The Kevin Sheehan Show - Remember The Rivalry?

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Kevin and Thom today talked Mark Brunell and Skins-Cowboys rivalry to open the show. Plenty of Jayden Daniels follow-up followed by Thom's Commanders-Cowboys pick and a Thursday Night "Smell Test" offering from Kevin.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. It is Thursday entering NFL week number 12,

and Washington's going to play Dallas for the first time this year. And a former cowboy who plays for Washington had something to say about the rivalry, which we will get to here in a moment. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Windon Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to windownation.com if you need new windows. This comes from Raleigh FJ. Raleigh gave us five stars and titled The Review, Great Show. Thank you, Raleigh FJ.

And writes, hey, Kev, love the show. How great was it to have Mark Brunel back under center last night? Wow. Raleigh, FJ, you got to tweet me or Tommy and tell me what you're talking about. I know Mark Brunel is the quarterback's coach in Detroit, and I would imagine, by the way, that could lead to something pretty interesting if Ben Johnson takes a head coaching job. But I don't know what that meant Mark Brunel being under center. I even look to see does Mark Brunel have a son that's playing college football?

So I'm reading the review because it was very nice, five stars, but I'm not sure what it meant. I'm curious if Mark Brunel has a son that played college football and played well the other night and was under center. It's very possible. That's true. I went looking for it. Could not find it anywhere. So there is a possibility that he's just talking about Mark Brunel being under center in a figure. sense as Jared Gough's quarterback's coach in Detroit.

Mark Burdell's been coaching now for a while, you know, in the league. He had, when I was looking for whatever this could have been, I was reminded that he had some major financial problems. Lost a lot of money, had to file personal bankruptcy, was involved in a lot of bad investments, and, you know, had, and then got into coaching. and, you know, his last year in the NFL was all the way back in 2011. He was with the Jets in 2011 as a backup. And then got into high school coaching.

And then in 2021, the Lions hired him. Dan Campbell hired him to be the quarterback's coach. And he's been clearly doing a pretty damn good job with Jared Gough. Yeah. You know? Yeah, he had. Doesn't cool he say that that Brunel is the best. quarterback he played with in Washington.

And one of the best teammates and best leaders. I mean, he didn't have many really good quarterbacks to pick from. No, you didn't. Yeah. But, you know, Brunel, Brunel was good. You know, Gibbs gave up a pick to get him,

and there was, you know, talk at the time, if you recall, that he was going to be released by Jacksonville and Washington ended up trading for him. But he's, he had a He had a really good career. He was excellent in Jacksonville.

Really good quarterback in Jacksonville. He's a legend in Jacksonville, Tommy. He was their first quarterback after they became an expansion team. And he took that team, I think, in their second year, to the AFC championship game. I think they lost to the Patriots, Parcell's Patriots, that eventually lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl. And by the way, I think the Packers beat the Panthers who were in their second or third year. as an expansion team. They came into the league together. I forget if they made the championship game in their second or third year of existence, but it was pretty quick. But he had a playoff

game in Denver. I think it was the year they went to the AFC title game where they beat Mike Shanahan's Broncos, who were the number one seed, and 13 and 3 or 14 and 2, something like that, and Jacksonville beat him as like, I want to say a two-touchdown underdog. It was a shocking NFL playoff upset. But he was a really good quarterback there. He's a legend there. And yeah, I mean, he's a quarterback's coach on a team that's doing quite well offensively. And if Ben Johnson moves on and takes a head coaching job, Brunel, I would imagine, would be in line or certainly would be in consideration for the OC position with the Lions, maybe next year,

maybe as a defending Super Bowl champion. And if they have another big year, he could be in line at some point to be a head coach. You know, Brunel may have saved Joe Gibbs' life one time. Saved whose life? There's a story. Joe Gibbs. Yeah.

2004. Right. They were having dinner, Gibbs and Brunel. And Gibbs had some kind of diabetic attack. And Brunel recognized it and drove Gibbs. at a hospital. Yeah. Yes, I vaguely remember that story.

Yeah. I wonder he wanted him in Washington. Yeah. You know, he moved away from him, remember, to Patrick Ramsey for a bit, and then came back to him because, you know, the 2004 season in which Brunel played for Washington, that was his first year. It wasn't a great season, although there were decent. moments in that season.

But Gibbs went with, and I think against his better judgment, you know, I think he thought Brunel should be the starter in 2005. But Patrick Ramsey started that first game against Chicago at FedEx Field in 2005. And, you know, I think he got hurt. I think Ramsey got hurt and Brunel came in and the next week was the Monday Night miracle in Dallas. I can't remember if he got benched or if he got hurt. But he came into that game. They won that game 9 to 7 without scoring a touchdown.

And then they were down 13-0 before, you know, one of the true magical moments in the history of the, you know, Skins Cowboys rivalry happened when he hit Santana Moss twice. And then, you know, started the rest of that season. Until late in the season, Tommy, he got banged up. And Patrick Ramsey came in for, I remember, remember a Christmas Eve game against the Giants, which they had to win. And Patrick Ramsey came in and played in that game because Brunel got hurt.

And Ramsey played pretty well, if I recall. And Washington won that game. And then the next week went on to Philadelphia on New Year's Day and won that game with Sean Taylor returning a fumble for a touchdown to clinch a playoff berth. God, that was that season 2005 was a very entertaining and, you know, very wow, we're back season because it was Gibbs. It was the second year of Gibbs. And they had just run off six in a row to make the postseason, five in a row, six in a row, whatever it was. They lost a heartbreaking game in overtime to the Chargers. Ladani and Tomlinson ripped off a long run in overtime. And they lost to the Chargers. That was a Marty. If my memory serves me correctly, they went back to back,

Raiders Chargers, Coaching, Gibbs coaching against Norve and losing to Norve at home, and then coaching against Marty and losing to Marty at home. And then they were basically done for in that season, but then ripped off, I think it was five in a row, to make the postseason with Mark Brunel and even some help from Patrick Ramsey leading the way. That was an exciting season.

They won a playoff game that year. Mark Brunel I think Brunel holds the record for the fewest amount of passing yards in a playoff win. I'm going to see if I can pull it up here real quickly, but I want to say that it's 51 or something like that. 1710, they won at Tampa.

Tampa was quarterback by Chris Sims that day. LeVar Erington, Sean Taylor got booted from the game for spitting in Michael Pitman's, you know, I remember that. I was at the stadium in Tampa for that. Yeah. And, Sean, Errington had an interception, I think. Sean Taylor, here it is.

Here's the box score. 17 to 10. And Brunel threw for 41 yards. Washington had a total of 120 yards. won a playoff game with 41 yards passing. He was 7 of 15 for 41 yards. And it's not like they ran it, you know, down their throats. Portis had 53. Liddell Betts had 25 yards. They got three turnovers. They got three turnovers and won the game and scored, you know, Sean Taylor scored on one of them and won the game 17 to 10. And then the next week went on to Seattle and had a

legit shot to go up 10-0 when Carlos Rogers dropped a pick six right in his hands from Matt Hasselbeck. And, you know, they knocked, LeVarne knocked Sean Alexander out of that game. And that was, honestly, that's the closest. If you take 99 out of the equation, because Snyder didn't have anything to do with that team, because they were within, you know, they nearly knocked off Tampa in the divisional round to get to the NFC championship game. But if you take that out, during the true Snyder era, not counting 99, 2005 was the closest they ever got to the NFC title game. It's the only divisional round playoff game they played during the Snyder era, you know,

other than 1999. The only second round playoff game they've played. You've got to go back to the 2005 season. and they had a shot at Seattle. They lost the game 20 to 10, but it was 17 to 10, and John Hall missed a shanked a short field goal that would have made it 17 to 13 early in the fourth quarter. But they were right there, right there and had a shot.

And Seattle went on the next week and lost to Carolina in the NFC title, or beat Carolina, excuse me, in the NFC title game, and that was the year that they lost to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. so Washington lost to the eventual NFC champion. So there we go. Thanks for introducing Mark Brunel back into the conversation. Raleigh, appreciate it. Rate us and review us if you get a chance.

Washington football, the commanders are about to do it again maybe, and they start with another magic week. It's Dallas week, right? It is Dallas Week. Doesn't really feel like Dallas Week anymore. Doesn't feel like it to you, no? No, it hasn't felt like Dallas Week in a long time. And Dorrance Armstrong said the following yesterday.

Ben, I think, I don't know, it could have been multiple people were interviewing Dorrance Armstrong. But I saw Ben tweet this out. Dorrance Armstrong's first six NFL seasons were in Dallas. Did games against arch rival Washington have extra meaning, he was asked. And he said, quote, not really just the next game. They did try to make it sound like it was a rival. rivalry and stuff like that, but no, not really, closed quote. It has not been a rivalry from a cowboy's perspective unless you're of a certain age,

and I mean 45 or older, for a long, long time. They don't view Washington as a rival. Even when I have some of the old cowboys, you know, writers like my guy Mickey Spagnola, who comes on the show, usually before a Cowboy Skins game, He remembers these games and he knows what it meant. But he doesn't feel it from a cowboy standpoint. The Eagles have been their rivals for years now. Their chief NFC East rival has been Philadelphia.

That's who they've been battling with for years. Well, you know what? The next best thing to a rivalry is something. In other words, I think fans on Sunday, Washington fans could live without the, without the rivalry, if their team just totally thumps the cowboy. That's how you bring the rivalry back. You make it important to them by beating their ass over and over again.

You know, and it starts Sunday. You're right. This is a new era of Washington football. Look, we may be entering a new era of Dallas football. It seems like the two organizations can never get synced up, you know, where they're both really good at the same time. It happened briefly in 2016, in 2012. There have been games here and there.

And there have been memorable games even when one team's been bad. But, yeah, you now have the opportunity not just with Dallas, but with the Giants and with Philadelphia as well, to make it more important to your division rivals. And really, your division rivals fan bases when they play you. You know, it hasn't been important to address. giant fan or an eagle fan or a cowboy fan to play Washington in a long time. It's just not. That's true. They look forward to the other matchups in the division. So you change that by becoming a beast in the division. And, you know, a perennial playoff team, a perennial division winner,

division contender. And you end up playing, you know, lots of important games against these teams and winning them, you know, winning your fair share of them. And then it comes back. I loved the Dallas Washington rivalry. I miss it, actually. Not to get nostalgic or anything, but there was a big part of my life, Tommy, where the two cowboy games during the course of an NFL season were momentous events. You had them marked down. You looked forward to them. Dallas Week really was a thing.

You know, you couldn't wait to see what, you know, Dallas said to newspaper writers in Dallas about the upcoming game and vice versa. And I'm not talking about the George Allen years. Those were, you know, the two organizations hated each other during that run. But even the Gibbs Landry years and the Gibbs Jimmy Johnson years.

it was just so intense, so intense. You know, Washington had, if you, the rivalry obviously starts with a lot of the history that you've written about in the books that you've written about the team, going back to the fight song, etc. When Dallas entered the league and the battles in the 60s, but it really doesn't start until George Allen arrives in 1971. And he says, that's the team we need to beat. We hate those guys. And they had epic battles in the 70s with George Allen. Few epic battles, including one of the greatest regular season games in NFL history with Jack Pardee as the head coach in the 79 season finale.

And then Gibbs takes over and these games are massive. They play in another championship game against each other in 82. I mean, just big games every year. And then Tommy, Jimmy Johnson comes in and the Cowboys are. down and the giants actually become Washington's big rival there for a few years. You know, L.T. Parcells, Sims, you know, Morris, they become the big game. And Dallas has to fight their way back into, you know, the rivalry, you know, environment. And the one in 15 season with Jimmy, the one was over Washington.

But Jimmy got it turned around fast enough that nobody lost their taste. for the Dallas games. We've been away so long from these other three teams without any success that you just had, you know, a generation or two basically missed what it was all about. Well, maybe that stops this year. Maybe that stops this year. If Washington becomes an important game, like he said, for their division rivals, that fuels the rivalry.

But what if Dallas is at the beginning of a two or three or four-year run of really being awful as they try to, you know, turn this thing around? Right. Yeah. Because Philly really looks like the team here for the immediate future, the next few years, it looks like Washington and Philadelphia in the NFC East. Not the Dallas, Giants are going to start over with a new coaching staff and a new quarterback. Dallas is certainly going to start over with a new coaching staff in the offseason. They can't start over with a new quarterback. They just paid him the most money that's ever been paid to a player.

They're a mess. I used to really want both teams to be good at the same time so it would matter like it did way back. And way back now, there are enough listeners to this show. that don't even remember way back, and I understand that. But just trust me, it was Ohio State Michigan in the NFL. It was the Iron Bowl in the NFL. It was Duke Carolina of the NFL. There was nothing for basically two decades, two and a half decades, that approached Dallas, Washington. It was the number one rivalry in the sport, and it was often listed as a top five rivalry in all of sports.

Anyway, I think they're going to destroy Dallas on Sunday. You'll have your pick coming up here shortly, but they're a massive favorite, and I would be very surprised if they don't win and win big. Want to talk about Jaden Daniels and what he said yesterday? You know, I don't know how much longer I can do the podcast today because it's pretty cold out. and I'm a little chilly, and it's really affecting me. So I'm not sure how much time I've got left, but we can give it a try. Well, let's see if we can't bundle you up so you can make it through the rest of the show.

We'll get to what Jaden Daniels said yesterday right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, everybody, with the holidays creeping up faster than your aunt's fruitcake recipe, I've got something way better to share with you. If you want to look sharp for all of those festive gatherings and maybe finally win that best groomed at the family dinner award, check out the latest masterpiece from Manscaped, the chairman pro electric foil shaver. Trust me, it's like Rudolph for your face, guiding you to a smooth, irritation-free shave. Head over to Manscape.com and join the over 11 million men worldwide who trust Manscaped by using my code, Kevin D.C., for 20% off plus free shipping. So what makes the chairman pro stand out?

Well, it's all about versatility and precision. It comes with two interchangeable skin-safe blade heads. You've got the skin-safe four-blade foil for that close smooth shave when you're looking to go completely clean. And if a clean shave isn't your style, that's okay. Just switch to the skin-safe stubble trimmer to keep your stubble looking sharp and polished. And here's something that's going to make your grooming routine even easier.

The chairman pro is waterproof. Yeah, you can use it right in the shower. And the waterproof feature doesn't just make shaving easier. It also simplifies cleanup too. Just a quick rinse under the sink and you're all set. Get the chairman pro today and experience a shave that is as smooth as you deserve. Get 20% off plus free shipping with the code Kevin DC at Manscape. That's 20% off plus free shipping with my code, Kevin DC at Manscape.com.

Hey guys, no man wants to lose his hair, but for men, it's actually very common. And now with Hymns, the solution is simple. Try Hymns hair loss solutions. You'll be joining hundreds of thousands who got their flowback. Hymns provides you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch. Hymns makes treating hair loss simple with doctor-trusted options

and clinically proven ingredients. You can choose from personalized chewable, oral, spray, and serum treatments to find out what works best for you. The process is simple and 100% online, so there are no uncomfortable doctor visits. Answer a few questions, and a medical provider will determine

if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your treatment is sent directly to you in discrete packaging for free. No insurance is needed and one low price covers everything from treatments to ongoing care. Hymns has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers and they can help you get your confidence back with visibly thicker and fuller hair. Start your free online visit today at Hymns.com slash Sheen. That's hims.com slash sheen for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Hems.com slash sheen.

Results vary based on studies of topical and oral monocidil and phenosteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. Winter is coming. Cold weather looks like it's coming in. right in time for the holidays. If you've been thinking about newer windows, give Windonation a shot.

Call them at 86690 Nation or head to WindowNation.com. First step is to get an estimate. It's free, no risk. You mentioned my name. They'll come out in an hour or less. You'll at least know which windows need to be replaced. And if you end up moving forward with Window Nation, you're going to get 50% off all windows as long as you get the deal done by the end of the month. You've got to call them. by the end of the month, November 30th. Five years of zero percent interest are part of the offer as well. Window Nation has some of the most insulated windows you can buy. That means more of the heat that you're paying for stays inside your home.

Actually, a lot more than the other big name window brands. Call them right now. 86690 Nation. Go towindonation.com. You've got nothing to lose. The estimate is free. So, Tommy, I'm very sarcastic and was immediately a non-believer in what Jaden said yesterday because he called me right when Jaden said it. And I had just finished recording the podcast and talking about it.

And for those that didn't listen yesterday or didn't pay attention yesterday, Jaden was asked about why he puts that wrap around his ribs on the sideline or his body on the sideline. and he said, quote, it's to stay warm. It's getting later in the years. It gets colder. You don't want your body parts to get cold, so it's just to stay warm, close quote. And you say what? Well, look, it may be true.

Everything with this may be true or may not be true. They leave so much doubt with the way they've handled this thing. I mean, the coach stood up there a couple of days ago, and before anyone asked a question, addressed the whole issue of whether Jane Daniels is heard or not. That's not true. That would have been the perfect opportunity. That's not true. John Kime asked him the question, and he answered the question. It was not in his opening statement.

Okay. But we thought it was, right? No, what we thought was, and what I believe to be true, is that he wanted to get that out. and so if somebody had asked him about, you know, the offense, which is what John asked him about, it wasn't even specifically Jaden Daniels. He said, you know, why did the offense struggle in the last two games? You've had a chance, and that's when he said, let me say clearly and honestly, that Jaden Daniels is not injured.

Okay. I mean, he's not stupid. He knows the reason why people think Jaden Daniels is injured. Part of the reason is they see on the side of the way. line, him getting wrapped up and working on, on this, whatever this package thing is around his ribs. And he could have easily said, you know, that's, that's a device to keep Jayton warm. You know, the way they've handled this has opened up the speculation that they're dealing with right now. They've done a lousy job with it. Any, they've done so bad a job that anything is

believable. And, you know, both sides in a way are ridiculous like we talked about. It's ridiculous to believe that the coaching staff would play Jaden Daniels if he was, if he was hurt, not injured, but hurt, okay, you know, if it was affecting his play. You know, that wouldn't seem to make sense. On the other hand, I don't think we watched a player particularly, in the Philly game, and I know, you know, you've got different, you've got different intelligence on this, that that looks cold, okay?

I just think that the eye test still indicates that there's something wrong with him. And that's why all of it's so unbelievable. How would you... That's why the reaction, the reaction to him saying he was cold, and that's what the device is, that that's wrapped around his ribs was, you know, to dismiss it, to laugh at it. So how would you have handled it? Well, I would have explained it. I would have explained if I was the coach.

I would have come out there and said, you know, that you know that thing that you see us working on on sideline? That's a device to keep Jaden warm. It's not to, it's not because his ribs are hurt or anything like that. it's to keep him warm and explain what the device would have been very simple. Okay, what it would have done away with some of the speculation, possibly. But, you know, that's to keep me warm. That's feasible because there are devices that do that, you know. And that opens up a whole other level worrisome.

I wonder if they're going to bring back the warm benches that Snyder used to use. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Remember the warm bench fight between the Cowboys and Washington? They had to bring their own benches to Dallas. Yes. Indoorse.

I wonder if they're using those benches now because they should do everything they can to keep Jayden warm. It's going to be 54 degrees on Sunday. I don't know if that's cold or not for the quarterback. But I just think they've mishandled it. I don't think we know what the truth is. And I think the teams to blame for that. I don't know that I can disagree with that part of it, that, you know, there is this incredible divide right now of people that think he's hurt and think that Dan Quinn and Jaden Daniels lied to us this week. And those that think that, no, they're telling the truth.

They played two really good teams that made them look ordinary and then in the Philadelphia game less than ordinary. I just keep coming back to what I've said for, you know, the last several days since Thursday. If you believe they're lying to you, then you have to then believe that they've committed some level of malpractice when it comes to handling him. Not for playing him. And I'm not saying that, you know, he's seriously injured and shouldn't be out there. But if he's moderately injured, if he's hurting, and he's hurting, and that, it's affecting his play, then it has been incredibly irresponsible to call some of the plays that they've called with him in the game. Specifically, the designed runs and the option runs.

That, to me, would be incredible that they've got a guy that they're lying about to the public. They know it's compromised. They know it's hurting. They know isn't 100%. And instead of calling, a game to protect that. They're calling a game that opens up the possibility of him being compromised more. That just sorry doesn't make sense to me. And that's, I think, as much as anything, including watching the two opponents that they just played versus the two opponents that they played closer to the injury when he looked like Jaden Daniels and there was no conversation about him looking compromised. To me, the big difference is Pittsburgh and Philly are really good. Philly in particular is the game that he didn't play well and didn't really look like himself.

Look, what you say makes sense. I can't argue with that. Except to think that I've seen NFL coaches do some pretty dumb things over my lifetime. There's no reason to think that this staff has shown any indication that they've got that low level of intelligence, so I wouldn't expect it from them. But again, just like I think anything's possible when it comes to NFL players and coaches and playing while they're hurt. But you're right. That's a lot of evidence to indicate that they wouldn't possibly do it.

In other words, it requires a certain level of faith that the coaching staff would not be irresponsible. Yeah, and I have that faith right now. I can't argue with that either. In other words, I don't know what to think anymore. I got this from Scotty on Twitter. Scotty wrote, I don't disagree on your Jaden take, but I got to ask, did you not think it was coaching malpractice in 2012 after the injury that your favorite coach

continued to run Reed Options with a quarterback on one leg regardless of what Dr. Beanie told them? I love when we work our way back to, you know, the end of 2012. There are a couple of things there. Number one, completely different situation, because RG3 wasn't capable of playing quarterback the way Jaden Daniels is capable of playing quarterback. The only, the way you had to play offensive football with RG3 was the way they played or they would have been unsuccessful on offense. Number two is, in the season finale after the end,

injury. He ran for 65 yards, the game that Alfred Morris ran for 200 in the win over Dallas and looked fine. It was a problem in the game before that in his return against Philadelphia, where he hobbled to the sideline one time. But remember, Mike told us that story. He went to Robert and said, if you can't run, I'm going to put Kirk in right now. And then the rest of that game, Robert all of a sudden, wasn't limping as badly on some of the runs. So they really weren't sure. They were being told by the doctors, he's fine. They were being told by the owner, play him.

They were being told by the player, I'm totally fine. And then they were wondering whether the player was trying to dupe them into getting out of running the read option series of plays. Mike told us that with the hobbling to the sideline. Now, he re-injured himself badly in the Seattle. game. We understand that. And so during the Seattle game, I've told you guys my feeling on this for 12 years now. They were going to pull him. They were going to start Kirk Cousins in the second half because they thought he'd give him a better chance to win in that Robert was hurt. And then out of,

you know, a room walks Dr. Beanie and Robert Griffin and Dr. Beanie says to Mike, it wasn't his knee. It was the brace. He's fine. The brace got off kilter and we had to rep, put the the brace back on the right way. So I don't know what you want to do, especially in a playoff game. But they're different situations. But if they, so if they, if Jayden was hobbling to the sideline on a read option and they put him back out there, yes, it'd be malpractice. A hundred percent.

But the context and everything back then was completely different. Okay. You're right. Okay, let's talk about if we believe Jaden Daniels or not. If we believe him, is it concerning to you that he's cold in very mild conditions? Well, there are two things here. Number one, I've been talking about this, and we've talked about this, you know, when we said, well, what does he need to prove that this is really what we're watching?

Well, he's got to face adversity. That was your answer, and I totally agreed with you in two losses in a row. questions about, you know, the way he played against Philadelphia is adversity for the first time in his pro career. And I've said since the beginning of the year, this is a guy that is California, Southern California, played in Arizona, played in Louisiana. He's never played in a legitimate cold game. He's played in a couple of chilly games, but not in any cold games. I would bet that the Philadelphia game on Thursday night was close to the coldest game he's ever played in. And I think it was 46 degrees. And I do wonder whether or not that will impact his performance.

It does to many players who are warm weather people. So we will soon find out. Think about a Philadelphia playoff game in January. Think about a playoff game here in January. Or it's certainly Green Bay. But so that's one part of the answer. The other part is this. Does he have the wrap around his body to stay warm because he's cold?

Or is it to keep the soreness, which I'm not disputing that he's been sore to a certain degree, to keep that loose. Everybody understands what heat does to, you know, areas that are uncomfortable. You know, it keeps you loose. It keeps you feeling good. You know, heat and ice. But in the midst of a competition, and it's heat. And so, to me, that would be what he was referring to, perhaps, more than just saying,

I was cold and I needed to warm up, which it could be that too. But he doesn't even want the words to come out of his mouth. You know, I was wearing it to warm up my sore ribs. They don't want to say that, obviously. Well, and I don't know why. It can also be preventative. Anything is possible, but, I mean, we're past the point of competitive advantage here. I mean, they're not fooling anybody that they're playing at this point. Right.

So the idea that, you know, revealing what might be closer to the truth would give the other team a competitive advantage, we're past that. Okay, so why? So then you've answered your own question. They're telling the truth. I don't think they are. I don't know what they are. There's nothing to gain by lying, you just said. Oh, I think coaches are paranoid enough that they think there's never a chance

where you reveal any kind of information that that would help the opposition. I know I said yesterday, I want this conversation to end. I can't wait for the game. But Tommy wanted to weigh in on the Jaden Daniels comments. Look, you know what? Anything's possible. Again, for me, like, I don't think I'm exaggerating, okay? There may be a slight, you know, hysteria in my statement, but it's not, you know,

overly hyperbolic to say that if you believe that he's been playing injured, then you have to believe that they are committing coaching malpractice. This is the franchise. These are not playoff games. These games are important because of what their record is. I won't dispute that. But this is not an end of the year game to win to get in or lose go home, or an actual playoff game.

And by the way, Marcus Marietta played so well, I know against a terrible opponent, but he's not a bad option for them. That's another argument in your favor. All of these things add up to me. It's not like they've got Tommy DeVito on the bench. No, it's not, it's exactly. They actually feel in that building, and I think after watching Mario da

against Carolina, it may have, you know, may have lessened some of the concerns that many had about Mario da being the backup, but they feel they have an option if he's not, you know, 100%. Again, too, you don't take him off the injury, you don't have them on the injury report for two straight weeks and then take them off it because lying on injury reports is a much these the when they revamped those injury reports a couple of years ago you can get in trouble by lying I know what's happened they did it with McCaffrey in San Francisco earlier this year but you're going to risk that with ribs yeah you can turn over in

your sleep one night agreed and they could you know yes it's such a tentative thing To me, that's the part of this, where if in the Philadelphia game, because the Pittsburgh game, I mean, there were just too many plays that looked like Jaden Daniels to say that he was compromised. In the Philadelphia game, there are several examples of Jaden Daniels throws that looked like Jaden Daniels. But if you want to say, you know, something happened during that game that made him legitimate. compromised and they didn't recognize it and he didn't say anything about it and he's got the warmers on. Okay, I don't think that that's unreasonable. But I also know how Philadelphia played him and I know how good they are. And their example, the best stretch of football for him was in the fourth quarter when they were down 12 to 10 and he started slinging it. And they moved down.

the field, and that was before they ran it twice and decided to go forward on fourth down and got stopped. I mean, that was his best football of the game in the fourth quarter in terms of throwing the football. So, you know, down 12 to 10. He was four for five on that drive, dropping dimes. I know a couple, one of them was a bootleg throw to Bates, but he had that throw to Terry. He had that throw to Ertz. You know, so there's that too. Okay, your compromised, injured quarterback that was skipping balls through the first three quarters all of a sudden got healthy on the big drive? Well, maybe the rib warmer all of a sudden I keyed it up.

Maybe they cranked it. After they went down 12 to 10, they cranked that heat during the TV timeout. Maybe. God, wow. It's always something. I just hope you don't catch any flack for me. on this issue. That's a problem for you.

So, I mean, look, those of you that are listening that said you wouldn't listen after Tommy wrote what he wrote the other day, can we at least, Tommy, explain to these people who are perhaps didn't read the column and just saw your tweet what you actually wrote and meant to say? Okay, we can do that. Yeah, let's do that. Okay. Basically, I wrote that the fan base, a segment, a large segment of the fan base,

would prefer to believe that Jane Daniels is hurt rather than believe that his play, this has been his actual play on the field, that his play has not been, that his play has been compromised because the idea that, he could look as bad as he did is alarming for people who have fallen in love with him. And he's played the position like no one else has as a rookie. That was the point. The point is not that people wish he's hurt, wish he would get hurt, you know, don't want him hurt. But if they have a choice between, you know, he's hurt or he's playing poorly, they're going to choose hurt.

Yes, that's what Tommy wrote. Now, your tweeting out of your column was probably not, unless you were inviting this kind of feedback, wasn't the way to do it unless, again, you preferred to get the feedback which you got, which was, you know, the feedback you get occasionally. And by extension, I get occasionally. Because you tweeted out, before Jaden Daniels was drafted by the commanders, fans were concerned about his slight frame and whether he would hold up to NFL pressures. Now they are hoping their beloved rookie quarterback is hurt. The alternative seems more troublesome, my column. If you just take that standalone sentence and you don't read the column,

that's what got people fired up. I know that. But again, this is the old headline argument. You have a very limited amount of space to pitch your column. I thought I alleviated that by saying the alternative may be more troublesome. Yeah. Well, I don't know. I thought that was the qualifier.

If I hadn't read the column and we hadn't had this conversation on the show on Tuesday, and I had just read that, I would have wondered what the alternative and what you meant by that, but I would have also read, now the fans are hoping that he's hurt. If somebody didn't read the column or somebody didn't listen to the two of us on Tuesday, you know, it's not like you have to be, you know, an idiot not together. Let me see you find the stand right. Yeah. You're not defending people for not reading.

the column, are you? I'm not defending people for not reading the column. No, it's, if you didn't read the column... I'm not even talking about the column. I'm talking about your tweet. I'm talking about your tweet. But if you didn't read the column after the tweet, then you haven't said, there's no defense for what you did.

Not you, but anyone who criticized it. I understand that. We're not talking about defending the... Of course, read the column, dummy, and then you'll know what he was saying. But that's not real world. People read headlines. You tweeted out your headline, and by the way, this wasn't an editor. This was you tweeting it out.

And you created the response that you got with the way you headlined the tweet of your column. I think I qualify. I think it's debatable. You're trying to get people to read what you write. I know. I could have just said something very benign, you know. and, you know, of course, look, I'm not looking for clicks, but I would like people to read what I wrote. Yes, I understand. There's a certain amount of, you know, creative, you know, pitching.

Yeah, agreed. I agree. Yes, but I think I thought I qualified it with the alternative may be more trouble. I just think the irony is that for those, and God, Tommy took a pounding on this one, on social media. Oh, that's nothing. Oh, I know. No, it's true. You've been pounded much worse. But this one, when I retweeted it, later in the day, my son texted me and said, have you seen the response to your tweeting out of Tommy's column?

And I'm like, no, why? And then I'm like, oh, God. And then I said to him, I go, well, that's not what he said. That's not what he meant. And my son goes, yeah, no, I'm sure that's not what he meant. but look at the, so I, yeah, no, the irony, what I was going to say is, the irony is that you have fallen in love with this quarterback and fallen in love with the fact that everybody else is in love with this quarterback. Because, you know why? It's good business for us.

Them winning with a superstar quarterback that the fans totally have bought into is much better for us than the ultimate. alternative, that would be the irony of those that think that you are, you know, doing your Tom Laverro, yeah, let me, let me get after these people. They hope he's hurt. They hope he's, he got injured. God. Yeah, it's stop people. Just, just read and just use a little common sense. Why would he, why would he say after Jaden Daniels got hurt, the fans now hope he's hurt? Why would he actually say that or mean that? He's thrilled with the opposite of that, actually. We all are.

Which is why I can't wait until Sunday. God, I hope he goes out and plays great. But I think I told you on Tuesday, and I'll say it again here now. Dallas is a bad football team, but they're mostly bad right now on offense. Getting Micah Parsons back, getting Duran Blan back this week, apparently. They're getting a little healthier. Zimmer is good against, you know, quarterbacks that haven't seen it all. So this is not Pittsburgh or Philly. Trust me, I'm not about to say that this is that kind of challenge. But it's also not

Carolina. You know, it's also not, you know, who else? It's terrible if they played defensively. The Giants, the second go-round. But we'll see. I hope he has a big game and we can talk about his, you know, return to, is he an MVP or isn't he an MVP? Are we going to end up in New Orleans in February or aren't we? Those are fun conversations. Yeah. All right. Let's get to Tommy's prediction. We've got a couple of other things, which we will address as well. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, no man wants to lose his hair, but for men, it's actually very common. And now with Hymns, the solution is simple. Try Hymns hair loss solutions. You'll be joining hundreds of thousands

who got their flowback. Hems provides you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work, all from the comfort of your couch. Hems makes treating hair loss simple with doctor-trusted options and clinically proven ingredients. You can choose from personalized chewable, oral, spray, and serum treatments to find out what works best for you. The process is simple and 100% online, so there are no uncomfortable doctor visits. Answer a few questions and a medical provider will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your treatment is sent directly to you in discrete packaging for free. No insurance is needed and one low price covers everything from treatments to ongoing care.

HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers and they can help you get your confidence back with visibly thicker and fuller hair. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash Sheen. That's HIMS.com slash sheen for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Hems.com slash sheen. Results vary based on studies of topical and oral monocidil and phenosteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's.

Well, if it's Thursday, it's Shelly's special day. Shelly's had specials all week on their food menu, but I generally use Thursday. to reveal the people what the specials are because people like to get ready to go out for the weekend. And Thursday is when they start thinking about, well, what are we going to do this weekend? And while you're thinking about that, you should put Shelley's back room at 1331 F Street Northwest on your list. Because if you do, and if you walk in there and you say to the waitress, I'll have one of Shelly Specials. It could be a Philly Cheesesteak Pizza, a 10-inch pizza. Pizza topped with tanking Philly sauce grilled steak, melted provolone, onions, mushrooms, and peppers.

Okay, that's a football pizza right there. That's a pizza that you can sit down and watch a college football on Saturday or NFL on Sunday and Wolfstown a Philly cheese steak pizza at Shelley's backroom. If that's not your choice, you could just go very basic. tea and cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato, cheddar, on a toasted wheat bread. I mean, that's one of the basics, a BLT. You know, you can go that way as well. You can find out more about their food menu and their cigar menu and their drink menu

at shelley's backroom.com. All right. What's your prediction for Sunday? Well, my prediction is a hard-fought Washington win, 28 to 21. The commanders win. my footnote is Marcus Marriota finishes the game at quarterback. You're almost hoping for it now. No.

Yes. Yes. No, no, no. Yeah, uh-huh. No. Yeah, you want to come in Monday and you want to say, obviously, he's been hurt. And they did put him out there and he got hurt again.

I haven't come in Monday, having written a story about the sun shining again. It no longer eclipsed. All the planets around the sun are revolved well, and the sun is shining again because the quarterback is great. I loved writing about the great young quarterback. You love being right to. You love being right to. And if he, I know, I didn't say otherwise. I'm just saying that when I, right when you said that, Mario da finishes up the game, You would, it's this vision that you have of Monday saying, ha, ha, yeah, they did lie to us. They lied to us because that's what coaches do.

I said it. I don't know what the truth is. Right. Well, you've leaned in the direction of thinking that they're lying. Yes. And I've gone with a hard lean in the direction that they're not lying. But I, I, you know, by the way, he could get hurt. You know, what if it's a completely different injury?

It could be. Yeah. I mean, I'm not telling you why he's finishing the game. I'm just telling you, Marcus Marriota finishes the game. And, you know, there couldn't, there wouldn't be leaned in either way if the team handled this better. You know, the coach came out and said clearly and honestly, Jaden is not. injured when he got wind that this was a big topic. I guess you're right. He could have, he could have gotten more specific and said, what you're seeing is you saw two really good teams

and we were on a short week and we didn't get the practice reps, which he did talk about, the practice reps. And oh, by the way, if you're concerned about, you know, the rap that he's got, that is, you know, it's a warm wrap that a lot of players use to keep, you know, loose when they're on the sideline. Or he could say, you know, it's preventative because he had this rib injury that he was dealing with a few weeks ago. I guess you're right. Lots of players use it. We just never see pictures of them getting worked on with it on the sideline. Well, just jaded.

There wasn't a lot of work being done Thursday night. You just saw him sitting there with the thing around him sitting on the warm bench. I didn't see a lot of work being done on him. We hope it was a warm bench. Yeah, we do hope it was a warm bench. All right, I have a smell test pick for tonight's NFL game, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The smell test, even on a Thursday night, is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code.

Kevin D.C. and MyBooky will give you a 100% deposit bonus right into your account. They're going to double your money on your initial deposit. Again, take the free money. Why wouldn't you? If you're betting on sports, you're already into betting on sports, you should be looking for these offers in taking advantage of these offers. A few people are going to double your initial deposit, take the free money, and then just use My Booky as a lot.

a backup for your main site if that's what you want to do. You should be looking for the best pricing, the best numbers. You should never bet a bad number if a better number exists. Go to mybooky.org use my promo code, Kevin D.C. The line tonight is Pittsburgh laying three and a half to Cleveland. Pittsburgh, you know, one of the talks of the NFL right now off the 18 to 16 win over Baltimore, eight and two first place. Look, they should be a bigger favorite. I know it's a division game. I know it's a short week. I know it's on the road. Cleveland got beat last week, 35 to 14 in New Orleans. Now, if you saw any of the game, and I did because I bet Cleveland and lost, and I'm about to do it again, hopefully not lose this time, they actually moved the football up and down the field against

the Saints. James Winston threw for nearly 400 yards in the game. And they just couldn't stop with their really good defense. They couldn't stop New Orleans, Taysom Hill, in particular. And I would wonder if Justin Fields might be used tonight like Tassum Hill was against the Browns defense. But it's a rivalry game. It's Thursday night. It's going to be cold, maybe a bit damp in Cleveland. the three and a half is super short. The public's all over the Steelers tonight, laying the short number. I'll take the Browns plus the three and a half as an early smell test selection. All right, Tommy.

We will talk on Tuesday. Enjoy the game. Enjoy your weekend. I'll be at the game Sunday. Absolutely. Take care, boss. That's it for the day. Back tomorrow to preview Skins Cowboys.

Jay Gruden will be on the show with me. Mickey Spagnola, who's been coming. covering the Cowboys forever. We'll jump on the show from Dallas as well. Have a good day. First down to 34, Williams. No place to go. Redskins said the ball is loose, and they got it.