The Kevin Sheehan Show - JD5 To Start + Cooley

Episode Date: October 6, 2026

Kevin opened with the latest from Dan Quinn on Jayden Daniels and the other injuries. Chris Cooley jumped on after watching yesterday's Commanders' loss to the Colts with his reaction. Join the millions who are already banking fee free with America’s #1 Choice for Banking. Head to chime.com/sheehan.  Download the app today and use code SHEEHAN to get $150 instantly in Lineups if you win your first $5 Lineup! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. The goal, Barry, is for him to have a full week to practice, full week, and start on Sunday. Dan Quinn, just a few moments ago answering Barry's Verlugas question about Jaden Daniels, saying that the plan is for Jaden to practice all week long and then start on Sunday against the Giants. This show's presenting sponsors, Window Nation.

If you need new Windows, call Window Nation at 86690 Nation. You can also go to Window Nation.com. Mention my name, and they'll schedule a free, no risk in-home estimate. Coolie's going to be on this show today. Yay! Finally! He's back! I asked him late last week to watch Washington against Indy and come on.

on the show. He hasn't watched a lot of football, but I said, look, it's a Sunday morning game, 7.30 a.m. Mountain time, Wyoming time. Will you watch it and then come on the show on Monday? And he said he would, and he did, and we recorded it about, I don't know, two hours ago, and I think you will enjoy it. We will get to Cooley on this show today. So, Sunday's game, against the Giants is what I would call a J. Gruden special. It's a code red game. It's must win. It really is. You know, after yesterday's loss to the Colts, the team is 1 in 3, 1 and 4 is a near death sentence, in part because 1 and 4 likely leads to 1 in 5, because the game following the Giants is a Monday night game on the road against the 4-0.

49ers. I know it's way too early to count teams out at one in four or even one in five in a 17 game regular season league now. But remember this. Three of their losses would be two division teams. They'd be 0 and 3 in the division if they lose on Sunday. And I'll mention one other thing about the NFC in general. Yes, it's early, but the NFC. But the NFC West with the 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams. The Rams, by the way, are still Super Bowl favorites at 2 and 2. That division produced three playoff teams last year, including the final two teams in the NFC, Seattle and the Rams.

And the way the season has started, barring massive injuries, it looks like those three teams are playoff teams again. if you assume that the NFC West is going to produce three of the seven playoff teams, that allows for or leaves room for one more wild card team. One more. So if Washington loses to the Giants, the division at one and four, perhaps heading for one and five in San Francisco, oh and three against division opponents, that's a long shot at that point, a long shot. Now, it depends on what, you know, Philly does against Jacksonville and Dallas has Tampa. They're a double-digit favorite to, you know, win that game.

And the Cowboys right now at 2 and 2 actually look like one of the best offensive teams in the league. Maybe the best offensive team in the league. But the division would be a long shot. And then you have to finish second in the division with a better record than the second place team in the NFC's North and the NFC. North and the NFC South. So I'm just saying it feels very much like if the playoffs

are the goal, Sundays must win. One in four doesn't eliminate Washington mathematically, of course, but again, three of the four losses in the division, the NFC West, 49ers on deck,

it would not look good. And let's face it, if they are one in five, you know, losing to the Giants and 49ers heading into the bi-week, the conversation's going to be on one thing more than any other, and that is, should Dan Quinn keep his job through the buy week? And how hot is the seat for general manager, Adam Peters? Have to beat the Giants. And to do that, they've got to have their best players.

Dan Quinn spent the majority of his just concluded press conference updating all of the injury. Here's the recap. Jaden, you heard what he said about him. Plan is for Jaden to practice all week, start on Sunday. Jalen Lane, out for the year, fractured ankle. Players he's expecting back at practice this week with a chance to play on Sunday, Sam Cosmi, Rashad White, and Nick Cross. Players he'll have more information on when we get to Wednesday.

Terry McLaren, Charles Amenahue, who injured his groin in the game yesterday. And then he also mentioned Marcus Mariotta in a way in which I was a bit surprised. He did suffer the sprained MCL, which was the report yesterday, same MCL he did in the preseason game against the Rams. When Quinn was asked about bringing in another quarterback, perhaps a veteran quarterback, he basically said that it depends on Marcus Marioada's availability. So is it possible that Marioita is going to be able to be able? to play and back up Jaden Daniels Sunday? I guess not, but I don't think Quinn ruled it out.

He also mentioned some of the players that are eligible to come off injured reserve, Trey Amos, Dietrich Wise, Jeremy McNichols. He said that this could be their first availability to take them off IR, but that it's more of a TBD thing with them. So there it is. You know, the full update. He literally spent of the 11 and a half minutes that he spoke about six to seven minutes talking about the injury situation. And it does feel like 2025 all over again.

But it's early. And getting Daniels Cosmi cross and maybe Terry back this week would be huge. One quick thing before I get to a couple of emails to wrap up this opening segment. No smell test pick tonight on Atlanta. I will tweet it out at Kevin Sheen, D.C. that's my ex account. I've been tweeting out the picks on Saturday, Sunday, Thursday night, Monday night, shortly before the first, you know, kickoff on Saturday and Sunday,

and before the games on Thursday night and Monday night. No Atlanta tonight. I thought I might give them out on Friday. I'm not giving them out. Lots of sharp money on Atlanta, but the public money on New Orleans is more of a lien than overwhelming. So I'm passing on Atlanta tonight. You know, the Falcons are in the midst of three straight primetime games. They were 0-and-2 when they played the Packers on Thursday night football. They played a night and they played the Ravens on Sunday night. And people were like,

are you kidding me? We're getting the Falcons for three straight games. I love it because you get to watch. I think the best watch in the game right now, and that is Bejan Robinson. 194 yards against the Packers, excited to see what he does tonight. All right, I got this from Seth in D.C. Seth writes, enough with the injuries and bad calls as an excuse. Washington isn't the only team that has them or gets them. Backup QBs are 7 and 1 after yesterday's games. Kevin, isn't that what you call a mic drop?

We're one in three with a bad coach and a bad front office. You know, I saw that 7 and 1 in the email that Seth wrote to me, and I'm like, that can't possibly be true. Backup quarterbacks are not 7 and 1. So I did not take Seth's word for it, and I went and looked it up instead. Seth, it's not the mic drop that you thought it was. Backups after yesterday are 7 and 5. seven is still impressive, but it's seven and five, not seven and one. And there's some context for the seven wins by backup quarterbacks, because I did go back and look at every single game that had a backup quarterback and look at what the results were and who they beat, etc.

The context is this. Of the seven wins by backup quarterbacks through four weeks, four of the seven wins are against the Titan. the Jets, and two against the Cardinals. The Giants beat the Cardinals yesterday with James Winston. The Seahawks beat the Cardinals with Drew Locke. The Giants beat the Titans with James Winston last week, 12 to 7. And then the Bears beat the Jets yesterday with Tyson Badgant. So four of the seven backup QB wins are against three pretty, you know, subpart of bad teams. The other three wins by backup quarterbacks. Minnesota beat the Bears with Carson

Wentz. Remember, that was the game Caleb Williams got hurt in. The Bears beat the Eagles with Case Keenum, technically the third string quarterback, but a longtime veteran NFL quarterback. And then the other win by a backup quarterback, Seth, was the most impressive win by a backup quarterback by a lot. Marcus Marioada starting for Washington last week in the upset win over Seattle. So I think Seth, in trying to make the case that the head coach in front office are to blame, not injuries, not, you know, bad calls, you accidentally brought up that their backup quarterback, the one that Adam Peters resigned, the one that Dan Quinn coaches, that their backup quarterback Marcus Marioada is responsible for not only the most impressive win by a backup quarterback this season, but maybe just the most impressive win of the season so far.

Just so everybody's clear on where I stand on kind of the overall, you know, ref as, you know, officiating as an excuse, injuries as an excuse. I did not in my recap last night, which by the way is the recap, there aren't a lot of tweaks to the recap. So you're not going to hear me go through the recap again of the game, especially since I had it out for much of the day, last night, much of today, Monday. It is available. Yesterday's show included my good, bad, and, you know, other observations from the game against the Colts. I did not have the officiating anywhere near the top of the list of reasons they lost the game yesterday. It's not starting, but playing a third string quarterback for three and a half quarters of the game. And then Dan Quinn's fourth and one decision, those were the top two reasons for the loss.

However, let me just say this. Yesterday's game was a poorly officiated game. and Washington was so much more on the short end of the poorly officiated game than Indianapolis was. On the injuries as an excuse comment, Seth, injuries aren't an excuse in sports. They're a reality. They are legitimate reasons for results. Now, not for teams to use publicly, but for us as observers, I mean, you'd have to be new to the sport or just.

not willing to understand or don't or not understanding how things work. But health is the number one determinant to a season. You know, quarterback and health, you know, are the biggest determinants to wins and losses. Yes, Seth, when you say other teams have had injuries, yeah, it seems like the number of injuries through four weeks is way high compared to other years. I think we say that every year, but it really feels that way this year. But I would suggest to you, Seth, at the end of the year, go look, and I will bet you a ton of money, that the teams that are the most injured lose more games in aggregate than they win.

And the teams that lose really good starting quarterbacks for the majority of the season, I'll bet you my house that most of, if not all of those teams, don't make the play. playoffs. Last year, Washington, Kansas City, Cincinnati, you know, as examples. You know, when you lose a really good starting quarterback for the majority of the season, you are screwed in the NFL more times than not, many more times than not. Now, as far as yesterday is concerned, I don't have the information on this, but I would bet that a lot of third string quarterbacks drafted in that same year that they actually play football in the seventh round or later, they probably lose the majority of the time, don't you think? Like, I know he didn't start, but he played, you know, three and a half

quarters of the game. He came in with a six-nothing lead. He was spotted a six-nothing lead. If he, third string rookies that start a quarterback, I would say, I don't have the numbers. I would say they probably lose 90% of the games. So yes, backups have won seven games out of 12. I gave you some of the context around that. But the only third string rookie quarterback to play the majority of the game, the majority of any game this season was yesterday in Indy. and the odds when he came into the game of Washington winning

weren't very good even though they had a 6-0 lead. By the way, I thought he played well yesterday, considering who he was and what the result could have been. You know, most third-string rookie QBs that come in that aren't first-round picks, they are scared to death, and the coach is like calling screens and short, you know, quick game passes and handing the ball off.

for the majority of the game. This dude was slinging it deep over and over again. This from Perry. Perry writes, Kevin, I'm about to get sick watching our team get flagged, as if they're a tree being rolled. And then he wrote in parentheses, Perry did, You're my age, so I think you understand the reference. I do get the reference, Perry.

I absolutely do get the reference. And I don't know how old you need to be. be, but I will tell you as a teenager and young adult in the 1980s, rolling trees with toilet paper was a big deal. I don't know if it's still a big deal. I don't think it is as much anymore and probably hasn't been for a while. Maybe the 90s it was a big deal. I don't know.

Anyway, Perry, I get the reference. Perry continues, the team's lack of discipline is on Quinn. You can't win games with this level of penalties. So, Perry, three things in answering your email. The first is this. Yes, they have to stop committing penalties at this level. The penalties hurt in the Seattle game for sure, the 48-yard touchdown run by Bill being called back.

But they did overcome the penalties in the Seattle game, in part because Seattle had a lot of penalties. as well, and they won the game. Yesterday hurt a bunch, in part because there was a massive disparity between the one penalty called on the Colts and the 10 called on Washington. But the first thing in answering your email is, yes, I agree, they've got to cut down on the penalties. The second thing is that some of the calls yesterday were BS calls.

I thought the 15-yard penalty on Amique Robertson should have been a non-call on both parties. I thought the offensive pass interference on Diggs was ticky-tack for sure, rarely called. And then the defensive pass interference flag that got picked up on the deep shot to Diami Brown was ridiculous. It was definitely pass interference. That was the call or the picked-up flag that Quinn completely lost his, you know, S-on. the sideline. Those three calls alone totaled 76 yards of lost opportunity for the team. So I did think, Perry, that yesterday's officiating, for the lack of a better description, sucked.

I wouldn't list it as, you know, a top three or four reason for the loss, as I mentioned in responding to Seth's email. but it was painful yesterday. And then lastly, thirdly, anyway, I know it seems like Washington is leading the league in penalties, and if you could spend five minutes looking at my notifications during and after the game on Twitter, dozens and dozens of tweets, many emails as well, mirroring what Perry described, being so upset

and describing Washington's penalty problem as like the worst in the league. It's not even close, actually. Washington currently is 15th in total penalties against. 15th in total flags also, which includes decline penalties. So basically, they are in the middle of the pack in the NFL in penalties through four weeks. I want them to reduce their penalties. I do. but I think sometimes, and I've said this many times,

and it's not meant to be critical or even condescending, a lot of fans just watch their team's game on Sunday, and they don't watch or pay attention as much to the rest of the league. Now, you do, but maybe not to the extent that you pay attention to your own team. Washington's total penalty count is 15th in the league, not top two or three or worst. What we're seeing right now, I think league-wide, is a lot of penalties in comparison to what's typical.

Now, one of the things that I don't have the time to go back and look and compare it to last year's first four weeks, maybe somebody else will do that. Maybe Bill Barnwell or somebody from ESPN.com will do it. But I do have a recollection of early seasons, being more penalties called than the latter portion of seasons. And I think they're trying to lay down the law on what they want to see enforced. And, you know, they're calling them and calling them in tickety-tack fashion.

And then maybe they'll lighten up as we get towards the middle of the season. Although I did see this stat, 12 teams yesterday, including our team, 12 teams out of the 26 teams that played, 12 ended up with double-digit penalties. 12, nearly half the teams in the league had double-digit penalties yesterday. Here's something with respect to the penalty stats through four weeks. Washington 15th, as I mentioned, in penalties against, but they are first in the league in the fewest penalties called on their opponents. So they are not evening out so far for Washington. Also, Perry, just as an FYI, among the 14 teams with more penalties on the season than Washington, nine of those teams have a 500 record or better. So it's not a recipe

necessarily for losing. Last year, I went and looked it up. Eight of the top 14 penalized teams made the playoffs, including the Super Bowl champs Seattle. So penalties aren't the win-loss indicator that, say, turnover margin is. Yeah. All right. Let's get to Cooley. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, I love the concept of chime.

It is something my younger self would have absolutely taken advantage. of and benefited from. Chime is changing the way people bank. They're not like traditional old banks who charge fees, gatekeep perks and rewards. Chime offers the most rewarding fee-free banking, all with no

overdraft fees, no monthly fees, no minimum balances. You get 5% cash back on Chime card in a category of choice like gas or groceries all the while building credit through regular everyday spending with no credit check. You can also grow your money faster with a savings rate that's nine times the national

average. And if you're ever in a pinch, Spot Me lets you overdraft up to $200 fee free. Join the millions who are already banking fee free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com slash sheen. That's chime.com slash sheen. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes. Chime is a fintech, not a bank, banking services, and chime card provided by Chim's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. Chris Cooley coming up in this segment, a segment sponsored by my good friends at Surfside Taco Stans. Surfside has been one of my favorite places in the entire area for several years now. Many of you know Surfside. It's an award-winning local spot.

great tacos, cassidias, fajitas, incredible margaritas. It's a place that always feels like an escape in the middle of the city. Their locations are all around town from Tenley Town to the wharf. They've got one in DuPont that's open 24 hours a day. They're opening up in Virginia for the first time in McLean at Chesterbrook Shopping Center, which is going to make a lot of people on that side of the river very happy. My regular spot is the surfside in Tenley. at Wisconsin and Van Es Streets Northwest. The tacos are my go-to. The Bora Bora

are the marinated chicken tacos and the Cabo, the marinated steak tacos. Those are my two favorite items on the surfside menu. But they've got so much more. It is a phenomenal menu with tacos, burritos,

big fresh salads, wraps. Everything is delicious. And who can say no to a spicy margarita? nights when you'd rather stay in, you can get Surfside through DoorDash or Uber Eats. We've done that once or 12 times. We're always in for Uber Eats or DoorDash if we haven't made something at home, which is more often than not, to be honest with you. If you're the one planning the office, lunch, or birthday party, they'll bring a whole taco bar to you, which makes you look really, really smart.

Surfside is part of a locally owned family of restaurants and hospitality brands that includes Millies and Spring Valley. Wheelhouse is the latest to open up. It's a great restaurant, especially on game days. It's in Upper Northwest Chevy Chase Circle right below the circle in D.C. on Connecticut Avenue. Jetty's is a phenomenal sandwich spot. The bullpen down at Nat's Park, all owned by and run by a really good guy in a front. friend of mine, Beau Blair, who is one of the best entrepreneurs in the entire area and has just really killed it on almost every place he is opened up. So whether it's a late night out,

an early start, or any time in between, there's always a surfside with the lights on. Surfside Taco Stand, when you get there, tell them that I sent you. All right, joining me right now, He's back. Chris Cooley is on the show for the first time in a while. We talk all the time and we talked last week and he said that he was going to watch the Washington indie game because it was on early in the morning. Wyoming time 7.30 a.m. So did you get up? Were you ready to go when the game kicked off or did you have other things to do or sleep in and just rewind it and watch it from the beginning? I honestly got up and watched Ted Lasso and finished that and started scrolling through TV and remembered that the game was on. But hadn't looked at my phone, went to YouTube TV, started from the beginning, caught up right at the very end of the game. It cost me once.

I would have bet on indie to cover whatever it was as soon as Mariotta was hurt. Will you? And I realize I wasn't in real time. By the way, do you like Ted Lassau season four? It's all right. Yeah. I like it. I like Ted Lassow. Is that a show that you and Maddie are watching together? We don't really watch that many shows together. We watch the first view, and we watched the first few with our kids, but it's a little bit above my nine-year-old.

especially language-wise at times. Yeah. He can handle it. But Sloan gets it, your daughter. Yeah. See, my daughter doesn't really like it, though, so it doesn't matter. My son kind of likes it, but. It's...

Anyway, I like it. I like Dead Lassau. I think it's terrific. It is the ultimate feel-good show, and I loved the first couple of seasons, and I have to tell you that season four is fine, Kara's the one that's like,

okay, this is just a bit too too much. Like, it's just too kind of goofy, funny. But I like it. I mean, I think Jason Siddakis is great. I like some of the other characters.

You know who drives me nuts in the show and she's driven me nuts since the beginning is, and I forget her name in real life, but Keeley, you know, the, I don't. Keely Jones. Yeah, Keely Jones. She just, I'm not a big fan.

She's just a bit much. I don't love Ely. I don't love the owner. I don't necessarily, I don't love the new lady. But I don't mind the dynamic. I don't, there are other shows where I'm just going to fast forward through the parts that I don't like the characters that I don't like. I watch them. So it's not that I really just, I kind of like Ely, I guess.

I actually like the Roy dynamic. it's lame. I don't know. It's not my favorite, but I'm interested. I actually like Rebecca. I like, what's her name? Hannah Wallingham or something like that? I forget. She was actually in Game of Thrones. She's been in a number of things, but I have some catching up to do on the show.

So we can reconvene when the season is, when I'm done with the entire show. We'll catch up on that one. All right, so let's get to your thoughts on the game that you watched yesterday, and we'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Football's heating up and everybody's pulling up because prize picks has all your picks in one place. New users, get yourself a head start with prize picks best offer yet. If you win your first $5 lineup, you'll get $150 in lineups. That's right, new users get $150 in lineups.

you win your first $5 lineup. Prize picks has become, by far and away, my favorite daily fantasy sports app. It's so simple to use. It's perfect for these standalone prime time games where you don't have a rooting interest like tonight's Atlanta, New Orleans game. You simply pick more or less on a player's projected stats. Tonight, Bejohn Robinson coming off that big game last Thursday night against Green Bay where he rushed for 194 yards. His anytime touchdown, more or less number, is 0.5. You know me, the contrarian. I'm going less than a half touchdown on B. John Robinson because I think everybody will

likely be going more. It's really easy to use. You can make your picks in 60 seconds or less, adding so much more interest on game day or game night. Price picks looks after you guys as well. I love their injury protection policy. Price picks has your back when other apps don't. Did you know that prize picks invented the injury reboot?

If a player in your lineup gets injured in the first half and doesn't return, your lineup can still cash. The prize picks injury protection policy helped users win over $31 million in the 2025 season alone. Download the app today and use code shit. Sheean to get $150 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app today and use Code Sheehan to get $150 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, run your game.

This segment of the show brought to you by Window Nation. Window nations extended their buy-four, get-for free sale. So if you're interested in putting new windows in your home before we get into the fall, and winter seasons. I would call Window Nation at 86690 Nation. You can also go to WindowNation.com. Mention my name. They'll schedule a fast-free in-home estimate.

It'll take an hour or less. It'll be scheduled for a time that is convenient for you. And then they'll leave you with a quote. After being in your home for about an hour tops, they'll tell you which windows actually need to be replaced versus those that don't. They'll leave you with a quote. They'll leave you alone. You make the call.

but if you decide to move forward, you'll be working with a company that was rated number one by Forbes magazine among all window installation companies in America. And they've got over 45,000 five-star reviews on social media. Buy for, get for free, pay nothing for two years, 86690 Nation, windownation.com. All right, coolies with us. Let's talk about your, you know, big overarching themes, your big takeaways from the game yesterday. It's funny because it starts out as I feel like a pretty exciting game. I'm excited to watch Marriota play. They talk about it on the broadcast crew that the offense isn't going to have to change that much.

He comes out. He runs a – he's got a 36-yard zone read. They're moving the ball a little bit. And I think it's a pretty exciting game. I think I have some criticisms of the first couple drives and some thoughts, but the quarterback change just makes it really tough. And I like Zach Gallup of Macchus' brother. Yeah.

Calic Manus. Is it Calic Manus? Yeah, Calliac Manus, I think. Caliac Manus, whatever. A.K. I like the excitement that the entire sideline has for him. But I also have this innate. sense that when you see the third quarterback go in and there's excitement all around for him

making a couple throws, you know, the game's over. It's just going to be really, really tough at that point. They're cheering on a 10-yard hook route. Like, yes, he did it. He got one. Now, he ended up throwing some bombs, dude. He let it lose. He let it rip. I got to give him some credit as the game went on. He let it rip out there. And I've got to give him. I've got to give him. I don't think he played as bad as I would have expected him to play. Right. But it's just one of those games that I thought they'd pretty interesting throughout. Man, I thought the defense was really tough early.

They gave Daniel Jones a ton of looks at the line of scrimmage, a bunch of different fronts. He was really confused where blitzers were coming from, a combination of man's zone in the back end, great tackling on third down. Yeah, they just, I think, I know. By the end of the first half, it was like the seventh drive they'd been on the field. And they're just out there a lot, and they're run a lot of plays.

And you've seen a ton of looks. They're showing a ton of the looks that they've had, and I think it just got tough on them. And for them to win that game, the defense was going to have to be outstanding, unbelievable. And they gave up some touchdowns on drives where they needed to hold the field goals, and it just simply got away from them. It's like a slow burn. got away from I think it's tough

when you're watching a game and you're like, okay, McCoran's out, Daniels is out, Mariotta's out, Tonsol's out, like go through the list of,

you can't win when you have nine starters out and you certainly can't win when three of your best players, maybe four of your best players are out. Then you're watching the game and Reeves is hurt and the kick return a punt returner's hurt.

Like, oh my God, it's wild to try to, win a game that way. I think it's I think it's really, really tough. With Wadda, Kevin, in no way was I impressed with Indy, it just

it got away from him with them. Have you ever, have you ever played in a game? I'm trying to think, I don't think you played in a game where we were down to our third quarterback. Right? Jason Campbell was... I think I have. I've been, I'm trying to think

if I've played in the game or if I've commented a game because there was definitely some that I was calling the game where we were down to the third quarterback. Sure. Sure. Or starting the game

with the third quarterback. Yeah. But you mentioned there's kind of a feeling when you get to the, and he was the backup yesterday. You know, they could have gone out after Jaden got hurt

against the Cowboys in week two and signed a veteran quarterback. I think one of, and you kind of said it, I think one of the reasons they didn't is they actually felt like this guy could operate and that he wasn't going to soil himself because he clearly wasn't afraid. You know, he played with a lot of confidence and he just, he let it fly deep a lot. But you kind of made the comment that there's just kind of a feeling like if you get to that point,

it's going to very few third string quarterbacks come in. and give you a chance to win, even though he was technically the backup yesterday. But he was the third string. He went through the week as the backup. But even at that, the backup partly runs any place. Right. They're operating game plan-wise. And the game plan is originated for Daniels and has went through to Marriota,

but you're an entire change in game plan. Right. You're basically in day one, two, three of offensive install for what you want to run. Now, like all that said, there were some procedures. penalties, and that's common. I don't necessarily put any of them on him. I thought that through the game, he played with quite a bit of poise at the line of scrimmage, he had good tempo.

I felt like he knew what he was doing with adjustments at the line. So I think he did a pretty darn good job coming in as a rookie making some place for him. I was impressed with the kid. It's just hard to win a game that way. Let me just, because in my post game last night, I said I was going to go back and look at the touchdown pass to Antonio Williams that he threw that there was an illegal shift and a holding penalty on that play. They're both on Dionne Brown. Well, okay, so I went back and looked at the illegal shift. I get it why they called the illegal shift.

The hold was a terrible call. There was no holding. It wasn't a hold. It was not a hold. The illegal shift is, you know, and I asked our guy, Steve Suter, I've told you about Suter, who's been doing film breakdown in your absence over the last year and a half. But he said that the quarterback, they were going on a quick count on first sound, and the quarterback could have done, you know, a veteran quarterback would have probably waited

for the receivers to get set before he went with the first sound. So that he kind of put it on the quarterback. Would you do that as well? No, I'd put it on Brown. Because he shifts his feet at the last second. He changes his feet at the very last second. Okay. So he comes up and sets.

And when you're going on first sound and you come up and set, you're set. First sound, there's no, there shouldn't be any adjustment. If the intent of the play is like quick tempo first sound, like get to the line, snap the ball, go, there is no shift your feet and make adjustment. get to the line and set, go. They're trying to go on first sound at that point, so Indy can't show those eight-man looks, the seven-man look to try to confuse the quarterback.

I mean, India had kind of been rolling into them with their defensive front, and so it was a really good call. I just think Brown just changes the speed. And if there's true urgency to the way they're calling the first sound, like, go, go, go. I don't, I'm watching this over and over. again. To me, if anything,

it's Berks who's rocking a little bit. 13. Brown looks set. Brown alternates his feet. He goes whatever foot he's got up, he changes it. I'll tell you one thing. It's a tic-y-tack call, man. I mean,

Oh, it's a dagger. Yeah. All right, well, let's move on from that to to the play that I hated more than any in the game. Because look, third string quarterback, what are the chances? They're slim and none. But you got to recognize as the coach that you've got your third string quarterback out there. And in the first five offensive drives for Indianapolis, they punted three times and they turned the ball over twice and had 39 total yards.

So you go to a fourth and one. They're up six and nothing with eight and a half minutes to go. going the second quarter from their own 46. And I was screaming punt it. I think that that going for it, there was very little reward. It would have been first and ten from their own 47. Quinn went for it, and I felt like it flipped the game in the moment. What did you think?

I think it flipped the game as well. When you're playing that type of defense, I just feel like you make Daniel Jones go away. I hated it. Quinn, you know. You know what else I hated? Like, and this is a, this is the other part of it that I hated. You got a rookie right guard in, and this was a big note of mine. Why are you going to keep running behind him?

I mean, the average yards per carry behind the right guard had to be zero, a one. And he's got de Forrest Buckner over him. When they ran the ball to the left, they were pretty effective. but when they ran the ball to the right side and inside zones to the right side, they were stopped. And that's the call. Yeah.

I mean, I'd have to go back. I trust you on that. I didn't, I haven't gone through and looked at the runs behind Goldman. The first drive after the fumble force, Buckner blows up that inside zone on Kroski-Merton. They lose four yards. and that kind of derailed the first red zone opportunity.

Yeah, which I also wanted to talk about. But the fourth and one, I also wrote down that Bates has beat on the backside immediately across his face. I don't know if there's miscommunication in him coming down harder or if he was unaware of who he was going to block at that point. But at the same time, without penetration on the front side of a run plate, the backside becomes immediately important. it is important, but you should be able to gain one with some front-side push. Yeah. I just didn't, I didn't love the call. I didn't love the situation.

You know, does indie think you're going to put in the hands of the quarterback? Maybe you go with a boot or something there, something unexpected at that point, but or punt. If the play that you have up that you want to call is not something you love at that moment in the game, then punt. Yeah, the boot for me would have been booting it off tressway. his right foot and putting the defense back out onto the field with a rattled, shaky Daniel Jones out there in a 6-0 lead.

You know, the other thing, too, about the fourth and one play is they tried to get tricky. Like, they brought in this sub package that sprinted out onto the field. You're going to have to wait for the defense to sub anyway before they'll snap it. And then Cooley, they gave it to a running back, Craig Reynolds, who was on the practice squad. and they called up. Like they had four running backs in the game. Echler was the best by far. And then to your point, they ran it behind Goulbon.

I hate it. I hated it. I'm not saying they would have won the game had they not gone for it on fourth and one, but you would have ended up with a more competitive score. You would have gotten to halftime. No worse than 6-3-7-6, something like that. I hated that call. I thought Quinn didn't feel the game.

He's got a third-string quarterback. His defense is playing lights out. You're not playing the Cowboys or the Seahawks, who you've played the last two weeks. You're playing a team without a vertical threat on the field. And at that point, you've got to know, you've got to figure out how to grind out a 13 to 10 or 16-to-13 win. I think that there's no other way to look at.

it. You don't know that the quarterback's going to come out and make some big throws. You can't expect that. And he certainly don't want to put him in a situation where he has to do that to win the ball game, which, by the way, he gave you a chance when he threw a touchdown pass that got called back for holding and a legal shift. Yeah. It was wild, but it gave you a chance. The other thing, I had wrote this down, I've never really thought about this entirely, but this game made me think about it. You mentioned starting 6-0. They get a fumble to start the game.

It's an incredible play by OI or however. Yeah. Why do you need to start the game with your first 15? You know, everyone's got a first 15 playlist, and I'm certain this was the first 15 playlist. You get a turnover on their side, like on the other side of the ball, where you got a chance to really flip momentum

immediately in the game. And you're just going to start out with your generic first 15 play. And I'm taking a shot on that first place. So you think that the, so I'm looking at the plays here after the fumble. Kroski Merritt for three yards, then he got stuffed for the minus four, and then they threw in third and 11 short of the sticks and kicked the field goal.

You think that those were the first three of the first 15? They're definitely the first two. The third down situation is usually a different call sheet. But, yeah, I think the first two plays are your first 15. Printed out, handed to everybody. It's just a thought. It's not that your first 15, you like those plays. It's not what they don't work on the other side of the ball.

On the side of the other side of the other. Yeah, on the other side of the other. But you get a big play like that. Don't you just think maybe you dial up a show? shot play there and see if you can get it going. Yeah, I mean, I think if you turn the ball over and it's first and goal at the other team seven, you throw out the first 15 because now you're in the red zone. In the red zone, they're saying we're in the red zone.

I know, but you're at the 20. You're at the 21. Start the red zone, I guess. Yeah, okay. I hear you. I mean, the second drive, here's a complaint of the second drive. And it starts with a big Mario to run. This was another no.

And this is something that I hate. Why do you run the ball on second and eight, or second goal from the eight? Are you trying to get it to the five to just condense the field even more? Because on the second field goal, on second and goal from the eight yard line, they run the ball again.

And you think this is a scoring play? Or is it easier to score? Or do you have a better play from the six that you want to get two yards? Or a better play from the four, if you get four yards, they got two yards on that play. And now there's third and goal from the six. That is such a great point.

I have thought of that before. The first down, just called first and goal, you know, in completion. And I forget what the first and goal play was. And then second and goal from the eight, what are you going to try to do? You're going to try to make it third and goal from the five. That condenses the field even more and makes it even harder. Now, if you get it down to the two or the one, one on the run, it's a better situation.

But your point of third and goal from the five is actually harder than third and goal from the 10, right? I feel like it's all hard. I don't feel like third and goal from the five gets easier to answer your question. Yeah. Now, defense has changed. I mean, you could really game play in India. and say they're a soft defense from the eight yard line

and if we can get into the five then they play some tighter man coverage within the five they play some tight man coverage and we can run a man concept like maybe we don't want to run a zone concept and they're from the five to the ten they're more of a zone team you've game plan

that so there could be some theory on it but the same time I just I just don't want to limit myself there and then close the face. I'm throwing the ball. Second goal from the 8th. I mean, is it, and yeah, I'm watching the play.

First of all, I put Ketron Allen into the game for the first time, and now you've got basically your second running back of four that got carries in a game, which is very rare to have four different running backs get carries in a game. It's not like they spread the field. They were in, they were in 12 personnel, it looks like. Are they in 12 personnel? Yeah, they're 12 personnel. They got two tight ends.

And they basically run them up the middle. Is this a zone run or duo? It looks more like duo. And he gets two yards. And it's now third and goal from the five. Yeah. What was your next note? Well, I have quite a few notes.

I don't know if my next stop note carries right in. It's funny, though, because progressing through the game here, right? Man, your defense's playing really good throughout. Douglas has a big pick cutting a crossing route. We're still, like, stopping them. And then you get this unnecessary roughness on their sixth offensive position.

Your defense is running a lot of plays. You get an unnecessary roughness. It's... A meke Robertson. Amick Robertson. Roberton just in a hand fight after the play with Warren. It doesn't extend further than a get-off-me kind of push. It's a horseshit call.

I agree. It should have never been called, and then it ends up resulting in a touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor. Right. If you want that, if you want that, some of the penalties I didn't love, penalties killed them. They had a couple big kickoff returns with a backup quarterback

back in, both got called back for a holding and a legal block in the back. Yep. And a lot of penalties that set them back and Indy didn't. 48 of the 84 yards, I went back and added it up. 48 of the 84 yards on the 10 penalties were on returns on special teams, cost them 48 yards of field position. You know, Lane, like you said, Lane had a big return to the 41-yard line. 40-yard line, it was brought back to the 21-1.

and then Diami had a big return, and that got brought back. And then they had one on a punt to the 10 that instead of first and 10 from their own 10, it was first and 10 from their own 20. So those were hurtful. But the Amique Robertson penalty was a crushing. They're off the field again. You know, that was after the fourth and one decision. So you're actually going to get off the field and only give up three.

part of why I hated the fourth and one decision is a miss they were in field goal range because this guy's got a cannon of a leg. So if you missed it, they were already in field goal range to get points. And instead, you end up giving up a touchdown because of that call. There were a couple of others in the game. Like the picking up of the flag on the Diami deep shot that was pass interference, that looked like pass interference to me. and the OPI call on Diggs looked like a...

How many of... I watched football the rest of the day. Yeah. You know, a lot of times, like, a young receiver against a good DB, they'll call that. That's not a PI. Like, he barely...

He didn't change anything about what the D.B. was doing. I hated that call, too. Yeah. I pointed this out. in the open to the show. Washington, I can't remember the last time seeing 10 penalties on one team, one penalty on the other.

I'm not blaming the officials for the loss, okay? It's down the list a bit, but the penalties were hurtful. The Amique Robertson penalty is a four-point penalty in the moment. It ended up being a four-point difference. And then the illegal shift, fine. If you want to call it, it's fine. It's too bad.

The holding on Diami was terrible. But whatever. The league yesterday saw 12 teams have 10 or more penalties. So of the 28 teams that played yesterday, 12 teams had 10 or more penalties. And Washington right now, even though the perception from our fans is that they're the, you know, leading the league in penalties. Chris, they've had these the last couple of weeks. They're actually 15th in penalties in the league, but they are number one in the fewest penalties

called against their opponent, which is, so there's a big disparity in penalties. And yesterday, that was a big part of the game. You're right. I thought it hurt them. I thought it cost them. And I thought some of them were not penalties. If they don't go back and show them,

show the kickoff return penalties, really. I know. I don't think they went back and showed either of those two penalties. But no, I thought the call on digs was bad. I thought the unnecessary roughness was bad. The legal shift, you do have two guys moving, and if you're going to run the ball on a first down, quick count like that.

You have to be sad. I think that's there. But the same time, they call holding on Brown. That's definitely not a hole. no it doesn't matter I think it makes it really tough yeah the illegal shift

it makes really tough and then you just had to find a way to make big plays in that game and I felt like the defense had a chance a couple of possessions

in the second half you know you're down 1713 it was a big possession and they just can't make a big stop you know you're down

20 to 13 you really need a big play he can't get a big stop. And that killed him late in the game. The defense just not being able to come up with a turnover, a pick six, a bump, like any kind of big play in that moment. To flip the game and give an offense an easy opportunity

where it would have been critical for them. Yeah, there were... You're asking a lot. I understand that you're asking a lot in that moment, but they needed a big play on the defensive side of the ball in the second half, you didn't get it. Yeah, the Colts scored on four or five drives in the second half.

And that's, you know, the defense, you know, there's this thing that fans say, which is, you know, you got your third string quarterback in there and your offense isn't getting it done. And eventually, you know, basically the defense wears down, you know, and it springs a leak if you're out there enough. And Jonathan Taylor did kind of have. have a big second half. He was 12 for 63, I think it was in the second half. So over five yards carry. And they had done a decent job on him in the first half, although they didn't even give Jonathan Taylor the ball. They won carry in their first three drives. Washington's been decent against the run in their first three games. But second half, not as much. But do you, yeah,

you needed the defense to do what they did to start the game for the entire game. and then you would have had a chance. And it's easier to stop running back when you have short possessions. You have three and outs. You have turnovers. Teams don't get into a rhythm on offense. It's hard to continue to run the football. And early in the game, they had great third downstops and a turnover, a couple

turnovers. And they just didn't put it together in a second half enough for a young quarterback to really have a chance. Now, even that said, though, The dude did make some plays. Yeah. Hell, I'm going to make some plays.

I mean, and I felt like he settled down on the second half. There's a point. They're down 20 to 13. I'm watching the game, and he's out there. He's killing the first play at the line of strimage, moving guys around,

getting to the second play, taking deep shots to Brown. Yep. Nice, man. Yeah. I mean, you look up, you can hear the TV, he's yelling kill, kill, kill.

I'm sure he's killing a run play because you can count a seven-man box, a heavy front, checking into a pass play, taking a shot, big-time shot. I mean, it's pretty awesome. Now, later on that drive, he takes a sack on a third and nine.

You can't take a sack there. You never saw a nickel blitz off the edge. And that's one of the ones that you're like, do you blame a rookie quarterback to not see a nickel corner coming off the edge when you have double edge pressure anyway. I mean, those are veterans.

Yeah, that cost him a field goal. That cost him three because that knocked him out. A field goal range. That would have been 17 or 20 to 16 in that spot. Yeah. And he didn't see it. Somebody didn't see. I think there's too much

for him to overcome in his first game in the NFL. In as much, I'm pretty impressed. I mean... It's harder, though. it gets harder if he's going to play next week. Now, Jaden's playing this coming week.

Okay. Yeah. He's coming back with the brace on his arm. You know, that's another question. Which, yeah. Go ahead. I want to hear it because we haven't talked about it. You know, your thoughts on the, you like to play sometimes orthopedic surgeon in your free time.

So what do you think of? of, you know, the brace, him wearing it, playing. Just your overall thoughts on Jaden Daniels. He's missed now the last two full games, the second half of the Dallas game. Now Mario's out with a sprained MCL. I mean, we're going to hear later today from Quinn that Jaden's going to play. I'm pretty sure. He may say something like we're going to go through the week to make the job,

but in no way he's not playing. I mean, I think in some ways he was ready to play this weekend. They just wanted him to get used to the brace. But what are your thoughts on Daniels, the brace, the dislocated elbow, et cetera? Well, you may have been ready to play this weekend, but I think they liked Marriota. And they liked Marriota in the matchup they were in until you didn't want to put them out there and risk anything. If they knew that it was that Marriota was going to be heard, I had assumed they were going to play him. I mean, your thoughts are essentially how far can you dig a hole to start a season and have a chance to make a playoff?

And again, as much as I've said, I think Calaisman, said a good job and played a good game. It's a lot different to game plan for a rookie quarterback than it is to game plan for Jane Daniels or Marriota at that point. And to come up with some different blitzes and looks and confusing looks that make it really hard on a young quarterback. that you absolutely cannot do, especially on early down and distances with Jaden Daniel or with Marietta because of what they can do with their legs, because of how they can kill you running the football or even taking off and running the football

in a true dropback situation. It manipulates what you have to do on defense to play coverage. And if you don't have to focus on that and haven't installed an entire game plan around that, it makes it a lot tougher. on Callagmanning. Well, he's not... Now, maybe he's a baller, but...

Yeah. Yeah, he's not... I don't know. Now, that's it with Daniels? Dude, I mean, yeah, you got to give it a go or your seasons, essentially. You go one and four? No, this is... I already dubbed this a Code Red game.

This is Code Red. You have to win this game against the Giants. Have to. Because if you lose in your one and four going to San Francisco the following week, your season for all intents and purposes is pretty much over. I mean, it isn't mathematically by a long shot, but you have to win this game.

The Giants are three and one. They're in first place, but their last two wins were over the Titans and the Cardinals, and they've got James Winston playing quarterback right now. Yeah. So you have to win this game, and it's time. I mean, my opinion is strap it up and go, brother. I mean, this is it.

Like, if you're, if you injure your elbow again, fine. You'll go get surgery and it'll be over. But they don't have a chance witness last year to have a competitive season without him. No, zero chance. And, you know, I mean, you also have to go sign another quarterback. I'd assume they've got to go sign somebody with the idea that he will be heard. Great. Don't you think?

It's scary. go into a game with a quarter, like, with your last guy. I mean, they did it the last two weeks without signing a veteran quarterback. And, you know, Marcus Mariotas gotten hurt a lot during his career. And he had a sprained MCL over the summer and missed basically most of training camp after the first preseason game. So, yeah, I mean, you could be somewhat critical that they didn't have a veteran to come in last week.

or this week. But I think what you saw from the rookie is probably why they didn't feel like they had to go out and get a veteran, because they felt like they could at least be functional and that the guy wouldn't be afraid. Like he wasn't going to be your typical third stringer that comes in and it's like, oh, my God, we got to get, you know, it's got to be quick game, bubble screens, and handoffs. He threw five bombs in the game. just launching them, man. Just launching them.

The touchdown pass to Berks, did you, I mean, that wasn't even a double move. What was that play? Do you have any clue? Was that just kind of winging it? I think it was a straight go ball, and he felt like he had to do something kind of at what would be the top of the stem.

There's no way. If it's a double move, it's the most subtle, nifty little double move. But, no, it's a go ball. And I feel like the corner just kind of quit on it. Like he kind of fell off a little left. And I think, well, it was Soss Gardner, right? Yeah, it was, it was Gardner, right? I think Soss was like, okay, you're done.

Wait, you're not done. You're still going. I mean, hell of a throw, though. Yeah. Hell of a throw. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, your season is riding on Daniels coming back and being effective. Of course.

Yeah. they were 12 and 5 with him they were 5 and 12 without him and basically they're 1 and 3 for all intents and purposes without them I mean they could have won the Philly game

and he was playing great in the Dallas game when he got hurt have you watched I know I've asked you this in conversations over the last week or so but did you watch any of the first two games I don't think you did, right? Or did you watch the Dallas game?

I didn't watch any of the Dallas game. Okay. I was a soccer tournament in Riverton, Wyoming. Okay. Yeah. Because... But I've watched a lot of... I've watched the last couple.

Because the play he got hurt on was essentially a fluke. You know, he got stepped on by his left guard coming back, you know. But the play. The play itself. I've seen the actual play. I know. The play, though, was a play in which Quinn decided to go for it, down 1710 on the last play of the half to try to score a touchdown rather than kick a field goal. And it's going to be hard for you to answer because you didn't have sort of the feel of the game. You're never concerned with injury. That's unfair to say. No, I know that. Of course. opt to go for it. I don't want to say I'm going to kick a field goal because we could get someone injured on it. And of course not.

You can't. You can't judge that call in that fashion. Right. All right. Cooley and I ended up talking for another 45 minutes. I'm going to save that for tomorrow's show. Because if I had included it on today's show, today's show would have been nearly two hours long. Can't have a podcast nearly two hours long.

So tomorrow you'll hear a lot more, including kind of him emptying his notebook of thoughts from the game against the Colts. And we talked a little bit about the NFL games as well. Tomorrow, in addition to the rest of my conversation with Cooley, we'll talk about the announcement today, Alex Ovechkin. This will be his final season. and I'll try to get a guest on tomorrow to have a conversation about Ovechkin, although I do kind of feel like we all knew that this was going to be his last year. He only signed a one-year deal. I'll also go back and look at the rest of the NFL Sunday,

which included some really exciting games, and go back to talk about Friday night's Virginia Tech pit ending. I thought that field goal was good. more from Cooley and a lot more on tomorrow's show about some of the other football and Alex Ovechkin news. That'll do it for today.