The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins-Eagles, Cooley, and SVP

Episode Date: December 28, 2018

Kevin opens the show by reconsidering the reaction to Brian Lafemina's departure from the Redskins. He thinks the Skins have a chance against the Eagles as does Chris Cooley who joins the show. Cooley also spends time sharing his thoughts on DJ Swearinger's release. Scott Van Pelt and Kevin talk NFL and College Football Semifinals. Kevin has 6 Smell Test picks this week including picks on one of the two semifinal games and the Redskins-Eagles game. Andy Pollin looks back at other Skins' season-enders and picks the Skins-Eagles game with Kevin to finish up the show. <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. Coolie's coming up on the show. Andy's coming up on the show. A chance will have Van Pelt on the show as well. We're going to get to the final four, which is tomorrow in college football, all of the other NFL as well. Yes, one more Redskins beat the opponent, Eagles, if.

We'll do that today as well. I'll start the show with this, however. It's a tweet from Ned. Ned tweeted me yesterday. The reaction, the firing of a business person, was over the top. If it wasn't for the issues this organization has had in the past, nobody would have ever known the name Brian Lafamina. Thank you, Ned, for the tweet.

You can tweet me whenever you feel like it at Kevin Sheen, D.C. and I will answer Ned with this. I totally agree. When I read this tweet late yesterday, I really had one of those moments where I was like, did Tommy and I really spend 40 minutes on the show yesterday talking about Brian Lafamina? I agree with Ned.

Like the first part where he says it's over the top, it is over the top for most organizations. And I agree with him that if it weren't for the past troubles, of everything having to do with this organization, no one would have known his name. In a normal NFL organization, fans don't know the names of non-football people, PR people, salespeople, the CFO, the C-O-O.

They know the owner, the GM, the coach is the players. And in some cases, if you're really a hardcore fan, you know the assistant GM, you may know a scout or two if you're really into the draft. When the Redskins were winning big time in the 80s and 90s, did anyone know who Jack Kent Cook's VP of Sales was or chief operating officer was? No, no one knew those names. They were insignificant names, and they are to this day to fan bases.

The only difference here is in the case of Brian Lafamina, we knew his name because the team made a big deal out of the hire. Snyder's quotes when he was hired was how thrilled he was, how they had just snagged one of the highest regarded NFL executives around and how he was a fresh thinker and a big ideas guy and he was going to be customer focused and he was going to change the customer experience and the relationship between the team and its fan base. I mean, hell, they sent Brian out there as like this new face of the organization. Remember during the preseason Aaron? he was on every telecast, every preseason telecast. They heralded it as a thing that was going to change the organization. Right.

Now, part of that was they recognized that everybody was sick of looking at Bruce Allen's face. They didn't want to see Bruce Allen anymore. But he was out there talking about all of the fan-friendly enhancements at the stadium and how the organization was going to be more transparent and more accessible. That's the reason we all knew who Brian Lafamina was. The other reason was that everyone was hoping that maybe he had been brought in to eventually replace Bruce Allen. I think a lot of people felt that. So when Lafamina was shown the door on Wednesday, the few left that care, all right?

And I keep referring to that because it's a dwindling number. The few left that really care were up in arms because they felt Bruce had pulled off some sort of power play. Now, I don't think that's true. I think Dan was a big part of Lafamina leaving as well. But here's the big takeaway from this. 95%, 99%. Every 31 out of 32, whatever that is as a percentage, of NFL organizations could have fired their lead business person on Wednesday,

and none of their fans would have cared at all. Most of the fans wouldn't have even heard of the guy that got fired. But here, anything the organization does, is received poorly and everyone's default has become, look at how stupid they are, look at how dysfunctional they are, or even worse, look at how devious they are. That's everybody's default reaction to anything that happens. I mean, it happened with the Sweringer thing. You know, it was like, this is the organization's fault. I mean, few of you gave any thought to, this guy was told three times to keep his mouth shut and not go public with his criticism.

I mean, at some point, there has to be a consequence for that. No, it was the organization's fault. Most of you felt that way. None of you, none of you out there have any idea if Brian Lafamina was doing a good job or not. I don't know if he was doing a good job or not. I mean, the people in the media like me who got a chance to meet with him and sit with him and talk to him felt like, you know what, this guy gets it. He understands the organization has not been transparent. It's not been honest. It's been overly arrogant. It's been overpromising and under-delivering for years, and we've got to change that. That was the part of what he understood pretty quickly and wanted to change.

But I don't know on a day-to-day basis whether or not he was doing a good job or not. The outrage of Brian Lafamene is firing is outrage over anything the Redskins do. That's what it is. It's the reaction right now to anything the Redskins do. So that's it on Lafamina for now. I might have one other mention of him. The only thing that matters right now for the fan base, really, or the fan base that still exists,

is to fire Bruce Allen. The hashtag fire Bruce Allen has been trending now for 48 hours plus, Aaron. I mean, I don't know if it's still trending. It was trending for a solid 24 to 48 hours. The skin sense. out yesterday a benign video on their team Twitter account. It was a video of Jay Gruden and Greg Manusky's press conferences from yesterday. Go read the responses to that benign tweet. Fire Bruce Allen, the hashtag Fire Bruce Allen, is probably mentioned as a follow-up to

Jay Gruden and Greg Minoskey press conferences yesterday, video in the form of the form of of a tweet that went out. Probably it's mentioned a hundred times. There's no reaction to Gruden or Minnusky in their press conferences. It's all about firing Bruce Allen. That's where this organization is right now with respect to their consumer base or what's left of it. Besides the anger towards Dan,

has an anger towards anyone on the Redskins reached this level, do you think, prior to this? Just Dan. Yeah. Just the owner. It's exceeded where it was with Vinny Serrato. And it's exceeded where it was with Vinny Serrado because I think most fans, most of us, we understood that Vinny was dopey and that he really wasn't qualified to be an NFL general manager.

And he was just doing what Dan told him to do for much of the time that he was here. But this is different with Bruce Allen. The venom, the hatred of Bruce Allen among what's left of Bruce Allen among what's left of the fan base is overwhelming. It's overwhelming. One other quick thing on Lafamina, I just want to mention this. I said that I was done with Lafamina, but I would make a recommendation to the organization that the person that they replace Lafamina with, if they hire somebody to replace them as the chief operating officer, don't tell us who that person is. No press release, no nothing. All right? No, we don't need to know, and you don't need to fire this person eight months after he starts

and take a beating again over a guy that we don't even know as a customer base if he was actually doing a good job. The guy that replaces Brian Lafamina isn't going to pick a player in the draft. He's not going to sign a free agent. He's not going to call plays. So I don't give a damn about the Brian Lafaminas anymore, and you shouldn't either. winning football games will sell tickets to games, get more people to watch the games, and buy more merchandise of the team. Brian Lofamina's replacement can't sell tickets to games unless the product on the field is good.

And right now it would appear that they're a long, long way from that. Before I get to Skins Beat Eagles, If I want to get on record with the following here. before potential changes early Monday or late Sunday, which I could be in play. And I think I got on record a little bit with Tommy yesterday, but if I wasn't clear enough, I will be right here. I think there's going to be bombshell news next week from the team. I do. I don't know anything.

I've mentioned multiple times here over this week and I think the previous week, the people I know that would know don't know. And if they do know, they're not talking. But I think Bruce Allen either gets fired, leaves for another job, retires, or moves to a non-football part of this organization, and is replaced by someone else, maybe from within the organization. I think that that's going to happen. I'm in the minority on this opinion. I understand that.

I know a lot of you looked at the Lafamina thing and thought, well, that's proof that Bruce is staying. To me, there are two primary reasons. I believe Bruce Allen will not be in the same. the same position this time next week. Number one is really all you need. His record stinks. He himself said last year after the trade for Alex Smith that wins and losses are the only things that matter for anyone in the organization, from team president to the equipment manager, to the quarterback, to the running back, to a guard or a coach. That was his quote. His record over the nine years he's been here, if they lose on Sunday, to the

Eagles will be 59, 84, and 1. A 0.412 winning percentage. That's not good. The second reason is this. The business of the Redskins is at an all-time low, all-time low, attendance, TV ratings, merchandise, corporate sponsors. And the number one request from Dan Snyder's customer base, or what's left of it, is to fire Bruce Allen. That's what he's. his customers who are leaving in droves are asking for. It's not the only thing they're asking for, but it is number one right now. I just think Snyder is going to understand that there isn't one person in this town, not one that he can find, that A still cares about this team, and then simultaneously says, hey, it's a good idea to bring Bruce Allen back. You can't

find anybody. This is remarkable. There's no debate on this. No debate. I think it'll happen. Most of you don't. I'll probably be wrong. As it relates to Jay Gruden, on the record, I think he stays. And I think he stays because of three reasons.

One, I think when, if Bruce gets fired, or if he doesn't, if he doesn't, Jay's staying. If he does, I think the elevation of people like Eric Schaefer and or Kyle Smith are comfortable with Jay. Two, he's got two years left on his contract. and I think that they will look at next year as why not let Jay coach the team. We're paying for them. And next year, more likely than not, is going to be a quasi, I don't want to call it a reboot or rebuild year, but there's going to be more long-term thinking from the new people that are elevated, I believe.

And lastly, and this is perhaps the most important thing when it comes to Jay Gruden, what's the solution the candidates that are out there aren't very strong and those that are strong are going to have the redskins at the bottom of their list there are going to be six seven eight maybe nine openings and the redskins will be in the bottom third of desired destinations for top tier candidates i think gregg minusky will be gone i think bill callahan will be gone and i think jim tom sula might retire So I think there will be significant coaching staff changes, but I think more likely than not, Jay is back to coach the team in 2019.

If Todd Bowles gets fired in New York, please give me Todd Bowles as the defensive coordinator next year. All right, let's get to Redskins beat Eagles if. All right, the Redskins will beat the Eagles if. Seems ridiculous to do this at the end of the year, but I've done this many times in years past in games that don't matter. The Redskins will beat the Eagles if Josh Johnson continues to make some plays. The Redskins are 15 of 29 on third down with Josh Johnson as the starter. That's unbelievably good. And Jacksonville and Tennessee are both good defensive teams.

15 of 29, Josh Johnson and the Redskins offense against their last two opponents. So if he makes plays and continues to make plays on third down, they're going to be in this game, just like they were against Jacksonville and just like they were against Tennessee. They're going to keep the ball, they're going to flip field position, and they're going to score a little bit. Redskins will beat the Eagles if Dustin Hopkins continues to do what he's done. Josh Johnson's moving the chains.

They're moving the football. They're not three and out every single time. happened here over the last two weeks. They've been more consistent moving the football with Josh Johnson the last two weeks than they have been at any other point this year in terms of just drive after drive moving the football, perhaps with a punt at the end of it, but not after three plays. It really is remarkable their third down numbers. And then Dustin Hopkins has been lights out. Lights out here recently. Three for three. three last week. Three for three the week before. He didn't have an attempt in the giant game. He was

two for two against the Eagles and made his kick against the Cowboys. He's been kicking great. He's got to make every kick on Sunday. You know, the Redskins will win this game if he's three for three or four for four again. You know, you get four for four and you get a touchdown in there somehow and you got 19. Maybe you got a shot. And lastly, and this has been the case, here with this team all year long. It's cliche, but man, does it apply to this team? They got to win the turnover battle. They just do. They haven't won a game all year long where they've lost the turnover battle. Their seven wins were all games in which they won the turnover battle. They were minus two last week, but really minus one. That last one doesn't really count. Of course, if Kirk

Cousins was quarterbacking, it would have been a backbreaking pick on the last play of the game. But that doesn't really count. You can't hold Josh Johnson accountable for the last one, but the one that came before it decided the game for all intents and purposes. So I would say against the Eagles, plus two or plus three, somewhere in that neighborhood will keep them in the game and give them a chance to win the game. Give Window Nation a chance if you're thinking about new windows. If your house is drafty and losing energy through those windows, It's a no-brainer just to pick up the phone, 86690 Nation,

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So we're catching him in the car. Happy New Year to you in advance. I'm sure I'll talk to you before then. But I want to start with just the events of this week and just get your quick thoughts on him. And I know that to a certain degree, some of those topics are difficult for you to speak to directly. but I wanted to start with DJ Swaranger. Were you surprised that they released him? I guess I would say yes, when I heard the news,

I was slightly surprised just because this has not been common practice in the past. It's embedded in Jay's culture to keep guys and to continue to talk to guys and try to work with guys. And so that was the surprise for me. Do you think it was deserving? So my thoughts are really as such. I totally disagree with DJ's statements. I also disagree with his platform and the way he came out with those statements. I like DJ a lot.

You know I loved him as a player when we were going through free agency. I like him a lot as a player. I don't dislike him as a guy. I don't have any problem with him as a guy because of the things he said. He spoke his mind. He spoke honestly. and I can appreciate his sentiment and his feeling to speak honestly. I do disagree with his idea that the calls were bad.

I went back and watched a lot of a film. There are opportunities to make plays, and you've got to make plays when they're there. And so I look at a couple of plays. He talked about a tackle that he missed maybe early in the game in Vancouver. He missed a tackle. A pass interference on Fabian where he's covering Taiwan Taylor on a scout route. He should take his hands off of him.

I like that matchup. And they weren't all-man coverage. They played zone in the second half on plays where, you know, Ha-ha, Clinton Dix dropped a pick in his own coverage and gave up a first down. And so I disagree with the statements. I also do not think that players should talk about coaches or other players. And DJ has done that a lot of times. And, again, that's his prerogative.

And he can choose whatever he wants to do with that. But I don't think that talking outside of the locker room is the right place to do what he did. And, you know, he's done it six or seven times since he's been here after losses. I'm sure that Jay's talked to him on most of those accounts. And I would bet you that it got to the point where they said, if you do this again, we're going to have problems. And so I'm sure he was warned with his actions. Back to a part of this, because I think everybody has a sense of your feeling on this, which I agree with. I think it's interesting that you point out, that his biggest complaints

specific to playing too much man and not enough zone against Blaine Gabbert, like the specific criticisms on Saturday after the game in Nashville weren't necessarily accurate.

Yeah, maybe he had a game plan that he wanted to install. He went on and talked to with Grant and on the Grand Danny show and said that he's called Manuski and I think he at one point said I probably watched more film than the coaching staff and

look I understand to some extent where he's coming from and I didn't like a lot of Zorn's offense but it's not the right place to make those statements and to your point players are out there to make plays and if you believe in what you're doing a lot of times

you can go ahead and make some plays I don't think that the play calling was that bad on Monoski's part I really don't I thought they were fine When Zorn was your coach and was the offensive play caller, and you've talked about this, and Clinton's talked about this, about how a lot of what he did, you disagreed with, and it didn't make a lot of sense, how did that manifest itself among the players, and the players like you and Clinton and others that had a sense that it wasn't right

and that it wasn't giving you the best chance to win? How did you handle those situations? When I get my team, I'll do it the way I want to do it. That's how you handled it? We had a great, you know, during those couple years, Scott Wachenheim was my tight-ins coach. You know, Scott, he's the head coach over at VMI now. And I thought he was incredibly good at helping us handle it,

at least as a group of tight ends, being very honest with us, discussing, you know, whether or not we agree with this, this is what the head coach wants to do, and so this is what we're going to do this week. And, you know, when I have my team and when you have your team, we'll do it the way we want to do it. And that's the way it went. I look at what DJ's done, too, and I don't think he did himself any favors by making the statements.

Right. You know, as you got through, the players need to be more disciplined, we need to practice better, all of the statements that basically seemed like they statements. And then this last coaching statement, you follow social media, and you see the responses. People didn't like it. And the ultimate response is a lot of people said, well, he may be right, but he shouldn't say it. I don't think he endeared himself to anybody by doing that. And I look back to a year in my first year with Joe Gibbs,

and Joe's told everyone, if you don't like it or if you don't want to be here, I'll help you get out of here. And there were guys in that locker room that didn't like it. They didn't like the way we practiced. They didn't like the game plans, and they left. And so I've always embraced that if you don't want to be here, you don't appreciate what we're doing, and you're not buying into our system and our stuff.

Don't try to create a group of people around you that also dislike the stuff. Just go. When Gibbs said that, Laverneus Coles won it out. I remember that after the first year. I can't remember others that decided that they didn't want to play for Gibbs. Do you remember any- I was another one that didn't like the way we did things at the time. And I think there were a couple other guys, but it was, it's,

Some guys fit with some staffs, and other guys don't. And I think the thing you can't have is, here's what I'd say. What Laverne has said in the locker room to me as a rookie, whether or not I changed the way I played or practiced, I thought about it. I thought, this does suck. Practice is too hard. This game plan is too basic. We don't have good looks. You create doubt in the other players because the young players look at the veteran players.

And in the case for me, a guy like Laverneus, who was a veteran in this league, and potentially, you know, guys like Strom and Danny Johnson, some of the Fabian Murrell, some of the young corners, maybe there is doubt in what they're doing. And whether or not DJ's right or has something that he likes to do isn't necessarily the case. That's not what they're doing. And so you want them to fully believe in what they're doing. You know, I remember the way Doc and Jake and Thysman and Rigo, Not necessarily Riggo because he was never impressed with anybody. But the way those guys would talk about Joe Gibbs and Richie Pettibone, the defensive guys, Monty Coleman and Daryl Green.

And it's unique in football because I bet that this exists in a lot of situations with coaches where players are like, we're doing this, what? Now they don't handle it the way DJ did most of the time. But Cooley, forever, they would tell the stories. They'll still tell the stories today. about how they would get the game plan on Wednesday, and they knew they were going to win. Like it was like, oh, my God, that's brilliant.

And then the defensive guys would say, you know, during a first half in a game on Sunday, you know what? We can't, what are we doing out here? And then at halftime, Richie would have all of the answers, and they'd go out and dominate. It's probably a rare feeling to have that. And the way DJ felt, not the way DJ handled it,

but the way he felt is probably more the norm than an aberration. I think it's an aberration. I think most players just want to do what they're asked to do and what their coach to do. And until you get to some of the smart veterans, you don't have any issues. So, okay, I see what you're saying. And I am thinking you're saying that the smart player. I'm not discount. I mean, he's a very smart player.

But until you get to guys that have been in the league a little while, seeing the way things are doing. That makes sense. Sometimes guys that have been through other teams or at least other staffs, which DJs been through a bunch of them. You as a veteran player start to fill an entitlement. I did, certainly did, fill an entitlement. I'm Chris Gulley. I should have some say in some of the things that we're doing. Not that I acknowledged it publicly, but you start to feel that as a veteran player when you've had some success. But other than that, I really don't believe that we had a lot of guys that thought too deep into it.

That's interesting too. All right. Brian Lafamina, do you have any reaction to him? I said earlier, Cooley, that 31 out of 32 organizations could have fired their lead business person on Wednesday, and not one fan of any of those teams would have cared. Most of them wouldn't even have known who the person was. But here it caused an uproar. What was your reaction?

one I really enjoyed being around Brian Liffmanian. I thought he's a smart guy. She's an incredibly hard worker. I thought he was good with people, and I think he'll have success in whatever he chooses to do because he's that kind of guy. Two, I tend to agree with you a little bit. I think that we're looking for things here.

Maybe because of some of the previous firings, if you want to call it that, or some of the way things have been handled over the past couple years. I think we're just looking for things. And I also understand that there are people in our organization that haven't endeared themselves to our fan base or been the transparent type of guy that Brian was with our fan base.

So maybe people immediately fell in love with Brian. And, you know, Brian didn't have anything to do with the football operations. Nothing, not a thing. And none of the guys that came in did have anything to do. do with any of the coaches, players, or anything involved. And so it's not going to change whether or not this team wins or loses. That's not the impact that that's going to have on the Redskins in the future. It was a business side of things and a marketing side of things, and that was where Brian and Steve

existed. And so when you really think about, if there's an uproar, think about how it affects your team and if it does, because not to discount that I think he's good. and I think all the guys were trying their best and doing everything they could do. I don't think they impacted the team in one way, shape, or form. So my advice to the team through you is when they hire Brian's replacement, don't tell the fan base how great the person is. Don't build them up.

Don't have them out there in preseason television, you know, broadcasts, you know, as a quasi-face of the organization for a short period of time. That's part of the problem is that they built him up so big. when they hired him. No one does that with their business hire, you know, in a football organization. All right, let's get to the team. You think Josh Johnson has played pretty well into consecutive games. Will it lead to him having an opportunity to be the starter next year if Alex Smith isn't ready to go? I think it's already led to an opportunity as him being the starter next year, at least competing with Colt in camp, unless they draft somebody in the offseason,

which I think is an absolute potential as you get into this draft. They'll probably make a move in that direction. I'm sure they'll be incredibly interested in the quarterback position this year. So I'm not exactly sure where they go with that. But what I like about Josh is, one, he's gotten better every single game. So he's played in three games now, and you can see that he's gotten better and more comfortable. Two, he's got great poised, great confidence, and great feel is the last. leader. And I say that with a guy that's been here for three weeks. I believe that one position

needs to have true leadership. You like leadership across the board, and you like all different forms of it. One position, if you really want to win, it has to have it. And I think quarterback is that position. He talks on every play. And you've got to have people listen and believe. I think Josh has it. I think he's smart. I think he's hardworking. I think he's talented. I think he's getting better. Of course, he makes some mistakes. And there's stuff he'd like to have back from the last couple games. But the same time, he's done, he's, he's exceeded everyone's expectation by miles. And to say that he wouldn't be in competition to start next year, to me would be a little bit crazy. Do you, what's the point in bringing Colt McCoy back at this point to compete with anybody for a

starting job? He is, he's breakable, coolly. It's not going to last. even if he were to have a great training camp and emerge as the starter. Don't we know how it ends at this point? So what's the point is my question? You never know how it ends. We thought we knew how it ended with Adrian Peterson, and that certainly wasn't the case in any way. Cole is a guy that you can install around,

that you can build your offense around, that works with everybody. He's a guy that's going to continue to help Josh. If you have a young quarterback, he's a guy that is essentially an offensive coordinator out there. And if he's a backup, I love him to go into any given game. I understand what you're saying with the injury. I completely agree with that.

I almost feel hypocritical because my idea of building a team is saying build guys that don't have injury history. But if he's your backup quarterback, I love him as a backup quarterback. What about Adrian Peterson? Do you think he'll be back next year in a Redskins unit? uniform. I think he has to be back unless his cost exceeds your cap potential for that position. You have Darius guys. You've already played Chris Thompson. Clearly, they like Byron Marshall. Samajé P. Rine's still here on this roster. You have an abundance of running backs. But what Adrian Peterson has done has been unbelievable. You can't take the way he's run the ball this year from him. I think he's going to actually

get a decent one or two-year contract. I do too. at the end of this season. And I don't know if you look at your roster and say, well, just drive to Darius Geis and we believe in him and love him and he's going to be healthy, that you can pay Adrian Peterson. But essentially, you really could. I mean, you could rotate carries with Geis and AP next year if AP didn't cost too much as Geis is coming back. And I think having him mentor a guy like Geis is incredibly impactful.

I think one of my favorite guys in this team that has been through our front. worse since I've been here is Adrian Peterson. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with him as a dude, him as a worker, him as a leader, his competitive spirit. Everything about him is top of the line. That game he played last week at Tennessee was Hall of Fame. He tried to take that team on his back by himself and keep them in the playoff race. It was an incredible performance last week. by Peterson. You know, I mentioned this in my, and I did do a Redskins beat Eagles if today. I know. You know, this offense, the last two weeks with Josh Johnson and Peterson, etc., they've moved the football more consistently than anybody moved it at any point this year. They're 15 of their last

29 third downs on conversions. I mean, they aren't punning. They're not going three and out a lot. They're moving the football. They're not scoring a lot of points, but they're getting in field goal range enough. You know, Hopkins is six for six in two games, and I bet you he's got at least three attempts on Sunday, too. And Peterson was a big part of that, and really the lead alpha dog in that on Saturday. I was – Think of how many down-in-distance, first and 20 or plus or second in 15 or plus they've had to achieve the first downs and move the ball the way they have. Well, the driver that he had was the best drive of the year, the touchdown drive at Tennessee.

You had a second and 27 and you had a first and 20, both on the same drive. Well, you had a second and 27, then a third and 13, and then another, and then a second and 20 to overcome. Well, first and 20. First and 20, when they got into Tennessee territory. Right on the, they got a penalty, they got a holding her on the 30-yard line. But they also converted four, four, third and one. ones in the game, which was an indication that more times than not, they were staying ahead of the chains, and that was primarily because of Adrian Peterson and four and a half to five yards

a carry. You told me, you said this to me after the game, Adrian Peterson was Superman, and I've said that all week because he was Superman. He made something out of nothing on a lot of carries, and I think that what he did really makes an offensive line on a block flow, gets everybody excited, you guys like Flanagan out there, knocking people around, my new favorite player on the team. I love Flanagan. That was my next question.

I was going to give you credit for calling Matt Flanagan, the best tight end that they've had, certainly blocking tight end, and he played well at Tennessee also. Yeah, there's some things he can clean up, but he's an on guy. You know the thing when I watch Flanagan? I think he is fluid in his hips. They don't have him out there running a bunch of routes, and he hasn't done that a lot in his career. but I don't see a reason why he can't develop into a route runner. Now, I would much rather have a guy who believes in himself

and is a decent blocker with technique and fights to block that's got some athletic fluidity to teach him to be a better route runner than to try to take a guy that can run routes and say, hey, let's put you in on the line of scrimmage and see if you can block a defensive end. That just doesn't ever seem to work out. It just doesn't. And so I love a guy like Flanagan,

who I can develop into a route runner as a tight end. Honestly, I don't know if Vernon Davis, is back next year. Clearly, Sprinkle, will be back, and you're going to have Jordan Reed on the roster. But I think Flanagan has earned 30, 40 snaps a game next year. By the way, he's played over the last couple weeks. And if he develops as a route runner and a little bit better tight end, a guy that could add 30 catches to 60% of plays plus. Did any of the new offensive linemen in the last two weeks, I mean, guards number 10, 11 and 12 this year, did any of them look like keepers?

I think Zach Sharon's looked okay over the last couple weeks. All right. I mean, look, you need to find more offensive. You need to find another offensive lineman. There's no doubt about that. And it's hard for me to say because a lot of times as you get late in the season, you look at guys having success and you're saying, well, they're completely fresh and it might be a little different.

But I thought our offensive line did the best job they've done in a lot, long time as far as running the ball. How do they play as a team Sunday against Philadelphia? I think they play balls to the wall, exceptional discipline football. Believe it or not, there's a group of guys on this team right now that are playing for their football careers. I mean, you look at Josh Johnson and guys are playing for him, granted, they're not in the playoffs, but this is as important of a game for him as any game that he's played in. And I think, you a couple of the young linemen, you know, the tight ends that haven't had opportunities. Guys like James and Crowder didn't play a lot who's in a contract year, a defense who I'm going

to bet you tries to rally around Greg Minneski and play a great game. I actually think they come out and play a very good football game against Philly. Philly's got their handsful. I just hope, you know what I hope? I hope the stadium, and I'm not, I won't be surprised. I hope it's not 55,000 people with 52,000 Eagles, man. Well, there's not going to be 55,000 there's Sunday. That is incredibly optimistic.

But whatever the number is, it's going to be majority green. I mean, 50-50 green. Let me just say this. If you're not going to go to the game, don't sell your tickets to Eagles fans. Just give them away. Walk down to your neighbor who's got a kid and say, hey, I've loved you to go to the game. Or give them to your father-in-law. Or give them to someone who wants to go to the game who hasn't seen a game.

Walk downtown. You can't give them away. You can't give them away right now. Not the redskins. You can't give them away. You can't give them away. I know people that have been trying to give them away all year they can't give them away. And you're going to ask him to give them away for the Philadelphia game?

That's a tough ask. I mean a kid yesterday from Rigby Idaho who's in town at this first NFL game and he doesn't care. He's so static that he gets to go to the football game. I'll tell you what, then let's tell everybody to find all the people from Rigby, Idaho. and then we can give them the tickets. Young kids are excited to go watch an NFL football game. But their parents aren't. Unless they're going to send the kids out there on Uber on their own at nine years old.

I'm not excited to go to the trampoline jumping place ever. We go there every freaking weekend, man, because my kids like it. But you know what? That's going to be the option. No, no, no, no. Let's go to the trampoline park instead. Because you know what that. We can go there any day.

Any day we go to the trampoline park. Park. I'm going to take you to the game. You'll love it. It's going to be fine. Don't give them away to some kids, man. I think you first... You don't sell them. Why not? I mean, you're going to ask these... You're going to ask these people who have spent money on these tickets for this team not to try to recoup some of it by selling it through a Philadelphia game. You're not a fan. I am a fan, but I know it's realistic, and what you just asked is not realistic. Yeah, it is.

Do you want to... What are you going to make on two tickets? $75 bucks, the Eagles fans? Okay, well... You know what? If you don't want them to sell them to Philadelphia Eagles fans, don't make them work as hard as they would have to work to find somebody willing to take them that is a Redskin fan.

Just tell them to put them in their drawer next to their bed and just hold on to them for posterity. Do you want to do Friday football quick picks with me, or do you have to go? I got to go. Okay. But this isn't, I'll do it. I'll give you five minutes.

You know I'm meeting Danny, buddy. I know. I know you're meeting Danny. And tell Danny, hello. Danny's a good friend of us. And he'll listen to this podcast, so he'll understand what I'm late. He will. So Danny, I apologize that Chris is making you wait, but we're going to do some quick Friday

Football Quick Picks together. Everything you need to know for your football weekend. It's Friday Football Quick Picks. All right, first of all, the best games of the weekend are the two college semi-final games on Saturday. Clemson, Notre Dame, followed by Alabama, Oklahoma. Clemson's a 12-and-a-half-point favorite over Notre Dame, even with the suspended players.

And Alabama right now, Cooley, about 13 and a half over Oklahoma. I see some 14s out there, too. I'm excited about both of these games. I don't know if you are or not, but do you give Notre Dame or Oklahoma a chance of pulling semi-final upsets off? I don't give Notre Dame much of a chance. I think they've played big in some big games this year, and they've had an unbelievable year,

but I think Clemson's just a much better football team. As far as the Oklahoma game goes, Oklahoma can score. And so they're going to have a ton of time to prepare for this Alabama defense. They are unbelievable on offense and can score points. They can't stop anybody. I mean, literally. But this game, I like Oklahoma to cover at least. I think they're going to score points.

I think they're going to score, too. The total is 77 and a half. I think it's 63.42, 6335, something like that. I just don't think Oklahoma will stop Alabama once. Like, not once. Unless Alabama... I mean, the way they stop them is two of them makes a couple of mistakes, or Jalen, or whoever's in there, or Alabama turns it over twice. They'll need phantom penalties to create first and 25,

and maybe even after the first and 25, because they can pick up first and 25 against Oklahoma. Maybe there's another false start followed by a holding, so now it's first and 40. First and 40, they got a chance to get off the field and force a punt. You know what, their DBs better be out there doing ball drills because you can't drop an interception this week. You get any left you pick, you better catch that sucker.

It's going to be doing fumble recovery drills. Ball out of the ground, we're getting it. The only way they're winning is get a couple turnovers. Let's go to Sunday. The games that matter, well, there are a couple of big ones in the NFC. Obviously, the last playoff spot is either Philadelphia or Minnesota's. Minnesota's home against Chicago. Chicago is going to play at the same time the Rams are playing the 49ers.

They still have a chance to get the two-seat if they beat the Vikings and the Rams lose to the 49ers. And the 49ers have played well recently. Minnesota is a four-and-a-half-point favorite. Something's happened here in the last two weeks with Kevin Stefanski. the offensive coordinator. They've started to run the football, and they've been balanced, and they've scored points here, and their defense is playing lights out. Who do you like, Minnesota, Chicago? I actually like Chicago in this game. I think that they're playing to

try to go ahead and get that first round by. I think that they're a tough football team. They're not going to lay off with Nagy in his first year. It's a big test for Mitchell Trubisky as he gets ready to get into the playoffs. Chicago's defense is very, very good. Minnesota's got a chance if they don't turn it over. If Kurt doesn't have any fumbles back there in the pocket, you know, your guy doesn't like putting two hands on the football. It's been a problem for him.

But I like Chicago in that game. I'm actually surprised that they are a four-and-a-half-point favorite. They opened it five-and-a-half. It's down to four-and-a-half. I think it's a bad matchup. Actually on paper, the bears are the kind of team that overwhelms Minnesota's very subpar offensive line. And if Minnesota can't run the football, it's going to be a long day for them. If they can run the football and they can get bootleg and play action going, then they can do something.

But the bears, you know, as you pointed out, they're incredible defensively. They've been incredible defensively. They completely shut down the Rams two weeks ago on Sunday night. The 49ers had been. been rolling, you know, to a certain extent, offensively in recent weeks. You know, they beat Seattle and they scored 27, I think, against the Seahawks. And they really couldn't move the ball against Chicago. Minnesota probably needs a plus turnover margin in this game.

And maybe what they really need is the Rams to be up 28-0 at halftime so that the Bears and Matt Nagy, who comes from the Andy Reed tree, and Andy Reed has always preserved his players when they've clinton. in the past, whether it was in Philadelphia or Kansas City. The best thing that could happen in Minnesota potentially is the Bears look at the scoreboard at halftime and say, oh, we're not going to get the two-seed. Let's not get anybody hurt. You know what's interesting about the guys that leave the Andy Retreat? They become more aggressive once they leave the Andy Retreatree.

Even more aggressive? Because he's pretty aggressive. But I mean, more aggressive in terms of how they manage the clock, going for it on a breakdowns, situations, playing guys more. You look at what Peterson's done and what Nagy's done and some of the stuff that they one thing that they leave Kansas City with is I'm going to be more aggressive when it matters than Andy was. All right. The other game that we'll decide a playoff spot is Sunday night, Tennessee hosting

Indianapolis, who is on a role. It's still up in the air right now on Mariotta as we speak and we record this podcast right now. Let's just assume that he plays. if he plays Tennessee or Indy in Nashville Sunday night for the last AFC playoff spot? Look, I watched a lot of Tennessee going into that game, and I don't think there's a big difference right now between Gabbard and Marriota. Marriott has not played well over the last six weeks, not had a full grasp of LaFleur's offense, and I think he struggled quite a bit.

And so Tennessee, I think, is even right now. And I know it, dude, I know it's playing Gabbard, but I don't think there's much of a difference as far as quarterback goes. Tennessee is going to be good if they run the ball. And Indy's defense does a ton of stunting up front. I'll tell you what. Zone run, true, zone run, eat stunts alive. And that's what Tennessee has.

So I like Tennessee a lot in that game unless Andrew Luck blows up that defense, which is a very good defense. I actually think this could be a 30-28 kind of game. I think this could be a fairly high-scoring game. I'll bet you Tennessee is ahead late in that game, and it's on Andrew Luck's shoulders to get a team into the playoffs. All right, happy new year. I'll talk to you next week, and we'll start figuring out the whole offseason.

And maybe there will be changes to discuss as well. But have a good weekend. You as well, my friend. All right, thanks to Cooley. Let me quickly tell you about Ferrisch-Chrysler Dodge Jeep. Then we'll get to the smell test. And then Scott Van Pelt will join us as well, and we'll talk about the two semifinal games in college football tomorrow.

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Let's get to the smell test. Kevin looks where the John Q Public is putting their cash and does the opposite. it's time of the smell test. All right, the smell test won again last week, six and four. That's six consecutive winning weeks for the smell test. And now it's 102, 75, and four on the season. Last week was interesting because the Texans were plus one and a half on Friday when I gave them out. Most of you won with that selection, plus two was a push, but a lot of you probably had plus

two and a half plus three. But six and four was the record. And now we enter the final regular season week of the year with a lot of bowl games as well. And I've got a couple of those in addition to the NFL games for the weekend. The final NFL week to me is always interesting because more times than not. And this goes back before I started doing the smell test on radio and now on this podcast. I just learned that the teams that had nothing to play for, when they were playing a team that had everything to play for,

it just seemed like if you bet on the team that didn't have anything to play for, they covered more often than not. The public's going to bet the teams that have to win against the teams that are playing for nothing. And they're going to overwhelmingly bet those sides. So that's where I will come down on this NFL weekend, is looking for some of those teams that have nothing to play for, playing against teams that have everything to play for, and then combining that with,

is the public believing in the team that's got everything to play for? And is there a little bit of sharp action or a sharp opinion on the underdog in that particular game? So I'll get to those in a moment. There is one of the two college semi-final games. I don't like anything tonight, bowl games, today, or tonight. Yesterday I went one-in-one. I had Baylor last night.

which was a winner. Miami wasn't close. They kept throwing it to the other team. I think they had five or six interceptions in the game that Wisconsin picked off. So one-in-one yesterday. Tonight, today I don't like anything. Tonight I don't like anything. I like Clemson-Ling the 12 and a half. Believe it or not, they are an anti-public favorite tomorrow in that first semi-final against Notre Dame. Now, a lot of that has to do with Notre Dame's a public team. They get, they get bet by the public in general. But in these kinds of games, it doesn't always apply that you're just going to get Notre Dame money because it's Notre Dame money. I think the public really believes that Clemson laying 12 and a half is too many.

It's too many points against a Notre Dame team that's undefeated as well. I think Clemson's awesome, even with the suspensions. They have been a dominant, dominant team over the last month, month and a half of the season. They haven't had a competitive game since September. Their last competitive game was September 29th against Syracuse, 27 to 23, and they lost Trevor Lawrence in that game early, and it was a tight game early even when they lost him. Since then, here are the final scores of their games. 63 to 3, 41 to 7, 59 to 10, 77 to 16, 27 to 17, 27 to 16, 27 to 7, 35 to 6,

5635 and 42 to 10. They haven't had a close game since the end of September. They're dominant. I think they've got a chance to beat Bama in the national championship game. Meantime, Notre Dame was really fortunate to survive Southern Cal in that final game, fortunate a little bit against Northwestern in the game in mid-November, when they went in as a 10-point favorite in that game. and I actually liked them in that game.

But I like Clemson, laying the 12 and a half. They are the anti-public side in this game laying 12.5. We're using those Friday lines again. I don't know where that line's going to go. I have no sense of where that line's going to go. That line's been all over the place. It opened at 11. It went to 13.

It's back to 12.5 right now. Clemson laying the 12 and a half. All right, let's go to Sunday. And I've already talked about, you know, the teams that have nothing to play for against teams that have everything to play for. And I'm going to start with the game closest to home. The Redskins are getting six and a half against the Philadelphia Eagles who must win the game to remain a playoff hopeful. Now, they need Minnesota to lose simultaneously while they're playing Chicago, but Philly's got to win the game. They're laying six and a half against

the Redskins and that number hasn't changed all week, despite the fact that the public is hammering the Eagles in this game. It is the biggest one-sided public play of the weekend the Eagles are over the Redskins, who seem to have hit Rock Bottom again, maybe the lowest point in forever, one controversial day after another, DJ Sweringer's gone, and they're catching less than a touchdown. And with all of the public action, no one's willing to move that number up to seven to try to entice more Redskins action. They're fine.

Vegas is fine. Your bookmaker is fine. The offshore guys are fine. Letting everybody play the Eagles laying six and a half. The Redskins plus six and a half are a smell test pick. And I think they're going to keep it close. And when Andy joins us on the show, I'll have my final score prediction. But I think they're going to keep it close in this game.

Take the skins plus the six and a half. Obviously, as always, with key numbers. like six and a half, buy that half point, get the Redskins plus seven, you'll be more comfortable with that. Jacksonville is playing Houston. Houston's got a win to lock up the division for starters. They don't have the division locked up at this point, and they still have a chance to get the two-seat if they win in New England loses. They're only laying six and a half. This number opened at like 8, 8.5 and is down to 6.5. That means there is sharp action on Jacksonville and the public's all over Houston in this game against a Jacksonville team that has nothing to play

for. I don't get this one. And trust me, I'm going to hold my nose in this one with Blake Bortles back in control for the Jags. The Jags, I had them last week, and they got it done. You know, I gave them out last week against Miami, and they won the game seven. 17. The truth is that Jacksonville's defense is still pretty damn good. I have no idea if they'll be pumped up to play this game. Let's not forget that Houston beat them earlier this year, 20 to 7, but Jacksonville's defense had an answer for it. Jacksonville's defense has had an answer for Houston the last couple of times, including against Deshawn Watson last year early in the season. I think Jacksonville plus six and a half is the right side on Sunday. Again, buy that one to seven, but I've got to sit here on Friday with the smell test and play it at the Friday line. I use scores and odds. I use their app and Covers.com as sort of the point spreads that I use on Friday. Jags plus six and a half.

The Niners are playing the Rams. The Niners have nothing to play for. The Rams have everything to play for. They've got to win the game to lock up the two seed. They're laying 10. Now, this is one of those that I nearly stayed off of. and just called it a strong lean because there is mixed sharp action, but the public is all over the Rams thinking that they will crush the Niners on Sunday.

I like the Niners plus the 10. I'm going to give it out as a smell test pick. It fits most of the criteria. I also personally think the Niners are a pretty decent team right now. I gave them out last week against the Bears. It didn't work. It could have. They had opportunities to win that game or to even make it close.

closer, but the 49ers plus the 10 on Sunday. Then we'll get to a couple of other games. So those are the three teams that have nothing to play for against three teams that have a lot to play for. Now let's go to games where both teams have something to play for. Minnesota is the anti-public play. After the Redskins, Minnesota is probably the next biggest anti-public play. Minnesota's laying four and a half. That line is down from six. So there is some sharp action on Chicago. I have been wrong on Minnesota as an underdog this year,

but right about Minnesota as a favorite. I had Minnesota in the smell test against Green Bay, laying three and a half a few weeks ago. I had them against Miami at home, laying seven and a half. I think I did. Maybe the Miami game was just a bet that I had, I know I looked at them hard as far as the smell test goes. But as a dog, I had Detroit as a dog last week.

It didn't work against Minnesota. I haven't been right a lot about Minnesota, either against them or with them. But I think they're going to win this game on Sunday and cover the number. Lay the four and a half with the Vikings, they are an anti-public play. Sunday night game, you just heard Cooley. Cooley likes Tennessee. He likes the matchup of his own run team against indie stunting defense.

And I like Tennessee because they're an anti-public play Sunday night. I think Marriota needs to play. I disagree with Cooley on that. I think if Blaine Gabbard plays, they're in big trouble. I think Marietta is the dual threat nature of Marietta makes their running game really lethal and makes it more of a lethal running attack with Derek Henry, et cetera, Dionne Lewis, et cetera, when he's in there. They're the anti-public play against Indy.

The public likes the Colts and Andrew Luck in the run they've been on. I'll take Tennessee plus three and a half on Sunday night. I'll also give out strong leans to the lions and the dolphins. And the Jets. There you go. Three strong leans, but five plays on Sunday. The Redskins, the Jags, the Niners, the Vikings, and the Titans. I'll save Monday's New Year's Eve college games

and Tuesday's college games for the Monday show. I'll have several of them. I can tell you they're already about two or three on New Year's Eve that I think will fit the smell test criteria in at least two on New Year's Day. Let me tell you about launch workplaces in Bethesda. If you've been thinking about a new place to work from because you've been working from home

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to launch workplaces. Call today for an exclusive free two-day trial, 24, 866714, 240, 860714, or launchworkplaces.com. All right, let's bring in Scott Van Pelt. We missed him yesterday. He was en route on vacation, I think, for a few days. I want to get to the two college playoff games,

which we'll get to in a moment. Last night, and I haven't mentioned this yet on the show, because there was nobody to mention it, too. but I don't know if you saw any of it, or I know you've been following the warrior story this year, but they lost a game in overtime to the Trailblazers at home. They're now 23 and 13. They've lost two in a row. They got hammered by the Lakers on Christmas Day.

Should we still view Golden State as the prohibitive favorite to win it all? Maybe here's what I'm willing to entertain right now, that maybe prohibitive is the word we should modify. They're still the favorite because I still think. think collectively, I've seen them do it, and they just have too much talent to think that suddenly that's going to shrivel up and die. But it's a pretty rough patch of road right now. Draymond Green looks totally lost. So, all right, you want to modify prohibitive? Okay, I'm willing to say, let's modify that. But I'm not willing to modify favorite. They're just too good.

Who's, I mean, is Toronto going to beat them, you know, four times and seven games? And you can say to me, Yeah, they already beat him twice. And they did. They did. There's plenty of teams that could point to regular season results with Golden State right now and say, hey, look, what we did to them. They don't look right. And I'm not sitting here telling you they look good and, oh, I wouldn't worry.

Yeah, I'd be concerned if I was, you know, a fan of theirs or whatever. But I just, I'm not going to sit here before January 1st and say that come June, we won't still be watching them on ESPN and ABC. I feel like we've seen this before in the NBA in particular. And board may be the wrong. to describe it, but some of the Miami teams that won it with LeBron, you know, had stretches in the regular season where they looked like the opposite of a contender or a championship team. And I, you know, I, I would.

Isn't it just human nature, Kevin? Isn't it, isn't that what it is? I mean, like, it's just the old line about, like, you know, it's hard to be hungry when you're well-fed. It's hard to be motivated when you've been part of the storylines that they've been where you're every team's biggest game and teams can make statements against you. And you're like, I don't know. maybe I just, I don't, I'm not that into it today, you know, and that's a, that becomes a problem

if it becomes something bigger, but I, sure, we've seen something like this before. Yeah, I think we have. I, I would, I would never bet against that team. I think in the best to seven, nobody beats them, uh, when we get to June if they're healthy. All right, let's go to another team that has won a lot over the years. And we've also counted out before. And some are now counting out, even though they may lock up the two seed. the AFC playoffs on Sunday if they beat the Jets. What is your impression of the Patriots right now? Do you consider them to be a Super Bowl contender?

Yeah, but it's much more of a shrug just because, I mean, the number of games they've lost, like the Miami game, all right, well, that's just whatever. That was a complete outlier, and it was chaos, and it happened. Okay, so so be it. but like they lost to Tennessee on the road where they got manhandled, you know, just thumped. And I look at the games that Kansas City's lost this year, and most of them follow some version of the same script. They're behind.

They managed to come roaring back and take a lead, and then maybe they don't have enough quite at the end. But they've never looked outclassed on the field. There have been times this year in New England, and I guess I'm thinking most notably of that Tennessee game where it's just like they don't look the same. They don't look like a team to be bothered by. The way they won last week was just let's run it all day. Brady, Gronk's not the same. Brady doesn't look the same. Eventually, everybody succumbs to time.

So I guess this is just a really long answer of me saying, no, I don't feel like there's some favorite right now. And yet, in January, you know, playoff game, and they're winning, and I don't feel like an idiot. I know. She and his podcast going, well, they stink and they aren't going to win. I think that that's the dilemma right now, as you think about the AFC playoffs, is New England is, we've done it before to them, where we've said, I don't know,

this year doesn't seem like it's the right year, and then you're like, how stupid were we? But at the same time, this year, if they lose in the second round to the Ravens or the Texans or whomever they would play in a divisional round game, I mean, I do think we saw it coming. The problem is, is we see it coming, but we don't want to believe it when it comes to a champion like New England. I actually think the AFC, I think the playoffs in both conferences, look like they're going to be highly entertaining and fun to watch,

and very unpredictable. But for me, in the AFC, the top two seeds, if they remain Kansas City, New England, to me are the two teams that I would bet against more than any of the others. That's interesting. Because with Kansas City, you just haven't seen it. And with New England, you're comparing them to the past version of themselves. It sounds like here's the thing to me that has been most compelling about the whole storyline all year, is outside of the Saints in that building, which there are a problem there, as we know.

And they'll be there until Atlanta, if they get there. it's hard to think of a team that you can't easily convince yourself could lose. I guess all I'm saying is that nobody feels like a significant, overwhelming favorite. And I guess what really comes down to is who do you fear on the road in a big game? Because I think the Ravens could take that defense on the road, even with Lamar Jackson and win. I know the Chargers could go on the road with Philip Rivers and win. So, like, who can do that? Could the Bears take that defense to New Orleans and win a playoff game?

I don't think so, man. I don't, but it'd be fun to see if it came down to it. To me, the playoffs feel the most unpredictable, the most uncertain, the most wide open as they've felt in many, many years. And most of it's just because of what we just talked about with New England. They don't feel like the ultimate sort of bully at the end of the block. I completely agree with that. That's why I'm looking forward to this postseason a lot. And I also think that the other big storyline with this NFL

season and then as we move into the postseason is this greatest offensive year in the history of the league and some of the games that we saw that has based it hasn't done a 180 but it's done close to a 180 and you have great defensive teams and you and i talked about this after the 54-51 monday night game that we didn't think that that was the NFL of the future and i even said to you that night or that day, I think there are better defensive teams in the NFL than we've seen in a long, long time. I think that they'll, they still have a chance. And maybe they won't when we get to the postseason, but Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Minnesota's defense now, since they got Everson Griffin back, has been lights out. I mean, New Orleans's defense is pretty

damn good. But really good. I think some of those matchups, you know, Baltimore at Kansas, Kansas City is a possibility. Houston in New England. You mentioned it. Chicago at New Orleans is a possibility. That's what makes this offense versus defense thing makes it really interesting. Yeah, and the thing with, I think there's explanations for some of it. I mean, you know, the Rams offense without Cooper Cup really changed them. That was a guy that was a chain mover, a security blanket for golf. And, you know, Gurley's now a little bit banged up, whatever. So, like, offensively, there's explanations, I suppose, for why they haven't looked quite the same. Breeze three games in a row on the road.

Traditionally, he has not been the same out of doors, and that's not a knock. It's just the years of data tell you that. Well, now he goes back inside, and that makes him a real problem. I think the one offense we have not seen really effectively neutered, even though they lost Kareem Hunt, is the Chiefs. The Ravens did the best job. But even in that game, even in that game, if you'll recall, You had Mahomes running around making just preposterous fourth-down plays. And I wouldn't want to hitch my wagon to the playoff future on Mahomes being able to pull a rabbit out of a hat on fourth down.

But that's the one offense that I don't feel like we've seen yet that didn't have some kind of an answer for whatever defense it was facing. So that's why to me there's such an interesting story for the playoffs. I know what you're saying, and it is hard to picture them getting slowed down. but they've generated a lot of offense and lost games here recently to the Chargers and the Seahawks and that Ravens game was very, very loseable. I think the most interesting team to watch in years if they make the postseason, and it's possible that they won't because of their opponent on Sunday, Cleveland, but to watch a Baltimore team with maybe one of the best defenses we've seen in the last five to ten years,

going to the postseason with a quarterback that really struggled, to throw the football conventionally, but can run it and that team has dominated time of possession and run the football down people's throats the last few weeks. That team's interesting to watch to see how that plays out in a postseason game, potentially on the road. The first one for them would be at home against the Chargers, a team that they manhandled last week, but the Ravens are a fascinating team to watch. And you and I, the dirty little secret about us that we've talked about over the years is how much organizational

respect slash we kind of wish we rooted for that team right I mean whether it's whether it's but you know Bashadi to Newsom to Harbaugh just to the way they as a group you know they always feel like they give themselves a chance and you know what's funny is a lot of that

had to do with you and me both being believers in Flacco and he's a guy that people talk about like he's some bum and I think man watch that dude in the playoffs and you most teams, not every, but most teams would love to have a guy that was that confident and capable in playoff games. And the fact that they are this far down the road with Jackson as their guy is something

I was dead wrong about. I said on SportsCenter several times, I just presumed that when Flacco was right, he'd come back in. But obviously the dynamic with that team is such that, you know, the group's behind the rookie. And, you know, he gives him a totally different look than any other franchise. but I have this sweet tooth for the Ravens. I always root for them this time of the year,

and that defense is going to give them an opportunity to beat whoever they play. You know, it's interesting because I've had people who listen to the podcast or have listened to me on radio the last few years accuse me of, you know, of somehow giving up my H-T-R card for a Baltimore card. I would never, ever, ever do that. I hate everything, Baltimore, and I don't root for the Ravens. necessarily. But what you said is true. I don't think there's an organization, and maybe it's because of the proximity, but it's more than that, that I wish my organization were more like.

Right. It's impossible not to compare the two just because they're side by side and you look at everything the way the Redskins do it. And, you know, more headlines with getting rid of people. And I see the Redskinned fan base feels like they didn't get rid of the right guy, but they won't because they're just tone deaf and they're just, they're that whatever, that give for the meme, I don't know the right term of that the little dog looking at the room that's on fire that says, this is fine, that's the Redskins. This is, this is fine, it's fine. Everything's great.

No, it isn't. We're in another. It really isn't. Where we've been before, many times. We're used to this situation at the end of the season. Rock bottom? Yeah, rock bottom. It's another new low, and there will probably be another one down the road.

Oh, great. Yeah. You know, what other NFL franchise could fire their lead business person and have this kind of a reaction from their fan base? Most teams fan bases have no idea who their Brian Lafamina equivalent is. But they do here. Of course not. Of course not. But anyway.

Well, that's because they made it. That's because they chose to make it some kind of a story. Yeah, they did. That's 100% the reason. 100% the reason. Let's get to the two college games. Who do you like and why? I like Alabama just by virtue of them being just who they are and having the personnel from top to bottom that they have.

And having said that, I think Oklahoma is absolutely the kind of team that's engineered to bother them. Play fast, play a ton of plays, have a quarterback that is most dangerous, not when he's a three or five-step drop, but when he drops back and goes, all right, now what? They can stress Alabama. I mean, I really believe they can. I think they'll score on them too. My thought is that Alabama can score as many points as they would like to score. So that's why I think they'll win.

I just think the OU defense is, I mean, they gave up 40 to Kansas. That's a hell of a magic trick. That is a magic trick. I mean, I wish there were an over. I looked at all the over-unders for Bama, all the prop bets. There's not a prop bet for total Bama punts, but I would make it at about one or one and a half. Because I don't think, there's no way they punt more than one time. Yeah, I mean, who knows me?

You get a drop or something on third down. I wouldn't want to be betting money on matches because you never know. But I understand the point you're making, and I agree. I just think they'll do whatever they want on offense. So that's why I like them. And the other one, I, any time I doubt Clemson, and it's a running joke with me in Stanford, Steve, Because like over the years, like if they're at NC State and the number's kind of short, I'll have NC State. And then it's 42 to 20.

Or they're at Georgia Tech and they're given like, you know, eight and a half. And you're like, well, you know, Tech will keep it close. And then it's 35, seven at the half. I can't tell you how many times that Clemson's been involved in games where I talked myself into the other side, only to just sit there and laugh when Clemson has a lot and you have none. So I haven't bothered trying to talk myself into Notre Dame. and I'm not about to start. Now, the Lawrence absence is a problem,

but their defensive front is so talented that they can absorb a loss of a first-round pick, and I don't want to say not miss the beat. You're not better without him playing, but they're not as impacted as another team would be because they just have so much depth up there. So I think Clemson is a – they're both prohibitive favorites for a reason. So I haven't talked myself into either underdog,

which is, as you know, for me, difficult. Do you differ from that? No, I gave out Clemson as a smell test pick. There's actually a lot of public action on Notre Dame. I know. That's not a shock. No. That's a brand getting that kind of point.

Yeah, but in some of final games, though, and big games like this, sometimes the brand, you know, it's about the game. I just think people look at Clemson and look at Notre Dame and think 12 and a half is a lot of points. But Clemson hasn't had a close game. They haven't had one competitive football game since that's. Syracuse game. I was on the wrong side of that one because Clemson was laying like 25 that day or whatever it was. And I'm often on the wrong side of Clemson too, but they are a dominant team. I think this is his best team. And it's hard to say that because I don't think

Trevor Lawrence at this point is what Deshawn Watson was. He may be on the way to becoming that. Yeah, well, he absolutely is. Kevin, if you had a draft that was not, I want to say irrespective, I don't think that's a word. Whatever the word is that means that and is the right word, if everyone was eligible for the draft, he would be the number one pick in the spring. Period. No questions about it. They people are obsessed with his arm strength and his size.

And, you know, the reason why they had to make the shift from Kelly to him was just that Georgia Tech game. You know, he had five touchdown passes. Like, all right, well, this guy's what he is. But I just wonder, though, if not having been in a game that has any level of stress associated with it in the final 30 minutes of football is going to be a problem. But that means that Notre Dame has to make it a game with 30 minutes left. So I don't know. I think it's Clemson and Bama part, whatever it is. And that's fine with me.

I mean, at some point that becomes a problem for the playoff if it's just the same people every year. But it's not going to bum me out if they play again in a weekend. California. Actually, I kind of want to see it this year, even more than in recent years. And I know what you're saying about Trevor Lawrence. I understand his pro potential. I'm just saying at this point in watching him, he's great. But Deshawn Watson in that final year was unbelievable as a college football and a college football quarterback. Sure, but that's kind of unfair. I mean, you're talking about a true freshman. I know. And a four years ago. Fair enough. Fair enough. And four years from now, let's go. But what I was trying to say is I actually think. that this is Dabo's best team. I think it's his best defense. I think there is lethal offensively as they've been. And I just don't see Notre Dame, Notre Dame a team that, you know, we all watch. And I had multiple times, either had them or had the opposite team. I had SC. I had them against Northwestern when they were laying the big number. I just don't think

they're anywhere near as good as Clemson is. Well, no. I mean, the Northwestern game was a one-score game in the fourth quarter. USC, Notre Dame was incredibly fortunate that USC didn't have a bigger lead. I mean, I understand. They were lucky to be Pitt. They were lucky to be Pitt. Same deal. And so, we're saying the same thing here.

And look, they're Notre Dame and they're a brand, and so they're unbeaten. So they were never, they were never even in the discussion to not be in the mix. But the question is, are they going to lay an egg? And I did ask, I thought this was interesting. I know I'm going along here, but I found this conversation

with Brian Kelly interesting when he came all with me. And he was honest, which I really appreciated. I said, you're not the only team to get smacked by Alabama in a big spot. But I think that result sticks to you more than it has other team. And is that fair? And he said, no, it's probably not. But what happened is we got to that stage and we probably weren't ready for it. And, you know, you remember that game?

It was like 42-7. And Sabin was furious at the end because they actually let him score. And you're about to win a title and somehow Saban's irate, which is, you know, he's uniquely wired in that way. But I think that that result on that big stage really, you know, for lack of a more elegant way to say. I think it pisses them off that all these years later, Notre Dame still feels like they're dragging the weight of that game around with him. So he looks at this like we, and he said this specifically. He said, we have to beat Clemson and Alabama to erase that forever and say we're something different. and I thought that was an interesting moment of honesty where they know that having been embarrassed like that is something that sort of stinks still in the room a little bit.

So that doesn't mean that they couldn't get embarrassed again, but it's just, it's interesting that it's something that he still thinks about. It would be a shocker if they won two games and won the national title to me. I know. I mean, I didn't think. I know, I know, but it would be an all-timer. It would be an all-timer, even though it's no. Dame and they're undefeated. It just seems like Alabama and Clemsoner, to me, more likely would be Oklahoma beating Alabama, and I don't think that's very likely. I don't either, but they're equipped to it to compete anyway. Did you do a winner segment, even though you're off for the weekend or not? No, I didn't. And when I was down on the Keys for Thanksgiving, I did, but this week

is chaos. I've just traveling, and I've got to go back on Saturday to do the shows after the playoff and I haven't. Have you looked at the board? Well, of course. And I mean, I love this week. You and I are the same. Last weekend, I was just looking at the picks and laughing hysterically because I gave out Jacksonville. I gave out San Francisco who didn't get there, but should have. I gave out Oakland. And I'm laughing. I'm like, I guarantee that these picks will be a winning week. I guarantee it. And they went like four, two, and one. And I feel like I have to

give out the picks just because you, you, you, can't miss an opportunity to give out free money, and that's what this weekend will be. It always is. Well, because, and I explain this when I did my smell test picks, that the thing that I love, I hate this final weekend, but I love it too, because historically, and you and I've done this together many, many times over the years, we just look for the team that has nothing to play for, playing against the team that has everything to play for, and just take the team that's got nothing to play for plus the points, and it usually works out. Give me Cleveland. Give me Cleveland. Yeah, I looked at them hard, but it's not a massive public.

play on Baltimore. But it's the same idea. It's the same idea. It's just Cleveland, nothing, Baltimore has to win to get in. The way they lost last year to Cincinnati, and I had Cincinnati last year in that spot, because, of course, I did. You know, it's just...

You know who you have to have. The Redskins. Without question, of course. Of course. I mean, they're getting... This is one of my favorites, is they're getting six and a half. The whole world is betting Philadelphia. the Redskins are in the midst of their typical end of the year, you know, meltdown,

and the line has just stayed at six and a half all week. I mean, it's all of the people we know just saying, yep, we'll take all of your Philadelphia action. Yep, we'll take more of it over here, and they haven't moved the line. No one's moved the line to seven yet. Nobody. No, and I'm sure you've explained to the people, whether it's for this game or other games over the years, if that line was seven and a half, we wouldn't like it. No, we would hate it. And the fact that it's less than a touchdown in begging you to take Philadelphia.

It's like, yep, give me Washington. It might not be a money-line situation, but this is field goal. This is Philly lining up for a late field goal to win or winning by four. Just know that right now. All right, well, we'll look for your Twitter account to see what you give out. I gave out Minnesota. They're laying a pretty big number to Chicago. the Redskins, the 49ers, the Jags again, the Jags are playing Houston, that line sitting there at six and a half.

You know, it hasn't moved. But anyway, we'll talk later. Happy New Year. Thanks for doing this. Enjoy whatever time you have off. Yep, you as well. Happy New Year to everybody in the, well, I started saying D.C. area, people listen to your podcast all over the world. So happy.

Well, not all over the world, although we do. We have a lot of countries, actually, where people are listening. but, you know, it's mostly in the United States. Well, happy new here. All right, see you. See you, man. All right, Scott Van Pelt, everybody. All right, let's bring in Andy to finish up the show.

We'll give our final game predictions here shortly, if anybody cares about him. But Andy's been doing historical lookbacks on opponents or situations. And this week, you've got more of a situation. Yeah, I think we could all agree that this season is ending, like, many Dan Snyder-owned seasons as we look into the abyss as fans and say, oh, my God, what's next? So I looked at five seasons since he's owned the team. He bought the team in 1999.

And go back to the season-ender December 24, 2000, which was the FedEx Field. This was the last game of Marty Schottenheimer's one and done year where they beat the Cardinals 20 to 3. and, no, I'm sorry, this was the last year of Norv Turner and Terry Robeski had taken over, and the Redskins won this game 20 to 3. But the setup was they fired Norv at 7 and 6. They went to Dallas and lost 32 to 13. Ebenezer Ecobon dragged Jeff George across the field. Not a single Redskin came to his defense.

They closed out three Rivers Stadium, losing to Pittsburgh 24 to 3. So this was the last game. And it was Brad Johnson starting with Rebiskevich. Bisckey saying to Dan Snyder, I'm sorry, Jeff George will have to sit. I can't play that guy. And in this game, Jack Bailey ran for a touchdown and caught two passes. I forgot that the Redskins closed down Three Rivers Stadium in that penultimate week of 2000. That was the final game at Three Rivers before they moved into Hines the next year. Yeah, and so here we are faced at the end of 2000 and saying who's going to coach this team

because Marty Schottenheimer had already gone on ESPN and said, I can't work for this guy. Right. But Glory B, Marty takes the job for 2001 under the condition that he has the say on everything, that Snyder can't interfere, and his boy, Fred Dresner, his fellow investor, can't even show up at Redskins Park. He's to start out 0 and 5, Snyder and then begins shopping for a new coach. He's told, I'm told, by Pepper Rogers, you've got to go get Steve Spurrier.

He begins to recruit Steve Spurrier showing up at Florida. games allegedly to scout with Vinnie Serrato. And by the middle of the season, it's pretty clear that Marty's on his way out, even though they pull off this miraculous turnaround, O and 5 to 5 and 5, but they lose three of four. Go to New Orleans, win big, 40 to 10 to get to 7 and 8. They're in this last game. Everybody knows Marty's going to be fired.

It's cold. It's rainy. It's windy. It's horrible weather. They're down 17 to 6, but they come back to win with a touchdown pass to Walter Razzis. be and Stephen Davis with a touchdown. They finished the year at 8-8, and Marty is fired.

And we know Spurrier's coming, but Spurier's kind of a, well, it's either going to be really good or really bad because he's never coached before. Either this is going to work out great or it's not going to work out at all, which, of course, it did not. And so we go to two years later where they close out the season on a Saturday night at FedEx Field, December 27, 2003, lose to the Eagles 31-7 to 4,000 to 4,000. finish five and 11. You got to remember, this team started

off three and one, beat the Patriots who wouldn't lose for the next 23 or 24 games. They set a record for most consecutive wins, but they tumbled the 4-8, beat the Giants to get to 5 and 8. Three days later, Dan Snyder says that Spurrier will definitely be back

in 2004. Four days later, they lose to Dallas, 27-0. Tim Hasselback throws up a 0.0 quarterback rating, lose at Chicago, And then in the Philadelphia game, it was over early, with Joe Seisman broadcasting this game. Remember, this was the Monday night crew doing a Saturday night game, and Thysman kept saying throughout the broadcast,

Daniel told me that Spurrier's coming back. Daniel said it. Daniel told me that Steve Furrier will be back in 2004. Oh, God. And a few days later, of course, he resigned from the golf course. All Joe had to do was watch that cowboy game that year, late in the year, the 27-0-0-0-0 quarterback rate. game in the sleet in rain. When he had already turned over play-calling responsibilities,

he was, Andy, he was wrapped up in one of those winter coats with a raincoat or two over the winter coat, and he was milling around the heaters on the bench, not even on the sideline for the game. And at that point, you knew there was no chance he was coming back. All Joe had to do was watch that game. Yeah, and now we go to 2006, December 3rd. 30th. They close out the season, losing to the Giants 34 to 28 to finish 5 and 11. I know this is the Joe Gibbs coach Redskins, but this was the year after he had his best year in the second go round. He brings in Al Saunders in a 700-page playbook. A lot of things happen like Clinton Portis getting hurt, and things just disintegrated to the point where they're closing out the season

against the Giants with absolutely nothing to play for. Tiki Barber carries the ball 23 times for 234 yards, including three touchdowns, one of them 55 yards. At the end of that season, Gibbs has two years left on his contract. And he makes a tour, because I remember him showing up on Tony Kornheiser show, to say that he was going to stay there until he got it right. And at that point, Redskin fans were saying, geez, is this really the guy who can do this anymore? You know, this is his worst season ever. He's saying he's going to not leave. Maybe it's best that he does leave. Of course, the next year he had a playoff season, but left after that. And then finally, and this is, to me, I don't know how you feel as a Redskins fan,

but at the end of this season, I felt like, God, this is absolutely hopeless. This was December 29, 2013. They lose to the Giants at MetLife Stadium, 20 to 6. This was the last game of the Sanahan era. They opened the season 1 and 4. They got to 3 and 5 with a win over San Diego, and you're thinking, okay, maybe they can make run here. They lose their last eight, including this one. This

is where Griffin was benched with three games to go because, as Shannon said, he needs an off-season. Robert has to have an off-season. He didn't have an off-season last year. He plays Kirk Cousin the last three. He plays pretty well in losses

to Atlanta and Dallas. They lose each game by one. He was not good in this game. 19-49, with two interceptions, and he was sacked three times. Gerald Jernigan, Jarrell Jernigan scored both touchdowns for New York, one of them 57 yards. He also caught six passes for 90 yards. It would play only two more games in the NFL. And I just looked at it and you go, well, they've tried everything.

What are they going to do next? And here we are five years later, and you go, okay, they had a playoff season, but really, I mean, what have they done in those five years? Nothing. Yeah, I think, you know, the 2013 season, the most memorable game to me, and I know you're doing season closers. And I remember that giant game. It was raining sideways in that game

and no one wanted to be out there, you could tell. But the Kansas City game in early December of that year, at home in the snow and sleet, with the iconic shots now. I'd label them almost as iconic for Redskin fans anyway of the empty, totally empty stadium in the second half when they got blown out by the Chiefs and you knew it was over.

Remember that morning started with some of the leaks from Shanahan's side, and it just spiraled out of control from there. And then he ended up – Yeah, that was the last game that Griffin started under the – That was it. He benched him during that game, and then he said, Dan, do whatever you want to me, but I'm going to start the other guy and see what he has. But yeah, and here we are with another one on Sunday. Another season finale that means nothing. It's now 21 out of 26 years, basically, where you've had a situation similar to this,

where you're not heading to the postseason. It's an incredible run of futility for any franchise in a league that is designed for parity. It's designed for even the worst of organizations to have a run or a season, and the Redskins haven't had one. Before we get two-skins score and more, what do you think happens on Monday, Tuesday, next week? and Jay, both back, one back, both gone? What? Yeah, well, two things.

One, I think they've got the feel-good game from whatever Jacksonville is worth. And the other is what happened with the firing of the Lafamina crew, that that's a sign that Bruce is in charge. And if Bruce is in charge, why is he going to fire a guy he gave a contract extension to? If he's worried about his own hide, why is he going to suggest firing a coach who has two years left on his contract to? I think, under the circumstances here, some of which we just chronicled, has done about as well as you can. I mean, you know, could Joe Gibbs do better? Yeah, but Gibbs is in his 70s. That's the only thing.

Now, if you're looking for your spark, that's the only thing I think they've got. That's the one card that Snyder can play. They can bring in Joe Gibbs as an advisor, have a news conference, make everybody feel good, and have them do pregame speeches on the video board before the game to fire up the fan base. that's about all you've got left. I don't think there's another move you can make. And I would look at the Lafamina situation and say they brought in a guy who was the Bill Belichick of marketing. And they blew him out.

Can they come up with somebody else and say, this guy is going to be better and we're going to run things differently? I don't think so. They played that card and they folded it. All right. I think you're right about Jay Gruden now. I came around recently. And there are multiple reasons for that. One, they still owe them two years worth of money.

Two, if they end up making a move with Bruce, which I think they're going to, and I know I'm pretty much the only person that believes that, then they'll elevate people from within who are comfortable with Jay and three. They're just two. I mean, you can say this about almost any year, it seems like, in recent years. There are going to be so many openings, and the Redskins are going to be at the bottom of the list for any of the top candidates. And I think all of that will add up to, well, look, if we're going to try to rebuild here,

we might as well just pay Jay for at least another year or keep them for another year because we're already paying for them. And we don't have a lot of solutions that are better. But Andy, I am, I know that this is now an out, you know, an out-there view because everybody's so convinced that the Lafamina firing an exit with all of his merrimen mean that Bruce won some sort of power play and he's staying. I just can't believe that someone like Dan Snyder, whose business now has eroded to a point and a low point that it's never approached before, from an attendance standpoint, a merchandise standpoint, etc. And you've got your customer base screaming for one thing more than any other,

and that is hashtag fire Bruce Allen, a trending hashtag over the last few days. I just can't believe that he'll actually bring Bruce back. I think we're going to get to Sunday night, Monday, and he's going to say, I love you, and you've been great for me, but I've got a customer base. The only thing they want more than anything else is for you to be gone. Actually, they want me to be gone first, but I'm staying because I own the team. I got to move on. And so I just think it's going to happen, but I could be wrong, and I probably will be wrong.

I don't see. The thing is, we live in the real world, and we not only work in sports radio, we listen to it. I don't think he ever listens to that. And I don't think he associates with the basic fan base who's buying his tickets. I think he's got a lot of people around him who tell him what he wants to hear. And I don't think that he's really in tune with what's going on. And, yeah, I mean, you may be right. I think that, as I say, the one thing he could do to make people feel good. And we all remember what happened in January of 2004 when St. Joe Gibbs came rolling up the road at Redskins Park and people lined the streets like they were watching the Pope Mobile. That's the only thing that's left. And they could bring him in and they could say, he's going to advise Bruce Allen. Whether he does or he doesn't, you know, he'll show up at home games.

He'll do interviews with people in the media. And that's the only thing they've got left to sell. But they've played all their cards. There's nothing else left. That's why I think he's got to go. That's a card, actually. And it's not a great card. You know, I would say right now, I don't know how you feel.

I actually think that Bruce is more despised in this moment than Vinny ever was. And I think the reason for that is that people did recognize that Vinny was a dope, and he was not a general manager in the National Football League, but they also recognized that all he was doing was carrying out Dan's orders. as essentially, you know, a puppet. And so Bruce is different. I think, Andy, his level, the level of venom from the fan base towards Bruce or what's left of the fan base is greater than it was for Vinnie Serrato.

Well, it's worse because it's worse than Venom is apathy. And I think to me, those television ratings from the game where the Eagles and the Cowboys out drew them significantly, was really telling. It's not just the people are angry anymore. They just don't care. And that's the worst of all if you're trying to sell a product. That's right. All right.

Let's do this for the last time and another meaningless season finale, but let's finish up the show with Redskins' score and more. Time to sell the score is score and more. All right. Do they get to 500? No. Come on. I mean, the relief scheduled this.

way because you've got Philadelphia playing the same time as Minnesota. They can pick at the scoreboard, but they know going into the game, if they have any chance to make the playoff, they have to win. And the Redskins have nothing to play for. And Josh Norman says it's been a circus for six weeks. Yes, it has. And this begins to wear on the players. And, you know, I don't know if we'll have a, like, a Kansas City game that you just talked about, but I don't see them being competitive in this game. I've been wrong the last two weeks, obviously. I didn't think they'd be competitive last week. But it's just, you know, it's the end of the season.

Everybody knows it's over, and I just don't see them putting forth much of a real great effort. I think it, you know, I'm looking like 24-7, something like that. All right. I've got a shocker for you. I gave the Redskins out as a smell test pick. They're getting six and a half, which sort of reeks. The public's all over Philadelphia, like to get it.

games already been played and printed up in the book. I think the Redskins have a chance to win this game late with the ball, down 23 to 17. Josh Johnson on the final play of a game in which he plays well again, has a wide open Josh Doxon in the end zone, and Doxon drops it on fourth and goal. And there you go. 23 to 17, but it's close and they've got a chance to win, and they cover. That's what I got for you here in this final game of the year. Might I remind you that Nick falls through, I believe, 470 yards last week, and the Redskins just cut their pro-bowl safety. Pro-bowl alternate.

Pro-bowl alternate. Okay, come on. I mean, let's not make, like I've said all week, let's not make him out to be, you know, he's Ken Easley. Or Sean Taylor. He's a good, he's a good player, not a great player. That's the best you've got. That's your $2,000. That's true.

That's sitting in the driveway, and you don't have a new one, so that's the best you got to drive. All right. Get into your EMP thing and weigh yourself and see how many more pounds you've lost, because you've been doing a great job on that diet. And I will talk to you next week, and thank you for all of this all year long. You know how much I enjoy it, and happy New Year to you and Arlene and the kids. Well, thank you very much, and I do get very good feedback from being on with you, so I appreciate you having me on.

All right, I'll talk to you next week. See it. All right. Thanks to Andy, thanks to Cooley. Thanks to everybody who joined us today. Thanks to Aaron for producing the show. We're back on Monday with a podcast following the Redskins season finale against the Eagles, but also we'll have all of the other NFL.

And we'll be able to talk about the two semifinal games from tomorrow, which I'm very much looking forward to. And also just a heads up, if there are significant news events related to the Redskins early next week, even if it's on the holiday, we'll come in here and we'll do something. I mean, if there's a coaching change or Bruce Allen's fired or something happens when this season ends, we will definitely, we're not planning on doing a podcast on New Year's Day, but if there is a significant event, we'll come in and do one on New Year's Day as well. Thanks to all of you for listening.

If you haven't subscribed, subscribe. It doesn't cost you anything. If you haven't rated and reviewed us, do that as well. that helps us out a lot and tell anybody that hasn't heard about the podcast yet to listen on the Kevin Sheehan Show.com on the website if they struggle with things like iTunes and other ways to get podcasts. Have a great weekend back on Monday.