The Kevin Sheehan Show - Dallas Deep Dive w/Brad Sham

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

Kevin opened with an interesting take on Washington's 3rd down success and why it might not hold up. Longtime Dallas Cowboys radio play-by-play voice Brad Sham joined the show to talk about the state of the Cowboys heading into Sunday's showdown. Also, some wild college basketball numbers and a recap of Washington's 1991 Super Bowl team's game 30 years ago today.  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 Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. The show today is presented by Window Nation. December cold has arrived. That means higher energy bills, especially with natural gas prices continuing to rise. If you've got old windows and you've been thinking about new windows, act now. Call Windonation at 86690 Nation or go to WindowNation.com. They can help. And right now, you can get a house full of Windows. for just $99 a month and you'll get 50% off any style window, including Bose, Bays, Double Hung, and Sliders. Most of you know that I've been endorsing Window Nation for a long time. It's 12 years. I have complete faith that it will be a great experience for you. You can mention my name. They'll give you a free estimate, so there's no risk. You can do that estimate online if you don't

feel comfortable with them coming into your home. But this is a company trusted by over 100,000 homeowners, including me, many listeners, family members, and friends. Call them at 86690 Nation. Go to WindowNation.com. With the natural gas prices being so high, your energy bills are going to be really high this winter. If you've got old windows, call Window Nation today. Brad Sham, long time legendary play-by-play voice of the Dallas Cowboys, is going to be on the show today. I will certainly ask Brad about the feeling in Dallas about this game. And for a guy like Brad that's called so many of these games,

you know, to have a Washington Dallas game that's got some meaning for the first time in a long time, I wonder if they're excited down there. Also about the Dallas Cowboy team, look, they're getting healthier. You know, Randy Gregory's a possibility to play Sunday. It could be the first time this year. They've got Gregory Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence on the field at the same time. You've got Mari Cooper a couple of weeks removed from COVID. So they may be coming in here as healthy as they've been all year long.

But with that said, they're going to be facing a football team right now that is playing really well. Like they're playing to me like they are worthy of an NFC playoff spot. They look like an NFC playoff team right now. I'm excited about the game Sunday because I do think Washington's got a really good chance to win it. Of course, we'll be here on Monday after a 28-10 loss and four injuries and the season will feel like it could be over. But even a loss on Sunday, it certainly won't eliminate them. They're very much in the thick of the wild card race. Now, they do have to win this game on Sunday to stay in the division race.

Being three games back with four to go, they're not going to. contend for the NFC East and a home playoff game. But a win, wow, the pressure on the Cowboys at that point with Washington a game back on a roll. The Cowboys would have the Giants the following week and then Washington at home on the 26th. They still play the Cardinals the Cowboys do on January 2nd and then they close in Philadelphia. So Dallas can go a long way towards, you know, really having a strangle hold on the division by winning Sunday. But if they don't, then it gets really, really tight. And man, it makes the final four weeks of the season even more exciting. I think they can win the game. I think they will win the game. I really think that Washington right now is playing at a level

that isn't Tampa level. It's not Green Bay level in the NFC. I don't know if it's Arizona level or not. I'm not a huge believer in the Cardinals at this point, but I do think it's Dallas level from what we've seen in the last few weeks. I think it's Rams level based on what we've seen from the Rams in the last few weeks. And it's certainly the level of all of the six and six and five and seven teams in the NFC. That's where I want to start. Bill Barnwell, who writes for ESPN, writes super long stories. We've referenced them in the past. But he talked about and wrote a story about the NFC wild race right now to playoff berths.

You know, he starts off by writing the NFC is a beautiful, chaotic mess. The conference's top tier is about as orderly as it comes. Five teams with at least eight wins, including the four division leaders, and then you've got the eight and four Rams, who have a clear path to finishing no lower than fifth in the conference. Each of those five teams will enter week 14 with at least a 95-period. chance of making it to the postseason, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. The second tier, though, might as well be thrown into a spin cycle if you want to figure out

how things will shake out by week 18. Well, then he goes through the process of putting it into the spin cycle and shaking it out and predicting what it will look like after week 18, week 18 being the final week of the season. I would start with this. I'm not so convinced that the Rams are a lock to finish fifth, no worse than fifth in the conference. I think the Rams are struggling right now. I think they've got an injured quarterback who's got some back issues. Something's not right with the Rams right now. They won last Sunday over a terrible team, Jacksonville, but they had lost three games in a row and it gotten handled by the Titans and by the 49ers and two of them. And really, they never had a legit shot in that Packers game. They played the Cardinals on

Monday night. They have to play in Minnesota against the team that will still be fighting potentially for a wild card berth. They have to play at Baltimore on January 2nd, and then they close with the Niners. But anyway, let's assume that Barnwell is correct. And let's assume for a moment that Washington doesn't win the division. I think they've got a chance to win the division, and it'll really, really be enhanced with a win on Sunday. But the most likely path for Washington to the postseason is via the wild card route. And there are seven teams, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Minnesota, Carolina, and Atlanta,

all battling for those two spots, if you assume the Rams have the fifth spot. Washington right now has the sixth position, San Francisco has the seven position. Just as an FYI, not that I'm going to bore you with major tiebreaker scenarios, but Washington's conference record is going to really help them out because right now Washington has a five and two conference record and let's just assume that it's going to take nine wins that they win three of their final five well they would end up with an eight

and four conference record all of their remaining games or conference teams they're all division teams that they've got left so that will be a huge factor for them as you get into the nine and eights or even potentially an eight and nine scenario. Now, head-to-head will they own head-to-head two team tiebreakers with Carolina head-to-head and Atlanta head-to-head, but they would lose out to New Orleans head-to-head. Personally, I think the Saints stink. I don't think they're really in this conversation, although their next game is against the Jets, and they do have games against the Panthers and the Falcons, two teams fighting for this as well.

Anyway, Barnwell's conclusion, along with the ESPN football power index, is that San Francisco and Washington will snag the final two wild card spots. So I'm not going to go through why and what the numbers say with respect to their schedule. he's got Washington and San Francisco snagging those two spots. But there was something else from Barnwell's story that peaked my interest. He wrote extensively about these seven playoff potentials in the NFC and about recent trends and how they're playing and why they're playing well. In Washington's case, why they've won four games in a row. And he specifically cited two things.

He cited yards per drive, which is something I talked about last week, that their yards per drive was eighth in the league heading into the Raiders game. They were fifth in time of possession, yet they were only 20th in points per drive. Well, he said that only the Patriots and the Packers over the last four weeks over the last month are averaging more yards per drive. That's a good thing. If they can continue that, more likely than not their points per drive are going to increase. This is a really good way to stay in these games and have a chance to win them. And to be honest with you, I actually feel really confident that they're going to continue to move the football. Less confident that they

will end up scoring lots of touchdowns, but fairly confident that they're going to continue to move the football. And that's a good thing for them, their defense, the team. But the other thing that Barnwell wrote about sent me into a deep dive, I guess, sent me into this long rabbit hole of looking for data this morning. Bill Barnwell wrote back. after the seventh week of the season when Washington was two and five and had the worst third down defense in the league by miles. They still have actually for the season the worst third down defense, but they're closer to 31st than they've been, you know, in several weeks. Anyway, he wrote after week seven prior to the Denver game on October 31st. He wrote that Washington's third down

defense will improve, that the numbers that they are producing, which are awful numbers, are not sustainable, because their first and second down defense is really good. Barnwell said at the time that their first and second down defense ranked fourth in the NFL. So, you know, we kind of have this sense, I think, from those, you know, seven, eight games that they kept giving up third and longs. Well, they were. You know, each quarterback they faced was getting third and nines, third and tens,

third and 12s, third and 15s. over and over again. And Barnwell's point at the time was if you keep putting these teams into third and longs, you're going to start getting off the field more than you have been. It makes logical sense that if you're really good on first and second down and you keep creating third and longs, eventually you're going to get some stops. It's a lot easier to stop a team on third and ten than it is on third and two. But I thought about their third down defense over the last four weeks, which has improved. dramatically and Barnwell took credit for saying, you know, I told you after week seven that it was going to get better and it has. But what he didn't say was whether or not the first and second down defense, which was so great in the first seven weeks, fourth in the league, had remained as strong.

And the reason that I decided to go look at some of the third down numbers for Washington over these four weeks is because I kept thinking, man, they've had a lot of third and short stops. There haven't been a lot of third and longs. There have been a lot of third and ones that they've gotten off the field on, a lot of third and twos, which is, you know, to their credit. But it wouldn't be the reason that their third down defense improved if, you know, that their first and second down defense remains strong. So look, I can't tell you where their first and second down defense ranks right now. What I can tell you, after looking at every single third down over the last four games, there's no chance that it's fourth in the league

anymore. Their first and second down defense has gotten worse. Listen to these numbers. They have faced 39 third downs defensively. 24 of those third downs have been third and four and shorter. Only five of those 39 third downs have been third and eight or longer. In fact, of the 39 third downs, they have only faced or they've only put teams into position of third and 10 or longer three times. The Raiders had a third and 11. The Seahawks had a third and 10 and Carolina had a third and 10. It's not even third and double in long double digits. It's like third in 10, twice, third and 11 once.

There have been no third in 15s, third in 20s, third in 19s, third and 24s. None of those. They haven't faced or forced teams to try to convert on any of those. Third and four or shorter have been 24 of the 39 third downs that they have had to face defensively. So I don't have the numbers for the league, so I can't tell you how far their first and second down defense has dropped. But I just think it's very interesting that they had this great first and second down defense through the first seven weeks of the season but couldn't get off the field on third down, on third and long. And now their first and second down defense clearly isn't as good as it was, and they are getting off the field on third down. You know, Barnwell's logic would be, and it would make sense,

if teams still end up with majority third and four or shorter, then the third down numbers defensively aren't going to be as good moving forward. Anyway, I'm not sure if you followed that or not. I thought it was interesting. Netting it out, when they were horrible on third down, they were great on first and second down. Now that they're great on third down, they're not nearly as good on first and second down. But it does make sense, and Barnwell when he wrote it, you know, after week seven,

it makes sense that if you keep putting teams into third and long, your third down defense should be pretty good. And at the same time, if teams are having third and shorts all the time, it would seem practical that logical that your third down defense won't be that good. But it has been. But how long will it hold up? if they keep giving them third and four or shorter. We'll see. I thought that was interesting.

Net net, I think it's a pretty good football team right now. I think it's a pretty good football team, and I think a lot of it has to do with how efficient they've been on offense controlling the ball and controlling the clock. By the way, a couple of pieces of news on the football team this afternoon. Let me pull it up. Number one is that Logan Thomas is on injured reserve. That means he's done for the year.

You can't go on injured reserve, the three-week injured reserve twice. So while the news on Monday was good with respect to the ACL, and we don't know what the knee injury is, the team obviously put him on injured reserve, season-ending injured reserve, because there was damage to the knee. I'm sure we will find out in the coming days what that damage was. that's a big blow to them to not have potentially Logan Thomas back before the end of the year. So we went from at the end of the game thinking he was done for the year to then having this

brief hope that maybe he could come back at some point for them to now knowing he is done for the year. Also, Montez Sweat to the Reserve COVID-19 list today. He was scheduled or he was eligible to come off IR this week. and begin practice today after the fractured jaw. But Montes Sweat goes to the COVID-19 list, and I think Montes Sweat isn't vaccinated unless there's an update to that story, which means he will definitely miss Sunday's game

and would need to test a negative twice after, I think, a seven-day quarantine to be eligible for the next game. By the way, not practicing today. Landon Collins, Jamon Davis, J.D. McKissick, and West Schweitzer. John Allen was limited, but that's good news because Alan was banged up with a groin injury Sunday and only played on 53% of the snaps. They need him badly on Sunday. They need him down the stretch. He's been their best player defensively. I think he's been the best player on the team.

It does appear as if McKissick and Collins were working off to the side. Jamon Davis had a concussion, by the way. That's what their, reason he didn't practice today. McKissick and Allen, I want completely healthy on Sunday. Those are two players that I think will be critical here down the stretch. All right. Up next, Brad Sham, the longtime play-by-play radio voice for the Dallas Cowboys. We'll get to him right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

All right, let's welcome on to the show, Brad Sham, long-time Dallas Cowboys play-by-play voice. He's been with the team in the booth for all of the big games between these two franchises over the years, going back a long way. And I want to get into, you know, where you think the Cowboys are right now and what you think about the matchup. But, you know, this is for us, Brad, suddenly a game. You know, a month ago, we thought this season was over. We've had all of the franchise issues of the last year and a half. We don't have a name right now. And I will tell you that for the first time in several years it feels like, and they were in a playoff game last year, it feels like this game is one of the biggest home games they've had in a long time.

And a big part of it is because of the opponent this longtime rival, the Dallas Cowboys. You've been around this thing forever. Are you feeling it on your end? Is anybody feeling it on your end or not? Well, I think we feel it differently, but the short answer is yes. I haven't been around for all the big games. I wasn't around for Talbert Stobach and some of that stuff in the very early 70s. I wasn't around for Clint Longley.

But I have been around for a few of them, and I certainly have an appreciation for the rivalry. And I do think it's a special rivalry, Kevin, even when both teams are not good, but right now both of them are. and they're both going to play a lot of division games, almost exclusively division games, the rest of the way. And the, in fact, before I'm looking at Washington's schedule, and it is exclusively.

It's all division games. It's never happened before. I mean, they're ending with five division games. It's crazy. Right, but this is exactly what the NFL has set up. This is, and it's going on all over the whole league. I'm just sitting here looking at a master schedule for the league. And this is exactly what they wanted.

Two things. One, parity, so the Cardinals and the Packers are the outliers right now. Everybody else, four losses is like in just about in first place. Maybe Tampa's an outlier. Parodies what they want so that, and it's an ugly word, it's become a hyperbolic four-letter word, even though it's not four-letters, but what it's designed, and I'm not condoning it, I'm just simply embracing the fact that this is what they've given us. They want things even so that everybody's in it, and then they want things even so that everybody's even so that everybody's in it and make the most important games,

the ones that are in December and you build to a crescendo, which, gee, I'm sure it's just a complete coincidence turns into big TV ratings and more jersey sales. So my impressions of this season are that Dallas was not good enough to be six and one, and Washington wasn't bad enough to be two and six. and so now they're both probably about where they ought to be, and they now have both of them an opportunity to determine what happens to them. I haven't even begun to think about the ramifications if they split the two games that they have, which is the most probable outcome. And then the thing that you can't measure, of course, is the cycle. psychology, because obviously Washington's got all the psychological edge right now with the four-game winning streak and the way some of these have happened. It was a great emotional win. People who don't travel with these teams do not get the importance of a flight home like Washington had, after winning in Las Vegas in a game like that, and, uh,

the head coach has got my old friend Jack Del Rio throwing the rocks this week. There is bonding that it's hard to explain unless you have experienced it, but there is bonding that happens on a long flight home after an emotional win like that, that I think has a tangible carryover. So that's a big plus for Washington. So Dallas has the challenge of saying, Okay, how we've played the last four weeks is not who we think we are. We think it's more like what we did the seven weeks before that,

and they're not as good right now as they were during that stretch, and Washington's clearly better than they were during that stretch, and all of this, if we remove ourselves from our rooting interests, and just look at it from the entertainment value point of view. It's great. It's just how it was supposed to be. And it does make the richness of the rivalry even a little deeper. There's no question about it.

You moved quickly from the rivalry to the matchup and then back to the rivalry at the end. It was well done. Thank you. Yeah, but, you know, it's interesting because I know you, you know, the call that I associate you with is with the most painful loss of my, you know, rooting for sports teams' life, which was the 1979 season finale. And I think it was you and Charlie Waters maybe on the call. It was.

Yeah, and the touchdown passed from Stauback to Tony Hill. And then, you know, the clock running out before Mark Mosley could. come out even though Thysman was screaming for a timeout. There should have been two seconds put back on the clock, but that's neither here nor there. But, you know, it's funny, Brad, because as nostalgic as I can get, as a lifelong Washingtonian and fan of this team, you know, the passion level for a lot of us isn't what it used to be because of what our owners done to this team and to this franchise. And yet, and so I haven't spent a lot of time in recent years, like, you know, kind of reminiscing.

But this week, for whatever reason, it's come out of nowhere, and it's like going to be a significant home game, which was a surprise. And it just got me thinking, and that's why I called you, nobody knows this from their side better than you do. So before we get into the particulars of the matchup and, you know, the cowboy injury situation, etc. What's the most memorable Washington Dallas game you've ever called? Oh, it would be hard for it not to be the one you're referencing in 79. I mean, this is my 43rd season, so that means that I've been involved in, I came in the middle of 76, so that means I've been involved in close to 25 Dallas-Washington games, certainly over 20.

More than that. You've been in, it's two times a year. Oh, yeah. Well, that's why I have a statistician. I don't do that. Okay. So there's a lot of good ones. I remember a season opener when Danny White was quarterbacking at RFK, and they started off.

In fact, my broadcast partner, Babe Laufenberg, was a rookie in Washington that year. Yeah. And we were talking about it just last week because that was a game where I think Washington had like a 21-to-nothing. Oh, I know what it was. Dallas was trying to come back from a big deficit a few weeks ago, and we were talking about, and they didn't do it, but we were talking about the biggest deficits from which they've come back, and that was one of them. and I believe there were, it was 21 to nothing at half time, and Dallas wound up winning the game. So that one's memorable.

I remember Mark Brunel throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of a Monday night game at Texas Stadium in a game that it felt like Dallas dominated the whole night, but they could never pull away, and Brunel threw two touchdown passes, and Washington won. and so, I mean, there have been a few of them. Yeah, we refer to that one as the Monday Night Miracle, Brunel to Santana Moss twice in the last four minutes of the game. Yes. And a game that, by the way, a lot of people in town had turned off because it was a one-sided domination, but it was only 13-0,

and Washington ended up winning it. Yeah, you've probably called close to 90 Washington Dallas games over the years. you've probably been associated with like 90 of them over the years. But anyway, enough about memory lane. This is a big one in the division. And, you know, I've been talking about it all week. It's as far as the division race, Washington has to win it. Because if they don't win it, they're three back with four to go.

And you're not going to overcome that deficit with four to go. If they win the game, they're a game back. And they've got another one with the Cowboys. So the feeling here is Washington, Washington's really played well. Again, it came out of nowhere. And in always paying attention to the other division teams, and obviously with the Cowboys playing so many big spotlight games this year, we've seen most of them. The feeling is that Dallas is really not playing well. Now, maybe it's injury related or not. But give me right now where you think Dallas is as a football team heading into this game. Well, I agree with you that they're not playing well, but I will push back on, on your. you that it's a must-win game for Washington. I think it would be a big psychological boost for whichever team wins.

But if Washington loses the game, the best thing is to win the division because you get a home game. But the main idea is to get in. Oh, yeah. They'll still be in the wild card race, of course. And they are very much in it. They're certainly capable of beating the Eagles twice. it would be probably more realistic to suggest, as I did a minute ago with Dallas and Washington, that they would split, but I think Washington's got a better chance of sweeping those games

and then beating the Giants again. So I don't think it's the end of the road for Washington if Dallas wins the game. But it would certainly be a big plus, but it will be psychologically for either team. But Dallas is not playing well right now. they have to figure out and I have to watch the second half offense from the New Orleans game they're not running the ball well part of it is that

Ezekiel Elliott's just not healthy and part of it is that some parts of the offensive line are just not really blocking as well as they can and this is or as well as people think they can, and this is a bad team to be playing when your offensive line is not at peak performance.

Now, these things can turn around in practice, and we'll see if they're able to turn it around against one of the very best defensive fronts in the sport. I do think that Dallas will be boosted by, I would expect, to Mari Cooper to be a little more back to himself. He missed two games and really was held a very limited action last Thursday because

he was in the COVID protocol. And, you know, it makes a difference when you have good players. Washington's better with Chase Young than without Chase Young. Can they win without him? Yeah, they can win without him. Are they better with him? Damn right, they're better with him. And that's why they spend

a lot of money and high draft choices on these guys. So Dallas should be better if, offensively, if Cooper can play a bigger role. I don't think Prescott's played his very best, and it's not injury-related. And there are some things that you can't tell unless you're in the team meeting room. For instance, they miss a fourth and two against the Saints on the second possession of the game. And I think C.D. Lam runs a very imperfect route, and it winds up being incomplete. If he catches the ball, it's going to be a touchdown, and everything feels differently, then.

The numbers are different, the statistics are different, the emotions are different. So these games swing on a player or two. And defensively, we think, although we don't know for sure, that Randy Gregory will be coming back, and that makes them better. And Neville Gallimore, defensive tackle, we think, will be back. that would make them better. But, look, Washington's playing with a tremendous amount of confidence right now. They've got really good players.

I think they're really well-coached, and Heineke's on a role, and I think it's going to be a big test. And then when Dallas is functioning well, then they can be a big test. And so I think that those are all of the ingredients for a really good game, when you then throw in the emotion and the rivalry. See, for Washington, you mentioned a couple of times, Kevin, that it's a surprise. So Washington was the division champion last year. I understand it was a horrible division, and it was an aberrant year because there weren't any fans in the stands most of the time.

But they won the division and made the playoffs, and that counts for something with a young team with many of the same players back. So I always thought that they were the favorite. Washington was the favorite coming into the year and throughout the year. Now when you're two and six, it gets to be a little harder. And then you go get a cup of coffee and you turn around, and now you're six and six. And the whole world feels different. And Dallas is six and one, and now they're eight and four,

and people are looking over their shoulder. That's the nature of it. That's what makes it fun. You're great, Brad. That Washington was the favorite. Dallas was definitely a good enough team to be favored, and they were. Hold on a second. Hold on a second.

The season started. Dallas was the favorite. No, hold on a second. That's based on strictly people's perceptions of offense. Yes. Oh, it is. And I think Dan Quinn. The season started.

Prescott had not yet proven that he was going to be able to come. back and you didn't know what their offense was going to be, and their defense was historically bad last year. I'm not blown smoke. Their defense was historically franchise bad last year. And they threw in a new coordinator and a whole bunch. They had eight veterans from other teams who made the team and have been important role players in this team. So now Washington started with people don't even remember that Fitzpatrick was the quarterback when the seasons started. That just seems like another lifetime ago. But when the seasons started, you can say all you want about Dallas was the favorite.

That's because outside predictors, that's all it is. I know. Well, yes. They look at names of skill players. That's how they decide who the favorite is. and my experience tells me that's a really flawed way to do it. Yeah, I'm having fun with you because there are a lot of cowboy fans up here, and a couple of them are my friends,

and I'm reading through one of the text messages from my friend Clay, who is a lifelong Cowboys fan, and we go back and forth, and he calls the show all the time, and he said, I've never seen a more confident 6-16 in my life. I'm not even sure we should show up. See, I think there's a little bit of possum playing among cowboy fans heading into this one, which, by the way, you shouldn't be overconfident based on the way you've played, and Washington has played well.

I think from our perspective, the reason why it's such a surprise is at 2 and 6, it was a bad football team. They lost to Denver on the road to go to 2 and 6 before their by week. They were 32nd in the league in 3rd down defense, Brad, and it wasn't even close. They could not get off the field to save their life on 3rd down, with, by the way, Chase Young and Montes sweat healthy. Offensively, it was, you know, a lot of hit and miss, and it looked like we were headed, really, to one of those seasons,

and we've had a bunch of them here, too many of them over the years, but like a four-win season. And then they come out, they beat Tampa, they beat Carolina, they beat Seattle on a Monday night, they beat the Raiders out in Vegas, and it's a completely different team. I think a lot of people are starting to realize that Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio and Scot

Turner, their staff. You know, you got some cowboy guys on your staff. Of course, Scott grew up here when Norv was the coach here, but they've gotten it together. It was just very surprising compared to where they were. You mentioned some of the players defensively that may be back. When Randy Gregory was healthy before he got hurt, correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the best football he's played and he was really turning into a massive difference maker defensively. True or not? No, I believe that's true. He has paid a lot of personal dues.

He worked very hard. He's a terrific young man. I really like him. And all the physical tools that were the reasons that they drafted him in the second round, despite all his personal issues several years ago, we're finally beginning to show up. The injury was a tough thing for him, but I believe that he's over it.

And Parsons is a really good player, and DeMarcus Lawrence is a really good player. And if they have all three of them on the field together, which they have not, I believe they have not had them all three together. I don't think they played against Tampa, then Lawrence broke his foot. I'm not sure if Gregory played the first week.

and then the next week during practice, Lawrence broke his foot and he's been out until last week. So if they get them all three going, then that'll help the secondary. If you put pressure on the quarterback, it makes the secondary better. So yeah, I think Gregory was playing the best of his life. Yeah, and to have those guys together, I mean, Parsons is going to win the defensive rookie of the year. I mean, right now he's a massive favorite. Just talk about how excited people are down there about his play. Yeah, they're gaga over him, and I think personally, I think for all the wrong reasons.

I was a big Parsons proponent before the draft. I had the luxury and the good fortune of having done the national radio broadcast of the Cotton Bowl two years ago when Penn State played Memphis. And he jumped off the tape at me like few other players had as I was preparing for the game. And then he had a great game. And, you know, then he didn't play last year, and he had some character questions. I know that's why the Giants were willing to make the trade. And they were afraid of him. And he is an unusual talent.

I'm unwilling to compare him to anybody. Down here, you know, they put him in because Lawrence broke his foot, as I said, in practice before week two. So they put him at defensive end for a couple of weeks, and he had a couple sacks, and then everyone down here is going nuts over statistics. You know, I'm a big baseball fan, but I just hate the baseballization of football. It's just not a game about statistics. They are things that help us see some of what's going on,

but they don't explain the game. I got into a conversation with the hosts of our flagship station down here a few weeks ago. One of them just believes they should make them an end. And I said, but that would make as much sense, I said to the guy is putting you in a tutu and saying you're a ballerina. If you put him at defensive end, you are robbing the team of the things that he actually does best, which is, you know, get sideline to sideline, and you can still have him rush the passer. He can come from wherever you want.

When they played Minnesota on a Sunday night, very low-scoring game, Dallas won without Prescott. And I thought the best game, because he played linebacker in that game, and you didn't have to watch him. All you had to do is watch the ball, and you'd find him, because he was everywhere.

and that's the kind of player he can be, and he's still learning. So I think he's got a chance to be a special player, and the key will be to use him in the way that maximizes the things that he can do, and then if you have legitimate pass rushing ends, who also happen to be good run players, because they have not been real good about stopping the run all the time, I love it when people talk about an edge rusher, Like that's all the guys got to do.

A defensive end has got a seal off the edge, close down the perimeter, and play the run. I think that's what DeMarcus Lawrence does best. But if you let Parsons play behind those guys, rush when you want him to rush, and then just play football the rest of the time. Then I think you've got something that people can talk about for a long time. Yeah, for everybody listening, I mean, they've got playmakers defensively. Brad, you know, Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence is back. Randy Gregory is a playmaker. Trevon Diggs, and we know him from around here, grew up here, went to high school here,

his brother went to high school here, you know, for that first half of the season was picking off everybody. He's a playmaker. I know he gives up a lot, too, Brad. And then one of my favorite players, when he's healthy, has been late in Vandreche. They've got really talented players and a defensive coordinator this year in Dan Quinn that is, you know, day and night over the Mike Nolan situation from last year. I want to flip it to the offensive side just for a moment.

Are you one of those people that believes that you're better off, that Dallas is better off with Pollard getting more touches than Zeeke? Right now, not necessarily permanently, but I just don't think Zeeke is. Now, we'll see what the week off, I'd be shocked if he practiced very much today or tomorrow. and he'll be limited probably in practice. I think if you look at the number of snaps, I think that they are asking Zeke to do a little too much right now

and Pollard not quite enough right now. Can you imagine that a college team had Pollard and Gibson on the same team? You know? Yeah, exactly. That Memphis. Yeah, that was plus Hendon. who was with the Rams. I mean, that was something. Well, Henderson and the receiver that was with the Bears,

God, the receiver that I loved whose name is just, I'm going blank on right now. Anthony Miller. Miller was on that team, too. I mean, you said that you called that Penn State Memphis game. That was a shootout. I mean, that thing was going back and forth points-wise, and you had a lot of those players in the game. But, yeah, go ahead. Sorry. No, no problem. Yeah, I do.

I think that I personally, you know, I've only been doing this 43 years, and they haven't asked my opinion yet. They've managed to see him flip the number of snaps that Pollard and Zieg have been getting the last couple of weeks. And Zeke will give him everything he's got. He is an absolute warrior. He's a phenomenal blocker. He does not have the burst or the explosion right now because of whatever's going on with his knee. But he can still get some things done.

And I think they've got to be really smart about how they use them. I would like to see him flip that snap count, but we'll see how Zeke is at the end of this week. All right. Last one for the legendary play-by-play voice of the Dallas Cowboys Brad Sham. So from Dallas's perspective, what are the keys to winning in Washington on Sunday? You know, oh, I was thinking about this the other day, and these games always, there are some things, as much as the rules have changed in the game over decades, and the style of play and everything, there are some things that don't change.

One is turnovers. You know, don't turn the ball over and get a couple. Early in the year, their defense was not great. It's still not great, but they were getting a lot of takeaways. Right. And that's a great deodorant. And then they stopped getting one or two interceptions a week, and then people kind of started to see what their defense was, including them,

which is not a bad thing over the course of a year. It helps you grow up. So turnovers is one, and the other one, Kevin, I would say run the ball and stop the run. Dallas got a bad propensity. for giving up big plays, both on the ground and in the air. And, you know, number 10 scares me, and number 17 scares me. And Heineke is, he's a really fun player to watch because he's just not afraid of anything. And he doesn't know what his limitations are supposed to be.

He's very clearly composed, and he can make big plays. So Dallas has got to figure out a way to not give up big plays. And then I think they've got to stop the run and they have to be able to run the ball so that they can throw it when they want it. If Dallas is throwing the ball 45 times, that's probably not good news for them. This has been a pleasure, as always,

whenever we get a chance to catch up, especially before a game that matters. And it's been a while since these two teams have played a game that really mattered. Have a good trip up. Tell Babe Lofenberg, hello from everybody in D.C. And we'll talk soon. Thanks, Brad so much. You got it, Kevin. Thank you. Brad Sham, everybody. Brad Sham along with, by the way, think about this.

Merrill Reese in Philadelphia, Bob Papa, the Giants longtime radio voice. The NFC East has three iconic radio voices. They have all been there forever. Papa not as long as Reese and Sham. But Papa's been in New York for a long time. I don't know how long, actually. But I think Reese goes back to the 70s. Sham goes back to the 70s.

And I would bet you that Papa goes back to maybe the late 80s, late 80s, early 90s, something like that. Somebody will look it up. You can tweet me. I'm not going to look it up right now. When we come back, 30 years ago today, the 1991 team, and some college basketball numbers from last night that you will not believe, right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

Just a reminder to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't. It doesn't cost you a thing. Rate us and review us especially on Apple and Spotify. So 30 years ago today, Washington went to Phoenix to face Joe Bugles Phoenix Cardinals. Washington was a 14-point favorite as a 12-1 team against 4-9 Phoenix. They had struggled mightily that year. Washington, if you recall, was coming off a win over the Rams in which they only led at halftime 7 to 6, but they pulled away in one big in the second half,

and that game followed their one loss of the season at home against Dallas. They went to Phoenix, and they were down 14 to nothing at halftime. So this juggernaut of a team, the 1991 team, which I consider to be the greatest Washington team, I don't even think it's debatable. There have been many that have written that it's one of the, if not the greatest Super Bowl winner of all time. But they went through this funk late in the season.

You know, it was probably attributable to the fact that once the perfect season was out, they got a little bit complacent, maybe a little bit bored. They were down 14-0-0 to the Cardinals. They rallied in the second half, won the game 20 to 14 to improve to 13-1, and they snagged the number one overall seed in the NFC playoffs. With that win to go to 13-1, they clinched home field advantage throughout. They had two games left, the Giants at home, Eagles on the road, but those were meaningless games. You know, the giant game was never

meaningless, and they had beaten the Giants earlier in the season to snap the losing skid against the Giants. But really, they were, you know, at 13 and 1, they had clinched everything they needed to clinch. By the way, in its history, the team has gotten the number one overall seed or home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs four times. 1972, when they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Dolphins. They were 11 and 3 that year in a 14 game schedule. 1982, strike shortened 1982. They went 9 and 1 and had home field throughout and won the Super Bowl that year over Miami. 1983, they went 14 and 2 and then got to the Super Bowl and lost to the Raiders. And then 1991, they went 14 and 2 and beat the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl.

Four times they've been the overall number one seed in the NFC playoffs. 14 and 2 sounds nice, doesn't it? I mean, 11 and 5, 11 and 6 now would sound nice. They can't get to 11 and 6. Yeah, yeah, they can get to 11 and 6. They can win five games and go 11 and 6. That would be their first 11-win season if they won these final five games since 1991. All right, a couple of things just to finish up the show with.

I love college basketball. also very aware that the college basketball game is inferior, skill-wise, talent-wise, very much so to the NBA game. In fact, it may be the biggest disparity of all the professional sports, the skill and talent level of NBA players versus the skill and talent level of college players. I still love college basketball, and I love the NBA too. Last night in college basketball, there were three results that I wanted to share with you. Number one was Virginia lost to James Madison, 52 to 49. Virginia had 14 points in the first. half of that game. 14. It took a long three at the buzzer to get to 14. So they almost went to

halftime with 11 points. I know it's Tony Bennett. I know how Virginia plays. Virginia's not very good this year. 14 points at the half. Two other games. It was part of the Jimmy V thing at Madison Square Garden last night. The first game was played between Texas Tech and Tennessee. Tennessee was ranked 13th in the country. The game went to overtime. The score was 41 to 41. Okay, two pretty good teams going to overtime at 4141. Tennessee won, Texas Tech won the game in overtime 57-52. But the reason I bring up this game is the two teams combined to go 10 for 64 from behind the Dark. 10 for 64. Tennessee shot 43-pointers and only made six. Texas Tech shot 24 three-pointers and only made four. I was watching this game. It was dreadful. And then the nightcap at Madison Square

Garden last night, Villanova and Syracuse, an old Big East battle, now Big East and ACC. Syracuse is an ACC team. Villanova in the game last night shot 53 pointers. 50. They only made 13. It was good enough though. They won the game 67 to 53. Villanova man

jacks up some threes. 53s, but they only made 13 of the 50. So anyway, college basketball, weird start to the season. The transfer portal for the teams that really leverage the transfer portal and they've got a lot of new faces. These teams are struggling for the

most part. It's tough, you know, to get any cohesion offensively, especially with all the new faces. I mean, I'm not using it as a way to excuse Maryland's performance, but Maryland's got a lot of new players on their team. And that's part of the issue here early in the season. Teams like Purdue that returned a lot of their really good players, you know, are really good. Purdue, the number one team in the country. The best team I've watched this year is Purdue. Ivy, their sophomore, six foot four inch, six foot five inch swing man. I haven't looked at a mock draft yet, but I would imagine he's a first rounder, if not a lottery pick. He's great. Purdue, by the way, had never been ranked number one. It was their first time in the AP number one slot. They had reached

number two several times, but it never reached number one. The team that's never been ranked number one that has been ranked number two the most is Maryland. Maryland has been ranked, has never been ranked number one. Now, I don't know why they weren't ranked number one at the end of their national championship season unless the AP poll just ends with the regular season, because they obviously won a national championship, so they should have finished number one that year. But I can tell you that, you know, in reading about the Purdue, rising to number one for the first time in their

program's history, in this story, it was said that Maryland has the most appearances at number two in the poll of any program in the country without having been ranked number one. So there you go. Marilyn also has been in the Associated Press the most times, you know, two through 25 without being ranked number one. They've been ranked 434 weeks in their program history and have never been ranked number one. That is the most by far. And they're 37 weeks at number two are the most by a lot.

By the way, one more note on Maryland. For those of you that reached out and accused me in my rant the other day of bashing the fan base and blaming the fan base and attacking the fan base for Turgeon's departure, that's not what I was doing at all. I was attacking those in the fan base that thought that he shouldn't be the coach because he's a bad coach. That's what I was attacking. Those of you that thought he sucked as a coach, that he didn't develop players, that he didn't develop players, that he didn't have any wins that, you know, the dumb, dumb delusionals in the fan base. I was attacking you people. I was not attacking the fan base or blaming the fan base for Turgeon's departure at all. I love our fan base. I adore how passionate Maryland's fan base has been. I've been a part of it

my entire life. You know, there is an aspect of the fan base that is a little bit delusional in terms of what we are and what we can attract. I mean, most of you have no idea the money situation. And one of the issues in the search will be, you know, is Maryland going to pay up like it's a top tier program? You know, many of you said, well, we'll get rid of him and then we'll get, and you start listing names that just aren't realistic. But no, not blaming or attacking the fan base for Turgeon's departure at all, attacking those in the fan base that think that Turgeon shouldn't have been the coach because he's a bad coach. Yes, guilty of that. And I won't change my mind on that. Look, we can all agree what I said the other day. Totally reasonable for all of us to be on the same

page that one sweet 16 appearance in 10 years wasn't good enough. And that alone is a reason to consider moving on, which they have moved on. All right, that's it for today, back tomorrow with Tommy.