little smash route on the outside of a, you know, so yet you have to really be careful. You know, we kind of were in that situation a little bit with Andy Dalton that's written a year where, you know, our defense is pretty good, which, you know, Atkins and Dunlop and all those guys, Leon Hall. We were pretty good on defense.

And, you know, that's kind of what my mentality is, you know, third and eight, man, I'm on a ball screen or maybe a draw. And, you'll put the ball back. And sometimes you have to have that mentality. Unfortunately for the technical, they just kept pushing the envelope. They really had no weapons. You know, Nico was out, and then Dolan Shultz got hurt. So why are we trying to – of course, they couldn't run the ball either.

Woody Marks did nothing. Right. Nick Chubb did nothing. So it's tough as a play caller because you've got all these plays on your sheet. You practice, you feel good about attacking their defense. When you get the game, you can't do anything. You can't run the ball, and you're stuck in third long. You've got to try to get something started on first down,

and nothing's really working when you turn the ball over. But yeah, I think you're right. I think they should have just stuck with a run a little bit more and punted more often because Drake May wasn't exactly lighting it up either. He was turning the ball over. So it's a really weird game for such a critical point in a year. All right. Let's take a quick break.

And when we come back, Jay will have his lock of the week and he'll preview and pick the two championship games. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, I've been telling you about Goldbelly now for a while. It's this amazing site that I order from where you can get the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the United States and it's perfect for game day. It's perfect for Valentine's Day

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Let's talk championship games. So you've talked a little bit about Stidham. and a little bit confident that maybe he can play well on Sunday. So before we get to your lock of the week, let's just give me your thoughts on how Denver wins, how New England wins. I think Denver has to, obviously, just don't turn a ball over. I think what you mentioned with the Texans,

and punting is okay. I think their defense is very, very good in Denver. I think they're going to give Drake May a lot of problems. So I think this game, for Denver to win, it's got to be a 13 to 10 type game. I think they can do that. And for New England to win, obviously, Drake Bay has got to protect the ball, but they got to get the two-headed monster going.

I think Stevenson and Henderson, they got to get going, run on the football. And I think they can pound. If Denver does have a weakness, I think it is against the run. I think they can have some success run on the football. And I think Josh McDaniel will have a good run game plan, the powers, the duos, the inside zone, the outside zone. And I think then Drake may have a play action

to get them outside the pocket. they can have some success. That'll be the key to the game. Who can run the ball? Who can stop the run? It will be the biggest key. The Patriots defense has been as impressive. I mean, to me, Houston's defense was the best I saw all season long.

But the Patriots defense in this postseason has been lights out. I mean, what they did to the Chargers and then what they did to the Texans. I mean, that's... Yeah, they have arguably one of the best corner tandem with... Right. With Gonzales, with Gonzales. Yeah, Gonzalez. Carl and Davis is really good, too.

Safety's playing good, the rookie, Woodson's playing good, and then the defensive line, they're big. They did a great job of free agency. They got like six or seven starters in three agencies. They did really good of attacking free agency and getting guys that can really help right now in Grable scheme, and obviously Drake May is doing good, and the receivers, Bouttee is how you pronounce that?

Bouttee, yeah, Boutet and Diggs and Douglas had some big catches. Yeah. plays, yeah. They've got help from guys that, you know, you didn't really think they'd get help from. So they're all participating, and they all have a hand in the pot, and they're all doing their job and doing a great job. And that's kind of the Patriot way. Do your job as their motto for years, and all of those guys are pitching in and doing good. So I do like doing it. Seattle wins, if what? Seattle wins if they can stop Kyron Williams a little bit, because the one weakness the Rams have on offense is past protection. and if they can force Matthew,

that sounds weird, force them to throw the ball and known passing situations, I think that's where they can get a lot of pressure and affect the game. But Kiron Williams, and then if he's had a success, and Sean is obviously one of the best play callers

on first second down with the bootlegs and the play passes. They'll have some success, but stop and run, which they've done against the Rams already a couple times. I think they'll have a lot of success. And then obviously Sam Darrell,

he can't turn a ball over. I mean, he had six turnover, six interceptions, the first two games they played them, and he just can't turn a ball over, and he's these big games and give the ball back to Stafford. They have to own the clock,

the time of possession, and then force Stafford to throw it, and I think the Seattle can win. All right, Rams win if what happens? Rams win if they, you know, they, the force turnover. They win the turnover margin,

and they give Matthew more opportunities to get after that defense. And, you know, I think the last game was 38, 37, I think. Yeah. So the Rams did have success against the defense, and I think, you know, getting the turnovers, so more opportunities they have with Devante and Puka and Kairn, I think they'll have easy chance to win the game. All right. So let's get to your lock of the week.

You had, unfortunately, the Niners, that's been your only playoff pick because you were Hulah Bull coaching. Yeah, you were Hula Bowl coaching, excuse me, the week before. So who do you got? I figured the great Mike Shannon or Kyle Shanahan would have a great game plan, being a team for the third time. I'd be able to score more of the six points. Wait a minute. Was that sarcasm?

The great Kyle Shanahan? The great play caller, the best play caller of all time. I thought you, but I think, I thought you thought Kyle is a good play caller. Yeah, he's fine. I mean, you don't put him in the same categories. I mean, you don't put him in the same categories. I want Kyle Sannahan's off. I hire this guy.

Kyle said, God damn. Anyway, well, wait a minute. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. You don't think of him the same way you think of Mike McDaniel. No.

No, Kyle's a little bit better than Mike McDaniel, for God's sake, yes. Yeah, okay. Yeah, okay. All right. All right. What's your lock of the week? Lock of the week will be, I'm going to take the home team. I'm going to take Jared Stitt.

It'll get the five and a half or four and a half points at home. I think it's going to be a close. game and it's going to come down to a field goal kicker at the end, and I think I'll take the points in the Denver Broncos at home as much as I hate to see it, but I can't believe they're underdogs at home. They're the number one seat for a reason. Obviously, Bo Nix was doing a great job with the off-schedule plays and made some plays, but sometimes you don't have to make the off-schedule plays. He let the plays develop, and Sean's a good play caller. I think that Jared will make enough good decisions and not turn a ball over, and I think it'll keep it

close and I would take the I would take Denver in the first half and I would take Denver for the game with the point. All right. Denver plus four and a half. It's four and a half everywhere. It was five, five and a half earlier in the week, but it's come down to four and a half everywhere. I'm looking at every single place where you can bet the game. So you've got Denver plus four and a half. Do you like them to win the game outright? I don't know about that. I think it'll come down to a field goal, yes. But I think they have a very good chance. But I think New England was going to win the game.

I think Denver covers. Okay. A close game. And then who wins the L.A. Seattle game? I think the Rams take it. I think the Rams kind of figured out the Seattle defense last time they played. And they got lucky as hell that two-point conversion, all that bull crap at the end of the game. I think the Rams win.

I think it would be the Rams in the New England Super Bowl. But I think Denver covers, and I'll take the Rams. All right. Last one. Have you followed the defensive coordinator search for the skins or not? A little bit. Who I got on tap right now? Well, Al Harris is interviewing the DB's coach in Chicago. He's coached with Quinn before in Dallas. If Rahim doesn't get a job, he'll probably have some options, right? Green Bay, L.A., Washington. They interviewed Patrick Graham, the D.C. in Vegas. They interviewed Joe Cullen, the defensive line.

coach in Kansas City. They interviewed Jonathan Gannon. They interviewed this guy, Carl Scott, who's on Mike McDonald's staff in Seattle. They interviewed Dinnard Wilson, the defensive coordinator in Tennessee. Ulbrick is staying in Atlanta with Stefansky, and Brian Flores is going back to Minnesota if he does not get a head coaching job. So do you have any thoughts on that list that I just gave you? I think they're all fine. I mean, these are all good candidates. thing about hiring a coach is it's hard because I've gone through the defensive coordinator process you get these guys on a board in front of you and they're all good coaches I mean they know how to run over cover three and are you going to carry

the same thing you get a spot drop cover three what kind of cover three do you like it's cover two they know how to drop cover two and the blitzes and all that stuff so it's just a matter what personality fits what coach Quinn wants as far as which guy can motivate his team to do the best you know sometimes it's not about X's and O's as much it is about finding the right people to fit your scheme and then coaching the hell out of them. You want to find the guy that has the best motivator, the best rapport with the players, and that's going to be tough to do over a two-hour meeting or three-hour meeting. But Coach Gwynne has got a great network of people that he knows and has worked with before,

so I'm sure he'll find the right guy. All right. Enjoy the football. Enjoy the golf and the beautiful weather in Florida, and I will talk to you in two weeks before the Super Bowl. Appreciate it. Sounds good. Thanks. Jay Gruden, everybody. Up next, and I'm really excited about this, Sue Palka will jump on with me. We'll find out what Sue's been doing in retirement and get her to give us a forecast for this big storm on Saturday night and Sunday.

That's next after these words from a few of our sponsors. This is a treat. Sue Palka is joining me. I can't believe, I just said to you before we started to record, I cannot believe it's been coming up on four years since you retired after a 36-year career on Channel 5. It's wild, Kevin, and you and I go so far back in that time. You and I talked a lot during the big blizzard of 1996. Yeah. my telephone pal late at night as we look at the models coming in.

And this is a treat because honestly, it feels weird to be sitting this out in a good way, you know, but I'm still watching everything. And it's really fun to get a chance to chat snow with you, just even for a flashback. I know. Well, I mean, first of all, in addition to being a great meteorologist, which Sue was and a great forecaster, Sue, I would say, is at the top of the list of the most. beloved people in town with people that know, you know, in the TV and in the broadcast media business, but also one of the most popular, you know, television, local television people ever. And I mean,

your run was incredible. So before we get into this very difficult forecast, because I know you're paying attention to it, tell everybody what you've been up to. What do you've been doing? Absolutely will. And I have to say that I think a lot of the perceived popularity from back in the day is because many of those years were pre-internet. So you had like four channels to choose from. So I don't get a lot of that credit, but I am delighted to have had 36 years. And the viewers are so amazing. And I do miss everybody and my colleagues. But I'm excited to finally be home for a snowstorm, Kevin, because for us, and I'll get into what I've been doing in the meantime. But to be able to enjoy this snow and to talk about it with friends, but like I'm doing with you, but to know that I don't have to go fish tailing down Route 28 to 270 in a snow and fleet storm to work a 12-hour shift and then try to dig my car out of that big floppy mess to get home again. It's such a pleasure. And I have been hoarding food like it's the start of COVID.

I mean, I have been shopping since Monday. Really? No shovel. I'm giddy. I'm absolutely giddy about this. It's really silly. But yes, I've been enjoying retirement. I have four grandchildren, Kevin. Four, oh, my God. I mean, one of the things. How old's the oldest? The oldest is eight. Okay, eight. And the youngest is 17 months, and they don't live here.

Three are in North Carolina, and I'm worried about them because of the ice storm down there, although they do have a generator. And at my 17-month-old lives in Brooklyn, and she happens to be here for two weeks because her mom had a job that she had to complete down here. so we've been babysitting her, and I'm excited because I never got to play in the snow with my kids, and now I'm going to have a granddaughter here to at least go out and enjoy part of Sunday morning with, so we had to quickly ship a snowsuit here for her and some boots and some mittens, and it's going to be a blast. But mostly what I'm doing in retirement is having a blast. We're traveling a lot.

We go back and forth to visit the grandkids. I'm such a stereotypical retiree that I play about eight hours of pickleball a week. Yeah. So you've gotten addicted to that, like a lot of us. Oh, and I'm enjoying being home at night. I think that's been the fun part is I worked nights for 36 years at the D.C. And now it's fun to, you know, sit down and watch a show with my husband and make him dinner. And I get a lot of pleasure out of doing things like that.

So it's been really a great time in my life, although I do miss the viewers and I do miss my colleagues. But I see a lot of them. We have broadcasters lunches where we get together and pretend like it's still the 1990s and it's a lot of fun. You know, you mentioned something, and it's so true, and I can remember, like, they would put you up in a hotel, you know, right on Wisconsin Avenue, you know, nearby. I think typically you guys were staying at the place right there in Friendship Heights. Yes, we did. Was it the Embassy Suites? I forget what it was there.

I think it was Embassy Suites. And then if we couldn't get in there because Channel 4 booked it before we did, we'd have to walk even farther up the street, too. I think there's a holiday in a little bit farther up. Yeah. When we were, this is back when we were in Friendship Heights. But, oh, yeah, the staff would always be like, hey, is this going to be a hotel snow? They loved it because it was a big party after we got off the air, which I had to finally start saying, I can't attend the party because I won't be able to talk for 12 hours tomorrow.

Yeah. Well, but I mean, that's the thing. This one might not be a hotel snow, though, for the staff. Yeah, well, we'll get to that in a moment. But that's the thing is that, you know, local newscast during these massive storms, and you were a broadcaster through, let's count them, all right? You were there for the Veterans Day surprise in 87. 1987.

And then really the 93 Superstorm in March of 93. It also turned into a lot of sleet. It turned into a lot of sleet. A lot of snow first. A lot of snow first. And then still my favorite storm is the 96 storm, although 2016 is close. But the 90s. Yeah, I love.

like that. I would say my favorite for forecasting were the 2009-2010 storms, only because there wasn't any mixing. Right. Well, 2009, 2010, we had three big ones. We had the one before Christmas, and then we had the Super Bowl storm, and then the one that came a few days later, which truly was a blizzard. You know, with the winds and the temperatures, that was unbelievable. And I remember hearing people calling in because their roofs were groaning or popping. Yeah. And, you know, we were fearing it would be like a Knickerbocker-type scenario again, too, because there was so much snow accumulating on everything.

It was really scary. But it was an easy forecast. I guess that's my point. I know that was a very difficult storm, and I actually skipped the hotel and drove home during one of those and then had to come back the next day. And I couldn't see a sting. It was so terrifying. The thing that I'll never forget about the 96 storm, and of course I'm not expecting you to remember this because you wouldn't, but the 96 storm was the last one of the big ones that we've had that actually 48 hours before it didn't look like it turned out to be.

I mean, the forecast was more for like three to six, you know. Right, and with a big jackpot down to the south. Exactly. That night it started, and ever since Ben Kevin, I have always been nervous about storms that look like they're going to set up to the south because a lot of them have in years past, and like this one's doing, it starts creeping north again. Yes, that's kind of been in the history, but I'll never forget the night before, it was a Friday night before your first weather cast at, you know, 1040 or whatever time it was, before the 11 o'clock would come on, because Channel 5 was 10 to 11. And I remember calling you, and you just said, oh, my God, the NAM. It was either the NAM or the GFS, one of them. It was the NAM, I believe.

Yeah. And it was showing two plus inches in QPF and liquid precipitation. And I remember you were like, oh, this is unbelievable. This can't be right. Is it right? And it was a real challenging moment because it was going to start 24 hours later. and you were going to have to tell people the three to six has just gone to 20 to 30. And honestly, I was shaking.

I still remember that moment. I remember where the phone was. I remember seeing it and feeling like I was having an out-of-body experience. And my news director was just getting ready to leave the building. And I stopped him. And I said it in front of the assignment desk and another reporter, I said, I just got new information and it says this could be two feet of snow. And he goes, he put his hands over his ears.

He goes, I don't want to hear that. And he left. I won't tell you the name. I hope he's not listening to your podcast. Yeah. And I said, you guys are my witnesses. I said, this looks big. So the next day, nobody had to tell me I came in to work on a Saturday.

And I brought so many changes of clothes that they thought I was leaving my husband. Right. They said, what are you doing? I said, where is everybody? I said, this is going to be huge. this is going to start tonight. I mean, we've really got to gear up fast, and I think people didn't have the perception that it was going to be big. And including our staff, you know, didn't think that, you know, because you weren't hearing a lot about it, that it wasn't

going to be that big. And, of course, it was. And I was the only one that had lots of outfits. Everybody was borrowing my clothes once they got into work because we couldn't get out. Well, you, but you were that night the first one, because after you, then it was Bob Ryan, and, you know, Doug Hill was probably on, I'm guessing, in 96 on Channel 7. And I don't know who was doing Channel 9. Was Topper doing Channel 9 in 96? I think Doug may have still been at Channel 9. Oh, Doug was at Channel 9.

Okay. I think he might have been Doug. Yeah. I think that he went to 7 later than that. And I remember you telling me that, and then I, you know, I'm tuned in, and you said, all of the late information indicates that this has got massive potential. It's going to be much bigger. The forecast is changing.

And then Bob came on, you know, 30 minutes later and described it as a biblical storm. He said the forecast has changed totally from what it was at 6 o'clock. This is going to be a biblical storm. And then, of course, Sue, they were probably running promos the next week. Bob had it first. When at 6 o'clock, he had 3 to 6. You guys all had the same information. But, yeah, that was.

We worked so hard during that storm Kevin, and then do you remember what happened at the end of it? Yeah, well... It all melted really fast. Well... Remember a big mass of warm air came in and we had... No, we had the... No, 96thew, we had the second one later in the week where we got another 10 inches. Right, right, and then all that melted.

Then all that melted, exactly. Snow fog everywhere. It was wild, and then the rivers were all full. Oh, it was... Yeah, it's unbelievable. And so the good news is we've come a lot long way since then, you know, with the modeling, you get it four times a day. I know it was the NAM because I didn't get

any other models before I was off the air. I mean, some of the others were only just coming in at 11 o'clock. And the NAM is still there. That's a great memory for me. Yeah, then the NAM still, you know, sometimes alarms people unnecessarily as a model, right? I mean, it's good

in the short range. Yeah. You know, I've heard people mentioning, you know, I've been talking with a few friends that are meteorologists on the phone and texting, and somebody brought up the NAM, and it was like a TEE, but it kind of liked this storm. Right. All right. Well, yeah, 96 is my favorite, but you're right.

0-9, 010 is easily, now that I think about it, just because that was the winter. Forget the national airport, Reagan National Airport numbers. Oh, yeah. We had, you know, 80 inches of snow in the suburbs during that entire winter. That's unbelievable. It was so wild. And I only call it my favorite, as mentioned, because there was no question that it wouldn't mix, which is such a challenge with so many of these storms at this latitude.

There's always a rain snow line lurking nearby. And, you know, this one probably will be very similar, which makes it so challenging always. All right. So you're still paying attention to it. So let's talk about this storm. I mean, as we sit here recording, you know, early afternoon on Friday, it's important for everybody to understand that before Sue tells us what she thinks will happen with this storm, we are still 30 hours out from the beginning of this storm, and there could be

lots of model changes. Models kind of wobble around and waffle a little bit up until sometimes the last 12 to 24 hours before the storm. And even if they don't, this is a very difficult storm to forecast. I'll let Sue explain why, but it starts with, we got a big ocean to our right and we got mountains to our west in the Mid-Atlantic, just in general for winter storms in particular, is a very difficult forecast area. So with that said, Sue, am I right? This is a very difficult forecast. This is not an easy one like the 09, you know, 2010 storms. This looks like a really hard one to forecast. Oh, it is. Honestly, Kevin, I'm glad I'm not on the air today, although people are doing a fantastic job.

The local meteorologists are keeping up with the model runs, and they're explaining. I think there's such good education going on right now for those that are willing to invest the time to read the longer post to see that, you know, what is the model saying versus what is our forecast and, you know, the various biases. Like, I'm sure your viewers, if they listen to you or your listeners know that the GFS has not had the best winter. Right. But it's kind of trending higher this afternoon, you know, with some of the amounts it's suggesting, but we don't trust that because it hasn't had the best winter. So I think what people need to be ready for is this starts, you know, late Saturday night.

It probably snows hard once it does get going through midday on Sunday. But the big trend today as a Friday afternoon is there's a whole lot of sleep. that's going to fall, which is better than freezing rain, which they're going to get down to southern Maryland, central Virginia, down into North Carolina. And, you know, people don't remember that just because of 20 degrees, 24 degrees, that's not going to fall necessarily as snow because those warm layers aloft that melt the snow,

and that's why fleet, which falls as a little pellet, you'll see it bouncing off your windshield, is easier to shovel and doesn't coat the trees as badly as freezing rain will do, where it's liquid rain that just, you know, sticks on contact with everything. So this is going to be around a while because it's so cold next week. We're not going to do a lot of melting. You know, a safe forecast

today is probably a good 6 to 10 inches. There would have been a lot more, and there will be more north and west because it might not change over to sleep, but the numbers have really come down via the models because of the mixing, where it looked like at one point the low would be off

North Carolina, and now it's closer to the Delmarva, and it pushes in some warmer air a lot. A little dry flock could happen as well. What do you say to those people that now, you know, have so much access to so much weather information, but the weather apps in particular that, you know, yesterday we're showing 23 to 27 inches of snow on Sunday for D.C. First of all, do we know why those are always so far off? I'm not sure which algorithm they use, but usually it's just following one model and it's raw output. and, you know, nothing not necessarily has been massaged by your local meteorologist to, you know,

account for the biases in the model. You know, you can see some of those numbers that sometimes people post the raw Euro numbers or the raw GFS, and, you know, it doesn't match what your local forecaster is saying because we know there are a lot of other things that can play into those numbers. Hey, I mean, if we're wrong and it ends up being bigger, you know, at least people have had plenty, of time to get ready for it and whether it's six inches, five inches, ten inches, more. You know the timing and I think that we're pretty confident of the timing and that the roads are going to be pretty rough on Sunday and everybody, I was at a local grocery store with

Safeway this morning and it was not wild there and they had a truck out front loading all kinds of bread in. So people seem like they're, you know, they're ready. They've already done their shopping and they're not mobbing the stores here at the last minute. I know I've been shopping all week and I've eaten all my snow prep, so I brought really got to get out there. Get some more snacks. Have you looked at next weekend on the GFS? Oh, I have not. Oh, boy. Yeah, I mean. Oh, yeah. Should we trusted? Well, first of all, what's going to be interesting about this one is we are absolutely frigid this coming week. And it looks like there's no end to the cold. But yeah, the GFS, the Euro takes it a little bit south and out to see. The GFS, the Euro takes it a little bit south and out to see. the GFS turns it up the coast on Saturday, Sunday of next weekend, into a monster.

So we'll see. Ooh, okay. We're going to get through one. We're going to get through the first one. And then we can worry about the next one. Yeah, I've been hyper-focused on this one and enjoying it. I mean, enjoying the fact that I don't have to drive in in this, and I don't have to give my two cents on it.

It's lovely to be able to banter with you because we have the luxury of some time, and I don't have to fit all my thoughts into a 30-second tease, you know. You have to pick every word very carefully to get it all in and leave just enough out, so they still come and listen to you 10 minutes later. Yeah, of course, the T's at 1020 that brings them back at 1045. But this is great that this is going to be, you know, the first big one since you retired and you're going to be able to enjoy it without having to worry about, you know, bringing lots of clothes to stay in a hotel.

tell for a week. It puts a smile on my face. I've been waiting for this. It was one of the things I looked forward to the most when I retired was I said, I can't wait for the first big snow that I don't have to go in for. And just to have Quincy here, my granddaughter, to be able to take her out in it, which is something I couldn't do with my own kids. Right. I mean, I could play with the play in the snow once the worst was over and I was able to get back home. But like for the blizzard of 96, I was gone for a week. Yeah, I know. Yeah. It was wild. And I had to get a ride home. I didn't. And after that, I bought a four-wheel drive, Kevin, and I don't think it snowed again until, like, 2009. I know we have, these big ones, it tends to be like a once every 10-year

kind of a thing. And we are overdue. We are overdue. It's so good to hear your voice. Yeah, go ahead. It's great to talk to you. I still hear so many people telling me that they always enjoyed when I would jump on your program, and it's fun to be able to do this with you, even though I'm four years removed from the heavy-duty part of it. Everybody misses you, and especially during a storm like this one, you'll be missed doing it on Channel 5, but I'm glad you're going to be able to enjoy it with Quincy and your family, and it's great to hear your voice. I'm so glad you're doing well, and maybe we'll do it again before next week's Monster.

Sounds good. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Yeah, we don't want to scare them too much. Yeah, thanks. Before we get the grocery store to reload. Thanks, Sue. Great to talk to you and have fun in the snow yourself. She's the best. Sue Palka, everybody.

I'll finish up with smell test picks for the two championship games. Right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. The smell test is always brought to. you by MyBooky. There are two really good reasons to sign up for My Booky right now. The first of which is what I've been telling you about for months, and that is they are offering my listeners a 50% cash bonus when you sign up for the first time, or if you're an existing My Booky customer,

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You get a 50% cash bonus. But right now, my bookie is offering the best number if you're interested in the underdog in the AFC championship game. I'm looking at a screen right now with all of the numbers for the two championship games on Sunday. And to cross the board on the New England-Denver game, with one exception, I see New England as a four and a half point favorite. The one exception, my bookie currently has New England minus five. Why do I emphasize this? Two reasons. One, I'm about to give Denver out as a smell test pick. I gave it out earlier today on radio at plus four and a half and I'll stick with

that number for the purposes of the smell test. But the other reason is this is what I've told you over the years. If you're doing this the right way, you're not doing it in one. place. Would you rather have Denver plus five or plus four and a half? Do you want more points or less points? It's pretty obvious. You have to give yourself the opportunity to get the best possible number, to get the best possible price. And right now, this is an example, and I pulled it up right before this segment, my bookie is sitting there by itself with the best number if you want to play Denver plus five. Again, I'm going to give it out at four and a half in a moment, and this number could change at MyBooky. I mean, the numbers don't just sit there, but maybe they'll be the

outlier all weekend long. MyBooky.com, mybooky.ag promo code DC reload and get there. If you're going to play Denver, if you're going to follow the smell test pick, and take them with the favorable number. All right. I've already given you one of the two picks, but let me just mention last week, three and one, off of the horrible wild card around weekend, O and five, which included a couple of college plays as well. One 20, 71, and 13 on the season. So 62.87 percent rounded up. I'm hitting at about 63 percent for the season. So Denver's the first play. They are the anti-public play. The sharp money has actually moved around on this game, but as of now, there's more sharp money on Denver than there is on New England. And I wouldn't be

surprised if this plus five at my bookie is the best possible number you could get this weekend on the game. It's hard to predict when these are standalone games and you get deep into the playoffs, it's kind of hard to predict with the numbers because there's just so much action on these games. I actually, you know, historically don't love playing these standalone games, but the anti-public play is Denver at home plus the points. So for the purposes of the smell test, plus four and a half Broncos, I'm playing it at plus five. You can play it at plus five as well. The second pick, The Rams plus two and a half. I'd love to find a plus three, but it's two and a half at my bookie,

because plus three is much better than two and a half. Wherever you have an opportunity to buy a half point to get it to plus three, as long as it's not ridiculously expensive, that's usually the way to go. I'm going to give you the Rams plus two and a half because there just aren't any plus threes out there anywhere. I'm looking at nothing but two and a halves across the board. the Rams are an anti-public play.

There is sharp money on L.A. And whenever you see, and I've told you this before, whenever you see at two and a half, they're really, and it just stays at two and a half, especially when the public's pounding the favorite at minus two and a half, and they don't bump it up to three, at least for a while, they're basically telling you, we're okay taking all of that Seattle money at minus two and a half.

If we wanted to turn the tide a little bit, we could move the number to minus three and get some Rams action to try to even up the books or at least, you know, get a little bit more or lower our exposure, if you will, on Seattle. But they don't seem to be wanting to do that. Now, it might move to three, you know, between now and Sunday. But I like the Rams plus two and a half. I actually like the Rams, as I mentioned in the open to win the game. So there you go. The two smell test picks for Sunday's championship games. Denver plus four and a half.

The Rams plus two and a half. And again, a plus five number on Denver right now, a great number to get. And you can only get it at mybooky.com or my bookie. And when you get there, DC reload. All right, that is it for the day. Enjoy the weekend. Be safe.

I am planning on trying to get in here on Monday to do a show. We'll see how it goes.