The Kevin Sheehan Show - NFC East Tightening Up

Episode Date: November 26, 2021

Kevin with a recap of the games yesterday including the Cowboys' OT loss to the Raiders. Dallas has lost three of its last four games and their commanding lead in the division has shrunk. Clinton Portis called in to talk NFL, Washington Football Team, and to endorse in a big way, Taylor Heinicke. Kevin finished up with 11 "Smell Test" picks along with a few thoughts on the Maryland-Rutgers game for bowl eligibility and Maryland's basketball comeback win over Richmond in the Bahamas.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Here we go. This time for real. And it is delivered.

Good. The Raiders win it. Well, there you go. The division is now up for grabs. The NFC East is back in play. Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving Thursday. I watched a lot of football, but not start to finish football. I watched basketball last night with Maryland rallying from a 12-point deficit in the first half to beat Richmond, 86 to 80, with their best stretch of basketball of the year.

I'll get to that in a moment. There is the possibility of a guest. We are having some technical issues with our phone system today, and nobody's in to help fix them. So there may be a guest, and that guest would be Clinton Portis. And if we can't work it out, then we will try to do that at another time. I do have a smell test. I had the two picks yesterday. I had the Bears minus three loser.

I had the Raiders plus seven and a half winner. I've got 11 more picks, including two for today that I'm going to give you right now in case you want to go play these games, in case you actually pay attention to this segment. but I like East Carolina today plus 14, and I like Washington in the Apple Cup plus one tonight against Washington State. Nine more coming up when I give you the full-fledged smell test in the next segment. So the football yesterday, first of all, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and I hope that today is going well. I'm not a Black Friday person.

I've never once in my entire life stood in life. at Walmart or at Target waiting for stores to open on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It's not because I don't like a great deal. It's because there's no way in hell from a convenience standpoint that I would be up early the following morning if I didn't have to work, which I did this morning on radio. And if you miss Ron Rivera, he was on with me live this morning on radio. You can go find that on the Team 980. It's the third hour of the show.

He came on with us at about 825. I've just never done that before. And by the way, why would you when you can online shop on Friday? Maybe people aren't even doing the lines at Walmart and Target anymore. I don't know. I know COVID changed a lot. I do want to talk about the football yesterday, though, on Thanksgiving Day. So I want to start with the first game because the first game featured the Bears and the Lions,

the winless lions. And the winless lions had a legitimate chance to win the game. The first thing that I want to mention is Andy Dalton in the first half was great. You know, I don't know what Andy Dalton's legacy will be. It will be as a very average starting quarterback for most of his career. But he will go down more likely than not as a very unremarkable figure in the history of the NFL. I would remind everybody that he's been super durable for the most part during his career. And when he got a chance to start early in his career, with Jay Gruden, by the way, as his offensive coordinator. Not for the entire time that Jay was there, but Dalton was in the playoffs four different times with Cincinnati.

Those were decent teams, those Marvin Lewis teams. They never won in the postseason. He's got an 0-and-4 mark in the postseason. But there are times where I've watched Andy Dalton over the years where I'm like, the dude can play the position. And really at this point in his life at 34, 35 years old, he is a really solid backup. I'm a Justin Fields guy, and I kind of liked the idea if Washington had traded up, trading up for Justin Fields.

And I've seen enough this year that intrigues me. I hope he ends up being a good quarterback. I'd like to see him be a good quarterback. He had that unfortunate game against Clemson in the semifinals two years ago and then came back with one of the all-time great performances in the semifinal last year against Clemson. He was great. By the way, after not playing well in the Big Ten title win over Northwestern, there were a lot of questions about fields.

That game against Clemson elevated his status. He gets picked by Chicago who trades up. And I thought the game that he had against Pittsburgh on Monday night a few weeks back was his best game and really showed glimpses of what he can be. It'll take some time, no doubt. And he got injured in the last game, which is why Dalton started last night. And I thought Andy Dalton played pretty well. I mean, 2439, 317 yards, a touchdown and interception. The interception was in the red zone. He threw an interception into the end zone. And Dalton's done that over the years. But I think he can make plays. I think you can read defenses. I think the ball gets out

quickly. It's decisive. He's pretty accurate. He's a guy, by the way, just, you know, if you're wondering about whether or not he's another possibility. Remember, there was the possibility of Andy Dalton in this past off season, but he's a free agent to be if you're interested in Dalton. All right, enough about him. The game was tight. I found it very interesting. Troy Aitman and Joe Buck kind of made fun of the game on Thanksgiving Day some of the things that were going on. And, you know, at one point I think Buck and I'm paraphrasing here said, we are really witnessing a thriller here in Detroit when it was 13 to 7 or 14 to the 13. Actually, you know, these games, and we talked about the Thanksgiving Day situation in Detroit and Dallas,

I have no problem with Detroit continuing its tradition. This is a city tradition. This is if you are a Detroit person, you know, You know, if you grew up in the Detroit metro area, this is something you don't want taken away. It's whether the lines have been bad or not. This is a Thanksgiving Day tradition and families plan around it. You know, they plan to be there. And if they're not there, they certainly plan to watch it.

And I just don't, I don't understand the need to, you know, schedule somebody else. There's no guarantee you're going to get a better game or a better matchup because they'll have to do it like Monday night football. there won't be a flex opportunity for a Thanksgiving Day game. Remember that. Because it's a Thursday and there's travel associated with it and it's not moving a Sunday game to Sunday night or a Sunday 1 o'clock game to Sunday at 425, you'd never have the ability to flex out of a Thanksgiving day matchup if it sucked.

So there's no guarantee you're going to get a great matchup every year in lieu of Detroit. probably a better chance of it. I'll concede that given how bad they've been over the years, but I don't have a problem with it. Look, the Detroit game, that game is for fantasy players and betters. It's always been that way. It's never been a big game.

It's always been about, ah, we've got to get some action on this game. And it's been background noise for everybody else. It actually was a competitive game, but I want to get to just two memorable moments from the game. Sort of memorable. I mean, Detroit did Detroit better than anybody, or the Lions did the Lions better than anybody could have. So the Lions scored a touchdown with late in the third quarter, about a minute and a half left in the third quarter. It was a throw from Goff to T.J. Hawkinson, the tight end who's now, what, in year three out of Iowa, something like that.

1313, they put their P.A. team out there to kick an extra point. And so they line up to kick the extra point, and they had a player, Detroit did as they were lining up to kick the extra point. They had a player who realized he was the 12th player out on the field. And so that player started sprinting towards the sideline. Now, when you see that image, you typically will think, oh, man, you got to snap it real quickly. Let's see if we can catch him off sides. But the big difference here is he was playing for the team that had the ball that was attempting the extra point. This wasn't Aaron Rogers coming to the line of scrimmage, seeing the defense scrambling and seeing somebody run off the field quickly and trying to

quick snap to get a five-yard penalty for too many men on the field. This was Detroit lining up for the PAT with one of their own players running off of the field. And instead of waiting for him, as you would if you were thinking about it, to get off the field to ensure that you did not have and we're not called for a penalty, they snapped the ball with him on the field. Oh my God. There was not a play clock situation there either. Now, it's not a quarterback in charge. There's a quarterback.

There's a kicker. There's a holder. There's a snapper. So maybe it's very difficult, and maybe they don't practice much for the snapper or the holder. And it would have been the holder or the kicker to say, hey, snapper, wait a minute. Charlie's running off the field. We got to let Chuck get to the sideline or we're going to get called for a penalty. But no, they just snapped it with him on the field, five-yard penalty, too many men on the field,

and they had to re-kick the extra point. They made it. But I just thought that that was so Detroit Lions. Like, hello, kicker, holder, you see the dude. He's on your team wearing your uniform. Let's let him get off the field before we snap it. The second Detroit or Lions doing Lions kind of things moments came at the end of the game. Chicago on a very long drive down 1413.

In fact, after Detroit took the lead, Chicago got an opportunity, had to punt, and then Detroit got the ball back. They had to punt. By the way, in the game, Detroit had second and 32 and third. I'm sorry, they had a third and 32 two different times in the game. They had a third and 32 from their own 49 in the first half, and they had a third and 32 from their own 22 in the second half. What are the odds of two third down and 32 situations? Well, they just kept racking up penalties and sacks and other things, but they had two third down and 32s, excuse me, third down and 32s in the game.

I bet you that's never happened before. at least exactly 32 yards. The last thing about this game that I wanted to mention, probably a game that none of you care about and none of you watched, but after getting a five-yard penalty when your own man couldn't get off the field on time, and then having two third down and 32s, Detroit let Chicago basically drive out the clock to end the game and kick a game-winning field goal on the final play of the game.

but it didn't have to happen that way. Chicago down 14, 13, and I was hoping, obviously, for a touchdown because I had Chicago laying three, so I wanted 19 to 14 with a two-point conversion, something like that. I thought the bear should be more aggressive. As it turns out, they didn't need to be. But they got into a situation where they had a first and 10 at the Detroit 17-yard line with two minutes and 28 seconds left, Detroit holding all three timeouts, all three timeouts, excuse me, and I thought Chicago would be aggressive there trying to score a touchdown.

I also think Detroit should have called their timeouts on defense before the two-minute warning, but that's beside the point. They don't know what they're doing. After a one-yard run came the two-minute warning. Detroit's still holding three timeouts. I really thought that Chicago would be aggressive trying to get a first down, trying to get a touchdown, but they weren't. They ran another play with David Montgomery for one yard. Detroit used their first time out with a minute 54 left, and Chicago faced third and nine at the Detroit 16 yard line. Again, if you're Chicago, kicking a field goal with like a minute 45 left in the game, and Detroit holding still maybe one time out left, isn't a great position to be in.

I know it's Detroit, but they had just scored two drives earlier, and you're Chicago. You should be thinking touchdown. Anyway, facing third down and nine after Detroit had called. their first time out, before the snap on third and nine, Detroit called a second timeout. You're not allowed to call back-to-back timeouts in the NFL. Remember the famous Joe Gibbs back-to-back timeouts against Buffalo a few days after the Sean Taylor death. And still is for me one of the the most surreal environments I've ever been in, which was the FedEx Field crowd that day of the Buffalo game. 16 to 14, Washington, Ryan Lindell getting ready to try a 52 or 53 yard field goal,

and coach Joe called back-to-back timeouts. 15-yard penalty, Lindell kicked a 37-yarder and won the game. That was painful. The whole day was just so sad, and then it was really a painful ending, and you just wanted to give Joe a big hug and tell them it's okay. After everything you've done for us, it's okay that you didn't know the rule. The rule is no longer a 15-yard penalty, but it is a five-yard penalty. It's delay of game, five yards.

And so Detroit, by calling back-to-back timeouts, now Chicago faced a third down and four at the Detroit 11. Well, they got the first down on a throw, but it didn't score. And now it's first and goal at the Detroit four-yard line. Detroit calls its final timeouts and Chicago winds the clock down to one second and kicks a game-winning field goal from Cairo Santos to win at 16-14. So Detroit got a five-yard penalty

for not allowing their own player to run off the field and end up being the 12th player on the field. And then they call back-to-back timeouts, which ensured that they had no chance to get the ball back. Now, maybe Detroit converts the third and nine, anyway, but third and four was a much easier convert. So the Bears went at 16-14. God, Detroit is dumb.

Just not a very bright team. Now, the second game featured the Cowboys and the Raiders. A couple of things. Number one, how about Deshawn Jackson? I mean, Deshawn Jackson is a deep threat in this game for the Raiders. You know, before this weekend started with, we said, Seattle, they're reeling. The Raiders aren't playing very well. Well, the Raiders all the sudden woke up yesterday and woke up to the fact that Deshawn Jackson's on their team. They don't have

Henry Ruggs anymore. We know. Jackson, three catches 102 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown pass on their opening drive of the game. Derrick Carr was really good in the game. Car 2439, 373 yards. They ran the ball. Josh Jacobs looks really good. boys were down, C.D. Lamb, Amari Cooper, and a few others. But still, the Cowboys put up, you know, 33 points, 375 yards passing from Prescott. They couldn't run the football against the Raiders to save their life. There were a couple of things interesting about this game. The Cowboys had a missed extra point early, and then Zerline came on with six and a half to go in the first half, with the Cowboys trailing 17 to 6, facing 4th and 6 at the Raiders 40-yard line, and Mike McCarthy,

who really has become one of the biggest dopes. I guess he was that in Green Bay, but honestly, when it comes to managing a game and understanding timeouts and clock, he is way up there near the top of the list of the most incompetent. The 4th and 6 at the Raiders 40, that's a go-for-it situation. They put Zerline out there for a 59-yard. It was actually at the Vegas-40-1. They put him out there for a 59-yard field goal. I know Zerline's got a hell of a leg.

He's already missed an extra point in the game. It's 17-6. He missed it, hit the upright. The Raiders take over. They didn't make them pay for that, and the Cowboys actually got it back to 17, 13 in the first half. And for those of you screaming for them to go for two in that spot, no way.

Way too early for them to go for two. in that spot. Way too many possessions left in the game, way too many scoring opportunities and scoring types. These are the things you have to keep in mind. Again, context is everything. If you think you've got the killer play and you don't think the Raiders can stop you on any two-point conversion, we'll go for two almost every single time, unless it's a PAT to win the game and a tie game or something like that. In the game, Dallas defensive back, listen to this. Dallas defensive back Anthony Brown had four defensive penalties called against him, including the massive one in overtime on third down and 18.

By the way, Dallas was in man-to-man coverage on third and 18. And Anthony Brown got called for DPI and that set up the go-ahead field goal, or the game-winning field goal for the Raiders. Four penalties, four defensive penalties on one player in a game, A game that, as I mentioned, 28 penalties, 276 yards worth of penalty yardage in the game. Amazing. Third and 18, they're man-to-man. The other thing about this game, too, was just the odd way in which the Raiders handled their final possession of regulation.

Their final two possessions, excuse me, of regulation. In a 30-to-30 game, they had a chance to, after a first and 10, 5-yard run by Josh Jacobs to let the clock go down to the two-minute warning, The Cowboys didn't seem interested in calling a timeout at that point. And they snapped the ball before the two-minute warning, and they false started on the play. It should have been second and five on the first play after the two-minute warning, trying to get more yards, first downs, eat clock, kick a game-winning fuel goal at the end of regulation. And instead, they get called for a false start. Now they're second in ten and have to take the snap before the two-minute warning.

That was insane. That was stupid. And then, after, by the way, they made the 56-yard field goal by Carlson, after the Cowboys tied it up at the end of regulation, there were still 19 seconds left. The dude Carlson had just made a 56-yarder. The Raiders had a timeout left. They took over from their own 25 after the kickoff went through the end zone, and they kneeled out the final 19 seconds. Derek Carr was lighting the Cowboys up. Anthony Brown was a penalty machine. Why wouldn't you take a shot?

You need 30, 35 yards somewhere in that neighborhood for a Carlson field goal, and you still have a timeout left. And you're the Raiders, and you've lost three in a row, and you're reeling a little bit. I don't know why they did that. They won the game, and they deserve to win the game. And the Cowboys have now dropped three or four, and they've been injured.

There's no doubt. But so has everybody been else. Everybody else. They get the Saints next Thursday night. That should be a win. The Saints, like the Seahawks, seem. dead in the water right now. And then it's the first to two against Washington. They finished the season in Philly against Philly. I'm starting to think personally that could be for the division.

I think Philly's got a better shot at winning the division. I do than Washington. But we'll see because there are two games between Washington and Philly, two games between Washington and Dallas, and then Dallas also has that other game against Philadelphia. The game last night blowout. The game, man, the Saints suck right now. And Washington, as I mentioned to you on Wednesday, has a chance by late Monday night to be the seventh seed in the NFC playoff picture. If everything goes according to, you know, the dreamers dream,

and everybody loses that needs to lose and teams win that they're supposed to win, right now, if Washington wins on Monday night and you get a Panthers loss, you get an Eagles loss, You get a Falcons win, and then, regardless of what happens in the Vikings 49ers game, unless it's a tie, I didn't give that possibility out. Washington would be in a three-way tie with five and six teams Atlanta in New Orleans for the seventh spot and the loser of the Vikings 49ers, and Washington would win that tiebreaker based on conference record.

New Orleans did beat Washington, but Atlanta beat New Orleans and Washington beat Atlanta, so it would go to conference. tiebreaker if you're interested in any of that with still seven games left or six after Monday night. All right, Monday's show will include the preview of the Washington game. Up next, we do have our phone lines corrected. Clinton Portis will join me right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Three games in the book, the three games that we talked about in the last segment. many more to come college and pro starting today. Clinton Portis is with us on the show, and we're going to talk some football with CP.

Did you watch the games yesterday? And I know you watch the Cowboys, because I know you, early in the season when I talked to you, you thought they were really good. What do you think of them now? I just think inconsistent. I think for the Cowboys, they have to go through the running game. I mean, at some point, you've got to give Pollard and his playmaking ability. You got to give him to not.

You know, I know you don't have your receivers. And, well, CD was out and Cooper was out. But, you know, you still got Gallup and Wilson and those other guys. They got to make plays. And then you look when you needed a play, Pollard made it. And for me, you look at the defensive side of the ball. The corner was so hot, you know. and now you're giving up shots.

I think you got to make an in-game adjustment. If you look at number 30, you got him matched up against V-Jack. Two, three-pass interference. You give up a touchdown. Hey, you can't continuously say, oh, I'm going to leave him on it. Like, he couldn't match up. That wasn't a good matchup, and you've got to be able to adjust and change. Four penalties, Anthony Brown had, four defensive penalties in the game.

And I thought the call in overtime was the right call, didn't you? Yeah. You know, I mean, when you, after the first three, you shouldn't have had a chance to make the call in overtime. You know, that just was one of those situations where you get into a matchup and you get into a bind. And if someone has your number, like, you got to say, hey, you know what, bro, you're the top corner in the league. You're one of the best corners. You've got to switch and let somebody else kill you. going to keep letting you just have a jump ball and throwing it up and getting

the PI because this man is struggling. So I think that's more on the DC, honestly, for not making that adjustment, for not switching his game plan. Like, you can't continuously be that stubborn and say, well, this is our defense and this is what we're going to do. You've got to be able to make adjustments. Say, hey, you know what, he's struggling. He's not having the best game.

After the second penalty, you definitely got to make that. adjustment. And you never didn't. It cost you the game. And not only that, on that 3rd and 18, after Micah Parsons, who by the way, that dude just is coming. He is the... He doesn't say at the end. What'd you say?

I think he should stay at the end. I wouldn't dare put him back at linebacker. It would be, I would move Lawrence inside, put Gregory at D.N, put Parsons at D.N. to put Lawrence at, I put Lawrence at D-Tackle. What I was going to say is, first of all, he's the, he's going to be the rookie of the year

defensively. I mean, I don't think there's any doubt about that. Secondly, they don't, you know, they don't have Lawrence right now. When they get Lawrence back, I hear you, but they don't have them right now. Thirdly, Dan Quinn was in man-to-man on third and 18. What the hell are you in man-to-man coverage for on third and 18 when they got, it's not one of those situations where, you know, a 10-yard gain on a throw underneath is going to get you in field goal range.

They were at their own 43 after Parsons basically was responsible for two big plays. And then they go man-to-man on that play. So I thought... Again, I just think that's the stubbornness of your D.C. And we see why Dan Quinn, you know, ended up out of Atlanta because you're making these calls in situations that, like, that's a bad defense. Why are you a man to man? But you know what?

You look throughout the NFL, and we're talking about this. Well, man to man, it's third and 18. But you'll give a third and three call, and you got your cornerback sitting in zone playing seven yards off, basically giving up the first down. Like, okay, throw the ball right here, and you can have that first down. Don't worry about it.

Game context is everything. I agree with you, by the way, on what you just said. But third and long, when 10 yards on an underneath throw in a rally to tackle isn't going to put them in field goal range, you can't be in man coverage. You cannot be in man coverage in that situation. Anyway, real quickly on the Cowboys, because they were the story yesterday. That was the game of the day.

When I talked to you earlier this year, you know, maybe only like a month ago, you thought they were really good and they were a legit super bowl. bowl contenders. So what do you think of them now after they've lost three out of their last four? Well, again, it's hard to say. Injuries? Injuries, yeah. So with injuries, Lawrence has been out for quite some time. Then you lose Gregory and you lose your receiver. So it's hard to say what a complete team looks like. I think they're a better team and gives you a better option when they play through the run.

You know, instead of having that throw the ball 50 times a game, play through the run. You got two running backs, and you give Pollard 10 carries in Zip 9. Neither running back can get going with that. You know, like that's two carries per quarter for Zip, if you look at it, and a carrying overtime. He's not going to have a good game.

There's no consistency in that. The same for Pollard. You're giving him two carries per quarter in two and overtime, you know? So you got to be consistent with your running game. I know your old line is banged up. You're missing Smith. You're missing this guy. You're missing that guy.

But you still got, you know, like you got to make those adjustments and say, we're going to play through the run. We're going to give DAC an opportunity instead of making that win every game. Now, it was impressive for them to even come back and make that a game because they were getting smashed. And then all of a sudden you have a kick return. and after the kick return, you let them march right back downfield. So I'm looking at Dan Queen because you know this offense is capable of exploding, although they're not putting up the numbers that they were because the receivers

are banged up and you're missing an old lineman. But that offense responded. But defensively, you can't, come on, man, you can't give up 33 when your team can come out and score 30 whenever they get. ready, just holding to 21. That's all I'm actually you to do. I'm not even asking you to play a perfect game. If you go out and give up 21, we win every week. Yeah, and you know, the lack of balance there, some of it had to do with just the flags that were flying all day. I mean,

there were 28 penalties in the game. And, you know, sometimes you look at those things, and it wasn't necessarily the case yesterday. You know, I'm not saying that it was yesterday why they got away from the run because a lot of those penalties were on defense. But down and distance sometimes dictates everything in terms of runs versus passes. Let me just, before we get to Washington, this has been a crazy stretch of football, right? With all the double-digit dogs, you know, winning outright, you know, Jacksonville a few weeks ago, Houston last week. You know, it's been nuts in the NFL.

I mean, I think personally it's like this almost every year. But I think even the last couple of weeks have been almost unusual with how many big-time favorites that are losing outright. And then even last week, I mean, Tim Boyle in Detroit nearly beat Cleveland. Who's good? I mean, it's a question we ask each other as football fans all the time. But right now, give me the team in the AFC you think's going to be in the Super Bowl and the team in the NFC that you think's going to be in the Super Bowl. Well, my AFC team has changed because this is one thing that I'm realizing when they want to, they can establish their identity and they're starting to lean on it.

And that's the coach. And you look at what they're doing with Taylor and then you got options. T.Y. Hilton just coming back. So you're going to start spreading the ball around the kid. Campbell is playing really good. So I think the Colts can end up being dangerous because they know what they have in Taylor and the kid from NC State. You know, that's two men's combination. Yeah, Himes and Taylor.

Like, those two guys together, you know, we're playing through them. And then that defense is coming together. Their defense was already pretty good with Leonard, and the corners are starting to come into their own. Like, their secondary is starting to come into their own. I thought Tennessee was on the way, and, you know, Henry goes down. I'm just not sold on Tanny Hill and not being able to get Julio Jones and A.J. Brown. Like, you got Julio Jones and A.J. Brown and they're hearing. You're supposed to be bombs over Baghdad.

Like, everybody is loading the box because you want to stop Henry, but you can't even get the ball to these receivers. So I'm really starting to light the coach. The bills are inconsistent. I think the Chiefs are starting to get hot. You saw them last week kind of shut Dallas out with a horrible defense. So I think that, you know, can give them a spark if their defense just go out. And like I said, hold a team to 21, 28, because you know Patrick Mahomes and these other weapons are capable of scoring 30 points a game. I was telling someone yesterday, I said, you know what I think would be a huge pickup for either the Ravens or the Buffalo Bill?

If they were to make this pickup, which would be Philip Lindsay, it changes. Why did he get released? Why has he, after the year he had in Denver as a rookie, why is he bounced around? Something must not be right. No, I just don't think the Houston system fits him. you know, if you saw him, if you remember him from Denver, it was the same thing. Give him the ball.

You got to feed him and get him going. You can't give him spots. Like, oh, here's your two plays this quarter, here's your two plays. If I got any running back, I'm going to get him involved in the first quarter or the second quarter, not in the third or fourth quarter. At least come out in an attempt to say, hey, you know what, at half time this kid needs 10 to 12 kids. and now I know what kind of game he's happened. And people that, oh, well, the game didn't dictate,

or the game got out of hand. The game got out of hand because you had three-three and out, where you tried to throw the ball, throw the ball, or you had a, oh, we're going to run it on first down, and now it's second and nine, and we're passing. You know, what happened to the draw play? You know, what happened to draws? If you're going to pass the ball this much, why not run a draw?

You know, the simple things I feel like teams have gotten away from, and even if you don't want to run the ball, what's the quick passes? You know, get the ball. Yeah, the run extension throws. Yeah, like let him get his shoulder, square downhill where he can go make a plate. As I watch running back, they're constantly back, even with Camara.

The things get Camara the ball going downhill. If you watch, he might run a little bubble. When he catches it, his shoulders are square. He's able to make somebody miss, and now he's off to the races. You look at Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers don't turn Christian McCaffrey back to the ball. So he doesn't have to catch the ball, turn around, and find where the defenders are. When he catches the ball, he's already looking downfield.

And I make this one guy miss with this. You know, I make these two people miss, and he's off to the races. Every other team that you look at is like sit down, check down. So now the running back catches the ball late or he catches a ball with his back turn. I saw it happen to Zeeke. They tried to go to Zick on like a third and eight. Then maybe he picked up four or five yards. But if you give him a ball where he's coming downhill, you can still throw it.

If you give him a ball where he's coming down hill, those two guys get out his way because he's full steam ahead compared to those two guys being able to game tackle him because he's trying to straighten up and break to the sideline because he don't see. You know, I turn around and I'm running the way and you're already there. So I just think for offensive coordinators, everybody is scheming to win, win, win, and it's always a slot received. If you look at the Raiders last night, they were bringing to Sean Jackson across field knowing that it was a man-in-man defense with the Cowboys.

You know, and Stefan Diggs, you're locking, you got Stefan Diggs in a match. And with Edwards, they weren't even going to Edwards. Right. You know, like, at some point, you got to say. Trayvon Diggs, yeah. I mean, Trayvon Dix. At some point, you got to say, well, hey, you know what, they're killing me with crossing routes and adjust to it.

You know, the run extension throws stuff when you mentioned McCaffrey. Yeah. And, you know, the other guy that Atlanta was doing this early in the year with Patterson, with Cordarell Patterson, you know, using him in the backfield and then throwing him and then throwing him in the ball and leading him so where he catches it, you know, he doesn't have to turn. It's such an effective way. By the way, you didn't answer the full question.

You gave me the Colts in the AFC. and it is interesting to sort of look at the Colt situation. Like they lost that ridiculous game to Baltimore on a Monday night. They lost an overtime to Tennessee. Other than that, they'd be in the midst right now of like an eight game winning streak. You know, they've won six of eight and their two losses were to the Ravens and a comeback win by Baltimore and an overtime to Tennessee. I like them a lot as well.

I think we're going to see a lot and learn a lot this Sunday against Tampa. But you didn't answer the full question. Who's your team in the evening? NFC right now. So the NFC, I think Tampa, same for Tampa, inconsistent of running the ball. You gave Pornette counter to the helm, and it looked like he was going to separate itself from Jones early, and then that digress. And the receivers, the receivers been banged up.

I think you've got a four-speed Mike Evans a ball, so I'm not really sold on Temple. That defense that you thought was going to be so good and flying around. around, even watching them against us, against the football team, they didn't look good, you know. And maybe it's the D-line, not getting pressure, the corner that they have. Bro, I would feel some kind of way if I stepped on the field every week when teams just came after me. Like, I would really feel some kind of way. If you look at Tampa of quarterback, what's the kid now? Who, Murphy Bunting?

No, the other one. He's having some rough days. Winfield? No, no. Winfield. Whitehead? Whitehead's a safety. Yeah, Whitehead's a safety, too. The other corner, Dean, Dean, Dean.

Yeah, 35, 35, yeah, yeah. Bro, teams look at Dean. If every play, the quarterback walks up to the line and start talking to the receiver that I'm going, and they're just coming at him. At some point, what happens to pride? At some point, I'm taking something away. You're not going to just keep on coming at me,

and I have no impact at the game. You get the most opportunities to change the game, and you don't. You know, I think guys got to become accountable to say, hey, you're not going to – it's not easy over here. You know, like, this is not easy pickings, and we don't have that. And you look, and he made one play on first and ten, then you break up a pass or a guy missed a pass. You didn't break it up.

The ball was thrown over your head and you celebrate. And then they come right back on second down and go 35 yards and you're looking crazy. Then they come back when you get a PI. So I just, I don't understand it. I really don't. I want to believe in the 49ers. I think the 49ers are going to turn the page once they get healthy. If you look at Debo's Samuels, I was.

watching Trent Williams. Oh, he's having a great year. Bro, Trent was driving the people six, seven yards. Kyle said the other day, this is Trent Williams' best season as a pro. That's saying a lot.

Bro. I would believe it because I'm watching Trent Williams. Like the first two times it happened, the first time it happened, I kind of glance. You know how you see it and the camera go away? And I said, boy, I think buddy just got dogs.

So I came back and they ran the same place. And Trent just come across, like, smashing his man. And I'm thinking, why didn't we get rid of him? You know, like, why didn't let him go again? Wait a minute. He didn't, he wasn't going to play here. Well, I know that. He didn't trust anybody in the organization.

And if we had traded him earlier, we would have gotten a first round pick or something close to it. Instead, you got bullshit for trading them. But, you know, whatever. I mean, that's the organization. So you, I mean, let me just make sure I'm clear on this. You picked a six and five team in the AFC to go to the Super Bowl, the Colts. And it sounds like you're leaning towards picking a team that's 500 right now to make the Super Bowl.

I'm looking at teams that's starting to get better and find their weight. It's easy to go out and say, well, the Cardinals, the Cardinals. No, it's not easy. It's not easy. That's my point is I don't think anything's easy right now because I think, you know, even when you think you've got it figured out like in Arizona or Tampa or Green Bay or the Rams or the Cowboys or Tennessee, you don't have it figured out. It's been a crazy season.

To me, it's not nuts at all to pick somebody like San Francisco or Minnesota or, like I think Philly is really good right now. I think Green Bay has a shot. I don't think, you know, Philly is young, so they're dangerous because it's a really young team. I just don't think they're linebackers. I haven't bought into their D-line defense, you know. They're missing some pieces, yeah. He can dominate whenever he get ready. But I haven't, I'm not sold on their defense.

But I like what Philly is bringing to the table. Like they're in the game, weekend, weekend. out. But I honestly think Green Bay can get you in the situation, especially this time a year. And I told, I said, I was watching Jamar Williams

with the Detroit. Yeah, with Detroit. And I said, man, I know that, that, taking that extra money, he's miserable playing with the lions and leaving Green Bay when they had a shot.

You know, like, you know, I know the money wasn't too far off that you couldn't have stayed in Green Bay. Like, oh, I'm just going to Detroit because I want to be the man and I'm tired of being behind Aaron Jones, and you're going and put yourself, you start running back,

but, oh, Swift is a start running back. Yeah, Swift got hurt. You're going to a situation. That's not where you want to be. I'll be begging them to send me back to Green Bay. Because Aaron Jones, you know, he gets banged up. And you got to have somebody.

Dylan is, Dylan's good, Clinton. Dylan is running down people's throat. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, Jones hadn't been healthy the last couple weeks, but I don't know how much room there would have been for Jamal Williams. But let me just ask you this. Was there ever a moment you were here and you had an opportunity to be somewhere else? Me?

Yeah. Was there ever an opportunity when you were here after you got traded here at any point in time? that, you know, because you ended up signing a couple of extensions to stay here. Was there ever a time you thought about leaving or trying to get out of here? No, I never signed an extension there. Well, they kept restructured your deal a couple of times. Yeah, just to get under the care. Yeah, exactly.

That's what I meant. That was like some garbage. The only time that we came to the table, I guess it was 08, you know, Zorn's first year that I asked to be traded. And it was just one of those situations where it was the end of the season. We were playing in San Francisco, and we had gotten it to it, like, behind the scenes, because everything was starting to leak out. And, you know, like, you had this conversation, and 10 minutes later, it's breaking news.

And you're like, man, what the hell? Like, you know what I mean? Like, how it's all of this story? Yeah, I remember you telling me this story now. Now that I think about it. Yeah. It was like a lot of stuff going on that made you side eye. And you started looking around the locker room.

This is when all the sources, you know, began. Sources say, sources say, and you like, man, we just walked out of me three minutes ago. Who in the hell? And, you know, like put this out to the media that quit. And that was a year. So it was 08. We were in San Francisco. it was our last game.

We were out of the playoff. You were out of the playoff. Well, you were a couple of games removed from the Baltimore thing with you and Zorn. Yeah, so that's where it started in that space. Yeah. And then it just continued. You know, it started prior to the Baltimore game.

And he called me into the office and said, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to sit. you this week so I could see you practice so you can get healthy for practice. I said, what the way? What the hell? He was like, yeah, I need to see you practice more. I'm basically leading the league in Russia, and you're talking about practice. Yeah, Alan Iverson.

We had this situation, which was Baltimore, and then we had Dallas the following week. And, you know, we go from Pittsburgh game where Troy Palomalu knifed at my knee. So I was kind of banged up. We had a bye week. You come back in Baltimore. Come back Dallas. Came back Dallas. I mean, you came back Dallas.

Yeah, it was Dallas. It was that Sunday night when, what's his face, ran it down your throat at the end of the game, Mary and Barber. Yeah. So you come back Dallas and then Baltimore, where. basically coming from, I had to buy Dallas, Baltimore, and over those three weeks, I probably had 55 yards combined. And I'm like, man, what's going on? And he called me in and say, well, I want to see you practice more. And then we go back to Seattle, and he was so scared

to getting his ass kicked in Seattle that he leaned heavy. Like, he was like, oh, I'm going to have to use you. It's going to be loud. Like, I need it. I need. you this week and, you know, like, you know, basically begging me to be ready. And then we go up to Seattle and win, and I think I have like 150, 160 yards rushing at Seattle. And after the game, this man, I'm talking about immediately after the game, says on the sideline, like, man, I just wish you would practice. Huh?

Like, you're still four weeks straight. you harped on practicing. I think we were six and five at the time, and it was just one of those situations like, you can't be serious. And then he kind of lost the team. I think the alcohol thing came about, and he tried to build these dumb-ass tents

to cover you up from the rain. And, you know, like, it just... You... You thought he was total amateur. Yeah, like it was, it was so pointless, but it all came together. We flew out to San Fran on a Friday, and we were playing on a Sunday, and this man treated us like we were high school kids. Like, we had an earlier curfew than we had on Saturday night on Friday night.

Our curfew was earlier. We had a mandatory, like, snack check-in between 9-30. and 10 o'clock, which means you needed to be back at the hotel, and then you had curfew at, like, 11. So if you come back at 9.30 and check in for snack, you get to walk out for another hour, and you got to be back in the hotel, so it just didn't make sense. And I'm like, bro, like, I just won out of here.

Like, I don't, it was so much adding up. And I just was like I won out, and I talked to, Dan and I talked to Vinny. Vinny. Vinny. You know, I think it was me, Vinny, Dan. Well, me, Vinny,

um, Zorn, and, um, who was the other pastor on our team? The, uh, his man,

the O.C. Oh, oh, oh, um. Sur. Who? Sir. Who? Shern.

Sean. What was his name? No, Sherm. Oh, Sherm Lewis. Yeah, Sirm Lewis. Yeah. I thought you said Sean. Yeah, Sherm Lewis, they brought him at the end of the year to, or, no, Sherm Smith. Sherm Smith was your running back, coach. Sherm Lewis was the dude they brought in the next year to call plays when they were going to fire Zorn.

Sherm Smith was your running backs, coach. Well, so it was Serm Smith. Right. And that just wasn't, you know, and I told, I was like, bro, I just won't out. Like, I'm not trying to get him fired. Just sit me somewhere. And, you know, I come back to next year, and I had the concussion. And the next year, and I had the growing.

So it never really materialized. But what happened? You've told me this story before, but I'm kind of forgetting. So when you had to sit down with everybody, who convinced you to not, you know, push charter on the trade? Well, it was the end of the season. That was our last game. Yeah, I know.

And it was our last game. It was the end of the season. And Vennie, you know, Vinny was just like, let me handle this. You know, like, let me get to some of these wraps. Let's talk about it in the offseason, you know, just keep it, you know, keep it down. And we did. and, you know, everything was supposed to change and get better,

and, you know, we go through the off-season, and we kind of had been separated, you know, like I got out of my feelings, like, okay, bro, whatever I need to do, what can I do to help us? You know, and I'm trying to buy in, and it just wasn't, once we came back, you know, I didn't get traded at all season. Once we came back, it was even worse because I think he knew he was out and he was losing. And by that time, like, just the culture had changed to, like, all. You couldn't, I didn't know who to trust in that locker room at that point because he had put so many,

you had so many company men that it was just hard to, you. You're like, what? You know, like, the guy that everybody ran to or looked to or was the go-between became like Randall L. He's like. He just got here. Dog, are you? Like, are you serious? You know, like, it just was one of those situations.

So, this is why. This is why with you and others, I've said to you, you know, over the. years, you know, you, like, sometimes you would push back, occasionally Cooley would push back, occasionally others would push back, and I'd say, you know, from the outside, it just looks like you are in a massively toxic organization. And those of you that were close with the owner would push back a little bit. But I think you realize, as an older person now, that that was a fucked up organization you were a part of. I just think you missed on leadership. If Greg Williams would have got their job, organization is totally different.

Really? If Jerry Greene, yes. Because they had earned a respect of the guys that was there. Well, he wasn't. He wasn't the coach because the owner decided that he didn't want him as the coach. And that's the problem, is that we've had the same owner making the decisions, and there have been a lot of decisions that he could have made that may have changed. the fortune of the franchise. You had three or four future head coaches in the organization in 2012

and 2013 and none of them are here anymore. They're all head coaches elsewhere. So there's lots of- And they're all doing good. Yeah, then they're all doing very well. So look, enough about that, because I feel like we do that when we talk a lot. And I think that's actually a story that you told before. I forget, I forgot how it ended, but basically it ended because nothing happened in the off season and you just came back and Zorn was basically a lame duck anyway because, you know, they had had it with him. But I want to ask you about this year's Washington team. They've won two in a row. They beat Tampa. They had their most impressive all-around performance on Sunday. And it was without a doubt, Clinton, Taylor Heineke's best game. What do you think of them right now?

They're four and six. And they're very much alive, you know, in the playoff race, actually, playing Seattle on Monday night. What is your take on them? I like Heineke, man. Like, I like Heineke. I think he brings a different energy and aura to the city. You're never out of the game with him. And I think guys enjoy playing with him.

You know, I look at the other guys. You know, when a play is made, how do guys react? You know, do the linemen, go pick the quarterback up when the receivers, you know, catch a ball or they looking back at the quarterback like, my dog, you know, like, good throw. You see, like, all of those intricate details in the game that people might overlook is what I'm looking for. And I think I've seen Terry make a huge third down catch, and he instantly, you know,

is like looking at Heineke, like, I got you. You know what I mean? Like, come to me, I got you. You know, like, good throw, dog. And then you see maybe it was Cam Sims touchdown, the little touchdown, like the eight-yard throw where he threaded in between two, three defenders. And everybody is so excited. Like, I think he brings an energy that we're never out of the game.

And then defensively, I think they simplified it. And guys don't look lost. You lose your two dogs on defense. You lose chasing. You lose sweat. And all of a sudden, pain comes alive, you know. Not pain, but Allen comes alive. And it's just something different, you know,

and I don't know how long is going to last, but you just beat two legit teams two weeks back to back without your dogs, you know. And then Gibson. I think Gibson has a simple fix for his formula. What? But no one has addressed it. It's so simple. And he could just go dominant hand,

which would be his right hand and bring the ball higher, you know. But when he's running through the line, he's loose with the ball. Like you saw it, a defender just got his hand out. It wasn't even a – he just got his hand out and got his hand on the ball. have to protect, never give a defender an opportunity to get to that ball. You know, like, that's, you're showing the ball. You got, you, you got to protect that ball. But I feel as if they took him out of the game in the first half, and they put him back

in in the second half, and he came back, and he ran harder. He played battered in the second half after the phone. And to me, if you're going to, that's kind of one of those things. that'll mess up your confidence. Now, he's responding, which is great. But if you're going to put me back in the game or if you're going to have me come back, leave me in the game. Don't take me out after I make a mistake.

Then I've got to sit over here and think about it. And then I'm coming back and I'm trying to recover. Now, he responded great by coming back and putting it behind him and having a good second half. He ran harder. 78 yards. the second half on 12 carries. Yeah, which is not the norm.

Like most of the time, if you put a guy in that situation, they kind of shut down. So you don't think he should have benched him. You don't think he should have benched him after the fumble. No. Binch him for what? And you came right back to him? What's the difference? Well, you came back to him in the second half.

Yeah, so you could have told me the same thing that you told me a half time if they had a conversation that happened. So you don't think there was any benefit. You don't think there was any benefit for him to sit down after that fumble and watch McKissick and Patterson take the rest of the carries. Well, I think the benefit came. He got an opportunity to see them run, and he got an opportunity to get into his feelings and say, you know what? Okay, when I get back out here, I'm ready. So I think, again, I don't think that happens.

often. You know, normally a guy shut down, which he did a great job responding, because McKissick came in and had a big run, and then when you put him back in, it's like, all right, I see, I see this, and now I see it. But just taking me out of the game and isolating me or letting me go cold, like, if you're going to put me in, I'm going to make mistakes. You know, like, and you have to know as a team, hey, you know what? You don't take the quarterback out of the game when he throw an interception. Well, no, but he's had a... You don't let the quarterback.

But he's had a fumbling issue this year. Well, you know what? Have your running back coach fix that. Well, you just gave a... If he's having a fumbling issue, then when are you going to address it just as a coach? You address that. You fixed that. And you think the answer is to, to,

dominant hand, right hand, ball higher rather than a second hand on the ball? Yes. Okay. Back to Heineke for a second. Okay. I get what you think about him, and I think a lot of people agree with you. Do you think that he's a long-term franchise quarterback answer? Who should be?

I think he should be. I think he's playing his way into that opportunity. You do? So you wouldn't in the offseason be looking to draft a quarterback in the first round, sign a free agent quarterback like a Matt Ryan if he becomes available or something like that. You think that aiming high that Taylor Heineke fills that order, that he's the guy for the next five to seven years as your franchise quarterback, and he can lead you to double-digit wins and postseason wins

and potentially a Super Bowl. I think that. I think if you go get Heineke, a receiver to go along with McCorn, because Samuel been hurt all year. Like, we ended up in the worst situations with our signing. Oh, we got this guy. We got Curtis Samuel. He's been on the field once.

Right. Yeah, he might be. So I think you go get, he might, what? He might play Monday night. I have Rivera on the radio show every Friday, and he said there's a chance he could play, and maybe even Logan Thomas on Monday night as well. We'll see.

But he's missed Logan Thomas too, you know, all year. You get him a tight end, you get him another receiver, and you put weapons around him, protecting him, and you give him the weapon, because he can make the throws, he can get out of the pocket. I think his decision-making is he don't make,

you don't see him making too much, many bad decisions. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Well, he has. He's just got to put weapons around. He's made mistakes in the Denver game and the Green Bay game. I mean, he's made some mistakes. He's had some bad games. Yeah, but what we're used to in not having weapons in the Denver game, Denver got a good defense. Green Bay, they got a good team. You have a bad game or two, but the way he's responded, the way he bounces back, the way he continues to fight, I think gives you, you know he's young, you know he's wrong, now you put this around him and you protect him, I think he gives you, I think he gives you.

You know, you look at the kid in Chicago, Justin Fields. You know what I mean? Like, would you rather have Justin Fields or Heinekeye's right now? Justin Fields. I would take Heineke right now. No, no, no, I'm not talking about for a game on Sunday. I'm talking about for the future of my franchise. I would take Justin Fields.

Oh, no, man. I think Heineke can play. I know you do. And I think the first, the things that you mentioned when you first said, I really like him, is everything that Rivera's been saying to, the intangibles, the fact that teammates really like them, that they respect him, that they connect to him, they believe in him. Like all the things you said you're looking for, the things that Rivera is 100% convinced he has.

So we'll see. I mean, I think two weeks ago, the conversation about him being the future of the franchise for most people was over. But he just put two incredible games back to back. And really the Carolina games, the first flawless game he's had. All right. What else did I have for you? College football real quickly. Do you give Michigan any chance tomorrow against Ohio State? I don't, do you? Only because you know the way I think. I thought people were expecting the point spread to be like 14,

and it's only seven and a half. So I think, you know, it's fishy. And that's why I give Michigan a chance. But if I didn't know anything about point spread, or how all that worked, I would have watched these teams, and I would have thought Ohio State's going to win by three touchdowns. I think Ohio State quarterback is coming into his own. That receiver is unreal. Which one? Both of them.

Both of them are unreal. You're right. Both of them. Wilson and Alave. I like Alave. I like both of them. I mean, they score, they, I mentioned. this to Van Pelt on the podcast earlier this week because we were talking about Ohio State

and we were talking about who would be favored, Ohio State or Georgia. He thinks Georgia would be a slight favorite. I think it's like a pickum if they end up playing the national championship game. But do you know in that Michigan State game last week, they had seven drives in the first half and scored touchdowns on all seven of them? They had 500 yards and a 49-0 lead at halftime on Michigan State. Yeah, Michigan State wasn't ready for that. I agree. Coach was still negotiating.

Then he worked out for Melo-Fucker. I think he's a good coach, and I think he's what Michigan State needed. But when you look at Ohio State, it's like looking at Oklahoma when they were playing all the close games, and they bring the kid in. You know, they switch Rattler. And all of a sudden they come alive, and then this kid have a bad. bad game they lose and everybody is bitch him and you want to go back to rattler and they kind of lost their identity. When you look at Ohio State, Stroud kind of struggle early.

Through early, yeah, he struggled. But the last three, four weeks where he's figured out football, and I'm, you know, I'm just, I just hate the Buckeyes. Like, I stay away from them, but every time I look at it, I'm saying, boy, this is what I'm called fire? Because, again, look at his teammates, look at everybody around them, how they're responding to him. So I think early on where you get drops, you know, your running game wasn't the same, you're trying to find your way. Now, when you step on the field, you know this kid is going to give you 42 points. Like, the defense can't screw this up, you know, and I don't think Michigan can score 42 against them. You know, I don't think Michigan has the athlete to stop those receivers.

I don't think they have a corner for either of those receivers. So you're going to open up a lot, and Michigan going to have an opportunity where they have to punt. They're going to punt a couple times. I don't think Ohio State going to punt it too often. They don't. They don't punt at all, usually. Yeah, they're going to get down field and get points.

All right. I got to run. I love doing this with you. I hope you're well. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. And I do want to, at some point, have you on the show to talk about the 2001 team that you were a part of that,

you know, you got a lot of stuff going on celebrating that 2000. team from 20 years ago at Miami. So maybe we can do that next time. All right, let me know. All right. Have a good one. I'll talk to you soon. All right, peace up.

Clinton Portis, everybody. And for you, Taylor Heineke backers in terms of the quarterback of the future, the franchise quarterback, you have a friend in Clinton Portis. He is on board with that. When we come back, smell test, a couple of quick thoughts about the Maryland basketball win and the Terps football matchup tomorrow. We'll get to those things right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q Public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. All right, the smell test this week, presented by MyBooky, and My Booky's got a great promotion right now.

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MyBooky.com, my bookie.orgie.orgie.org. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. Let's get to the smell test. And the smell test this week included two games yesterday where I went one and one. I gave out the Bears minus three. I gave out the Raiders plus seven and a half, so I'm one and one to start the week, but I've got 11 more plays. Last week was five and seven as a follow-up to the eight-no week that I had two weeks ago. Let's start with today just repeating, because I mentioned this at the beginning of the show. I like East Carolina plus 14 against a Cincinnati team that's in now the top four of the playoff rankings and is coming off their most impressive win of the year last week against SMU. I guess the Notre Dame game. game would be on the road the most impressive win. But it's the best they've looked offensively in a while. Public loves Cincinnati laying two touchdowns against ECU. ECU can score.

I'll take East Carolina plus the 14. Tonight in the Apple Cup, Washington plus one against Washington State. That line reeks. Washington State should be every bit of a three-point favorite public pounding Washington State. That game's in Seattle. All right, let's get to tomorrow. start with the number one team in the country. They're laying 35 to Georgia Tech, and Georgia Tech got absolutely smoked last week. Georgia Tech has had an interesting season because they're actually they've been capable at times of being super competitive. They nearly beat Clemson early in the year. They blew out North Carolina. They scored 40 against Virginia in a 4840 loss. They lost to Miami and a close game 33 to 30 a few weeks ago.

BC, they lost 2.41.30, and then they got beat 55 to nothing last week in South Bend. Georgia is laying 35 after Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech by 35. The public wants to lay the 35. I'll take the 35 and take the rambling wreck plus the number in that one. The game that everybody will be paying attention to this weekend, it's really the biggest game of the year in college football. It's the biggest game of the weekend in any kind of football. Michigan in the big house getting eight against Ohio State off of that unbelievable performance last week against Michigan State.

The public's all over Ohio State. I'll take Michigan plus the eight. I have no idea how you keep it close against the Buckeyes right now. But, you know, if we're thinking about teams that are pretty, you know, competitive defensively, you know, you only have to go back a couple of weeks ago. and I gave Nebraska out in this specific game. Nebraska was right there with a chance in that game against the Buckeyes. You know, I mean, you watch Ohio State the last two weeks against Purdue and against Michigan State, and you think they're unstoppable winning 59, 31, and 56 to 7.

But the two games before that, close game against Penn State, a nine-point win and a nine-point win at Nebraska. Michigan, I do think, is the best team they faced. Can Jim Harbaugh finally, finally beat Ohio State? We'll see. I don't know if he'll win, but I like them plus the eight. Also tomorrow, Northwestern's getting six and a half seven against Illinois. Illinois's been pretty good. The public's backing the Eli and I at home.

I'll take Northwestern plus the seven. I also like Minnesota plus seven against Wisconsin. Wisconsin's playing as well as anybody in the country. Now, they were in a dog fight last week with Nebraska. That line is a little bit short. Wisconsin really thought to be a team that's going to go on. They're going to win the Big Ten West. They're going to face Ohio State. That's what everybody's thinking in the Big Ten title game. But Minnesota, with a win over Wisconsin, throws this whole race into a tizzy. It puts Iowa back in play as a potential two-loss Big Ten team puts Minnesota into play. I like Minnesota plus the seven. tomorrow at home in the season finale. I've given you three big 10 games for tomorrow. I like LSU plus seven against Texas A&M and I like USC plus seven against BYU as well. Nobody's got Southern Cal with everything that's going on there. Nobody's got LSU with everything that's going on there.

Coaching changes. I almost gave you Florida as well. They're favored over Florida State. That doesn't make a lot of sense, but there's some sharp money on the knolls. So I stayed off that one. to Sunday where the Giants looked horrendous on Monday night, and they're only getting three and a half against one of the hottest teams in the league, the Philadelphia Eagles. I'll take the Giants plus the three and a half. I like the Broncos plus three against the Chargers. The Chargers right now are the biggest public play along with the Eagles on Sunday's card. I like the Broncos at home. And then the Rams are favored right now at Lambo. They're favored by one. The public is backing the underdog, the home underdog there. I'll take the Roncos. I'll

Rams. There's your smell test. East Carolina, Washington today, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, LSU, and USC tomorrow. The Giants, Broncos, and Rams on Sunday. I almost gave you Florida. I almost gave you the Jets. I kind of liked them again. But there you go. 11 additional plays to go with the two from yesterday for the smell test. Two quick things before we wrap up the show for the day. Maryland plays Rutgers tomorrow and the winner goes to a bowl game. Maryland's favored by a point, point and a half. I don't know how, to be honest with you. Rutgers has been a much more competitive team in some of these games than Maryland has. They blew out Indiana 38 to 3 and Maryland held on for Dear Life had to come back and win that game 38 to 35. Rutgers was actually close against

Michigan State, a game that the score didn't necessarily indicate how, competitive that game was. They also were close against Michigan earlier in the season. In Maryland and was in a game against Michigan where Michigan could have named the score. I think Maryland's got a chance tomorrow and I hope they get it done and I hope they're in a bowl game. But man, they are an undisciplined football team. That's for sure and that's been their problem more than anything along with a lot of the injuries they've had. That is a fair defense of their season. They've had some real difficult injuries, starting with the Dante DeMis injury, that really threw them off offensively to be missing, you know, debatably their best offensive player. Real quickly, too,

Maryland won in basketball last night after trailing by 12 against Richmond. It was their best performance of the year so far. I know a lot of you who are Maryland fans will say, Jesus, they had to rally from 12 back to beat Richmond. Richmond's one of the oldest teams in the country. They were picked to finish, you know, fairly high in the A-10. Maryland's basically almost played an A-10 schedule at this point. They beat Richmond. They lost the Mason, as you know, and they beat GW. Winning this game, 86 to 80 after being down 12,

I think they won it in part because they played with incredible tempo. They really pushed. They've got a player in Fats Russell who can really get out on the break. They got a lot of easy looks in transition. They pressured more defensively with their 2-21 full court pressure. they at least burned some of the shot clock and made it easier to guard on the other end. I know you've heard me say this about Maryland's opponents this year, Vermont and Mason and Hofstra in particular. I think they've played some pretty good teams in those teams.

I do. And I know some of those teams have lost games since they played Maryland tough or beat Maryland in Mason's case. But I think Richmond's a decent team too. I think Maryland's playing a schedule without brand names so far, but teams that are pretty good teams and will prove out to be, you know, top half of their league in Vermont. In Vermont's case, probably the top of their league. Maryland still has Louisville on Saturday in the second half of this Bahamas tournament. And then they get Virginia Tech in Florida in the non-conference still.

So it doesn't get that much easier in the non-con. They actually play, there's another weird game that they play. Brown from the Ivy League and Brown beat somebody the other day that was decent. They played Carolina really tough and then they beat somebody from the Missouri Valley and I'm forgetting who that is now. But anyway, the schedule, I think ultimately, even though there's not a lot of brand non-conference teams, although Florida is a good one and Louisville is a good one. And Virginia Tech, I think will prove to be a good one as well. Florida, by the way, is undefeated. and they beat Ohio State the other night.

But I think the schedule is tougher than you think it is. They're five and one. They get Louisville Saturday morning. I really enjoyed the pressure and the pace that they played with in the second half. I thought that was a big difference maker. That along with Richmond, just flat out missing a couple of open threes that would have made a big difference. But it was a 17 to 3 run in the final five minutes that got them a six-point lead.

ended up winning by 6.86 to 80. 86 points by far their most this year, and it was their best performance in the second half by far. All right, that's it for the day. Enjoy the weekend back on Monday with an NFL and college football recap, but also a preview of the Washington-Seattle game.