The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins Confidence Meter with Cooley and Legler

Episode Date: November 14, 2018

Cooley calls in and thinks Alex Smith just played one of his best games. He thinks the Smith and the offense are getting better. Plenty of Tampa recap and Houston preview along with conversation about Norman and Swearinger comments. ESPN's Tim Legler is a huge Skins' fan....he joined the show and talked about his confidence level in their 6-3 record. His thoughts on the Wizards, Warriors, and the East as well. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right. I'm here. Aaron's here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com and tell them we told you to call. Chris Cooley shortly. Tim Legler on the show today. And we'll talk a lot of Redskins with Tim Legler. He's a huge Redskins fan. He follows the team as closely as anybody outside the market. And he enjoys talking football. as much, if not more, than talking about the NBA. We'll do both with Tim when he is here. All right, some news from yesterday last night. The Caps got a win last night to snap their two games skid. They beat Minnesota 5'2 and the return of Tom Wilson

not only featured a goal that he scored in the first period, but also included a fight. It wouldn't be a Tom Wilson game without great play and great drama. And he brought both to the table last night. And on that goal, Aaron, there was like goalie interference simultaneously. How did the goal count? Did the goalie interference come after the score? Yes.

Yes, that's what he shot it. It crossed and then it was goal interference, which makes me wonder how it's goalie interference. I don't. That was an odd thing. But anyway, they got the win, a good win against a pretty good Minnesota team. Last night also, how about Georgetown's win at Illinois? Now, Illinois is predicted to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten this year. They don't have a good team.

But still, Georgetown got a road win at a Power 5 place, and Illinois's place was packed last night. And by the way, the Eli and I were eight-point favorites in the game last night. And Georgetown went in there, won the game 8880, big plays late in the game, and their freshman backcourt of Akinjo and Matt McClung combined for 31.11 assists. And this guy, McClung, all right, if you haven't seen him play, White Kid, 6-1 with ridiculous hops. He was a YouTube sensation. And they are recruiting better. And I said this about Georgetown last year after watching them a few times at C.J.'s urging.

Chris Johnson, program director at 980. He's like, you got to watch him. Tell me what you think. I thought they were well-coached last year. I thought they were a well-coached team. And if Patrick gets players, Georgetown's on the rise. I don't know if this is the year. I don't know if they make it to the tournament this year.

I think they're picked sort of in the middle towards the back end of the Big East this year. I think they're picked as more an NIT team. So last year they missed everything. They're picked more as an NIT team this year. It's a good win for them. Yes. It's a good win for them. They'll have another opportunity for a huge road win at Syracuse in December before they get

into their Big East schedule. All right, a couple of other things real quickly. The NFL game canceled Mexico City. Did you see that field that they weren't going to, that they're not going to play on? It's unbelievable it ever got that bad. The players started to talk about boycotting the game. Once that happened, the NFL bailed. on it. They had sort of this pre-condition to the deal of playing in Mexico City that the team that

was losing or giving up the home game also had to have their stadium clear in the event that something like this happened. And so the two nine-and-one teams, really the Monday night matchup, the game of the year at this point, Kansas City and the Rams will be played in Los Angeles. And that matchup of the two nine-and-one teams is the best Monday-night matchup. night matchup since 1990 when the 49ers and Giants were both 10 and 1 facing each other that season and the Niners won the game 7 to 3 and it was the first of two games that year. The second was in the NFC championship game at Candlestick. Really one of the great NFL games of all time.

The Giants 15 to 13 win over the Niners to stop the Niners attempt at a three-peat. So that's it. Levy on Bell did not report in Pittsburgh. And I would just say this about Bell. I'm a massive fan of his game and have been since the time he started in Pittsburgh out of Michigan State. I just love watching him run. It's a unique style, a totally unique style, I think. The only guy that we've ever in these conversations in the past, a guy from the past that sort of has that hesitation, that patience. Marcus Allen had some of that in his day. Look, James Connor's good. He's not Leveon Bell. He's a good back, and he's a hell of a replacement,

and it's a great story, the James Connor story, going back to Pitt when he had cancer and beat it. Leveon Bell, though, I've missed watching him play this year. All right, before we get to Cooley, I wanted to play something that Max Kellerman said yesterday on First Take. First Take is the show with Stephen A. Smith. I'm not a big fan of the show. I shouldn't say that.

I don't watch the show. I have a son that watches it, religiously and loves Stephen A. And I will say this about Stephen A. Smith, I've said it before. He's great at what he does. Great at what he does. I don't have strong feelings either way about Max Kellerman. I know that he is a major anti-redskins name guy.

I've always enjoyed him on the HBO boxing coverage with Lampley and Roy Jones. But this is what he said yesterday on first take. In reaction to the Josh Norman and DJ Swaranger comments about the Redskins fans, and sort of the erosion of the fan base and the lack of a home field advantage. Dan Snyder, who stubbornly, wrongly and offensively refuses to change the racist name of the Washington franchise,

to whom I will not refer, bought the team in 99. I was down there in 2002, hosting around the horn. Still cracks me up you were on that show. When I tell you, I was the original host, When I tell you that that town is a football town, is a professional Washington team football town,

I'm talking about when they rehired Joe Gibbs, everyone from the little old blue-haired lady walking in the street to the cab driver to everyone, everyone. You know, D.C. has this cab-sharing thing. You can't, you know, this pre-Uber and all this stuff. So you were talking to people constantly. everyone in town was talking about Gibbs. RFK Stadium was rocking. Even when they weren't good, that town was so committed. They didn't care about Jordan coming back for the Wizards.

You could hear of pin drop, and they were about a 500 team that year. But the Washington football team, they were committed. What has happened to that fan kind of passion in Washington since Snyder has owned the team? It has steadily dissipated year over year, over year. It's a horribly mismanaged franchise, and there are also those turned off by the name like me. Okay, so a couple of things. Number one, I'm not going to dwell or spend a lot of time on sort of him talking about RFK Stadium when Joe Gibbs came back for a second time rocking.

They weren't in RFK Stadium then. They left RFK after the 96 season and moved into FedEx in 97. That's not what I want to spend time talking about. You know what I want to spend time talking about. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time about this. I will just start with this. The name thing has little to nothing to do with why the team has been losing support over the years. Little to nothing, closer to nothing to do with it than even little.

Number one on the list is losing. Number two on the list is classless and embarrassing losing. The dislike for management, the owner, the various general managers that the owners had here over the year. and throw into the mix the bad stadium, the stadium location, the stadium setting, the stadium atmosphere, all of the things that we hate about FedEx Field. Those are the reasons, okay? It's losing, it's the arrogance, and it's the stadium. The name, not anywhere near the top of that list. And why? Because the Redskins for over a half a century, more than that, approaching three quarters of a century. Whenever you use the word Redskins, nobody's, nobody's. Nobody's,

really puts it in the same sentence with Native Americans. It means the professional football team that plays in Washington, D.C. When you say the word Redskins, it's the group of players who play for the professional football team in D.C. Nobody walks into a restaurant and meets friends and one of the friends says, hey, there are two Redskins at the end of the bar. Nobody says, oh, they're two Native Americans at the end of the bar. Nobody says that. Not for a half century. They'll say, who is it? Is Josh Norman here? Alex Smith, who are the Redskins? Who are the Redskins that are here. That's why I have advocated many times over for a second non-pejorative dictionary definition. I think it's time for that. It would be Redskins noun means the professional

football team that plays in Washington, period. Look, I don't want to get into all the polls, the Post poll, the Annenberg poll, because whenever I get into all the polls, people like Max Kellerman will say, well, you know, they were phone polls and they didn't know that the people that they were talking to or Native Americans or they didn't poll enough tribes or they only polled certain tribes. Look, I will assure you that the Washington Post wasn't trying to influence the results of the poll. In fact, if they were, they wanted more likely than not, they would have preferred the opposite of the results that they got, which were nine out of ten Native Americans are not offended by the Redskins name.

And every time this comes up, this is the answer you get. You get, well, they don't know that the person that they were polling on the other end was actually Native American, or they didn't identify with a specific tribe and the tribes that they were with. Fine. I mean, and I've said this a million times. I'm an open-minded person, and I would change my mind on this issue in a heartbeat if the evidence pointed to the contrary. But it hasn't. And every time you hear, oh, the polling isn't right, or the polling is outdated.

Remember, for years, the Annenberg poll is outdated. Okay, so the Post comes out with a poll in 2016, overwhelmingly saying that Native Americans that they've polled say that it's not an offensive term. And yet, then we hear, well, the polling's not right. The polling is inaccurate. The phone polling isn't right. The tribes, et cetera. Okay, show me the other poll then. Show me the other poll.

Show me the poll that says that nine out of ten that have been polled from all of these different tribes and all of these ways that you definitively prove that the person that you're talking to on the other end of the phone is actually Native American say that they're highly offended by the team name. We've gotten to a point now where it is time for a dictionary second non-pejorative definition. It makes sense because for over a half century or closer to three quarters of a century. Now, when you say Redskins, it doesn't mean something insensitive. To almost anybody, it means the professional football team that plays in Washington. All right, let's bring in Chris Cooley, who's got his own podcast, Redskins.com, and any other place you listen to podcasts, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, tune in all of them.

He's doing his film breakdown twice a week. So go listen to his podcast, please. He's also joining us on my podcast every once in a while. Actually, we're doing it once a week, I think, something like that. We're doing it on occasion, aren't we? Yeah, we're doing it on occasion. When we can. When you're available and you've got a phone that works, which today...

That's not really how this works. But, yeah. All right. I want to get to a lot of the stuff that came out of the game and some of it non-football related, Josh Norman. DJ Sweringer. But let's start with Tampa. What was your big takeaway from the win in Tampa? I think it's a big win in Tampa, don't you? Yes. I do. I think it's a big win because I think it's a huge loss if you lose the ball game.

For a lot of reasons, I think it would have been a big loss. I mean, obviously, you're back a game in your division. It's the season, but you can't go to Tampa and lose at this point. You just can't. I think there's so much that's hinged on this team winning a couple more games for people to believe, for the team to believe, for the confidence to grow, for the organizational confidence to grow. They had to win that game. It would have been bad to lose to Tampa. And I like the way they played. I actually surprisingly liked the way they played on offense.

I think they're closer than I've thought they were in the last three weeks. Why? They found some rhythm. And Alex Smith looked better. He threw the ball actually pretty well in this game. He missed a couple throws. Of course, he missed a couple throws, but I thought he played at the best level he's played at since maybe Green Bay or back to early in the season. And that was really because he just hit a couple big throws.

They did a good job with his protections, slid his line, got him checked into the right plays, draws on second and long, did a good job getting back down in distances when he had to, thought he delivered a couple strikes throughout the game. I thought he played with confidence. And I thought that offense moved with confidence and tempo, especially as he got into the second half. I gave him a B-minus C-plus, which was the highest grade I've given him since the Green Bay game. And I thought that he got into some rhythm, too, and I thought the play he made on the touchdown throw was the kind of play we've been wanting him to make, you know, extending the pocket and creating extra time, especially in the red zone and making a big throw.

but I thought there was still some inaccuracy there, even on some of his completions. But obviously, you know, when you say he's playing with a lot more confidence, what does a miss? So I want to play this game with you because I did the film breakdown and I watched it all. And I thought he played at a B plus, which, and you know I don't give it away, right? Right. I mean, that's what I graded him out as. There are some throws that I remember throughout this game that we can go through that sometimes aren't always him. I'll give you a great example of a throw that's not him.

Michael Floyd. Michael Floyd behind him. Yeah. Michael Floyd's running a deep in-rout. It's called a dagger route, and that's what that concept is, and it's not just Jay's concept. This is a concept that I ran all the way back to Joe Gibbs, which we called 494. Fours were ins, nines, or goes. So you have a seam route up the middle, and then a deep in-rout.

That's really got to be at least 15, but you want to get 8-9-4-8. to 20. That's the way it's run best, that's the separation. And then underneath it, the tight end will run about a 6 to 8 yard hook route. So the tight end's trying to hold the underneath the fender. The seams trying to clear the safeties

and Floyd's coming in, a big hole behind it in the middle. On that seven-step drop on that concept, when Floyd comes in in when he breaks it about 12 or 13, that's too early for Alex to let that ball go. And that hole hasn't opened up enough in the middle and he puts it a little bit behind him. and it's really common when receivers run in-routes,

especially rolled in-routes at short-breaking distances for those balls to be on their back shoulder. I thought it was a great ball by Alex. So what does, because I actually thought on the touchdown drive, it looked like he was getting into some rhythm, getting some confidence, the throw to Mo Harris on third and nine, the slend. The slant on the sideline was huge. Yep, the throat to the slant to Jordan Reed.

However, you say confidence, and I wonder what, the miss to Vernon Davis deep for what would have been an easy touchdown and would have made his whole entire day look much more like, to me, a B plus a minus day. But he misses it, and he misses it badly, I would think. I don't know how you described it on your podcast. Why is that happening? And don't you think that that gets him back to that level of still not sure, what you've said before, that he isn't playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of belief at this point? First of all, Alex said to me, Vernon runs that down five years ago. Secondly, he didn't miss it badly because badly would have been back behind him or making him

slow down for the ball, where you allow a DB to come in for a play. He didn't make a great throw because he could have put more air on it because Vernon had the entire field to run under that ball. So I get that he missed the throw. There's no. doubt about it. I'm not trying to take him off the hook for it. I think that's a throw that he'll he hasn't made a lot of those throws this year to any receivers. He hasn't made a throw to Vernon like that in forever. He needs to be making those throws so he can see where he's missing. It was funny, I go back to Al Saunders and Al always said when a ball's thrown out in front of you like that, you need to put your arms out as far as you can or jump or dive or make some real effort for the

ball so the quarterback can actually see exactly where he missed so he knows where to put it the next time. I didn't think it was that. I thought it was off for sure. It's, I mean, in the reality of it, 50 yards down field, it's just a tick off. I guess the other thing I would just say is that I, too, and I said this on the podcast Monday and yesterday, that I too have this sense that it's going to get better and that the last two weeks, we've seen moments of it being better. But the thing that puts the brakes on it for me is that their last,

two opponents have been torched by everybody that's played them with the exception of one team, and that's the Redskins. Like Tampa's been, you know, scored on, moved on Atlanta, the same thing. I mean, Cleveland, for crying out loud, scored 28 points and rolled up 400 plus yards on Atlanta, a week after the Redskins could barely budget against the Falcons. So that's why I'm cautionary on believing that some of these moments the last two weeks is somehow building towards a much better offensive football team because they're going to play better defensive teams now. Yeah, they'll play better defensive teams, but they've played exactly the same type of football against better defensive teams like when they played Dallas.

There was nothing different offensively when you played the Dallas Cowboys when you played Atlanta. They do have to run the ball better. Alex is getting better. First of all, that offensive line is going to be fine. You're going to get Trump wet back soon. Jonathan Cooper looked like a first-run draft pick in that game. He made some mistakes.

He had a couple holds that were absolutely holds. You can tell that he's not quite in football shape. But if you want to go back and watch some film for fun, go get the All-22 and watch that guy move laterally. He's an athlete, man. I like that we have Jonathan Cooper. I actually said yesterday at my podcast, that's an upgrade from left guard from anything we've had over the last couple years.

Really? He's just always been hurt, Kevin. Yeah. So he almost had a career ender in Arizona after he was drafted number 10 overall, bounced around a little bit, played 13 games for Dallas a year ago, went to training camp, and apparently was really banged up in training camp this year. And so really hasn't been able to run, move, do everything he needed to do over the last couple months. And, you know, they kind of just said, look, we're going to sign some guys,

just please come in here and work out. And it worked out for us. I loved him on tape. I did. I thought he was terrific. Now, my concern would be injury. that guy. So how long is he going to make it? But if he grows in this offense, he looks very good at left guard. I'll tell you one thing. I don't think I've mentioned it. I don't know if you've

mentioned it. You know, over the last couple of years when they've had some of these injuries, they found some players, Mason Foster, Zach Vigil. You know, they actually remember. Will Blackman. Will Blackman, you know, didn't hear anymore. How about the center they pulled off the street, Sullivan, who is starting right in Los Angeles? The starting center for the ram. Right. So they have actually found some guys mid-season. I wanted to get to the running game because you and I had a conversation either yesterday or the day before

and you said that the running game right now is out of sync. How so and how do they fix it? I want to be very careful with how I do this. And I did this yesterday in my podcast and I almost want to be more careful. Adrian Peterson missed

four or five cuts that he has to make. And those were cuts where he had a choice to go downhill or to bounce. And he chose to bounce. And he chose to bounce. When I say very careful, I think that there's some caution on Adrian Peterson's part in terms of not taking a hit on his shoulder. That's a guess. That is a speculation and a guess. And it might even be a subconscious decision that he's making. But there were three or four cuts, especially later in that game, where he had zone look cuts and could have cut in between the tackles and tied end. And he chose to bounce those plays. He's also bouncing our favorite play duo, which is an

gap dive play, like the new power play. And in that play, you're essentially on the edges getting the tight ends to turn inside, to turn their butts to the inside to make sure that the defensive end and outside backers don't get inside of them. And he's bouncing it outside of them more times than he's hitting it inside of them. He's bouncing a ton of plays right now. And I think he's got to go downhill more. There's that Shanahan theory of two, two, three, four, ten bust one.

and until you start hitting it hard and downhill, you're not going to bust one. And oh, by the way, when the defense believes that they're going to string it out, the play action isn't as effective. How about that one? I think he's got to get downhill. This isn't the entire season. This is a this week thing when I talk about this. But, you know, maybe here was my fun suggestion because of what a competitor AP is.

If there was anything to it and you thought there was anything to it, play someone else for 10 plays of his, you know, he had 19 carries, give him 12, and I'll bet you the next week he turns it down into the hole. Well, the one play that sticks out was when they ended up scoring the touchdown on the third and five at the Tampa Bay 6, what set up the second and 14 scramble play was this four-yard first down loss that looked strange to me. He didn't really attempt to fight to get back to the line of scrimmage on that particular run.

You know the play I'm talking about. So that's out to the right side. And it was like one of those bounce plays. And it looked like he might have something initially and he just didn't. I don't think he's running out of gas. But there's, and I don't think he's really that banged up that we should worry about it. But I think there was something there that wasn't. Here's what I'd say. Watch AP in the first preseason game that he played for the Redskins and watch AP the way he ran in the last game. Was it the same? And the answer is no. And so you have a decision here as a coaching staff. Maybe there's something they knew. Maybe there's something he knew. And you didn't care. You wanted to take it at 75 or 80%. Maybe there's not. And if there's not, then you think about manipulating carries to someone else to some extent.

Well, who, who? P. Ryan or Bibs? Well, you got P. Ryan and you got Bibbs and you got Byron Marshall, who you've really brought back from the injured reserve, and they have 21 days to choose if they want to activate him or not, which they should do because they can only bring back to, and they've already brought him back and designated him. And then you have Mack Brown on the practice squad. I don't know who. I don't know what they're doing with P. Ryan. I don't know their thoughts on him. He's only gotten a couple carries. You would have thought late. that last game up that you didn't need to give Adrian Peterson the last few carries that P. Ryan could have easily taken him, but they didn't want to give him the ball, or maybe AP demanded that he get those carries. I'm not sure, Kevin. Those were the best carries of the game for him. Those were the best carries of the game for him at the end on that final drive. Yeah, he did have a couple good carries to finish the game. He also on the last drive had a couple

carries that he missed. So, all right, let's flip it to the other side for a moment. Why did the defense give up all of those yards and then make massive plays in the red zone. Was this a Ben Don't Break strategy from Greg Minusky going into the game? So after the game and talking to a lot of the guys on the defense and some of the coaches, it was 100% Ben Don't Break. They said 4-2 speed doesn't kill us inside the 20, so we're not going to get beat over the top. In watching the game film, early in the game, first couple drives,

it wasn't really what you call Ben Don't Break. Danny Johnson almost looks like he's playing prevent defense. Right. So there's Ben don't break, and then there's prevent defense. Like, we're going to allow a slant to break in front of our face with nine yards of separation before we really buy it and break. Oh, there he goes. Is he going on the slant for sure?

Not a slant and go? No slug, yeah, okay, slant. Yeah, slant. All right, someone else tackle him because he's way in there now. They think he's going to be a good player. I mean, I love one Stroman. So here's one thing I did like. one of the first Ben Don't Break plays, they threw a dig to O.J. Howard.

Danny Johnson's about 10 yards off O.J. Howard, and I'm thinking, I respect Ashon Jackson, and I respect Mike Evans and Galladay, if you want to, but O.J. Howard should not be able to beat Danny Johnson deep. He shouldn't really worry about O.J. Howard beating a corner deep. He's a great tight end. Tight ends don't really smoke corners deep. Let's go play that one. And I loved later in the game that they'd seen that concept, and Stroman came up and jumped it and made a play. So there was some things that they did really, really well. The soft coverage, I think, were choices made in terms of, I'm sure, Minoski talking to his two corners, his young corners, you know,

Stroman and Danny, and saying, we're not getting beat deep. It might look bad. We don't care about our stats. We care about not giving up points. And I think what I remember being told was that if the defense gives up five field goals, will win the game. And they'd fight that exact type of defense. Hold on.

Somebody said if we give up five field goals will win the game like they knew. And they would have. And they would have. 16 to 15. It would have worked out. He gave up five field goals up. We know our offense can score 16. They might not be able to score.

17 or eight. Don't give up six field goals. I know. Could have been tough had it required more than 16. Here's the other thing about the Ben don't break defense that they played. Had it not been, been effective and had they not made some plays in the red zone to stay on top, they may have made adjustments in that ballgame, but they made a pick on the first drive, they missed a field goal

on the second drive, they give up a field goal on, I think, the third drive, and then they start creating a couple more turnovers. If you look at their drive chart, how drives ended, it's phenomenal. There's no way anybody's ever been in the red zone that many times and scored three points. Well, it's never happened. I mean, it was unprecedented. And by the way, that goes back to YR, offense really didn't score as many points. Well, that's what I was going to say. There was a point in the first half where before they went on that two-minute drive where they ended up getting three, and it was in the last three minutes of the second half, they had to run 13 total offensive plays.

No, I know. Yeah, the bucks were, I think it was eight, eight, 13, and 10, something like that in the first four drives in terms of the number of plays that they ran. And obviously a lot of clock with it. But you just made a point that I am interested in, like, As an example, their first field goal, it was third and 14 or something like that, and Jay threw the bubble to Mo Harris. And I think what he's saying is we're going to be in one of these games again today

where we can't make mistakes. We're in field goal range. These field goals are going to be important. I'm not going to ask my quarterback to do too much. I'm not going to ask him to drop back on third and long because it's not a good situation for us. And at that point, too, he's not completely confident in the revamped offensive line. And what I'm getting to is I wonder if, let's just say, Tampa had scored a touchdown or two or kicked a few field goals instead of all of the turnovers and missed field goals, if there had been more pressure on the offense to keep pace if they would have been able to do it against that defense. You could say that there would have been, and we can sit here and think that Jay may have changed the way he called things.

but when there's been more pressure to keep pace, this offense hasn't kept pace. I understood. So all I can say is that defensive game plan worked, and so there was no real reason to adjust any game plan. All right, let's jump ahead because we're now, you know, four days from the matchup with Houston. The Redskins are three-point underdogs at home against the Texans, who have won six in a row and are coming in off of their buy week. How much have you looked at Houston so far?

and what's your early gut on the matchup against them? Today is usually the first day that I start to look at Houston. And oddly enough, I was sitting here thinking about it. Like, I do all the film, all the offensive film on Monday, Tuesday, and I look at all the big plays, and then defensively I do today. And I'm sitting here thinking, I wish I was getting to the film before, the Houston film before Wednesday. I think they're a really good team.

But I think they're a team that the Redskins could actually. beat if Deshawn Watson turns the ball over and he will turn the ball over. They've done a good job this year against some quarterbacks that move. They've done a good job against Cam. I'm not sure, man. I mean, you're looking at two awesome receivers in DeAndre Hopkins and Demarius Thomas. You're looking at a back who's very capable in Lamar Miller. Yep.

And then you're looking at a defense that has a very outstanding front. I mean, J.J. Watt and Jadavia and Clowney are phenomenal. And I like what they do in the back end as well with Tyrone Matthew and Justin Reed as a safety. We have Mike Tyson playing back there as a safety as well. You know, you mentioned Lamar. That's funny. I'm going to have fun with that one. You mentioned Lamar Miller. I think he's been very much underrated during the course of his career. And I do think this is one of those games as I thought about it.

last night for the first time. This is another one of those games where they've got to stop the run. And, you know, sort of like they did, well, against Carolina, just sort of got away from the run. Dallas couldn't run it against the Redskins. And so there are some similarities with Dallas. Watson's better. But Miller's not as good as Elliott. But if they stop the run, I think we're into one of these 1917 games, again, that they're going to have a chance to win if they don't make the big mistakes. Yeah, it's a big test to stop the run. The problem with Houston, I think, different than Dallas,

is that their play action game off of the run is so much better than what Dallas had when we played them. And Deshawn Watson's ability to get the ball deep to D'Andre Hopkins, and now they have Demarius Thomas, who's really going to start to fit into that scheme, makes them a little bit more versatile than Dallas. Stopping the run is going to be big time. You know, Lamar Miller, I think. over four yards of carry. DeShon Watson's over five yards of carry. It's a challenge.

You know, this is also a week that we really do need to run the ball. And I know that sounds crazy, but you know, you got to control the clock. Houston's only given up 20 points a game. They're ninth in the league against the run. You do have to control the ball at home against the Texans. You can't let that offense continue to build and grow and develop plays off of other plays against you because that's what they're best at doing. Yeah, Houston right now, sixth in the NFL against the run and a very good and talented playmaking defense as well. All right, last thing, and then I'll let you run so you can go do your podcast. What was the organization's feelings about the comments Josh Norman and

DJ Swaranger made about the lack of a home field advantage and about the fans? The organization's feelings? Yeah, what was their reaction to? it. Do you know, were they upset about it or not? It's hard to be upset because you have a hard time controlling your players. I don't know how to express that. Okay. Well, I guess if you don't know. There's no way that everyone's happy that players are saying our fans aren't responding the way they'd like them to respond. There's no win for DJ or Josh, but ultimately

this has turned more organizational than it has individual player. I think it's turned to And I've listened to radio and I've listened to you every day. And I've listened to all the comments. And the one thing you miss and I miss is all the calls. Yeah. And I've listened to calls over the last couple days. And I think my favorite call exists with Galdi the other day. And someone said, these two need to shut their mouths and just go make plays.

But FedEx Field sucks. You're like, okay. Well, so what are you saying? And so everyone's saying that they're right, but everyone's saying that they need to shut their mouths. and then because you're saying they're right, you're saying, well, here's why it's bad. And I think that's the one thing that this organization doesn't like right now. And it's an organization with people that are trying to do things the right way. It just doesn't happen overnight.

And these players haven't been here long enough to understand the dynamic of the fan in D.C. And what's gone on with the Redskins for the last 20 years. And I think the new people that are working in the Redskins organization are trying. But it's a process. And it might not be a one-year, it might not be a two-year process. It might, it might Kevin be a five or six-year process before you really believe. Actually, I'll ask you that. Let's say you do things the right way as an organization.

You treat people the right way. You respect your fans. You help the fans get tickets. You do everything in the stadium to enhance the experience. How many years before you believe this is really real? I mean, I think it's such a personal thing right now because I think people's feelings and emotions tied to this franchise are all over the map. Tommy and I talked about this yesterday.

I think there are some people that went from anger to action. apathy to now they don't even like the team. That's, you know, where I am is I want the Redskins to be relevant in the NFL. I want them to play big games in December. And I think if you have in January, and I think if you've got a division winner that wins 11 games, let's just say somehow they can win five more games, five and two over the last seven, win the division going away, get a home playoff game against the Bears, all right? or the Packers and win it, then I think, you know, a lot of that other stuff that they're doing

that is right, you know, what, what Brian's trying to do with the organization and focusing more on the fan experience and the fan relationship and, and totally trying to eliminate the arrogance and that sort of existed with the franchise. I think all of that will then start to pay off. But it's getting excited in January about a game that's by itself in a playoff weekend in January where the whole NFL world is focused on your team and you win a game to advance to the next round. And you're playing those big games that it's been so long since they've played. I mean, I remember Cooley how fired up everybody in this fan base was.

when Joe Gibbs came back and in year two, when you're playing that game, which may have been your best game against the Cowboys in late December, to basically get to the playoffs, you remember what that stadium was like, and then to go on the road and win a game in Tampa and to get fired up for a whole week

for a divisional round playoff game against Seattle. It needs all of that. I think the other thing it needs, though, and I will agree that you need that. You need more than seven to nine or eight and eight. But the other thing that you need is the response from the organization when you do that. Do you win 11 games and win a playoff game?

And the organization says, oh, yeah, ticket prices, back up. Money coming in. Here we go. You're right. If you could do that and respond in a humble fashion to your fan base, then I think that would be the fast track. Ticket prices. Ticket prices, not hanging a banner for the division win.

you know, being humble and being, you know, accountable and, you know, promise, not promising or overpromising, not then going completely nuts in the free agent market on aging stars, like all of that, you know. Well, they haven't done, no, I understand that. I know what you're saying. You're not going to win a playoff game and then go spend $7 trillion on Albert Haynesworth. That's not the direction this organization is going, so I'm not concerned about that. I'm not concerned about that anymore.

either. I'm just saying these are the things that have happened in the past. Everyone understands. I think everyone understands all of the things that happen and you can compartmentalize those things in any fashion that you want. It's just what is this, how does this organization respond is going to be critical, even if it's not an 11 and 5 team. You know, how do they respond year and year out? And really, I think it's more than a year before a lot of people say, yeah, doing it the right way. I don't know what that time frame is. I think it's different for everybody, I will say this, that the decision of where the stadium ultimately ends up is a big one for the organization. Winning's the most important thing, and winning with a level of class that hasn't

existed is important, too. But where that stadium goes is big. Here's what I just don't like from the players is we have great fans, and we have great fans that don't pay money to go to games. We have fans that follow daily that live and die and breathe, live and breathe not die, but live and breathe this stuff. And it's not that they're always at the game. It's the majority. They like these players. And I just, when you say something like it's better to play on the road,

I just don't want these players to distance themselves from all of the great fans that are in love with this team. That's the one thing that I fear. And you and I've talked about this over and over when we did the show is you cannot win when you challenge a fans fandom. There's no win there for a player. They have to realize that there are so many fans that do go to games and cheer. You have to realize that if there were 5,000 fans in Tampa at the end of the game, singing hell to the Redskins, I'm not sure what that number was, that probably over 2,000 of them are in FedEx every week going crazy for you too.

They travel. They got on planes and came to Tampa. So it's not just the Tampa fans that are great, or the road fans that are great. Those are a lot of our home fans as well. So there are some amazing fans and more than not, in my opinion. Well, look, the bottom line is what they were saying literally is true. It's not a good home field environment, and it would be great if they had a great home field environment down the stretch here. But it'd be great if they won a big game at home. Yeah, because, you know, the truth of the matter is, you know, a great home crowd can be impactful, you know, when we get to a filling game to close the season. Even though it hasn't been sold out, that crowd was impactful when we were late in the Carolina game.

The crowd wasn't impactful when you were late in the Dallas game. You have to remember, this is a crowd and a fan base that sat and watched this team lose games. Back to me, back to me being involved of it, that you should have won. Or have teams come back from games that you should have taken over. I mean, it takes time for the players and the team, and it is hard for the guys that have been here for one or two years to really realize that. But, you know, we do have good fans. I believe that wholeheartedly. And you and I went to the,

I mean, we went to the Caps parade and all the cat stuff. Look at, look at what winning did for that. Look, to answer your question, I don't have an answer for your question. I just know winning and winning with humility would really be a huge start. I got to. I got to go. You got to go. Listen to Cooley's podcast, all of the platforms that you can listen on,

plus Redskins.com. And he does the film breakdown, the defensive film breakdown. today, so tune in for that. I will talk to you later. Thank you so much. The phone was great, too. Appreciate it. No problem. All right. Chris Cooley, everybody. Let me tell you about Window Nation. If you're hearing your furnace, go on and off over and over and over again. You're wasting money. Your energy bills are going to be much higher. It's time for you to pick up the phone and call Windon Nation. I've done it twice over the last decade. Harley and Aaron from Windon Nation have provided windows for me and lots of our

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86690 Nation or visit windownation.com today. Tell them that I sent you. All right, let's bring in one of my favorite people to talk to about basketball and even the Redskins for that, or Tim Legler, and I think many of you know this about Tim from ESPN. He's a massive Redskins fan. How many games have you gone to? I know you went to the Dallas game, right? Went to the Dallas game, went to the Carolina game. So I went to the back to back down there.

I'm going to see them certainly up here when they play the Eagles, and I'm probably going to get down to one more game down there. Yeah, I haven't decided yet. All right, so we'll get to the team in a moment, all right? I want to start with where I left off with Cooley. and that is getting your thoughts on the Josh Norman and DJ Sweringer comments about, you know, the home field or lack of home field advantage. What did you think? Well, first of all, I thought, you know, it's never smart for a player to do it.

It's just, how does it help you by saying that? It's not like the fans of D.C. if they feel like they haven't been great lately. And look, growing up, you know, going to that stadium back in RFK, literally from starting in the early 70s. That's how long I've been going to the Redskins games. I know how passionate the fans are about the team. I know what that fan base has represented. They might be a little bit apathetic right now

and going through something where it's not quite the same at home. But I don't know how it helps for an athlete to do it. It's not like the fan base will rally around those comments and say, you guys see what Josh and DJ said, we've got to get out there and support this team. it could have an opposite effect and make playing at home even worse. So I just don't think it's ever smart to do it. There might be some truth into it right now,

and you're down there probably more than I am. So I went to the Carolina game. I noticed it was a very late arriving crowd, but it got pretty raucous by the time that they needed them. So it might be a little different than years past, Kevin, but I just don't think it's smart for an athlete to ever make. comments that are going to, you know, really rile the fans up even more. It doesn't help your overall purpose, which is to have a great home field advantage in win games. I mean, look, you

have direct experience with this, right? Playing in this town, playing for the basketball team, and many nights feeling probably like you were in a road venue when stars came in from other teams, you know, whether it was the Celtics with, you know, whatever. You felt that. Yeah, no question. You felt that. So let's get to the team. If somebody, if a friend of yours says, hey, your Redskins are six and three and in first place, and that person hadn't seen a game, how would you describe the team? It's funny you say this because I actually just had this conversation with my friends,

and I have a pocket of friends up here and live in the Philadelphia area that are huge Redskins fans, and we really connect throughout the season and watch games together and text throughout the game and everything else. and they ever agreed I need an intervention. And maybe you can give it to me because my team is six and three. We've got a two-game lead in the NFC East, which could even grow this weekend with Dallas and Philly playing tough road games. And we're at home. So you would think you would think in any normal year, I would just be beyond thrilled.

Now, I expected us to have a good year. So it's not like six and three. I'm going like, wow, we've so far surpassed expectations with wins and losses. I thought we were going to be good. I was excited. I loved cousins, but when that ship sailed, I was very excited about having Alex Smith come in. I really looked at the division and said, man, we're going to have a really good year. So the six and three is probably about what I was hoping we would be.

It's how we look every week where I need the intervention, because I can't remember enjoying watching this team less than I enjoyed them this year. And I don't know if that's the general consensus. down there with Redskins fans or how you feel about it, but I find myself most of the game extremely agitated. And looking at this team and saying,

I don't know, first of all, how we're six and three, other than the defense has been better maybe than I expected, but you picture us playing some of the really top shelf teams in this league in a playoff game, and you go, this isn't a viable offensive product to compete with those teams. So even though we're six and three, you've got to be kidding yourself if you think that this is an offense that, and I tweeted about this, and I called it a high school caliber passing game, because that is basically what I've been watching week in week out.

So I'm so conflicted because I should just be happy that we're in first place by two games, but I'm not. I have an emptiness about the way our offense is played that it's hard for me to get past. Well, you're not alone. I mean, there is a sense of this six and three being fake. in a lot of circles and Redskinned fan circles. I don't think there's any question about it. And the way you just phrased it, I think, is the way everybody thinks. It's like, okay, so Dallas is at Atlanta, Philly's at New Orleans, Philly still has the Rams.

Okay, so we're going to win the division. We have a really good chance to win the division, but we have no chance to go to New Orleans or face the Rams or maybe another team or two in the NFC and win when you can't score. Like when you can't score, it is limiting, no matter how good your defense is, and the defense is significantly improved, but it's still not. You know, I've watched some defenses this year. I'll tell you what, I think Dallas's defense is very good. Yeah, too.

They're flying all over the place. I agree with you. I think Tennessee's defense is good. I really loved Baltimore's defense there for a few weeks. But the, but yeah, no, I don't think you're alone. But at the same time, I do, and I've said this going back, to when we saw it for the first time, which really was the Carolina game, which is, you know, the NFL formula, Tim, of running the ball, stopping the run,

winning the turnover battle, not making mistakes, and letting the other team lose the game still works enough of the time for you to get to December with a chance to get to the postseason. No, it does. You're right. I mean, if you wanted to say that's the formula still, because those are the foundations of your team, and you can still have a successful year and get to the playoffs or at least be playing really meaningful games the last couple weeks of the season? Yes, but you're not coming close to going beyond that

without a viable passing game. Were you about to say with Alex Smith? You were about to say that. No, I wasn't going to say that. Okay. The only I'll say about Alex Smith, that, and again, I was on board with it. And I haven't written them off.

I'm shocked at how inaccurate he's been. And I'm not talking about, you know, necessarily slinging it deep because we know that's not really what he did. I'm talking about the short stuff. Like, if there's one thing I expected out of Alex Smith, now, the fact that he also turned a ball over is really probably the number one reason that were six and three, because if he was playing the way that he was playing, and our passing game was this anemic throwing for 175.

yards. You know, and he's also throwing a pick or two or has a strip sack thrown in there. We're not six and three. There's no chance. So the fact that he's not turning the ball over is fantastic. So I expected that because he didn't do it in Kansas City either. I'm shocked at how inaccurate he is for short passes. Me too. It's the, as I've gone through each one of these weeks, I've said over and over again, I just don't remember him being this inaccurate in Kansas City. And now maybe some of his receivers, Kelsey and Hill, et cetera, were making them look good. But, you know, Cooley described it earlier in the year is he had the yips. He had, well, he had what Markell Fultz had, has a little bit.

But I, Cooley was just on with me. He saw some progress Sunday. I have felt the same way. I thought the drive down 14, nothing against Atlanta was the best drive for him of the year. I thought the touchdown throw to Doxon was one of the plays we expected a lot of, which is, you know, in the red zone, extending the play, creating more time and making a play, which he did.

And, you know, I don't think it can get any worse. And I would be surprised if it doesn't improve. I don't know how much it'll improve. But here's the problem, too, Tim, is they just played two bad defensive teams. Two teams that everyone else has torched. Right. And the Redskins had 14 and 16 points against these two teams.

When you see some of the numbers from the 10, Tampa Bay game going into the game how bad Tampa Day's defense was and then coming out of the game historic game and the fact that they had 500 plus yards five trips to the red zone and scored three points no one's ever done that in a history of football not just the NFL I don't think it's ever happened in a pop Warner game where a team was in the red zone that often has scored three points so to say we dodged a bullet would be the understatement of the year here's what I don't understand and this this I guess maybe points more directly to Gruden. I don't see the quick one, two, three, hit your back foot, the balls out, or a five-step

drop, hit your back, flip the balls out. I don't see it. What I see is Alex Smith, every single time he drops back, within a matter of a nanosecond, he looks completely confused, like his head starts spinning around like the exorcist, and he has no idea, like, what the progression is or, like, what his, first option was. Now, I don't know if, and I would like to have, you know, an offensive expert or a wide receiver, you know, the analyst tell me, is it because our receivers are so bad that there's virtually no separation, or is it because, you know, the play construction

and the patterns are running are so ineffective that they're not helping Alex Smith because I've never seen a quarterback look immediately for like, like he's running out of a burning building more than Al Smith does. Every single time he drops back, it's. Like, I have no idea what his first option was on that snap. And that's what is strange to me. You would think they would have more stuff where you take some of the progression out of it and some of the region. It's just a one, two, three, boom, get it out.

Even if it's a four-yard gain, whatever, he doesn't do that at all. And he's constantly behind guys on slants. He missed, you know, Vern the other day finally had some guy he opened deep, and he missed him by five yards. So I think of everything, that's what's probably been the most surprising. I thought he was going to be so accurate on everything under like, you know, 12 yards. And he's not. And it's amazing to me that we're still winning games despite the fact that I personally don't feel like we have a threat whatsoever to score with our passing game by going down the field by completing four or five passes in a row and putting the ball in the end zone.

Like every other team in the NFL does. I think your point about just some of that quick game, some of that quick West Coast game, that is Jay Gruden's bread and butter and has been. And I don't know why that hasn't worked more often this year either, especially there are certain games, the Colt game in particular, where they were playing soft coverage. It should have been easy pitch and catch right down the field. And maybe you don't succeed in the red zone when you get there, but you're moving the ball and you're kicking field goals, at least.

Let me ask you a question. Can I ask you a question real quick last thing about this? I don't ask you. Did it irritate you a little bit when Gruden made the comment, like he doesn't care if they win six three every week? It doesn't matter to him. Because the truth of the matter is that's like just, that's a fraudulent statement. Are you happy to be winning games if you're winning 6-3?

Yeah, I guess. But if you think you're going to be able to beat the teams you need to, when it really matters, 6-3, you're not. So to me that bothered me because it was almost an arrogance. Like, you know, people are upset. All I care about is putting check marks in the W column. But the truth of the matter is if you really know football and we have educated fan base, and I consider myself one of them.

I'm watching this product offensively, and I'm going, you know, you mentioned New Orleans and the Rams. We already saw what New Orleans did to us. The Rams is another level. And then what about Philly? What if Philly gets their act together, and they are within two games of us when we have to play them twice in the last month? You think we're going to put up enough points to beat Philly if they get their

past, they get their whole team together? Because you know as well as I do, they're capable of, of finding it and then just going on a six-game winning streak to end the year, including beating us twice. So there's six three games that you're winning that you're talking about. You don't care what the score is or how it looks. It's not going to be good enough, that style and that quality of play offensively, to win games when you have to in December, and then certainly if you get into the postseason,

and that's why that bothered me. And he keeps saying how close the passie game is getting, and I just don't see it. I don't see it getting any closer. I know we miss Crowder. I know we miss Thompson. I know our offensive line is a train wreck. I get it, but I thought Spielman was great on the call on Sunday saying, every team is hurt.

He doesn't want to hear about injuries because everyone deals with it. It's a way to – you have to overcome it, and that, to me, falls in the lap of the coaches to figure out ways to still be productive and look like a normal offense despite the injuries. And we just don't look that way. You know, the truth is the offensive line, Callahan and company did an incredible job to put it together. Cooley just said he thinks Cooper's better than LaVal. and just hasn't had the chances because of injuries over the years.

But here's what I would say. I didn't perceive it the same way, Gruden's comments. In fact, I wanted to point, I don't think I have this week, so I will right now with you. There was a question posed to him on Monday and his Monday presser about whether or not the arrow was pointing up. And he said, look, there's no arrow here. The only thing we're pointed towards is Houston. So I actually really liked that answer. I don't want to hear any more promising or over-promising and under-delivering,

which has been the hallmark of this franchise for a quarter century now. I just want them dialed in, but I will say this, to your point about Gruden, I do think there's some frustration there. This is not, he knows that they're missing a lot of stuff, but I also think there's been at least tiny incremental progress with Smith the last two weeks. I pointed to the drive against Atlanta. I thought that was the best playmaking drive for him of the year when they were down 14-0. It didn't lead to anything in terms of a final result.

And I thought the two plays, the scramble and then the touchdown pass to Doxon is more of what we saw of him in Kansas City. Now, the problem is, is they're going to play much better defensive teams starting Sunday. They get the Texans and the Cowboys back-to-back. Two great defensive teams. I will say this, though, about your Eagles comment. I don't see it. Something's wrong there. They could put it together, but something's not right.

They're not the same, but they're not the same team, but they still have immense offensive town. Now, they don't have any running game, but their quarterback, their tight end, their receivers, and their defense hasn't been the same this year. They're not getting off the field on third down, and so some of the opportunistic stuff that the Eagles offense got last year with a shorter field or getting teams off the field and taking advantage of field position

or forcing turnovers. Those things aren't happening. But the personnel is the same. So for me, I'm not, by no means am I writing the Eagles off. But knowing we've got to play them twice, I wish we could have played them once in September when they were really coming off of their off season just completely at a different mentality. They weren't nearly as hungry. They're going to get run twice here at New Orleans this weekend and at the Rams later in the season.

I mean, who knows? The Rams could have 15 injuries between now and then. But that secondary is completely shot, isn't it? No, it is. But I'm telling me, listen, though, what I'm saying to you, Kevin, is they only have to be within two games going into December. Because they've got us twice. I wish that that wasn't looming out there because I worry about them. I just feel like of all of the teams that going into the years,

certainly had a chance in the NFC, they, without question, have left the most on the table. So I worry about them. The Redskins, I'm kind of going, what's going to happen? I mean, when is Crowder ever going to play again? Chris Thompson? I understand the ribs are dicey things. I kind of get that, and I don't question him at all.

And I'm not questioning Crowder. It's like you forget he's on the team, and we need those two guys. You can't. It's hard. Listen, it's hard to win the deal. division, when your two best offensive players are a 33-year-old running back and your punter. All right. You and I could do this forever, because I know you enjoy doing this more than what we're about to talk about if you've got a few minutes just to talk a little NBA in Wizards.

Okay, so the Wizards, wow, they've won two in a row, wins over Miami and Orlando, and I don't know if you saw, because I know this drives you crazy too, like it drives me crazy. Beal talking about like people got John all pissed. off. It's wolf season now. Did you see that after they beat Orlando? Yeah, I did. I did. So your take on them right now? Well, it's the MO, unfortunately, with this group. And going into this week, I said, it's hard to believe I'm saying there's 12 games into any NBA season for any team. There's everybody must, sweep week. It's this week. If this team wants to have anything with their

season to be taken seriously. They have to sweep. I think it's Orlando, Cleveland, Brooklyn, right? Yeah, they got, they've Cleveland tonight, Brooklyn Friday night, and then they've got home games against Portland and the Clippers following that. Yeah, but I mean, I noticed, you look, Portland's 10 and 3, and the Clippers have been better than I thought. They're playing pretty well. So, like, those aren't, like, guaranteed, but if you don't get Orlando, Cleveland and Brooklyn, and Brooklyn now without Caris Lavert, their leading scorer, if you can't sweep that at home, when you start off the way you did

and you don't show enough fight and desperation, when you have more talent than all three of those teams coming into your building, none of those teams are going to be in the playoffs this year. If you can't get those three games, then this whole thing, then you get swept by Portland and the Clippers, and this thing's completely off the rails,

and you're blowing everything up. So even, at least for the short term, take that off the table, you're going to have to win all three of these games. And I heard the comments, and this has kind of been the emo with this team. I had someone the other day I was talking to about this team, and they said they don't think that they have, you know, forget the talent conversation because it starts to get to the point where you go,

maybe we're overselling the talent. But I don't know that we are, but I think maybe one thing that was brought to my attention might be true. Maybe they just don't love basketball enough. Maybe they just don't love competing and have enough street. fight in them individually what you need to compete at this level and to make things happen, particularly a franchise that hasn't won a title in 40 years. You would think that a group that was put together, if you have that kind of street fight in

you, well, then you can be there with the teams like Boston, Philly, Toronto at the top, and you can be at least in the mix for that. I'm starting to wonder if maybe there's not some truth to that. It's more about the show than it is about. actually the substance of what you're trying to do because that's what's bothered me about this team probably more than anything is the amount of mugging for the crowd you know you know flexing on a three-point play at a 12-8 game like I don't I don't understand at what point you put all that stuff away and you just have this complete business-like approach on your face your demeanor everything about you is I am sick of it we're turning it around and they just haven't gotten there mentally and that to me those comments the other night, it's indicative of that. It's all just bluster. Like, I don't want to hear anything more. I don't want to see any gesticulation on the court whatsoever. I don't care if you

look miserable. Right now, I want you to focus on being a better team, being more consistent, and being more professional. And that, I think, is what most people that cover the league want from Wizards. I mean, when they lost to Orlando last Friday night, they were down 25 at some, at one point, And John Wall hits a driving shot to cut the lead to one with about two and a half to go. And he celebrated like they had just won the game. And in the moment, I was saying to, I think it was my son who was sitting there watching with me, it just drove me nuts. Everything you were just talking about.

I'm like, damn it, the game is not over. Like, you just celebrated like it was over. And of course, what came next was so predictable. an open three, a missed driving layup where he's complaining about a foul that was completely not a foul, and they get outscored 11 to 3 with, by the way, no offensive plan the rest of the way, which you and I have talked about going back to OKC with Scott Brooks. I like Scott a lot, and I know the players like him. I just don't understand when you have a team that needs more structure,

which Wall and Beal needs so desperately, how you don't, adapt to that. They have no offensive structure, no plan, except an occasional couple of downscreens or, you know, a two-man ball screen game. That's it. It's all they have. I agree with you completely on that. And as much as I like Scott, you know, if you really go back to Oklahoma City, it wasn't much different there. It was, it was, but he just had two elite players. I mean, I always joke that, you know, be great should not be the name of your offense. And I felt like that's kind of what they were in Oklahoma City, and to a large extent, the same thing in Washington.

And one of the things that's really been puzzling in, why match the offer sheet for Otto Porter if you aren't going to develop him offensively and see what more you can get out of him? Because to me, and I'm not saying I would have matched it because I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have given Idaho Porter $27 million a year. I would have because I didn't know that he had enough

of a diverse skill set offensively to justify marrying yourself to him as your third best player, and that's as good as you're going to be, because that's what you did when you signed him to that, knowing what was going to happen with Wall and Beal financially. But they did it, and ever since, I just don't see a guy that has progressed at all. He's regressed, and that's very strange to me

because it's so critical that our reporter develop into a really good two-way player, and I don't think there was any plan in place whatsoever to try to get more out of Otto Porter. He's just out there fending for himself. And you go long periods of time in the game, you don't notice auto porters on the floor. And John Wall and Bradley Beale, I think they've proven by now.

It's not enough to get it done with those two guys because it's very rare that they both play great on the same night. And even if they did, it might not be enough, but that's very rare when it happened. So if you can get a consistent third guy that's giving you a 16, 17 a night in that third spot, and you are running stuff for him and you're catering to his skill set, to put little wrinkles into packages so that he has eight opportunities a game that you know are geared toward him.

Well, maybe he can start to get more confident and feel more comfortable with what he can do. He is a complete afterthought to the Washington Wizards, and that, to me, is bad management on the part of the front office because you don't give a guy that kind of money and they just go, well, hopefully you'll turn into earning that. You've got to help them, and they haven't. Yeah, I mean, there are two things that have happened in the last five years. I was dead set against them letting Trevor Areza walk. I would have paid him whatever he wanted.

He was a huge, high IQ, tough, competitive leader on this team. And I didn't want them to lose Gortot either. I understand that Gortot, you frustrated the fan base and probably frustrated John and Brad a lot. But there was a mix with John and Gortot in the pick and roll game that was really natural. And you can say whatever you want about Gortot. He set great screens and could catch and finish with either hand. And if he had enough minutes, it would end up with double-digit rebounds. I think they miss him too. I really do. And I know that most of the fan base thinks that that's insane, but I think they miss him. Well, I can tell you right now, the fan base might think

I'm insane too because I'm telling you right now I completely agree with you. And I said it at the time, and I've said it when they get brought in Dwight Howard. And I've been pretty adamant over the years about how I feel about Dwight Howard, particularly since you left Orlando. And one of the thing Gortat would do that Dwight Howard will not do, Gortat will set a screen and dive hard every single time, even if he hasn't touched the ball in a while. Dwight Howard will set the first couple and dive hard,

and then watch Dwight Howard as the game goes. on and how long it takes him to get from the three-point line to the rim when John Wall or Bradley Vueh are coming off their screens. He's not even a threat to throw the ball to because how long it takes him to get there because he's not fully engaged in doing it because he wants to be more important offensively. And so now you've got a guy that physically there's no comparison between the two guys. And when Dwight Howard stands up and puts that uniform up in front of them at the press conference, You know, you go, oh, my God, look at this monster we have in the center now.

Look at those shoulders. Look at this athletic ability. Dwight Howard hasn't been that guy in a really long time, and he's just not a guy that wants to put the hard hat on and grind it possession by possession. He doesn't. So therefore, there's a lot of empty possessions with him on the floor that you weren't going to get with Gortat, even if Gortat couldn't do some of the things physically Dwight Howard could do. What he did do was set a tone, and you know,

exactly what it was going to be every night. You really don't know possession by possession with Dwight Howard. All right, I've kept you long enough. Three quick things and then we're done and I appreciate it so much. Number one, anybody out west a threat to Golden State? No, not at all. And in fact, I think that the top two, maybe three real, realistic threats to Golden State are in the Eastern Conference. All right. So who comes out of the East right now, in your view. Oh, man. It's more wide open than anybody thought.

Yeah, definitely. And I'm going to stick with the team that I pick on in the year, which is Boston. I just think Gordon Hayward is a shell of himself right now, and they had a massive adjustment to make with Kyrie and Hayward and those other guys that had expanded roles last year, figuring out how to play together. Toronto, Milwaukee, been incredible. Philly, obviously, you know, who knows what Jimmy Butler will do for them.

But for me, I think offense, defense, and depth and coaching, I still like Boston. All right. Last one. Have you ever seen anything in basketball close to what we're witnessing with Markle Fultz and his yips with his shooting? You would know you're one of the great shooters in NBA history in terms of just being a pure shooter. Have you ever seen anything like it? The only thing with specifically free-thar shooting would be Chris Dudley, who also, had the double-clutch thing going and tried 87 different styles and he actually was unfortunate in playing

in an error when it was three to make two, so sometimes he'd be up there three times in a row or he'd have multiple lane violations so he'd have to miss four in a row. That's the only thing with regard to pre-thostitting. As far as a guy that looked this good in the AAU circuit when I coached, not only

coached him, but coached against him and then we saw some at Washington and be the number one pick to look the way he looks. No, there is no comparison. Probably an NBA history. I have no idea what happened to him. It's obviously mental and physical, but I'm actually at the point. I know it's a small sample size for him. I don't think this is going to turn around. I think Markell Fultz is going to go down as one of the biggest busts in NBA history. All right. Thanks so much. I appreciate the time. We don't have limits in this podcast world,

and I love the conversation with you. Really appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon. Oh, yeah. You got it, Kevin. Anytime, man. Let me spend a moment real quickly to tell you about Ferris, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fairfax. They should be on your list if you're considering a new vehicle. Right now, they've got plenty of inventory on their lot. Every make model in color of the car or SUV or truck or minivan that you're looking for is very likely on the lot. You'll be able to drive it home today. Lots of jeeps, the compass sport, the compass latitude, Jeep renegades, lots of Cherokees, grand Cherokees, and Wranglers.

and if you're thinking about a minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica right now, deals are as good as you'll get all year long. I've mentioned Ralph Perkins and Kevin Farish many times over the years. They are smart, they know what their customers want. They make it easy for their customers, and I promise you that if you give them a chance, they're not going to disappoint. So if you're thinking about something new, first of all, you can just go to Farish Cars.com.

They've got their live inventory, live pricing. It's an easy-to-navigate website to find what you're looking for. so just go to ferrishcars.com, but if you head out to Fairfax, they're right there in Fairfax Circle, ask for Ralph Perkins when you get there. Ralph's a good friend of mine. He's in the store every day. Tell him that you heard about it on the podcast, and they will put you in touch with their best salesperson and get you the best deal possible. Farish Cars.com or Farish Chrysler Dodge Jeep right there in Fairfax Circle. All right, let's do some NFL by yourself. Are you buying?

Or are you selling? NFL by or sell. Okay, you know, I was doing one of those look-aheads to the possible playoff matchups in the AFC in particular, because the AFC right now is interesting. Because if you assume, and it may be too early to totally assume this, I mean, the Chiefs could lose to the Rams, they could lose to the Chargers. They play the Chargers at Arrowhead. But more likely than not, the Chiefs are going to be the number one seed in the A&A.

and so now the race is on for that number two seed. And right now, the Steelers would be the number two seed in the AFC. They've got some games left. They have to go to New Orleans. They still have a game. Well, they're playing at Jacksonville this week. I don't know if that's a loseable game for them, the way Jacksonville's playing. And they do have a massive game late in the year against the Patriots. That game in Pittsburgh against the Patriots, which I think is on December 15th or 16th, will likely decide the two seed in the AFC. And I think this is the year where if New England doesn't get that first round by and get a home game, they're out early. And so that's what I would sell right now is I would sell New England as a Super Bowl team.

I don't believe in Kansas City. You've heard me say that all year long. I don't think their defense is good enough. I think the AFC playoffs are going to be very interesting. I think there are teams that may come out of the AFC South, like a Houston, potentially a Tennessee. Who knows the Colts still could have a running. I was going to say Indianapolis might be the best team right now in the South. Do you know that right now the Colts have the most improved offensive line that we've seen in modern NFL history?

It's a great offensive line right now in terms of protecting Andrew Lowe. Quentin Nelson is a beast. So, you know, and I'm not going to even mention the team up. I-95, about 35 miles from here, because right now they don't even look like they're a team that would qualify for the postseason. You don't believe in Lamar Jackson? Has it been determined that he's going to start? It's not official, but all signs right now says yes. There's no line on the game right now because Flacco may not play, and I will tell you that from what I've read, I don't know this for fact, but from some of the beat reporters,

nobody's very confident that Lamar Jackson is ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. If he does start, you know who the backup is. RG3. For their game Sunday at home against the Bengals. So the first thing I'm going to sell is I'm going to sell the New England Patriots as a Super Bowl team. Of course, that is likely premature. I mean, they'll probably, you know, off of their blowout loss to the Titans, they'll probably destroy the jets, beat the Vikings, beat the dolphins,

and then go to Pittsburgh and win, and somehow end up being the number one seed. Because remember, they beat the Chiefs. So if they went 13 and 3, and the Chiefs went 13 and 3, then the road would go through Foxborough. But I just, I'm not selling the Patriots like they don't have a chance. I just think that they're not the same team that's going to go into Pittsburgh and win a playoff game.

I don't know that they would go into Arrowhead and win. I don't think the Chiefs are going to be in the Super Bowl either, but the AFC playoffs, very, very interesting this year. There's a lot that could happen. All right, the team that I'm going to buy, just because right now, you know, at 4 and 5, you can get them for a cost that's worth it. I think there's something to this Seattle team,

and I think they're going to beat the Packers on Thursday night, and they've got the Niners twice, They've got the Cardinals. They have games in which they can help themselves in a wild card chase against Carolina in Minnesota, as an example. It's a good football team. They've played really well Seattle has. They very easily could have beaten the Rams not once, but twice. They had chances to win those games.

I think Seattle makes a run here over the next three, four weeks, and they are in contention for an NFC wild card. They're obviously not going to win the defensive. division. In fact, I think the Rams could clinch the division Monday night with a win if Seattle loses Thursday night to the Packers. Do I have anything else that I want to buy or sell? I'm still not buying the Bears. I'm just not buying them. That game Sunday night against the Vikings at Soldier Field is a huge game in the NFC North. I'm not buying the Packers, and I know that that could really be dangerous because Aaron Rogers is going to figure out a way to

win another five or six games, I guess. And at the same time, I am, like I did the last couple weeks, I like Houston and I like Tennessee as teams. And I think I like Indy as a team, too. All right, thanks to Aaron. Thanks to Tim Legler. Thanks to Cooley, who joined the show today. Have a great day back tomorrow with Tommy.