The Kevin Sheehan Show - Ron Going Long On Howell

Episode Date: September 26, 2023

Kevin and Thom today with lots on Sam Howell including what Ron Rivera said yesterday about Washington's commitment to developing the young QB. Thom's thoughts on the Buffalo game, the Taylor Swift affect on the NFL, and the Eagles are 3-0 but haven't come close to playing their best.  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 Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show is presented by Window Nation.

Call them at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com. Mention my name. You'll get a free estimate. If you've been thinking about new windows, get them now. Winter is coming, said Fred Smoot on the show yesterday. And you'll want to save big on those energy bills this winter. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. Thank you for all of the ratings and reviews. We've really gotten a bunch of them in recently. Much appreciated if you haven't rated or reviewed the show, especially on Apple and Spotify.

Do that if you get a chance. It's really helpful for us. It's also helpful if you follow this show. And it's helpful if you subscribe to the show. But just a five-star rating if you have a moment to do it. and a quick one to two sentence review is always helpful from Jake in New England. Kevin, you, Tom, or Cooley, or Doc, whatever the lineup is. Best, all the best, love the show. K9 Nation is real, and we've got your back. K9 Nation, I think, is Doc's Nation.

Doc calls all of his listeners now the K9 Club, I guess. So appreciate that. And this from Sean, I'm with you, Kev. When I listen to the podcast in my car, it has to be on volume level 40, which is 10 levels down from the max, L.O.L. When I watch Washington play, it has to be on level 38 on my TV so I can hear the crowd noise. Yeah, I got a lot of that from some of you, that when you're watching games, you like to jack up the volume so you can really hear and feel the crowd noise.

I feel the same way in watching games. But when I'm pumping up the volume, I just make sure that I land on one of my lucky numbers. 6882 way up there are big time numbers. Anyway, so here we are. Let me ask you a question. Yes. Have you ever played those numbers then in any kind of situation?

No. No, I don't. Okay. Like, you're talking about lottery, right? lottery, uh, and any kind of thing that would require numbers. Um,

no, I don't because I don't really, you know, I don't play roulette in a casino. I don't play the lottery, unless it's like one of those big, you know, my wife's,

you know, at 800 million or whatever, you got to go get some lottery tickets. And then I just, I have them randomly selected. I never sit there and fill out a thing. Um, you know why?

Because it really doesn't. doesn't matter. It's not like it's going to increase my chances of winning. And needs it doesn't a volume level. No, that's true. It is true, but it makes me feel better. So, man, yesterday was certainly an interesting show. If you missed it, Smoot was great. Smoot was questioning why and who comes up with the names for these tropical storms. He feels like their early 1900s, hundreds names, Ophelia and Mabel and Gertrude. And I told them that the most damaging hurricane, and you may know this, even though you weren't living here at the time, the most damaging hurricane ever in this region was Agnes in

1972. Yeah, exactly. And that's kind of an old name, too. Anyway. Yes, I was in the Poconos, then. and it destroyed Wilkeshire. I mean, just absolutely along the Susquehanna.

Yeah. It just destroyed Wilkshire. I mean, there were photos of caskets floating down the street that had been unearthed in the cemetery. Oh, my God. Yeah. You know, when sometimes you're at places,

especially near the water. Like if you're in Georgetown, sometimes you'll see these markers for floods, you know, on walls and restaurants or whatever. And Agnes, if you've ever seen them, and I can't even remember which specific place I'm talking about where I've been in it and I've seen the marker for Agnes. But it's so far higher than any other. That's the all-time, I think, flooding event. Now, the winds, I don't think the winds were bad.

It was the rain and the flooding. And by the way, we've had some rain, man. It's pouring again this morning. I mean, you and I are recording the podcast here early today. and the reason for that is I actually have golf scheduled for this afternoon, although I don't know if I'll actually get to it because it's raining this morning. But, yeah, Agnes was the most damaging event, I think, weather-wise we've ever had here. I'm pretty sure.

Well, besides Noah and the 40 days of... Yeah, well... At 40 nights of rain. Nobody listening was around for that one. So, all right, yesterday was in. I've got plans for the night, too. I'm going to the Orioles Nationals game at Camden Yards. Oh, good.

They're playing two games up in Baltimore. The Nats finish their home schedule. Now they finished out the last week on the road. And two games in Baltimore who were trying to win the ALE East. Well, they've got a two-and-a-half game lead. I looked at that last night. and the Nats could do some damage to the Orioles. The Rays, in the meantime, two and a half games back,

I think they've got a series with the Red Sox coming up. I think it is. I'm looking it up right now. They finish, they've got two with Boston, and they finish with three against Toronto on the road. The Orioles have these two games against the Nationals, and then they finish up with four at home against Boston. Boston at Camden Yards. With the two and a half game lead, I think the Orioles are going to win

the division. I mean, wouldn't it be interesting if the Nats went in there and took two, and the Rays get their two over Boston, and all of a sudden it's a half game with the Nats doing some real damage to the Orioles division hopes? I doubt it. That would be a glimmer of satisfaction for some national fans, I'm sure. Yeah. The nationals have already exceeded expectations by a lot. The over under on them at the beginning of the year was 58 and a half, 59, somewhere in that neighborhood. And they're approaching their 70th win here. Although the truth is when we got a little bit, and I'm not going to say we, when they went through that stretch where they were really playing well in July and August, I think was kind of the time frame.

And they actually, on one morning I got up and looked at it and they were seven and a half out in the wild card. race. Since then, it's been rough sledding. I mean, they got to within seven or eight games of 500, maybe, somewhere around there during that stretch. Just think how another 40 million dollars in payroll might have done for them this year. Right. They were eight games under 500 on August 26th. And that, I think, was the closest to 500 they got here in the second half of this season. Yeah. And now, you know, they've not played great as of late, but they played better teams. I mean, they just finished up with a four-game set with the Braves.

It's actually, so what looked like some really maybe down to the last day pennant races, Tommy, especially in the AL East and the AL West, we've gotten some separation with the Orioles and the Rays and the Rangers and the Astros. So really, coming down this stretch here, it's really the wild card races for that last spot in the American League. And really, there are two spots kind of available in the National League. The Phillies have wrapped it up. I think they, I don't know if they've clinched yet. But it's Arizona, Chicago, and then, hold on. Cincinnati.

Yeah, but Cincinnati has not played well recently. Miami's a game back. Cincinnati's two and a half out. Yeah, they're still in it, but it's two and a half back with five to play. Miami's got a legitimate shot, a game out from Arizona and Chicago. I don't know what the matchups are here, the rest of the year. Arizona's got the white socks right now, and then they finish against Houston at home. Playoffs should be great.

I mean, you've got, you know, obviously you have an absolute beast of a team this year in Atlanta. But then maybe the second best team, if you don't think it's the Orioles, it would be the Dodgers, right? Yes. Do you think the Orioles are the second best team? Okay. Yeah, I do. I would not count the Phillies out, even though the pitching is an issue. And, you know, everybody will tell you pitching in the postseason.

But, God, they are explosive on offense. I'd like to see that series of Phillies Braves series. But it should be, you know, the postseason should be great. It always is. I love playoff baseball. It is so intense and so dramatic. You know, we talk so much about things that don't have to do with games. And this time of year is the best time of the year, because we can just talk about the games.

you know, although in talking about the games, especially when you're following one team, you end up talking about what people say about the teams in the games like coaches, like what Ron Rivera said yesterday, something very interesting that we will get to here coming up in this opening segment. I also want to get back to last night and talk about the Eagles in particular, who are Washington's next opponent. But you haven't had a chance to weigh in other than through your column, which I did read. Everybody should read Tommy's column.

You can get it by going to Tom's Twitter page or mine. I retweeted it this morning. So give everybody your recap of what you witnessed live on Sunday. Well, there were two main components I want to touch on. one is and it's this has been clear since the opening game

against the Cardinals this team can't protect Sam Hal it just can't do it the way they're set up now and and we could go through the film and we could parcel out

blame and you can say well this was the line's fault this was the quarterback's fault this is the third quarterback in the last two years that they haven't been able to protect okay they couldn't protect Carson Wentz, they couldn't protect Taylor Heineke, and now they can't

protect this guy. There seems to be a common denominator here, and it's the offensive line. A few different players in different years, but, you know, for the most part, sort of the same, and that's a problem when you're trying to develop a young quarterback. I mean, we're looking at all the first three games. 19 sacks. I mean, we're on a historic pace here. Something dramatic has to change.

Or else this quarterback, this Sam Howe that they're hoping to develop, is this just going to be shell-shocked by the end of the season? You know? Yeah. That's the one part. They can't protect. I don't think with the Kobe percent it would be much better, but I don't know. The other thing is, and this talk, this will go to what you,

want to talk about from Ron's comments yesterday, I've always found it strange the timing of the Sam Howe experiment. You know, in the fourth year of a mediocre coach's tenure to all of a sudden decide, well, we're going to go into learning mode with a young quarterback, and that's going to be our primary focus. When a coach has a losing record after three years, I mean, typically the primary focus is to win games, is to, you know, have a winning record to accomplish something as a team. The idea of building a young quarterback usually happens when a coach first arrives, okay, on the scene, and then maybe draft a young quarterback or something like that. Or,

after the previous quarterback has had a successful tenure while the coach is there and left. And you're starting over. And you move on to his success. A young quarterback. And there's growing pains in that situation. The growing pains, it doesn't make sense given the fact that this coach should be coaching for his job. So those are the two things I wanted to talk about in the column. It's for people to say, well, you know, it's okay.

The quarterback's learning. Well, yeah, but what have you been doing for the past three years? What's going on here? You've just wasted time? We've been trying other quarterbacks. Yes. So Tommy has a line in his column this morning about the turnovers. And he quotes Ron Rivera, who said after the game,

you can't lose the turnover battle like that. and Tommy writes, said coach Ron Rivera, who doesn't miss much. No, he doesn't miss much. Yeah, he's on top of things. So I agree with your two major takeaways from the game. This isn't going to be one of those things where we get into a big disagreement. It's not sustainable to play football and be a competitive team or even be. a team that has the ability to evaluate everything that's going on with the team on offense,

if your quarterback gets hit 15 times, gets sacked nine times, and is pressured at a rate that is nearly record-breaking since that stat first became a stat. The one thing that I would say, though, is it's still important to figure out why you're not. You're a stat. You're a state. You're, the one thing that I would say, though, is it's still important to figure out why you're giving up all of these pressures, all of these quarterback hits, and all of these sacks. They're on this record pace when it comes to sacks, and it can't continue. I agree with you. And yeah, you know, also, it's been a problem for a couple of years now, certainly was a problem last year. I just think they've got to get to the bottom of it. Is it the offensive line? Is it the quarterback? Is it both? Which is

what I actually believe, it's a combination of both, is it Eric Bienimi, who did, I thought, a great job of protecting the quarterback last week with his game plan and play calling, but didn't as much this week. So, but you're right. Like, what are we doing here if your quarterback's going to continue to get hit, pressured, and sacked at the rates that it's been happening for the better part. of the three games or the majority of the three games, even though we got a little bit of a respite in Denver. But I do think it matters why it's happening. I think that that is important, certainly for them to figure out. And my guess is it's probably a combination of everything.

But I will say this about Eric B. Enemy. if there's another game like Sunday with respect to sacks and quarterback hits, that's on him. The four interceptions, or if Sam throws three picks Sunday in Philly or five picks against, you know, somebody else coming up, sometimes the offensive coordinator can't, you know, sometimes it's on the accuracy of the quarterback or the decision making of the quarterback. But if, but the offensive coordinator can protect him from what happened on. Sunday. That shouldn't happen again. You can, you know, bring more people in to protect. You can chip. You can run the football a little bit more to make the defense believe that running the football is an option. You can do what you did in Denver with more screens, with more bubbles. And I'm not saying a lot of

that would have worked against Buffalo. They know. And I do think Buffalo was a faster, smarter defense. And a lot of the stuff that they ran against Denver, especially this screen game may not have been as effective. But if Sam ends up getting sacked nine times and hit 15 times in a game, I'm going to put a lot of that after what they now know is possible. I'm going to put that on the offensive coordinator. I don't think we'll see that again, though. The one thing I would again reiterate, though, is they haven't been able to protect anybody who's been back there for a couple years. True. That is true. You know? So it may not be, and you're right, I mean, you know, I'm sure Sam Hal bears, you know, a brunt of the blame, but the common denominator has been the offensive line through, I think, their offensive issues.

It's different. It's a different offensive line to a certain degree this year. Not that much. Well, you've got two new faces, and Wiley has not been very good. And that's an air-beenemy guy. The two new faces, nobody expected them to really make – I mean, nobody was impressed with the two additions. You know what's interesting is that when they have had this problem before, and I talked about this a little bit yesterday, they became more of a run-first team. You know, you go back to 2021. They're sitting there at 2 and 6, and they come out of the bye week, and they start running the football against Tampa Bay, Carolina, Seattle, Vegas, I think it was.

They went four in a row. They're back in contention. Last year, you know, when they go to Philadelphia trying to get to 500 after their one-and-four start, and they run the ball 49 times in that game. And they became more of a run-first team. They talked a lot about becoming more of a run-first team. And, you know, you saw. I mean, part of that too was Brian Robinson, Jr. coming back and being eligible.

I understand that. Not eligible. I didn't mean eligible. I mean, him coming back and actually being healthy after what had happened to him and being able to play. But Gibson was the focal point of the rushing attack in 2021 when they went on that four-game stretch. But, you know, you look at, you know, Robinson all of a sudden is getting 26 carries, 18 carries, 21 carries, 15 carries, 15 carries, 22 carries, 24 carries. This is what Ron, you know, essentially leaned on when these seasons weren't going well. And that brings me to what he said yesterday. And that kind of gets into your, you know, second area of this isn't, the whole thing's unusual. So Ron yesterday, well, first of all, I want to go back to what he said, and I played that sound bite for

everybody on yesterday's show. When Ron talked about, he was being asked about Sam Howl, and he said in his answer, hold on, let me get the quote. He said, quote, I thought he handled some of the moments pretty well, and I thought there were other ones that he probably could have done something different. And then Tommy, he said, we're going to get an opportunity to evaluate everything, evaluate what we're doing, make sure it's the right thing for. first and foremost, then secondly, we'll evaluate how we thought the players did.

And I pointed that out as essentially Ron is saying, you know, I got a, we as in me and Eric need to sit down and decide whether or not, you know, a four to one pass to run ratio and even higher last week in Denver is the right thing when we can't protect the quarterback. because, again, can't protect the quarterback not really sustainable in terms of any sort of development of young quarterback or having a competitive season. And when he said that, you know, it just hit me. This is where you've got this conflict of interest. Ron on one level needs to win if you assume he wants to be back and he wants to be the head coach moving forward after this year. And with Eric, it is more of a long game.

It is the development of a young quarterback, perhaps, which could be his calling card when the season ends. I mean, look at what people were saying about Eric B. Enemy after the first two games. And by the way, after the Denver game, he deserved it. I mean, Sam made some next level throws. The offense was, you know, really, really humming. And then, you know, the one-week referendums as fans. and media members about NFL games, which you just can't, you know, partake in because it's crazy, things change so much. But, you know, Ron's go-to move when they can't protect the

quarterback and when they get beat badly is, let's run the football. You know, Ron's not cut from the, you've got to be a pass-first team cloth. That's, that's Andy Reid. It's always been Andy Reid, regardless of who his quarterback was. And by the way, it's the way you win big in the NFL. Can you win with a game managing quarterback and a great defense? You can win a lot of games. Can you win a Super Bowl? It's hard to now. It really is. It's hard to be great year and year out playing that way. You've got to find the quarterback and then you've got to attack people through the air. That's what the best teams in the league do. Now, Kevin, what about Philadelphia? I mean, they do whatever it takes. Do whatever it takes. But they've got the capability of stretching

the field and throwing it. And then if you play them in a certain way, they've got the capability of running for 250 to 300 yards. Miami apparently has the ability to do both. They became the first team in NFL history to rush for 300 and pass for 300. I don't know if it was the first in NFL history, but it's the first in a long time. So Ron's saying that is going to make what the offense looks like moving forward very interesting. watch. Now, Philadelphia, with those tackles, with Cox and with Davis and with Jalen Carter,

my God, how about him in his first three games? I don't know if this is the week where you pick to try to jam it down somebody's throw at the run game, but that's an that was interesting in the post-game presser, which you were at. Did you find that as interesting

as I did? Yes. Yes, I did. I think what he said yesterday in his presser was as interesting and certainly more revealing. And we'll get to that here in a moment after I tell you about wind donation and what they are providing you with as an opportunity. Right now, you don't have to pay for new windows for two years, but you'll have them in your home for two years. So you'll get all the benefit of the energy savings, lower air conditioning, lower heating bills, and your home looking great without plucking nickel

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Kevin Chan, please. No money down, no payments, no interest for two years, and up to 50% off all-style windows. So, Tommy, yesterday, in Ron's presser. He said a couple of things that I want to play for you. And I thought they were interesting and very revealing about the Sam Howell experiment, as you've called it, and what they're going to invest in this experiment or this developmental project. So Ron yesterday's obviously asked a lot about Sam Howell, especially after the game he had. And at some point, you know, early in the presser, he says something like, we're going to let Sam continue to develop and grow. And then later on in the press conference, he's asked about should they have leaned on the run game a little bit more

on Sunday against Buffalo? Listen to what he said. Well, hindsight is 2020. Okay. And there were some things that we did do well in the run game. But, you know, we do what we did just mostly because it's collaborative. We talk about it on the headsets. We talk about it when we come to the sideline. And again, the one thing we do talk about is just trying to get the opportunity for Sam. You know, that game was close all the way up to a certain point in the fourth quarter. And at any point, it would have come together, who knows? And again, it's hindsight now. So Ron says, you know, after answering the question about the run game and should it have been leaned on, hindsight's 2020,

he says, again, the one thing we do talk about is just trying to get the run game. opportunity for Sam. And the follow-up to that, which I think was asked by Sam Fortier, is, well, so how much of this is about getting Howe experience and how much of it is about, you know, throwing the ball because that's a game plan or throwing the ball because you're behind, and Ron Rivera answered it this way. It's a, I think it's a combination of both. Sometimes we got into the deficit where we did throw the ball.

But it is about him too as well. Because again, the sooner we really feel he develops and grows, the more opportunities we're going to get. I do look at this like, you know, this is a very young player, you know. Granted, I know he has, he's a second year player, but this is his fourth game. And so with that, there is some leniency with that. There is, you know, a little bit of growing pains that we're going to have to deal with. Is there a point? I don't know.

because it's so important that he develops and grows for us. And so we're going to see, but we're going to give every opportunity right now. And, you know, right now we're riding with him. It's a combination of both, combination of developing how and getting him the experience and then, you know, kind of doing what it takes based on the game situation. You know, because the sooner we really feel he develops and grows, the more opportunities we're going to get. this is an admission that the development of Howl is as much a priority as anything else.

You know, this is a long game play on Sam Howl. It's something I've actually been, you know, talking about a little bit. I'm not playing this because I'm patting myself on the back. I'm actually really, really interested and have been interested in why the heavy pass-to-run ratio. why are they, you know, and by the way, it's not working a lot. It did in Denver, but it didn't against Arizona, and it didn't Sunday against Buffalo. But I've talked about how, you know, it's two parts for me. It's Eric B. Enemy wants to instill his philosophy offensively, which is pass first.

That's the way you win in this league. And then, too, it's finding out whether or not Sam Howell is going to be the trigger man for that. And so you got Ron yesterday. This is Ron E's, as Galdi calls it. He might change his mind and say something completely different tomorrow. We all understand that. But this is Ron kind of saying, look, the development of this young quarterback is really important, and that's as important as anything else.

You know, I did it on radio this morning. I asked everybody whether that was okay. You know, are you okay with this year being about Sam Howell? But anyway, I just thought that that was revealing yesterday. day. If you take him at his word, which sometimes it's hard to do with Ron. You know, I think you're right, but like I said before, you don't typically find a coach who's had as mediocre a tenure for three seasons, you know, all of a sudden deciding, well, my fourth season's going to be a learning season for my new quarterback.

Right. you know, this is usually a first-year operation or, you know, after a coach has had a runner's success with a veteran quarterback and they've moved on. You know, so I just don't understand the philosophy. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, if you know, let's say it doesn't make a lot of sense for Ron. I want to be clear. It doesn't make a lot of sense for Ron, you're saying.

Right. I mean, let's say there's a whole new coaching staff next year. Yeah. Well. You know? Isn't that guy going to want to pick his quarterback? Well, I mean, did you write this or did I read this somewhere else? I'm forgetting which column I read right now.

But didn't you go back and use his comment about being vindicated if the players on the roster end up winning big? and you wrote something like, you know, what coach claims vindication before it actually happens? Which is true. Yeah, that was my college. Yeah. I mean, that addressed this whole, you know,

the whole roster building thing that he's talked about over the years. Right. And now it's a year of experimentation, you know, when they really could use for a number of reasons, a year of average playoff success. Given you have a new owner and a new era, and you can tap into a fan base that's somewhat re-energized. Maybe Ron's, you know, Hail Mary here is,

maybe that's the thing that he's being most honest about here in the offseason and in the season, is that he understands that more likely than not, he's not going to be the coach here. And yet, since he hasn't done anything here, he wants to be remembered for doing something here. And he's going to pitch, you know, even before it happens, and perhaps a lot after it happens, the development of a roster and a young quarterback that wins with the next staff. because I've told you this before.

There's just part of me that really does wonder whether or not Ron really wants to do this anymore after this year. Everything he's been through during these three plus seasons in D.C., I mean, it wouldn't be, you know, it would be understandable. I mean, he's been through a hell of a lot. This place put him through the ringer and he had the physical illness to go with it. And so, you know, maybe he sees the writing on the wall and why not, you know, wing in a prerate on a young quarterback that he can claim credit for drafting, can claim credit for playing and starting because he saw something in him. And, you know, understand that this is a developing year. and at the end of it, if there's 7 and 10, it still was the best thing for the franchise.

And he can claim victory. I'm not sure if it was the best thing for the franchise. You know? Well, I mean, it's another lost season then. For a franchise that can't afford lost seasons. See, this is where I know what you're saying. And the funny thing is I had this conversation with Ben last night, not on the air.

We were talking about this and talking about what Ron had said. about Sam Hal yesterday. And, you know, there is an argument for this season is just already a victory because Dan is gone. And the real, you know, restart will begin when this season is over. And you can't be a true winning franchise in this league without finding out who your quarterback is. So you play Sam and if it isn't him and if he continues to put out games like he did on Sunday, then you've got a top 10 pick and you've got a reasonable chance to draft a quarterback that would be Tommy the biggest offseason.

If you draft a quarterback in the top 10 and that's where you finish, that's going to be a big jolt to the franchise and a big, you know, a lot of hope would be. surrounding this franchise if you did that. But by the same token, if Sam really does develop and he ends up becoming a guy that looks like he can really become a top flight NFL starter, well, that's a win too. You know, I understand that argument. And at the same time, when I am a fan in the middle of a season at the three-week mark and my team is two and one,

I'd actually like to try to be 10 and 7 or 11 and 6 and be in the postseason. So, but you're kind of stuck, you know, right now as a franchise without a quarterback. And if you focus on quarterback is the only thing that matters, then playing Sam the rest of the way for better or for worse probably works best for the franchise. Because if it continues to be what it was on Sunday, then you're going to have a top 10 pick. If it ends up being what it was two weeks ago,

then maybe you've found your guy. So, anyway, I don't know. It's week to week in terms of the way we all. The risk is frittering away the goodwill of new ownership. What'd you say? The risk for that is frittering away the goodwill that the fan base has about new ownership. If you have to suffer through a bad season,

you know, most fans aren't going to remember Dan Snyder. I don't agree with that. I don't feel that way. I mean, I'm speaking from a fan's perspective. I have a much bigger view of this team now because I'm allowed to for the first time without Dan here. So I go, when they got control of this team, we all realized it was too late for them to do anything about this season.

So it really became for me about what they do after the 2023 season. It doesn't mean I'm going to ignore this season or try to enjoy this season. But I think for new ownership, the actual start to their ownership really from a football standpoint starts when this season ends. and so I'm actually I think it starts when they hire new coaches yeah well that's what I mean you know when they make the decisions on the current football group and then if the decisions are to move on from it what their next moves are you know and then and and that to me is where it really begins I mean look the good news is is that we did not hear any stories about Josh Harris in the locker room on Sunday. ripping his coach a new one. Remember Dan's first season when they lost to Dallas in week five, I think it was? And he was down there just ripping north in front of his team after they lost to the Cowboys.

And by the way, at that point, I think, I'm going to look this up, I think they were, they dropped to four and two. It wasn't like they sucked. They ended up winning the division that year. But we didn't hear any stories like, can you imagine? Imagine if there was like a report that Josh Harris was so upset that he was down in the locker room ripping Ron Rivera, ripping Jack Del Rio, ripping Eric Bianami in front of the team. What if we had gotten that after Sunday?

Oh, my God. That would have seemed so, so Washington, but you'd have to check, there'd be, you have to check the emergency rooms in local hospitals would be overflowing. Yeah, but that didn't happen. It was weak. So Washington went into Dallas in 1999, Snyder's first year as an owner. And they lost, they were four in one and they lost to the Cowboys 38 to 20. And he's down there ripping Norav a new one in front of his team. We should have known then, I guess.

They did come back the following week and beat Chicago 48 to 22. Wow. I do remember that game. That was a big Stephen Davis game, if I recall, and I'm looking it up. Stephen Davis, 12 carries 143 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown run in that game. I don't know. I think the remark on Sunday about, you know, we've got to evaluate what we're doing is an interesting one. And I think the remarks yesterday about Sam Howl, you know, it's also about developing him.

is something that I have kind of thought as a hunch is going on here. And Ron outright admitted it. And again, though, he could come back tomorrow and say, no, no, no, you guys misconstrue that. This is all about winning games. And we think Sam gives us the best chance to win the game, you know, that he's starting in. So when we come back after the break, I want to just mention something Ron said about Josh Allen during his press conference yesterday.

We'll get to the Monday night games as well right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Tommy and I are going to get to something else that Ron Rivera said here in a moment, and this thing had nothing to do with Sam Hal. It actually had something to do with the other team's quarterback on Sunday, Josh Allen. But before we get to that, I want to tell everybody about this incredible deal that my bookie is offering our audience. They came to me last week and they said, is it true that Washington's 2-0 for the first time 12 years. I said, yep, and they said, let's do something for your audience. And so what they are doing is unheard of in the sports book customer offer business. They are offering up to a 110% deposit

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MyBooky.ag, my promo code is Kevin D.C. for a 110% deposit match on your first deposit. So Tommy, there is, look, at this point, Ron is who he is. He talks a lot. His answers are long. There was an answer he gave yesterday that I just didn't like. he was asked about the pass rush not being as effective as it had been in the first two weeks. And he said, I think Josh Allen got into our guy's heads a little bit after that first series.

Why would you say that? Like, don't build up, you know, the other guy at the expense of your own guys. You know, especially after the fact. He got into their heads a little bit. I just think sometimes he just talks way too much. By the way, it may be true, but why would you do that and why would you say, yeah, my guys were pretty weak mentally on Sunday. They let Josh Allen get into their heads.

I just, I would never have suggested that he say that. I would never have said that, you know, as a coach. On the past rush not being as effective as it had been in the first two weeks, Buffalo is a good team. They've got a good quarterback. We've got a good defense. We've got a good pass rush. He got rid of it a lot quickly, and we just missed him on a couple of occasions. We'll try to get better. I just got into our heads a little bit. I didn't like that answer from him. Did you even think about it twice? If you're wanted a defensive lineman, you certainly don't like that answer. I don't think I would like that if I wanted a D-Linman.

defensive line. This is a veteran defensive line now. Yeah. I mean, no quarterback should be getting in their heads at this stage of their career. No matter how great the quarterback is. It should be the other way around. Yeah. Yeah. And Jack Dale Rio certainly can't appreciate it because it's his job to get him out of their heads.

Yeah, good point on that too. I was thinking more from the player's perspective. But, yeah, I mean, put it this way. think Jack Del Rio would say it that way. Oh, God, though. Jack is very careful and close to the best in his comments. Yeah. Except what he's talking about politics. Right. The other thing he said, actually, for me, was a little bit encouraging. Because I'm such an Antonio Gibson fan, and I don't want to see them give up on him.

I just think he's too good to be given up on. But fumbling is a problem. And he's a problem. He said, you can't fault a guy for trying. You know, he spun, tried to get back inside, tried to spin again, and that's when he got hit. At that point, you also got to say discretion is the better part of valor. Just take it and go to the ground, and you know, we live to fight another play. But he was trying, and that to me, you know, I'm not going to fault a guy for trying hard. Close quote. Now, eventually you get to the point where the results are the results and you get judged on the results.

and if he keeps fumbling, that's a result, no matter how hard he's trying, and you can't put him out there. But I think what he was saying is we're not giving up on Antonio, and they shouldn't because he's one of their most explosive players. You even saw that in the minimal number of touches that he's gotten this year and even in the game on Sunday. But man, he's got to cut that fumbling problem out. He's got to hold on to the football. We can't go back to where we were in 2021, where he, fumbled as much, I think, as any running back in the league. Yeah, no, they're going to, I mean, if they're going to fall back on their running game a little bit more,

they're going to need him. They are going to need him. All right. Let's finish up talking about the two Monday night games and maybe something else that perhaps is on Tom's mind. We will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Tommy, tell everybody about Shelley's. Well, Shelly's back room is first and foremost a cigar bar. Okay?

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Shelly's Backroom, you go to shelly's backroom. com to find out, more. So last night, Monday night football, Philadelphia was impressive again. You know, man, Jalen Carter in his third game, he is really proving to have been totally worth it. And Howie Roseman pounced on, you know, all the controversy surrounding Jalen Carter heading into the NFL draft. The, you know, the tragedy in Athens with the accident and this speed in the accident and there he was just sitting there at number nine to be selected by the Eagles.

Many people thought heading into this draft he may be the best overall player in the draft if Will Anderson or Bryce Young wasn't and he goes nine and he is so far having an unbelievable start to his young career. Yeah. Let me just point something out about the Eagles that my impression too about the game and about this team. They still have not had their complete game yet. Totally agree. I mean, they have not shown the league for whatever reason how awesome and powerful they can be. I mean, they're 3-0, but I don't think we've seen, not nearly seen the best of the Eagles yet. Yeah, I don't think we've seen the best of Jalen Hertz. Now, apparently he was battling flu-like symptoms last night. We found that out after the game. He threw two interceptions in the

game. They ran the football again. They ran it like 250 plus yards against Minnesota. Last Thursday night, D'Andre Swift had that game against the Vikings where he rushed for 175. Last night he rushed for 130 on just 16 carries. DeAndre Swift, who was actually, you know, not their number one back, it was gain well, and he missed the Minnesota game. And now Swift, in two games, has rushed for 300, and five yards and over seven yards per carry. It is, you know, really, they've got a great offensive line. They also have a quarterback that is a run threat, and we just know watching football for the last 10, 11 years,

when your quarterback is a legit run threat and you're 11 on 11 in the run game, what it does for backs. But they, it's defensively that I look at them, and I'm like, their offensive line's great. They've got playmakers. I agree with you. I don't think I've seen a complete game by Philadelphia. But it's just the young players they have on defense, Carter and Davis,

and this guy Blankenship who played well. And then all of the true talents they have who are veterans like Bradbury and Slay and Fletcher Cox. And yet there are moments when I watch Philly and it seems like people occasionally move the football against them. Mike Evans had three drops. in that game last night minimum. By the way, the smell test ends up with a losing weekend at 5, 6, and 1. I had Tampa last night plus the 5. I actually felt good about it.

They were playing poorly too, and it was 3 to 3 late into the second quarter. But the Eagles just have a shitload of talent everywhere. It's just, it's a really good roster. It's a really good quarterback who hasn't played his best yet, I don't think, and he was apparently ailing a little bit last night. Washington gets him on a short week. That always is helpful in the NFL. We'll see what happens on Sunday,

but that is a tough and talented football team. They are 3 and 0 the Eagles are. And like you said, I don't think have played their best football yet. Joe Burrow went out there and was clearly not 100%, but he played anyway because they had to have it last. night. They absolutely, and I didn't think he looked great, but he's one tough SOB, and Jemar Chase is, he's up there among the two or three best. I mean, some people would say maybe the most gifted out of all these receivers, and there's so many good ones, 12 catches, 141 yards last night.

And I thought Stafford played really well in the first two games, and I did not think he looked good last night for the Rams at all. And yet, they were very much. that game up 9 to 6 in the third quarter. They lost 19 to 16. But, man, we are already through three. It flies by, Tommy, three NFL weeks in the books. And you only have three undefeated teams left. You've got the dolphins, the Eagles, and the Niners. That's it. You know, and last week we were talking about how great Washington looked on offense, and then they looked horrendous on Sunday. Last week we were talking about how Dallas's defense was so dominant, and the Cardinals

ran roughshod through them. It's a crazy league through three weeks. What looks like it is for real, I would say the dolphins look like they are for real. I started referring to them two weeks ago after their opener as the next coming, of the greatest show on turf. I don't know that I've seen a team with that much team speed on one roster in a long time. They didn't even have Jalen Waddle on Sunday.

And they are just, they're really, really tough to cover. By the way, they've got a lot of team speed on defense, too. I mean, forget about, you know, the running back and Waddle and Hill and the scheming from McDaniel. They've got speed and really good players on defense, too. That is an early game of the year Sunday, Miami at Buffalo, and Buffalo's favored in the game. I think San Francisco looks like the real deal,

but again, I'm not sure what Brock Purdy is. I should buy into him at this point. He certainly is a good fit for the scheme, but I don't know. I mean, Philadelphia is 3 and O, but they haven't played their best game. I still believe in Kansas City. I mean, you know, they bludgeoned the Bears on Sunday. They're two and one.

I would not worry about the Chiefs. And Travis Kelsey has certainly picked up a few social media followers. Did you see that? Yeah, a little bit. In one day with Taylor Swift at the game on Sunday, he picked up 300,000 social media followers. followers. His jersey sales went up 400% and his jersey became a top five selling jersey in the league in 24 hours after Taylor Swift was in the players box during the game.

You know, I am so impressed, kind of, and amused because I didn't know Taylor Swift pretty much for years from Adam. I don't even know if I could even recognize one of her songs. but as a force of influence, I'm just blown away by her and her followers, you know? I mean, it's just remarkable. Don't you think we've kind of been through this before? Like, just go back to the 80s. Madonna was an absolute force.

I mean, I, look, I'm not a teller. But there was no measure. There was no measure of that force. That's true. Other than record sales, there was no social media. Yeah, that's true. Social media does change. Social media is basically your measuring stick.

Of course. How much influence do you have? You know, that tells you. Yeah. She's got just a few Twitter and Instagram followers. She's got 94.5 million Twitter followers. And you've got guys like Bill Belichick. singing her praises for doing her a three-hour concert in the rain.

Yeah. She's a baller. All right. We're done for the day. I got to run. You got to run back tomorrow, hopefully with a Cooley film review.