The Kevin Sheehan Show - Playoff Wrap + Keim on Coach Search

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

Kevin is back and opened with a recap of the four weekend NFL Divisional Playoff games and a first-blush on the NFC and AFC Championship games. John Keim jumped on to talk Commanders' coaching search and Rivera's interview with Philly to be their defensive coordinator. Kevin closed with the Terps' loss to Michigan State and more.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. 44 yards, bass. No, he doesn't make it. Wide, right.

Wow. The two most dreaded words in Buffalo. From the jump, that win took that ball, moved it wide right. No Bill's fan ever wants to hear wide, right. The kick was no good. The opportunity to tie. the game was lost, as was in effect the game itself. Kansas City beating Buffalo in the last of the four divisional round games, 27 to 24. A hell of a football game for the most part. Got a little

wild and sloppy at the end, but we will recap all four of the divisional round playoffs. We have our two championship games set, including associated point spreads. We will certainly get to that as well. It's good to be back a couple of days up in New Jersey for my father-in-law's funeral. What a celebration of his life with family. It was quite the weekend, a memorable weekend for someone who lived a very memorable life. But it's good to be back. And I didn't miss anything in terms of breaking news. The breaking news actually just came a couple of hours ago. and I'll get to that here momentarily. The show, as always, is presented by Window Nation.

Call them at 86690 Nation or go to WindowNation.com. Right now, they're offering 50% off all-style windows plus five years of zero percent interest if you decide to finance the deal. 86690 Nation or Windonation.com. John Kimes coming up on the show. I'm going to save all of the discussion about all of the news from the weekend with respect to Washington's hiring of a head coach to discuss with John. Needless to say, they don't have a coach at this point. They probably won't have a coach until sometime next week.

And we'll discuss that with John starting in the next segment. I'll finish up for you Terp fans. with a quick recap of the Terps' two-point loss to Michigan State yesterday at Xfinity Center. Plus, I do want to react to what I thought was one of the more surprising stories in sports, in the NFL anyway, at the end of last week. And that was the story that Mike McCarthy was coming back. I would not have had that particular side of the wager. But here in the opening segment of the show, we're going to talk about the four playoff games and the two matchups and give you first blush on both.

Let's start with the game that ended the weekend, the game last night between Kansas City in Buffalo. How about this? How about the fact that in the first 10 possessions of the game, there were points on nine of them. one punt, nine scores on the first 10 drives of the game. It went field goal, field goal, touchdown, field goal, punt. Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. The first legitimate stop for Buffalo's defense came after they had fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchback.

That technically was the first stop. of the day, but Kansas City didn't punt until there were eight minutes and 23 seconds left in the game. It was, I felt in watching the game, I felt we were on the verge of watching one of these all-time epic games. These two teams played in that 42 to 36 overtime game in which the overtime rule got changed because Buffalo never had a chance to to get the football in that game. But that was the touchdown pass that gave Buffalo a lead with 13 seconds to go. But somehow Kansas City got in range for Butker to tie it.

It went to overtime. And I thought we were watching the heavyweight battle of the year with the game, with the way that game started. It was incredible efficiency, big play at times, although not as much in the big play area specifically for Buffalo, but both offenses having their way. Kansas City's defense much more prepared and healthier in that game. Buffalo was without players and lost others during the game.

But there were a couple of things that were notable in this game that I wanted to point out. Number one was this. The two quarterbacks played very well, Mahomes played better. Mahomes was 17 to 23 for 2.15, two touchdowns, had a 91.2 QBR. Josh Allen was 26 to 39 for 186 yards, one touchdown, rushed for 72 yards for a 65.4 QBR. Josh Allen was great. Buffalo's nowhere near this game this season without its best player, Josh Allen. And he is a top three to top five quarterback in the NFL. But Josh Allen now has lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs three times in the postseason. He's also lost to

another contemporary in Burrow one time. He did beat Lamar Jackson in the postseason in the second year that they were in it before they lost to Kansas City in the AFC title game. But Josh Allen is five and five as an NFL quarterback. 21 touchdowns, four interceptions in the postseason. And a lot of people said going into the game yesterday, look, all he has to do is not lose the game because Josh Allen is prone to throwing a bad pick, making a bad play. He didn't throw a pick. He did fumble the football and they were lucky to jump on it. But Josh Allen was the loser of this game. And I thought he played well. I did not think he was great in the game. He did have a couple of great plays. The touchdown that made it 24 to 20 to Shakir on the third and goal

from the 13 following the delay of game penalty, there are only a handful of guys on the planet that can make that throw. The bombed to Diggs that started off the final drive that went through Diggs's hands and felt incomplete was an incredible throw. But at the very end of that game, Josh Allen, in Kansas City territory, down three needing a field goal to tie, but a touchdown to take the lead. And they were in a position where they could potentially have worked some clock and gotten a touchdown with little time left for Kansas City. And by the way, they would have been down four that chiefs would have been in that particular spot. And from first in 10 at the Kansas City 27 with 242 to go, the rest of it did not go well.

There was a one-yard run for Cook that brought the game to the two-minute warning. And then on second nine at the Kansas City 26, Josh Allen attempted a deep pass for Shakir in the end zone, which he could not step into. There was pressure. It was a hole for a good throw and a potential touchdown to give them the lead. but Diggs is wide open on the play. I think it was Ty Johnson, who was also wide open on the checkdown as well. And at that point, I think he should have thrown it to Diggs. He would have moved the chains.

You would have had a new first in 10. You would have burned clock. You would have forced Kansas City to start to take timeouts. and maybe you end up with a much shorter field goal attempt that even if the wind pushes it right, it's not pushed right enough quickly enough. Then on third nine, he takes another shot under pressure and they brought Bass out for the 44-yard field goal.

I had a friend text me at the end of the game because he knows what a big Philip Rivers fan. I've been through out much of my first. football watching life during the Philip Rivers career. And he said, you know who Josh Allen is? He's Philip Rivers. He's a great quarterback. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, but he just can't get it done in the postseason. And I thought about it. There are actually similarities between the way the two players play, although Rivers was not mobile. And Josh Allen is dual threat in many ways. They were running read option last night with him,

multiple times in the game where he kept it and had big gains. Josh Allen's a big, strong, physical dude. But in terms of their ability to kind of throw it and throw it in places where few others can do it, their leadership ability, all of that, there are similarities between the two, but it's unfair because in his entire career, Philip Rivers only played in 12 playoff games

and he was 5 and 7. Josh Allen's played in 10 already. He's going to play in more, more likely than not, although the bills are probably going to be a different team next year. But it's not going to be a team without Josh Allen, a quarterback. He's one of the best three to five in the game. But here's where they are similar, stylistically a little bit as throwers, not overall because of Allen's mobility.

But, man, they've had some bad luck. I mean, Rivers was in games in which kickers missed field goals. He was in a game against the Patriots. that they had won after an interception, but the guy that intercepted it, fumbled it back on the return, and then Brady led the Patriots for the go-ahead and winning touchdown. That game was won. He had some heartbreaking playoff losses, and Josh Allen, the same thing, obviously. Remember, they had the lead in his first ever playoff game against Houston and lost that game 22 to 19.

and then of course the heartbreaking loss in that 42 to 36 game where he never even got to touch the ball in overtime. But look, he is 0 and 3 against Mahomes, 0 and 1 against Burrough. And the opportunity for the bills to have won a Super Bowl or at least gotten to one may have that opportunity window may have closed. And if it does close, then in this era, He was five and five with one AFC title game appearance.

That was it. Look, Josh Allen is an excellent quarterback and is played well enough for his teams to have had a chance to win these games that they've lost in the postseason, including last night. But he hasn't been great with the exception of that 42 to 36 game at Arrowhead a few years ago when he left the field with 13 seconds to go with what appeared to be. a win and never saw the ball again. He was good yesterday last night. He wasn't great. Most of his yards passing were on throws behind the line of scrimmage or just barely beyond the line of scrimmage. I know Diggs dropped a deep one, but he threw for 186 yards and a touchdown. Rushed for 72 and two touchdowns. He is a great runner, but he wasn't great when he needed to be at the end.

You know, you could say the same thing, certainly about, you know, getting beat as a favorite last year in the snow in Orchard Park to the Bengals. I mean, he was not good in that game. They got beat by 17 in that game. The games that they've won, let's face it, I mean, Mason Rudolph this year, Skyler Thompson by a field goal last year. He was their third string quarterback for the Dolphins last year. You know, they beat Mack Jones and Bill Belichick in the first year without Brady.

He was great in that game, but that wasn't much of a competitive matchup. Barely beat Philip Rivers after the COVID year in the first round, 27-24. He's a great quarterback. I don't want to take away from how great he is. But the bottom line is these guys get judged on what happens, the great ones do, on what happens this time of year. He's 5 and 5. He's 0 for 3 against Mahomes, 0 for 1 against Burrough.

And in those four games, he's only, played great in one of them. The game itself, a couple of things about the game. Number one, did you know that Kansas City only had 43 offensive snaps in the entire game? If you take out the four kneel downs, the three at the end and the one at the end of the first half, the Chiefs had 43 offensive snaps. The Bills had 78.

They had 35 more offensive. snaps in the game than Kansas City did. Kansas City in their 43 offensive snaps produced 361 yards and 27 points, and it should have been more, right? It should have been more because of the Hardman fumble at the two-yard line through the end zone for the touchback. They had 21 first downs on 43 offensive plays. They had the big plays in the game. Mahomes was the better quarterback in the game. You know, he had, you know, a 29-yard pass to Kelsey, who was great in the game. 32 yards. What a dime that was to Valdez Scantling.

25-yard or rice. You know, he had a 24-yard run in the game. They had the chunk plays. Buffalo didn't. And Pacheco, I think, was the second best player in the game. You know, whether maybe him, Kelsey, I don't know. Pacheco is ridiculous how hard he runs. 97 yards, 15 carries. Kind of a shame.

I was rooting for Buffalo. I wanted Josh Allen to have that breakthrough trademark win, and he didn't get it. And Kansas City's going back to another title game. It's crazy. They'll be playing the Baltimore Ravens, so let's go to that game next. The Ravens destroyed Houston in the second half,

outscoring them 24 to nothing in the second half. Lamar Jackson was sensational. But the real, real impressive part about Baltimore's team is their defense coached by Mike McDonald, you know, a candidate for the Washington job. Mike McDonald, the job he's done against some of the Ravens opponents the last two years. I mean, they held Detroit to six points this year. They beat Houston twice without allowing an offensive touchdown to the Texans. They destroyed the dolphins.

They destroyed the 49ers. The Jags and the Seahawks couldn't score against them. The Chargers couldn't score against them. Mike McDonald last year was essentially in his defense responsible for Baltimore's run to the playoffs with Tyler Huntley at quarterback, and they nearly knocked off Cincinnati in the wild card round. I bet you Buffalo wishes they did, because Cincinnati the next week went up.

Buffalo and had an easier time with the bills on the road than they did with Tyler Huntley and the Ravens at home. Man, Mike McDonald, what a job. The Ravens in the second half in that game. I thought the first half, you know, Houston never had a snap inside the Baltimore 25-yard line. Their only points came on the Stephen Sims punt return. Yeah, that's Stephen Sims. And then you had the Devin Duverne kickoff return to start the second half. I thought that was a big play in the game. It's 10-10. Fairbairn missed a field goal that would have given Houston the lead

at halftime. And Duverne returns the second half kickoff to the 45-yard line and it's six-plays 55 yards, 17-10. Then 12 plays 93 yards, 24-10. Then 11 plays 78 yards, 31-10 game over. What a job by the defense. But how about Lamar? 16 at 22 for 152, two touchdown passes.

11 carries for 100 yards and two touchdown runs. A 93.9 QBR in the post season. That is a big time Lamar Jackson performance. Maybe one of three in this postseason in terms of signature performances. I just watch the Ravens, and I don't see an equal out there. I think they're the most complete team, and I'd be surprised if they don't win the Super Bowl.

Baltimore, 34 to 10 over Houston. Let's go to the games in the NFC. Well, Saturday night, I mean, that game was a close call, obviously, for the 49ers. Too close of a call. How about the Packers opening that game? with the same kind of drive they had against the Cowboys. They go 14 plays, 58 yards.

They eat up 7 minutes and 38 seconds. Unlike Dallas, they end up with a field goal, not a touchdown. But that game's sitting there with a missed field goal, block field goal at the end of the half, 7 to 6 at the end of that first half. And Green Bay is moving the football and looking a little bit like they did at times against Dallas. Now, they weren't closing off or closing out the drive.

excuse me, in the same way. They had a Savage, Darnel Savage, Terp pick six, or a potential pick six. It certainly would have been an interception with a long return dropped. That was a big play in the first half. But you get to the second half, and Green Bay is sitting there with a 2114 lead, a 2117 lead, excuse me, driving, and they've got an opportunity to put the game, away with about six minutes to go. And they ended up settling for a field goal, and Carlson missed the kick.

And that was a killer, because San Francisco took over, and Purdy, who I don't think played well at all, until the final drive, and he made a couple of throws. The big throw being the third and five to Ayuk, which was a great catch by Iyuk. and then the big run by Purdy on the first and 15, first and 10 or second in 10 at the Green Bay 15, got him into that third and one, and then McCaffrey scored on the next play. And of course, the interception after Love gets him out to the 36 yard line,

there's plenty of time. They got two timeouts left, and he throws back across the field just a play you can't make, and Greenlaw picks it up and then won't go down. Now, I had the Niners, So I was rooting for the Niners minus the nine and a half, had the Ravens minus nine and a half and the 49ers minus nine and a half in the smell test. But Greenlaw finally got to the ground and San Francisco won the game 24 to 21. Man, the future looks bright for Green Bay.

How about the finish to the season that Aaron Jones had for the Packers? In his final five games, he went for over 100 yards in 5.9 years. yards per carry in all five of them. He was sensational. Jordan Love, other than that last throw, was pretty solid in this performance. But I didn't think Purdy looked that good. I mean, I think there's still a jury-out situation on Purdy. It was a nice last drive, but Christian McCaffrey is, you know, the team. And I know when Debo went out that that impact San Francisco understood. I still think in watching him, he's a good quarterback, but, you know, he's not anywhere, you know, he's kind of like Garoppolo, really, for all intents and purposes.

It's like they've just got, you know, another Jimmy Garapolo who's a bit of a gamer and is schemed up really well by one of the best schemer uppers in the business. And then I will end before I get to the breaking news, which isn't so breaking. because I would have told you about it before. But then I get to the other game, which is Bucks Lions. So a couple of things about this game. Baker Mayfield was great. You know, I mean, he takes some sacks unnecessarily,

took one out of field goal range, that knocked him out of field goal range. But, man, he is a gunslinger. He's got the big arm, and he is fearless, through for 3.49 at Detroit. That should be scary. The Detroit defense has not. been what it was for a while now compared to earlier in the year. Ben Johnson's offense, outstanding, not as great in the first half as it was in the second half where they produced

21 points and they were outstanding moving the football. I mean, they got weapons. I mean, you know, Jamir Gibbs, you know, people scoffed at the running back linebacker combo in the first round for the Lions. Don't draft the running back in the first round. Don't draft the linebacker in the first round. They did both. Gibbs has turned into a great player. Amon Ross St. Brown's elite, in my opinion. Sam Leporta may be on the verge of becoming elite. They got some weapons, man. James and Williams can really run Josh Reynolds is tough.

Montgomery's good is another running back. You know, the lines are really good on offense. But I thought that Tampa did a really good job throughout the game. I was really rooting for them. I really was. I thought Tampa didn't run the football enough. I thought Rashad White looked great. Now, I know he's banged up a couple of times in that first half,

but Rashad White's a good back. He went nine for 55. What a good second season in the NFL. Rashad White did. He was a third round pick out of Arizona State in 2022, and he rushed this season for 990 yards. He was a big factor for Tampa Bay's run from 4 and 7 to a 9 and 8 record, a playoff win over Philadelphia, and a divisional round game against Detroit. The Detroit crowd off the hook. But this game was a game that ended in rather bizarre fashion. And I do want to spend just a minute on that. A couple of opportunities for Tampa before they got to the end. First of all, I thought Mike Evans was unbelievable in the game.

Eight catches 147 yards. How about that stretch at the end of the first half when he had a 27-yarder and a 29-yarder that got him down to the one-yard line. Then he had the touchdown that made it 31 to 23 with about four and a half minutes to go in the game. Now, one of Baker's interceptions was a ball that Evans dropped early in the game. But I thought that the two-point conversion at 3123, I thought that was defensive pass interference. Terry McCauley on the broadcast with Torrico and Collinsworth said no.

I thought it definitely was DPI, and I thought they should have had another chance at it. That's the two-point conversion where the analytics say if you're down 14 and you score, you go for two on that first one to make it a six-point lead, and then you're going for the win in regulation, and if you miss it, you'll have another chance to go for two. And that kind of assumes that it's a one-and-two chance that you'll make a two-point conversion. So if you don't make it the first time, you will the second time. Look, context is everything with all of these decisions.

Collinsworth pointed out in the moment that the NFL average this year was 55%. You got to take some guys like Hertz and Mahomes and Allen kind of out of the equation, and you got to make it more based on the quarterback that you have, which is Baker Mayfield. It's probably not a 50-50 proposition on a two-point conversion on the road against that team, that crowd. etc. But whatever. They went for the two. I thought it was DPI and they didn't call it. And then we get to what happened at the end. So it's 3123. They get a stop and they force a punt. And on the second play after they took over with a minute 59 to go, they had one time out left. Baker Mayfield throws an interception. And with a minute 33 to go in the game, Detroit's got an eight point

lead with the ball and Tampa's got one time out left. Now, if you play this the right way, then you pretty much can ice the game with kneel downs. You know, that first kneel down on first and 10, you know, you have Goff take a couple of steps back and kneel it down with a minute, you know, somewhere around a minute 30 left, right? And then you got a 40, let's just say then Tampa calls their last time out with a minute 30 to go. Then the next one goes down to a minute 20, eight, you know, and he takes the knee, and then 40 seconds run off, and you're sitting there, you know, at like 48 seconds or so when you take that third knee with one second left on the play clock, and then you can run it down to, you know, five, six, seven seconds before the fourth down play.

And at that point, you can put your punt team out there and punt it because it's going to be a six-second play. You can have golf, roll right, and throw a bomb down the, field out of bounds. That'll probably take the last six seconds off the clock. Whatever, you could potentially put your field goal team out there for a field goal to completely ice it score-wise. But you're in position there with Tampa holding one time out in a minute 33 left in the game to pretty much ice the game. Not completely, not completely. But if you work it right, by the time you've got a fourth down play, there should be about six, you know, anywhere from five to seven, eight seconds, depending on how Goff took those knees and when the clock immediately

started on those. That's not what happened here. With a minute 33 to go and Tampa Bay still holding a time out, Goff took a knee. And then he took a second down knee with still 16 seconds left on the play clock. And then he took a third down knee with 15 seconds left on the play clock. And at that point, the teams started to walk onto the field as if the game was over. Well, it apparently was because Todd Bowles didn't use his last timeout. He had an opportunity in that moment to call timeout with 36. seconds to go in the game. And it would have been a decision then for Dan Campbell to probably

put his field goal kicker out there for a 48 or 49 yard field goal. That's how long the field goal would have been. 48 to 49 yards. I mean, we've seen field goals missed from 48 to 49 yards. And if he had missed it, Tampa would have had the ball from their own 38 or 39 yard line with 33 seconds to go, down eight. They certainly would have been in position to, against that defense, to get a Hail Mary or two up into the end zone. Maybe even not a Hail Mary. Maybe they could have gotten a big chunk play to Evans down the middle of the field for 30 yards. And you're at their 20-yard line. You're at their 25-yard line. You spike it with 15 seconds, 14 seconds to go. And you got a shot on two or three plays to the end zone.

He didn't call the time out. Campbell completely butchered the kneel-down situation and offered up, essentially, a lifeline to the Buccaneers to take a last breath or two, legitimate last breath or two. And Bowles just walked off the field as the teams congratulated each other

and went to the locker room. Bowles was asked about it after the game. He said, quote, They already had a field goal lined up, and it would have been about 12 seconds left on the clock to end the ball game. We weren't going to come back from that. No point in prolonging the obvious, closed quote. I love Todd Bowles. I've talked about Todd Bowles for many years. I'm a big fan of Todd Bowles as a defensive mind. And I was rooting for him yesterday. And that explanation is bad. First of all, I don't know if I believe that explanation. I think it's more likely

that he just lost track of everything. And just when they started to take the knees, maybe he just figured they were taking them at the right time and it just wasn't going to make sense. Although right from the beginning with a minute 33 to go, you've got to know that there's a decent chance you're going to force a fourth down decision with somewhere around six or seven seconds left in the game.

It's a long shot, but it's no shot if you don't use that timeout. But once Campbell, who, when he's, it comes to this stuff. Let's face it. Not that sharp. He's a great coach, clearly a great leader, a great leader of men, you know, and he has done a hell of a job for the Detroit Lions. But he's the one that went for two from the seven-yard line against the Cowboys after he was so pissed off that they, you know, called the penalty and called the first two-point conversion back. I mean, that was insane. And here he is. He's got golf taking knees with 16 seconds left, 15 seconds. seconds left. I don't know. Maybe Goff did it on his own. Maybe they didn't think that Tampa

had a time out left. But even in that case, just so you know, you should always let the play clock go down to one before you take a knee. Because God forbid, you fumble the snap and you lose possession of the ball. You want them to have less time if that were to happen. I know it's a long shot. I'm giving you extremes. But this wasn't an extreme. This was a Dan Campbell, Detroit Lion massive clock management error that offered up a lifeline for Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers to potentially if they missed the field goal, if he attempted the field goal, and I think they would have. Can you imagine the look on Dan Campbell's face if he had called that time out? And he said, there are 36 seconds left? And it's a 49, 48-yard field goal? Oh, shit. What were we

doing? I don't know. Maybe he would have punted it. He could have punted the ball. And then Tampa would have had it with, you know, say, 28 seconds or however long the punt play would take 30 seconds, no timeouts at that point needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion. He could have attempted the field goal from 48 or 49 yards out. And that would have been for Tampa the best opportunity because you hope for a miss and then you get the ball back from your own 38 or 39 yards. guard line with a chance to certainly get in position to have a couple of throws, worst case into the end zone, maybe Hail Mary style, maybe not. But Todd Bowles said there was no point in prolonging the obvious.

He was wrong about 12 seconds on the clock. There would have been 36 for the fourth down play. And the prolonging the obvious wasn't so obvious. I personally think he just got completely sidetracked and got lost in the moment and was still smarting after the, you know, after the Mayfield pick and just thought once he started to see Goff take knees, the game was over. Why call any more timeouts? Why call my last timeout?

Or maybe he didn't know he had another timeout because of the confusion with the penalty, the defensive penalty, which gave the timeout that he was going to call earlier on defense, gave it back to him. You got to know this stuff, man. You just have to. Every staff has to have somebody that is just dedicated to helping these poor coaches out that just don't know how to do this. And it starts with Campbell. I mean, total bungling of the situation. Would have been had Bowles called the time out, had the field goal been missed, had you gotten, it wouldn't have been the all-time miracle. We've seen, you know, things with longer shots than a missed field goal.

from 48 and a couple of Hail Marys and maybe one of them converts. But can you imagine if somehow they had lost the game because of that and lost the opportunity to move on because of that? Got to get sharper. Campbell does against 49ers. And if they had a chance against the Chiefs of the Ravens and the Super Bowl, it's amazing. I've talked so much about this over the years.

And most of you understand it. Most of you pay attention. And I mean, hell, anybody that's played Madden understood the situation last night. But it's really hard to find the coach that is the great leader, the great X's and O's guy, and then the great all the other things. You know, a lot of the little things, including, and they're not so little, you know, score and game and clock management stuff, all wrapped up into one person.

It's hard because Campbell's clearly an incredible leader, inspirational mentor leader, the whole thing. He's turned it around. But, you know, that Dallas game, they should have been kicking that extra point for overtime from the seven-yard line. I mean, that cost them potentially a chance at a home game yesterday if Dallas hadn't lost to Green Bay. Or if Dallas had beaten Green Bay, they would have been playing that game in Dallas. So, yeah, unbelievable at the end of that. Just incredible, totally bizarre.

So the breaking news real quickly is that Ron Rivera is interviewing with the Philadelphia Eagles for their defensive coordinator position. Sean Desai got fired. This is obviously an indication that Siriani stays. We'll talk to John Kime about this, but that's your breaking news. Do I think he's going to be a defensive coordinator? I don't. That would be my guess. Is it surprising to me that he wants to coach again?

Yeah, I talked about that last week when Kime did that really good story after interviewing Rivera. I'm surprised that he wants to coach. But I would also be surprised if he got a defensive coordinator job. They've also interviewed Caldwell from down in Jacksonville. They'll interview other people, I'm sure. Real quickly, my bookie.orgie.org. use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And they will give you a cash bonus on your initial deposit.

The Ravens are minus three and a half over the Chiefs. The total is 44.5. And the 49ers are minus seven over Detroit. The total is 51. I like both favorites again. I can tell you that right now. I don't know if there'll be smell test picks by the time we get to Friday or not. And I may have something on the totals as well.

But I think the Ravens will destroy the Chiefs. Chiefs Sunday. I mean, why would I pick, why would I say destroy against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reed? I just feel like the Ravens are going to win that big. I think they're the best team I've seen in years, the most complete team I've seen in years. And I think the 49ers are going to beat the Lions. Look, the Packer defense is better than the Lion defense right now. I think the 49ers will score 30 plus in that game. My bookie's got everything you need for your championship weekend upcoming. Go to mybooky.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And you'll get a cash bonus on your initial deposit. John Kime next right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

Mark your calendars, everybody. Due South and Navy Yard is throwing the hottest Mardi Gras party in town on Fat Tuesday, February 13th. Get ready to let the Good Times roll with their legendary Cajun buffet, live music, and beads galore. We're talking about the most authentic marty gras experience outside of the Big Easy right here in the nation's capital. It's the party of the year. Good times, great eats. That's how they do it in New Orleans, and they're bringing it all to D.C. Learn more at Duesouth, D.C.com. All right, jumping on with me right now is my good friend John Kime, who's covered the team longer than anybody on the beat. And now he gets a whole new regime to cover, which we're all looking forward to.

At John underscore Kime on Twitter. John's got a really good podcast, too, called the John Kime Report, which you can get anywhere you get a podcast. So let's start before we get to Washington. I read your story last week, the first interview done with Ron Rivera. I was kind of surprised that he would still be interested in coaching. I just thought that the D.C. experience may have just taken so much out of him that he was ready to sort of play golf in Northern California and call it a day. And then the news today that Rivera's interviewing with the Eagles for their defensive coordinator positions.

So A, were you surprised he wanted to coach again? B, do you think he'll end up coaching next year? So the first part is, initially, yes, I was surprised. I knew going in the interview that he had told people that he still, like, those five weeks coaching, you know, being the defensive quarter of them. And I say, like, there are many different aspects of coaching. So you still have to be engaged as a head coach to be coaching. But I think we're talking about getting deep in the weeds coaching, right?

getting, being on the field, going, doing a game plan, all that stuff. And he hasn't done that in a long time because in Carolina, you know, it was like that he was a CEO coach as well as here when you hire the coordinators on each side of the ball and you become the CEO. And so from, so I think getting back to the roots, so to speak, of your coaching career sparked something in him. And but before that point, Kevin, before he started doing this, I would have bet no, he would not keep coaching because, you know, I'd heard that he was close, like, in Carolina,

if that had gone a little bit better for a few more years, that maybe he does that for a few more years, and then he retires, and then you go on and you can become a motivational speaker, whatever it is, you know, and an analyst, whatever. And so I kind of wanted the same thing, would you be so burned out on coaching after this experience, and not only after this experience, but after having cancer and dealing with that, and then just, you know, the losing and all the other stuff and et cetera, side of and set up that you have a chance to have a different kind of a life, right? And you can go, again, become, if you want to, you know, go speak to corporations as a motivational guy,

you do some TV analyst stuff, whatever it is, go golf in, you know, go fun places with your wife, all that stuff. So I would have, I would have expected that. But then you started hearing the other how much that sparked it in him. And then, to be honest, now it kind of makes sense when I look at it. it because like, okay, because of how this experience went, it's almost like you want to get back into the roots of your coaching to finish on a, maybe on a better note. And to remind yourself like, hey, this is why I liked coaching in the first place.

It wasn't just about being in charge. It was about, you know, working with the group, developing this, calling plays, whatever it is. So I think going back to your roots, like now it makes sense after this experience that maybe you just want to finish on a better note somewhere else. So, yeah, like, you know, I forget the second part of the question. Well, the second part was, so what's the likelihood of him coaching next year? Maybe as a defensive coordinator in Philadelphia. Right, and that's what the job is.

Right, and I don't know what the likelihood is. I just know that he had a few, you know, he had told me he has a few opportunities. I don't know beyond the Eagles what else there is. I don't know that it would necessarily just be as a coordinator. I don't know that he would. Because when I talked to him, it was more about stepping back to become a coordinator. I don't think it was specifically, would you be a position coach someone? Would you go be a linebacker's coach somewhere?

And that part, I don't know. So I don't know if you'll get or not because I don't know how, if you go to them, I think they're at least have some firm interest. And I think my guess would be for them that the fact that he was a former head coach could be maybe a help to Syriani. but I don't know, Kevin, if you will or not, because I just don't know how some of these other teams will view him and hiring him.

And then it's always, you know, then it's going to be dependent on him telling him these are the people I'd hire for these jobs and if they like that or not. But I could see it because it sound like he felt like he had some good opportunities and he felt good about that. But we'll see. I think it's interesting that it's Philadelphia because almost everybody I've had on from Philadelphia over the last four years during the Rivera, you know,

rain in D.C. It always starts with whether it's Merrill Reese or, you know, Ruben, it doesn't matter who it is. Anybody that I have on from Philly always starts with we love Ron Rivera. In Philly, they loved Ron. Look, Ron's well respected, as you and I both know, and well late throughout the league. But his time in Philadelphia, they really enjoyed him during those years. So anyway. Yeah.

And so, yeah, so I could see it. I just don't know yet the likelihood of it. But I do know, like I said, he felt like he had a few good opportunities. Yeah, for those wondering, he was the linebackers coach in Philly for five seasons during Andy Reid's time in Philadelphia. and during those seasons they were in, I think with Rivera, they were in three NFC championship games with him as a linebacker's coach. Yeah, and he was part of the team that went to the Super Bowl. Yeah, and went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots.

All right. Let's update everybody on what we have as of the recording of this podcast, which is 2 p.m. roughly on Monday the 22nd. go through the list of everybody that they have virtually interviewed, then give me the list of people that they are either planning or have already interviewed in person because that can start today. Right. And the in-person stuff is where obviously is the bigger deal. So they've already talked to the enemy. They have virtually interviewed who is a C.

I hope I don't leave someone out. Ben Johnson, Bobby Sloick, Aaron Glenn, Rahim Morris, Dan Quinn, Anthony Weaver, Mike McDonald. Those are the ones we know. I would, I don't know for sure all the ones that will get the in person, but I, you know, Dan Quinn expected to you this week. Rahim Morris, earlier today, I was told they were still trying to finalize, I think, when they would talk to him again. I don't know yet, but I would anticipate, I would anticipate for each one of those guys getting a second shot. And then with the final four, between like Johnson and Glenn and Weaver and McDonald, because they're still playing, they can't talk to them obviously until next week or until their teams are out.

And what that gets to be next week. So because you get the buy week between the conference in the Super Bowl. And so one of those, if they want to talk to them, I don't know. I would expect Ben Johnson. I would think McDonald, I'm not sure about Weaver or Glenn at this point, but it would make sense if you want to talk to all of them again, because it's, again, the in-person is going to matter more than just a virtual. It's just a getting-to-know-you session. But, yeah, that's where you know now.

And I don't know if there's another name out there that has been talked to who hasn't emerged. but it's none of the big names that are out there. So Johnson, Glenn, Morris, Weaver, McDonald, Sloak, Quinn. With Quinn and Rahim Morris now, you know, they have been out of the postseason, now that they can interview in person being scheduled to interview this week. They can't interview in person, Ben Johnson, Aaron, Glenn, Weaver, or McDonald until next week after these championship games. By the way, just as an aside, don't you, I don't remember.

remember this being the way it is now, and I could be wrong. But isn't it a little bit odd that guys like Ben Johnson are having all of these virtual interviews on days leading up to the most important game they've ever coached in? It's a little bit odd. Yeah, I mean, it's a little bit odd. And he had like, what, four or five over the weekend? Yeah. Prior to the game.

And you have, like, clearly there's going to be some time to do that like on a Friday or Saturday of a typical week. It's not like you're there Friday night until 10 o'clock. You're not. And Saturday you could have a little bit of time to do it as well. So there are times you can fit it in. And so I can see how you do it. It's just a lot, though. And so, yeah, it's not, you know how.

it is too, Kevin. Like, if they had lost the office that looked good, people would have wondered, like, was it because you were distracted and blah, blah, blah. But the fact that he waited until when he did, that's usually kind of a time where you just, you have more time available. It's not like he was doing it on a Wednesday or even a Tuesday where you don't have a lot of time. You're putting together the game plan. You're installing it, but on Friday and Saturday, even in a playoff week, I don't know

that you're going to sit there and work instead of working till three on a Friday in a normal week. You know, are you getting in early? Obviously, are you going to work till 10? Well, no, you're not. Because there is a point where it's like it becomes counterproductive to do more, right?

In that situation, sometimes you see too much, you think too much, and you overthink it. So I could see him having some time, but yes, it is weird to have, like, I think it was like he had like five, I think it was. So, yeah.

But again, like, I don't, the hard part with, these interviews, it's not so much the interviews themselves, it's what you have to do to prepare for them. That's where you're going to really eat up more time. Do you know how they work? Do you know how, like, a Ben Johnson, how his

virtual interview with Washington worked? Because, I mean, is it just very informal 15 minutes? Remember, they had a gatekeeper and Spielman for two and a half hours before they got to Harris with Adam Peters and company. And I know their role in

preparing for a game is much different, obviously, than a coach. But I would imagine that these had to be him doing that many. It's like, you know, we're going to keep you for 15, 20 minutes. We just want to introduce ourselves and, you know, find that, you know, that kind of a thing. Do you think that's what it was? Yeah, I think that's more. I don't know how long it is. What I do know is that, like, this process was described to me as a getting to know you.

So I don't think it's like, it's not going to be like this intensive three-hour Zoom. interview, and especially if you don't have the upgraded Zoom plan where you get more than 40 minutes. So, you know, I don't know that. I don't know if it's going to be, I don't think it's, I don't think, again, my understanding was always, because I think some people were concerned, like, oh, they talked to somebody before they hired a GM, oh, my God, the world's going to collapse. Again, it's just a getting to know you and just kind of introducing yourself. So it's not this intense discussion.

The in-person is where it gets intense. The in-person is where you're going to bring in your binder full of ideas and thoughts on running a team, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This really is just a getting to know you. So I think that kind of takes some of that away because, again, the preparation for these interviews are what should take time. And that, for these getting to know you, you don't, you want to be aware of things. You want to have an idea of the team you're going to. You don't want to be, say, like, Dave Spurier, who really didn't know much about, the Redskins when he took over, other than they were in Washington or Ashburn.

So, you know, I think you want to have some idea of things, but it's not the intense preparation and the intense, okay, what kind of offense would you run? Who would be your staff? Who would be this? This is a getting to know you. But just to be clear, even if Detroit and Baltimore win on Sunday, Ben Johnson, Aaron, Glenn, Anthony Weaver, and Mike McDonald will all be available to be in person interviewed during the week that, you know, is essentially a bye week for the two Super Bowl participants. Okay. And I guess your best guess is that there is not going to be a hire until sometime next week at the very earliest. Correct. Yeah. I don't think you, I don't see how you do that without talking to Ben Johnson in person. Right. And the one thing, especially because,

or you could even be like whether it's McDonald or Aaron Glenn or Anthony Weaver, whomever, whomever it is, if there's something about them that's on a high level, you want to get to know them more. Unless they just felt like, oh, my God, that was a disaster. And that's not, you know, there's nothing I've heard. And I'd be surprised by that. So I don't think, I don't think this gets decided until those guys are talked to in person. Who are they being talked to?

We know it's Adam Peters now that we have a general manager. Is Spielman still involved? To my knowledge, is, yeah, but, but, you know, again, because I've heard, you know, you, there are a lot of, you know, chefs in the kitchen here. And I know some people were a little bit

wondered if that was going to be too much. And it's actually, I think they like how the process has gone. And so I know, like, magic was involved in some of them, right? But, um, so I don't, but I don't know, like, I'd be reluctant to give a lot of specifics on it without having more knowledge for most, for all of them.

All right. Tell me your reaction to the news that broke yesterday that Eric B. Enemy was interviewed last week for the head coaching opening in Washington. Yeah. He's on your staff, so why not? And Adam Peters knows, I believe they have a relationship, and they both spend time at UCLA. So, you know, he's on your staff. and clearly this group knows a lot about him, and I think it's like, you know, just cross your T's and dot your eyes.

But I don't see, I mean, I'd be very, very, very surprised if it went that direction. Right. You and I agree on that. So not holding you to this, because we will probably have, whether it's here or on radio another conversation before somebody gets hired or there's a chance. Your guess now,

who's the next head coach? I think the easy name to drop is Ben Johnson. But I don't have like this strong convict, like with Adam Peters, it was like, yeah, it's going to be Adam Peters.

As long as he wants his job, it'll be Adam Peters. That's the guy they wanted. You knew that he was definitely out front of everybody else. At the start of this coaching process, I wasn't hearing that somebody is way

out front with that, right? But I would lean toward him because you have the second pick, you're going to want to develop a quarterback. It makes sense to go in the offense direction. I've been told, and Adam Peterson said it publicly, and I've heard other ways, too, that it's not about offense or defense,

it's about hiring the right guy, the right leader. so I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that it's on offense. But I think of all things being equal, that's where you're going to look. And he's shown that he can run an offense. I think he's shown he can be adaptable. I will say, Kevin, I hear him. I know, like, I think, I don't know if fans would be wild by this.

But the guy that I hear the best things about from people who worked with him and played for him or whatever is Dan Quinn. And I think Rahim Morris is up there too. So that's why, and I'm not saying that, one of them will get the job. I just think it's why. I think they're going to do well in their interviews. And I think it's going to make it a harder decision for this group, which is a good thing.

You want it to be a hard decision. But I do think like those guys, and I, you know, I'm not saying the other words, what I've heard good stuff about Aaron Glenn in that regard to. And it's not about where your offensive is ranked, as you know. Dan Campbell, I don't know that he had, did he ever call plays? I don't think so. I don't think so. He's a hell of a coach.

It doesn't matter if you call plays. It matters if can you lead a group of men? And that's what matters. So I think people get caught up in the X's and O's of like, oh, my God, he's a great play caller, hire him. Well, Sean McVeigh is a really good head coach, not because he's a great play caller, but because he's a really good leader.

And so I think you have to, that's why I say, and I don't know about Ben Johnson in that regard. I haven't heard bad things about. him at all. But I've heard, like, when you talk here about other people, like, I think they're going to make it hard on this group. And that's why you cannot have a foregone conclusion about who it is. Now, I will say, talking to people in the lead, when you talk to people, I think they, most people have thought Ben Johnson, because I think, you know, it's a good young pairing with he and Peters. And I think it sounds like the kind of guys that could work well together. But I don't

know that, like I said, I don't think this group went into it with a, this is the guy that we are targeting versus this is a guy high on our list, which I think he would be, and then going from there. And I think that's what, you know, I think that's what, you know, where's it getting? With Peters, you knew that he was the guy. Why do you think, at least, you know, according to what we know, as of now, Vrabel, Harbaugh, Belichick haven't had some sort of interview with the team? Well, Belichick, I never heard. I know.

I mean, that was one of the easiest things to dispel, to be honest. So let's talk about Vrable and Harbaugh. Vrable in particular for me. Well, Braybill more so, because I will say, like, with Harbaugh, clearly he can coach. He's a very good coach. He has a particular style. I think it's, he has a reputation of maybe not always playing well in the sandbox, right? So I think, like, this group is going to emphasize, like, you know, someone's like, you know, what you hear is that, well, if this one coach is like, you know, a high, high level, but you don't think you can work with the GM in the organization, then you may go with a guy who's just a step below, but just to have that alignment as a, that's the new, the new buzzword is aligned, right?

Aligned vision, yeah. a line visit. And that, and I listen, it's extremely important because we've seen the damage here that happens when it's not like that. And it's been like, it's been that way for a long time. So I think it's very, very important as much as important as anything. So that's where I say like with Harbaugh, as good a coach as you can be, even without Conner Scalions. There's my little big. even without, but like, he's a very good coach. But I don't think, I don't look at him as a fit for here,

because I think it would be hard, like, what kind of power is he going to command? Right? And is he going to, is he really going to seize a lot of that to Adam Peter? I just, I don't, like I said, the reputation is after a few years, it just kind of, kind of wears some people down. Sure. I just think that would be, like, so, you know, and you want this to build a long-term thing.

This guy's coming from San Francisco where you look at Kyle and John Lynch is having this long relationship that could yield, you know, productive results for a lot of years. So as far as Rabel, those, and I haven't heard his name in this process either. The one thing I would wonder is kind of what I just said is like, if you're building this, you know, no longer the code centric, what kind of power does a guy like that command and want? and not that to paint him as power hungry, but you know, like a successful coach, is going to want some level of a lot of control, right? And because that's what they feel they've earned, and they're, you know, so if you're going to get that here,

and is that something that they would do? But I just haven't heard his name here, and I think, like I said, I think they're looking for that, again, aligned vision, but also, how is it, you know, are you going to be able to work together to build what they finally need, which is a long-time winner?

On the Ben Johnson front, I think there are a couple of things with what you've said. Number one, first of all, and I don't know if you, I don't think you said this. There's more competition, as much competition, if not more, for Ben Johnson as there was for Adam Peters. So, by the way, if they land Ben Johnson, it's quite the, you know, it's quite the indication of how different this franchise is than it was a year ago. But beyond that, the idea that you heard Adam Peters talk about leadership and a leader, as very important in the person that they would select. And a guy like Rahim Morris, we know, is incredibly well-liked and respected and comes with natural leadership ability.

I think Quinn, the same thing. But even beyond that, you know, it's the Morris's and the Quinn's of the world. I'm not saying that that's the direction they're going to go in. I would probably, if I was forced to wager today, I'd wager on Ben Johnson being the next head coach. but in putting together a staff once they're hired, sometimes it's easier for the guys that have done it before and been around for a while, like Quinn, to a lesser degree Morris,

because he wasn't a head coach for a long time, but because he's so well respected and well-liked to put together a first-rate staff as well. Good point, and I don't think, you know, it's funny, I was talking about that with someone else earlier today about, I think it gets overlooked in a lot of these hires. So people would be excited about Ben Johnson being hired, and I'm not saying they shouldn't be.

Like, I'm with you, you're right. There's going to be a lot of competition for him for a reason. He has a very, very good offense of mine. I like watching their offense because they don't always try and trick you, but they play physical. There's a lot of play action, and there's creative ways to get to a basic play. I like that kind of stuff.

So there's a lot good. there, but you're right. You don't know what kind of staff is you going to put together. That's one of the biggest things in this interview that somebody's going to get asked is, who would you, who would you see in your staff? I go back to Spurrier. He didn't, like, I remember talking to someone who had interviewed him in another town

with another team, is like, he couldn't name assistance in the NFL that he would bring. That was a major red flag for them. And so, like, if you don't have a good answer for that, and I'm not comparing to Spiririr by any means, but like, but the point is, it's an important question.

And if you look at, like, most teams that do well, Detroit is doing really well because Dan Campbell knew how to put together a staff, period. I mean, like, look at the coordinator's as they're, you know, Detroit's defense, I don't know, the great no,

but they're pretty good, but Aaron Glenn has a good reputation. And Ben Johnson clearly has done something with that offense. So, you know, that's the number one thing as a head coach. Who are you going to hire? Because if you If you don't hire well, you will not win. I don't care what kind of offensive wizard you are or a defensive wizard you are.

And that's one thing like, you're right, with second time head coaches, they don't always work. We've just seen that. But one of the benefits to it is, you know, finding out what they learned from their past failures. And, you know, and so I think with Quinn and Morris, there are things to learn. Do you trust that they have learned? and if you just dismiss second time head coaches, you dismiss a Pete Carroll or a Belich, guys like that. I'm not saying they're going to be that, but you know what I mean?

Like you can't just dismiss them either. Well, they've already done it. But what do they learn? And part of that is who do you strong yourself with as a staff? So, yeah, and again, it could be Ben Johnson. He may have. Ben's worked in a few places now. You know, it's not like he's just some newbie.

I'd be a little bit more concerned with that with Slowick than with Ben Johnson. because, you know, I think he's got, he just has less experience overall. So I think with Ben Johnson, I don't know that it would be a problem at all. But it is a, but it is a very, very important question to ask. Yeah, because once that hire is made, we're all going to be focused on, okay, well, who's the defensive coordinator if it's a Ben Johnson? Who's the offensive coordinator if it's Dan Quinn or Rahim Morris? You know, it's possible that even the interview of Anthony Weaver ultimately could lead to a coordinator. or higher with the new offensive coach.

Sure. All right. Super Bowl pick. Who wins the two games on Sunday? I had, I guess I'll stick with you. San Francisco and Baltimore, I had that. We'll get a rematch of that. Yeah.

I like that too. Great job, as always. I appreciate it. I will talk to you soon. Thanks, Kevin. One of the great guys in this business in this town for a long time, John Kime, everybody. And I think the big takeaway from John is that we're not going to have an answer on this

until next week. Until Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn and Mike McDonald can be interviewed formally, I just don't see them making the call before that happens. Is it possible? Dan Quinn just completely blows them away or Rahim Morris blows them away and they're afraid they're going to lose out if they wait. That's, you know, always a possibility. I think that's a long shot. I think we are, you know, into the early to middle portion of next week before Washington has its new head coach. All right. We'll finish up with a lot of the stuff from the weekend and even late last week that I didn't have a chance to talk about, including Mike McCarthy being back. That shocked me. We'll get to the Terps loss yesterday to Michigan State as well. All of that.

and more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The drawer is open for Maryland. Down by two. Three seconds left. Young. It's on the floor. Paul gets on top of it. It's done.

A misuse of the bounce cost them. A rough ending to a game that was certainly winnable for Maryland yesterday at Xfinity Center. The ball was in the hands of the guy that I wanted it in the hands of. Jamir Young, who's played as well as anybody in the Big Ten, but he turned it over for the seventh time yesterday. 18 total turnovers for the Terps who lost to Michigan State 61 to 59. Maryland now 11 and 8 overall, 3 and 5 in league play. I'll get to this game in a little bit more detail here in a moment. I want to tell you about this premier high high line exotic vehicle dealership in the DMV. It's Magdon Motors at Magnin Motors.com. They specialize in

clean, low mile and unique spec vehicles. Names like Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, all of the big high-end name brands are available. Every car goes through a 110 point inspection and is backed by an extensive warranty. Financing and leasing and leasing, on all vehicles, and there's an expert staff with an average of over 20 years of experience. Check out their inventory at Magdon Motors.com. That's M-A-G-D-E-N-Moters.com. So, a few things to wrap up the show with. And I'll start with what we came into the segment with. Maryland was down 15 against Michigan State. They couldn't make a shot.

Michigan State made everything they looked at in the first half. And the Terps were down 4432 at halftime. At one point down by as many as 15. In the second half, they held Michigan State to 17 points. Now, let me just say, this is not one of Tom Mizzow's best teams. It was supposed to be before the year started. And I'm sure they'll get it together and start playing good basketball. and end up being, you know, a tournament team for sure. But it's not one of their best teams

in recent years. And they were three and four in the Big Ten coming into the game yesterday, as was Maryland. Maryland off of a real disappointing loss at Northwestern the other night, a game that Jamir Young scored 36 points in. I didn't have a chance to talk about that game because I was away at the end of last week. But Jamir Young has played. together some games this year that are all-time Maryland games. The 37-point game at UCLA and Pauley right before Christmas, and then to go for 36 in the shots he made down the stretch to nearly pull off the win at Northwestern, Jemir Young's having one of the better seasons any Maryland players had in the history of the program.

I'm not saying that this is a Len bias kind of a year or a Juan Dixon kind of a year or a John Lucas kind of a year or a Buck Williams or Albert King kind of a year. Albert King may have had the best season in the history of Maryland basketball, his junior year in college park. But Jamir Young, I mean, he's averaging nearly 21 points per game. And some of the games he's had to just carry this team as he did against Illinois, you know, when he went for 28 and 8, 37 at UCLA to go with seven rebounds and three assists in that game, had 28 in their win over Penn State and overtime at home, had 36 in this game at Northwestern. He's been great. And I don't know that Maryland fans, because the season's not going well record-wise, are fully appreciating the season that Jemir Young is having. I would not put it up there with the season that Anthony Cowan had his senior year. Not yet. Cowan was spectacular. that season with just truly memorable moments. But Jemir Young yesterday actually didn't have one of his better games. He was 6 of 15 from the floor and turned it over seven times more than in any game this year.

And that really was ultimately what told the tale in this game. 18 total turnovers. Maryland, after taking a three-point lead on a Jemir Young three-point. point shot with eight minutes and 26 seconds left. Listen to this. Over the final eight minutes and 26 seconds of that game, Maryland attempted only seven shots from the field. Now, would that be totally unusual if they had gotten to the free throw line on a lot of the possessions? No, but they didn't shoot one free throw the rest of the way. seven field goal attempts in eight minutes and 26 seconds without a free throw attempted.

That's rough. And I'll tell you, some of the possessions that they did get shots up off of or they even made shots were not pretty possessions. They were outstanding defensively, even when Michigan State was knocking down shots in the first half. They put the clamps on Michigan State in the second half, holding them to 17 total points. But it was their offense that let them down. 18 turnovers, 11 by their starting back court, Deshaun Harris-Smith and Jemir Young. And that was the difference. To score, you actually have to shoot.

And Maryland only got seven shot attempts over the final eight minutes and 26 seconds. scored only six points over those final eight minutes and 26 seconds and lost by two. So Maryland's difficult year continues, they're 11 and 8, 3 and 5 in the Big 10. You know, after beating Michigan in that comeback win, beating Illinois in stunning fashion, they had chances in their last two against Northwestern and Michigan State. If you've watched the Terps, you know they're playing hard. This is not a team that's getting manhandled by anybody. It's been a while since they got blown out by Indiana and by Villanova where they couldn't score.

Purdue's been beating everybody badly. But in their last five games, they had a big lead and lost in Minnesota by three. They beat Michigan. They beat Illinois, the 10th right team in the country, had the lead with under a minute to go at Northwestern, a really good team, and had a three-point lead with eight minutes and 26 seconds left, had the ball in their hands, down two with a chance to tie or win the game at the end. By the way, just as an aside, I had no issue at all with Kevin Willard's strategy with a seven-second clock differential between game clock and shot clock, playing defense, trying to get a stop,

and then deciding what to do after they got the rebound. I felt like Michigan State essentially if you fouled and put them at the line and extended the game that way they had very good free throw shooters on the floor and you would have been down two possessions rather than playing great defense which they had done all second half long and forcing a miss which they had done countless times in the second half and they actually got the rebound and Jamir Young had the ball in his hands with a chance I didn't have a problem with them not taking a time out I mean you were going to set up a play for Jamir Young anyway he had the ball. on his hands into the front court against a scrambling defense, but their defense made a really

good play. By the way, Dante Scott appeared to be wide open in the corner for what would have been an open three and a chance to win the game. But outstanding defense by Michigan State in this game as well, Terps with Iowa next on Wednesday night. So I guess the news on Mike McCarthy staying in Dallas broke sometime on Friday, and I saw it on my phone, and I was floored by that. I was convinced especially how much it had been emphasized by Adam Schaefter and others that Jerry Jones would make a decision at the end of the year based on how the final game went. The final game was a disaster for the Cowboys

as a two-seed with high expectations and as a sizable favorite. They were down 27 to nothing in the second quarter, 48 to 16 in the third quarter, and they were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers who ran it on them, threw it on them, and basically demolished them in a game that looked like Dallas wasn't prepared for. So I really thought McCarthy was done. Jerry's been patient, though, over the years, much more patient than perhaps his reputation would suggest. Now, he is not giving McCarthy an extension, according to reports.

He's going to coach the final year of his contract, essentially without any guarantee that there will be more years added to it. It's not the first time that Jerry's done this. He did it with Jason Garrett, who twice coached in the final year of his contract. Jason Garrett coached the final year of a contract back in 2014, went 12 and 4, and got an extension. Then at the end of that extension in 2019, it was the final year of that deal. He went eight and eight, and he did not return. Jerry at one point said that he thinks often coaching in the final year of a deal can bring out the best in people. The problem with that is it makes it harder when McCarthy's perceived as a lame duck head coach entering a season,

a guy without more than one year left on the deal, it makes it harder to keep a staff or even fill out a staff if changes are going to be made to that staff. Now, Dan Quinn could potentially get a head coaching job and they'll have to hire a defensive coordinator. But that is always the deal. You know, Jay Gruden said that he knew he was in trouble heading into 2019 when none of his assistants got guaranteed.

beyond 2019. He wanted two-year deals for a lot of them. We'll see if it works out for them. I'm just surprised. It's one thing to lose with high expectations. It is another to be completely annihilated in a playoff game at home with high expectations. That was just the kind of loss that I didn't think Jerry Jones could get over. But he is getting over.

And then with the coaches that were potentially available to Jera, to replace Mike McCarthy, I thought it was a foregone conclusion. So that news was really surprising to me. The Wizards lost a few more games while I was out of town. And one of those was to the San Antonio Spurs. So over a few day period, they lost the Spurs and the Pistons at home. the two teams that they will likely be vying with most of the season for the best possible chance at getting the number one overall pick in the June 2024 NBA draft.

Last night, Nicola Yokic was in town. I would have loved to have gone and seen Yokic play. I've seen him once in person, just once. Had 42 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists. He was 15 of 20 from the floor last night in Denver's 113-104 win over the Wizards. By the way, speaking of the NBA, and I'll do it just for another quick moment, I promise you. Last night saw one of the great runs at the end of the game in NBA history. So the Clippers last night were hosting the Brooklyn Nets.

They were down by 18 in the fourth quarter. They closed the game on a 39 to 10 run. That was the overall run from down 18, but they finished by scoring the last 22 points of the game. That tied the record for the largest game-ending run on record since Play-by-Play data was first tracked. back in 97-98. Kauai Leonard scored 14 of those 22 points over that stretch as the Clippers beat the nets

125 to 114. So there is your NBA conversation for the day. So a story from last weekend's wild card games I got to yesterday, and maybe some of you know this story but haven't considered the long-term ramifications of it. But last Saturday night was the first ever streamed game on Peacock, remember the Chiefs and the Dolphins from Arrowhead. And it was a game played in extreme cold conditions. Four below zero at kickoff, making it the fourth coldest game in NFL history.

The temperatures dip to nine below zero, air temperature, and 30 below wind chill during the game. Well, 69 people needed aid in the crowd. 50% for hypothermia symptoms, the rest for frostbite and other various reasons. 15 of the 69 were transported to the hospital. Nobody died, but there were a couple of fans that were suffering from some of these conditions that were considered to be in serious condition. We're never going to see a game played in those conditions again. In this day and age, there is no chance.

The next game that you've got extreme cold like that, it'll be postponed. The Buffalo game, remember last weekend against Pittsburgh, was postponed because literally no one could get to the stadium. There was a travel ban. I think we'll see snow games, severe snow games. But that one was the timing of it was blizzard conditions, the governor putting a travel ban on everybody except for emergency vehicles or in an emergency situation. They had the Monday,

they knew the weather would be improving. They moved the game. The extreme cold that you had at Arrowhead last Saturday night, I just don't think we're going to see a game played in those conditions. Again, I think there will be some sort of discussion in the offseason where there is some sort of temperature, you know, wind chill number that if it's projected to say be 15 below or worse, the game gets postponed. Now, here's the problem with cold snaps is sometimes they last and get even more severe in places like Kansas City, you know, in places like Chicago. I'm thinking about the outdoor cold places. You know, Buffalo could have a severe cold snap,

but it's more likely that they're going to have a major snow, Lake Effect snow situation, whereas the Midwest outdoor cities, Green Bay, obviously, as well, Denver, a possibility. You know, what happens if you've got a forecast of below zero temps and 20 below wind chill for three straight days? Well, I'll tell you what. happens. The game gets moved to a neutral site. They're not going to wait until Wednesday to play

the game, not a playoff game. But I would bet you that at some point during the off season, what happened in Kansas City last Saturday night will be addressed with respect to, you know, these games and what happens the next time. They're not going to put people at risk. They're not going to say man up, you know? We walk 10 miles through a blizzard just to get to school back in the day. Anyway, one last thing. I'm assuming most of you know that Detroit beating Tampa Bay yesterday results in Washington now having the longest drought of any NFC team since playing in an NFC title game. That came after the 91 season, January. of 92. They beat Detroit in that game, 41 to 10 as they went on to win Super Bowl 26 over Buffalo that

year. So Washington now holds that distinction of the team that hasn't played in an NFC championship game the longest. I've got to go back to 91 now that Detroit will be playing in this year's NFC title game. However, it isn't the longest NFL drought in terms of title game appearances. No, Cleveland holds the longest NFL drought. So it's Cleveland won Washington 2. Cleveland last played in the AFC championship game during the 89 season, January of 1990, when they lost to Denver, 37 to 21. If you recall, that was the third loss in AFC championship games by the Browns over a four-year period, all of them to the same team, the Denver Broncos. Denver beat him in the game in the L-Wa-Drive game in the 86 season. Then it was the Biner Fumble game the next year. That was a game played in

Denver. And then two years after that, Denver beat Cleveland 37 to 21 at mile high. So, 5 and 11, not too good, but not the worst record in the league. Washington, the longest NFC drought, but not the longest NFL drought between championship game appearances. Who's closer to ending that drought? Cleveland or Washington? I would say Cleveland. I would say Cleveland because healthy, they got a pretty good team. It'll be interesting, by the way, to see what they do at quarterback.

DeShon Watson before his injury, not very good. They can't do much at quarterback. because of his contract. They're going to have to ride it out with him. I would certainly guess. All right, that is it for the show today. Back tomorrow with Tommy.