The Kevin Sheehan Show - Commanders '24: When Did We Know?

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Kevin and Thom today with a full menu of NFC Championship Game discussion including "when did they know Washington's 2024 season had a chance to be special"? The boys answered that. Thom had plenty on the win over the Lions which he predicted while Kevin went back and discussed a play in the game the Commanders should have challenged. Kevin talked about why Washington's prolific offense puts more pressure on their opponents' offense more than even its own defense. Is Post-Traumatic-Snyder-Disorder a real thing, Lamar Jackson, and Ohio State's championship win last night over Notre Dame part of the show as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here after his prediction of a commander's victory in Detroit. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation.

Call them at 86690 Nation or head to WindowNation.com. If you need new windows, I mean, it's championship week, Tommy. I mean, we're used to it around here. You know, championship week leading into the NFC championship game, we've done it so many times over the years. Oh, my God. This is happening. I know.

I know. The thing that we used to joke about, like a couple of months ago, is almost here. I know, but, you know, so I asked the question today, and we took calls on it. When did you know? Like, when did you know? And it's really a two-fold question,

or the way I presented it, was as a two-fold question. When did you know that this year was going to be different? Meaning they had a chance to win more games than they lost. They had a chance to be a playoff team. And then when did you know if you didn't know, if you knew before Saturday night, that they actually had a chance to play in the Super Bowl this year?

And I think it's two different questions, because you and I did talk about New Orleans when they were seven and two. Yes. And we did. We joked about it. We joked about it. We joked about it. But what we were talking about, and I'll answer the question, and I don't know if you have an answer to the question, but if you do, you can answer it as well. What we did talk about very early on is how good Jaden Daniels is. And the guy had in his, the start to the season, I actually went back. Let me just, I'll give you my answer right now as to when. I was absolutely convinced that this was going to be different. Not when I made my 10-7 preseason prediction. Even though you know I was somewhat serious, but somewhat just going out there because it was the best I had felt about anything related to the team in years because I was such a big Jaden Daniels fan,

but I didn't really expect them to go 10 and 7, I don't think. After the Arizona game, which everybody seems to say, the Cincinnati game when he threw that pass to Terry McClorn was when I knew. Okay, that was an incredible moment. He had an incredible night. But for me, it was the next week. And I went back and looked at my notes after the Cardinals game. On a short week when they went to Arizona after winning an emotional Monday night game

in which everybody all of a sudden is talking about Jaden Daniels, that was the NFL proverbial trap spot. and I cautioned against it all week, and I think I even gave out Arizona as a smell test pick because they were a slight favorite at home, and they destroyed the Cardinals. And at that point, he had set the NFL mark for the highest completion percentage in the history of the game, not for a rookie, for any quarterback to start a season. He was completing 82.1% of his passes. And I said after that game, this guy is totally legit real.

And I threw out for the first time, it was week four. Do you know the last rookie to win MVP? You and I talked about this, and I said it was Jim Brown, and he's the only rookie. Two have ever won the MVP. This guy's off to an MVP start. Now, who knows what was going to come? And I suggested who knows what will come. There will be some rookie ups and downs to the season,

but this guy is legit and this offense is unstoppable. Over that three-games stretch against the Giants, Bengals, and Cardinals, Tommy, they scored points on 20 of 22 drives. They had one punt in three games. And I remember at that point, I said, no, this team's going to win more games than it loses, and it's going to be a playoff team. And they had Cleveland coming up to get to four and one.

Now, in terms of the Super Bowl thing, you and I talked about it very much tongue in cheek when they got to seven and two. We started talking about New Orleans plans. And then they went and lost three games in a row. But was there a moment that you recall that, yeah, this is going to be a much different year than any of the years that we've been doing this show during? Well, I can tell you, you know, great mind think alike. The lead of my column after the Arizona game was simply,

anything seems possible now. That was the lead. Anything seems possible now. I said, why not? Why not us? That's what I felt like after the Arizona game. It seemed like, I mean, I was watching someone special. who could really change the direction of the team.

And I came to the same conclusion after the Arizona game that you did. That this was not a team that was going to lose more games than they won. That this was a team that was going to have maybe double-digit wins and be in the playoff. Yeah. I felt the same way after the Cardinals came. In looking through my notes, I said, I'm concerned about their ability to stop. the run. They haven't stopped the run yet this year, and I have that in my notes. But,

and by the way, a big storyline of that game was that Kyler Murray, for whatever reason, didn't run. And that was inexplicable because he always runs, and he had been averaging, you know, over 50, you know, plus yards per game in the first three. But the Cardinals had lost close to Buffalo, had crushed the Rams and had lost a competitive game against Detroit. And Washington went in there on a short week West Coast. And I'm telling you, Tommy, more times than not, that is the kiss of death. That is take the team that's waiting for the team on short week coming west for everything. And I had Arizona minus the three and a half buying it down a half point in the smell test.

And it did not win. I also had Washington against Cincinnati, which did win. But besides that, yeah, that was like, that was like, wow, this, this offense is unstoppable. Unstoppable. And he was absurd. Ridiculous. Here were the, go ahead. Now, what about the second question?

Was there a point where you knew they would be where they are now? The only thing I would say to that is the answer, honestly, is no. I didn't expect them to be in the Super Bowl, and they're not in the Super Bowl yet. But when you and I... Let's say NFC title game. That's good enough. All right, but when you and I started to talk about New Orleans, the reason we started to talk about it is at 7 and 2, there was a distinct possibility based on their schedule and Philadelphia's schedule that they might win the division and be a 2 seed. Remember, I kept saying, I mean, look at, and I even said, look at Detroit's schedule. They may have a, they could compete for a one seed.

If they're a one seed, they're two home games away from the Super Bowl. If they're two seed, they're two home games away from the NFC championship game. Now, so I'm not saying that I believe that that's where it was going to go, but I did believe in the moment at seven and two. Remember, they had beaten the bears on the Hail Mary, and then they had beaten the giant. in the game in which I think Jaden had one of his best games of this season. He was lights out in that game against the Giants and the Meadowlands. He made some throws in that game to throw to Terry right before the half for a touchdown, the throw to Noah Brown that he made.

In fact, I'm looking at it right now. QBR-wise, his game against the Giants in the Meadowlands, he had a 95.7 QBR, a 128.8 passer rating. It's his second highest passer rating of the season, and it was his second highest QBHR of the season. His highest was against Philadelphia in the game that they won. And that's when they got to 7 and 2, and Philly still had Baltimore, and they still had Pittsburgh, and we had already played Baltimore. We had Pittsburgh coming up, but we had already played Baltimore.

And I said, you know, it's not crazy. to think they could end up being a team that wins the division, you know, with a buy, not a buy, but two home games to get to the NFC title game. Did I believe it would happen? Probably not. You know me all season long, and I pointed out all season long, no team that stops the run poorly ever advances deep into the postseason. It just doesn't happen that often, but we're living in a different era,

football, man. You don't have to be very good on defense when you're that good on offense. It doesn't see you that way. You know, I have to admit, I'm split on this in that I picked them to beat Tampa because of the quarterback, but

there was a part of me that said they're not going to win this game. And I felt the same way about Detroit. I picked them because of the Jane Daniels. but I mean I kept looking around at his supporting cast

down the stretch and how he had to lift this team on his shoulders in the final weeks of the season and I just didn't think he was capable of doing I thought it would be too much to have too much to lift

in the playoffs and particularly against the Lions now he now you know we can talk about the Detroit game at some point, but getting a healthy Austin Echler back was a big bonus for this offense. No doubt. I mean, absolutely.

He's so valuable to Jaden. And that was a glimpse of what we saw at the beginning of the season. Right. What we saw on Sunday against Lions. So, I mean, there was part of me that you picked them. I picked them because I'm not going to pick against this quarterback. As far as I was concerned, he was the champ, and you don't pick against the champ until they lose. But I just didn't know how he was going to do it.

And they looked much better against Detroit than they did against Tampa, and they looked healthier, although they took a step back in that direction as well. from Patrick. Please ask Tom on the show today if they're a good team now. You know what? How can I not say they're a good team? I mean, now, yeah.

They're a good team. And, you know, tell you what, they're a good offense. They're, you know, they're well coached, and they have a quarterback that no one has ever seen before. Yeah, in those conversations about good team, you know, I emphasize to you, they may not have a great roster, but there's more to a good team than a great roster. They have a great coaching

staff. They have a great quarterback. Yeah, they have, they had, you know, this kind of culture, the leadership of Eckler and Ertz and Wagner, you know, all of that stuff. I think Mariotta as a part of that too. And he probably doesn't get as much credit for it. But he's been very significant, according to most out there in Jaden's rookie year. But look, I mean, how many times can we say it? Like, number one is Dan being gone. We understand that.

Dan being gone changed everything. It made everything possible. We no longer had to suspend reality to have a conversation about the team. And then, yeah, they hired a general manager. and they hired a really good coach, and they hired a really good staff. But they're not playing in this game, or they wouldn't have been playing in Saturday night's game,

or even last Sunday's game, without number five. Greg Zerline had a field goal attempt on Christmas Eve, 20, 23 from 54 yards out. If it goes through the upright, if it goes just left of the upright, and it just snuck in the left upright, if it hits the upright and bounces out or goes left of it, Washington doesn't have the number two pick and they don't get to select Jaden Daniels.

And that's the fine line in the NFL. Now, it doesn't mean that they might not have been able to pick another quarterback like Drake May and been an improved team and maybe be on the rise somehow or Michael Pennix Jr. Or whomever. But they wouldn't have gotten this guy. And this guy is the all-time greatest, not just rookie quarterback, in my opinion, and he's the greatest rookie football player we've ever watched. He certainly has had the greatest rookie season of any player at any position.

I'd put that even in front of LT. Well, I would have to research that one. I'm not making that leap. Are you going to say Jim Brown, he won the MVP. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I'd have to take a look at that. Can I say in my lifetime of watching football in Kevin's sphere?

Yeah, you can do that. I mean, you're allowed to do that. Look, I mean, I think you can document that he's certainly the greatest rookie quarterback we've ever seen in any lifetime. LT is a rookie, and this is the only other rookie season that really comes to mind. Eric Dickerson was phenomenal as a rookie. I think Billy Sims was phenomenal as a rookie. I'm just thinking out loud, but I pulled up LT. LT was an all-pro first teamer.

He was a pro-bowler as a rookie, and he was the AP defeat. defensive player of the year as a rookie, and he was the AP defensive rookie of the year. That's a pretty good rookie season. That's pretty good. Yeah. Jaden is not going to be the offensive player of the year, which is, it's different from the MVP. The MVP will be Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. I'm going to guess that the offensive player of the year is going to be the guy that doesn't win the MVP or it's going to be Seguan Barkley. That's my guess. but I don't know. But the point is...

Yeah, go ahead. I was looking up, Dan Marino. It was the second year. Yeah, he only started nine games in his rookie year. So, yeah, it was the second year that he went through the roof. Yeah. Okay. Continue.

But by the way, his rookie year, because I've talked a lot about Marine over the year, so I kind of know this, he came in like midway through the season, and he made the Pro Bowl his rookie year. He was that good in the eight games or nine games that he played that in his rookie year, he actually made the Pro Bowl. I'm going to pull it up real quickly just to make sure I'm right here. Because he replaced what's his face, the guy that started in the Super Bowl against the Redskins,

David Woodley. Yeah, pro-bowler, all pro-second team. he finished third in the MVP voting and he only played nine games. That's crazy. He had 20 touchdowns in nine games, Marino. Yeah, yeah. Insane, how good he was. And then the next year was when he rewrote the record books with touchdowns and yards.

All right, well, look. But he took over what had been a super, Bowl team, right? Well, yeah, the 83 seat, they picked Marino at 27 and Washington picked Darrell Green at 28. You know, they had played in the 82 season, January 83 Super Bowl, and the next draft was the quarterback draft with all the quarterbacks, and Marino went last. And, you know, Darrell Green was taken after that. So 83 was his rookie year. By the way, Darrell Green is a rookie, his first game. He started and he chased down Tony Dorset. You know, Monday night football, but Marino didn't get a chance until nine games into the season.

My point with this is that Jaden has lifted his – Jaden had a bigger lift to make than Marino did. Marino was stepping in for a team that won the AFC championship the year before. True. Jaden was taking a team that won four games and was generally an embarrassment. Right. You know, I'm looking at the Marino year. So he started week three.

He didn't start the first two weeks. And then he didn't play the last few games of the year. So it wasn't nine straight at the end of the year. It was nine straight kind of in the middle of the year that he started. That's interesting. I never recognized that before. And, you know, we're not going to do this today. But let's keep this in mind.

because what you just said would make an interesting topic. If you could go back and do that draft again, and would you take Marino and not take Darrell Green? Well, I asked Bobby Beatherd that many times. You know, having him on the show as many times as I did, and I loved having him on. We had him on. I asked him many times.

Like, was there ever a consideration as Marino fell if he had fallen one more spot? And he said no. He said they had Joe. You know, and they loved Darrell, but they had Joe. That's right. You're right. But what he said was he did not, he had Marino very, very high.

He had evaluated him. You know, Marino fell because of the rumors about, you know, drug use, cocaine, the whole thing. But he said he had Marino, you know, way up there, I think after Elway. I think he said of the quarterbacks he had him after Elway. But he said he would not. If Marino had fallen to 28, they were going to take Daryl Green. That makes sense because you had Zizman coming off a Super Bowl season. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, absolutely. Joe was about to have an MVP. He was the MVP in 83. Yeah, yeah. But could you imagine Gibbs with Marina? I mean, no. I mean, think about, put it this way.

We wouldn't have the, you know, the story about Joe Gibbs being the greatest coach that's ever lived because he won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks because he would have won those Super Bowls with one additional quarterback. It would have been two. Joe Thaisman in 82 and Marino after that. I don't know. I mean,

Marino only got to one Super Bowl. You know, he got to one and it's still he just never had a great team, but man, did he have a great coach because that certainly wasn't the problem in Shula. but anyway, here's what Vic Fangio said about Jaden Daniels today.

He said, quote, he's a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape. And then he went on to say that Daniels is the best rookie quarterback he has ever seen. That is from one of the great defensive minds of this century in football. And a team that, you know, kind of gave. Jaden the one, or, you know, provided the resistance in a game to Jaden that we saw all year long the best resistance. And it was the one game in which we came away saying, yeah, he looked like a rookie tonight. But I tend to dismiss that game. I really do. I think four nights, four days, Washington had played an epic against Pittsburgh. Philadelphia had played a

preseason game for all intents and purposes against the Cowboys. Jaden because of the ribs soreness wasn't practicing as much. Even though he had come in off of the Pittsburgh game, which wasn't a great game for him, but wasn't a bad game, that was just a tough spot for the team. Kingsbury had a tough night that night. Fangio just confused them all night long, and they only had a few days to prepare. Look, we fast forward a month, and they turn the ball over five times. and still score 36 points against that defense.

Jane was under attack, definitely, in that game. And he'll be under attack Sunday as well. Speaking of Kingsbury, how good is the news that Ben Johnson got hired in Chicago? It's interesting news. I don't know if it would have made a difference, personally. I think Cliff is standard. I don't know if it would have either, but now it looks like Kingsbury's not going anywhere.

I don't think he, I had a feeling that he, might not be going anywhere anyway. You know, the Raiders are still available. I mean, there's still some opportunities. What I thought was the most interesting thing about that is there was all the talk last week about Ben Johnson to the Raiders where they don't have a quarterback. And if he had gone to the Raiders and passed on Caleb Williams, if he actually had the opportunity in Chicago, man, that would have been so damning towards Caleb Williams.

And so the fact that he took that job, I think says, you know, he certainly believes enough in Caleb Williams to make it work. And that he took that job also means, although I was going to say, you know, I mean supposedly he was tied to Lance Newmark. Yeah. The commander's assistant GM, who then probably would have gone to the Bears, except the Bears are not letting their GM. go anywhere. You know, they have a GF in place. But it looks like Newmark may get hired for the Jets job. Yeah.

And by all accounts, Newmark has been significant in this organization, that he's been Adam Peters right-hand man. And a lot of the players that they signed and or drafted, he was certainly a part of it. But, you know, this is what happens when you go 14 and 5 and you're in the NFC, title game. You know, people are going to start to... You're successful. Yeah. People want a piece of your success. Yeah. You know, although, you know, Ron claimed they were lining up for him last year. All right. I do want to get your thoughts on the game Saturday night. We'll start to look ahead. Also, a couple of really good

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Mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free, no obligation in-home estimate. I've spent the last two shows, and yesterday with Cooley, if you guys missed it, Cooley was great on the game yesterday. watched it, did film on the game as well, and he will join us before the Philadelphia game later in the week. But what did you think? Your chance to tell us what you thought of the Detroit game? Well, I thought that they could match them go head to head with the Lions in terms of offense.

That's why I picked a high-scoring game. So I wasn't particularly worried. I mean, you know, it was kind of unnerving to watch Gibbs running, you know, running 10 yards of carry every time he touched the ball. But I felt like Washington could answer them back. I didn't see the turnovers. Although Jared Goff, I've never been a huge Jared Goff fan. He's certainly capable. But he had that one game earlier this year, while he threw four interceptions, and they came back and wound up winning the game, right?

Yeah. Five. He threw five against against Houston and they won, yeah. Right. But it didn't occur to me that he would have a repeat performance on Sunday. And, you know, the commanders were the more poised team. And that is because they take their hint, they take their signals, they take their personality from their quarterback.

They're coaching staff too. Their coaching staff, you know, it never seems like chaos on the sideline, you know. I mean, you look at when they show their eyes, they don't like, they don't look like Eric Bianney's eyes. But when they used to show him on the sideline, we can leave him alone. We can leave him alone. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, come on. So anyway, so I just, I didn't expect to see him to throw it over.

I thought Washington would win because of the quarterback. I didn't think they would dominate. I didn't think Detroit would come apart at the scenes. I didn't think Washington would be the more composed team. But they get it all from their quarterback. You know, they picked up, and I wrote about this in my column, in Washington Times. They had full faith in Jaden Daniels by the end of the first four weeks.

By the end of September, the same time we did, pretty much. We talk about the Cardinals game. If you talk to players, I'm sure some had been won over before, but if you look at the quotes from players about Daniels, like in late September, it's undoubtable faith, you know, just full faith in their quarterback and what he could do. And I think that affects the whole team on the field. I think the composure of the team, they pick a,

up from the quarterback, who you never see have happy feet when he's out there on the field. You know, you never hear about him losing his composure in the huddle. He always seems to have his head screwed on right in the moment. I think the whole team picks up on that. And on the defensive side, I think Bobby Wagner is the guy that helps him do that. This is a composed football team, even when they're not playing well. You know, I had Nikki Javala on the radio show this morning, and she was talking about, you know, I was saying, you know, we were talking about Jaden and basically she said, look, everybody was saying great things about him. But remember, they were saying great things about Sam Howl, too, you know.

And that's the thing is that from afar, a lot of the things that some of the players on the team were saying about Sam Hal. even Eric B. Enemy, although they didn't say it as much about Eric B. Enemy, but definitely about Sam Hal during the offseason of 2023, were identical to the things that were being said about Jaden Daniels. I remember Terry McClureen going off on, oh, no, it's just a different ball. You know, you come out of the break, it's right on your hands. You know, D.Bs are saying, oh, there's just, it's different. You know, Sam Hal, when you turn around and you, even if you've got good closing speed. The ball's already there. You know, it's really hard

when you are in the off season to discern between sincere and, you know, wishful, hopeful, or just insincere, dishonesty. I knew as a college football fan

and a big fan of Jaden Daniels, I had a real sense that this was going to work in the NFL for him other than the frame. Always was concerned about the frame and the size and some of the hits he had taken at LSU. But like this was a real, this was so much more than people had discussed, even the pundits, you know, talking about, you know, he's Lamar Jackson, but he can't throw it over the middle,

or he's got this pressure to sack percentage. He doesn't handle pressure well. I'm like, that's not what you see when you watch him in games, but whatever. But the Sam Howell thing and just Jaden thing, every offseason, we have to remind ourselves that it doesn't matter who they're talking about, any player. it's typically a quarterback. They're always going to say that they're encouraged. They're always going to say nice things about the new guy.

Yeah. Yeah, especially in training camp. You see that in training camp, you know? In training camp, they were saying nice things about Carson Went. Right. Right. And I remember, again, I saw Carson Went once in training camp, but I said this guy's never going to make it through a whole season.

So you're right. There's a lot. When you're not playing anybody else, there's a lot of inward praise. Until you're out there playing somebody else, and then you see, you know, you're really tested. The guys that you're with every day that you're practicing with, you're enamored with them.

Just the talk of Sam Hal just reminds me how many of our fans and listeners, and it's not the majority, but certainly it was a sizable group, said, no, no, no, keep Sam, keep Eric B. Enemy, maybe make Eric the head coach and draft offensive linemen. Trade back, you know, and start drafting offensive linemen. But anyway, we digress. What else from the Lions game? Anything else? I have something that I wanted to mention that was brought up on the podcast yesterday with Chris about the Lions game.

So there's a very interesting thing that happened on Washington's opening drive. And Cooley and I were talking about it on the show yesterday for a while. This is the drive that ends with Marcus Mario to Tommy under center, taking a snap in which it looks like the play is to pitch it back to Jaden, but Brian Robinson gets in the way. I have no idea. Honestly, I don't have an answer as to what that play was. But it's the plays that preceded it that are interesting.

First of all, Tyler Beaudish got called for a false start in which there's no chance that that was a false start. That was a bad call. But what happened after that was there was a delay. I can't figure out what the delay is. Nobody seems to have an answer, but Fox went to a double, you know, box commercial game in one box commercial in the other. And then they came back abruptly and they picked up the next play, which was a third and 14. checkdown throw to James and Crowder, you know, almost in the process of that play. So I don't know why there was a- I remember that.

Yeah. So I don't know why there was a delay after the Beattish false start, because I don't think that you can overturn a false start from New York. You know, I know you can't challenge it, but I don't think they were going to overturn that. But then, and Cooley pointed this out yesterday, he's like, did you guys talk about that Crowder got the first down? I'm like, not really.

And now the All-22 is out, and you've got it from, you know, full view and then behind the end zone. He definitely got the first down. He 100% on the check down throw to Crowder, Crowder leaps and gets the first down. But Washington didn't challenge it. And I don't know why they didn't challenge it. I guess there's always the chance that New York would have, you know, whistled, you know, sent down notice to the referees that, hey, that's a bad spot. We see it all the time in the NFL now.

We see it with catches, no catches, interceptions, no interceptions, fumbles, and we see spots that you'll see all of a sudden it's not a challenge, but they've moved it up and they've said first down because they get notification from the New York office that indeed they spotted the ball wrong. In this particular case, I don't know if Quinn was waiting for it. He didn't get it. He didn't challenge it. The whole sideline you see pointing, he got the first down.

I think it's probably because, and somebody tweeted this to me, and I tend to agree, it's fourth and one. Washington's the best fourth down team in the league all year long, the greatest fourth down team in the history of the league for a season. And he's not going to waste a challenge if he isn't 100% sure, because they feel like they're going to get the fourth and one anyway. That's probably it. Yeah.

I mean, that's fourth and one. Yeah. You know, I'm not a big force-down guy, but if Jaden Daniels, I mean, and I think Quinn has become, I think Quinn has become this over-the-top, fourth-down quarterback, not necessarily for what the analytics call for, as much as his faith in his quarterback. Yeah. I just think he thinks that Jaden will get it.

it. And I think everybody on the field playing for this team thinks Jayden will get, which speaks to my point about the face that they have in their quarterback and how they just don't seem, they never seem out of sorts. There are moments, you know, they get stupid penalties and things like that. But this team is really composed and together, just like their quarterback. And I just think in that case, you may be right that Quinn just said, well, you know, fourth and one, I like our chances. Something else from the game on Saturday night that I think really plays into thinking about the game on Sunday in Philadelphia. Cooley brought up that on that throw to Crowder, it was such a mature decision by Jaden. It's the checkdown, it's third and 14. He's not trying to force it.

He understands that there's probably a fourth down opportunity if he checks it down, and he's incredibly patient. And Chris juxtaposed that throw to Jared Gough's second and 14 throw that got picked off by Juan Martin in return for a touchdown. And he said he's trying to force something that he doesn't need to force because the checkdown, Sam Leportez, wide open. and that's going to get you into a third and makeable. And instead, he tries to make a very tough throw.

It ends up sailing on him and it gets picked in return. And we ended up discussing the fact that the pressure on the opposing offense that Jaden Daniels and the Washington offense is putting on teams. Because Detroit figured out pretty quickly if they didn't know before the game, that they pretty much needed to score every time they had the ball. It puts a lot of pressure on the opposing offense when you're out there. Jared Goff felt like down 24, well, the pick six was down 17, 14. I mean, already, you know, kind of a big 12 game had broken out.

You know, we were seeing offense at the highest level, both sides. But when Washington picked that off and then they got into a second and 14 play because of a false start. They had a false start that side. They had several penalties that got them into those situations. Goff is feeling the pressure of, well, we can't punt. We're down 17, 14. We have to answer here. We've seen what the other side looks like.

And in Detroit's case, it's also what our defense is because Detroit's defense was horrendous. And he forces it. And I bring that up because, I mean, there are games in which Washington's been unstoppable and it's put the pressure on the other teams. You can go back to that Cincinnati game. It was pretty obvious early on in that Cincinnati game that Joe Burrough and Jamar Chase needed to answer Washington. They missed a field goal.

That ended up getting the whole game out of whack. Washington took a lead. And from that point on, they never punted. and they scored and it put pressure on them every time they had the ball. It's going to force teams, even teams that don't like going for fourth downs to go for fourth downs. Game context is a part of, it's a conversation I know coaches have that we don't necessarily have as much. Like, okay, we're not that great on defense, but the pressure our offense is putting on the opposing offense will help our defense. and Tommy against Philadelphia, Philadelphia can't throw the football.

Or they struggle to throw the football. Now, they can run the football, but they run it much better with their starting quarterback being healthy. We don't know if Jalen Hertz is going to be healthy. That's a big point. A big point. I think, look, I think Barclay is great. I think Juan Barclay is great. But if you go back to that Philadelphia game that Washington won, you know, the second game,

I mean, the impact of hurts out of the game on Barclay's running attack was huge, yeah. Huge. It changed the whole game. Yeah. I mean, Barclay, now, what's interesting about that is Washington did a decent job against Barclay in the first half of the Thursday night game in Philadelphia and got run over by Barclay in the second half. Philadelphia had a lot of kind of self-induced problems in that first Thursday. night game. They missed two field goals. They dropped three passes in the first half. There was a lot going on that was more about them than it was Washington's defense. But in this game on Sunday,

even with a healthy Jalen hurts, it's like you better do something offensively. And they have been playing a brand of football that speaks to, we're not going to make any mistakes. We're not going to turn the ball over because our defense is dominant. And it's worked. It's worked in every single game except for the Washington game here. And they had Kenny Pickett in the game, understood. Washington turned it over five times and still scored 36 points and won the game, which is just, it just doesn't happen in the NFL.

But Detroit's an offense that can keep pace. Philadelphia is not an offense that can keep pace. And what will be key for Philadelphia is they better have a healthy Jalen Hertz, and they better be able to run the football. And they better be able to move it, possess it, and score with it when they have it. Now, the Philly defense is different than Detroit. Detroit's terrible on defense. Philadelphia is great.

But at this point, I don't think there's a defense out there that can slow down Washington and Jaden Daniels. They're going to score. The guy on the field Sunday that Washington might fear the most, and I think should fear the most, is Jalen Carter. No doubt, especially with Sam Cosme out. That's a big loss for Washington. Big loss.

Jalen Carter and Zach Bonn and Nolan Smith, the way he, they miss Nukobi Dean. He got hurt in that first playoff game early against Green. Green Bay. But they're really good on defense. They're excellent on defense. They're well-coached on defense. But again, there's only been one team that didn't really mind facing Philadelphia's defense because they scored 36. They turned it over five times. Brian Robinson Jr. fumbled twice. Diami fumbled and Jaden threw two picks in the game. But he also threw five touchdown passes, you know, and rushed for 81 yards. It's still kind of an amazing.

thing to say that a team that turned the ball over five times and lost the turnover margin minus four against a team like Philadelphia still won the game. But they did. And Kenny Pickett playing instead of Jalen Hertz had a lot to do with it. But game pressure on Sunday, if Washington takes an early lead in this game, the pressure that Philadelphia will feel, Tommy, to do something immediately on offense or risk. falling behind by more than one score, you'll be able to feel it. Washington's one of those offenses that everybody now looks at and says,

you better not give them a lead. You better not give them the ball too much. You better score. Like I'm thinking right now, clean track on Sunday and it's forecasted to be that. Philly's going to have to score, they're going to have to score 27 to win this game, minimum minimum minimum absolutely minimum that's kind of I mean they gave up here they gave up 22 to the Rams they gave up 10 to the Packers all right 13 to the Giants 7 to the Cowboys 13 to the Steelers 16 to the Panthers 19 to the Ravens 20 to the Rams that all sandwich is

Washington 36 I mean it doesn't they just didn't give up points this year, not since the opener in Brazil, or the game in Tampa when they had all their players out. They had all of their players out in that loss of Tampa. But I look at Philadelphia, I don't know about you, but I'm watching the Philadelphia game Sunday, and I really thought that Philadelphia was the team that would be easier to beat than the Rams. I know it's a road game and it's a true road game versus what would have been maybe a neutral home, you know, neutral site or borderline home field game. But Philly is one-dimensional, and without Jalen Hertz or with a compromise Jalen Hertz,

the one-dimension may not be nearly as effective. I think you might be right. Now, they threw the ball a lot against us. It's shockingly possible. Shockingly possible. A.J. Brown had eight catches for 97 yards against Marshawn Lattimore in that last game. So they threw it. And Kenny Pickett actually at times looked pretty good.

But yeah, it's going to be interesting. All right. What else? We got other things to get to. Anything else on Saturday night or a look ahead to Sunday? No. All right now. I have a couple of emails I want to read to you when we come back.

We'll get to those right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, being healthy is a big part of my life, but I'm not hardcore about it. I just want to incorporate better habits into my life, like getting more protein in my diet. And our next sponsor makes it easy to do just that. That sponsor is Orgaine. Orgain believes real nutrition has the power to make a real difference in people's lives. Orgain's new 30 gram complete protein shakes offer protein-packed real nutrition designed to satisfy your cravings without any added sugar.

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Use my code, Sheean. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelley's. Well, I'm sitting here in my condo right on the beach at Miramar Beach, looking out the window of what is a 33-degree day here.

Oh, my God. Miramar Beach. Oh, my God. You're part of the whole South big storm thing. Are you going to get snow? Well, we're waiting for the snow to arrive. We're waiting for Armageddon to get here because

the whole town is shutting down. The Wind Dixie, the grocery store where people go to clean out of supplies, you know, they're closing down in five minutes. They're shutting down. Oh, my God. And there's no snow here yet. They're anticipating it. The airport inland, about 15 minutes from here, is shut down for the next 24 hours. It's just crazy here.

That's nuts. I mean, New Orleans is getting, New Orleans is getting like six inches. This is historic in terms of snowstorms for the south. Atlanta's getting hit. By the way, real quickly, Winn Dixie was actually one of my biggest accounts. I spent so much time with Winn Dixie in all of their different markets. I mean, they were based in Jacksonville, so I was in Jacksonville a lot, but they had a South Florida division.

They were in Atlanta. They were in New Orleans. They were in Montgomery, Alabama. they were huge in the south. You know, was Win Dixie and Publix for all those years. Those were the two. Yeah.

It's still like that down here. Win Dixie and Public. Yeah. But my whole point is, you know, when I'm thinking about what the possibility of being snowed end of, you know,

like being stuck in my condo and look, I mean, you know, I love my family and all that, you know. But if I, If I had a choice of being snowbound anywhere, it would be Shelley's back room. Agreed. At 1331 F Street, Northwest in the district, you know, the snow could pile up as much as it wants outside because inside, it's paradise. Inside, it's warm, it's comfortable with all the nice, soft cushiony chairs that they've got.

you know, I mean, I'm drinking top shelf whiskey. I'm drinking the best draft beer you can buy. I'm smoking the top cigars from Cigar Fishingato Magazine. And, you know, it could be the blizzard of 96 again. But if I'm in Shelly's, I'm in Paradise. And there's no Paradise down here. I can tell you that. Because there's one cigar shop lounge in this area.

area, and it's one-twelfth of Shelly's. So it's not very accommodating or comfortable, and there's no other place to go, but yet there's no other place, period, like Shelly's Backroom. You can find out more about Shelly's by going to shelley's backroom.com. I can just imagine you at Shelly's during a snowstorm, because every once in a while, you would saunter over towards the front door just to check out to see if anybody's walking by in a suit with a briefcase going to work so you can get a chuckle and turn around and walk right back to the bar. All right.

Absolutely. So a couple of things to read. Where are they? I had them in front of me. Okay. This is from D in Delaware. Subject PTSD. He writes, Kevin.

While I like and agree with your analogy that we were institutionalized during the Dan Snyder era. Some fans still need some help. When you've been institutionalized for so long, then unexpectedly and then unexpectedly gain your freedom, you have to be reintegrated. Remember what happened to Brooks, as in Brooks Hadlin? Yes, we do know what happened to Brooks. Some of the fans are suffering from PTSD,

post-traumatic Snyder syndrome, from being, by the way, that would be disorder if it's PTSD, post-traumatic Snyder disorder, unless it's PTSD. From being institutionalized, they are struggling to believe this is real, that Jaden is real. Kevin, help. How can we get over our PTSD caused by the last 25 years and enjoy this run without feeling like it's 2012 all over again? Hold on. One more, and this is a little bit longer, but there have been several emails and tweets similar

this. This is from Edward. First of all, congrats to you and all of the long-suffering fans on what has been nothing short of an epic and historic comeback season for the commanders. Jaden Daniels and this team have given us something we've craved for for decades, a reason to truly believe again. But I've noticed something in your tone all season. Even as you've clearly overjoyed, there's a cautiousness in your celebrations, almost like you're bracing for something to go wrong. It reminds me of how You've talked about the psychological scars of the Snyder years, the PTSD of being mistreated, abused, and taken advantage of as a fan base. You keep referencing the Shawshank Redemption and Brooks being institutionalized. And honestly, it's such a perfect metaphor.

After decades in Snyder's prison, it's like we don't quite know how to live on the outside yet. This season is testing that as fans. We're free now, but we're still relearning how to trust, How to hope, how to celebrate without feeling like the rug's going to be pulled out from Andrus. Watching you process this in real time on the show has been fascinating. Even as you celebrate, I can hear that the voice in your head is asking, is this real? Can this actually be happening? It's so relatable.

It's how many of us feel. Do you think this Snyder PTSD will ever fully go away for you or for us or will it always be there in the back of your mind? What will it take for you and us to truly move on and fully embrace this new era without looking over our shoulders? Love the show, Kevin. Thanks for always giving us the therapy. We didn't know we needed. This is a real thing. You know that, right? I get this from people all the time.

I haven't encountered it. I've encountered pretty much nothing but optimism and not just a momentary optimism. but the idea that you're on the brink of long-term success. I've encountered nothing with that. I think we're, I think we're, some of us are looking at caution as being just a byproduct of being a Washington fan, but any reasonable NFL fan always has a note of caution about his team. So I've definitely encountered more of what you've described than that. but let me just say that first of all, those that feel that way have every right to feel that way. That's number one.

Okay. Number two is I don't feel that way. I don't have PTSD. I absolutely have been on board with this team being legit and going to be better and things are going to change for a while now, especially when they drafted Jaden. But I, you know, was happy with the hiring of Quinn. It wasn't my number. number one. It was their number one. It was not my number one. But I liked Dan Quinn in Atlanta. I liked Dan Quinn as a defensive coordinator. The idea that they could land Adam Peters was a big deal. The bottom line is once Snyder was gone, anything was possible. But when they did get Jaden Daniels, I'm not suffering from PTSD, Snyder, you know, disorder. I'm really not. I'm really not. I, believe wholeheartedly that for this franchise, this is a new beginning on the field.

You know, we've talked about this all season long. This is the beginning of something. The number one predictor of sustained success is a great quarterback. They have one. Okay. Is he going to fall flat on his ass next year? Seth Joyner thinks he is. Did you hear what Seth Joyner said on a Philadelphia radio show, WIP in Philadelphia?

He said he would never give a rookie this much credit. because it could easily, you know, fall apart in his second year. And he also said there's not a snowball's chance that Washington will win Sunday in Philadelphia. That was former linebacker, Philadelphia Eagle linebacker, Seth Joyner. But I think the organization is on the verge of a run here. I'm talking about every year, big games, contention, you know, playoffs, you know, hopefully some home playoff games. Now, I do think that there is a part of the fan base that can't enjoy this as much as they would like because of the name. That is 100% true.

And I think it's more that with many in the fan base than it even is about PTSD and not believing it. But anyway, those are my thoughts. Do you have any? Well, I just expressed them to you. Yeah. I mean, I just said, I mean, I have not encountered that. Here's what I continue to encounter occasionally. ST-U-P-I-D syndrome, okay?

Yeah, I guess so. The idea that when I write a column, and I praise Shaden Daniels, which is what I've done for the past two months, I'd say, were three months. You know, I still get this, oh, my God, a positive column from Laver. How shocking. I still get this. Oh, now you're a Washington fan, right? I still get that thing.

You know, no, it's like I was wrong when I wrote all those columns ripping them for years. And now I'm right. Well, I just can't get over how that still exists. Well, no, because you were right and you are right. But I don't know why you spend time. you go back and forth with these people on social media. I don't know why you do this. I say this to my good friend Scott all the time.

Why do you do this? This is the lowest form of communication with at times the lowest form of or the lowest intellect of a person that you're talking to who has zero followers most of the time, maybe three. And they are just, in many cases, they're either stupid, STU-P-I-D, Or they're just trolling you. They just want to rise out of you. Like if I reacted to every single person that tweeted me and said, if you mention the name one more time, you're not, you know, whatever, it's like, shut up.

Like I don't, but I don't get into that because they. I don't engage like I used to. I read them. I don't engage like I used to. I haven't engaged in a while. but I still read them. I still see them. Oh, I see them.

I just don't respond to them. Yeah. No, I don't respond to them. Unless it's a good segment on the show, unless it's going to be the intro for a good segment on the show. Then I'll use it. Yeah, but I just don't understand that logic. Well, because they're not bright.

Please, that's why you're wasting your time. Worrying about it or reading it or responding it or responding. bonding to it. Anybody that's serious about, oh, now you're a fan? No, I'm actually a columnist, and I'm observing a great quarterback, like historically great, and I'm going to write about how great he is. Oh, but you used to be, yeah, because when I used to write about the team, the team was the most dysfunctional team in the history of professional sports. So I could have done the, I could have done the Larry Michael thing for you if that's what you wanted. Because, you know, there are lots of people that still want that.

They don't want you to ever be a critical thinker. They don't want you to criticize. God forbid. I mean, everything's not, you know, perfect. By the way, some of these people are the same people that wanted to keep Sam Hal, Eric B. Enemy in draft offensive lineman. Remember that. All right.

Enough enough about them. I wanted to ask you, about Lamar Jackson. So here we are again. Lamar Jackson losing in the postseason. Look, they were an under, well, they were favorite. They were a slight favorite. But they were the road team.

And this was a toss-up game. And it was a great game on Sunday night. A really, really fun football game to watch. He had Mark Andrews drop two balls, including the two-point conversion that would have tied it, and fumble. And at the same time, the bottom line is, He didn't play that great either.

Lamar did not play that great. He had a fumble, bad fumble, bad interception in the first half. You know, one of them led to a score, the other did not lead to a score. What are we to make of Lamar Jackson now as a three and five, not been to the Super Bowl, potentially on the verge of being a three-time MVP quarterback? He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of his time, and things just not have gone his way. Simple is that.

It really is. I mean, Mark Andrews is a terrific tight end. And to have him make two plays like that in a big game, this is the ultimate exception. Okay. You know,

I just think that there'll come a time where we might be looking at, you know, Lamar Jackson's second Super Bowl championship and forgetting about, you know, the past that took.

Look how long. it took Elway to basically get where he's got. You know, now he eventually, his problem was... Well, he got to the Super Bowl. Yeah, I know that. I know that. His problem was he didn't have the offensive weapons set, like a Derek Henry or something like that, until Terrell Davis got there.

But I just think that Lamar Jackson, I don't think the problem for Mar Jackson, I don't think the ball hasn't gone his way. And by the way, they don't... They didn't throw it, Isaiah likely enough either. Yeah. So I have a slightly different view on this, but the preface here is, if you've listened to me long enough, you know how big of a Lamar Jackson fan I am and how much I've wanted him to break through that barrier. I thought it would happen last year without question. I was shocked that they threw the ball nearly 40 times in the AFC championship game and lost at home to Kansas City. He didn't play well in that game. I didn't like the play calling. And I, Sunday night, I'm telling you, as pumped up as I was and still, you know, fired up from the night before,

I sat down really wanting Lamar to win this game. But the bottom line is, while Mark Andrews did drop a pass that would have tied the game, that certainly wasn't any guarantee they would win the game. There's a minute 33 left, Josh Allen could have driven them down the field, or they could have lost an overtime. I do think, let me just say this, that the drive itself, 88 yards for the touchdown, was super important for Lamar Jackson because up until that point, the blame was going to fall squarely on Lamar. Even though, you know, Andrews had fumbled on a drive in the fourth quarter, the bottom line is Lamar had a first half interception and a first half fumble that were painful to watch.

but he took over and in eight plays, 88 yards, two minutes, drove him down the field. They got the touchdown they needed. What a great throw for the touchdown. And even in that moment before the two-point conversion, I just took a deep breath saying you can't blame Lamar now because I think that's what I'm hoping will go away. However, here's the bottom line. He didn't play great. He once again,

I mean, this is a guy that just finished one of the great regular seasons in recent memory. I mean, he was unbelievable in 2024, 41 touchdowns, four interceptions, the rushing yard totals, the completion percentage, the QBR, the whole thing. I don't know if he's going to win the MVP. I would vote for him. If I had a vote, I would vote for Lamar over Josh Allen, and it would be close, but I would vote for Lamar. But Lamar made a comment earlier in the week, or maybe it was before the playoff game last week, where he admitted that he gets antsy, that he gets a little bit too fast in these playoff games. And I'm telling you, you saw it in the game Sunday night, even on the final drive. The first pass of that drive is an incompletion to Isaiah likely.

He pulled the string on it. He was short on it. It was a throw that you see when a playoff. is tight. I'm not going to take Mark Andrews off the hook for the two-point conversion, so please don't accuse me of doing that right now. But it was a throw that was not in normal timing. The ball should have been out a little bit earlier. He sort of double-clutched it a little bit, and then he sort of steered it and pushed it. It's in his hands. It's a ball he's got to catch. It was a flat-out drop. Games should have been tied at 27. But it wasn't a lot of

Lamar Jackson two-point throw from the regular season. The game was not a Lamar Jackson regular season game. I thought he was outstanding on that final drive. I thought the second half in particular, he was outstanding. His QBR was a super high number. He had a high passer rating, but the guy that didn't turn the ball over basically all season long in the biggest game of the year turned it over twice, and both of them were on him. That fumble was upset. That fumble was assert. How does he just turn around and fumble that? How do you throw where he threw on the interception? I think that it's okay to say Lamar Jackson just had one of the great regular seasons ever. He's a Hall of Famer, whether he wins the MVP or not. He is a great quarterback,

a transcendent quarterback in many ways, but he has not played his best football during the postseason. Both of those things are true. I think possibly. But I think that will come. I'm not saying it won't. I think it will too. But he has a, he's more tense

and plays more tensely with more anxiety in these postseason games. He admitted it. And we've seen it now. I mean... He should take some lessons from Washington quarterback.

He's not, you know what, from a calmness standpoint and from a poise standpoint, there's a difference. There's a difference between the two. Yes. Yes, there is. Yeah, I really, really, I think the last drive really saved the conversation. Because if, you know, if he goes four and out or he throws a pick, it gets really ugly. you know, but he drove that team 88 yards and they had a chance to tie it. I don't think I would have gone for the two as early as Harbaugh did at the end of the third quarter.

I think there was too much game and too many possessions. And if he didn't go for the first one, he wouldn't have had to go for the last one. But anyway, I think the bills, by the way, are going to beat the Chiefs. I think the Bills beat the Chiefs. And I think Mahomes finally, finally, well, Burrow beat him. but I think Josh Allen and the bills finally get him in the postseason. Do you have a feel for that game yet? Because you're going to pick Washington.

So am I. Yeah, yeah. I think the Chiefs, again, I'm of the mode that if you're the champ, you're the winner until you lose. I'm picking the Chiefs. It's crazy to pick him against Mahomes. It is insane to pick against Mahomes, even though he's now the second best quarterback in the NFL. I want to talk just briefly to finish up the show about the national championship game last night, but let me also give you the way to bet championship Sunday.

MyBooky, mybooky.orgie.orgie.orgia promo code Kevin D.C. That's what you do to start. You use my promo code Kevin D.C. when you go to my bookie.org and they give you a 50% cash bonus on your initial deposit. You deposit $100, you end up with $150 to bet with. You deposit $500, you have $750 to bet with. You get it. More you deposit, the more free cash they'll give you my bookie.ag, you have to use my promo code, Kevin D.C. At MyBooky right now, Philly's up to a six-point favorite now. I'm wondering if that's an indication that maybe they know that the news on Jalen Hertz will be positive.

that somebody has an inkling that Jalen Hertz is going to be okay and he's going to play. We'll see. But they're up to minus six. The total in the game is 48. Plenty of prop bets, and I'll get into some of those later in the week. The Chiefs right now are one and a half point favorites at Arrowhead in the night game on Sunday. The total in that one is 47 and a half. Let me just see if I can pull up some current.

Super Bowl odds. So the odds to win the Super Bowl right now. Washington is the long shot. They should be. They're the lowest-seated team. Philly is the favorite right now at my bookie to win the Super Bowl plus 154. Now, my guess is, it's not a guess. It's the reason is that Philadelphia is more likely based on the point spread to advance to Super Bowl.

Whereas the Chiefs Bill's game, the point spread's one and a half, it's almost a toss-up. The Chiefs are plus 180. The bills are plus $2.20. And if you want to bet Washington to win the Super Bowl, and I think a lot of us put me in that group, I think put Tommy in that group, there's a really good chance. They're going to beat Philly,

and they're going to have a chance to play in the Super Bowl. Right now, you can play Washington at my bookie at plus 670. All right? That means you bet $10, you win $67. You bet $100, you win $670. You bet $1,000, and they win the Super Bowl. you win $6,700. They are the long shot at plus $670 to win the Super Bowl.

By the way, the MVP most valuable player odds are up already, even though we don't know what the Super Bowl matchup will be. Josh Allen's the favorite to win the MVP in the Super Bowl, followed by Mahomes, followed by Barclay, followed by Hertz, and then it's Jaden Daniels at plus 800. So how about that? Plus 670 on Washington, plus 800 on Jaden to win the MVP. Sounds like a...

I know where my money would be. I think it's actually, honestly, I think it's a worthy wager because I think we all kind of have watched this team enough to know that it's possible. All right, real quickly on the national championship game. Did you watch it? No. Yeah. I have a feeling a lot of people forgot about it.

No, I mean, not that you would have watched it had you known about it. But inauguration day, MLK birthday, big storm, NFL playoffs from the weekend. It kind of got lost in the shuffle, as it often does. I don't think that's any different this year than it's been. It was actually a game in which Notre Dame made an unbelievable comeback from 317 down and had a chance to get the ball back down 8, 3123. but Ohio State against man coverage for some reason that Notre Dame played through to Jeremiah Smith on a third and 11 for 50-some yards. He is Tommy. Sean Springs told me last week on the show that Jeremiah Smith, the 18-year-old wide receiver, freshman wide receiver at Ohio State, is the best receiver that will ever play college football.

he would be the number one pick in this spring's NFL draft, and right now he'd be the number three wide receiver in the NFL behind Jefferson and Chase. He is special. There's no doubt he's got to play two more years of college football before he's eligible for the NFL draft. But the single covering him, I don't get that on 3rd and 11. You had a chance to get the ball back. But not a bad game.

Notre Dame started with a big drive right down the field, took nine minutes, 45 seconds. I know people are screaming at Marcus Freeman for the field goal down 3115. I would say there's 915 left in the game. And when you view 3115 as a two-score game, that is wishful thinking. Because, you know, two-point analytics, right? 50-50, well, that means you're going to make one miss one, so that makes it a three-score game. But it was fourth and goal from the nine.

They were not going to score on that. I didn't have a problem with that field goal attempt. Other than that, that's it. the college football playoff. I thought it was fun to watch. Can't wait for it next year. There were some epic games. Certainly the game between Texas and Arizona State was great. The Notre Dame Penn State game was phenomenal. There were incredible performances throughout, and Ohio State deserved it. Ryan Day was about to get fired two months ago after they lost to

Michigan, and here he is a national champion. Yeah. Do you think Ohio State is the best team? Yes, I do. So even with the 12-team playoff, at least this year, the best team probably won. Yeah, I think that going into it, you didn't know what their mindset would be after losing to Michigan. That's so devastating. But I think a lot of people thought that Ohio State had a chance to win it all. I think Ohio State was the favorite going into the playoff to win it. I think they were. No, Oregon was probably the favorite, and they destroyed Oregon.

Oregon and Ohio State, and I picked Notre Dame before the things started. I actually really thought Notre Dame was a team that was defensively the best, could really run the football, and they were really good defensively. But, yeah, I think in watching these games, no doubt. There was no team more explosive than Ohio State, and probably only one or two teams better defensively, and you could argue that they were even the best defensive team. And Ryan Day is 70 and 10 at Ohio State. And if he had lost in their first game against Tennessee, he'd probably be out.

But he didn't. And Ohio State people are thrilled, even though some of them would probably trade the national championship for a win over Michigan. All right. Anything else? Nothing else for you, boss. You'll have a prediction during our championship week on Thursday's show. I think I know the way you're leaning, but I can't wait to hear how it all plays out.

I will talk to you then. Thanks. All right, boss. All right, I'll be back tomorrow.