The Kevin Sheehan Show - Gruden vs. Loverro

Episode Date: December 11, 2018

After Kevin makes excuses for Kirk Cousins, Thom discusses the question he posed to Jay Gruden that upset the coach so much on Sunday. Kevin and Thom discuss the Washington Post story on the potential for a Skins' stadium at the RFK site. Then, Thom explains why he thinks Bryce Harper could still end up a Washington National in 2019 and Kevin explains why the NFL 10-minute overtime rule must be changed again. "Coaching Blunders" highlights the major mistake Mike Tomlin made at the end of the Steelers-Raiders game. <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. You're listening to The Sports Fix. Yeah, Tommy's here. Aaron's here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com and tell them we told you to call. Tommy's back from a vacation where you sent some nice pictures and I was convinced you might not be coming back. I'm telling you. Sunday, when I'm at the stadium, I'm thinking, why did I come back? It was cold. I mean, it was really cold. And it was, you know, like 62 degrees where I'd been in Destin.

And I had just been walking on the beach 48 hours before and drinking a beer, looking at the water. And, you know, I came back. And Liz stayed. She stays. She stays for three months. For the winter. Oh, my God. And the reason you're back is because of this show.

Wow. I'm really impressed. It's my commitment to you. You could do this show down there. You could write a column down there, but I guess the radio thing that you do. Yeah. I mean, I really enjoy my time on 106-7 a fan. And as you know, those jobs are hard to come by.

They are hard to come by. They are. I wanted to share with you the results of my Twitter poll. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. First of all. Within 60 seconds of you posting that, I posted, I tweeted back to you. Actually, I retweeted it with comments.

I didn't see it. Take this down now. Well, you didn't, you know me well enough to know that I was just, you know, that was tongue-in-cheek. The Twitter poll question that I put out late in the game on Sunday, will Josh Johnson lead the Redskins to the playoffs? 3500 votes later, 78% of you said no. 78% said no. 16% said yes.

And 6% just aren't sure yet. They're not sure yet. What's your answer, Tommy? You know what? I'd be rooting for him to do that. Because that would be the story of our lifetime. It really would. It really would be an amazing story.

Josh Johnson out of the American Alliance of Football League to save everybody in that organization. We'll get to the Redskins and Tommy in the post-game press conference Sunday, upsetting Jay Gruden. We will play that for you. We played it on the show, the Sunday night Monday show, post-game show, but we will play it again and get Tommy's reaction because, God, he gets under people's skin all the time. I do want to start with the Monday night game, which I'm telling you, man, Kirk Cousins is every game on national television? Makes you look good, doesn't it?

The only games he's, the games that he's played well this year have been Sunday 1 o'clock games. He can't play, for whatever reason, he doesn't play well in prime time. I'll just start with this, because I'm always there on Twitter, Tommy, and I'm always there the next day. Like many of the people who are anti-Kirk, they go into hiding when he plays well. Not me, I'm here. He wasn't good enough last night. He was not good enough. but there's not a period after that because I'm not done.

If you think it ends with me saying Kirk wasn't good enough, then you haven't been paying attention to how good I am at making excuses for him. All right? Because I've got excuses. Look, look it, as you would say. He's not Aaron Rogers. He's not Tom Brady. He's not Breeze.

He's not Rivers. He isn't good enough to overcome an overwhelmed offensive line like he's had this year, especially on the road against good teams like Chicago, New England, and Seattle. I've said this, Tommy, a million times I'm surprised. Actually, I'm not surprised because some of our audiences is a bit limited when it comes to Kirk conversation. He's not elite. I think I've said that before. Let me think about it again. Think about it again. Yeah, he's not elite. He's just good, and I still think he's good. If Minnesota's expectation was that the $84 million was going to get them Aaron Rogers,

they made a big mistake. Kirk is a good quarterback. He is. He needs help. He's not a one-man show. As much as I love him, and I do, I've got pictures of him up all over the house. Even after last night, I still think he's a good quarterback, and I like him. comfortable saying that he's not at a level where you can put it all on him and get consistent

results. Last night at CenturyLink against that team, last week in Foxborough, against that coach. Three weeks ago in Chicago against that defense, did you see what they did to the Rams Sunday night? He's not going to put the offense on his back and carry it. Not against those teams in those situations. He's played 13 games, Tommy, in Minnesota. so far. They do have a bad offensive line. It is among the worst in the NFL. They have no running game to speak of. He's had some very good games this year and some very bad games this year. And many of you will say, well, that's who he is. Okay. The results sort of bear that out. He's also, also what he is, is a quarterback who's played on a team in Washington for the majority, the significant

majority of his starts that couldn't run the ball and had a bad defense. And this year, he's got a team that's got a good defense now. Minnesota's got a very good defense, but they've got a very bad offensive line and no running game. By the way, his fumble late in the game had nothing to do with the final result of the game people. Come on, there he goes again, fumbling, blowing a game. Yeah, but it's, it was, what the game was over at that point. Kevin, it's, it's, it's him kneeling down when he's clueless. Remember when he knelt down? Yeah, in the Philadelphia game, where he threw for 390 and four touchdowns in a game that they had to have to go to the playoffs. There's this perception that.

That he chokes. Yeah. I know that. I know that. And he has. Even in meaningless moments, that only solidifies the perception. Well, that shouldn't solidify the perception. But it does.

A late game, down 14-0-0 game over, hit backside, trying to make something happen, fumble and recovery. Let me tell you what should really enhance the perception last night. There was down 6-0-0. before what was one of the worst calls of the weekend. I mean, Minnesota got completely robbed. Were you watching the game? You probably weren't, so I'll tell you what happened.

Because I'm assuming you don't know what happened, the controversy of the loss last night. If you just look at 21-7, you missed out on one of the worst calls all year. Did you see it or not? No, I didn't see it. Okay, I'll get to that in a moment. The play before one of the worst calls of the year,

it's 6-0, and he is late on a third-nine comeback to Thielen. And you can see he hesitated and he threw it late and because of it it was incomplete. That's a choke play on his part. He was not confident that not last night in that stadium against that defense that had been in his grill all night long. That's the play that I look at. And that's the play that worries me. Not the fumble down 14-0 at the end. It's the third and eight, third and nine.

After, by the way, they had first and goal on the previous drive, and play calling was an issue, and everybody talked about this. I'm talking about all the experts, so-called experts, said that John DiFilippo and Mike Zimmer, there's major tension between the two right now. Jay Gruden could end up being the offensive coordinator in Minnesota next year. The fourth in goal pass that was incomplete, I don't put it completely on him, but he didn't make a play.

He didn't make a play. But the worst play of the night was the third and eight on the next drive. When he had feeling for a first down, he hesitated. He did choke a little bit and made a late throw. And then they brought the field goal. That's the one that I look at. And I'm like, Kirk, you've got to make that throw. If you're going to get through this perception of not coming through in the clutch on third and nine there,

great field position, going in potentially for the winning touchdown to go ahead. touchdown, even though you didn't get it on the last drive, you've got to complete third nine to an open Adam Thielen on a comeback pattern, and he hesitated, and he threw it late. And then came the play of the night, really, which was Bobby Wagner using his own defensive front as to propel him over the line of scrimmage. They blocked the field goal with five and a half to go. They flagged it, and then they picked up the flag, without really any explanation. that made any sense. It was in a legal play. Everybody said it. You know, all of them weighing in. Gene Stereator, Terry McCauley, Mike Pereira, all on Twitter saying that was an obvious foul. The flag shouldn't have been picked up.

It would have been first in 10 at the Seattle 14-yard line with five minutes to go down six-nothing. That was a significant play in the game. Yes, it was. So now a lot of people will say, well, Kirk wouldn't have gotten it done there anyway. Well, okay, well, I'll give them the chance. If you're in Minnesota, a fan, you wanted them to have first and ten at the Seattle 14 down 6-0. Instead, Russell Wilson backbreaking third down, 40-yard run, and they end up winning the game going away. That was an impactful call. But he didn't play well. He was not good enough last night, and he hasn't been good enough many times during the course of his starting career to strap a team on his back that's struggling offensively with everything and go win a game. He just wasn't good.

enough last night to do it. I concede that point. I wanted to mention two other things real quickly about the game. This constant conversation during the game about this tension between Zimmer and Di Filippo. De Filippo is his brand new offensive coordinator. Yeah. You know, and he's had problems with offensive coordinators. He wants a balanced attack, a more conservative attack where they're able to run the ball. The problem is, is they're 30th in the league in running the ball this year. And they're 27th in the league in yards per carry. They just haven't been able to run it consistently. They have, I think, good backs. It's an offensive line problem with them when it comes to running the ball and pass pro. Their defense has stepped it up here in the last few weeks. They've got a good

enough defense, but right now that offense isn't good enough. Part of that is Kirk, no doubt. But it would be interesting at the end of this year. If he were to get rid of Di Filippo after one year. And by the way, D'Filippo is a head coaching candidate people have been talking about. Well, you know, I mean, I think uneducated people have been talking about. I think industry-wide from what I gather, that's not the same conversation. Really? Yeah. What are you hearing about Di Filippo? Well, I know some, I mean, people who I trust who cover the league say it's just more, it's more of this recycled name coverage. No words, like his name should. And he's like, his name shows up, people recycle it, they keep reciting the same thing, but he's not the hot candidate

everybody says he is. Well, the tension between the head coach and DiFilippo just got me to thinking last night in all seriousness. If the Redskins don't make this Josh Johnson late run to get to the postseason. And right now, eight and eight might be good enough to get him into the postseason. Eight and eight's now looking pretty good in the NFC. Not pretty good, but it's got a shot to get in as the last wild card. Zimmer knows Gruden. Gruden knows Zimmer. They were on the same staff in Cincinnati. And Kirk is there. And let me just say this because I always said this. I do think they benefited each other. I think the system that Jay ran was the perfect West Coast passing scheme for Kirk's strengths. They didn't get along, right? They didn't get along at all.

but that would be interesting. Also, just so you know, all of you that were killing me on Twitter last night, I was there taking it, though. The NFL did weigh in this morning. They're going to go ahead and let cousins play the final three games. That's going to be allowed to happen, and they are still very much, they have the inside track to a playoff spot. That tied against Green Bay earlier in the year, they ended up helping them out if they can get to 8, 7, and 1, or 9, 6, and 1. Can I talk about Kirk a little bit? Yep. Okay, first of all, I mean, I'm generally with you on Kirk. I know you have been. Not as passionate as you, not as vehement as you, but I think he's a good quarterback, and I think most teams in the league would like to have Kirk Cousins as their quarterback

if they didn't have one of the five or six elite quarterbacks. I know what you're going to say. What am I going to say? You're going to talk about the money and the expectation that comes with the money. No, no, I'm not going to talk about that. I'm going to talk about the team that went to the NFC title game last year with Case Keenham as quarterback. When Kirk Cousins came there, it was very clear that the expectation was Super Bowl appearance and anything else would be a failure. A team that got to the NFC title game with Case Keenum at quarterback certainly should be able to progress from there with Kirk Cousins.

as quarterback. Now, there may be all kinds of legitimate reasons why they're not that have nothing to do with Kirk Cousin's ability. But he arrived there with a Super Bowl expectation. Anything less is going to be viewed as a failure. As simple as that. And, you know, one of the things you're swimming against is this tide of numbers. However, you explain the numbers, his numbers against teams with winning records are, is a disaster. Right. So, I mean, you know, you can come up with legitimate reasons for why things go wrong, but the results are difficult to ignore.

That said, that said, I think, like I said, I think most teams that don't have one of the elite quarterbacks would take Kirk Cousins on their team tomorrow. I don't disagree with anything you said. I don't. I think that there is there is a burden on him in Minnesota. There's a pressure on him. There's an expectation of him because of what you said, what their results were last year. The contract definitely puts immediate expectation on him. And being at $84 million, which is now like the third or fourth highest contract after the others have been redone, Matt Ryan, etc. Rogers, etc. whatever they are. Where is he right now, Aaron? Is he third on the average per year? Whatever it is. It's an elite category that he isn't. He's never been that. But look at what Derek Carr got paid in Oakland. He's better than Derek Carr. I don't know. I look. So my point, I mean, the money really, I mean, within a gear won't be a measure of whether or not he's elite.

I think there, let me just say this. I think his career has a lot. a lot of life left in it, and I think that he will get better. The results are what the results are. The narrative about, you know, end-of-game stat-stuffing stuff is ridiculous. I've gone through this before. It's a very low percentage of his overall starts where his team was down by two scores or more, where he built up numbers. That's just a false narrative completely. It's also a false narrative that he always chokes at the end of games. At the end of 2007, he's a end of 2017. He was fourth in the league and fourth quarter comebacks over the three previous years. Drives to give his team

the lead in the fourth quarter. But then again, he's had these big moments of failure. There's no doubt. The giant game on January 1, 2017, was the biggest at the end. He needed to strap the team to his back against an opponent that was disinterested. The team was terrible that day. And Jay Gruden was terrible that day. But he needed to overcome that. And last night, he has to make a play on the first and goal and the third and goal and the fourth and goal and then has to make a play on the third and eight. He moved him into position

on two different occasions in the fourth quarter to take the lead and he couldn't finish. And he didn't finish because he didn't, he wasn't good enough last night. He wasn't. Now, there's one other thing that goes on with Kurt Couss. I still like him though and I think he'll get better. There's one other thing that happens with Kirk Couss. This is controversial. in some ways. He has become the symbol nationally for in one argument, what went wrong with RG3

here in Washington. Like for people who weren't close to seeing what happened here and are convinced that the Redskins somehow ruined RG3, Kirk Cousins is seen as the villain by those people in that because he was the guy who replaced RG3.

And locally, there's a segment of the population that resents Kirk Cousins because he did replace RG3. Yeah, I mean, Kirk Cousins had, these were decisions made by people above him. Well, but that's it. People, people are angry that Robert Griffin III was a bust. And Kirk Cousins is the symbol of their anger. Right. So he's always dealing with that. right now in terms of the contract, where is the contract value?

I think I have this. Ryan Rogers, Stafford, Luck in terms of the guaranteed dollars and then Kirk. All right. I do want to get to your column. I wanted to mention a couple of things real quickly. The over under for the Redskins Jacksonville game. Is this what, 12? It's 36.

It's the lowest over under number in six years in the NFL. Really? Really? Really. back to 2012, a game between Seattle and Arizona for a lower over-under number, which was 35 and a half. That number right now, Redskins-Jags, Cody Kessler against Josh Johnson, is 36. There's got to be a number for defensive scores. Who scores more the offense or the defense?

There's got to be that kind of bet. That would be a prop bet. But that's a prop bet that's going to be a legitimate bet for this game. Sure. Why not? Who scores more, the offense or the defense, for both teams? Yeah, those prop bets, at least for the sites that I frequent and use, usually don't get put up until like the day before the game or the morning of, so I can't look up what a defensive touchdown,

what the defensive touchdown odds are at this point, but the total's super low. Also, the ratings for the giant game, this should be, this basically fits into my conversation yesterday about the Redskins and another Rocker. bottom situation, which I'm going to actually rank the rock bottoms on tomorrow's show. I've been working on that a little bit. What a joyous occasion.

Yeah, joyous occasion. The television rating on Sunday for the Redskins locally against the Giants was a 14. The Cowboys Eagles game later that day locally in the Washington, D.C. market did a 19.8. Let that sink in a little bit, people. Those are drastic numbers. I mean, frightening numbers. But, you know, it's so complicated to figure out what, what is an impact to this organization? Nobody's showing up at the games.

Nobody's watching the games. Is it hurting Dan Snyder? You know, I had a conversation with someone yesterday, who I'm not going to name, somebody very close in the organization. There is the possibility. Tommy, that they don't really even understand what's going on outside of Ashburn. The venom from, well, really, it's not venom anymore, the apathy. They see the numbers, but they, they blow them off sometimes. Like, well, of course that's what's going to happen when you're down to your fourth quarterback.

You know, of course that's what's going to happen, you know, when you're coming off a season like last year. You know, they put a lot of this internally on other people. It's other people's faults. Look, you can't look, if I'm sitting here with the owner and I say, you did a 21 rating in your Monday night game against Philadelphia. That would have been a 33, 34, three years ago. you had maybe 40,000, 35,000 in the park on Sunday? I'd say 35,000 in the stadium Sunday, and probably the majority of them were giant fans. I'd say that's fair.

All right, you had a game Sunday in which locally, the television audience watched the other, by the way, I tried to find this from Steinberg. I'm wondering if the Ravens Chiefs, which was head up with the Redskins Eagles, was close to the Redskins Eagles in terms of a local number. You said in the second half, you watched that game more than the Redskins game. Well, the fourth quarter I did. But the Eagles, this isn't a case of people not watching football. They're watching football, but just other football more than Redskins football in your own market. That's a big problem.

It's a big problem. But where's the financial damage to the? owner. You see, his product, the valuation of his franchise keeps going up. They're getting the TV money whether anyone's watching or no one's watching. This is true. Everything you just said is true. It doesn't matter though. You don't, this is more or less about do you have a product that people are moving towards or moving away from? Your 132nd of a television revenue share, you'll always be that. It's a great league for all 32 teams, regardless of where you are. I mean, they could play before empty stadiums and make money. The Redskins are really right now

in terms of their attendance revenue small market, in terms of their television, local television ratings, small market. Really, in terms of the interest level, small market would be the bad way to describe it because Green Bay is a small market and they do 50 ratings, you know, locally. But what you say is true, Tommy, but that's not what these guys are in it for. They're not in it to just sit back and collect the check for the 13-second of TV revenue. They're in it for the ego. They're in it to be the owner of the most popular team in town. I mean, this is why I mean, if they would have invested their money in something else,

if they were interested in just making money. I hope he knows that fewer and fewer. are watching and coming and caring, that's where it is right now. Let's face it. Unless, of course, Josh Johnson comes off the bench and wins two or three, and they go eight and eight and sneak in as a wild card. Dan Snyder would not nearly have as many so-called friends if he didn't own the Washington Redskins.

That's a fact. Yeah, he also wouldn't have nearly the number of enemies he has if he's. didn't own the Washington Redskins. Wind Donation has no enemies. Harley, Aaron, Eric, they listen all the time. Eric's a huge Redskins fan. Been emailing back and forth, depressed right now about the situation. But look, right now, if you've been thinking about new windows,

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Plus, wind donation will pay your heating bill until the new windows are installed. Save today, save tomorrow, save forever. call 86690 Nation or visit windonation.com. That's 86690 Nation or shopwindonation.com. Tell them we told you to call. All right, I want to get to you upsetting Jay Gruden in the press conference on Sunday after the game. Here was Tommy's question to the coach.

Is there a disconnect then between what happens during the week and what happened on the field today? As far as... In terms of preparation. And if there is a disconnect, how do you fix that? I don't know if there's a disconnect or not. We have to check the run fits. Are you talking about defensively or offensively? Everything?

I'm just talking about you said, like, you had a good week. You guys were ready to compete, but it didn't look that way on the field. So there seems to be a disconnect. Yeah, there's a disconnect. We have a quarterback that just got here, and we have two offensive guards. We named starter yesterday. So there is a disconnect there. There's three of our starting 11 guys that just got here a little bit ago.

So there is a disconnect there. We also lost Jordan Reed in the first quarter. There's a major disconnect there. That's four pretty good players or four key players that aren't out there or what have you. All right. So I do want to ask you because I didn't watch it. I just listened to it. Was he?

Yeah, he was irritated. People texting me to say that your boy just really upset Jake. The most irritated I've seen Jay ever in a post game. I've seen him depressed more. I've never seen him. His eyes got bigger. He clearly got more animated. And look, I think I give Jay Gruden a lot of credit because he treats people well.

He handles himself generally with composure in press conferences. A lot of coaches would be far more difficult. So I give him a lot of credit for that. Let me just point out, all I was doing was following up on what Jay Gruden opened the press conference with. Here's what he said at the beginning. when he said that product we put on the field today was not a reflection of the guy's work during the week in practice. Well, that's what I asked him about.

Why wasn't it? Where's what's missing? Right. So I basically was following up on what he said. And he forgot what he said, I guess, or whatever. It touched the nerve. And, you know, I just want to point out two things in my column. The week before, he told everyone not to feel sorry for themselves.

There was a lot of woes me in that answer, you know. And I didn't point out to him, you know, because I figured, well, I just better shut up at this point. But I should have said to him, Jay, those are all offensive players. How do you explain the defense? Right. You know, I mean, everything you talk about are offensive positions. What's the disconnect with the defense then?

But the better part of Valor thought that, you know, I got my question. And no use getting into a confrontation with the coach. but again, I was just following up on what he said. And there is a disconnect. His players say there's a disconnect. At least DJ Sweringer always says so every week between the coaches and the player. There's a disconnect everywhere with this franchise with everything.

Yeah, I mean, I knew exactly what you were trying to answer. I did what you were trying to ask. And, you know, that's, you know, I mean, it's like we always say, After a game like that, it's tough. And I think generally, I agree with you. Generally, he handles himself very well. In fact, better than anybody in the organization in recent years in front of a microphone. As much as I like Mike Shanahan, he would not have been as cordial.

No. Well, he probably wouldn't have been. And he was always very frazzled at times, you know, right when a game ended. Even the Monday press conference, you know, the day after. So again, I wasn't trying to push Jay Gruden's buttons. I was just trying to get at what he said earlier. Well, there are a couple things that happened yesterday. First of all, did you know that the Redskins right now are the most penalized team in the NFL this year?

It doesn't surprise me. He said that. He said that they are the most penalized team in the NFL. It was part of a discussion yesterday where he was, it wasn't woe as me. I wouldn't put it in the woes me category, but he was not up, he was upset with the officiating. And he said,

let me find the actual quote here. Let me point out that you could call false start on Morgan Moses on every play. Boy, he has gotten away with so many false starts. He said, quote, I think when you have a league lead in penalties, I think it alerts the referees before the game and they might watch us a little more closely. I told our guys that today, with that being said,

obviously we've got to do a better job, you know, et cetera. Well, if you've got 15 penalties on Sunday, which I believe I read this is the most ever for a home game for the Redskins. I was going to say, I don't think they are the most penalized scenes I'm looking at it now. Well, he said that. So what are the numbers? I'm seeing third right now as far as total flags against tied for third, Kansas City and Buffalo are flagged more.

Kansas City? Yes. That is interesting. But, you know, if Jay Gruden believes they're getting looked at because they're the most penalized team in the league, well, that means that they're earning those looks. Right. I mean, of course. I mean, if you're a human being and you're calling the game for the team that's the most penalized in the league,

it's going to be your inclination to look for what you expect. You expect them to break the rules. You expect them to have penalties. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. So here are a couple of things. Number one, if you have as many injuries and as much turnover as they have had at key positions offensively, especially at quarterback, it would be a miracle if you weren't flagged for a number of penalties during the game. I'm just defending him here.

It's logical. As football fans, don't you think if you're on your four, quarterback and you're on your seventh guard, pairings of guards on the year, and you've got, you know, wide receivers that are coming and going, don't you think seriously you're more likely to commit a lot of penalties? That's good. You're absolutely right. Great coaching, okay. And on Morgan Moses, I would like to see them coach Morgan up a little bit so he doesn't get two false starts a game and sometimes should be whistled or flagged for three or four. I'd like to see that coached up, but it's really

offensively the last two years for Jay, a disaster in terms of the turnover. Last year, and I said this Tommy, but he also had a starting quarterback playing for him. I thought it was a miracle given all of the injuries that they had along the offensive line on offense in general, that they won seven games. That team was not good enough, really,

with all of those injuries to win seven. This year, with all of the injuries. I said yesterday, I'm not giving them a pass anymore because remember, I'm not giving Bruce and Jay collectively a pass because you knew you had a wide receiver issue in the off season. You knew you had a guard issue in the off season.

You knew you had a cornerback issue in the off season. You knew, and you were taking a chance with your son, Colt McCoy, that if you had to play him, he gets injured. That's the story of his career, is when given the opportunity, he gets injured. You chose not to have a developmental third quarterback on the roster. So I'm not letting them off the hook. But as far as Jay goes in the context of these week-to-week games where you've got this much turnover,

it can't be easy for even Bill Belichick to overcome. No, it's not. It's not. And if he was in his second or third year, I think I'd be more sympathetic. But we've seen enough of a body of work for Jay Gruden to know what kind of coach. he is. I agree. And he's not the coach that you want coaching your team in an NFC title game. Simple as that. An NFC title game. Well, I mean, isn't that the point? Well, I guess it is the point. But my God, if they made the NFC title game, I mean, they'd build a statue to him at this point outside the stadium. I mean,

a playoff win would be a discussion about a statue for Jay Gruden. Yeah, I think we've seen enough about Jay Gruden to know what he is. And we hear the players now on a weekly basis calling in the question, you know, the intensity of the way they practice. And, you know, all that said, all that said, I'm not firing. I don't want, if I'm a Redskins fan, I don't want Jay Gruden fired because I know this, this is like Armageddon, end of the world, gloom in the world. gloom and doom, but it really isn't

matter who's going to coach his team. I know. You've said that. But it doesn't. And particularly next year, do you think this year is a disaster? Next year is going to be such a train wreck. And do you want to bring in a new coach to run that train wreck? Or just keep the guy who's at least most of the time, unless I'm asking him a question, a nice guy to have around.

You know, a lot of fun. I mean, he's a likable guy. He is. So if it doesn't matter who's coaching, why not keep Jay around? He's fun. You know, I've heard that and I've been involved in conversations the last few days with people who say, who cares if Bruce leaves and Jay leaves and they bring in somebody else? It's never going to change because of the ownership. And I believe that. Well, then what's the point here? Well, yeah. What are we talking about? Yes. Yes, Kevin. What's the point? That's what I mean. The asteroid is heading to Earth and there's no spaceship. to try to knock it away.

Kevin, there's no Santa Claus. I get that. I guess if you still are like me, where you still hope that one day they figured out, then you're hoping, and I mentioned this yesterday, you're hoping for an epiphany that the owner has. Actually, you know what you're hoping for and you have a better chance? An indictment.

Against him? Yes, for something. anything. I mean, come on. Come on. There's got to be something under the world that we can. Can you imagine if he decided to sell the team? Well, he's not. The joy in the streets. Oh, my gosh. The celebration. He's not going to sell it. I've lived through this as a fan. Baltimore. No, with the New York Mets. When the New York Mets, after they traded Tom Seaver in 1977, I mean, they became. Your favorite athlete of all time. I mean, the owner, Donald M. Grant, M. Donald Grant, actually, was his name, became so hated and so despised that. One thing, that was it for me as a Mets fan, and I swore I would stay away until he sold the team. And they eventually did to Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon. And there was literally joy in the streets of New York when that happened.

Now people hate Fred Wilpon, the Mets, the only Mets owner left from that duo. But yes, there would be massive celebration, and it would sell for a lot. But he's not going to sell a team because it's who he is. Again, who's going to hang out with Dan Snyder if he's not the Redskins owner? Come on. Who's hanging out with him now? I mean, who's hanging out with him now. No, he's on it.

You know who's hanging out with him now. Well, actually, I do know who's hanging out with him. Yes. But you don't even, I don't even think you know who hangs out with him. when he's out of the country more times than not on his yacht with a lot of famous people. Those are the people that he hangs with. I see a lot of these people at FedEx Field walking to his box on Sundays. You know, by the way, back to your mention of valuation.

You're right. Any NFL franchise that comes available is going to, it's supply and demand, and there's so much wealth and people, you know, this is the kind of person. that you just can't write a check for. There's got to be one available. Yes. And when there is one available, the amount that will be spent on them is beyond belief. I mean, the Redskins' latest Forbes valuation, which just guesstimates what it would be worth based on certain metrics and certain multiples, but really doesn't take into consideration if it was actually put on the market, says it's worth in the $3 billion range.

three to four billion dollar range. What did the Panthers sell for? I think they sold for about a little more than two billion dollars. The Redskins would be a north of four billion dollar purchase. It would be the number one purchase all time if he decided to sell the team in sports. And one of the reasons, by the way, it would be the opportunity to resurrect a franchise that is essentially dead, done. I mean, what an opportunity for a billionaire who wants into the NFL. to look at the three Lombardi trophies and then understand what's happened here the last 20 years

and say, don't worry, I'm going to make it better. I mean, it would be a huge opportunity with a new stadium and the whole thing, which we're going to get to here shortly. But that's not going to happen. But valuation doesn't say anything about what kind of franchise you are. This is the other point I wanted to make on that, because I think this is where you've been heading over the years or in recent years. You know, there may be a moment. There may be a moment, and it could be coming soon, where you may be selling high because of what many people you included believe the future of football is. So I don't know when that point is.

I mean, right now you're going to get the biggest number that you'd ever get. Is that the case 10 years from now? Will the number will continue to appreciate? That's a good point. You don't know. I mean, look, we've seen institutions in this. country. At one point, boxing. No, I'm just institutions, not just sports. Sears was bigger than the government at one point. Now they're closing stores left and right. I mean, it might take years,

but everything changes. I mean, you know, you're on the top of the mountain and everything seems to, you know, at some point things change. So you're right. There will be a point where you'll be selling high. And it won't just continuously keep going up. I don't know. if we're near there or not. I don't feel like we're near there. Look at the season. I mean, NFL is, when people talk about diminished ratings in the NFL, they still are much higher than anything else on television. And this year, I don't even know where they are right now. I can just tell you that this season has been wildly entertaining, if not at times very frustrating, you know, the officiating over the weekend in the Dallas-Philadelphia game, the blown call.

last night in the game. That gets frustrating, but God, I mean, we're heading into that stretch a year. I mean, this Sunday, 425, Pittsburgh, New England, you know, Sunday night Eagles Rams, doesn't look as attractive as it did. You know, you've got St. Steelers coming up in two weeks. You've got Chargers Chiefs on Thursday night. This is the time of the year with the cold weather. I just, I don't see the values of these franchises hitting their highs anytime soon. I don't even know if it'll be in my lifetime, but it probably will. I think it'll be in our lifetime. Yours or mine?

Mine. What kind of answer is that? What kind of answer is that, buddy? I wanted to mention one other thing real quickly, and that is that Reggie McKenzie was fired yesterday in Oakland. Yeah. And the rumors are that Bruce Allen will be on the short list for John Gruden in Oakland to bring him in. I'm just telling you what I'm hearing. I'm hearing that will not happen.

I'm with all of you. I would be very excited if it did happen. But I don't know that John Gruden wants Bruce Allen. I think he wants somebody that is a true football personnel evaluator. I think more than anything else to work side by side with John Gruden, who wants to be involved heavily in personnel as well. You know, look, I don't think, unlike you, I don't think no matter what Bruce Allen is going anywhere. I disagree.

Bruce Allen, you know what my position is that it's over for Bruce and Jay. Right. I do believe that. And I believe just the opposite. And I know Bruce is still very, very much involved in the stadium negotiations and discussion. It's still the point man for that. And for him to depart would set that back. I know Brian Lafamina is supposedly, quote, involved.

But I know the guys that involved in this, who they talk to, and they talk to Bruce. Okay. That's a possibility. It doesn't mean that he couldn't continue in that role until completed, but simultaneously, the organization brings somebody in to head up football operations and potentially even be, you know, I don't care. I don't even care what the title is. So that would have to be over Bruce's head.

Because if Bruce is told you need to hire a general manager, he'll do what he did the last time and hire a guy that he knows will fail. We'll see. You may be right. You may be right. I just don't understand how you would get to perhaps an all-time rock bottom, which if we're not there today after Sunday's 40 to 16 loss, a game in which they trailed 40 to nothing at home.

Against a team with eight losses. Right. I don't know how you sell that another season, but you're not the only person that thinks that he's coming back and so is Jay. And there's money involved with Jay that they'd owe him because of the contract extension that Bruce gave him and all sorts of things. I do want to get to the stadium and Liz Clark's story from over the weekend on the stadium. And some of the subsequent stories that have been written. We'll get to that in a moment real quickly on Ferris, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fairfax. Holiday time. And it's, also inventory clearing time at Ferris. If you are thinking about something new, now is the time to take advantage of it. And I would ask that you give Ferris a shot. They're great Ralph Perkins, Kevin Ferris, some of the smartest guys in the business, talk to Ralph over the weekend, best rebates of the year. And they're trying to move all of their inventory off the lot so that they can bring in new shipments on January 1. That means a huge deal opportunity for you. specifically right now, Ralph said that you're not going to get a better deal any time of the year at any other dealership than you're going to get at Ferris right now on the Jeep Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, and Ram Pickups.

Right now you will get the deal of the year. If you walk in there, you know, they're right there in Fairfax Circle, Heart of Fairfax. Ask for Ralph Perkins. Tell him that I told you to come out there. He's going to put you in touch with their best salesperson and you are going to get a family. deal. You're going to get one of the best deals of the year. To see everything they've got in stock right now, live inventory, live pricing, just go to ferrish cars.com. So, the story over the weekend that Liz Clark and Mike Debonis wrote in the Washington Post, I'll try to shorten it up here and

give you the bullet points. The first paragraph reads, Daniel Snyder is getting help from district officials, congressional Republicans, and the Trump administration as he tries to clear a major roadblock to building a new 60,000 seat stadium on the site of RFK Stadium. The team has been working in concert with local and federal officials to insert a stadium provision into the massive spending bill that the Republican-controlled Congress is rushing to complete this month. The provision could pave the way for the NFL stadium at the RFK site along with commercial development. There's a ton in this story. I'm going to give you a couple of highlights and then you react.

First of all, for those that didn't know, Dan Snyder is a huge Republican donor. He was a huge Trump donor. He wants and is expecting help from this Republican administration and needs it before it goes Democratic here shortly, which means he's got to get this thing done by the end of the month. those that don't know, the land is owned by the Department of Interior. Now, there is a lease on that land that the city controls. There are vocal opponents to this, some on the D.C. Council,

who want that land used in a way that would benefit a broader group of residents in the District of Columbia. There's also a simultaneous part of this story that I didn't know, and perhaps it had been reported before, that Maryland governor, Larry Hogan, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maryland Interior Department to give the state control over the federal land near the MGM National Harbor. Hogan's vision is to offer that site to Dan Snyder for the new stadium.

Now, the RFK site is a bit tricky. They've got to get this provision in. They've got to take advantage of a Republican House a Republican administration, the city controls the land through 2038 under a National Park Service lease. And that lease says it's got to be used for stadium purposes, recreational facilities, open space, public outdoor recreation opportunities, but no commercial development. Well, that's a deal breaker because the city should want, and Dan Snyder wants this piece of land to become a booming, vibrant commercial district

so that, you know, it's not just a stadium that's used 10 times a year. Yeah, but football stadiums don't do that generally. Football stadiums generally don't do that. The idea is, and this has been the district plan all along, to offer the commercial development to Dan Snyder along the river in return for him paying to build a stadium. I think, though,

the commercial development around the stadium, Tommy, in some way insulates the entire project from people who want to criticize it as a 10-day-a-year venue. I know what you're saying. I think most people can recognize in this business that a football stadium is not a baseball stadium where you play 81 times a year

or a basketball arena or a hockey basketball arena where you have games, you know, 80-some times. year. They recognize that. But it would be an interesting area of town anyway, which is already changed so significantly since the last time it was played. So the commercial, you know, could benefit year round potentially and, you know, increased jobs, et cetera. I wanted to mention two other things real quickly. Muriel Bowser, the mayor currently right now, she's got this initiative to position Washington as a sports capital. I think this is important to her right now.

I think this could be a huge achievement for her if they get the team back into D.C. I will just say this and then have at it. D.C. is a must. It's a must. The Maryland location is a loser, in my view. By the way, this story also indicates that Virginia appears to be fading.

as a possibility. Which is not a surprise to me. But you can't put this thing 20 minutes further than FedEx Field for the majority of the fans that you have lost over the years that reside in Montgomery County and Fairfax County and Loudoun County. If you do that, they ain't coming. That's my view. This has to end up in D.C.

There's a real risk, a real risk of the Washington Redskins in the future being, I mean, already they're not what they were. I understand that. But being really irrelevant, I think this stadium downtown is so important to the future of this franchise. Okay. First of all, what this bill does and people kind of overreacted to the bill,

all the bill does, well, not all the bill does, but the primary purpose of the bill is to put the city in the race. That's right. It does not mean the stadiums that the Redskins are going to move there. All it means is for the district to be in the hunt for the Redskins Stadium, they need to get this done or else they're going to have to put up money to build a stadium for the team, which they don't want to do. What are you saying?

Are you saying that all this is doing is giving Dan Snyder the option? It's given the city a chance to be in the hunt. I know, but I think if this gets done, it's more than just in the hunt. think then it's an aggressive move to get it done. I think, look, I don't think this is just to create another option for the owner. Oh, I think ultimately it is. I think ultimately you want as many bidders as possible. Of course you do.

Well, and the district is not a realistic bidder. Everybody knows if Snyder has to build a stadium. Now, I'm betting Snyder probably in his heart wants to be the hero and put the stadium in the district. and it would be a huge public relations boom for the Redskins to be able to move to the city, back into the city. That said, I still think it's going next to the MGM. I don't know why you think it's more difficult to get there than it would be FedEx Field.

I think it's easier for those people. No, if you're coming from Montgomery County, or Fairfax or Loudon County, you are driving, if you're taking the beltway and you're not going to, through town, which could be a nightmare too, it's 20 minutes further around that part of the beltway in PG County. How where? Yeah. From Pete from Montgomery County.

If you go Virginia way, it's still going to be a 40 minute, 45 minute commute. It's closer. It's closer than FedEx field. It depends on where you are in Montgomery County. In Montgomery County, I'm, I'm forgetting about that. I'm talking about Virginia. It's a, it's an easier access for Virginia residents than FedEx. field is. You're in Maryland

for 10 seconds. Here's what I would. I'd like to see the comparison. You may be right from certain areas in Fairfax County. Obviously, you're going to go the other way around the Beltway. You're going to go to Virginia way around the Beltway. And also, look, the NFL

is going to do business particularly with the MGM. I mean, there have been a number of teams that have already made marketing deals with the MGM, the Jets among them. There's going to be a casino right next to the stadium at RFK to eventually, Tommy, in a big sports book. That's true. You're right. You're going to have the same opportunity there.

You're right. In fact, I think that's part of why Jack Evans is pushing for the sports betting bill in D.C. One of the reasons why Virginia is not going to get the stadium. They don't even have a casino gambling, let alone sports betting. So that's another reason. But I still think, and as far as the reporting of this, I think that's the first time this has been reported anywhere. It was buried in the post story, but that was a significant thing that no one else has written. What the Hogan piece?

The Hogan piece. I still think that's where it's going to wind up. Look, you may be right, and I may be overreacting, and I may be overreacting because I'm predisposed to nostalgic thought. And I think that for me, and it's a personal thing, I know that if the stadium is at RFK, I live in close Montgomery County, nearly on the D.C. line. My next move, I would prefer to be in town than versus out of town.

I fully expect that within the next five years in my life, I will probably live in the city. And I would prefer to be able to jump on the metro or jump in my car and be there in 20 minutes or 15 minutes and have a full day. you know, brunch before a one o'clock game, lots of beers and lunch before a 425 game or evening game. And we've seen what this city has become, whether it's Logan, Shaw, Columbia Heights, City Center, Chinatown. The RFK area could become another thriving, booming year-round area, you know, area, a nightlife area. And I like that. I want that. Let me also just tell you one of the things I've been thinking about over the last few months as it relates to people that aren't going to games anymore.

And I know this applies to an older demographic age-wise than perhaps a younger demographic. With all of the tradition of an outdoor stadium in D.C. and played on grass. And I love that tradition about the Redskins. All of these traditions, though, they're getting to the point where they're so far in the rear view. Like, I think he's got to build a stadium that has a roof on it. Certainly a retractable roof on it. That, that changes the number of events you can do that. Absolutely changes the number of events. You could get Final Fours there. Yes, you could. You could get regionals there. You could get bowl games, you know, a big bowl game there. But you know who wouldn't like that? Baltimore?

Ted. Ted. Ted Leoneses would not like that. Well, he's got the, I didn't even realize this, Aaron, did you know that the Capital One is the Eastern Regional this year, the Sweet 16 and the elite date? I did know that. But I've gotten to the point where I just think they're going to have a much better chance on a 30-degree day like Sunday to get not that game with the fourth quarter, third and fourth quarterback, et cetera, but like a reasonable game. You're just going to have the opportunity to get more people that will. It's fewer roadblocks put up to getting you to the stadium. Let me throw a little bit of crazy into this, and I know you're going to look at me like I have two heads.

That wouldn't be unusual. When I bring this up, because when I brought it up to Jack Evans, the DC councilman, who's basically the point man on all this, he acted like I had two heads as well. I don't think an XFL team coming to the city is helping them at all with this. I think it's a problem. A big problem, no, but a little problem. Hell so.

when it's going to become really popular. Well, first of all, if the Redskins continue to be the disaster that they are, any alternative will look good to fans. But the point is, if you're in the restaurant business and somebody's trying to convince you to move to their neighborhood where you'll be the only restaurant, the only restaurant in the neighborhood,

but then all of a sudden a small restaurant, that, you know, that doesn't even exist yet is going to move into the same neighborhood. And now you've got competition for food. I mean, you know, who needs that heavy lifting? Plus, Vince McMahon. You really think it's competition? It's not going to exist by the time they move the stadium. The XFL.

Okay, that may be. I mean, look, I think starting a football league is like starting a tobacco farm in Virginia, you know, in this day and age. I think it's ridiculous. But he's Vince McMahon. He's putting up $500 million of its own money. When does this thing start? 2020. And, you know, he's not starting it to be a feeder league for the NFL.

And, I mean, he's basically come out and said, we're going to be everything the NFL isn't. If he can pull this off, I'm highly suspicious. My point is that if it's a horse race between the district, and Maryland, they just added a few more pounds to their ride. And I know, look it, I'm the only one who's saying this, but I still feel good about my instincts. Jack Evans, now you know how I feel a lot of the time.

If you haven't rated this show, you have to subscribe to be able to rate it. Subscribing means nothing. You don't have to pay. You don't have to give information. But if you're getting it through Apple Podcasts or iTunes, just become a subscriber and rate it. It helps us out. Also for those that don't know about it yet and want to listen to us, just tell them to go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com if they don't know how to do it the other way, the normal way. I want to get to coaching blunders here in a moment. There are a couple of other things that I had on my list here for you, Tom. First of all, a couple of things going back to the Monday night game. Get Jeff Triplett the hell off television, please. Good God, he is worse on television than he was as a referee.

And I don't even know if that's possible, but he inspires no confidence. You know, it's funny, there are, Mike Pereira has been really good at this over the years, being the, you know, the former official, head of officiating on television, helping the broadcast crew through these replays and challenges, etc. He has confidence, he knows the rulebook, and he usually has, pretty strong opinion one way or the other and if he thinks they got it wrong he'll say they got it wrong well last night on this block field goal um that was clearly a penalty and and called but then picked up they went to triplet who had no opinion really couldn't really communicate and at one point

tessitore just says and so so what where do you come down in this jeff i'm paraphrasing and then you never heard from them until they came back off of a commercial But I actually think that Gene Stereator, who was a really good NFL referee and college football, a college basketball referee for so many years and does it for NBC, Sunday night football, is doing a really good job. And I think the guy Terry McCauley is doing a pretty good job too, but oh my God, Jeff Triplett, just horrific. I mentioned this on the podcast yesterday, and I got a lot of feedback from a lot of you,

and I wanted to explain it a little bit further. I said yesterday that, and I've said it since they went to this rule, that shortening the overtime period to 10 minutes from 15 minutes was just a terrible idea. I mean, first of all, at the time I went through all of the games that went beyond 10 minutes. You're talking about an insignificant number of games that ended up with a very insignificant, insignificant incremental or increase in numbers of plays. Like this being done for safety reasons was a massive reach. There wasn't really going to be much impact.

But what you put yourself into position for is what nearly happened two times on Sunday in the Kansas City Baltimore overtime game and in the Dallas-Philadelphia overtime game, where the team that got the ball first ate up so much of the clock on a long drive that in Kansas City's case, they did end up being forced to kick a field goal, but it left Baltimore with not enough time to drive the football for a win the way they want to drive it. With Lamar Jackson, they're not quick strike. You know, it's a grind-it-out, make first downs, you know, six-seven-minute, five, six-seven-minute drive to win the game. They were really put into a position where tying the game,

was really going to be the only option given how much time was left when they took over. It was three in change left. Dallas was in a spot where if they had not scored on the touchdown, but instead it made a first down in that particular situation at the end, they were in position to nearly run the clock out, not completely, with a field goal that would have left Philadelphia with under 40 seconds left to go tie the game with really no chance of winning the game at that point. You have to increase.

You've got to go back to an NFL overtime rule of 15 minutes a full quarter. You've got to give, I love the rule. I didn't like it at the time. I like sudden death, but I have come around. I love giving the other team if they get a stop, if they stop them from scoring a touchdown. I love giving them the chance of having the football. But you've got to give them the chance of having the football

with enough time. Not every game, not every overtime game works this way. Sometimes there's a punt early and then the other team gets it and now both teams have touched it. But Dallas was in a position where if Tommy they had kicked a field goal with say 40 seconds left in the game and Philadelphia had no timeouts left, that would have been the one where everybody would have said, whoa, that's not fair. That's not fair that Dallas just, and somebody would have said, well, just stop them then. But that's not the point of overtime. The point of of the new rule is if you hold them to a fuel goal, you get a shot. Right.

If you were going to just say, just stop them then, then go back to sudden death. Yeah, just go back to sudden death. Yeah. So I wanted to mention that. I've got some coaching blunders coming up here. But I also wanted to ask you about Bryce Harper

and the news that Bryce Harper you know, the Mark Lerner stuff that he broke on JFK the other day about, you know, that was their best offer. They're not coming back to it. That was a little bit surprising that he did that. Why? Well, because basically he basically said that they're done. You know, I don't believe that.

And Mike Rizzo, you know, it's funny because I think in part that Mark Lerner felt the need to do that, because Mike Rizzo had said in an interview with somebody earlier in the week or at some point that, you know, I think it was right around the Corbyn signing, that basically to sign Bryce Harper now would be an ownership decision. He basically put it on them. He basically said, you know, I have a payroll. I have to work with. If Bryce Harper is signed, that's going to be above and beyond and that's going to be an ownership decision. Maybe that's why Mark Mark Lerner felt the need. to say that, well, if it's our decision, we're not going to spend any more than what we've offered. Now, what was funny, well, not funny, but interesting dynamic is Scott Bores basically slapped Mark Lerner down to reporters yesterday at the winter meetings by saying, A, he doesn't believe it, and B, I usually deal with his father. Really? Yes. Yeah.

He says, I usually deal. deal with Ted. So, and Mark, you know, took over as the head of the team about a year ago. And Boris is right. He usually does deal with Ted Lerner. I mean, he makes a trip every winter to Ted Lerner's Palm Springs, California winter home and usually comes away with a deal that helps one of his clients. And, you know, so Boris is right.

He usually does deal with Ted, but that was a bit of an insult to Mark Lurne. And I'll be curious to see how that dynamic, but, you know, it's almost like feuding sons because, I mean, in a way, Boris is like one of the learners, one of Ted Lerner's adopted sons, like Jim Bellin used to be. But they cut Bowden loose. But the father and son are close, though. They don't feud. No, they don't feud. Yeah. They don't feud.

You're just saying Boris is like another son. Yeah. Yeah, so maybe this is a family thing. But he's right. He usually deals with Ted. And this is what Boris doesn't deal with general managers and with contracts like this. His reputation is to go around the general manager and convince the owner. I'm sure that's what he's doing in Philly, where you've got an owner there with money burning a hole in his pocket.

He's not going to be able to do that with the Dodgers because Stan Kasten, although Stan Kasten is one of the, owners. But Stan Kasten won't let him do that. I do think that Bryce Harper is still going to wind up in L.A. with the Dodgers at some point. But I think look, I think it's entirely

possible. Let's say if Bryce Harper gets a deal that's maybe $350 million that Boris goes back to Ted Lerner and say, really? You're

you're not going to keep them for another $50 million, you know, so. So you're not discounting it as, I'm not discounting it has happened. But again, my money is still on the Dodgers. Boy, it would make Mark look bad, wouldn't it, if they ended up doing a deal? Or would it just make them look like he was negotiating? I guess you could also position it that way. You could position it that way.

And people would be pretty much so happy at that point that they could figure it out that way. But then the Nats would have to, look, the NACs would have to. Look, the Nats have a power problem. They could have a good hitting lineup. They will have a good hitting lineup. And they could have maybe five or six guys with maybe 20 home runs apiece. But they don't have a big bat in that lineup without Bryce now. That doesn't mean they can't win, but they don't have the feared bad anymore.

Anthony Rendon is a great hitter, but he's not a 35-e-home-old. home run a year guy. I mean, he's 25, 26, 27 home runs. And like I said, Trey Turner could have over 20. Ryan Zimmerman could have over 20. Soto, Roebace. They could have, again, a half a dozen guys with 25 home runs. But it's, they're going to have a power vacuum. So they're going to need good pitching. All right. Let's finish up the show with some coaching blunders. Bad play calls. Clock management gaps. opportunities. It's Coach Sheehan's blunders of the week.

All right, first of all, before we get to that, the smell test, another winning weekend, seven, three, and one, even though I lost with the Vikings last night. Now, 96, 71, and four overall, Tommy, approaching 58% on the year. You know, that's not great, but it's far from... It's making money. It's making money. There were several coaching blunders on a weekend in which you only had one college game, but there were a lot of blunders. in that game. Poor Navy. I mean, I, Navy had, poor, Army, first of all, had a chance to basically run a lot more clock at the end of the game, but they were snapping the ball with 15 seconds left on the play clock with a, with the lead at 10-7. Navy killed the clock twice. You know, when you see teams run up to the line of scrimmage after a big incompletion and they're saying, you know, everybody gets said, everybody, I'm going to kill the clock.

usually that happens in the final, you know, 30 seconds of the game. It rarely happens with a minute 20 left in the game, which is what Navy was doing. Look, they had the other quarterback, their backup quarterback in there. He had come in, and maybe it was more or less that he had to really get plays called and couldn't, you know, call something at the line of scrimmage. That may be the reason. But you don't kill the clock after a first down with a minute 20 left in the game. Don't do that.

That's a lot of time left in the game. The down in that particular instance is much more important than the time is. It was great that they got in field goal range, though, for the field goal that ended up pushing the plus seven number. The biggest bungling of coaching clock management, game management was Mike Tomlin at the end of the Steelers' Raiders game. Tomlin is really one of the worst at this. always has been. It drives Steeler fans nuts. But in a game in which they had taken the lead, he inserted Ben Ralthusberger back into the game

after having them out for three consecutive drives because I guess they thought they would just beat the Raiders. Well, the Raiders had taken the lead 17-14, then Rathlisberger down the field, and they take the lead 21-17, and Oakland takes over with just under three minutes to go, trailing 21-17. They got into a first and goal

at the Pittsburgh 7-yard line with a minute 20 left. Pittsburgh had two timeouts left. It's at that point where you have to prepare for the worst as a head coach. If you let that clock roll and they score, you're not going to have enough time left. Now, let me jump to they ended up having enough time to get into field goal range and Boswell missed the field goal. They had to run a trick play, a hook in lateral.

to get into field goal range because they took over with just 15 seconds left in the game, when they should have had a minute left in the game or more had they used their timeouts. But Tomlin just let the clock continue to roll. And there were a couple of incompletions in there that really saved him because it wasn't an actual walkoff win, but it was a near walkoff win. Fourth and goal, they threw the touchdown pass. Derek Carr did, did Derek Carrier, former Redskin tight end. for the go-ahead touchdown pass with 21 seconds left.

I mean, with 15 seconds left in the game. Do you think Tomlin is thinking that he's going to help Oakland by calling timeouts there, giving them a chance to set up the play? I'm sure that's what he's thinking, but it's incorrect thinking because Oakland's got timeouts. You're right. And Oakland first and goal at the Pittsburgh 7, with a minute 16 left in the game, here's what you have to understand as a coach in that situation. That team, Oakland, is not going to run out of time.

You're going to run out of time if they score. If you don't manage the clock on defense with timeouts, you're going to put yourself into a position where you don't have enough time to score. And you can control how much time you have in that spot. Because look, even if they fail on fourth down and you used your timeouts, and there's a minute left in the game. Wouldn't you rather have that situation with the lead at your own six-yard line with a minute left in the game and maybe having to get a first down?

In that particular situation, I think Oakland only had one time out, so they actually would have been able to need the game out anyway. But wouldn't you rather have that than getting the ball back like they did with 15 seconds needing to get in field goal range? Of course you would. Which they miraculously did. But imagine if they had had over a minute left, that may have been enough time for Ben to take him down the field and score touchdown.

Yeah. No, you're right. It was terrible clock management on the part of Mike Tomlin. And again, they did with the hook and lateral play, which went for 43 yards and ended with five seconds left on the clock. They ended up getting into range for a field goal. But they should have had a minute plus instead of the 15 seconds to start that final drive. Lastly, I think I mentioned this on the Sunday night Monday show, Aaron, what Tom Brady did at the end of the first half in the New England Miami game. He lost track of how many timeouts his team had.

Look, I put that on the coaching. I guess you get to the point where it's Tom Brady, and you're like, Tom knows that we don't have any timeouts left before this play, and he can't take a sack because we've got a field goal opportunity. It was the end of the first half, Tommy. New England's down at the Miami two-yard line, all right, 15 seconds left before the final snap, but they don't have any timeouts left. So you got to unload the ball, right?

You can't take a sack. That's what prevents you from kicking a field goal. You've got to throw the ball somewhere into the end zone or out of the end zone and then send your field goal team out. He took the sack and afterwards said, I lost track. I thought we had one time out left. And they didn't, and the clock ran out on them. And, you know, that's one of those questions that you don't have to really talk about much or situations in New England. You know, in New England, you rarely have these things to complain about with your team, with Belichick and with Brady.

Yeah, but like Belichick said, it's not like anybody died. Pretty much is what he said. But that was more or less after the final play of the game. But it would be interesting if you're in, you know, if you're in Boston, you're like, Come on, Belichick's got to tell Brady. Really? He's got to tell Brady. He's got one more timeout. He doesn't have any timeouts left? I guess you should.

Anyway, those are the coaching blunders of the week. I didn't mention the Wizards because I'm just not going to anymore. That's good. I mean, what's the point? I did stay up and watch the Dwayne Wade-Lebron ending last night. It's actually pretty cool. They had a chance Miami did to tie it. It's the last game, I guess, LeBron and Dwayne.

Wayne Wade will play. And God, I mean, the love between the two of them is, is, you know what, it's genuine. It is absolutely genuine. There's so much phony in LeBron sometimes, but this was more about, you know, Dwayne Wade being moved by the moment at the end last night. It was pretty cool. Yeah, the Wizards lost. They were down by 25 and came all the way back, cut it to one, but they lost the game because they stank and John Wall didn't play. You got anything else for me? Are we going to talk about HBO boxing? Oh, yeah, Final Night. Did you see, you saw the sign-off with Lampley in the montage, the 10-minute-plus video thing that they did?

Yes. I loved it. Yeah, it was very good. It was very good. Max Kellerman is a boo. I know you can't stand it. He's an idiot. You don't think he's good on that broadcast?

No, he's an idiot. He's terrible. He's a cable access guy who was in the right place at the right time. Was Larry? Was Larry Merchant? Were you a fan of Larry? Yes, absolutely. You were a fan of Larry Merchant?

I was a fan of Larry Merchant as a sports columnist before he ever started doing boxing with HBO. He was a sports columnist with the New York Post and the Philadelphia Daily News. Well, I mean, I remember Larry Merchant. Larry Merchant, obviously most people are going to remember Larry Merchant as the guy side by side with Jim Lampley for all of the years in HBO boxing. And, you know, Roy Jones Jr. And before that, you know, all the different other boxers they've had, Shirley Leonard. I think the trio of Lampley Merchant and George Foreman was the best. That was phenomenal.

But Merchant did a lot of other things. Merchant was always a big part of Wimbledon's coverage for HBO. The NFL coverage on HBO. I mean, I remember Larry Merchant doing a lot of things. Of course. He's a smart guy. Of course. Tough guy too.

Oh, and this is part of the video montage when he basically tells Floyd Mayweather, Mayweather Jr. If I was 50 years younger, I'd kick your ass. I'll tell you why. He's not kidding about trying. Oh, I bet. You can see that in him. I am a massive Lampley fan. And you know that you and I probably had him on the show three or four times. Yes. And I think he was, you know, he's top five of my favorite people to talk to an interview in the format that we were in. I just think that there's been nobody better than Lampley over the years. He was really choked up as he delivered his final thing. Man, HBO, boxing on HBO is a given for 45 years.

I know. I know. It helped put the network on the map in its early days. But like I said, I mean, in a way, we shouldn't, I mean, look, it's what I identified with for a lot of years. and when I started covering sports in 92 and covering boxing, you know, I covered so many HBO fights and got to know so many people at HBO.

That said, boxing, people, some people can make the case that boxing took a step back when it went on pay TV. And now you're going to see more on ESPN, which is still not quite not. You got to deal with Tessator. I know, but you're going to have more boxing available on more network and,

and regular cable TV than you ever did. You just expressed nostalgia for a time that most people don't remember. Friday night fights, free boxing on TV. I can remember most of my lifetime, any big fight. I mean, I can remember as a very young person going to the Capitol Center to watch on closed circuit, you know, all of the big fights, and then obviously pay-per-view over the years. Why world of sports?

There was usually something. Larry Holmes defended his title so many times. on wide world of sports. But many times, Tommy, it was on the wide world of sports a week after it actually aired on closed circuit. No, I'm live, live. Some of it was live and some of it was a week after the fact. Some of it was live and some of it was a week after the fact.

But we shouldn't, we shouldn't bemoan the fact that boxing will be more accessible now to more people. In the end, I think it's a good thing. By the way, I might want to point out to anybody, and you can find this on, on, YouTube. One of the things HBO did over the years, they did a series called Legendary Nights. Yeah, it was great. It was a great series. I'm in two of them. I'm interviewed in the Bo Galada legendary nights and also the Bo Holofield Legendary Nights. So I'm in two of them. Well, Bo Galada is one of the all-time great brawls in the ring. I mean, complete and

utter hooligans and thugs and all. of it as Lampley described it in that video. Yeah, and so if you Google legendary nights, if you Google those, I'll show up in that. So that's my HBO legacy. I miss boxing. You know that I was a massive boxing guy, and I loved boxing. My father was so into boxing, but I've just been for 10 years completely tuned out. Will I ever get back into it?

Are there any compelling fighters out there? I mean, are any of these two heavy weights that are going to be? a fight again after the draw. Am I going to want to pay for that fight? You know, people don't know what they're watching anymore. That's part of it. And look, I've never seen Tyson Fury fight, so I can't tell you anything about him. I've seen Wilder fight, and I'm not particularly impressed with him.

He's a puncher. He's not a fighter. I mean, any of the fighters, any of the great heavyweights would have made mincemeat out of them back in the day. So I'm not particularly impressed with either. But apparently they put on a very entertaining fight, and I think the rematch will be a big deal. And you'll probably watch it. I'll probably pay to watch the rematch.

I've paid to watch a lot of these things over the years, even if I didn't have a ton of passion for it, but I just didn't want to miss, you know, Mayweather McGregor or Mayweather Pachial was so after the fact that it was actually so anti-climactic. Well, you better get, you better wind up for Mayweather Pachial too, because if Pachiawether, If Kalyal beats Adrian Broner in their fight coming up in about a month and a half, you'll see Mayweather Pachial too. I'd rather see Marquez Pachial for a fifth time or whatever it would be. Yes, because the last time Marquez fought Pachial, Pachial was face down in the canvas. Faced down in the canvas. And I was a Pachial fan, but for Juan Manuel Marquez, that particular night, I was happy for him.

Happy for him. Now, that said, there were probably enough steroids in that ring for Barry Bonds. to hit another 700 home runs. All right. Have a good day. I'll see you back here on Thursday. Thanks to Aaron. Thanks to all of you.

Enjoy the day.