The Kevin Sheehan Show - Optimistic About Skins' Defense?

Episode Date: May 8, 2019

Kevin opens the show talking about whether or not the optimism about the Redskins' defense is warranted. He and Aaron spent some time on the Nats' late-inning meltdown in Milwaukee. Kevin talked NBA Playoffs and the "woe is me" vibe Joel Embiid is spreading. He finished up with a few NFL surprise teams in 2019. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I am here. Aaron is here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 8-6-690 Nation, or go to Window Nation.com and tell them that we told you to call. Today is May 8th. The Redskins open up their preseason in Cleveland on August 8th, and their 2019 regular season in Philadelphia. on September 8th. We are three months away from the preseason opener and four months away from the season opener. It will be here before we know it. It's just the way it goes, especially when you get older. Things fly. Minicamp this weekend. So we'll begin to hear, Aaron, over the next few weeks, what the coaches think of some of their rookie draft choices. I'm excited to get that information about what the coaches really think. I'm not. I'm not. I'm

not nearly interested or as interested in hearing what management thinks. Not with this organization. Mike Shanahan told us last week that Jay Gruden's going to know very quickly about Dwayne Haskins. And I don't think Mike meant that he's going to know for sure if Haskins is going to be a good quarterback or not. I think he meant that it won't take Jay Long to find out if Haskins is ready to be a factor right away, like this year, or if he's more. of a longer-term project. I think that's what Mike was really referring to. Look, I think part of Mike is saying,

you know, given all of the experience he has, I can pretty much tell in the first few weeks if this guy's got anything to him. But I think really what Jay will find out is, can Dwayne Haskins help me win this year? You know, I think he's going to find that out pretty quickly. And I think that we are going to hear about it. I think I'm going to hear about it.

it and others in the media will start to hear some of that. Now, it's important to note here, by the way, Aaron, if Haskins isn't ready, it doesn't mean that he's not going to start the opener in Philadelphia. Right. You know, the owner may have something to say about that. We'll see. I'm excited to hear about the other rookies too, Montez Sweat, for sure. I'm excited about Harmon, McLaurin. I want to find out where Bryce Love is, Healthwise, Morland, the corner from JMU. But over the next few weeks and certainly months, we're going to begin to find out what the coaches think of Haskins. And by the way, we're going to hear about what the coaches think about Keenham too. You know, he's a new quarterback in this system. And I don't

want to forget about him. Now, Jay likes him. And Jay was more involved in evaluating case Keenum this year in the free agency period before they made the trade than he was with Alex Smith. So I expect to hear good things about Keenham from the coaches because I think Jay liked him from the jump. By the way, as a quick aside, you know, many of us started hearing very early last year in the season, really more so than in training camp, early in the season, that Jay was frustrated with Alex Smith. We did hear some of that early on and, you know, I think we all chalked it up to, look, it's new. I mean, it's going to take some time. And it was taking time and it did take time. And we never really got it to where it seemed to connect coach and quarterback before the injury. Anyway, over the next

few weeks, few months, perhaps starting as quickly as this weekend, we're going to start to hear whether or not Haskins looks pro-ready and can legitimately compete for the starting job or if he's more a longer-term answer. If it's the former, then it's on. Haskins starts the opener. If we start to hear this weekend and then, you know, in some OTAs and then early in camp that Haskins really looks the part and the coaches are impressed with how quickly he's picking up the offense, he's starting the opener. If that's the message that we start to get, some of us in the media start to get. If Jay puts it out there, look, in some of these interviews with Jay, he's easy to read. You know, you're going to know. I mean, if he starts talking about, yeah, you know,

Dwayne's getting there. It's a big thing, you know, he comes in and he's got a new offense, and he's got a new offense, and he's in a pro offense for the first time, and he's a good kid, and he's working hard, and he's really, you know, soaking it up in the meeting rooms with Colt and with and with Case and you know Alex is around and Alex is really helping him and I think Alex is going to be a big factor in and really helping Dwayne learn how to become a professional and so by the time he's ready to play down the roads you're going to hear some of that if he's not ready. If he is ready Jay's going to say yeah he really he's seeing things he's getting to his second third fourth progression, balls getting out quickly, he's making checks at the line. You're going to hear things about

how the plays are being called in the huddle. He's really getting the plays called quickly and getting us out of the huddle and getting us to the line of scrimmage quickly. Remember early on in 2013 before he went public on Griffin, one of the things that he said was a problem is that they weren't getting to the line of scrimmage quickly enough. Play wasn't getting called quickly enough and getting out of the huddle quickly enough, there's a tempo. So you'll start to hear some of that. If it's the ladder where you're hearing that second part that I just went through, that it's a process, then what we have is potential drama involving the owner and the head coach.

So there are going to be clues here. I'm going to hear some things. You're going to be able to read Jay a little bit. you know, over the next weeks and months ahead, and the first opportunity will be this weekend. You know, if you sense that Jay's really impressed, Haskins is starting the opener. You know, even if he loses a pure competition battle by an edge, he's starting the opener. But if you hear about, you know, some struggles and he won't put it in those terms, but it'll put it in terms of a process and it takes time, then we are potentially heading

for some drama involving owner and coaching staff. So ESPN did this thing. It was almost like what I did yesterday with the Redskins, but not apples to apples, but they essentially said, look, the draft is over, free agency for the most part is over, and it's time to look at the 32 teams in the NFL and to put together their 2019 NFL power rankings. Because again, once you get through that first Russia free agency in the draft, there's more to come. There's still some free agents that haven't been signed. We'll have post-June 1 cuts. We'll have training camp cuts right before the regular season starts. The Redskins could still

add a significant contributor to their team. That's still possible. They did last year in Adrian Peterson, but they put together their power rankings. And the Redskins didn't fare out very well. I think this was to be expected. They're ranked 28th out of 32 teams in the NFL. The teams that are worse, Miami's the 32nd ranked team in their power rankings, Arizona 31st, the Giants 30th. So the Redskins are actually better than one of the teams in their division. Cincinnati 29th and the Redskins at 28.

The projected wins for the skins 6.2 chance to make the playoffs 10%. I bring this up because I want to be. I wanted to read the paragraph or two that was written by John Kime about the Redskins and where they ranked, and I wanted to talk about this to a certain degree. And basically, it's titled, Where the Team Improved This Offseason, and John writes defense. The Redskins haven't had a defense finish the season ranked among the top 10 in either yards or points allowed since 2009. To help change that, they signed safety landing Collins and free agency, tried to sign C.J. Mosley. They also learned that linebacker Rubin Foster, who was claimed in November, but is yet to play for Washington, won't be suspended.

And then the Redskins drafted outside linebacker Montez Sweat in the first round. A big key here. All three players are 25 years old or younger. That means Washington probably will have at least seven starting defenders who are 25 years of age or younger. It's the best base of young defensive talent the Redskins have had in a while. Completely agree with that. So I started thinking about the defense in particular. This was the strength of the team last year. Now it didn't end up being a real strength overall, but it was the strength of the team. And we were optimistic, many of us were, before the season started last year, that the Redskins could be improved.

Now that's not saying much. I understand that. The defense from 2015 through 2017 was an absolute abject disaster. It was a god-awful defensive football team. So there wasn't much improvement needed to really feel it. But, you know, Allen and pain and Ionitis and some of the young talent, I think many of us, and I think a lot of you listening, had this sense that they would be improved defensively last year. And they were. and they really started off well. And I have this sense that this year that there could be another jump. But we are all, I have this sense, we are all very optimistic about the defense. Like it's going to be a really good defense. I've heard a lot of people talk about that. I'm optimistic that it's going to be improved from last year. but I think we have to take a look at last year and take a look at what happened and not forget that

it started off as a really, really good defense for the first half of the season. And they needed it. It was the single biggest reason for their five and two start. Now, the Saints ripped them apart in that late September Monday night game in the Superdome. But they started okay in that game. Remember, Aaron, remember the really bad, unnecessary roughing penalty on Monty Nicholson in that game? Oh, yeah. That stupid penalty that kept the Saints on the field in what was, I think, at the time a 7-3 game.

But ultimately, the Saints were able to shred the skins in that game, 43 points, 447 yards. And remember this from that Monday night game? I was going through my notes in sort of preparing for this part of the show. and I stumbled upon the 15 play 10 minute 25 second drive to close out the game on that Monday night. 15 plays 10 minutes 25 seconds, the clock runs out game over 43 to 17. That's not something you see very often. a 10-minute 25-second 15-play drive to run the clock out. The Saints could have scored 50 or 60 in that game if they had kept their foot on the pedal.

But anyway, the defense early on last year was mostly good. They were up there in total defense and way up there, top five in rush defense. The real highlight came in week eight against the Giants in the Meadowlands, the game that got the Redskins to 5 and 2. Five and two, they were. That giant game in the Meadowlands, the defense put together its most dominant game. I know not, it wasn't against a great opponent, but the run defense in that game was suffocating. The Giants rushed for a total of 37 yards on 14 carries, and Saquan Berkeley had 38 yards total 2.9 yards per carry.

Allen, Payne, Ionitis, they were really good. you had this sense that the Allen Payne Ionitis and the entirety of the front seven that they had gone from the worst rush defense the year before, which they were, to in that moment in the Meadowlands, in a game that got them to five and two in first place in the NFC East, to one of the best rush defenses in the NFL. And remember the year before in 2017, early in the season, when everybody was healthy, Alan, Ionitis. Foster, they were actually pretty good against the run. They had shut down the Raiders completely in that Sunday night game in 2017 and were pretty good against the run against the Chiefs. And then the injuries started. And that's why the 2017 defense went to hell in a handbucket. But you could see the beginning of some talent up front when they were healthy. And then through the first seven games or the first eight weeks because they had their buy, through week eight,

the Redskins were a top five rush defense in the NFL, and it was carrying them. It was the number one reason that in turnover margin were the two reasons the Redskins were five and two. They weren't a good offensive team, they weren't, but they were a good defensive team. The pass rush that day, by the way, against the Giants. Seven sacks. Now, it's Eli Manning, and it was a terrible offensive line that the Giants had last year. Terrible. But because they made the Giants one-dimensional, because the Giants couldn't run the football,

the Redskins teed off and Matt Ionitis had two and a half sacks that day. Two and a half. Carrigan had a sack and a half. And the Redskins just badgered Eli Manning and the Giants all day long. But that was the peak. That was the peak of what was a team. tremendous start to the season for the Redskins defense last year. And then what happened? It got worse. It regressed significantly. Not because of injuries like

the year before. They lost Quentin Dunbar and they decided to make a trade for another safety that the coaches then felt pressure to play. Ha ha, ha, Clinton Dix, even though he wasn't really ready and wasn't very good for them initially. They had other Knicks and Knicks and Knacks injury-wise, but nothing like losing Alan, Ionitis, and Foster from the year before. Remember about last year's injuries. The significant losses were on offense, not defense. The defense fell apart last year after that giant game. Atlanta came into FedEx Field the following week and ran it up on them.

494 yards, 10 for 13 on third down, and they rushed for 154 yards, winning the game 38 to 14. And that was troubling, if you remember in the moment, because it was really the second best offensive team they had played. The first being the Saints, and the Skins defense got manhandled. The defensive front in particular got manhandled by the Falcons, like they were against the Saints. They couldn't get Atlanta off the field to save their lives. And I remember after that game saying, look, the defense has been really good, but they've played two really good offensive teams in their first eight games, and they haven't been able to shut either one of them down. In fact, they've been completely run over by both of them. Then came the Tampa game, and you may laugh at the notion that a team played a bad defensive game in holding the opponent to three points,

But the Redskins defense wasn't good that day in Tampa. It wasn't. The Bucks had 500 plus yards in the game and converted 60% of their third downs. It was the first time in NFL history that a team went for 500 plus yards and only scored three points or less. That was according to Elias Sports Bureau. In fact, it was the first time a team had ever gone for 450 plus yards. scored three or fewer points. It was a fluke, a total fluke. How did it happen? The Bucks served it up on a plate for the Redskins. They had the ball, I went back and looked at this,

they had the ball nine times in the game, and on six of them drove it deep into Redskins territory, bad tackling, couldn't get them off the field on third down, running it, throwing it, whatever it was. They moved it at will. On six of those drives, where they moved it inside the Redskins 30-yard line. Tampa turned it over three times and missed two field goals. Now, you can chalk that up to great red zone defense, and their red zone defense, they made plays. Ryan Anderson made a really good play,

and the Falcons. The Buccaneers made terrible plays. Fitzpatrick had a first down and ran backwards. He had a terrible throw that a receiver stopped on it, and Norman picked it off. It was a win, a 16 to 3 win, but there were problems defensively in back-to-back weeks, big problems. Over the next four weeks, the defense got run on, thrown on, they lost four in a row and gave up 400 plus yards in three of their next four games, and the season was over. it was a defense that regressed significantly and by the end of the year was not a good defense.

Now, you know, everything's connected. If the Redskins had been a better offensive team and the defense hadn't been required to do so much, obviously there is a lot of that stuff that's connected. The Redskins were not a good offensive football team last year and they relied on their defense. But I wonder why we are so optimistic about the Redskins. defense because I sense that most people are that even if you think this is a team that's going to struggle, you do think more likely than not that they've got a really good and up-and-coming defense. And it's good enough next year to give them a chance in games. I like their talent.

I don't know how you can't like their talent. They've done a really good job in this area of the football team, adding John Allen and Duran Payne through two of the last three drafts. Matt Ionitis is a really good player, good enough to get the extension and well-coached by Jim Tom Sulla. You've got Foster and Foster on the inside, inside linebacker, sweat and Carrigan, potentially on the outside, and Landon Collins, you know, at strong safety. They look really strong up the middle in particular. You know, if you've got Allen and pain and ionitis, and then you've got Ruben Foster if he turns into what he could potentially turn into, and then Collins, that's important to be strong like that up the middle. Now, are they too easy to game plan for?

Was that part of the issue last year? Is Minusky a liability? Maybe. I don't think they tried so desperately to replace him because they view him to be Richie Pettibone or Buddy Ryan. That's a concern right now. You know, will they be outwitted? week in and week out, even though they've got good talent. It all starts, by the way, with run defense. It all starts with run defense. The top five rush defenses in the NFL last year were playoff teams. Eight of the top 10 rush defenses in the NFL last year, playoff teams.

After being a top five rush defense through the first half of the season, the Redskins were, in that moment, a playoff team. And then the skins became one of the worst rush defenses in the second half of the season, and they finished in terms of yards allowed 17th against the run. They play teams early next year that at least as of now can run the football. Three of their first five games are against teams that ran the ball well last year, finishing the top 10 in rush offense. Dallas can run it. Chicago can run it.

The Patriots, we know they can do whatever it takes. The Giants weren't a top five rush offense. offense last year, last year, but they've got Saquan Barkley, and remember what Sequin Barclay did to the Redskins in December? A little bit, a little bit. 170 yards on 14 carries, basically in the first half, as they built a 40-to-nothing lead. The Redskins have to have a good run defense next year, or they won't have a good overall defense. Their strength of this football team, at least.

on paper is their front seven. It has to be what it was early last year. And I think it can be. I think they have another inside linebacker with great talent. I think they've got a strong in-the-box safety, and I think Landon Collins is more than that. I thought it would be improved last year from the year before, as I mentioned. And again, I know that's not saying much. You know, the 2016 defense was all-time bad. 2017, horrible. A lot of injuries in 2017. 2015 wasn't very good. Last year was a major improvement, but it really got sketchy

during the second half of the season. And I'm not sure specifically what the reason was. Maybe it's young guys, you know, in Allen's case, second half of his second season, and in his first season, he missed a lot of the season anyway because of injury. You had a rookie in pain. You had a change at safety. You were missing Quentin Dunbar. I actually think they did miss Quentin Dunbar. In Allen, John Allen, year three, Duran Payne, year two, Ionitis stays healthy. Ruben Foster plays to what everyone thought he was coming out of college. By the way, remember, Ruben Foster has played 16 NFL games. He's had eight.

84 solo tackles in those 16 games. He can play. They'll need him. But it starts with stopping the run. Because if you don't do it against Philly, Dallas, Chicago, the Giants in New England, you're going to be 1 and 4 or worse. I don't know any other way other than, you know, plus 3 in the turnover margin battle, or you got a quarterback that's lighten it up and keeping them in 30, you know, 31, 28, games. But if you can't stop the run early in this season against Philly, Dallas, Chicago, the Giants in New England, it's going to be a one and four or worse start. But I am more optimistic than pessimistic about the Redskins defense overall, but in particular their potential as a run defense. With that talent, if they aren't a good run defense team, then you really start to look. I

think at coaching. And again, they looked at coaching in January. By the way, that ESPN story that I referenced that sort of started this conversation, if you're curious in terms of their power rankings, they've got the chiefs number one in their power rankings. That's surprising to me. I mean, none of this shit matters. I mean, it's like the power ranking stuff, you know, as Tommy will tell you, It's his least favorite segment that we do, and it's the NFL changes so dramatically. But the Chiefs aren't going to have Kareem Hunt or Tyreek Hill, potentially. Saints are two, Rams are three, the Patriots are four. You know who everybody likes this year?

The Colts? Yes, the Colts are five. Their odds have dropped from like, they start at 16 to 1. I think they're down to 10 to 1 in a lot of books. I mean, you know why? Because you're now sure. that Andrew Luck is healthy and can play. You know, you weren't even sure of that last year. The Chargers are six, the Bears are seven, the Texans 8, Falcons 9, and then comes the first of the

NFC East teams, the Eagles at 10. You know, we didn't talk a lot about the other teams and the divisions, in the division drafts. Philadelphia, you know, first of all, they traded for Jordan Howard in the offseason. And they, then they, then they, took in the second round one of my favorite running backs in the draft, Miles Sanders. Yeah. At a Penn State. Their 10th, Minnesota's 11th, Green Bay 12th, Tennessee 13, Seattle 14, Cleveland 15, Cleveland 15. Pittsburgh 16, Baltimore, 17. So they've actually got Cleveland as the highest rated AFC North team. Jacksonville 18, and then the Cowboys come in at 19. I don't know. I look at the Cowboys roster, and I see a lot of talent defensively in particular. I don't know why the Cowboys

won't be again one of the better defensive teams in football. They really were at times really impressive defensively last year. Think about some of the performances they put together in that stretch where they made the run to winning the division. And what was it? It was eight out of the last nine. They won something like that. Seven. out of the last eight. But they held in that stretch, in the Cowboys stretch last year. They held New Orleans, remember in that Thursday night game when the Saints were rolling. They held them to 10 points, beat them up 13 to 10 in that game. They were really good against Philadelphia in that game in overtime. They had another impressive defensive performance too. I think it may have been

against the Falcons on the road. And the Falcons were a good offensive team. The Cowboys are really talented defensively. I don't know why they wouldn't be a really good defensive team. Again, and offensively, you know, with Cooper and they added Randall Cobb, and, you know, they've got obviously Zeke Elliott. I don't know why they wouldn't be a team that has a chance to win 10 games. And in this ranking, they've got the Cowboys project.

to win, where is it? 8.4 wins. 8.4. Yeah. I mean, I hate being bullish on Dallas, but I am on Dallas next year. I think it's what it is since this entire power rankings is based on, you know, one of those computer models and not that. Dallas is one of those teams that look a little bit worse on paper. Not on defense.

Even on defense, like they're good. We know they're good, but none of their players are like the flashy stat, you know, guys who, would show up on models type thing. Yeah. Give me some of their defensive players. Van der Eschen, year two is going to be a star. Jalen Smith was turning into a star. He was awesome last year. I mean, obviously, you know, Lawrence and all of them. Right now, I would have Dallas ranked higher. I would think Dallas has a chance to be a 10-win team. I think Philadelphia, depending on the quarterback situation, because we don't know has a chance to be a 10-win team. And then I think it's fair that the Redskins and the Giants are viewed as potential double-digit lost teams going in.

You know, for the Redskins, it really comes down to what is the answer to quarterback? Do they have an answer to quarterback? Do they have any receivers that can play? Will they have any health offensively? You know, I've heard people talk and we'll save this conversation for another day, but I've heard people talk about the Redskins' offensive line being one of the best when it's healthy. I don't know that that's true. You know, when you say one of the best, I mean, is it a top 10 offensive line?

When it's healthy, maybe 10th? I mean, I don't have all of them in front of me, but they don't feel to me completely healthy like an elite offensive line. Not to me anyway. Dallas's offensive line is better. Philly's got a pretty good offensive line. The Giants are terrible. Anyway, that's our Redskins conversation for today.

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All right, a couple things I want to get to here, and then I'm going to go back to the NFL to finish up the show with a couple of thoughts. But the Nats lost again last night in Milwaukee, and Strasbourg pitched great through six and a third. and then got in trouble. His pitch count, I think, was somewhere in the low 100s. And, you know, this is one of those formulas. It's funny because I was turning back and forth. And at that point in the game, the Toronto game, was a blowout. And I'm listening to FP Santangelo and Bob Carpenter,

who I actually really enjoy. I think Bob Carpenter is phenomenal as a play-by-play guy. And I know FP is a bit polarizing with fans. But I think for the most part, you know, you learn a lot listening to. to him. But last night, right before the seventh inning, six-run seventh in a zero-zero game, he made the following comment, and I'm going to paraphrase here. But he said, you know, we've been waiting for bad things to happen in these games. It's been one of those starts to a season where you get into these games and they're close games and we've all been waiting for the

worst to happen. Well, tonight, it feels different, doesn't it, Bob? It feels like, something good's going to happen. Like, I'm waiting for something good to happen here. And I think he felt that way in part because Strasbourg had pitched so well, you know, through six innings. He, I think through six innings, he had only given up two or three hits and had nine or ten strikeouts at that point. And Strasbourg's been pitching great recently. He's at a phenomenal year. No run production, no offense to help him out. It's a nothing, nothing game. So you get this thing from FP and then here comes the seventh inning. And after the seventh inning is over, when the brewers, you know, bat through the order and then some and end up with six runs,

you say, you know, he says something like, you know, it's the same thing. It's like we're in it through six innings and then all hell breaks loose in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. And a lot of their games have gone that way. Did you know, by the way, that the Nats right now at 14 and 21 have the second worst record in the National League? Only the Marlins are worse right now. If that doesn't really sum up the first 35 games of the season more than anything else, the second worst record in the National League. There's six games behind Philly.

By the way, Bryce Harper had a grand slam last night for the Phillies who routed the Cardinals. They're six behind Philly. You know, the Braves have lost a couple in a row. The Mets won late last night. You know, there are a couple of games behind both of those teams. But, you know, last night was a game. Like when FP said that, I said, you know what? They're going to get a big hit here, and they're going to get something to happen.

And they just didn't. They had an opportunity in a nothing, nothing game. I think right when I turned it over and he had said that, I think it was either the next inning or, I think it was the next inning. or I think it was the next half inning where they had themselves the bases loaded in an opportunity. Was that in the top of the sixth?

I believe. Top of the seventh, I believe. I'll have to do that. Yeah, maybe the bases weren't loaded, but I think they had two runners on. Yeah, Strasbourg was on, then Eaton singled, and they had something going there. And then Robles popped out,

and then Rendon, that was it. And then Rendon struck out. and then on a strike out looking on a pitch that was just barely according to pitch tracker just off the plate but it was close enough

it was a ball but it wasn't something to blow up no and Rendon blew up and then took the bat and pounded it down where he saw the pitch and he got tossed in his first game back and then post pictures of it

at the locker during his post game so you know this road trip is not going well It is now one in four on this road trip. And the hope for like a four and six or, you know, that's fading here. I know that you can't really judge this thing until they get everybody back. But they did have Rendon back last night, but still no Soto, still no Trey Turner, still no Ryan Zimmerman, you know.

But they, it's early, but it's getting late quickly. It's early. I mean... What's that saying again? It's getting late early. Yeah, it's getting later. So there's seven games under 500. You know the last time they were seven games under 500?

I don't. 2011. That was before this stretch of when they were actually good. And here's where we're at right now. Yeah, you can't entirely... They're not healthy. That's obviously a problem. But it's a situation that even when they're healthy,

unless you expect them to be, you know, the best team in baseball, they're still going to finish around or below 500. David Sconfield, ESPN Senior Baseball Writer, wrote a story after the game last night, titled Real or Not, the Nationals are in trouble, and so is Dave Martinez. And he goes on to, you know, to talk about a couple of things, including basically putting Dusty Baker and Dave Martinez's record,

side. You know, this was a, we don't want to pay him. We don't think he's good enough. We haven't gotten through in the postseason move, and now you got a guy that can't even get him close to the postseason. And by the way, last night when they lost, you know, you got a Harper hit in a grand slam. And Harper is not putting up big numbers so far. I think that might be coming soon, but whatever. The Nats are in trouble, and they finish up this series in Milwaukee today with an afternoon game. And I think it's Helixen who's pitching. Yes.

And then they get four games against the Dodgers. Fortunately for them, I guess, they don't have to face Kershaw right now based on this schedule. Because I was looking at that last night. Kershaw pitches today, right? He must pitch today. Yes, he pitches today. So they won't have to face Clayton Kershaw in that series. NBA playoffs last night.

I did watch. I watched all of the Toronto game, or until it got completely out of control. I loved it. That's my team right now in this postseason. Now, before the postseason started, I picked them to represent the East and the NBA finals. And watching Milwaukee dismantled Boston, you know, that'll be a hell of a series. I don't know how many people will be interested in it. And their series with Philadelphia is not over yet.

They're just up three to two. They won last night by 36. one point they were up by more than 40. In a game, by the way, last night, where Kauai Leonard, who was brilliant in every aspect of the game, but last night was the first night where he started off cold. He could not get a shot to go down. Still, at halftime, I think he had 13 points, 10 rebounds, something like that. And he finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and facilitated very well. Last night the key for the Raptors was that Kyle Lowry played so aggressively right from the jump. I loved the way he played. He played desperate on both ends of the floor. He knocked down some shots

and he finished with 19 points, five assists, six rebounds and played really good defensively, sometimes matched up against Butler. Now they switch a lot defensively, but a lot of times he was matched up against Butler. So Toronto routes Philly in game five. In a game five in which Joelle Embed had five points at halftime and finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Once again, looking very sick and apparently had respiratory issues last night. Before that, I don't know if it was stomach or cold or whatever, but he's on the floor. But man, does he put, he, play the I'm sick card really well. He's, you know, hang dog in it throughout on the bench. He's got his head buried in his towel. I mean, it is quite the watch to see Joelle Embed sick and out

on the basketball floor. I mean, this guy is a guy, you can tell. He's a guy that would call in sick to work 10 times, 15 times a year. I got a cold today. I'm not going to come in and make everybody else sick. I can't make it to work. this is it might be old school for many of you because I remember the last time I had this conversation and I my kids no matter how they felt I said get out of bed and get to school and some of you said oh that's not that's not responsible you know you should get other kids sick at school you know what you got to show up I don't care if you're legitimately 102 fever you are in the emergency room, okay. But for the sniffles, my kids went to school. But anyway, Joel Embed shouldn't be

playing because he feels sick, he looks sick, and he's playing it up big, and it's like a built-in excuse for him to suck. And because of it, the Sixers have lost two games in a row. So at halftime, wanted to play some sound from Barclay. All of the guys, Kenny, Shaq, not Not Ernie, but Kenny, Shaq, and Barclay were all mocking Embedde at halftime. But this sort of summed up what they were talking about. At one point, I think Shaq said the dude's got to suck it up and man up. But this was Barclay at halftime talking about Embed. He walks around like he's on his deathbed.

He drains the energy out of that team. They showed him walking into the game today. He's walking by himself like he's got like he's on his deathbed. As a star player, you can never show weakness. You got to keep the other guys involved in the game. That's what he does. He complains so much about being sick. He drains the energy out the room.

That was Barclay. Shack jumped on top of that. You know, Kenny Smith, the same thing. The process, trust the process, was partly about, you know, developing one of these big guys they've had over the years. And Embed certainly looks the part talent-wise. and he's young and maybe, you know, we always say this, I do anyway, about some of these players that are young and immature and, you know, five years from now, he may be the most dominant big man in the game and he may be playing on a broken ankle, you know, but Barclay's right, you can see it, man. They're all looking at him, Ben Simmons, you know, consoling him on the bench, you know, Jimmy Butler trying to protect him a little bit, but they all know, like, dude,

Either suck it up and play or don't. You're either too sick to play or you aren't. And the 76ers got routed last night. I still think they are more talented overall than Toronto. It's close. But the way Philly, when Philly plays up-tempo and they're out in transition, and Toronto's done a terrific job of really controlling the pace here in the last two games. but, you know, Embed, if he's going well, he's uncheckable on the post.

You know, Simmons in an up-tempo game is really difficult. Butler is a legit badass, but I don't know that they can just count on Butler. Redick has had his moments. Tobias Harris should be playing better. You know, Ennis has been really good off the bench. Toronto's got some talent, too. It's funny about this series. When Philly won those two games in a row, the one in Toronto in Game 2 and then Game

where they looked so impressive. And Embed had that great game before he got sick. It really looked like, this is not a series for Kyle Lowry. It's not a series for Gasol. By the way, Seacum, who's turned into a star this year, he was supposed to be out of game four with a, I think it was an Achilles or a calf injury. It may have been a calf injury.

He sucked it up and played and played well. And then last night he was great. but you know it's amazing to watch like abaca was struggling van vlite was struggling they didn't have any bench and then last night all five starters double figures abaca 10 points off the bench after by the way he took an elbow to the head and ended up with stitches in his forehead that was a bloody scene early if you were watching the game and van vleet finally knocked down a shot now it looks like there's no chance for philadelphia but the playoffs are weird Like things change in a hurry, and if Philadelphia wins game six, then it's one game, and maybe that's the game where Embed feels fine and steps up and has a big game.

I'm rooting for Toronto. I like their team. I love Kauai Leonard. He's my favorite player in this postseason. He's been one of my favorite players for years. And they've got to stay aggressive, though. Lowry's a real key for them. He's got to provide what he provided last night so that it's not all about Leonard.

him to. He was great. And Mark Asol, you know, he's been such a good player for a long period of time, and he's so versatile. You know, he can score close to the rim, and he can step out and knock down the three. And they were giving it to him last night. And Kauai Leonard, when he's on the post or he's on the wing, and he's working the defense, he's so patient, he's so smooth, and all the sudden the defense comes towards him. And they doubled him a little bit last night, which was a mistake because he found the open guys. But I really like Toronto, and Philly is a disaster right now. But it's the NBA playoffs.

It could completely change, you know, in game six. I think Toronto is going to win this series. I've liked them from the beginning. I definitely had some questions after Philadelphia looks so good, and Philadelphia is talented. They are really talented. The late night game, to be honest with you, I didn't see as much of that.

but the nuggets rolled past the Blazers. Wouldn't surprise me if Portland forces game seven. In fact, I expect that to go to seven. Meantime tonight, tonight you get Houston and Golden State in game five back at Golden State, tied up two, two. And I said something yesterday that I had a friend of mine call me about. I said yesterday that the thing that surprised me the most,

or the big takeaway from game four was just how physical Houston was and how they wore Golden State out. And, you know, they look like, you know, even though they are somewhat a finesse team too, they are the stronger, thicker, more physical team. They are. And that surprised me the other night. Golden State looked exhausted at the end. They got it back to three and had a chance to tie, but they didn't look like. like anywhere near the better team. Houston was the better team all night long, and one of the reasons was they really took it to Golden State defensively. They really chased Steph Curry around,

and they beat them up a little bit. You know, when you think about Golden State as talented and as skilled as they are, they're a thin team, you know, Durant's skinny thin, Curry, you know, Thompson's got some thickness. Now, Draymond Green's tough, and Igadal is tough. but their two scoring stars, Durant and Curry, can get muscled around at times, Curry in particular. And I thought Houston did that to them the other night. And tonight is a fascinating matchup. Because after watching the two games in Houston, really game four more than game three, I do have this sense that Houston has a chance tonight. And if they are to win, by the way, I gave out just as a, I forgot to mention this.

I did give Toronto out yesterday, right? As a smell test, lean? I don't know if you give it as an official smell test, but yes, you did. Okay, I wanted to make sure that I mentioned it on the show and not just to other people. I did have, I bet them last night laying six. And Golden State's a six-point favorite tonight at home. I don't like them. I do think Houston, I mean, it's, I've gone in this series from saying Golden State's going to win it in five or less to now after especially game four,

I give Houston a shot. Do you? I definitely give them a shot. I wouldn't bet on it, but I give them a shot. I'm not going to play the game tonight because Golden State at home could be a completely different team. And, you know, they could shoot it better. But, you know, those first two games of this series, Houston had legitimate chances in both of those games. I don't know.

I sense that Golden State is vulnerable. I, for the first time. I don't know that they would be vulnerable in the next series as much, but man, the rockets took it to him the other night. And if they take it to Curry and Curry had a much better game the other night, but they were worn out at the end. Like even if Durant or Curry had hit a three to force overtime, it just didn't seem like they would have had enough to win the game in overtime. Really interested. I expect the Bucks to close out the Celtics tonight. I mean, Kyrie looks, you know, looks like he's already thrown in the 10. So I think I would expect that tonight.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to tonight. The NBA playoffs have been, have gotten good here recently. Both of those games were blowouts last night, but man, it was fun to watch Toronto play. I think they're well coached too. I think Nurse is doing a pretty good job there. I did, I did stay up while the basketball was on. I watched the St. Louis, Dallas. overtimes. Actually, the end of regulation right through the second overtime. I mean, beating a

dead horse here, but overtime playoff hockey is up there in terms of most dramatic things in sports. And when you throw in that it's game seven, it's even crazier. Because that game nearly ended a season for both teams two dozen times between the end of regulation and through the first you know, over time and a half before St. Louis finally moved on. When's the last time the Blues won a Stanley Cup? Because that's a town that really does care about hockey. You know, St. Louis, they love the Cardinals more than any. The Cardinals are always and have been number one in that town.

But when did St. Louis last win a Stanley Cup? They've never won a Stanley Cup. They've never won a Cup. They've never even won a conference championship. Yeah, this is, I think this might be as far as. as far as they've gotten in a long time, and yet they've never even made the Stanley Cup. Interesting, because they are a team with tradition and a, you know, a rabid fan base, and now they're into the Western Conference Finals, where there's another game seven tonight,

San Jose and Colorado, in a game seven tonight. But that's interesting. I mean, I would not have known that without Aaron telling me that. I cannot tell you which teams have won and haven't won Stanley Cup finals, but I would have assumed that St. Louis had at least one Stanley Cup, and you're telling me they've never even been in the Stanley Cup finals. In a lot of ways, they mirror the caps, so. Why have they had big chokes of series? They've done well. Not so much the choking, but, you know, kind of a team that had some tradition,

not as much as like, say, the original six, but some tradition, as you said, you thought that they had a good fan base, you thought they would be better, but they'd never been able to break through. Yeah, I'm looking at their playoff history. I mean, they've certainly been in the playoffs a lot. Conference finals, they were in the conference finals in 2015, 2016, and lost to the sharks in six games. Before that, they hadn't been to the conference finals

since 85-86 when they lost to Calgary in seven games. games. In fact, I think at one point, they said that this was only the second game seven overtime game in St. Louis Blues history. This is a team that what came into the league, here it is, in the mid-60s, late 60s. Oh, wait a minute. You're wrong. They were in the Stanley Cup finals in 67 and 68, 69, and 70. That was before the conferences really started. Okay, I was looking at zero conference championships. Yeah. That was the issue. You're right, they've never won a cup, but they lost in the Stanley Cup finals in their first three years as a team. They lost to the Canadians.

By the way, all three of their Stanley Cup appearances, all sweeps. They got swept by the Canadians twice, and then Boston in 1970. There you go. There's our hockey history for the day. We didn't get it right from the beginning, but we got it right at the end. There we go. And that's what really matters. A quick word about launch workplaces in Bethesda.

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All right. Last thing that I wanted to just touch on briefly is sort of back to those NFL power rankings after draft free agency, the whole thing, and just starting to think about the NFL season and something we will do in more sort of predictive mode where we write down what we say and keep track of it. But every year, and we've talked. about this for years, and you guys know this, that every year you end up having, you know, somewhere around 50% of the teams that make the playoffs be teams that you never saw it coming.

Like, they were teams that weren't in the playoffs the year before. And in some cases, they were teams that you just didn't even expect would be any good. I mean, it happens every year. 50% of the playoff teams on average are teams that were not playoff teams the year before. and of those six out of the 12 that make the postseason, probably three of those are teams that you really thought weren't going to be any good. And so I'm starting to think about those teams, like who are going to be the surprise teams of the 2019 season. You know, last year most people didn't have the Cowboys in the playoffs.

Most people didn't have the Colts in the playoffs. I don't think a lot of people have the Ravens in the playoffs, and certainly the Bears, you know, were a bit of a surprise team. And, you know, the Rams, the season the Rams had. I mean, not completely surprising. The year before was sort of a big surprise in Sean McVeigh's first year. But anyway, there are a couple of teams that I want to start, you know, thinking about a little bit that I've got a hunch on right now, I guess I would say.

One is Denver. And you may immediately, if you've listened to me from a little bit of, a long time say, oh, there you go with Flacco again. It's a little bit about Flacco. It is. I think that the system and Scandorello, the new offensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, the new head coach, I think it's a lot of those things put together. I think, first of all, Fangio has been one of the best defensive minds in football for a long time, and they are talented on defense. I mean, they still have Von Miller. They still have Bradley Chubb. They still have Derek Wolf. This is a team that should be very good defensively. And then offensively, they had a pro bowl rookie running back last year,

who we sort of identified five or six weeks into the season. I remember saying to you or Tommy or Cooley, who is this Philip Lindsay dude? He is so fast and quick and good. He ended up making the Pro Bowl. They have some weapons offensively. Now, they drafted Noah Fant, the tight end from Iowa. He's really more of a big pass-catching tight end. You know, they've got Cortland Sutton, the second round pick from 2018, the kid from SMU. They still have Emmanuel Sanders. I think they could use something else offensively. You know, Deshaun Hamilton, the guy from Penn State played a little bit last year. I think they like him. Flacco needed the tight end, and they went after the tight end in the first round. He's got a running back and he's got a running game with Philip Lindsay.

The offensive line is a work in progress, but they did draft that guy, Dalton Rizner, which was the guy that Cooley loved, the kid out of Kansas State who came into Redskins Park, and I think the Redskins liked him a lot too. And he'll be plugged in as a starter day one. I think any time you have a team that is as good potentially on defense as Denver is, and then you give them a playoff and a Super Bowl winning quarterback with an offensive coordinator that fits what Flacco does with a running game and a tight end. Again, they could use a little bit more at wide receiver. I think Denver very easily could be a big jump team, like a team that goes from, they were six and ten a year ago, a team that goes to ten and six. and ends up being a playoff team.

Another team I like potentially to make a big jump, and this will go, I think, in line with a lot of what you'll see in preseason predictions in terms of this conversation. But Jacksonville's got a chance to take a big jump. They have a quarterback. At least they've got a quarterback that can win. I'm not a massive Nick Foles fan, but you can't dispute what he's done in the postseason for Philadelphia the last two years.

And certainly you can't dispute that he's better than Blake Bordels. He'll give him better quarterbacking play. You know, if Fournett just, you know, toes the line and is healthy, they've got a running back. You know, they've got guys not necessarily stars on the outside. But, you know, whether it's Lee or Westbrook, you know, Westbrook's got some speed, certainly. But it's really their defense. You know, you got a quarterback that may not turn it over, that may give them a little bit of a chance. offensively to go with that defense, which by the way added Josh Allen as an outside

pass rusher, with all of their other guys, Campbell and Darius and Gokwe, who's really turned into a star, and Miles Jack, and then Jalen Ramsey right now is still there, and A.J. Bouye, and they've got so much talent defensively, so much talent. D. Filippo goes to Jacksonville as their OC to work with Foles, obviously had Foles when he was in Philadelphia. Morone stays despite the debacle of last year, and this is a team that was in the AFC championship two years ago. So Jacksonville, to me, seems like one of those spots in a division, yes, with Houston and Indy and two teams that are pretty good, but, you know, it would not be a big jump, would it, to see Jacksonville go 5 and 11 to 10 and 6?

and playoffs. I mean, we saw it the year before, so why not? Those are the two teams right now that I'd keep an eye on. One of those two teams, you know, I do every once in a while I'll do some future stuff. I think before the NFL season starts, I'll definitely do some over-under stuff on Jacksonville and Denver. I think whatever Denver's over-under number is right now, what is it? It's probably somewhere around six and a half, seven, I'm guessing. Right in that power rankings thing, they're projected to win seven games. I think they can win more than that. They also, you know, one of the interesting things is they did take a quarterback, you know, in the second round. They took Drew Locke in the second round. So, but I think that's developmental. I don't think that they went out and traded for Flacco

and then drafted Lockeau to start in 2019. I think that John Elway believes in Flacco and believes he's given him a tight end and an offensive coordinator and they've got an existing running game and a good defense. I I think Denver's got a shot. I think Denver's got a really good shot. That's going to be one of the teams that I just, I have a feeling about. They have, by the way, one of those schedules on paper that looks really rough. First of all, they're in a division with the Chargers and the Chiefs and the Raiders who now look to be better. They open up with the Raiders on a Monday night.

They have the Bears in week two, the Packers on the Road in week three. And then they get the Jags at home. I think the Jags are going to be improved before playing the Chargers for the first time. They haven't even gotten to the two Chief games. Now, late in the season, you know, take out the Chiefs. They've got the Lions. They've got the Raiders at home. They do have a game with the Bills.

But that AFC West this year, I mean, going into the season, the best division top to bottom may be the AFC West. Chiefs Chargers both went 12 and 4 last. year everybody's expecting Oakland to be improved and certainly I'm expecting Denver to be improved. That is the best division top to bottom in the AFC. You know, is the NFC north better potentially? I mean, Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota, but no, I don't, I think the AFC West, at least going in on paper is the best division in football. That would be my guess. The NFC South of Saints, Falcons, Panthers, Bucks, no. AFC West, best division with two teams, that finish 6 and 10 and 4 and 12 that have a chance to make significant improvements from a year ago.

Where are you going to root for in the AFC West, Rivers or Flacco? Good question. I haven't even thought of it that way because I am a big Rivers fan. And man, you know what? They got absolutely housed in that playoff game. Remember how everybody was on the Chargers in that game. I didn't play it because it looked like a total smelter. test play the other way with the Patriots, but I wanted to root for the Chargers. I don't know.

I just think Flacco is a clutch performer in big games. I don't consider him to be an elite quarterback. I don't. I've never said that. I don't consider him to be a top 10 quarterback. I don't. But I think when he's had the same offensive coordinator and he's had weapons offensively, he's been pretty good. And he's been really good in games that matter, late in regular seasons, and in the postseason. And I think you saw a lot of what Baltimore thought of them in the way they handled the exit. You know, it was very classy on both ends.

But yeah, I don't know. Maybe root for both of them to get to the AFC championship game against each other. All right, that's it for today. That's it for today. We didn't have anything else, did we? I don't think so. Nope.

Rate us, review us on iTunes. subscribe in any format you're listening. That helps us as well and tell people to go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com to listen if they struggle with podcasts on their phone. They can just go sit down in front of their

computer at home, go to the Kevin Sheeonshow.com and listen that way. No guest today. It's the way I wanted it today. Didn't feel like there was a pressing need for anybody. Tommy's back next week, not back tomorrow. He's still in Italy where somebody sent me a note saying

that it was snowing in Italy late last week or over the weekend. And it served Tommy Wright that the weather wasn't great. That's mean. Anyway, have a great day.