The Kevin Sheehan Show - Pre-Game: Commanders-Cowboys

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

Kevin with his preview and pick of the season finale in Dallas along with plenty more in the opening segment of the show. Jay Gruden jumped on with his thoughts on Commanders-Cowboys along with his "NFL Lock of the Week". Kevin finished up with 4 "Smell Test" picks and thoughts on the Terps losing last night in Seattle against Washington.  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. After a minute, no time out. Daniels throws down the sideline for Terry McLaure. Wrights, Twyzen.

I don't even know what to say. I'm absolutely speechless. And before anyone on Washington gets too fired up, remember, we've seen a missed PAT already. Cyberts got to have butterflies here. for the tie. Low snap, their special teams day in history has a fitting finish.

Man, we've had a season of stand up and scream out loud moments, and those were two of them, and they came back to back in the same game. The 86-yard touchdown pass from Jaden to Terry that cut the Dallas lead to one, and then the missed extra point that followed,

And yes, one of the worst special teams days I've ever seen, one of the wildest special teams days I've ever seen. In that game, there was a blocked punt, a blocked field goal, two kickoff returns for touchdowns, three combined missed field goals, two missed extra points, and I'm not even sure that covers at all. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Windonation. call them at 86690 Nation or head towindonation.com if you need new windows.

That loss to the Cowboys on the Sunday before Thanksgiving was Washington's third defeat in a row. They had fallen, remember, from 7 and 2 to 7 and 5, and it happened quickly. They played Pittsburgh, and then a few nights later they were in Philadelphia, and then they were back home against Dallas. And in that moment, there was real concern about where the season was heading. You know, was it Jaden's rib injury? Had he hit the rookie wall? Was it Cliff's offense falling off a cliff?

Remember, that weekend heading into Thanksgiving, even I couldn't justify the loss to Dallas because I had been, you know, hammering away at the fact that they had lost to two really good teams in the Steelers and the Eagles in a five. day period. And both of those teams in the moment were outstanding defensive teams. And I wasn't jumping off a cliff in that moment. I wasn't describing the back-to-back losses as a disaster. I didn't say that either loss was a bad loss, but after they lost to the Cowboys on that Sunday, November 24th, remember, Dallas had come into the game, losers of five in a row, and none of those games were that competitive? I was starting to wonder, you know, uh-oh, are things going to get back on track? Well, from that point forward, the season hardly fizzled out. Jaden hadn't hit a wall.

Cliff's offense hadn't been figured out. They answered the adversity of that moment of three losses in a row with four wins in a row. If they beat the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday, that's five wins in a row to end the regular season heading into the playoffs. It would be their longest win streak to end a regular season since 2012 when they won their last seven games to win the NFC East and advance to the playoffs. On the show today, my keys to a fifth straight win coming up in this opening segment along with a Skins Cowboys final score prediction. Jay Gruden in the next segment, and I've got five smell test picks to end the show. I think Washington's got a ton to play for Sunday.

I think most of you feel the same way. You know, if they win, they lock up the six seed. If they lose along with a Packers win over the Bears, they'll end up being the seven seed the difference. The seven seed goes to Philly next weekend. The sixth seed goes to either Tampa or L.A. It's looking more and more, by the way, like it'll be Tampa next weekend for the six seed, whether it's Washington or Green Bay. The Bucks are playing for their playoff lives, and they are a two-touchdown favorite over the Saints at home. Meantime, the Rams have decided to essentially rest most of their key starters. Matt Stafford.

Pooka Nakuwa, Cooper Cup. They're all sitting in their season finale against Seattle. They're a touchdown underdog in that game. So if Tampa wins and the Rams lose and that looks like a decent possibility, Tampa is going to be the three seed. The Rams are going to be the four seed. And so the sixth seed is going to Tampa. So if Washington beats the Cowboys or if they lose and the Packers lose,

it's Tampa next weekend for Washington. If that plays out, they'll open up the playoffs where they opened up this season in the same place. Tampa against the Bucks. They were there on September 8th for the season opener and lost 37 to 20. The Bucks have had a wild season. They got really injured there in that late September through kind of the end of October stretch. but man, they have been playing some very good football since. Todd Bowles has done a great job with that group.

When they got Mike Evans back to go along with Baker Mayfield, who's had a tremendous season, they've got a good defense. This is a good football team playing very well right now. Some of the look-ahead lines for the potential playoff matchups next weekend have Washington as a two-and-a-half to three-point underdog. they go to Tampa. Remember, Washington would be the 12-win team. Tampa would be the 10-win team. The last time these two teams played in the postseason was the COVID year in Washington, in Landover. Washington was a seven-win team. Tampa was an 11-win team, and Washington got to host that

game. But anyway, my preference would be the Rams. Look, I'd prefer the Bucks over the Eagles. but the Rams for some reason are apparently just fine hosting the Minnesota Detroit loser. You know, those two teams play in the Sunday night finale for the NFC North title and the number one seed in the NFC playoffs. The loser ends up being the five seed and they'll travel to the four seed, which, you know, if L.A. loses and Tampa wins, it'll be L.A. By the way, if Atlanta were to win the division by beating Carolina with Tampa getting upset by New Orleans, the Rams would be locked into the three win or lose.

Atlanta can only be the four seed. They can't be the three seed. Tampa can be the three seed, but Atlanta can't. But anyway, the Rams seem to be fine facing Minnesota or Detroit rather than Washington or Green Bay. And look, I tweeted out the other day, you know, somewhat, you know, tongue in cheek, a little bit sarcastically that the Rams are trying to avoid Jaden Daniels and the skins in this scenario. You know, it's not that far-fetched. They beat Minnesota during the regular season at home. And Detroit is a very injured team.

You know, the bottom of the seating in the NFC, the six and seven seats, Green Bay and Washington in some order are much more capable than your typical postseason six and seven-seated teams. You know, Green Bay is capable of winning a few games, and Washington with Jaden Daniels is certainly capable of pulling off an upset, if not two of them. So the Rams may be looking at Green Bay and Washington saying, you know what, we beat Minnesota, and if it's not Minnesota, Detroit's a very injured team. I think that's a bit of a reach because, quite honestly, Minnesota and Detroit would both be favored over the Rams, even on the road. Washington would be an underdog against the Rams, and I would bet the Packers would be a slight dog as well. If it is Tampa for Washington next weekend, remember, that's the place in which they last won a playoff game, 19 years ago, almost. to the day. It was January 7th, 2006. They beat the Bucks 17 to 10. That's their last

playoff win. It was defensive lead. The skins that day had 120 yards of offense. That's it. And just 41 yards passing from Mark Brunel. It's the fewest passing yards ever in a playoff win in the post-merger era. But before we get to, you know, what comes next, Dallas on Sunday. And it's nice to have, you know, the regular season finale not be the final game of the season. You know, too many of our seasons together, you know, and I like saying together because I feel like I've spent the last two decades of what we've all. been through with other people, and that would be many of you. But, you know, it was for the majority

of the last two decades that the regular season finale was the season finale. And then we'd sit back and watch real franchises play in the postseason while we were getting ready for, you know, a coaching change or the draft or free agency. You know, after 20 plus years, we just got used to it. You know, 19 of the previous 24 seasons, Washington finished in third or fourth place in the NFC East. We, you know, got to that point where we were, you know, as Morgan Freeman read in Shawshank said, we got institutionalized by the Snyder regime. What's his line about Brooks Hadlin when they let him out and then he ended up killing himself, remember. He said something like, these walls here are strange, you know, you hate them, then you get used

to them, and then after, you know, enough time passes, you depend on him. And he said, that's institutionalized. And that was kind of us, you know. Hopefully we can handle the freedom better than Brooks did. I think we're doing pretty well. But thank God for you know who, you know, because Snyder selling was kind of like us getting out and being freed. But without Jaden being drafted, we would have ended up like Brooks basically bagging groceries somewhere in Maine. You know, we instead have gotten, you know, we've gotten busy living rather than busy dying.

and Jaden's a big part of that for sure. He's helped us through this big change. What am I doing here? It just feels nice that we've gotten out of a rut, you know, gotten to a new place. And I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be fun. You know, and I say weeks, plural, not counting Sunday. I mean like next weekend and maybe the weekend after that.

We'll see. All right. What did I want to get to next? Oh, I wanted to read this. This came from Edward K. Who is a listener in Los Angeles. And the subject of the email is good riddance, Cliff Kingsbury. Dear Kevin, I was actually glad to hear that Cliff Kingsbury might be eyeing the Chicago Bears' head coach job and could leave Washington.

While he's considered one of the top offensive minds in football, I think it's better for Washington in the long run if he's not calling plays. Too often he puts Jaden Daniels in harm's way. I agree with you, those quarterback counterplays are risky, and it's not just possible but probable that Daniels could get injured if Kingsbury keeps running them. The reality is Kingsbury isn't focused on the long-term future of the franchise. He's just trying to win now and build his resume for a head coaching job. If he ends up in Chicago, I think it would be actually in the best long-term interest of the Redskins.

Love the show. Thank you, Edward. So during the podcast yesterday with Tommy, the news that Kingsbury made by talking about being interested in being a head coach again, it sort of broke during the recording of the podcast. We both kind of addressed it in the moment. but it made sports headlines for much of the day and much of last night even into this morning. Now, if you missed it, let me just read to you the exchange between Sam 40A of the Washington Post and Cliff Kingsbury. Yesterday, remember Thursday being coordinator day, so Joe Witt Jr. and Cliff Kingsbury meet with the media.

So Sam asked Kingsbury if he wanted to be an NFL head coach again. And Cliff said, quote, yeah, I'm sure at some point, yeah, at some point, closed quote. And then Sam quickly followed up on if he plans to interview for a head coaching job this year. Cliff said, quote, I won't comment on that, but yeah, we'll see how everything plays out. But I'm very happy here. This has been an awesome, awesome place and has really helped me kind of rekindle my love for the sport. closed quote. Sam then asked him, you know, kind of what he learned from his first head coaching stint with Arizona and what he'd be looking for in the future. And he went on, and I'm not going to

read the whole quote, but he was very complimentary about being in this environment with Dan Quinn and kind of learning from this experience. So before I get to Edwards' email, let me begin with this. It would have been better. Now, it wouldn't have been the only way to go, but it would have been better if Kingsbury had just said to the initial question, you know, would you want to be a head coach again? You know, I'm not even thinking about that. All of my focus is on Dallas and then the game will have next week in the playoffs. You know, those comments would not have been headline worthy, whereas answering the question very honestly in the moment were headline worthy. But let me.

just also say I'm totally fine with the way Cliff answered it. Again, my preference and I think it would have been better, not like a lot better, but it would have been better had he just declined to answer it and say, I'm not even

thinking about that right now. I'm focused on the Cowboys and the playoffs. But, you know, I think he got maybe a bit caught off guard by the question and his go-to has been to be super honest, super blunt, And not super, you know, contemplative, you know?

That hasn't been him this year at all. So I don't have much of an issue really with Cliff answering the way he did. And in terms of what he said, it can't be a surprise to anybody that he will be, you know, interested. And he's going to be a name mentioned and perhaps a legitimate candidate for a head coaching opening. Now, back to Edwards' email, which is more specific to him not wanting Cliff back. I want Cliff back. I think Cliff is a really good offensive coordinator. I think he's creative. I think he's smart. I think he's flexible. I think he's versatile. I'd love to see him back here for a second year with Jaden Daniels.

And a chance, by the way, to have a much better supporting cast. I'd like to see see that. Yeah, I would. But like you, Edward, I have not been a fan of some of the designed quarterback runs. The quarterback counters in particular, as you pointed out. I think most of you know that at this point. I love, you know, Jaden as a runner, as a scrambler, as a zone reed quarterback. I just am not a big fan of the design quarterback counters or quarterback powers or quarterback sweeps where you're running them into piles. But look, the majority, the significant majority of what Cliff's done this year, I've been a big fan of. I remember back, you know, before the season started, talking about sort of how intrigued I think we should all be

to see what Cliff's going to do with this offense and with Jaden Daniels. And I was convinced of a few things, even though I thought a lot of it would be a mystery. Number one, he's He wasn't going to bring the air raid offense to the NFL. It's not even possible. He didn't do it in Arizona. It's not possible to bring kind of what he did at Texas Tech into the NFL because of things like, you know, hashmark locations, ineligible downfield rules being different. So I knew he wasn't going to do that.

I also felt like he would be responsible in that he would give Jaden a sincere attempt to be kind a balanced football team in running the football because he did that with Kyler Murray in Arizona with James Connor and a few other backs. I also felt very strongly that Jaden was going to be a part of the run game. And even though some of you were like, we don't need that. We need him to develop into a passer. No, you know, he was already a polished passer, but you weren't going to take away one of his greatest strengths in today's football, which is the ability to threaten a defense with his legs in the run game. But look, I love what Cliff's done this year.

You know, he couldn't help that in several games this year, Jaden ended up with the, you know, large responsibility of keeping his team in the games almost. by himself. That I don't think was part of the plan heading in, but it's also pretty clear that they realized, just like we did after a while, that you could put some of that on him like we saw last Sunday night. I want Cliff back next year. I do. And I think there's a decent chance he is back next year. He's getting paid like a head coach right now because he's still being paid by the Cardinals for the last contract that he had. So he can be, you know, a bit discerning in terms of the jobs that he considers.

I mean, not so discerning that he turns everything down because, you know what, in the NFL, it's fleeting, man. You know, there are plenty of examples of guys who didn't strike while the iron was hot, you know, off of a very impressive year. And right now the iron is pretty hot. You know, it's at least warm for Cliff. But look, we'll deal with that when we get there. Let me just mention something real quickly because I was thinking about this the other day.

I'll probably mention this again next week. You know, in Cliff's lone playoff game in the NFL as a head coach in Arizona, 2021, his team played one of the worst playoff games I've ever seen. They were completely out-coached and ill-perched. prepared for that wild card game back in 2021 in SoFi against the Rams. It was that first Monday night wild card weekend playoff game because it was the first year of expanding that playoff field where they had a Monday night game. They lost to the Rams 34 to 11 and it wasn't that close. I mean, it was worse than even the 23 point difference. It was a complete meltdown offensive.

they had less than 200 yards of offense. I looked this up the other day. They were like two for 15 on third down. Kyler Murray was horrible and looked completely unprepared for the game. So just, you know, mentioning it because we'll see how he does next week as just an offensive coordinator with, by the way, a better quarterback in Jaden Daniels. Jaden Daniels is better than Kyler Murray. All right, some quick news from the park that just came out a little while ago.

So Marshawn Latimore is out for Sunday. I think we all knew that. It looks like Tyler Beaudish and Cornelius Lucas are, you know, I think they're doubtful, but they're likely to sit the game on Sunday as well. So back up center. You know, Andrew Wiley will be back. so that is good news. Tyler Owens and Jordan McGee, just FYI, are out as well. I think Owens has been an outstanding special teams player. The good news is that Austin Echler is listed as questionable.

Quinn said earlier today, quote, he's had a great week. We'll visit about him tonight in terms of where we're going, but he had a really fantastic week of preparation. He looked fast, explosive, all the stuff that Austin brings, but we'll visit with him and Adam, Adam Peters, tonight and tomorrow. That was the quote from Quinn today about Austin Echler. So Echler might play on Sunday, but even if he doesn't, it's looking good for next week. And Echler returning would be, I mean, if he's truly himself, would be a major upgrade to the offense and to the backfield.

I don't see him returning kicks when he comes back. That's the play. Remember, he suffered his second and more severe concussion on. He was very good as a returner. But McCaffrey's proven to be a pretty good returner. But Echler back for the playoffs as part of the backfield is huge, huge. And if we see him for a few snaps on Sunday, that will be fun to watch. I mean, I don't want any risk there. I don't think he needs the snaps as a veteran player.

We'll see what happens. We'll also see what happens with who gets cut in the event that they activate him off injured reserve. I have no idea. We talked about that a little bit on yesterday's show. If he gets activated, we'll find out tomorrow night. But somebody's getting released. I don't know who it'll be. Will it be a running back?

Will it be Rodriguez? I don't know if you can cut Chris Rodriguez at this point. meantime, Latimore is making progress, Quinn said. He's a no for Sunday. But for next week, Quinn said, quote, I love the speed that he is working with, and he's certainly very close, closed quote. So there you go.

All right. Time for Keys to a win over Dallas. Look, these season finale are hard to, analyze. You don't know, and I'm talking about the games in which at least one of the two teams has nothing to play for, and Dallas has nothing to play for. And it's very possible we're going to see Trey Lance a quarterback instead of Cooper Rush. They may want to see Lance again. And Cooper Rush has some incentives, contract incentives, that he's very close to achieving. It's not a lot of money, but they may keep him out of the game.

just it's hard, you know, to figure these games out, and you don't know until you kind of see who's Dallas putting out there, who's Washington putting out there. But with all of that kind of, you know, as the backdrop, let me just mention this. Dallas has played well over the last month and a half. You know, since that five-game losing streak ended here in Landover with a win over Washington. They've won four out of their six, last six games, and one of the losses was a game they should have won. You know, they blocked that punt against Cincinnati on Monday night football, and they had the guy that came up and fielded it, fielded it and fumbled it instead of leaving it alone. They would have won that game had they not made that blunder, that special teams blunder,

and they'd be winners of five of their last six games. You know, even last week in Philadelphia, got beat pretty badly, 41 to 7. But I went back and watched the condensed version of that game. This was not a case of Dallas not showing up, not posting. They did. They played hard. Philly's just much better. And the bottom line is the Cowboys self-destructed. They had four turnovers in the game. They also missed a field goal in the game. But they were moving the football on Philadelphia's defense pretty consistently. So I don't know what we'll get from them Sunday, you know, against, by the way,

their former defensive coordinator, Joe Witt Jr., a bunch of former Cowboys, although Tyler Beattish, more likely than not, will be out. But if they play the way they've been playing, you know, no CD Lamb, he didn't play against the Eagles. That was a big miss. but if they play the way they've been playing with Cooper Rush at quarterback,

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a very competitive game. So I'm going to go with right now, as we're doing this, subject to change, that the Cowboys are going to play Cooper Rush, even though I think there's a good chance. It might be Trey Lance, but that you're going to get the Cowboy team of the last six weeks on Sunday, trying to win the game. legitimately trying to win the game.

Last week against Philly, let me just mention more specifically. They owned the football in the first half. They were five for eight on third down. They moved the football. Rico Dowdell rushed for 100 plus yards for the fourth time in his last five games. They just killed themselves with turnovers. In the midst of drives, they turned the ball over. They had four turnovers in the game.

They were minus four in the turnover. margin category. We were minus four against the Eagles as well and overcame it and won. They don't have that kind of firepower. They don't have Jaden Daniels at quarterback. All right. So let's get to it. Washington beats Dallas if. Number one, this is a theme now for me pretty much every week. It's a recurring theme. A motif. Stop the run. You know, they didn't do it last week. And And it's the reason Atlanta took a 10-point halftime lead. They load the box Sunday with 8, 9, whatever it takes, and they stop Rico Dowdle. They have to do that.

Dowdle is much better than maybe people thought. He's really run well. And if he averages, you know, four, four and a half yards per carry, you got yourself a ball game. Unless they turn it over a bunch of times, you've got to stop the run. If it's Cooper Rush with Dowdle, you've got to stop the run. You've got to make them one-dimensional. If Trey Lance plays, Lance will be involved in the run game. So you've got a different dynamic there.

But it's the number one flaw for our team run defense against teams that are able to run the football. And the context of the game leaves run as a possibility open. If Dowdell goes for four, four and a half yards per carry, that's another. That's a redder flag than what we have now heading into the postseason. Stop the run, number one. Number two, they got a win at the line of scrimmage in this game. Remember the last, you know, game against Dallas, I really thought the game was lost at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.

They couldn't stop Dallas. Dallas stopped themselves. Remember, they missed two field goals. They had a snap that went over the head of Cooper Rush. They had a fumble in the first half, and it was still three to three. I mean, Dallas imploded in the first half, and it was three to three. So why? Because they were owning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Washington couldn't run the ball without Jaden being a runner. And so the line of scrimmage has to be different, and I don't know if it will be because Washington's going to have a different offensive line. They're going to have Dieter at center. They're, you know, they get Wiley back. but they still are without their starting center this week. They got to be better at the line of scrimmage Sunday. They got to control it much better than they did the last time they played.

And I'm afraid if Dallas comes with the intention of winning this game and playing the way they've played over the last five, six games, that could be an issue. So number two on the list of Washington beats Dallas if you've got to play much better up front on both sides of the football. You've got to stop the run, and then on offense, you've got to be able to run the football with more than just the quarterback. I'm sure they are hopeful of being able to run the football with Brian Robinson Jr. with, you know, maybe Austin Eckler, with maybe Chris Rodriguez, who knows, and not having Jaden run 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16 times in the game.

Number three, they got to play a clean game. You know, they have not played a clean game the last two weeks, and they've won. And they've beaten two good opponents. They beat Philadelphia with minus four turnover margin as a result, five turnovers in total. They beat the Falcons with 13 penalties. And in the last game against the Cowboys, man, they threw up all over themselves, special teams-wise. You know, we went through that in the open. You just have to play a clean game and get back to playing a clean game

because they really have not played many clean games. They didn't in, you know, last week, they didn't against the Eagles, they didn't against the Saints. They did against the Titans. But really, if you go back, six of their last seven games have come with too many mistakes and they've overcome them in several games and they couldn't in other games. play a clean game Sunday against Dallas. That's pretty much it.

You know, I could get into, I want to see Terry involved. I want to see Terry involved early. I think Washington can throw the football against the Cowboys. I am concerned a little bit about their ability to run it with running backs. But, you know, other than stopping the run, winning at the line of scrimmage and playing a clean game. You do those three things. You're going to win this game. I just have a sense, though, that this is going to be a more competitive game than some people think. I know that many were expecting a tough game last Sunday night. I told you, if they don't stop the run, this is going to go

down to the wire. They didn't stop the run without, you know, Atlanta being on the sideline in the second half with the offense dominating time of possession. That's what stopped the run more than anything else. Dallas is clearly not the Falcons, Enrico Dowdells, not Bijon Robinson or Tyler Alger. But I just think that if Dallas comes with kind of the same intentions they've had recently, I think this is a game that is competitive. I'm going to go Washington 24, Dallas 19. It would be really nice to jump on Dallas quickly, get out to a big lead, have them kind of concede the season at that point and, you know, be able to perhaps even put Marcus Marioita into the game in the second half. Chris Rodriguez into the game in the second half. Chris Paul,

some others, you know, offensively and not risk anything. That would be the best scenario. You know, 24 to 3 at halftime and you've got the game in control and Dallas is just playing out the final 30 minutes with their backup. But I have a feeling it's going to be more competitive than that, and that this game could come down to the fourth quarter. We'll see. Jay Gruden, next after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, no man wants to lose his hair, but for men, it's actually very common.

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We'll get playoff previews next Friday, where we'll have six wild card weekend games to preview. Season flies by, doesn't it? Can you believe we're here already? It seems like it started yesterday. This is a sprint of a season. It's crazy. You know, there's certain parts of the season. It feels like it's a marathon.

I don't want it's over like right now. Like, holy cow, it's already over. You know, all your fantasy leagues are over. Everybody's all depressed. There's nothing to look forward to on Sunday now. It is depressing, isn't it? It's depressing. No, because now you've had a whole offseason of, you know,

what the season is over. The whole off season of the draft takes forever in the training camps. They're just trying to find stuff to talk about. But, yeah, nothing like the regular season. Nothing like it. I mean, the league has become, and they've done a masterful job of becoming a year-round entity, where people are interested in it year-round. But for me, there's nothing like the games.

There's nothing like the rhythm of the regular season and building up towards, you know, a weekend of games, especially all of them on Sunday. And when that ends, I mean, nothing speaks to the power of the NFL that people get depressed, almost like they do after Christmas. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I know a lot of people that are in a thing. A lot of people here in Jacksonville, they're in a tank because they're season.

Yeah. About six weeks ago. Yeah. You know, the first teams that are still alive are still fighting, man, it's the hell of a run for them. The teams that aren't, you know, they're looking for new coaches and already depressed. But yeah, you're right. There's nothing like the regular season. Yeah, the playoffs are great, too, so we'll have fun talking about them.

I got this from Evan. and Evan wrote a long email to me, but at the end, there was a PS, and he wrote, When you have Jay on next, please mention, ha-ha Clinton Dix. I've always been dying to know how that trade came about, why he wasn't super impactful, etc. I thought he'd come up in the mid-season trade conversation. You and I weren't talking about mid-season trades as much as we were talking about defensive backs, safeties in particular. Yeah.

So I remember, I mean, you guys traded a fourth rounder mid-season for him. Yeah, I knew nothing about that one. I was one that came across my desk. Hey, ha-ha, nice to meet you. Yeah, he was another one that we're trying to find somebody to fill that void at the safety position. We tried a lot of players. We tried a lot of players. And, you know, I mentioned this on the last show that it's a very underrated position.

You know, if you don't have one, it's a glaring hole in your defense. And if you have a couple, then you're like, well, we can't overpay a safety. So there's a fine line there between not having one and overpaying one. So we tried everything. We tried everything. And Ha-ha was also on a decline probably in his career. It didn't quite pan out either. Yeah.

Another one that they just sort of said, hey, it's over. Look what we did for you. I mean, did you ever get, did you ever just say to Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, just include me in the conversation. I can probably help with the evaluation. Yeah, that would be nice. I was included on a lot of things. There's only probably a dozen or so that I wasn't really privy to the information

or they went despite me not wanting or whatever, you know, going against me. But that's okay. That's going to happen. We have a GM and a head coach and the GMs in charge of the decisions. The coach is not always going to be fully on board, but once the decisions made, you have to be. on board and it's got to be a team decision and you've got to move forward. It's just way it is. Looks like Washington's new front office of Adam Peters and Lance Newmark and, you know,

the collaborative sort of approach with the head coach, Dan Quinn, produced a lot last offseason. Two pro bowlers and 11 pro bowl alternates. They, they did a pretty good job. You know, we didn't know what was going on with the offseason last year. It looked like they were just dipping their toes. It didn't spend big on anybody. I mean, a couple of, you know, more than one-year deals with guys like Louvo, but, you know, how do you kind of look at the group that they put together, Josh Harris and Company put together last off season a year into it, almost a year into it? Yeah, I think they did a great job. I think they identified the key decisions they needed to get better at. The interior, the offensive line, the linebacker,

getting Louvo and Bobby Wagner, I think, was critical. you know, they're still working on corners. They drafted a corner, which is good. Defense line, you know, they were pretty good, but they still had to get some edge pressure. They got Armstrong and Fowler, which helped out a lot, Colin Farrell. I think they did a really good job by identifying the key positions, getting those guys in here.

So now when they go to the draft this year and free agency, they have a really good idea of where they need to go, who they need to get, and they're not far away at all. I mean, hell, they're close to be in there already, but they're not far away from now they can build more depth and get these guys signed to multi-year contracts, whoever they like. And they're in a great spot now, especially with the quarterback. Not that I would push back on any of what Adam Peters and Dan Quinn have done

and everybody else involved because there's been a bit of a culture change, which was possible once you got rid of the owner. But none of what is going on right now happens without getting it right at number two in the draft and drafting Jaden Daniels. So after last week's performance, how do you describe them, you know, come up with a new way to describe how great he is.

I haven't been able to do it. Yeah, I can't find one either. I just, I think he's best attribute. I think he performs best in critical situations, which is really hard to find a deposition. You know, the game never looked too big for him. He never looks wide-eyed and nervous. I mean, he's always got a great calm clutch demeanor

about himself. And I think, I'll tell you what, as a rookie, there's only a handful of guys. I'd rather have the ball in their hands other than Jayden Daniels at the quarterback spot. And that's saying a lot right now as a rookie. Jay, who that you coached over the years as a head coach, as a coordinator, who was the coolest under pressure? Does anybody stand out as that guy never, ever was rattled? We could always count on him in the clutch. Well, when I was at Tampa, my first, you know, we won the Super Bowl, Brad Johnson was like that. He never wavered. He was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was a clutch, man. He was

always, the game never looked too big for him. He never looked intimidated. He always had complete control over the system, the offense. He was awesome. You know, I had, you know, Cincinnati had three years of Andy. He was still learning, so he was probably too young at that time. You know, we juggled quarterbacks around when I was here, but by the end of Kirk's career here, her seasons here, it was still. Washington, he got to be more and more comfortable. Colt was always a great competitive type guy,

but still nobody really had that quite veteran presence about him, total control of the offense, yet. You were always still trying to build these quarterbacks to get there, and you know, they leave. Yeah, yeah, and then they're gone.

All right, back to last Sunday night, just a couple of specific questions. 16 carries. I mean, he legitimately kind of, you know, the proverbial strap the team to his back and did it, you know, with his arm for sure, but did it a lot with his legs as well. Does any of that, you know, bother you or concern you? Not at all. I think he has a great feeling for what the game needs. He had to run in that game. You know, there's sometimes guys were covered and he had to make plays

with his legs. And I think he has a great feel for when he is needed to make plays with his legs and make plays with his arms. And he can do both. That's the beauty of him. He can stay back in the pocket. He can rush for five yards in the game or he can rush for 120 yards in the game in the game needs. And I think that's his greatest attribute is the feel that he has for the game in front of him and the play in front of him. And it's not a predetermined thing. A lot of quarterbacks are going to go back. And I'm going to look for running lane in front. not this guy. This guy's going by. He's still going through his reads, but he has a great clock in his head knowing when to take off and when to move and when to throw the ball, whatever

it might be. He just has a great feel for the position. That's hard to coach right there. Austin Echler might be back. I know you think they've missed him a little bit, but let's just stick with Brian Robinson Jr. and Chris Rodriguez right now. What do you see in the two of them? I see, you know, those are two similar type guys. I just think, you know, some of the great backfields in the NFL, they have guys that have different skill sets. I don't like having guys with the same skill set. They're both good between the tackle runners, physical type

runners. I think, you know, you look at Baltimore, Derek Henry and Justice Hill. You look at Rock, what is it, Joe Meier Gibbs, and David Montgomery. These guys have different skill sets. The guys at Pittsburgh Steelers have different skills sets. I think eventually next year, they're going to need to get a back with B-Rob

that can attack defenses through the air. A skilled guy, speed guy, win matchups in the passing game. You know, I mention Chris all the time, like having Chris Thompson and Alfred Morris or whatever it might be. Yeah. I mean, I was curious as to, you know, there's probably going to be a decision made when Echler is activated. And Chris Rodriguez has been very effective, but he's the guy that they pulled up from the practice squad, that they've, you know, released a couple times, brought back to the practice squad, called up. And every time they call him up, he seems to produce.

That four run in a row stretch from the 14-yard line that gave them the lead early in the fourth quarter was pretty damn impressive, I thought. Which of the backs, I mean, I would imagine it's probably Rodriguez, it'll be sent back down. Yeah, I think, yeah, I don't know how they're going to do that, really. I don't know if it'll be Jeremy or not. It might be McNichael. He's done some good things as well. But, you know, Rodriguez, you're right, those were four clutch carries. He showed some physicality.

and it seems like every time he's got an opportunity, he's done pretty damn good with him. So they're going to have a decision. And I think the decision will come which one of those two guys are better on special teams on kick cover, maybe punt, whatever it might be. Because Equal will clearly be the number two if he comes up. And then I think the third one will be determined on who's more, who provides more relief on special teams.

Last one about last Sunday night. They could not stop the run unless Atlanta's offense was off the field. This is my number one concern, into the postseason. Is it yours or is there something else that concerns you in terms of what might prevent them from winning a game or two? Yeah, mine is still, you know, who's going to win on the outside other than Terry. But somebody has a lockdown corn and provides Terry some great competition. Who's that going to be without having Jaden having to run every other play?

That's my number one on offense. And then obviously number two on defense is stopping the run for sure. they need to have the ability to bring safeties down, and then if they do that, they've got to get the corners to play well, which I don't know if they can in some single high safety coverages against Philadelphia or L.A. Rams or whoever they might play.

Actually, one more, because I talked a lot about this early in the week primarily. Rahim Morris's handling of timeouts at the end of the half and the end of the game. What did you think? Yeah, it was horrific. It was something that he should be better at. He was a head coach for Tampa Bay.

He's, you know, been coordinators on both sides of the ball in the league and understands, and he wasn't calling plays on offense. He had to set off, I believe, and he was, that was his only job. It would be different if he was calling plays on offense and maybe got caught up and, you know, try to get a playoff. Maybe I could understand that, but not even call him plays. You've got to have a feel for where your players are and what the time is. That timeout should have been an easy one, especially having two of them.

If you only had one of them, I could see maybe try and hold on to it, but having two of them was inexcusable, and he'll, learn from it, unfortunately. Cost them maybe their season. Yeah. All right. How would you handle this game in Dallas Sunday? If they win, they have the six seed. So you're playing for the six and a trip to either Tampa or L.A. Versus you lose, if the Packers win over the Bears, then you're the seven and you go to Philadelphia. You were kind of in this position in 2015. You had a meaningless game, against the Cowboys. You were already a division winner. You were going to host a playoff game.

Seating was not a factor in that game. But how would you approach this one if you were the head coach? You know what? I'd try to win, really. I think playing in L.A. or Tampa Bay is a lot easier than going to Philadelphia. But they may feel different, but I think you still try to win the game. And you kind of get a feel for how the game's going. I don't play anybody with injuries that are banged up a little bit. You know, that's the issue that you have. I don't know what the story is with their offensive line with Wiley and those guys. I don't know. You just have to get a feel for your team and what the health status of your football team is. If you're healthy, then you go in and try to win and try to get the six feet.

If you guys are banged up and you feel like guys are running in mud and their legs are not underneath them, then maybe you rest a couple of your key players. And if you fall to seven, you fall to seven, go to beat Philadelphia again like you just did a couple weeks ago. So you don't want Philadelphia. between Tampa and L.A., going to Tampa and L.A., if you could choose for Washington, which of the two would you choose? I want L.A. Allay. L.A. struggling offensively. I don't know what the deal is.

I don't know if they're off the line or what. They've only scored in a team, I think, three times in a row. They beat the Jets like 19 to 12. They beat the Cardinals like 15 to 12 or whatever it is. I think they can score points against the Rams defense, and I think the Rams offense is really having trouble putting points up on the board for whatever reason. and Williams is by far their best threat right now.

I know they have Cooper and Puka, but they're having trouble getting splash plays down the field. And I just would, and it's going to be like a home game because there's not going to be any crowds really for the Rams. I think the Rams would be a much better matchup. You know, it's just a long trip as the only negative. All right. This is the last time in the regular season doing this, and sometimes it's really tough in week 18 because you don't know what the motivations of, you know, the teams that are playing for, you know,

that aren't playing for something what they have. Washington is now up to a five and a half six-point favorite. This has been climbing all week. Real quickly, just give me the keys to beating Dallas and maintaining that six-seat. I think doing what they've been doing, I would really like to see them establish more of a running game presence just going into the playoffs feeling good about their power running game

and moving people off the line scrimmage. Obviously, that's going to be important moving forward. and then obviously playing physical to get and Riegel Dattle on the ground. He's probably their only threat without C.D. Lamb in there. I think we've got to make sure we play physical on both sides of the ball up front. I think that's just Coach Quinn of that's the theme that he's got to have going to this game. We're going to be more physical on both sides of the ball

and everything else will fall on the place. I think that's their number one goal. Other than that, I think they'll be fine against Dallas with limited weapons. You know, Cooper Rush is playing okay, not great. they don't have CD lamb. They don't really have any big weapons out there. The receiver, Brandon Cooks, you know, surely they can handle those guys. So stop the run on both sides of the ball. Run the ball. Stop the run. Be more physical. And the game should flow pretty easy for them.

How about Dowdell? Four 100-yard games in his last five. He also had 86 when they beat Washington here on just 19 carries. He's actually really come on. And with Cooper Rush, you have to have a running game, or you got no shot. He's not a drop-back guy. Yeah, you have to. There's no doubt about it. He's not very good in non-passing situations. And on the flip side, you know,

you've got to make sure you stay a good down-of-distance against Zimmer because he's got a really good blitz package. You know, the double-A, he's a double-a king. He'll try to get into those, you know, double-a packages as often as he can. So you want to try to stay in the normal down-of-distance to eliminate all that and just be ready to have a plan, hopefully to have a good blitz plan for those double-a's because they can be a problem if you're not. studying up on those things. All right, we'll get to Jay's lock of the week here in a moment.

This last week of the season, when you've got something to play for and the opponent doesn't, it's tricky, and you know that from January 1st, 2017, the 2016 season with the Giants at home, that was, I'm sure, as painful a loss as you've had, the team was about to go to the postseason for consecutive years for the first time since 91, 92. and the Giants were a good team, and they played their starters for that game, but they had nothing to play for, seating-wise, or otherwise. So what is, you know, what was your takeaway from that, a learning experience, that if a coach in a game this weekend, like, for example, Tampa, they play New Orleans,

all they have to do is beat the Saints. They're a 14-point favorite right now. If they win, they win the NFC South, and they're hosting a playoff game. What are you concerned about going into one of those games as the team that has everything to play for, playing a team that's got nothing to play for? Well, a big difference is the Saints don't have any players. The Giants still have good players and their playoff teams. They're playing their third stringers. You know, the Saints are awful right now.

But your big concern is just making sure you don't get big-headed and you still got to play. These guys are very competitive people in the NFL, and they're going to try to put their best foot forward and try to kick your ass. just anytime you line up with the ball in front of you and your three-point stance, you're going against another man. They're going to be competitive juices going. The Saints are not going to lie down. The problem is there's not very good. Their quarterback play is awful.

They don't have Alvin-Kamara. They don't have their key wide receiver. They lost two or three key offensive linemen. Yeah, so it should be an easy game. But still, you've got to protect the ball. You've got to play the game, right? Avoid the penalties, do the things right, situationally, and they'll be fine. But some of these other teams, like I mentioned, that are in a playoff that might be resting

a couple of guys like the Chiefs. They may arrest Patrick Mahomes, but they still have good players. They're a playoff team. There's a number one seed for God's sake. So Denver can't take them for granted at all because I still think the Chiefs will give them a good game. But some of these other teams that are really playing third four stringers are going to have a hard time against some of these teams fighting for playoffs. So I want to go back to the season ender in 2016 for just one minute. And bear with me because there's a purpose to this.

I want to find out from you as the head coach of a team that coached in a game in a season finale where if you win you move on, if you lose, you go home. But you're playing a team that's got nothing to play for and the expectations are for your team to win this game and maybe win this game easily at home to advance to the postseason. From a fan's perspective, as that game went on, you start to get this pit in your stuff. stomach. You start to get feel the nerves and the tension of oh my God, we might blow this. And I'm wondering how that sort of feeling is the game was tight. You know, it was, you guys were down at halftime, you go into the fourth quarter and it's tied up at 10-10.

How does that manifest itself for, you know, you the head coach, the other coaches and the players in that kind of a scenario where the expectations are very high. for you to win and win easily to advance to the postseason. You're exactly right, and you're hoping to get off to a fast start, and then they kind of just kind of quit on the other side of the ball, just wait for the game to get over. But the longer they stay in the game is tied or it's one-point game or they're leading, the more they're going to play hard.

It's like, damn, we can't get these guys to quit. They're not going to quit. They're trying to kick our ass. And that's what's most important about these games. You've got to get out early. There's so many front-running-type people in the national football. league. If you have a lead, you know, everything is going smooth. But as soon as you get down or you're struggling, people start to get a little bit more tight and they start to struggle. I try to do a little bit

too much maybe. Yeah, so it definitely has a pressure feeling. Some people feel it more than others, but you're exactly right. The longer those things, those games go into the fourth quarter, the tighter people get. You know, just one last thing, and we've probably talked about it before, about that game, you know, I think, and people are going to get pissed with me saying it, I don't care. but a lot of the memory of that game is Kirk's interception at the end. You guys couldn't get off the field defensively for three quarters against Paul Perkins, who ran for basically like five plus yards per carry. And they dominated sort of that time of possession in the game in the first half in particular.

I thought it was a team-wide loss, not just a quarterback loss. What do you remember about it? Oh, 100 percent. 100 percent our defense didn't play good enough. You know, we had to get some stops, create some turnovers, do something. Giants had a good defense that year. They're pretty damn good. You know, DRC was...

Right. He had two picks. I just saw him the other day in Tampa. I was a hell of a guy. I love DRC, but hated him that day, that's for sure. Right. But, yeah, I mean, it was totally team debacle. You know, we didn't play good on defense.

We didn't make the plays on offense. We didn't call a good game, and it just nothing seemed to go our way. And, you know, we tried a back-shoulder fade. DRC picked it. And at the end of the game, we had a end-break. Rout versus two-man and DRC undercut it. Kirk could have run for the first down. Just a lot of what-ifs in that game.

We didn't make the momentum that we needed to make in that game to pull away. And they got us, damn it. Yeah. I'm trying to remember we would have gone to Green Bay. Was that where we were going the following week with a win? Lambo? I have no idea. No idea.

I can find that here before we finish up. All right, one last one before we get to Detroit, Minnesota, Sunday night, and then your lock of the week. What would you do with Saquan Barkley Sunday? You know what? I'd have to get a feel for the team. I saw that Lane Johnson said he should fit him, and the other tackle said he needs a player and get the record because it means a lot for the lineman as well as, you know, not just Saquan Barclay. But Saquan Barclay was so even keel about he had a great demeanor about himself. He said he's okay with sitting and I'd sit him because he's, you know, he's not.

sit-in-because he's such a key component to that team moving forward that you'd hate to have him try to get in a pile and somebody turn his ankle or something like that, have to be hobbled for their first playoff game. If they had a buy week, it might be different where they could play them, and he'd have weak to rest. But since they might have to play on Saturday, I'd probably sit them if I had my choice because he's so valuable to that franchise. But if they Quankan to my office said, hey, coach, I need the record.

I want the record, especially against the Giants. I've got to have the record. I'd say, all right, fine. We'll get you in there and try to get you. the record. There's still no guarantee you get over 100 yards against the Giants. I would respect his wishes and let Saquan play. I mean, the thing that, tell me if I'm wrong about this, but you wouldn't want him to play if you weren't playing all of the other starters, especially on the offensive line, right?

Oh, everybody would have to play. Yeah, all the offense line. I could sit a couple guys on defense to know, maybe, you know, the two big defensive tackles make sure they're okay for next week. But if Sequin was playing or my starting quarterback's playing, you better bet your ass the offensive linemen are playing. It's a tricky thing. I mean, Saquan aside, because I heard Belichick talk about this, I think, last week, is that, you know, fans always, you know, are like, just sit your starters. You've got nothing to play for it. But you only have 53, you know, on the roster.

You only dress 46. Who's going to play if you don't play some of your starters? And you're going to have to play the offensive line. And you can only have to play the offensive line. then you can only address seven or eight of them. So the offensive line are probably going to have to play anyway, whether State Juan players or not. Maybe Lane Johnson will sit, but everybody else is going to have to play.

You don't have enough players. You can't go on the practice squad and activate 15 guys from the practice squad and everybody else down. I mean, you've got to play these guys. And, you know, AJ Brown will probably play and Devante Smith will probably play. And that's why it is. By the way, we would have gone to Seattle in the first round. Seattle would have been the three-seed.

would have been the sixth seed, and so it would have been Washington at Seattle in the first round. We owned Seattle. We owned them. Well, you did the next year, yeah, you did, you beat Seattle a bunch of times, I think, actually. All right, let's talk about before we get to your lock of the week, the game of the weekend. It'll be the final game of the regular season. Pretty wild. 214 and two teams, Detroit and Minnesota, Sunday night at Ford Field, for the number of one seed in the NFC playoffs. The loser becomes the five and heads to either L.A. or Tampa, you know, maybe six, well, probably eight days later. They'll probably play that game on a Monday night. That'll be the Monday night game, I would imagine, the loser of this game will end up playing on Monday night the following week. But tell me about this game. Who do you like and why?

I mean, two unbelievable teams with great seasons that can hurt you a lot of different ways on offense. Jared Golf's having an MVP type year. He can distribute the ball to a lot of different people. Ben Johnson-Coln. I mean, he's got a rabbit-foot-up as that. I mean, whatever he calls works. I mean, he's doing a great job. Obviously, defensively, a big concern for Detroit, some of the injuries.

But, you know, Minnesota lost. I haven't faced who was having a great year of linebacker. They've lost a couple guys, too. So it's just going to be a great game. It's going to come down to situational football, turnovers like it always does. I'm excited for this one because these teams have been so impressive. you know, I mean, Sam Donald's story is unbelievable. I still think Jared Golf what he's done coming over from Rams with them.

Incredible. And the coaching staffs for both sides have done a great job. Brian Florey and obviously Aaron Glenn for Detroit. So it's be fun to watch. I'm thinking Detroit, though. I just think their offense is as good as any offense. It's been in a league for quite some time, really. All right.

One last week with that shitty game, Jacksonville and Tennessee, they all count the same. So that was a good call. Jacksonville covering at home against the woeful Titans. This is a tough week. I think you're 9 and 6. You're 60% for the season. Give me your last lock of the week for the regular season. Well, I came in thinking, you know, I'm taking Seattle because I know Sean McVeigh in meaningless games really will take it as far as he can as far as wrestling those players and trying to get the hell out of there. you know, but if they're playing for a three-seed, possibly or a four-seat, that's a big difference because the loser of that game, but the four-seat gets Minnesota or Detroit, right.

The three-seed would probably get Washington or Green Bay. It might be a big difference. He may not wrestle, but I'm still going to take Seattle because I don't know if you saw all those incentives, In-Sign of the Geno-Smith has in his contract. I did. He's got about $8 million worth of incentive that he can hit, and I think Seattle will get it done, hoping that Sean will probably rest Stafford. make sure he's healthy going into the postseason. I'm surprised Sean's approaching it this way. I mean, do you really want the loser of the Minnesota Detroit game

in your first round game in a four or five matchup versus... Oh, you already beat Minnesota. He already beat Minnesota. He did. He did. He might feel like, you know, they can really get after Detroit's ass on defense. They're banged up and they can run the ball and control the clock against them, keep Jared off the field.

So I don't know. If he doesn't approach it that way, then I probably obviously wouldn't take Seattle, but I'm assuming he will. I mean, in some ways, he's essentially saying, give me Minnesota or Detroit versus Jaden Daniels. Yeah.

I mean, I'm saying that tongue in cheek. But the more that I think about it, he obviously, you know, if he's thought about this, look, being the three-seed, being the three-seeds better than being the four-seed because you also have a better chance of potentially hosting like if Philadelphia were to get upset in the first round as a three-seed, you're hosting the second round game.

So you're giving up that possibility. Yeah, I'm assuming he's going to do that, but I agree with you. I think they should try to win against Seattle. Maybe they are. Have you read that he's going to rest Stafford in those two? Yeah, he's already made the decision. Stafford's not playing.

That's what I thought, yeah. Debrough doesn't play. Seattle, I mean, settle went easy. Seattle's a six and a half point favorite in this game. Yeah. And Gino's got a ridiculous number of incentives in this game. I always wonder, you know, if management steps in and says, yeah, we don't want to pay, you know, Gino Smith, if he goes over 187 yards passing an extra $2 million.

I think that's what it is. I think he's got that. I think he's got completion percentage. I think he's got over nine wins. I think he's got, I think he's got like three or four of them, huge. Yeah, crazy. All right, enjoy the weekend. We'll talk next week. Appreciate it. So again, Seattle minus six and a half is the pick trying to get to 10 and six on the regular season. Thanks. I'll talk to you next week. All right. Thanks, Kevin. Jay Gruden, everybody with me every Friday, and he will continue to do this right through the playoffs.

If you get a chance to rate and review the show on Apple and Spotify, that would be helpful. Also, follow us on Apple and Spotify. Just hit the plus button or the follow button. Big help for us. I'll finish up with a quick thought on Maryland's painful loss last night, and I've got five smell test picks as well. We'll get to that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, prize picks is the place to go to,

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Go to MyBooky.ag or MyBooky.com. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and MyBooky will give you a 50% cash bonus on your initial deposit. You can't go wrong with MyBooky. They've got everything you need for the NFL's final regular season weekend of the year. We've got two games tomorrow, Cleveland and Baltimore. man, the Ravens, 20-point favorites right now at my bookie over Cleveland. Cleveland hasn't been this big of a dog in 50 years. They were a 21-and-a-half-point dog against the Raiders back in 1975, and they lost by 21. The books knew what they were doing even all the way

back then. They nearly nailed it. Tomorrow night, you get the Steelers and the bankers. goals and then we got a full slate on Sunday, including the game of the weekend, which is Sunday night's season finale, Detroit hosting Minnesota. Detroit, a three-point favorite at My Bookie at home over the Vikings. Washington, by the way, up to six and a half right now over the Cowboys at MyBooky. They opened as like a three and a half four-point favorite, and it's up now to six and a half. MyBooky.ag promo code Kevin D.C. Fair numbers across the board and fair pricing. You can't go wrong.

And as I say all the time, take the free money. They're going to give you 50% of your cash bonus on your initial deposit. Why would you turn it down? Mybooky.ag. Mybooky.com promo code Kevin, D.C. All right. I had Notre Dame Georgia under that hit last night. That game, by the way, Notre Dame was impressive.

I thought Marcus Freeman did a great job. Notre Dame's defense is nasty, and I enjoyed watching that game. I really like Notre Dame, not as a smell test pick, because actually there was a lot of public action on Notre Dame, but I just thought Georgia was going to be in trouble without Carson Beck, and that Notre Dame can run the football, and they can stop the run. I had under in that game that hit. I had the under in the Oregon Ohio State game that did not hit.

So I am one in one heading into this regular season final weekend of the year, which is a hard weekend to really analyze and bet. It really is. And let me just mention, follow me on X if you're not on Twitter at Kevin Sheen, D.C. I've pulled some games in recent weeks, and this is the weekend. This is the Sunday, the Saturday and Sunday, in which more often than not, I pull picks. Because you don't know until within an hour and a half of the game when the inactive list comes out, who's planning on playing and who isn't? Which team's going to really go out and try to play and try to win versus those teams who are not going to do that?

I've said over the years that the last couple of weekends of the season, sometimes the best bet is a contrarian bet, betting the team that has nothing to play for against the team that has everything to play for. And that does work sometimes, but you've got to be careful because you've got to make sure that the team that has nothing to play for is going out there to play the game with their regular players. So follow me on Twitter because it's possible that these picks that I'm, about to give you, I might pull one or two of them. Look, this has been quite a run, and I hope it continues. Out of the last 11 weeks, you know, so coming up on three months, nine winning weeks in two, five hundred weeks. Last week was two and two. I pulled the 49ers, or I didn't give out the 49ers. I was about to give out the 49ers. I pulled the Browns and ended up two and two, had the Cardinals

and had Chicago on that Thursday night game as winners. So I've had two two-and-two weekends, and then the other nine weekends have been winning weekends in terms of more winners than losers. One-in-one heading into this final weekend. Let's get started. So one of the most, by far and away, in terms of a game, by the way,

that's got two teams playing for something, but the Bengals are a huge public play tomorrow night at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's lost three in a row. They seem to be reeling right now. Cincinnati's rolling. If Cincinnati wins, they get into the postseason if Denver and Miami both lose on Sunday. And they are laying right now two and a half. I'm going to buy it to three.

I don't know what this number is going to do between now and kickoff tomorrow night. Pittsburgh has something to play for. If they win, they're the four seed. they go to Houston if Baltimore beats Cleveland. And I think Baltimore is going to beat Cleveland. If Baltimore wins in Pittsburgh, then Pittsburgh's playing for seating. A win they go to Houston in the first round, a loss, they got to go back to Baltimore. So I think Pittsburgh has something to play for, not to mention the fact,

they've got to get something going positively heading into the postseason. Cincinnati can't stop anybody. That's their issue. I'm giving out Pittsburgh buying the half point. The line's two and a half right now. I'm going to buy the half point and play them plus three. I hope you guys can get it at plus two and a half plus three. I don't know what's going to happen to the number between now and kickoff.

But I like a major anti-public. Every sports book in America will need the Steelers tomorrow night. I'll take the Steelers plus the three. Let's go to Sunday. Atlanta's laying eight at home against Carolina. Atlanta's got to win the game to have any chance. They've got to win and Tampa's got to lose. Carolina has nothing to play for it, but they've played well recently. I mean, you know, this is one of those games I could pull because of Bryce Young, who's on the injury report, even though he was a full go in practice yesterday, Adam Thielen's on the injury report. We'll see how Carolina plays it. It could be one of those games that could be a great number. get because at halftime, if Tampa's beating the crap out of the Saints and Atlanta's got no shot, who knows what happens in the second half. But the public's lined up on the Falcons in this one, I'll take the Panthers plus the eight. Believe it or not, one of the biggest public plays of Sunday is Kansas City, getting 10 and a half at Denver, starting Carson Wentz and a bunch and a bunch

of other players we don't know anything about. Denver laying 10 and a half to the Chiefs. The Chiefs with Carson Wentz being played by the public. I hate laying a big number, and this goes against the theory of playing the team that's got nothing to play for, even though that team would be Kansas City. Denver's really good on defense. I think they smother Carson Wentz. I'm going to buy the half point down to 10 and take the Broncos laying the 10. and I think the Broncos end Cincinnati's season if they win, Miami season, if they're still hanging around after the 1 o'clock window, although they play in the 4 o'clock window as well against the Jets.

Miami needs a win over the Jets and a Denver loss, and then they're in. And Cincinnati needs a Miami loss and a Denver loss to get in, along with a win over Pittsburgh. I think Denver is going to make all of that moot. I think they beat Kansas City, and I think they beat the Chiefs badly. Denver minus 10. Oh, one other play. The biggest total play for the public over the weekend is the over in the Tampa Bay, New Orleans game. The totals 43 and a half. The Bucks and Saints played a 51 to 27 game the last time they played. Different players, both teams. But Tampa has scored 40 or more in two of its last three games. They scored 48 last week. They hung 40 on the Chargers a few weeks ago. So the public's pounding the over in this one. I'll take under 43 and a half.

So there you go. Four plays. Four plays? Yeah, four plays. Did I say five at the beginning of the show? I think I did. It's four. Steelers plus the two tomorrow night versus the Bengals.

And then the Panthers plus eight, the Bucks, under 43 and a half and the Broncos minus 10. And I also was one-and-one on the two totals and the two playoff games. So you've got those two that have already been played. All right, there you go. Steelers, Panthers, under Tampa, New Orleans, and Denver. Real quickly, before we call it a day, Maryland had a terrible loss last night at Washington. I know it's January 2nd.

I know it's so early in the conference season. was a conference game that Maryland played last night at Washington. They were a five and a half six point favorite in the game. And they got beat 75 to 69 in the ugliest game they've played all year long. I've been talking Maryland up this year as I normally do, but really believed it in a major way. And they didn't look good actually in their win over Maryland-Eastern Shore after like a week-long break coming back from the holidays. and then the game against Washington last night was brutal.

They could not knock down any shots. They were two of 13 from behind the arc. They're two of their best three players anyway, but I would say they're two best players. Derek Queen, the freshman, and Jacoby Gillespie, their transfer portal point guard, were a combined one for 13 from the field. They were also a combined three for seven from the free throw line.

Maryland missed seven free throws in the game. They got out rebounded. They would play decent defense, and then they couldn't rebound the basketball. Washington had 11 or 12 offensive rebounds. Their big guy, great Osobor, 6-9, 260, something like that. I had no idea. I had not watched Washington at all. I talked about him on radio this morning, and Scott called me and said,

they gave him $2 million in NIL money to go there. He's a senior transfer from the same place the last coached at, or coached at Montana State. He was awesome in the game last night. Just a bad loss. Maryland's metrics were really good. They were super high in Ken Palm, super high in the net ranking. They finally got ranked in the coach's poll.

And, you know, they hadn't beaten anybody, really. You know, they had lost to Marquette, lost to Purdue. They blew out Ohio State. They beat Villanova. they beat Syracuse. But last night was kind of one of those games where it's like, go on the road, take care of business, and then get ready for Oregon on Sunday. Oregon got blown out by Illinois.

But the Terps play Oregon, their top 10 team, or at least they were before last night, on Sunday afternoon in Eugene. And now there's kind of some pressure to get that one. If not, they'll drop to one and three in the Big Ten to start a season in which it looked like. heading into it, they were a contender to perhaps, you know, win a Big Ten regular season title, or at least be in the top two or three. They're one and two now in the conference. It's early. It's so early. And they've played two of their first three games on the road, and after Sunday, three of their first four conference games will be road games.

And, you know, you got to be playing your best ball in February and March anyway, But last night, kind of a disappointing, painful loss for the Terps. All right. That is it for the show. I'm not sure based on kind of how the day goes Sunday that I'll be back here with an immediate post-game show. You know, those 4 o'clock games and the Sunday night game, you know, will determine a lot of what happens next weekend. And so it may be that I'll do the recap show on Monday. We'll see how it goes.

If there's some sort of wild finish or bad loss or phenomenal win or, you know, God forbid some sort of, you know, bad thing that goes wrong, injury-wise, or otherwise I'll be in here. But we'll play it by year. All right, enjoy the weekend. And yeah, big snowstorm coming Sunday night into Monday. Fred, I do believe you're talking out of your ass. You believe whatever you want, Floyd. But I'm telling you, these laws are funny.

First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes and get so you depend on it. That's institutionalized.