The Kevin Sheehan Show - Eagles, Chiefs, and Payton-Brady to DC?

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Cooley and Kevin today with recaps of the NFC and AFC Championship games. Ben Standig jumped on with Kevin to talk about Rex Ryan's comments on ESPN yesterday that Sean Payton and Tom Brady could end up in DC. Also Ben's and Kevin's thoughts on Washington targeting Eric Bieniemy as their possible OC. Kevin finished with quick thoughts on the Wizards' 5-game win streak and the Terps' showdown tomorrow night with Indiana. Go to https://www.chime.com/kevindc to sign up for a Chime Credit Builder Visa Credit Card today! Thanks to Chime for supporting the show. Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code KEVINDC at Manscaped.com and shoot your arrow with MANSCAPED™ this Valentine’s Day.To get ready, Roman Ready, for better sex this Valentine’s Day. Go to ro.co/athletic today to get 20% off your entire first order. Place before February 8th for guaranteed shipping in time.Find the perfect piece of jewelry for life’s special moments and save up to 50% now at bluenile.com 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 Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Here's Bunker. For 45 yards. And it's good.

Coolie's with me, and we will do the two games together. Ben Standing's going to jump on for 10 minutes or so and talk about the report from Ian Rappaport yesterday that Eric B. Enamey is a target for Washington. for their OC position. So you just told me it's negative 20 out in Pal Wyoming? No, it's warmed up quite a bit. It's negative three right now, so it's very nice.

It feels like a mild spring day. Terrible. I'm looking at negative 8 right now in my weather app for you, because I've got you on my weather app. I've got Pal Wyoming. Negative 8, and it looks like perhaps did it start the day at negative? 21 or is it going down to negative 21 tonight? No, it started the day at negative 21. Hmm. That stinks. And no snow. It doesn't look like you're getting any snow.

It snowed over the weekend. It did a lot? It did. It snowed a couple inches here. We actually went up to Red Lodge, Montana for the weekend. We had a BRBO with some people and we were going to take the kids skiing yesterday. But the high yesterday, Red Lodge is like two. That's not very much fun to go ski, but it snowed two feet there. Oh, did it really? That's three miles away.

How many miles? 40. And it snowed two feet in Red Lodge, Montana, and it's 40 minutes away. Wow. But it's hilarious because it's like, I have a diesel truck. If you don't have it plugged in or whatever,

then it takes forever, you can't start your truck. I just jump my truck for 30 minutes. Get out of Red Lodge, Montana. Oh, my God. driving down the highway, it's like two trucks that are gelled up. The fuel filter gets gelled up. It's not, I mean, it's funny because you get a few of these days every year,

and it's not every day. I think by Saturday it's going to be 45 degrees here. Hmm. But you just get a few of these days, and you just walk outside, your nose hairs freeze up in there, and you just hate it. Oh, I hate it. So you went all the way up there with the tent. of skiing, but it was just too cold for the kids to ski.

Yes, we just hung out. And did it snow the two feet while you were there or before you got there? It snowed while everyone was there, yeah. Wow. Did you go to the Bull and Bear Saloon and Restaurant, downtown Red Lodge? No? No. Because I'm looking at a picture of downtown Red.

Oh, you've been there? I like the Bull Bear. I've been to every single... Red Lodge isn't very far. We actually go to Red Lodge often. Oh, you do? They have some good restaurants and some cool places to eat, and it's kind of on the trip that if I take people in the summer,

when you come here in the summer, you take a trip to the Bertooth Mountains, and then you kind of circle through Red Lodge and back down towards Pallor Cody, and it's a fun trip. It's a cool little town. And it's a decent little ski town. I mean, the resort, you would,

people that ski out there, it's a better resort than a lot of the, you know, Virginia-type resorts, at least as far as terrain goes. Right. I'm looking at a picture of downtown Red Lodge, Montana, and there's a big old sign crossing the street saying, coming annual 4th of July barbecue. So I bet 4th of July did a pretty fun holiday to hang out in Red Lodge.

I've done the fireworks in Red Lodge before. It is a fun little town. It's a fun little party town in the summer. With two feet of snow in the negative temperatures, do they still clear it pretty quickly? Well, yeah, they do, but, like, I'm in Cody, Wyoming right now, and Powell and Cody, I haven't seen the actual road, the blacktop in two months. Because it's just... The roads stay snow-covered.

That's kind of nice. then it probably gets pretty old pretty quickly well this is the time this is what the third winter that we stayed the winter here yeah by feb one you're like

all right I'm good we're actually going to St. Lucia next week well that's nice so we're going to take nine days to our eight days in St. Lucia so I mean part of the part of the lure of living here

is that I'm not going to be here for at least 10 days in February. Well, plus you spent Christmas in Florida. Yeah, we did Christmas in Florida. So, I mean, we've had some warm weather. Yeah. The thing is, though, honestly, Kev, it fits 32 degrees, and the wind hasn't blown very much this year.

If it's 32, 29, 30, 32 up, anything above that, it's fine. We're a sweatshirt. It's not a coat weather. Right. It's the arid climate. So if you get into the 30s and it's sunny outside, you're a lot. doing what every one outside. I'll tell you what it isn't there today.

It's not sunny in 57, which it is here today. I mean, I know. You're really warm. I told you, we have not really had winter. I mean, apparently we could get a dusting of snow this week, maybe a dusting of snow late in the week, and it's going to be really cold over the weekend. But other than Christmas weekend, it really has been, I think,

the mildest winter, I can ever remember, and the winter with the least, we have not had yet in the DMV an inch of snow yet. In fact, it's barely even fallen from the sky. Like the day, Christmas Eve was the morning where the cold front came through and it dropped literally into like the high single digits by Christmas morning. And it came through with a bunch of snow showers. That That was it. That's been it. Actually, that was the Friday, my fault. That was the Friday before Christmas Eve. So that was December 23rd. And it just hasn't even been that cold. I'm actually, you know me, I love storms and I love winter storms and I love snow. But if it's not, if I'm not going to have that, I prefer it to be like it is today, 57 and sunny. Because that's nice weather. Yeah. No, like, I want a winter storm and snow. Once a month, and then I want it to be 70. Right.

Yeah. All right. Let's get into these games. I think we should start with the last game last night. And I know that you, you know, didn't watch the games taking copious notes like you typically will do. I took a lot of notes maybe for us. I think the first thing that I want to say about the Chiefs win over Cincinnati is that on Friday, Friday, you said, I think Steve Spagnulu needs to really dial up some pressure. I think he will. He's

creative that way. And they're going to get after Burrow like Burrow hasn't been, you know, gotten after in a while. And that is going to be a key factor in the game. Burrow was sacked five times for the game, three times on the first two drives as Cincinnati went punt, punt. And then they picked them off with pressure on the fourth possession of the first half. So that was number one, giving you some credit for really calling out what Kansas City needed to do. And what ultimately they did do, it didn't stop Burrow from having a big day or Cincinnati scoring, but ultimately the Bengals scored 20 points, which wasn't enough.

And their punts in the first half and their turnovers ended up being massive. and a lot of them were Chris Jones and Kansas City pressure. But really the biggest takeaway for me is just kind of the conversation about Burrow and Allen and Mahomes and throwing all of them you want. Mahomes is at the top of the list and it's not a debate. Patrick Mahomes yesterday was the star of the football Sunday on basically one ankle, making one big play after another and carrying his team. that couldn't run the football to save their life,

lost three receivers during the game to the Super Bowl. He was phenomenal. It was one of his signature performances. He's amazing. He's so tough. And it's funny because it's like it doesn't, it does matter if it's Travis Kelsey. If he loses Travis Kelsey, they're in trouble.

It doesn't matter if it's Smith-Schuster or if it's Valdez Scantling or if it's more or whoever, just give him dudes. Give him dudes that are good. They have to speed. He'll put it on them, he'll find them, he'll create. He's so good at that. It's just, like we talked to, you have to stop Kelsey. They didn't.

The touchdown, the touchdown that he threw on fourth, fourth down from like the 15-yard line, when he threw it to him, I'm like, oh, my God, he's open again. It's unbelievable. I mean, you know, he wasn't as dominant as he was last week, but he still, you know, he still ended up with seven catches, 78 yards, and a touchdown on eight targets.

Probably seven first down or a touchdown. Yeah. He is unbelievable. And look, Kansas City won the game on defense. I mean, they made enough plays, and Mojones was terrific. But if you can't score more than 20 points, you cannot beat the Chiefs. Yeah, it kind of comes down to that. You know, like, I really do think the early portion of the game,

you know, in games where you've got, you know, good offensive teams that are going to drive the ball, you're basically going to end up with somewhere around 10 to, you know, 10 or 11 drives in the game. Cincinnati basically had 10 drives. in the game. And they were only able to produce four scores. They turned it over twice, and in the game, so they punted four times. And that's not good enough against Kansas City. So I did think Burrow got into a rhythm. I think when they tied the game at 13, 13, 13 early in the third quarter, I really thought they were going to win the game because it just, Kansas City's

receivers are dropping like flies. They couldn't run the football. It looked like they had adjusted to some of the pass rush, had started to protect him better. But, you know, Mahomes did too much. I mean, I think there were just, I mean, we'll get to the officiating here, which everybody's blaming. I mean, before we get to the officiating, like, how close were you to getting the overtime that you predicted? Pretty close. I mean, without a 15-yard, you know, unnecessary roughness. I mean, again, before the officiating, like Kansas City had a chance to go for it on fourth down.

And they end up punt in back to Burrow with, what, $2.20? Yeah. Something like $2.20? Yep. And I'm sitting there going, wow. Danny Reed just took it out of the hands of his offense and gave Joe Burrow an opportunity with $220 left. It was four.

And they came up big. They had the grounding, the pressure. They came up huge. That defense did on that last. drive to turn them over to get the ball back. Yeah, I mean, so let me go through a couple things almost chronologically. First of all, the sacks early, no scores for Cincinnati on their first two drives, getting an interception on the fourth drive.

I think that was a big deal, as it turns out in this game. Ultimately, you know, it contributed significantly to Cincinnati only being able to score 20 points. But I think in the first half, the opportunity for Kansas City. And look, I picked Kansas City. I had Kansas City in the smell test as my only smell test pick for the weekend. When they picked off Burrow at 13 to 3 and had the ball at the Cincinnati 39 yard line, and Cincinnati held them to three and out no yards so there wasn't a field goal, there wasn't a touchdown.

and I thought with that interception, I really did think it was going to be over. And I know that Casey led Cincinnati last year in the AFC title game, 21 to 3, but I thought we were going to see 20 to 3, worst case, 16 to 3 at halftime. They get this stop, and then they get a field goal the Bengals do coming back the other way, which was massive. But to me, in the second half after Cincinnati tied it, Mahomes was at his best on that drive that made it 20 to 10. 13. The third and seven that came up short to Valdez Scantling that they challenged and got,

which I was surprised by. I thought they would move the spot. I didn't think that they would actually give him a first down. But third and 10, that touchdown pass to Valdez Scantling, when he is pressured where the guard is getting thrown back into his lap, he is on one ankle, and he moves right, and he looks off Kelsey, who's triple covered on that play, and he throws I think one of the best throws we have seen all season long on third and ten at the Cincinnati 20-yard line to Valdez Scantling for a touchdown. And that was a wow moment. A wow moment. You thought they were going to be held to a field goal.

Instead, it's 20 to 13. They get the ball back. And then he has that inexplicable fumble and couldn't fall on it because you could tell he was just not nimble enough to fall on it. Cincinnati ties it. And then you had that sequence where Casey got that extra down, that extra third down. That was so weird. So you know what happened, right, where they got the extra opportunity? The play clock was running after an incomplete pass. And the back judge came in trying to stop the play, but nobody heard him. they ran the play, they get stopped short of a first down. It clearly looks as if we are going to see a punt.

Both the punt and the punt return team are out in the field. And then you get Ron Torbert saying that the play was called dead before. Apparently that's the rule. But I think after they ran that play with nobody knowing the play was supposed to be stopped, they should have just gone back and fixed the clock. and had them punt on fourth down. Oh, you're so pissed if you're Cincinnati. That is the rule.

That is the rule. It's embarrassing that they let it go on as long as they did. They didn't score on that drive, though. Whistles should have been blowing throughout that entire play. It was amazing that didn't. If I'm not back, Judge, I am just blasting that whistle the entire time. Just blasting it. Yeah, there was no indication watching the game.

Blasping the whistle. Like he just, he knew he stopped it, but like do you panic? Like, oh, well, they're playing here. We'll stop it when it's over. And then he got a text from his wife. And he's like, oh, shoot. Oh, wait, wait, guys, guys, hold on. Hold on for a second.

I blew the play dead. Remember I blew that last plate it? It's important to know. She had a flat tire up there on I-80. I had to check it. Who knows what he's doing? I think I-70 goes through Kansas City. Who knows where his wife was?

I mean, maybe she's up by Chicago. Well, she could have been further north. But I did the drive I-70, St. Louis to Kansas. City. It's a straight shot on the I-70. I'm pretty sure I-70 is Kansas City. Maybe she was somewhere in between 80 and 70. I don't know. Maybe she's stuck in Iowa. I mean, why didn't she just call AAA instead of trying to texting her husband when he was calling it? He didn't. He told her, babe, this is a three-hour game, and she didn't understand why the game went over three hours. I thought you would be done by now. I didn't want to bother you.

I need help. God, how many times have we all heard that? I thought it would be over by now. Isn't it over yet? You said three hours. You said the game. It's a playoff game. I know that we've talked about these games normally taking three hours, but this one

took three hours and 40 minutes. So I'm still out here working, honey. You know what? My wife has been able to figure out over the years is when she's, you know, she'll walk in and she'll say, when is the game going to be over? and then I'll say, well, there are five minutes left in the game. She, years ago, she would say so in five minutes, and I'd say, yeah, something like that. Yeah. But she has certainly learned over the years that five minutes can actually mean 30 to 45 minutes,

especially if it's at the end of the fourth quarter and it's a close game. Could easily mean another 30 to 45 minutes. We got two challenges late. We get into the two-minute situation. Now the boot challenges. A lot can go to overtime. A lot can happen. A lot can happen. Game could go to overtime. It is true, though. I'm sure a lot of people have dealt with that. When is it going to be over?

Well, look, there's three minutes left in the game. Just, I'll be there shortly. But no. Probably in the next half hour. If you've been together long enough, they know what three minutes on the clock means. And by the way, in almost any sport. Like, she knows three minutes in basketball can actually move much faster,

but then again, she's like, she'll know that there could be also, especially if it's an NBA game, like six timeouts before the end. And an NFL game, you know, she knows it could go to overtime if it's close. See, the thing is, even if my wife knows and sort of understands that, and I say, I don't know, probably 30 minutes, she still says, well, there's three minutes left in the game. I always underestimate time, so I'm always in trouble. Probably 15 minutes, 20 minutes by. Like, you said you'd be done. 15 minutes.

It's important to note, though, that Kansas City on that play, on that weird play, did not score. They ended up punting the football. And the next drive was the interception, which almost acted like a punt for Burrough. Look, I'm very surprised that Cincinnati in a tie football game had the ball twice after scoring on their, you know, touchdowns on two or their first three drives. I'm shocked that they didn't drive the football down the field. I thought my wager on Kansas City at 20 to 20 on both occasions, including where you talked about, you know, it was an interesting call by Zach Taylor. He had the option to take the holding penalty, which would have made it fourth and 23rd and 22, but he declined the penalty, fourth and eight at the Cincinnati 37,

and Butker apparently could not kick a 54, 55-yard field goal in that brutal cold in that direction. And they didn't go for it. They didn't go for it. You know, third and 22, he could have gotten 18 and they may have been in field goal range. Or with Mahomes, they may have picked it up because Kelsey may have been wide open. But when they punted it... They could have went for it in that situation.

When they punted it, and even though it went to the six-yard line, I think, the five or six-yard line, I was convinced... I was like, this is done. I'm like Joe Burrough, because Joe Burrough, like Mahomes, is that guy. He's going to... And the third and 16, after the grounding penalty that he completed to Hearst, I'm like, it's over. They get the ball at the 35-yard line. They've got timeouts left. there's just no way. And Chris Jones made really what turned out to be, I think, the play of the game on that third and eighth, the sack.

I mean, he was dominant in the game. Absolutely dominant. Just go back to the third and what, the 16, it was third and 16? Yeah. Third and 18. Third and 16 to Hearst. Are you kidding me? How are we giving this up? Because I, by the way, I had Kansas City in the under, like we talked about. Yeah. On Friday. Yeah, winner.

It turned out to be winner winner. It was like plus 230, plus 240. Nice. But third and 16, how are we giving this up? It wasn't like a dink that Hurst broke nine tackles on. No, it was just, was that, it looked like a blown coverage. It looked like a blown coverage. It looked like Travis Kelsey just getting over.

But yeah, Chris Jones makes that huge play. The crazy one, you're going to get to it. I'll let you get to it. It's the other side, the other side of the ball with the personal foul. I don't think it's debatable. I think 95% of the time we're watching football, that's a clear, that's a clear unnecessary roughness. I think the extension of the arms by Joseph Asai was the key. I think in that spot in that game, if it had been contacted,

and he'd gone down, but it was him chasing Mahomes and just not being able to stop his momentum. That would have been one thing. But when he extended his arms, and sure, you know, there's no doubt Mahomes flails around on the ground and really exaggerates, but I don't even think he needed the exaggeration. If it hadn't been called, if they had let it go, I don't think I would have been that upset. But that's a 95% of the time call, in my opinion. It is, and it's a shame because the Sye had such a good game. And Kansas City, still with eight seconds to go, had another play.

It was first down, no timeouts, but they could have figured out something to the sideline. I mean, Kelsey may have been wide open on the sideline, or Mahomes could have rolled out and scrambled for another five yards, and they could have tried a field. Well, they weren't going to try it from 59. We know that. They would have run another play. But I thought it was a good call. What did you think? First of all, they both went into the fucking bench.

Yeah. To the bench. It's a long ways. It's an obvious call. And it's just the way penalties are called is it's, and I agree with this. To some extent, I don't know. I'm in this debate in my mind as do we call a penalty in that situation in the game. But that penalty is called on the first play of the first game of the year.

That's a call. 100%. That's the call all year. And it's unfair to change the call in that situation. I don't like that that play changed the game, if that makes any sense. I don't think it's fair that that play changes the game. As I knows he did it. Like, is his knee even hurt or is he just laying there like, oh, my God, why did I just do that?

My knees hurt. I had to push him to keep my balance. Now I'm hurt. I felt bad for a sign. He clearly felt terrible, and he knew he did it. The Holmes is two yards out of bounds. He didn't need to shove him. But I'm more amazed, even still than you talk about the call,

you can talk about when it should be called. It's the right call. I'm just, like, always amazed. That the lack of situational awareness and critical situations with professional athletes. What are you going to do? Make the field go a yard shorter? like he obviously declared himself out of bounds

and what are we preventing here a yard less of a kick and you knew that he just didn't he lost complete train of thought and complete track of where he was and he made a boneheaded mistake and I hate that in critical situations it's like guys god

could we just talk about before the play or sometime in the week or in a critical situation we cannot cannot take a 15-yard penalty. It's unacceptable. We cannot take it. No.

They killed him. You're right. Maybe the Chiefs get four to the sideline, and they can attempt a 55-yarder. I don't know. But in that situation, seriously? What amazes me is the mistake that was made. Not that it was called.

I don't know how I feel about should we let, penalties like that go later in games, pass interference go later in games, should we let him play a little bit more in those situations? And I'm not, that's tough. That is it 100% called, that is called against Josh Johnson in week one. It's obvious.

We'll get to Josh Johnson in a moment. I mean, he's got both feet in the white with one of his feet about to land on the sideline dirt. driving sideways, going out of balance, declaring himself out, trying to stop the clock. It's an extension of the arms that did it. You know, Zabe, we're in a group text with a bunch of people, and Zabe texted the following. He just said, wrong call, period. Ruffing penalties are a million shades of gray and required discretion.

Mahomes is trucking. He's a bench. Mahomes is trucking for yardage and a size and full pursuit. A forearm and a flop, and it gifts the chiefs the game. wrong in all counts. He claims he retracts his landing gear immediately, throws football, flails arms. This can never be rewarded in sports.

This is the wrong penalty for that argument, in my opinion. I mean, I think that there are definite times in which, you know, a quarterback is sometimes trying to bait, you know, the late hit and is straddling that sideline and barely has a foot. This was not the case. He was getting the first down. He was clearly out of bounds, but he had already taken two steps out of bounds and was about to take his third step when a size contact and extended arm, you know, knocks him nearly

into the bench. And it's just, look, this was a poorly officiated game, as was the first one. There were a lot of questionable calls. I thought the call on Apple was a bad call. I thought that they probably missed a roughing the passer on Burrow. you know, on one of those final two drives that would have gotten called during the course of the season. Or let me just say that would have been called 50% of the time during the regular season. But that final play gets called 95% of the time during the regular season and the playoffs.

It just isn't that debatable. And ultimately for me on this first game, Mahomes and Chris Jones were absolute stars in this game. Kansas City outgained Cincinnati. They were 50% on third down against Cincinnati. They committed fewer mistakes than Cincinnati. And I think going back to your spags is got to dial up some pressure because that will be the difference maker in this game. He dialed up a lot of pressure.

And even if Cincinnati adjusted to it, it took them out of three drives in their four attempts basically or in their five attempts in the first. first half. They were scoring 27 or 30. You got a score to beat the Chief. And they had six at halftime because of the pressure that was on, and Chris Jones, by the way, did you know that he did not have one playoff sack in his career before

yesterday as good of a player as he's been? And then I thought, by the way, also Valdez Scantling was outstanding, given that Tony and Hardman and Smith Schuster were all out. And that's actually the key for Kansas City and the Super Bowl. We'll get to that there. And thank God for that. They decided that they were going to triple Kelsey after the touchdown. Still, triple and double it doesn't matter.

Still, it ended up with seven for 78 on eight targets. Mahomes was incredible. Last thing on the last penalty. One, Mahomes doesn't even look. Like, he is out of, he's not even expecting the fit. No. And on the idea of a flop, I don't like personal fouls called.

I didn't like personal fouls called when I played. I don't like some of the roughing the pastor stuff at all. But if I'm taking, first, if I'm going out to the sideline in that situation, you throw me to the bench, I'm standing up yelling what the budge. It wasn't a flop. He shoved him into the bench.

I'm getting up that way. It's someone who hates that call. Like, what are we doing here? It wasn't baiting it. He wasn't expecting it. He got slammed into the sideline on the bench. It's obvious. In that moment, it's not just the yard.

You're not just trying to get the yard. You're pissed. What are you doing? It's a dumb play. I think it was a fitting ending for Kansas City to win the game. I think with you, they outplayed them. Cincinnati battled back. But the fitting ended, yeah, probably on the swing of four to five calls out of the way

against Cincinnati that the chiefs got some benefit. But did it change the game completely? Every Bengals fan, anyone arguing, could make it. I still think Kansas City, I played him. I thought it was a really good game. I mean, not, you know, classic by any stretch of the imagination. Flawed at times, Mahomes not healthy. I just thought Mahomes was spectacular.

And look, I think Burroughs so good, too. I mean, I'm a big Burroughs fan. He had some big time throws. The first play of the fourth quarter when they went for the fourth and six at the Kansas City, 41, that throw to Jamar Chase is just total stones. These are two really good football teams, but Mahomes is at a different level from the rest of these guys. I mean, I want to make my opinion clear on that. I think that these quarterbacks, some of these young quarterbacks in the AFC are going to be spectacular for years to come.

And I'm not down on Josh Allen because of the turnovers and because they got their ass kicked by Cincinnati last week. I'm not down on him. And I don't think there's a lot of difference between Burrow and Allen and even Herbert, for that matter. We may feel the same way soon about Trevor Lawrence. But Mahomes is different. He's special. Oh, I also wanted to, I can't believe I forgot. In the first half, the hook and lateral play that Andy Reid dialed up on third and

It didn't get there because it was a bad pitch by Kelsey. But then he dialed up another one, and Kelsey didn't pitch it because I think the defender was waiting for it. But I've always kind of thought that the hook and lateral, the hitch and pitch, whatever you want to call it, that it's only used for kind of late in the half, late in the game to try to, you know, that it could be used in the first quarter or in the third quarter more effectively, especially, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, especially against zone coverage. Because when you throw the ball short of the sticks against zone coverage, the defense all allows that catch, and then they all rally, they all converge to the ball.

And I think on third and super longs, third and 12, third and 14s, this could be an effective play more often, and although, you know, defenses will start to get, you know, the hang of it. But to have that running back trailing as the defense converges on the tight end or the wide receiver who catches it, and then a quick pitch, and you've got yourself a big play and a move to sticks, if not more. And I just, it's typical Andy Reid stuff. Just he's so creative and he doesn't care where he tries some of that stuff. And, uh, and I love some of that stuff. And Mahomes and.

Yeah, go ahead. I was just saying, he tries it for a reason. He knows where it has a place and where it's going to work. I like to... It's better with soft coverage because you know you're getting the hook. So on a third and longer, you have more of an expectation that you're going to get the hook. Right. You know you can get the hook.

Like, if I felt like I knew I could get the hook, I'd like to start a game that way. Especially in a lower level, like a high school level. If you have somebody you know you can get the hook to, if you have a softer zone team, gosh, it's fun. And it's planned. So like the pitch isn't that scary pitch around play. It's a planned and orchestrated deal. And then the other one, oh, like the second one,

I'm sitting there wondering, they run one, did they have a plan after they run one to go fake pitch? Yeah, it looked like that pitch, that one was covered. it a little bit and he made the decision not to do it because they didn't get the first down on that. But a lot of times you have that plan in is now we'll go fake pitch

and it's third and 13 but if we get the fake pitch we can get the extra five yards after the fake with the guy that originally caught the ball. The thing is is third and longs you've got to be more creative unless

you've got Mahomes and Kelsey and they're creative anyway. you've got situations where you really do have the ability to protect long enough on longer developing patterns and have guys that will get open beyond the sticks and a quarterback who can make the throw. Because two-thirds of the teams, three-fourths of the teams in this league, are pretty much dead on third and 14 or longer. What are you talking about? Scott Turner, seven-man protects three-man downfield routes are great.

But a lot of creativity on shorter throws to try to get it. That's one way. I'm with you. The one thing that you do need to have, though, if you want to have a lot of creativity, you do need at least an element in there that you could get it over the top. Or you could get the third and 20. Right. To spread it out.

You do need that element where you go, all right. they can't get downfilled at all on 3rd and 17. So don't give up the gimmick in the checkdown. And Kansas City has that element so they can do it. Now, Kansas City has the screen element where they're so good with some of the screen stuff. Yep, you've got to play them fairly honest. Third and 14, third and 12. It was 16, 17, you know.

We've seen more creative stuff. We've seen it from Kyle. We've seen, you know, Brock Purdy had, well, no, it wasn't Purdy. It was Debo, I think, in a game a few weeks ago on a third and, it was against Washington. It was against Washington where they came down the line and then they tried to, it was a handoff to, I think Debo. Well, Debo didn't play in that game. It may have been to McLeod and McLeod tried to pitch it or Jennings tried to pitch it. But, and Washington stopped it.

They actually stopped the play, but it was kind of a third and long in the red zone, and it was one of those plays where they tried to pick up the first down with that pitch. By the way, way, way back in the day, Norv Turner would use Brian Mitchell in the backfield where they would pitch it to B. Mitch. You'd have a receiver then that would come with B. Mitch or a running back, and B. Mitch was running the option. after taking the pitch from the quarterback. You're talking to somebody who wants to run like 27

and creative plays a game if you could. So you do the stuff. I have a full binder full of trick plays. All right. Well, let's like the movie with Adam Sandler, the water boy where the coach loses is trick play notebook and you can't win. Okay, we can move on. I'll do this. I will do trick plays with you all day.

We can do trick plays as a show one day, and you can open up that notebook and share some of them with me. All right, let's get to the Philly San Francisco game where the 49ers could have had all the tricks in the world, but they didn't have a quarterback, which was the big problem. We'll get to that game right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Runs out of the pocket, looking for a deep Devonte Smith. One hander is the end. He's got it. First and goal, Philadelphia.

Just an absolutely remarkable catch. Not only to stick up that right hand, he's clearly in great body control. Phil, he's going fast, but he was definitely in bounds. Well, that huge catch by Devante Smith, and it turns out it looks like the Eagles got away with one. What's bringing Mike Pereira, Mike?

Looking at all these different angles. What do you think? Well, he's clearly going to the ground, Kevin. Ball hits the ground. He's got to maintain control, but you see him lose control there. Had that been challenged, it would have been overturned to an incomplete pass. Fourth down in three, Devante Smith didn't catch the football.

No challenge from Kyle Shanahan. Nothing from New York, as we've seen all year, to quickly tell the referees, that's not a catch to overrule it on the field. So Shanahan doesn't have to use his challenge flag. He didn't. Devante Smith got up, was signaling like crazy. Clearly, he knew he didn't catch. it, that would have been a clue for me to throw the challenge flag. Philly scored next drive,

Brock Purdy knocked out of the game, Fumble, and Philadelphia with basically facing a team that could not throw the forward pass for much of the second half of the game rolled 31-7. I do just want to start with that quick play because I have a general overall thought on the game. but I thought Fox's coverage of the game wasn't great. They missed the punt that hit the wire. We never saw a replay of that until like after the referees had made a decision on it. And I actually think if you slow it down, you can see where the ball completely changes trajectory. But you didn't have a replay on the Devante Smith catch by Fox.

if you're Kyle Shanahan, when you see Devante Smith get up and say, let's go, let's go, let's go, don't you have to throw the challenge flag, even if nobody from upstairs is telling you to throw it? If you saw them, especially since it's a fourth and three, it's not third and three. Right. I mean, it's the first half. You don't want to give away a challenge if you don't have to give away a challenge. But they should have seen that in the booth. And to your point, though, Greg Olson calling the game had no.

clue that it wasn't a spectacular catch until they came back from break. So, yeah, I don't know if it got if the booth had the angle, if it was shown to them, it's not the easiest one to just know and see with what Devonte Smith is doing because

he's all the way down to what, the seven-yard line. Yeah. So it's not in front of one of your sidelines. Your coaches don't see it. You know, I mean, your sideline and the coach's box only stint to the 30. So it doesn't make it the easiest

play to just challenge. I'm wondering what they got in that box upstairs. You know, what looks they got out of it in the first 30 seconds. It was obviously a drop. I mean, it would have been clearly overturned. But I'm wondering

if anybody said, if they had gotten the angle before Philly gotten on the ball. I think one of the interesting things about this play, too, is is that usually when it's obvious, the defenders, the 49er defensive players, will be screaming overturn it, overturn it, overturn it. And I'm looking at this play again because I haven't watched it again, but my memory, and I wrote this down, is that the 49er players didn't react.

You know, Devante Smith, who is, by the way, a player who's just not very demonstrative by nature, he's the one that reacted on the play. Like, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. I know. I mean, actually, you know what? I'm looking at it right now. Hufanga, the safety did immediately say, no, no, no, that hit the ground. But as Smith is going, let's go, let's go, let's go.

It doesn't look like, at least from the TV camera, they go right to the replay, which you can't see. We celebrated the catch first. Yeah, but Hufanga the safety does immediately say, nope, hit the ground, hit the ground. He was in position to see it. He was the one that thought. Yeah, I stay corrected on this. Kyle Shanahan got direction from his team. He got direction from his team that that ball now it wasn't like they weren't going nuts, but that along with Devante Smith's reaction should have been enough for Kyle to throw the flag, in my opinion.

With that reaction and then with the Eagles hurrying up to it, the other side of this is, I realize you don't want to waste a challenge. but you just gave up a big time play, a momentum-type play on a fourth-down situation. Now they're hurried up. You get a chance to get your defense set on the other side. If you lose the challenge, you still get the time-out. It's not a terrible spot for a time-out.

Yeah. In the second, if it's early third quarter, you're sitting there going, obviously based on scoring situation of game, you're going, do I want to burn a time-out here? But in that situation, time-out costs you nothing. it's not a big deal to take the time out there. We didn't get from Fox the...

Should have challenged it. Plus, like I said, it's not a third and three. Where you're bringing them into a fourth and three situation. I mean, it's a turnover on downs. That's a critical, critical mistake by Kyle. It's your ball at the 35-yard line in a scoreless game. Right. I mean, we are in agreement, right,

that it would have been a no-brainer that it would have been overturned. No-brainer. Yeah. And then he goes to the fact that if he does challenge it, it's overturned. No, Purdy never gets hurt because that play never comes up. Yeah, well. And they probably win the game. They probably win the game something like 27, 24.

Yeah. So that was it. Well, let me just, I want to start with this. My belief after watching San Francisco's defense in the first half, like even after the Brock Purdy injury and first half, fumble on the sack by Hassan Reddick, that if Brock Purdy didn't get injured, San Francisco would have won the game. I know that that is, you know, a big leap, but San Francisco's defense in the first half was awesome. Awesome. Philadelphia scored, you know, off the fourth

and three, which shouldn't have been a play. Then after the fumble, they had it at the, you know, at their own, that midfield, couldn't, you know, three and out. Next drive was four and out. The drive after that was three and out minus four yards. And then after McCaffrey's incredible touchdown run, evened up the game, I even thought at that point, Cooley, when it was seven to seven, I'm like, this is going to be a hell of a football game because it's going to be all about San Francisco's defense. And they're going to, Kyle's going to figure out a way for Josh Allen to get the ball into McCaffrey's hand.

30 times in this game. Because McCaff- that was the McAfrey drive. And that touchdown run was unbelievable. It was like the third down where he caught the little option out underneath and perverted. Yeah. You know, this is where Josh,

this is Josh Johnson's element. Yeah. But Philadelphia. I'm looking back to Tennessee from five years ago with Jay's game plan with Josh Johnson. Right. I mean, he could do it. Right.

They almost beat Tennessee. And that defense being great. It's like they can stay in this game, but they're going to need to. They need to play smart. And they didn't. And then he turns it over. And then the game's over when he turns it over right before the half.

So let me, I want to get to that in a second. But before I say that, I did think that the 49ers would have won the game after watching San Francisco's defense against Philadelphia in the first four drives of the game. That's number one. Number two is this. For those people, and I saw a lot of this, For those people that think this, you know, that kind of just said, see, Kyle Shanahan, for all the genius talk, can't get them, you know, can't win a Super Bowl with them. If anybody thinks yesterday's game is on Kyle Shanahan, even though we just talked about the challenge flag, and there are a couple of other things I'm going to mention, they did not have, they were starting their third string quarterback, they went to their fourth string quarterback, and then they didn't have a quarterback for almost a half.

if you don't have a quarterback that can throw the forward pass, you cannot win an NFL game. You can win a high school game. You know, you might be able to win a college game depending on the opponent. You know, and if you practice the triple option enough, but they did, I mean, give me a fucking break. That's the perfect point. That's a perfect point because I have one of my buddies is a 49ers fan,

and I've heard this like three or four times throughout the days. The 49ers really should have just went. McCaffrey and ran that Wildcat. Agreed. When the fuck did they practice running the Wildcat? But I kind of agree with that. When it was clear that Purdy... But my point is...

Not with Josh Johnson. But when was Wildcat installed? Was McAfree taking every snap? Yeah, I know. You know, when did we start to execute that run game plan? How many run plays do we have out of that game plan? You can't just go Wildcat and go every single down. Wildcat.

And when you do that, Philly's going to put 11 guys up tight. McCaffrey's going to have to... on field a couple times. There was no implement of that game plan. That's not, I mean, yes, if you knew that that was going to be the situation, you had one quarterback going to the game, you said, okay, if it gets to McCaffrey, and I know that there was a thought, trust me, I know Kyle, I've been in those meeting rooms, I've been in the practice.

I know that there were a couple plays, and there was an idea that if we had to go to McCaffrey, but that was not the game plan. And it's not easy just to go to play an entirely different offense. The second quarter, here we go. It's unrealistic. Yeah, I, um, I did think. Now, hindsight, they probably could have ran four,

four wild kept plays and been better off. But I mean, they weren't going to win the game that way. I think, but they couldn't win the game with Purdy in there going 10 on 11 without the threat of a pass. and he couldn't throw the football. That's when I think, that's when I was, as I was watching it, I'm like, well, why don't they just put McCaffrey in there? At least you're 11 on 11 in the run game.

You're not going to throw the ball with Purdy. He can't throw it. Let's go further down this. Let's go further down this. Okay. Because at least Purdy knows what run checks were going to. When we have a good can or a kill or something based on the front and the look, like, Capri didn't go through the quarterback meetings to go, okay.

Now, when they're in this 33 even front, if that detackled shaped down out of the even front just a little bit, then we want to go the other way. Okay. Like all those run checks that Kyle goes through and all the different movements and motions where he's changing things to safety down on this formation and personnel grouping versus three tech versus this formation of movement. I mean, maybe McCaffrey did. Maybe he did know them. But my guess is, Purdy can at least get him into the run checks that they want in, and we've got to run the ball. It's hard. That's a good answer.

That's a really good answer because I was sitting there going, I'd rather have what Mike used to always say, we're 11 and 11 on the running game with Robert as a run threat. That is a massive advantage for a team. And knowing Purdy could not throw. The other guys got to know the cadence, the calls, the checks. Yeah, okay, that's fair. But pretty little.

We're just going to go downset hut, huck, huck, huck. What's the three hooks this time, boys? I might throw it. Run here. How about just run everything on one? They did try. McCaffrey did throw a ball. That's terrific.

But you know how hard it is to run everything on one against the good defense? I know. So let's go. You can't just run everything on one. So let's go back to the first half. Let's go back to the first half. All I'm saying is really tough. Go back to the first half.

So when McCaffrey scored on that touchdown run with Josh Johnson in the game, I did think this was going to be a ball game that we were going to see. the 49ers have a chance. And then came the penalty drive with three defensive penalties, a third and seven DPI against Ward, a second and ten illegal use of hands against the guy McGill. And then you had the second nine against Ward illegal contact. So three penalties on that drive.

Philadelphia goes down the field, 14 plays, whatever it was, seven minutes of time. And it was a hell of an answer. Let me just say this. I did not have a problem with any of those calls defensively. I thought that they all on replay looked like penalties we see called during the regular season. Like this, they were hurtful penalties. And by the way, just so everybody knows, those of you that were tweeting me about,

you're just a Shanahan guy, whatever. I had Philadelphia yesterday, okay? And I picked Philadelphia on the show. So I was kind of happy that Purdy got knocked out and Josh Johnson was in the game. But I also thought that we were going to see a game. And I didn't think any of those calls against the 49ers were rip-off calls. But I think the key after Philadelphia scored was they get a good throw. They decide to go for it with a throw to, I think it was Debo for like 10 or 11, 12 yards, something like that.

And then it's like, oh, okay. Because before that drive, I don't know what you were thinking. I thought you're getting the ball to start the second half. You've got Josh Johnson, who has not looked comfortable yet. I mean, it was a McCaffrey drive on your touchdown drive. Take the ball to start the third quarter down 14-7 and be able to use McCaffrey and everybody the way you want to use them. Plus, you'll have a half with Johnson to get them ready.

Or maybe, and I was thinking maybe Purdy will be okay by the second half. they threw the ball, they're out to the 35-36-yard line, and then Josh Johnson takes a perfect snap, drops it, and then can't recover a fumble right at his feet. And that's the ball game right there. That's it, because Philly scored, and that's the ball game. You're not coming back down two touchdowns with Josh Johnson. Not two.

You needed to win with Josh Johnson a 20 to 17 kind of a game. You know, 17-14 kind of a game. you're making the right call you're absolutely 100% right you put Kyle Shanahan in that situation again he'll do the exact same thing he believes in his guys he has uber confidence in what he's doing the expectation is that we can't fumble here the expectation is we're going to still execute I see that and Kyle I see the confidence in Kyle I love that his players love that that that's why they are the teams they are it's just that situation's really tough and honestly I feel bad for Kyle to some extent because

To win a game with their fourth quarterback, which they still had a chance to do, would be unbelievable. I don't think they beat the Houston Texans after Josh Johnson goes out of that game. No. It's near impossible to win a football game without a quarterback. Yes. Hadn't been pro football. It is impossible. So it doesn't, like, they played him closer than the score was.

was, but once Johnson's out of the game, it's over. But the end of that first half... It was probably over at 21-7. No, he should, you're right, they should have just run the ball and went to the locker. But when he completed the first pass, I think then they should have gone for it. And then it would have...

The thing is like, you're, yeah, you're not expecting that your quarterback drops the freaking snap. I know. I mean, he does a pitch, it doesn't be dumb, but no one drops to snap. It was the perfect snap. By the way, Reddick recovered that, too. He was awesome in the game. Why were they trying to block him with backup tight ends and wide receivers? That was a mistake, I think.

I don't know. By the way, I loved Redick when he came out in the draft. It's just so funny. Arizona couldn't find a use for the guy. Unbelievable. Oh, my God, he's an undersized defensive end. Let's try to play him inside a linebacker. Let's try to have him as a move guy.

Now, how about just do what Philly does and just rush his ass off the edge and create havoc? Oh, no. That's a good idea. good. Good job, Arizona. Way to go. Way to lose a star player. During the first half, I just wanted to mention, I can't remember a first quarter with more things happening

like the first quarter, which lasted 50 minutes. You first had, you know, the Devante Smith, you know, catch, not catch, no challenge. You had the Purdy getting his elbow snapped in half pretty much and Reddick, you know, recovering the fumble. Josh Johnson's in the game.

game. Then you had, by the way, Josh Johnson got sacked on like his first dropback by Reddick. And Reddick, I thought, took the ball from him. I thought that was a fumble. I thought he did too. I was surprised. Yeah. Then Bosa gets hurt standing out of bounds on a punt. He gets spiked and he's bleeding through his sock. You get a punt that hits the camera wire. I mean, everything, I mean, what happened in the first quarter of that game was insane. I just think, you know, at 21-7, it was over. I felt good about it. But I'll tell you what, with Josh Johnson still in the game and that defense still out there, I still thought, you know, Philadelphia better be careful.

They better not give them short fields. They better not turn it over. They better not let Bosa start wrecking this game or Warner wrecking the game. And I'll tell you the call that was absolutely ridiculous was at 217. Look, I think the 49ers got the 3rd. short end of the whistle and I think the Bengals got the short end of the whistle. I don't think it mattered at all in the San Francisco game because they didn't have a quarterback for most of the half. And the quarterback they did have for the other portion of the game

was their fourth string quarterback. But the roughing the punter penalty was a terrible call. I hated that call. He got, he beat his man badly and then clearly got blocked into the punter. And I was shocked at Olson and Burkhart, who I actually think they do a pretty decent job, and Pereira didn't call that. Like, it was so obvious he was blocked into the punter. But Philadelphia went down on that drive and scored a touchdown 287, and it was, you know, it was over. Look, Philadelphia, I do think if Brock Purdy stays healthy after watching San Francisco's defense early in that game, I think the 49ers may have won that game. It certainly would have been a great game. And Maybe Philadelphia would have responded more if they needed to do more because they really didn't need to do that much.

I wanted to mention that their quarterback sneak formation where they basically, you know, get into a scrum and they surround with two players, Jalen Hertz, and with his strength, you know, they go for it. It's really like the best quarterback sneak formation we've seen. And it reminds me, and you're not going to know anything about this, but some of our listeners will. Back in the day, have you ever heard of electric football? Yeah. It's when you would stick the football under your runner's hands and you would put two guys behind them. I had that game.

And everybody in front of them and then you turn it on. And they just, I mean, that's the bunch scrum formation in electric football. And Jalen Hertz can't be stopped on that. That was one thing I wanted to mention. The other thing I wanted to mention was just that, hurts doesn't look 100%, but man, when he went to work as a runner late in that game, when he didn't really have to, I thought that was interesting. Like, you know, what did I tell you?

I said he needed 50 plus yards rushing in the game. He ended up having 11 carries for 39 yards. And I thought he would be the key. I mean, that was assuming San Francisco had quarterbacks to play. But I don't know why he was. I tell you, he needed 150 off script, which would be interesting what he came up with. Came up with 30-some on the throw that was not a completion, but was. Right.

I don't know why he was putting himself at so much risk there at the end of the game when he's not 100% when they were dominating the footballer. Yeah, I know, and I really do like him. I like him a lot. And then the other thing that I was going to mention about this game, Here, you think about it. Oh, I just tell you this, this is what sucked. Yeah.

It just turned into it and what was going to be an amazing game turned into just blah. It's like, what a game we have in front of us here. The early ticket, I mean, this is going to be awesome. Turns into, I'm not watching the second half. Yeah, it was. Yeah, I mean, oh, that's my thing. You've got to re-institute the designated third-string quarterback, emergency quarterback. And by the way, just- At least in the playoffs.

By the way, at least, why not just to have all 53 active on Sundays? I don't really- No idea. I mean, and make it mandatory that one of those extra seven that are up is a third quarterback. because NFL games can't be NFL games without quarterbacks in them. And you played almost an entire half with San Francisco in an NFC championship game not having a quarterback. But, Coach, we've got new rules to protect the quarterback. We should be fine.

We've got all these rules. And hey, if you're only going to have two quarterbacks dress, that's on you. No, just activate all 53 and have... I never understood that. I just, I don't. I never understood by the practice squad can't be, but can't be 22 guys. I, what do we not want to pay the extra $3 million a year

to have 10 extra practice? I know. I mean, all we're doing is giving more guys an opportunity to play in the NFL. And a lot of those guys that didn't get, they're evaluating the proper way to go to teams. I don't get that. Why can't we have a full special teams unit so our starters don't have to play special teams?

we're afraid of the cost or what do we I mean it's not making the game unfair it's making the game more safe by the way to have guys play just special teams and then if you had to they could step up but yeah 53 should be easy yeah what doesn't matter if there's 60 dudes and pads

on the sideline yeah um doesn't seem to hurt college football does it no I'm sure there's some sort of, you know, guaranteed, you know, additional payment, whatever, whatever is. Oh, the pension plan. You're right. The pension plan. God, I'm going to get so much money when I turn 60.

So, anyway, Kansas City opened at Circa at minus 2 and now pretty much everywhere. And pretty much opened up as, the game opened up as a pickum in a lot of spots. but we now have Philadelphia minus one and a half minus two in the game. I like Kansas City if they're healthy. Well, we've got to presume Patrick Mahomes' health is 100% for this game. So we do presume how are we going to break this game down? No, you got your wish. You got it at 65%.

What do you think he was? What do you think Mahomes was yesterday? It was a realistic expectation. What do you think he was yesterday? What percent healthy? 60, 60 percent on his ankle, maybe. Yeah. He was great, though.

God, he's great. He's really, you know, he's got a good arm. Oh, he's got an arm, that's for sure. He can swing it. I like Kansas City, unless all of those receivers are out. I mean, you got to get, you know, Smith-Schuster, you know, Hardman and Tony back. You got to get a couple of those guys back. You can't go.

I mean, I don't know what they had out there at times in the game. Andy Reid joked. He said we had tight ends playing receivers. We had receivers playing tight ends, playing the tight end spot. It worked, whatever it was. I just, I don't know, there's something about the Chiefs. And I'm a big Jalen Hertz fan. And I, you know, I'm not rooting against the Eagles.

It has nothing to do with that. I just think the Chiefs will figure out a way to score against Philly. I'm not doubting that. I just think it's going to be tough for Kansas City's defense to shut down hurts. It's going to be healthier. And with the weapons that they have, and it's a little bit different when you're dialing up pressures to get the borough, even with the understanding that, yeah, we've got to cover three dudes downfields

that are pretty tough dudes to cover downfield. But now we've got to cover three dudes that are still pretty tough dudes with the Eagles receivers downfield with the idea that the quarterback can really run. run. Not just, and Burrow can run, but he can really run. I think it's going to be tough for Kansas City's defense. So I like Philly in a close game as of right now. This would be changed. We keep talking about it, but I think the line's right. And I think that Kansas City will struggle with Philly.

It's just, I'm not sure where their offense will be at this point. We'll know more in a week. I thought Kansas City was going to be favored. I really did. I was actually surprised. I thought Kansas City was going to be, you know, somewhere between two and three-point favorites in this game. Good job, by the way, today. And I appreciate you making yourself available, even though you did tell me, hey, I didn't watch a lot of the 49er second half.

You didn't have to. No, you didn't have to. Appreciate you having me on your show. Your little program. Thanks for having me on your show. All right, I'll talk to you later. See you. All right.

We'll finish up the show with Ben Standing next. We'll get into Eric B. Enemy as a possible offensive coordinator in Washington. Also, Rex Ryan yesterday on the pregame shows suggested that Sean Peyton and Tom Brady might end up in Washington. You'll hear what he said. We'll react right after these words from a few of our sponsors. January 30th, 1983, Super Bowl 17, the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California. Fourth down and won, I write 70 chip, and the rest is history. John Riggins' 43-yard touchdown run to give Washington a lead that they would not relinquish

is the most memorable play in franchise history. Rigo won the MVP in that Super Bowl, rushing for 100. 166 yards to cap off an incredible four-game playoff performance. The Redskins were world champions, and I've got a lot more on this game that I want to get into, but I'm not going to do it today. We just have too much with the two games yesterday and with some of the news on the current team that I will save this for another day this week. But I've already gone back.

I've watched the game. I've cut up some highlights, some Dick Enberg-Mirl Olson highlights from the NBC call. I don't have the Herzog, Sunny Sam call without the NFL films music being over top of it. So you'll hear it as it was actually called on NBC. A lot of the key plays in the game, including a couple of big plays from our good friend, Richard Doc Walker, and a play that I don't, think a lot of you remember. And if replay existed, I think the result of the game may have stayed the same, but there would have been an opportunity for it to have ended differently. So I will get to that either tomorrow with Tommy or probably more likely than not on Wednesday. But if you know this team, and I'm not even sure you needed to be alive for this, but if this is your team and this is who you've rooted for your entire life, you know Rigo 4th and 1 January 30, 1983, 40 years ago today, their first world title.

This segment of the show is presented by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will double your first deposit all the way up to a thousand bucks. Philly minus one and a half right now at MyBooky in Super Bowl 57. Out in Glendale, Arizona. All right, I'm going to bring Ben standing on right now. But before Ben and I get into a conversation about Eric B. Enemy, I want Ben to react, and I will also to this Rex Ryan report, I guess we could call it, from yesterday's ESPN pregame show, talking about the possibility of Sean Payton landing in Washington with new ownership, and Tom Brady coming as well. Here's what he said. Randy, this is why I say it could happen. There's a strong possibility that there's going to be a change in ownership, all right? And when that happens, these owners aren't tied in to that coach.

And to me, I can see the Sean Peyton, Tom Brady. We talk about Miami. Well, let's just the Miami contact and Brady. It was the Sean Peyton. It was going to be that marriage of those two. So I could possibly see that down the road. He doesn't sign with the Raiders immediately. I could see this as a possibility.

Rex Ryan yesterday saying, Sean Payton, Tom Brady, to Washington, a possibility. Jaws hit the ground when he said that from the people sitting around the table. Now, I think I know where this stems from. And with that, I'll bring Ben Standing onto the show. Ben, of course, with the athletic, you can follow Ben on Twitter at Ben Standing. Listen to Ben's podcast, wherever you get a podcast. It's called Standing Room Only.

I think this all stems from. Now, it could be Rex with his own sources. But I think it all sort of stems from a tweet last week. It was actually a retweet, a quoting of a retweet by Diana Rusini. Diana formerly of Channel 4 broke a lot of stories when she was in town. I love Diana. She comes on the radio show a lot, has been on the podcast before, has worked for ESPN now for several years. She tweeted or retweeted a guy by the name of Jeff Duncan.

who covers the Saints in New Orleans, Jeff put out a tweet last week, updating everybody on Sean Payton. Sean Peyton completed his interview with Caroline on Monday, met with Arizona officials on Thursday, has a second meeting with Denver that's been delayed, yada, yada, yada. New Orleans, by the way, very interested in the Sean Payton story because they're going to get compensation,

the Saints will, from whom ever hires Sean Payton. So Diana Rusini retweeted this. this Jeff Duncan update on Sean Payton and added the following. Quote, I was told there is also a team waiting in the wings, watching all of this, all of this meaning Sean Payton and where he's going to go, and she continues,

and could make a move if they get their ducks in a row. Closed quote. Again, Diana retweeting the Sean Payton update from the guy in New Orleans and writing, I was told there's also a team waiting in the wings, watching all of this, and could make a move if they get their ducks in a row. So, you know, others, including Colin Cowherd from Fox Sports, has the show in Fox Sports, he did a whole segment on Diana Rusini's tweet and said, he believes that Washington is the sleeper for Sean Peyton.

Now, why do I bring up Colin Cowherd? Because Sean Payton has made a weekly appearance on the Colin Cowherd show this season as he's worked for Fox as an analyst. So Diana Rusini with Washington ties doesn't mention a name, but mentions, you know, a team that might be out there waiting in the wings if they get their ducks in a row like maybe a team that, is going through an ownership change right now. Calherd runs with it, and then you heard Rex Ryan from yesterday. So, Ben, is there even a remote possibility that this could happen in your mind's eye?

Well, yeah. So I saw this yesterday, and I guess to be honest, it just went right out of my brain because I wrote a story yesterday that was one of this morning in which, like, you know, you've asked me in the past and others have as well. Like, who were they going to get a quarterback to compete with Sam Howell or whatever? And so I decided to do the actual exercise, and I went through every team, and I projected who their starter was and this, any other. And I tweeted it out a few minutes ago. And the first comment I got on Twitter was, I came here expecting to see talk about Tom Brady and Sean Peyton, and you're throwing cold water on with Andy Dalton. Really? Is that what you? Oh, yeah, I'm looking at it right now. You just put this out literally minutes ago.

Yeah, I mean, I didn't say anybody in particular. I just sort of said, all these things play out. Here's what they're looking at. But I don't know. I mean, look, the basic takeaway for this organization right now is major uncertainty across the board because of the ownership deal, right? I mean, we don't know if he's definitively selling. We don't know if he does sell. who's buying? We don't know how long it would take for any of that to happen. So I don't know how one can project something to this magnitude. It's one thing to project even something like, will they go after, say, a Derek car, right, or Kimi Garoppel, somebody that could cost them some money. No, that in and of itself could be hard to do for them if the budget issues are there, or Dan Snyder is just like,

we're not going to spend or whatever. But if it's like a new owner scenario that's coming in and that's where this is all stemming from, I mean, sure, you could tell me anything. I don't know who the owner would be. And that person, we know owners often want to come in

and make them big splash. Getting Sean Payton would be by itself. Exactly that. And then, of course, getting Tom Brady would be that times, you know, 50. But, like, I mean, I just have no idea how anybody

could assume that or make that kind of a claim or guess even where we are right now. It would be fun, but I just don't know how we could get there. Yeah, I think I pretty much agree with almost everything that you said. I think for me, I think what I'm confident in is I'm confident that Dan and Tanya are selling the team or selling at least a controlling stake in the team. I think actually they're selling every last cent of equity in the team. As I mentioned here, I don't know, a week ago, I was told that they are resigned to the fact that from a financial standpoint, they really have to sell the team. They can't build a stadium on their own.

They've got debt as it relates to buying out their former minority shareholders. And that's what I'm confident in. He could change his mind. I'm concerned about that. He's impulsive as hell. But I'm confident in the sale process moving forward and that this is where we're headed, thankfully. And that's the best news that we've.

had around here in years. What I don't know anything about, and I don't think many people do, except for the people that are working on this deal for Bank of America and the Snyders and the bidders is who really is in position to buy the team and maybe a frontrunner. And then by extension, are those people, you know, or is that person, are they starting to put together the group that they want to come in and run the team once the deal, closes. You know, is it possible that this group out in California, you know, Jose Feliciano and company, or Josh Harris, or Jeff Bezos, that they've already contacted Sean Payton. They've already contacted, you know, other people to say, you're my first choice if I get this team. And

Sean Payton, who would never come to Washington if Dan own the team, he's already said, I'm only going to go to an organization that has stability in the front office. I'm only going to go to an organization where I can trust ownership, where there's quality ownership. Obviously, he would never come here if Dan continued to own the team. But maybe, just maybe, the frontrunner, or one of the front runners, has reached out to Sean Payton to say, you're my first choice. Will you hang on? I think I'm going to get this team in March. I don't know. That's the part that we just don't know. Anyway, something to keep an eye on. Although personally, I think Sean Payton, and he made a statement yesterday that he thinks a lot of the coaching stuff will start to get resolved at the end of this week, as in the interim week between the championship games and the Super Bowl, I bet by the end of this week he's got a job somewhere, and it's not Washington.

That would be my wager. Anyway, before I let you run, and I appreciate you jumping on, Ben's getting ready to get onto a plane to go to Mobile for the Senior Bowl this week. So he will be on radio with me multiple times this week. So you can hear his updates on senior bowl activity on the team 980. But let me just ask you about Ian Rappaport's report yesterday about Washington having key interest in Eric B. enemy. Yeah. I confirmed that aspect of it that they are interested in looking at him in him.

and a lot, of course, comes down to when is he available. And, of course, Kansas City advanced to the Super Bowl. So we'll see when the enemy would even give interviews. You know, when the day after Scott, or the day that Scott Turner got fired, I was tasked by my company to write, like, you know, here's potential candidates, right? And one of the names I put on my list was Eric the enemy, not because I, you know, heard or heard of that moment in time,

that there was an interest. But, and it doesn't even make sense in a certain way, right? Like, why would you got, why would a guy with an offensive coordinator title take a lateral job by definition, but then do it, going from Mahomes in Kansas City to coming here, and we're going with the idea of coming here under the current circumstances with Ron Rivera, the uncertainty of his future with the ownership stuff as we're discussing, and so on. But the more I thought about it, the more.

more, it actually kind of made sense to me on all levels in that there, you know, there's a few reasons as to why the enemy has struggled to get a head coaching job in this league. What are those reasons? Well, I mean, I don't know how much a green race is a factor, but obviously that's been discussed a lot of, you know, the continued conversation around the league about the lack of minority head coaches. But I think also in his case, he has struggled. in some of his interviews.

And I think the biggest reason is he doesn't call the plays. Andy Reid, it's an Andy Reid offense. Andy Reid is, you know, front and center of the whole thing. I'm not saying the enemy is standing on the side, twiddling his thumbs, but, you know, he's not a play caller. So taking him on, you know, I think that it's not as much of a flamedunk the way that people would make it out when you're typically talking about, you know, the standard offensive coordinator profile.

But that's why coming here would be interesting because in this case, it would be the same title, but he would presumably be calling the plays. And then you factor in Ron Rivera revered Andy Reid. So if Andy Reid put in a good word here, obviously I'm sure Rivera knows the enemy to at least to some degree, haven't been around league for a while, you know, I could see that perspective making some sense. And also from like Rivera then, you know, look, he's not going to, it doesn't appear he's going to be able to make a big splash of a quarterback.

And other than, you know, resigning Durant Payne, who knows what other kind of big splash of those make personnel-wise. But getting the enemy would be, you know, on the surface kind of a feather in his cap, right? It would be a big name that would come here or a guy who's been constantly discussed as a head coach candidate. it. So, you know, I think from that perspective, it could make sense for Ron as well. So that, to me, is where this stem from. Whether he would be good hire, you know, who can say for sure. Until you have the job, we don't know. He was the O.C. at Colorado, his alma mater for a couple years. And I would encourage anybody who wants to go look up how those offenses did, don't do it on a full stomach.

It's not pretty. So based on that, that could be another reason why teams are hesitant because the one time he had a chance to do this, it didn't work at all. But at the same point, that's a long time ago, and he's been with Andy Reed. And, you know, obviously, if he keeps getting an interview for head coaching job, regardless of not getting them, there's got to be something to his candidacy. And that's why it kind of makes sense for him here. Yeah, something hasn't been right with him. I don't subscribe to the theory as it relates to BNemi that he hasn't been hired because of the color of his skin.

There have been other black coaches that have been hired for jobs that he is interviewed for in recent years. I'm not saying that there isn't a problem in the NFL with the hiring from a head coach standpoint minority candidates. I'm just saying that I think there's something more to the B enemy thing. And look, the bottom line is, You know, he's been on these one-year deals. He, like you said, he doesn't call plays.

He's in his fifth season as an OC. And he's totally overshadowed by Andy Reid, as, you know, Matt Nagy and Doug Peterson were as well. I think, you know, his best chance is to leave Andy Reid and go to a place where he can design game plans and call plays and have success. and then, you know, he'll have an opportunity. I don't know what the reasons are, Ben. Maybe it's that he doesn't interview well. I don't know, but something isn't, you know, I'll tell you what, if he comes here and he interviews

and he doesn't get the job here with it being described, with him being described as a key candidate, if not, you know, I don't want to use the word leading candidate, but one of the potential front runners, then it really says something because this is an organization that they've hung their hat now, pretty much with every press opportunity on being the most diverse and the most inclusive organization in the NFL.

So I don't know if Eric B. Enemy would make a good offensive coordinator or not. I have no clue. And maybe the teams that interviewed him as a head coach kind of feel. By the way, you're right. I pulled up the Colorado stuff. Ain't pretty. They were not a very good team with him there. But I just, I don't have any clue about Eric B. enemy.

Personally, I actually really still feel that ultimately it's Zampese or Shermer because of cost. And that, you know, by the way, I would also say to you, Ben, how about this? Just, you know, off of the Rex Ryan stuff. Imagine if they just name Zampeze the interim offensive coordinator, that that's the only thing that Snyder lets them do. That would be suspicious because it would raise the possibility that Snyder is expecting maybe the new owner to clean house. So I talked about this on my podcast the other day. I've been told that some of the assistant coaches are still waiting on their new contracts. Now, I don't know what that means exactly.

I don't know that that means could just be procedural. You know, I don't know, but it feels a little bit odd in the sense that what are they waiting for. Now, of course, if there is a new OC and it's an outside hire, that person could presumably bring in some of their own staff. That would be a pretty normal thing. So perhaps that's what this is. But there's also, like you just said, maybe, I don't know, maybe Dan Snyder is sort of telling everybody that pulled on,

we're not doing anything for the moment until I have more clarity on what's going on on my end. Yeah, maybe Chris Harris left because of that reason. And maybe no one else has left because of that reason, because there hasn't been any interest in those people. By the way, Chris Harris has left without actually taking another job. They have not announced him as Tennessee's new coach, and there's still been this notion that he might be getting a defensive coordinator or looks from somebody else.

So basically he's leaving with the Tennessee job as the safety school, I guess, but like he's just leaving. You know, they still haven't said he actually got a job, but he's apparently out. You know what is interesting? It's January 30th, and we still have all of these openings. There was a time when all of this was solved by now. Teams are definitely taking more time in this process than they used to. For whatever reason, they don't feel rushed. All right, to the quarterback thing that you wrote.

So who are the two that Washington lands on? Well, I guess I would just say this, like, to have people understand what I was doing, and I have them hopefully go check it out. you know, when I come on here or other shows or just talk to myself and the question of who is who they likely to get. You know, it always comes down to some sort of, I will just name Andy Dalton or will just name Jacoby Perced or somebody like that. And look, I'm not going to like, you know, pretend those aren't guys that he would rank high on the list. But my point was that, like, I, well, let me go through the actual exercise. What teams actually, you know, what teams are good, what teams are probably good, where is the question marks?

and then who's left and what's the likely scenarios there and then what happens. And I do this kind of every year. To me, this is a good exercise. Now, of course, no matter what scenario I came up with, things could shake up. The snow globe could look differently in a week or two. But, you know, if you presume Aaron Rogers is headed to the jet, that Tom Brady is not staying with Tampa, maybe he lands with the Raiders. And then kind of, you know, you see which teams have the high.

draft picks and have quarterback need to go from there. And I think my general point is independent of like saying, I didn't like say, well, they're definitely this means they're going to get Andy Dalton

or Jacoby-Berset. It is to point out though that like most of the other scenarios seem fairly obvious in terms of the likelihood, meaning the Colts have the fourth picks, they are likely to take to draft a quarterback,

right? The Raiders, if they're getting rid of their car, they seem likely to get another veteran. I know they do have a high pick of the draft as well. I think Washington is one of the few teams where they're kind of in the worst of all worlds

in that they pick 16, so you could take a quarterback, but it feels like the top four guys will be gone by them. They could be at a veteran, but again, I mean, who were they going to get? I mean, you know, Jimmy Garoppolo, maybe, but that would mean spending some money,

and it doesn't feel at the moment like that's going to happen. And I think that's sort of, and then even when you get down to the Dalton of the world, you know, you've got to remember that, like, say, for example, the Arizona Cardinals, they're not in the quarterback market in terms of a long-term investment, but they don't have a quarterback for next year because Kyle Murray is down. So, you know, how aggressive are they going to be looking for someone? And then, you know, a team might say even the Colts I mentioned,

and they may draft the quarterback at number four. Are they starting that guy day one? Are they going to get their own, you know, Amy Dalton, Jacoby Brissette, et cetera? So even like Carolina, by the way, right? They just, Carolina has a top 10 pick. They just hired Frank Reich and Frank Wright coached Jacoby Brissette in Indianapolis. You know, we always like to put these things together when we talk with this,

our team, this team here. So why not do it for somewhere else? So I guess my point is like even saying Andy Dalton or Jacoby percent like that's the fallback, not necessarily. And that's why this whole Sam Howell thing is so interesting because how much do they really believe this? How much do they really believe that they're willing to go into the off-season, into the sports training camp with Sam Howe and somebody else that quarterback? And if they're not, then how, you know, where can they get some help? But I think, I don't know if I see a lot of outs for them as my point, based on the current circumstances. They almost have to hope to a degree that the Dalton's and Percette are available.

Yeah, I mean, again, I'll say what I said to you, I think, last week. I think if Andy Dalton had been the quarterback in Washington this year, they would have gone to the postseason. They would have been, they would have won at least one more game. And I think if Aaron Rogers had been the quarterback, they would have won three or four more games. but that probably won't happen, although Aaron Rogers clearly is on, you know, the verge of potentially being traded if you believe the reporting over the weekend.

All right, thanks, appreciate it. Read Ben at the Athletic. Follow him on Twitter and listen to his outstanding podcast, Standing Room Only. Ben is headed to Mobile for the Senior Bowl. I will talk to on radio this week. Appreciate it. Thank you, Ben Standing, everybody.

Two quick things to finish up the show. Number one, the Wizards have won five in a row. I'm not going to spend much time on them. I'm just going to tell you they're fun to watch. They're not even completely healthy. They're beating teams that they should be beating, but that's something that they never used to do. They're in a pretty solid spot right now

if you want them to make the playoffs. I'm not sure I do. But they are playing really good basketball right now. We'll see if it lasts. Bradley Beal still drives me nuts sometimes. I just don't understand the turnover problem that he seems to have. And he closed out the Pelicans the other night at the end of the game with some really good offensive possessions and scores. But nobody gives the ball away more without kind of being forced to than Beale does.

He's done it his whole career. Somebody eventually has to coach him up on it. He's a great score. I concede that. A great score. and I love the way he goes after it now at the end of games, wanting to close out the games. But anyway, the Wizards have won five in a row.

That's enough on them. Maryland has won three or four. Their only loss was to Purdue. They nearly, you know, they were right there with Purdue a week ago Sunday. They annihilated Nebraska, an injured team, not a very good team at home on Saturday. And tomorrow night at home, they've got Indiana who's won five in a row. I would assume Indiana is going to be ranked again. today when the rankings come out if they haven't already.

Look for just a quick guess, Maryland to be the favored team tomorrow night. Would not shock me at all. These are the kinds of games. The public will be all over Indiana. The experts will be all over Indiana. And then neighbor Nick, Tim Murray, Steve Sands, neighbor Nick will say, how is it that Indiana's ranked and they've won five in a row and they're an underdog? in college park.

Look for Maryland to be pickum plus one minus one somewhere in that range. It's going to seem too short and they're going to win the game tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to that this week. Lots of time to get Super Bowl discussion in over the next week and a half. Tommy will be with me tomorrow and I am going to take some time. I'm not sure when to go through the 40-year anniversary of Super Bowl 17. All right. Sorry for getting the show out late today, but I will be back.

Back tomorrow with Tommy.