The Kevin Sheehan Show - GIANT DUD!

Episode Date: December 19, 2022

Kevin opened with his recap of Washington's 20-12 loss last night to the Giants at Fed Ex Field. Logan Paulsen jumped on with his thoughts on the loss. Kevin went "Around the NFL" to finish up.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Back to throw. He's under pressure. He backs away from pressure. Still looking. Now, rolls left, blows into the end zone. And it's knocked away incomplete. Darnay Holmes knocked it away. There should have been a flag on that final opportunity for Washington. Curtis Samuel got mugged by Holmes in the end zone before that ball ever got there. That was a missed call, subjective, I understand, but a missed call that prevented Washington from having a chance, a chance to tie the game, which would have given them a chance then to win the game. But that's not why they lost the game. My game take on the 20 to 12 hurtful loss last night to New York coming up in a couple of minutes. Logan Paulson's going to join us on the podcast today.

He'll be in on the second segment. We'll get 20 minutes with Logan, get his opinion of what he saw last night. And then the final segment will be dedicated to the World Cup final. I'll do a complete in-depth recap. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to save that for Tommy, of course, tomorrow. I'm sure Tommy watched it. In all honesty, that's the most exciting soccer game I have ever watched.

And I did watch it. You know, I kind of tuned out when it was two to nothing and started to do other things. And then I walked by the TV and I saw that it was two to one. And then immediately they tied the game and it was two to two. And I sat for the last hour of what was the regulation, the extra time and then the penalty kicks. And the only drama at that point was what was Fox going to do if the penalty kick process went beyond one o'clock and into the NFL's first window? of the day. They didn't have to worry about that. It ended at about 12.54 p.m., I think, but it really was

very exciting. And I'm not a soccer guy, as most of you know, Tommy really isn't. I've given it a real chance in recent years, and it just still doesn't do it for me for the most part. But that game was exciting. That's the most exciting soccer game I've ever seen. The rest of the analysis on that game will come tomorrow. But in the third segment of the show today, man, you know it doesn't ever disappoint and always delivers the NFL. It is the best reality show we have. It was incredible this weekend, the largest comeback in NFL history on Saturday, and then an ending in Vegas yesterday that we've never seen before. An inexplicable decision by a New England wide receiver with the game tied created one of the most incredible endings of an NFL game.

of all time, not an exaggeration. God, the NFL. It's great, and it's great this time a year, especially with the stakes and Washington played one of those high stakes games last night, and they lost it, 20 to 12. So the two games against New York that were going to really be huge in determining their playoff fate, they tie one of them, they lose the other one. Now, before I get to my game take, let me just put to bed this notion that Washington's chances of making the postseason were reduced by like 80% last night. That's just not true. I don't know where they come up with these percentages. I saw an 18.4%.

I saw a 21.3% from somebody. I don't know where they come up with these things. First of all, it's a subjective exercise because you're evaluating the team's chances and other team's chances to win games against other opponents. I mean, you don't even know what the opponent will have to play for when you get to that game. I can guess on some of that stuff, and I think more in an educated way than even some of these, you know, analytics or probability sites that we see. I would put Washington's chances of making the postseason still right or right. 50-50, maybe a little bit less than 50-50 now, but their chances are still very much alive. It's not a 1-5 chance. It's not a 1-6 chance. I'll spell it out for you right now.

Right now at 7-6-1, Washington holds down the 7-spot in the NFC. So if the season ended today, they would be in the NFC postseason. Now, that's if they were to win out and finish 10, 6, and 1 they're in. They control their own fate, their own playoff fate. I know you can't control fate, but the expression is controlling destiny, controlling fate. Washington controls its own destiny. Win out 10, 6, and 1 assures them of either the 5, 6, or 7 spot. Yeah, believe it or not, it still could get them the 5 spot.

It won't more likely than not, and the sixth spot is a bit of a long shot. But 10, 6, and 1 guarantees them a playoff spot. So let's assume that they don't win out because they have San Francisco this coming week. There are seven and a half point underdog. They've got Cleveland the following week. The Browns are still alive for an AFC playoff berth. And then they have the Cowboys in the season finale. We don't know whether or not Dallas will have something to play for.

but it is becoming more probable that the Cowboys may be able to treat that final game as a buy week. If Washington had won last night, their chances of catching Dallas for the five spot would have been very much in play because the Cowboys finish with the Eagles, Titans, and then Washington. But it looks like, you know, more likely than not, and by the way, the Cowboys are favored over the Eagles on Christmas. Christmas Eve. The 10 and four Cowboys losers to Jacksonville yesterday are favored in the Christmas Eve late window prime, you know, afternoon game. They are favored by a point and a half over the 12, over the 13 and 1 Philadelphia Eagles. I think I'm going to like Dallas in the smell test. Smell test, by the way, three and three on the weekend. God, it was looking good. It was three and one with Tampa Bay up 17 to nothing, looking like it would be four in one.

And then they blew it, and then Washington really never had a chance to cover. So a three-and-three non-losing weekend, even though I understand you lost money if you went three and three. But back to the playoff picture for Washington. It's not as bleak as I think some people would make it seem. I don't see it being a one-and-six chance or a one-and-five chance. It's better than that. How much better than that? I don't know, but I've seen some of these percentages and they just seem way off to me.

Here's the bottom line. If they went out, they're in. I don't expect them to win out. I expect them to lose to San Francisco, which means that you're now in the game of can they win two of their final three to get to nine, seven, and one. I think they can, you know, Cleveland, Dallas, Dallas may not have anything to play for. So if they get to nine, seven, and one, they would make the NFC playoffs if two of the following three things happen. Two of the following three. Seattle loses once, Detroit loses once, or the Giants lose out. So let's look at those three things. Seattle plays Kansas City this week at Arrowhead. They're a 10-point underdog.

They're not playing well anyway. Seattle's going to lose one of its final three games. Detroit is more problematic because of the way they're playing, but they do play at Carolina this week. Carolina is still alive in the NFC South. Detroit's a three-point favorite on the road at Carolina, so it's not like they're a heavy favorite to win the game. Then they have a Chicago team at home.

The Bears have played well recently, including yesterday against Philadelphia. And then they finish with the Packers at Lambo. You need to root for the Packers to keep winning so that that game potentially means something for Green. Bay, you know, one of those situations where if they win and three other things happen, which probably would include Washington losing, they could get in. But Detroit losing one of its final three, you know, it's not a long, long shot. You know, the way they're playing, you think that, you know, certainly they have a chance of winning out. But this week won't

be easy. And at Lambo to finish the season, more likely than not, won't be easy unless, of course, Jordan Love is playing. And then even if Jordan Love is playing, the last time we saw him, he looked pretty good. And it is at Lambo and elements and all of that. Who knows? But two of the final three things need to happen. Seattle needs to lose once. Detroit needs to lose once or the Giants need to lose out.

The Giants have Minnesota this week, they're an underdog. They have Indy the following week. They would be a favorite. And then they've got Philadelphia in the final week. And more likely than not, Philadelphia won't have anything to play for. So I think really Seattle losing once and the Lions losing once is where 9-7-1 would get Washington in. So there's my attempt to summarize Washington's current playoff picture. You know, the chances to make the playoffs aren't super long shot, but they're far from a lock to make it as well.

All right, let's get to my game take. The game take brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.com. They've got all the football for you guys. There is football nonstop for the next, what is it, 14 days, next two weeks, college football games every day, pro football games every day. There's not a day without football going on. And if you use my promo code Kevin D.C., they'll double your first deposit. They're going to give you free money to gamble with. You Put $1,000 in there. You'll have $2,000 in your account.

Put $500 in, you'll have $1,000 in your account. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. They've got fair point spreads, fair pricing, and everything you need for your sports betting needs. MyBooky.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. Before I get to the list of things I liked and didn't like and then other observations from the game, I want to start with this. I enjoyed the game last.

night. Not the end, but I thought the game was befitting of two division rivals playing a high-stakes December game. I thought it was fierce. I thought it was urgent. It wasn't a game played between two great teams, understood. It wasn't a pretty game for much of it. But I thought, you know, the urgency was there. I thought it felt like a late-season division-rival game. game. And Washington hasn't participated in those games in a long time. You know, you sit back as a football fan with your team being irrelevant as much as they've been over the years. And it just felt like, you know, I don't know, the commanders versus Giants thing, you know, throws me for sure and many of you. But, you know, to see Washington in there on national TV, Sunday night football,

high stakes, NFC East. The game was physical. I thought it was played with a level of entertainment and intensity that I enjoyed. I'll leave it at that.

There was a lot to this game. Many of you really felt angry and still feel angry with the officiating. And the officiating was not helpful, for sure. The reality is that this game, was a game played that always was going to be about the team that made the fewest mistakes

was more likely than not going to win. And New York didn't make any at all, and Washington made too many. And that's why Washington is 7, 6, and 1 after 20 to 12 loss. And the giants who haven't been playing that well are now 8, 5, and 1 with a real clear path and almost easy path, win one win one more game out of your final three for the Giants and they're in. So I think that that's ultimately what happened, and that will be highlighted in my game take, which I will start right now, and that is that Washington made too many mistakes,

and New York didn't make any, and it was a game played between two teams that were fairly even, and those that sort of had this self-inflicted stuff that team was going to be in trouble and that team was Washington. Now, with that said, I still think after watching these two teams for a second straight week for Washington or a second straight game for Washington, I still feel like Washington's got better players. You know, to say that they're the better team at this point is stupid, but I do think they're more talented, which means that, you know, they did it to themselves, which I think happened. So let's start with the

positive. Let's start with the things that I liked. Man, did I like Brian Robinson, Jr. He has turned into one of their most important players. He's an absolute wrecking bulldozer as a runner. He's running with more confidence. He's running with more urgency. Cooley suggested he's not a home run hitter. and he may not be, but man, he's getting close. You know, of the 12 carries he had, and 12 wasn't enough, more on that coming up, he had six of them that went for double-digit yards. And at 7.4 yards per carry, you know, Brian Robinson, Jr. should have been given the ball a lot more. You can't tackle him with one person unless that person goes low,

And in a hurry, you know, he's Derek Henry-esque in that way. I'm not saying that he's Derek Henry. But because he's such a powerful physical runner and pushes the pile and carries, you've got to get him low and you've got to get him low quickly. You know, it happened once Landing Collins, I think, did it to him once. He doesn't just push the pile. He carries it. I didn't love the fact that he was in on just 24.

snaps out of the 63 that the offense had. And I really hated that he had just 12 carries. One catch, 13 total touches, 107 yards. He had 8.2 yards per touch. I need more touches from a player like that in a game as big as the one last night. And he didn't get it. More on that coming up when I get to the list of things that I did not like. But Brian Robinson Jr. heads the of good from the game last night. He's really gotten better. I was, you know, I was wrong on him. It's not that I was discounting him as a possible hit as a draft choice. I just didn't see that he was there yet, and I wanted more Gibson. They had Gibson on the field for more snaps last night, and I thought Gibson was okay. But Brian Robinson, Jr., for the last couple of games, has been

really what they should be all about offensively, and they weren't about that. last night for too much of the game. How about Jahan Dotson? My God, does he get separation and are his hands as sticky as hands get? We saw it for those of us that watched him in college. This is the kind of guy he is. He's a route runner. He is a hands catcher and he is a guy that can make plays with the ball in the air like he did on that 61-yard or on the drive that ended in fumble, but they had at first and 10 from their own nine-yard line. Heineke puts it up. Dotson makes a great catch. I mean, he is really, they've got some good young players on this team. They really, really do. I mean, in McCorn, in Robinson, in Dotson, in Gibson, they really have some talent on the team.

Dotson's a talent. He was outstanding last night. Five catches, four catches in the game for 105 years. yards, including a touchdown on what was, I think, Taylor Heineke's best throwers, certainly one of the best throws that he had in the game last night. Outstanding job by Jahan Dotson last night. Man, he is, it's too bad they missed him for a lot of those games. At 26.3 yards per catch on six targets, you know, with McClure running on the other side, Dotson being used in a lot of different ways. He is a particular. star at the position. I believe that. Terry McClorn's on the list despite that final penalty, which, you know, I think is debatable. I think that Terry believes the referee gave him the okay,

but Terry was not on the line of scrimmage covering up the last of the ineligibles on that side. So by rule, it does look like, you know, illegal formation. It's just a shame that if Terry said, you know, as we see receivers do all the time, they check with the official to make sure they're okay as far as their alignment. If the actual referee said he was okay, and we don't know that he did, but it sort of looked like Terry was looking for acknowledgement from the referee, and it was flagged anyway if the referee said you're good, that's too bad. I don't know that that happened.

Terry was definitely off the line of scrimmage, even as he moved up a little bit. But other than that, you know, six catches, three on that opening drive to start the second half, 70 yards on six targets. Pretty good day for him. Also on the list of things that I liked from the game. I like the fact that they ran Taylor Heineke or that he chose to run more as a scrambler and as a reed option runner. Also had that naked boot on a third and one where Tibido was crashing.

down. That's his best rushing day of the year, three for 33 yards. You know, and there was another read option in there where I thought he could have kept it and he didn't, and it would have been a big play. He's got to be more aggressive on those. He's got to read that better. He read the one really well, but another one he didn't. But still, the idea of Heineke being a scrambler, being a runner, through, you know, options, through designed runs. I like that. I thought he could have scored on the scramble at the end. I was surprised he didn't score.

I thought he may have gone airborne. I thought he may have cut it back harder earlier and had a chance to score. Tibado ended up knocking him out. But I thought Heineke's ability to run and his willingness to run last night was an encouraging thing in the game. How about Gibson on kickoff returns?

31.1 yards per kickoff return. The 43-yarder. at 20 to 12 gave them great field position for that final drive. He has been a big boost on kickoff returns. The punt return situation is different. Dax Milne is boring. He's a fair catch machine. I would have put in a big game if he was healthy enough to do it.

I would have thought about putting Dotson back there last night. That's a game where you're going to need a big special teams play. And Milne's not going to give you that big special teams play. but I loved Gibson on kickoff returns. Tressway had a 65-yard punt that was downed at the one. He had another punt that was downed at the three that should have been at the one, but another player came in and touched it after Cam Sims did. Tressway is on the list of things that I liked.

Defensively, I thought Bobby McCain had a good game. I thought that Danny Johnson had a decent game. I thought Jamin Davis made a couple of plays. I thought James Smith Williams had a decent game defensively. Those were a few of the players that stood out. Derek Forrest had a near interception on a ball where Barclay did not run a great route to help Daniel Jones out on that route. But that pretty much sums up the list of things that I liked from the game,

led by Brian Robinson Jr. All right, let's get to the list of things that I didn't like. and there are several things on this list. And I'm going to start with what I think was the biggest determining factor in the football game. I don't think it's that hard. We talked about this heading into the game. This was a game where the team that made more mistakes than the other was going to lose the game. New York played a clean game.

Washington played anything but. New York didn't have a turnover. Washington had two fumbles by its quarterback. I don't put the first one totally on him, even though Ron said that he held it too long. But Leno got beat by Kvon Tibido, who was a dominant player in the game. He has become great deserving of that number five overall. What a couple of games he's had against Washington.

And really last night, he had one of the better games you'll see a defensive player play all season long. 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, and a touchdown. Hello. and by the way, stopped Taylor Heineke from getting into the end zone on that scramble at the end. Kavon Tibido was gassed a lot, it seemed like, but was a dominant player in the game. But the forced fumble that turned into a touchdown, the forced fumble, which got challenged and overturned because Taylor was called down on the field on that drive that got him down to within scoring a position at six minutes to go roughly in a 17 to 12 game.

Those are massive plays in the game. That's 10 points. You know, Washington was going to kick the field goal. Had Taylor been ruled down and had the play not been reversed, Ron was going to kick the field goal because it was fourth down and eight at the giant nine or 10 yard line, and there were still six minutes left. So 17, 15, 15 at that point, you know, you put it on your defense and you say, let's get the ball back, and then we just need.

field goal range for an 18 to 17 win. I would not have had a problem, by the way, had the fumble, had his knee been down and they called it, you know, down by contact with Ron kicking a field goal there. There was plenty of time left in the game. But those two plays, 10 points. Then you get to the penalties. Look, the Terry McLorn, a legal formation penalty, this is going to be discussed for a while. I believe Terry when he says he checked with the referee

and the referee told him to move up and then he moved up and then the referee flagged him anyway. The problem is that Terry didn't move up enough. Terry was not on the line of scrimmage covering that last ineligible on that side. You can see he's a full yard behind the line of scrimmage. Now again, if the referee said you're good and then threw the flag on him, Well, that's terrible. You know, that's horrendous.

And then, you know, that coupled with the missed pass interference penalty on Samuel was a real sour taste for this game to leave us with. But the bottom line is Washington committed two turnovers committed costly penalties, including, by the way, on their field goal drive in the first half, where they had a delay of game followed by a false start, that then required them to hit. a pass to Curtis Samuel in front of a weird formation. They had seven in coverage, all playing like almost near the sticks. They gave up three points instead of coming after him and potentially

forcing a punt the Giants did. I thought that was weird. But two turnovers, some costly penalties, and then the decision to go for two early in the third quarter. It's the wrong decision. I'm sorry. Talked about this ad nauseum over the years. Throw the goddamn chart out until the fourth quarter. You got some dofus up in the press box that you believe in because he's some analytics guru and he's telling you, well, the chart says you're down by five, go for two. Context, time left in the game, number of possessions left in the game, number of scoring opportunities left in the game,

number of scoring types left in the game. Hell, with the punters in this game, there was a chance for a safety with the way some of these possessions were starting deep, deep, deep in their own territory. Come on, Ron. He said, well, we were trying to get it to a three-point lead. Well, yeah, if it's eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, go for two. But not nine minutes to go in the third quarter.

And they kick a field goal in their next drive. Do you think he looked up at the scoreboard and said, huh, wish it would be 17 to 10 instead of 17 to 9? Now, who knows? Maybe Joyce Lyle misses the PAT anyway. But the offensive pass interference, which was, according to Terry McCauley, the referee on the broadcast last night, a good call, you know, it set him back 10 yards. You still should make a 43-yard extra point. Joey Sly's now missed three extra points on the year.

You still need to make a 43-yard extra point. But he didn't, and it cost him a point. So seven on the first turnover, three on the second, one there on the – on the extra point. That's 11 points in the game off the board. And then if McClureen was at fault, that's another six. It's like 17 points due to mistakes. That's why they lost the football game. Number one reason they lost the football game is they made the mistakes and the Giants really didn't make any. I mean, Daniel Jones almost had that fumble, but his elbow was down. Taylor Hineke's fumble, he was almost down, but he wasn't. Game of inches. And New York played cleanly and Washington did not.

Number two on the list of things that bothered me from this game. And it was surprising to me. Man, this defense has been so good all year long. And really, ultimately, defense only gave up 13 points. You know, seven of the Giants 20 points came on the Tibido, you know, sack fumble score. But you can't with the game on the line after the fumble, the Taylor Heinecke fumble, and now the Giants are starting at their own 14-yard line. By the way, on that fumble, Washington's lucky the play was ruled down because Leonard Williams had a chance to pick up that ball and start rumbling. You know, they started at their own 14-yard line after that call was overturned.

The truth is, if the ball's not, if the play's not called dead, man, we saw that all weekend long. saw it twice or three times in the Detroit Minnesota game on Saturday. But they got kind of lucky there because it was a fumble, and Leonard Williams was on it and was about to get up and start running. I don't think he scores with it, but the ball's not at the 14-yard line. It's probably out at like the 25 or 30. But anyway, number two on the list of things I didn't like is the defense with the game on the line gave up,

12 yards to Saquan Berkeley on first down, 15 to Barclay on the next first down, 14 to Barclay on the next first down. Oh my God. With the game in the balance, 17 to 12, you're still in this freaking game. You're still in it. You give up 41 yards on three carries to Saquan Barclay. Wow. This defense has been so good all year long.

It's been so good against the run. There have been a couple of moments here and there, like the Atlanta game. You know, Barclay had a big run at the end of the first half on a draw play against soft coverage in the final two minutes, but for the most part, average less than three yards of carry, the rest of it. That drive was a huge opportunity for the defense to say, no worries, Taylor, we're getting you the ball right back. And they had it run right down their throat.

Then he goes for three yards. Then Jones keeps it on a read option. for seven. And then I thought the Giants got a little conservative after Berkeley was finally stopped for one yard and then finally stopped for three yards as Washington was using its timeouts. And then on third and six, Washington got the stop on a really good play by McCain on Slayton. But I thought the Giants would get more aggressive there. But, you know, they burned four plus minutes of the clock and then Ganoe ended up kicking a 50-yard field goal. And it was 20 to 12. You got to be able to get a stop there.

gotta be able to, and if you're not going to get a stop, you can't let up three chunk runs. Wow. I never would have seen that coming in that spot. Barkley was awesome in the game. He really was. Next on the list of things. By the way, a 98-yard drive they gave up two. 18 plays 98 yards, including a fourth and nine that was actually well defended.

I'll get to that fourth and nine here momentarily. All right, the next thing on the list of things that I didn't like. And this is a big one. I'm a Scott Turner guy, as most of you know. I think he's pretty good. I don't think he sucks like most of you do. I think he's been playing with a limited deck, you know, since he got here. From a quarterback standpoint, I think he schemes people open.

I think he does a decent job. But last night, I don't know what game he was a part of because it wasn't the same game that I was watching. I think Scott Turner taking the ball out of Brian Robinson Jr.'s hands was a big mistake. How does a guy who goes for 7.4 yards per carry? And we're not talking about a 50-yard run and then a bunch of two-yard runs. We're talking about he had 12 carries, six of them double-digit yardage, nine of them five yards or more. he was unstoppable

except by Scott Turner and the play calling. I would have kept the ball in Antonio Gibson's hands on runs when Brian Robinson was out. Look, I'm all for moving the football any way you can move the football. I'm not one of these. We're going to play slobber knocker football. We're going to line it up. We're going to run it down their throats. Not if it's not working. But last night it was working. Are you kidding me?

The dude was not going to be stopped. by eight in the box, nine in the box, 15 in the box. He was getting four, five, six yards. Now, some play action off that stuff, yes. But why did he only carry the ball 12 times in the game? This is the problem with this criticism. Because the comeback could be,

when we move the ball every which way, well, yeah, but you didn't score many points. And they did move it. Their touchdown drive, their lone touchdown drive was a 91-yard drive mostly through the air. And by the way, in the moment, I thought it was a pretty good drive. Because I think the Giants came out in the second half going, you know, that dude Robinson's got eight carries for, you know, he's basically averaging six yards a carry in the first half, close to seven yards a carry. And they're going to give it to him. I mean, let's play the run here. And I think Scott anticipated it and he got his other playmakers.

involved in Terry McLauran and it worked. The complication of this criticism is that some of the other stuff they ran worked, but handing the ball off to Robinson Jr., there's no risk of a sack and a fumble. Handing the ball off to Robinson Jr., there's no risk of a ball being put up in harm's way. There's no risk of an incomplete pass. There's also the whole thing of physically, we are going to take it to you and we are going to bury you with our offensive line doing the thing it does best with a back and really a couple of backs to do what they do best against what you do worse. The Giants had been run on all season long.

Philadelphia 250 yards rushing last week. The Cowboys Zeke averaged six yards of carry. The lions ran it for 160 against them. The guy Pierce from Houston average. five and a half yards against them. You let their best feature defensively, their pass rush influence the game. Too much, I would have given the ball to Robinson Jr. 20 plus times, and then I would have given it to Gibson another 10 times. There would have been 30 carries between the two of them in that game last night. And instead, you had 17 total carries. Robinson

Junior 12 for 89, 7.4 yards, Gibson 5 for 21, 4.2 yards. And specifically, there are a couple of plays I hated. I hated the third and three after the flea flicker attempt, which I didn't mind. You know, I don't mind some play action in obvious play action stuff. And that was a flea flicker. And, you know, the all 22 will show whether or not Taylor could have thrown the ball underneath because he did throw it into some heavy coverage. But my sense of it was there wasn't a lot out in the pattern. But I may be able to look at that later on today and let you know tomorrow. But the third and three after the flea flicker, if you're going to run the ball, can you put number eight in the ball game and run it with him instead of Curtis Samuel? Are you freaking

kidding me? I think I hated that call more than any in the game. I think the offensive of coordinator, who I like, I think they took their best chance offensively to not just move the football, because they moved the football the other way too, but to punish the defense, tire the defense, and take all of the risk out of dropback against their best feature, which is pass rush, going against their weakness, their biggest flaw, which is rush defense. Look, their corners are soft too, and I know he went after those corners, and in some of those drives, especially the first one in the second half. Scott Turner on the list of things that I did not like from the game.

I thought Bostic struggled at times. Man, did he get juked by Barclay? I thought Logan Thomas had another rough game. Penalty on a motion, had a drop pass on what wasn't the best of throws, but still a catchable ball. I think he has struggled a little bit here the last couple of weeks. I think he missed another block on a pass rush. And that's the list of things that I didn't like.

Bottom line is Washington made too many mistakes to win this football game, regardless of the officiating, which wasn't good at the end. I agree with that. All right, a few more observations, and then we will get to Logan Paulson. So I want to start with two fourth downs in the game. The fourth down that Washington had on its opening drive, fourth and 12 at the giant 34-yard line. and Ron decided to punt. A lot of you had an issue with that, I did not.

Especially after listening to Ron after the game, when he said that Joey Sly going in that direction was not something they wanted to do. They thought it was out of his range going in that direction. There was some win last night in the stadium. So, you know, it was fourth and 12, you know, so going for it's not much of an option either. In a game in which field position is going to matter,

and you feel really good about your defense, I don't have a problem punting the football and putting your defense out there. I just don't. Now, maybe I would have lined up and tried to draw them off sides, get five yards so you could kick the field goal. And if you didn't, take the five-yard penalty and punt it from the giant 39-yard line. I just didn't have that big of an issue there. The giant fourth and nine on their long 18-play 98-97-yard drive, whatever it was. Wow, I can't believe they went for that fourth and nine. I thought they were for sure trying to draw Washington off sides. They didn't want to kick the field goal either, going in that same direction

where Ron decided not to kick the field goal. It would have been the same 52-yarder for Graham Ganoe. They did not want to kick that field goal. They were up seven to three. They would have given Washington great field position with a miss to score before the end of the half. I thought they were going to try to draw them off sides and kick the field goal. or they were going to try to draw, and if that didn't work, they were going to take the five-yard penalty and punt.

And then they snapped it, and Daniel Jones made a throw to Richie James. In traffic, good coverage by McCain and Fuller. Great play by Daniel Jones and Richie James. Ballsy call. Now, why didn't Ron Rivera do the same thing? Well, he had fourth and 12, okay, and it was the first drive of the game. But really, the Giants, I don't think it was a great. great decision. I don't think the probability of them making it was very high, and yet, if they

pun it, they put their best player who's dominating the game, Kvon Tibido, back on the field, with Washington probably having the ball inside their own 10-yard line after the punt. So I was shocked that they went for that fourth and nine. Ultimately, they did, they got it to first and goal. They ran that little wildcat play. It wasn't traditional wildcat because the quarterback was in the backfield with Sequin Barkley. But that was, that's Brian Dable saying, we came here on the road to win this game. And fourth and nine, maybe like a one in five chance,

but we're going to take it. I just think punning and putting Tibido back on the field against Heineke inside their own 10-yard line with two minutes to go in the half. They probably would have gotten the ball back anyway with a chance to score. But they ended up getting a touchdown and a 14 to 3 lead. Specific to the Giants, I thought Barkley was awesome. I thought Tibido dominated the game in the first half in particular. And I thought Daniel Jones was pretty damn good last night. I don't know, man. If I'm a giant fan, there's no way I'm bailing on him. Not without having an obvious solution. And there isn't one

in the NFL right now. Give me, you know, Daniel Jones back if I'm a giant fan. I'm a giant fan. with like another lineman or two and another receiver or two and a healthy Barclay and you're in pretty good shape. Daniel Jones made some big time plays last night. He really made some big time throws. They went empty a lot against Washington's five-man front, you know, and said we're not going to run against that and Washington had to get out of that five-man front.

I thought Daniel Jones played well. How about Landing Collins? Called up last night, played against Washington. Washington ended up having a big third down stop. I think that was on Gibson. You know, Collins can play in the box, man. And last night was kind of a game for him. I thought he looked impressive in the few snaps that he had. I don't even know what his snap count was. How about the punt exchange in the third quarter? Tressway Booms won 65 yards down to the one. and then the Giants punter from deep in his own end zone after that punt and the Giants get pinned

has a big-time 56-yard punt and then Milne literally gets broken in half on the other end. Pretty good special teams play by the punters in the game and Milne luckily was down because he fumbled. And again, if I didn't mention this already, I would have tried Dotson back there last night. Milne just doesn't give you anything. Gibson does on kickoff returns. Milne doesn't. I mentioned as a key to the game, field goals, second straight time I've done this in this game. I know it's kind of weird, but I just thought these are two teams that end up trying a lot of long field goals because they really aren't great at finishing drives. And the kicker that made his and the one that didn't would make a big difference in the game. Ganoe made two 50-yarders.

Now, Joey Sly did make a 51-yard field goal, but he missed an extra. extra point. So Gano's two 50-yarders were massive in the game, and Sly's missed extra point was big in the game. Taylor Heineke.

So, let me get out my notes here. Overall, you know, when you have two fumbles, you know, you can't get graded higher than a C. You know, unless you throw for 500 yards and, you know, like, Like, Cousins had two interceptions in the biggest comeback in NFL history. He had 416 yards and four touchdowns in the second half setting an NFL record.

So he's obviously, you know, much higher than a C. He's an A. But for Heinecke, you can't give him more than a C because of the two fumbles. But I will tell you, I thought he was pretty decent at times. I actually thought he threw the ball with great timing on a lot of throws. go through everything in particular. A couple of bad plays. You know, early in the game, first drive, he sailed one. He just sails balls. Sailed one over Logan Thomas's head. He took that sack that ultimately did cost them

field goal range on that opening drive because I bet Ron kicks it from 48 yards if he doesn't get sacked, but he chose not to from 52 yards. You know, I loved his running last night, as I mentioned. Love is, loved at least one of the two decisions he made on a read option. You know, I love the quick throw to Curtis Samuel that got him in range for their first field goal attempt on third and 22. You know, that's the right play versus a coverage that was really a mystery. They gave up the field goal. They said, fine, we'll give you a field goal attempt. They played seven in coverage almost at the sticks on third and 22. Like, were they really worried about getting, you know, thrown over the top on

third and 22. I think Cooley sent me a text at that point and said, this is one of those deals on third and 22 where you're only 215 yards out, but your guy needs a driver off the deck to get there, and he's still going to come up short. But that was a good play to throw it to Samuel short of the sticks. It led to a field goal.

You know, the two sack fumbles, you know, I don't put the first one on him, but Ron seemed to. I thought the deep shot to Diami Brown was not defensive pass interference. by the way, but I'm talking about on their fourth drive, first half. The ball was short. You know, he was under pressure. Ball was short. By the way, a few plays later, Samuel, I thought, did get interfered with by that guy, Pinnock, number 27. You know, he nearly had a ball intercepted

by Holmes on a play that I thought should have been a defenseless hit on Samuel, and it wasn't called. The throws on that opening drive of the first half are dimes, man. man. McClorn, I mean, I know he's open. I know they're throwing against a defense anticipating run. I know play action really helps him out. But, you know, 18 yards to McLaren, 13, had the bubble, big bubble to Terry for 20, had the bootleg to Dotson for 9, and then a beautiful touchdown pass in timing to Dotson in the end zone. He was sharp on that drive. I thought he made some really good throws in the game. I mean, the bomb that he threw to Diami Brown on the flea flicker showed arm strength that we haven't seen. He overthrew him. on a long bomb. I thought the bootkeeper was a really good play.

I thought he had some good plays in this game. I mean, the throw to Samuel at the end on the final drive was a, I saw people complaining if he hits him in stride, that might be a touchdown. What are you talking about? Come on. He was under duress like he was in the game two weeks ago. And he threw a beautiful, the one on the previous drive,

the fumble drive, to Dotson. And I love that throw. You know, you're giving one of your better playmakers a chance and you're at your own nine-yard line and you need a touchdown. That was a great shot. And then the one to Samuel for 27 yards, Samuel does a great toe-tapping job. That's a good throw. I mean, could he even let him a little bit more in bounds and there could have been some yards after catch? Look, it's pressure time, bro.

What you don't want is him to miss him like he missed Logan Thomas last week. He got it to him and it's a 27-yard game. threw a nice ball to Dotson. What great hands Dotson has on that second and four for 14 yards. It got him down to the 10-yard line. The scramble I thought he could have scored on when Tibino knocked him out of bounds. I thought he could have scored on that. And then the pass in the end zone on the snap that he should have been able to handle,

that was not a bad snap. He just bobbled it. I didn't think it was a bad snap. and then he throws late and right to the other team. And Michaels and Tarrico said it all night long. They could not stop talking about pixie dust. This guy has just been sprinkled with pixie dust. And we know that.

It's been incredibly lucky. And he got lucky again. That's a game ending pick by 44 McLeod. McLeod had his hands on the ball in the first game. On the drive before the fourth and four conversion, he should have had an interception that ended the game. But there's a reason he's playing defensive back. I guess. But that ball was late. It's behind. It's right to him. And I know he panicked a little bit because

he bobbled the snap, but that could have ended the game. I mean, for all of the, you know, Terry McClearn play and, you know, the non-call on the pass interference, I mean, McLeod should have had a game-ending pick. It was right in his hands. It was a beautiful throw to McLeod. See, but I thought there were some good throws. And I don't think he should be benched. I didn't think about it really at halftime, and I'm not thinking about it now. I think this 49er defense is going to create havoc, and it's going to be a bad day for the offense, period. But I don't think you put Wents out there for this one. Of course, they could be better potentially with Wence because of the arm strength and because of the throws he makes, but I just don't know that it's a lock that they'll be better.

They weren't early in the season, and even if he knows the offense better, and he's got Brian Robinson, Jr. and he's got a different formula and he's got a better deal, all these things, I'd ride with Heineke right now. Not for next year, obviously. They got to go get a quarterback. But, you know, I didn't think like he, look, four fumbles in two games, losing three of them in two massive games, it's not good. It's not good. And he clearly got lucky on a couple of balls. He didn't have nearly as many in this game up for grabs as he has had in recent games. But the last one into the end zone should have been picked. I give him a C, but I thought some of the throws he made were impressive.

And, you know, if he doesn't, if he fumbles just once, let's say, it's just one turnover. It's probably a C plus. I'd stick with him. I think that's it. I think that's it. So let's get to Logan Paulson, right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

All right, let's bring Logan Paulson on the show to talk about last night's eight-point loss to the Giants. Logan, of course, does a podcast with Craig Hoffman, where you can get, take command anywhere you get a podcast. And of course, he does all the work for NBC, NBC Sports Washington, and is a big part of the radio stations in town as well. All right, I'll start with this. Why did they lose last night? Yeah, I mean, obviously, a question like that, it's like it's multifactorial, but I'm going to start off by saying that I do think that Scott and the offensive staff kind of came out, and they got away from who they wanted to be and who they've been offensively. What I mean by that is they kind of looked at Philadelphia and what Philadelphia did to have success. They tried to incorporate that, and you can tell that the offensive line, the quarterback, the running back, the running back, sport, and it's comfortable with that.

and they weren't getting the responses from the New York Times defense that they wanted. And then when you kind of see them kind of get back to who they were, that first driver in the second half, and see the play action pass, you see the running game, you see that downhill stuff. I think it's kind of a travesty in some way that Brian Robinson only ends up with 17 carries. You know, a guy averaging over 12 carries. 12 carries. Yeah. 12 carries, seven yards of carry.

Like the running game was being super efficient. And, you know, I understand trying to get Curtis Samuel involved. And I just kind of feel like offensively they outsmarted themselves a little bit. And that happens, you know, like I'm not saying that's the end of the world. But that was one thing that really stick out to me offensively. Obviously, the two turnovers were gigantic. I think the first one, the sack is probably not entirely on Taylor, but the one in the Red Zone for sure is.

And I do think that defensively there was an interesting kind of chess match between Kafka and Jack Del Rio in terms of who was kind of getting me in bad-ins in certain situations. And overall, I think the defense did some nice stuff. outside of that 17-yard drive. And even on that 17-yard drive, they did some really good stuff and getting New York into some tough situations.

And New York kind of answered the bell and quite frankly just made some more plays on that sequence. So I think if you look at kind of that specific sequence defensively, some of the early stuff offensively, I think those are all, you know, kind of, to me, those things inform the loss more than anything else in the game. Yeah, that long drive. I mean, they completed a fourth and nine

that was actually pretty well covered. I mean, they just made some plays and just barely made some plays. I'm actually still shocked that they went for that fourth and nine. And, you know, they had the same decision kind of that Washington had in that general in that same direction with a 52-yard field goal attempt and they passed on it. But I thought they were just going to try to draw off sides. When they snapped the ball, I was shocked. Because I thought you put, you punt it, and then you put the best aspect of your team back on the field in the first half,

which was Tibido, you know, with Washington maybe inside their own 10-yard line. So I also, by the way, I'm curious, I think the biggest spot of the game for the defense was after the Taylor Fumble, and they had it run right down their throats by Barclay. That's one of the more surprising stretches of defensive football. I think we've seen, you know, since they started to play great defense. Yeah, and I think the thing that took out to me is that, you know, Jack Del Rio came out how they played. played a little bit, you know, I have to chart it to get the exact percentage, but they seem to play a little bit more too high quarters-type shells in this game. I think they were just terrified of a big play, you know, and I think it's offense is going to be the big play to Flayton, right?

Because, you know, if they hit the second one of the second big play in the first game that they had, obviously they lose this football game. And so you say the only way they win is they had a couple of these. And so you could tell that we're being very conservative from a coverage standpoint on that drive. they run a lot of two shells. Two shells do a lot of good things for you from a coverage standpoint, but they do make it more challenging to fit the run. So, you know, they have probably a three-play sequence where they're in cover two, and then eventually Jack's like, well, I don't want to mess with this anymore.

Let's get back to our cover three match. Let's get into single package, and they were able to kind of slow that running attack down. But I think, again, that kind of goes back to that chest mass I was alluding to, right? He's kind of waiting for the play-action shot. He's waiting for the boot. He's waiting for all these responses that the Giants showed in the first outing, and the Giants kind of said, we're going to kind of take advantage of this. We're going to run a little bit of a lamb.

We're going to run a little bit of trap plays where you're isolating, you know, the interior players with kind of crackback blocks by tight ends and pulling guards. And, again, taking away the best elements of this defense. And I think that's something that, you know, the Giants did a great job of it. They deserve a ton of credit for kind of in certain situations being one step ahead. And I don't want to make it sound like they totally took advantage of Jack, because Jack did a great job in certain situations as well. of kind of showing cover three, getting to cover two at the right time,

and forcing the game of zones to host of football. So both sides deserve a ton of credit, but in that sequence, the one you're describing, I think the Giants were just a little bit ahead, and unfortunately, like, that obviously hurt the chances for the command of doing the football game. Yeah, I mean, look, what you said, it was interesting because when you think about it, New York did not take one deep shot.

I don't think the entire game, and you're not going to do that against some of that cover. two shell. And they do take shots. They took shots in the first game. They took shots on Thanksgiving, which was the game that I really watched start to finish. And I don't think they took one shot the entire day. Back to the offense for a moment, Logan. I'm not a guy that says just ram it down their throats because that's the kind of football team you want to be. And Brian Robinson Jr. can do it, et cetera, et cetera. I want them to move the football any which way they can move the football. But last night's the first night in a while where I felt like Scott Turner didn't

feel the game. And it sounds like you agree. I mean, Robinson Jr., it wasn't that he had a 7.4 yards per average because he had a 40-yard run and a bunch of three-yard runs. He had six runs that were double-digit yards or more. He had nine carries of five yards or more and only carried the ball 12 times. And I just said in the open, look, I mean, they threw the ball on their only touchdown drive and they actually threw it well and they got the ball to their other big time playmaker and Terry McClorn. But there's more risk in throwing the football than there is with running the football. Brian Robinson's not going to get sacked and fumble, you know, on a counter or on a duo run. And I just thought that last night was a night where it was obvious the giants, if they

had had 10 in the box, were still going to give up four or five yards per carry. And I just thought, like you said, it kind of outsmarted himself. Yeah, and I don't, you know, I think that's the other thing. You know, I agree with you. You know, you're not going to run the ball 50 times in a game. But what I do think is you've cultivated an identity, an offensive identity, around this duo play, around this counterplay, some of the, like, the weak side, tight zone, weak side stuff that they do so well.

Stay in that wheelhouse because it does set up your play action pass. And you look at that drive where they're through the football, they're getting wide open throwing windows because they're running. play actions off of the duo stuff. They're running boots. That is the natural evolution, maturation of this offense, in my opinion. You run the football, you've established his identity,

and then you've built the shot plays off of the run game, and off of the formations that you use in the run game. You don't get into kind of this varied, you know, kind of just being different to be different approach. I don't think that's the right way around it. I think that's kind of what they did early. And I'm not saying you need to run the football, but I would

have liked to see more play action on that first drive. It was so interesting watching those first two series because it felt like the offense had regressed back to what they were before Minnesota. A lot of dropback, a lot of kind of off-gun runs as opposed to this downhill attacking style, which they've become so good at over the last couple weeks. And the offensive line's gotten good at it. I think no play better typifies this. And like when they ran duo, it was like the third play of the game. Or no, it was like the sixth, seven play of the game, excuse me, and the Giants run a run run

done. The play should be dead to right, but the back knows how to run it, the Titans know the adjustment, the offensive line knows the adjustment. and it ends up being a five-yard game. You've earned that equity. You've earned that ability to run the football that way with that run because of all the reps and time you've allocated to it. Don't kind of come out here with something that you're not really comfortable with and think that's the answer.

That's the solution. And I think I love how they kind of developed this tight zone response off of that, some of the jet sweep stuff. But again, to get to the jet sweep stuff to get some of that shot stuff, you have to earn that and you have to earn the defensive response. They just didn't do that. And I think, again, you see kind of what they can be from a play action pass standpoint on that first drive of the second half and kind of in the

second half in general. And it just is surprising to me that they came out kind of departing from that in the first half of the game. Yeah, I mean, the irony is he had eight carries in the first half and just four Robbins did in the second half. And, you know, you could make the case that, you know, they're really, like I said before, look, their corners are terrible. McClorn's a big-time playmaker and a strength. Dotson obviously has outrageous talent and they realize it and they want to get him touches as well. But Robinson was at seven yards a clip and it wasn't, you know, it was the pile moving forward. And there's a, you know, look, you're a tight end and you understand this much more than anybody else does. There is a, there is a lust more for an

offensive line to go downhill than to go backwards, to go forwards rather than to go backwards. And there's a certain mental edge you get from being the more physical team at the line of scrimmage. And I just thought on 10 of those 12 carries, it was they didn't want any part of them, which was unfortunate. And then to your point, all of a sudden, all that play action stuff works, which is really Taylor's best stuff to begin with anyway. What was the call in the game? I'm not talking about a referee call. Was there a call offensively that they made that bothered you more than any other. I mean, there was a couple that

one that kind of had me going like, ah, like grit in my teeth a little bit was there was a, I think it was a third and three in the red zone where they kind of run a toss to Curtis Samuel. And again, kind of inserted understanding the game flow and where the offense is at, like, I just thought

in a man, you've got one of the, you know, one of the most efficient power runners in the NFL in the backfield at the moment. For sure, top five, you know, why is he not on the field in this situation? Why is he not a part of this offense. That was after the huge chunk play to Jahan. B. Rob has a big run for a nice game, and then they're kind of in the red zone, and then that's how they

squander that possession is with a call there that I thought, man, you could be, you could have, you know, give it to your one of your best backs and give it to your best back and let him make that play for you. And I just thought any time in this game where B. Rob wasn't getting that touch in the, not that you were supposed to run the ball in a short guard situation, but he wasn't getting the opportunity to run that football there. I was a little bit surprised by that.

And again, that's kind of frustrating. And again, it's easy for me to be a Monday morning quarterback. I'm sure Scott had some good intel on why he wanted to call that in that situation. But to me, I was like, man, you know, in terms of capitalizing on your trips to the husband, I think that the play call that he ended up calling Hurt you as opposed to help you. You know, it's funny. I had a third and three that I hated. And it was after the flea flicker attempt.

And they had Samuel, you know, on third and three. And they gave it to him in shotgun. It's like, you got a guy that literally will move the pile against nine in the box three yards. at that point. If your choice is to run it, I just couldn't stand that call. Because remember, they had scored on the drive. They had scored on the drive before that

and, you know, now had a little bit of momentum. Was there a referee call that bothered you more than any other? The pastoral at the end of the game, I think, is one that really sticks out. I think, you know, the alignment penalty is probably

legitimate, you know, as much as you want to kind of work around it. You think so? You know, the pick of the, I think so. I mean, like, I understand Terry's perspective, but there's a lot going on there from a mechanic standpoint. He points the guy points back. Then Terry's, like, moving towards the line of scrimmage to route it down while they're motioning while they're shifting, and that's a penalty in and of its own right if he's not getting reset. So there's a lot going on there. He chose to call him for, you know,

illegal formation or whatever it was, but there was a lot of kind of logistical stuff happening there that, you know, a good football team wouldn't do, right? And I think there's a lot of ways to prevent that outside of the official's call, like Taylor, let your guys get set, you know, check the formation before you call for the shift, all those types of things. But, you know, I think the PI into the game is one. And I understand why the call is not made. You know, you don't want to, you know, have this kind of game be defined by an offensive PI late in the game, but I think got to show some courage there and make that call. I mean, even the pick, you know, I know a lot of people are ringing their hands about that. I think the wording of the official after the

game is very, very telling in the sense where he was like, you know, he kind of came off the ball in a blocking demeanor. And that's the letter of the rule. And that leads a lot to interpretation. But the second Jahan comes off the ball, if you watch the replay, you can tell he's trying to set a pick. You can tell he's trying to run a route. And so if that's the letter of the rule, then Jehan is breaking that letter. And I think the call is, while it's a little tickey-tack, I think it is by the letter of the rule, justified. So to me, the P.I. is one. And I think it's important that we all went back and watched the L. 22 today. And there's a lot a play that they missed

from a defensive P.I. standpoint, from a holding standpoint, that the commanders were committing against the Giants that they missed. So it wasn't the clearest called game of all time, and there were penalties that were missing called both ways that were very frustrating and very detrimental to both sides. So to be officiating is something

that, you know, I don't as much as people want to say that was the thing, there were so many other factors in this game that I think were more important. I had a major problem with going for two that early in the game. many possessions or too many scoring types left. I don't know why coaches do it.

Most don't. Some do. Did you have a problem with that? Gosh, I mean, I would defer to you here because I think you have a better understanding of like that. Kind of the idea of chasing scores. You know what I mean? You're chasing scores. And as a player, like I like the play call.

I like the situation. I like you've got this momentum. Might as well capitalize on it. But, you know, obviously in hindsight, you say, man, you're chasing points there, which is not what you want to be doing. So, you know, I personally don't have a problem with it. but I'd have to see the Kevin Sheehan, you know, point scoring chart to make my final assessment if I'm the head coach. Well, I think one of the things you'd start with is that they were 33% on two-point conversions coming in.

And you've just got too much game left, and 14 to 10, there's nothing wrong with that. You'll probably have a chance to go for two if you need it again on another score. But I – so there were two fourth-down decisions, one made by the Giants on the fourth and nine that we, discuss, which again, I was shocked they snapped the ball. I just thought, you know, you put your best player in the first half back on the field, which was number five, you know, and you let him wreak havoc, you know, at the five-yard line with the other team starting there with two minutes to go in the half. And then Ron's decision on the first one not to kick the field goal. Now, he said, he said that they didn't like Sly going in that direction from 52 yards out with the wind.

they punted the football. God, it was a bad result on the punt return. They thought James was going to call for a fair catch, and he didn't. But did you have a problem not attempting the field goal there? Yeah, I mean, I think there were some kind of environmental things that were tough. I think there was a wind, 9, 10 mile an hour, wind going that direction, which, again, is going to make that field goal challenging. So I don't, you know, but I think if you're kind of on the fence about it,

that's a situation where maybe you go forward as opposed to punting. You know, it's a little conservative, but I think when the defense is playing as well as they were, and your special teams are doing what they're doing, I think you say, I like that decision. And obviously, the result in hindsight bias comes out in full effect because there's a big return. They don't really get any yards, all that kind of stuff. But in the moment, I was like, is this a little bit conservative? Absolutely. Is it the wrong decision?

No, because I think you trust your defense, you trust your teams. And unfortunately, the special teams, you know, made a clerical error in terms of assuming a fair catch leads to a big return, and any kind of advantage you had from the pun is negated. So that's just, that's the NFL that's making coaches at that level, and that's making decisions at that level, excuse me, and so I can't really fault it too much in retrospect or hindsight. I know you have to go. One last one. I've watched these two games like you have, their last two games against the Giants,

and they lost one and they tied one, and I'm still not so sure that Washington doesn't have better players. Do you agree? Yeah, I mean, I do think I think Washington is the more talented team and I think that's why this is one of the reasons why this is so frustrating you want this team to make the playoffs to make a push and this was the game

that they had to win against the team that they should have won, should have beaten and I think that the static factor is you know, Daniel Jones is playing a little bit better than Taylor Hanagy right now. I think on some level schematically the commanders kind of fell down in certain situations,

specifically early in the game. I think that's the difference, right? I don't think it's necessarily a talent issue. I think it was schematics and kind of them making plays and they had to make them, quite frankly. And that's the difference in kind of playoff football, which is what this game was. So, yeah, I think this roster is more talented. I think the Giants have a better quarterback right now, and I think that showed itself pretty definitively yesterday. I'll talk to you soon.

Thanks for doing this. Kevin, appreciate you, buddy. Thanks. All right, we'll finish up with some of the other NFL from the weekend when we come back right after these words. from a few of our sponsors. And the kick is good. It's good. It's once again. That was a field goal from Greg Joseph in overtime to lift Minnesota to a 39-36 win in overtime over the Colts on Saturday.

It was a field goal that capped the largest comeback in NFL history, breaking the Frank Reich record that held for 30 years when Reich did it in a playoff game for the Buffalo Bills against Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers. They were down 32 in that game. This was a 33 to nothing half-time lead for the Indianapolis Colts. I can hear it already. I can hear it already. Sheehan, you're not going to do this, are you?

You're not going to spend time on Kirk Cousins. You would never do this if it weren't somebody else. Yes, I would. I would do this if this were Blaine Gabbard. I would do this if it were Christian Ponder. We're a sports podcast. This was one of the most remarkable comebacks. it was the most remarkable comeback in NFL history. And it was an amazing and very, very unlikely

comeback because of so many different things. Most notably, and I've been telling you guys this for months now, Minnesota is a terrible defensive team. Terrible. 32nd ranked in the NFL, just allowing the most average of quarterbacks to light them up. I mean, Matt Jones threw for 380. The only quarterback who hasn't really had a great game against him, was Heineke, the only one. And so there's no chance that going into the second half, I would think, well, the defense will get enough stops or they'll get some turnovers. Well, they didn't get many turnovers.

They got one. And that's the other amazing part of this comeback, is that Minnesota did it with long drive after long drive. Usually you need a special team's big play. You need a defensive touchdown or two defensive turnovers. It's set up something. you know, for the offense in sort of short, you know, territory, short field territory. No.

Down 33 nothing at halftime, here were the drives for Minnesota in the second half. Seven plays 88 yard drive. Eight plays 75 yards. Six for 61, five for 50. Then they did have the screen to Dalvin Cook that he took on the first play of the drive with just over two minutes to go. And then Cousins hit Hawkinson for the two. point conversion to tie it, and then six plays 60 yards in overtime for field goal range.

Do you know how, like how did they have enough time to do that? I mean, it really was incredible. And, you know, in addition to being down 33 nothing at halftime, they were down 36 to seven with three and a half minutes to go in the third quarter. The touchdown they scored to make it 36 to 14 came with a minute 13. left. They took that drive over with just over three minutes to go, four minutes to go. I mean, an amazing all-time comeback. So I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this and we'll get to the rest of the NFL. I did want to say two things about my guy. I do like cousins.

Been consistent on him, I think. I think I have been. He's not an elite quarterback. He's not among the all-time greats clearly. But I've always said he is a very good quarterback, much better than most of you know, and you put a decent team around him, and you're going to win a lot of games. And that hasn't happened a lot during his career. He had terrible defenses here in Washington. He's had some bad defenses in Minnesota and some horrific offensive lines. Now, part of that is his fault. And when I say that, I mean, you know, his contract takes up so much salary cap space that you've got to nail the draft consistently to build an excellent team around him. You know, San Francisco has Garoppolo at whatever he's making, Jalen Hertz on a rookie

deal in Philadelphia. I mean, Prescott's making big money. I understand. Cousins did, you know, redo his contract in the offseason, but they haven't been good around him. He's been good. The team hasn't been good, but that's partly on him. I understand.

But there are a couple things. I love the interaction. I don't obsess over it. As you know, most of you probably sense, like I'm not sitting there on Twitter all the time. But I did check Twitter after the game. And I've checked Twitter many times after a cousin's bad game. And you guys are just relentless.

When he plays poorly, actually it's not even that. When his team loses, I hear from you guys all the time. You don't even know the circumstances of the game, but it's always his fault. Always his fault. And yet, crickets, when they win a game and he plays well. Crickets. Most of you didn't even have the balls after the game was over Saturday to say, yeah, my tweet didn't age well. One of you, one, only one was this stupid, actually said, I hope you're not going to actually say that Kirk had anything to do.

with this comeback. I mean, why would I? I mean, he only threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns shattering the NFL record for a half of productivity, a half an overtime of productivity. I mean, why would I? I mean, I hope that that person wasn't kidding. And that's the part that that I think does irk people like me who like cousins because the narrative on him, the two narratives in particular. He's not very good, factually incorrect. He is good. He's a good quarterback. Everything about his performance as a quarterback says he's been a good quarterback. And then number two, probably the thing that irks some of us the most, he'll never, ever, and he never does, deliver with the game on the line. That is factually inaccurate. It's a lazy narrative. Some of you don't know

what the actual truth is on that. You just remember the throw to Rogers Cromarty in 2016. Bad throw, bad game for him. He's had a couple of stinkers for sure. I hear from all of you when he has a bad game. But Saturday was his seventh fourth quarter comeback of the year. Seven. He's got 22 for his career.

He's in the top 25 all time in the history of the league in fourth quarter comebacks. he's seven away from being number 10. Philip Rivers is number 10 with 29. Seven away from Rivers. He'll end up being a top 10 fourth quarter comeback quarterback of all time. You know, by definition, that means he's delivered a lot in the clutch. And, you know, for people like me who follow his career from afar, we also know that because the team around him hasn't been very good.

Again, I think that's partly his fault. he's had last year he had three to four games where he let his team down the field for the go-ahead score only to give it up on the other end or down into range and his field goal kick or miss or down in range and somebody fumbled when all they had to do was take a knee and kick a field goal for the game winner I mean he had four fourth quarter comebacks last year should have had seven or eight See, I think this happens in a lot of conversations in sports and other things, too, is that people who aren't invested who don't really know just fall into whatever sort of the masses are saying about it. And he's had some bad games, man, in prime time too.

But his record in prime time isn't like 3 and 30, which is what the perception is. It's 12 and 18. He's had some really big moments in prime time. Had one here in Washington. in 2015 with the division on the line when he threw for 360 and four touchdowns against the Eagles. But he's 12 and 18 in prime time. You know, not great, but not the perception. He has been a quarterback that does it differently, does it more like the stationary pocket

quarterback needs time, but he can spin it, man. He's accurate, and he's ballsy as hell. He is a tough son of a bitch. He's been hit more than anybody else in the league this year. He was like top 10 last year in getting hit. No, it's not because he holds onto it too long. It's because their offensive line has sucked. And by the way, he's not truly evasive.

You know, he's not an off-schedule quarterback. But he's a damn good quarterback. And I'm glad he had this moment on Saturday. I don't think it's a great team that will do well in the postseason. I'd like to see him do well in the postseason to really silence his critics once and for all. but I don't think that'll ever do it with him. I think he's just one of these dudes that people love to kind of, you know, dislike. I don't want to say hate, but dislike.

You know, I don't know why everybody that's ever been a part of his career says, first rate, first class, the hardest worker. You listen to coaches talk about him. You know, Google what Belichick said about him a few weeks ago after they lost to him on Thanksgiving. He's a really good quarterback, and he has delivered over and over again in the clutch. And on Saturday, just like with the Buffalo game, he is quarterbacked two comebacks this year in the two most memorable games of the season so far.

The Buffalo game, and then the game Saturday against the Colts. I'm happy for him. I'm rooting for him. I don't think it's a good team this year. I mean, it's 11 and 3. I'm saying it's not as good as the record indicates, and I think they'll go out early, and it'll all get blamed on him.

Understood. I know that's coming. Maybe occasionally when he has a really big moment, maybe, you know, something other than crickets would suffice. Maybe just a little, hey, your boy look good. I don't need it, but maybe for, you know, you to kind of grow a little bit. Maybe that would be nice of you to do. Let's go around the rest of the league.

I mean, what in God I mean, what in God's in God's name, was Jacobi Myers doing? I mean, what in God's name was Jacobi Myers doing? I'm sure, and the answers I've been reading, you know, this morning, that it was very improv, that it wasn't something that the coaches told them to do. But Jacobi Myers thought they were losing and needed to score in that play, versus the score being tied 2424 between his Patriots and the Vegas Raiders on the final play of regulation. We've never seen a play like that, ever, right?

I don't think we've ever seen the pitch around play on the final play turn into a touchdown for the other team to win the game. We've seen the other team score to cover the point spread, but we really have never seen what we saw yesterday. Ouch. Painful loss for New England, 30 to 24 in a game that really hurts their playoff chances. They are in a race in a wild race, actually, in the AFC for the final wild card spots. In the AFC right now, you've got in the six and seven spot, two eight and six teams and the chargers and the dolphins. Then the Pats and Jets are seven and seven. And then you've got four teams at six and eight. Jacksonville, the Raiders, the Browns, and the Steelers all with still a chance.

Actually, in Jacksonville's case, a chance to win the division, in part because this happened yesterday in overtime against the Cowboys. 34, Blitz coming. Prescott throws backwards and intercepted. Jenkins has another one, racing down the sidelines. Richard Jenkins is going to win it. Jacksonville at 6 and 8 now, a game behind Tennessee in the AFC South after that 40 to 34 win over the Cowboys in overtime. And they play the Titans in the season finale in Jacksonville with a chance to win the division.

I mean, the Titans lost to the Chargers 17 to 14. Competitive game, hell of a football game. And that's a tough loss for what I think is a well-coached team in Vrable's Titans. quarterback issues for sure. They've lost four games in a row. And they do play the Texans next week, but they have the Cowboys the week after that before going to Jacksonville. The Jags meantime, after that win against the Cowboys, they've won three of their last four. They're six and eight. They get the Jets, the Texans, and finish up with the Titans.

They have a chance to win the AFC South after starting the season, 1 and 6. Just like Detroit has a chance to get a wild card berth after starting the season, one and six. Amazing storylines this year. Washington's starting one and four having a chance to make the postseason. Carolina is starting one and five, still in it in the NFC South. A good win for Jacksonville. Bad loss for the Cowboys. It really diminishes their upcoming game this week with the Eagles, which would have given them a chance to get back into the division race with two games after this Saturday's games. But now the Eagles have pretty much wrapped up the division with three to play. They'd have to lose out. The Cowboys would have to win out for the Cowboys to win the division.

The Cowboys did clinch a playoff spot courtesy of Washington's loss last night. You know, the Cowboys, they ran for 154 yards. Dak was 23 of 30 for 256, but he threw two picks. He threw two picks, including, you know, that was an unlucky, interception in overtime by Jenkins, who had two picks on the day. 18 tackles, by the way. 18 tackles, two interceptions and a touchdown for Rayshon Jenkins. That's not a bad afternoon. But, yeah, the Cowboys, I don't know, I think it's San Francisco and Philadelphia in the NFC.

I think those are the two best teams, and I think they'll end up playing in the NFC championship game. A lot of football to go, though. Elsewhere around the league real quickly, and we'll finish up the pod for the day. Baltimore were in trouble after losing to the Browns. By the way, the Browns still alive when they come to FedEx a week from Sunday on New Year's Day. The Browns could really get back into the picture if a couple of things happened and they win on Sunday against the Saints. But the Ravens now, without, you know, Lamar Jackson, once again, fading here. They have lost, you know, two of their last four and we're lucky, really, to beat the Steelers and the Broncos, which they

won by a combined three points. They play the Falcons this week, then the Steelers, and finish at Cincinnati. Cincinnati, you know, from 17-0-0-0-down, man, the Bucks, I thought watching that game, and I did watch that game, because I bet the Buccaneers had them in the smell test. I thought at times it was as good as they looked on defense all year

as they built a 17-0-0 lead. And then all hell broke loose. Brady threw a couple of picks. There were a couple fumbles by Brady. Brady had four turnovers in the second half, and they lose going away. way. They got outscored 34 to 6 in the second half and they lose 34 to 23. And now Cincinnati has some control a little bit in the AFC North. While in the NFC South, Tampa could have created

some space had they held on for a win. Instead, with three to go, they're six and eight, Carolina's five and nine, New Orleans is five and nine. Atlanta is five and nine. Carolina is the one that controls own destiny with Tampa because they play each other and they already won once. So Carolina still has a chance, which is why I said Carolina plays Detroit this week. And so the lines, you know, are playing a team that's fighting for their playoff lives. But the Saints aren't out of it and the Falcons aren't ahead of it. And I think, and I said this when the Saints gave up that 16 to three lead at Tampa on Monday night a few weeks ago, I said that's the team that in the postseason, I think would give their opponent in a home playoff game as the four seed,

even with a losing record, the biggest trouble. I know it seems obvious that it should be Brady and it should be Tampa, but New Orleans is good on defense, man. They're really, really good on defense. They have Cleveland, then at Philly. That's going to hurt them. And then they close with the Panthers, which could be a game for the division. Um, All of them have a shot. Atlanta looks like the team with Desmond Ritter starting that really doesn't. But the Bucks, Panthers, Saints, and Falcons, hell. The record of the winner in that division, I think could be 7 and 10. You know, maybe 8 and 9.

I mean, really, the only team that's probably going to get to 8 and 9 would be the Buccaneers. And they've got the Cardinals, Panthers, and Falcons, two of those three on the road. Elsewhere in the league. big games. The Chiefs, how how feisty the Texans have been? They nearly beat the Cowboys last week, and they had the Chiefs on the ropes

losing in overtime 30 to 24. And then the Lions, you know, 20 to 17 winners over the Jets. The Jets are such a good defensive team. Zach Wilson threw a bad pick in the game, also had some big plays in the game.

God, man, did Sala really, I thought, handled the clock poorly at the end of that game? The Jets were trying to get in field goal range down 20 to 17. They had three timeouts left. Ultimately, they took one of them to the locker room when they had to kick a 58-yard field goal at the end of the game. I mean, they could have saved themselves more time and had a chance to get in better field goal range, but they did a poor job, poor job with the clock. Jared Goff just kind of continues to play some good football, and they got playmakers, man. Swift is a playmaker. Williams.

Amon Rae St. Brown has emerged as one of the best receivers in the game. Charks good. You know, the kid James and Williams is starting to play a little bit. They've got some good defensive players, Hutchinson and Okuda. Look out for the Lions. If they do get in, I think in many ways between Washington, Detroit, the Giants in Seattle. the most dangerous of teams because they can really, really move the football on offense. And they're improving on defense. All right. Another tough weekend for the Wizards. My God, I know Bradley Beale was back last night.

They've now lost, is it 10 in a row? I think it's 10 in a row now after the loss of the Lakers last night, 119, 117. Ovechkin did not tie Howe over the weekend in two games. they beat the Maple Leafs, they lost to the stars, and they play tonight against the Red Wings at home, hopefully a chance for Ovechkin to get to the Gordy Howe record, which he's one goal away from tying, two away from breaking. And yeah, in all seriousness from earlier in the show, I thought that World Cup final was one of the, well, it was by far in a way the most exciting soccer game I've ever watched. All right, done for the day, back tomorrow with Tommy. You like that!

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