The Kevin Sheehan Show - Schedule Talk + Predictions

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Kevin and Thom today with thoughts on the Commanders' 2024 schedule along with some predictions to go with it. Reaction to the rest of the NFL Schedule, some Jayden Daniels' 2024 statistical predictions, the NBA Playoffs, and the closing of the Mirage LL part of today's menu of excellence. Download the PrizePicks app today and use code Sheehan for a first deposit match up to $100! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation.

Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Windonation.com. You'll get 50% off all windows right now with 0% interest for five years, along with a free, no-risk in-home quote. Just mention my name. they'll take really good care of you. My mock schedule, Tommy, zero. Zero correct. There were a couple that were within a week or two, but zero correct.

Your wish that somehow I got like five or six right and people were calling from all over the country to find out how I got it right? No, zero correct. I've had zero many times in the past, so it's a feeling I'm familiar with. I'm sorry? It doesn't discourage you. Does it discourage you? No. I don't.

Okay. I had, um, iron, you remember iron. Oh, God. Speaking of stalkers. No. Uh, Ian, he wrote me, hold on, I'm going to find it here. He wanted me to give the results of my mock schedule over the years. And I said to him, you do realize that this.

is a bit that I've been doing. Yeah, it's nice when I get a couple right, but I'm not losing sleep over the results. He compared it. I'm looking for the actual thing. I've got too many tweets to go back to find it. But basically, he tried to equate it to my smell test. He's like, well, you've got your record of your smell test. My smell test is a major league sweat week in and week out.

I mean, I'm sitting there Sunday, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon with not only my own wagers, but trust me, what I really want is I want my smell test picks, show picks, to do well. That's a major sweat. I don't give the mock schedule any sort of sweat. It's like last year I did think I had a good chance to get the opener right, but more years than not have gotten zero correct. He said something about you put so much time into it. Tommy, I put 30 to 45 minutes into it, maybe an hour. It's not that hard.

You got the games. You put home away. You start using a little bit of logic, but it's not like I'm researching a lot of things, although somebody was very impressed that I knew that the Army-Navy game was at FedEx Field on December 14th. Therefore, I knew Washington would be playing a disson. December 15th game on the road, which is what I mocked. And they are. They are playing on the road December 15th in New Orleans. In New Orleans. Yeah. That's a game we should go to, buddy. That would be a fun time. Yes. A little holiday time down in New Orleans. Maybe we'll make it to

the game. I mean, the game would really be low down on the priority list. We'd do a little dinner Gallo Chalotuars. We'd have some good meals down there, that's for sure. Absolutely. Anyway, Washington's schedule is out. And let me just read a couple of things that I got from people. This was kind of a lot of the sentiment on the Washington schedule. This from Nick R. Nick wrote, not that the team deserves it, but just two prime time games, and the Giants got five.

Actually, the Giants didn't get five primetime games. They got five combined prime time and standalone games. This from Zell, Zell wrote, Kevin, our team is treated like it plays in a small market. Times have really changed. And then from Pete, Pete wrote, we're continuing to pay the Snyder toll, even though he's gone. The commanders, or whatever we're going to eventually call them, are an afterthought for the schedule makers. bad team, bad home stadium, bad uniforms, nothing attractive about this franchise to anybody outside of the DMV.

I don't get this. I don't get this. If you're a Washington fan, the only games you ever want scheduled is 1 o'clock home. Okay? That's pretty much it. What do you care if they're prime time or not? You take some sort of pride in your team.

Do you think Jet fans are proud that they're going to be on TV six times? They know half of them are not going to be without their lunatic quarterback. So, I mean, I don't get it. I mean, if you're a fan, you want one o'clock Sunday at home. Look, that's it. I think you have, I think you're expressing truth there. But I don't really think that's the point. What they want.

It's the fact that they're. the franchise is so irrelevant, and the schedule when it comes out reflects just how irrelevant the franchise is. Here's what fans need to do. They need to adopt a Laverro Island approach. By this time, after 30 years of embarrassment, please. Yes, no attention to anyone else out there around you, just your world as a Washington Commanders fan.

that's all you should care about is your world. Not your standing in the league. Not what Roger Goodell thinks of you. Your world. Come on, people. You know what's so funny is for somebody who really enjoys Lonely Island like you have, certainly professionally, not personally. You do, you know, tend to draw a crowd with things that you say.

or right. But then again, we're really talking about professionally, you just don't like anybody that you work for or work with to be anywhere near you. Yeah, I get, like, I was thinking about this when the schedule came out. And like the schedule, by the way, yesterday was coming out in, you know, pieces all during the day. I actually had a couple of pieces from sources that I had that I put out there. I actually kind of wish that we could just all get it at the same time together, like the old days. But I have realized for the last couple of years just how irrelevant this franchise is for the NFL and for the schedule makers. And it's sad. You know, I didn't, I mocked four primetime games, four standalone primetime games, I think, in my mock schedule.

I actually was kind of forced into one of them because of, I didn't, I mocked four prime game, for stand-alone prime games, I think, in my mock schedule. because I fucked up on a Thursday night prediction. I remember that. But I wasn't surprised that they only got to. They were a 4 and 13 football team last year. They've been for decades now very much away from, you know, the big board in the schedule maker's rooms. So I don't know why anybody was surprised by this.

But let me just say, Tommy, and I talked about, this a little bit on radio. The schedule, three straight years in particular, really going back to 2018, is such an indication of just a team that used to have mass appeal that has very little appeal now. You know, there used to be something magical about Schedule Day with this franchise because you knew that the Cowboys games, the two Cowboys games, were going to be. to be highlighted in a big way. Some of the other big division games or another big, you know, conference or, you know, inter-conference game would be highlighted.

You'd be a highlighted part of the NFL schedule. And they're just not anymore. They have two prime time or standalone games. They play Monday night, week three at Cincinnati. They play the game that you have to play Thursday night. I think you have to play it. I think everybody has to play one Thursday game. Thursday night in November, they play at Philadelphia.

Last year, they only had two standalone or primetime games. They played the Bears on Thursday night football. They played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. The year before that, in 2022, only two scheduled standalone or primetime games. They had a Thursday night game in Chicago. They had a Monday night game in Philadelphia. That was the game that they won. That was probably the high.

of Ron Rivera's tenure here. I would imagine that if they're not at the bottom over the last three years in total standalone slash primetime games, they're, you know, 30th, 31st or 32nd among 32nd teams. They did have a game flexed into prime time on Sunday night football with the Giants in 2022. I mean, this year, okay, in the division, Tommy, Washington has two games. that are standalone games. Dallas has 12. Philadelphia has 10. The giants have five. The giants stink. They have five. They're more well thought of. I know the market's bigger, but they're playing a Thursday night game against the Cowboys. They're playing a Sunday night game against the Bengals, a Monday night game against the Steelers. They're playing one of the games over in London. They're playing on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys.

They've got five of those stand-alone games that Giants do. Washington's got two. They've only got six in three years. I know. There's the thing. And I'm the one who's always said it's going to take longer than people think besides just winning for this franchise to get back on its feet because of the damage. over decades to fan bases, some of who fans are not coming back.

On the other hand, I think they live in the shittiest house in the best neighborhood. They're in the NFC East, and it won't take much because of where they're located in the NFC East for their games to be important again. Yeah, coat of paint, maybe a new kitchen, redo the bathrooms. We're rolling. Yeah. I mean, really, the NFC, I mean, it's still the marquee division, you know, the Cowboys, the Giants, the Phillies, the Eagles, I mean. So, I mean, you know, those games, if this team is considered competitive, right now, this team,

and we can do the schedule game because I like to do that, and you don't. But this team is a, it's probably the biggest mystery they've been. in years. I actually have a question for you. We can play the schedule game. You know, I don't like to do it, but if you want to do it, we can do it. But I've got another way to do it, and I'll get to that in a moment. But I wanted to just mention that I wanted this team.

I actually think it's more than just the losing and the controversy. I think the NFL for the last couple of years views this team is not the Washington Redskins anymore. Well, they're not. It's not what they are. They look and feel even to outside DMV football fans and to league officials as like an expansion team, which is exactly the way I felt on February 2nd, 2022 when they unveiled this shit name and brand that we have right now. But I went back and looked at something. Even today, Washington ranks 7th on all-time Monday night football.

appearances. Seventh, even though they have not been featured on, you know, prime time, the last three years, you know, six total primetime appearances. By the way, there's still ninth all time in Monday Night Football wins. That just tells you, you know, how prominent they were for so many years. Sunday night football, which has become the NFL's marquee product, Sunday night football on NBC is its number one television window for every weekend, you know, during the regular season. And they launched that product back in 2006.

Washington's got 20 appearances on Sunday night football. That still ranks 16th in the league, which tells you how often they were on before everything fell apart. They haven't been on Sunday night football scheduled in the last seven years. just one time scheduled. They got flexed into that spot twice against Philadelphia at the end of 2020 for the division to go seven and nine and the game against the Giants a couple of years ago.

But in the last seven seasons, starting in 2018 and counting this schedule, Sunday night football, the league's number one product, Washington's only been scheduled to play on it one time. That's an indictment more than anything else on just how unattractive Washington's become, especially over the last six to seven seasons. But it's everything.

It's the record. It's all of the controversy. It's all of the investigations. It's a home stadium and a home environment that really is not very good looking on television, especially when road teams fans take it over. But I do think that part of it is that the loss of interest in the team from not only people locally because of the name, they lost their identity.

You know, the Buffalo Bills weren't on national TV for many, many years, and then they got good again, and they came right back. But there are, I mean, the Giants haven't been good for a few years. I guess they did win a playoff game two years ago. But I think it's a franchise that has really lost its identity nationally, too. I would just make that point as part of it. I think you're right. I think you're right.

That's a good point. I think you're right on that. Now, with that... I mean, there's a lot of things going on, but again, I would argue that in that sphere, in the sphere of national attention, it will be easier for them to recover than it will to recover their own fan base. I agree with that. I mean, I almost think that it's,

I understand what you're saying about living in a really nice neighborhood, the NFC East, but the truth is that any NFL team that wins and wins big or is winning with also a star player, Buffalo with Josh Allen as an example, after they were down for so long, is immediately, you know, highlighted, immediately by the NFL.

I mean, Kansas City is not a big market team. You know, they weren't great for a long period of time. I mean, they were decent here and there. Pat Mahomes, best team in the league, and I don't know if you saw their schedule, but they basically only have like two or three normal one o'clock games. The other one o'clock games are like on holidays where they're the standalone game. I mean, they play. But everybody else you're talking about are bad football teams.

This was considered an evil football team. An evil owner. An evil owner. That's what I meant. Yeah. I meant, I mean, there was no other franchise in the NFL that took on the personality that Washington did. I mean, now, like I've said, now you are reduced to just good and bad football decisions probably. And that's something you should, every fan in every city has to live with.

Right. I am with you on, it's a franchise that, you know, first of all, I, you know, I have some hope. I have some optimism. I'm certainly in benefit of the doubt mode. I think a lot of people feel that way. And I think if this new regime, and so far so good, can act like a professional organization, which they have so far. and then most importantly, if they can begin to win on the field, things will start to change. You know, the name and the complexity around that is a completely different subject I'm talking about with respect to how the league views the team in future schedules.

You know, if Jaden Daniels has a rookie of the year season and they win nine games and they make the postseason, they'll have a bunch of primetime games and a bunch of stand-alone games next year. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So for them to do that, Jayden Daniels would have to become a star. Yeah. Yeah, for the most part, true. And I'm optimistic that there can be a turnaround here

over the next couple of years. You know, like a lot of you, I'd love to see it come also with some of the other stuff, like a changing in the name and the brand. But we're not going back to Redskins, sorry. And we're not going more likely than not back to the logo. We talked about that on the show yesterday and the day before. By the way, on the schedule itself, three of the first four on the road, that's interesting for Jaden Daniels.

The opener at Tampa Bay is, you know, that's a team that went to the postseason, played better in the playoffs than maybe they did even in the regular season. But they were right there with Detroit in that postseason game. New York at home for the home opener. one week off on that. Wrong location. Cincinnati on a Monday night in week three at Arizona. So I think the stretch at least on paper and it means nothing when it comes to the schedule. But Cincinnati, Arizona, Cleveland, Baltimore is a tough stretch. Arizona is not that good, but it's on the road. They only have one West Coast trip. They finish with four out of the final six at home. Hopefully those are games that mean something at that point. And, you know, you know,

Yeah, I mean, I didn't have any big overarching takeaways from the schedule. It was, they play the Giants twice before they play any of the other division games against Dallas or Philadelphia. Oh, the buy week coming late again. Third straight year, they've got their buy week in December. I think that's a little bit weird. I don't even know if that's a bad thing for the team. I mean, it's a matter of preference, probably. weird that they'd have three straight years of having to wait until December to get their buy.

But other than that, you know, whatever, go out and win some games. A lot of one o'clock games at Sundays. I mean, you know, I like to play that schedule game of, you know, they'll win this one, they'll lose that one. but I found it's awfully difficult to do because Washington has such a dramatic turnover in personnel we have no idea what this team is going to be like and I still have one sense that they're going to be a not a good offensive line that still think they're not going to,

no matter what pro football focus says about last year's offensive line. I don't see any steps that they've made to change that. But, I mean, I don't know if they're going to have as good a running game. I mean, I think they could miss Antonio Gibson. I just don't know how good they're going to be. I think they're favored, you know, when, and again, this doesn't mean much. They're three and a half point underdogs, by the way, to Tampa in the opener on the road.

I think they're favored in three of the 17 games. The Giants at home, Tennessee at home, Carolina at home. I think those are the three for whatever. Those are three of the five wins I have for them. Oh, you've got five. Okay, so rather than going game by game, if you want to do that, we can do that. I think it's, you know, I did it with you for years. I did it with Andy for years.

We can do that. But I've got a better way to look at next year based off. of now knowing exactly what the schedule is based on times, dates, etc. And we will get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, now with the NFL draft behind us, it's time to focus on springtime games, like real games, playoff games. For me, it's the NBA playoffs.

And if you're a daily fantasy sports player, I've got the app for you. Prize Picks is the app that's easy and exciting, and a new way to play DFS. Prize Picks is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. It's just you against the numbers, not you battling thousands of other players. It's you picking more than or less than on between two and six player stat projections with odds. Right now, you can win up to 100 times your money on prize picks. With as little as four correct picks, you can turn $10 into $1,000,

during these NBA playoffs. Turn your NBA hoops knowledge into serious cash. Prize picks, by the way, so simple to play. I can make my picks and submit my entry in less than 60 seconds. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay, and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make prize picks the number one daily fantasy sports app. Download the app today and use my code Sheehan

for a first deposit match of up to all. hundred dollars again download the prize picks app today use my code sheen s h e he h a h a h a n for a first deposit match of up to a hundred dollars prize picks pick more pick less it's that easy hey guys i want to tell you about harries many of you have probably heard of harry's razors and shaving products maybe even from this podcast they've been an occasional advertiser over the years I'm a customer. I have been for a while now. I think it goes back to the first shipment of product that they sent me before the first time they advertised on the pod maybe four or five years ago. They found a way Harry's did to make a beautifully designed razor for a fraction of the price of other big brands. I've been using their Truman handle. It's a two-tone handle with a great grip. It provides a close shave, no matter if you've got to be.

beard and you're shaving around it, or if you cleanly shave on a daily basis, their German engineered blades stay sharp and stay sharp for a long period of time. They've got customizable delivery options for scheduled refills for as low as $2. That's half of what you pay other big brands. Right now, you can get a five-blade razor, weighted handle, foaming shave gel, and a travel cover for just three bucks at harries.com slash sheen. Harris has the highest customer satisfaction in the shaving industry, and this is a no-risk trial. If you don't like your shave, no worries, it's on them.

Convenient subscription options exist that you can cancel at any time. Getting the best doesn't mean spending the most when you shave with Harry's. Get started with a $13 trial set for just $3 at harries.com slash sheen. That's harries.com slash S-H-E-E-H-A-N for a $3 trial set. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code. Kevin D.C.

And MyBooky will give you a cash bonus on your initial sign-up deposit. it. They've got all of the week one NFL lines up. And right now, as mentioned, Washington is a three and a half point underdog at Tampa 425 on September 8th. That is not, by the way, the big double header game. That'll go to the Tampa, St. Pete Market, and the Washington Baltimore market. The rest of the country will get Tom Brady calling the Cowboys at Cleveland. But what? Go ahead. But what is interesting about that is, I bet you see a big Washington contingent at that game.

Yes. I mean, that's the kind of game that if you're a fan and you're waiting for the schedule because one of the transitions we've seen, not just in Washington, but other cities, but more in Washington, is fans giving up their home tickets and instead investing in a couple of road trips, Tampa, September, that's a nice road trip. you'd rather have Tampa in November or December for the road trip, but the game might be meaningless at that point. But yes, we've seen, you know, there are a couple of places.

Carolina has always been one. Atlanta's been one. And Tampa's been one where there's always a lot of, you know, Washington fans. I mean, Tampa's coming off, you know, a season in which they won a playoff game. And Baker Mayfield's back and Mike Evans is back. I know. But anyway, Washington, a three and a half point dog. The total is 41.

That's actually one of the lowest totals of week one. I think the Saints Panthers is the lowest at 40. By the way, the biggest line in week one is Buffalo laying eight against Arizona in the opener. Man, the NFL, you know, this far out, almost every line is basically four points or less because it's so hard to predict the NFL. But go to mybooky.ag or mybooky.com. Use my promo code. If you want to bet the preteness, they'll have everything in their horse book. They've got a live racing book as well. All of the NBA playoff lines and NHL playoff lines. The PGA golf is in there as well. My God, today, Xander Shafley broke the course record at Valhalla shooting nine under 62 in the first round. That just finished. up. What a round for Xanders. He looks for his first major championship. But if you want to bet golf, they've got a lot of head-to-head matchups, a lot of stuff there too. Mybooky.orgie.org use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. So here's the question that I asked on radio this morning. Rather than

going game by game, win, loss, loss, win, loss, win, I said, based on what we know now, which is basically the roster, the coaching staff, the general manager, and now the schedule, if I told you that at the end of this upcoming season, they had either 10 wins or 5 wins, which is most likely? What's your answer to this? I think it's 5 for you. Yeah, that would be 5 because trying to do this schedule game going through it, just basically blind about the team here in Washington, I've got them winning five games.

Okay. You know, I've got some beating. I've got them winning one of the games against the Giants, one of the games against the Cowboys, then Carolina, Chicago, and Tennessee. Okay. All right. Which is great, which is great,

because three of those games, well, at least three of those games are home games. Right. If this team is going to win, it's nice to win at home. Yeah. It'd be nice to see Jaden Daniels beat Caleb Williams in that big matchup on October 27th at FedEx Field. Yes. I think if I had to choose between the two, let me be clear here. I'm not predicting that they're going to win 10 games.

I actually think they look like a 7 or an 8 win team. I think that's possible for this upcoming season. But if you told me it was either 5 or 10, I would say 10. and the reasons for that are as follows. Last year they won four games. I still don't think they had a four-win roster. I think the roster was better than four wins. Remember, the year before that, they went 8, 8, and 1,

and they nearly made the post-season. With a defense, it was ranked in the top 10, and an offense, it wasn't very good, but still had an inexperienced quarterback in Taylor Heineke, I think last year was just, you know, as we look back on it, I think it's easy to see. It was doomed from the start. You had a head coach and a defensive coordinator who knew they were lame ducks with new ownership. They hired an offensive coordinator that no one else in the league wanted. And that turned out to be a massive disaster. And this team just, you know, was doomed. I mean, they won the first two games. You know, they barely beat Arizona a bad team. They went to Denver and won. And then, you know, they won the first two games. You know, they barely beat Arizona a bad team. They went to Denver and won. And they. And they. And they. And they, And then, you know, they lost 13 of their next, you know, 15 games. And by the way, we're absolutely blown out in a lot of them. I mean, I still think last year in terms of the win total, but really the lopsided nature of so many games that you could make the case, it's the worst season in franchise history.

But the season was doomed from the beginning. And I think that there are players from last year's team that are back, along with players that they've added, like Frankie Louvo and Bobby Wagner, for starters, Austin Eckler, hopefully. But I think the real difference is the coaching staff. Now, is Dan Quinn an elite coach? Maybe not.

Are there similarities between Quinn and Rivera coming in as coaches? Yes, but remember, Rivera didn't come in just a coach. He came into coach and be the general manager, and he worked for Dan. So the comparisons between the two situations are just ridiculous. The comparisons between the two coaches are not unfair. But I think this will be a better coach team, certainly on defense this year. And they've added some defensive players and players who are familiar with Dan Quinn's system.

So are they going to be the 31st or 32nd ranked defense again this year? I don't see that. I think they'll be massively improved on defense. Offensively, you finally have a quarterback with an upside. Now it's his first year. And you've got an offensive coordinator that will be working with a rookie quarterback. But there are some weapons. Terry's a weapon.

Dotson's a weapon. They went out and got a tight end in Zach Ertz. By the way, Zach Ertz was on the podcast with me yesterday. Really impressive guy. If you miss that, go listen to it on yesterday's show. I just don't see a four or a five win season. Put it this way. If it's a four or a five win season,

more likely than not at the end of the year, we probably don't know about Jaden Daniels. To me, Tommy, the year is all about learning whether or not they got it right with Jaden Daniels. They're not going to be a playoff team. They're not going to win 10 games. I'm just saying it's more likely they win 10 than 5, in my opinion, for the reason.

that I just gave. I think the coaching staff is the biggest reason for me. Also, even though I hate playing the schedule game, they do have some teams that are young that aren't very good on paper. You know, you get the Giants twice, you get Arizona, you got Carolina, you got a young Chicago team with a rookie quarterback, you got Tennessee, you know, is New Orleans really going to be that good, et cetera. You still have Philly, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, you know, on the schedule, Cincinnati, early enough where Burrough should be good. But it would shock me if they won 10 games,

but it would shock me less if they won 10 versus winning 5. I want to know at the end of the year that Jaden Daniels was the right pick, and there's a lot of context around record, which would be Jaden Daniels looks the part, and that'll be a successful season. But I don't know, it might be hard for him to have looked apart with five wins. and I believe he's going to look the part. So I'll go with 10 on that answer.

Well, I'm going to go with five, and I don't necessarily think that would be any kind of referendum on Jaden Daniels. I think it would probably be more about the team that they've surrounded him with. There's just so many questions going into this. I'm not as optimistic as you. Zach Kurtz, you know, it's a Social Security tight end for crying out loud, they still don't have a quality tight end that go to.

I don't think they upgraded their running game. I don't think they've upgraded their offensive line. I'm not sure they've, I don't think they upgraded their defensive line. They probably have upgraded their defensive line, although they probably didn't upgrade. No, that's probably not true because just losing Montez Sweat from off-lashers-starting roster. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Zach, Zach Ertz has been hurt recently, if that's what you're referring to. I mean, he's 33. It's not that he's 37, and he's had some pretty productive

years recently in Arizona, just not last year, where he was hurt. He's been injured a bunch. But, yeah, I'm not counting on Zach Ertz to be the difference maker. I certainly think Jaden Daniels could be, you know, whether it's to start or whether it's in the middle of the year, maybe it's at the end of the year, turn into a difference maker. And I think, you know, I'm concerned about the offensive line to tackle specifically, not the interior. Defensively, I think the most concern for me would be at corner, you know, finding out whether or not they got it right with Emmanuel Forbes. We'll find that out with Dan Quinn. And if they didn't get it right with Emmanuel Forbes, who do they really have at corner? They've got Benjamin St. Juice. I mean,

I've always liked St. Juice's talent, but there's always been something missing there. Can't necessarily put my finger on it. But I love Jeremy Chin as a player in terms of what he's capable of doing if he's healthy. I love Frankie Louvo. Bobby Wagner, I don't care how old he is. He had a great season last year. That is a tough leader type. I'm interested to see what they're going to do with players that I think have talent, but we didn't see anything from anybody last year. Guys like Jamon Davis on defense and John Dotson on offense. Could this be a year in where Duran where Duran Payne and John Allen play more like they played in 2022 because of the coaching. I don't see four or five wins.

I definitely don't see a repeat of last year. You know, I don't. And if I see that, then Jaden Daniels really wasn't ready. And by extension, may have been the wrong choice, which is certainly in play because, you know, it might not be. but I'm pretty optimistic about it right now. All right, so, yeah, again, I don't think they're going to win 10. I think they can win seven or eight.

I think they could definitely win seven or eight games and be a competitive team this year. Defensively, I'd be shocked if they were as bad as they were last year. But I think I said that last year about how good their defense was going to be. And I'm not saying their defense is going to be great. I'm just saying it's just not going to be as bad as it was last year. they have upgraded their coaching situation, and that should help. Yeah, I think so. Real quickly, just on the rest of the NFL schedule,

and then we'll get a few things to finish up the show afterwards. I mean, the Chiefs have become basically the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys are America's team, and they still are prominently featured. But, man, look at the Chief's schedule. Like every network wanted a piece of them. Netflix got them for their Christmas Day game. They've got an Amazon game. They're on ESPN twice.

They're on CBS. They're on Fox. They're on NBC. The Fox game is the rematch of the Super Bowl on October 20th. I mean, the Chiefs basically have two legitimate, three legitimate one o'clock games. That's it. Everything else is a standalone, high-profile game. That's amazing. You mentioned the Jets. Listen to this start to a schedule. I mean, you talk about rolling the dice on Aaron Rogers being healthy. They open up on Monday night football. Week three, they're on Thursday night football. Week five, they're playing in London. Week six, they're on Monday night football. Week seven, they're on Sunday night football. Week nine, they're on Thursday night football again.

That is, and then week 11, they're on Sunday night football again. That's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven of their first 11 games are standalone nationally televised games. Crazy how much faith they're putting in Aaron Rogers staying upright in 2024. The biggest problem I had with the NFL schedule, and I talked about this before because we knew they were going to do it. The Christmas Day games, which Tommy Netflix, let me amend this because I had Ben Fisher from Sports Business Journal on radio. He was excellent. He said that each Amazon game, each Netflix game, excuse me, on Christmas Day was $75 million, not $150 million. Still, the NFL collected an extra $150 million for two games.

on Christmas Day, on a Wednesday. What bothers me is that the NFL, because they're playing these Christmas Day games, have to play those four teams the previous Saturday. And that's the Saturday of the first ever, you know, on-campus first round of the expanded college football playoff games. They're going to have a game on Friday night, December 20th, and then a triple header on Saturday, December 21st. And the NFL is going to play two games on that weekend,

Saturday, December 21st, Houston at KC, Pittsburgh at Baltimore, because those four teams are then going to turn around and play on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Casey at Pittsburgh, Baltimore at Houston. And apparently the NFL was in contact with college football, and they didn't schedule a primetime game. They played these Saturday games at 1 and 4.30, but there was no way for the NFL not to play those games on Saturday. For college football fans like me who have waited forever for this expanded playoff and a Saturday of on-campus playoff games,

you know, Ohio State and LSU from the shoe at, you know, at one o'clock, and then you get USC hosting, Florida, you know, whatever. It's going to get, the NFL is going to beat it. You're going to have to have two TVs that day. I mean, for you, three, so they can watch Cojack at the same time. But you're going to need two TVs on Saturday, December 21st. The only thing that I can see as an option that college football should have done is they should have played these games a week earlier on December 14th,

because that's Army, Navy, and Heisman Trophy Day. and they could have said, you know, we're going to move the Army Navy game to Friday night and play it then, or play it at 11 a.m. on that Saturday. I hate that. That was a day that I've waited for forever as a college football fan, and you've got two big-time NFL matchups on the same day. I know. You're right, but here's the thing about the NFL right now, and the fact that Netflix, and Amazon have bid all this money. They're not bidding for any other TV shows. They're not bidding for modern family or something like that.

They're bidding for the NFL. You know what the NFL has become? The greatest television show in the history of television. No doubt. It really is. There's never been a force in television in my lifetime, where, I mean, you know, when the big dogs decided to jump into the pool, the first thing they did was NFL football.

I mean, it's just, it's just that it's not great for consumers, you know. I read somewhere and I don't know how the formula was, and I don't remember where I read it, how they came up with it. But if you wanted to watch every NFL game next year that was available, it would cost you $1,000. I was going to, I actually, I asked Ben Fisher from Sports Business Journal exactly that same question because I was curious, you know, with Netflix, Amazon, Peacock, ESPN Plus for streaming, you know, services now with NFL games, that if you were going to watch

every NFL game, how much would it cost? You're saying $1,000? It can't be $1,000. I read that somewhere. That seems like, no, that can't be right. I mean, your ESPN Plus is, I don't know, $39, $49 a year. Is it $100 a year? Peacock is, that's less than $100 a year, right?

Maybe. Maybe you're right. I'm looking at something right now that says $1,600 a year. But here's the breakdown of it. You ready? The cost to watch every NFL game. Let me see what the source is. This is, what did I pull up here?

CNN. $876. Now, this would be for people who have cable, right? You know, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, and ESPN. So that's your cable or that's your, well, if you don't need the NFL Sunday, oh, I see, to watch every NFL game via YouTube TV or NFL Sunday ticket. That's another $389. Amazon Prime is 139 a year.

Peacock's 60. NFL plus is 40. ESPN plus is 99. Netflix, seven bucks a year? Is that it? No. I don't know why they're saying. Maybe it's just, I don't know.

$1,110. Yeah, getting expensive. And it's really not right that there's going to be NFL games on Christmas Day. and if you don't have Netflix, you can't watch. I mean, I remember that last year, the playoff game that they put on Peacock, and I didn't watch it because I don't have Peacock, and I was determined not to watch it. But to have these NFL games on Christmas Day,

I don't know how you can be NFL fan. Well, I guess it's Christmas Day. You can find other things to do. But to know those games are going on and you can't watch You got the NBA, Tommy. You got five straight NBA games on Christmas Day. Instead of which I watched some playoff basketball the past couple of days. I hope you watched.

Not the good kind. Not the kind you want me to watch. But I may watch that tonight. Yeah, you got to watch Yokic. It was his, I mean, people are calling it his career masterpiece two nights ago. I know. But real quickly, on Christmas Day, I wanted to mention this because of this is something that Ben Fisher told me this morning. So the games are at 1 and 4.30 on Christmas Day, and I asked them,

why are they doing that? Like, when we've had, we had a triple header last year, so that was different. But when we've had standalone Christmas Day games or double headers, they've been, there's been one in prime time, you know? Well, the reason that they're going 1 in 430 without a prime time is because the international audience for Netflix is so huge. And the European audience, in particular through Netflix for these games will be big on Christmas Day, and they want it to be available to them. And if you played that last game, you know, at 815, you're talking about, you know, late night, early morning in Europe.

Yeah, you're talking like two in the morning. Yeah. All right, we've got a few more things to get to. Rate us and review us if you get a chance, especially on Apple and Spotify, if you can give us five stars if you think we deserve it. We'll take that along with a one to two sentence review. You guys are doing a great job with it, but there's still so many of you that haven't done it. And if you pause the podcast right now and do it, it's a big help for us. It really is.

And we've gotten a lot of good reviews. I'm just looking at something real quickly. This from App Coke, who actually gave us just four stars for. for this reason. I don't encourage this, but look, you know, we're giving a fair and equal time. Gave us four stars. Enjoy it, but stop repeating Washington FC. We get it. Closed quote. I had my good friend Pat Murphy say to me, I don't want to hear Washington FC or FC Washington anymore. I don't want to have anything to do with soccer. Please stop that discussion. I'm fine with Washington or Washington football team. Anyway, give us five stars, a quick one to two sentence review.

Subscribe to the podcast, follow the podcast. All of those things are helpful. More right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, most of us are interested in our mental and physical well-being to a certain degree. And with that in mind, I'd like to welcome and introduce a new sponsor to the podcast. The new sponsor is Unified Healing. Unified spelled UNI-F-Y-D healing. It doesn't matter if you're a big-time world-class athlete or just a somewhat athletic podcaster like me.

We all understand the importance of mental and physical well-being and proper recovery for top-notch performance. That's why I'm excited that Unified Healing is sponsoring the podcast now. Unified Healing is a new and super innovative global network of well- wellness centers powered by energy enhancement system or EE system. If you haven't heard of the EE system yet, listen up. This technology promotes wellness, deep relaxation, purification, and rejuvenation. Whether you're here in the DMV or anywhere else across the globe, access to a center is easy and affordable.

Interested in experiencing the EE system technology for yourself, will go to Unifiedhealing.com slash. Sheen to learn more and find a center near you. That's Unified spelled, Unified, Healing.com slash Sheen. No material or testimonies on the Unified Healing website are intended to be viewed as medical advice or a substitute for professional medical advice diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, including E.E. System.

All right, Tommy. Tell us about Shelly's. Okay. Shelly's backroom at 1331 F Street Northwest in the district is, you know, I always talk about the menus of excellence. We always have here on the Kevin Sheehan show, a menu of excellence. Well, that's what Shelly has. Joey's has a menu of excellent in food and drink, but in particular they are a cigar bar, so they have a menu of excellence in cigars as well. They go out of their way to have the top 25 cigars named by Cigar Officianato magazine, the Bible of the industry on hand for you to buy. Cigars like the Cigar of the Year, Fante Fente, Opus X, you know. They have the Padron series 1926 Maduro.

They have cigars like the Olivia series, the Melano Toro. I mean, these cigars are so great. They give them these great names that you can't even pronounce. Yeah, it seems like it. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Now, it's not the neighborhood that I roll in. You know, I just like a good LaGloria Kubana Churchill when I go to Shelly's.

But if you're one of those people that demands excellence, Shelly's is a place for you because they expect it of themselves as well. And that's what they offer to their customers. Shelly's Backroom, you can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. Real quickly, Jordan Reed, who writes for ESPN.com, put out today NFL rookie quarterback projections for rookie season. Caleb Williams, he's got throwing for 3,532 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, 13 interceptions. Jaden Daniels, 3,457 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 577 rushing yards with five touchdown runs.

So accounting for 21 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. The passing yards... Sounds like a five-win season to me. Yeah, that could be a six-win season, I think. I don't know. I really think that when people think about Jaden Daniels, They think more about the rushing yards and the rushing touchdowns than the passing yards and the passing touchdowns. And I think that's going to be a big whiff in hindsight.

I'm not saying that they're not going to utilize him as a runner, that he's not going to be great running off schedule. But this dude can throw it. And maybe he'll have a lot to learn and there will be a bunch of ups and downs and he'll think he sees something and he'll throw it to the wrong colored hat, you know, at the wrong time. will happen, of course. It always happens with rookie quarterbacks. But I don't mind the passing yardage number. I think they're low on the 16 touchdown throws. I think he'll end up with 20 touchdowns or more in his rookie year. What did C.J. Stroud end up with last year in his rookie season? Stroud ended up with 27, sorry, that's not him, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions, threw for over 4,000 yards.

4,100 yards, and by the way, missed two games. He missed two games due to injury. 4,101 8 yards, 23 touchdowns, 5 interceptions. I see more touchdown throws. The interceptions will be interesting. I mean, I don't know. I mean, rookie quarterbacks make mistakes. They do.

Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud haven't made. many mistakes. All right. So tell me about the NBA playoffs that you watched. Well, I watched some of the Celtics game last night. I told you not to watch that series when you said you watched the other night. Well, look, I know that. I know that, but that's what's on when I decide to turn on the TV and say I should watch

basketball for Kevin. Okay. Well, but I told you the other night when you said you watched that game, I said, don't watch that series. The Celtics... The Celtics are not a good team. They're a talented team. I'm not a big fan of the Celtics either.

They're talented. They are a talented team, but they are not a good team. And I would love to see the Knicks if they get to the Eastern Conference finals, put a beating on them. I don't know if the Knicks can do it because they're hurting. Now, I like the way to Knicks play. I like the intensity level of the... the Knicks and the way they play. And I've enjoyed watching them. And I've only watched

a first quarter here, first quarter there of Denver and Yokic because they've been on late. Now, I think they're on tonight like at 8.30, right? Correct. Yeah, tonight's start-time is 8.30. I'll probably watch them. I'll probably watch them tonight. I know I missed from all counts one of the performances of a lifetime the other night. I recognize that. And he is so fun to watch and the highlights because, again, you know, we've talked about it. He's so effortless and he looks like the old guy that used to step on the court and play with us who used to drive the school bus in East Stroudford, and we used to be amazed at the

way what he could do with the ball without much movement. Don't forget your backpacks, but get out. This is your stop. Yeah, the other night was just spectacular. I can't wait to watch tonight because I think Minnesota will punch back, but it wouldn't surprise me if Denver ends it tonight. You know, your Knicks, yeah, the intensity of those games, especially the first three games of the series before the Knicks really got injured and got tired.

But the effort the other night was incredible from them. I'll tell you, I mean, what's interesting about that is, you know, they don't necessarily shoot, you know, as many. Jalen Brunson, you know, lives by driving the ball and getting into the paint, which you said was filled with, what, quicksand or whatever. The thing that I don't like watching about Jailen Brunson, he's brilliant and he's tough and everything about the Knicks. they're going to punch back at the Celtics. But with the pieces they're missing, if Ananoby isn't back by then, they don't have a chance to win four out of seven against Boston. I don't think.

I do love watching them play, but it just bothers me how ball-dominant Jalen Brunson is. The ball just doesn't move enough at times. But they have guys who will go get the ball. Oh, Hartinstein. If he misses. Oh, kid had 12 offensive rebounds the other night. Yeah. They have guys who don't stand around and watch him shoot.

No, they're intense. They, you know, they're well coached to. It's just offensively, it drives me nuts at times. But I've kind of resigned myself. That's the one big complaint. You know, I haven't complained about three-point shooting. I actually like it. The thing that I've hated about basketball in general at all levels is is

ISO ball, two-man ball. You just don't see as... But what it is really, as much as anything else, it's also a result of defenses that, you know, now can play zone, even though not actual zone. But, you know, over the years, the zone defense has become a bigger part of the NBA. For years, remember, zone was outlawed. And teams really do try to switch every single screen.

which for all intents and purposes, it's man to man, but that also acts very much at times if you do it well with good defenders as a borderline zone defense. And in 24 seconds, teams identify the matchup they want, the guy they want to have the ball in their hand. They go seek that out with a screen, and then they play ISO or they play two-man. And it's hard to watch sometimes with Luca Donchich,

which I did last night, but he's brilliant. He's an incredible shotmaker and an incredible passer. But, no, the best for me is watching Denver. And Minnesota's really fun to watch, too. The Knicks have been fun to watch too. Some of their games have been so super exciting and intense. I mean, that Philadelphia series was great. All right.

You want to mention a heavyweight title fight. Go ahead. Well, in case people didn't know, there's a heavyweight championship fight this weekend, pay-per-view, taking place in Saudi Arabia. I'm so glad that I covered boxing when I did in the 90s, you know, because boxing was, all the big fights were in Vegas then. Yeah. Now, all the big fights are in Saudi Arabia. Are they? Okay.

I didn't even know that. Yes, because the Saudis pay. Yeah, of course. You know, the site fee, they pay the money. Yeah. So this one's in Saudi Arabia. It features Tyson Fury against Oleg Eusick, I think, undefeated. I don't know if they're undefeated, but they both have a claim to the heavyweight championship.

I think they both are undefeated. And they both, you know, say they're heavyweight champions, and they've got something to back that up, whether it's belts or something like that. So this is like an undisputed heavyweight championship bout. And I don't really care about it. And I think I've told this story before, but it's worth telling again. When I was at the Boxing Writers' Awards dinner in 2019, getting the Nate Fleischer Award for excellence in boxing journalism over the course of a career, I won that award in 2019, sitting at our table. was this guy

Yusick. Right next to me. Really? Okay. He's a big dude. He spent most of the night, he drank tea, and spent most of the night

flossing his teeth with his tea bag. Really? That's funny. Yes. I mean, did you get him some soft picks? Did you offer up like some soft picks or some dental floss? So he didn't have to use the tea bag? You know, we didn't have much conversation.

Okay. Maybe, yeah. Did you try to strike up any conversation? Not particularly. What is he, is he Ukrainian or Russian? I think he's Ukrainian. Okay. Yeah, he's Ukrainian, I think.

Actually, he's not as big as he looks. I just looked it up. He's 6-3-2-20. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So what's that on Saturday night? I don't know.

Some pay-per-view. Why, I mean, no one's, I'm not going to watch it. You're going to watch it? Zero interest. And, you know, when you mentioned, you know, the 90s, did you see that the mirage is shutting down? Really? Yeah. Oh, my God.

Ben Standing told me that last night. I, Tommy. It opened. And the first big fight was Holafield Buster Douglas. That, oh, that was Buster Douglas' first championship fight? After beating Tyson? Yeah. Yes.

The Mirage, they didn't do it at the Mirage. They did it at the Thomas and Mac Center, but the Mirage were the ones who sponsored it. That was their big entry after opening. Well, then they started holding fights in the parking lot of the Mirage, just like they had at Caesar's Palace. Right. The Mirage during the 90s, like the, that was, first of all,

they had a phenomenal sports book. They started hosting all of the fights that Caesars had before. It was right next to Caesars. It has been all these years, right across the street from the Flamingo Hilton, which was a hotel that years and years ago we would stay at. But I was at the, I've told you this before. I was at the fan man fight. You know, I was in that, you know, outdoor venue at the Mirage for Bo Holyfield

when the fan man flew in and got tangled up in the ropes. Actually, that was Cesar's. It was Cesar's? Somebody else mentioned that. I mentioned that to Ben last night. I was there. I thought it was the Mirage. I guess we stayed at the Marage.

No, that was Cesar's. Now, you're right. That Holafield-Field-Douglas fight did take place at the Mirage outside. It was not at Thomas and Macs Center. So I want to correct that. The fan man fight was at Cesar, so we were out in that parking lot. It was frigid. That's one of my memories from that fight.

It was so cold. You know when the sun goes down in November. But that night in particular, I mean, you could see your breath. It was like in the 40s. I did cover Bohoa Field 3 in that parking lot outside Cesar's. And speaking of cold, at one point, my keys froze up on my computer. Yeah. when that dude paraglided into the ring

what's his face, too legit to quit. God, why am I blanking? He had... MC Hammer. It came in right over Hammer. And Hammer and all the guys that were... First of all, it flew in Tommy right over me. I told you this before. It was my friend Carl McCarty, my friend Mike Carberry,

Ted Whalen, me. I forget who else was with us. It was, we did, you know, a lot of those fall football fight weekends during that because there was always a November fight during a football weekend. And then they would have a big one in May, you know, during Derby weekend. And that thing flew in right over our heads. We were not, we had average seats. They weren't great seats. And then right into the ring.

And I just remember MC Hammer and all of his guys just beating the living crap out of it. this dude. But I've told this story many times in the past that this was, I don't know, 1994, 1995 somewhere around there. 93. Was it 93? No, 90, was it 93? Yeah, it was 93. 93? Yeah. We didn't. November 93. We didn't think twice about a bomb strapped to his back. 9-11 hadn't happened, you know? So it was just like, what's this clown do? It wasn't, you know, run for cover, which it would be, you know, now. You know, I read something about this dude, and I'm trying to look him up right now.

I want to say that he actually is from D.C., the guy from fan man, the fan man guy. I don't recognize that. He's dead. He's dead? I do know that. Yeah. Hold on. Here it is.

James Miller, perished. shootist, also known as the fan man. Yeah, he's from north of Baltimore, my fault. So he's from Baltimore. Harvard de Grace, Maryland. So I thought it was D.C. I remember it was somewhere close enough. He died, Tommy, yeah, died of coronary artery disease.

Oh, no, wait a minute. He went missing in 2002 and was found after he hung himself in 2003. A year. Sorry, I'm laughing, but I said he died from coronary artery disease. And then I've just read that he hung himself. It was a year after he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease, which resulted in him being unable to fly or paraglide anymore. And then he hung himself in 2003, 10 years after he flew into the ring and got the absolute crap beat out of him. Okay. What else do you have? That's all I got. Let's end that show on that cheery note. Cheery note. Back tomorrow, everybody.

...maylay at ringside, the midst of a massive security guards now. Rock Newman, Riddick Bow's manager was right there. This is a monumental disaster. Right now, police are filing by me at ringside and grabbing this gentleman who has created a monstrosity of an interruption in the bout.