The Kevin Sheehan Show - Defenseless in Detroit

Episode Date: September 19, 2022

Kevin with his recap of Washington's 36-27 loss in Detroit. Doc Walker jumped on with his thoughts on the loss as well. Kevin went "Around the NFL" after another amazing day of comebacks and wild finishes. He finished up with a few thoughts on the Terps' win over SMU and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Third down at three. Lyons must get to the 30. Has got fires straight.

Brown wide open across midfield. One man to be in it's Forrest. And Forrest knocks him out of bounds inside the Washington 25. That was the second drive of the game. The score was still nothing, nothing. But that would become the trend. for the Lions throughout. Big chunk plays, big explosive plays.

They ran right through Washington, especially in the first half, an ugly first 30 minutes for the commanders en route to a 36 to 27 loss to the Detroit Lions. On the show today coming up, my game take, what I liked, what I didn't like, and several other observations

from the loss in Detroit yesterday. Walker will join me. We'll get Doc's thoughts, and then we'll go around the NFL and maybe do some college football to finish up the show. The show today is presented by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.com or MyBooky.ag and use my promo code Kevin D.C. And they'll match your first deposit dollar for dollar all the way up to a thousand bucks. You've got an NFL Monday night double header tonight. Remember that used to be kind of a week one thing.

They're trying it here in week two. You've got an early start with maybe the best team in football in Buffalo, laying 10 to Tennessee. I gave out Tennessee as part of the smell test. The smell test four and four right now with Tennessee plus 10 pending. 2 and O on the NFL yesterday with the Patriots and the Cowboys. Then the second game, which is not a true double header, The first game starts at seven tonight.

The second game starts at 8.30. The second game is Washington's next opponent. The Philadelphia Eagles laying three at home against the Vikings who were so impressive in week one. Looking ahead, by the way, Washington right now at My Bookie, a three and a half point underdog against Philadelphia on Sunday. They'll get the Eagles coming off a short week. And then next week, when they play the Cowboys in Dallas, Dallas will be coming off a shortened week because they have next week's Monday night game against the Giants. The Giants, surprisingly, 2 and O, and for now until Philadelphia plays, leading the NFC East.

Nobody saw that coming. The Giants, by the way, are three-point favorites over the Cowboys next Monday night. after Dallas upset Cincinnati yesterday, 20 to 17, part of a wild NFL Sunday. Anyway, go to mybooky.com, my bookie.ag, use my promo code, Kevin, D.C., and they'll match your first deposit dollar for dollar. Many prop bets for all of the games, lots of season props as well, but all of the games for tonight and the upcoming week. All right, let me start with this. I think I'm going to be a little bit more relaxed, maybe even positive than you're expecting after the loss yesterday. They are one in one through two weeks.

I think most of you would have taken that a week and a half ago to know that they would be no worse than one in one. You would have said, I'll take one and one, as long as O and two isn't on the table, because really that's the, disaster that was averted. The win over Jacksonville last week was really as much of a week one must have. And we talked about it going into the game. And they got it. It was close. They could have lost that game, but they got that one. And even though Detroit was a winnable game going in, at least we thought, and even winnable when you got to the second half, you know, it was a one-score game. I think one-and-one is, you know, kind of meeting expectations. Was Detroit getable?

Washington's getable. I mean, that's what Detroit was thinking. But one-on-one with the first division game on tap against the Eagles, you know, an arch rival, depending on what Philadelphia does tonight, regardless, it's kind of a big early measuring stick game. But they're in a decent spot here after two weeks. I wouldn't give it back. But yesterday's loss, combined with last week's win, has revealed a few things, some good, some bad. The offense didn't do anything in the first half yesterday, but six of the eight quarters that the offense has been on the field so far.

It is apparent to me, and it should be apparent to you, that offensively, this offense is really capable of major explosive plays, lots of them, with several different explosive options for the quarterback to turn to. Dotson, McLaurin, Samuel, you know, Logan Thomas, really good players. And Wence is capable through two weeks, I think we're learning of making them look. good, not always, but more good than bad so far from Wentz through two games. We'll get to the first half when I get to my game take here in a minute or two, but Wentz can throw it better than anybody they've had in five years. And by the way, there's something I'm learning about Carson

Wentz here, watching him, you know, play by play, not just highlights or a couple of games here and there. His memory is short. You know, he doesn't, you know, hang around dwelling on mistakes. He is ready to get back out there and sling it after any misfortune or disappointment. I'm not sure he really cares much about what just happened. Anyway, I know many of you are ready and were ready at 4.15 yesterday to kill everybody. They weren't prepared. That's obviously on the coaching. It's Rivera's fault.

They're bad on defense. Enough of Del Rio. Get rid of them. The play calling in the first half, She and your boy Turner isn't as good as you think he is. I would just say, take a deep breath, relax. It's early. It's very early.

These first few games, especially when you, You've got a new quarterback are games where really you just don't want to play your way out of it before you figure out how to do it. You know, we're not talking about a team that has Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen or Aaron Rogers, you know, or Tom Brady. You know, Washington's in that, you know, group of 20 to 25 teams. Each year is different. Each week tends to be different. You need time to figure it out. You know, Washington's not a good team right now.

nobody should have expected them to be good yet. The destination is to become a good team and be alive when you get to that point if you get to that point. And that's really for teams like Washington what September and even early October are about. Staying alive. Don't play your way out of it. Win enough games while you're figuring it out so that if you do figure it out, the games are meaningful when you get there. I'm not saying that I think they're going to become a good team. I'm just saying that it's unrealistic to expect them to be one now.

You know, yesterday was one of those games, and I could feel it, man. On social media, I could feel it by looking at my phone with all of the people that I communicate with during games. You know, the Leglers of the world, the Steve Sands of the world, a lot of these people that are so into this team. and just the anger about everything that went on yesterday, especially in the first half. And then, you know, there is, you know, a lot going on in other places, too, where people really did legitimately expect a win. I think some of you just assumed too much after they won last week.

You know, the opponent Detroit perceived is something different than what we have been or maybe are. Well, they're not. and they were the desperate team. And I mentioned that, you know, on Friday, you know, the two top key, the three keys to the game. I had four of them, actually. Number one, stop the run. They didn't do that. Number two, handle the blitz.

They really didn't do that in the first half in particular. Three don't lose possessions. They kind of lost a possession with the safety and with the turnover in the second half. And number four was kind of matched Detroit's desperation. You know, Detroit was going to be the defensive. desperate team. They had some expectations coming into the season. Maybe Hard Knocks was a part of that. Maybe it was more about the fact that the team was pretty damn competitive at the end of last year. They couldn't lose two in a row to start this season and keep people excited. Sound familiar?

You know, the new commanders, as mentioned, avoided the disaster last week by rallying from eight down in the fourth quarter to beat the Jags. That would have been. been a catastrophe. Oh, and 2. Detroit is kind of in the same boat. You know, not with a new brand and a new name, but desperate to keep people interested in their product, especially given that there was a little bit more juice for Detroit this year.

They were hungry. They were desperate. And perhaps my biggest disappointment from the game yesterday is that Washington really didn't match that desperation. Not in the first half. I mentioned, as, you know, on Friday, Again, you've got to act like you're the team that lost last week, but they didn't, not until the second half anyway. And that's on everybody out there, the coaches, the players.

Let me say this. It wasn't the fault of the media people that were really excited about the team, and it wasn't the fault of those of you that live on Twitter and thought that last week was the Super Bowl. I mean, some of you, and I don't spend a lot of time, but I do get a kick out of the Twitter world, which is not the real world. And this fan base, many who are on Twitter that are attempting to become significant influencers. I've talked about those that are on Twitter that tell you if you're not going to be overly positive, you can get out. Those are the people that bathed themselves and the players with their outreach in Champaign last week. It was one game, and it was against Jacksonville. And I would say that yesterday was one game.

You know, this league is fickle. It's all so great. The games and finishes, the first two weeks of the season, have been amazing. But it's all fleeting. It really is. You play poorly and lose one week. It really doesn't seem to matter to the next week. You know, there are perfect examples.

Look at how poorly the Cowboys played Sunday night and their loss to Tampa Bay. They lose their starting quarterback. And they come back and they beat the defending AFC champs with Cooper Rush at quarterback. You know, you had Arizona yesterday. They gave up the most points in week one. They looked like a disaster in the making. in week two at halftime being down 20 to nothing in Vegas. And then they come back and they win an amazing comeback overtime win over the Raiders.

And it's like, hey, we're one and one. And the vibe's totally different. They were so close to being an ugly 0-2. And instead, you know, they're one-in-one. And as my good friend Steve Zabin used to say, let's go have ourselves a season. It's really such a fine line league. We know that. I mean, the Jets yesterday, the Jags.

This league's impossible. The Giants are 2 and O. You know, the best organizations with the best quarterbacks have the best chance. I think we all understand that. For everybody else, it's week to week, especially early in the season. And the goal should be just don't play your way out of it. Stay alive, try to become the best you can be with the pieces you have. And Washington has some pieces. They have more than they've had, especially on offense recently.

We'll see if they can figure it out. With that all said and perhaps understood, yesterday was ugly at times. It definitely got better in spots, you know, so much so that they were actually within a score. They were within striking distance. But ultimately, it was a disappointing day. and it was a disappointing day for many, many reasons. But there was some good. And the thing that I said last week that had legs coming out of week one, I think showed even more promise, more legs coming out of week two.

I'll get to all of that with my game take right now. Pay attention. He's Kevin's Game Take. The game take is a list of things that I liked from the game, a list of things that I did not like, and then several other observations. And I will tell you right now, the two-point decision at 2921 is more of an observation and an explanation more than it landing on the did not like list. But let me start with the things that I liked. And I'll start with the thing that I just mentioned, and that is,

the thing that definitely has legs here through two games and looks like it's going to be the strength of this football team. Things change, injuries happen, et cetera. But the offense in the second half was spectacular. And I know the first half offense wasn't good, but through six of the eight quarters played, this team offensively is as good as they've been since 2016, 2017, before the injuries happened in 2017. Now, they were thoroughly dominated in the first half of that game. And no, it wasn't because Detroit was playing defense that the offense started to play much better in the second half. The Lions kept coming.

But the adjustment that the offense made, the adjustments that they made, better pass protection, better play calling, obviously much better execution. Washington offensively in the second half was outstanding. They put up 27 points. They rolled up 340 yards in the second half. That's a college stat, 340 yards in a half, not an NFL stat. Again, don't think the Lions were just giving it up, playing soft, playing pre-vent. That's not what they were doing.

Watch the game. Many of Washington's biggest plays in the second half, and they had lots of big plays, explosives, as coaches like to call them, came against extra man pressures. Carson Wentz in the second half went 21 of 29 for 278 yards and threw three touchdowns. Had a pick. It wasn't enough, but it might have been enough had the defense done more to help out. I'm not taking the offense off the hook for the game because the first half performance by everybody created too big of a hole to climb out of. It was grotesque in the first half by all involved. Offense, defense, coaching staff, everybody.

But the offense gave the team a chance in the second half, a legit chance. They got the game to 22-15. They got it to 29-21. And the 22 to 15, it was still the third quarter. But the defense wasn't good enough. And by the way, the defense for right now, that's the big issue on this team. But the second half offense produced four touchdowns on its first five possessions, four touchdowns on its first five possessions.

Wentz's overthrow interception on the second possession of the second half was hurtful. And, you know, it was clear as it has been here in the first two games, that accuracy is sometimes an issue. And it usually is an issue high. That throw to Logan Thomas was high. but the offense in the second half really, really is tops on the list of things that I liked. I mean, the past pro in particular went from being a complete sieve in the first half. I mean, leaky everywhere.

And certainly Aiden Hutchinson, the number two pick in the draft. And remember, he was the number one projected pick for much of the year until maybe the last few weeks when Trayvon Walker, who they faced last week, became the number one pick. But I don't know that Scott Turner thought that they would get bum rushed the way they did. I mean, Wentz four sacks. And yeah, Detroit blitzed the shit out of Hertz last week. But Hertz is a different animal altogether.

Yesterday they got home with four too often. They blitzed them a lot, both halves. And, you know, it changed. in the second half. He had no time in the first half, and he had more time, and they went to quicker stuff in the second half, you know, and he did a better job of getting the ball out of his hands. The explosive plays in the second half with the playmakers, they had in the second half, 12 plays of 10 or more yards, eight plays of 15 or more yards, and five plays of 20 or more yards. the offense in the second half leads the list of things that I liked.

Specifically, I want to mention Terry McClorn, Jahan Dotson, and Curtis Samuel. I mean, this is really what has legs. These three guys and the ability for this offense to cook through the air in particular. Terry McClorn, a 35-yard catch in the second half, I have no idea how he came up with that ball. The ball was not a great ball by Wentz. Wentz doesn't throw it accurately all the time. He led Terry too much.

Terry comes up with it. He had the fly sweep run on fourth and one. That same drive, third and three, one of my favorite Wentz throws of the game. Under heavy pressure, six-man pass rush, he avoids the sack, gets it out to Terry, short of the sticks. Terry catches it, makes a move,

slips the defender, and they get the first down. Wence's throw also to Gibson before the score that made it 29, 21 on that drive versus, you know, six-man pressure in the red zone was a great throw too. Terry McCorn, you know, on the list of things that I liked. Jahan Dotson had, by the way, the first, first down catch of the game that came on their sixth drive late in the first half. He had the big time catch on the first drive of the second half, 40 yards, big chunk play, big explosive. He had to catch on the two-point conversion, which I loved that play, by the way.

There have been some plays here in the first two weeks that I've really enjoyed kind of the design of. That two-point play, for me, as a basketball guy, Dotson fakes like he's setting a pick and then slips it. You know, we will, in basketball, you will talk about slipping the pick. You'll slip to the basket off of a screen that you actually don't set. Or it's set so quickly, they're waiting for you to set it, and then you slip it, you cut to the basket, and usually the defenders left just standing there, totally fooled. That's what Dotson did on that two-point conversion.

I'm talking about the made two-point conversion, when they made it 22 to 15. He goes like he's going to set a pick for the outside receiver and then just slips it and he's wide open for the two-point conversion. I love Johan Dotson so far. He's everything that I thought he could be. And he really is so smooth in his route running. And of course his hands are spectacular. And then there's Curtis Samuel. He lines up everywhere. You can tell Turner's having a fun time with him being healthy. He had seven catches, 78 yards. He had the reverse run for 21 yards.

He lined up in the backfield on a third and five and had that wheel route touchdown catch, took a big hit on that play. That started the scoring in the second half. Had a second nine play where he came in motion, ran from the slot and caught what was another one of those well-designed plays. Turner used McKissick in play action. and then almost like they were going to screen the McKissick with the offensive line moving in that general direction to the right, which is where Curtis Samuel was moving as well.

And Samuel just leaks out, and everybody defensively is going, where did he go? And he's wide open for a big 27-yard play. That reverse was fun. It's going to be fun all year watching Turner scheme up ways to get Samuel the ball, which is what he's got, you know, in the same vein with Dotson and McCorn, same kind of situation, but Samuel really is gadgety, versatile, just can do so many things. There is no doubt right now that the strength of this football team are those three players,

and it's not debatable. The strength of this football team, Curtis Samuel, Jehan Dodson, and Terry McClearn. And really kind of the overall pass offense, potential. the big play potential, the explosive plays, the chunk plays. You know, even under pressure and even after a woeful first half where they couldn't block up the pressure, you couldn't keep them down for a full 60 minutes. They're going to be, I think, a good offense, you know, throughout the year. I mean, they're averaging right now 27 and a half points a game.

And through their first two, they're averaging close to 400 yards a game. that's the strength of the team. Also on the list of things that I liked, I thought that for the second straight week, when they were down, and obviously they were down much more yesterday than they were last week, but they were reeling last week after Jacksonville had run off 19 straight points. There were two turnovers, and Washington was down 22 to 14 in the fourth quarter, and they responded with two incredible offensive drives, and one third down conversion after another and a big chunk touchdown throw to Terry McClure and then another one for the go-ahead to Dotson. And, you know, yesterday, and I know that this can be somewhat cliche and a little bit

lost and falling on deaf ears, but I do give them credit for hanging in there and not getting overly rattled and hanging in there and battling and fighting to get back into that game. Yesterday's game could have easily been a complete blowout after that first. half. And for those that always say, well, what else were they going to do, Sheehan? I mean, what other choice do they have? Well, we see it all the time. Teams basically go meekly into the night or into the afternoon and lose 35 to 3. That happens all the time in sports. Teams have a terrible first half. They dig a hole like 22-0 down, a 22-point deficit, and they lose 36 to 7. It's not what happened yesterday. Washington got back into that game and had a chance. Scott Turner and Wents

certainly get a lot of the credit because they couldn't get anything done in the first half against that pressure, and then they figured it out a little bit in the second half, and then he's got the playmakers to make plays. You know, by the way, I would point out that Aidan Hutchinson, who dominated the first half, he had three sacks in the first half. He was gimpy in the second half. That may have been part of the success of the second half, but I liked that they didn't panic, that they didn't, you know, throw in the towel. And I think that's been a hallmark of all these Rivera teams, but don't tell me, please, that this is kind of, you know, something that is loser talk or what else could they have done? What other choice did they have? Well, we see teams get absolutely run out of the building

for 60 minutes all the time. And they didn't. Even though it felt like at halftime there was zero chance. I mean, you were 20 minutes of real time into the second half and it was 22 to 15. One more thing. I'm going to throw this on the list of things that I like

and I'm just prefacing this with I may have to pull this back tomorrow after I watch the game again in a little bit more detail, especially the all 22. If I have time to get to it, It doesn't come out really until later today or tonight. But I saw some plays where Duran Payne and the defensive front weren't very good, lots of them.

But I saw some plays in which Duran Payne mauled some people and dominated some people. He had a sack. He should have had two. He had multiple pressures. Last week, it was easy to identify Duran Payne as the best defensive player along with Derek Forst. Yesterday it's hard to give anybody on defense any credit whatsoever. I get it. You know,

Jamon Davis had a sack on the first possession of the game. And, you know, they turned him loose on that. He had another near sack on a really good throw by Goff, the one that he dumped off to his checkdown, Swift, where Swift got up after catching it and going to the turf untouched and scoring. But I don't know. I think Duran Payne looks like he is geared up to have a big time year and a consistent year, hopefully, for him. I thought there were moments for him yesterday. I'll leave it at that.

All right, the list of things that I didn't like. I guess I would start with the defense. I mean, I could start with the lack of urgency in the first half, but I'm going to start with the defense because my number one key on Friday to beating Detroit was stopping the run. You know, I'm not going to backslap myself too much, but I did, and I've said on this podcast, going back a month or longer, that I had this hunch that run stopping could become a real problem for this team this year. And really, it was based on last year's numbers looking favorable. You know, I think they were seventh in rush defense and DVOA per football outsiders. but I just remember that when teams really wanted to run it, they did. They just didn't need to run it.

And you faced all those quarterbacks and all of those great receiving corps, and you just didn't necessarily face run first teams. And I told you over the summer, they're going to play a lot of run first teams or a lot of teams that are going to be intent on at least being balanced. And I'm concerned with their back seven, their linebackers in particular, will they be able to stop the run? Well, through two games, they can't. And it's a major, major problem because Philadelphia is coming up next. They were the number one rush offense in the NFL last year. They rushed for 220 against Detroit last week. Then they have

Dallas with Cooper Rush. They're going to try to run the ball. I think Zeke averaged like four and a half yesterday for the Cowboys. Then it's Tennessee and Derek Henry. And it's it's, it's unrelenting in terms of the backs they'll face. After Tennessee, they're going to play Chicago. Montgomery went for over 100 against the Packers. Then it's Aaron Jones. He was a big-time rusher last night. Then it's Jonathan Taylor, and then it's Dalvin Cook.

But just the next few. The Eagles, Cowboys, and then Derek Henry. Look out. You can't win more games in the NFL than you lose. if you give up the yards that they are giving up on the ground. Detroit yesterday, 191 yards on 24 carries with two offensive linemen starting offensive linemen down, including a Pro Bowl center,

and their best back, an excellent back, playing limited numbers of snaps, a limited number of snaps for D'Andre Swift, half the snaps in the game yesterday, much less than he had last week. And by the way, only five carries because he was on the injury report all week long. Eight yards a carry for the Lions yesterday.

Eight, that's disastrous. You know, and if you look at it from a rushing standpoint and you take Jared Goffs, two carries for minus two yards out, it's 22 for 193, it's even better. They have a problem right now. against the run. In two games, they've now given up against Jacksonville in Detroit, 314 yards on 42 carries, 7 and a half yards per carry. And next week, it's the Eagles, as mentioned. They face some good backs, ETN's good, Robinson's good from last week. Swift is sensational,

even though, you know, he wasn't at 100 percent and played half the snaps. Williams had a big game, Reynolds out of the backfield. Wasn't he here, Craig Reynolds, briefly? I think he was. But the problem with Washington right now is, I know yesterday John Allen wasn't 100% and he ended up playing 85% of the snaps or whatever it was. I know their linebackers are problematic. And I know missing Cam Curl is a problem. And then yesterday, Daniel Wise goes down, two hill goes down. They were scrambling. But they got run on early too. I mean, if they're going to commit eight to the box to stop the run, that becomes problematic because they don't have a great secondary behind them. I understand when teams choose to run against cover

two and maybe a deeper cover two shell, which Washington's played a little bit of, but Washington also played a lot of five-man front yesterday. They're in trouble right now defensively. This is going to be a big problem all year long. And the run defense, the biggest issue, but the rest of the defense is not good either. They were lucky again this week against an opposing quarterback that wasn't great. Gough, like Trevor Lawrence last week, missed some things, missed some throws. Hawkinson, by the way, had a bunch of drops. I think as a team, they had four to five drops in the game.

There were communications issues in the secondary, as there have been. It started early when, you know, that first play we played coming in, the St. Juice and Jackson get mixed up. and Amon Rae St. Brown catches a ball in the middle of the field wide open. Nobody within eight yards of him, and he goes 49 yards with it. The Lions yesterday had three plays of at least 49 yards, 11 plays that went for 12 yards or more. The defense, the run defense in particular, number one on the list of things I didn't like, and I'm very concerned about with respect to this team, because if they get

run on like this, and this is, you know, a problem week in and week out, you're going to have to score 27 to 30 every week to have a chance. The other couple of things I didn't like. I didn't like. I didn't like the urgency from the jump. You know, Detroit looked like the hungry team. Their pass rush was ferocious in the first half. There was very little response to anything Detroit was doing in the first half. Those first 30 minutes are about. as bad as an NFL team can play or about as dominated as an NFL team can be dominated in 30 minutes. I mean, the first half stats, 22-0-0 scoreboard, 250 yards to 56, 11 first downs to two. Washington had seven first-half drive chances, too, seven.

Total domination in the first half like you rarely see in an NFL game. and I'm not one that often likes to say they came out flat, you know, or they weren't ready and the coaches didn't have them ready, et cetera, because sometimes it is the other team that just is just much better. But there were examples. You know, the Leno Jr. giving up the safety to Charles Harris, he looked slow and sluggish. The special teams decisions were poor decisions.

to bring back kicks. I'll get to them in a moment. There was, you know, the irony of this is their first defensive drive of the game was probably their best, you know, two plays, third down sack by Jamon Davis. And then they actually had a goal line stand when Detroit decided to go for a fourth and goal from the three. But, you know, there were plays like that flea flicker where Wentz throws the ball down the field and Cam Sims seems to be totally unaware of anything. There was a chance for for St. Juice to have a pick at the end of the first half dropped it. There was delay a game right after that flea flicker that should have been intercepted,

where Cam Sims was completely unaware of the ball heading in his direction. Anyway, there seemed to be an issue between 1 p.m. and 2.25 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, which is what Detroit is. So I'm going to jump on board with most of you and say, that team just wasn't, you know, as urgent as their opponent was in the first half. Also in the list of things that I didn't like, the special teams were awful. They got beat up. It was a one-sided crushing of special teams play yesterday. You know, the Lions dominated the starting field position where they were kicking the ball to Milne.

And Milne was bringing it out to the 16 or 17-yard line a couple of times. a yard or two deep in the end zone should have left it right there and taken it at the 25. By the way, they seem to be out hustled on special teams. The first punt of the game, Tressway, boots a 62-yarder, and Christian Holmes, number 34, has a chance to down it at the one, and he carries it in the end of the end zone. I don't think he needed to touch it. I think the ball was coming backwards, and it was going to die right there on the one or the two-yard line. They gave up a 52-yard return on the punt after the safety.

They gave up another 33-yard kickoff return. Their punter, by the way, averaged 55-5 yards per punt gross. Joey Sly missed an extra point. Hello? Do we have a problem? Ron Rivera said, we don't really have a concern. It's one kick. Well, it's not one kick.

He missed a field goal and a P-A-T in the preseason. By the way, Joey Sly through two games has yet to attempt a field goal. The Skins' points have all been on touchdowns. And then how about that just abysmal, embarrassing, feeble on-sides kick attempt after they miss the extra point down 36-27? By the way, you make that extra point. You're probably not kicking an on-sides kick down 36-28. You probably with three-time-outs kick it deep and try to get them three-and-out and get the ball back. But they had to kick the on-sides kick because Sly missed the extra point and it was a terrible on-sides kick attempt. It's got to travel 10 yards and it traveled like

four and a half. The special teams were dominated yesterday by Detroit. That was troubling, but not as troubling as, you know, the start to the game and then really more than anything else, the defense. All right, a few more observations about the game. First things first, I want to just quickly talk about Carson Wentz and give him a grade on the game. Bad first half, I don't know how much of it was his fault. He was under siege. He was sacked four times. He's lucky it wasn't five or six times. The O line was beat immediately on a lot of those. Now, I could be corrected on a lot of that being on him for recognition, for him, not getting rid of it to checkdowns earlier. But What I saw primarily in the first half was a quarterback that didn't have much of a chance.

He obviously in the second half became red hot. I mean, 21 of 29 for 278 yards and three touchdowns. And again, let me emphasize this was not against prevent or soft defense. The Lions blitzed multiple times in the second half. And they stayed primarily, for the most part, aggressive. Maybe got a little soft up 36 to 21 late in the game when the game was pretty much over. But, you know, they blitzed them up until the last play of the game.

He got sacked on the final offensive snap of the game on a four than four off of a blitz. You know, he threw the ball that got intercepted that was too high for Logan Thomas. His misses are high, as we said. I just think overall, Carson Wentz did everything you would want a quarterback to do in a second half after a first half where they trailed 22-0 to try to scramble his team back into the game, which he did. Through two games, my opinion on Wentz is that, you know, it's been much more good than bad. In two games, his team's one-on-one, and he was a big part of the comeback last week

and nearly a big part of a second comeback. He's thrown for 650 yards and seven touchdowns in two weeks. I give him a B-minus for yesterday. day. His best, when he's playing his best, is so much better than what this team's had here recently. His worst isn't great, but we've seen a lot worse in recent years. I mean, to me, it's clear through two games that Wence is the upgrade that we all thought he was, you know, we all thought he would be. And yeah, he's got weapons. He's not as mobile as he once was. I think that looks kind of obvious. but overall he's been a net positive.

You know, for a team, as I mentioned, it's averaging 27 and a half points nearly 400 yards per game through its first two. So B minus for Wentz yesterday. That's the great I give him. You know, this could be one of those. Cooley will come on with us Wednesday. I'll have him evaluate Wentz.

And he may say that Wentz held onto it too long in the first half or didn't see where the pressure was and that he didn't hit his checkdown quickly enough against some of those extra man pressures. That may be true, but I think the first half, man, it was quick pressure, quick. Guys getting beat up front, and by the way, on the edge, you know, where Leno Jr. got beat by Harris in the end zone for the safety. I made this quick observation this morning on radio. At the end of the game, I don't know if you caught Scott Turner over talking to Wentz on the sidelines

and really, I think, was trying to encourage him. And I think the organization right now is really in the mode of, we have to stay super positive with Carson Wentz, regardless of what happens. And by the way, there's been, you know, occasions to be, you know, critical constructively. But for the most part, you know, it's been pretty decent. He's way down the list of issues, of concerns. All right. I want to just talk quickly about the two-point decision. I'm very surprised that some of you don't remember. We've had this conversation multiple times over the last couple of years. The two-point analytics, you know, the analytics people, the two-point analytics people say that down 14, all right, late in the game, when you score a touchdown and then you are down eight, go for two. That's the move. Why? Well, it's explained essentially this way. Now, there are some assumptions made that I don't think are necessarily accurate assumptions. And by the way, I'm more for extending the game, but context matters for me. I love all of this information. It's great information, but there's a lot of other pieces of information, and there's context. What is going on in the game? Do you have the right play? Is the other team gassed? Do you feel really good about making this two-point conversion? Unless, of course, you're down.

8 at the end of a game, then, you know, there's not much of a choice. But the bottom line with the two-point analytics is that, you know, they say there's a 50% chance of making a two-point conversion. I think it's a little bit less than 50 league-wide. And so if it's 50-50, and they also consider overtime to be a 50-50 proposition, then you should be playing for the win in regulation, meaning you go for two the first time on the first touchdown when you're down two touchdowns down 14 so that if you miss it, you've got a chance to come back and tie it on the second. If you wait to go for the win on the second two-point conversion, there's no coming back from that if you miss it. So the idea here is trying to avoid overtime, which they deem to be, they, the analytics people, a 50-50 proposition,

which isn't always true. You know, it's not the, you know, a winner of the coin flip that wins the game. And by the way, I would, you know, submit that the team that is trying to extend the game and playing for overtime and kicking extra points, they have just scored 14 straight points and they've got, you know, by definition, the other team a little bit on the ropes. So maybe advantage the team that's just scored two touchdowns and kick two extra points going into overtime. But the idea here is 50-50 on two-point conversion.

So if you miss the first, you come back and get it in the second, and you go to overtime. But if you make it on the first, now it's a six-point game, and you can kick for the win off your second touchdown. Atlanta yesterday, in one of the late games against the Rams, they were down 31-17. They blocked a punt, scored a touchdown. They went for two, down 3123. And they made it. And it was 3125. So Arthur Smith, you know, sort of in the two-point analytics decision on down 14,

score, touchdown, down eight, go for two. They got the ball back. They had a chance to win that game down six. Now, let me just say, again, I am generally for extending the game. Context matters, but I'm for extending the game for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don't think the 50-50 percentage on two-point conversions is right. And by the way, that's a team-specific thing. But most teams are not above 50% on two-point conversions.

Number two, I'm not necessarily a subscriber that overtime is 50-50, especially when you consider if a team has just scored 14 points, kicking extra points, they got the other team feeling the pressure. We had a 14-point lead, and now we've blown it. So I'm not necessarily in favor of these analytics, but I will say this, Washington had made a two-point conversion already. They were moving the ball at will on Detroit in the second half. And when he went for the two in that moment, I thought they were going to make it.

I thought in the context of that moment was they had a pretty good chance of making it and making it a 29-23 game. Of course, they couldn't get off the field on the next drive defensively anyway, so it was kind of a moot point. But that's the two-point analytics discussion. By the way, there were just three penalties called in the game. The best games are the games refereed by the Bill Vinovich crew. He is a let them play NFL referee. Nobody's called fewer penalties in NFL games than the Vinovich crew.

And yesterday you had three total. And there could have been more. There could have been more. There were some contact on some of those throws. There was a hold, a blatant hold. Jamin Davis got held on a swift catch. run that they let go. But I love those games where they let them play.

And Venevich and his crew, they always let him play. The injuries, well, Chase Ruey is the one that you've got to be most worried about because the interior of that offensive line I don't think had a great day. And I thought they had a good day last week. I thought they protected well last week. But he was on crutches after the game. Losing WISE and 2-Hill. because of the depth along the defensive line was an issue.

They got to get John Allen back healthy. He obviously isn't completely healthy right now. Other observations real quickly. It is true Jacksonville and Detroit are improved teams. Jacksonville blew out the Colts shut him out yesterday. The Colts had several key players out yesterday, including Michael Pittman Jr. And other key players.

So you knew that it was going to be a tough one for the Colts yesterday. yesterday. But Jacksonville's improved and so is Detroit. So being one and one, I don't think we're going to look back at the end of the year and say they started one and one against the two worst teams in the league. I don't think we're going to say that. By the way, wasn't Tressway's plant leg contacted on that running into the punter call? If that plant leg is touched or contacted with, I thought that was roughing. I thought both the kicking leg and the plant leg were both there was contact with both of them. Yeah, DeAndre Swift is special.

You know, five runs 56 yards, over 11 yards per carry for him. He was limited snap count wise, was injured all week, played the game and still was spectacular. And that play where Goff, you know, knows where the checkdown is on the Blitz, gets it to Swift, and he gets up. and crosses field and scores. That's a lot of him.

It's also a lot of some bad defense. By the way, I thought William Jackson got a little bit unlucky on the St. Brown touchdown that was not a great throw, and he just slipped. Anyway, that's kind of it for the game take. Philly's three and a half point favorite next week, and, you know, it's a big game. I mean, this league is wacky, you know, and I think most people, will probably play Philadelphia, and it's usually in those cases where the team that you're not expecting to come up and play well. Washington should be a desperate team. Now, that depends on what happens with Philly tonight, but big early season game in the NFC East. One and two going to Dallas versus two and one over a team that I think is a Super Bowl contender. I don't like their chances against Philadelphia because Philadelphia's strength is Washington's weakness right now. Philadelphia's strength, running the football is Washington's number one, you know, gaping, you know, gaping holes everywhere

and number one problem right now. That just doesn't bode well. Offensively, Detroit put 35 up on the Eagles. So we'll see if Washington can, you know, move the football and score a bunch of points next week. I wonder what the total is. Let me just see what the total is at my bookie, because I'm going to guess it's 50 against the Eagles. Every bit of it. 50 and a half. Three and a half, the Eagles are favored by the totals 50 and a half. All right.

Doc Walker up next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show today is brought to you by Wind Donation. Call them at 866.90 Nation or go to Windonation.com. mention my name, buy to get to free, half price on all windows right now with no down payment, no payments, and no interest until the year 2025. That's 86690 Nation or windownation.com. Doc Walker jumping on with me right now. I'll just start with this.

Why did they lose yesterday? Well, they dug a hole they couldn't dig themselves out of. They couldn't, they can't, they don't cover well. and it was just it couldn't make it up. And when you play as poorly as they did in the first half, it's pretty difficult to beat a pro team. What's the biggest concern you have right now about the team? The biggest concern I have is that I don't get answers

as to their defensive concept. I don't understand what the goal is defensively. Other than that, I mean, it's September. September and the NFL is messy. across the board because of these ridiculous pre-season that they employ now. And safety has been the biggest reason that they've done that and concussions are down, and that's good news. But the play is pitiful.

And we just got a stomach it. And it's been that way now for about eight and nine years. So this is not brand new, but it is what it is. Yeah, it's just, let's start with the defense because you singled it out. And I agree with you. I mean, the first two games of the season are, in essence, preseason games. I mean, they're not always so telling, but they have played two of them now. And more importantly, if you go back to last year, the 17 they played last year, they didn't play very good defense.

They've been gashed here in the first two games on the ground. They're not covering well. What specifically do you think are the issues? Is it talent? Is it scheme? What are you seeing that, you know, I'm trying to find whether or not this is fixable right now? I don't know because, you know, to me it's almost like two concepts wrestling within themselves. They don't seem to be clear as to what they're trying to get accomplished. It's like, I don't really know who's in charge.

I have no idea. And from a conceptual standpoint, we keep leaning on our defensive line, and that's good. But we've seen other people destroy us or disrupt us. And we don't seem to have that level of disruption. So then it would seem that either we've got to create more immediate presence through blitzing or maybe playing more man coverage than zone. To where we dictate the outcome, we seem to be a punching bag. and for the life of me don't understand why we don't contest our opponent's passes.

Our receivers have to make all-world catches on almost most of their reception, and they get it done. They're special, but they're also being defended. Our people, people catch, they're uncontested. We're giving them too many chunk plays, and that's like confusion, disorganization, or incompetence. So how much of that is on the coaching? Well, they're 50-50. It's a team effort.

I think you're in trouble whenever you mention your starting corner, and the first time you mention his name, people go, oh, yeah, he's a better slot guy. Well, then why didn't he playing the slot? Kendall Flores. You can't convince me that you're comfortable at Corner. When every time I mention, and he's a good player, and they go, oh, yeah, but he's really a slot guy.

Oh, really? Well, who's the corner? Well, we got a guy, but he's a man. guy, but we claim his own. Oh, really? Okay. So that's the whole thing is confusing. That to me is unacceptable that it's even relayed that way. If Jackson's so good at what he does, let him do what he does well. Same thing with 52. Well, you know, he's really athletic and he's fast. I go, when in doubt, why don't you have him rushed to pass her? And they finally figured that out. Guy goes in and gets his sacks. We've seen this before. He did it with Lovar Errington.

I saw them ruin part of his career based on that different staff. I've seen it when we had Minniewski here. We had people running wide open. I'll never forget the Indianapolis Coast game. When people are wide open, there is a disconnect within communication, concept, and really believing what you've been asked to do. You know, Jamie Davis has taken a lot of the heat. How did you think he played yesterday?

I couldn't evaluate. I haven't. I've seen it once. And I just think that I like the kid a lot. It hasn't changed me on him one bit. They had him the example of what I'm stating. He's athletic. More than anybody you have.

And then turn him loose. Let him go. And he goes and gets your sack. Maybe that's what you ought to have him doing more of. I don't know. That's not my job. All I'm telling you is that that's their job. They selected him, then said, oops.

We want him to do something different. Oops. We change in that. Come on, man. It's a classic clown show act. You figure it out, and then we'll follow you. The kids seem to be confused. That's why I said.

This appears to be a mixed message on the defensive side of the room. All right. Let's flip it to the offensive side of the team. It was obviously a poor first half. They couldn't protect. The quarterback was under duress, the entire first half. half, what changed in the second half? He got rid of the ball. That's on him.

Quarterback, we'll never know what could have happened because they blocked well enough, but you can't hold the ball six seconds in no league. Got to get rid of it. Throw it away, throw it down, throwing the stands, but to eat it, that's on him. And he adjusted. See, Carson's can fix himself. That's the most impressive thing about him to me. He can adjust it himself and get it going. And so I'm not mad at him. I would have loved the scene

the Jacksonville game plan employed against these guys. Quick rhythm, get going. I thought we were waiting, sitting on our heel. No, we've got to dictate the people. When in doubt, go hurry up. Run two minutes.

It don't have to be two minutes to run two minutes. Two minute jolt your team. Whenever your team is laxadaisical needs to get a kick in the rear end, speed things up. And I just thought we were too late to get to that.

You mentioned Wentz. I mean, I said in the open of this podcast, through two games, he's way down the list if you're looking for problems. Do you agree? Yeah. He can fix himself, and he's correctable, and the good he brings is so good, and because your strength is those three kids and the tight end who's given this incredible, effort to be on the field. What 82 is doing right now is special. There's no way in the world he's been cleared

in my mind. He's going out there and he is putting his will on the line and going, we're going to be good and I'm going to be a part of this. And it's amazing. This guy's a former quarterback. I can't say enough about

Logan. And his game will get better every week. I thought Bates blocked his butt off. There were a lot of efforts going on, but you can't give a guy's a six seconds. I can attack you. So I don't go. Detroit's Detroit. You can see it hard knocks.

The way they're trained is how they performed. They were tougher. They were more aggressive. That's how they trained. That's how they trained. So they were exactly what we thought they would be. I thought we had more talent, but we couldn't get it cranked up. And then when we did, it wasn't enough.

And then we became analytics and all that other crap goes in. At that point, you can stick a fork in yourself. Yeah, you did text me after the two-point attempt yesterday. I just threw up in my mouth. I go, man, are you kidding me? Well, it's the analytics. I mean, you know, it's the new way out. It's a new way out.

It's a new thing. It's a new job. You can just say the analytics. Oh, okay. All right. dude, I ain't go, this is whatever. Well, he said, well, it's the math. It's the math.

Yes, the math. He's a very dismissive. There's context to all of this. We're talking, of course. Well, no, I mean, he really is lucky that there are a lot of people that aren't in that press crew. Because I'll tell you what, man. Oh, God. I go, wow.

Okay. Hey, listen, it's one in one, which is better than it could have been. It's very easy to be O and two. Yep, they could be. And then one in one, and September doesn't make you or break you. What you've got to do is survive it. And if they survive it and end up 500 and the big game is this week coming up, you can be right where you need to be, but you can't talk your way through it.

See, Philadelphia is licking their chops. They'll come in overconfident. This thing with Carson will be perfect. Carson has to redo himself every week, and he knows it, and he's up for it. I'm not disappointed at anything with him. I just want to, we just have to keep going and not fall apart. The three young guys, and you threw Logan in there too, which makes, I mean, he's been good. I can't not do it.

But seriously, I mean, there was Deshawn and Jordan and Pierre and Chris Thompson and that team. But these three guys, these three guys, Samuel Dotson and McLaren, with a. quarterback that can, you know, threaten a defense with an NFL arm. This is, and I said it in the open, this is the strength of the team. It's not even debatable, right? Oh, no, dude, we're Golden State.

We're going to say, they won. They win championships. No, no, I'm just saying in terms of our three, we shoot the long ball, and our best thing that we do is we attack in the air. And if we protect, we've got to, the guy to do it. We got the players. I mean, everything's there. It's exciting because now you're never out of anything. So we can get back in. We got microwave possibilities. The problem is

your defense is a sieve. So no matter what you accomplish, if you turn around and then somebody punches you in the face with a 50-yard bomb, boops, there you go. You've got to be better defensively. It's just absolutely, even making people make it harder on them to score. How about an eight or nine, ten play drive? But these 40 and 50-yard, you know, chunk plays, that's pathetic. What about the special teams yesterday? Not great. We got beat.

We lost. We lost the battle. We're used to big return. We're in a team that does all the returning. We do. You know, and now we're getting punched in the face. Again, you know, we have got to. Well, but I'm just saying, we know, no, we got a kid.

We gave away Carter. Carter. If a year ago, I beg your part. Yeah, he was good. He was better good. He was better than good. Okay, he was a threat, but that wasn't high enough priority for us. We figured it out.

Maybe the analytic didn't allow us to think he had a value. Yeah. Do you think we have a kicker problem? No. No. No, that I agree with him on it. You know, but the way it is right now, the PAT is not a chip shot. It's not automatic.

It's not automatic across the league. And they're talking about him and that look. I'm not, that's not a problem with me. We have us all the way across the league. And, of course, but what does the analytics say? What about the other teams in our division? How about the win the Cowboys got yesterday against the Bengals? You know, I heard about it.

I was shot. I feel good for Clay, who almost had a heart attack last week. and it's good for the league, their defense. They've got that kid over that Batman. I'm going to tell you with that number 11. Oh, my God. Parsons. So it's possible when you get a guy.

See, that's what, and he was a 12th or 13th pick, we're so enamored by saying what round somebody was selected and all. It don't matter, man. This dude, if he's a free, he's the guy. And it rallies them around it to where they, hanging close enough, they got enough talent, and that they'll win games. And the Bengals right now, they're caught up.

See, not everybody can handle success. Perfect example. The ASC champions, and again, I don't know what you did on your other business, but I guarantee you you made out well because most people thought that Cincinnati would beat down, and Dallas wouldn't win a game. And bingo, somebody got paid yesterday. Yeah, I had the smell test did give out the Cowboys plus the points. I know, I heard it.

I heard it. I know. I'm a subscriber. You don't have to subscribe. Just it's free. No, no, you have to subscribe. No, it's not free. It is not free.

It's not free. Now if you want to make money. All right. So, in all seriousness, though, they're playing Philly. Philly runs the ball and they got a quarterback that can really run the ball. Then you got the Cowboys. Then you got Tennessee with Derek Henry coming in. Now, let's just say one at a time.

We can't get that far down the run. Well, I'm just telling you what they've got lined up, and this is the issue. If you can't stop the run in this league, you're going to lose more games than you win. Exactly. There should be no way. That's why I can't wait to call my bookie this week because I can't wait to see how this thing lines up. Because there's no way in the world anybody should think with a clear head that Washington can beat Philadelphia. Well, Philly's playing the Monday.

They're playing the Monday night game, and so you get that benefit of playing the team on a short week. And then next week, they play the Cowboys after the Cowboys play on Monday night. So we're getting some breaks here. Schedule was. Yeah, I heard my favorite talk show host lay all that out this morning, and he was very thorough. You know what? It doesn't mean crap. They could play the day before.

It doesn't matter. If they had two days rest. It wouldn't matter. None of it matters. What matters is that are we going to have people that can fundamentally come up and tackle people? It's the worst lineback.

I don't even want to call them linebacker. I don't know what you call them. I know this. The guy that they don't want to sign tackles better than anybody they have on their defense right now except for 22. And nobody wants them either. Not that, but nobody else.

Are you talking about Landon Collins? Absolutely. The best they've been is, when he was at his best. Okay, and they haven't been better. Same thing going with. They got two guys that they need desperately, an offensive lineman and a guy who's tackled for him,

and they're playing, you know, playing badass. And as a result, the kids have made enough money. They can weigh it out? The question is, can you lose? How many games can you lose before you've got to say, we need help? They didn't do a whole lot in the offseason. They thought they were coming back with a defense. that was, you know, just off of a weird year where they played a lot of great quarterbacks.

Yeah, the analytics. That didn't need anybody. Yeah, it didn't need anybody. How much last question for you, one of your favorites, and I'm being serious here, I'm not just trying to have fun with you, how much of yesterday's first half was just a flat-out manhood issue? You know, I really think our guys are ready to fight. I told you or maybe it wouldn't you, that my biggest fear was that they should have sedated John Allen.

I'd have drugged him so he couldn't have been conscious. So there's no way he wasn't going to play. There's no way you could keep him out of the lineup, but he wasn't 100%. Now he's got a groin. Now I don't need that to linger. because for God's sake, I got to have him for the division game. The Lions thing, that didn't bother me because

I saw how they trained. I mean, it's a guerrilla warfare deal. They're built better. They're built. They just took it from you. It probably was very little you could do about it. That is Detroit we're talking about. Yeah, yeah, they're a different animal. And the Jacksonville, we got lucky and fortunate

and earned that. You see what they did. They went and gutted. at Indianapolis. Yeah. And I told you last week, I said, boy, they got some specimens. Yeah. It's a different vibe, man.

It's a, forget the publicity. Forget when they went to school and all that crap. Just look how they perform. People are different than we are. We get close, but we don't get the prize. You know, our guy 90, who I consider a freakish guy, he's out. He's really good, but he ain't, he didn't finish. He doesn't get the desired result.

He's close. Our guys are close. Pain is playing like he just got out of lockdown. You can clearly see this different. You see what I mean? See that difference? That's the difference that you either have to be coached into that, pumped into that or forced into that.

We don't have that. It's like we got a lot of good guys doing a really good job, but they ain't no real canine in them to come. comes out. You don't get gashed like that. It just doesn't happen. There's a disconnect. There's a communication void that's going on. And you can just tell it. It's clear today to me. Because I've been on winners. I've seen what it looks like. And it's not pretty. And it doesn't sound the way you want it to sound. It's not politically correct. But it gives you the desired result. Right now, if this was a soapbox, this would be a bestseller. This would be a number one

rated sitcom. That's what it is. For sitcom. Yeah. You think I'm, I'm not laughing. Yeah, you are. Yes, you're sure. No, I'm not.

You'll call me up right when this is over. And you won't be able to breathe. You won't be able to breathe. You won't be laughing so on. I'm not even going to do this show anymore. Yes, you are. This is my last time on this show. I'm not, I'll tell you what.

I'm not doing the show again until they win. Okay. How about that? Well, that could be a few weeks. I did want to just tell you that, and I told you this earlier, I loved the Joe Thaisman football life. I loved you in it. You're always great in these things, you know, on the Ricko thing, on the Gibbs thing. But when you said, look, he was a celebrity during the week, but Joe was a caveman on Sundays.

Oh, no question. I know. But it was, you know. Brother shoot, yeah. It really was. It was very well done. Doc's a big part of it. Mark Mosley is a big part of it.

Gibbs is a big part of it. I just, you know, when I see these things, whether it was the Dexter one or the Rigo one or you just get nostalgic and you're like, man, it was the organization in sports. Certainly one of the two or three of them. People don't even get it. Bethard Gibbs.

See, this is the thing. You can't replace the leadership and the organizational vision of how you select player. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, you had a sports owner. Right. So we have an entertainment owner. He wants to be in the movies and film and all that.

He should be allowed to go do what he really wants to do. Jack, we had other interests too. So he got Bethered and let him do his job. Even if you appoint people a position, we got two GMs now. but they still have to be allowed to do their job. All right, Doc Walker, everybody. Patreon.com slash Doc Walker for his podcast with Sali at Rick Doc Walker on Twitter.

But more importantly now, he's back on 980, B&G today, Burgundy and Gold today. He'll be on with Scott Jackson today, 12 to 3. This week he's also on Thursday. And I don't know if you're on Friday. Your schedule changes so much each week, but just tune in 12 to 3 on 980 because Doc is now back on the station several days a week. I appreciate it and I can't wait to do it again with you. If they win, I'm back. Bye.

See you. Later. Richard Doc Walker, ladies and gentlemen, he was great on the Thysman thing. Doc's always great on those things. NFL Films turns to Doc on those things. all of those, you know, documentary things on the Redskins and they interview him and they probably use more of his interview than anybody else's. But the Thysman thing really was good. I'm sure it's available on demand. If not, the NFL network will be running it multiple times, I'm sure,

over the next couple of weeks. All right, we'll finish up by going around the NFL and a little bit more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The biggest plays and the club. lunch moment. It's time to go around the NFL. This is 50. Does he do it, Chip? God! Talk about avoiding a disastrous start when there were high expectations. The Cowboys on Sunday night and then on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday of this week,

they were basically counted out. I mean, the season's over, Dax hurt. They suck anyway because they looked so horrible against the buccaneers even before DAC got hurt. And yesterday they beat the defending AFC champions on a walk-off 50-yard field goal. You know, they dominated that first half. It was really interesting. Tony Romo and Jim Nance were on the call of this game. Very early in the game, it may have been the first offensive snap for the Cowboys. Tony Romo said, Jim, I think the Cowboys are going to play well.

I think Cooper Rush is going to play well. and I think the Cowboys are going to win this game. They had a 17 to 3 lead at halftime. Cooper Rush now 2 and 0 as an NFL starter. Remember last year on Halloween night went into Minnesota and beat the Vikings on an 80-yard drive, walk-off basically at the end of the game. You know, this was huge for Dallas

because I know they counted them out and people counted them out. You can't do that in the NFL. Like we've said, these first few weeks, you just have to stay alive until you figure it out. And the Cowboys at O and 2 would have been really in a hole, but they survive, they get the field goal in a crazy ending to the game. The Bengals had a drive, by the way, down 17 to 9.

That was 19 plays, 83 yards, 8 minutes and 54 seconds of the fourth quarter. Joe Burrow threw a touchdown pass to T. Higgins and then threw a two-point conversion to tie. Boyd and it was 1717. Then they got the ball back after they stopped Dallas and then Trayvon Diggs made a great play at the deep in Cincinnati's territory on a third and I don't know two, third and three threw it out to Boyd and digs came up and made a massive hit. And then Dallas took over in good field position and Rush made a couple of throws and they kicked the field goal. But imagine the Cowboys being O and two versus one and one.

heading to New York, Monday night football. The Giants are 2-0. We'll get to them here in a moment, you know, with a chance to get to 2-1. I mean, actually the Cowboys, you know, they play the Giants and Washington the next two weeks. And then it's possible, if you believe Jerry Jones, DAC may be back. They ran the ball a little bit more yesterday. I think Zeke looks good, health-wise. And Pollard had a big run and a touchdown run. And then Noah Brown was really the star, although C.D. Lamb was targeted a ton by Cooper Rush.

Dalton Schultz, their tight end, who I think is a little bit underrated, got hurt in that game. I don't know how serious it is. And Micah Parsons is an absolute stud. Parsons with two more sacks yesterday. Five quarterback hits on Joe Burroughs. who was sacked another six times. But right now,

Micah Parsons, four sacks through two games. Wow, what a player he is. The Cowboys win the game, 20 to 17, to really, I know it's early, but to really stay alive here in the early portion of this season. All right, there were three comebacks yesterday for the ages. Let's start in Baltimore with Miami down 3514. It's now 3835 as they are driving for the winning touchdown.

Tungo Vailoa. Locked by arms dead. Tua to the end zone. Caut for the touchdown. What a... Tua, ladies and gentlemen, Tua Tua Vailoa. Big questions about Tuauaua. And yesterday, he answered a lot of them.

and he did it with a lot of help. But six touchdowns for Tua, 469 yards for Tua. The most touchdowns in a game thrown by a Miami Dolphin quarterback since Dan Marino did it back in 1986. It was an all-timer for the dolphins yesterday from a receiver standpoint.

To re-kill, 11 catches 190 yards, two touchdowns. Jalen Waddle, 11 catches, 171 yards, two touchdowns. What has Miami been missing? They've been missing playmakers. They have them now. And the question coming in wasn't their defense, wasn't Hill or Waddle, it was Tua. And he brought him back from 35, 14 down. They scored 28 in the fourth quarter, and they beat the Ravens 42 to 38. In the game, Jackson, Lamar, 21 of 29, 318 yards, three touchdowns, 9 carries, 119 yards. The man put together a game in which he generated 437 yards of offense and four touchdowns. And they lost to a team whose two wide receivers combined for 22 catches, 361 yards, and four touchdowns.

It happened quickly too, man. It was like weird. It was 3514. I'm watching Washington, obviously. It was 28-7, then it was 28-8, then it was 35-14 going into the fourth quarter. Miami had a long drive to make it 35-21. Then they got the ball back and it was a quick five-play drive, and then it was a three-play drive with a 60-yard pass to Hill. Hill had a 48-yarder and a 60-yarder to cut it to seven and then to tie it up. Then Justin Tucker kicked the long field goal, and then Tua drove him down the field against a Baltimore defense that was outstanding last week.

Outstanding. and instead they give up 547 yards and 42 points. What a comeback by the dolphins and what an early statement in this season about what kind of team they may end up becoming. That was an incredible comeback. There were others, though, including this one in Cleveland. Two chances to get 10 for the Jets. Flacco over the middle. It's caught. Touchdown. Garrett Wilson. The Jets trying to pull a miracle comeback. 15 yards strike from Flacco.

So what's amazing about the Jets come back in the final two minutes to beat Cleveland 313 is that it's the first time a team trailing by 13 points in the final two minutes has won a game. since 2001. You know, 13 points. You know, and that's in any scenario, the Jets didn't have any timeouts left, which means they had to recover an onside kick. But I would have thought that, you know, not that it would have happened a lot,

but a team would score with under two minutes to go to cut the lead to six, and then they had three timeouts left and got the ball back. But according to ESPN stats and information, teams had won 2,2009. 29 consecutive games when leading by at least 13 points in the final two minutes of a game. I don't know. It seems wrong. It just doesn't seem right that particular statistic. But what a finish in Cleveland. And you've got to understand how this all came about because Cleveland

had an opportunity to pretty much run the clock out. Two things happened. One, Kareem Hunt right before the two-minute warning, picked up a first down and ran out of bounds with two minutes and two seconds left. The Jets had no timeouts. Now, it's first in 10, 202. You're still in a good position to run much of the clock out, even if you don't get a first down. But you can't run the entire clock out, but he runs out of bounds with two minutes and two seconds to go. So now they have to run a first and 10 play before the two. two-minute warning. And on that play, Nick Chubb takes the ball, breaks to the outside, and scores a

touchdown. So if Chubb had gone down, even short of the first down marker, the first down marker was in a tight spot because it was like at the one yard line. So we would have had to really done a number to get down with his momentum carrying forward. But if he'd just gone down in, bounds even short of the sticks. Then on their second and third down play after the two-minute warning, they could have taken 40 plus 40 a minute 20 off of the clock, which would have meant that there would have been roughly 35 seconds and counting the time run during the play, probably like 30 seconds, 25 to 30 seconds left, and then kicked a field goal for a 10-point lead, and the game would

have been over. But Chubb takes it into the end zone. And by the way, one of the Jets was trying to tackle him. And he didn't, fortunately, Chubb scores, and then the Jets get, and then, by the way, they missed the extra point. So they miss the extra point. So now it's 30 to 17. Still, I mean, game over. I mean, the Jets are not explosive, really, with Flacco, although he's got an arm.

And he hurled back and threw to a wide open Corey Davis on a 66-yard touch-toucher. pass with a minute 20 to go. And then they got the onside kick. And now the Jets have the ball down 30 to 24, have the ball back down 30 to 24. And they drive down the field. And you heard the touchdown pass, the game winner. Now, Cleveland got near field goal range, but Jacoby Brissette through an interception. And the Browns, who were about to start 2-0 without Deshawn Watson, now feel, you know, horrible.

and they're one and one. And the Jets who are about to drop to 0 and 2 without Zach Wilson for at least four games, they are one and one. And by the way, I think the Jets actually next week play the Bengals. So the Bengals can't lose that game to drop to 0 and 3. But that was an incredible comeback. Now we move to Vegas for another. incredible comeback by the Cardinals.

Second and 10, quick pass outside, and that is complete. That is Moreau and Moro. Fighting three yards, the ball is lose again. Picked up by the Cardinals. This is Byron Murphy to the end zone for the touchdown and the win. This game was insane, too. The Cardinals were down 20 to nothing, looking like the season is over at 0 in 2 with two bad defeats. By the way, I don't think the Cardinals are very good. But Kyler Murray, oh my God,

some of the magic he performed. There's a two-point conversion when they were down 23-7 to make it 2315. The play lasted 20 seconds with Murray running around before finally running it into the end zone. They tie it up on the final play of the game or they score in the final play of the game. They get a two-point conversion with no time left to force overtime. And then they went for a fourth down and overtime the Cardinals did in Raiders territory missed and then the Raiders are driving and then you got the fumble return and Murphy nearly pulled it to Deshawn Jackson and threw the ball through the end zone before he had actually crossed the goal line. There was like a 10 minute review on that.

When are players going to learn? I can't believe coaches, I'm sure they have, haven't sat down as part of the initial team meeting before a season starts and they say, hey boys and girls. I'm going to show you a couple of highlights. If anybody does this, when you cross the goal line, you better have the ball in the hand until you get halfway into the end zone, and then you can do something cool with it.

Halfway into the end zone, or we're going to cut you the next day. Man, the Cardinals would have come back from 20-0-0-0-0-20-down, 23-7 in the fourth quarter. They score 16 unanswered, and then they get that fumble return on a big-time hit. on Hunter Renfro. So anyway, the rest of the league, look, the Giants won an ugly game, but they've won two games in a row. They're two and O. I don't know how they're doing it. Their kicker was great. Graham

Ganoe kicked a 56-yarder. He was four for four. That 56-yarder with three minutes plus left was the game winner. I think the Giants are pretty decent on defense. Seekwon Barkley, awesome last week. This week, 21 carry 72 yards. By the way, Kenny Goliday, I think, is going to get cut or traded because he didn't even play or barely played yesterday. And apparently his locker was cleaned out at the end of the game. Carolina, who has been in now two super close games, I think they're capable. I mean, McCaffrey went over 100 yards yesterday. Baker, not a great day. But the Giants, 2-0. With the Cowboys at home, the bears at home the next two weeks. The Giants are 2-0. Elsewhere around the league,

James Winston played with four fractures in his back. I don't know how he did it. That game was ugly. He was 3-3. He threw a couple of picks late, including a super late pick in a 10-3 game, a 13-3 game that got returned for a touchdown. They lose 20 to 10. Buccaneers look, you know, they're winning, and this is it. I mean, it's like, you know, take your time, win, stay alive, figured out. You don't have to be good now. You've got to be good later, and that's what the bucks are doing. They're struggling on offense. That is for sure. Where else around the league that I want to mention?

The Patriots got to win. That was a smell test pick for me. The Jags beat up a beat-up indie team. Man, they have beaten up on the Colts here in their last two games. How about the Rams and the Falcons? I mean, the Rams had a 283 lead, and then they were sweating it down 3125, and then Jalen Ramsey made a really good pick. Trey Lance, that's a big story from yesterday.

Trey Lance, broken ankle, done for the year, but they've got Garoppolo, and they won the game over Seattle. I don't know, it might work out better for the 49ers. The Broncos in their home opener after the big trade for Russell Wilson and the new head coach, they got booed all day long. They scored 16 points, had to delay a game penalty, again on a field goal attempt. The crowd actually started to count down, kind of like a shot clock thing in basketball,

started to count down the play clock because the Broncos have been so late getting out of the huddle and have had so many delay of game penalties. But they won the game 16 to 9. I think the Texans aren't terrible. In fact, right now, I don't know who the terrible, terrible teams are. Like the Falcons shouldn't be that good, but they, you know, almost came back and they had the Rams on the ropes. I thought the Cardinals actually were going to be awful before their comeback. Yeah, the Bears, it was 24 to 10, and I thought they had scored a touchdown to make it 2417.

The Packers looked much better. Aaron Jones, big time last night for them in a 27 to 10 win. I don't know who's terrible right now. We'll see. I mean, the Jets might be awful, even though they got the win. I don't think Houston's awful. I don't think Jacksonville and Detroit are off. I don't, Atlanta isn't good. By the way, you know who's really good for them is Drake London. He was the guy that Washington would have selected had they, had he been there. They wouldn't have traded back and taken Dotson. But London got picked by Atlanta. And in the first two games, London so far, 13 catches for 160 yards. He had eight receptions for 86 yards in a touchdown yesterday on 12 targets.

He's been really good for them so far. So tonight you got two doubleheader on Monday night football, which will be fun. I don't think we've ever had a week two double header on Monday night football unless it was like hurricane rescheduling in week two. And maybe we did have a couple of those. I did want to mention Maryland's win on Saturday night over SMU. It wasn't pretty at all. Maryland once again penalized so much.

Fifteen penalties for 141 yards against the Terps. I had Mike Loxley on the radio show last week, and I asked him about the penalties, and he said, you know, there are penalties of aggression, and then there are penalties that are within their control. And they had a lot of within their control penalties called against them. They also had a major problem matching up with one of the best receivers in college football, football. Rashi Rice, all right, a 6-2-205-pound receiver for SMU. He is going to be, I think, a first day, maybe a second-day pick in the NFL draft. He had 11 catches for 193 yards. There was so

much to this game. Maryland survived it. They got the win, 34 to 27, you know, to his brother, Leah Tunga Viloa, 17 to 23, two touchdowns. It was Roman Hemby with 151-yard. on the ground. Maryland really can roll up some yardage and points, but the penalties were just so destructive. The turnovers were as well. SMU, I thought, got really conservative in the red zone. They had three turnovers, which, you know, certainly were major factors in the game as well. Maryland survives that. They're three and oh. They go to the big house this week to face Michigan. Michigan's a 17-point favorite. I actually thought they were going to be three touchdowns or more. They're number four in the country.

They are just loaded defensively. Maryland's got some problems defensively. We'll see if they can move the ball on Michigan's offense. That's what the books must be considering is Maryland offensively will be able to score some points and keep it to within 17. I know that for some of you, 17 seems like a big number, and it is a big number. But big, big numbers in college football are, you know, 24 plus, 21. 30 plus, 40 plus. I didn't expect Michigan to be 30, but I did expect them.

I really thought we would see three touchdowns, and they're just 17. A tough matchup for the Terps, but the win over SMU could be the difference between a bowl game and no bowl game this year. Maryland has not looked as impressive as I thought they were going to look through their first three games, but it's early in the season. And it's a work in progress for college teams as well. But, you know, you'll take it if you're Mike Loxley, even though it wasn't super pretty at times. The rest of the college Saturday was kind of boring, to be honest with you. Penn State looks really good early. They've got a freshman, a true freshman running back Singleton, who's outstanding.

They went into Jordan Hare and beat the snot out of Auburn. I mean, how many times do you see Auburn, a big-time SEC team, lose at home, 41 to 12 to anybody other than Bama. That was impressive this weekend. I thought Oklahoma was impressive. They crush Nebraska, no Scott Frost, 49 to 14. I thought Washington was really impressive on Saturday night, beating Michigan State 39 to 28.

They're pretty good, and that guy, Pennix Jr., the quarterback who transferred from Indiana. Remember, he had a very good freshman year and then broke his leg, I think it was, or maybe it was a torn ACL. He's quarterbacking Washington, and those fans were into that one. And Oregon, man, you know, Georgia is the best team in college football. I mean, they destroyed South Carolina.

They destroyed Oregon 49 to 3. And since the Oregon lost to Georgia 49 to 3, Oregon has scored 111 points. 70 last week and against a very good BYU team. they blew BYU out 41 to 20. Like I think Oregon's really good, and Georgia beat them 49 to 3. Georgia beat South Carolina 48 to 7. Right now, Georgia, in their three games, right, three games, 138 to 10, they've outscored their opponents. I think that's what it is.

Maybe it's 130 to 10, something like that. I don't have all their scores up. But they blew out South Carolina. Georgia looks unstoppable. Bama had the close call with Texas last week. And Georgia's schedule is favorable. All of their big, important games are at home or on a neutral field. They play Auburn at home, Florida in Jacksonville, Tennessee, who's really good at home.

They do have to play at Kentucky later in the year. But I can't see any way Georgia doesn't go undefeated and end up in the playoff. Stetson Bennett, by the way, is really developed into an outstanding college quarterback. Outstanding. And it looked like there for a moment last year he was going to have to transfer or just stay there and never play for them. All right. There were other things from sports over the weekend, but it's a football Monday for sure. By the way, Trey Lance, I guess, officially broken ankle, undergoing surgery, done for

the season, but they have Jimmy Garoppolo. All right, back tomorrow with Tommy.