The Kevin Sheehan Show - No Moral Victories But....

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

Kevin, upon further review, had even more on the season-opening loss to the Eagles yesterday than he did in last night's postgame recap. Lots of Dan Quinn on today's show with his reflections of the 2-point play along with his description of Mikey Sanristil's poor game. Kevin added a major "clock management" element to his "game-take" and recapped a crazy first Sunday in the NFL. Exclusive High Roller bonus designed for bettors who want more firepower for this season. Double your money all the way up to $5000. Minimum deposit $1500. Use my promo code “DCVIP” at https://www.mybookie.ag/signup/?affid=3910. Join Thrive Market today during their 25% off Healthy Reset Sale now through September 19th! PLUSget $30 off your first 2 orders when you use my link ThriveMarket.com/sheehan. Join the millions who are already banking fee free with America’s #1 Choice forBanking. Head to Chime.com/sheehan. If you want to try Momentous Signature Spec Creatine, head to livemomentous.com and use codeSHEEHAN for up to 35% off your entire first order. Download the app today and use code SHEEHAN to get $150 instantly in Lineups if you win your first $5 Lineup! “PrizePicks. Run Your Game.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it, you don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Jayden, is there an option to go outside to a shot on that two-point play? It was an option, but I got to do my job too. You know, the defensive end played up, the field. You know, we had to look that we wanted. We just didn't execute it.

Jaden Daniels last night after the game explaining the failed two-point conversion that cost Washington a chance. chance to force overtime and win the opener at Philadelphia. Dan Quinn talked about the two-point conversion today. I will play that for you later on in this opening segment. The show's presenting sponsor is always Window Nation. If you need new windows, I highly recommend calling Windonation 86690 Nation. You can also go to WindowNation.com.

Windonation is a proud partner of Wounded Warrior Project. I did a post-game show after the game last night that included my initial things that I liked, didn't like, et cetera, the game recap. I will amend some of that in the next segment on today's late Monday afternoon, early Monday evening show. This from Barry. Barry writes, Kevin, I don't understand the hysteria of this fan base. six-point underdogs who played fast, aggressive defensively, and the offense has challenges against one of the best defenses in the NFL,

and now there is gnashing of teeth and anger over a close loss. I hate losing, but how can you not be excited about this team? The complaints about the defense giving up big plays, that's what the Vikings defense does. but I'll take 10 TFLs in all those three and outs all year long. They will be a force in the second half of the season. Thank you for that, Barry. I don't know what they'll be when we get to the second half of the season, Barry.

That's two months and another seven to eight games. But, you know, as far as the fan base being negative, gnashing their teeth, angry about the loss, I personally haven't gotten a lot of that since the end of the game. Now, I'm not, you know, a big fan of Twitter or social media during or immediately after games. I'm not, you know, I do tweet occasionally during games. You can follow me on Twitter at Kevin Sheen, D.C. I'm not super into spending time reading what others are thinking. I think you just miss too much of the game.

You know, I know guys that are at the game sitting in the press box that are super, you know, into tweeting, you know, a lot of the play by play. I don't know how they do it. Like I, you know, would miss too much of the game. But, Barry, let's be honest, you know, the Twitter, Washington fan base, fan media bubble, all do respect to it. I don't think you're missing much if you're not paying attention to it during an adjunct. after games. So if that's where you're getting the feeling that there's hysteria or anger or gnashing of teeth, I think is the way you described it.

Just stay off social media during or after games. I think the way you described, the way you thought about the game, Barry, it kind of aligns with a lot of what I thought. I did think they played fast and aggressively on defense. I did think they faced an experienced defense, which they did, that has very good players and a very good becoming a borderline legendary coordinator in Vic Fangio. They've been excellent together for a few years. So that challenge was a big one, especially when you haven't played football in many, many months. And you're debuting a new offensive scheme with a new offensive play caller.

And I definitely think, Barry, what you said, about 10 TFLs and getting the three and outs that they got yesterday. I mean, amen to that. I mean, it's just one game. And my big, you know, sort of annual game one, week one, you know, PSA public service announcement, borderline lecture on the podcast last night on the post game show was it's just one game. Don't jump. All right. It is rarely an indicator a week one is of things to come. But the defense was number one on my list of things that I really thought were good from the game,

even though they gave up far too many big plays. It really was sort of this conflict of the defense kept him in the game. And it also was at the top of the list of reasons why they lost. the six big explosive plays that Philadelphia had were truly impactful on the final result of the game. But Barry, 10 TFLs, I looked this up. The most in a game all last season in 2025 was 13 by the Browns. And that defense with Miles Garrett was first rate. The Eagles had 11 real drives in the game yesterday, punted seven times,

and Barry, they had four three and outs. As you mentioned, the three and outs were impressive. I'll take that most weeks against a good football team. I'd like to reduce the big explosives that they gave up, and I'd like to increase the takeaways because they had zero yesterday. But overall, Barry, the defense gave the team, I thought, a legit shot to win a game that most people didn't think that they would win. I'm not here telling you that there is a moral victory to a two-point loss.

I'm not. I would have loved for them to have stolen that game because you do have to win some of these games in September and October to make November and December meaningful. And that would have been a hell of a game to get. It would have been one of those, you know, as Eddie Jordan has said, and I've repeated this many times, It would have been a nut that they would have harvested early that really didn't seem available to them at times, although they were never out of the game. But yeah, I have not gotten a lot of the negativity, you know, whether it's from friends, people that I actually like talking to and interacting after the games. And even when I came in early this morning before radio and read a lot of the follow-up on. media before the radio show. I thought that for the most part, it was fairly positive. I mean,

there were actually some people who thought Jaden Daniels was terrible in the game. I don't know what you are looking at, the people that actually believe that that was true. I think you're just looking for a reason. I had him as a B grade in the game. He was exceptional in the fourth quarter, and I did give out a wrong stat. I had him at, I think it was nine for 11, but I said 89 yards and two touchdowns. It was 100 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He was exceptional in the fourth quarter and super clutch for sure.

First three quarters, not great, but I thought he did a good job managing the game when there wasn't a lot there. I got this from Evan. Evan wrote, Kevin, did you know that you were a two-point play away from your prediction of the game going to overtime tied at 24-24? Evan, I was thinking about that. I predicted Washington 2724 in overtime on Friday show. I was thinking about that.

I'll also mention, though, that I did have Washington in the smell test plus the five and a half. I had them personally for size as well. So the only way that I could lose my wager was overtime. You know, Philly scores a touchdown. Washington doesn't score. But let me just say, trust me, I wanted that two-point conversion badly, even though it would have put at risk my wager of Washington plus five and a half. I think the way that the offense was playing in that moment,

and the way Jaden had gotten hot, I think we would have had a very good chance in overtime, had the game gone to overtime. Keep in mind, Philadelphia would have gotten the ball back with about a minute to go with field goal being the goal. And who knows, maybe they go three and out, and Washington gets a last chance in regulation. We'll never know because they didn't make the two-point conversion.

But yes, I will. was thinking about that. I was also thinking about the plus five and a half, but I would have gladly, you know, put my wager on Washington plus five and a half at risk with an overtime, with a chance for them to win the game outright. All right. On the two-point conversion, what I played for you coming in, Jaden, because on the show last night on the post game recap, I said that I don't know for sure, but I guessed that there was an option on the two-point conversion and that Jaden was reading the edge defender, Hunt, number 58.

And on that play, if Hunt plays the quarterback, plays Jaden, it's a shovel to Bates. If he crashes down, Jaden keeps it, and he's got Rashad White in the flat, or he could run it in if White is covered. Look, I think White was open regardless. Now, would the throw have been easy? Jaden right-handed, moving left,

if Hunt was playing it the way he was, which was playing Jaden, I think Jaden could have made that throw. And I think that Rashad White could have made the catch, and I think he would have waltzed in. But Jaden said that that was the way, it was played and that the option that he decided on was dictated by that defender. So yeah, so that's, it's good to know that that's exactly what they had.

What I'd like to know, and I was wondering if Quinn would mention this because he was asked about the two-point conversion after sleeping on it. What did he think? And I'm going to play that for you in a moment. But I just wonder if a Conquo had been healthy and in the game. would he have been in the Bates role? They don't play the same position. I understand that,

but I wonder whether or not a Conquo could have been the guy that they had practiced the play with. Maybe they practiced it with all tight ends. Look, they practiced those two-point plays. They've got two-to-three two-point plays that they have worked on all week long that they're bringing to this game against that opponent.

They like this play. And look, the play itself, and, you know, talked a little bit about this, but not in great detail. But after going back and watching it a little bit more, Allegretti definitely didn't do his part to seal Ajomo, number 97, but Ajomo made a fabulous play. You know, sometimes you got to credit the opponent. Yes, Aligretti got beat badly by the spin move by,

by Morrow Jomo, number 97. But that's a phenomenal play by a D tackle. How did he even read that? It was coming back inside on a shovel. Anyway, yeah, Nick Allegretti struggled a little bit, and certainly the seal that they were looking for from him on that play did not happen, and Jomo blew up the play. And if it did happen, I think,

The play works. I think Bates gets into the end zone because it was one player that really ended up making the play for Philadelphia. And that one player was Nick Allegrety's block that he was unable to make. This was Dan Quinn earlier today after sleeping on the two-point play decision, the actual play itself, which let me just mention, I said it last night. and I still feel the same way today. Questioning play calling is dangerous, of course, but I didn't love it.

Like, I liked what Brady said. You know, it's not about the plays in that spot. It's about the players. Let's make sure that if there is an option, that their best players are involved in either option. And no offense to Bates, but they had better options. Jaden Daniels was a better option.

Antonio Williams with the way he was playing. Stefan Diggs, they had better options. That's all. But this was Quinn after sleeping on it and thinking about the actual play call itself. Here's what he said. I thought it was a good play. It was one that we had practiced. Their player also made a good play, spinning out of the block with Nick to kind of stuff the play to go.

But with a well-executed play, I think we really got a great chance to go execute the two-point play, which is going to lead to overtime and others. But it's an effective two-point play. It's an effective, you know, low red zone play. So I don't want to just, you know, base it purely on the outcome. The execution is definitely a part of that. And also give credit to Philadelphia, you know, their defensive tackle has certainly made a good play. Yeah, he did.

Jomo made a very, very good play, a very athletic play for a defensive tackle. Two things can be true at the same time. Jomo made a very good play, and Nick Allegretti didn't. And that cost Washington as much as anything else. It's true, the play had a very good chance to work. I just personally would have chosen to go in a different direction with my best players, rather than rely on Nick Allegretti blocking one of their, excellent interior defensive lineman.

That is the strength of the Philadelphia defense, although they've got several areas of strength on that defense. But whether it's Carter or Davis or a Jomo, that was an area that I personally would have preferred they steer clear of. Anyway, Quinn and his press conference earlier today had a couple of other sound bites that I want to play for you. I'll do that in the next segment. I'll also recap my game take with a few amendments, including more of an emphasis on what I thought was the worst defensive play of the game.

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install those new windows in a day or less. 86690 Nation or windownation.com. So I think the worst defensive call of the game, and I mentioned it in my recap last night, but I also had a chance to go back today and watch the play on the All-22. And that is Philadelphia's first scoring drive of the game. It came, the touchdown did, early in the second quarter, on a third and goal from the 17-yard line. And Washington, pre-snap, pre-snap, walked seven players up to the line of scrimmage.

Now, they only rushed four. They dropped three. The dropping players were Leo Chanel, Frankie Louvre, and Jeremy Reeves. But on third and goal from the 17, we've all watched football long enough to know. you've got either three rushing with eight in coverage. If you're going to rush four, you've got seven in coverage. But they're not lining up seven at the line of scrimmage because that's the way you get beat in a tightly condensed area on a third goal from the 17. Goddard ran by everybody.

That's inexcusable. They should have had multiple players back in the end zone or at the goal line with. the idea that everything stays in front of us and we rally to make the tackle. Jeremy Reeves and Frankie Louvre and they were the ones dropping to Dallas Goddard's side. They got a late drop because they were up feigning blitz at the line of scrimmage and I understand that's what this defense is going to be about, going to be about giving that quarterback something to think about and trying to create some chaos at the line of scrimmage. but there are down and distance situations and field position situations where you've got to protect against touchdown.

Third and goal from the 17, a team should not be able to line up and go through only one progression and go to the first read and score on it. And yet that's exactly what Philadelphia did. This is what Dan Quinn said about that play today. I was wondering what happened on that play that kind of left him wide open in the back of the end zone. I guess what would you have preferred to see there? Yep. On the play, it was a version of cover two. And so on that particular play, they had four verticals.

And anytime you play two, man, like your pass rush has to be on point because the outside guys are getting rerouted. And we were just talking to Nikki a moment ago, like of how do you help on the outside guys where there's a safety over the top? and it's you're vulnerable down to the seam. So I'd say in that down and distance, you know, you'd like to see us align differently, you know, where we could, you know, maneuver our guys into the right locations to go. I'll definitely give credit to them on the space to go.

But on that particular one, there's definitely one that we can, you know, adjust how we would play it as well. So that's what happened on it where you're vulnerable down the seams and that's where they hit. Dan Quinn, saying, I think, as nicely as he can, he didn't like the call either. When he said, I'd say in that down and distance, you'd like to see us align differently? Yeah, no kidding. You don't want to be

dependent on a pass rush getting home on third and 17. You want that throw to be checked down and rally to tackle short of the goal line and watch the field goal kicker come out and boot one through the uprights for three. That was the absolute worst call of the day that I could find. I talked about it on the post game last night, but watching the All-22 was just infuriating. I would think, and I thought Durante Jones did a nice job overall. I really enjoyed watching them defensively yesterday for the first time in several years.

But that's one I would guess he'd love to have back. You should not be able to score a touchdown on your first read on third and goal from the 17. All right. My game take from yesterday included a couple of amendments. I'll run through it real quickly. The list of things that I liked from the game yesterday included the defense. I just loved the fact that the defense essentially played on the other side of the line of scrimmage. excellent pressure all day.

I thought they were excellent against the run. I thought the tackling was really, really solid for an opener. Saquan Barkley, by the way, had the one big run, and that one counts. The 42-yarder counts. The other 14 carries were for 41 yards. You can do that math. I can do that math. 2.9 yards per carry on the other carries in the game.

You know, three sacks, lots of pressures, a total of 10 TFLs, as we talked about in the open. Seven punts in the game, four, three and outs. I just, it was a pleasant watch. We haven't had that in a while. I loved the aggressiveness. Yes, they got burned with six big plays, and that ended up topping the list of things that I did not like from the game yesterday. But I thought overall there were several players that popped. I mentioned some of them on the postgame last night.

I'll start with Sunny Stiles. I really thought that as a blitzing linebacker, he was excellent, the play that he made going through Barclay to get to Jalen Hertz, who was exceptional. He made a really good play in space for a TFL. I thought that he really popped. I thought Nick Cross was outstanding. He had two TFLs in the game.

After watching a bunch of the All-22, I'd have to say that I was really impressed with Javon Kinlaw in the game. Tim Settle in the game. Ameek Robertson in the game. He was out there for 55, you know, pretty much all of the snaps defensively. I thought he was exceptional in coverage. There were a lot of defensive players that popped away for sure. I thought Rassul Douglas had some really good plays in the game as well.

But that was number one on the list. The defense gave him a legit shot. It also took away the opportunity to win the game in many ways as well. Also on the list of good from the game, was Antonio Williams, and man, he was really good. He was difficult to cover when they got to the second half. Philly probably was getting worn down the heat to humidity a little bit, but Antonio Williams was creating a ton of space with his route running, as was Diggs.

And I thought he was really good. Look, the Jaden Daniels summary is that Jaden had a decent game. He had a B-level game. The QBR, which I did not have last night, was a 66 plus. That's decent. Somebody put the PFF grade out on the Internet, and it was 70-something. Hold on. I have that.

Let me just find that real quickly. Yeah, his PFF grade was the third highest in the game offensively behind Antonio Williams and Sam Cosmi. I thought Cosmi was outstanding for sure. But Jaden did a really good job of managing the football game when there wasn't a lot there. You know, he must have had six to seven throwaways. I wasn't counting him. I was going to go back and count the number of times that he avoided a negative play by throwing it away.

He didn't force anything. That game was winnable. The score never got to the point where you had to press offensively. The reason that David Blow stuck with the run is, you get a lot of too high with Vic Fangio. You've got to be able to run the football. And they didn't really run it effectively, at least not consistently effective with the run game.

But you've got to make them eventually get out of that by running the football. Logan Paulson told us last week that the game tape that he went back and watched was the Chicago game on Black Friday against Philadelphia, when the Bears literally made Philadelphia, you know, bow to their run game. And they stayed in that too high and Chicago kept running it. And Logan explained the way they ran the football. Washington was sticking with the run.

They were incredibly balanced, you know, 70 offensive snaps. And essentially, 32 of them were runs. Now, there were some penalties in there, too. Of the actual snaps that counted, 34, 35 pass pass. plays, 32 run plays. I didn't have a problem with that. The game never got to a point where they needed to chase the game or chase the score. And Jaden played it that way.

I give him a lot of credit. Now, was he rusty? Yeah, there were a couple of throws. There was a bad miss on an out to digs that he didn't step into. There was a floater when he extended a play down the field to digs that he missed on the Terry so-called drop. It was not a great throw. He had some throws where the accuracy wasn't great in the first three quarters.

And then he lit it up in the fourth quarter with just one clutch play after another. It all started with that scramble at the end of the third quarter. But Jaden's fourth quarter overall was on my good list. I thought the offensive line did a decent job. And I said it last night. and I stand by it today. Yes, there were probably a couple of performances, including Allegretti, that weren't outstanding,

but he's also matched up against their best. Cosmi was solid, but Jaden had time. It was about getting people open in the game. The dire, dire warnings about the offensive line, again, I know where they came from. They came from summer reviews, and they just are worthless as we talked about all August. Yes, I'm thinking about next year essentially taking the month of August off.

I'm kidding, although I did take more time off this August than I've taken in some time. But I thought the O line did a decent job. I kind of took Kroski Merritt off of my good list. I thought he was just okay in watching the All-22. I thought that there were some opportunities for both him, and Rashad White that weren't taken advantage of. I actually thought Ketron Allen in his four carries because he came in after Kroski-Mert fumbled. Kroski-Mirid, I don't think, saw the field again.

And I thought Ketron Allen did a pretty nice job. I am concerned a little bit about the running back position. You know, they don't have a great one. I think that's obvious. The question is, do they have a good one or in the aggregate, do they have a good one? You know, Rashad White looked slow to me. He looked slower than he looked in Tampa. And it's not that he's an old player.

He's 27 years old. He's never been fleet. He's never been fast. But he's always been more decisive. We'll see what it looks like. You know, these guys haven't played football in a long time. But I'm a little bit concerned because I know that David Blow wants to be able to run the football. You know, and against a too high Vic Fangio,

defense. You've got to be able to run the football. It's hard to run it against Philadelphia because they're really good defensively. But I took Kroski-Mert, the fumble along with a couple of missed opportunities, I thought, in the run game, although his touchdown run was really, really a sign of how much stronger he is as a back. Their fourth-down conversions run my good list. And I talked about this, you know, Tressway was outstanding. the game. I mean, he's talking about retiring after this year. I mean, he had a 60-yard punt. He

averaged over 53 yards. There's probably one he'd love to have put inside the 10 that went into the end zone. And then I added Jalen Lane to the list. He was really good as a returner. You know, no McCaffrey, no Birx. Both of those guys were inactive. Be interesting to see what they do against Dallas. They ran a lot of 11 personnel. in the game. That was noticeable with Diggs, Terry, and Williams out there. And Chig, in the first half, split out as a wide receiver as well. But yeah, it'd be interesting to see if McCaffrey and Brooks are down again. They don't need McCaffrey up as a returner. Jalen Lane is very capable of being a punt returner and a kick returner for sure.

The list of things that I didn't think were very good. The too many big plays were crucial. They gave up six big plays, the 64-yarder to Wix. The third and goal from the 17, inexcusable. Barclay's 42-yard run, the third and five, 31-yarder to Devante Smith, which was a great throw by Hertz. Hertz's scramble was the most devastating play, certainly of the game because of where it came.

up 17, 16, 22-yard run. I thought, by the way, if I didn't mention this in my recap last night, I thought Jalen Hertz was really good in the game. And then, of course, the touchdown to Goddert. Dean Blandino was the rules official on the broadcast who said that it was a legal play. And looking at it, I think it was. Goddard's allowed to move laterally. You can't have two people moving at the same time.

I don't think the left tackle moved. I think it was a legal play. Washington needed to do a better job of not pointing, pointing, but making sure they were ready for a play that sometimes does get snapped without a flag. And then San Ristill was dreadful. Dreadful in the game. And he was asked about Dan Quinn was, about Mike San Ristill's game,

about losing Wicks on the 64-yarder and then losing him on the touch. pass. Here's what Dan Quinn said today. Dan, with Mikey up, the two plays, he seemed to be on the wrong end on the 60 plus yard or then the touchdown in the corner. I don't know if there was any correlation. I couldn't tell if he was maybe pausing for some reason. What did you kind of see on those two plays? And it's kind of where is he at at this point in his third year? Yeah, sure. The touchdown play definitely felt like as the motion got over it, man, like you have to go get set. And like, those are things that, like,

we have to get corrected. We've definitely identified a few things that, like, hey, man, these are the things that we have to get corrected. Mike's a very good competitor. I'm certain that we will, but have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time, like completely not acceptable. On the second play, the deep pass play that I think you're referring to, kind of the same thing as you lost track of the ball, like finish it out, man. And so I think that's the lesson in the game. It wasn't schematically related to him or something that communication error,

are some normal things that go into like a big play to go. So that's definitely the things we identify with him. And I'm certain that you'll work on that. We definitely need to. It's just one game. But Sanra still did not have a good season last year. And when you hear Dan Quinn say, these are the things that we have to get corrected.

Mike's a very good competitor. I'm certain that we will. But to have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time completely not acceptable. Look, they don't have a lot of options right now with Trey Amos out, and he's out for at least four weeks. They played a lot of zone yesterday. I don't have the actual numbers,

but in looking at the all 22, I think they were in zone 70% of the time. But you still have to pick up somebody when you were in zone when they come into your zone. And I think the lack of focus on that touchdown play, it really appeared to be the case, didn't it? Mikey Sanra still, you know, a long way away from that rookie season where everything was really, really positive. There were a couple of other things that I wanted to add to the list of things that weren't good from the game. it was very clear that there was not a lot open. Brady's, you know, describing it, as I talked about last night, Brady's saying that Jaden didn't have a lot. You could see it on the All-22. There's not a lot there. They were also bracketing a bit in their zone coverage, Terry, which certainly would account for the lack of targets. It made it, you know, it made Diggs and Antonio Williams difficult covers for sure. But I still would have done.

done something to get Terry a touch. But I want to emphasize this because I think it's a big part of the Terry conversation. He's not a force feed receiver. It's not the kind of receiver he is. He's not a guy that you go into saying it doesn't matter what they're doing defensively. We got to get him 15 targets. That's what you do with Justin Jefferson or, you know, Jamar Chase. he's not that kind of a receiver, and he doesn't create a lot of space. He's good typically against zone, and there were some plays, like, there were some obvious plays where he was being shaded in their zone coverage and, you know, covered a little bit in a bracketed kind of a situation.

But, yeah, you've got to go where your reeds take you. You're not force-feeding Terry McClure. You're just not. The Diggs penalty, I mentioned it last night. It's just so stupid. You've got to have, as a veteran player in particular, you've got to have a better sense of game situational awareness. You're down eight, Diggs?

You're down eight. You should have been sprinting back to the huddle to say, we're going for two. Like we're down 17, 15. We got a chance to tie this game. after I caught that touchdown pass. And instead he's over there hugging the goalpost and preventing the opportunity to go for two.

It's just, it's ridiculous when stuff like that happens. And I thought he was really good in the game too. And I think he's going to be really good for this team as a pass receiver this year. He is an exceptional space-creating route runner. There is no doubt about that. But just stupid. and look, you know, what if that game had ended 17, 16?

Can you imagine? Or what if it had ended 20 to 16? What if Philadelphia kicked a field goal in Washington's down there at the end? And it could have been 20 to 17 where they could have kicked a field goal to tie, but now they're throwing a Hail Mary into the end zone on the last play of the game because they needed a touchdown. I mean, there's also if they had missed the two-point conversion following the digs touchdown at 17 to 15. and you know now you need two scores, two possessions,

so maybe you kick a field goal pre two minute warning with still two timeouts left, and it's 24 to 18, you get the ball back with a chance to win the game. There's so many things cause and effect-wise from that, but you've got to have the opportunity to go for two there, and he prevented it, you know, single-handedly. There were too many sloppiness, you know, items, Washington out-slopped Philadelphia drop passes to delay a game penalties,

wasted timeouts, one in the first half on offense, one in the second half on defense, and then the critical one before the fourth and two that Jaden completed to Terry. Blocked extra point. Jalen Carter, wow, missed 54-yard field goal. That would have obviously been significant in the game as well. And then I'm going to end with an additional. addition to the list of things that I didn't like. And that addition is, I've said this many times over the years. I'm actually surprised that I didn't have it last night. It wasn't egregious,

okay, the clock management at the end of the game. It wasn't. The most important thing is you've got to, you have to score a touchdown down 2416. They took a time out before the fourth and two. That's a crucial loss of a timeout. But if they didn't think they had the right play, you have to convert the fourth and two, or you have no chance to win the game. I think the biggest issue about that last drive is, I think there needed to be more urgency. I've talked about an eight-point lead many times over the years that it is not usually, typically a one-score game, even though it gets described repeatedly as a one-score game. Matt LaFleur last night took three points off the board that would have given the Packers an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.

And he said if it had been a kick to make it a two-score game, I would have kept the points rather than taking the penalty. Well, an eight-point lead is more times than not based on two-point conversion historicals, which are slightly less than 50%. it means that the probability is an eight-point lead is a two-score game, and you should treat it as such when you are down eight at the end of a football game. And they didn't. Now, they went hurry up and no huddle on a couple of plays, but you've got to try to get, you've got two timeouts. They ended up burning one of them before the fourth and two.

You really have to try your best to get that touchdown before the two-minute warning. with still two timeouts left in the event that you miss the two-point conversion because again an eight-point deficit is not typically a one-score game it's more often a two-score game you know they ran the ball with kron allen on that last drive a few times uh this was a drive that started with six minutes to go after the goddard you know third and six touchdown and they ended up scoring with a minute one left on the clock and just one time out, which meant you had to kick the onside kick. You know, even if they had that other timeout back with a minute one, you still got to kick the on side kick. Because even if you get two stops, you know, after a punt,

if you force a punt, it's going to be a few seconds left on the clock. You really need with two timeouts, a minute 30 plus to have, if you're in need of a field goal at that point. But I think that there is some justifiable criticism of their lack of urgency on that final drive. You got to score. I'm not advocating that you put the play at risk or you put touchdown at risk for hurrying or you put the play at risk on fourth and two when you don't have a good play and it's better to call that time out to get the play right. I understand that. You know, I'm sure. they didn't want to use the timeout either. But maybe if they didn't call the time out, the play would have been a bad one,

and it would have been, for the most part, a stop and game over anyway. Anyway, the other observations really focused on the fact that, you know, there were, you know, the flea flicker on the first drive, usually you want to set a play up like that. It was their first drive. They hadn't set anything up at that point. I mentioned just that there were no turnovers in this game. Neither team gave the ball away. The one opportunity was the one that Connerley Jr.

saved on the Bill Crosky Merit Fumble. But Washington's got to get takeaways this year. This defensive style, I think, will lead to more. It'd be hard to have less than 10, which is what they had last year. The deep shot to Diami, I went back and looked at that. That is a penalty. But we got away with one Douglas against Wix. But the one to Diami deep where Jaden's pressured and he throws it deep, that's got to be flagged.

They missed that. That was a big play in the game. And then the injuries overall to Owens, Chig, Louvre, and Jordan McGee, Dan Quinn didn't have much information on any of those today. said it would be Wednesday when he had more. But Owens was an ankle. How about his kick coverage that went viral? He's a beast athletically.

I love Tyler Owens on special teams. He said that was an ankle and the others are hamstrings. Man, Louvo and Chig and Owens are really important players to this team. So let's hope they're healthy and they have a chance to play Sunday against Dallas. Dorrance Armstrong will be back for the Dallas game. Let's not forget. He was their best defensive player last year. Dallas right now a three and a half point favorite at My Bookie Sunday at 425. All right. When we come back, what Dan Quinn said today about Sunny Stiles' first game, and we'll go around the NFL a bit. I'll give you my thoughts on what was an incredible scoring day in NFL history. Get to that. after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, creatine's one of the most researched and effective supplements available, but as the category has exploded, most brands have focused on things like flavors,

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to do, follow the podcast, just hit the plus button or the follow button. Officially, Dorrance Armstrong, reinstated by the league just moments ago. So he will be available to return Sunday against the Cowboys. Ironically, that's where he got hurt last year, was in Dallas in week seven. Sunny Stiles and Antonia Williams. And by the way, Joshua Joseph's as well, I'll throw him in there. Pretty decent debuts for the draft class, 2026. Long way to go.

One game does not make a career, obviously, just like one, you know, joint practice or one preseason game does not make a career. How about some of the ridiculous statements about Sunny Stiles in early to mid-August? Look, they might be right. One game doesn't, you know, a career make. But he played well yesterday. And I mentioned last night and even today. He played well as a blitzer.

And this is what Quinn emphasized when he talked about Sunny Stiles in his first NFL game earlier today. I think you guys have been hearing me talk. I've been definitely laying some breadcrumbs. I don't know if you were following them or not. But he, I had said all along, I was excited to show his blitz ability. And he didn't do a ton of it, you know, his previous year playing at Ohio State, but he was definitely, you know, could run and hit. So we knew that was going to be part of his game. Part of being a blitzer is like, you know, using your physicality on the block and then the next time to change it up where you have to go about it differently.

But I liked not just in the past game, but he also had a good TFL to wrap up on. So in that game, you saw him, you know, covering kicks. You saw him, you know, being our green dot when Frankie left and making some big plays. So I thought that's a sign of a mature young player who impacted the game in some different ways. And so when ready for that moment, I thought he really delivered. As first games go, you know, to have a sack in your first one or, you know, a big play here and there. I think that's a sign of things to come for him. He really is into his preparation to make sure he's detailed and on it.

But at the end of it, like I said, one of the things I liked about the defense was just their overall physicality. and Sonny was very much a part of that. I thought the beginning of that answer from the coach was interesting where he said, you know, if you guys have been paying attention, essentially I've been laying breadcrumbs, like I've been giving you clues over the last several weeks about Sunny Stiles. Look, I don't know if he was or wasn't. I do listen to a lot of those press conferences

because I think that's actually where you can look. learn something about what's going on during August. I hope he wasn't laying those breadcrumbs because he was hearing some of the absolute absurd hyperbolic criticism of Sunny Stiles from the preseason games. But, you know, he talked about him being a blitzer. That's what he was excellent at yesterday. And as he mentioned, didn't do that a lot at Ohio State.

And then with the loss of Louvo, he ended up getting the green dot. He played some special teams. And then, you know, I think that Quinn sang towards the end of that bite that I just liked the defense and the overall physicality. And Sonny was a very much a part of that. Sunny Stiles is like a good fit for a Brian Flores slash Durante Jones defense. I'll tell you who else is. Frankie Louvue is. They need him healthy.

that combo of him and Stiles and even Leo Chanel, that's going to be a big part of their success defensively this year. I really believe that. All right. I think that's it about yesterday. Tommy will join me on tomorrow's show. We'll get his thoughts, and I'm sure I'll have more by the time we get there. How about yesterday in the NFL?

Sunday's games averaged 53. point three points per game. It made it the highest scoring week one Sunday in NFL history. The week in total is at 50 points per game entering tonight's Monday night opener between Denver and Kansas City. And if that holds up, it would mark the overall week one record in the era of post-merger 1970. It was an absurd scoring day, so much for, you know, defenses ahead of offense this time of year. This league never, never is predictable. Some of the games yesterday that I'll mention, the Chicago

Carolina game, remember Ben Johnson a few weeks ago saying that he was aware of the all-time highest scoring average in NFL history. And he thought his 2026 Chicago Bears could become the highest scoring team in NFL history. Well, they got off to a pretty good start, 59 to 37 over Carolina. I did give out the Panthers plus three and a half. That was one of my two losses all weekend long. Three and O on Saturday with the smell test, three and two yesterday. So 6 and 2 on the weekend.

But this was the highest scoring week one game in NFL history. The 59 points scored by Chicago were the most in a week one for that franchise in its history. And the yardage in this game, over a thousand yards, they combined the two, teams did for a thousand and 30 yards, 50 first downs in the game. Chicago was 10 of 14 on third down in the game, and Caleb Williams was spectacular. 21 of 29 for 269, two touchdowns, and he rushed for 65 yards on 10 carries. The bears rushed in the game for 200. 91 yards, a buck 24 from D'Andre Swift, and 100 yards on 10 carries from the guy from Rutgers

last year, Kyle Menangai, who was great as a rookie and had a great start to his second season. Chicago over Carolina, 59 to 37. And let me just tell you, because I had that game as one of the games I was paying attention to, because I bet it, Bryce Young was outstanding in the game. You know, they were really good offensive. at the end of last year. And he started off throwing three touchdowns and for 361 yards in the game.

I think the Panthers, you know, have a chance to be, you know, in that mix. Certainly. They won the division last year. Let's not forget that with a losing record, of course. But the Bears, man, what a start for them. They get the Vikings in week two at Soldier Field. By the way, they get the Eagles in week three.

The Vikings rallied from a 22 to 10 deficit, ran off 29 unanswered to beat the Packers, 39 to 22. Kyler Murray concussed on what I thought was a cheap shot early in the game. Carson Wentz came in, Wence likely to be the starter against the Bears on Sunday. Let me look at what that early line is. I'm going to guess Chicago's going to be laying a decent size number, at least a touchdown. Chicago's laying six. Okay. I thought it might have been a little bit more against the Vikings.

But the Vikings were literally getting their ass kicked for three quarters. And then there was a key sequence. Up 22 to 17, I mentioned it earlier. Matt Lafleur opted for a field goal on fourth and six, which was the right call. The field goal was good, but there was an off-sides penalty against Minnesota. And Lafleur took the points off the board. and went for a fourth and one, and it was a long one,

and got stopped on a quarterback sneak. It flipped the game entirely. They should have had a 25 to 17, eight-point lead. And as I mentioned, he said, if the field goal had given us a two-score lead, I would have kept it. Well, an eight-point lead typically is a two-score lead. There was a lot good from Green Bay for three quarters, and then it all went wrong.

39 to 22, the final in that one. How about the Buffalo Houston game? This is a matchup between two teams that everybody really likes in the AFC. Houston because of the defense, Buffalo because of everything. Look, it's week one. I think the Houston defense is going to be really good this year. I do. They gave up 400.

yards, 36 points in the game. Two crucial turnovers by C.J. Stroud, both fumbles, including one at the very end of the game. I watched a lot of this game. I thought C.J. Stroud was really good, except for the two turnovers. He's got seven turnovers in his last two games going back to the playoff game in Foxborough. That was quite a season opener. And look, could have some ramifications. seating-wise when we get late into the season, because I do think these two teams will be good football teams. The Bengals held on for a six-point win against an error-laden Tampa team, Baker-Mayfield, three lost fumbles in the football game.

3327 Cincinnati over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in that first game. Look, a lot of people like Cincinnati and Joe Burrough threw a 10. terrible pick six in the game. But man, does he have weapons? Including, by the way, I'm just going to mention, because I've been a fan of his since he came out of Illinois. Chase Brown's a really, really good NFL back, a bit underrated. How about the comeback by the Saints that they nearly completed in overtime? I had the Saints in the Smell Test. Down 21-0. It was a no-chanceer. There was no chance that was going to cover getting seven. They couldn't do anything for nearly three quarters. And then Tyler Shuck lit up the lions in the late third quarter and

fourth quarter, brought him back to force overtime. Detroit scored in overtime. The Saints scored, went for the two and missed it. Shuck through for 410 yards, almost three-fourths of it coming in the second half. And in overtime, Jemir Gibbs, 29 carries 156 yards. By the way, a name to kind of keep an eye on, all right? A seventh round pick from 2024. Devon Velae, a receiver who got picked by Denver in the 2024 draft, had 41 catches, played a bunch last year but didn't necessarily produce. This is a 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound receiver with excellent hands.

He had seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown for the Saints yesterday. day. Alave, by the way, 10 catches 182 yards in the game. The Saints lost it, but man, I think they gave fair warning that they're a football team. I liked them at the end of last year. I picked them to win the NFC South. We'll see what happens. It certainly didn't look good for the first three quarters. The Ravens, man, Derek Henry, he just doesn't age. 24 carries 144 yards, three touchdowns at 32 years. years old to become number three by himself on the all-time touchdown list. Lamar had a fumble in the game, but threw for 324 on just 17 completions. 324 yards. Indy could not stop the Ravens. Zay Flowers came up big, but also injured a hamstring in the game. The big upset of the day, every survivor pool had at least a third of the entries on the chargers. They, They lost outright at home against the Cardinals. I probably should have given the Cardinals out,

but I would have given the Browns out as well, so it would have been a wash. But typically the two biggest dogs, week one, one of them covers, if not wins outright, to mess up survivor pools. You know, Arizona's got Jacoby Brissette, who's not a terrible quarterback. You know, he's not an elite level starter.

I'm not saying that, but he's always been more than serviceable. They've got Tyler Algier and the rookie Jeremiah Love in the backfield. They've got one of the best two or three tight ends in the game in Trey McBride. And they've got Marvin Harrison Jr., who has not yet done anything great in his first two years in the NFL. But he was the third or fourth overall pick in that 20-24 draft. Would have been the fourth pick, right? Because we went quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback with Williams, Daniels and May.

2614 over the Chargers in the opener. An absolute stutter in that one. What else? Oh, the Giants Cowboys from last night. Seven possessions each team. That was it. The Cowboys had two possessions in the second half. They scored touchdowns on both.

Just two times they touched the football in the second half of that football game. That is crazy. It was a terrible defensive night. for Dallas. And there was a lot of hope, and I'm not saying that it's over, because week one again, head fake, but the Giants rolled up. Listen to this. 9 of 11 on third down, 394 yards, and 29 first downs total. And Jackson Dart played smart, didn't take hits even when he scrambled, 23 of 29 for 233 touchdowns, and the Giants beat the Cowboys 2820 in the opener. It was just a bad, bad defensive night.

And a lot of drop passes, it seemed like, when I was watching the game last night. I was finishing up the recording of the podcast when it started, and I thought I saw a couple of drops by Pickens and Lamb. Look, I know everybody loves the Cowboys this year. It seems like it. I'm not necessarily buying into it. I don't know what I'm buying into.

I think the Giants have a great roster. I'm not a Jackson Dart guy. He might prove me wrong. Many have. Prescott, I think he's a good quarterback. I've never thought he was an elite level quarterback. Dallas and Washington next week with one team leaving that game, O and 2. Unless, of course, there's a tie in the game.

What else from yesterday? Man, Aaron Rogers had three touchdown passes dropped. Two by D.K. Metcalf and one by Roman Wilson. Yet they were able to beat a pretty bad Atlanta Falcons team. Not a bad defensive team. They're pretty good on defense. Cooper Rush, though, was in a quarterback for them. I thought I had that game on one of the sets.

I thought Rogers, once again, looked like he can still sling it with the best of them. The Raiders got a win over the Dolphins. Kirk was excellent in the first half through two picks in the second half, but Ashton Genty was the star of that game. I'm telling you, Clint Kubiak's system is going to be really good for Ashton Genty. I think Kubiak's going to be a good coach. I'm just throwing that out there, you know, straight from, obviously, the Kevin O'Connell, you know, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan Tree, his dad, Gary Kubiak with Mike Shanahan all those years.

I think Clint's got a really interesting demeanor to him as well. He is just no BS. I think he's going to be a good coach. Watch the Raiders this year, but watch the Raiders organizationally over the next few years, especially when Mendoza takes over. Deshawn Watson, terrible. Todd Munkin, man, first game, he's trying to sell everybody on Deshawn Watson, and Watson was horrendous.

I do like Jacksonville, though. I liked them last year. I think that's a team that could really be a good team this year as well. And then the only other game, Jets beat the Titans. Titans, you know, Cam Ward against that jet defense was not very good. Gino Smith is the best quarterback that Jets have had in a while. He was 19 of 24 for 215 yards. No mistakes, no sacks.

All right. That'll do it for today. No smell test pick in tonight's Monday night game. I'll be back tomorrow with Tommy.