The Kevin Sheehan Show - Commanders Lose 34-31 In OT

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

Kevin opened with his recap of Washington's 34-31 loss in Philadelphia. Cooley jumped on with his thoughts on the game as well. Some other NFL with Cooley and Kevin 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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Somebody said to me on radio this morning that last week made them angry. Yesterday made them hurt. Philadelphia 34, 31 in overtime in what was a bounce-back game for Washington after last week's debacle.

But yes, it was still a loss. They fall to two and two. The Eagles remain undefeated at four and oh. But what a football game it was. The show today, as it is every day, is presented by Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com. Mention my name. You'll get a free estimate.

They'll take good care of you. Cooley is supposed to join me in the next segment with his thoughts. He watched the game yesterday. This won't be the film breakdown this week, but this will be his thoughts on the game yesterday. I'll start with this. What a difference a week makes. Last week was really ugly. This week, albeit a loss, was very impressive and very encouraging in so many ways.

Now, I want to emphasize we're talking about one game here. Right now, especially as it relates to the players that don't have a try, track record. Some of the coaches that don't have a track record. We're evaluating the game yesterday. Just like last week, we evaluated the game against Buffalo. And I cautioned last week against reading too much into one game, especially after we had seen a pretty impressive performance against Denver the week before. But yesterday was just one game. And the matchup against the Eagles, whatever reason recently has been a good matchup for Washington. Now, with that said, it's still hard not to be encouraged with the way they played despite losing 34-31 in overtime. They played,

I think, a high-level game for the most part, certainly in a lot of ways, against one of the better teams in the league who also played well. Yesterday was not one of those examples of a lesser team nearly beating a better team because the better team played poorly. No, that would be the wrong way of describing what happened yesterday. That's the best Philadelphia's looked all year on offense, for sure. Both teams, I think, played well. I think they played very well in some areas. The game was pretty much a clean game. There were penalties. There were a few plays that you know, we're lucky that they didn't go the other way and it would have looked like a bad play. But this was a clean game, no turnovers in the game.

To me, it was one of those games, and I mentioned this this morning. Many of you remember the great Ken Beatrice, the late Ken Beatrice, who was really the pioneer of sports talk radio in this town long before there was a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week sports talk radio station. And he used to have this expression to describe NFL games. He would say, more games are lost than one. And you know what? We've all watched enough football to know that that is true. Most teams are pretty even.

You know, there are outliers at the top. They're outliers at the bottom. And then, you know, each year there are 24 to 28 teams that basically, if they stay healthy and they don't beat themselves, they're going to win a lot of games. Yesterday's game was won. It wasn't lost. It was won by Philadelphia.

If Washington had won the game, it would have been a game that they earned with really good football for the most part. It's not like it was mistake-free. Don't get me wrong. I mentioned that I, on radio early this morning, that I really thought when Jahan Dotson dropped that third down and four on their first possession in the second half.

After Philadelphia had taken the ball down the field, had scored to make it 17, 13, Washington still had the lead. And then on third and four, they design a perfect play. Sam makes a perfect throw, and I'm like, God, that's the first play offensively that's really hurt him.

And it was designed perfectly. And Dotson, my God, he's got great hands, and it goes right through his hands. And if he catches it, it's not just a first down. It's a nice, you know, medium-sized, chunk play, and they're off to the races, and maybe they're heading down for points to keep it a two-score game. But look, the bottom line is they played so much better than last week. I'm going to talk about the two-point conversion decision. I'm going to talk about that when I get

to my game take, for sure. There was some luck in the game, no doubt. You know, Washington got a little bit lucky in that Philadelphia wasn't able to walk them off at the end of regulation. They scored a touchdown on a second and four where perhaps they get a first down and then they can run it down and kick a walk-off field goal. They got lucky that Curtis Samuel didn't catch that ball with five seconds to go. Well, ended up being two seconds, I guess, on the play before the touchdown pass to Dotson because that was not a good decision by Sam. Samuel, if he catches that pass, over. He's bracketed on that play. He doesn't get anywhere near the end zone. But then Washington, the luck turned against him in overtime. I mean, Terry makes a sideline catch on a perfect

throw that was so close. If that had been called a catch on the field, there's no way they could have overturned it, but it was called incomplete. And they didn't have the visual evidence they said to overturn the call on the field. But the bottom line is that They really bounced back with a tremendous effort, but they also lost a game that could cost them later on in the season. I'm not big into moral victories, but I am big into progress. And we're through four weeks,

and they made a shitload of progress from a week ago. But we know in the NFL, it can be very fleeting. week to week. We've been talking about that for years. I mean, last week against Buffalo, I mean, it was horrendous. It was one of the worst exhibits of offensive football we've seen with respect to turnovers and sacks and pressures allowed. And then seven days later, they go into a road game, into a hostile atmosphere against a completely different team, but a very good team. And they looked great on offense. Thursday night's game, it's fleeting.

We don't know what we're going to get, okay? We don't. And I'm going to caution everybody right now. That game is right around the corner. Thursday night football at home against the Bears. The Bears blew a 28 to 7 lead and lost to Denver 31 to 28. Let me be the first to caution you that this is not going to be an easy game. The expectations are that they should blow out.

The awful bears who are 0 and 4, every week's different. Matchups make fights. Styles make fights. I don't know what's going to happen Friday, but I have a feeling that short turnaround weeks after a gut-wrenching loss, both teams suffered one, but I'm not convinced that this is going to be an absolute slam dunk, easy win. But we'll see how it shakes out. All right.

Let's not wait for it. Let me get to my game take. Pay attention. He's Kevin's Game Take. The Game Take brought to you by My Bookie. I hope you guys were able to take advantage of My Booky's offer last week. What an offer, 110% deposit bonus on a deposit of $50 up to $1,000. They're still going to give you a deposit bonus if you use my promo code, Kevin D.C. By the way, Washington, and I just pulled this up, they're now seven-point favorites over.

Chicago. That game opened at 5, 5.5 and a half. It's up to 7. The total is 44 and a half. Maryland, by the way, in their big matchup, by the way, the most impressive the Terps were this year, was Saturday in their 44 to 17, easy win over Indiana. But Maryland is an 18-point underdog at Ohio State this week. Big game, noon kickoff on Fox, and at my bookie, Ohio State, 18-point favorites right now with a total of 55-5-half. Terps not ranked.

I thought they would be ranked after the win. They're 26th just outside the rankings in both polls. But congrats to Coach Loxley and the Terps. First 5-0 start for them since 2001, It was Ralph's first year, the year that they won the ACC title and went to the Orange Bowl. Anyway, back to my bookie. MyBooky.orgie.orgie.orgie.orgie, C., promo code Kevin, D.C. For the best out there in terms of point spreads, pricing, et cetera.

MyBooky.orgie.org promo code Kevin, D.C. All right, let's get to my game take. The things I liked, the things I didn't like, and several other observations from the game, I will spend some time on Ron's two-point conversion decision at the end of regulation. Let me start with the things I liked. The offense as a whole, you know, they had 10 drives in the game, they scored on half of them. There wasn't one short field opportunity in the entire game. Their best starting field position was courtesy of the A.J. Brown taunting penalty after the

touchdown that gave the Eagles the 31 to 24 lead. That was a stupid penalty in why. Washington got a kickoff out to the 36-yard line. That was their best field position of the day. They scored 31 points. They were four-for-five in the red zone. They got no help from turnovers. They went 75-75-75- and 64 yards on four touchdown drives,

65 yards on their field goal drive. Not one turnover after five last week. They were eight for 17 on third down. They were next to last in the league coming in. to yesterday's game on third down offense. They were one for nine last week. They were two for two yesterday on fourth down. Now, you know, several of the third down conversions were because of Philadelphia penalties,

five of them. And some of them were kind of tic-tac calls, but still a very productive day for the offense after it looked really bleak a week ago. There were a couple of negatives, but not many. You know, there were sacks, five of them. There were penalties, seven of them. There was the big drop by Jahan Dotson, all of these things I'll mention on my list of things that I didn't like. But overall, there was a lot to really be impressed with in the way that they schemed it up, play-called it, and executed it offensively.

And that leads me to the first person on my list of things that I liked, and that would be Eric Bienomi. I thought last week, in my opinion, he did not do enough to protect his quarterback, and hence the game got completely sideways last week. They lost that game first and foremost last week because of the offense and the turnovers and the sacks and the mistakes. I mean, you can talk about the defense, and many of you have a lot more than I thought you would be about the season's performance by the defense. The defense won the Arizona game. A defensive play basically saved him in the Denver game. And then last week defensively, especially when you consider what Buffalo did to Miami yesterday, the defense was good enough. It was the offense that completely hosed them last week and the turnovers, et cetera. And that's why, by the way, Buffalo ended up with 37 points in the game. They scored on a defensive touch, and they had another short field or two in that game. But, man, a week after that debacle last week, I mean, golf clap plus, first. Eric Bienemy. This week, there was clearly an emphasis to eliminate the possibility of last

week repeating itself. But, and this is where I give them a lot of credit, not at the expense of doing what they thought they needed to do to move the ball and score points and win the game. Point being, they didn't, you know, hover in a corner in a protective shell. They didn't go ultra-conservative so that the quarterback didn't get his brains beat out again. They did the things and continued to do the things that he wants to do offensively, and that made sense yesterday to move the ball. They were still going to get the hands into the, still get the ball, excuse me, into the hands of their playmakers, their best playmakers.

But yesterday, they did it in a way that didn't expose Sam Hal to a beating. Now, I do want to emphasize before I get started with some of the things that Eric B. Enemy did specifically. I want to just mention Philadelphia is not as good on the back end as Buffalo is. Sleigh and Bradbury are big names, but I think the thing you've noticed from Philadelphia this year is that their Achilles heel, I think, may be their back end defensively because they are stout up front for sure. And by the way, one of the old standbys, Fletcher Cox was at it again yesterday. But I think this could be the Eagles Achilles' heel on defense, and I think Biename knew that. And although he couldn't expose his quarterback like he did last week, he also knew the best way to move the football was to attack the Eagles secondary,

to attack them in space with the forward pass. And he did so with more quick game, more three-step drops, more screens, more sprintouts. Extra protection with a sixth, sometimes a seventh, and an eighth blocker in max protect. Now, they didn't max protect the entire game, not at all. They also ran the football. Not well all the time, but it was more of a threat in the first half. They had basically 14 run calls, 18 pass play calls. That was not a three or four or five to one pass to run ratio half, which is,

what the first three games were. On the opening drive, 14 plays, eight pass calls, six runs. This was absolutely something they wanted to make sure happen this week. Ron mentioned the importance of it of being balanced, even though they really weren't balanced yesterday, but they were more so in the first half than they've been. Ron mentioned the importance of being able to look balanced and be able to run the football.

Now, the running game was not like a banner day, it didn't produce a hell of a lot of yards. 20 combined carries for Robinson and Gibson for just 64 yards. I mean, that's three, it's just barely over three yards per carry. But it's going to be tough to run it against Philadelphia all year. Sam's scrambling yards were the reason that they had a day that looked like a decent rushing day over 100 yards. but they did have some runs in some key spots. You know, that opening drive, there was a good run from Robinson,

then a jet sweep to Samuel for an easy touchdown. And then on that drive that tied the game at 24, 24 in the second half, I mean, you had a nine-yard run followed by a 15-yard run by Brian Robinson, Jr., from the 24-yard line ran it in on two plays. That was explosive running. and Philadelphia was starting, you know, maybe it to buckle a little bit because they didn't go away from it at any point. They stuck with it to a certain degree. They had 28 rushes in the game.

They did have 74 snaps, actual plays in the game, more snaps than that when you factor in penalties. But the idea that Sam had a lot to learn from last week's game, well, of course, but Bienami had something to learn from last week's game. and I think he passed the test. Listen, this was a rough draft of me going through it very early this morning, late last night. There were basically 52 pass plays called in this game, 41 pass attempts, five sacks, five to six scrambles, maybe a couple of penalties in there as well on plays that didn't actually count.

By my count, by my rough count, of the 52 called pass plays, 35 of the 52 were a combination of quick game throws, three-step drop balls out, screens, sprint outs, they moved the pocket, and he sprinted out on two different occasions and threw passes. There were some checkdowns that almost looked like planned checkdowns, and there were extra man protections on a lot of the dropbacks, on the majority of dropbacks. that is changing your plan. You know, they ran the ball more.

Running the ball was more of a possibility this week, but it was what they did with the pass game. I mean, 35 of the 52 called passes were a combination of real protective throws. Three-step drop, it's out, all right, quick game. Screens, sprint outs, you know, a couple of, I think, planned checkdowns. sprint outs where they move the pocket a little bit. On the pure dropbacks, okay, five-step drops or more, 11 of those included extra man protection, not five men blocking, but at least six.

There were a couple of max protects where they had seven or eight blocking. There were really, by my count, like six pure dropbacks with just five-man protections. So that's a little bit different than what we've seen in recent weeks. There was a real emphasis on making sure that nine sacks, 15 hits, and 27 hurries didn't decide the game yesterday. Great job by Eric Bienemy. Nine times last week beaten to a pulp. He got sacked five times. Don't get me wrong yesterday.

but it was a completely different approach, the quick game, the screens, the sprint outs, the extra man protections, and they were successful on all of that stuff, moving the ball through the air. Yesterday, by far and away, was the best day of the season for Eric Bienemy, and I thought Denver was good too.

Philly again, easier maybe to attack through the air than Buffalo for sure, but this was a big step forward for being. Enemy and the offense from last week. I also wanted to emphasize I loved how they came out looking to get the ball to Terry McClorn in a matchup that's been favorable for him in recent years. A plus for Eric B. Enemy. Next up on the list of things that I liked, Sam How. I mean, what a difference a week makes. And again, a lot of credit goes to Eric B. Enemy. We'll start with this. there were no turnovers. I mean, four interceptions last week, zero turnovers this week.

There was a bad decision in the red zone in the first half on a first and goal from the one where it could have been an interception in the end zone, and that would have been devastating. It was not a good decision by Sam. You know, there was a deep ball that I thought was off to Diami Brown. But really, overall, I mean, you know, some of the things. the sacks were probably on him. Let me just say that, where, you know, he hit that backstep and then held it a little bit too long. But he was sharp throwing the football. He was decisive. He had, you know, again, a lot of help with the game that was being called. But if you give him the ability to get it out quickly to receivers who are open and they were yesterday, it is there and on time.

You give him time and lanes to throw and drop back. He can do that. And, you know, Of course, he is pretty good with the off-schedule stuff. You know, that's really impactful for the team when he's able to go off schedule. He's not super fast or super athletic, but he's a good runner. And he has a really good feel and vision. I think even more than all of that, because some of that stuff we've known and it was on display yesterday, like he obviously can throw the football. This is not, you know, we don't have a nude-alarmed quarterback this year.

We have a guy that can make all the throws. We've got a guy that can play off schedule. We actually had that last year too with Taylor. But I think the thing that really impresses me through four games, he just doesn't get rattled at all. His memory is super short. Bad plays, and there weren't a lot of them yesterday, never seemed to result in him being skittish or nervous,

even last week. He just keeps coming. And that is a great quality in your starting quarterback. I made a list of the plays that I liked, and I've got eight of them right here. Let me go through them real quickly. I love the back shoulder throw to Terry on the opening drive. That's just a really good throw, and it got there in a hurry. I thought the throw to Logan Thomas on the second drive where Thomas took another big shot and a penalty.

I just thought that was such a great throw. He had pressure in his face. He was getting hit, and he delivered a dime. And that, by the way, was one of the six or so pure dropbacks with five-man protection. And he got hit, but he hung in there and made a great throw. The third play that I liked, I actually liked the decision in the red zone before the field goal in the first half not to force it on third and goal from the 12. Last week, third and 19 in field goal range, he makes a bad decision, takes points off the board. You can't do that this week.

He takes the easy over the middle to Dotson. He knows it's not going to score, but he knows on third and goal from the 12 in a 14-7 game. Why force something into the end zone that could get picked? And so he checks it down to Dotson, three points at 17 to 7. Excellent decision there. You know, progress. The fourth play that I loved. Third and two, fourth quarter down 2417.

It's the playoff schedule that he extends and then he finds Antonio Gibson at the last second. That's a huge play. And he does such a good job of kind of making the defense think that he may turn it up and run it, drawing the defense, and then at the last second flipping it to Gibson. He's able to make those plays. Five, I loved the third and seven scramble on the drive that they punted on in the fourth quarter when they were pinned deep on the Crowder, you know, fair catch that he didn't think he gave him the fair catch sign he did. they didn't get any points on that drive, but that was decisive, up the A gap. Love that.

Number six, the third and six to Diami, or to Curtis Samuel on the game tying drive in the fourth quarter with Brandon Graham, excuse me, pushing Wiley back into Sam and getting a hand in his face, big time throw. All right, 2417, you need it. And he delivers an absolute. perfect throw under, you know, real pressure situation. Game pressure situation and actual pressure. On the final drive, the fourth and two is brilliant. He's working the left side of the field and Terry gets mugged. I think it should have been called. Terry's on the ground.

He's not an option. He's got to come all the way back across the field. Create more time by extending the play as he moves out of the pocket to his right and he finds Diami Brown for a completion and a first down. I mean, phenomenal play, game-saving play. The touchdown pass on the last play of regulations, the last on my list of my top, you know, my favorite plays from Sam yesterday. He had more. He had more than just that. But that's just an incredible play. I mean, four verts, you know, four vertical routes, as coolly calls him into the end zone.

They kept some pass protection, extra pass protection in. He picks Dotson and puts it pretty much in the only spot he can. It's a great throw. It's a great catch. Just, you know, eight, those are my eight favorite plays, kind of in chronological order, but he had a lot of others in the game as well. The bad plays, he got away with the bad decision on the first and goal,

on their second drive. It's first and goal at the one. You got to throw that ball away or eat it. he's very lucky that that ball wasn't picked, held on to it too long. As I mentioned, there was a deep shot to Diami Brown that wasn't well thrown. People thought that that was past interference. I didn't necessarily think that. By the way, first and 10 with him under center, they go max protect three times in the game

looking for shots. I think they took two, and the other time he checked it down. Just something to keep in mind as sort of a trend for the them when he's not under center a lot. And if he is, it's usually on first down. And it seems like they're going to go play action and look to take a deep shot, whether or not they take one or not is a different question. The worst play of the game for Sam, from my standpoint, because it's situational awareness a little bit, is the play before the touchdown passed to Dotson on the final play from regulation. The next to last play, you can't throw that ball to Curtis Samuel.

That is game over if he catches it. That's got to be we're going to extend the play and let people get open in the end zone or what it was on the next play, a throw into the end zone on schedule. You can't throw the ball short of the goal line. And Samuel, by the way, is bracketed. He's nearly doubled. He's not going to get anywhere near it. I know Sam is pressured and you'd rather get a throw off and get sacked.

understood. But with five seconds left, you're probably thinking that's the last play anyway. It turns out it wasn't. And I don't think Samuel, by the way, somebody suggested to me on Twitter that Samuel dropped it on purpose. I don't think so. It was a tough catch to make for starters. But I think he was trying to make it. It was just well covered. If he makes the catch, it's game over. They lose 31 to 24. Can't make that throw in that spot. I got to create off schedule if you've got nothing and try to, you know, give your guys time. But he was being pressured a little bit in the A gap, and, you know, that's just, that was a tough, tough one. But look, overall, you know, I just thought 29 of 41 for 290, a touchdown, no interceptions. He had 40 yards on scramble. Some of his runs were outstanding.

This was an A for Sam Howell. Second A I've given him this year. I gave him an A minus against Denver. I'm giving him an A against the Eagles. on the road, and this was by far and away, for me, the best start to finish game of the four that he has started. So there you go. A plus for B enemy, A for Sam Howell. Also on the list of things that I liked from the game, Terry McClorn, outstanding, eight catches, 86 yards on 10 targets, and one of the catches that wasn't was the overtime throw, more on that in a bit. But he also

recovered the fumble in the end zone for the second touchdown when Robinson fumbled it going in. I thought Logan Thomas was outstanding, and I also know that he's very important to this offense into Sam Hall and to Eric Bienemy and to Ron Rivera. This team is better with Logan Thomas on the field. I promise you that. They thought that all offseason, and I think you saw some of that yesterday. Three catches, 41 yards, took another big hit. The quarterback sneak, they use him in that situation. That's their version, I guess, of the tush push or brotherly shove or whatever it's being called these days.

But he was really good in the game. He just has a super high football IQ. I liked Logan Thomas in the game yesterday. I liked all of the receivers in the game yesterday. I think everybody offensively in terms of the skill positions had good games. I thought Diami Brown had a big time game. I thought Samuel was really good. I thought Pringle gave him a little bit something,

although I thought he stopped a little bit or slowed up a little bit on that one bomb. I thought Robinson Jr. had some big runs. I think Gibson had a big run or two. Certainly had one big run and had a catch and a run on a checkdown. Yeah, I mean, I think all of those players stood out from a positive standpoint. This probably isn't going to thrill a lot of you, but I thought the pass rush pressure was decent, especially at times in the first half.

I thought Chase Young made some plays, and then I thought there were some times where he may have been out of position on even some runs, maybe the swift touchdown run, although I can't really decipher who was at fault there. He got a little bit too far up field, I thought, on that run. But I thought you saw some pressures from him, from Allen, from Sussbaum,

from sweat. I really think Washington's secondary is what struggled the most, although I thought, you know, I thought St. Juiced in particular was really good. And, you know, Fuller continues to play, I think, pretty well. Forbes was the problem. I think they had problems in coverage, period. But the one player on the positive out of the secondary that continues to play well is Benjamin

St. All right. So on the list of things that I didn't like, I think coverage is a problem, and Emmanuel Forbes had a rough day. There's no other way to put it. A.J. Brown's really good, but Forbes had a very difficult day. And I think just coverage in general has been a problem. I may see more when I look at it again. Cooley will probably be able to help. It's one of the things I'll ask him to do film breakdown wise. But a lot of it really, too, is just that Hurts and A.J. Brown and Devante Smith and that offensive line, they're good. You know, they are good. I know there was some discussion last week. Logan Paulson told me on the radio station, and I'm not saying he was wrong in terms of the approach, that the way to beat him was to make Jalen Hertz beat you from the pocket. Yeah, okay, it's probably better than getting run to death for 275 yards. But Jalen Hertz can beat you from the pocket. He did it several times last. year. He's good and he's got a great offensive line in front of them and terrific receivers.

Look, good offense, Trump's good defense. We've been talking about that for a few years now. So this is, you're not going to be, you're not going to hold teams to, you know, 13 points and, you know, 210 yards each week. They were good on third down defense, held Philly to four for 12. on third down. They improved from that standpoint from last week. I thought their pass rush at times was pretty good. The numbers may not bear it out. They had three sacks, I think, in the game. And overall, what was it, 10, maybe eight or nine hits and 11 or 12 pressures, something like that. But I think the secondary is a big part of why they've given up some plays. the opponents have had something to do with that. Last week, Josh Allen and Steph Diggs,

this week Jalen Hertz with A.J. Brown, etc. Also on the list of things I didn't like, Tress Way killed him yesterday. I hate to say that he's been on the list of things that I've liked for like nine years running or whatever it's been. But that 29-yard punt in overtime was an absolute killer. Killer. It gave Philadelphia field position from their own 41. Some of his other punts set up opportunities, good opportunities for Britt Coving. in the return game, and he is a good returner, and he had a good day returning kicks. But Tressaway heard him with his punch yesterday, especially the one in overtime. I did not like the coverage on the 3rd and 17 in overtime.

Now, Del Rio came with six pass rushers. He wanted to come after him, and they blocked it up well, and Hertz got it out quickly. The coverage was too deep, and it allowed for, it was deep, whether or not it was called deep, who knows. But they had four guys basically back there at the 35-yard line. It was third and 17. From where they were, it was a 62, 63-yard field goal. And this guy has 60-yard leg strength, and they got nine yards on that play.

And that was unfortunate. I did not like the coverage on that play. I thought some of the penalties were hurtful in the game. I thought Sam Cosme struggled against Fletcher-Coxin, particular. I thought Andrew Wiley had another rough game. That kind of completes the list of things that I didn't like and you didn't hear me talk about the two-point conversion. So let's get to that in my other observations on the game. So the first thing is that I didn't love Ron Rivera's answer in the press conference. If you missed it, this was Ron Rivera talking about why he decided

to kick instead of go for two. Any consideration there late going to? them for two? Yeah, but you know what? Those guys, you know, they were gassed. They really were. I mean, it's a long-ass drive. They were hurrying. They're hustling. You know, I really thought, you know, we had the chance, you know, and that's too bad. I'm not going to kill Ron for his answer because he was lathered up. This was in the emotion of the moment post-game 10 minutes after the game ended. And we know Ron, he says a lot of things. I mean, remember, remember, when they went for the two in the Meadowlands in 2020 with Kyle Allen a quarterback, he said he had a philosophy that going for two on the road was the right play, kicking at home

was the right play. Well, so much for that philosophy yesterday because I do think they were on the road. I think that's a dumb philosophy anyway, because my overall, you know, feeling about all of this stuff is there is math, there is probabilities based on historicals, all of the, you know, analytics stuff with air quotes, but there's in context reality and all of it should be considered. In context reality is as important as anything else. And by the way, the math says over the last 10 years, 48.4% conversion rate. So it's less than 50-50 historically. Washington's got one two-point conversion this year. Remember, it came from the one-yard line after Logan Thomas got hit on that touchdown catch in Denver.

But anyway, the answer to the question isn't about his guys getting gassed because the other guys were gassed, too, I would imagine. The answer is, we thought this gave us the best opportunity to win the game. We thought kicking the extra point in that game yesterday, in that situation, gave us the best chance to win the game. Next question. Now, as far as the decision itself, I didn't have a problem with it, and I'm going to explain why. I wouldn't have had a problem with them going for two, assuming that they had a really good play. Look, they should have had two to three two-point conversion plays heading into that game that they felt really good about. And there should have been some conversation during that last drive about what do you want to do if we score here between he and EB?

Like, will these plays that we really have confidence in? Are they still going to work based on what's happened today? That kind of thing. So hopefully there was a sense of what they were going to do when they scored on that final play of the game rather than just winging it in the moment. You'd like to think that anyway. You know, rather than it just being kind of a gut feel.

But the reason, again, either decision in that moment, I wouldn't have criticized, okay? Here's why in the moment I felt like kicking it, made sense to me. Number one is I didn't feel like this was a game where Washington was such an inferior opponent that this was the best chance to pull off the upset one play rather than an extended overtime format. You know, that game yesterday, Philadelphia is a better team, but that game yesterday was played by two evenly matched teams on that day in Philadelphia. Yesterday, Washington was as good as Philadelphia was. And I just felt like when we got to the end of that game,

I didn't think that they were at a disadvantage going to overtime with more football. And so the idea that sometimes you'll go for two if you're the lesser team and what the hell let's decide it on one play rather than more plays, I didn't feel like the more plays was a disadvantage. Number two, and this was the biggest reason for me in the moment, I didn't like the condensed field. I thought Washington's best plays of the day were plays, by space, by throwing the football against Philadelphia's weakness, which was their secondary yesterday, with a lot of room, a lot of space. And I think that the biggest advantage they had offensively all day was nullified by the condensed field. And so those were the two primary

reasons. I was okay with them kicking it. Again, I didn't think that one play, a slightly less than 50-50 play was their best chance to win. I thought they had a really good chance to win it in overtime because I thought that these two teams were dead even and they had a chance to get a stop if they lost the coin toss and if they won the coin toss, they would have a chance to move down the field and score points even if it was a field goal that would have put them in a 10-minute overtime. They would have given them the advantage and would have put it into a spot where a top was not the worst case. They could have lost. Philadelphia could have come down and scored a touchdown, but I just felt good about their chances in overtime. I didn't feel like it was a no-chancer.

And at the same time, I didn't like the prospects of a two-yard play in that situation. I didn't. So I was okay with them kicking. It was all about the game that I was watching more than anything else. And I thought that the decision was fine. Again, if they've gone for two, no problem. So that's where I was yesterday. I just am not into this, well, you don't understand the math. You don't understand two-point analytics. I do. I totally do.

And all of that information is important. The math and the score math is important and, you know, two-point and fourth down and all that stuff. But there is another piece of information that is equally important to me. And that is what is happening in reality. What is the context for all of this? You know, the more information you have, the better decisions you can make. If you just base it on historical math or even your own team's historical math,

which it isn't that good recently with two-point conversions, even though it wasn't the same quarterback, wasn't the same offensive coordinator. But for those of you that say they had all the momentum, they had the other team gassed, they couldn't be stopped, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know. He still got sacked five times in the game. And it was going to have to be something quick. I guess they could have considered run, and maybe they had an outstanding two-point play,

that they were convinced would work against the defense that they would expect to see. But they didn't, clearly, because they would have used it had they had one. Other things real quickly before we get to Cooley, Philly's two-point conversion was huge in the game. It was caused by Montez Sweets roughing the passer call on that touchdown that made it 19 to 17, Philadelphia. I thought that was a bullshit call. He barely grazed Jalen Hertz. We've seen, you know, less called.

I know we have in the protection of the quarterback. I just didn't think that was roughing. And that was a crucial two-point play. Now, the way the game would have played out, Philadelphia, you know, had they kicked because there wasn't a roughing the pass or it's 20 to 17. Washington would have, then they would have, you know, had a field goal attempt to get it to 23 to 17. Washington would have scored to go of 24-23. And then when Philly scored that touchdown at 24-23,

they would have gone for two. So it would have either been 29-24 at the end of the game on the Dotson touchdown pass from Hal or it would have been 3124 anyway. But anyway, that was a big call in the game. Big call in the game. The Terry catch, no catch. My personal view was watching it live.

It was not going to be overturned by replay. if it had been called a catch in the game, if it had been called a catch as in the call on the field, excuse me, I don't think that would have been overturned either. Philly's end of first half-clock management cost them an opportunity at a touchdown. The play to Devante Smith that eventually got reviewed and was upheld, I thought, rightly so. Ron used a timeout, but 20 seconds after the play ended. Philadelphia had a time out to use. They should have used it there. They would have had 37, 38, 39 seconds, and they would have had a much better chance to get more than

three at the end of the half. The intentional grounding play, I forget if I've mentioned it already, I thought that was a terrible call that went against Philadelphia. They ended up getting in field goal range anyway, but I just think that's a miscommunication. He's not pressured in the pocket in that situation. He's not unloading it to avoid a sack. I thought that was a bad intentional grounding all. I really did. And what else? We've covered the Curtis Samuel play before the Dotson play. You know, Philly certainly had their opportunity for a walk-off at the end of regulation. Yeah, I'll probably have more tomorrow after I watch the game again. But I do want to get to Chris, and I don't want this to get too long, and I want to get it out. So there you go. There's my game

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Mention my name. They'll take good care of you. Buy two, get too free with no limit, no money down, no payments, no interest for two years. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. Tell them that Kevin Sheehan sent you. Cooley up next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. their last breath. It's Jahan Dobson. And now the decision, do you go to overtime or do you go for two? What a throw, what a catch, what a game it was yesterday. How to Dotson on the final play of regulation. Cooley is with us before we get to Chris. Football season is here. And if you're looking for a spot to watch your favorite teams battle it out. head to Do South Doxide in Navy Yard right on the Capitol Riverfront Boardwalk. It's also right near the bullpen. That's another place to go to watch games.

But Do South Doxide, Stock Bar, Draft Beer, a menu full of Do South House-smoked barbecue favorites. Their barbecue is excellent, guys. Their waterside location is the perfect place to gather all season long or to host your next event. Come on down, do the queue. at Dues South. Menus and more at Duesouth, DC.com. And again, I've mentioned this on previous shows. If you're looking for a place to watch games outdoors, the bullpen right next to Nats Park,

they've got football all weekend long, all the Major League Baseball playoff games as well. You can find out more about that chance to take advantage of the beautiful weather at the Bullpen, DC.com. All right, coolies with us. I'll just start with this. You watched the game. Tell me what you thought.

Such a better game offensively. I mean, realistically, it's a better game defensively as well. But B. Enemy does a phenomenal job getting a young quarterback going in this game, keeping a young quarterback going in the game, changing the spot, changing location of the pocket, mixing in more run. It was literally everything we talked about last Wednesday, where we're saying you can't just drop a young quarterback into the pocket. leave him in the same spot and let him fend for himself.

They distribute the ball much better again, a lot like Denver where McCormor's got a bunch of receptions. Samuel has a bunch of receptions. Dawson's got, I think, three or four, four receptions. And it was a consistent job moving the ball. They converted on third down. They played a great game against a really good football team. And ultimately come up like,

A tiny bit short. I don't know if I go for it at the end of regulation in that situation. Would we say 48% on the road? All right. So quarterback, I gave you 32%. But, like, realistically, much better defensively getting them off the field. They gave up some plays. You know, they gave up some plays.

And they had guys in tough spots. Like Forbes is in a tough spot. The entire game covering Brown. And I thought really stood up and did a good job for a young player. So to me, it's an excellent game. A huge bummer to not come out with a win, but it's an excellent game against a good team. Okay, so a couple of things there. Number one, when you said they got them off the field, they were much better this week than they were last week on third down people. That's what he's

referring to. They got Philadelphia off the field four of 12 on third down. They gave up some fourth downs, obviously. I thought personally Forbes really was picked on a little bit, but by a really good quarterback and a really good receiving group, A.J. Brown in particular, that's a tough matchup for anybody. But let's get to the two-point conversion because you haven't heard my take on it yet. I'll just tell you, I was okay with the decision not to go for two. For multiple reasons. Number one, I didn't feel like this was a game in which Washington was just lucky to be there. So take your swing on one play to try to pull off the upset. I think in context, they were every bit as good as Philadelphia was yesterday,

and I didn't feel like they'd be at a disadvantage going to overtime. Number two is I think they did most of their damage in space. I thought Philly's Achilles' heel was their secondary, and I think that's going to be something to watch all year long. I don't think they run very well. Washington's receivers were open. Quick game didn't matter. They were moving the football, and I felt,

like on a condensed field, it took away that advantage that Washington had. And then thirdly, for everybody that struggles with some of the math that thinks that going for two is like, you know, an 80-20 or a 70-30 play, no. Over the last 10 years, it's a 48.4% play. And with Washington, it hasn't been that good in recent years, albeit with a different offensive coordinator and quarterback. But the two-point conversion that they did make, year. Remember, it was after the penalty against Denver, and they were starting from the one-yard line against a much worse defense, too. So those were my reasons, but I didn't really, if they had gone for two, I wouldn't have had an issue with it, Cooley. But your position was you were okay

with it too because? Well, I'm okay with it because also context of the game. I think I would have been okay with going for two just the same. It's one of those weird deals because you tie the game up and you call tails and win the top. And you're like, okay, well, offense to move the ball, offense is hot. By the way, Terry McCorrent catches that ball. That's a catch. Terrible angles on the 3rd and 5 where he steps on blanket ships arm. Yeah.

But when he steps on Blankenship's arm, his foot, the arm is the ground. It feels like it. I realize it's not. But in the one side angle, you can see green between the line. You can? And his foot. You can see. I felt like I could see green.

I think that's an unbelievable catch. I think he gets his foot down. I'd love to know what Siriani said to him on the sideline when he went over and chatted with Terry right before the Eagles took possession right before the punt. But I think that's a catch. I think he moves the sticks. Well, I think the call on the field was the crucial part of that, because if they call the catch on the field...

I understand the call on the field. I just dislike that the call on the field has to override the possibility that maybe we should really, really decide. Is this a catch or not a catch? I wonder if in the Super Bowl or a playoff game with more cameras, that, you know, you could have, you know, enhance the frames or whatever and seen an actual blade of grass

between his toe, which is on top of a forearm, and the white. I thought there was one camera angle that clearly showed the toe was touching some white. I've seen some of the other pictures, but I... That was from the back side. Okay.

I don't know. I thought... catch in a great throw. And you know I'm non-biased situation right now. But you also like Terry a lot. Had nothing to do with my thought of whether or not it was a catch. I thought it was a catch. By the way, how unfortunate it's 100% a catch if Blankenship doesn't get his arm under his

foot. Well, that's true. I mean, it was flukish the way that play ended. Yeah, it's, but back to the two-point conversion. So it sounds like you and you and I agree, but I'm just curious. as to what you thought in that moment? Well, I thought in the moment, it's Ron Rivera, and Ron Rivera on the road,

tie game is going for two at the end of the game. Down one. Yeah, down one, yeah. Or yes, right. Instead of tying the game, his MO is to go for two. I think young quarterback one play, I'd rather just, I'd rather play it into overtime. Personally, I would have played it into overtime. so I didn't mind the call, but I also don't hate the go-for-it situation with the way you're playing right now.

I thought they were playing good ball. They had a ton of momentum. I mean, what a play. Yeah, the goal line by Dotson on that little end, on that little digging out. Unbelievable throw. And I don't think you lose momentum. I think you carry that momentum into overtime. Did you hear Ron's explanation?

No. he first of all he was pretty lathered up it's 15 10 minutes after the game he's you know one of the first questions he's asked is he's asked about that and he said i just felt like my guys were a little gassed in that moment yeah that's fine as an explanation but so silly exactly there's that i don't i don't think i mean i'm not killing him for that because i think he's iranjus sometimes talks. Remember, in New York back in 2020, Cooley, Kyle Allen's quarterbacking, and he said, I have a philosophy that you go for two on the road, you kick it home, which I also think is kind of dumb, because I think context is everything, in-game context. It's not everything, but it's a big part of it.

And so whether that's on the road or at home, it can, you know, there can be reasons why you decide that that philosophy doesn't work today. I just don't like the answer. I think the answer, and I talked about this in the open, we thought kicking gave us the best chance to win the game. We thought going to overtime was our best chance to win the game and we didn't want to roll the dice on one play. We thought we were going to win the game in overtime, period. That's the answer.

I mean, you know, let... That is the answer. That's exactly what they thought. They didn't want to risk it on one play. Yeah, let the nerds hammer out that it's all about math all they want. But he can say, you know, in context, in that situation, Eric and I discussed it. We felt like going to overtime gave us our best chance to win the game,

and we didn't want to risk it on one play. So next question. But he didn't answer it that way. He said his guys were gassed. So there you go. There you go. They got a hell of a break, I thought, in overtime, too. I did not think that the hurts throw down the middle was intentional ground.

Me neither. I thought it was a clear and defined miscommunication. between his receiver and what he was doing. I don't think it had anything to do with the pressure. He could see that they were all out. Literally, after the plague, he regives the signal to Brown. If it wasn't a Brown that he was trying to throw it to. Yeah, I think it was.

He would give the signal that he was intended. I mean, that was a big break. Huge. It was also a big break that Curtis Samuel didn't catch the pass before the Dotson touchdown pass. because the game ends at the two-yard line. That was a weird deal that you're throwing that in. I mean, I understand, hey, let's get one off as fast as we can

if we can get it in the end zone and try to get it in four seconds, which is bare bones minimum. Like, that's the only, like, I didn't like that. I didn't like that throw it all. No, it's funny because when the play ended, I just figured the game was over because it started with five seconds to go. But then you saw one second. They actually put an extra second back on the clock, I think. That's a bad decision there.

Like, I think, I don't think you're assuming, well, first of all, you can't assume two plays if you're not going to throw it into the end zone. Because if it gets stopped short of the end zone, the game ends, which is what nearly happened on that play. I think, you know, you have to assume with five seconds that that's going to be your final play. And you, you, I mean, it's a throw into the end zone like what happened on the next play. Or it's Sam, you got to create time, extend, extend, extend until we can get guys into the end zone and get somebody open. Yeah, the only throw you have is like a back shoulder fade on the goal line. And that I would still want to sit at the facility with the stopwatch and time it about 20 times. and go, yeah, this is a four-second play.

Right. And the back shoulder to throw to the goal line is, if there's a shot, you give him a shot. If it's dead, you sail it. Yeah, quickly. But that's, you don't throw a ball to the two. Uh-uh. He's diving, sliding.

Honestly, I think he thought the ball was going to make it to the end of. I think he thought he was throwing it into the end of. I don't think that, obviously, Kev, there's no way they're going, let's see if we can get it down to the two-yard line here. Right. And speaking of breaks, I mean, how about the taunting call that puts them on the 36-yard line to start the drive? I mean. Another break.

They had a lot of breaks late in the game. That was a tough taunting call. Those two have been back and forth all day. I don't know what he said, but he really just set the ball down next door. Yeah, but it was stupid, and it really was huge for that last drive. And I agree with you. I think Washington probably got more breaks along the way. I haven't added them up,

but it seemed like there were a couple of third down conversions early in the game on some tic-y-tack defensive calls. But at the same time, like the fourth and one in overtime, that ref is barely even cleared, and they snapped the ball. Philly was off sides, but I think Washington was too. And then, you know, the Terry play is obviously a bad, you know, is unlucky in overtime. But yeah, look, I'll give you a terrible call in the game.

I mentioned this in my game take. The two-point conversion that Philly made to go up 2117 instead of kicking to make it 2017 was on a Montez sweat roughing the passer penalty on that touchdown. I thought that was a terrible call. That was barely a graze. I mean, we've seen some of that call, but I just didn't think. that that was roughing, and it gave Philadelphia the option to go for two, and that extra point on that two-point conversion was huge in the game.

I mean, it would have been 23-17 when they took to – now, Philly, when they scored, would have gone for two and maybe gotten it to 31 anyway. But anyway, that was a big play. But also, I mean, it changes the dynamic quickly. You mentioned the fourth and one where they barely get the ball the ball of the way. when you know they're going to do that thing that they do with the rugby-style deal, you can't try to jump over the pile. I think it's Cody Barton that's trying to dive over the pile.

Yeah. You're like, guy, you're not, what are you doing? Everybody's got to, it's a rugby-style deal. It's basically opposite tug-of-war. 11 dudes to push the other way. It was a long one. That, to me, was a massive play. You know, taking the shot to Brown,

where they give that up to give up the touchdown, to make it 34-20? That cost them a ton. Well, that was a break, though, Corey. That was a break, though. They were close to walking the game off with a field goal. I mean, it was second and four. That touchdown may have been the blessing in discuss.

guys because... It very well may have. Because I think they had one time out left. Best case is you stop them and you get the ball back with about 50-some seconds left needing a field goal to force overtime. But if they get one more first down, they're going to walk the game off with a field goal. So... Yeah, a good point, unless you find a way to get a stop.

And on the flip side of it is if they end up just getting a field goal, Washington has a chance to go down and score, but the same type of drive, they're just going to kick it and tie it anyway, 27-27. I didn't ask you this last week. I don't like the tush push or the brotherly shove play. I don't, I think that they're going to, I think they're going to rule this out of the game for next year. And I think there's an easy way to do it.

Have you given it any thought? Washington did it as well with Logan Thomas. Yeah, not as much of a push. I mean, look, Hertz is maybe the strongest quarterback lower body in the league. And he's doing it behind maybe the best offensive line in the league. I still think it's not – you called it a rugby play. That's what Jack Del Rio called it last week. He said, I don't think it's a football play.

I think it's a rugby play. But I have a way – go ahead. The problem is the ball snapped, and the quarterback is now running the ball. and forever in football, if a running back had the ball, an alignment could push him forward. Right. So are we going to make sure that anybody wants you start to get pushed in the back, forward, the play's dead.

No. Forward progress, backward progress. No. Are we going to call, you know what I'm saying? Are we going to start to call backward progress? Like, once his actual progress is stopped, one way or the other way, which would essentially have to go to. any runner, not just the quarterback, it would have to really account for any runner.

I've got the solution. You want to hear it? Let's hear it. The solution is that you're not allowed to push a runner from basically the line of scrimmage or behind it, period. So, and maybe it's a yard beyond the line of scrimmage because the quarterback actually, when he takes a snap, starts to get beyond the line of scrimmage. But you can't push a runner, any runner, behind the line at the line of scrimmage or behind it. It's a penalty. In front of the line of scrimmage, it's fine.

And keep in mind, offensive linemen can't be behind runners behind the line of scrimmage anyway. So you're only talking about quarterbacks and receivers pushing. Down the field, runners get in front of offensive linemen and sometimes get pushed. That's fine. But the penalty is you can't do it from the line of scrimmage backwards. Maybe it's a yard beyond the line of scrimmage just in case the quarterback.

Well, no, it's the line of scrimmage or behind it. Nope. You cannot aid a runner by pushing the runner from behind, period. What if you said anybody not on the line of scrimmage could not push the runner? Well, then... I.e., the running back can't line up at one yard and shove him in the back. But if an offensive lineman were to find a way to get behind him, which you could do, you could pull your tackle. If a lineman were able to get behind him, then it becomes a legal push.

But anybody that is not initially lined up on the line of scrimmage cannot push the quarterback. I like mine easier. I think it's easier to legislate. Actually, both are easy to legislate. I just don't think, I mean, when you talk about pulling a tackle, that's a double. that's a different play now. That's not what you're trying to outlaw. That's a completely different play. Because there's a delay between the snap.

I just don't like the play. I don't like the play. And it has nothing to do with it being the Eagles play. You know, a lot of teams are doing this. You're seeing it a lot in college now. I just, you know, I want to see runners. I want to see play call, I want to see play call, execution, individual skill and talent, you know, generate the result of the play.

And I kind of feel like... I'd sure like to see a defense stop it. They have. Not everyone ends up in successful play. No, I understand that. I don't know if I dislike it. I certainly don't think it's pretty. I don't think it adds to the real football.

But in the logistics of the game, there's really nothing illegal about it. I know, but you could make it illegal. You could make a lot of things You can do whatever you want with the game By the way, you know, pulling a runner is illegal. You're not allowed to take a runner that is behind you And pull him forward. And it's funny that that is a rule that they put in like two or three years ago

Because there was a big play where basically a runner was dead And the offensive lineman was in front of him And he took his jersey and pulled him into the end zone. You're not allowed to do that anymore. If you go back and you look at Brian Robinson's fourth down run on the first drive of the game where they scored a touchdown, Sadiq Charles number 77 actually pulls them a little bit. And then you see them back up real quickly like I wouldn't pulling them. But anyway, enough about that.

Why a lot of people today feel like defensively they aren't as good as they've been. been billed. They gave up yards. They gave up points yesterday. You know, last week I pointed out a lot of those points were, you know, generated because the offense turned the ball over five times. But they've also played two excellent teams in a row. But do you see, you said something the last two weeks in film breakdown that I don't think anybody really picked up on or went with, but I think you may be right. But based on yesterday, what were the problems? defensively? One, they're not playing great gaps down defense.

And I'll be excited to watch this one. I watched some of it going back a week to a Buffalo game. And Cheong is not playing very good. Playing very well. Chase Young is somewhat of a problem on that side with Jonathan Allen. He seems like he's doing his own thing. So to me, that's somewhat of an issue. Two, although he did what, he had a sack in this game, one sacks or whatever.

He's got three sacks and three games, and he had a few pressures yesterday, too. But yeah, at times he looks to be a little bit out of what they probably want him to be doing. It's really like he's aloof to what they're actually doing on the defensive side of the boss. It's not a good player. I mean, he's a freak athletically. He's still not the guy that I saw two years ago or three years ago before the knee surgery. I just don't think he's enough of a freak. Like if you turn to LeVar loose in his second or third year and just said, look, we'll live with it because he's just unstoppable.

I don't think that's Chase Young. But I don't think he's having great success. I think that they're struggling underneath with their linebacking group. Like Cody Barton, to me, is a guy that's having some problems. Damon Davis is a guy that I don't think is always consistent. And by the way, speaking of Jamie Davis, we didn't even mention this. They're like second 11 at 50 in overtime. And he's got an easy opportunity to have a tackle for like a two to three, maybe a four-yard gain.

And he is nowhere near making that tackle. It was DeAndre Swift, who ends up running for 11 yards, and Cameron Curl ends up tackling by the sideline. By the way, it played really well in this game, I thought. But they're struggling at the linebacker group. They're struggling underneath. They play a lot of cover fours, so they play a lot of three underneath, where you're playing Curl, Davis Barton,

or any three underneath and four over the top. I just think it's not consistent enough in the back end, but I also think it starts with that linebacking group. Well, I thought yesterday for the first time this year that what you said, you said something in the Denver game and you said something after the game last week. You said they're not as, they're not that good in the back end. And I thought yesterday they struggled in the back end. Now, they're playing excellent receivers, a quarterback who can absolutely beat you from the pocket. There's some discussion last week about he can't do that.

I disagree with that completely. And you played Josh Allen and Steph Diggs last week. But what I haven't been able to put my finger on is specifically why they are struggling in coverage at times. You said it going back to the Denver game. You said it last week in the Buffalo game. I thought Forbes really was a little bit targeted yesterday. Well, they played him all day over Brown. he's a rookie.

They're definitely going to target him. I think they probably should have found some ways to give him some help. I was impressed with what he did in terms of some of the plays were not. I mean, he contested a lot. No, I think it goes back to you just don't have anybody that's really good in the secondary. Like, I need Fuller's a better slot. We mentioned that week. I think he's okay outside.

I don't think there's anything special about him as an outside corner player. three or four. I don't think St. Juist is a slot. I think he's probably better outside. Like Forbes is a young dude. I like Curl. Curl can come up and make some plays, but I'm just not convinced

when you look across the board at the secondary that you have the guys. And you don't have the dudes. Like Darry's Ford, I struggle some. The Juist has been struggling. I like St. Juice. I like St. Juice.

I do, too, but I like St. Juice ten times more when he played outside last year. Okay. Yeah. I think we take a harder look at the secondary for Wednesday. I think so, too. But it also goes hand in hand with the fact that you're not getting dynamic pressures week in and week out in situations where you should be winning consistently up front. When I mean winning, I mean kicking the shit out of the office. offensive line because you're so good.

Like, you've paid pain, you've paid Allen, you've drafted first-round picks and sweat and Chase Young and you got so much invested into four dudes on defense to have to be dynamically better. And when I say that, I mean like a problem for everybody every week. How do we resolve this problem? The thing is, nobody seems to be that scared of them. everyone acknowledge they're good players. Every week you play them, they're like, man, they've got a good defensive line.

They'll mention the guys. But nobody really seems to be that scared of them that they have to change the way they play offensively. So far, nobody's had to come out of an offensive rhythm because of a destructive defensive line. So when you care that with a real average secondary, you're hoping that your secondary can jump things, can play things where they're they see it in front of them. They don't have to worry about stuff getting deep. You got more problems, more interior pressures, and you take some of the pressure off of that secondary.

But I haven't done that. I can't disagree with the idea that you, what you just expressed and what many have expressed to me, which is it's not that they're bad. It's that they're not dominating. And they got four defensive linemen that are first-round picks and everybody's raved about them. I have.

I certainly have raved about Duran Payne. I certainly have raved about him. And they're not dominating games. They dominated the, they took over the Arizona game, to be fair. They also took over the Denver game to a certain degree as well after the first part of that game. But I think, I don't know, I think Josh Allen and Steph Diggs, look what they did, do a pretty good Miami defense yesterday. The Eagles are pretty. capable offensively.

You could say they've got the best offensive line in the league. So we'll see how it plays out over a while. But it's not they need to do more. That's fair. That's fair. They need to do more. Especially if they're average

behind them. Yeah, what's the other thought? You're playing John Allen always to the side of Chishung. And it just doesn't seem to be the most complimentary partnership of the two and you're playing

Montes Sweat almost always exclusively with Dron Payne. Switch Allen and Payne. That's what happens. I still think the plays that Chase Young would seem to be you know, inside that building

that there's probably problems with are the plays that Duran Payne's not going to help him at all anyway, unless you're saying that he... Well, the thing is, the thing is I don't think people have to double John Allen, especially in a pastoral situation. I think you have to really think hard about doubling pain. Which is not evens it all out across.

It evens it out across the board where like, hey, look, we got to pick either Chase or Montez, Duran or John, one of the, like we could double in certain situations. We'll put both guys that you really would think about having to double on the same side. And then let Montez and John work more of the stunt stuff, work more where they're probably getting single-up on both sides. And in theory, maybe you turn the center back to the Duran side more, and you create more one-on-on-one match-ups for John, and Duran's not going to win in a double-team in a past rest situation.

Duran will at times. So put Duran in that double-team situation, make them turn the center back, make them help chip with the back, and to me, I think you could flip-flop those two dudes and probably have some success with that. I would definitely think about that. I would think about St. Juice playing outside. I don't know.

They're not going to do that because Fuller's clearly the guy they want outside. Yeah. But I think you've got to make a couple tweaks. I mean, again, we've said it entirely defensively. It's a good defense. It's just there's no dominance. Oh, by the way, go find a way to get a turnover and you win the game. I know.

I know. I mean, that's the other thing is you can't just not turn people over ever. By the way, I'm not going to kill Jamin Davis in that second and 11 in overtime. DeAndre Swift is pretty damn good in the open field. And he just gives him one little wiggle and it holds them. That's not a missed tackle. I'm sitting here. Well, yeah, it sure is a mistackle.

I don't think it is. The fact that he didn't touch him probably makes it not going to the books as a mistackle. but it's a step and a missed tackle. He should have touched him. He'd have been all over him. He did touch him after Swift juked him and went by him. But anyway, here's one play that we haven't talked about. After the third and seven,

after what we both agree was a bad intentional grounding call. It's third and seven. It's third and 17. And you can't play soft and give up a field goal. A field goal ends the game. You know, it's not your typical third and 17 in the second quarter. Now, to be fair, and I didn't think this in the moment when I watched the game, but I went back and watched it again, he sends six after Hertz.

But the coverage is soft. It's a nine-yard gain, and now it's for this guy, Elliot, who can kick it from 60 easily, now it's 54. I didn't. You can't. Don't you have to give up, don't you almost have to play press coverage come after him, and if you give up a big one for a home run, so be it. Easy to say in hindsight, but.

Yeah, unless you have something that you love drawn up, that's a five-man pressure, but you're bringing four from one side, and you're really trying to put, you're also, you're also really trying not to let hurt scramble for 17, because he can. Right. So you've got to think about that aspect of it as well. but I'm with you you've got to play tighter on the back end of it

and get beat over the top or make him make an unbelievable throw over the top to pressure but you can't give the easy immediate throw when you bring six you got to take away the two-second throw or the three-second throw and you've got to make him push the ball down the field a little bit more

yeah I mean that thing's out quickly because everybody's running running short routes. And even though there's six pressures, because it's three-step boom, it's Devante Smith for nine yards field goal attempt. Yeah, I thought that was, I'm sitting there watching that game going. So they get the intentional grounding, like, what an unbelievable break. Right.

Just come up with anything short or incompletion or sack and they're punted away. They were in great spot right there. They may have sent them out there first. 62-yarder. If he throws incomplete, they may have attempted a 62-yarder. He's made, I think, a 61-yarder twice. They may have tried it, but you know what?

There would have been a lot of risk in trying it there. Because if you miss, Washington's one first down away from not even a first down away. I wouldn't have tried it there. They probably would have punted it. Now you're getting into that area. I would have punt. It was 58.

or less, I think I would have, I would, 50 maybe, maybe even 50, not, like 58 or less. Yeah, well. But I'm also looking at it going, okay, we punt the ball to the, anywhere from the 15 to 8-yard line. We have plenty of time if we get the ball back here to go down at score three. Pun it. Not a punnet it. I don't know.

I don't know the kicker that well. I know he's awesome. I mean, you know what I'm saying? and I just don't. Yeah. All right. What else? No, but really, that third down,

that third down getting nine yards is essentially the game. That's huge. Huge. I mean, I... I mean, that's a bummer way to lose a game, but really when you think about it, that's... That is what it is.

You know, that's a good football team. But Washington, when they've played their best this year, and you talk about two and a half quarters against Denver, and I think four quarters, certainly on offense against Philly, they're going to be a tough out for a lot of teams any given day. I mean, you can say that about a lot of NFL teams. I understand that. We saw the worst last week and we saw the best yesterday.

Unfortunately, they lost that game. It's really a shame. Can you imagine if they were three in one and tied for first? You know, they play Thursday night. They play Chicago Thursday night. Oh, Chicago's terrible. and Chicago's terrible. Yeah, but I've already put out the warning on that one.

The world's going to be on Washington. In Chicago, he had 300 yards passing in four touchdowns in three quarters before they gave it up in the fourth quarter to Denver. They played Denver. I know. Denver, yeah? Denver has to have the most given up pass yards of the first four weeks in the season ever. I'm going to look at pass defense.

numbers, just traditional pass defense numbers right now, because it's got to be bad for them. They're third worst in the league. Seattle and the Chargers are the worst, too, and yards giving up passing. But in terms of- So they're not the worst-datter? In terms of passer rating, they're the worst in the league by Miles. Minnesota is the next worst in the league. and then, by the way, it's Houston.

Look, how about the, this league is nuts, right? Arizona and Houston were by far and away the picks before the season to be the two worst teams in the league. Arizona has played really well, including yesterday at San Francisco. It was 21 to 16 at one point in the second half. And Jay was on the show with me Friday, Gruden, and he said, I really like Stroud, and I think this Houston team's much better than people even know.

yet. They beat the Steelers 30 to 6. They've beaten Jacksonville and Pittsburgh the last two weeks by a combined score of 67 to 23. We don't know anything about the NFL before the season starts. Nothing, except for Mahomes. That guy's really good. I think you know enough about 10 teams. Maybe. But I think there are 10 teams you don't know anything about. I think they're 25 you don't know anything about? I don't know if they're 25. I mean, do you think the Colts are dynamically good this year or bad? It's just going to be a team, you know? Do you think Jacksonville is just going to be team? I don't know. I thought Jackson would be a little better. All right. I want to find out who you bet yesterday, and we'll talk a little bit about some of the other games.

We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Who'd you have yesterday? Who'd you bet yesterday? Dude, I had San Francisco minus 15, and I don't know. if you watched the end of that game. I did. But San Francisco is going down to score with like a minute something left, minute 40. Yeah. And they get the first down. They get, Bertie gets three

first downs getting down the field, and they get down to the one yard line, and there was a penalty, right? They put them on the... Right. There was a holding on Arizona and put them on the one, and they ran it in. They had just enough time to not down it. So they run it in, and then they turn around and let Arizona go down the field. And Earth drops

a touchdown. Right in his hands. For anybody that had Arizona to come. I think they drop a touchdown on fourth down. Arizona's been, I mean, I mocked Josh Dobbs, and he's been really, really solid. By the way, Brock Purdy yesterday for those that didn't follow this, and I was going to do it around the NFL segment in the final segment, but I probably won't because I want to get this thing out.

Purdy was 20 of 21 in the game for 283 yards. 20 of 21. Awesome. on offense. I mean, McCaffrey, you know, does he ever get stopped for like one yard?

Not often. Yeah. He's really, really good. I had the dolphins outright for fun, not that I liked anything about it. That did not go well. I had Carolina plus four and a half,

and I'm done with Carolina. Done with them. You should have covered. I took the Broncos at half time to win out. Right. Did you? Yeah. What was the money?

What was the money line in that? 340. Oh, wow. I would have thought it would have been more. Weren't they down 287? 2814 is when I took him. Well, that took Houston outright. I took the jets with the points. Yeah, well, that was easy.

That was a major one-type public. Yeah. And I took the type, or, no, I took the Bengals outright just for fun. That went well. But something's wrong with Cincinnati. Joe Burroughs hurt or what is going on, but something that's absolutely wrong with Cincinnati. Tennessee was my biggest play yesterday, by far.

I loved Tennessee. I had Houston yesterday, too, but I really love Tennessee. Tennessee at home, and I have to tell you that, it was like I had Church, you remember Church, he's such a good friend, fantasy football guy with me every week during the football season, and he said, if you've got Derek Henry, he's done.

And with that, I was like, I'll take Tennessee and take the points on Sunday. But I also thought that Cincinnati didn't look great in their win on Monday night against the Rams. Burroughs not healthy. That's the issue more than anything else. He's just not right yet. But Derek Henry ran for 122 yards, threw a touchdown pass in the game. And Tennessee now has, you know, wins at home over the Chargers and Bengals. and a game they could have won against the Saints.

I actually think they're a good team. But let me just, I want to mention this, because this is going to wrap up the show today. I had the Jets last night. They were a smell test pick because the world was on Kansas City. And if you saw the end of that game, and I'm assuming you did, but for everybody else, a couple of things happened.

First of all, Zach Wilson actually played really well. And Justin Field, the two. quarterbacks that were basically, you know, buried as busts in the 2021 draft. I'm not saying that people are wrong, but it's just so funny how this league, when you try to make bold predictions, how quickly you can look like a fool. Because Zach Wilson played a very good game, and so did Justin Fields, even though they both fumbled in key stretches. But anyway, at the end of that game, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, there were two things to end the game. I don't know if this is even possible, but it happened coolly. When the Chiefs took over in Jets territory with seven minutes

and 24 seconds left in the game up 23 to 20 at the Jet 47 yard line, they never, the Jets never touched the ball. Kansas City never had to go for a fourth down or make a decision on a punt or a field goal. They ran all seven minutes and 24 seconds of the clock out with 15 plays that traveled 45 yards. I don't, I don't, I don't, I bet you can't find many occasions in the history of the NFL where you went 45 yards and 15 plays starting in the other team's territory. That, that's almost impossible to do. Now, the reason it happened is there were penalties that backed them up.

There was a sack that backed them up. And then there were five-yard defensive penalties that gave them automatic first downs. So they basically covered the same ground multiple times after going backwards. But that is so hard to do. I wonder if it's ever happened. But then the other part of this was, you know, and the whole world was watching last night because, of course, Taylor Swift was at the game. I was more interested in Blake lively.

I'm a big Blake lively fan. She was in the box with her husband, Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift as well. But Patrick Mahomes on a third and eight at the Jet 11-yard line, Under the two-minute warning, the Jets have no timeouts left. Patrick Mahomes drops back. He scrambles to the two-yard line, first down, slides in bounds, three knees later. All of the Jets plus the points tickets cash. And what is remarkable about that was the conversation afterwards.

Oh, the games are fixed, this and that. No, that's the right play by Patrick Mahomes. Okay? if he score, the only chance the Jets have, and it's a long-shot chance, don't get me wrong, is if he does score, they have no chance, and here's why, because you have to have the ball when you're losing to have a chance, and once he slid, they weren't going to get the ball, unless he fumbled the snap on the kneel-down play. But part of me is just, I love this, but I also realize Cooley,

this is before you started to pay attention to football as a non-player, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, it would have never occurred to a player. Or if it did, it would have been very, very seldom would it happen that a player would know that situation. They're up three. It's not like they're playing for the walk-off field goal. And they would have run right into the end zone for the touchdown. And they probably would have covered. Maybe the Jets would have come down and kicked a field goal for the cover. Who knows? Nowadays, man, most teams, there are a lot of teams that don't know,

but most teams and a lot of players understand in-game win probability. Nobody knows that better than Patrick Mahomes. But I just thought it was, it's interesting to see that happening so much more for people to understand it. And now you still get the dope. It'll say, oh, the game's fixed. I had the Chiefs Land 9. Should have covered.

No, that was the right. play by Patrick Mahomes and a big day a big big moment for a lot of sports books but anyway last thing now I'm gonna go they get the sauce gardener penalty on third and 20 yeah you didn't like that cold the jets end up picking off yeah it's a hold right yeah the hold occurs right at about the 30 yeah 32 33 yard line just make it the same as a pass interference. It's now the 10-yard penalty, third and 13 from the 30-yard line.

We've talked about this. From wherever it occurs, this is so stupid. Well, P.I. is an automatic first. This is not a 20-yard penalty. Yeah. I'm with you. It's a third and 20. The quarterback's going to throw it up somewhere anyway.

Hold on. Let's make sure we're an agreement on this. So I thought you and I have to discuss this before. I think it's a 10-year- year penalty replay third down. It's not an automatic first. I don't want to see an automatic first on third and 20. I think you call it, I don't think it's 10. I think you call it where the hold occurs. So if you're 30 yards downfield and hold before the ball's in the air, then it's a 30 yard penalty. Wherever the holding occurs, let's call the penalty. Same as PI. I know, but the

ball goes to where the PI occurred. It's just, it's a stupid deal. Yeah. I hate the third and 25-yard illegal contact, bailing him out and giving them a first down. I hate it. Yeah. Exactly. All right, Cam, thanks for having me on your show. All right. So for Wednesday, I think Hal, Bianami, and secondary. I love it. All right. Talk to you then. Thanks. See. All right. That is it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.