The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jayden Out; Mariota To Start

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

Kevin opened with the news that Jayden Daniels has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Raiders. Marcus Mariota will start the game. Kevin had his keys to a win over Vegas and a prediction. Jay Gruden jumped on to talk about how Jayden can protect himself moving forward. Jay also talked about some changes that he thinks the coaching staff should consider. He had his Commanders-Raiders preview & pick along with his "NFL Lock of the Week". Kevin finished up with 14 more "Smell Test" picks after giving out the Dolphins +12 last night plus he had a conversation with Scott Cunningham, the Redskins' team photographer from 1988-1994....Scott has a book out called "RFK All-Access". For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Want to spruce up your lawn? FastGrowingTrees.com 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 Chean Show. He is Kevin. So just to be careful, Jay and you're not playing Sunday. Correct. So there you go. Jaden Daniels officially out Sunday against the Raiders.

Kime had to ask him to be crystal clear on that. His opening statement was just a little bit vague. But Kime got to the bottom of it, and Dan Quinn confirmed that Marcus Mariotto will be the starting quarterback Sunday against the Raiders. This podcast, as always, is presented by Window Nation, 86690 Nation, windownation.com if you need new windows. Jay Gruden's going to be on this show.

I've got 14 smell test picks coming up in this opening segment, and I'll get to it pretty quickly. My keys to a win over the Raiders on Sunday, along with my final score prediction. So look, this was not a shock. I think a lot of us were certainly leaning in that direction. I leaned very heavily in that direction that Mario would start and Jaden would be out on the radio show this morning.

I think the more interesting thing is what is this injury? They have still not given us the team, any information other than it's a knee. It was day to day. Now he's out. Nikki Javala and somebody else, I'll be honest with you. I don't know who the other person was that asked another question that tried to get to the bottom of, you know, is this short term?

Is it long term? What specifically is the injury? Listen to Quinn. He doesn't give out anything. Now, there are some encouraging signs about Jaden this week. and you'll hear him talk about that. But the bottom line is we don't know specifically what this injury is and if it's a short-term thing or maybe a longer-term thing. Here's two exchanges with Dan Quinn.

Again, Nikki Javala asks the first question and then my apologies. I'm not sure the reporter who asked the second question that you'll hear right now. Was he close enough that it made it a difficult decision or was it very clear that it was not time? Yeah, I didn't really put it into that space. Yeah, that better one for the medical guys on that one, Nikki. I think just touch your eyes when you know it's ready to go. And like I said, we're just not going to do this things in a fast way. We're doing it in a smart way and make sure we make the right decisions.

I think I said earlier, we know his importance to us and what we do. But it's going to try to just be as smart as we can, honestly. What can you tell us about the exact nature of the injury to Jaden? And do you have a sense of how long this might keep him from? I wish I was smarter at that, but I'm not going to play the doctor. I just can't. But what I can say is that, you know, like when you're out running on the grass, that's a good sign that you're making progress and you're hitting all the right marks.

And so it also takes your legs to throw a lot. You know, it's not just, you know, an upper body, stationary. throw. It's everything to go through that, your movements to stuff. So we're definitely encouraged about where, you know, the progress is being made. But as far as the specifics of it, I won't go into. But I can say that he's making like good progress. So I wanted to see the speeds and the throwing, although it just seems like you think that's just upper body. It's way more than that, you know, different platforms. How do I, you know, move and go? So that's a big part of it too. But there's also in and out of the pocket, doing all the things to go. So

We still got work to do. We still got work to do. Quinn says about Jaden Daniels getting back out onto the field. We know he's going to miss his first start of his very young career. Remember, he did start the game against Carolina. Came out early in that game after that long run. Mariotta came in, played very well. And then he got the start next week, the following week, excuse me, against Chicago.

But, man, there were a couple of hesitations in the Quinn answers of both of those questions. If you were watching it, he squirmed a little bit, looked uncomfortable answering the question. The bottom line is they're not saying anything about what this injury is. They're not giving anybody any information as to whether or not this is a one week thing or maybe longer than one week. There are some encouraging signs, but there's still work to do, as Quinn said. And we'll go through this again next week for sure. I would imagine that even if Jaden is healthy and shows signs early in the week

of being ready to go against the Falcons a week from Sunday in Atlanta, that they'll play it out all week, which I have no problem with. I think that's the smart thing to do. Make the other team prepare for both quarterbacks. But, man, you talk about a difference in organization. I know I've emphasized that a lot, but they are playing this more like it's, you know, Belichick's Patriots from back in the day. And again, I have no issue with that as a fan of the team. What it does leave open is it leaves open the possibility that this knee injury is maybe a little bit more serious.

It's a possibility. We just, we don't know. But the bottom line is, I don't think he was ever a possibility. for this Sunday this week. We'll see what happens next week. We do know from the reporting from Kime and ESPN earlier in the week that the MRI they did last Friday revealed no serious damage.

I think if the MRI had revealed serious damage, I think we actually would have gotten a lot more information on that. But still, spray me, you know, a greater of a sprain being serious could keep a quarterback out for a few weeks. Marcus Mariotta gets the start. I mentioned this yesterday with Tommy. I'm confident

in Marcus Mariotta. Not nearly as confident in him as I am in Jaden Daniels. I really believe that Jaden Daniels, if he were healthy and he were playing in this game, this would be a get-right game. That they'd go out and they'd hammer the Raiders,

they'd get back into rhythm offensively, they'd win the game, they'd be two-and-one going into a, you know, a fairly tough stretch of the schedule. I don't feel that way about Marcus Mariotta, but I do feel like he is one of the best backups in the game. You know, the number one backup in the NFL, and Seth Walder from ESPN put this out earlier this week in terms of ranking the backup quarterbacks. Cousins is the number one backup quarterback in the NFL.

But he had Marcus Mariotta as the fourth best backup quarterback in the NFL. I certainly think he's a top five backup quarterback in the NFL, and the best part about it is they don't have to change the system for him to play. Big spot, though, for him on Sunday, you know, coming into a game that's 10 to nothing already against a team in Carolina last year that already had lost its starting quarterback is a lot different than starting a game at one-and-one with high expectations and a believe. that this is a game you got to have. You know, it's not going to end this season if they

lose to the Raiders, but they could be staring a very rough start right in the face if they lose this game on Sunday with Atlanta and the Chargers the following two weeks on the road, especially when you consider how good the rest of the NFC is so far. The NFC's record straight up against the AFC through two weeks is five and one. Only Jacksonville over Carolina in week one was an AFC win. And that just is an indication how strong, at least right now, the NFC is. Don't forget, last year, 10 and 7 didn't get a wild card birth. Seattle was left out at 10 and 7.

The 7 seed was Green Bay at 11 and 6. We could be in for another one of those years in the NFC. So if you don't get this one and you're staring 1 in 3 or potentially 1 in 4, two and three. You know, now you're talking about you've got to win a lot of games to get to 10 or 11, if that's what it's going to take to get into the postseason. So Sunday's big. It's not code red.

It's not, you know, five on the panic meter, you know, chart. But it's one they need to have. So how do they beat the Raiders on Sunday? I mentioned on the show yesterday with Tommy that, and I talked about some of these things, but I watched just an S load of Raiders Chargers all. 22 and otherwise, you know, for whatever it's worth. But I think I learned a lot about the opponent here. And I'll start with this. Washington beats the Raiders if they can protect Marcus Mariotta. Because if they can protect Marcus Marietta, I think they can throw the football against the Raiders.

I think the Raiders are not strong on the back end. And I think there will be opportunities this week for receivers to get open, even if Noah Brown's not playing. And he may not be. and I think that's a big loss. But Terry and Debo and, you know, Zachertz will be a part of this. And then whomever is that other receiver. I think it could be Chris Moore, could be McCaffrey. But if they can protect, which they did not do against Green Bay. And Max Crosby is number one on you've got to take care of Max Crosby,

maybe the highest motor player in the NFL. You got to take care of him. and if you can, I think you can get some yards through the air. And Mario does got to be accurate. And, you know, he hasn't always been accurate during his career. But I think that there can be some, you know, big yardage through the air. I think, you know, a Terry, a Debo, a Zach Ertz could have big days, whereas they really struggled in their last outing.

But they've got to be able to protect. Will they do that with Josh Connerly straight up against Max Crosby? I don't think that makes sense. Will they add a sixth offensive lineman to replace bates when they go 12 personnel? Possibly. Will they throw out of 12 personnel? Definitely, especially if they can protect against that secondary. Look, part of protecting Marioita is running the football.

I think the running back situation will be Kroski Merritt as the starter. I think Rodriguez will get a series or two. I think he could be the short yardage back. and I think McNichols will be the guy that ends up replacing Echler on third downs. But I saw Pete Haley, remember Pete used to be in town working for Monumental, tweet out something about, I'd love to get odds on a Trent Scott touchdown. Yeah, remember, Trent Scott caught a tackle-eligible touchdown pass in the Monday night game last year against Cincinnati. Yeah, we could see him in the game.

We could see just a wily replacement for Connerly, but you could see. cannot leave Connerly for a third straight week in that position of having to deal with an elite pass rusher. Protect Mario da and I think they can throw the football. Number two is this. I see this is a game that could be defensive led. The Raiders have a bad offensive line right now and they're banged up along the offensive line. They can be disruptive. They can stop the run. The Raiders have struggled to run the football with Ashton Genty. I mentioned yesterday he's averaging 0.2, 0.2 yards before getting hit. He's getting hit in the backfield. Kinlaw might be the strength along with Duran and Armstrong of this defense right now. I think they can win the line of scrimmage,

whereas they got, you know, manhandled on offense last week. Defensively, they did okay against the run against Josh Jacobs. But I think that they can shut down. the run and be disruptive, and I think they have to be. Because if they're not, Gino Smith can throw the football. And he likes to think deep. And they've got guys that can run. This guy number 10, Thornton, is a 4344 guy. We know Jacoby Myers, and we certainly know Brock Bowers. Bowers is as good a tight end as there is in the league. He's been banged up. Last week, the tight end crushed Washington, Tucker Craft did. I think the D-line

has to be disruptive in the game and I think they can be and if they are, I think you could be a really good day for the defense which would take the pressure off Marcus Marioada. By the way, back to point number one, protect Marioota, I want

to emphasize part of that is running the football and being more balanced than they were against the Packers. So protect Marioada defensive line has to be disruptive because if it's not, the Raiders are capable of big explosive plays. I mean, Bowers, 112 catches last year, people. He might be the number one tight end in the league.

And I'm telling you, they've got guys that can run, and Myers is good underneath out of the slot. And Gino can throw the football. Number three, I think this is, you know, it's always a cliche, you know, key to a game. but I think this is huge on Sunday. You can't give the Raiders the football. And I think Marcus Mariotta might be more prone to a turnover, even though he didn't do it last year, than Jaden. Mariota hasn't always been super accurate.

You know, balls can sail on occasion. And we're seeing him in his first legitimate start. You know, he's come in off the bench in the previous two games. You cannot be minus two in this game. That would keep the Raiders in it and give him a chance to win it. getting two turnovers, you win by double digits. Even, I think you win a close game, and you're minus two, and you're in a dog fight that you can lose, and maybe do lose. So I think takeaways, giveaways, turnovers are massive in this football game.

Those are my three significant keys. I really do see a game in which Washington, if they protect, can throw the football, and I think the D-line can dominate on defense and really be disruptive. And then you add the whole West coming east short week versus Washington on the long by week. I think it's advantage home team even with Mariotta, not the advantage it would have been with Jaden. I like Washington 27 to 20. I think it could be a defensive lead game where it ends up being 27 to less than that. But I'm going to give the Raiders a big play or two in the game. 27. 2720 Washington, two and one on Monday, heading to Atlanta.

And by the way, another long week of quarterback discussion in terms of who will start against the Falcons. All right, let's get to Jay Gruden. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. Guys, how good was this past weekend? Georgia, Tennessee on Saturday, Cowboys Giants in overtime on Sunday. my favorite daily fantasy sports app during football season is without question prize picks. Prize picks is fun, it's exciting, it's a game of skill, and it's very easy to play.

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of the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden. We are recording this on Friday, morning. So as of this moment, we don't know if Jaden has practiced on Friday. Quinn said the other day he's got to practice at least one of these days to play. We're going to assume that he's not going to play for the purposes of the conversation when we get to the preview of the Raiders game. But I don't want to start there. I want to start with this. Jaden has been the most hit quarterback during his 22 NFL game career. Would that bother you, A, and B, if it did, how would you go about minimizing the times he gets hit? Man, it's so hard, Kevin, because he's so good with the ball in his hands.

But he also is the franchise, and you've got to protect him. So there is a fine line between using his strengths and get him the ball outside on the perimeter and protect him. So that's the toughest dilemma, I think Coach Quinn and Coach Kingbury have right now is trying to limit the hits but utilize his strength, which is his athleticism. So I don't know the answer to that, to be honest with you. I think Jaden's got to do a good job of avoiding hits, but I think the majority of the hits that you've got to really make sure he doesn't hit or in the pocket.

You've got to make sure he's protected your lines. You've got to play better known past these situations. And I think when he's outside running, I think he's fine. I think it's just in the pocket, some of the hits that he takes is concerning to me. from the line's got to play better. I know we've talked about these plays before, and it's just a personal thing with me in watching just the NFL college football as well. The option runs are fine. The quarterback draws which are designed are fine. The scrambles, of course, if he protects himself fine. You talked about in the pocket. Obviously, you know, injuries happen in the pocket.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with anything except a flukeish, you know, lineman falling back into a leg. I just don't like the Cam Newton, Josh Allen, you know, quarterback powers, quarterback counters with Jaden and his frame. Those plays nine times out of 10 end up in the field of play and they end up in a pile. He's going to get tackled, you know, in the field of play. Yet they run those. It's part of the plan. Would you consider, do you consider those to be higher risk? would you consider eliminating them if you were the coach? Yes, for sure. Those are the ones I don't like either.

I totally agree with you. I think maybe one every two weeks, maybe a sprinkle one in there. But I don't think Cliff has a whole lot of those. There's only been a few of those. They ran a quarterback trap. They tried to pull the guard and trapped at three technique, and they both fell down, and Jake made the defensive tackle and the defense of them missed, and they got like 14 yards.

But, yeah, I think you're right. I think those are the ones you've got to probably eliminate to try to protect them a little bit because, you know, when you cut back and you don't see the backside safety, you don't see the backside linebacker or a defensive bench scraping or whatever it might be. So those are the ones I agree with you. I think you've got to probably minimize. Would you make any changes anywhere before the Raiders game, personnel-wise? I'd seriously take a look at the right tackle position, really, you know, and think about letting that guy, what's the name?

Josh Connerly, Jr. honorily. I'd let him rest. I think he's a developmental project. I think he's got a good, he's got a good frame, he's got good feet and all that stuff. I don't know if he's quite ready for the type of players he's going against right now. I think he needs a little bit more time in the cooker. He's going to be a good player eventually, but not right now. I'd go back to the

way it was last year at the right tackle position and I'll go from there because I think they had a pretty, they played pretty good last year of the front, off the line wise. They made so many changes, moving Coleman to left guard and, you know, moving Wiley to right guard. They're not going right now in my opinion. So you would move Wiley in there at right tackle?

I would definitely move Wiley to right tackle, based on what I've seen in the first two games. Not these guys are around him every day in practice. Maybe he's getting better and better, but I just think I'd much rather have Wiley right now at right tackle just because of the experience. The way he played last year, I thought he played decent. It's not like he's a pro-bowl or anything like that,

but he's a solid, good, right tackle. What's the solution to know John Bates if he doesn't go and it doesn't look like he will on Sunday? And they don't appear to have a blocking tight end as an option as a replacement. That's a huge point. You know, the years before with Coach Rivera, they never had a blocking tight end either. It killed their running game. You've got to have a guy in there that can block. I think maybe you put Wiley at right tackle and let Connerly be the big tight end and try that or something like that.

Maybe bringing a big guy like Detroit does and Chicago does a little bit from time to time. but you've got to have a point of attack tight end, in my opinion. And maybe Snott can come in there and do some things, scrape it on the backside, cutting people off and all that. But it's a big hit for the running game. Now you've got to spread people out, try to run inside zone, or get on the perimeter with some toss cracks, some of that things.

There's some things you can do, but not having a good blocking side and hurt you, especially in a third and short and known running situations if you have a four-minute drill and things like that. Did you say Trent Scott? Trent Scott? Yeah. What about them? No, you said you can get somebody in there, and I thought you said Trent Scott, because

he played, when they had a couple of games last year, a couple of plays with six offensive linemen and Trent Scott was that guy. He'd be a good option, too. I think Wiley back and right tackle. He put Connerly is a big tie. Oh, I see. Yep, yep. You know, one of the other, keep Connerly right tackling and bring Trent Scott in.

Yeah, that's another good option. So I think that, you know, have six or seven plays. You know, you can do some good play actions like that. protection, play action passes, and it helps with the running game as well. This conversation just reminds me of when, you know, we've had these conversations before about Ryan Grant. You said, Deshawn Jackson wouldn't block. Jordan Reed couldn't block. I had to play Ryan Grant if we were going to run the football. Right? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. I remember, I don't know if I told the story, not,

but we had a little play, a running play where we motioned the flanker in and he had to block first, you know, the safety if he was down in the box, and I had DeShon. do it and he looked at me after the play and walked through. He goes, hey, Drew, that's really not in our game plan, isn't it? I don't know Deshawn. I'll put Ryan Grant in there for that. Yeah, I think you have. By the way, do you know what Deshawn Jackson's doing right now?

Yeah, he's head coach at Delaware. I haven't followed him. I think they won a couple games. He's doing pretty good. I talked about this yesterday. They're two and one. Actually, texted back and forth with Clinton Portis last week. He's the running backs coach, and he sent me a note. They're the number one rush

offense in, you know, football, you know, in one double A, number one rush offense after three games in that level. They're in that Miac with Howard and some of those other schools. I wonder if Clinton's running some Joe Gibbs counters and powers. I bet that he's sweet. I bet he is. Did you think that Deshawn Jackson would ever be a guy that could become a head coach? He would be the last guy that I've ever coached. I would say be a head coach. Just because, you know, I don't think he'd put the time in or be that interested, but he was a very smart player. He tried to come in with his hood on and act like he's not paying attention, but he was one of the smartest guys I had. He was one of the

cow for God's sake. He tried to act like a, you know, a thug and all that stuff, but he went to cow. He's a smart kid, you know, so he's a, I just didn't think he'd want to be a coach to put the time in. Yeah. So is there anything to, I mean, I can tell you from a gambling perspective there is historically. But from a coach standpoint, did you ever, you know, put time into this West Coast team traveling east playing a one o'clock kick? In this case, it's with the Raiders on short rest, Washington on a mini buy after playing last Thursday night. How much did that rest advantage or time zone advantage play into any sort of preparation? You know, I don't know if that plays a factor or not.

I'm sure maybe a little bit, maybe the legs get a little weary. For me, it's more about the heat. You know, some of these West Coast teams coming, you know, to Florida to play in the heat. That's what the most effect was. But, you know, it should be a nice day in Washington up there. It should be fine. I don't think it's a big issue, really.

Because I think going east to west and then coming back east is more of a difficult situation to me. I don't think the West Coast coming here is a big deal. Because those guys usually up in the morning anyway, and they're practiced by 10 o'clock, you know, their time anyway. So I don't think it's got a big factor. Historically, just so you know from a betting standpoint, West Coast teams playing early 1 o'clock East Coast games, you take the home team, and it's worked out more often,

with respect to the number, not wins and losses, with respect to the point spread. What about just AFC teams in general? was it harder to prepare for an AFC team than an NFC team or a divisional game? Well, familiarity with the NFC teams. Obviously, you have a lot more playing teams in your division because you've studied them so long. He's playing twice a year. And some of the West Coast teams, you don't have as much information on them.

So, you know, when you have a short leak or, you know, you've got to go through a whole new system, a whole new team, whole new, you know, personnel, all that stuff, a little bit more difficult. But, you know, preparing for a game is preparing for a game. You've got to stay the front of the blitzes. You know, you've got to stay the personnel and what they like to do offensively, defensively. And you've just got to go out and play. You know, I think it is a little bit different because you're not familiar with them.

Chip Kelly is the offensive coordinator for Pete Carroll. What have you thought of Chip Kelly over the years? You know, I think Chip does a good job. He's obviously a bright guy. But, you know, I think in Philadelphia, struggle a little bit offensively. They have some good players. You know, they struggle to get a good guy. against their last game.

They only sport six points. I had a couple bad calls against the PIs at one call. But, you know, I don't know. I think the jury's out. So I don't want to speak poorly about a coach or anything like that, but I've not been very overly impressed with his offensive. What about Pete Carroll? You went head-to-head with him a few times over the years?

Oh, Pete's a good. He's a good coach, man. He's, you know, he doesn't do anything off the defense or special teams. He's a very good motivator. He's very upbeat all the time. He's got great positive energy, what you need in pro football. He's the same every day.

Positive, high-energy guy, hand-claping son of a gun, and he gets a lot out of those players. But as far as the ex-in those guys, I don't think he really puts a lot into that. I think it's more into the get people motivated, that type of thing, kind of like a Mike Tomlin.

Those guys could be very successful if they hire good people around them. Sunday is not a code red game, as we've come to label them over the years when it's appropriate. you know, you've got it trademarked, so we certainly give you your credit for that. But it's a big game. You know, they go to Atlanta and to L.A. to face the Chargers.

Actually, four out of their next five are on the road after Sunday. Do you view it as kind of a big early season game for Washington? I do. I think all home games are huge. I think you've got to take advantage of your home turf. You really do because when you go on the road, it's difficult. We all know that. You mentioned the travel that they're going to have to face and the teams that they're going to have to play.

So you're playing a team that just scored six points, new coaching staff. You've got to take advantage of it. You've got to win your home game because you look back at the season and you're going to be a game out of the wild card or win a wild card by a game or win your division by a game. So these all add up. And this is a big one, man. They've got to get this way to get the two and one because you mentioned the road ahead

is going to be tough. So they've got to steal this. All right. Let's assume Marcus Mariotta gets the story. start on Sunday for the purposes of previewing the game. First of all, the difference between Mariota and Jaden in your mind's eye. If somebody said, what's the point difference between the two quarterbacks? What would you say it was? Well, first of all, I think it's great that they have Marcus as a backup because the style of play is very similar. They don't have to change a whole lot. They

don't have to go to a true dropback system. They can run some of the same quarterback design runs in the zone grids in the play actions and all that stuff. So he's a lot of. He's not. He's not a lot of a good backup half, but I'd say the point differential with Marcus will probably be about 10, at least. I just, right? I mean, minimum. I don't know, I don't know if it's that much. It's probably like five or six, you know, somewhere in that area with handicappers. I mean, with odds makers, I think, I think Jaden, somebody did this study before the season. They won't have that big of an effect, but at my mind, it should be about 10. It's about 10 points difference. Yeah. All right. So with Marcus,

on Sunday, how do they beat the Raiders? They have to play great defensive football and create some turnovers. Turnovers are huge. I mean, Gino has been prone to turn a ball over. They've got to force the turnovers without a doubt. They've got to get pressure on them, and they've got to make sure they've got to stop this jumpy guy. He hasn't got free yet, but when he does, he's a big play, wait and a half.

He'll run three, you run over, he run around you. So stop the run, and then they've got to force Gino into some turnovers for sure. And offensively, protect the ball, punt when you have to punt, play the field position game and try to manufacture some big play. Try to get Terry McCorn to ball over the top of the defense, which they can do, and they'll be all right. But it's going to be about protecting the football and getting the ball from Gino. What about protecting the quarterback in dropback situations?

You know, they opened up with Carter and Burns and Dexter Lawrence. Then they had Parsons and Gary and company, and now they've got Max Crosby. They got to get hands on Max. I mean, if he lines up over Connerly, and they're trying to. trying to single block. We've got no chance. You know what I mean? So they're going to have to put some bodies on that son of a gun, chip them on the way out, without a doubt. Try to make him play the run, try to run out of him.

But he's such a good player, man. He is a game wrecker. So we've got to make sure that, you know, as a coach, we can't let Max Crosby beat us, right? That's the most important thing. We can't let Ash and Gentie get free. So I know Coach Quinn's going to have a plan. I know Cliff's going to have a plan to try to minimize the effect that those guys have on the game. predictions for Sunday. I think it's going to be a field goal game.

It's going to come down the wire. I think it's going to be a field goal game one way or the other. It's going to be a good game. I think Raiders are probably feeling after their loss last week. They've got to get back on track and keep pace in that AFC West because that's the hell of the division out there. Kansas City is going to get back going. Obviously, the chargers are good.

The Broncos are solid. So I think they're going to come in with a really, really good mindset of they've got to win this football game. Washington's got to match that. You know, whether Marcus players or Jaden plays. players, they've got to make sure their intensity level is high, and I think it's going to be a very, very good, close game, down to the wire. And who wins? Well, I'm going to take Washington, of course.

You know, you mentioned the West Coast travel. You said it wasn't a big deal. I didn't think it's a big deal. I mean, but it might be. Maybe you mentioned it. So I'm going to take Washington. I'm going to take them 20 to 17 ballgame. 20 to 17 Washington.

All right. We'll get Jay's lock of the week and talk about a few other of the games. games on Sunday right after these words from a few of our sponsors. It can be hard for men to deal with hair loss, even though it's common. Luckily, I'm here to provide you with a solution so you don't even have to talk about it. Through Hymns, you can restore your hair by accessing their personalized hair loss solutions. HIMS provide you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work, all from the comfort of your couch. Hymns makes treating hair loss simple,

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Enter code Sheehan, and you're all set. We continue with Jake Bruton, and we'll get his lock of the week. He hit on his lock of the week with the Bengals minus three and a half last week. So he's one and one on his lock of the week. And we'll get his lock of the week here in a moment. I did want to ask you, you know, we talked about the power. hackers and how impressive they were last Thursday night. Do you view them now on the same level as the Eagles in the NFC? I do. I do. I think defensively they've made some serious strides.

Obviously, the Parsons ad has been huge for them. But yeah, Jordan Love and the receiving four that they have the tight end, they can hit you so many different ways. They're very multiple in what they can do offensively. And they have a lot of weapons. And Jordan does not discriminate with who he throws to, whether it's Wicks or Reed or tight ends. I mean, he's a very good player, and I like where they're at. I think Matt LaFour is one of better coaches of the NFL. The nature of the NFL, we've talked about this for years, but it's very week-to-week. I mean, explain why the Giants literally could not gain a yard against Washington.

Then Washington couldn't stop Green Bay in their next game. and then somehow Russell Wilson has one of the games of his career, and they put up 37 and nearly 500 yards against the Cowboys. Why is the NFL so weak to week? That's a great question. I think if you knew the answer to that, I think you'd be a head coach yourself. It's just difficult. I think a lot of it has to do with some of the splash plays.

The Giants hit tons of splash plays against the Cowboys, and the Cowboys defense wasn't very good, but Malik had the big plays. over the top when Del Robinson had a couple of plays over the top. You've got to manufacture some chunk yardage. And if you don't, it's so hard nowadays to drive the ball 12 plays, 80 yards nowadays in the NFL. So that's all about the big play. Sometimes you hit them.

Sometimes you don't. If you hit them, you're going to have a big day. Serious contender or not? I'm going to give you a couple of teams. Tampa Bay. Oh, yeah, serious. I mean, Todd Bowles is awesome. And Baker-Mathield is really a competitive son of a gun.

And they have the receiving cord that can hurt you. and they have two really good backs. So, yes, they're definitely a contender. Rams. Oh, for sure. They got a young defense. Chula, the defensive corner, has done a great job of that defense. Some very good young pass rushers and versus a very good player.

And obviously, when you have Matthew Stafford healthy with Puka and Devante, I mean, in a good running game, they're going to be definitely a threat. Colts. I think the jury's still out. I'm not, Daniel Jones, they have a pun of yet, so he's pretty impressive. But they have a pretty good roster. You know, their roster from top to bottom, offense, defense line, defense the defensive line,

DBs. The receiving course, decent. Yeah, I think they're right there. I don't think they're going to compete this year. They might sneak in as a division winner in that division because it's not very good, but I don't think they'll make any hay in the playoffs. Chargers. Yeah, for sure. You know, I think when you're talking about the Chargers,

you're talking about one of better quarterbacks in the National Football League, a very good coach, and their defense is pretty good. So they're going to be in a lot of games. And as long as Justin doesn't turn the ball over like he did the playoff last year, they're going to be competitive and just as a hell of a player. Any reason to panic in Kansas City? I don't think so. I don't think so.

I think they'll get a win this week, and they'll be right there again. Anytime you have Patrick as your quarterback, Amy Reed is your head coach, and Chris Jones and McDuffie, I mean, they have star power. They just got to get their stars going, and they've had a very tough start. You know, they play the Chargers overseas and Brazil or whatever hell it was, and then they played Philadelphia at home, and that's a pretty damn good football team. So I don't think they're going to panic yet. All right.

The Lions, just give me your sense of them. You know, they couldn't do anything against Green Bay, which may be more about the Packers. And then they looked like the Lions of last year when they destroyed Chicago. What do you see in them here early in the season? Yeah, I see, you know, obviously one game to the next is a huge turnaround. I mean, we can't move the ball along against Green Bay. And then you put up 50 against Chicago. though Chicago doesn't have a very good defense, but still 50 is a 50 spot, man.

That's impressive. So Jared Gough is one of the better quarterbacks in the league, and obviously their weapons around them are very, very good. I was concerned about losing Rag now and having to move last hour and a new right guard. I was concerned about that transition. But as long as that pans out, okay, yes, there'll be in a lot of games. Their defense still isn't very good to me, but I think they're going to be in a lot of games, obviously, because they're off.

I remember we put up 47 on the Saints. it was a ridiculous offensive day. I think that was in 2015. Did you ever coach a team that scored 50 or more? I don't think so. I've been on a high 40s a couple times at Cincinnati and obviously Washington a few times. Usually when you're running like that,

I try to work the clock a little bit more instead of gutting people to try to get 50. I'm more of a four-minute drill in the fourth quarter and try to get the hell out of there with a win and people not getting injured. So, yeah, I've never put up 50, I don't think. I have an arena league. That count.

What'd you say? I have an arena league. Oh, yeah. Well, I'm sure you put up 60 in the arena league. At a couple 70 spots. Yeah, definitely. All right. Lock of the week time, one-in-one so far on the season.

Who do you have? I have to go with another favorite. I'm going to go with Atlanta. I think Atlanta, with Michael Pennick, he's getting better and better. I think they have enough weapons. Bejohn is a hell of the back. They'll get going and they'll play good defense. I like the fact they had a good young pass.

rushers, and they can get after the quarterback a little bit more. So this year than they could last year. And I think Atlanta top to bottom is a much better team. Atlanta minus the five and a half at Carolina is Jay's lock of the week. I think Bijon Robinson's my favorite back in the league. His style is so smooth. And I don't know if there's a better vision and kind of like just quick cut runner in the league than him.

No, he's got the best dead leg of all time. I mean, he'd be at hell in flag football. Oh, my God. You'd never be able to grab it. Never. Yeah, they're a good football team. And Zach Roberts is growing with the system and growing with the easy offensive coordinator. He's getting no-pennox a little bit better.

And I got Drake London. They got some weapons on the outside. So I think Atlanta's a pretty good team. They're going to be something to deal with in the NFC South. Yeah, I think you're right. All right. Appreciate this. We'll do it again next week.

You got it. Thanks, Kevin. Jay Gruden, everybody, my picks, my smell test picks, after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. The smell test is always brought to you by, my good friends, at My Booky. They are offering my listeners something right now that you should take advantage of if you're betting on football. If you've never been a customer at MyBooky, go to the Kevin Shee and,

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I've been watching the point spread kind of fall since the Jaden Daniels news. It's now down to two. Washington is a two-point favorite over the Raiders. I would not be surprised to see that go even lower. We'll see what happens over the next few days. Was it six and a half? The news that Jaden may not play dropped it to three and a half. It's now down to two at my bookie.

We'll see what happens between now and then. Honestly, I'm not touching the game. I'm not touching the game. The action is going to be kind of split, so it doesn't really fit the smell test criteria. look, if you played the Raiders at plus six and a half before the Jaden News earlier in the week and you want to play Washington at, you know, minus one and a half, minus two, wherever it goes to on the low side, it's a pretty good middle to have.

For those of you who don't understand the middle concept, imagine having, let's just say, a $100 wager on Washington minus two and a $100 wager on the Raiders plus $6. and a half. Well, there's no way you're going to lose anything other than juice. You know, 10 bucks, the minus 110 on one of the bets. You'd win the other. But there's this whole middle between two and six and a half. It falls anywhere between two and six and a half with a Washington win. You're going to win $200. You're going to win both bets. There's a possibility with two and six and a half. You could push one if Washington won by two and win the plus six and a half. So you'd win $100. So middling with that kind of a middle gives you an opportunity of essentially

no downside other than losing juice, losing the Vig, losing the fee, you know, the minus 110 fee on a loss. All right, let's get to my picks. Eight and six last week, three straight winning weekends to open up this year. 11 and 1 heading into last night, and I gave out the dolphins last night. So I am now 2011 and 1 on the season. I'm really upset. Last week, there were a couple of other games that nearly made it, and they all would have won. I don't know why I didn't give out Vanderbilt in their game against South Carolina, and I really liked Stanford as well. And there was just some conflicting information, but I thought it was the right side. Then again, I think there was another game that I would have given out that I would have lost. So it always happens that way.

All right. Let's go to tomorrow. Nothing for tonight. Wisconsin's laying 10 at home in Madison against Maryland. It's a big number for the public. They're excited about Maryland's 3 and O Mark and their freshman quarterback Malik Washington. I think the Terps struggle in their first road game. I like Wisconsin minus the 10. Maryland's a big public play and sharp money moved this from 8.5 to 10. earlier in the week. Miami of Ohio is playing Dan Mullen's team, UNLV. They have started 3-0, and Miami of Ohio is catching two and a half three at home. I'll buy the half point and take Miami of Ohio to win outright in Oxford, but to definitely cover the number. Louisville's giving 26 and a half to Bowling Green. I like this Louisville team. I love Jeff Brom. I like

Miller Moss. This is a high number. Bowling Green's. been very competitive so far this year. Take Louisville late the 26 and a half. People are all over Oklahoma in one of the biggest matchups of the day. I'll take Auburn plus the seven in Norman. Ole Miss looks good. Some people think this might be Lane Kiffin's best team. They're laying less than two touchdowns against Tulane. That's enticing for the public better to take the favorite. I'll take the dog Tulane plus the 13. I gave out Duke two weeks ago and lost against Illinois as a short dog at home. Now they're a favorite at home against undefeated NC State. I'll try Duke again, laying the three. I gave out West Virginia

last week and they won outright against Pitt. Now they're catching a big number, 13 at Kansas, and the average better thinks it's too many points. I'll take the Jayhawks laying the 13 at home against West Virginia. In one of the biggest games of Saturday, Indiana's laying six against Illinois. Illinois is the public dog betting favorite right now. I'll take Indiana laying the six. God, man, that Signetti, the coach drives me nuts. And I like Brett Bielma, but Indiana is the sharp side and the anti-public side in this one. And then Stanford, I mentioned, I kind of liked them last week, didn't give them out. They beat BC outright. And now they're catching 15 in Charlottesville against UVA.

Virginia's pretty good this year. They can really score. That's a big number. Public likes the dog. I'll take the big favorite, Leum, with UVA. Let's go to Sunday where the Titans are playing the undefeated, and now the very popular betting team, the Indianapolis Colts. Give me Tennessee at home plus the four.

The Jets are getting seven against Tampa. on the road, Tampa short week off the Monday night win in Houston. They are banged up along the offensive line. I don't think there's that much of a difference between Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields. I think Tyrod Taylor actually throws it a little bit better than Justin Fields. I think the Jets are one of those sides that nobody's going to have, so I'll have them plus the seven. I think a big survivor play this week, survivor pool play this week, will be Seattle at home laying seven and a half. against New Orleans.

They're a big play with the number. I'll take the Saints plus seven and a half. There's some really nice complimentary, you know, words being used to describe Spencer Rattler's play so far for the Saints. The Bears are a huge anti-public, one-point dog at home against Dallas with the way Dallas looked on offense last week. I think this game could be a shootout. I like the Bears plus the one at home against the Cowboys.

And then Sunday night, everybody's just assuming the Chiefs won't go 0-N-3. I'll take the Giants plus the 6th. I think this could be a close game, and I think it's a winnable game for the Giants. If they do win this game, I would not count Kansas City out yet. I would not at 0-N-3. They are injured at wide receiver. They're going to start getting people back, including Rishi Rice at some point. But I like the Giants.

For a second straight week, I like them plus the six. All right, repeating. Wisconsin minus 10, Miami of Ohio, buying the half point plus three. Louisville minus 26 and a half. Auburn plus seven. Tulane plus 13. Duke minus three. Kansas minus 13.

Indiana minus six. And Virginia minus 15 on Saturday. Titans plus four, jets plus seven, Saints plus seven and a half. Bears plus one. and the Giants plus six on Sunday. All right. I'm going to close the show with something that I've actually been trying to do for a few weeks now, and I have finally been able to get this gentleman for the right time for both him and I to come on to the show.

First of all, before we get to him, if you haven't rated or reviewed the show, especially on Apple and Spotify, and you can find the time to do it. It takes no more than a minute. You can rate us up to five stars on both, and you can write a quick one to two sentence review on Apple. It really helps us out, as does following the show on Apple and Spotify, just hit the plus button or the follow button. It's in the upper right-hand side on Apple,

down the left-hand side on Spotify. Joining me right now is Scott Cunningham. Scott was the redneck. Redskins team photographer from 1988 through 1994, which of course includes the great 1991 season. Scott's got a book with 500 photos during the time that he was the team photographer. It's called RFK All Access, unbelievable pictures in this book. You can get a copy of the book by going to RFK All Access.com, where you can get a copy of it. he's actually, Scott, is with Brian Mitchell tonight, doing a signing at the Marriott

Courtyard, Delis Airport from 6 to 8 p.m. Scott, thanks. Really appreciate you coming on with me. Give everybody, you know, to start here, kind of an overview of the book. Well, I appreciate you having me. The book has been really something that I've been thinking about for a long time because this is, you know, it's 35 years, right? roughly since all that happened. But from the era I shot, I also shot five to ten years before that for NFL properties. So I shot the early 80s group a lot,

but I really concentrated on the 91 team, mainly because that's the only team, Redskinned team that didn't have an asterisk. To me, that's the greatest team ever in Washington. It's the 91 team as much as, you know, we loved those guys in the early 80s, too. But what an embarrassment of riches for about 10 years that was. It really was. Yeah, I've always thought there's really not much to debate.

The 91 team, even if there wasn't, you know, strike-shortened seasons in 82 and 87, I think the 91 team was the best of them all and the most complete team by far. You know, this is perfect timing to have you on with, you know, the finalization of the RFK, you know, plan the other day going back to RFK. I've tried to explain to people, and you're of the age and you were there for a lot of this. Just what it was like to be in that stadium on its best days. How do you describe it? I would say, to me, sanctuary. I mean, I know it's corny for a Sunday afternoon,

but it was like we were all singing the same songs, and we're all wanting to see the same things, and it's just, you know, it was a blend of everybody, loved everybody for three hours. Yeah. And, you know, you look at when, you know, they got the seats bouncing. everybody was happy

you know that was just you look at people's faces when that was going on and it was just you know that to me I think

I'm trying to remember Rich Daniel I think came out and said that they ought to build in this new stadium some seats that are able to do that maybe a hydraulic

system or something yeah no that there's just nothing that can replicate that you know because it was just the way that those temporary seats were made in the outfield on the baseball field. So who was the most photogenic redskin to shoot?

Ooh, that's a good question. I'm going to go with Ernest Biner. That's a good one, and a really good player and an important player on the 91 team. Do you have a favorite photo in this book? I would say there's a couple right together. I like the one of Ritchie Pettibone jumping in somebody's arms after they won a game. And then in the same game, I think it was Mnowski and Coleman were hugging. I think that's who it was. But with these looks like they won a game, they shouldn't have won.

So I think everybody, you know, feel like they stole the game in New Orleans. I think that was like 1990, maybe. Okay, yeah, in New Orleans, yep. Is there a photo in this book that's gotten more reaction than any other? I'd say the one of Russ Grimm, where he's got his, he's sitting back after a game. and they had won, and he was just sitting back and watching everybody jumping around, and he just, he looked miserable. And then he had the shirt that says, I'm having a Maylock's moment.

And I had to apologize for taking the picture after I did it. It was just too perfect. Yeah. I'm like, sorry, I had to do it. You know, he's always cool. But, you talk about a great group of people, just, you know, just a fantastic, group of human beings on that, that 90, late 80s, early 90s era, the people that they brought in. And, you know, I feel the one thing that I did on purpose, and I hope that it won't hurt too

many feelings is I didn't put Charlie Cassily in there. And I didn't want anything to take away from what Bobby Bether did, a, you know, and, you. And number two, I never agreed. I never liked what he did with to get Desmond Howard and Heath Shuler to tear the franchise apart. Yeah, you know that Heath Shuler was a Norv Turner decision, right? Was it? Okay. Yeah, Charlie actually preferred Trent Dilfer in that draft.

Not that Trent Dilfer would have ended up being, you know, a whole lot better, although Trent Dilfer ended up winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens, obviously. but yeah, that was, Norv had a lot of say when he took over as coach. You covered three coaches. You covered Gibbs. You were the photographer for Gibbs from 88 through the 92 season. You had Richie for 93 and you had Norv for 94. Were they easy to work with?

Were they supportive? Great. All three. Norm was quiet, but he never set a word. I think once the precedent was set way back when Nate Fine was doing the photography for the team, that this stuff is valuable, maybe not right at the moment, but you look back at all these locker room shots that he got of George Allen and all these guys jumping up and down.

And that was what intrigued me when I was a kid in photography. to be able to and to then end up with your childhood team winning, you know, what, 70% of the games or something, you know, in the Super Bowl, quality people. Right. It was just too good. It was just too good. And I had a guy, Charlie Dayton that hired me. I remember Charlie, yeah. Charlie is Prince. Yeah.

Really. I think he was elected into the Hall of Fame recently in the past year. Yep. So you know, you mentioned the photos of Nate Fine, who is the team photographer during the Allen days for many, many years. You know, the NFL's popularity really began to soar,

as you know, in the 1970s. And then, you know, it's been a juggernaut ever since. And I think a lot of the photography, but in particular NFL films, had a lot to do with the popularity of the game back then. Do you agree? Absolutely. Those shows that they would have on in the 70s that the highlight shows. I don't know if you remember those. They'd come on on Saturday mornings. And that was a can't miss TV to me.

And they'd always show a Raider game, and then Raiders get shut out, and they zoom in on the scoreboard, you know, you know, zoom out and zoom in focus. And, you know, they were so far ahead of the game, the NFL films and their editors were also, you know,

but, you know, the shot that they could, those guys mastered of the ball, zooming in on the ball while it's in the air, and then zooming back out when the guy catches it, that's, that's a lot more brain power needed.

that I could do. Those guys, those guys were incredible. Those NFL films, cameraman. Yeah, for sure. Was there a photo you didn't get that you wish you had of? Yes, yes, I do have one. Joe getting carried off after the Super Bowl.

I had a friend in Chicago, or from Chicago, that wanted to be silly after the team won the Super Bowl and jumps in front of me, trying to act like he's a Joe fan while I'm trying to get to Gibbs, and I missed the shot. And I still have that picture sitting on my desk of this unprofessionalism. I think that one probably rankles me more than anything because I was right with Joe, and I just kind of got hijacked on that one. But we had a good Super Bowl picture-wise, so we made up for it.

Do you have a favorite game that you were at, or a most memorable game that you were at? Well, I'll tell you, the 91 playoff games, 1991 playoff games, I mean, it was just too perfect the way that season ended, and then the Atlanta game was, you know, at least it was a game for a while. But when I think when the seat cushions came out, that was when, that was when I think everybody exhaled and said, man, all we got to do is beat Detroit to go to Super Bowl. Yeah.

And we already beat them up 45-0. In the opener, yeah. So that was a good time. But in 91, I think you knew in training camp, that seemed deep. and just loaded. But Ernest Biner to me, he was like crazy legs hurt. I mean, he would go any,

him and Gary Clark, you couldn't predict. Yeah. You know, the season before, the 1990 season, it's one of my favorite games ever. In fact, I've often referred to the playoff game at the vet against Philadelphia. is the all-time franchise revenge game.

Wasn't that great? Yeah, because of what it happened just a few months earlier on Monday night football, the infamous body bag game. And I'm scrolling through this thing. You've got some pictures from some of those games in 1990 and some of those Philly games. What are your memories of those? Well, it was funny, that game, I don't know why I picked that game, but I said I want to do a lot of behind-the-scenes here for this Monday night.

and, you know, when Joe's talking to the team and you can see the clock that says five minutes till nine, that tells you, you know, this is, you know, it's go time, this team was, you know, ready. You look at their faces, they're all the same. They go out and they get beat up in several ways, and you come back, I got the exact same picture. After the game, you couldn't tell anything happened. bunch of pros. It was like the guys, they were in the same place. There was no throwing things.

That's what impressed me. And I think that, you know, what happened in the bodyback game propelled them into 91, some kind of resolve that you just, you know, they almost got to this NFC championship game in 90. Yeah. Really? Yeah, they lost. That was a great team.

Ninety was a great team in that offense. Scott, thanks. Really appreciate it. Wish you the best. Again, it's RFK All Access. Scott Cunningham, the team photographer from 1988 through 1994. It's a book that describes his years behind the lens of the most beloved franchise in football history. You can get it at RFK All Access.com.

And if you want, you can go out and get a signed book from Scott to night with Brian Mitchell, 6 to 8 p.m. at Marriott Courtyard, Dulles Airport. Scott, thanks so much. Best of luck with the book. Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate you having it today. All right, that's the show. Enjoy the football this weekend. I'll be back with a post-game podcast after Washington, Vegas on Sunday.