The Kevin Sheehan Show - No Fluke: Washington Is Legit Good

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Kevin back with more on the Commanders 34-13 rout of Cleveland and his belief that they are a very good team. Their 4-1 start is the best since 2008. Kevin with an even more in-depth "Game-Take" on the win which included Jayden's best "incomplete" pass of the year. He talked other NFL including the Cowboys' win over Pittsburgh and provided early thoughts on Commanders-Ravens in Week 6. 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. Looking that direction. Here comes pressure again. Two brows ran into each other. Daniels uncorks a deep shot.

On fourth down, free runner, Ousu Coramoa, missed him. And Daniels as the first down in motion. It's first and goal. A third and 13, 66-yard bomb to Terry McClorn after he had extended the play under pressure, and then a fourth and three effortless, 34-yard run that just looked so smooth. I mean, he was toying with Cleveland's defense. Two plays in the game yesterday that I think speak to overall how high a level of

quarterback play Jaden Daniels has exhibited in his first five games as a pro. Not many, if any, in the NFL. NFL right now are playing the position better than he is currently. The show's presenting sponsor as always is Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head towindonation.com. Mention my name for a free, no obligation in-home estimate. So I did do a post-game podcast immediately after the game yesterday. It's there for you if you want to go listen to it. It included my immediate complete game take. I do have an update. to that coming up in the next segment.

It also included John Allen, who joined me live from the locker room. So you can go back and listen to that if you haven't listened to it yet. It was about 45 minutes, maybe 50 minutes in length. And today's show isn't going to be that much longer than last night's post-game show. But I have had a chance to kind of watch the game again and just digest it a little bit more. And I want to start this show today with three big takeaways from yesterday's game. You know, three big thoughts, three big things, however you want to describe it. Number one is this.

Washington is a very good team through five weeks of the season. You know, the record says they are a very good team at four and one. The eyes say they are a very good team. This is a legit, very good start to a season. there is nothing fluky about it. Number two, Jaden Daniels is the main reason that they are a very good team right now. There are other contributing factors, but none are as impactful as Jaden Daniels. Simply put, he's off to one of the greatest quarterback starts to a career in NFL history.

No quarterback has ever thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for over 250 in their first five. starts of their career. Jaden right now in terms of passing yardage through five games is at 1135 yards and rushing he's at an even 300 yards. By the way, Daniels became just the third rookie quarterback since 1970, the year of the AFL NFL-NFL merger, to start the first five games of a season. and have his team be four and one or better. The other two, Joe Ferguson, Buffalo's quarterback in 1973, Dak Prescott in 2016. Look, there are many games left in his rookie season, and more likely than not, hundreds and hundreds of games left in his career.

Time will judge, you know, what he turns out to be. but the things he's proved he's capable of doing in just five games is rather exciting. It's astounding, actually. He can throw it anywhere on the field. He can throw it from the pocket with time. He can throw it from the pocket under pressure. He can extend plays to run. He can extend plays to pass, which is progress from the opener.

He's totally aware of game situation, down, distance, time, etc. he never, ever seems to be stressed during a game. He's still first in the league in completion percentage at 77.1%. He's third in the league in overall QBR, fifth in the league in passer rating. He's second in yards per pass attempt. He's second in the league in quarterback rushing yards behind Lamar Jackson, first in the league among quarterbacks rushing for first downs. There are other numbers that will come out that will, you know, speak to the level of play,

but some of those numbers haven't been updated or they're not out as of this afternoon. Jaden Daniels, however, is playing at an MVP level. I'm talking about a league MVP level. We broached this subject last week or the week before I forget now. But listen to this, all right? currently the blended odds for NFL MVP, he is behind just four players. I'm talking about odds-wise, you know, my bookie, all of the other places, just a blended, you know, odds, which I did sort of back of the envelope. Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and C.J. Stroud are the four quarterbacks that have better odds to win the league.

MVP. He is currently a top five favorite to win the MVP as of this moment. Takeaway number three. This team is taking on the identity of what Dan Quinn promised, wanted. They play with a high motor. They play fast. They play physically. There are some limitations, you know, there are, and maybe a few more will be revealed, down the road, maybe as early as this Sunday against Baltimore. But Dan Quinn promised, you know, from the time he took this job, and before they played their first real game on September 8th against Tampa, he promised a team whose identity would be playing fast, physically, and relentlessly.

And that's what they are doing. And you've got to credit Adam Peters and his staff, Dan Quinn and his staff, for executing so far on that aligned vision that Peters and Quinn talked about from the moment they were hired. They wanted a certain kind of player profile, a certain player trait. Jahan Dotson didn't fit that profile. Out the door he went. You know, there was a ton of flying around everywhere on defense yesterday, much more coming up on the defense after kind of taking a second swing on the game take.

but no play exemplified what they were looking for in terms of an identity, I don't think, from yesterday's game, then on Austin Echler's 50-yard run in the second quarter, Terry McLaren, Luke McCaffrey, John Bates, and Olamidi Zakias are all down the field where Echler finishes his run or trailing by just a yard or two. still blocking, actually, in the case of Terry. And when Echler was stripped of the ball at the end of that play, Zichias is right there to jump on it. But you know what? If he didn't get it, McCaffrey would have been the guy to recover it. And if he didn't get it, Bates probably would have recovered it.

And if he didn't get it, Brandon Coleman, the rookie lineman, who was hustling his ass down the field, he would have had a chance to recover it. I don't want to sound like a sixth grade CYO coach. but this team hustles. They play to the whistle. They compete, start to finish on every play. This is what Quinn wanted in his team. You know, the three big takeaways for me, they're a very good team right now, second best record in the NFC right now behind Minnesota, tied for the third best record in the NFL right now, behind Minnesota, Kansas City, the chiefs play tonight, and then Houston is also four and one. The line. Lions have one loss, but they're three in one. According to My Bookie's updated odds, Washington now plus 190 to win the NFC East, second only to the Eagles who are plus 130 to win the division. They're ahead of the Cowboys, even though the Cowboys won last night.

They are currently minus 155 to make the playoffs. They are now a favorite to make the playoffs. I saw something on ESPN that said they've got to. a 70% chance to make the playoffs based on where they are at 4-1. So the three big takeaways, right? They're a very good team right now. You can't debate that. Number two, their rookie quarterback is the reason, more than any other, that they are a

very good team right now. He's legitimately in the MVP conversation heading into games in mid-October. And three, they are developing the identity that Quinn promised. They looked for guys who fit that player profile. And a ton of those guys are playing that way. You know, much was made of the off-season free agency plan to not really commit much to a bunch of players in this first year to kind of feel it out a little bit. They weren't ready to win. They weren't ready to contend, even though they said we're not rebuilding, we're recalibrating.

Lots of one-year deals to a lot of players, shorter-term deals as well. But nothing, you know, long-term and staggering in terms of money. The personality and the competitive profile of the players they brought on, it's becoming pretty clear what they were looking for. You know, they were looking for something to change the culture in terms of the players they brought in. You know, it started really with three veteran players who they trusted could play still and then help change the culture. Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, and Austin Eckler, three veteran players.

All of them have played well, and all of them were culture tone-setters. And then guys like Louvre and Armstrong and Beaudish and Allegretti and Chin and Fowler Jr. And Igben O'Genny and Farrell, who's missed a few games in a row. How about Jeremy McNichols? And how about this dude number 57, Nick Ballore, on special teams? It's hard not to be impressed so far with their ability to size up good players, yes, but the right people also, and get them into the organization to set the tone of who and what they want this place to be about. Count me as impressed with the whole thing, five games into it.

Count me also as one who would say, while everything appears to indicate the arrow is pointing up, I'm talking about organizationally football-wise, few would even notice, if not, for number five. Jaden Daniels makes all of the good things they're doing across the board much more apparent to the naked eye than they would be if he weren't playing at the level that he's playing at. at the most important position on the field. All right. I will do a quick version two of my game take when we come back. Then in the final segment, a little bit of NFL around the league.

We didn't have a chance to do any of that. And a look ahead to one of the biggest early season games on the NFL calendar so far. Yeah, Washington's involved in it at Baltimore Sunday. We'll get to all of that and more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, best time of the year is football season. It is back, NFL Sundays, college football Saturdays, football on Monday night, Thursday night. And of course, the glorious grind of fantasy football lineups.

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Looking this way, down he goes. Frankie Louvre has had a big first half and there's a sack. One of the two and a half sacks Frankie Louvre had yesterday in the win over Cleveland. Count me right now is still unconvinced about the defense despite two improved performances. The last two games, I do think the opponents had something to do with it. However, I am convinced about one thing as it relates to this defense, and that is that Frankie Louvo is the best player on it. I'm not going to say that he's the equivalent of Micah Parsons for Dan Quinn here in D.C.

But he certainly plays him in a way that's similar to Parsons. He lines up all over the field. You can barely account for where he's going to be if you're an offensive coordinator on any given play. He pressures from the outside. He pressures from the inside. He pressures from a three-point stance. He pressures from a two-point stance as an interior defensive tackle.

The guys all over the field, he is the embodiment of what these guys were looking for. player trait-wise, fast, physical, relentless, high motor, all of those things. Number four has been noticeable since the opener. He's a very good player, and that was an excellent free agency signing. I don't even think it's debatable. Bobby Wagner's playing well, obviously. He brings a hell of a lot to the table. I think Juan Martin, who got banged up at the end of the game yesterday, is playing pretty well. I think that there have been moments even for some of the interior defensive linemen, including some of the rotational guys playing defensive line. I think Benjamin St. Juice has been pretty solid for much of the time that he's been in there. But no player

has been more consistent and better than Frankie Louvo has been for the team this year. This segment brought to you by Window Nation. Windonation. offering buy to get two free that's half price on windows with no money down no interest and no payments for 24 months if you've been thinking about new windows window nation is the place to go and now is the time to do it not just because of the offer but because it's winter around the corner and you don't want to be paying 40% more on your heating bills than you have to test your windows right now open each one do they open Do they stay open? Are they hard to open? Do you see condensation or leaks? Are the windows moldy?

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866N90 Nation, Windonation.com. Buy to get too free. No down payment, no interest, and no payments. 24 months. All right, let's get to my game take version 2.0 on the win, the blowout win yesterday over Cleveland, 34 to 13. Pay attention. He's Kevin's Game Take. So a second game take in less than 24 hours. I don't think I'm going to be doing this every week where I do, you know, a quick post-game pod followed by kind of a follow-up pod on Monday.

If things keep going the way they're going, I think I'll be doing it more often than not. And not to make this out to be rocket science because it's far from it. But it is a little bit more, I think, comprehensive when I do this. If I'm able to kind of sit back and spend time, watch portions of the game, you know, again, not necessarily the all-22 because you don't get that until kind of midday Monday. I don't, anyway. I think I'm missing something from my subscription on the All-22. But anyway, there's a lot that will be similar to yesterday's take,

but some updates to it as well. What I liked, what I didn't like other observations from the game. Number one on the list of things that I liked is the same as it was right after the game. This game in many ways was decided by the explosive plays, seven of them offensively of 23 yards or more. And the explosive play is so impactful to scoring. PFF did something about a year ago. One 20-yard plus play in a drive quadruples the chance of scoring

when compared to a drive that does not have an explosive play in it. An explosive play being defined as 20 or more yards. Washington had seven 23-yard or greater plays in the game. Six of those seven led to 27 of their 34 points in the game. See, when you have that many explosive plays in a game, and that's a lot for a game, a lot. The two teams that led the league in explosive plays coming into week five, San Francisco and Minnesota, they had 18 total, so that's an average of four and a half per game.

Washington had seven in the game. And when you have that as part of your arsenal as part of the production, it really makes it less important that the rest of your offense is solid or consistent. You can get away with a couple of drives that are flawed. If you've got seven plays of 20 or more yards, in their case yesterday, 23 yards or more, it's going to lead to a lot of points. Unless they're all into like three or four drives and you get stopped in the red zone, that's not what happened yesterday.

But exciting how explosive they can be offensively. And of course, it's primarily because of the quarterback and what the quarterback can do on schedule and off it. You know, on schedule, deep, off schedule with his legs or throwing it deep. And then by the way, they're getting plays from their running backs as well. A lot of that goes to Cliff Kingsbury as well and the scheme. They have really been a solid screen team, both traditional screens, like the 33-yard screen that they threw to Echler, and the bubble screens, which have been very effective,

almost run extension plays. But explosive plays on offense, number one for me, on the list of things that I liked. Number two on the list is the defense, but I'm going to emphasize, what I emphasized very much so after the game yesterday, and that is they played, quite honestly, the worst offensive team in the league.

They were 32nd offensively in DVOA coming into the game yesterday, and then after the game yesterday, They're still 32nd, but by even a wider margin. Like the margin between Cleveland as the 32nd ranked DVOA offense and Miami, the 31st ranked offensive DVOA team, is 16 percentage points, which is outrageous in terms of a difference. Like Cleveland's not 32nd DVOA offensively.

they're like 53rd. I mean, that's how far away they are from 31st. They're a terrible offensive football team. One of the things that's so obvious when you go back and look at it, they're not only terrible at the quarterback position, and he's horrendous right now. Deshawn Watson, who at one point was an excellent NFL quarterback, a clear cut in Houston, top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

his personal issues have completely derailed his career. And look, I mean, he brought him on himself. And I don't feel sorry for him. As I said yesterday, I feel badly for those that were victimized by him. But he's a horrendous quarterback. And then he's not helped out at all by an offensive line that was banged up coming in, had one or two players back in the lineup, but still not healthy. and then I'm a Kevin Stefansky fan, but this game plan gave them no chance.

But it's almost as if you sense that Stefansky is essentially saying, if you're going to force me to play this guy at quarterback, I'm going to give you the most limited basic approach to offense because he can't do any more than that. And he can't. Like this guy is terrible on all fronts of quarterbacking. He's not as mobile as he once was, not as athletic as he once was, can't hit the ocean from a boat from an accuracy standpoint. It's clear he can't read defenses.

It's clear he doesn't process quickly. That's a bad ownership situation in the league. They owe him, I think, another $165 or $175 million, somewhere in that area of still from that trade and that contract that they gave him, which will go down as one of the, worst in league history, if not the worst in league history, there is no chance that a smart guy like Kevin Stefansky thinks they can win with Deshawn Watson. Why James Winston hasn't come into the game yet, I have no idea. They made it to the postseason last year, not because of Watson, but because of Joe Flacco. But that aside, horrendous offensive football team. One of the worst we've seen in a long time offensively.

And it may go down. I mean, I'm going to follow the DVOA thing on them. It may go down through the first five weeks as the worst offense we've ever seen. Remember, Washington's defense through the first three weeks was historically awful. But look, yesterday they did something that I thought was so important. They stuffed the run. 14 yards on eight carries in the first half. All right, this team Cleveland could not run the football.

Yeah, they ended up with over 100 yards. A lot of that yardage came late in the game when it was over. Washington had, you know, rotational players in, players that hadn't played. Washington took their foot off the gas pedal, clearly, on offense in particular. This team Cleveland only had 85 total yards before Washington took a 31 to 6 lead, and it was game over. They were one for 13. on third downs. All right.

O for 12 to start. The one they got came with five minutes left in the game. Cleveland averaged 3.6 yards per play. They punted six times in the first half. Seven in total. Look, how did they do it? A lot of things were very clear. First of all, they got some really good individual performances.

Frankie Louvre, Bobby Wagner, John Allen, Dorrance Armstrong, who I pointed out last night. A couple of guys really emerged after the fact. I think Phil Mathis had a really good game. I think they're starting to get some confidence in Mathis. Mathis and Newton a lot of rotation yesterday. Some of it was in the second half. And when you look at the snap count, pain had 60. of the snaps, Alan, 52% of the snaps, Mathis, 42% of the snaps, Newton, 40% of the snaps.

I thought Phil Mathis played pretty well yesterday, and he knocked down a pass. He had a TFL. I like the way he played. I also thought, and I know that I am predisposed to wanting him to play well, I also thought in kind of going back and looking, you know, in addition to Allen, who I thought played well, I thought Duran Payne played pretty well, too. Dorence Armstrong, I mentioned yesterday. Kwan Martin I mentioned yesterday. But Lou Vu was the best player on the field. You know, what's interesting in watching them, week in and week out, they don't play three

linebackers, ever. So they're never technically, if you want to call their base defense a four-three, right, with three linebackers. They never have three linebackers on the field. If they do, I'm missing it. It is almost always nickel. It certainly seems that way to me. Chin's always on the field.

St. Juice is always on the field. Sanristil's on the field. Igben O'Gennie is always on the field. And Juan Martin's always on the field. That's five DBs. They're always on the field. Percy Butler plays a significant percentage of snaps. Let me see where he was in the snap count.

Yeah, Percy Butler played 35% of the snaps. They're never in their base defense, ever. They're almost always in nickel. And actually, you know, Butler, when Butler's on the field, they're actually sometimes in dime defense with six D-Bs on the field. Louvo, though, stands out more than anybody else does defensively. All right, Jaden's game. I went through it pretty quickly yesterday.

Let me go through it in a little bit more detail. I didn't change my grade. It's an A game for him. Okay, it's just an A game. However, you know, if you're really, you know, grading every single play, then you're going to see some day. to the test yesterday because there were some plays that I'm sure he'd love to have back, but the good far outweighed the bad.

And the big plays he made also seemed to happen on big plays, although there aren't many big plays in a game that ends up 34 to 13. But early on, second drive of the game. That second goal before the interception, I think he missed Ertz. I can't wait to look at that on the all-20. but I think he missed Ertz. McCaffrey's a possibility in the flat, but I don't think that's really where he wants to go.

He throws to Ertz, and I think he just missed him. I think he did. Obviously, the interception, look, that's a really bad decision. There's no other way to get around it from where I stand. I don't know how it's coached, obviously. It's third and goal. Cleveland's got four rushing. They've got seven dropped with six draped across the ground.

goal line, you know, from one end to the other. Washington's kind of in a two-by-two with Ertz and Zakias split right. And, you know, what you see is you see Jaden never work the other side of the field. He's working the right side of the field. He's working, Ertz, primarily, Zichias, and you got two receivers and three defenders there. So he should have turned away from there. As Cooley said, he should have immediately worked somewhere else. When he saw the two receivers and the three defenders there, he should have worked somewhere else. And yeah, Robinson Jr's in the flat. I don't think he scores on that. I'll tell you, if he works his way backside, Terry's running a slant, and I think that's got an

opportunity to score. But instead, he tries to fit a ball in to Ertz in the end zone with three defenders around the ball, including Ouso Coramoa, who intercepts it. Not a good play. You know, we're going to pick out the bad ones and the misses, too. And that was really, for the last couple of weeks, I mean, I think that's the

worst throw or the worst decision he's made. You know, the interception last week, he should have checked it down. I checked down in that spot. I think it was to McNichols against Arizona, and he forced one. I thought into a too deep or a cover two that was probably played too tightly, and it just was too fine of a window. The fourth drive, it's when they were backed up on their own goal line.

So this is a play that's really interesting to me, because on one hand, it's like they decided he's going to throw the ball from deep in his own end zone on third and ten, and about the only way Cleveland's going to have a chance in this game is if their defense is on the field makes a play. And they run what appears to be four verticals, four vertical routes. And Ertz is open, wide open. And he overthrew him by a lot. But like I was thinking about that play and thinking about the context of that play, like they have that much confidence in him to drop him back in that spot from his own deep in his own end zone. You know, you've got in that particular situation, you've got the ball at your own two-yard line,

and it is at that point seven to nothing. And the only way Cleveland's going to be involved in this football game at all is to, you know, sack, fumble, recover for a touchdown, all of a sudden the game turns or an interception. And he had hurts wide open. He missed him. He throws a great deep ball, okay? Quarterbacks miss throws.

quarterbacks make mistakes. This one, if he completes it to Ertz, it is all time, man, from deep in his own end zone. And Ertz, I don't know if he's got the speed to take it the distance, 98 yards, but it's going to be a solid 45 to 50-yard play. Sixth drive of the game. The throw to McCaffrey on 3rd and 5, which, by the way, followed more Cleveland dysfunction. They had 12 men on the field defensively on a 3rd and 10. he throws the ball to McCaffrey. I said last night I'd go back and look.

He's nowhere near getting hit. It's just not a good throw. It's on the inside of McCaffrey. McCaffrey makes a great play. Sixth drive, the second and 13 deep shot to Terry into coverage that Ward almost picks off. Not a good decision. It looked like he had McCaffrey open on that play. Yeah.

And that would basically be it in terms of the negative plays from Jaden on the day. That's it. The positives far outweigh the negatives. You know, when you go back to the 66-yard off-schedgel play to Terry McCorn. And I said last night, you know, it is Mahomes-esque. It's Josh Allen-esque. It's Lamar Jackson-esque. I want you to hear what Dan Quinn said when David Aldridge asked him about this

play and just Jaden's ability in general to sort of break defense's hearts when he goes kind of off schedule but keeps his eyes down the field looking to make a play. Here's the question. Here's the answer. I asked you just a couple of weeks ago, but he keeps doing it. When Jaden makes a play on the move and throws the ball 60 yards downfield or drops it in a bucket to Diami, what is the impact on that, on the defense? Yes.

Yeah, it can be demoralizing, you know, because all of a sudden you're created some long yardage scenarios, you know, just what I was referring to in the third downs. And so to have a big shot, you know, even when the person's guarded well, to put it in the only spot it could go, the play that comes to mind before today was the one to tarry at the end of the Cincinnati game where there was only really one spot that you could throw that pass. And he had a couple of those scenarios today. And I thought, quite honestly, it was a grimy start. for the offense. It didn't go good. And I had told him inside, sometimes you learn as much from that start as you do from the 27 for 29 because different ways. But at the end, what I can tell you is like he processes quickly. This is how they're going to go. Then this is how we're going to go play. And so you'll learn from those as well. And I'd much prefer lessons and learning after winning. I can tell you that. But all of its information and he's such a remarkable competitor that he does learn. How about the first part of Quinn's answer there when he says, yeah, it can be demoralizing. Quinn's a defensive head coach. Quinn's been a defensive coordinator.

When he drafted Jaden, remember prior to the draft, he did an interview with the junkies, and they played this one-word association game, and they asked him about various quarterbacks in the draft, and I think with Jaden, he just said explosive. He should have said demoralizing, because demoralizing to defenses is what Mahomes, Alan, and Jackson have been doing for years. Third and long, they create a play. It's usually the second part of the play. It's the off-schedule. It's the extension of the first play, and they end up throwing the ball down field or making a play with their legs. It's third and 13 for Cleveland. They've got them right where they want them, they think, Washington's offense. Then they get pressure,

and they have them near-sacked. And three seconds later, you're playing first and goal after a 66-yard bomb you're playing first in goal defense to Terry McClure. That is the difference in this league between excellent quarterbacking and elite quarterbacking. It is the quarterback that can demoralize, can break the heart of a defense on third and long, on fourth in medium or fourth and long, when they go off schedule and they extend the play. He has that. He had it in college, and he's got it in the NFL.

They don't play for field position. They don't play for better punt position. You know, it's one thing if they're in field goal position, they may do something a little bit more conservatively, but no, they think they got a guy that once the play starts, he's going to create something and they're going to pick it up. Special trait to have. So, you know, as we go through Jayden's performance,

that play is spectacular, obviously. They didn't score on that play. He threw the interception a few plays later. Third drive of the game, it's after the Zekees punt return to the Cleveland 33. First and 10. He rolls right, I think they're in 12 personnel, and Terry comes from the opposite side of the field. He rolls right, he's under pressure a little bit, and he fires one to Terry against zone coverage. It looked like zone coverage.

Really good throw. Third drive, Miles Garrett's bearing down on him. It's a third and nine, third and ten. And he throws to Ertz under pressure. It's a really good throw, and it set up the opportunity to go for fourth down, which they did, and they picked up on the Echler fly sweep. Fifth drive, there's a third and one, and it's kind of a faked Echler with a little bit of a rollout action.

It's not necessarily a boot, but he's got Zadarius Smith there, and he's like, yeah, right, and he gets to the sideline, stretches the ball out for a first down. He's got very good awareness of what the down and distance is and where he's got to get to. Sixth drive, they had seven of them in the first half, first and ten. It's, I think, going to be one of those real quick kind of push passes to Ertz, who's coming from one side to the other behind the line of scrimmage. But he notices that Ertz is covered, and instead he just says,

do me a favor, get in the way of the guy that's covering you. And, oh, by the way, don't you get in my way, and I'll run the way. the ball for 12 yards. There's a third and 13 on their sixth drive of the first half, and this is the play before the fourth and three, 34-yard run. But he goes off schedule again, eyes down the field, and he finds Zekees, who plants his foot in the ground and turns it back inside and picks up a couple of more yards. It was a good play by Zekees, but it's set up the fourth and three that they went for,

which of course is, you know, blitz, five-man pressure, a wusser. So Coramoa, off the edge is a free runner, and he's got no shot. You've got to play. This guy contain rush. You can't rush him hard because you're not going to get him unless he's in the pocket contained. And even then, he seems to find ways. Look, he could have thrown it to McCaffrey on a shallow crosser there, it looked like. But why risk it when he can run 34 yards down to a first and goal situation on fourth and three, right? Why risk a throw when you know you can get it with your legs and it's fourth down. Seventh drive, this is prior to the touchdown pass to Diami Brown,

which was obviously on the list of really good throws. But he threw a third and three slant to Terry. When he's decisive pre-snap and he takes that shotgun snap or that pistol snap, by the way, I like the pistol a little bit more than I do the shotgun. I think they're just more versatile out of the pistol because you can run better, play action from that, in my opinion. I don't think it's as good as the play action you can run under center. But in pistol, you can turn on the fake handoff. You can run to either side with the back. But when he's decisive pre-snap, that ball is out so quickly. And on that slant to Terry,

man, if you're playing even a little bit off, you've got no chance. The ball is there. It's accurate, it's on time, it's perfect. Second half, you know, the game's already over, basically. He had a good throw to Terry, which Echler was great in past pro on in his second drive, had another big scramble, had a good ball to Diami Brown on third and six. And then the play that I didn't mention yesterday that I had to mention, I can't believe I didn't mention it, is the fade that he threw to Terry for a touchdown that Terry dropped. He checked to that play. and he throws a perfect ball to Terry McLorn on the fade. May have been the best throw of the day.

And Terry didn't catch it. You know, he had, by my count, four balls dropped. The numbers would have looked better. The completion percentage would have been higher. But Terry dropped two. He also fumbled. Ertz dropped two. He had the one that was called a fumble initially,

and then it was called incomplete. And then he dropped another one actually on the play before the third three to Terry at the end of the first half, which preceded the touchdown pass to Diami Brown. So by my count, he had four balls dropped. So it should have been a bigger day for Jaden Daniels. But I give him an A. I definitely give Jaden Daniels an A. There were plays that he missed on, but the bottom line is he overcomes them with just bigger and better. Yeah, he threw an interception in the red zone, yet was not a good throw. Yeah, he missed Ertz out of his own end zone. Not a great throw. But they're just so much more good than bad. I give him an A.

I don't think this was a game. Oh, I mentioned last night that I was guessing what his QBR would be. I thought there was a pretty good chance it would be close to 80, not what it was the last two games. His QBR was 75.6. That's an A by my, you know, grading scale. That's not, I don't think, on a curve. He was outstanding yesterday. He's playing quarterback at an elite. level. He's playing the position that warrants him being discussed as an MVP. Next up on my list is just the offense in general. I mean, Cliff Kingsbury, so much, you know, formationally, he really seems to have the checks for Jaden that make the most sense when that first play isn't going to work. It seems that Jaden's in total control at the line of scrimmage.

But look, offensively, six for ten on the drives that mattered. Okay, yeah, they punted a little bit more yesterday than they have in recent weeks. They turned it over in the red zone. They turned it over twice in the game. Six for ten, though, the last two drives with Marioita in the game, I don't even want to count. That means that, you know, starting with the Giants game, Giants, Cincinnati, Arizona, and the first 10 drives when the game, well, was a lot, in a game after the first few drives.

But six for 10 means 26 of their 32 drives during that stretch they scored points on. That is insane productivity. I mean, their average points per drive number one in the league, and it's just unbelievable the production they're getting on these drives. And again, punted more, turned it over, didn't matter, scored 34 points with their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter, and they're starting. quarterback out, which made sense to me. The individual performances offensively, well, let me just first point out, which I did

yesterday. The offensive line is first rate right now. They are an excellent run-blocking line. Yesterday was a game in which once again they went over 200 yards rushing. Yeah, the quarterback had 82 of them, but Echler had 67. McNichols had 44. And look, this was a defense that came prepared. The first quarter, when you heard, heard what Quinn said in that answer when he said we were kind of grimy on offense in the first half.

I don't know if it was the whole first half, but Cleveland had a plan. They were going to take Brian Robinson Jr. away. They were going to take a lot of the zone read stuff away, and they were going to say, we want to see if you can beat us with your arm. Now, they lost contain a lot of the time, and he can do that. But they actually had a pretty good plan. But the offensive line was outstanding. And even when there was pressure, it's just not enough to phase him, and it's not enough that he can't get out of. Look, he did take three sacks in the game. Cleveland is a good defensive team. They're just so bad offensively. The score gets sideways, and then it's like, you know, you're out there the whole game. What are you going to do? I thought that Echler was

outstanding. The offensive line was outstanding. Specifically, Beaudish just has stood out consistently now. I thought the tackles were good. I thought the interior was good. But Beaudish, man, on that counter stuff that they run, he is underrated athletic. Echler was outstanding. McNichols was outstanding. How about him as a revelation?

I thought Zakias, I don't care about the stats. Like, you'll look at him. He's got one catch for 10 yards. That was the catch before the fourth and three. He was outstanding, hustle-wise, blocking-wise on special teams. More than that coming up. yeah. I mean, I can't put Terry on the list, even though he made so many good plays. Four catches, 112 yards, okay? But he dropped two balls and he fumbled in the game. You know, Zacherts,

I can't put on the list, even though I think he played pretty well, but he had two drops in the game. McCaffrey was solid. I think there are more opportunities for McCaffrey. So, yeah. Special teams on the list of things that I liked. Cybert hasn't missed 12 for 12, 2 for 2 yesterday. And man, their kick coverage team, McNichols had a big hit. This guy Nick Ballore number 57, he is an animal on coverage units. I had written this down and I had mentioned this yesterday and then I went back and I'm like, huh, they actually had, they averaged 25.5 yards per kickoff return. It didn't seem that way.

There were six kickoff returns in the game and they averaged 25.5 yards. but God, they were hitting and flying around on special teams. It's certainly what it seemed like to me. I like their special teams coverage units. I really like their special teams coverage units. And on the one big one that DJ Dallas had for Arizona, remember they forced a fumble on that play. All right, the list of things that I did not like,

they're still not taking the ball away. And you would think against this team offensively yesterday, this poorest quarterback. They could have gotten more turnovers. The fumble came second half, right, with the game basically already decided. And so kind of like last week's turnover, right, that they had late in the game

when the score was already decided. This is a coaching staff that prided itself as being one of the top takeaway teams in the league in Dallas for a few years in a row, and they're not doing that here. They lost the turnover battle yesterday. didn't matter because the team they were playing offensively was so bad, but it will matter. So turnover is there.

And I did mention this. On the last drive that Jaden was in there, it's 31 to 6. There are five minutes to go in the third quarter, and there is zero chance that Cleveland can score another 25 points to tie the game. they're incapable of converting a positive offensive play. And they dropped Jaden back, you know, and he got sacked, and he got hit, you know, got mangled around a little bit. I'm sorry, but this isn't the Tampa game, you know, the zone reads at the end down 3714, but it's kind of like that.

I think with a 316 lead, if you're going to leave your starting quarterback in there, you are handing the ball off, you're running quick game stuff. And that be it, pretty much. You're not dropping him back. You know, they ran a screen a couple of plays later that went to Echler for another big explosive, which led to. And that was, by the way, that was a third and long in which they actually ran something conservative, which I did like, you know, after they dropped him back and he got hit, I think at that point it probably occurred to Dan Quinn into Cliff Kingsbury.

Yeah, if we get into, you know, a situation where we're going to throw it, let's do something safe. And on that third and 11, and I said before, they don't run draws. They don't run screens. Well, up 31 to 6, they ran a screened eckler, and it worked to perfection. He took it 33 yards for a first down that ultimately led to them going conservative. First and 10, a run. Second and 10, a run. Third and four, he threw quick game to Terry McLaurin incomplete, and they were kicking a field goal.

So, yeah, that's it. I mean, this is not a game where there was much negative to it. You know, they've got to get better in takeaways. You start taking the ball away defensively, and this is going to be a team that may not be a dominant defense, but if it can be opportunistic, that'll help in the upcoming games. That's pretty much it. You know, in terms of other things that don't fit into the, you know, what I liked, what I didn't like category, you know, I heard from several people who were there yesterday that said, while not a sellout, a boisterous, loud crowd, a helpful crowd, 75, 25, 80, 20, Washington to Cleveland fans, that's good to know.

Look, there's still some issues, clearly, with a lot of people and their, you know, willingness to kind of jump back in. And I get it. I feel a lot of those same things, but wow, the product on the field offensively is fun to watch. All right, quick around the NFL and a look ahead to next week after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I have found a product that I want to tell you about that works if you've got congestion. I have congestion primarily due to allergies in the springtime and then in the summer and fall. It can be all consuming that kind of congestion, hard to focus, hard to think, snoring, issues sleeping. But Navaj nasal care has been a game changer for clearing my congestion quickly.

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timeline.com slash sheen. That's timeline.com slash sheen. Mike Tarrico on the call. Nobody does it better than Tariko. Dallas with 20 seconds to go on a fourth and goal. Get the go-ahead touchdown, the game-winning touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Jalen Tolbert. It capped off a 15-place 70-yard drive with the game on the line and really what felt like a lot more than that on the line. I don't know how most Cowboy fans felt, but watching that game, I kind of felt like Dallas had to beat the Steelers last night. They've got a brutal schedule coming up. They played Detroit this week. They play the 49ers, Falcons, Eagles, Texans, and Washington after that.

You know, they got demolished at home in week two by the Saints. They lost to the Ravens in week three and, you know, they got that win in the Meadowlands against the Giants on Thursday night football. And then last night it just felt like against the Pittsburgh team that's good, really good defensively, but not great

offensively. They needed to come up with something and Dak Prescott after a rough night at times came through big time in the clutch. And Dallas is three and two. And they are a game behind Washington in the NFC East standings. That one was fun to watch if you stayed up that late.

By the way, the day yesterday that started 930 Eastern with the London game between the Jets and the Vikings and ended very late because the game didn't start until very late, it was the longest day of NFL football ever in terms of the number of hours that an NFL game was going on. There's a fun fact to know and tell. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and MyBooky will give you up to $1,000 as a cash bonus to kick off your sports betting at My Booky. All right, the Ravens six and a half point favorites over Washington at My Booky.

The total, 52 and a half. That's not the largest total on the board. Actually, it is. It is the largest total on the board. I was thinking that Dallas, Detroit might be a bigger total. And actually, they don't have the Detroit Dallas game up yet. Maybe that's why I didn't see it as I scrolled quickly. But Washington is a six and a half point dog at Baltimore on Sunday.

We'll get to that in a moment. Mybooky.ag, you have to use my promo code, Kevin D.C. So yesterday, real quickly, a couple of things. The day started early with the Jets and the Vikings. Man, the Jets are good defensively. or they were yesterday, and Sam Darnold did not look great. His QBR was like, I think, 12.5 or something like that. He threw a pick.

He fumbled, but Aaron Rogers threw three picks in the game. And the Jets still had a chance late, and then he threw the final pick of the day, back shoulder to Mike Williams, who was not looking for the football, which really hurt. And the Jets fall to two and three. Minnesota goes to five and oh on the year. Minnesota's defense is freaking nasty. Brian Flores doing an incredible job. The one o'clock window, so many exciting games.

You had the Ravens and the Bengals. The Bengals got way too conservative, I thought, after the Lamar fumble at the end of regulation, or I'm sorry, in overtime. And you got a bad snap on a long field goal that missed, and then Baltimore got the big run by Henry and walked it off in overtime with a kick. By the way, how about Justin,

Tucker coming up massive at the end of regulation with a 56-yard field goal to tie it at 38-38. He had had so many issues with long field goals, the greatest kicker maybe in history. And how about the day for Jamar Chase in Cincinnati? Ten catches, 193 yards on the day. Lamar Jackson, four touchdowns, 348. Derek Henry had a big run in overtime, 92 yards rushing, and the Ravens win for the consecutive week and ready themselves for a massive showdown Sunday at M&T Bank against Washington. How about Houston and Buffalo? Pretty critical discussion of Sean McDermott's handling of their

final drive backed up against their end zone. They went three straight throws. Texans win it on a walk-off field goal in that game. But here's what's stunning from that game. One of the worst percentage passing days in recent NFL history. Josh Allen in this football game was nine for 30. That is the lowest completion percentage by any quarterback with at least 30 attempts since 1992. Josh Allen was 0 for 13 on balls that traveled 15 yards or more, which was the worst showing by any quarterback since air yards were first tracked. back in 2006. Now, the criticism of Sean McDermott stems from how he handled the last offensive possession. The game was tied 20 to 20. The punt from Houston went down to the three-yard line. It was down to the three. Buffalo takes over from their own three-yard line in a

tie game with 32 seconds left and no timeouts. Houston had all three timeouts, and they threw the ball three straight plays, meaning Houston didn't have to call a timeout. Buffalo had to punt with 16 seconds to go from their own end zone, and the punt was fielded and returned 13 yards to the Buffalo 46 with seven seconds to go. And Houston, still with all three timeouts, was able to get a quick pass over the middle for five yards, call a timeout with two seconds left, fair baron in for a 59-yard field goal, which he made, and they lost 23 to 20. Totally fair criticism. Like, even if you had timeouts left, what are you doing? You run the ball, you force Houston to call. There are three timeouts, and then you punt it hopefully from a better position,

maybe not the three-yard line, maybe more like the nine or ten if you gain some yards, and you, you know, you're not hurt as much on the field position exchange. That's That's a really bad job. And the fact that they didn't have any timeouts and they're throwing the ball from their own end zone with 32 seconds left, trying to get in field goal range. With a guy who going into that drive was nine for 27, they deserve to lose. By the way, how quickly does the NFL change? After three weeks, Buffalo was a legitimate Super Bowl contender with their quarterback being the odds on favor to win the MVP.

They've now lost back-to-back games to good teams, the Ravens and the Texans. and their quarterback just had one of the worst days completion percentage-wise in recent memory. By the way, they play the Jets next week on Monday night football. And the AFC East is Buffalo at 3 and 2, the Jets at 2 and 3. And then Miami's at 2 and 3, they beat the Patriots. But obviously, without 2A, they're not much of a threat at all. Also in the 1 o'clock window was an absolute thriller between the Colts and the Jags. The Colts were down 34 to 20, and Flacco hit one bomb after another.

The dude is just bawling out at 38 years old. I think that's what he is. 359, three touchdowns on the day. He brought him back from 3420 down to tie the game at 3434. Indianapolis couldn't get off the field. They kicked a game-winning field goal to win at 37-34. Jacksonville gets their first win. The Colts take a tough loss.

Boy, it seems like they never can beat Jacksonville, right? Do I have that one right? The Colts have a good team. I think they've got a good team. That's not going to be a loss that they look back on with any sort of fondness. Then we get to the 4 o'clock window and the upset of the day, another big underdog, the Cardinals, winning at San Francisco 24, 23. Look, I didn't see any of this game.

So I can't tell you much, but I do know one thing. Kyler Murray needed to run for, and needs to run for Arizona to be effective offensive. Last week, one carry three yards. Part of that was Washington playing contain rush, but part of it was the game plan and the stupidity of dropping them back as much as they did. Yesterday, seven carries 83 yards and a touchdown in the game. Not only was it a touchdown, it was a 50-yard run for a touchdown. And that's what that guy can do. He can run around and make plays, including running 50 yards for a touchdown. San Francisco had a 10-point lead in this game going into the fourth quarter. 10-point lead going in to the fourth quarter. And here was another interesting thing about this game. Up 23 to 13, the Cardinals scored a touchdown to make it 23 to 19. They went for two to make it 23-21.

I don't think that that is on the analytics two-point chart at down four to go for two. It might be, I don't know. They went for two. They got it. And I don't think there was a penalty that gave them the short field opportunity before that. I don't think there was. But Arizona, who Washington beat 42 to 14 last week, they went on the road and beat the 49ers 24, 23. I know the 49ers are banged up, but still, I mean, the 49ers dropped to two and three losing to the Cardinals at home. And then the Rams are in big trouble. Look, this is is a banged-up football team. They lost 24 to 19 to the Packers. They're one and four. The Packers have done a nice job of weathering the storm without Jordan Love, and now he's back.

And then, you know, go figure, you know. It was my one smell test NFL winner. I had the Giants. They won 29-20. Seattle had a field goal to tie the game late, and it was blocked in return for a touchdown. Look, the Giants are not a terrible football team. They're not. Tyrone Tracy may be a bit of a revelation here. He was picked in the fifth round out of Purdue. He was a good college back. He was 18 for 129 in the game. They had no Devon Singletary.

They were able to run the football. Daniel Jones ran it. He threw for 257, two touchdowns in the game, no turnovers for him. And they beat Seattle coming in off a short week after that, you know, thriller on Monday night against Detroit. and Seattle drops to three and two, and the Giants improved to two and three. The NFL go figure, especially with big underdogs.

The smell test, by the way, college was five and five over the weekend. Bad start on Saturday, but came back big. Boy, the college games and the college upsets. I mean, Vandy over Alabama's all time. But, you know, Tennessee losing that game to Arkansas. and then somehow Miami rallying from 3510 down to come back and win that game. It was a hell of a college football Saturday, even though the slate didn't look like it was going to be big.

Next weekend, or this coming weekend, oh boy, Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State, USC. USC lost at Minnesota, so that takes some of the luster off that one. You get Ohio State, Oregon, obviously, Ole Miss LSU, K-State, Colorado, I mean, massive games upcoming. But, yeah, the smell test is now one game. I was one, two, and one in the NFL, five and five in college. No pick tonight for Kansas City, New Orleans. Lastly, and we will have all week to talk about it.

But I just want to leave you with this one thought. And that is Sunday's game against the Ravens in Baltimore is the biggest high-profile early-season game Washington's played in in decades. decades. This is not a game in which we're just interested. This is a game in which they tried to get flex to Sunday night. CBS protected it. This is a game where NFL fans, NFL pundits, NFL media will be focused on this game. This is a marquee early season NFL matchup. You will hear this week, get ready for it. You will hear at least once, I'm predicting. Is this a preview of the Super Bowl that we're going to watch Sunday at 1 o'clock? I mean, seriously, you'll hear that. It'll be question form. Is this game possibly a preview of the Super Bowl?

Washington's played in high-profile late-season games, 2012 for the division title against the Cowboys, 2016 Thanksgiving Day, 6-3-1 after they blew out the Packers on Sunday night football against 9-1 Dallas. That was a highly anticipated. built up game nationally. It was also on Thanksgiving. They have not played anything resembling this in September or October. In years, years. I can't, somebody could correct me if I'm wrong.

But in terms of this being a game in which, wow, this is a matchup of two really good teams that have a chance to do something special this year, and they're playing each other in week six. Gotta watch that game. I mean, 2000, you know, the Dion Sanders, et cetera, team that was predicted to be a Super Bowl contender. They didn't have, I mean, they played the Giants on Sunday night football that year. Nothing like this. You know, you go back to, I don't know, they've had some season openers on Monday night football or Sunday night football against the Cowboys.

No, it's, we haven't had a chance early in a season because almost all of the, their playoff seasons, the few that they've had, were late season runs. They weren't early season good starts. Even when they started 7 and 1 in 1996, which was the last time that they started 5 in 1 was 1996, Norv's team that started 7 and 1 that year, they didn't have a high profile game, like a big time matchup as a good team. They had a game in late November against San Francisco that was big at RFK. but that's later in the season. Get ready for it.

We'll be talking about it all week. All right, that's it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy. Back on the run with a big crease. Under the 25, the ball came out. Zakeas got down there to cover it up.