The Kevin Sheehan Show - #FireBruceAllen Fails and Mike Shanahan

Episode Date: January 14, 2019

Kevin opens the show with more information on Bruce Allen staying put. He recaps the 4 NFL playoff games with Mike Shanahan. Shanahan also previews the two conference championship games and talks Skins, Kirk Cousins, and how close he was to taking the Denver job last year. Kevin finishes up the show with Terps, Hoyas, Wizards, Nats, Caps, and more from the weekend. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now, here's Kevin. All right, I am here. Aaron is here. This show is presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation. And tell them, we told you to call. Mike Shanahan coming up. I'll get to all four of the NFL playoff games in a few minutes. What a snowstorm that turned out to be, Aaron. Yeah, so much for the little few inches here. The two to four inch prediction here on the Friday podcast. Exactly. Yeah, it was a little bit low.

The thing blew up, man. You know, even by Saturday morning, you could tell late Friday night, Saturday morning, it was going to be bigger than what we thought it would be on Friday. I mean, basically almost a foot at my house, basically a foot at my house in Bethesda. You know, that storm over the weekend, I don't know about you guys out there, but that is, many of you don't like snowstorms. I like snowstorms. So this is for the people that like snowstorms.

I love, first of all, a long storm. 34 hours. That thing started at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday and didn't end until 2.2.30 a.m. this morning. The other part of it was, Aaron, it wasn't super cold. It wasn't super windy. You know, I think people were out and about. I probably took the dog for, you know,

multiple walks just to be outside. It wasn't one of those two to three foot storms that we've had, you know, a few times over the last 10 years. Nice, nice fluffy snow too, not like the really wet stuff that throws your back out trying to shovel it. Yeah, I mean, look, a foot is a lot of snow. You know, 8 to 12 inches basically was the general, you know, in the metro area total. That's a lot of snow, but it doesn't disrupt, you know, an entire city for a week. You know, everybody's off today. And obviously the federal government's off anyway, but it's not so disruptive. It's perfect. So we move on. And there is another one potentially coming this weekend. It's too early. I've already, I've already reached out to Sue Palka. She'll be on later in the week if this thing trends in the

direction of a big hit for the area. But, you know, for those of you that are into this and know that I'm into it as well, there are some models that show just a rainstorm. And there are other models that show a massive ice storm, and there are other models that show a big snowstorm, and a lot of them in between. So a lot of time. This time last week, for the weekend storm, it really didn't look anything like what ended up materializing. You'll hear lots of different things for the next few days, and then they'll figure it out by Thursday or Friday, or at least have a better idea. Yeah, this podcast does a lot of snow talk during the winter, because it's something I like to talk about. Condolences, by the way, to the family of Joe Gibbs.

Joe and his wife Pat lost their eldest son, JD, on Friday, to a neurological disease. He was just 49 years old. If you're of a certain age, like my age, you know how often Joe in his heyday, you know, talked about JD and Coy and Pat and the family. Joe's confidence in J.D.'s ability to run his father's empire, his racing empire, was really the reason that gives him. Gibbs was able to come back to the Redskins and coached in 2004. He felt very comfortable with J.D. running Gibbs racing.

JD was highly thought of in the racing community, and the heartfelt sympathies came from everywhere in that world in particular. The Redskins put out a statement, which included quotes from Dan and Tanya Snyder, extending theirs and the team's condolences. And many of the responses to even that on Twitter included the hashtag Fire Bruce Allen. that created a stir. The reaction to the team, you know, the team sympathy note to the Gibbs family. The incredible distaste and dislike for Bruce Allen is unbelievable.

It's really one of the more unified messages that this fan base has ever had in recent years anyway. And, you know, they kept going, you know, even through a statement of sympathy for the first family of this organization. that's what the Gibbs family is. There wasn't really any Redskins news over the weekend. Well, except for what? On Friday. The Mike Cliss report from Denver? Well, the addition, the everything getting confirmed of what you talked about on Friday. Well, yeah, but I had it first. I spent that show talking about it. So I don't consider that news from over the weekend. I'd say the reaction, though. Yeah, to the Bruce Allen news that I think was broken here first. The Post wasn't necessarily sure. More on that in a moment.

But there was a report over the weekend from Mike Cliss in Denver that the Redskins were interested in former defensive coordinator in Denver, Joe Woods, to be the replacement for Torian Gray as the DB's coach. Woods was in Tampa, oh, by the way, when Bruce Allen was there. Meantime, all of the named defensive guys, they're all gone. Bowls to Tampa, Greg Williams to the Jets, Steve Wilkes to the Browns, Vance Joseph to the Cardinals. So it's looking more and more like Greg Minnowski will be back as the defensive coordinator.

And I think J.P. Finley at NBC Sports Washington basically said, for all intents and purposes, his understanding is that Minusky is back. Todd Bowles did come in for an interview. I've been told that that interview was really with Doug Williams only, and it was Bowles doing Doug Williams, or maybe vice versa, them doing each other a favor. Bowles was never going to come to an organization like the Redskins, I've been told. And in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Doug Williams didn't have some thoughts about heading with Bowles to Tampa himself. And I'll leave that one alone for now.

This may end up being the offseason of the energized mob turned away by an owner who put both middle fingers straight up into the air. As defiant as someone can be that hasn't spoken in years publicly or answered. questions publicly. But that's where we are for now. Two quick notes from the news that I had on Friday. One, the post story that came out later that day implied that Alan had been essentially promoted. And I saw that many of you jumped on that, that not only was Alan being retained, but that he had been given a promotion. That's not really what my information was. I mentioned on Friday, and I'll stand by it, that there could be some bogus title added to Alan's role. maybe even something to divert attention away from his head of football.

But, you know, as team president, he's been, has been, and will be the overseer of all Redskins things. He's not being given additional power per se. A lot of you jumped on that as if that was even a bigger middle finger to the fan base. I wouldn't really, that's not the way I took it. It's not where my information is that he's been given more power in the organization. I don't believe that to be true. What I had on Friday also as part of the news that Bruce wasn't going anywhere was that the Redskins have actually interviewed outside people for Brian Lafamina's position.

And I'm told that that hire could still happen at some point. So, you know, for those of you that think that he's just taking over Brian's role, he was sort of in Brian's, you know, overseeing Brian's role anyway. Now, Brian had some perceived autonomy when he came in. And that went away quickly. Tommy's got a story on some of that, by the way, which he will share with us tomorrow. He wrote a good column in The Times this morning, revealing of a few things. So we'll save that for tomorrow when he is in.

But anyway, the other thing that I wanted to mention on the news that I had on Friday about Bruce Allen not going anywhere and the possible replacement of Lafamina being interviewed recently. I believe I was the first to have the story. I'm just going to be totally candid with you. I didn't, and Aaron will attest to this, I didn't really consider it a massive deal necessarily and certainly didn't break my arm patting myself on the back over it, you know, on the podcast. I'm just bringing it up because I made a promise on Friday afternoon that I'm going to live up to. So on Friday, when I did the podcast and put that news out there, I got a call a couple of

hours after the podcast was already out there from Les Carpenter of the Washington Post. He wanted to confirm that I had reported on my podcast that Bruce was staying on. And I said, yes. And then he said, he was working on a similar story and wanted to make sure to give me credit for it. And I said, great. I appreciate that. Thanks. And then just before I thought our conversation, our phone conversation was about to end, he said, now my editors may decide to pull it from the story and not give you the credit. And I said, excuse me? He said, yeah, sometimes they do that. You know, when I get done with the story, you know, they'll, I'll push for the credit to be included and, you know, and they'll just pull it.

And with that, I just said to Les. I said, Les, if your editors pull it from the story, I'm going to call you out for it on the podcast. I promise you that. I will. Because it's one thing to not know where it came from. It's quite another to acknowledge it before their story came out and then not credit you for it. It's one thing, like the Josh Norman story that I had earlier in the year that got a bunch of traction, the post basically, you know, referred to it as according to various reports. Now, Steinberg gave me credit for it, but the paper didn't.

And I can chalk that up to the reporter not knowing where it came from, even though I believe he did. But I couldn't be sure. And I mean, after all, I mean, this is a podcast. I mean, don't get me wrong. I appreciate that all of you listen. And yes, we've got a healthy-sized audience on a daily basis, and I'm thrilled about it. But I think there is a feeling out there

that they don't have to really credit a podcast, maybe. So maybe they didn't know about it, and they blew it off on the Josh Norman thing. But in Friday's case, Les Carpenter called me to acknowledge that he knew I had the story. So after hanging up with him, his story appears 15 minutes later. 15. And there was no credit given to me at all in the story.

Now, I swear to you, if he hadn't called me, it would have bothered me a little, and I probably would have mentioned it to Tommy tomorrow, like I did with the Josh Norman thing, but the fact that I knew that they knew that I had it, you know, and they basically blew me off like I was some sap or chump. That fucking pissed me off. It really did on Friday. Like, I don't get worked up usually about that stuff a lot because it's a podcast. And look, they've done this before to other media outlets in town, radio stations, the one I used to work for, and JFK.

But I just thought that was incredibly Bush League on their part. And again, it's not the first time they've done it. I love a lot of the people at the post. Liz is a dear friend. I love Dan and Barry and Jerry and Scott. You know, Mike Jones is still one of my favorite people in the business. He's not there anymore, you know, but I like and have liked most of the people. at the post. So here's the thing. If it's on their editors, you know, then this is for their editors,

I guess. But I heard from no less than a dozen people on Friday after I tweeted out their report saying, as heard here first, as heard first on the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast, I heard from a bunch of people that said, way to call them out. They do this all the time. And I know they do. They did it with the Josh Norman thing. Again, maybe not intentionally. All right? And you know what? Here's the thing. truth is in this day and age where almost anybody with a social media outlet can break news and it's hard to keep track of who said what and when i get that totally i'm i've made mistakes on this over the years many times where i've talked about stories that were broken by a blog or got picked up by a newspaper but was broken by somebody else and i didn't give the proper credit i understand that i

do there's so much out there and it's hard to keep track of where it comes from and the truth is now really breaking stories are, you know, it's basically irrelevant, five minutes after the stories are broken with the number of outlets that pick it up and run with it. You know, almost instantaneously now, nobody really knows where it came from. I totally understand that. But when they called and acknowledged that I had this first and didn't put it in the paper, I just thought it was Bush League on their part. Complete and utter bullshit. And I tweeted out their story. And I tweeted out their story and said as heard here first on the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast. And then immediately I started hearing from everybody and I heard from Les and Les said I apologize for it. And we've updated the

story to include the acknowledgement that you had this story first on the very final line of the story. I'll say, look, I'm sure nobody cares about this and will never care about this. And many of you, many people will never even hear about this. But it just, I, I'm Many of us in this market have had this feeling before, and by the way, many of us, including me, have been lectured by people at the post about not crediting them for certain things over the years. I've been personally lectured by John Feinstein

at least once on something. I mean, lectured to the point of literally, you know, being nauseous over it because it was so, you know, misplaced. It was over the lefty drizzle into the Hall of Fame, story. He asked me if I had credited him for it. And I said, no, why would I have? And he said, because I had this story. And I said, well, I had no idea you had this story. I saw it on Sports Center. And immediately, I went to the anchors and went to the other shows and said, hey, if you're doing the lefty story, make sure to give John credit for it. I didn't. My fault, I didn't know

that he had broken the story. So we all make those mistakes. But, you know, you can't, you know, you can't lecture and then not live up to it on your end, especially when you know it. And in this case they knew it. Anyway, that was a waste of most of your time, and I understand that, but I did promise less on Friday that I would call him out and the paper out for it on the podcast. So I've done that. Actually, one additional thing as well, you know, the Bruce Allen reaction on Friday from the fan base, the fact that, you know, it was now official that he was staying on. And by the way, I also said Friday on the podcast, I still, my gut feeling, my gut feeling, is still that something could happen. And I say that because of things like what happened

Friday afternoon and over the weekend. The reaction to, you know, sort of the official news that Bruce is staying on was overwhelming again. Most of you view it the same way, which is it's the owner basically middle fingering the fan base. And, you know, this could lead to, you know, I mean, I think the boycott thing is always one of those things that gets talked about, but it's so hard to execute because there are certain people that are just never ever. For those of you that are so irate and so incensed and so done with them, you have to understand, and I've explained this before, because I've witnessed it myself, there is a smaller portion of the fan base that continues to give people like Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder and people in

that organization way out in Loudoun County, okay? This feeling that everything's okay. When you go to some of their charity events, and they do a ton of charity in this town, the Redskins are very good at that. They really are. I mean, over the years, being part of a radio station that was owned by a group that Dan Snyder was, you know, the chair of Red Zebra, you know, you get to this sense that they really are, you know, very much involved in the community, and they do a lot of things for a lot of people in the community. They do, and they deserve credit for that.

But in some of these situations, you go to these events and the fans that show up to them, it's this group of people that I'm telling you, they'll never, ever, ever think the organization is anything but great. And they'll never think the organization does anything wrong. I mean, I've been at some of these draft day parties, people showing up to FedEx Field for what? To watch the draft. and then to have, you know, Larry Michael introduce a couple of former players and maybe a couple of current players out on the field. I've been at those things when there have been 25,000 people for those

to watch the draft and pay for, you know, $12 to $16 a beer. Parking's free for those things. But, you know, many of us have looked around in some of those days and said, my God, it's amazing. and that they have been emboldened by that group over the years. They, you know, they're out there a bit. You know, for those of you that live closer in, they're sort of out there in this,

this Ashburn, One Loudon, Redskins Park area. And I don't think they've ever, and I've said this a million times going back to being on the radio, I've always had this sense that they're a bit detached from the majority of fan opinion. and I think that's the case now. So even though this movement, this fire Bruce Allen movement, has gained as much steam as anything in recent years

in terms of just being so heated and so, you know, angry, you know, which by the way can be placed side by side to the people that don't care anymore, you know, the people who are truly apathetic. Now, the people who are truly apathetic, They're paying attention, and they're probably even lobbing in an occasional hashtag fire Bruce Allen themselves. But, you know, you wonder what is the home opening crowd going to look like next year? Now, we got a long time until then.

You know, we got eight months until the opener. And so a lot of things can happen. They could draft Kyler Murray. You know, they could draft Dwayne Haskins. They could draft a quarterback. Trade for Antonio. Brown. They could trade for Antonio Brown. They could sign Judavian Clowny. They could have one of those off seasons. And then there could be great news

about Alex Smith. And you know, you just, and maybe by the time you get to that opener, let's just say they, oh, hey, they open with two road wins. It's been a long time since they've had two road games to start. They've had two home games to start, but they open up with two road games and they win both. Oh my God. They're two and oh. And Haskins look phenomenal. You know, traded up for Haskins. They made a move up to number one. They drafted Haskins. He looked good in the preseason and then in the two openers. He was incredible. And they're coming home for the home opener against the Eagles and the place is lit. That's in play, I guess. It would almost require everything that I just laid out. In fact, it would even be better if there were three

road games to start. They won all three of those. But nobody starts with three road games. Yeah, that can't happen. Anyway, but I do. want to say this weekend though had a slightly different tone than some of these other past moments it seemed a lot more of the I think people thought that the fire Bruce Allen that the anger would lead to something

it might not lead to his ousting but it would lead to something you have a reduced role like they would hear the anger and they would do something about it to have that much anger about it and for them to do nothing and as a lot of people are taking it as for him to get a promotion to get expanded roles I think

that it's causing a lot of people to be like why do we care? Why are we so passionate about it if our passion isn't going to lead to anything? I'm seeing a lot of that on social media now, almost that move past anger to apathy, which is the worst thing that can happen. You know, it's funny because somebody tweeted me the other day, they said, your news was correct, but your prediction was wrong. And you're right about that. I did, I was steadfast in my belief and it was based, and I told everybody, you know, this was before Friday that it was not based on anything that I was being told because the people that I typically would talk to about some of this stuff were not, we're not talking and I didn't really think new,

to be honest with you. So I, I thought, and I still think, I do still think, Aaron, there's still a chance. Snyder could still change his mind. You know, he could still change his mind. The problem, and I've acknowledged this over the last couple of months in this conversation, the problem he has is where does he turn? You know, to move on from Bruce, who does he turn to? Because there's no doubt that there's an element of security blanket with Bruce there. It's his voice at league meetings. It's his voice publicly, even though that voice has gone silent as well. I would expect, and part of what I said on Fridays, I expect Bruce Allen, and I've been told that he will speak more likely than not Super Bowl week, you know, somewhere along Radio Row, I would imagine. But, you know, that is part of the problem

here. So if he, if he acknowledges, if he were to give a Maya Culpa and fire Bruce Allen simultaneously, who's going to run the organization that he doesn't he's incapable of running and certainly doesn't want to be the public face of running where does he turn who's going to do that this place is not number one or even in the top ten on anyone's list of places to come so anyway to your point i don't the question really isn't how angry everybody is it's how will it matter manifest itself moving forward. You know, will, I mean, they've already felt the sting of an eroding fan base from an attendance standpoint, and they're going to feel it from, you know, TV ratings. Although, again, they're 132nd of this machine that keeps, you know, growing. And TV numbers were up this year. The Dallas Rams game on Saturday night was the highest rated Fox game ever, I think, on a Saturday

night, I think it was for a playoff game. not just game, the highest rated Saturday broadcast of anything. Of anything. On Fox. So, you know, they're going to continue, as Sally wrote, he's going to continue to free load off of this, you know, this machine that is the NFL and his 132nd share in the television money. But anyway, yeah, I, you're right, Aaron. There was, there was this sense of, you've got to be kidding me. And that's why I also made the point, too, that a lot of people took.

get to the next level in part because they sense that this was some that he also got promoted. It's not my sense of it. I don't think that there was like a, hey, not only is he staying, God damn it, but he's getting promoted. That's not what I've heard. Bruce has been the overseer as the team president of all things, Redskins, since he's been here. You know, at various points in time, you know, McClewin had more power on the draft. Lafamina briefly had more power on the business side. Does he take back some of that? Maybe, but it's not like an actual promotion. And again, I think that they are trying to fill Lafamina's position. They have certainly interviewed people with respect to replacing Lafamina. All right. Let's get to these NFL playoff games right after I tell you about Wind Donation. Have you ever watched HGTV for home remodeling inspiration? Maybe you've attended a home show or two to brainstorm with local contractors. Well, if you have no time for home shows this year, When Donation wants to bring the home show savings right to your door all this month.

Call them today and mention home show promo to get two free windows for every two you buy. Buy four, get four free. There is no limit. Plus, for a limited time only, get 0% financing for 18 months. Call today and get educated on the newest models and latest innovations demonstrated right in the comfort of your own home absolutely free. You'll get factory incentives, plus once a year home show discounts from the company that is installed over 450,000 windows and more than 80,000 homes, including mine. So let's get the show on the road. Get two free windows for every two you buy, plus zero percent financing.

Call Window Nation at 86690 Nation or visit WindowNation.com. That's 86690 Nation or Window Nation.com. Tell them, I sent you. There's no risk. Harley and Aaron, they've built an incredible. company. They're two of the best entrepreneurs I know. They will come out. They'll send somebody out to your home free estimate. Tell them that I sent you 86690 Nation or window nation. Let's go around the NFL.

The biggest plays and the clutch moment. It's time to go around the NFL. All right. The four divisional games from the weekend. Then Mike Shanahan will join us and we'll go through those games with him as well and get him to preview the two championship games. Let's start with the game last night. I'll go in reverse order from the most recent to the first, which was Indy, Kansas City on Saturday. You know, I had the Saints as a smell test pick, the Rams also, so one-on-one this weekend.

But I leaned Chiefs, and I told you that, you know, the public, you know, they're on this underdog run, and, yeah, I didn't want to have to give out New England. I probably should have given out New England. England. But anyway, the books got some of their money from last weekend back. That's for sure, even though the Saints didn't cover against the Eagles. They could have, and maybe should have, more on that in a moment. I'll tell you what, the way that game started, I was like, oh my God, Philadelphia, they may be going back to the Super Bowl. We can't have that. And it'll be

Cody Parky's fault. Just like last year it was Julio Jones's fault. But the way they started that game, they came out with, I mean, they had New Orleans off balance, man. Seven plays 76 yards to start on their first drive after the interception where Breezed under through, you know, the receiver deep. It was Ted Gin, I think, that he underthrew. And LeBlanc had that interception. And, you know, he had another one on that super long. drive in the third quarter had Taysam Hill wide open for a touchdown under through that as well, but Eagles first drive,

seven plays 76 yards touchdown, second drive, 10 plays 75 yards touchdown. It's 14-0 in the first quarter. And then they got the ball back again, and they are on the move. They're on the move. And Foles throws an interception.

They are right around midfield, and he throws a ball to Ertz. This is early in the second quarter. And Lattimore picks it off. And that is the first of a couple of plays that I think completely changed the game. If they go in on that drive, and let's just say they get three out of it, and it's 17-0, that is a lot to overcome at that point in the game, because they would have burned some second-quarter clock in the process. But that interception was massive.

And then you get the fourth down fake punt from their own 30-yard line, short snap to Taysam Hill, up the middle, first down Saints. First big gamble. Then the second big gamble. It's fourth and goal. And that ball's at the two, and it's actually sort of outside the two. And Sean Payton says, we're not kicking the field goal here. We're going for it.

I thought I would have kicked the field goal. I'm sitting there going, and I've got the Saints laying eight. But I'm like, kick the field goal, man. That's the right thing to do. You got the interception. You got the fake. punt. You're going to get points on this drive. You're going to go from being down either 21-0 or 17-0-0 to a 14-3 game. You're back in this thing. If you miss on this fourth and goal,

it gives them the momentum right back. And they throw a touchdown pass on what was really, I hope I remember to ask Mike Shanahan when he's on about this. But it was a play where it was so beautifully designed where they fake the quick wide receiver screen, wide receiver bubble, you know, with Mike Thomas coming back on the inside, and it's a fake to him, and it brings Philly up, and then Breeze throws to Kirkwood for the touchdown. Yeah.

In the left corner. 14-7, just like that. It's a ball game again. It's 1410 at the half. A couple of things real quickly before the Saints got on the board. at 14-7 and made it 14-10. That played by Jernigan, where he got the taunting penalty early in the game. They had a 14-0 lead.

New Orleans had bad field position. This was still 14-0. It may have been the drive where the Saints, before the big drive with the fake pun in it. That was such a BS call. I mean, it's the playoffs. He didn't taunt that much. That stuff has to be let go. I mean, I'm glad he got called for taunting in that spot.

but that gave New Orleans some field position there. I just hated it. I'm glad replay got it right on the change of possession on the Brandon Graham strip, where the Saints eventually recovered, but Graham never had it. That was not a change in possession. That would have been a huge break for the Saints who would have been punting, but instead would have been given a first in 10. Replay got that one right.

So it's 1410. You get to the second half. And, you know, it's a really good football game. And you get maybe the drive of the year, if not one of the best drives you've ever seen in the postseason. 18 plays, 92 yards, 11 minutes and 29 seconds. I mean, they kept overcoming penalty after penalty on that drive. They had, you know, they had a second and 20 that they overcame, a first in 20, a second and 20, a first in 15. it was amazing how much self-destruction there was on that drive that should have potentially ended the drive, but Breeze just kept making play after play.

And they ended up getting it into the end zone there for the 17-14 lead. And, you know, it was then, you know, really felt like it was the Saints game. They really shortened the game. I mean, they basically took up the entire third quarter on that drive. There were a couple of things late in that game. You know, I really, really felt that the third down in eight for the Saints was a call that was super conservative for Sean Payton. Now, where I am is that missed field goal at the end with about three minutes to go. It's third and eight.

They're at the Philly 30-yard line, so it's, you know, they've got to score. They've got to get points on this drive. You don't want Foles and the Eagles to have the ball back, you know, in that particular spot with a chance. to win the game. And I just thought Peyton would be more aggressive. He'd been, you know, aggressive throughout. And he runs the ball, a draw to Kamara who gets nailed in the backfield for a three-yard loss by Bennett. And by the way, on Bennett, you know, get some real pads. I mean, why does the NFL allow his whole get up there? I don't get it. Like, is he wearing shoulder pads or not? It's weird. Whatever it is, I mean, if this league's about safety, get the proper

pads on, Bennett. It looks foolish. But I really thought that that call for Peyton was conservative. I mean, you're making plays. You've made plays on multiple drives in a row. You've now scored, I think the Saints scored, when you go back to the touchdown that they scored to make it 14 to seven. I think they had scored on like five or, no, at that point it would have been four scores four out of five drives, you know, and they're on the move in this drive. Ingram had the big run ripped off a big run on that drive that got it into Philadelphia territory. And third and Nate and Kamara gets stopped for a three-yard loss. Now you got a 52-yard field goal, a 52-yard field goal in that spot. I thought that was nuts there. I thought he'd be aggressive and the miss field goal

obviously hurt those of us that were holding minus eight, Saints minus eight tickets. And then there was the play right before the two-minute warning, the interception that ended the game. What was Philadelphia in such a hurry for? Why were they in such a hurry? They snapped that ball with two minutes and one second left. They should have let it go to the two-minute warning. That should have been a drive really that ended with a touchdown. Now, you'll take the touchdown at any point. Don't get me wrong. And, you know, if Doug Peterson says, hey, they had some personnel on the field, that we really thought we could take advantage of there and we wanted to snap it before the two-minute warning

because we liked the play we had and we loved the defense that they were putting out there. We thought it was a defense we could take advantage of. Okay. Then I understand that. But if they were just trying to get it off before the two-minute warning, I'm not sure why they were in a hurry. They should have been thinking about taking as much clock as possible

on that final drive. As much of it as possible on that final drive. Alshan Jeffrey, man, you know, he's been great here for them, been great in the postseason, and that was right in his hands, you know, and Lattimore picks it off and it's game over. And, you know, Philadelphia, look, you know, they won a Super Bowl last year and they had some playoff luck. You know, Julio Jones had a chance to pull in that winning touchdown pass for the Falcons. Cody Parkey had a, you know, a very, very makeable field goal to end their season last week. And the breaks went against them there at the end.

It was a really good game. It was the best game of the weekend. It was the one game that came down to the final drive. It was a very good football game. I'm just looking at my notes. I thought the roughing the passing penalty, passer penalty on Davenport on Philadelphia's last drive was, I just think in these playoffs, man, you've got to let them play.

That was not a true roughing the passer penalty. That Davenport, there was also one in that game last night. And I'm trying to think of the situation. There was a roughing the passer on a hit low to a quarterback. Where is it? Was it the Davenport play, where he was sort of blocked into him? May have been a different game. Whatever.

Saints win 20 to 14, and they're on to the NFC championship game where they are early three and a half point favorites over the Rams. The game earlier yesterday was a shocker to me. I mean, you know, it was a shocker in that I really wanted the Chargers. I thought they were very capable of going to New England and winning. You know, I didn't give out the Patriots, even though there was a slight public lean on the Chargers. There was also sharp money on the Chargers, which is why I stayed off it.

Rivers wasn't good, their defense wasn't good, it was just an utter, you know, Pelichick Brady. Really? Really? You guys like the Chargers that much, huh? Oh, Anthony Lynn, he's a really good coach. Philip Rivers, Hall of Famelock, Sheehan. No, we got a little guy by the name of Brady, you may have heard of him.

And we got some other guys, too. Edelman, you may have heard of him. It's unbelievable how much they're playing the disrespect card. Did you hear what Brady said after? No one believes we can win. Yeah, no one believes we can win. Everybody thinks we suck. Yeah, nobody thinks you suck, dude.

It's a great position, though, to take internally is like everybody's out to get us, everybody, you know, shorting us. Do you know what was remarkable about that game were some of the first half numbers? New England in the first half had 24 first downs in a half. More first downs than plays, right? More first downs than the Chargers had plays in the first half. The Chargers ran 23 offensive plays in the first half, and New England had 24 first downs.

24 first downs is a hell of a lot for a game. I'm not even sure how it's possible that you can have 24 first downs in a half. It was really incredible what they did. I mean, you're talking about 24 first downs and a half is like, we're getting, you know, 10-and-a-half yards, you know, per first down. Either on one play or three plays, it doesn't matter. But you almost have to have some of them on first and second down because you'd eat up too much clock getting them all on third down.

Although in the first half, they were five for six on third down. Sony-Michel in the first half, I'm sorry, James White in the first half, had 10 catches in the first half of the game. He finished with 15 catches for 97 yards. That was not a Roy Hulu performance, by the way. Julian Edelman, nine catches, 151 yards. In the first half, as they built a 35 to 7 lead, you know who didn't have one catch?

Grunk, not one. He only finished the game with one catch. It was an incredible catch and run. Yeah, I'm convinced he is retiring, though. Romo early in that game talked about the Chargers basically playing all that zone defense. You know, three-deep zone coverage, and it just is what Brady typically eats up. He said it from the jump. You know, Romo really, you know, other than him getting overly enthusiastic at times,

he really has some, you know, terrific insight during the course of a game. And he said, it's my guess, this was early in the game, it's my guess the Chargers are going to have to mix it up. going to have to play some man coverage. Brady'll eat this alive. And he did. He ate it alive all day. Anyway, there you go. Easy. 41.28. I mean, it was never in doubt. 357. There was no hope at any point in that game of the Chargers making a run back. You know, I did make one note. At the end of the first half, I don't know if you saw this. And it's something that bothers me about the NFL is the guy. especially in the final two minutes of a game or a half,

that really worked their way to get out of bounds and get out of bounds, and the referees rolled the clock because they say forward progress was stopped. And at the end of the half, you know, the Patriots got the ball back, and Brady threw one to Dorset, and he got out of bounds, but his progress had been stopped, and they rolled the clock, and the clock ran out so they couldn't kick a field goal there at the end of the first half. I think in these final two minutes,

if a receiver's working and he's still moving, I don't care if his forward progress has been stopped. If he's fighting and working hard to get to the out of bounds and the defense doesn't stop him from getting to the out of bounds, I think they got to stop the clock. I mean, that's one of those things we've seen, you know, over the years in their effort to really speed up these games, you know, that, and I'll tell you the other thing that I would like to see changed, I am sick of the neutral zone infraction being called on the first jump without any reaction. If the offensive line reacts immediately, okay. But if a guy's in the neutral zone then gets back and it gets

flagged with nobody on the offense moving, he's back. The ball hasn't been snapped. Let's play football. All right? This is, you know, in the last several years, the neutral zone infraction immediately, if he gets back, if it's just a tiny bit of a jump into the neutral zone and then he gets back and the ball hasn't been snapped and it didn't, you know, force an offensive tackle or guard to move. Come on. Let's play football. Also, no more fireworks at games when it's cold and damp. Like we saw Indy KC and in New England yesterday for a while.

It wasn't damp there, but it's like, you know, this fog comes over. It's like it's a sunny day. There's no fog. Oh, it's the fireworks. Jesus, God. Saturday, the Rams Cowboys game. You know, C.J. Anderson, who looks to be 25 to 30 pounds overweight, was phenomenal. And the reason he's phenomenal, he's got great vision. You can just see it.

It's got great feel. I'll tell you what, Sean McVeigh, for all that said about how genius and creative and clever and cool, he's always talked about it, it's not a lot of stuff that's beyond basic except for, you know, cadence and formations and all of that stuff is where, He's clever and tricky. They just ran it up, they just lined it up and ran it right down Dallas's throat. Start to finish. 48 rushes to 28 throws. C.J. Anderson over 100 yards. Todd Gurley over 100 yards. They ran the ball at 5.7 yards per clip.

48 carries 273 yards in the game. You know, the cowboy fans, I have not talked to Clay. I've not talked to Kenny. Kenny texted, I didn't want to bother them. I wasn't going to, you know, I was rooting against them. But, you know, they're in a spot that we're not, you know, as a fan base. I mean, they're not, we're not anywhere near them, and they're young. You know, they're going to complain about the third and 14 hands to the face call on Byron Jones in a 13 to 7 game.

I thought it was BS too. I don't like the third and 14 defensive holds that give people automatic first down. I think it should be, you know, 10 yards and not an automatic first down. You know, Dask was in the grasp, called in the grasp on a play where the only person that had him in his grasp was his offensive tackle. You know, you got to let him play here. You know, he's not going to get hurt by his own player, more likely than not. They called him in the grasp.

That was a big play in the game because he may have made a big play there. Sean McVeigh's team is just so well coached. Did you see at the end of the first half how quickly they got up after a completion to spike the ball? How quickly they got lined up to spike the ball? He didn't learn it from here. Or he did, but not from Jay Gruden. The Rams are good, man. They're good.

I think Dallas is good. I'm surprised that they got run on like they did. See what Mike thinks about Sean McVay and the way they ran the ball against a team. it's been really good against the run. And the other part of that is the Rams defense stepped up. You know, that defense has been vulnerable all year long, and they shut the run down, man. Zeke Elliott had no room anywhere.

No room. The Cowboy season ends, as does the Eagles season. That's good news, I guess. Then that first game, look, I thought that Andrew Luck looked terrible. I know the Chief's defense stepped up in play. a really good game for them. They did. It did. Andrew Luck looked cold and out of sorts from the jump in this game. He looked slow. The, you know, the whole team just looked slow and terrible and cold and miserable. You know, the only time they were quick on any side of the balls when they

jumped off sides, which happened about five times. Luck, you know, had balls batted down, left and right. He had five passes deflected in the game. I thought they could have run the ball more early. A lot of the yardage they got on the ground is when they were down and they were running draws to Marlon Mack and the kid from NC State, Heinz. I just thought that that game, Vinot Terry missed the short field goal and missed a P.A.T. in the game, everybody's saying that his career is over. I don't know what that means his career's over. Saw a lot of PATs and miss field goals this NFL season. But the Colts weren't right.

I mean, so many were so convinced that the Colts were the team, you know, that they were going to go in and beat Kansas City. I have not been on Kansas City all year long. I didn't like this game, and I leaned at Kansas City, laying the five. But I don't like the Chiefs, and I think the Patriots have a chance to beat the Chiefs Sunday at Arrowhead, where it probably is going to. going to be, I mean, right now the extended is for brutally cold temperatures at Arrowhead. You're talking about potentially low-teen single digits for Sunday night in the extended.

But that's Brady weather. It's Belichick weather. We'll see if it's Mahomes weather. I also thought about one other thing watching that Kansas City game with all the snow. You think our fan base, if there had been a divisional playoff game at home yesterday, would have filled up every single seat at FedEx Field? No shot. Yeah. This market's a bit soft overall when it comes to, you know, matters of convenience. If it had been cold and if yesterday we had had a divisional home playoff game in the snow at FedEx,

there would have been a lot of empties. There weren't, I didn't see many empties at Arrowhead. I'll tell you that. They were ready to go and they'll be there on Sunday night regardless of how cold it was. My early leans on these games, and we got a whole week to discuss them. But I think the numbers are right. None of the numbers really shock me. The Rams are minus three and a half, and the Chiefs are minus three.

Apparently the Chiefs would have been exactly the same over the Chargers as well. If the Chargers had pulled it off, I saw a look-ahead line that the Chiefs were going to be minus three over the Patriots or minus three over the Chargers. The Saints would have been a much bigger favorite over Philadelphia. I think the projection was... I think it's lost six. I'm sorry. Would have been a bigger favorite over the Cowboys.

Right. And the Rams would have been a bigger favorite over the Eagles. But three and a half and three seem like the right lines. I like the Rams right now. I think I actually like both underdogs and both road teams on Sunday. And if it's Rams Patriots, it would actually be a rematch of Brady's first. Super Bowl, of course, they were in St. Louis then. And, you know, any one of these Super Bowl matchups, you know, Rams, Chiefs, Rams, Patriots, Saints,

you know, Breeze Brady, you know, Breeze Mahomes and the Chiefs. I think a lot of people are rooting for the Chiefs because it's been so long and it's such a great fan base. And I just, the Chiefs against either of those teams is such a fun matchup on paper. Yeah, yeah, the two totals in the games. Both of them are the same 57 in both games. You know, we saw 4535 the first time. with the Saints over the Rams in the Superdome. And obviously in Foxborough, Foxborough, I think it was week six.

We saw 4340, you know, two of the better games of the year. We get rematches. And, you know, starting, I don't know, weeks four, five, six, we basically said Saints, Rams in the NFC. Now, I changed my view. I thought both teams were beatable in the postseason. I still favored both teams to get where they got. But I thought the Bears had a chance to beat either team.

I thought the Cowboys had, you know, a chance. I did not think Philadelphia had the chance that they ended up having in the NFC. And in the AFC, you know, look, here's one of the things that is definitely true. Ultimately, the best defensive teams in the league this year did not prevail in the postseason. The best offensive teams did. However, what's ironic about that is that the teams that prevailed here in the divisional round were the best offensive teams, you know, football for much of the year, but they did it primarily running the football this weekend. That was the one theme of the weekend. The teams that ran the ball well won the football games

over the weekend. Yeah, early leans, I would say Rams. I feel strongly, strongly about the Rams, actually, less so about the Patriots. But, you know, the Patriots away from Foxborough haven't been nearly as good in the postseason, you know, but they're championship games, you know, they lost to the Broncos a few years ago in Denver, but they have two championship road game wins, right? Both in Pittsburgh, I believe. I think Brady and Belichick have won two AFC title games in Pittsburgh. Is that right? I think that's right. Sounds right. Maybe it's one. The first year they won in Pittsburgh in the AFC championship. They were three and five on the road this season. Yes, they were. They were three and five on the road this

season. And a couple of those were, you know, beat downs. You know, you think about when they went to Tennessee and just got absolutely crunch. So I'm looking for how many road games in the championship they've won. So their last road playoff game before this coming week was Denver, all right, and they lost that AFC title game. They were at Denver in 2013 as well, the Peyton game in the conference championship game, lost that. That was the year that the Broncos went to the Super Bowl and lost to Seattle. So their last two road playoff games were in Denver, both losses. Their road game before that, their last two road games before, they lost to the Colts in the AFC championship game on the road. They lost, I'm looking for championship games.

Oh, just championship games. Yeah, they beat the Steelers in 2004 in the championship game 4127 at Heinzfeld and 2001. So they've got two road AFC title games in the Brady-Belichick era, and it was their first two. Their first two road games in 2001 and 2004 were both in Pittsburgh and they won both of those games. But since then, they only have one road playoff win, and that was the win over the Chargers where they needed the intercept. to be fumbled back to him on the game-winning drive. So there you go. Meantime, the Chiefs, I didn't realize this until yesterday. The Chiefs have never hosted an AFC championship game. When they went to the Super Bowl and Super Bowl 4, they won the AFC championship game on the road.

And I would assume that it was against the Raiders in 1969. I think that's probably what it was, but they have never hosted an AFC title game. That's a, you know, that's a storied franchise because of their fan base and the passion that their fans have for that team. And they've, you know, they played in one of the most memorable playoff games of all time, the 1971 Christmas Day longest game ever played in the NFL 2724 loss to the Dolphins when Jan Stinnerud missed a short field goal in that game. But, yeah, the conference championship that they won to go to Super Bowl 4 was at Oakland that year. In fact, they won both of those games on the road, beat the Jets and the Raiders that year to go to Super Bowl 4,

were they then with Len Dawson and Otis Taylor, Mike Garrett. Was Mike Garrett on that team or was that the first Super Bowl win? No, Garrett was on that team. Yeah, beat the Vikings 23 to 7. And in that particular game, you know, the big upset that was celebrated this past, weekend. It was the 50-year anniversary of the Namath win over the Colts as an 18-point underdog. Well, the following year, the AFL chiefs were 12-point favorites to the Vikings, another huge double-digit underdog, and they beat the Vikings going away with Otis Taylor dominating that

game. So there you go. Arrowhead gets a title game. After all of these years, you know, a real iconic venue in the NFL is going to host its first championship game. And again, the look-ahead weather is for it to be brutally cold at Arrowhead on Sunday night for that game. And obviously, the New Orleans game will be played in just lovely weather, indoors, temperature-controlled. All right, we'll get to Mike Shanahan here in a moment. Ferris Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fairfax should be on your list if you're considering something new. Go to Farish Cars.com right now, you'll see their live inventory, live pricing, best deals. They make it easy for you.

Ralph Perkins, Kevin Ferris, do a great job. They're smart guys. They run a great dealership. They've got a great sales team, great service department. And right now they still have running some of the best rebates they've had all year long. The Jeep Cherokee, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Ram pickup. Plenty of all four of those on their lot, you'll likely be able to find the make model color you're looking for and drive it home. the same day. Ferishcars.com again if you want to see live inventory, live pricing, their best deals

right at ferrishcars.com. If you head out to Fairfax, ask for Ralph Perkins. He'll be in the store and tell him that I sent you. All right, let's bring in Mike Shanahan. One of my favorites is all of you know. I still think he should be coaching here. That would be my, that would have been my preference. And if it wasn't you, if you had retired, I'd love to have Kyle coaching here. coaching here or somebody. I still think that what happened there in 2013 was unfortunate for Redskins fans and the future of the organization. But anyway, how are you? Happy New Year belated. Everything well? Everything's well, thanks. Happy New Year to you. Can't complain. Yeah. You watched a lot of football this weekend? I have. That's some good games.

Yeah, some good games. Some blowouts. Mike, let's start with the last game, which was last night. you know, Sean Payton made some, you know, calculated gambles. First of all, you know, the fake punt was a big time call in that spot with Taysam Hill, and they've used him in so many different ways. And then they go for the fourth and goal from the two on that drive down 14-0. What did you make of those two decisions? And for you, was that, you know, that stretch of the game, the turning point in the game? Well, I think being a head coach, you put yourself in that situation.

and you know it's the playoffs. You know if you've got to get things done, and why not put it in the hands of the players where you show them that you've got confidence in them, and we're not going to just settle for, you know, being close. We're trying to win this game. And obviously you've got a very good feel for what type of play that you're going to use or what the situation is to give yourself a chance.

And I think Sean's been that way all the way through. You know, he's that type of guy. He's going to put it on his shoulder. where he's not afraid to make that call, regardless which way it goes. And I was impressed with his decision. What's the biggest risk, in-game risk you've ever taken? Do you remember any in particular that stand out?

I do. I do. I just, we were playing, I think, I believe it was Kansas City at mile high. And they had just had two long drives, and it's in the fourth quarter. And they've, you know, I just feel like our football team is really tired. and we've got the ball, you know, third down and one or third down in a yard and a half. We're at our own 30-yard line, so, you know, if we don't make it, you know, they get the ball again. And I said, hey, I just think this is a situation that we have got to make the first down.

Number one, I don't think they think we're going to go forward. They think we're trying to draw them off size. So it was fourth, it was fourth and one from your own. I'm sorry, it's fourth and one. fourth and one. We're in a situation where they thought we were going to try to drum off sides. We went for it. We got it. We went down and scored on that drive. And I thought at that time, you're going to get ridiculed, but at the same time, you felt like it was the right thing to do. Yeah, because you didn't want to put your defense back out there. I remember a game you coached in Denver,

and it may have been one of your last two years in Denver. You went for two to win a game. I think it was against the Chargers. It may have been against somebody else. It was our second game of the season. We won 3-9-38. Exactly. And kind of the same thing. Our defense was tired. We went for the two-point play, and we won a game 39-38. Was that the Chargers? Yeah, that was the Chargers. Correct. Do you know, I think you were the first to go for the win at the end after scoring a touchdown where the PAT would have tied it and forced overtime.

We've seen it much more in recent years. It's still not the norm, but we've seen it more in recent years. But if my memory serves me correctly, and this would have been, what, 2007, 2008, somewhere around there, you may have been the first to do it. Yeah, you're exactly what it was. It was we opened up against the Raiders. It was a 4110 game. Then we came back in a big game within a division.

we went 39-38, and Philip Rivers was going up and down the field in a fourth quarter, and guys, we had a long drive, and I just felt like it was the right time to do it. Yeah, there it is. Boy, you got a great memory. Week two, I just pulled up 39-38 win over the Chargers at mile high. Did you feel yesterday's game early that the Saints were in trouble? You know, I didn't. I just thought it was going to be one of those kind of knocked down. drag out games that, you know, it was, you know, going to come to turnovers and making a few of those

plays like you just mentioned, you had taken a shot to make a fourth and one, or if it's a fake punt or, you know, in the red zone, you know, getting a touchdown instead of a field goal. And that was kind of the game I anticipated being. The conversation about Nick Foles would have become a bigger conversation had they won that game, and they had a chance to win it. Alshon Jeffrey dropped that. pass. I actually was surprised, Mike, that they went ahead and snapped the ball there right before the two-minute warning. I was thinking that what they should have been trying to do is score, you know, a touchdown with under a

minute to go, maybe under 30 seconds to go to win that, and they snapped it right before the two-minute warning. No, I was shocked. That was a mistake. That was a mistake. You thought so, too. Yeah, without a question. Just to control the clock. No matter what happened, you had a chance to control it if you wanted to, you know, bring it down depending on what happened. that you would have been in great position to do it. So if Nick Foles wins that game yesterday, the conversation becomes even more significant

about what Philadelphia is to do about Foles and Wence. I don't know if that's still a conversation in Philadelphia. It may be. I mean, Nick Foles played another incredible game in a big spot there yesterday in the postseason. What do you think of the two, and how do you think Philadelphia will handle it, and how would you handle it? Well, number one, I think Philly got healthier

in the second half of the season. You know, their defense was very average in the first half, had a lot of guys go down. Anytime you're not healthy on a football team, the quarterback can look pretty average very quickly. And I think that was their situation. Nick Foles has done a good job, and I think offensively they've done a fantastic job,

utilizing his talents. But I'm a big once guy, not that I don't like Nick Foles because they do, but I think Wents is special. And, you know, I think that controversy with the quarterback, especially if you want in the playoffs, is always going to be there, and you've got to make the decision you think's best for your football team

if you are the head coach. Where did you have Foles coming out of that draft in 2012? It would be honestly, I didn't have them very high. I had him in the senior bowl, and I did not think he was going to be a consistent quarterback. There's bits and pieces I liked about him, but when he did have that, I believe, the one year where it was like 19, touchdowns,

two interceptions. I was just kind of blown away. He had that kind of year. But he did have the best offensive line in the league. He had a great running game. They ran about four or five plays. They utilize his talents to the utmost with that, you know, run-pass option with Chip Kelly at that time. And then the next year, the offensive line was very average. And I think he had six touchdowns and seven interceptions. And it was just the opposite the next year. He went back to, you know, being a kind of a quarterback that was a little bit inconsistent. So I wasn't really sure what direction he was going to go. And obviously, the way he played last year was fantastic. But I think it had a lot to do with the RPO's and how they utilize them.

You're a big Wence fan, though, and you think they'll sign him long term, right? I do. I do. I think he has that talent. It's been very unfortunate. He's had, you know, these injuries. But I think he is, you know, he's a franchise quarterback. One other quick thing from the Saints Eagles game, and then we'll get to the Patriots. Just a situational thing. When they were up six with the ball late, and there's about three minutes to go, they had a third and eight at the Philadelphia 31. They needed points on that drive to basically ice the game.

A field goal would help. I thought Sean Payton, who is the opposite of conservative, as you've already described, he typically goes for it, got really conservative on that third and eight, where they handed it to Kamara, and Bennett dropped him in the backfield, which made that field goal 52-53 yards. I felt exactly the same. I said, hey, throw a slant route, throw something very quick. But once you run a play like that, especially if you're in the shotgun formation,

you've got a chance to lose two or three. And all of a sudden, instead of being inside the 50, it's, you know, outside the 50. And, boy, it puts a lot of pressure on that field goal kicker. Yeah, and he missed it, which set the opportunity, set up the opportunity for Philadelphia to win it. All right, earlier in the day, this was a surprise to me. I was really Mike rooting for Philip Rivers. The thing that bothers me over the course of being a fan and watching football is

it's the most dependent position. All of these positions are so dependent. And I think Philip Rivers has had a Hall of Fame career. And I wanted him to have the postseason success to go with it. How surprised were you that this game was never, even competitive even for a moment? Number one, I'm a big Anthony Lynn Finn as well. You know, he played for me in 97.

But now our Super Bowl years. I just got a great feel for him. But I wasn't really shocked because any time a team on the West Coast has to go to the East Coast two weeks in a row, and you give a team, especially a good football team, well-coached team, two weeks for a pair and be healthy. And you're playing at that time difference, it is a big change.

People don't realize what a big change that is. So when I saw the way they played in the first quarter, I said, this is not even going to be close. And then they're a very, very basic defense. They don't do a lot of things to put pressure on a guy like Tom Brady. When I saw they were running the ball and the way they were utilizing their play-action game, I thought you could see very quickly.

They had to close to 200 yards in that first quarter that the game was over. Yeah, it was amazing. It's interesting that you say that because they had been this year, the Chargers had been pretty successful going west to east, but what you're saying is the back-to-back, the fact that they played in Baltimore, flew back to the West Coast, and then had to come back east again was a huge disadvantage in this particular case. Not only had, playing a play-to-playoff game. I mean, everything you work for, I mean, that's what New England has been doing. I mean, everything that they've done, they understand how important of playoffs are. And obviously, the Chargers do as well, but they don't realize a wear and tear on

your body after you do that. Then you're getting ready for a playoff game and all the pressure that's on you to start with. And you're going against a team that has that edge with the way they're playing because they know it's the final game and you haven't been in as many times as they have. I just thought they were at a big disadvantage going in. Would you have kept him on the East Coast after the win over the Ravens? I think it's, you know, it's hard to say. I have never done that. So if I did do it, it'd be something that I had never done. But you could, especially after a game like this, I think if it happened to me a second time, I would have stayed out there. And I think Anthony Linwell, too, if it happens in the future. The Chargers last week against

a team that was going to struggle to throw the football with Lamar Jackson, played 7 DBs in the game, played Derwin James essentially as a linebacker. And there was a lot of that yesterday against Brady and company. Was that a mistake? Well, I think any time you play the Brady, that you're going to have to change your game plan up. And if you take a look at the Chargers, you know, they're the Seattle defense. You know, they're playing three-deep and they're playing zone, and they play extremely well. If you don't have that great pass rush and they're running the ball and kind of keeping you off balance, it's really hard to get pressure on a guy like Tom because he gets rid of it so quickly.

So you kind of have to change your defense up. a little bit more Max Blitz's, a little bit more man coverage instead of zone. And, you know, when you've had the success that the Chargers had, it's really kind of hard to say, hey, we're going to change this for the playoff game because it's Tom Brady. You're going to do what's gotten you there, and that's what they did. Yeah, Romo pointed out very early in the game, doing the game on CBS with Jim Nancy, he said it's a difficult matchup when you're a pure zone team against Tom Brady. and, you know, he said that they may be forced at some point.

He looked ahead. This was early in the game. He said at some point they're going to have to mix it up and play some man coverage or he'll eat it up and he did. Well, how about Atlanta in the Super Bowl? Right. It was the same defense. Yeah, exactly.

The same defense. So kind of gives you an idea. You go against a guy like Tom and you're going to show them 403 deep, and especially if you get ahead, you're in for a long date. Dan Quinn and Gus Bradley. All right, let's go to the game Saturday night. Sean coached the Rams to a win over the Cowboys. They're in the NFC title game.

You'll preview those for us here in a moment. But what did you make of the Rams performance Saturday night against the Cowboys? Number one, I think it was a fantastic game plan that Sean had against the Cowboys. Number one, you go to against a third-ranked rushing defense of national football league. And, you know, obviously they've got a good pass offense as well. But they put so much pressure on the defense because they have their that tight-in, very tight in the formation. They've got the three wide receivers,

sometimes trips to one side, sometimes two-to-two. They'll fake somebody on a sift block, somebody going around on reverses. And when you take a look at what Dallas was doing, they really weren't sure who had what gap responsibilities. They'd run outside zone, inside zone. They'd fake the reverses off of it, and they'd run that with a quarterback keeps and play action passes.

They just weren't really sure what they were. were doing. And anytime you run for 250 yards against that type of defense, even though you got girly in a good offensive line, that means you've got a pretty darn good game plan going in. It was, I mean, they ran it 48 times. They threw it 28. They averaged 5.7 yards per carry. And how about C.J. Anderson, who Mike, watching him, he actually looks like he's an overweight back. I mean, he looks bigger than he's ever looked. But what vision he has is a back? I'll tell you what, he didn't look fat. There's no way to get it.

Right. But I'll tell you what I think he looked like an all-probeback when he played, though. He was very impressive. You could see he had that forward drive and had a lot of confidence. And he played like a Pro Bowl player. He really did. That's got to be right now what you're rooting for more than anything else, right? Is Sean in the Rams?

Oh, yeah. You always like to see them keep on doing what they've done. but I was really impressed by the game plan that they had. They weren't going to go in there and say, hey, we're going to show you how good our wide receivers are, put all the pressure on the quarterback. He knew that their offensive line and the running game was sound. He was not going to turn the ball over and give those guys a chance to win.

What he's going to do is put all the pressure on his offensive line, give the quarterback easy throws, and that throws he did have, even though they didn't throw many, he was just so effective. So I just love to see a guy that knows how to win in those big games, and I thought Sean did an incredible job with the game plan. What about that first game of the weekend? A lot of people were giving Andrew Luck and their running game a chance at Kansas City.

I know you've been an Andy Reed fan over the years. He hasn't been able to get it done while he's been in Kansas City. They won going away. What's your takeaway from that first game of the weekend? Well, number one, you can see Mahomes is a real deal. They put pressure on him, and he usually steps up and can make plays. And if some breaks down, he has the ability to get outside the pocket and make the big-time throws and make some good decisions.

I was actually surprised that Indy didn't put a little bit more pressure on him in the running game. They started out throwing the ball, and I thought they'd do just the opposite because they did play the old bear defense. So they covered the center in the guard. And, you know, you do that, and that means you've got a pretty good pass rush because the center guards are one-on-one. They've got two good at outside rushers. When they play men and a man, they are an aggressive man-of-man-man team.

So what they'll do is they'll take a couple pass-interferences throughout the game, but they'll have the receivers covered, and that's the way it looked in that game with Andrew luck. Even when he did have time, the receivers were covered. So they went into a hornet nest then. I thought they had a great game plan against. Kansas City. I thought luck looked slow. He looked like he was cold. I mean, he looked like the cold was impacting him. Didn't look like himself. I mean, he had multiple passes batted down at the line

of scrimmage. A couple of the balls were short-armed. He just didn't look right to me from the start. You know, even when that game was still, and we got out of hand pretty quickly, but he just didn't look right. What did he look like to you? I agree 100%. But I think what happens when People do play men-to-man coverage, and all of a sudden your receivers aren't open. Normally, you get used to throwing something on time. And when he's ready to throw the ball on time, the receivers were covered. Now, if you're getting zone defense the whole time, you can anticipate a throw. But with that type of pass rush that he had, and all of a sudden, his receivers weren't open,

he looked like, oh, my God, you know, these guys got to get open. They've got to find a way to get open because I can't take a chance to throw in the ball. as early as I would like to. And when he did, the ball was overthrown. So he did look very much out of whack, and I'm a big Andrew Luck fan. What's your impressions of Frank Reich in his first year as a head coach? Oh, I thought he did a fantastic job. I mean, to come back, well, where they won in five to start out with,

and all of a sudden, nobody was sure on what Andrew was going to do or be and how healthy he was going to be. I just thought he kept that football team together, and the defense I was impressed with the whole year. obviously didn't have that type of game against Kansas City, but a very impressive guy. Andy Reed, do you think this is his year? Let's move to next weekend and he gets the Patriots at home. Does this look like the team? Does this look like the year for them to get it done or not? Well, I think that, you know, this would be the big game for Andy because, you know, he has the ability on offense to make so many big plays.

Last time they played, it was a shootout, you know, whatever that was 43. 4, 3-40, yeah. Whatever that game was, and either team could win it. Bill is usually at his best in these games, and they're going to have to play a very good football game because their defense will be ready. But at the same time, we can see what type of firepower Kansas City has. I think it'll be a great football game.

What are the keys to that game going in from a Chief's perspective? Well, number one, I don't think they can turn a football over. I think Bill will have different things for them to put some, pressure on the homes to kind of get them outside the pocket, but not necessarily outside the pocket, but where he has to step up and make the throw. So we have to step up and maybe slide outside the pocket, but he's not going to let him just get outside.

You know, Bill's been too consistent knowing what beats him, what type of opportunities that he has on defense to put the pressure on the quarterback. So he will really make him step up and execute the game plan. You coached one playoff? game against Belichick? Is that right? And you beat them in Denver? Well, we got them luckily to get them after they had won about 10 straight. So we felt very lucky. But be honest with that game was really, we won on defense. I think we had four

turnovers. Low scoring game, yeah. Yeah. That was like, I think, like a 24-13 game. But at the end of the game, when we did win, when you look at it, we had no turnovers and they had four turnovers. So we act our defense won the game for us. But it was one of those typical games against Billichick. You can't turn to football over. You got to get turnovers and you get a score when you're in the red zone. So I felt very fortunate to be back then. All right. What about the NFC championship game? That's also a rematch from the regular season. The Saints won that game 45 to 35. What will be different, if anything, about this next one? Well, I think that I think it's going to hard be hard to beat the

ramps. I know it's going to be tough in New Orleans. I know it's a tough place to play, but I think they got a good chance because they are so balanced right now, and their defense played their best game. I don't know if you notice their defense, but there's no comparison with the defense the way they played yesterday. They stopped the run. You know, they really stopped it. They killed them. Yeah. I mean, Dallas is a good running team. I mean, I think 20 carries for 43. I mean, It's not even a football game, but everybody was playing hard. And I hadn't seen the Rams defense play that hard for the last three, four, five games of the season.

So they were possessed. Sean had him on the same page or Wade had them on the same page, obviously a combination of both guys. But it was fun to watch a defense come and play that well when they were so average of three or four games before. So you like the Rams? I do, yeah. And Patriots Chiefs?

Do you have a strong feeling about that one either way? No, because I really, really enjoy both guys. I think you go either way. But whichever way it goes, you know, it's going to be well-earned. A couple of things. Number one, what are your thoughts of what's going on in these parts with this organization again? You know, be honest with it when you are where I'm in Denver, I don't get a chance to follow it like I do.

The football, you know, you just read, they make changes in the, You know, obviously their business department. I know they hired a lot of people last year. Then all of a sudden they made changes. And so anyway, actually, nothing they really do surprises me. I could be honest with that. And because I heard a lot of good things about their people that were on the business program. But for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

And I just kind of wish them the best. I know you don't believe that. I'm just joking. Well, before you came here, which, believe it or not, now is nine years ago. It was nine years ago, I think last week or on Friday, somewhere around there. But did Dan consult you, you know, during the 2000s when you were the coach in Denver? There were always reports when you came here that you had a pretty good existing relationship with Dan. You know, I didn't know Dan very well.

I had met him first time in Hawaii when North Turner was there, and so I had a relationship, you know, at least speaking to him at owner's meetings, but I was never really involved very much with Dan or never really called me on anything except right when they had a job opening. But, you know, other than that, I knew him. We were friends, but did not have much of a relationship with him. If they had, I don't know if I've ever asked you this, but we've talked a lot about a lot of different things related.

to the organization here over the last month. As you know, we get a little bit consumed with this. And it's, you know, it's another, Mike, the feeling here is that it's another rock bottom moment. You know, once you know, every few years, once you think you can't get any lower, it goes even lower. I mean, you had a real difficult time, you know, filling up the stadium, hell not even filling up the stadium, getting it to be three quarters full this year. The TV ratings were significantly down. The final game of the year was basically a road game against the Eagles at FedEx Field.

There seems to be a lot of erosion of the fan base. There's been this incredible movement here among the fans. It's all of the, most of the venom seems to be towards Bruce Allen, and people feel like he's had enough time to move on. But I don't know that we've gotten to this point before. and nobody really knows what's next. So if, you know, this is a total hypothetical and it would never happen, and I'll grant you that, but if somebody came to you and said,

give me one or two things that they've got to do right away to get this thing headed back in the correct direction, what would you say? Well, I think, you know, I've said this all along, I've said this many times of different people. I think that your owner, your GM, you're a head. head coach, they have to be on the same page and your quarterback. The one thing I would have said to them is that I thought they had a natural leader in Kirk Cousins. And Kirk is a guy that, you know, regardless what people think, that when you have a guy that's part of your organization,

that's a natural leader, and all of a sudden, you might not get to the playoffs, but people understand, you get to the playoffs but having a good football team. It's just not the quarterback. It's having the quarterback a good defense, good special teams, good coaching staff, everybody going the same direction. And when you have a chance to do that, you have to do it because it's so hard to get. And if you're not all on the same page, it never works. The best you are is 500 even when you have talent. What did you think of them at six and three? You know, there was a a lot of varying opinions before Alex Smith got hurt. The offense hadn't been playing great, but they were six and three because they weren't

turning the ball over, and they were doing all those things that win football games. But what was your impression of them at six and three? Number one, they were playing great defense. Their defense was as good as ever has been, even since the Super Bowl years, when you look back at the start of the season. And so, number one, you have to go back to the defense. And you can see Alex Smith. I don't know Alex Smith at all at all.

But he's got to be one of the smartest guys because you can see he can adjust to any offense. He has the ability to run any type of offense. And he's a natural leader as well. So I did have a good feel for the Redskins at that time. But anytime you have adversity and you're not all on the same page, you're not all swimming in the same direction, things like this usually happen. What did you make at Kirk's year? He had a couple of difficult moments down the stretch in some big games. Well, what I'd say is that, you know, when you take a look at a quarterback,

everybody looks at the wins and losses. Kirk's probably as disappointed as anybody. But you've got to understand, if you're looking just at stats, and you're looking at touchdown interception ratio, and it's 3 to 1, you're taking a look at your percentage over 70%. You're going, you know, that's not a bad year. What can you do with your football team to get it better? the running game is not the same.

The protection, the offensive line is not the same. The defense is not the same. But what are the two or three things that you have to do to go from a 500 team to that 10-11 and once you get to the playoffs win it? So they weren't the same defense. They weren't the same football team for whatever reason. But it doesn't go back to the quarterback.

Kurt lost the last game. And I'm going, well, people, if you don't have belief in that quarterback, after what, you know, the shots that he took last year, then you don't know what a quarterback should look like. That's pretty good the way he played. You cannot do it by yourself. Yeah, you know I'm a big fan, too, and part of that was you really were such a big fan, and I, you know, believed in your understanding of the position. And the one thing that I would say, and I watched a lot of the Minnesota games this year, and a lot of that last game, is the one

thing he still hasn't gotten comfortable doing is when the process of the play doesn't lead to something being open. He's just not a natural playmaker, a natural, you know, extend the play and create something out of nothing quarterback. Would you agree with that or not? No, we're not a question. But he doesn't have the, he has a process to make decisions very quickly. But when something breaks down and you don't have that speed or the ability to make plays on your own, a lot of times when that happens, people make mistakes. And Kirk normally doesn't do that. What he tries to do is limiting mistakes. The thing that you have to do with Kirk is give him a game plan that gives him a chance to be successful because he's not going to

scramble and make plays because he's not looking to do that. He's looking to execute the play. He's looking to execute the play. So it's your job as a coordinator. A guy in charge has given the opportunity to make plays on first and second down off your running game. So your running game and your play action game are the same. When you have the receivers that they have and the tight end that they have, they can come up with the big plays. But if you're trying to make plays all the time dropping back with a very average the poor offensive line, you have no chance. Yeah. And that was a bad offensive line there this year that really, really struggled to protect him. That might be a compliment to that offensive line.

Yeah, it was terrible. And, you know, of course, around here, the people that were not unhappy to see Kirk go, and you know how much of a controversial topic it was, they'll obviously just hang the whole season on him. And I think the people in Minnesota, there was a lot of understanding just how bad the offensive line was and how for much of the year there was no chance. to run the football consistently. And as you've said all along, he's not L-Way, he's not Breeze, he's not Brady.

You've got to give him a football team. And if you put a good football team around him, they should be good. I thought that defense played great late, although it didn't play well against the Bears in that final game. But offensively, they just couldn't protect him and couldn't run the football for the most part. So was it true? Were you almost Denver's coach last year? You know, I did talk with John last year. and, you know, I can't go through the details of it, but I can say it was very close.

Do you still want to coach? No, I really don't, to be honest with it. I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. I enjoy following football, enjoy kind of watching my son and different coaches I have throughout the league, not only head coaches but coordinators. I really enjoy that. But the reason why I was interested in Denver is that they had a top defense. I mean, they were a top two or three defense.

All you had to do is get their offense in the right direction, get your football team going the right direction. I just thought it was a heck of an opportunity. That was one of the reasons why I was interested. You had a pretty good staff here, you know, three head coaches now. Your son, obviously, in San Francisco and Sean in L.A., and now Matt LaFleur gets the job in Green Bay. Who's the next young guy that you know of that's going to be a really good head coach?

You know, it's really funny because you really don't know, because when you're not a head coach and you're not dealing with these guys on a day-to-day basis, you really don't know. But the one thing you do know is that when I was in Washington, I had, you know, obviously Kyle and I had Sean and I had Matt, you know, you're looking for guys that have such a passion for the game. They want to learn it and they want to know the game.

They want to understand defenses as well as they understand the offensive game plan. They want to know the running game, the playing action game, to drop back. And when these guys have that type of mindset, and they do get their opportunity to be coordinator, they're going to take advantage of it, just like Kyle did, just like Sean has done. And now Matt has not an opportunity to be a coordinator last year, but now the head coach of the Packers, they do have the background now to make those decisions and hopefully they make the right decisions. Yeah, I mean, and we could have another McVeigh assistant getting a job here shortly when their season comes to an end as well. It's amazing.

your tree will eventually look like a pretty significant coaching tree. Hey, one last thing. Do you think Griffin will get another shot somewhere or not? Well, you know, I think it kind of goes back to, you know, when you think about Robert and what a great year he had in 2012 and not only the way he handled himself, but the way he played. And, you know, the touchdown interception ratio is what 19 to 15. sort of 20 to 4.

25, yeah. Yeah, or 25. But, I mean, it was really, he had that type of year where he didn't turn a football over. But what he has to do is take that game to a new level, just like Lamar Jackson does. You can run the ball, but, man, you have really have to study film. You have to really understand the process that goes with becoming a quarterback in the National Football League. How much Robert has done that since he's been gone? I really don't know.

because he haven't seen enough play. But, you know, we wish him well, but he has the ability, that's for sure. I always love doing this. Thanks so much. It's been a few months, so I'm glad to catch up with you. I'm glad you're doing well. Enjoy it, Kemp. Thanks for having me on.

Take care. You too. All right, thanks to Mike for coming on with us. I always enjoy catching up with him. I've had some of my favorite conversations with him more than any other of coaches of teams. in this area over the years. He's just very, very smart. Really is. Interesting that he was very close to coming back last year to coach Denver with John Elway. That got reported a couple of weeks ago. I've mentioned this multiple times in recent weeks, but if you are listening to this podcast and you

know others that want to listen to this podcast, but they don't like doing podcasts, just tell them to go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. By the way, if you listen, you know, via other ways I iTunes, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, tune in. You know, you can also listen on the website, too. And I do blog on the website, the Kevin Sheeonshow.com. I'm going to, I'll probably blog a little bit more now that we're at a season to just produce more content. But you can check that out. And also, if you haven't subscribed, it'd be great to have you subscribe.

It doesn't cost you anything. But if you're on one of those platforms that. ask you to subscribe and you haven't done it just subscribe it really helps us out also helps us if you write a review uh on us uh and rate us if you haven't done that as well uh real quickly on launch workplaces go to launchworkplaces.com right now this is for those of you that are working from home don't have an office looking for either a co-working desk you know with a conference room uh ability or a small office launch workplaces they've got multiple locations The one in Bethesda is perfect if you live in Bethesda or Chevy Chase or Upper Northwest,

like if you're in that Massachusetts Avenue or Connecticut Avenue or Wisconsin Avenue corridor, you know, upper northwest, you know, in Chevy Chase or Bethesda. This place is great. Perfect office solutions, fully furnished offices, conference rooms, conference rooms, co-working desks, high-speed internet, complimentary drinks, a cafe, free parking, 24-7 access. You can get more work done today by moving your office to launch workplaces. If you're at home and the kids are sometimes in the way or dogs and you just need a place to get to, you can call today and you'll get an exclusive free two-day trial if you mentioned my name.

240, 86714, 24086714 or launchworkplaces.com. All right, let's finish up the show with Weekend DVR. Did you have a busy weekend? Don't worry. We've got you covered. It's time for weekend DBR. All right, just why don't you give me the quick update on Bryce Harper? I know that they had a long meeting with the Phillies, right?

Aaron, where does it stand right now? Yeah, they did over the weekend. The Phillies went out to Vegas, had a long meeting with Bryce and Boris and everyone else there. Bob Nightingale reported that it went very well. The Phillies are now the favorites. I take that with a grain of salt because after any meeting, that team automatically becomes the favorites. in signing them because that's what the agent wants you to believe.

So taking that with a big grain of salt, but as of now, that's the situation. Also, I think after this podcast on Friday, the Nats did avoid arbitration and reached a deal with Anthony Rendon, an $18.8 million deal with Rendon and also a deal with Trey Turner. Both of those things happen. Kyler Murray has until what the end of today to announce for the NFL draft? Yeah, I assume close of business. I don't know the exact deadline. But yeah, today's the day he has to.

But he's allowed to, this hasn't been reported much. I think it's starting to get play this morning. He can declare for the draft and then just say, I'm actually not going to sign with any team, even if you draft me, don't bother. So this isn't the ultimate decision of whether he goes to baseball or football today. And the A's have apparently, you know, been aggressive in potentially upping their offer for him to play baseball. I, you know, I've read a little bit about Kyler Murray's prospects as a baseball player. and there's definitely more, it's more of a wild card than I think it is in football to a certain degree.

My guess is he's going to play football. That's my guess is that he'll put his name into the NFL draft, leave it there, and he'll get picked somewhere in the first 10 selections of the first round in April and end up playing NFL football next year. And if the Redskins want them, they will more likely than not, by the time we get to the draft have to trade up to get them. That's my prediction right now. Lots from local teams over the weekend.

I'll start with what interested me the most over the weekend, and that was Maryland beating Indiana on Friday night at home. They have a big game tonight at home against Wisconsin. I would assume, and I'm actually pulling it up right now as we speak, because maybe it's out, is the updated poll out yet? I haven't seen it out yet. No, it's not out yet. But a lot of people have put out their ballots,

and all of them have Maryland 20 or higher. Yeah, so I think Maryland's going to make a big move into the top 25. By the time you're listening to this, it'll probably be out. And they're going to play Wisconsin, who lost to Purdue on Friday night. But Maryland's win over Indiana was another impressive night for the Terps. They were flat to start that game on Friday night. They were down by a lot in the first half, you know, eight at halftime. And they came out and once again, again, you know, as they did in their previous win over Minnesota, had a monster second half. Against Minnesota, they outscored Minnesota 48 to 27 in the second half. On Friday night at Comcast Center, Xfinity Center, excuse me, you were there. It looked like, you know, another late arriving crowd because of the start time, but it looked by the time in the second half, it looked like a pretty juiced up joint. Oh, yeah, it was great midway through and got louder and louder as the night went on. Yeah, so, you know, that was, it was a great win. They outscored him 51 to 40 in the second half of that game. Bruno Fernando was an absolute monster in that game, 25 points, 13 rebounds. But for my money in that game, Aaron, you know, and I think that this is going to be the season for Maryland. They have a dynamic talent, unique talent, as I've mentioned. It's not the best talent in the country. I'm not trying to say that they're more talented than Duke, okay? They're not.

but they have two 6-10, 6-11 guys in Fernando and Sticks-Smith, which are, in college basketball, is fairly unique, two guys who are truly versatile. Now, Smith had the worst game he's had as a freshman shooting the ball. He still rebounded it and tried to guard. But there was one stretch in the game where Fernando came out with his second foul, and immediately Indiana went to Juan Morgan, who is also a load for them at 6-8 and a good low-post player.

Now, their freshman, Romeo Langford, who is one of the top freshmen in the country, I think a top three player behind Barrett and Zion Williamson, is unbelievable. And he went for 28 in the game. But what I was getting to is this. Anthony Cowen is the key to Maryland season this year. He is, when he is on and in games where he has space, he is a difficult check. This is an argument I've gotten into with friends going back to his freshman. year. And I've said about Anthony Cowan that he is eventually one day going to be a pro. And I'm telling you right now, he is Isch Smith, he is Jeff Teague, and it may take a few years, but he's going to

play for it, Maryland, which is great. But Anthony Cowen will be a professional NBA basketball player at some point down the road. He may be 26 by the time he has a breakthrough, okay? But he has way too much speed with the ball. And when he has space going downhill, he is impossible to stay in front of. And Archie Miller said the same thing after the game. Archie Miller said Cowen was the key to the whole game. He's just one of the toughest checks in our league. And when Anthony Cowan struggles is when there's not enough space on the floor, which means other people aren't as much of a threat. This year's team with Fernando, with Smith, with guys like Wiggins who can stretch the floor, Sorrell Smith, who can stretch the floor a little bit, Eric Ayala who can stretch

the floor a little bit, and Ayala can handle a lot of the point guard responsibilities. You know, Cowan's in line, I think, for a massive season. There are going to be games where, you know, you Maryland fans, me included, are going to be frustrated. He's going to take some bad shots. He's going to force some things like the end of the Purdue game, which personally I didn't think was necessarily his fault. I thought they were running poor offense in that game. But he was really, really good the other night. It was incredible against Minnesota, and that road win. It was incredible against Indiana in the win the other night.

24 points, 7 assists, just two turnovers in the game. Was deadly from the free throw line, and he hits every big shot for this team. Right? I mean, every big shot is an Anthony Cowan looking for the ball and hitting the big shot. They had a 16-0 run to start the second half. It was great. Big win for them. Tonight, they're only a three-and-a-half.

By the way, that was a dagger loss if you had Marilyn laying five on Friday night because Indiana hit a three down six with a second left to cut. I mean, they hit every three down the stretch. It looked like Maryland could have won this game, you know, by double digits or somewhere around there. They had a 10 point lead in the second half. But what a flip of halves. And they've become a really good second half team. I thought Turgeon might have to play some zone in that game because they were having a difficult time guarding Indiana. I thought he made a really good movie, pulled Fernando after the second foul.

Usually he leaves him there for a while, but once he realized there was a mismatch defensively with Smith trying to guard Morgan, he put Fernando right back into the game, and there was no mismatch anymore. Fernando is a man. I mean, he is a grown man, and he plays that way,

and God has he improved, he may be one of the most improved players in America. There were, I counted, 24 NBA scowler, at that game. Part of it was Langford. A big part of it was Fernando. And by the way, five of those 24 were from the Cavs. So they're looking early in the draft at some of these guys on this team. Yeah, I mean, Langford is the guy. Langford right now is the one guy that's an absolute lottery pick. And, you know, I've watched him a lot. He's been missing in some of these games, but he was really good on Friday night against Maryland. I'm surprised that Maryland's only a three-point

spot over Wisconsin. I've watched Wisconsin a lot this year. I actually don't think they're as good as Indiana. Now, what they are is they are more seasoned and more of a veteran team. And Ethan Hap is a, is, that matchup with Fernando tonight's going to be a really good one. But the Terps, I've mentioned this, they are really good. Like, they are second weekend of the tournament good, you know, top 15 type of team this year that's got a chance to make a run. And they've got a chance to finish in the top three, top four of the big 10. And, you know, right now Michigan and Michigan State look really good. Michigan's, you know, 17 and know, best start and B-Lines history, I think, and they've really got it going.

Meantime, I wanted to mention this because I watched the end of this game. You were there actually on Saturday. Yeah. The Georgetown Providence game, this guy Mack McClung, the kid who hit basically a 30-footer at the end of regulation to force overtime when they were down three, he can really play. He's great. I mean, what did he end up with in that game? He didn't have like a massive game scoring-wise.

He had a poor first half, and really it wasn't until that. he hit that runner and then overtime that he really started to take over. I have liked Jesse Govan for a while now, and I think he's a big guy that can really stretch the floor. He can shoot threes. He had 33 and 14 in the game, and Georgetown won the game in double overtime, 96 to 90. A really a must win for them because I think they had lost two or three in a row going into it. I know they lost that home game to St. Johns, you know, the game in which Shemori Ponds went for like 37. I've compared his game.

He's like a mini James Hardin. Hardin last night, one for 16. One for 17 from behind the ark. One for 17. Anyway, that was a good win for Georgetown. Virginia keeps rolling. I had Clemson. I had two big losses on Saturday.

I had Clemson plus the number, not even close. Then I had Florida plus a super short number Saturday night against Tennessee. Man, Tennessee is rolling as well. Um, the Wizards. Wow. Uh, yesterday's game against Toronto. I'm watching the football like everybody else, all right? But once the football got out of control, which was pretty quickly, uh, I turned it over and watched the Wizards game and they had multiple opportunities to win this game. Lost in double overtime to Toronto at home, 140 to 138, 438, 43 for Beale, 15 rebounds. I've 10 rebounds, 15 assists for Beal. Um, this is a problem, though, for, for Beal. Um, this is a problem, though,

for Bradley Beale, and I have mentioned it five times, no less, to Scott Brooks on shows over the last couple of years. And I always say it with somewhat tongue-in-cheek, you know, youth coach making a suggestion to an NBA coach. But I've said to him, like, you know, Bradley Beale, as a free-throw shooter should be much better, but his free-throw shooting, his free-throw shot is flatter than his jump shot. He shoots a flat free throw shot, whereas with his jump shot, it has much more arc. And over the years, as a free throw shooter, a guy that to me should be 85% from the free throw line. The way he shoots a jump shot, so pure. Instead, he's been pretty much in the mid to high 70s as a free throw shooter his entire career. He should be an 85% free throw shooter. He's not because his stroke is

flat. Look, you can laugh at me for all of this stuff. There are a few things I know, and one of the things I know is I know a little bit about basketball, and I know a little bit about how to shoot. I'm not very athletic. I could dunk pretty easily back in the day, but I was also 6'3, but I was not overly quick, and I was not overly athletic, but I knew how to play, and I could shoot it. And Bradley Beale has a pure shot as a jump shooter, and for whatever reason, his free throw stroke is flat as hell. And that's why he shoots in the mid to high 70s and has over the course of his career versus being an 85 to a 90% free throw shooter.

And until somebody fixes that with him, he's going to have games like he had yesterday where he was three for seven from the free throw line. And he killed him. You know, they may not have been in a couple of those overtimes had he made those free throws. He's, you know, 17 to 36 from the floor, six of 12 from behind the arc, three for seven from the free throw line. They lost that game. Look, it's really simple as far as the Wizards are concerned.

They're playing their best basketball of the year. They're playing their best basketball of the year without John Wall, without Marquief Morris, and without Dwight Howard, who they really haven't had at all. Beale is playing unbelievably right now. He's an all-star. He's going to be an all-star this year. And he's going to deserve it. He's absolutely going to deserve it.

I think after yesterday, he's close to 25 a game right now. He's averaging. So in terms of actual points per game right now, he's approaching, you know, he's got to be in the top 10. It's got to be in the top 10 right now in scoring. If he's not in the top 10, he's damn close to the top 10. And he is having a great season. Sato had a triple double on Friday night in the win on Friday night. But anyway, they're playing their best ball of the year.

There's a limitation to this group, all right? They're not going to win a series if they get to the postseason more likely than not. But for those of you who say, you know what, I enjoy watching them play much more now than with Wall. I understand what you're saying. And I understood it last year. It is more team basketball. You know, there's more movement. There's more movement of the ball.

There are still a lot of ISO possessions. There are a lot of two-man possessions. there are. Trevor Areza had a great game and fouled out on an absolutely brutal call. Terrible call. Anyway. By the way, I'd be able 13th points per games this year. 13th in points per game? Jesus. That's a lot. He's averaging 25. Is he up to? 24.8. So he's a 24 point. Does that factor in yesterday's game? You know, I don't know. I believe it does, but I Whatever. The fact that he's averaging nearly 25 a game and there are 12 guys in front of them, that just tells you where the NBA is right now. You know,

Steph Curry last night went off in their game. That was the matchup. A lot of NBA fans were looking forward to last night, Donchich in Dallas against the Warriors. And Donchich had a great game, I think, last night. It's not a game I watched. I'm not going to lie to you until you, I watched it. but I think he had, you know, a big game. And I just am pulling up the box score right now. He hit 26 last night, 5. If you have not watched Luca Donchich play, he was the, he was a first round pick last spring, last June.

He is 19 years old, and he's 6-7, 6-8, but big, like he looks bigger than that, and he's not like super. quick or super athletic, but he he's able to create space. He's having a phenomenal season as a rookie. Anyway, they lost the Golden State because Steph Curry went 11 for 19 from behind

the arc and had 48 points. Just for those that were wondering if Golden State, you know, and Steph, they were struggling a little. They've now won four in a row. And Steph Curry went off last night on the road with 48 in the game. A couple of other quick things from Weekend DVR.

Oh, the Caps lost an overtime game to Columbus. You know, and their game against the Bruins the other night, do I have this right? The television audience for that game was the highest rated regular season Caps game ever on NBC Sports Washington or Comcast Sportsnet. Did like a 2.7. Since 2013. Yes. Oh, since 2013. Yes.

Highest rated game since 2013. Yes. A 2.76 local rating, which is incredible for the caps. Incredible for the caps to do a rating of almost three locally for a regular season game. And that was against the Bruins on the road. And then they lost to the blue jackets in overtime, two to one. I wanted to mention one other thing real quickly. Did you see that if the Chargers and Rams, going into this weekend,

that the NFL had a plan for the championship games if the Chargers and Rams were both hosting. I saw two sides of this. I did see this if you're about to say play in the Coliseum on different days. If the Chargers had won and the Rams were hosting the NFC championship game, all right? So that would have required Philadelphia to win and the Chargers to win and the Colts to win, okay? They were going to play or there was a plan to move the AFC championship game. from the Stubhubhub Center or whatever it's called, where the Chargers have played to the Coliseum and play it on Monday night. Yeah, I did see that later...

So there would be a Sunday night NFC championship game and a Monday night AFC championship game. I did say that, see that were feuded later on, that there was something in the contract that wouldn't let them, but I do know that... I thought Lock and Forra had it, which to me is, you know, close to gold, I mean, on league stuff. I think there was a plan, but they would have somehow, like, it's in their contract with, or with the Chargers, with the stadium that they would have had to play it there, so maybe they would have been able

to get it. I do know that Goodell has said in the past that if the Jets and Giants were ever hosting on the same day, they would do it that way with Sunday and Monday. Yeah. Well, that, that would, they'd be forced to do it in that situation. Right. Because they play in the same stadium. All right, Aaron did a great job today. Thanks to Mike Shanahan for joining me. Hopefully at some point this week we'll get Cooley on. If the storm this weekend becomes a big deal, we'll get Sue Palka on the show later in the week. But enjoy the day, everybody.