The Kevin Sheehan Show - Daniels Week to Week + Mariota's Grade

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Kevin waited for the news on Jayden Daniels. You'll hear what Dan Quinn said about his availability for the Bears and beyond. Kevin had a Version 2.0 of his "Game-Take" which included an in-depth recap of Marcus Mariota's game with a letter grade. Kevin also added something to his "did not like" list from yesterday's Commanders' win over the Panthers.  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. He is Kevin. What's up, everybody? And I know the most important thing that everyone is waiting out is Jaden's health. And so I'll start there and I'll update you with what I had. That's what we discussed last week.

So last night, excuse me, the status for Jaden will put down as week to week. As you guys know, it's a rib injury. And we'll take him through, you know, all the steps at practice. assess how he's doing and keep working it through that. We're hopeful he can play, but we'll also make sure to take every precautionary step and do it smartly for the player and the man. That was Dan Quinn just moments ago.

His opening statement on this Monday following Washington's 40 to 7 annihilation of the Panthers yesterday, updating everybody on Jaden Daniels' rib injury, calling it week to week. Now, he had a follow-up to that, which I actually think was more instructive on what the injury may mean to the amount of time. Jaden will miss, if any.

I'll play that for you here in a moment. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Window Nation. I put out a show last night right after the game. That show had my complete game take. The things I liked from the game, didn't like, etc. Ben Sennett, the rookie tight end, joined me from the locker room as well.

That show from yesterday, October 20th, right after the game, is available to you. If you want to go back and listen to that one, as well, it was a pretty quick show under an hour easily. I'll recap the game take a bit on this show today in the next segment and also take you through Marcus Marioada's performance in more detail than I did last night, including giving him a grade. All right, I want to give you the other answer on Jaden's condition from Dan Quinn just moments ago. Scott Abraham from Channel 7, you'll hear him, because I'll keep the question in there, ask about sort of, you know, the fans being concerned and how he would message the fans about Jaden's injury. Here's what Quinn said after you hear Scott's question.

Hey, Dan, you guys are calling this a ribbon, Drew. Can you expand on that? I know some fans are worried that maybe the ribs broken, bruised. Can you kind of expand on that? Sure. The best thing, Sam, I can say, I mean, Scott, excuse me, for the fans. This is not something that's a long-term issue, and that's why we listed him as week-to-week. And, like I said, we're hopeful he'll play this weekend.

Not long-term, Quinn said. hoping he'll play this weekend. That sounded more encouraging and I think a little bit more instructive than his opening statement. Of course we'd love to see him suit up Sunday against the Bears. This has become a highly anticipated matchup. Two good teams, for starters, but the matchup between Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels is why this game got flexed into the 425 window from 1 o'clock. You know, Quinn went on to describe the injury. First of all, he did confirm that, as we talked about on last night's show,

it was the first play from scrimmage, the 47-yard reed option keeper. That's where he injured his rib. And it wasn't because of a direct impact to the rib area. Remember the giant game, week two, when he scrambled on 3rd and 13 and got hit by the giant defensive back in the rib area and had to come out for a brief period of time. It wasn't that. You know, Quinn described it as more, first of all, it was an awkward way in which he was tackled and went down sort of head over feet.

But it was more of kind of a torque or a rotation as he went down. And I think that's the concern is that it's not a pain tolerance thing. It's whether or not he can throw the football comfortably. with rotation, with torque. And we'll know more on Wednesday when the practice begins for the Bears on Sunday. By the way, the Bears right now, clearly sharp betters are not expecting Jaden Daniels to play on Sunday. Because I told you last night that the line opened Washington minus 1. It is right now, as I am recording this podcast, on Monday afternoon,

The Bears are now a three-point favorite Sunday. So there appears to be, you know, some speculation from some of the sharp bettors out there, or perhaps even an odds-maker move that Jaden won't play or if he does, he won't be 100%. I guarantee you he's not playing unless he's 100%. I don't really have a guess on whether or not he'll play. on Sunday. I have talked to somebody who essentially reiterated what Quinn said. It just seems like they're going to see how he feels as the week goes on. Taking Quinn at his word, this isn't long term. And he's got a shot to play Sunday. If you asked me to, or forced me to wager, I'd probably

wager on him not playing Sunday, but being back the following week against the Giants. But I don't have any information. And I think Quinn told us this is week to week, but also this week, a bit day to day. But if you forced me to wager on whether or not he'll play on Sunday, I would wager that he won't play on Sunday, but that he'll be back the following week against the Giants. But overall, you know, the news today, encouraging, encouraging that this is not going to be a long-term thing. He misses a game maybe, you know, I think. I hope it's not more than a game. I got a few calls on radio this morning that echoed the email that I'm going to read right now. The email came from Zach. Zach emails me a lot about the team. He writes, Kevin,

the designed runs have to be eliminated from the playbook. Scambling is fine. But calling running plays for this guy, like he's Lamar Jackson, isn't necessary. He doesn't need to run to be great. They're going to shorten his career if they keep calling this college crap. That from Zach. So this is a good topic because actually there's a soundbite from Quinn that I want to play because Sam Fortier actually asked him a question about designed runs. look, the first thing I would say is, Zach, I don't agree with much of what you said.

There's a part of it I may agree with, but I really am not on board with, hey, this guy can just play quarterback traditionally and that would be fine. Don't put him at risk by letting him run. Hear me out on this, because I think to have the proper conversation about this, we need the definitions here on on designed runs, option runs, scrambles, et cetera. We've got to have a conversation where we're all on the same page because you hear it in, I think you'll hear it even a bit in Dan Quinn's answer. I think sometimes even football people aren't exactly, you know, spot on on these definitions.

Designed runs are different than option runs. Designed runs and option runs are different than scramble. where the quarterback runs as well. So look, a scramble is the easiest to define, I think, for everybody. It's a called pass play. The quarterback doesn't throw the ball, and instead, for many possible reasons, decides to run. You know, nobody was open. He was under pressure.

We all know what a scramble is. That's one kind of run of all the quarterback runs. And I don't think there's anybody in the year 2024 that is against a quarterback scrambling, right? I would hope not. By the way, if you go way back in the day, you know, 70s, 80s, 70s in particular, when Stauback and Fran Tarkington were scrambling quarterbacks, that was thought to be terrible. You know, it was thought to be, oh, they're scrambling quarterbacks because they're not, you know, smart enough to play quarterback. the right way. Can you imagine that? But that's true. Back then, quarterbacks also keep in mind, weren't protected. So defensive players, when Stauback or Tarkington would scramble, they were looking to

take those quarterback's heads off. But anyway, we all know what a scramble is, okay? And I think we can all agree that we're fine with a quarterback scrambling, you know, and making a play with his legs. Now, designed runs. For me, a designed run is when the play calls for the quarterback to run. You know, there's no option to pass. There's no option to handoff. The play is designed for the quarterback to run the ball. Examples.

A naked bootleg. A quarterback draw. You know, we've had those plays around forever. Those are designed quarterback runs. when he fakes a handoff going one way and comes back with nobody to throw the ball to, nobody to pitch it to on a naked bootleg. We've seen those plays for years. We've seen QB draws for years.

You know, a QB draw with empty set and receivers spreading the defense out and the quarterback against a light box takes one step back and then runs right up the A gap. All right. So naked bootleg, quarterback draw, those. are examples of designed runs, but there are more examples of designed runs. Plays that have come more into vogue in the last, say, 10 years, 12 years, as we've seen the growth of the dual threat quarterback. We have things now like QB counter, QB power, QB sweep. You know, we've seen Jaden run some of these. You know, he scored on a QB counter,

in that Arizona game. That play did not have a pass option. It did not have a handoff option. It was designed for him to take the snap and follow blockers essentially off tackle with the center and guards pulling, hence the counter, and run it into the end zone. These are examples of designed runs. Naked boot, quarterback draw, quarterback counter, quarterback sweep, quarterback power. all right those are designed runs scrambles we know what those look like designed runs i just gave you the examples of designed runs and then there are option runs these are part of you know the read option game or if you want to call it zone read game um this is the quarterback making the decision choosing the option to hand off the ball to the running back or keep it and run it and run

with it. It's based on what the outside end or the outside linebacker does. If that player crashes on the back, the quarterback's supposed to pull it and run. If they play the quarterback to run, they leave it in the running back's arms and the running back runs the football. Now, let me just be clear on something. These read option style plays, all right, where the quarterback has the option to hand the ball off or pull it and run it, that's not to be confused with RPO's. RPO's are different. RPO's do not have a quarterback run as part of the play. An RPO is a called run play to the running back, but the quarterback can option to a quick pass, usually super quick into an outside receiver. You know, sometimes it's on a slant,

sometimes it's a bubble. The offensive line has one yard downfield, before they're ineligible, and it's a five-yard penalty. So it's got to be a real quick. You know, you pull it, put it in the gut of the running back, and then you make a quick throw. Or you don't even put it in the gut in the running back. You have decided at the line of scrimmage that they're playing off your receivers, and they've loaded the box, and so you're going to take that pass option off an RPO.

By the way, big difference between college RPO and NFL RPO. In the NFL offensive linemen who are blocking run on a run-pass option play, they have one yard downfield before they are against the rules and ineligible. In college, the linemen have up to three yards before they are ineligible. It is a huge difference. It's why you see so much more RPO in college than you do in the NFL. That two-yard difference before a lineman is ineligible downfield is massive. It is really tough in college on a defense.

It's almost unfair. Now, you also, by the way, real quickly, you do have some combined read option and RPO plays. You see Philly run some of it where, you know, essentially Jalen Hertz will either stick it, in the gut of the running back. When he pulls it, he'll come down the line, and it's got to be a quick throw because the linemen are blocking run, and he can throw it there to a receiver instead of keeping it on the run. But not a lot of teams run that kind of read option, RPO combo. You also have some triple option in the NFL. That's when you have a pitch guy. You know, quarterback keeps it, pulls it, and then he's got somebody a running back trailing

as a pitch option. You don't see that too much in the NFL. NFL. But really, what we're talking about here is not RPO or combined RPO read option or triple option. We're talking about scrambles. We're all for scrambling, right? Designed runs, QB draw, naked boot. Those are old style, you know, designed runs. New style last 10 to 12 years, QB counter, QB power, QB sweep, all right? And then you have option run. The read option, zone read, whichever you want to use as a description, where the running back's reading the D-end and either pulling it and running it to, by the way, typically open space where he's got a chance to protect himself by sliding or even getting out of bounds,

or he leaves it in the gut of the running back. So we're all good with scrambles. I am totally fine with option runs. You cannot take that out of our offense. You can't take that out of a lot of offenses in the NFL. Remember when in 2012, it started with RG3 and it started with Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton, really the year before that and some Red Zone stuff. You know, and they thought, oh, this stuff, this college stuff, it's never going to last. I remember, I've told this story many times talking to Mike Shanahan. Oh, it's going to last. It is the, it's not only the future, it's the present, because you have an advantage. You've got now 11 versus 11 in the run game versus 10 against 11. The quarterback typically, when he hands the ball off, is out of the play. You're playing 10 against 11.

When the quarterback's potentially part of the play, you're playing 11 on 11. That was never going away. People that thought it was and thought it was the equivalent of the Wildcat were just not aware of why it benefited in offense as much as it does. There is a reason why Washington is an elite offensive team now. It's a lot of things, but a big reason they're unstoppable is Jaden is a run threat on every play, and it makes it easier for everybody. The running backs, the offensive line, the receivers, because play action off read-option style action is so, effective. This is a part of their offense, and it should be. I honestly believe that the chances of most

quarterbacks getting hurt in the pocket are greater than on most read option runs. I think we've seen that over time. Now, the quarterback's got to be smart, got to protect himself, got to get out of bounds, got to slide rather than taking hits in the open field. But when they are, the chances of being injured in the pocket, I think are greater than on option-style runs. So for me, scrambles, of course. Option runs, absolutely it should be a part of what they're doing. Now, the designed runs. I don't love some of the designed runs, and I've talked about this this year. Now, I'm okay with quarterback draw. I'm okay with naked boot. I just don't want the counters, the sweeps, the powers, where the quarterback is legitimately running as a running back into a waiting

defense. Yeah, there are blockers, you know, and I've heard Kingsbury describe that they like to run these to the weak side of a defense, you know, overload the weak side of the defense with that counterpool and the quarterback, you know, like we saw in the Arizona touchdown run. That was a QB counterplay and he wasn't touched. I just don't love those plays because often they end with a quarterback being tackled in traffic and something resembling a pile. I don't mind naked bootlegs. I don't mind QB draws. I love QB draws, especially, you know, in those short yardage or red zone condensed field. You spread it out, go empty set. five wides, the defense has to spread out, and you've got a super, you know, light box,

you've got basically five on five or five on four. I love when QB draw is run that way. But QB counter, other kind of running back plays for the quarterback, I'm not a fan of them. Haven't been. Not for Jaden anyway. Lamar's been running those since he came into the league. Josh Allen's been running those since he came into the league. Cam Newton at times was almost a running back in Carolina. Justin Fields, Jalen Hertz, Daniel Jones are examples of some of the quarterbacks around the league that you see on some of these QB counters, QB powers. I've seen Bo Nicks in Denver run some of them.

I'm not a big fan of those plays. I've talked about that all season long. It's a part of their repertoire. They've got them involved in some of those plays. They like them. and I'm sure that they will continue to have them. Scrambles, fine, option, read option, absolutely because of what it does to your offense and how it elevates every other part of your offense.

QB draw, naked boot, fine with those designed QB runs. I don't love the other stuff. I don't love QB counter, QB power, QB sweet. weep. I just, I don't like to see my quarterback, you know, truly a running back. That's really a running back. He's got no option. He is being asked to essentially give a handoff to himself and follow blockers into some traffic. Not my favorite. But anyway, this was the question that Sam Fortier asked to Dan Quinn about, you know, kind of runs. And again, I'm not sure everybody understands it completely. That's why I wanted to go through the definitions. There's a difference between option runs,

designed runs, scrambles, and then you get into the whole RPO, which is completely different. But here's the question, and you'll hear emphatically Dan Quinn's answer. Will this situation prompt you guys to reconsider at all the role of design quarterback runs in the offense? It would not. On this one, Sam, that Jaden ended up getting injured. it was honestly more like a scramble. You know, there was a lead blocker outside. He was, you know, 30, 35 yards down the field. So, no, that's not the type of design run that we would move from.

Is the coaching point to him on that? Like, is it okay that he cut back in the middle of the field? What is the coaching point, I guess, to him, if there is one at all? Yeah, he was really trying to work off the safety at first. And so to cut across his face, he was trying to go score. And so as he was getting down the, field. I thought from the design standpoint it was good. And he just, you know, kind of fell awkwardly on it. So it was not a function, Sam, in this particular case of, you know, running in

the A gap and, you know, getting hit by a defensive tackle. It was a down the field run that, in a lot of ways, would have felt like a scramble if you just saw the second half of the play, not the first half, if that makes sense. Makes sense to me, Coach Quinn, everything you said, starting with the answer on whether or not the injury would have them reconsidering some of the designed run stuff, and he said it would not. And then his description of the run itself actually made sense to me, the way he described that run is more like a scramble. Or if you had just seen the second half of the run, you would have thought it was a scramble, in part because you don't see a lot of read option quarterback keeps. go for 47 yards, although you'll see some big plays from Jaden off of Reed Option keepers. So, yeah, you know, he did say there it was not a function in this particular case of running in

the A gap and getting hit by a defensive tackle. It was a down-the-field run. Yeah, those A-gap hits, not necessarily A-gap hits, but on some of those quarterback counters, you can have some B and C-Gap hits. I don't love those. Those are not down the field hits either, but that's neither here nor there. You know, I did want to also just quickly mention. Occasionally, you will see read-option plays where they are designed for the quarterback to keep the ball rather than hand it off to the running back. But the telltale on a designed read-option keeper is the end getting blocked.

You'll see a tight end in motion. You'll see a back, another back. That'll take out the D-end. But that was not the case on this play. This was a true read option. He was reading number 45 who crashed on the fake handoff. He pulled it. He was off to the races.

I like Dan Quinn. I really like Dan Quinn. I like the way he handles these pressers. It's so much better since the games began. again. During the summer, you know, a lot of the secret sauce stuff, by the way, there's a secret sauce question that I'm going to let you hear and let you hear Dan Quinn's answer coming up in the next segment about Marcus Moriota, actually. But this guy is good in these pressers. He tells you things that are helpful, but he also doesn't give away, you know, the farm in any of this

stuff. But anyway, they're not going to change their attack offensively. This is why they drafted this guy. They want to be able to do a lot of these things. And the beauty of him is that he can do all of the other stuff too. You need him to drop back third and nine, he can do that. He can read a defense. He can process. He can really throw it. He can do all of these things. And really the best quarterbacks in the game right now are doing all of these things. You know, Josh Allen does a lot of designed run, a lot of option run. Patrick Mahomes has several, you know, plays a game that are option-style presentation runs. And clearly, Patrick Mahomes, and they all scramble.

Every team needs that element of the quarterback that can extend and playoff schedule. All right. In the next segment, I'm going to quickly go through my game take, which I put together last night on short kind of preparation. I've got a couple of things to add to that. But what I'm really going to do this time is I'm going to get you to Marcus Marioata's game in more detail and grade him. And you'll also hear what Dan Quinn said about Marcus Mariotta and what his secret sauce is. We'll get to that right after these words from a few. of our sponsors. All right, guys, best time of the year is football season. It is back, NFL Sundays, college football Saturdays, football on Monday night, Thursday night, and of course, the glorious grind of fantasy football lineups. This is where your inner GM comes alive, setting the perfect fantasy roster, screaming at your TV, and making sure that those last-minute waiver moves work out for you

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the offense, right? I mean, this is a team that just doesn't punt. They had eight real drives in the game. Don't count the ninth because they ran out the clock on the ninth and ended up taking knees. But on the eight drives, they had three touchdowns and four field goals. They scored on seven of them. You know, they ended up with 421 total yards, 214 on the ground. We told you last week, they're going to run the ball against Carolina and be successful doing it. 5.8 yards per rush, 26 first downs, 5 for 10 on third down. A 10-minute disparity in time of possession.

Carolina was no match for Washington's offense. Specifically, look at the offensive line dominant, especially in the run game. I love the interior of the offensive line right now, Biotish, Allegretti, and Cosme. The backs were great. Robinson Jr., 12-carry 71 yards. If the game had been closer, he would have run for a buck 50. Terry was outstanding in this game. He was really, really good as he's been. We all wanted to see what he would look like in a real offense with a real quarterback,

and we have started to see that. And even with the backup quarterback, Terry, big day, six catches, 98 yards. I loved the end of the first half drive, more on that coming up, but I love the fact that they were aggressive, that with a 20-to-nothing lead and a backup quarterback, it didn't matter. They were running what they would have run with Jaden in the game. I mentioned that during the recap last night. I said, I don't think they changed anything about what they did offensively or what they were planning on doing. I had Ben Sinit on the show.

He confirmed that, and Quinn confirmed that as well. They continued to do exactly what they would have done with Jaden Daniels in the game. I also, and I'll get to Marcus Mariotta here in a moment, I also loved the turnover margin. That first turnover was a terrible play by Dalton, but it was pressure by Farrell that ended up really hurrying him. Forbes had that interception. Just don't know why Forbes, the all-time leader in pick sixes,

didn't try to make more of his return. Defensively, good day for the defense. It's obviously when you hold a team to 182 yards, 10 first downs, seven points, and it came late against reserves. It's a good day. Now, Carolina offensively is a good, they're not a good offensive team. That's the strength of their team. And they did start off well on that opening drive, but really the defense toughened up at that point. You had Fowler Jr. making a really good play on Hubbard.

You had the pressure by Fowler Jr. on a throwback screen. that disrupted that play, and then you had the Fowler Jr. Pick 6 on the pressure by Farrell. So they derailed that drive after Carolina got down to Washington's 26 in about four or five plays. And I thought, uh-oh, here we go. This is really going to be a shootout. We're not going to be able to stop them. But once that pick six happened, the game got sideways score-wise. Carolina became somewhat one-dimensional until they decided not to throw it anymore. But the turnover margin, the defense, you know, good. I really thought that Louvoo and Fowler Jr. and Sanristil really stood out and were outstanding.

I thought Duran was okay in the game. I know I always say that. I thought Farrell made a couple of plays. Louvoo's their best defensive player. It's just not even close. Wagner's excellent, too. but I thought Louvo and Fowler Jr. and Sanra still really stood out. Good tackling all day, special teams-wise as well. Cybert is now 19 for 20. He had the one block kick last week at the end of the first half.

That's it. I mean, he is not missed at home. And they love their kick coverage units. There's no doubt about it. Cybert, you know, intentionally is going for that landing zone. You know, they love McNichols, they love Reeves, they love Belor. so do I. I think they have, part of this culture they're creating is to be tough and really good on special teams. They have found guys that can really hit, really tackle, and really go after it. I love that.

I thought their special teams were once again outstanding. Their special teams unit per DVOA, number five in the NFL. And they don't even have a punter that they use. The punter is excellent at holding. for kicks. So that was on the list of things that I liked. By the way, I wanted to mention too, because I know I forgot to mention this last night, that part of Fowler Jr.'s Great Day was just stoning Hubbard on that fourth and one that they went for in their own territory. I'll come back to Marioita to end this.

On the list of things I didn't like the injury to Daniels, of course, the penalties. They had a couple of penalties offensively. I think some of that may have been the timing with the new quarterback. And I didn't love that they kept dropping Mario da back and kept running him with a 37-point lead. I didn't think that made any sense at all. I don't mind foot to pedal, like stop us if you don't like that we're playing like we're running up the score. And I'm not even suggesting they were doing that. But, you know, you've already got your starter hurt.

There was no sense for Marioita to put himself in harm's way. They should have just handed the ball off the rest of the game. Now, their drive stats may have been impacted, or maybe they wouldn't have, because it didn't appear as if Carolina could stop them from just handing it off three times and gaining 10 plus yards. But I just thought Kingsbury was like, hello, you're in the NFL, you've been in the NFL, you've been in the NFL, you're up 27 at, you know, halftime, you're at 34 early in the third quarter. There's no coming back. You're not going to lose this game.

You've got your starting quarterback out. I'm not suggesting that you go into a shell, but, But a lot of the zone read keepers weren't necessary. A lot of the, they ran quarterback draw a couple of times. It wasn't necessary. And then your quarterback should have been told, hey, we're going to throw some real safe and quick stuff. So you get it out of your hands quickly. And they didn't do that.

So, you know, small knit to pick, but a knit to pick. And then one other thing that I'm going to throw onto the list of things that I didn't like, which is in addition from last night's recap. And that is a bit of clock timeout management end of first half. Last week I didn't love that they took a timeout with them into the locker room at the end of the first half in Baltimore. Thought they could have used that timeout on defense or after the Noah Brown catch on the sideline where he didn't get out of bounds. And I think they would have had a chance potentially to get into better field goal range for Cybert. That was the kick that he got blocked at the end of the first half last week.

Well, last evening on an outstanding final drive, you know, 92 yards, eight plays, two minutes, 12 seconds, touchdown, 27-0-0 lead. On the 23-yard pass that Mariotta made to Diami Brown, which was a great throw, that got them down to the Carolina 12-yard line, the play ends with 30 seconds to go. They decided not to take their final time out there. They should have. They scored on the next play. They snapped it at 16 seconds. They threw to Ertz into the end zone. There were 10 seconds left.

But that's 20 seconds for one play. And if the Ertz play had been incomplete, then you would have had 10 seconds left, the ball at the 12-yard line. And you're probably only going to get one more shot into the end zone before you got to kick a field goal. They scored. It worked out.

But they didn't give them so. the best chance of scoring a touchdown. They should have used the timeout on the Diami Brown catch with 30 seconds to go. Then they control. You know, they've got three snaps if they need them, you know, with the third one, with them going into the end zone. If they're short of the end zone, you're going to have to get up there and spike it and you're going to have to probably kick it down early, maybe.

But you've got shorter space there to run to the ball to spike it, right? on a 23-yard pass from the Carolina 35-yard line down to the 12, it takes longer to get down there and snap the ball. That's why the play ended at 30 seconds and the ball was snapped at 16. Should have used the timeout with 30 seconds left? Just should have. That's kind of basic, you know, timeout clock management at the end of the first half. All right. I want to get to Marcus Mariotis' performance.

And I just want to start with this. this is for a few of you, not for many of you. But there was some follow-up to my glowing review of Marcus Mariotta's performance on radio this morning and on the podcast last night with some believing that I'm okay if they just go with Marcus Marioada. No, I'm not, okay? Him playing great yesterday, which he did, and him being the starting quarterback and me being comfortable with that more so than Jaden or equally as much as Jaden is ridiculous. The two subjects are completely different. Jaden Daniels is a much better quarterback. I've watched Marioada's career. Mariotas is a low-end starter,

high-end backup in this league. The big difference between the two, okay, they have subtle differences, but the obvious difference is Jaden is a better thrower of the football. Mariotta's never been a great thrower of the football. Jaden is an excellent. excellent passer. He is quick release. He is accurate. He gets it there with velocity. He throws a great short ball, medium ball, long ball. Mario does never been a great passer. So let me just get that out of the way. It's not going to stop me from telling you how good he was yesterday coming up here in a moment. Let's also get out of the way the obvious caveat to everything I'm going to say, which is the Panthers are a really, really bad defensive football team.

And, you know, let's also mention the fact that when he got in the game, it was 10-0 already, and it looked like the game was getting sideways for Carolina even before he got in. Now, with that understood, let me emphasize this specific to yesterday's game. Marioita was excellent in the game. I'll give you the grade shortly, but he was really good, you know, especially when you consider he's coming off the bench, cold, in relief, etc. He was 18 of 23 for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and a sack. He rushed the ball 11 for 34, but really two kneel downs means he was more like 9 for 36,

four yards per carry. Now, the game did not start great for him, but I don't think it was as bad as some of you thought. His first play was a read-option keeper. He rushed for, I think, four yards. Terry misses a block. If Terry can hold the block, it probably is a decent-sized play. He gets sacked on the second play, not his fault.

Lucas gets beat badly and immediately inside. And then there's a false start on Ertz, and he's facing third and 15, and yeah, he did have Diami Brown open, and he missed him. That's probably the most significant negative play on the day for him, is that he missed on his first drop back and throw. On 3rd and 15, he missed Diami Brown. On the second drive he was in, the third drive for the team, he takes a deep shot to Noah Brown,

which was defensive pass interference. You know, he got hit when he threw it. I think the all 22 will reflect that Senate was open on the backside if he works that. I think the mistake is he's working the side that's three versus four in coverage. So you immediately, typically will get a quarterback to work the other side. And he didn't do that. So that's a small ding against the performance.

And that's the drive, by the way, that ended up being the Brian Robinson drive anyway. But then the third drive, things start to happen for him. He keeps it on a nine-yard quarterback draw run. Really good job with sort of the fake, and he's a good runner. I mean, flat out is a good runner. There's a second and 11 where he escapes the blitz, and I think Ertz dropped the ball. There were a couple of drops. He was 18 of 23, but I think there are two drops in there.

Zakias had a drop in the second half. He was on that throw. He was pressured. He was flushed. Ertz should have, I think, caught it. I think it was a decent throw. And then on third and 11, on that, that drive. He goes to Diami Brown. It's not a great throw on third and 11, but it's a catchable

ball. So, you know, that's his third drive. Things start to get better. And then we get to this guy starts to heat up. And he starts to heat up really on the final drive of the first half. All right. First of all, there's a second and seven second quarterback draw. He does not get the first down. Third and two, there's a neutral zone infraction on that drive. And then my guy starts to get hot, okay? He finds Ertz for seven yards. He then throws short left to Terry for a catch and a run for 18 yards. Then he finds Terry on maybe the second best throw in that drive. It's a 15-yard or to Terry. It's an outstanding throw, but it's versus blitz pressure, and he's got to step up into the pocket and make the throw. Great play. Then he hits Diami Brown on that 23-yarder, great throw to Diami Brown. That's where I think they should have burned their last time out. And then the next play is they're going hurry up. And maybe they would say, the reason we're going hurry up is we like the defensive personnel and he was in a rhythm. Okay, that's fair. And he gets flushed. He rolls right and he, on the run, throws an absolute dime to Zach Ertz for the touchdown.

He was five for six, 75 yards, and a touchdown on that drive. Now, let me just tell you, before that final drive, he was 0 for 3 for zero yards. And then he was five for six on that last drive for 75 yards. Now, there was an Ertz drop on that second drive of his. and then in the second half, he was just flat out, lights out, lights out. 13 of 14 for 130 yards and a touchdown. And in that half, the one in completion was a flat out drop by Zakias on the sideline. Perfect throw.

And he just bumbled it going out of bounds. he didn't miss in the second half. I mean, seriously. And here's how many throws were on third down. A third and 15 throw to Terry on that first drive of the third quarter. Then he had the play action touchdown pass to Senate. Oh, that was, he also had the third and three throw to Zekees, where Zakias is actually short, but he makes a good play to turn it up field.

He's good at that, by the way. Zichias is good. good at planting that foot, turning, and going back inside or outside to get yards after the catch. But the third and 15 to Terry for 16 yards on third and 15 was a great throw. He had a third and 15 for 16 yards to Noah Brown on their second drive, the touchdown that made it, the field goal, excuse me, that made it 37 to nothing. It was, I'm sorry, what did I say? I said it was third and 15. It was third and nine on that play, and he found Noah Brown for 16 yards and a first down.

Third and seven, he goes to Ertz. It's short, but he's had a chance to convert the third down. Then on that last drive, they're still thrown it, by the way, up 40 to 70. He scrambles on one play, avoids pressure for six yards. And then he goes deep to Terry for 25 yards on the. third and seven. This guy was incredible. Yeah, I understand.

Carolina, not very good. Okay? They're not very good. They stink on defense. I understand that the game got so sideways that Carolina was probably counting down the clock to get out of that stadium and onto a flight and back home. But there's no other way if you're just going to talk about Marcus Mario's game to give him anything but an A, the first couple of drives, he's finding his,

you know, rhythm, you know, he had a false start, you had a snap that wasn't great. You know, there were a couple of things in there that, you know, he's just trying to figure it out early, but the first drive, I mean, the sack is not his fault, people, not even close to his fault. Lucas gets beat badly. You know, that first keeper on the read option, Terry just didn't seem interested in blocking on that play. It would have gone for more than four or five yards, whatever that run was. He's very good. I mean, he was an A in this game.

Does that mean I think he would be an A against the Bears on Sunday if he has to play? And again, I wouldn't wager on this. But if you forced me to, I'd probably say he misses that game, but is back, you know, the following week. if you just pretend you know nothing about Marioita, nothing about Daniels, and you're just evaluating the backup quarterback's performance in that game yesterday, and you give him anything less than an A, I think that's a gross misrepresentation of what he was.

I did see this afternoon, hold on, I'm going to pull it up, I did see, because Denton sent it to me, his PFF grade was 85.5. That is a strong A performance. By the way, Dante Fowler, I didn't see this. Or maybe I did. Denton may have told me. Ninety-six. Sixt point six Fowler Jr. That's about perfection. He was great in the game. Terry McCorn, 85.7 pff grade. He was outstanding in the game. Allegretti, 83.7. He was really good. Sanra's still 82.7. He was really good. Anyway, A for Marcus Marietta. I don't want him to be the quarterback against the Bears. I want Jaden to be 100% ready to go. Let's go beat the Bears. But he was excellent against a bad defensive team.

True. In a game that was already pretty much over when he entered it. I mean, it wasn't really came in for their second offensive drive. It was 10 to nothing. But, man, Carolina was not very good. But number 18, and that's the one thing I would say about Mariotta, 18 doesn't look right on him. It's not a good number for a quarterback that is mobile. All right, the last thing on Mario, I wanted you to hear what Dan Quinn said about him.

He was asked about secret sauce. What's Marcus Marioada's secret sauce? Here's what Quinn said today. I would say his ability to improvise. you know, when he gets outside the pocket, there were some plays that looked like Austin Stadium out there last night. There was some plays where he used his legs to extend plays. And there was also some ones, like in that two-minute drill,

to get outside the pocket, and he would really rip some in. So it could be two plays with him easily, you know, the first play that would begin. And if he sees something and he feels the knack to get outside on a drop-back play, he'll do that. And so that, to me, it's his legs. that he really has speed and the acceleration outside of it. And in the shotgun, that's really where he feels the most comfortable.

He's got a huge background of that, as you know. So that would be the superpower to me, the extension of plays. Dan Quinn's right. That's what he does well. Off platform, off schedule. He's an athlete. Reference there, by the way, to the University of Oregon days. And by the way, he was referring to his superpower, not secret sauce.

I had that one wrong. But Marcus Mariotta has always been. good as a dual threat quarterback with, you know, good support around him, good running game, Derek Henry, a coach like Arthur Smith as the O.C. in Tennessee and then as the head coach in Atlanta, you know, you can't ask him to drop back. The big difference is he doesn't throw the ball like Jaden does. Can't ask him to drop back and throw it from the pocket down 10 or down 14. You know, if the score is right, if the game context is comfortable, if they've got good support with a good running game, he is effective. He had some good games in 2022.

two years ago when he was the starter in Atlanta with Arthur Smith as the coach. They played Washington, remember that year, Thanksgiving Day weekend. And it was a big game in the NFC playoff chase for the wild card. They were five and six. Washington was six and five. And he drove him down the field and had a chance to win it at the very end. But the ball was tipped by Duran Payne and intercepted by Kendall Fuller. I think the intended receiver, if my memory serves me correctly, may have been Zakias, who was on that team and had a pretty decent game. But I went back and found the perfect game for Marcus Mariotta.

2814 earlier that season in 2022, they beat the 49ers at home. 49ers, really good defensive team. Now, Bosa did not play in that game. All right, so I will tell you that. But in that game, he was 13 of 14, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and he rushed for 50 yards in a touchdown. Caleb Huntley rushed for 59 yards. Alger rushed for 51.

They ran the ball 40 times in the game, and they threw 14 passes. That's a really good equation for any quarterback. But you get him in a game like that with support like they had yesterday, he can be fine. You just can't ask him to win a game by himself, although, ironically, I say that. one of the famous Marcus Mario da games was a postseason game at Arrowhead in 2017, all right, when they played the Chiefs and they were down 21 to 3 at halftime getting their ass kicked. And in the second half, they roared back to win the game 22 to 21.

Marioada actually threw a touchdown pass to himself. He had a ball batted, he caught it, and ran it in. for a touchdown. In that game, he wasn't the legitimate reason that they won the game. He was good. He was 19 to 31 for 205 and two touchdowns, including one to himself. It was Derek Henry who took the game over. But he was involved in a massive comeback in a playoff game. Alex Smith was a quarterback for the Chiefs that day. Anyway, I see why they liked him in the offseason. I didn't have a big issue when they signed him. He's complimentary stylistically to Jaden. He's a phenomenal mentor in the locker room. So good on him. He was outstanding in the game yesterday. All right,

we're going to finish up with not other NFL, kind of other NFL. We're not going to do the whole around the NFL thing. But I have something for you about what Washington has upcoming that I think is interesting and I think exciting at the same time. We'll get. get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I've been telling you recently about this product, Navage, a product that has really worked for my congestion. Now, I get congested typically from allergies in the spring and this time a year during the fall.

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They will potentially could lose that game to drop to 4 and 3. The 49ers, they are so banged up and injured. And they lost to the Chiefs at home yesterday to fall to 3 and 4. And keep in mind, they still play teams like the Lions, the Bill, the Packers, the Buccaneers. They actually have the Cowboys coming up this Sunday night. They may have lost Ayuk for the year. I think they did. They still don't have McCaffrey back. They're just so banged up and have been all year. This looks like a real difficult, you know, season for the San Francisco 49ers. I know Seattle won yesterday, upsetting Atlanta on the road 34 to 14.

They're four and three. You know, they still have, you know, the Packers. They still have The bills, they still have games with the Niners. They have to go on the road to play the Jets. So we'll see. But I'm starting to think that that division could be a division won by a 9 and 8 or best case 10 and 7 record. And the NFC South, 9 and 8, 10 and 7 best case. The NFC North juggernaut division right now. Detroit beat Minnesota in a thriller, 31 to 29.

I think right now, Detroit and or Green Bay. or Green Bay. One of those two teams is the best team in the NFC right now. I'm not sure which one it is. They're both excellent Green Bay. Long drive at the end of the game, got a field goal to beat the Texans in Lambo. Philly seems to be the competitor. We'll watch to see if Philadelphia can take advantage of a very talented roster. You know, all as well when you beat the Giants 28 to 3 and you rush for 269 yards. All of a sudden, Siriani isn't as much of a bozo, or at least the talk about him being a clown lessons a bit.

But man, the NFC landscape, it's the north, and then I think the NFC East winner has a chance for a one seed or a two seed. Long way to go. Here's the thing that I really wanted to point out. So after playing the worst defensive team on their schedule, the Panthers. They have lots of very difficult opponents coming up from a defensive standpoint, as it stands

now. Obviously, when you play somebody is more important than who you play. But the bears are good defensively. The Giants, even though they gave up 269 on the ground, you know, that game was scoreless through the mid part of the second quarter. And then the Giants offensively are just so bad. And Daniel Jones just is not very good. I was wrong about Daniel Jones.

I thought he could be an effective, you know, push the top half of the league as a starter. He did in 22. I'm wrong. He's lost confidence. I don't know what it is. He stinks right now. But they're good defensively. The Steelers, excellent defensively.

The Eagles, pretty good defensively. The Titans good defensively. The Saints healthy, good defensively. Looking through their schedule right now, again, things change. They always do. They got some really good defensive teams coming up. Bears, Giants, Steelers, Eagles next four challenges. The Eagles, especially on a short week after a Sunday nighter against the Steelers.

The Titans are pretty good defensively, not good offensively. The Saints healthy are good defensively. They're not going to face a good defensive team when they play Atlanta, more likely than not. And Dallas doesn't appear to be very good defensively, although we haven't seen them healthy much. And at the same time, who are they going to? a face that's super dynamic offensively. I don't know.

The Eagles twice? It's not, I don't think it's, look, the Bears are a test because of the wide receivers that they have and the quarterback's playing at a level. So let me say that the Bears are going to be quite the test with the way they've played. But the Bears haven't played anybody. I think you guys know that the Bears four wins this season are over. The Titans, Rams, Panthers, and Jags. Washington isn't going to play anybody.

remotely as good as the Ravens last week on offense. So their defense, which I'm not super confident in, even after yesterday, they're not going to face a lot of dynamic, versatile, difficult offensive football teams. Atlanta is. Atlanta can really, they didn't yesterday, but they are capable offensively. And the Eagles. I mean, the Giants, terrible offensive team.

Steelers, eh, cowboys, who knows, Titans, terrible on offense. Saints, who knows he'll be playing for the Saints at that point. Their schedule right now is, I don't know, 10 games left at 5 and 2. I think they're going to be, you know, a favorite or a small dog or pickum against basically everybody left on their schedule. I mean, right now they are a dog Sunday at home, but that's because of the quarterback injury and the risk that Daniels doesn't play. You know, I don't think they'll be an underdog at home against the Steelers if Jaden's playing. They might be an underdog at Philly, you know? I think they can win another, I think they can win five out of their last 10 for 10 wins.

Can they win six out of their last 10 for 11 wins? It's all there for them. Of course, I'm saying that on the day after, their most valued prize possession got injured. and even if it's not serious and he can be back this Sunday or next, he could get injured again. We hope it doesn't happen because he is obviously the key to anything they're going to do. But the NFC, other than the North, an odd circumstance with the 49ers for sure. The South, I mean, two okay teams.

One of them will win it. The other probably won't make the postseason. I'm starting to think that three NFC North teams could be. make it, although this game for Chicago this weekend will be big. This game between Washington and Chicago could ultimately be a tie-breaking game if Philadelphia won the division for a playoff spot. All right, that's it for the day. I will be back tomorrow with Tommy.