The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jayden Starts Sunday

Episode Date: December 6, 2025

Kevin opened with the news that Jayden Daniels return to the lineup and start Sunday in Minnesota. He reacted to some of what Dan Quinn said earlier today about whether or not they'll adjust play-calling to protect Daniels. Kevin had his "keys" to a win over the Vikings along with a prediction. Jay Gruden jumped on to preview Commanders-Vikings and give out his "NFL Lock of the Week". Jay has hit on 8 of his last 9. Kevin finished up with 7 "Smell Test" picks. 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 Sheehan Show, here's Kevin. Jayden threw a great week of practice. He's full Thursday, full today, he's been cleared to play, and he will start Sunday. The head coach, Dan Quinn, earlier today with the announcement that Jaden Daniels, five weeks after dislocating his non-throwing elbow against Seattle, We'll start Sunday in Minnesota against the Vikings. This show's presenting sponsor is Window Nation.

If you need new windows, I highly recommend Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com. Mention my name and they'll come out and give you a free in-home, no-obligation estimate. Jay Gruden on the show today as he is on every Friday during football season. Jay's lock of the week has hit eight out of the last nine weeks. I can't wait to see who he has today. I've got seven smell test picks in the final segment of the show, none of which are four tonight,

three for tomorrow's college football conference championship games, and then another four picks for Sunday's NFL slate. Real quickly, before I get to some of the other things that Dan Quinn said, about Jaden Daniels today. I'm going to put out a show tomorrow at some point probably mid to late afternoon. I had a conversation with somebody from Minnesota about the Vikings and the J.J. McCarthy, Kevin O'Connell situation. I think you'll enjoy that in advance of the game against Minnesota.

Also on the show tomorrow, a conversation with ESPN's Mark Schlebaugh. He wrote a great story. detailing the Lane Kiffin departure from Ole Miss. We also talked some college football playoff, you know, projections for Sunday. That's when we'll find out what the playoff field looks like. So I'm going to put that out tomorrow. It just would have been too long of a show had I put it out on today's show. So Dan Quinn and Jaden Daniels both spoke today.

Quinn said he's ready, he's healthy, and he was asked about why it's important for Jaden to play. Here's what he said. Yeah, it's really important for him, for his teammates, for any of the guys, honestly. And looking into it with five games, that's like 30% of our season. There's a lot. All of these matter. And, you know, as he's developing, there's certain things he's working on too to go ahead and be as competitive as hell. and, you know, like taking care of things that he can.

And so it's really important, John. And so as the process for that begins, we're ready to get rolling with that. Dan Quinn, with a pretty good list of reasons why Jaden Daniels should play, why it's important for him to play. It's nearly the same list that we've discussed here on this show every single time the topic of should he or shouldn't he play when he's healthy has come up, and it's come up quite a bit. You know, you just don't sit.

starting quarterback with five games left in the season, nearly 30% of the season. I've mentioned the nearly 30% a few times over the last few weeks. Quinn said nearly 30% of the season still remains. If he's healthy, he plays. It's important to the locker room. It's important to him, especially considering he's a second-year quarterback who's barely played in his second year. And Quinn didn't say this, but I would bet you that the timing is very good for them and for Jaden, considering that most of the guys that they expected to be on the field when the season began are all going to be back on the field Sunday against Minnesota. Jaden hasn't played with everybody at the same time this year. You know, even going back to the opener, Sam Cosme wasn't

there. Sam Cosme is a huge part. of this offensive line that's gotten better and matured as the season's gone on. The only player that was an expected, you know, significant contributor who won't be out there Sunday on offense is Austin Echler. So returning with not only a near full skill position group, it's an offensive line that's just much better than it's been, you know, especially early in the season. It really is a very good offensive line right now. We've seen it just grow throughout the year, mature, you know,

Cosmi coming back was significant. He's now playing at a very high level. So I think that, you know, everybody being back, you know, minus Echler, I guarantee you that that made the decision easier for them. Jaden Daniels, by the way, agreed with the head coach. He spoke today, and he said, You know, anybody that argued that he should sit the rest of the season, you know, so that he is healthy next year, he said, quote, who's to say I'm not going to go into next year healthy? We take it one day at a time, and before I was getting paid, I was playing for free.

I have that passion for the game. I'm a young guy. I'm still trying to develop, still trying to learn. These games are critical. Closed quote. That was Jaden Daniels. By the way, Dan Quinn was also asked about if he's talked to Cliff Kingsbury about deploying Jaden differently or adjusting in the way they call the game in order to protect Daniels. Here's what Dan Quinn said.

It's a great question. I'm going to really be very vanilla with you. It involves the game plan. We're going to make great decisions. We're going to make great decisions. I think Dan Quinn's answer was a little less vanilla than maybe he had hoped. At least it was for me. I think it spoke pretty loudly.

But I also think that if he were to be injected with truth serum and forced to tell the truth, he'd say, of course, of course I've talked to Cliff. We've talked together. Maybe others have been involved about ways to minimize the wrong. risk to our quarterback. Now, I don't think that means handing the ball off and throwing bubble screens. They're going to let him be Jaden Daniels out there on Sunday, and for the rest of the year, you know, God willing.

But I do think it includes things like, and we've talked about these things, why have him run quarterback power, quarterback counter, quarterback sweep, some of the designed runs. those plays have been and are better suited for quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Cam Newton, you know, and with the playoffs no longer, you know, in the mix here, you know, we don't have to get this third down and three to keep our season alive. So I think these are plays that don't make sense when they are in playoff contention. of course they've talked about, you know, his decision-making. It's got to mature. It's got to get better in terms of his decision-making to get out of bounds or to get down and not take unnecessary hits.

He can't treat first and 10 in the first quarter like it's fourth and four in overtime. The team also cannot have them out there dropping back and running RPO's in a game that's over in the fourth quarter like they did against Seattle or like the opener. year against Tampa Bay when he's running read options in a goal line situation down 37 to 13 with two and a half minutes to go. They have to take some responsibility for some bad decisions a few times here over his first, what, 25 games, and they've got to keep him out of obvious harm's way. I'm excited, though, to see him.

I'm really excited about this game. More juice for me with him. in this game, and not just him, but just a chance to see, you know, the offense that we expected to see at the beginning of the year on the field, minus Austin Echler, but it'll be the healthiest. The offense has been all season long. You know, as I mentioned earlier, you know, Sam Cosmi wasn't around for the first six games. He's one of their best offensive linemen. So you've got, you know, this healthy offensive line with Terry, with a healthy Debo, with Noah Brown with the back situation, you know, a little bit more firmed up in terms of Rodriguez

kind of being that lead guy. And of course, you know, Jaden. I'll throw in, by the way, Traylon Burks, who may be a guy that kind of fits in as the number three receiver. More so than Jalen Lane, more so than Chris Moore, more so than Robbie Chosen or Tay Martin, etc. I wanted to read something quickly before I get to Keys to a win over Minnesota, along with a prediction. This from Darren, I almost started the show with this, but it's better to read it right here. Darren writes, Kevin, have you admitted yet? Maybe I missed it, that Terry is worth more than one win? Looks like he was a little more important than you thought he was. Thank you. you for that, Darren.

So, look, I think anybody that's been on the Terry's not elite, he's just really good for the last several years, anybody in a position where there's an audience that has said that has gotten, you know, their fair share of pushback from people like Darren. You know, that's kind of, you know, where it's been all along. And just to be clear, Darren, what I said before the season started about, Terry being worth, you know, one win, was more about what Vegas, what the odds makers, how they emphasize the position. I tried to explain that it's not like the over under for Washington, which was nine and a half games, is going to go to seven and a half if Terry doesn't play,

if he's a holdout for the entire year, or if he, you know, gets traded or cut or whatever. Like, that's just not the way the position is valued. Quarterbacks change those numbers. What I did say about Terry, I did say that if, you know, he doesn't play, that it'll cost him about a game, you know, and I know that that was shocking, again, with the emphasis that that's how the odds makers would view it. But I also felt like, and I said this repeatedly, that they're clearly not as good of a team without him as they would be with him and that their chances to be a legit NFC contender take a big hit if he's not a part of this team. That's what I said. By the way, I still believe that. But that was also

an answer to just Terry not playing. Of course, the team lost a lot more than just him. You know, they're not three and nine because Terry missed, you know, of the 12 games seven or eight of them. they are three and nine because Terry and Jaden and all of the other players, all of their other really good players missed all of those games. But look, the conversation about Terry, I guess we'll continue into the offseason. You're never going to get me to say that he's at that same level as some of the truly elite receivers. He has been anywhere from 10 to 15. and with all of the new receivers in the game,

he's probably much closer to 15 than he is 10. I didn't think he was anywhere near worth what he was asking for. That was another big part of the offseason conversation. But look, he's really good, and he's the best they have. And there is no doubt that they missed him, and they missed a lot of players this year.

But I'm glad he's here now, just as I am glad that Jaden is. back and the healthy Debo's out there and Noah Brown's back and all the rest of them are back and ready to go. Too bad it didn't happen, you know, two or three weeks ago where, you know, imagine if they had everybody back for the Miami and Denver games, very possible. They'd be five and seven right now. And we'd still harbor some hope about a late season run. All right, as far as Sunday goes. So Minnesota

is a team that is four and eight. They've hit, you know, a really rough part of their schedule. You know, Washington and Minnesota are similar. I think I mentioned this

on yesterday's show, but they've had a brutal stretch of games as well. They've gone, listen to this stretch in order. Philly, Chargers, lions,

Ravens, Bears, Packers, Seahawks. You know, our team, you know, and the stretch, it's had going back to the Bears game, which we didn't even know. Actually, throw the Chargers in there. Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Chiefs, Seahawks, Lions, then a little bit of a reprieve

against the Dolphins and then the Broncos. So their schedule has been quite the gauntlet like ours. They're a bad offensive football team, a really bad offensive football team. And the reason is they don't have a quarterback. J.J. McCarthy may turn out to be a great quarterback, but he missed all of his rookie year last year after they picked him 10th overall, traded up a spot to pick him number 10 overall in the Jaden, Caleb Williams, Drake, May, Michael Pennix Jr., Bo Nick's draft, as all of you know. And he just, you know, he does not look the part at this point. After seven or so starts, he continues to get hurt.

He's coming off a concussion. I think he's going to play Sunday. If not J.J. McCarthy, it would be rookie men. Max Brasmer, who made his debut last week in Seattle, and he threw four interceptions, including an underhanded pick six as he was getting sacked in field goal range. They just don't have a quarterback this year that they can count on. They still have Justin Jefferson. They still have Jordan Addison.

They still have T.J. Hawkinson. They have Aaron Jones. They have Jordan Mason. They've got skill position players. but the quarterback they don't have right now. It's an interesting time in Minnesota. I mean, they let Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones go. Now, it's not that they had a choice necessarily

because Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones were free agents and they were looking for a longer-term commitment and the opportunity to come in and be the starter without competing with somebody that they drafted number 10 overall. Now, Jones went to Indianapolis, where Anthony Richardson was, but Richardson had already shown signs of being really, really raw and a long way away from being the guy.

But, you know, Minnesota moved on from Kirk Cousins two years ago when Kevin O'Connell clearly wanted Kirk back, even if they were going to pick a young quarterback, they wanted him back. But it's been interesting in Minnesota. They won all those games last year and then flamed out with Darnold playing poorly in the postseason in that first round matchup against the Rams. They're just a mess offensively because they can't get any sort of consistent quarterback play. However, they're a very good defensive team. Talked about this, I think, already on

the podcast. Tenth overall in yards allowed. 11th in DVOA, 12th on third down, third in the red zone defensively. Fifth overall, their past defense. They've got a player in Andrew Van Ginkle, who's been one of my favorite players to watch going back to his Miami days. They're very good defensively, and then Brian Flores schemes it up as creatively as anybody does in the league. So they'll have their hands full like they did last week. I mean, Denver's defense, awesome as well. They've faced some really good defensive teams. This one will be on the road. The only chance chance Minnesota has really these days is with their defense, although their offense is getting a reprieve as well, playing Washington's defense. Minnesota's got the worst turnover differential

in the league at minus 15, 26 league leading giveaways, turnovers. They've been a disaster on offense. So there it is. Good defensive team, no quarterback. It'll be the easy, offensive football team Washington has faced all year long, really, maybe going back to Russell Wilson starting in the opener. But, you know, Washington's defense has given up

a lot. It's been better the last two weeks, but, you know, I think there's always a possibility somebody like J.J. McCarthy could get healthy and sort of resurrect good feelings on his behalf against our defense. Here are my

keys to beating Minnesota. Washington wins on Sunday against the Vikings if. Number one is stop the run. Stop the run and put it on McCarthy, if that's the starter. Put it on Brasmer if he ends up starting. Even playing zone defense with no pass rush, he can't hit the ocean from a boat as a passer this year. And that's been his biggest issue. And Kevin O'Connell said a few weeks ago, we have to re-engineer, reinvent all of his throwing mechanics. That's scary. He's young. It's early. You can't declare on anybody, let alone quarterbacks at 23 years old. But you stop the run. Jordan Mason, if he's the guy, Aaron Jones is a little bit banged up, you got to stop the run. If you can stop the run, and I thought

they did a really good job last week for the first time this year against Denver, if you can stop the run and put the pressure on the quarterback, yes, you're going to be playing zone defense. Yes, getting a lot of pass rush pressure, and yes, you know, they could pick you apart with pitch and catch to Jefferson and Addison underneath and hope to get yards after the throw, but they haven't been hitting those throws this year. So number one, stop the run, put it on the quarterback. Number two, this has been kind of a thing with me all season long, going back to, you know, all of the issues they've had with penalties and drops and turnovers. You've got to play a clean football game. This is not a gimmy game. Minnesota probably

thinks it's a game for them. They are a one and a half two point favorite at home. You got to play cleanly. No turnovers, no drops, no penalties. None of those things that derail offensive drives. You know, you've got to stay on schedule. That's more on that coming up. Clean game offensively in particular. Number three, Van Ginkle is one of my favorite players. He has been one of my favorite players. You know, he went to Minnesota last year. They were, you know, incredible defensively last year with Brian Flores. But Andrew Van Ginkle's been one of my favorite players to watch for a few years going back to his years in Miami. This is a guy that anticipates and feels the game as well as anybody in the league at that position.

You know, he is 6'4, 240, can run long arms, but his real talent, his real secret sauce, as Dan Quinn would say, is he just anticipates so well. Don't throw screens in his direction. Bubbles, flat passes, nothing to his side, passwise. You've got to protect against him as well, just like you do Grenard, who's a good pass rusher. But Van Ginkle, number 43, to me, is a guy that you've got to steer clear of when you play Minnesota. Fourth on this list, stop the runs one, clean game two, Van Ginkle account for him, three, four, good down and distance offensively. Stay in what you stayed in last week in the first half. You know, a lot of run game, a lot of quick game, you know, don't be in what you got into in the second half.

If you overcame it, you know, the intentional grounding, third and 25, et cetera. But stay in solid down and distance. You got to commit to the run. You can't, you know, go away from the run. Look, Jaden's got to be a part of the run game, you know, zone read, et cetera. Scrambles for sure. I'd love to see some of that quick game to get them in rhythm early, especially with the receivers that they've got back out onto the field.

Good down and distance on offense will be important. And then the kicking game will be important because, because you're indoors, and Minnesota's got a great kicker. Will Reichard, they drafted this kid. You know, last year's draft, I think it was. I think it was last year's draft. They picked him in the fifth or sixth round out of Alabama. He's been an outstanding kicker with a huge leg.

He's 21 of 23 on the season. He's got a 62-yarder to his credit. He's 8 for 10 from 50 and out. has not missed a kick under 50. Jake Moody's got a big leg. We're indoors. You get to the other team's 40-yard line. Howard Gutman, I'm talking to you.

You've got to come away with at least three. So the kicking game will be huge. Their guy doesn't miss. Our guy can't miss either. I think this is a tight game. I do. Look, it's the first game back for a lot of these guys together. you know, there could be a little rust like there was at the beginning of the Charger game.

Remember the first two series looked terrible, and then it really kicked into high gear. I like Washington to win the game, but 24 to 21. How is Minnesota going to score 21 points when they scored zero against Seattle last week and six the week before against Green Bay? well, Washington's defense isn't Seattle and Green Bay's defense. I'm concerned about Jordan Mason running for 125, 130. I'm concerned about easy pitching catches that even J.J. McCarthy can throw against our zone coverage with no pass rush pressure. So I don't think they're going to shut them out. I don't think they're going to keep them to less than 10.

Turnovers obviously a key, and they turn the ball over a lot, so that'll determine a lot. lot in this game as well. I did want to mention real quickly, last night's Dallas Detroit game. I mean, George Pickens, did he? I mean, it almost looked like he was throwing the game, throwing it. Dallas 6-6-1, Detroit's still alive, but they lost Branch their safety for the season. Torn Achilles, what a devastating loss. Brian Branch has been a baller for Detroit.

Detroit's had a bunch of injuries as well. But Amon Rock played last night was awesome. Lions still alive. God, the NFL is going to be so good this weekend. Sunday night, Monday night. We'll talk to Jay Gruden about that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, Goldbelly is fast becoming one of my favorite websites. I've told you about it previously.

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And all of the different, you know, talented coaches you had here, of all of the, of the, people that were on your staff in Washington after you got your first head coaching job, was there one that you knew from the jump would be an eventual head coach? Yeah, probably Sean. I didn't think it would happen as quickly as it did for Sean, but I have no Sean for a long time. Sean started with my brother, I think, 2007 or eight, he was like a secretary, just typed up scripts and all that stuff.

and then I hired him to be in the UFL, I helped get him a job in the UFL as a receiver coach and I'm known him for a long time, got him in the UFL, and I tried to get him at Cincinnati as a receiver coach. And when I got the job at Washington, he was already here, so I hired his offensive coordinator. So, yeah, he's always the brightest,

just very sharp, articulate, able to communicate with players. So, yeah, he was a no-brainer. It just matter getting the right opportunity with the right team. You know, had he not got the Rams job, had he got some other job he probably would be a quarterback coach somewhere right now but he got a great job great personnel i did a great job got the two super bowls obviously and then kevin came in after him and called you know his offense coordinator they're both great uh you know i had reheim i've known reaim for a while he's he's one of those very flamboyant guys very

good with the players good communicator all that stuff i've had some other guys that are pretty good but those are obviously the top three and the reason why their head coach is because of their personality and their ability to communicate was there a guy that worked for you at any point in time that you're surprised hasn't become a head coach? Wow. You know, it's just hard for position coaches, tight-end coaches, line coaches, defensive back coaches to make that jump from a position coach to a play caller. Because you don't know how they are as a play caller.

If that makes sense, you have no idea. I know they're good at their position. Like West Phillips is a good tight-end coach. I didn't know if he'd be a good play caller or not. So there are some other guys I've had in the defensive backroom, but not really surprised, I would say, no. Why is it a hard jump from position coach to coordinator and play caller? Well, as a position coach, you're just, you know, offering your ideas and things.

As a play caller, you've got to put the plan together and actually make the calls. You know, the situational football, you know, the scripts, all that stuff. you got to do everything. You know, as a position coach, you're worried about your blindbeckers taking a zone drop. You know, they're covering the back man-to-man. So it's a little bit different making that jump. You know, as a tight-end coach, you're worried about how you block an outside zone, how the footwork is, where your hand placement is and all that stuff.

And then all of a sudden, I've got to come up with a third down and three call up at a 12-yard line going in. Holy, you know, it's a lot more difficult. Is there a right path? Like when young coaches come to you and ask you about, you know, the business, is there a path that you, to become an eventual head coach, what's the right path for somebody in the NFL? Because you were not a position coach, right? You were never a position coach in the NFL.

No, I think the right path, if you want to be an offensive guy, I would be, I'd be quarterbacks all day long. Quarterbacks turn into coordinators, coordinators turn into head coaches. So that would be the best pass offensively. defensively, I'd start with the linebackers and then hopefully get a coordinator job and then maybe a head coach. It's just a little bit easier for offensive guys. Most owners

want offensive-minded head coaches. Obviously, it's not the case all the time, but the majority of the time. When they need a spark in their for their team, they want an offensive guy, an offensive-minded guy, Ben Johnson type guy, Sean McVeague, Governor O'Connell, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, but there's Aaron Glenn and those guys out there that have

played and then became coordinators and then obviously got the head coaching job with a dynamic personality. But you've got to get on a right team. That's the most important thing. He can be a great, the greatest coach ever had played. You're coaching for the New Orleans Saints right now. You've got no chance. You don't have the players. Titan, you mean, you're

going to get your ass beat and nobody's going to be interested in a coaching candidate from the Titans to be a head coach. You know, it doesn't excite the fan base. Yeah, it doesn't excite the fan base, but in the sport, don't you guys know, hey, this guy's working in Tennessee right now, but he's

super talented, even though the team's terrible. Yeah. Yeah, you do. You have a pretty good idea. You're watching their scheme and how the players play for the coach. You know, that's important when you're watching film. You know, this defense is pretty damn good. They're two and 12, but, God, dang, they play hard,

and they're well-coached, you can tell. So, yeah, you know, what they put on tape is very, very important for coaches that don't know you. So I don't know anybody on the staff at Tennessee, but I'm watching their defensive backs, and they're playing with great technique. They're playing hard or tackle well or fundamentally found. Then I'm going to look at that defensive back coach to possibly be my coordinator or try to pluck them if he gets fired, you know. So, yeah, you always have to be aware of coaches on other teams

that are possibly going to get fired as well as younger coaches on good teams that are you're looking to promote. So it works both ways. Do you communicate with Kevin, with Sean, with Rahim, you know, during the season at all? Every once in a blue moon, I'll shoot them a text if they, usually if they play poorly, I'll shoot them a text to hang in there. You know, if they're playing good, you know, they probably get thousands,

thousands of texts, but usually I try to pick them up a little bit if they got beat up a little bit. You know, I throw it out there to Kevin recently. I know the struggles when you have a quarterback. You can't complete a forward pass. Man, it's difficult to call plays and be successful. So hopefully he'll bounce back, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. They're struggling big time on offense. I always think that's an interesting thing when people in your position,

and really it doesn't even have to be your position, when people reach out when people are down. versus when they're up and everybody's reaching out to them. With Kevin O'Connell in the situation he's in right now, I mean, is it too early on J.J. McCarthy? Do you have a sense? I was reading something about this, I guess, last week. You know, I guess there was a bit of a divide between the general manager and Kevin O'Connell over J.J. McCarthy.

Kevin also kind of wanted either Jones or Darnold to stay. You know, there's some of that reporting out. there. What do you make of the whole situation he's in right now, quarterback? Well, I think they made a horrible mistake. You know, they put all their eggs in one basket. And it's a quarterback position unless you're damn sure this guy can lead you your football team for the next 10, 15 years. You've got to have a plan just in case he's not ready.

And this guy missed the entire year last year. It's not like he was on the team and practicing every day. And I'm like, holy cow, this guy's throwing a hell out of the ball, practice. I think he could be our guy. He was on the sideline. He didn't do anything. Now they're going to, you know, and in Michigan, he really didn't do a whole lot. They did a lot of play action pass, a lot of short passes.

He managed games well. He was fairly accurate on intermediate stuff, but he didn't really show any wow factor as far. Oh, my God, this guy is the best. He's great. You know, he's something. So there was too much unknown about JJ McCarthy to lose Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones. They should have kept one of them without a doubt. Obviously, it's easily said right now knowing what you know about JJ, but they made a horrible mistake.

And I would have liked to see him keep Sam Darnold, and then if JJ outperform them and practice and all that stuff, you can play them. And it's not the end of the world if you sit a high-paid quarterback through your contract. You know, you have the young guy in the building. So I just thought it was odd that they did that. You know, I've thought about that a lot just from afar. You know, there's no guarantee that Sam Darnold would have stayed there had Minnesota been interested. He was looking for a much bigger commitment to being a starter, which Seattle offered. Yeah, I mean, yeah, so there's a lot of variables involved in that.

I just thought that I also thought that actually getting Aaron Rogers for a year would have been a good deal. Somebody like a veteran guy that would come in here, and if JJ's not quite ready, you have a veteran guy to start the first half of the season and see how he does. And then, you know, if he's struggling a little bit, you can go back to JJ. At least you have a veteran guy. I mean, they didn't have anybody really as a backup quarterback. They just put all their eggs in JJ, and he's been hurt two times again this year. He struggled when he's not hurt. So I don't know what the future is for Minnesota.

I just don't think it's with JJ, but, you know, he's still young. He's still developing. There's a lot of things he's got to learn, a lot of things you've got to do better. He really doesn't do anything really good right now. So they've got a long way to go. He's got a lot to prove as far as being the Minnesota Vikings franchise quarterback for the next five, ten years. You know, you've kind of been there, although you had another quarterback in the building, but you've kind of been there with sort of the expectations very high on the quarterback that you inherit.

but you kind of knowing intuitively that that wasn't going to work out. Yeah, I mean, it's all about being around the guys and watching them throw in practice every day and how they perform and how they're, you know, getting better. Are they getting better? Are they making the same mistakes? I mean, you just got to have a feeling for it and you look at the production and practice and it really wasn't close in our decision process. And it wasn't just me.

I think I was the one that didn't like Robert or whatever. It was the entire staff. and the majority of the players, actually. So it wasn't really that hard of a decision as it seemed to be. I should have made it earlier, but obviously I wanted Robert to work it out, but it just didn't work out. Do you remember, I'm sure I've asked you this before, but do you remember the first time you had to kind of go to Bruce and Dan and say,

we can't play this guy? The staff doesn't want to play him, I don't want to play him. The locker room doesn't want him to play, and what the reaction was? Yeah, that was really when we announced Kirk as a starter. So that was the first time? That was really the first time I wanted to put an end to all the back-and-forth competition, you know, all that stuff. I needed, Kirk needed the backing of the coaches, if that makes sense,

the confidence that he would have on game day knowing that if he threw it in their interception and completion, we weren't going to go to Robert, you know what I mean? So that was very important, I think, for Kirk and his development, because we struggled as first year to start with the first four or five games. Remember that, but sticking with him, I think, helped his confidence and he was able to rebound and play extremely well that year and take us to the playoffs.

So, you know, as a quarterback, especially as fragile as Kirk was back then with his confidence and all that stuff. He needed a boost. He needed a pick-me-up from the coaches and the backing from us. So I think that was what really helped him become the player that he was. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out in Minnesota, because if the head coach doesn't believe in a young quarter, quarterback, even though he's only had eight starts. And, you know, I don't know how that works

without bringing in somebody else that they can go to next year if it doesn't work out. All right. So back to Sunday night real quickly, the game against Denver. I mean, other than some of the officials calls, because I know that you were tweeting about some of that stuff as well, it really seemed like, you know, a badly officiated game all night long. But what were your takeaways on you know how well Washington played and almost pulled off you know what would have been a sizable upset yeah you're talking about the number one seat possibly in aFC they went toe to toe and actually looked like the better team to me just watching you know on television they looked like the team that was better coach and had better skill i mean backup quarterback playing

and um move the ball extremely well they play great mar marcus played extremely well at quarterback and they ran a ball decently with Rodriguez, and they did some really good things offensively. You know, Ertz had a big game, and Terry had a nice play. Debo had a couple hits. And then defensively, they battled their ass off. They gave up some chunk yards here and there,

but for the most part, they competed. I thought it was an impressive outing by them. I know they didn't win, so it's kind of unfortunate. You know, the Benito had a 48-inch vertical and batted that damn ball down. Right. But, yeah, I thought they played great. I think it showed a lot of heart

and a lot of character in that loss. What did you see on that two-point play? I mean, we've talked a lot about it during the course of the week. Just tell me what your thoughts were. Because you just mentioned Benito. You could argue he was the best player on the field, and they left him as the free rusher.

Yeah, you have to in that protection. You know, the five-man protection, they brought more than you can block. Right. And they brought six guys, and so your left tackle, you know, you teach your left tackle that we want to protect the A and the B-gap. We don't want a B-gap rusher coming free.

in a quarterback's face ever. A quarterback can maneuver away from the defensive end a little bit. I thought Marcus could have done a little bit better job to try to, like, change his arm angle or something to get the ball over his head or around him. You know, that's the one negative, I think, if he would have just waited, pump faked him or something, did something. You know what I mean? It gets a ball around them.

It is a hell of a play by Benito, but it was the right protection, leaving him free. The other option was to slide the other way. If they would have slid the other way and the right defense, then it would have been free, it would have been harder for the back to get out there to the flat, if that makes sense. So they did the right thing. I think the whole play was well executed. It was just a better play by Benito.

Would you have gone for the two? Hell, yeah, you have to go for two. I think that's the reason why you defer in overtime because you get to see what the other team does. If they kick a field goal, you know you've got four downs to get down there and kick a field goal to tie it and try to get the ball back and stop, or you go for the touchdown. And then if they score a touchdown, then you go for two, get the hell out of there with a win. So absolutely at the right call to defer, number one, and then number two, two, go for two. All right, let's just assume as we record this here on Friday morning that the announcement will come later on today that Jaden's going to play Sunday.

I think that there's a pretty good chance that that's what we're going to get unless something happens in practice today. But let's just assume that's the case. so would you what kind of game would you call for him in his first game back would it be any different than if this were week one or week three no I'm calling

what I'd call I probably would limit the quarterback designed runs which I think Cliff was doing anyway when Jayden was playing but I still it's all systems go man they're going to have some quarterback zone read type thing some RPO's are going to get them going

the dropbacks will be the same everything will be the same. I think it's all systems go. When you're 100% healthy, and it was just his left arm, I'm not going to say just. I mean, this is a left arm. He's fine. So they're going to go out there and try to beat Minnesota's ass, I think, without doubt. What are you expecting from Daniels in his first game back? You know what I feel about, Jade. I think he's as good as anybody. I think I expect, I expect him to be on point. He's got Terry back. He's got Debo back. He's got Hertz's playing at a pretty good level right now. The running game's okay. I hope the running game gets

going. They take a little pressure off of them so they don't rely on him on every snap. Minnesota's got a very good defense. They got a lot of money invest in that defense, and it'll be a good test for him, but I expect him to have a hell of the game. By the way, just speaking of the backs, you've mentioned you like Rodriguez, don't you? I like Rodriguez. I think he's the best back on the roster if that makes, yeah, I like him. I think he's a tough guy between the faculty. He gets the tough yards. I do like the fact that they use the running back by committee, though. I think all three of them have a right to play, and they do different things, but my feature back on

first, second down, for sure, would be Rodriguez. Nickles has really been a surprise and a revelation. I mean, he was to a certain extent last year, especially on special teams, but this year, every opportunity he gets, especially on third and longs and checkdowns, he always seems to pick it up. I mean, how does a guy go from just a guy, which is what everybody thought he was when he was signed here and didn't have a lot of options to, you know, a solid place in the rotation, special teams-wise, and he's going to be a free agent. I would assume they're going to try to re-sign him and bring him back. Yeah, I wouldn't think he'd demand a lot of money in the free agent market. He's just a guy that takes advantage of his reps. You know, he's been very good somehow. He's

going to journeyman for the most party. He went to Boise. I remember coming out of Boise. He's like, he's okay runner. He's okay pass getcha. He's just okay at everything. He's not going to allow you. It's not like teams are going to go, we're going to target Jeremy McNeckles in the offseason, man, this guy's our guy. He's a good, solid role player.

He's a special team guy. He can pass protect a little bit, and he can catch ball in the back field, and he's a decent runner. So he's a guy that, you know, have to take advantage of every rep he does and has because there's going to be few or far between, and he's done that, man. You've got to give him, take your hats off for this kid. He's extended his career because of the way he's played with the limited reps that he's gotten.

All right. Let's talk about the game Sunday, specifically in Minnesota. The Vikings obviously are reeling. You know, the interesting thing about them, like Washington, you know, they're not playing well, obviously. They're not a very good team, but they've played a brutal schedule and stretched just like Washington has. I mean, they have gone through the gauntlet here. Seattle last week, Green Bay, the week before, the Bears. the Ravens, the Lions, the Chargers, the Eagles. That's their last seven games, you know, and they've lost four of them, six of the last seven.

They're probably looking at Washington going, whew, all right, we've got a chance this week. And Washington's feeling the same way after kind of the gauntlet they've gone through. So what are the keys for Washington to get a win Sunday against? You already mentioned it, a pretty good defensive team in Minnesota. soda. Yeah, obviously it always starts with turnovers, number one. And please don't throw any screens the Van Geekle side. I mean, this guy's a screen game. Oh, my God. So true. All these bubble screens and release screens of the receivers, throw them to your left. Don't mess with Van Geekle.

So you've got to avoid the turnovers against an opportunistic team. And you've got to have a good protection plan against Brian Flores because he'll come, he'll have games, he won't blitz once and have other games. He blitz is like 45 times. So you've got to really be prepared for his all-out-covers zero heaters. I don't know if he'll do that with Jaden and quarterback. I might change his thinking, but that's well, you've got to be prepared. You've got to say, hey, this guy's going to blitz us on every third down.

So have that preparation on mindset ready. And then defensively, I think you just got to play sound football and no big plays that make them go the long way. Make them go 80 yards on 12, 15 plays, which I don't think they can do. They're going to try to run the ball to protect their quarterback and then the play actions off of it. Obviously, is what Kevin O'Connell's MO is. You get them in third and five to ten.

and then you're going to beat the hell out of it. So, yeah, it's going to be a good game. Turnovers are going to be the key. I think it should be a low-scoring game, and I think they should be tight. I think Washington should win this one. You mentioning Van Ginkle, I've talked about him as well. There are just certain guys when you watch them,

their anticipation, their feel for the game. Like, that dude has been in position and has actually been successful on picking off more bubble screens or more flat passes than anybody in recent years. What is it about an athlete like that with the great feeling and anticipation? Yeah, it's uncoachable. It's just all feel and the instinctual part of it that he has naturally engraved in his brain, that he feels everything like that.

Yeah, he's unbelievable. He's one of the best I've seen at it as far as doing that. Jay J.J. Watt was great at bat the ball down and having a feel when the quarterback was getting the ball out of his hands. He could anticipate it and get his hands up. And certain guys have that feel. Certain other guys have their head down and they're looking at the ground and just, I got the B gap. I'm going to rush off the B gap. And here it goes a ball right by their head. You're like, God damn, just raise your hand. So, yeah, it's uncoachable for sure.

You know who had that? You know who had that for you? Ryan Carrigan had that a little bit, didn't he? I'd say very minimal. Okay. He was more of a, he was more of a, I'm going to do my rip move and get up the field and whatever. It seemed like he always sensed screens, not that he was, the athleticism I'm not talking about. But I always felt like he sensed a screen and, you know, he had that pick against the, well, you weren't the coach that year. I'm thinking about his rookie year literally picked off, you know, a pass from Daniel Jones early in the game.

and returned it for a touchdown, where it was, you know, just, he kind of hesitated. He knew the ball was coming in that general direction. I always thought that that was something he was good at, but I guess not. Yeah, yeah, he was. No, he was good at it. It's not like Van Geekle good. No, no, not like Van Geekle. All right.

Your prediction Sunday, Washington, Minnesota. I got Washington to win, man. I think they're going to play well. I think they're going to rally around Jaden. I think defensively, Coach Boynt, will have the way. a good plan and get after his JJ even plan? Who's plays? Jayj's playing, right? I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, the other dude threw four interceptions in his first start. Well, I didn't know if JJ was cleared with his concussion or whatever hell he had. Yeah, so if JJ plays, it doesn't matter. I think they'll do a good job defensively. Another key is a stop the running game. And in the play actions, this is really only thing JJ can do right now. The drop-back game,

JJ's not very good. So stop the run and get after JJ, and I think Washington wins easy. All right. really good NFL Sunday, especially in the early window, but there's a really good late game. You're on fire with your lock of the week. We'll get to that to finish up with Jay after these words from a few of our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by prize picks. It's the holiday season, the best time of the year for sports, bowl games, basketball matchups, playoff pushes. It's all happening at once. And while you and I are out here making decisions, every day, what gifts to buy, what to eat, which game to watch, there's one place where it feels

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Call them at 86690 Nation, head to windownation.com. Jay's lock of the week is on absolute fire. Eight of the last nine he's hit on. He'll give it to us here shortly last weekend. It was the 49ers laying the points at Cleveland. But let's just go through a couple of games. And before we get to Sunday's car, just real quickly, last night, what were your overall impressions of Detroit?

44 to 30 win over Dallas. Yeah, in big games, your stars have to show up, and that's what happened with Detroit. I mean, they got the ball to Gibbs. He had three touchdowns. They got the ball to Monro. They got the ball to Jamison. I mean, golf had a big game.

So your star power has to show up in a big way. And obviously, Dallas, they couldn't keep up. They had terrible fields, or they gave Detroit great field position all night long, two turnovers killed them. The kick-return game was defensive. The kick coverage was awful for Dallas. and I fell into the trap. I said Dallas is the best team playing like the best football team.

Yeah. After last week, and they kind of reared her ugly head. They couldn't get the stops when they needed to, and two more turnovers and terrible kick coverage. So that's what happens. And Pickens look like he was disinterested for whatever reason. And then when CD went out, they had problems.

But I do like Dallas's football team, but their secondary is a little shaky. And obviously, CD's injury will kill them. It was a great game by Detroit. That's off to them. The pick-ins night was, you know, this was the kind of thing that some people expected when Mike Tomlin moved on from him, but he's been, you know, arguably one of the top two or three receivers in the league this year.

And like you said, he looked disinterested last night. I mean, that's troubling, right? Yeah, I don't know if he's bipolar or what the hell's wrong with him. I mean, how do you jog routes like he did last night? I don't know. I think that's you're exactly right. I'd be scared to death to give this guy a major contract. I mean, scared to death.

I don't know which one I'm going to get. Am I going to get the superstar George Pick him? Because he's worth every dollar. But if I get the guy that played last night, I don't want anything to do with him. So that's going to be a hell of a risk for somebody to take with his contract. I personally, I would probably rather play against them and have him play on my team. If I'm worrying about him showing up the practice on Saturday, if he's going to play hard on Sunday or not.

Oh, is he going to try this week? Is he going to jog all his routes? You know, so I don't know. It's mind-blowing. I don't know what to say about him. I just know that he's very, very inconsistent with his effort. That bothers me. He's a great, great player.

There's a huge game in the AFC South. Sunday 8 and 4 Indy at 8 and 4 Jacksonville. Indy lost at home last week to Houston. I think I mentioned to you a few weeks ago. I think Houston is as dangerous a team as there is in the NFL right now. This is a division that you've always kind of focused on because you worked in Jacksonville for that year. So tell me how you see.

this game, and then tell me how you see the division? Which one, Indy? AFC South Indy at Jacksonville on Sunday, and then the division overall with Houston, a game back of both of them. Yes, I think Jacksonville is the worst of the three, but they're playing very good defense, and they're doing just enough on offense to win close games. I just, I like their edge pressure that they got with Walker and obviously Heinz Allen, so they can do a lot of good things on defense.

offensively, I just worry about Trevor's inconsistency at the position. You know, if Trevor is the hot Trevor, then Jacksonville, I've got a chance, but I just, I can't put my money on Jacksonville. I like Houston number one. I like Indy number two and Jackson number three. Speaking of Houston, they're at Arrowhead Sunday night. So this is pretty much must win for Kansas City. how do you see that game playing out

the Chiefs are three and a half point favorites? This is not a team you want to play with your backup left tackle. This past rush for Houston is relentless. They get after you on every single snap. And the inability for Kansas City to really manufacture a solid running game is going to kill them. I know Patrick's a magician back there, but it's very hard to be a magician when you're getting hit in a face

after your third step and your three-step drop. So I think Houston is going to give them all they want. I actually think Houston will probably win the game. but I just can't see a team going in with a makeshift offensive line and beating the Houston, Texas with the way they pass rush. AFC North, we get the first of two between the Ravens and the Steelers. Both teams are 6 and 6, and neither team is playing very well, and both of the quarterbacks seem to be banged up.

By the way, the Bengals play the Bills, and Joe Burroughs back. They're four and eight. They're not out of it in the division. So first, give me your thoughts on Steelers Ravens and then tell me who you think ends up winning the AFC North. Yeah, based on recent events and watching Buffalo run the same play 30 times against Pittsburgh for 300 yards. I think Derek Henry is probably doing wind sprints right now. He's excited. I think Grayson will pound the ball and run Pittsburgh in a submission.

So I think, yeah, I like Baltimore. That one. I like Baltimore when AFC North. I know that Lamar will get better as he gets more healthy. The passing game will get better. Look at Zayflower is going a little bit more, I think. I mean, you know, it's tough. They've struggled a lot in the last three weeks.

And if I'm betting on anybody in that division, I'm going to take Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, without a doubt, because defensively they're getting a little bit better, and I think Derek Henry gets gone. Yeah, it was amazing just to see Buffalo hand the ball off to cook, and then number 22, I think it's Davis, and it was just six, seven yards every time they got the football

against Pittsburgh. Yeah, I think Pittsburgh will come out. You know, that's kind of insulting to players' manhood. So they're going to come out and they're playing their ass off early, but I think as the game goes on, I think they'll get worn down a little bit, and I think Derek will have a big game, so I think Baltimore gets that.

I think one of the most stunning results of the last few weeks was Chicago rushing for 281 yards last Friday in Philadelphia. and beating the Eagles. If they had beaten them, I mean, it would have been shocking, but the way they beat them just was like I did not expect that to happen. Bears, for the first of two games in 13 days against the Packers, this one at Lambeau, temperature is going to be in the mid-teens for this one. Who do you like?

I like Chicago. I think the way they play, the physical brand of football that they play with, it doesn't matter what the weather is. and Green Bay is trying to be that type of way as well. But, you know, the guards that they signed in the offseason in the center, the interior offensive line for Chicago has proven to be a gold mine for these guys. It's protected Caleb Williams. Caleb hasn't had to win games with his arm, been in terrible situations.

They're longer playing from behind. They've been in the lead. They've been pounding people, like you said last week. Every other week, I think they got the second or third-best rushing offense in the league. So that type of game travels. And then defensively, they have some ball-hawking. people back there, and they get turnovers, and that bodes well for cold weather games. So I really like Chicago.

I mean, I was close to be my pick of the week with Chicago. I'd take those points all day long with style of play that Chicago plays. Now, if Green Bay gets up early, it could be a bloodbath if they force Caleb into throwing the ball more than 25 times. That would be the key for Green Bay to win is force Caleb to throw it 25 or 30 times. Did you lose any confidence in the Rams last week when they lost a character? Carolina? I did not. I did not. In fact. Okay. Well, let's get to it. Let's get to it. Because we got to

we got to sell it. We got to sell it. Eight out of the last nine Jay's hit on this show. Eight of the last nine. The Rams are my pick. Okay. Yeah, I think that they bounce back in a big way. You know, the only thing that worries me is Forbes gave up some big hits last week. Forbes can hold up and play a better game against Marvin Harrison. I think he's coming back. I think he's healthy now. That'll be the key. If Forbes can just hold on to his ass

a little bit, play better, then the Rams should get out pretty well with the win. Because I don't know how Arizona is going to stop the running game with Kai running. And then when they load up the box, the one-on-one, Devontiazza just kills people. So I think the Rams will get them. All right. Rams, there are some

eights out there, so I'm going to give you the eight rather than the eight and a halves. Rams minus eight against the Cardinals is Jay's lock of the week. Is your hamstring okay? It's sore, but it's okay, yeah. I walked over somebody

left their bag and I didn't see it. I was looking on my phone while I was walking. I made a sudden movement. It felt a little twinge, but I said I was probable. I played golf yesterday, so I'm okay. Yeah, you're playing at a pretty nice place today, but Jay tweeted out the other day that he pulled his hammy

walking to his gate in L.A. Time to go on a diet. And then you just said, don't even bother with the comments. I'm not going to read them. Don't waste your time. Yeah, I'm sure I got hammered. I still haven't read them here. All right.

I haven't either. All right. Enjoyed it, as always. Hit him straight today. We'll talk next week. All right, thanks, Kevin. Jay Gruden, everybody, smell test picks after these words from a few of our sponsors. You shouldn't have to go out of your way to feel like yourself.

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The smell test is always brought to you by, my good friends, at MyBooky. They are still offering all of my listeners a 50% cash bonus when you use my promo code, DC Reload. If you're a new customer, go to the Kevin Sheeonshow.com slash my bookie. and when you're signing up and you're prompted to give a promo code, type in DC Reload. And then whatever you deposit, let's just say it's 300 bucks, they'll give you an additional $150. You'll have $450 in your account to wager with. If you're a returning my bookie customer as a listener to this podcast and you make a new deposit, it, use the promo code DC Reload, you too will get a 50% cash bonus. Even if you're betting at

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Amazing. 14 weeks in for the first losing weekend of the season, but it wasn't a catastrophe. 4, 5, and 1 was the record last week. That leaves me at 91, 55, and 11 on the season, 36 units above 500. All right, let's get to it. Conference Championship Saturday this year, leading into whatever we, we get on Sunday morning for the playoff field. The Duke, Virginia game is

significant. Indiana, Ohio State doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot. They're both going to have first round buys regardless of the result. Alabama, Georgia, I don't think Alabama can fall out of it, even if they were to get blown out. I like conference championship Saturday. I think the entire sport with the playoff expansion, it's just made so many more games during the regular season meaningful.

And I think that's been a good thing for the sport. All right, so let's get to it. I've got three of those conference championship games in the smell test. So for those that don't know, Alabama went to Georgia this year and won. Alabama kind of owns Kirby Smart, but they won in Athens 24 to 21 at the end of September. Bama struggled here recently. They almost lost the Iron Bowl last week to Auburn. They didn't play great against L.S.

you a few weeks ago. They lost to Oklahoma at, you know, 23 to 21, about three weeks ago. They're catching a short number. It's two and a half, three, and all spots, a few threes. I'm going to take the half point and give it out as Bama plus three because there are a few out there. There are more two and a halves. But Bama seems to be a major anti-public dog here, even though they beat Georgia earlier in the year. The perception is, Georgia's rolling, Bama isn't, and that that line should be a little bit bigger. I'll take Bama plus the three. They're a bit injured heading into this game, which has me a little bit concerned.

If this line jumps during the day to like four and a half, four, four and a half, something like that, maybe stay off it. But if it stays at two and a half three, take Bama. I'm giving them out plus the three as a smell test selection. So Duke got blown out by UVA a few weeks ago. Virginia wins. They're in the playoff if they lose and Duke wins. Duke likely won't be an eight and five playoff team as the ACC champion at that point. At that point, we're looking at a real possibility of James Madison if they beat Troy and they should tonight joining the North Texas Tulane winner in the field and the ACC excluded.

I like Duke plus the points. little bit concerned because it's in the ACC's best interest for Virginia to win this game where they are going to more likely than not be shut out of the playoff. They'll fix that in future years. They should have fixed it before this year. They had a five-way tie, I think it was, for second. It should have been the highest ranked team advances to the title game. That would have been Miami. Miami versus Virginia, that would have taken the Miami Notre Dame debate that is looming here off the table because Miami would have had a chance to advance by being the ACC champion. If Duke wins outright, man, it's a disaster for the ACC, so I wonder if there

will be some suspicious officiating in this game. Could be, but I'm taking Duke. The public is all over Virginia laying a short number after they pounded Duke just a few weeks ago. And then give me the fighting Kurt Signettis in the Big Ten title game. I just think this means so much to Indiana. And Indiana is really good. We can talk about how great Ohio State is on defense in particular, and it's true. Indiana is really good on defense. I think a lot of people were expecting to see Ohio State as a bigger favorite, and they didn't.

And so the public's all over, the Buckeyes, I'll take Indiana plus the four. let's go to Sunday. Seattle's one of the biggest public teams on Sunday. Lange 7 in Atlanta against the Falcons. I'll take the Falcons plus the 7. Atlanta coming off the loss of the Jets. Seattle coming off a shutout win over the Vikings. You know, there are times where I would have probably said, I can see, and I've gotten the information that the public's all over Seattle, but the line's not wrong. In this case, I don't think the line's that wrong, but it's an overwhelming public advantage, and they're not moving that line at all. It's just sitting there, begging you to play more Seattle. So I'll take Atlanta plus the seven. How about the Raiders, anybody, plus seven and a half against Denver? You know, that game was 10 to 7 a few Thursday nights ago. Heavy public action on Denver. The Raiders are bad. I'll take them. Plus the 7 and a half. Brock Bowers, if Zacherts

can catch 10 balls against Denver, Brock Bowers should be able to catch 15. By the way, in that game comes another smell test pick. 10-7 was the score when they last played a few weeks ago. The total's 40. Everybody's playing under

in this. I'll take over 40 Raiders Broncos. And then lastly, this line's come down a little bit, but I'm still hearing Sharp money on Green Bay, public money on the dog, the Bears, and one of the biggest games on Sunday at Lambeau, super cold, 15, 16 degrees of kickoff. I'll take the Packers and lay the six and a half.

They've got to stop the run. If they can do that and put it on Caleb, I think they win that game and win it comfortably. All right, there it is. Alabama plus three, Duke plus four, Indiana plus four tomorrow and tomorrow night. Then on Sunday, the Falcons plus seven, the Raiders plus seven and a half, the over 40 in the Raiders Broncos game, and the Packers, Green Bay laying six and a half. All right, that's it for the day.