The Kevin Sheehan Show - Hello Again

Episode Date: September 7, 2018

My podcast debut, just in time for a football Friday! Skins beat the cardinals if...The Smell Test, and why I'm not with 980 anymore! <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. A podcast. Really? Mark, really? Is that what I'm doing? Welcome. Welcome to your future. Yeah, my future is here, ladies and gentlemen, and I am doing a podcast. Yes, I am. It's the Kevin Sheean show, and it's the first edition of the Kevin Sheean show. And you can get it anyway. iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, any way you get a podcast, you get it. Mark Stern is here with me. Thank God. Because without him, I would not have been able to put together this idea that I had, what, three days ago? Hey, can you do a podcast for me? Because the other plans sort of fell apart, and I'll get into that a little bit later, much more on my 980 departure coming up during this first show. I do want to say, and I said this in the intro, which should be available, I think, when you find this one. Hopefully you find it.

You know, I wanted to say thanks for all the kind words over the last month. Social media, emails, texts, people that I ran into, Mark, were so nice and encouraging, and really it was that encouragement that made me sort of take this podcast path for now. Where's Cooley? Everybody's going to want to know, where is my partner of the last two and a half years? I want to do this with Chris. we loved doing the show together for the last few years. He's a friend for life. And he may be a part of this show. I mean, you know, Cooley. He changes his mind every 30 seconds. So he may show up during this very broadcast.

But right now, I'm launching it as the Kevin Sheehan show, because Chris, for a lot of reasons, just isn't able to do it right now. That could change at any time, and I hope it does. But I also am thrilled. that Tom Leverro, my partner of seven and a half years on 980, is going to be with me on this show, I think, every Tuesday and Thursday. That is still being finalized, but I got a text from Tommy this morning saying,

go ahead, go ahead and tell everybody that I'm going to be on with you on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So Tommy and I will be together two days a week, and on those Tuesdays and Thursdays, we'll just call the show the Sports Fix. Sports fix. Yeah, we'll just call it the sports fix version 2.0. I actually can't wait for that. Tommy and I always have talked about that one of these days we would end up working together again, as long as both of us were alive and able, and it'll start next week.

This show, and I mentioned this in the intro, yes, Mark. I want to raise one thing, and this is my fault, so I want to make sure I'm in front of this. If people look for the show on, say, iTunes, and it comes up and they see it as the Cooley and Kevin show. It did yesterday. Yes, and I just looked in it, it might still say that today. We didn't know. We thought Cooley was going to be with us, so we built the framework to call it that, and then we've changed it back to the Kevin Sheehan show, and it's going to be corrected at some point. But if you see it and you're like, damn it's Stern, you screwed this up.

Yes, I did. So I just. And it may be corrected, but then it might need to be corrected once again. Exactly. We're going to make the show available Monday through Friday for now. The plan is to get it out as early as possible. Although really over the first week, I'm using Tony's studio at Chatter, all right, down here on Wisconsin Avenue, Wisconsin, and Jennifer Streets, in Friendship Heights.

And Mark and Tony are so nice to let me sort of use this studio to get this thing launched over the next week or so. Actually, I'm already enjoying myself. Estella, some chicken tenders. And I'm very happy. The food, by the way, is excellent now at Chatter. But the plan. the plan eventually is to try to get it out as early as possible, you know, so that there's more time during the day for people to consume it.

You know, I'm used to getting up super early. So if I can find somebody to help me super early in the morning, I'm going to get it out as early as possible. But I'm going to do Monday through Friday. And I'm going to have a lot of the same things that I've had involved in all of the shows I've been involved in over the years for 14 years. You know, the smell test, by the way, today, because it's a lot of the same things. a football Friday. Scott Van Pelt's going to join me on Thursdays. We'll do our initial version of Skins beat Cardinals if today. We'll do NFL power rankings, all the regular segments, maybe even today and occasional what do you got, which was sort of signature for Kooley and I

to start our show. But the content will be familiar. The way in which it's distributed, totally different. And I have no idea how that part of it will turn out. But there are people that are much smarter than I that will help, including Mark Stern. By the way, I can't believe how much I missed over the last month in doing a radio show, which I really missed. Darius Geis getting injured. Adrian Peterson is the starting running back. The Maryland situation, which I never had a chance sort of on radio, to legitimately weigh in on, which I'll try to do today. The Nats basically just giving up. I hated that.

I still don't think they're out of it at eight, eight and a half back. Well, they may be now, but they gave up way too early trading key pieces after the trade deadline when they could have gotten more before it. I would have loved to have been on the air the day after Tiger's final round at the PGA championship. For me, that is the sports moment of the year so far. Tigers 64 on the final day at Belle Reeve. And really, Tiger in general has been.

been one of the sports stories of the year from barely being able to swing a club a year ago. And really, you know, borderline addicted to pain meds and other things. And now he's in the top 25 and he's climbing quickly. And he hasn't won yet, but he's close. He shot 70 today. So he is still eight under par. So lost some ground after having the lead in the first round in Philadelphia yesterday. But imagine, by the way, if Tiger Woods is in the final grade,

group on Sunday up against opening day of the NFL. The NFL wins that hands down. But I know personally a ton of people that will say, I'm watching Tiger. I'm watching Tiger in the final group and I'll DVR the Skins game. Actually, I don't even know what time the golf starts on Sunday. It may be an early start. But anyway, speaking of the NFL, what an awful game last night. You know, 26 penalties in the Atlanta, Philadelphia game for 236 penalty yards. at least a half-dozen minimum flat-out dropped passes. The offenses were in pre-season mode. Like they were horrible last night.

Both quarterbacks were bad. And we know as football fans that week one can be rough last night, though, compared to typical week one, was worse. It was a shame the Falcons didn't score on that final drive and put the Eagles into an 0-and-one hole here early. But Philadelphia survives, I was looking at their schedule, and you can never predict these NFL schedules, but they have Tampa, Indy, and Tennessee the next three weeks.

So they are looking at the possibility after surviving last night, of getting off to a quick start, and that may be with Carson Wentz, it may be without them. But last night was a chance for the Eagles to take a loss at home, a legitimate chance, and it didn't happen. All right. Arizona, Sunday, in the opener, it's time for Skins beat Cardinals if. All right, for the opener.

We're going to do this every Friday. The old skins beat whomever they're playing if. For the opener, I have one thing on this list this week. Because we don't know much about the NFL this time of year. So obviously, you know, stop the run, don't commit stupid penalties, don't commit turnovers, get turnovers. All of those things are cliche and very important. But here's the thing that's more important to me than anything else in this Sunday opener at Arizona.

And that one thing is Jay Gruden. This is going to sound cliche, but it has context to it, which all of us as Redskins fans know. One of the ways the Redskins beat the Cardinals is if Jay Gruden, as the head coach of this football team, has the team prepared adequately for an actual real opener. Gruden's handling of the preseason reeked of same-old, same-mold. Watching it over the last four weeks, the fact that Alex Smith barely threw the football as a new quarterback and a new system with a new coach made no sense to me.

I don't know that Alex Smith throwing more passes would have helped, but I know that based on the lack of apparent readiness for the last four regular season openers under Jay Gruden, it wouldn't have hurt. And I do understand that NFL preseason is fools gold, hardly anything translates to the regular season. But with that said, Jay Gruden once again seems to be far too comfortable

with his 0-and-4 opening day record. His pre-season script of barely playing anybody, people that he will rely on on Sunday at Arizona is all too familiar, and he's 0-4 doing it that way. I saw the other day, I was reading that Jay Gruden said that, you know, the last four openers, he blamed turnovers and

bad plays and that's delusional. The losses to Houston in 2014, Miami in 2015, the Steelers in 2016, and the Eagles last year are all on him. Not one of those teams in any of those games appeared ready for the season. They didn't. The first half of the Philly game last year and the game against Pittsburgh in 2016 were nauseating to watch. They were poorly prepared, poorly coached in all four of those openers. He better hope we see something different Sunday in Arizona. If they look bad and lose two to three games before an early bye week, no one in Ashburn is going to be very happy about it.

They've got an early by week and they have games against the Cardinals, the Colts, and the Packers. Jay's a terrific pass offense designer. He's an average at best head coach. and in a loaded NFC against really a very difficult schedule in terms of the quarterbacks his team will face, he needs to become an asset on the sideline this year, not a liability. If he mangles the clock like he did last time, or last year at times, if his team falls flat Sunday in another opener or doesn't look ready for a big game, this his fifth season will be his final season.

Now, he's got a chance to coach a team this year that actually has more overall talent than any team I think he's had. On paper, the defense, especially the front seven in particular, looks good. Allen, Payne, Ionitis, Fosterback, Brownback, they're still missing a game-changing pass rusher, but they should be a lot better stopping the run and really overall as a unit. Norman's got to step up. I like Nicholson a lot. I like Sweringer a lot. Remember, this was a unit that when they were healthy early in the season last year looked really good. The defense to me is the key to a competitive season. If it's as improved as I think it is, they'll be in the hunt. And they'll be in the hunt

and a loaded NFL, NFC late into the season. They're not going to suck if that defense is what I think it could be this year. I'd love to see him play well in the opener, though, for once. I'd love to see Jay Gruden have this team ready. The skins beat the Cardinals, and I've got one reason this week, and that is if Jay Gruden has his team looking like they're ready to play an actual game against a real opponent in the season opener. And by the way, against a team that has a new head coach and Steve Wilkes and isn't supposed to be that good this year. Let's do a little What Do You Got, Mark. What do you say about that? What do you got? All right, this was the segment that Kulene I did for years, and I'm not going to steal it every day.

Remember, Mark, and I know you were a devoted listener to Kooley and Kevin. I was. Never missed an episode. So we would start the show with what he got every morning. Of course. Many times it included a complete scientific breakdown of Kooley's golf swing or a long explanation of why there was an electrical short in his pottery kiln. That was thrilling to listen to every day. But for my first Kevin Shoehl,

She and show what do you got? And hopefully maybe Cooley will be around for futures is I did promise in my little intro yesterday that I would sort of run down what happened at 980. Yeah. Why not? Inquiring minds want to know. All right, here it is. First of all, when radio station owner X sells radio owner Y, their station,

why has a different view than the previous owner and has the prerogative to run it any way they want. That's the way life works. You know, you buy something, you own something, you can do with it what you want. They're entitled to think differently than the previous owner because they spent $4.2 million to purchase the station. In a nutshell, really, there are no gory details here. The new owner preferred a different type of operation that was much more focused on low cost. They're prerogative. It just didn't work out for me.

and a few others, and there are no hard feelings at all. The thing that upsets me more than anything else, Mark, and you know this because you were a part of it, is that for all of us that have worked at that station for a long time, really love it. You know, it was like a part of our lives, and we've enjoyed working with each other over the years. We've enjoyed being a part of something

that so many of you out there shared with us. So the memories of that place will never die, and all of the people. I'm going to miss Doc and Zabe and Al and Scott. and Brian and more than anyone else, CJ, who just for many of you out there, just so you know, he was a big supporter of Cooley and me doing the show that we've been doing. But really, no ugliness to speak of. They had their ideas of what they wanted to do, and their ideas didn't really work out for me.

And that's fine. I'm fine with that because I'm really excited about the podcast. And Cooley, like a bunch of people would say, Cooley just said there's an 80% chance you guys are coming back. trust me, like one day we thought we were good, and then the next day we were like, eh, doesn't feel real good today, does it? But that's the way it works. Anyway, that's the story.

There's really not a lot to it. Tell us what really happened. No, you know, the truth of the matter is they were nice people. They were very nice people. They just had a different sort of business plan, which by the way, on some level, I understand to a certain degree. but I'll miss it. I will miss it a lot.

Let's get to the first edition on the Kevin Shan Show of the smell test. What do you say? Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test.

That's a young fellow's voice. Ralph Wesley, one of my favorite people. He can voice anything. Ralph WesleyV.O.com. Yes. It's time for the smell test. Last week, by the way, I put out a smell test on Twitter. I don't know why I did it.

One and four. I hate early season smell test plays. Um, hate it. For those that are not familiar with the smell test, the concept is actually pretty easy. I find the games that most of you think are locks, and I go the other way. I'm a contrarian handicapping philosophy guy. I believe that Vegas knows much more than you know. And by the way, I'm right about that because they built all those hotels, the big ones out there, because you lose money more often than you win it. And so when the public is backing one team much more than the other, it becomes a smell test eligible pick.

Like when all of my friends are convinced that say Pittsburgh land four to the Browns this week is like easy money, then you just go the other way. I mean, there's more to it. I have proprietary information that none of you have. It comes from offshore contacts that I've had for a long, long time. And when the public is lined up on one side and my offshore information confirms that this is true, along with the reasonable belief that the public is going to be wrong and that sharp betters, and there are about a dozen of them on the planet, are going against the public in a big way,

then a smell test release is created and delivered via the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast now. So anyway, it's called the smell test because typically it involves a game where the point spread mark is, you know, just smells, it stinks, it just seems wrong. No matter what some smart MIT analytics guy says about identifying an incorrect point spread that Vegas put out, my many years in this trade, they've taught me one thing, than anything else, Vegas don't make no mistakes. They don't make any mistakes.

If it looks like one and it looks like a major one, that should give you reason to pause and not think you've outsmarted Vegas, but wonder why they've put out a point spread that seems so wrong. And it's then if you've got the stones and you can go against it, and you can go with Vegas in the house, you've got yourself a smell test pick.

In 12 years, by the way, the smell test has had eight winning seasons. Eight winning seasons. So let's get to the picks. College. And a bunch of you last week tweeted to me. And I've got a new Twitter handle. It's no longer at Kevin S980. It's at Kevin Sheen, D.C.

I had to take the 980 out of the Twitter handle. They said, man, you always... college is never your thing. It's not true. Some years I do really well in college and poorly in the pros. And other years, I kill it in the pros and do poorly in college. I will say this, that early season, college or NFL is just tough. It's always tough.

So I'm going to give you the games basically this week that really fit the smell test criteria. The public's betting one side, and I've gotten information today, all right, right before this broadcast, that my particular evaluation of where the public money is not only accurate, but there is sharp money backing my opinion on this. Duke's getting three at Northwestern. Both teams won last week. For some reason, the betting public loves Northwestern with the short line at home. They're giving Duke the public is betting this game very little chance.

There is sharp money on Duke, according to my offshore information. take Duke plus the three. Miami of Ohio, they're not the Redskins anymore. They had to change that, right? Are they the Red Storm? I think they're the Red Storm. Red Hawks.

I think they're the Red Hawks. They lost last week to Marshall. Marshall's actually pretty good this year. And Cincinnati, their opponent, went to the Rose Bowl and beat UCLA and Chip Kelly's first game as a head coach of the Bruins. Miami of Ohio is favored in this game on Saturday night. My sources tell me that while the game hasn't been heavily bet, virtually none of the

bets have been on Miami of Ohio. Every bet pretty much is on Cincinnati. There's some sharp money on Miami of Ohio. Some people think that this is an improved team that lost to a good team a week ago and that Cincinnati beat a bad UCLA team. Take Miami of Ohio and lay the point. The Red Hawks. It's the Red Hawks. Red Hawks, yes. All right, you know, all those teams that were the red skins for years, and college teams had to change the name. Yes.

With the pressure and being a public institution in many cases. They either became the Red Storm or the Red Hawks. I think those were the two choices. Or if you were Denison, you just became Big Red. Big Red. Like Trailways. Right. Yeah, great job, guys.

All right. So far in the smell test, it's Duke getting three at Northwestern and Miami of Ohio laying a point. Kansas last week was called the worst team in Division I college football when they lost to Nichols State at home. Kansas is going to Central Michigan this week and they're getting five points. By the way, the line opened at six and a half and sharp money has moved it down to five. That indicates that Kansas, if the public money's on Central Michigan, might be a play and guess what? Right now, 72.4% of the public action is on Central Michigan. Take Kansas plus the five. And that's it for college this week. Duke, Miami of Ohio, and Kansas. Let's get to the NFL, week one of the NFL. Mark, this is what I'm looking for in week one, which, by the way, in the NFL is a total who knows. Nobody knows what's going to happen in week one of the NFL. We saw last night a, a terrible football game, ugly football game.

And Philadelphia prevailed 18 to 12. I don't know how many times 18 to 12 has happened. And I've got a way of looking it up, but I can't do it right now. But 18 to 12, I bet has only happened three or four times in the history of the league. You just don't see 1812. Could have been 1713. But Philly went for the two after Atlanta missed the extra point. And that's why you ended up with 1812.

The NFL, it's tough in week one. This is what I'm looking for in week one. one. Underdogs that Vegas can't get anyone to bet. All right. Week one for me is about underdogs who Vegas, no matter what line they put out there, they can't get anybody to bet those underdogs, which by the way, then leaves Vegas in a need position. Let me explain how that works.

I'll give you the Tampa New Orleans game as an example. New Orleans opened up at 7.5.8. Point favorite. It's up to 10 right now. Every time Vegas moves it up, they're hoping that people will jump on Tampa so that they can even up their book. But no one's jumping on Tampa. Even at plus 10, no one's jumping on Tampa. They're going to need Tampa Bay to cover the point spread against the Saints on Sunday. That's the first NFL smell test pick of the season. I like the bucks plus the 10 and a half. The public, for whatever reason, doesn't trust Dallas in week one. Carolina is a three-point favorite. The Cowboys are usually a big public team in better's eyes. They're not getting any love from the public right now.

Give me the Cowboys plus the three at Carolina. In fact, I like Dallas to win the game outright. The 49ers are getting six and a half points at Minnesota. And despite, by the way, the love for the Niners and Jimmy Garapolo, there's been all of that since last year. A lot of belief that the 49ers could be one of those surprise teams. Very little belief that they can keep it tight against Kirk Cousins. Yes, Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. I like the Niners in this game.

The line keeps going up. Vegas cannot get anybody to bet the Niners. the Niners plus the six and a half. And Mark, you understand this. When you're at six and a half, buy that half point for plus seven. Always. You don't want to be in that situation where you lose by a half point in a 24-17 game that was close the whole way.

There's a couple of more games. Buffalo is getting seven and a half against the Ravens. That number keeps going up. Nathan Peterman is the quarterback for Buffalo. I think it's Jay Peterman. I think it's Nathan Peterman. But it is a quarterback that was got off. the last time we saw him when he threw like 17 picks against the Chargers.

And he's the starter. For whatever reason, they love him. The coaching staff in Buffalo does. And so Baltimore, and I'm going to get to this in a little bit, Baltimore is one of the teams I actually really think can have a big year this year in the NFL. They're laying seven and a half. No one is on Buffalo at this point. Take the bills plus the seven and a half.

Nobody likes Seattle plus three against Denver. Give me the Seahawks. And yeah, I'll be sort of with the crowd on this in terms of some of the experts out there. And when I hear experts, I usually run from them. But Cleveland is sort of a chic pick to be an eight-and-eight kind of team this year. Some people even think Cleveland could make a run at a wild card

at nine wins this year. I like their talent too. Not a lot of people like them in week one against Pittsburgh, getting four even without Levi-on-Bell, but give me the Browns plus the four points. There's your smell test. The first Kevin Sheehan show podcast smell test. I'd like to discount what I tweeted out last week, but I won't. It was a one-and-four week in week one.

So recapping, college, Duke plus three at Northwestern, Miami of Ohio laying one to Cincinnati, and Kansas plus the five. against Nichols State. Meantime in the NFL, Tampa plus 10 against the Saints. Dallas plus three against the Panthers. The 49ers getting six and a half at Minnesota. Buffalo plus seven and a half against the Ravens. Cleveland plus four and Seattle plus three.

Well, can I get an unofficial Kevin Sheean lean on the smell test? You want a lean but not an official release? If you want to give a release on this, I'm throwing this at you. Well, I'll tell you what. I told you that my week one philosophy, at least this year, is to take underdogs that Vegas can't give away, no matter what the line is. Well, this isn't football. This is a different sport. Oh, you're going to give me a game.

I was going to give you another game. Oh, no, no, no. Go ahead. The Seattle Storm giving four and a half against the Washington Mystics, game one of the WNBA finals in Seattle. Who do you got? Who do you like? Can I just money line the Mystics or the storm? Sure, sure.

That is the NBA final, right? WNBA finals, yes. That's what I meant, WNBA final. Washington and Seattle, the last time Washington and Seattle played in a basketball final was. 1979, and they played back-to-back years. The Bullets won the title in 78 against the Sonics and Game 7 in Seattle, and in the following year, lost in five games to Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, Jack Sickman Company, in the fifth and final game, not the final game, but the fifth game, which won it for Seattle,

at old capital center and Landover. Yeah, Cap Center. Yeah. What I was going to say to you is I wanted to give out Indianapolis as a smell test pick because they are favored and nobody's playing them, but I'm sticking with nothing but underdogs this week. In fact, I think the only favorite I have is Miami of Ohio, but in the NFL, they are all underdogs.

Let's get to Friday Football QuickPicks. Everything you need to know for your football weekend. It's Friday Football QuickPicks. All right, so what we're going to do with Friday Football QuickPicks? fix is just do what sort of we've done in the past. You know, talk about some of the best games of the weekend. The teams I'm most interested in watching here in week one of the NFL, week two in college, and a few teams on upset alert this weekend. The best games of the weekend on Saturday, Jimbo Fisher is hosting a familiar ACC foe in Clemson as the head coach of Texas A&M.

Clemson's defense is nasty. Their front five, six, You include that linebacker core part of it. Maybe the best in college football. I like A&M as a team this year, and I think Jimbo Fisher, despite some of the offseason controversy, I think he will win there and you can win big at Texas A&M. That's going to be an interesting game to watch. There are a couple of other college games. Week 2 is not typically a great college football card, and it isn't this weekend.

I am interested in watching USC and Stanford. Bryce Love was a preseason Heisman, one of the preseason Heisman favorites, and he had an awful game in the opener, but he's really good. I don't know how good SC is defensively. I don't think they're that good. Stanford and SC, everybody likes Washington in the Pack 12 this year, like everybody. They may be, other than Bama, the most dominant, overwhelming, consensus pick in a conference. Maybe Clemson is. I want to see if either one of these two teams

can contend. And they play each other early. They seem to play each other early a lot. That's an interesting game to watch. Michigan State in the late Saturday night game is out in Tempe against Herm Edwards and Arizona State. They won their opener. Michigan State struggled in their opener. A lot of people like Michigan State this year. I don't know if I'm buying into it, even though I think they are one of the best coach teams in the country year in year and year out. I have no idea of Herm Edwards after being out of the game for so long. We'll get it done. He is a motivator and they have talent. That's one of those things on a Saturday night after a long college football Saturday and you get to watch a game out in the desert with beautiful weather

and it's a big 10, pack 12 matchup. It's not a bad late game. for week two to see which of these two teams is for real. Michigan State, I think, is like a six-point favorite in this game. I actually like them a little bit. That would be a lean mark, not a smell test play, but the public sort of likes Herm Edwards right now. That's not an official smell test release, but that's a good game to watch. And really, that's it on Saturday. I will tell you this, there are a couple of college teams, one college team in particular. They play Kentucky this week. But the surprise college team for me this year, a couple to keep an eye on. But I think Dan Mullen is going to get it done at Florida. They're really good defensively, and they have been.

They have been not very good and not very creative offensively. I think Mullen's going to get it done at Florida. And I think the Gators are going to have a surprising big year this year. I think you should keep an eye on Florida. I think you should keep an eye on Boston College, talent, tough, hard-nosed with a big-time running back. And Mississippi State, I wanted to see them here early in the season. I know they return a ton of talent, and they've got a new coach, but a lot of people like them, and I've just sort of liked them the last few years.

I'm going to keep an eye on them as well. But college surprises this year, I would throw Florida, Boston College, and Mississippi State into the category of teams that I actually think have a really good chance to pull off big seasons. We mentioned the best games of the weekend. Teams were most interested in watching. In the NFL, for me, it's the first game of Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. I am a big Kirk Cousins fan.

I wish they had signed Kirk Cousins two years ago. I was not against them moving on from him at $28, $29, $30 million a year. I just think that they messed it up many ways. seven ways to Sunday over the first two years when they had a chance potentially to get them for a very what would have turned out to be a very team-friendly deal. I will be following Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. I actually will be rooting for him. If Minnesota were to play the Redskins in the playoffs, I would not root for the Vikings, okay? I wouldn't. I'd be so thrilled to see the Redskins in the playoffs. But I am going to root like I did for Art Monk when he left the

Redskins like Gary Clark when he left the Redskins, like Mark Ripon, when he left the Redskins, I rooted for those players. I didn't root for them if they were quarterbacking or running a wide receiver routes against my favorite team. But I am interested in watching Minnesota. Now, they do have great receivers in Thielen and Diggs. They have Dalvin Cookback. They have a great defense. But if you've been following the Vikings here and Mark, you're a fan of the team. team, they are decimated right now along the offensive line. They have major injury issues to start the season along the offensive line. That will be something to keep an eye on. I like the Niners' chances to keep this game close, and I bet it takes Kirk a few weeks to get used to

not only a new system, a new coordinator, but a new style of football where he doesn't have to do everything. You know, I love the way people call him Checkdown Charlie. The only chance they had in any of these games over the last two to three years was the offense and what he was capable of doing because defensively they were sorry for his tenure. And by the way, didn't have a running game. But he's got a running game. He's got receivers and he's got a defense. And it'll be interesting to watch his style of play knowing that he doesn't have to have to do it all himself. Many of you thought he was too conservative at times. I never felt that way. I think there are examples where he may have been too conservative, but I thought there were also examples where he

took big risks because he felt he had to have him. See the Seattle game last year. I am very interested in watching the Minnesota Vikings here early in the season to see how they develop up and how they evolve over the NFL season. On upset alert this week, on upset alert, Kirk and the Vikings, yeah, we're doing the show in a studio next to a major street, Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest. And occasionally we'll hear sirens. This is not a radio studio, it's a podcast studio.

On upset alert, I would put Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings into that. There are six and a half point favorite. They are injured. They're banged up, and the 49ers are capable here. I mean, the two teams, I would love right now as a Redskins fan to have Kyle Shanahan as my head coach or offensive coordinator with Kirk Cousins as my quarterback. I feel very comfortable about that.

I'm going to get into the skins in more detail here momentarily. But I think they're on upset alert early in the season. And by the way, I don't think they're going to. I don't know if they'll be in the Super Bowl. I think Philadelphia is better than Minnesota. I think the Rams may be better than Minnesota, and I think the Packers, because of the guy they have at the helm, may be better than Minnesota.

The Vikings will be a playoff team. They will be a 10-plus win team, but they're not winning 13 games again. More likely than not, everything broke well for them last year. Everything did. But I think by the time they get to the postseason, they will be a very dangerous team. Who else is on upset alert?

You know, it's hard in the NFL. I would say New Orleans just because the Bucks will be one of those teams that Vegas desperately needs to not only cover, but if they were to win the game outright, it would blow up a ton of teasers and parleyes. If you know what I'm talking about, New Orleans minus nine and a half fits in minus 10, fits into that three-team teaser, that three-team teaser perfectly, where all you need is New Orleans to win the game. Those are always games to be a little bit leery of. Look out, New Orleans, for Tampa Bay with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm this weekend.

Let's get to score and more. Time to settle the score is score and more. All right, I got a few things to get to before we get to a Redskins season prediction and a Redskins final score week one prediction. First of all, real quickly, congratulations to one Charles, Grice Lefty Dresel. Lefty's going into the Hall of Fame tonight. Finally, overdue.

You know I don't know. And no one deserves this more than the left-hander. And he is the guy for many of us of a certain age that hooked us, not only on Maryland basketball, but college basketball. As John Thompson once told me in our old 980 studios out there in Rockville, Without Lefty, there would have been no Georgetown. Lefty not only introduced college basketball to this area. He made college basketball more important than the other basketball in this area that was number one.

And that was high school basketball. High school basketball in this town, which this is one of the best high school basketball, recruiting grounds, competitive areas in the country, if not the best. That was number one. to the 1960s and early 70s, DeMatha, John Thompson's teams at St. Anthony's, Mackin. That was what people paid attention to. The bullets weren't here yet.

They were still in Baltimore. And none of the college teams were very good. Lefty came in 1969. He exclaimed that Maryland would become the UCLA of the East. That was the year, by the way, that Ted Williams became the manager of the. the nationals, of the nationals, of the senators, and Vince Lombardi became the head coach of the Washington Redskins.

And that's how the athletic director at the time sold Lefty. Hey, it's going to be you, Ted Williams, and Vince Lombardi. And lefty said, well, you know, I don't know how much does it pay? And it paid just enough for him to leave Davidson at the time that he had built into a power. He came to Maryland, built Maryland into a powerhouse. never UCLA of the East, but a powerhouse program, which it has been more times than not since he got here. Obviously, the highlight of that run is Gary Williams and what he did winning a national championship and all of those great teams that he had. But it's been years of lefty trying to get into the Hall of Fame, and he is now in the Hall of Fame.

And I think a lot of us are thrilled with that. By the way, before we get to Skin, Scoring More, all right, final score prediction and a season prediction, I wanted to take a quick moment because I haven't had a chance to do it to just weigh in on the Maryland situation.

You know, I, when the whole story broke on ESPN, Heather Dinnich wrote the story, you know, there's a lot of it that I think it's hard to say, but maybe a little bit inflated.

and there's a lot of hyperbole in her story. But to me it comes down to this before anything else. A young man died, and according to most reports, it was utterly preventable. It was preventable with trainers and doctors who were engaged and paying attention. All of the other stuff to me means nothing compared to that. If that was my son, I'd be devastated by the loss

and outraged by the way it happened. And I'd make sure someone paid for it dearly. His temperature wasn't taken. His vital signs weren't taken, according to reports. That's negligence at the highest level. Now, the toxic culture story from Heather Dinnich, ESPN, I'm not buying it completely. I've talked to too many people over the past few weeks,

and it's my belief that Maryland's football culture really isn't any different than any other place. unfortunately for them, but more importantly, unfortunately for Jordan McNair and those that loved him, he died tragically. I hate even talking about the other stuff because it's hard to get past the negligence involved in his death. But I personally don't believe it had anything to do

with some sort of twisted toxic culture in college park that was unique to Maryland. By the way, last week, and this is an odd sort of, move here or pivot. That game against Texas was incredible. I was told by somebody in June,

don't sleep on Maryland. This was before all the tragedy. This was after the tragedy, but before all the controversy associated with the tragedy. Don't sleep on Maryland. They've got great team speed in Durkins' recruiting classes, back-to-back top 25s, is going to start to pay off sooner than later.

They had a couple of key transfers as well. And they have recruited well, and they do have good team speed, and they've got playmakers. And if they stay healthy, there's really no reason to think that they can't win games and go to a bowl game this year. I think they can win six, seven, eight games. They're not Ohio State. They're not Penn State. But they're good enough that if the quarterback stay healthy this year, which they obviously haven't in years past, I think that they're a competitive team.

Now, I don't know what's going to happen to Durkan and the AD and Wallace Lowe. I have, my gut is that many of those, or at least one, if not all of them, won't survive this controversy. But the football team's talented. It'll be fun to watch them. They are a 16-point favorite against Bowling Green tomorrow night. Bowling Green can play some offense. They got really blindsided by Oregon last week on the road. after a quick start, and then they got run out of the building.

But I haven't seen Maryland be a 16-point favorite over anybody in a long time. So Vegas is telling you they're talented, and they have a quarterback, certainly in Kasim Hill, that looks like the real deal. I'm actually excited to watch them tomorrow night. By the way, Mark, on ESPN Plus. How about that? Yeah, got to watch it on the computer.

All right, let's get to the Skins. Season prediction and a couple of thoughts. they are more talented than most people think and probably more talented than many of you think especially on defense in their front seven. Payne, Allen, Ionitis, some depth there with a guy like Settle and others. Their linebackers, one of my postseason

sort of to me had to haves was a re-signing of Zach Brown. I know he can't cover, but he was one of their true playmakers on the team last year, either side of the ball with his speed. I think they missed Mason Foster a lot. He's a tackling machine. This is a big year for Preston Smith. And maybe with that front four and a true nose tackle for early down three, four sets in pain,

you know, maybe Smith and Kerrigan will really thrive. Maybe a guy like Ryan Anderson steps up. The secondary, I don't know about Dunbar. I don't know about Norman. Big years for Norman and anybody who replaces Kendall Fuller or Bashad Breeland. But I do like their safeties. I like Sweringer and I like Montaigne-Nicholson. And I know that people say and have said,

and I've heard that Nicholson doesn't like to play hurt. Remember, Jordan Reed didn't like to play hurt. We've had a lot of players early in their careers that didn't necessarily know the difference between pain and injury. But Nicholson's a talent. And this is to me the glasses half full view. It's that the Redskins can rise from one of the worst defenses over the last half decade to a top 10 and maybe no worse than a top 15 defense with a top 10 run defense.

If you've got a top 10 run defense, you're going to be in a lot of games. I like their talent defensively. offensively, I think it's going to take time for Alex Smith. I was anxious to see Darius Geis. Very rarely do running backs get better at age 33, but Adrian Peterson's a freak. If anybody can do it, it would be him. I'm not going to believe it until I see it, but how don't you love Chris Thompson being back and Jordan Reed potentially being healthy?

Those are the keys offensively. It's Thompson and Reed. and it would be nice to establish an outside deep threat. Whether it's Richardson or Doxon, they need that. They didn't have anybody to stretch the field last year. But Reed and Thompson, along with relative health along the offensive line, are huge keys to this season offensively. I think it's going to take Alex Smith a little while.

I think he has succeeded more times than not with a running game and not much success without one. He needs playmakers around him, but what I love about Alex Smith is he's a true leader, and he's a playmaker. When something isn't there, he can create and make a play. But Alex Smith is not elite. He's not a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Many of you have sort of developed this delusional narrative with yourself about what they got in Alex Smith versus what they had. Alex Smith is a top half of the league starting quarterback, which is what they needed to do,

which is why I liked the trade. You couldn't go into this season with potentially a much improved defense and not have the quarterback position solved. You had it in Kirk Cousins, but to keep it you had to pay because you didn't pay early enough. So they made the right move there. And trading for Alex Smith, no matter how it turns out, I'll never go back on this, I think was a good trade.

They'll miss Kendall Fuller. But he gives them a chance to be competitive. but I think it's going to take some time. A couple of surprise players that you're not thinking about that I think will emerge as productive players for the Redskins. I think Jeremy Sprinkles's got a chance to be a productive player, in part because you never know about Jordan Reed's availability and Vernon Davis's age, but I think they like Sprinkle a lot,

and if he gets those opportunities, I think he will produce in a big way. I also, and this is very much an against-the-grain view right now, I like Samajé Pyrine. I don't care about the fumbles in preseason. I think he's going to get better. And depending on what happens with Adrian Peterson, he's going to get carries.

He's going to get some first down carries. And we don't know what Peterson will develop into at this age. But I think they like Pyrine. I think it's the reason they kept him despite the fumbles. And I think he's got a chance to be a surprise contributor, more than most are thinking on offense. Defensively, to me, this season is all about the front seven. And I think Zach Brown in year two in this system with a front three or four in front of them could really thrive.

That's not sort of a surprise pick in terms of surprises, you know, and this is not going out on a limb either. But I think Monta Nicholson doesn't just have starter potential. I think he's got star potential. and I think we'll start to see that at some point this year. The key with him, like it's been with other talented players on this roster in years past, is he has to stay healthy. Overall, look, it is a loaded NFC on paper. The Eagles in the NFC East, the Panthers, Falcons, and Saints in the NFC South,

the Packers, and obviously the Vikings in the NFC North. And in the NFC West, you've got the Rams and a lot of people like the 9th. I wouldn't mail it in at this point on Seattle, not with Russell Wilson. The NFC on paper is loaded, and the team that I think will surprise everybody this year in the NFC are the New York Giants. They have talent if OBJ and Saquan Barkley are healthy with an addition or two to that offensive line. Eli could have a bounce back year, and defensively they've had the talent. Snacks Harrison is still there. All right, Alec Gogholtree.

Olivier Vernon, they have talent on that team. Janoris Jenkins, they've got talent and landing Collins. Defensively, they can be very good. It would not surprise me in the NFC if the Giants end up being a 10-plus win team and a playoff team. The Redskins, to me, are a 9-7 team at best. 7-9 at worst. I think their upside is 9 or 10 wins.

I think their downside really is 6 or 7, if they were really injured. But it's not a bad football team. A lot of people want to say that it is a bad team. They're over-under number in Vegas, I think, is still sitting at seven. I actually am going to roll the dice a little bit on the over on that, because I think they can do it. The schedule can be difficult with all the quarterbacks on it,

but you don't know how that will actually play out over the course of the year. But early, they get Andrew Luck, they get Aaron Rogers, and they get Drew Breeze in games two, three, and four. They have to face Carson Wentz twice because they don't play the Eagles till late. They have to face Deshawn Watson in Houston, Cam Newton, and Matt Ryan out of the NFC South. It is a tough quarterback schedule for them. And when they've been up against that in years past with the defense that they've had, it hasn't worked out well for them.

My prediction, official prediction, is nine and seven. I'm going to be optimistic about this. I don't want to go 8 and 8 because that's sort of a cop-out pick. I think that that is reasonable that they can win 8 games or more. Health is so crucial. I was with Zabe last night. We were videotaping, Mark, the Channel 4 show that you can watch on Sunday mornings. All right, Sherry Burris did a terrific job in her first opportunity to host it.

She's the Channel 4 Sportscaster now, 1130 Redskins Showtime on NBC Channel 4. And Zab said, I don't want to hear injuries. What do you mean you don't want to hear injuries? Injuries are not an excuse in professional football. They are a reality. They're a reason. It's typically the number one reason a team either has a good season because they're healthy or they have a poor season because they're not.

Yes, you can handpick those examples like the Green Bay Packers and other teams that have been decimated by injuries. The Eagles last year losing Carson Wentz that have, that have overcome that the Redskins aren't one of those teams. They've got to stay healthy defensively along their front seven and offensively. They cannot have four-fifths of their offensive line out for back-to-back games and expect to survive that. They need Jordan Reed and Chris Thompson available.

Jordan Reed, I'd take him right now if you told me 12 games he's going to play in. I would sign up for that right now. We know as Redskin fans what this team has been with Jordan Reed on the field and what they've been without him on the field. He's a massive, massive key offensively to this team. And I think Chris Thompson is as well. Nine and seven is the official pick. I mentioned the Giants as a surprise pick for me in the NFC.

I think the Ravens have a chance to be very good. And I liked them a lot last year, if you recall. During the season, I said the Ravens are going to turn this around. they're going to be a playoff team and they're going to be held to deal with when they get to the postseason. And it came down to that final game against the Bengals and that fluke, you know, touchdown pass from Dalton to the tight end whose name escapes me right now. On a fourth and 17 with 10 seconds to go that knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs. And if the Ravens had gotten in the playoffs, here were two teams that didn't want to see them. New England and Pittsburgh.

There was one team that both of them said other than each other, they didn't want to see in the playoffs. postseason, and it was Baltimore. This year, the defense is back, and finally, they've given Big Joe a few weapons. They've given them Michael Crabtree, Willie Sneed, John Brown. They drafted Hayden Hurston the first round, the tight end from South Carolina. I am a big Alex Collins fan. Flacco, for the first time in about two or three off seasons, has been healthy throughout and taken every rep. I think Joe Flacco is going to have a huge year, a career year, and I think the Ravens are going to win 11 or 12 games and be a legitimate Super Bowl contender by the time we get to Thanksgiving and beyond.

That's my surprise. The Chargers are always a team I like out of the AFC, and they should be good. But with them, it's all about not losing half their team. But I'm a big Phil Rivers fan, and I think the Chargers have a chance to win the AFC West. is my number one sort of surprise deep into the postseason team in the AFC, and the giants are that team for me in the NFC.

All right, let's finish up this first podcast of the Kevin Sheehan show with a true score and more prediction for Sunday. Redskins 20, Cardinals 16. The footnote is that the Redskins get off to a great start in turnover margin. They've got playmakers defensively, and they're going to force Sam Bradford and that group into three turnovers,

and they're not going to commit any. If you're plus two, plus three in that turnover margin, you're going to win a lot of games. It's not going to look pretty offensively at times, but it's going to look very promising defensively. And the Redskins win the opener at Arizona, 20 to 16, before coming home for the home opener next week. against Indianapolis. So is that how you do it? Right around an hour? Oh, should we even taping?

We weren't taping? Oh, you know what? I can do it again. I got a lot more material. Look, I'm going to do this every day, Monday through Friday. I'm going to try to make it available as early as possible. That may be problematic for the first few weeks, but we're setting something up so we can get it out much earlier. Download it, share it with other people. Tell your friends. Tell your friends. And it's, it's great to just actually be able to talk about sports with people that hopefully are listening. And my old friend, who by the way, you're looking, you're in great shape. Awesome shape. Mark Stern. Who's going to be my official producer at some point next week. We'll make that official.

I don't know. Coolly may be back, but Coolly likes Stern too. So we'll see how that all. You know what? I'll just say this. It's great to be back in studio and it's great to hear you on the air again, man. you know what, we're going to have to see how this all plays out, right? Have a great weekend.