The Kevin Sheehan Show - Hail (Mary) Washington!

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

Kevin in following one of the most memorable endings in Washington history. Kevin breaks down the 18-15 miracle win over the Bears courtesy of Jayden Daniels' "Hail Mary" throw deflected and caught by Noah Brown for a walk-off touchdown. He provided his "Game-Take" analysis and was also joined by Commanders' TE Zach Ertz from the winning locker room.  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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. So here you go. He's gotten hit throughout the rest of the game. It's hurting the more. And it's going to be getting longer by the second.

You're all the way back at the 30-yard line. Now you can step into it. Here comes the Hail Mary with the game on the line. And the ball is caught. Nansen Romo on the call of one of the most memorable endings in franchise history. That's not an exaggeration. Jaden Daniels, Hail Mary, to beat the Bears during his rookie year in 2024, will be a play that will be remembered forever.

I'm recording this just moments following that play, and Washington's incredible 18 to 15 walk-off win over Chicago. I was just told that Zach Ertz will be jumping on with me here on this podcast from the locker room. You'll hear him in the final segment of the show. A show presented by Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Windonation.com if you need new windows. Ertz was down there on the Hail Mary. It was McCaffrey, Noah Brown, Terry McClorn, and Zach Ertz.

Terry was trailing the play. Noah Brown was obviously behind the play, and McCaffrey and Ertz were going up there to try to tip it. I don't think Ertz got a hand on it. I've watched it twice. It doesn't look like it. It looks like after, by the way, Daniels let that thing go from his own 35 yard lines, 65 yards in the air or so, give or take a yard. The ball was tipped up into the air backwards. I think by number 29, Stevenson, I think he was the only one to get a hand on the ball and standing there behind the defense all by himself, Noah Brown. One of the easiest endings to a Hail Mary play you will ever see. Stevenson, by the way, is the guy who had gotten flagged earlier in the game for trying to poke Sam Cosmy's eye out through the face mask. And Terry then came to Sam Cosmy's defense, and the two of them were kind of jawn back and forth, and then they were jawn back and forth throughout the game. Actually, he had hit Terry pretty late on that play and very hard.

Amazing, right, that nobody was back there with Noah Brown. Isn't the number one rule on defense on that play? Don't let anybody get behind you? Well, the Bears did, and they lost. And here we are. Washington is six and two for the first time since 2008. 16 years since they've been six and two through the first eight games. We don't need to relive what happened in 2008.

My game take coming up, what I liked, what I didn't like, and more. What I didn't like more than anything else is that this game came down to a Hail Mary. This would have been one of the strangest losses in recent memory. It would have also been a real bad loss. Washington dominated the significant majority of this game. The Bears couldn't do anything on offense the entire night until D'Andre Swift ripped off that 56-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter. Caleb Williams had 36 yards passing on four complaints.

with 10 minutes to go in the game. Let me just say that for effect. A starting NFL quarterback who had played the entire game had completed just four passes for 36 yards with 10 minutes to go in the game. Washington's defense, I think, was outstanding. It certainly was one of the better performances of the season. but you also have to say that the opposing quarterback was pretty god-awful for 50 minutes of the game. You know, the film, the tape, the all-22 will tell the tale as to whether or not the bear's offense through nearly three and a half quarters was more stifled by Washington's outstanding defense or if it was a lot about what they weren't doing or what the quarterback wasn't doing specifically.

my gut tells me it was probably a bit of both, but let's be honest with each other. We've all watched a lot of football. I think you'd have to go back a long way to find a quarterback who had played the entire game having just four completions for 36 yards that deep into an NFL game. Man, for me, this game just never seemed in doubt. It just didn't. The offense moved the ball at will in the first half against, you know, a decent Chicago defense, but only led 9-0 at the break. They had three red zone trips on their first four drives, and they kicked field goals. It was kind of like the giant game in week two. Washington outgained Chicago in the first half, 267 to 90, but they had just three field goals to show for it.

And usually you would say, you know, that could come back to haunt them. You know, they should be up by more. But for me, after 30 minutes, it just felt so dominating, so one-sided. Honestly, I couldn't see how the Bears could win the game. When they took the lead with 25 seconds to go, it actually felt a bit like, remember the Monday Night miracle? Of course you do. 2005, Dallas dominating.

all night long. Washington can't do anything offensively, but yet it was only 13 to nothing. And then, and by the way, after showing no life, kind of like tonight with the Bears, they showed no life that entire night. And then all of a sudden, in the final few minutes of the game, Brunel to Santana Moss twice, and they pulled off an all-time stunner. You know, as Washington was building their very modest lead, which of course felt like it should have been much bigger. I mean, the Bears were conducting a punt fest. Six punts in their first seven drives. The only drive they didn't punt on,

they went for a fourth down and got stopped. By the way, that was one of the better defensive plays of the night. And there were several of them. More on all of those coming up in the game take. But a Chicago comeback just never seemed possible until they had actually taken the lead in the game. And that's why this game, in watching it, it felt odd, it felt weird, it felt strange that Chicago had literally come back and sprung to life

and somehow, you know, miraculously took the lead on Washington. By the way, they had two chances to take the lead. You know, they butchered the first shot on that handoff to number, 68, I thought, I mean, even though they actually have a chance now here late in the game, they're just not good enough to take advantage of it on offense. And yet they did. And it would have been a gut-wrenching, you know, bad loss on an evening, you know, that went into nighttime, Jaden Daniels played. You know, that was the thing all week long. Would he or wouldn't he? Well, he did, and he played well.

He looked like Jaden Daniels. There didn't appear to be anything holding him back from playing at the level that we'd seen in the first six games and then, you know, the first drive of last week's game against the Panthers. You know, the fact that he was able to rear back and throw that ball 65 yards in the air from his own 35-yard line, you know, if that had happened early, like we're at the, the end of the first half, that would have answered all the questions, but already most of the questions had been answered. Now, did he miss some things? Yes, he did. Did he make every play that he's been making? No. Chicago defensively, outstanding as a past defense heading into this

game, but he looked like Jaden Daniels to me. And they should have put this game away a lot earlier. And they almost had a bad loss, a weird loss, but they didn't because Jaden Daniels just etched his name into Washington lore. That play will go down truly as one of the most unforgettable finishes in franchise history. We'll do a list at some point, maybe this week, but that's way up there on the list. All right, let's get to my game take next after a few words from our sponsors. So guys, if you're like me and you've basically been buying and wearing the same type of underwear for years, in my case, boxer briefs, same brand, same type for a long time,

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It comes in multiple colors, multiple sizes. Shop skims men's at skims.com. Let them know I sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select my show in the drop-down menu that follows. that skims men's at skims.com, select podcast in the survey, and select My Show, the Kevin Sheehan Show, in the drop-down menu that follows. Pay attention. Here's Kevin's Game Take.

The Game Take brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. And if you're a new customer, MyBooky, will give you a 100% deposit bonus. That means they're doubling your money. Whatever you initially deposit, they're going to double your money. You'll have that in your account to bet with. Take the free money.

If you're a returning customer, MyBooky Plus is a new loyalty rewards program. You'll earn extra cash for just betting. It's what you're going to do anyway. My bookie's got next week's lines up right now. Washington, a three and a half point favorite in the Meadowlands at MetLife against the Giants 1 o'clock Sunday. MyBooky.ag, you have to use my promo code as I've described it, Kevin, D.C. All right, this is kind of a first blush on the game take. If there are any major updates, I'll have it on the show that I put out late tomorrow. Let's start with the list of things that I

liked, and I'll start with the end of the game, all right? And not just the final play, the final two plays of the game. Because the throw with six seconds to go to Terry McClure from their own 35-yard line, a 13-yard out that gets them to the 48, got them in position to throw a Hail Mary. Now, the Bears made a mistake on that one. You got to cover the sidelines on that play. You can get a three-to-four-second play and get in range for that, and Tony Romo was actually calling for it. And anybody that's watched football over the years, you know from the 35-yard line, you're not more likely

than not going to have a quarterback that can get it, not just 65 yards from the line of scrimmage, but more likely 70 to 75 yards from where he sets up to throw it, you've got to get closer. And that 13-yard out to Terry McClureen was a four-second play. It got them to the 48-yard line, and it allowed for the next memorable play. But, you know, if you cover the sidelines there

and you force the ball over the middle, you're basically going to have a situation where you're going to get Washington in pitch mode. You know, and the game's probably going to end. Bad job by the Bears there. Great job by Washington taking advantage of it. I actually thought before the snap, before I saw that they weren't covering the sidelines, I wondered if Jaden could have taken off on kind of a bootleg and gotten, you know, maybe five, ten yards and out of bounds in less.

than six seconds, but they didn't have to do that. They threw it. And then on the Hail Mary, look, the first part of it is this. Jaden does an incredible job of extending the play. That's six plus seconds of him moving right and then coming back left. The Bears rushed three. They had a spy on Jaden who just hung out at the line of scrimmage, but Daniels gave his four receivers a chance to get down there and he got to a spot where he could also move forward. forward and put his body into the throw. And then the second part of that was the throw itself. You know, the throw isn't just a throw that needs to get to the end zone or right

around the goal line. It's got to be a high arcing throw to give your receivers a chance to play jump ball with it. He did it perfectly, perfectly. Ertson McCaffrey were down there. They appeared to have the responsibility of kind of the, you know, going up in the crowd and tipping it or trying to come down with it. Terry was about at the four or five-yard line trailing the play. Noah Brown got behind it.

Echler, by the way, was in the game. He stayed back to pass protect. By the way, I just saw something before recording this on social media. Tyreek Stevenson, number 29. There is video from a fan taken from behind that end zone of Tyreek Stevenson appearing to jaw with fans, mouthing at fans sitting behind the end zone as the play begins. He literally misses five or, you know, the five seconds out of the six seconds that Jaden's running around and then he has to sprint back towards where the action is.

He gets there. He's the one that goes up and tips it instead of batting it. the ball goes backwards, touchdown Noah Brown. I don't know what his responsibility on the play was, but somebody should have been back there with Noah Brown in case it was tipped in that direction and nobody was. That was horrible on Stevenson's part. Man, the dude's mouthing off to fans as the play is already underway.

Jayden's ability to extend and let everybody get down field was huge, and then his throw being super high in the air, traveling the amount of distance required, but the arc on the ball allowed for that jump ball situation. Perfect extension of the play by him, and then a great throw. There was more before those final two plays on some of the decisions that Washington made that I did not love. I'll get to those when I get to the list of things.

that I didn't like. But the final two plays, pretty damn good. Number two on the list of things that I liked. How about just the overall readiness of the team? Dan Quinn and his staff seem to have the attention of this team in a way that we haven't seen around these parts in a long time. They're just, they're alive. You know, winning helps all of that, but what comes first? You know, the winning or the enthusiasm. The team's always energetic, always enthusiastic, always excited on the sideline. Everybody seems to be into the game. They're always flying around with, you know, a level of urgency that sometimes doesn't produce what they want it to produce. You know, but, you know, the old saying that many coaches preach, if you make a mistake, make it going full speed. They're a full speed team.

They're a 100% effort team, both sides of the ball and on special teams. Dan Quinn, remember, all offseason, promised a team that would play this way, regardless of the results. High motor, fast, physical. He's delivered on that so far. And it's not just the effort thing. They appear to have the intellect part down as well, the X's and O's part down. Cliff Kingsbury's offense seems one step ahead of the opponent,

week in and week out. And I thought tonight Joe Witt Jr.'s defense seemed to confuse the other rookie quarterback in this game, Caleb Williams. Dan Quinn, through nearly half of the season at this point, is the frontrunner, certainly one of, but I think probably the frontrunner for NFL coach of the year. Next up on the list of things that I liked, Jaden Daniels. The numbers might say he had, you know, an okay game, although really the numbers say he had at least a good game. I thought he played an outstanding game. His final numbers, 21 of 38, so not the best completion percentage he's ever had, but he threw for 326 yards, and there were drops, three or four of them in the game, and a couple of balls that were catchable, even though

they weren't great throws. He also rushed for 52 yards. He threw for 3,000. He threw for just one touchdown the Hail Mary, he took two sacks, but he probably escaped, evaded another three or four sacks that most quarterbacks would have taken. If you thought that he was going to be protected a bit more in this one because of his injured rib, they didn't appear to call a game that way. You know, early in the game, he keeps it on a reed option run for nine yards. He had several scrambles. He did find his word of the sidelines on many of them, but on a couple of them, he was tackled in the field of play. I didn't think he showed any real ill effects from the injury, and they didn't really call a game, in my opinion, that appeared to really protect him.

He looked good. The plays that I liked from Jaden's game, how about the first third down? They're in the red zone. It was the first field goal of the game. And the first throw that I like is an incompletion. It's where he avoids Montez Sweat, who really made his presence felt in this game. And he throws to McCaffrey in the end zone. Great throw. McCaffrey got just one foot in, so it was incomplete. And Jaden took a pretty big hit. I actually thought it could have been a little bit late on that throw. Second drive. There's a third and eight scramble where he just leaves number 53 Edwards, just like, huh? Like he did. Heaked him so badly, and he picks up nine yards.

He is an absolute electrifying runner in the open field, or wherever he is on the field, in his ability to make people miss. This is one of the things I talked about all offseason leading up to the draft. The comparison to RG3 was a terrible comparison. He has great vision and feel and great wiggle and moves as a runner. it was seen on that one. Same drive. There's another third and nine.

Do you like his deep ball yet? I would hope you do because that 61-yard bomb to Terry was perfect. I thought he got hit on that one a little bit late. No flag, but Chicago was really after him all night. They were testing his physical readiness for this game. Fourth drive, first half. It's a first and ten play action. He's flushed right, then he comes all the way back over to the middle of the

field to find Zach Ertz for 12 yards. Fourth drive still, third and four, the throw that went to Ertz that looked like a touchdown. That's a good throw. Ertz did not maintain it would appear possession of the ball going to the ground, and it was called incomplete. First drive, second half. There's a second and four play action that he throws 20 yards to Ertz.

Man, Kingsbury does seem to skis. team people open, at least a few of them. Jaden really does seem also to be really good in timing off the play action stuff in particular. Still first drive, second half, a third and three. Just doing what he does. Scrambles, tight ropes, reaches the ball out as he's heading out of bounds. First down, move the sticks with another first down scramble. Second drive, second half, facing a second and 14. He scrambles, feels the pressure, scrambles right up the A-gap. You know, they just can't get to him for 13 yards. That's set up, by the way, on 3rd and 1, that touchdown pass to Zekees on a bubble screen that was called back for Cosmi being ineligible downfield. That same drive, it was the next play after the penalty, third and six versus the blitz. He finds Ertz for 7 yards.

Fourth drive of the second half, after the swift touchdown, run that made it 12 to 7. They need a big drive. They need to produce points on this drive. It's second and 10, and he hits Terry sitting in the hole against Chicago's zone defense. 25 yards, move the sticks, but it's more than that because that's the play that Terry takes the big shot from Stevenson. He gets up.

Cosmi comes over to defend Terry. Stevenson sticks his fingers into Cosmy's face mask and gets hit with a 15-yard penalty. Fifth drive. There's a second and seven scramble. This is the one where he skips a little bit to avoid the shoestring tackle. I mean, how good is this guy as a runner in the open field? He didn't get the first down, but he picked up five yards. He is such great feel for where defenders are. And then, of course, you know, the Hail Mary Pass.

You know, the 13-yard or to Terry, but that wasn't covered. That was pitch and catch. And then, you know, as I said, the extension of the play, six to seven seconds, the throw 65 yards up with a big arc giving that play a chance to succeed. Those were some of the good plays, some of the not-so-good plays. Overall, he was high on some throws. That would be the one, I think, worthy critique. He may have missed some things beyond just being high on some throws,

but those are less noticeable the first go-round. You've got to see those kind of after you go- back and watch the game. But there's this, a throw to Terry on the second drive first half that is somewhat catchable, but it's incomplete on the, that was the play before the 61-yard bomb to Terry. Third drive second half, he's high to Ertz on third and seven. That was before the missed field goal. Just looking through my notes, you know, other than a few high throws, he didn't come

close really to throwing a pick that I can remember. Took two sacks, got chased down by sweat on one of those plays. On that naked boots, sweat did a great job. He and Terry seemed to be on a different page on one throw. It looked like Jaden was trying to throw back shoulder and Terry kept running. He had one very early in the game that was thrown behind Zach Ertz, but it was caught by Ertz for, I think, 12 yards. Overall, though, especially when you consider the last play, which he really handled well,

the points weren't there today, but mostly not his fault. He had at least, again, four balls dropped or a combination of balls that were dropped were catchable and weren't. Noah Brown dropped a big one. Ertz could have had that touchdown before the field goal that made it 9 to nothing. first 300-yard passing day, 52-yard rushing. Yeah, lowest completion percentage day for him. I'm going to give him an A.

I mean, the last play, a lot of quarterbacks aren't going to be able to run around for 6 to 7 seconds and then find themselves that little area to move up into the throw and then make the throw the way he threw it. And I think if some of the balls don't get dropped or a couple of other difficult catches are made on somewhat high throws or hot throws. He has an even bigger day, and we're not even talking about a Hail Mary attempt. I don't know, this may be the one A I've given him that I feel like I'm pushing it a little bit,

but, you know, bottom line is, you know, he actually completed a ball that will go down as one of the most unforgettable plays in franchise history. I'm giving him an A. Terry McClarns on the list of things that I like, five catches, 125 yards. Remember when he was averaging like four yards per catch and everybody was alarmed? 25 yards per catch in this game. I think he's up to 14 or 15 yards per catch now for the season. He's having a hell of a season with his first legitimate quarterback that he's played with.

On the play before his 61-yard bomb, the ball was high. I thought he could have caught it, but it wasn't well-thrown. That was one of the high balls that I talked about with Jaden. I loved, you know, his dust up with Stevenson and Cosmy. He was really into it. There's a real, I think, you know, feeling that the players seem to have for one another. I don't know. That's kind of projecting from afar.

He's been really good over what the last five games. He was outstanding again today. Zach Ertz, he's just a big-time target that Jaden loves him. And he's able to get separation as a route runner. He's got to stay healthy. I think he's really, really important to this team. He could have pulled in that touchdown, but he also had a nice catch on that ball early on that was thrown behind him.

Seven catches, 77 yards for Ertz. On the list of things that I liked, I liked the end of the first half. 55 seconds left one time out, their own eight-yard line, up nine-nothing, and getting the ball to start the second half. But you know what? They were in attack mode. They went for it. Got to midfield and decided at the end of the first half when they got to midfield,

not to throw the Hail Mary there. I thought that was interesting. They handed the ball off to Echler. I don't know. Maybe they just wanted to make sure that Jaden didn't take an unnecessary hit at the end of the first half. But they don't mess around, man, with trying to gain possessions and staying aggressive offensively. They're looking to score if scoring is possible, even though they didn't do it there. also on the list of things that I liked.

All right, this is the defense discussion. So the defense for three quarters, almost the entirety of the three quarters, because Swift's touchdown run came late, it was very good. And I want to believe that they have some good players, which I think they do have. And because they have some good players

and the effort is relentless that maybe the combo of those two things can lead to at least an average defense, because with their offense and an average defense, they're going to be a threat in January. They are. Tonight was better than average overall. But look, Chicago, more specifically, Caleb Williams, I mean, they weren't able to throw the forward pass for three quarters of this game, three and a half quarters of this game. Four completed passes for 36 yards with 10 minutes to go in the game.

It's nuts. Look, I think that the defense had something to do with it. They seemed to show Caleb a lot of pre-snap looks, a lot of different pre-snap looks. He looked a combination of confused and maybe even nervous. There were a couple of screens that were disrupted and ended up being negative plays or incomplete plays. I couldn't tell if that was defense or Caleb just not seeing what to do quickly enough, which was weird because a lot of what they've done recently to get him into a rhythm is quick game and screens. He did get out of a bunch of trouble with his legs in that, you know, before the fourth quarter,

we'll get to the fourth quarter and the things that we don't like list, the things that I don't, didn't like from the game list. But he is, you know, a magician sometimes getting out of what appears to be major trouble and making something out of nothing, but throwing the football. Wow. Again, was it because of Washington's defense? Some of it. Was it a lot having to do with Caleb?

Yeah, I think so, for sure. He was really bad for like three and a half quarters, up until about 10 minutes to go in the game. So players that stood out defensively, I thought Newton stood out. I thought Louvre stood out. He always does. I thought Wagner, Mathis, Martin, Payne.

The fourth and one stop on the quick throw to Moore. What a play by St. Juice. That was an excellent play. Louvoo came in and finished it off, but it was really St. Juice that made that tackle and kept that play. That was the one quick screen, quick bubble that he was decisive on on that fourth and one. That was a big time stop. How about the stretch of defense towards?

the end of the first half. When Chicago was down at the Washington 23 with a first and 10. Mathis, I think it was. Maybe Fowler Jr. Stopped Swift for a TFL, probably a minus one, minus two. Then there's quick pressure, and it looks like a sack for Louvo, but Williams somehow escapes that, and then Payne finishes them off out of field goal range. Farrell nearly had a sack and a safety early in the second half.

the defense held Chicago to 107 yards and zero points before that swift 56-yard touchdown run. Now, they had 200 yards and 15 points in the final 15 minutes and 43 seconds of the game. That's not good. So that is kind of quick blush things that I liked. You know, certainly the last, the end of the game, the last two plays in particular, The overall readiness of the team, I give Quinn and his staff a lot of credit there. Jaden's on my list of things that I liked. So is Terry, so is Zach Ertz.

I like how they're aggressive even at the end of the first half, getting the ball up 9-0. 55 seconds to go. Terrible field position. Loved that they just are always in attack mode there. A little bit confused as to why they ran Echler, but I think the Hail Mary opportunity that they put themselves into position for was just something that they, they didn't want to risk with Jaden. And the defense for basically, you know, almost three quarters was outstanding. I mean, I'm not going to say that it wasn't even though that is as bad a throwing performance

you'll see from an offense and from a quarterback. I mean, that was bad. Like he was four for 13 for 36 yards, 10 minutes to go in the game. I mean, this isn't, you know, triple option service academy football. The list of things that I did not like. Let's start with this. Not enough points for the way they move the football. 481 yards of offense and 18 points with the only touchdown coming on the Hail Mary. You know, they still, even if they don't complete that Hail Mary, they end up with 429 yards of offense. There were lots of reasons for the lack of points despite moving the football.

The Red Zone, 0 for 3. You know, the first one ended. with that near touchdown pass to McCaffrey. The second one, there was a penalty on Trent Scott. He was in there because Lucas got hurt. There were some injuries in this game. The last one was the near touchdown passed arts at the end of the first half. So the red zone's one of the reasons they didn't score more points.

O for three. They were five for 15 on third down. That's a reason. Some of that was penalty induced. Some of it was drops. some of it just they didn't connect. There was a touchdown to Zakias that was called back for Cosmi being ineligible downfield.

So that was a very well-schemed up play. Cyberchunked a field goal. You know, he's been great. That was his first miss at home early in the fourth quarter. 12 to 7. They needed to get some points. And that kick from 51 yards did not get blocked. It did not get tipped.

He just kicked turf before a ball. You know, he hit driver way behind the ball. ball. Too far behind the ball. You can use any club analogy you want there. And, you know, there were some drop passes and balls that could have been caught that weren't. I mean, those are all the reasons they didn't score enough points. I mean, 18 points with 481 yards, you know, six of them coming on a Hail Mary at the end of the game, they basically had 12 points on 429 yards. Yeah, they didn't turn that ball movement

into what they should have, which was more than that to put away the game earlier. On the list of things that I did not like list, stopping the run. They just did not do a good job stopping the run. It was decent early. They gave up 77 yards in the first half when they were playing excellent defense,

the Bears rushed for 196 yards in this game. 5.8 yards per carry. The 56-yarder by Swift was like a shot of oxygen that brought the bears to life. You know, I'm surprised, by the way, after they got the ball back after the missed field goal, they threw it three times. I'm like, what are you doing? Your quarterback can't complete a pass. He's not seeing it.

It's negative plays a lot dropping them back. and Swift had just gone 56 yards. And they threw it on three straight plays. That was interesting. So not stopping the run on the list of things that I did not like. And then here are two, I think, things that could have been handled differently at the end of the game. First of all, Washington had a final timeout on their offensive drive, their last offensive drive, which started with 19 seconds to go.

And it started with 19 seconds to go for two reasons. Number one is they should have called the timeout their last timeout on defense. They would have saved themselves 40 seconds. Caleb Williams rushed for two yards on a third and five at the Washington 14. It was before their fourth and three. Now, I know Chicago had three timeouts at that point, but I think you've got to be thinking, what if they do score? We need time.

and maybe Quinn's thinking, well, if they miss on this fourth down and then we have the ball, they've got three timeouts so they can force us to punt and then they can have a Hail Mary. No, you've got to be protecting against the worst case. I think they should have called the timeout with a minute 15 left. And that would have provided them with close to another, yeah, 40 seconds of time. And yeah, they wouldn't have had a timeout on that final drive. But you can control the clock when you have the ball by getting up and spiking it, getting up and running a quick play.

When you're on defense and you don't use it, the other team's going to milk that clock. So I thought that should have happened prior to Washington taking over with 19 seconds. And then I think it was a bad decision for Echler to return that kickoff. because instead of starting at your own 30 with 25 seconds to go, needing field goal range, they started from their own 24-yard line with 19 seconds to go. I know Echler's been a big threat on kickoff returns. I get it. But I wouldn't have done that.

From the 30-yard line with this quarterback, you get a chance with 25 seconds for a big one over the middle of the field. You know, say you get 20 yards to the 50, you get up in spot. it with 11, 10 seconds left. Now you got a shot to the sideline and a field goal. You know, you still have a shot at the field goal. Or you could have gone with 25 seconds, you know, a quick out for eight yards to the 38, then gone over the middle. Maybe you're at the 42, 41 yard line and you're spiking it with six seconds to go and you got a shot at a field goal. I thought they should have called a timeout in defense. It would have given them more time, even though they wouldn't have had that last time out, but it wouldn't have mattered. They would have had more time.

And I don't think Echler should have returned that kick. All right. A couple of other observations. Let's start with Washington's Drive up 12 to 7 after the fumble by number 68 Kramer on the third goal. Jaden scrambles for what I thought looked like a potential first down. And they'd use timeouts, remember, you know, because they were avoiding delay a game. And they didn't challenge that. I'm guessing that they saw something that indicated that Daniels was, you know, inches short of the first down. So this is an observation. I think they handled it right.

but fourth and inches, 421 to go, up 12 to 7 from your own 12 yard line. I'm pretty sure that's a punt situation in most cases, but because it was less than one yard and it was more like 6 to 7 inches, I would have given it a lot of thought. I mean, you got a quarterback that I know on the naked boots, sweat made a stop, and you are giving them, you know, nah, they did the right thing. I have no idea what the analytics say about that play,

but I might say go for it because of the inches, the less than one. But I think given Chicago's struggles on offense, you trust your defense and you trust that they're not going to get back down there. And I know Caleb had just had his first legitimate drive throwing the football. He had completed his first real pass of the game. you know, on that, they hit 36 yards passing until he hit Swift, until he hit, I'm sorry, until he hit Adunze for nine yards and then found Colquette for 14. And then he got, you know, a little bit hot, made a couple of really good throws.

He did down the stretch. That deep one to DJ more for 27 yards was really, really good. Yeah. So that fourth and inches, challenge it, go for it. I got to look at it a little bit more. I think they probably did the right thing. And I'm not sure it would have been overturned. But man, it looked like on the play itself, he got there for the first down. And that would have been massive on that play. Because you're then in position with about four and a half minutes to go to really start to work. the clock. I mean, they have all three timeouts, but you know, you get some decent field position there. Yeah. So also, just an observation, Chicago, what are you doing? What are you doing? On third and goal from the one putting number 68 Kramer into the game. I mean, you have Swift, you have Rocheon Johnson, who's a really good short yardage and goal line back. That's crazy, man. Fumbled it. and huge recovery by Johnny Newton.

By the way, I think if he gets stopped there, I mean, I was not at the one-yard line, but I was thinking actually they had time to kick a field goal and then get another stop and then kick a field goal to potentially win the game. But if it was fourth and goal from the one, they would have certainly gone forward, maybe even the two. But what are you doing, seriously?

And then I thought when they got down to Washington's one-yard line with 31 seconds to go on the, you know, when they got to the one-yard line, when St. Juice got called for the DPI on Keenan Allen, which was the right call. No doubt. That's the right call. That's probably a touchdown if he doesn't grab them. But why are you throwing a fade on first and goal from the one? You got all those timeouts. You've proven you can run the football. You've already got 1096 yards rushing. at that point, or $195. And I don't know, I wouldn't have put the ball in Caleb's hands there on that first down fade. It was out of bounds intended for DJ Moore and deep in the end zone, but it just set up second a goal, and then Roshan Johnson did score on the next play. What else is on my other observation list? McNichols had a nice fumble recovery on Zakias' first punt return of the game.

Zakias also bobbled another punt return. How about that first and goal for Washington when there was a 12th man on the field but not in formation? And there was a false start on Trent Scott. And so you can't call the 12th man on the field because the play never actually started. So he had a chance theoretically to get off the field before the play started. I thought that was an interesting thing. How about just part of Caleb Williams' nervousness in the first half seemed to manifest itself.

There's a third and two where he scrambled up the A gap and slid a yard, excuse me, short of the first down marker. That was, you know, he was not, he was off, man. He made some plays down the stretch. I mean, they had 200 yards and 15 points, basically, in the fourth, in late third and fourth quarter. but God, he was not very good prior to then. How about the Jaden snap?

It was before the they chose to punt the football on this. It was the first drive of the third quarter. And he went up to try to change the play and the ball was snapped. Now, they recovered the football. And there was also an illegal motion called on that. But ultimately, that led to,

you know, a fourth and 16 at the Chicago 39-yard line and was out of field goal range, which hurt. So Daniels basically lost five yards. It was an illegal motion. You would have had third and 16 that they'd taken the penalty. They didn't need to, but that knocked them out of field goal range on that drive. So that cost, that was another reason. That cost on points.

Yeah, I wrote down just the timeouts because the plays weren't getting in on time. and yeah, I think that's kind of it on the list of other observations. The game was chippy, too, you know, it was. There was some intensity in this game. Odd game overall. Incredibly weird that Washington, based on what appeared to be domination, that they were sitting there with a 9-to-0-0-0, and then all of a sudden when Swift ripped off that run,

it's like 12-7 and you're like, uh-oh. but I wasn't even uh-oh then. I didn't think they could stop us from scoring. But the misfield goal, and then finally, you know, Caleb Williams starts to put some stuff together. You know, he's got good players. He does.

I mean, DJ Moore is a good player. Keenan Allen's a good player. Roma Dunes, a good player. He didn't find Cole Komet and didn't even target him until that final drive. He did have one of those off-platform, you know, sidearm throws to D'Andre Carter. Yes, that's the D'Andre Carter that was here as a kick and punt returner back in 2021, I believe. Yeah, 1815, 6 and 2, with one of the most memorable endings in franchise history. In terms of a Hail Mary to win a game, it's happened against us, I can't think of winning a game on a Hail Mary.

Has it happened? I don't think it has. That was fun at the end. It was. It was frustrating because I'm sitting there going, this is going to be a painful loss. Painful. The Bears had something to do with it, man. You know, the idea of not putting anybody to cover the sidelines with six seconds to go was stupid. He's not throwing a Hail Mary from the 35. He can't throw it that far. You know, you're talking, you know, they got to get up to the 48-yard line because he's going to end up throwing that 70-75 yards. I think we saw everything he had with the arc he had anyway. His arm strength is just fine.

I think everybody's finally figured out. All right. Zach Ertz is going to join me from the locker room next. Is there anything better when you're a football fan than this time of year? It seems like there are games on around the clock. It's a changing time of year. The weather gets chillier. The leaves start to change color.

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He's gotten hit throughout the rest of the game. It's hurting more. And it's going to be getting longer by the second. All the way back at the 30-yard line. Now you can step into it. Here comes the Hail Mary with the game on the line. And the ball is caught. An instant classic, one of the most memorable plays in franchise history,

Jaden Daniels, Hail Mary, tipped backwards into the end zone, and caught by Noah Brown to beat the Bears, 18 to 15. An all-time franchise moment, that is for sure. This segment of the show with Zach Ertz, who is jumping on with me live from the locker room, is brought to you by Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to WindowNation.com. If you need new windows, mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free estimate. Right now you get two windows free with every two purchased with no money down, no payments,

and no interest for two full years. Windonation.com, 86690 Nation, mention my name. They will take good care of you. joining me right now is Zach Ertz, who was on the field for that last play, right in the middle of it, down on the goal line. Zach, thanks so much for making time for me. Just describe that last play from your vantage point. Yeah, I mean, I think Jaden has done a phenomenal job, being able to have us by time, and just giving us a shot to be downfield, obviously. The way the game went, we feel like we've probably left a lot of points on the board and just allowing us to be able to go out there, find a way to win.

Just shows a testament to the character of this team. Just, we're never going to give up, whether it's 20 seconds or 12 seconds or 60 minutes. So we got a lot of belief in the guys in the locker room, and it was a really good game. How often do you guys practice that play? I'm just curious. We talk about it. You rep it and walk through. You're never going to have guys in practice at the end of a practice to go sprint 60 yards

on field for a play. where a lot of guys are jumping up to one another. So rarely do you rep at full speed in the NFL. But I think it's a testament guys played a lot of football in this league. Guys know that play like the back of their hand. And so I'm kind of the jumper. You got a receiver kind of behind me probably five yards back, another guy in front of me.

It was just a play that I don't know if I got a hand on the ball. It's almost a hockey assist where I went up for the ball and the guy maybe tipped it up and then it fell right to know it. Yeah, I've watched it several times. It looks like Stevenson got his hand on it. Your hand may have skimmed it, but you went up. Noah's behind you. Terry's in front of you.

So that is the design to have somebody behind and somebody in front. In case it gets batted either way. What are you supposed to do at your height? It's obvious why you're on the field with your hands, your athleticism, but are you supposed to tap it backwards into the end zone or try to catch it? The first year, I was trying to go up and get the ball, but by the time I jumped, it felt like I had. two hands on my shoulder pad, kind of holding me down.

So I really just stuck out a hand and kind of just gave someone a shot. I don't really know. I didn't really design it to go backwards. I don't even know for sure if I got the hand on it. But no, it was there in the right place, and it was just phenomenal that just floated right into his hands like that. I am curious, and I doubt that this is the case. But because of your size and your athletic ability, would you have been out there on defense?

we've got a lot of guys on defense we have not talked about me going out there on past teams I've been a guy that has to go out there but I prefer those defensive guys to go out there and do it I don't want to play defense I don't play defense if they ask me too I'll go out there but we got a lot of guys on these germany can immediately jump from out the guy is a freak athlete

six three long arm he's probably a guy that you'd want out there jumping as well so we've never talked about it I've done it in the past, but I got a lot of confidence that are guys in the other situation. One of the reasons I asked is it seems like the rule defensively, right, is nobody gets behind you. Yeah, I mean, I don't know exactly what they're taught. But I don't know if you remember Rob Gron-Calsy going out there on the Hail Mary situation, and I'm not trying to look like that. So for me, it's just going out there and whatever they ask them to do, I'll do.

But I'm glad I was able to be on offense for it. Have you ever been a part of one of these that would, successful? I have not been a part of it. Crave you to be a part of it for the first time. And obviously the vibes are high after a game like that. Take us into the locker room. The reaction to this one with coaches, teammates, was what? Jubilant, I think, I don't know if just so much joy. I mean, we should have put up so many more points in our eyes as an offense. I don't know if that game should even come down to that. but for us to believe the way we did, that never stopped.

The 10-yard out that he threw us, Terry, was a huge part of that. If we're 10 yards further behind, we're not able to throw Hill Mary. So there's just little plays that continually add up in a football game, and you can't stop believing. So true. The play before that, to take that sideline with six seconds and to get it done in four seconds, really set up the opportunity to go for that. You've pretty much answered my next question,

and that is, you know, before all of the shenanese, started over the last couple of minutes in the last few seconds. It just seemed like you guys had dominated the game, and yet you were behind inexplicably almost. Yeah, like you said, I mean, the guys were, we fell as an offense. We did not hold up our end of the bargain today. The defense played phenomenally. Stuff seemed played well.

But as an offense, we got a lot to improve on. I mean, I know the stats are going to be favorable. But whenever we got, it seems like, in the 40s. yard in and I was a corporate of it. I'm a touchdown. I don't know if it was a touchdown or not, but they ruled it incomplete, and I've got to find a way to come up with that ball. And so, yeah, we won the game, but my mindset is I got to make one more play for this team, and that game's not coming down to that. So that's my mindset, and I know there's a lot of guys in the locker with that same mindset. Yeah, I was going to ask you,

I mean, that was such a close call. It was challenged. It was upheld. Did you think you caught it and maintain possession to the ground in the end zone? I thought it was a touchdown, obviously. I don't think it should have been ruled and complete to start with, but I feel like when it's close like that, you're probably going to stick with the ruling on the field. So I'm not surprised they didn't overturn it based on what I saw on the film, per se. But at the same time, it felt like it should have never got to that point.

How did Jaden look to you? It looks like himself. I mean, the dude is the leader of the team. People call him a rookie. I was just telling me some of these other reporters, you know, I think the rookie label has got to be off. The guy is one of the best players on our team, the leader of this team. The dude plays with the heart and soul each and every week for us.

So the rookie label is off to me. Yeah, I kind of agree with that. Physically, though, did he look 100% to you? It looked like himself. I think he was the same. I'm sorry, say that again. To me, he was the same, Jason. Sorry.

When did you have a sense that he would play and he would start today? I honestly didn't know exactly what the plan was. Just allow the coaches to do what they do. Jaden do what he does. And I was just focused on being the best version of myself. One more for Zachert. You've won a Super Bowl. I mean, you caught the game-winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl 52.

You've played on some very good football teams. I'm not asking you if this is a Super Bowl contending team. But on a night like tonight, I'll ask you this. What's possible? for this team? The opportunity to go seven to two. I know you don't want to hear that answer. But I think we're just continually building this thing,

continually get better. We preach ascending each and every week. And I think that's what I love about this team. We've got a locker room full of guys that love the process, love practicing, folks on getting better every week. And I know guys are going to come in tomorrow, watch the film, and they're going to be the hardest on themselves. And so I can't say how far we're going to go.

for everyone else to talk about, but for us, focused on being 7-and-2 next week. Zach Ertz, everybody. I really appreciate you making time for me. Congrats on this incredible night, on this incredible win. Good luck next week against the Giants. Thanks. All right, thank you.

Zach Ertz, everybody. Thanks to him. Thanks to the PR people for making him available. All right, we're going to wrap it up for the night. I will come back tomorrow. We'll have some of the Quinn Sound post-game, some of the Quinn Sound from his Monday presser. I'll probably have a guest, at least one on the show as well.

What a finish. I'll leave it for you one more time. So here you go. He's gotten hit throughout the rest of the game. It's hurting more. It comes down to one last play. And it's going to be getting longer by the second. You're all the way back at the 30-yard line.

Now you can step into it. Here comes the Hail Mary with the King. on the line and the ball is time!