The Kevin Sheehan Show - I've Got Washington Over Buffalo

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Kevin opens the show picking Washington to upset Buffalo on Sunday at Fed Ex. He gives his reasons why and his keys to pulling it off.Jay Gruden jumped on to talk about the Commanders' win in Denver, preview the Bills game, and give his NFL "Lock of the Week".Ryan O'Halloran/Buffalo News was a guest to talk Bills and Kevin finished up the show with 12 College and NFL "Smell Test Picks".  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 Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Jay Gruden coming up on the show. He's with us every Friday during football season. Ryan O'Halloran, who covers the bills for the Buffalo News.

He covered the skins for a few years in the late 2000s. He will be our guest in the final segment of the show. And then I'll follow up that interview with my smell test to end the show. Before that, keys to beating Buffalo, a prediction on the game very shortly. And we'll talk some other NFL college football in the game last night as well. The show is presented by Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or go to WindowNation.com. Mention my name. You'll get a free estimate so you've got nothing to lose. 86690 Nation or Window Nation.com. Let me begin the show with my prediction on the game.

And I'm doing that because I am predicting Washington beats Buffalo on Sunday, 24 to 17. I just have a really strong feeling about this game, and I have kind of leaned into that all week long. I think a lot has to do with what they did offensively during that 32 to 3 run in Denver. to know that they're capable of that, to know that Eric B. Enemy really, really out-coached and had Vance Joseph on his heels on Sunday, to becoming more increasingly confident

that Sam Howell really does have some legitimate NFL talent and can play the position a little bit. It's too early to sort of declare anything. But I think it's the offense from Sunday in Denver that gives me this feeling that they can not only compete in this game, but they can win it. And then to also consider that Buffalo against good defensive teams on the road, they haven't lost a lot of games in the last four years. They have not. But this is the kind of game I could see them losing.

They lost the Jets in the opener against Zach Wilson. They turned it over a bunch. They got the win last week against the Raiders, so they're not feeling it. desperate, although they do have games coming up against Miami and Jacksonville. So there's some pressure for them to win this game. There's a lot of pressure on Buffalo in general this year. There is a sense that the window is closing on their Super Bowl chances. So they do need to make it happen sooner rather than later.

But I think we are going to learn a lot about Washington this week. and let's face it, if they go in to FedEx Field Sunday and they come out with a win against Buffalo, this will be a statement that the rest of the league will take notice of next week. You know, no doubt if they end up beating Buffalo on Sunday, the rest of the league is going to discuss Washington next week as a, legitimate, legitimate NFC playoff contender. Not a championship contender.

That conversation will remain focused on teams like San Francisco and Dallas and Philadelphia. But in terms of next in line after those teams, Washington will enter that group. And by the way, that group might be just them. But at 3-0 with a win over Buffalo, and Buffalo is a different team than Arizona

in Denver. there's going to be a lot of people taking notice for sure. You know, I talked about this on the radio show this morning, and I didn't realize this until last night. I don't know why I didn't put this together earlier. But last week, remember, they played Denver. They played Denver, a team that they had beaten in a Super Bowl. Sunday, they play Buffalo, a team they beat in the Super Bowl.

And stay tuned at the very end of the show for the final call of Super Bowl 26. And you'll hear Jack Kent Cook presented with the Lombardi Trophy by then Commissioner Paul Tagliabu. I'll take you out of the show today with that sound from now, you know, 32 seasons ago. But they also play this year Miami, the team that they beat for the third Lombardi trophy. It was actually their first. Lombardi Trophy, but they play all three teams that they beat in the Super Bowl this year. It's the only time it's ever happened. So last week, they got Denver.

This week, maybe Buffalo, and then later in the year, maybe Miami, although the dolphins look really good. But this is a chance to get the 3-0 for the first time in 18 seasons, the chance to make a big-time early-season statement. It's a long season, I understand. So even if they win on Sunday, as I've said before, they're going to go ahead and play the rest of them anyway. They're going to play the rest of the 14 anyway.

But man, it's been a long time since they've had this kind of opportunity early in the season. I think you have to kind of go back to 2017 when they lost the opener but then beat the Rams on the road. And we didn't even know that the Rams would be good that year. That was Sean McVeigh's first. playoff team in L.A. And then they came home for a Sunday night game against the Raiders. And that was a pretty hyped up Sunday night game. And they destroyed the Raiders on Sunday night football to get to two and one on the year. And then they had a big game the following week on Monday night football against the Chiefs. But it's been a while since early in the season,

there's been kind of a game with some stakes. Look, the last four years, 0 and 5 in 2019, 1 in 5 in 2020, 2 and 6 in 2021, 1 in 4 last year. You know, there have been some late season runs. Yeah, there have been, but, you know, by the time we've gotten to them, there was too much damage, you know, already done. And I think this opportunity here is a little bit different. Like in 2018, when they started out five and two with Alex Smith at quarterback, you know, there was some excitement. I'm not going to, you know, say that there wasn't legitimate excitement about being five and two before Alex Smith got hurt in that Houston game.

But it was a house of cards. Like, it was a bit fraudulent. You know, watching that team, they were hitting the inside straight every week. They weren't turning it over. They weren't committing penalties. They were running the football and dominating times. of possession. They were beating some so-so teams.

They beat Green Bay when Aaron Rogers was banged up and hurt. But the teams that they faced that were pretty good, they got blown out by New Orleans, they got blown out by Atlanta. They won a game at Tampa in which they gave up 500 yards. Like it wasn't

real. I think this feels different. I think that we know they have better players than they've had in a long, long time. That the roster is probably the best roster they've had since, you know, at the very least 2005, if not before that.

Quarterback and O-Line were the big question marks coming in, linebacker to a certain extent as well. But they've got good players on this team on both sides of the ball. And I think that that has lent itself to, for at least me, thinking, you know, we may be in the process of figuring out here over the next two games, that this team has some big upside potential. And again, let me be clear on that. I'm talking about, you know, if they win Sunday, if they win one of these next two, or if they play well and lose the next two, I think we're going to learn a lot more and we're going to consider them to be a playoff contender. Remember, there are

seven teams that go to the playoffs. But, you know, there's excitement over this team. And man, if they win Sunday, this thing goes nuclear. The energy level for this team, it goes big time. I mean, this is a second straight sellout. There will be Buffalo fans in the crowd, no doubt. I think I mentioned yesterday, if I didn't mention this yesterday, the TV ratings haven't been great, actually, you know, another reflection of sort of the buzz. Week one was, and thank you Eric Fingerhut, and thank you John Oran for sending me those numbers. But week one was like a 14.3. That was like the bottom 10 local TV ratings.

But they bounced up against Denver and did a 17.8 local rating, which only 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12 mark. They were better than 12 markets with that 17.8 against the Broncos. Now, to give you an idea, like the number one market local television rating for last week was Buffalo doing a 41.3 in their game against the Raiders. Kansas City in their game against the Jags did a 40.2 rating. New Orleans did a 38 plus rating for their game against the Panthers on Monday night. So you're a long way away from where it used to be, but 17.8 is a lot better than a lot of the recent numbers in recent years. You know, there's a buzz. You know, there's a buzz over the old owner being gone, the new owner being in,

and there's some real buzz about a young quarterback that shows promise. And being coached by an offensive coordinator who, through two games, is making a lot of the league look a little bit silly for passing on them. Again, I understand two games, and I have been the one warning everybody. You know, these early season games, you can't come out of it thinking anything for sure. You know, declaring anything after the season opener is crazy. Declaring anything after the first few weeks is nuts. But they've got good players.

We talked about that last year. We talked about that during the off-season. And if the quarterback and the offensive coordinator are capable of doing what they did Sunday in Denver, yeah, we'll see. I like Washington, 24 to 17. The bills are pretty good, you know, they've got a lot of talent. But I just kind of feel like this is one of those games that we've seen Buffalo play, you know, tight in, and when I say tight, not nervous tight, but they've made mistakes.

You know, they almost lost that opener in New York against Zach Wilson. They didn't almost lose the opener. They did lose the opener. What am I talking about? They lost that opener 22 to 16 in overtime. All right. Let me get to my keys to a win over Buffalo. Washington beats Buffalo if.

I'm going to start with something that I may be saying now every week, I want them to be aggressive offensively. I have no problem with the heavy passover run approach. Whatever they do that results in moving the football and scoring points, I want them to do. And I think this is the best way for them to do that. You also have a team in Buffalo that is pretty good against the run. week they held Josh Jacobs to minus two yards on nine carries. Jacobs is one of the best backs in the league. But I want to see quick game, what we saw last week, a lot of quick game, a lot of, you know, rollout comeback patterns, sideline throws for six to seven yards to, like we saw to Diami Brown a couple times. This screen game would be nice, although I think Buffalo is a faster,

smarter team. In fact, the first turnover of the game last week was a Jimmy Garoppolo's screen that got deflected and picked off. I want to see the same approach. I want to see Eric B. Enemy getting the ball to his best players on offense. The way they did it last week, not necessarily the way they did it against Arizona, but I think that their approach is going to remain consistent. There may be a team that they think, hey, we can be more balanced because we can really run the football against them.

I don't know that it's Buffalo. I want them to be aggressive. I want him to get into rhythm. I want him protected. And that's number two. Washington beats Buffalo. If they're heavy Passover runs, staying aggressive, but they're doing it in a way that keeps Sam Howell protected,

which means you are avoiding some of those bad, near catastrophic plays on offense. Because Buffalo is not Arizona or Denver. They are capable of making you love. look bad on offense. And I think Eric B. Enemy did a phenomenal job. We talked a lot about that earlier in the week. A phenomenal job protecting Sam Hal after an opener in which he was sacked six times, and they turned the ball over a bunch of times in that opener. You know, it was the play calling. It was Sam protecting himself better by getting the ball out quicker. The O line, you know, was okay at times. But still, in that Denver game, they were still pretty good.

close to having a couple of major bad plays. You know, there was that deflected ball in the first half that Denver had right in the, and I forget who the defender was now. He had it in his hands, couldn't hold onto it for the interception. There were some sacks that Sam took last week where they were blindside hits, where he did a great job of holding onto the ball. And then on one particular play, he probably could have stepped up in the pocket and protected the ball, but had it knocked out.

But Washington recovered that fumble. So zero turnovers last week, but a couple of close call plays. But I think for the most part, Eric B. Enemy did a good job of protecting Sam. And Sam did a good job of protecting Sam as well. But Buffalo can really make you pay. Rousseau, Milano, Ed Oliver. I mean, they've got players. And I think they're coming after, Sam.

I really do. They don't have to. They can get home with four. But I think the way right now, if you've watched Washington, is to get some pressure, make him get it out quickly, which he did a good job of last week. Get hands up. Give them, you know, a real difficult, you know, view of receivers.

But number one is I want to see the pass-heavy, aggressive approach, but I want to see it the way I saw it last week. Number two, if I see it last week, then they're going to do what I think is super important against Buffalo, which is protect the football and avoid the bad plays. Number three, Washington beats the Buffalo Bills. If they stop the run, you know, it's the one small concern I have about the defense through two weeks. James Connor in week one, Javante Williams last week.

they're giving up four and a half yards per carry in two games. I know that you don't hang your hat on two games worth of stats. If you do, you're crazy. They'll change dramatically over the next two, three weeks. You need five or six games before you start looking at some of, you know, whether it's team, traditional, or team advanced numbers. But I'm just pointing out the four and a half yards per carry that they're allowing is 25th in the league through two weeks.

And it's on the edges, or it was last one, week. Some of their contain has been an issue. You heard Cooley talk about that on the film breakdown, and if you miss that again, that was Wednesday's show. It was great. They've had some tackling issues here and there, but really in Denver, there were some easy runs, including, you know, Russell Wilson on a keeper on his own read. You've got to be disciplined against James Cook, Dalvin's younger brother, their primary running back. He replaces Devin Singletary this year. Cook is not James Connor or Javante Williams in that he is a slighter back smaller. He's 30 to 40 pounds lighter than both of them, but he's quick.

He's decisive. He's got good vision. They ran the ball more last week, and they ran it under center more than they typically do. You know, Josh Allen is pretty much a shotgun quarterback, and the bills have been shotgun pretty much exclusively. but I went back and watched the game and you could see there were more under center plays. It actually looked odd to see it with Josh Allen under center. And they used James Cook, who went over 100 yards last week in their win over the Raiders. They used it to bootleg Josh Allen, to set up some play action for Josh Allen.

James Cook averaged 7.2 yards per carry in the game against the Raiders. So I'm a little bit concerned. I'm not alarmed at the runs against them in the first two games. I mean, they have a front four that's awesome. But their backers can be a little bit out of place. Their D-Ns can occasionally be out of place. I mean, Cooley talked about the first touchdown run where Chase was kind of sucked inside. and didn't play contain.

So stopping the run is important. Cleshy number four beating Buffalo if they don't turn the ball over, but really more than that, I think they got to be plus in this game. They were plus two in Denver and won by two points. They were minus one against a bad team in Arizona and hung on to win that game. I think this is clearly the best team they are facing this year. and I think a plus two in the turnover margin may be necessary. But I'm optimistic that they will get the opportunity with Josh Allen at quarterback,

with their defense to put Josh Allen into a position where he forces things and he gives them chances. He typically does. You've got to catch them if he throws them. But I think a plus on the turnover margin, maybe as much as plus two is going to be, really important in this game for them to win. But I think it can happen. And then lastly, I think I mentioned this on my radio show. We do a segment where we give kind of bold predictions.

It's called Don't Be Surprised if. And I said, don't be surprised if Jameson Crowder has a big day. He is, statistically, he's done nothing in the first two games. But I think he is confident. and I think he's looking to make a big play. It's kind of, you know, for James and Crowder at this point in his career, you know, he's got this opportunity with Washington. He's only a punt returner.

I know he'd like to play receiver. We had him on the radio show last week. But I think he's going to try to make things happen in the return game. And by the way, Dax Millen comes off injured reserve or potentially comes off injured reserve after week four. You know, they had a punt return against them in overtime to lose the game. the Bills did in that Monday night opener against the Jets. I think special teams will be big in this game, and I think Crowder has a chance to have

a decent game. Now, the other part of special teams being huge is you can't miss two field goals and expect to beat Buffalo. They missed two field goals last week, and they hung on. They won 3533. There was a Hail Mary at the end, understood. But we need to make sure that Cheeseman, doesn't roll one back in a big spot. That could really be decisive in a game like this. So those are

the things that I thought about, you know, I really want to continue to see what they can be offensively by being aggressive, but being aggressive in a way that's also protective of Sam. You know, I got to see a better effort against the run defensively. I'm so bullish, so optimistic about this defense. I'm so encouraged about Chase Young's first. game. Duran Payne's been a little bit hobbled this week. They need him, and hopefully he'll be healthy. But I don't want to see some of these gashing runs that we saw, especially last week in the first three drives. I mean, if they come out and James Cook's, you know, four and a half, five yards per carry, and now Josh Allen isn't facing a pass rush that is just playing pass.

Stefan Diggs and Gabe Davis and their rookie tight end, by the way. Remember, Washington in this last draft, we went through the tight ends that were possibilities. And one of them in the first round was Dalton Kincaid from Utah. Well, Buffalo took him at number 25 in the first round, and he has looked really good. He's got nine receptions in the first two games for 69 yards, two or three of them. for first downs. Josh Allen has a new favorite tight-end target to go with Steph Diggs and Gabe Davis and company.

But we know Buffalo, they're capable of being really explosive. They were explosive in the run game last week against the Raiders without Josh Allen being a factor in the run game. And so stopping the run, I think it's going to be a big deal, you know, plus two in the turnover margin, special teams, keep away from. from the gaffs and maybe get a big return from Crowder this week. And, you know, offensively, I can't wait to see them against this Buffalo defense. I think they're going to face an aggressive defense, a smart defense, a defense that will

really try to fool Sam Hal. But a defense that can just flat out line up and make place. Now, they've had some injuries with Floyd and with Micah Hyde, but we'll talk to Ryan O'Halloran a little bit later on the show to find out if he thinks they will play. Micah Hyde's just one of those players that's always been a playmaker, you know, wherever he has been. And he just anticipates well and pressure and maybe fooling Sam a little bit, and a guy like Hyde ends up with a pick or two in the game.

I like Washington 24-17. There you go. How about that? All right. A couple of other things, and then we'll get to Jay. The game last night between the 49ers and the Giants, is there a player in the league that is more physical as a runner after the catch than Debo Samuel? I just, every time I watch him, I am just amazed even more.

He is one of the most relentless, physical, strong, competitive, offensive players with the ball in his hands at any position, excuse me. He is, I mean, you can't tackle the dude. It takes four to five guys to get him to the ground. And then on top of that, George Kittle, I mean, you can't tackle him either. The 49ers won the game 30 to 12. It's their third straight 30-point game. They opened with a 30-7 win in Pittsburgh.

Last week, 30 to 23 over the Rams, and last night, 30 to 12 over the Giants to get to 3-0. The Giants did not have Barclay. They didn't have Andrew Thomas. I mean, you could say two of the three or four best players on the team they didn't have. They could not get off the field on third down. Some of it was unlucky, to be honest with you. I thought the Giants actually, on a short week where they were in big trouble against Arizona after getting blown out by Dallas, I didn't expect them to win the game, but I thought they actually competed pretty hard. And if you were a giant fan, you're upset that they couldn't get off the field on third down. You're upset that they couldn't convert on third down.

But it was a 17 to 12 game late in the third quarter, 20 to 12 going into the fourth quarter. I never felt watching it that the Giants could win the game. But, you know, they come off. this kind of mini-buy with a Monday night game, so they get a long buy here. It's not the buy week, but they get the mini-bye, and then they don't have to play next Sunday. They play next Monday night against the Seahawks. Before a stretch, I mean, the Seahawks are tough enough. Seahawks, Dolphins, Bills, and then Washington are the next four for the Giants.

How about this game in two weeks? The 49ers and the Cowboys, October 8th. in San Francisco on Sunday night football, likely to be two four-and-o teams at that point. And speaking of the Cowboys, Trayvon Diggs goes down. That hurts for sure. Torn ACL. They've got some depth at that position.

Would have been much worse for them had they lost Michael Parsons, clearly. But Trayvon Diggs has 18 interceptions since entering the league in 2020. I think more than anybody, or maybe there's somebody else that has exactly this. I think it's J.C. Jackson. might have the same number as Diggs. But with that pass rush, I mean, Diggs is one of those playmakers on the back end, and that's a big, big loss for the Cowboys. Other NFL news real quickly, Anthony Richardson's out against Baltimore.

He has had a pretty good start to the season so far, but he was concussed last week. And Bryce Young's out one to two weeks in Carolina, which means Andy Dalton is going to get the start. And it is starting to look more and more like Joe. Burrow is not going to go on Monday night against the Rams. They added a third quarterback today. Somebody I've never heard of, to be honest with you. Tomorrow may be the best college football day of the year. Clemson, Florida State at noon. We'll have this big storm going on here in the D.C. area. If you live here, you know what I'm talking about. We had Doug Cameron on the radio show today. This is a nor'eastern, a big-time Nor' Easter, heavy rain, lots of wind.

Perfect day to stay inside and watch a full day of big-time college football. Starts at noon with the big one, Florida State Clemson, 3.30 window, Colorado, Oregon. That'll be the most watched game tomorrow. Ole Miss Alabama, UCLA, Utah. And then Saturday night, man, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Iowa, Penn State. They both kick at the same time. You also have maybe the most underrated big game of the week, Oregon State and Washington State, the two pack 12 schools that are being left by everybody else match up in Pullman with Oregon State,

a three-point favorite as the 14th ranked team in the country against undefeated and 21st-ranked Washington State. But what a great day of college football. Maryland's got Michigan State. Beware, Terps fans. I just think that Michigan State got beat and embarrassed last week. Mel Tucker now out. obviously that program in turmoil, but there's something about East Lansing. Washington beat them badly in East Lansing last week.

But Maryland, as much as I'm hopeful, I haven't seen what I've seen the last two years early in the year before they've matched up against somebody good. I'm a little bit worried about the game tomorrow. I almost gave them out Michigan State out in the smell test. I just told you that I didn't give out Michigan State in the smell test. But I do have eight college games that are going. But a great college Saturday. And then the NFL Sunday is not bad either. You know, our game, obviously, in the 1 o'clock window, is a big game.

But you've got some other big games here in week three. Falcons Lions, what if the Falcons going to Detroit win that game to get to 3 and 0? And the Lions, after beating the Chiefs, are one and two with two home losses. You know, that's an interesting game. The Saints at the Packers, two teams that, you know, I think probably have some aspirations of being a playoff team, you know, winning their divisions, which are not super strong or being a wild card team. Chargers, Vikings, in some ways with both teams being 0 and 2, this is a game that, you know, keeps the season alive with a win and maybe you start to think trade deadline moves with a lot.

Although, again, O and 3 with a 17 game schedule and seven teams in each conference, you know, qualifying for the playoffs, is different than what it used to be. And then the late afternoon window on Sunday, I mean, there's nothing. Panther, Seahawks, Bears, Chiefs, Cowboys, Cardinals, Steelers, Raiders Sunday night. The Monday night doubleheader is interesting with Eagles bucks early. and then the Rams may be against a Bengals team that will not have Joe Burrow at quarterback. Today, by the way, for Washington out at practice, the injury report now official going into Sunday. Logan Thomas is out. Cam Curl just came down with a sickness and Curtis Samuel with an injured hip are questionable.

Everybody else is a full go. Kwan Martin Duron Payne and Brian Robinson, Jr., all a full go for Sunday. They were a full participant in practice. Buffalo had everybody that had been limited at full participation today. James Cook, by the way, they're running back, did not practice yesterday because he had his first child. Tredavius Wright. Tredavius White. excuse me, took a veteran practice day.

I think he will go on Sunday. We'll ask Ryan O'Halloran about him. Anyway, we're ready to roll on Sunday. We got a big one, and I'll be here Monday to talk all about it. What does Jay Gruden think about the win over Denver, about the matchup against Buffalo, and about the NFL card this weekend. We'll get him to give us his lock of the law.

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Guys, this is excellent barbecue, do southDC.com. Jay Gruden is our guest every Friday during football season, and he joins us. joins us right now. We'll preview the Buffalo game coming up and get Jay's thoughts on that. But let's go back to Denver first, and Washington's impressive 35 to 33 win over Denver. What did you think? Yes, very impressive. And I think it all started with the field goal at the end of the half. I know it sounds crazy, but that was a great drive and a two-minute drill to get to a seven-point game. Then they come out the first drive of the third quarter in Payne gets a sack, a tackle for loss, and a batted ball.

and the Washington goes down and ties it. Sometimes the end of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter are defining moments for your football team, and they took advantage and had a great end of the quarter and start of the third quarter. That's interesting that you focused on that. I was super thrilled that they got the ball back after they scored the touchdown, got the two-point conversion, and got the three, and all of a sudden you're looking at it,

and it's like we were getting blown out and it's now seven at the half. but I've been talking about it all week. It's one of those games in which I believe as a fan rarely does one play make the difference or change a game completely, but the Jaman Davis forced fumble completely flipped the game. It was about to become 24 to 3 or maybe 28 to 3, and that's nearly game over at that point. Yes, that was odd fumbles by Russell.

I mean, I still watched that replay five times, and it's like he didn't know he fumbled. It was weird. He just kind of sat up and looked around at the crowd, and next thing, another Reds, commander shot with the ball. Right. That was a unique play. But that was a huge play.

Definitely turnovers like that, do change in momentum of your football team. You can just tell guys when they're coming off the sideline a little more jump in their step. You know what I mean? Instead of coming out there, like, here we go again. But, yeah, there are some really events in that game that really turned momentum. That Jammin' Davis play was one. And then obviously the fourth and four catch by Logan Thompson. was another one. I think the fuel

at the other half. So when they run in at half time, it's a hell of a lot better feeling being down 7 than being down 24 or 3, that's for sure. Yeah. So Cooley was on with me the other day, and he was talking about Sean Payton in Denver early, that you know, they scored three

touchdowns on three drives, and he said Joe Gibbs used to say we've got them shuffling their papers. He always found that funny, and Gibbs would say, we got them you know, guessing right now. defense. We got them looking at their notes and their and their papers. And you were an offensive coordinator. You were a play calling head coach. What's it like? What's the feeling like when you

really have the other team's defense guessing? It is a great feeling because you feel like everything you're going to call is going to work. Whatever formation, whatever personnel group is going to work. Some days it's the opposite. I can't even get a yard. What can we go to? This ain't going to work. But I've had games where we have had like 45, 50 points, and it feels great to just call, dial up, whatever you want, you get your bootlegs available on first down, you get your play action available, you get your running a ball effectively, you're running the perimeter runs effectively, and that's what Sean had going. I had the perimeter runs going extremely well. That's a quick game going well. I had a couple downfield shots that hit pretty good.

So unfortunately, or fortunately for Washington, they put a stop to it and then made some plays on offense and got back in the game. Do you know that going into a game? Like you've got an idea during the week based on the game plan and knowing who you're facing and what they have. Do you have a sense going into a game? I'm going to be able to call a lot of stuff that's going to work today. Or is that something that just kind of evolves during the game? Yes, I definitely have that feeling before some games.

You know, when we were at Washington or out of Cincinnati and all our guys were playing and active in it, hitting on all cylinders, Jordan Deshaun and Pierre, or, you know, later on even with some the other guys that we had, you know, you feel good about going into game, you feel confident that you're going to make a lot of plays. And then when those guys aren't available and you're going against the likes of really good defense in Dallas or New York Giants or whoever, you don't feel quite as confident if, you know, Josh Schont or Mark Sanchez as your quarterback because they just got here or what have you. But, yeah, there's definitely times that I felt really, really confident going to it in a game

with ball off the game plan. Yeah, I think that stretch in 2016, I think 2016 as a whole. You guys were, you know, top three to five in almost every offensive category. But there was that stretch where you had Green Bay on a Sunday night. You lost to Dallas on Thanksgiving. And, I mean, you guys were putting up 500 plus yards a game, it seemed like, and you couldn't be stopped. The problem, of course, was your defense couldn't stop anybody. And that didn't help. Like, if you had to be stopped, had the ball more, you probably would have averaged 40 points a game that season. Yeah, that's why we put so much emphasis on the draft on defense alignment. You know, I couldn't take it. You know, we had some good players, some good guys, but we needed to upgrade. We were aging on the defensive line and linebackers and safeties. We needed to regroup and get really hot in our draft, and luckily we hit some good ones on the front.

But it's a tough situation when you can't stop anybody. but it really is helpful. So when you're on the sideline, you see a guy. That's a Ginnis 6. That's a Ginnis 7. There's a bootleg for a Gennon 9. It's like, oh, my God, can we just get the ball back, please? But yeah, it was a process, and I think we did a pretty good job turning the defense around a little bit.

Yeah, you did. John Allen, Duran Payne, eventually back into the first round to get Montez sweat and three straight drafts, and it's paying off now big time. So what did you think of Sam, how? I've been impressed with them. You know, he's played three games, and he has made about every throw that I've seen a quarterback need to make. So you know he's got that in his arsenal. He's come back from behind.

He's played with the lead. He's converted some third and longs. He's converted some tough red zone plays. He's been in critical situations. So, yeah, for three-game stretch, he's had about every bit of taste of what it's like to be a quarterback in the NFL and passed on all called cylinder. So far, so good. I mean, you've got to be really, really impressive the way he's playing way he's handling the game

and the type of throws that he's making. It's not like he's just checking the ball down and throwing a screen passes. He's throwing balls on the seams. He's throwing ball on the outside lanes. He's throwing a ball in traffic a little bit and making all the plays. You kind of just started to answer my next question,

but what are the throws? Like, give me a list of the throws that a quarterback needs to be able to make at the pro level. Well, you have to be initially, you have to be accurate and you have to throw a catchable ball. That's very important and have great anticipation. You have to be able to rattle the ball on the seams. You have to be able to throw the ball on the outside lane,

whether it's go balls or in between a corner and a safety and cover two. You've got to be able to manipulate defenses with your eyes and throw deep in cuts, anticipate and throws and curls. You have to move in the pocket. You have to keep your eyes down the field. So he's doing all that, really. I mean, that's what I've been most impressed with. The thing that I was worried about him in North Carolina when he came out

was if the rush came, he would lose sight of vision downfield and take a lot of sacks and rely on his athletic ability to get away. But that doesn't look to be the case. It looks like he is looking to scramble and move in the pocket to throw the ball, more so to run it, but he can run it. So he checks all the boxes for me right now, just a matter of can he do it on a consistent 17-game basis or not. Can you be a quarterback that can't make all of the throws, but because with arm strength,

specifically talking about arm strength. But because you see it so well, you anticipate it so well, you throw with anticipation so well, you can succeed at a high level. Yeah, for sure. You don't have to throw the ball 65, 70 yards down the field. It helps to have that overpowering arm, but with anticipation and accuracy,

you can get away with the arm. You got to throw it like 50 yards, 55 yards, because you don't really have to throw it that far. Play action shots, you know, you're playing domes. You can launch it, you know, far as you can, but anticipation and accuracy is the most important thing. Kurt Warner had a good enough arm, but his anticipation and accuracy was off the charts when he came in there and some of the better quarterbacks of the plate, obviously, the pocket

passers, that's what they have. Some guys have an overpowering cannon arm, Brett Farv and Dan Marino and those guys, but the other guys, Joe Montana, those guys are anticipation, accuracy, footwork, and getting the ball the right people. I don't know if you saw this, but Montana about two weeks ago, said the greatest of all time is Marino, that nobody threw it better with better anticipation, manipulated the pocket better, had a better release, had a quicker release than Dan Marino. And he referred to Dan Marino as the greatest of all time.

Who's your greatest of all time? I got to go to training camp. Coming out of college, I was invited to training camp for three days with the Miami Dolphins. And I got to see them in person. I was like, what am I doing here? This guy is ridiculous. I mean, it was embarrassing. It was like standing next to a God.

I mean, he had the quickest release and accurate. Yeah, he's probably right. When it comes to throwing a ball, I think Aaron Rogers is like that too. I think Aaron can do it with all kinds of different releases. I mean, his armed talent is, to me, he's the best one that I've seen just as far as pure armed talent, throwing him with a flick of the wrist and launching the ball

for he can throw the ball long. I mean, it's accurate. It's hard to explain. He's amazing to me. He's running Dan Marino's often, too. Who's the most talented quarterback? Well, yeah, who's the most talented quarterback you ever coached? Ever coached?

Talented? Yeah, talent. Just pure talent. Well, I only had a couple in Cincinnati, Dalton, and I'm here, Kirk, and Alex, probably Kirk, just because of his accuracy. I mean, you can't coach that type of accuracy. I think it took a little while for Kirk to really gain trust in what he was seeing and being able to deliver the throws once he felt comfortable with the concepts

and reading the defenses and getting his feet right and bled in the grip, he became a really top-notch quarterback. Yeah, I thought you were going to say, but now I'm figuring it out. I thought you were going to say maybe Carson Palmer, but you didn't coach Carson Palmer. I didn't coach Carson, no. He wasn't there when I was there. I was there. He left right before.

and Dalton came in. By the way, Dalton may start this week because it looks like Bryce Young is hurt. I actually thought Dalton had a pretty good year last year in New Orleans. Andy can play. You know, I mean, yeah, he's a smart kid. He knows where to go to football. He's played a lot of ball. He can scramble good enough.

He doesn't have that. Another one of those guys doesn't have a crazy long arm, but he can get away with it because he has a good anticipation and knows where to go at the ball. Back to the Denver game. Eric Bienemies Day. What did you make of his game and play calling in Denver?

I like what he's doing. He's being aggressive coming out. And he's not putting Sam in too many awkward situations. There's going to be some in the course of the game. But a lot of people get down on probably for being a little more aggressive and not hand on the ball off more. But I take it

that sometimes when you try to just force the run, you force a young quarterback in the third and a half-ball fireman, man. That's tough. But when you come out firing and trying to get some quick game, some bubble screens, and all that stuff that he's doing. I think he's doing a good job. How did you think Russell Wilson looked in his second game with Sean Payton?

You know what? I just never like to talk bad about a quarterback. I just don't think he's very good right now. I just, he missed some throws that I don't know how you can miss. He missed one in the red zone on third down a goal to the tight end. He threw it like in the dirt behind him, and he's wide open for a walk-in touchdown. He had Jerry Judy on third and eight.

and he's wide open. He throws it in the dirt behind me. But Jerry had to catch it, and then he got up and got tackled for, you know, a game of seven instead of an easy first down. Right. He just misses too many easy throws for me. You know, he still got the ability to scramble

and throw the deep ball from time of time. But over the course of 60 minutes, the type of offense that Sean wants to run, I just don't know if he's the guy for him. Yeah, you know, that Jerry Judy play that you were talking about. I talked about that one, because if he throws that where it's supposed to be thrown, and that's a chunk play for them.

And it's 21 to 11 at that point, and Washington doesn't get the ball back and get that big field goal that you talked about before the end of the half. Yeah, they could have possibly got the field goal. Exactly. He's wide open. He's right in front of him.

I mean, it's not like it. I don't know. Yeah, that one was behind. He went to the ground, and they came up and made the tackle two yards short. He also had Judy wide open on the two-point conversion. If he had gotten through his progressions, I don't know if you saw that.

He threw to Sutton, but Judy was on that crosser there was a lot of defensive backs kind of running into each other and Judy was wide open yeah there was they were forced to a field what I'm talking about they were in a bunch

and they cleared it out perfect and a tight end ran like he's run aflatan back across the middle I mean there's nobody around them and the dirt behind them I'm like wow but I guess he's probably still getting used to the time in some of these concepts, maybe they're a little hard. Some of these concepts that Sean,

some of these guys have option routes like the Judy one. I think he had an option to sit down and break it in or maybe maybe he just got a little confused or something. I don't know. All right. Did you watch the game last night? Before we get to Buffalo, we'll talk about Buffalo here in a minute. Did you watch a game last night?

I watched most of it. I had a member guest yesterday, so I got home late and I watched the second half. I mean, member member, member guest. It's just a lot of golf in your life right now. So first of all, have you seen the play where Trent Williams, you know, could have, he got penalized, but he didn't get ejected. The league's actually backing the ref's call not to throw him out, but he threw a punch. Trent's been known to throw a punch once in a while.

He threw a punch and hit A. Sean Robinson right in the face mask. Did you see that? Do you think he should have been tossed? Yeah, Trent, I'm just correct. Trent has a tendency to get a little angry. And usually it's because he's sticking up for one of his guys probably. Ashon probably did some to one of his other guys. But I don't know.

A punch in a face mask, they got a face mask on it doesn't really hurt. But it depends on a retaliation. But I think, yeah, I don't think there's any place with punching guys in the face. Probably should have been tossed. I don't know how they didn't toss them. It was a good punch. I didn't actually see the punch. Oh, was Trent a guy that you really?

really, I mean, because we've seen the anger. You know, he went after Richard Sherman. You weren't here then during a playoff game afterwards. But was he a guy that it took a lot to get him super angry, or did he have a short fuse? No, I think it took a lot. I think it's like something after another thing, after another thing, and just the build-up of a lot of bad things or things that bothered Trent would set him off. And usually it was team-related, like if we were losing and not doing well,

somebody's talking trash and we're still losing them. The same guy's talking trash is it's going to be, there's going to be a problem. Right. How good do the 49ers look to you this early in the season? Oh, they look good because they can do everything. They can run the ball. They can do the play action. They got good receivers and Iook didn't even play yesterday.

Right. But, you know, their defense is exceptional against the run, the safety that they have, and the linebackers that they have, they can all run, they can hit, and they have an elite pass rusher. so they don't really have a weakness that I can find on their team. And Purdy, he can say he's a weakness, but he's throwing the ball accurately and out of time and doing exactly what he needs to do for a quarterback to win games. Last night, and I know I've thought this before watching the 49ers,

I don't know if there are two better run-after catch guys from a physical, you know, tackle-breaking standpoint like Debo Samuel and George Kittle. You cannot tackle those guys. It takes half the team to get him to the ground. Yeah, it's amazing. Some of those runs that Debo had last night, I don't know how he holds down to the ball. He's got six people draped around him. They're all yanking at it.

He's strong as heck. So strong. I made this point. And part of the reason their running game works so well is Debo, Iyuk, and Jouan Jennings, the receivers are the best blocking, receiving trio. I've seen in a long, long time. Bebo will dig out safety like nobody else.

Grant Jennings, John Jennings will block like a tight end. He'll block defensive linemen and go up to the corners. Cracks, I mean, they're amazing. They can run toss cracks. Sometimes running games are stifled because receivers are not willing or are able to go in there and dig out force.

If you can't do that, it's very difficult to be successful running the ball. And that's, to me, I know they have a great back and have a great tackle. Kettle's a good blocker, but their blocking receivers are critical in their success. You know, the way you just described that, it reminded me that's the reason you loved Ryan Grant, right? He was the only guy I had that would do it. I mean, Deshawn surely wouldn't do it, and Pierre didn't want a motion and go get the guy.

So I had a pretty hand Ryan Grant. I came in and we were going to walk through one time. We lined up in a bunch. We're getting ready to play a team with a very aggressive safety, and we had the short motion, the Z and bunch, and almost inside the tackle to dig out the safety, and we'd run our little duo play, and we'd bounce it outside for game. So we did it with Deshawn on a walk-through, and he comes back to me after the play. He goes, hey, coach, screw.

That's really not in our game plan, is it? So I said, no, we'll put Ryan Grant in there for that one, buddy. Oh, man. I mean, but that sucks when you have a guy that puts the fear into a defense like Deshawn does, but you really can't have them on the field if you want to run the football. That's exactly right. It's very difficult. Now, some of the RPO's you can get away with and the outside zones, you can run away from them and things of that nature.

But, you know, it becomes difficult to play him full time. You know, he's a great player. It was great for us. But running the football became a challenge, formationally and schematically. Yeah, I mean, the other thing is, is like, Jordan Reed wasn't necessarily a great blocker. You just mentioned Pierre. And the truth is, on some of those teams, you didn't really have. a good back either. Yeah, no, I mean, we had

Alford where I first got here. We went to Rob Kelly. We said, you know, we had a bunch of guys that out of around. I thought we had a great back in guy if I mentioned that before. Unfortunately, he got hurt, but, you know, Peterson in the later years, I guess was, we can call him greater. He was great at one time. But he had

some great games for us. But yeah, it was just hard because, you know, Pierre wanted to be the split end, the guy on the ball. He didn't like the motion and do all that stuff. And then Deshawn, So Deshawn had to be the guy, if he was the Z, he had to be the guy to come dig out all the force. So he couldn't play him, so he had to stuff him out and bring in Ryan Grant or another physical guy. We had a couple other receivers.

We drafted their broad edge just for that purpose. Yeah. All right, let's talk about Sunday. I think a couple of weeks ago, most of us would have said, yeah, this is a tough two-game stretch, Buffalo and Philly. And would have, you know, as long as the team that they're playing is healthy, would have chalked it up as a loss. I know it's the NFL, and trust me, I know it's the NFL, I bet the NFL, and we know anything can happen. You loved the Giants last week covering the number. They were down by 21 at one point, and it happens to all of us.

But I think now watching this team for two weeks, I think they have a chance. What do you think? Absolutely. You know, you have a good front floor. You can get pressure on Josh Allen with four guys. That's the key. and make them stay in the pocket and force them into some mistakes, you'll have a chance.

You know, that way you can do different coverages with digs and you can roll to them and you can play, you know, with different leverages against them and try to frustrate them a little bit. And then offensively, I think they're doing enough right now that, you know, my only concern is Denver and Arizona, a lot of guys that you don't really hear of on defense, and then you're playing against the Buffalo defense where they have some bona fide stars and pass rushers.

It'll be a great test to see where Washington is offensively, especially with the offensively, especially with the offensive line and how they can protect and try to move Buffalo's defense. That's my biggest concern about the game. Where did you have, look, you guys traded for Alex Smith. So the 2018 draft, you know, you've told me this before. Quarterback was off the board at that point. But did you, I forget what you thought of Josh Allen coming out in that 2018 draft. It was the Baker Mayfield draft with Sam Darnold. with Alan, with Josh Rosen, am I forgetting somebody?

Lamar Jackson was at the end of that draft, right, 2018? What did you think of Allen? We liked them a lot. You know, Chase Rulier was on our team. He went to Wyoming with him, and we asked Chase after we kind of looked at it, because he had some really big-time plays, and he was a big guy, but he had some head scratchers where he was, like, missed guys by 10 yards, and guys were right in front of him.

I mean, he'd be like, his accuracy. Is this guy accurate enough to play in the NFL? But Chase really is like, yeah, he might want to drop that guy. So we liked a lot, but we obviously didn't get a chance to get him. Right. And quarterback was not an option after the trade for Alex Smith. No. Not at that year.

I think the next year would have come into play. I mean, it's very similar to why Kansas City took Mahomes. Right. You love Alex, but you'd like to have a guy developed for a year underneath them. And, you know, quarterback's getting older. you've got to have a replacement. Well, plus, trading for Alex Smith after Alex Smith, you know, essentially was going to be replaced by a guy they drafted in Mahomes, to trade for him, give him the contract extension, and then draft a quarterback high would have been really a slap at Alex Smith. Yeah, and the stupidity of what we were doing.

Yeah, right. So what do they have to do to win? I mean, you talked about getting pressure with four. what else? I think that's the key. And then obviously, offensively, I get to see how they can

protect the quarterback against the bill's defense. And see if we can get any movement running the ball. I saw the Raiders just get dismantled. I try to run a ball with Josh Jacobs. Nine carries for minus two yards. Ed Oliver was just wreaking havoc

against the guards. That's a matchup that I think is a big-time problem for Washington. So we had to get the ball in the perimeter somehow. I don't think running between. a tackle is going to be much of an option. And then you've got to get the quarterback outside the pocket and figure out a way to get the ball in the end zone.

But, yeah, the biggest issue for me is the front on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, Washington's front on defense can dominate Buffalo's offense. And hopefully we can do just good enough against their front on defense to get some points. Last week, you basically said it's going to be a close game. It could go either way. What do you think happens Sunday? I just think right now, I think based on what I saw with Buffalo, against the Raiders and the way their

defensive line played and their defense played, I think I got to go with Buffalo and then Josh Allen making enough plays to get done. Just because I haven't seen Washington's offensive line get tested yet. This will be a great test for me. Obviously, they've got tested against Arizona and Denver, but this is different.

These guys are different, I think, at Buffalo. I know you've got to run. Let me hit you with a couple more. Dallas so far through two weeks, and Micah Parsons in particular. They lost digs yesterday for the year. Tornay. But are you a believer in them so far? Oh, yeah, for sure.

Similar reasons that they can do it all on defense that I like San Francisco. You know, they can cover, they can rush, and they can stop the run. So they have a good scheme. And then offensively, I really feel good about where Dax's going with Cid Lam and the rest of the guys on offense. But, no, we'll see. That boss with dig, sees a turnover machine, and that's a big, big loss for them. What about Deshawn Watson?

I don't know what you thought of him when he was in Houston. I don't know if you watched that Monday night game, but he was pretty awful on Monday night. Do you have an opinion about him? What was your opinion about him previously, and what do you think watching him now? I thought he had some really good years early in his career, and I thought he was going to be, you know,

coming out of college, I didn't think he was that accurate. as good as he really was in his first couple years in the NFL. But now that I see him now, I don't know. He doesn't look even close to where he was a few years ago. His accuracy is poor. His decision-making has been poor. So, yeah, I think Cleveland's in big, big trouble if he doesn't get his act together and turn it around and makes a play.

I've never seen the quarterback have two personal foul face-mast penalties either. That's insanity. Right. Do you have a pick this week in the NFL? Yes, I do. I got to think of who it was, though. It was San Francisco. Oh, really?

I wish you had told us. Yeah, that's nice. You know, I actually like the Jaguar and the Texan game to get a lot of points. I watch the Texans, and I think people should, I know they're not very good right now, but they have great running back at Damien Pierce. I really like the quarterback. I think he's going to be an upcoming really good player. Strout.

They got Nico Collins. got Dell and they got Robert Woods at wide receiver and they got Dalton Shultz of tight end. I think they're going to be able to put up some points. So I think the over in that game is my play today. Forty-four is the number. So you're going over Houston. The Jaggs had a dismal game against Kansas City last week and they're at home and they're going to come

out firing. So I think the Jaggers will put up at least 35. I think 35, 20. I think it'll be an easy over. All right. Easy over 44 in Houston, Jacksonville. Will you watch? So it'll probably be three to nothing. play the under. Yeah. Well, let me just tell you, after you gave out the Giants last week is your lock of the week, I followed up in my next segment with my pick segment, and I gave out the Cardinals, just because you were like the 15th person in three days that said the Giants were a lock.

After I said that I started reading about a lot of people loving the Giants, like, oh, I'm dead. You're dead. No chance. Will you watch tomorrow, which looks like one of the better college football Saturdays? I mean, it's going to be pouring raining here all day long. But are you into Saturday football? Do you watch college football? Usually I'm playing golf on Saturdays, but I watch the afternoon games. Usually probably never the 12 o'clock games.

I'll watch it's a special game, but I'll watch it 3.30 and then these night games for sure. Do you have an opinion of Shadur Sanders, Dionne's son, the quarterback in Colorado? I think he's an incredible player. I mean, he has a great touch and anticipation. He got a great feel for the game in the pocket. I mean, I think this guy is, I mean, obviously there's a reason why DM's doing what he's doing. Obviously, he's special on what he's doing, but he's got a hell of a quarterback, and that helps.

All right. Hit him straight. I'll talk to you next week. All right, thank you. Jay Gruden will be with me every Friday during football season. All right, up next, Ryan O'Halloran covers the bills for the Buffalo News, so we'll get that point of view, and I'll have my smell test to finish up the show. We'll get to all of that right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

Jumping on with us right now is an old friend. Ryan O'Halloran used to cover this team in this town for the Washington Times and for Comcast Sportsnet there for a few years as well. He's bounced around since. He was in Colorado for a while. And now he is in Buffalo covering the bills for the Buffalo News. You can follow Ryan, by the way, on Twitter. at Ryan O'Halloran.

How have you been? It's been a while, although I know we talked two years ago when they played the bills and got absolutely shalacked up in Buffalo. I think we talked right before that game. Probably not. Like the last time we talked was the day after Demar Hamlin thing. Oh, that's right. I did have you on after DeMarer Hamlin.

Exactly. So this is my year anniversary in Buffalo this coming week. So I guess the first time we've been able to talk Bill's football. I knew I had you on this show recently, and I just figured it was the last time they played. But of course, it was the DeMarie Hamlin thing. By the way, is it possible that he's active on Sunday? It would only be because of other injuries, and they seem to be in pretty good shape at safety right now. And so I would expect him to still be a healthy scratch moving forward.

So let's get to the team that you cover. You know, there was a lot of off-season discussion about, you know, this being a pressure year. They hadn't been to the Super Bowl. They'd been close. You know, was the window beginning to close? What was the relationship between Josh Allen and Steph Diggs? What happened to Leslie Frazier? So what is the state of the team in Buffalo at one-and-one here early in the season?

Well, you mentioned all those. development during the off season. It was just one thing after another, which you sort of get used to when you covered this league. But right now, the state of this team at one-and-one is they are disappointed. They gave away that jet game. They couldn't beat Zach Wilson after Aaron Rogers last four plays. They felt like they righted things offensively against the Raiders. This is an urgent year because their window is going to be open as long as Josh Allen is the quarterback and it's healthy. But they've regressed the last three playoff seasons from AFC title to second round

road loss to second round home loss. That means you're going backwards. So there is urgency. And here's why is they have to reset their cap after this year, win or lose. And they know that. So you might as well go to the Super Bowl before you've got to take some of those labor pains. And so I think that's why Sean McDermick took over to play client on defense. That's why they added some veteran free agents to really make

it a go with this core. So let's talk about Josh Allen in particular. I mean, that game that opened the season, I mean, it was, you know, one of those surreal nights with Aaron Rogers going out after four plays. And all they had to do was not lose the game, but he lost the game with the turnovers. And as football fans, we've watched Josh Allen, but you've watched him very closely. There's incredible talent, but at the same time, you know, does he play too recklessly at times? that was a reckless game and in the fact it was the first game

on Monday night football and with the entire football world watching it made it made it it made it even worse because it reminded us of some of the mistakes he made in their losses last year where he went for the big play that wasn't there and threw in the coverage

and fumbled and committed turnovers and it's like okay you talked all options about this is going to be taken out of your game you're going to be smarter. And then the first time out, this is how you play. So last week, I think he sort of reset, went 31 to 37. As he said earlier on Wednesday, 274 yards. He goes, my stats weren't that great.

Well, that's because you're taking the short profits instead of going down field for those riskier plays. So I think last week was big for Josh. There's no question he is one of the top. I think he's top three quarterback in this league with Burrow and Mahomes because he just makes so many plays. Tell me about the health of Buffalo coming into this game. I know that Micah Hyde and Leonard Floyd, in particular, two key players on defense are banged up. What does it look like coming into this one? We know that Vaughn Miller won't be active until, you know, at least after week four and we'll miss the game.

Yeah, so Vaughn's out on PUP. Hyde with the hamstring was limited on Thursday. Floyd with the ankle, limited on Thursday. So they seem to be training the right way. right now there's two concerns Dawson Knox, they're tight end I did not practice Wednesday or Thursday because of a bad back that sort of cropped up during the

training camp so they're trying to manage him week to week and Spencer Brown, their right tackle appeared on the injury report with a shoulder on Thursday. This team, the bill is like a lot of teams this league, they don't have any offensive tackle depth so you know, they'll give a go but there are a couple big names on that

injury report that will be released on Friday. talk about the rookie tight end there was a lot of discussion here about tight end in the first in the first round buffalo took dalton kinkade out of Utah and it looks like he's off to a good start yeah he is and you know the bills traded up two spots to take them they felt Dallas was going to draft him so they leapfrogged the cowboys and they made him the first tight end selected first play of 11 on 11 in training camp. Josh Allen and Dalton Kincaid down the seam. So they have forced him in this scheme.

He's handled it well, mentally and physically. He's represented himself well as a blocker, but he's here to catch passes in the middle of the field. Got going a little bit against the Raiders. If Knox is limited or doesn't play Kincaid, then becomes their main tight end. And I would assume they just play 11 personnel the entire game. If Kincaid and Knox are both active,

you can see some two tight-in in that 12 personnel set. But Kincaid's off to a good start. He's just a bad matchup for defenses. He'll beat a linebacker nine times out of ten. He'll run over a safety if there's man coverage. So he's a nice little piece they've added. So James Cook, Dalvin's younger brother is the back. No more Devin Singletary in Buffalo.

You know, we were talking the other day about Latavius Murray. on radio. It seems like he's been with like eight or nine teams. It's actually six, but wherever he goes, he tends to play well. But talk about, you know, the running back, James Cook and the abilities there in the backfield. Yeah, I mean, they pivoted their running game because they had to. Last year when the season was over, Josh Allen was their best running back. He was their best short-yarders guy, their best goal line guy. That had to change. He was taking too many hits in addition to being sacked and hit while throwing the football. So they They let Singletary Walk in Free agency to Houston.

They signed Gaming Harris from New England. And then after the draft, they sign Murray. So they feel like they have a tailback trio that can run anything they want. And so Cook is going to be the starter. But Harris and Murray both have eight carries through two games. And they're really hanging their hat on. Everybody in this league seems like if you have an injury, they're running back. They feel they've got three good guys they can count on.

And that's going to take a lot of the pressure off Josh Allen, who through two games has only one key. keep or carry, whereas sometimes he would have two in a drive. Right. Yeah, I mean, I noticed that from last week. At Receiver, we're all familiar with Steph Diggs. Gabe Davis, I think, is underrated. But is that relationship between Allen and Diggs fine? Yeah, I mean, by all accounts, I mean, your two games in the season. I'll give Dick's credit is that first day of training camp, he had a press conference. He answered every question there was, that, hey, you know, he wasn't, he was semi-bag, but what I think he was

maybe disappointed in is, is he says, I can't call a place. I wouldn't even know how to do that, but maybe some suggestions, if he has some of those, he wants to be heard, heard in those, maybe moving him around the formation a little bit. But, you know, if he wasn't a leader, he wouldn't be voted captain, because you can't BS a locker. And so he is, the young guy, the young guys seem to revere him. Him and Alan appear to be on. on good standing on the same page. Let's face it, if you're Diggs, you're welcome in Minnesota. Let's face it.

They trade to you. Okay, if things are not going well here, find me a situation that has this kind of of quarterback with this kind of cap space with this chance at the Super Bowl. Probably not a lot of those teams out there. So I think from Diggs's angle is, hey, this is my best shot to win because I have a nuclear weapon at quarterback. All right. Let's talk about how you see this game Sunday.

From the Buffalo perspective, what are the keys to a win? Well, I think it is that front four for Washington, they got cranked up against Denver. You know, it highly paid, evidently overrated offensive line. But I think James Cook and the two running backs we talked about earlier are going to be important because Josh Allen was under center a lot against Las Vegas. That opened up your boot game. That opened up your play action game.

That could open up your screen game. That's how you combatant effect of pass rushes, maybe throw a couple screens, which Washington does very well. So then for the bills on defense is, okay, can you, can you get to Sam Howell and fluster him by rushing four, or do you have to blitz Matt Milano, who has two interceptions so far in coverage? So I think it's going to be a one-score game. I pick the bills 23 to 20. Will the bills come after Sam Howe? I mean, that seems to make sense to me. What do you think they'll do? I mean, can they get? enough pressure with four or will they really come after him?

Yeah, they have not sent five and six guys very often in the first two games, which I disagreed with with Zach Wilson because I think he would be flustered by that. Sam Howe looks a little bit different in terms of he can maybe extend the play a little better and not panic like Wilson does. But Greg Russo from the edge, if Leonard Floyd is healthy from the edge, I think those two guys can be effective

against the Washington tackle. So I think they can lean on their four-man rush, but I would like to see them pressure a little bit more on third down. You know, one of the things that I noticed about the first two games, you take away two of the Breece Hall runs. I mean, you know, they counted. He had an 83-yard run, and I think like a 30-yard run. But other than that, he could not run against this Buffalo defense.

And last week, Josh Jacobs, I mean, one of the best backs in the league, nine carries for minus two yards. Now, Washington hasn't run the football much in the first half. Last week, Ryan, it was 36 pass play calls, seven run calls. I'm thinking the same thing again this week, because I think it's going to be hard to run against Buffalo. What do you think? I think so. And you're right about the jet game.

As the coaches point out, will you take away those two runs? And we don't want to give up such a carry. Wow, that's a fun game to play. but Josh Jacobs, I don't know why they kept on giving it to him. He was more effective as a receiver. Just get it to him in open space that way. But we can get into Josh McDaniels' play calling at another time. But yeah, if I'm Washington coming in, I look at this Bill's front with Ed Oliver and Dayquan Jones

and Jordan Phillips and Puna Ford as a four-man rotation, Tim Settle the former Washington player, five-man defensive tackle rotation saying, hey, maybe you get the edge in the run game, but maybe a quick receiver screen or a screen to the running back is just as good as a run. All right, you've already given me your final score. Just give me, since I know from afar, you follow this team. What's your view of Washington? I was impressed with howl.

I like him at North Carolina because I tried to give, you know, I tried to lob this to Sean McDermott on Wednesday. He wasn't playing, shockingly. I think there's something to be said for guys who have a thousand attempts in college. I mean, granted, it's a different kind of offense, it's better people here, but you don't panic. You know how to get out of a bad play. You know how to handle adversity when you're down in the game. So I think that's what should be encouraging about how tough is what stood out to me, maybe too much so.

You've got to learn how to get rid of it a little bit. And then I thought, I mean, Ter McClorin is an elite player. So that was my takeaway on offense and on defense, you know, the defensive line causing all kinds of trouble. I think Emmanuel Forbes versus Stefan Diggs is going to be interesting because you've got to figure Diggs is going to have some ideas to go against a rookie. I hope you're well. Have a good trip down and, you know, hope you guys go back with an L, but it should be a good game. I think we're going to see a good one on Sunday. Thanks, Ryan.

Okay, Kevin, take care. All right, let's finish up the show with the smell test. Kevin looks where the John Q Public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time of the smell test. The smell test, as always, brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And on a deposit of $50 or more, you can receive up to $200 in cash instantly into your MyBooky account.

Bet your deposit amount one time you're ready to withdraw at any time. Again, you've got to use my promo code, Kevin D.C., to claim your cash. deposit bonus. But in terms of withdrawing your money, most places make you wager your initial deposit amount more than one time before you're eligible to withdraw your cash. Not at MyBooky. Bet your deposit amount once and you're ready to withdraw at any time. Even if you've got a place where you're betting right now, use My Bookie for the free money, the initial deposit bonus, and use it as a place to comparison shop on point spreads, on money lines, on totals, on prop bets. MyBooky's got fair pricing, they've got fair point spreads, they've got fair totals, fair money lines.

It's a place where you're not going to get ripped off. You wouldn't believe what some of these places charge on a loss. MyBooky is normal stuff. Minus 110 on a loss. Almost always. Go to MyBooky.org. use my promo code, Kevin D.C. My bookie right now has Washington now at plus six,

and the total at 43. I've seen some totals at 44, 44, 43 and a half. My bookie's down to 43 right now, and Buffalo is down to a six-point favorite. That's the lowest we've seen all week long. By the way, the Trayvon Diggs injury, the torn ACL, they lose Diggs for the year. They've got some depth of corner. If you're wondering if it affected the Cowboys' odds to win the Super Bowl at all or to win the NFC championship, it did not.

Losing Trayvon Diggs doesn't move the number. Losing Micah Parsons would have moved the number. And obviously losing Dak Prescott. Quarterbacks are the needle mover, the point mover. although we saw, remember back in the season opener at Arrowhead between Detroit and Kansas City, how much Travis Kelsey's absence actually impacted the point spread. But anyway, Washington getting six Sunday, and you already have my pick on the game. I like Washington to win the game outright. Will they be in the smell test? Well, let's see.

Last week I was 5, 2, and 1, 12.9. and one overall last week, by the way. Thank you, Sean McVeigh, for sending your field goal kicker out with four seconds to go down 10 to lose by 7 when you were getting 7 and a half. I know some of you probably had 7 and just pushed. Also, thank you Bryce Young for that big time drive at the end of the game on Monday night and the two point conversion that got you to 20 to 17 and I got a push out of that. So 5, 2 and 1. last week, 12, 9, and 1 overall. So through the first two weeks, two winning weeks, and then there was the 4-and-5 week in there, with two painful losses. The pick six at the end of the Texas Tech Oregon game, and the Minnesota was laying a big number

against Eastern Michigan, had a first goal at the one for the cover, and went backwards and kicked a field goal. That wasn't good. By the way, last week I think I mentioned that there were a lot of games that I really liked in college and I didn't give them all out. And look, many times if I liked a lot of games and didn't give them out, I get lucky because if I had given them out, they would have lost. Not last week. If I'd given out every single game that I wrote down initially as a possibility for the

smell test, it would have been an absolute massive day for all of you. Now, I did end up wagering on a lot of those games and won a lot of those games. It was a good weekend last weekend. That is for sure. Let me just put it this way. For those of you that have a settle number with your guy, we reached that settle number, and we have settled. All right, let's look at college to start, and we'll start with tonight. UVA is at home getting eight and a half against NC State. UVA last week got out to a 14-0-0 lead against Maryland. And I was concerned in that game. Maryland had fallen behind against Charlotte the week before 14-0. But then the Terps destroyed UVA the rest of the way, and they won the game 42 to 14. But at times, UVA actually

moved the ball. They're getting eight and a half tonight at home against NC State. NC State had that blowout lost to Notre Dame, but it became a blowout after that long delay because of lightning in Raleigh. They were not very impressive against Yukon. They played VMI last week. Virginia may have gotten it together a little bit against JMU a few weeks ago, and even against Maryland, maybe that scores a bit misleading. Not that Maryland shouldn't have won the game, but Virginia rolled up 263 passing yards in the game with their guy, Calandria, who was 23 at the game. It was 23 of 39 for 263. He just threw three picks. Give me Virginia plus the eight and a half tonight. The public is on NC State.

SMU placed TCU tomorrow. A bit of a rivalry for the two Metroplex schools. SMU, a super nice, highly affluent, pretentious university, beautiful university in that absolute drop-dead gorgeous area of Dallas. Highland Park. It's gorgeous in that area. One of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the country is Highland Park University Park outside Dallas. TCU's in Fort Worth. You got to drive about 35 to 40 minutes to get to TCU. TCU's a great school. Look, I sent my oldest son there. I mean, he chose to go there, and it was a great experience for him, and by the way, us. TCU was in the National Championship game last year before they got pummeled by Georgia. They opened up with that loss to Colorado. They've

got two wins since. SMU is a sneaky good football team. Stanford, Steve, remember, was on with us at the beginning of the year. And I said, give me a team that's completely off the radar, everybody's radar, that you think could have a massive year and be in the conversation at some point. And he said, SMU. And he said, they play Oklahoma and TCU. Those are the two games that they could lose, but they could be competitive in those games. They lost to Oklahoma at SMU did a few weeks ago, 28 to 11, but they were competitive in the game. They play TCU tomorrow. Six and a half is the number. The public's on the horn frogs. By the half point, take SMU plus the seven. So Kansas is an interesting team. I think Kansas is actually a good team.

They're playing BYU this week, and they're laying eight and a half. And BYU last week, they beat Arkansas. And not everybody thought that they would beat Arkansas, but they came from behind and beat Arkansas on the road in Fayetteville, 38 to 31. BYU undefeated on the season heading into Kansas, who is also three and O. I gave out Illinois against Kansas a few weeks ago on a Friday night, and that did not get it done. But they had a close game last week. They were laying 28 against Nevada and just won 31 to 24 in that game. They are very capable offensively with their quarterback back Jalen Daniels. They're laying a big number, eight and a half to BYU. The public's betting the dog there.

I'll take the Jayhawks and lay the eight and a half. How about Georgia Tech at Wake Forest? So Wake Forest is undefeated, but they really haven't beaten anybody without Sam Hartman this year. They beat Elon. They beat Vandy. They beat O'DU. Georgia Tech opened with a close loss to Louisville, and then they got blown out last week at Ole Miss. That was one of the games I liked that I would have lost last week.

They were getting 16 and a half, 17. They lost by 25 at Ole Miss. They're only getting four. against Wake on the road. Now, I look to see if there was an injury involved at all, like a serious injury to a quarterback or a major player, because I can't figure out why Wake is only laying four. They actually opened at five and a half,

and the sharp money has moved it down to four. The public's on Wake. Give me tech plus the four. LSU's laying 17 and a half to that Arkansas team that lost a BYU, 38, 31 last week. Excuse me, I've got the hiccups. LSU has two wins, including last week at Mississippi State and Starkville, easily 41 to 14. Now, LSU is still being looked at as the team that got blown out by Florida State Labor Day weekend, 45 to 24.

But if you watch that game, you know that LSU should have been up double digits at halftime. They had turnovers. They couldn't score in the red zone. They were down there multiple times early. Give Florida State credit. They did dominate the second half. I'm a believer in LSU this year. It would not surprise me if LSU ends up being in a massive SEC title game against Georgia for a playoff spot. They're laying 17 and a half against Arkansas. That's a big number. The public's on the dog in this game. I'll take LSU and lay the 17 and a half. So you probably heard Ohio State's playing Notre Dame on Saturday night in South Bend. All of the pundits have been pushing Notre Dame. They're all saying Notre Dame's got a chance to win this game. They're a three-point dog. At home, Ohio State hasn't looked good, yada, yada, yada, and they haven't. And Notre Dame's looked decent for sure.

They had that easy win at NC State after that lightning delay. I'll take the buck, guys. Okay, that's three and a half. They're laying three and a half. The public's backing Notre Dame in a big way, especially with that line sitting there at three and a half. By the half point, take Ohio State, lay the three. Northwestern, you know, they fired Pat Fitzgerald.

They had all those issues. They've actually played more competitively than people realized. They're getting 11.5 at home against Minnesota. The public likes Minnesota. I'll take Northwestern plus the 11 and a half. And Washington is now becoming one of those picks that a lot of people like to win the PAC 12, to be a playoff team, to have a Heisman trophy winner and Michael Pennix Jr. They're laying 20 and a half at home against Cal. If that were 21 and a half, I wouldn't like Cal. They're begging you to lay the 20 and a half thinking three touchdowns should be easy. They blew out Michigan State in East Lansing last week. I'll take Cal by. the half point and take the 21. Let's go to Sunday. There are a couple of bad teams, perceived bad teams that I'm going to give out on Sunday because the lines make no sense. How can Cleveland

be a three and a half point favorite at home over Tennessee after the way they looked on Monday night against Pittsburgh? And the way Tennessee looked against the chargers and winning an overtime. I like Tennessee as a team and they're well coached. But that three and a half is sitting they're begging for Tennessee action, and they are getting it. I'll buy the half point and take the Browns minus the three. How about Denver getting six and a half at Miami? This is the biggest public play on Sunday. The dolphins are. By the half point, take the Broncos plus the seven. The bears apparently suck, and the chiefs are about to break out. And so everybody's on Kansas City laying the big number laying the 12 and a half. I'll take the bears plus the two.

12 and a half. And then on Monday night, the Buccaneers don't suck. They're 2 and O. They're playing Philadelphia. Philadelphia struggled against a good defensive team in the opener against New England. They ran rough shot over a bad defensive team in Minnesota last week. They're playing another good defensive team this week. They're laying five on the road. That number was six. They're sharp money on Tennessee, public money on Philly. I'll take the bucks plus the five on day night. So eight college games, four pro games, 12 in total, starting tonight. Virginia plus eight and a half. I would play that quickly. I think that line's coming down. SMU buying the half point plus seven. Kansas laying eight and a half against BYU. Georgia Tech plus four. LSU laying

17 and a half. You should probably buy that half point down to 17. I don't do that with that number. I do it with 3, 7, 14, and 21, and then the touchdowns after that. Ohio State laying the 3 by and a half point against Notre Dame, Northwestern plus 11 and a half. And Cal by and the half point plus 21. And then the Browns, the Broncos, the bears and the bucks. Four Bs. The Browns minus three behind the half point.

Denver plus seven buying the half point. Chicago plus 12 and a half and the Buccaneers plus five. As always, for entertainment purposes only. And don't forget, if you're looking for a place to wager, my bookie.ag, use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and you're going to get free money into your account if your deposit is $50 or more. All right, thanks to Ryan O'Halloran, thanks to Jay Gruden.

Let's see if they can make it 3 and 0. I'll be back on Monday. The Redskins are the world champion. Once again, the final score of Super Bowl 26 is Washington 37, Buffalo 24. Stay tuned for the Super Bowl today postgame show and the presentation of Vince Lombardi's trophy. You're watching CBS sports coverage of Super Bowl 26. With the Washington victory over Buffalo, the NFC has won an eighth straight Super Bowl, and Joe Gibbs his third Super Bowl title with his third quarterback.

Joe Thaisman, Doug Williams, and now Mark Rippin, and let's take you downstairs to the Washington Redskins locker room, and here's Leslie Bissor. Leslie. Greg, it truly is hail to the Redskins as they've delivered their third title in 10 years to the nation's capital. It's a jubulous scene in here, high spirits, and I'd like to introduce you to some of the folks who help make this possible. First, general manager, Charlie Casserly, who deserves an A for his Plan B acquisition, fabled owner, Mr. Jack Kent Cook, a man undoubtedly headed for the Hall of Fame, Coach Joe Giff,

and the commissioner of the NFL, Paul Tagliabu, who will present the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Jack, we congratulate you on behalf of the League and you and your outstanding organization for a marvelous victory today and a marvelous season. Joe, this is your third Super Bowl victory for the Redskins in a decade, to your leadership and that's an achievement that's getting close to the top of the list. So we congratulate the Redskins an outstanding season and a great Super Bowl 26. Thank you very much, Paul. It's a great honor to accept this because I have so much pride in our head coach, his coaching staff, the wonderful band of players that he's assembled,

our head office, and most of all, the best bloody fans on the face of the earth Redskin fans. Amen.