The Kevin Sheehan Show - Sense of Doom

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

Kevin opened with his reaction to many that believe Washington's preseason is a predictor of bad things to come. He answered a bad Commanders' narrative that keeps circling about last year's preseason and then talked some Nats, College Football, and late-night/early-morning US Open.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   Search Whatnot—W H A T N O T—in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away.   Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to www.quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. From Pat to open up today's show on this final day of August. Pat writes, bad news, Kevin. Football games are won in the trenches. Feels like 5 and 11.

Not too good. We're doomed. Hey, we wound up 5 and 11. Not very good. but there was something worse than us. I guess that's one positive way to look at it. We weren't the worst team in the league. He is so great.

I never, ever get tired of listening to 5 and 11, not too good. And I love the full version, which is the one I just played for you, where at the very end he says, well, at least we weren't the worst team in the league. I had him on the show two years ago. It was the spring of 2024, actually. He was being honored at the touchdown club, and I had him on the day before, and he was so reluctant to talk about his time in Washington. If you guys remember, I actually tried to get him to open up about his time in Washington by saying, you know, coach, even though the results weren't great, fans really enjoyed you. We really enjoyed those two years.

he still didn't want to talk much about any of the time in DC. I think for him professionally, it's like one of those mistakes that he feels like he made. Like the money was great, but it wasn't worth it. But anyway, 5 and 11, not too good, never gets old. The show's presenting sponsor is always Windonation. Window Nation never gets old. They're always brand new, including right now 50% off of every. everything you purchase with a chance to not have to pay for any of it for two full years.

Schedule a fast-free in-home estimate at 86690 Nation or head to windownation.com. So back to Pat's email to open up the show. Bad news, Kevin. Football games are one in the trenches. Feels like 5 and 11, not too good. We're doomed. Man, the level of anxiety among many and... the fan base. I should say some in the fan base. It's really high right now, really high for even those of you who do know the difference between preseason and regular season games, because I don't

think Pat really knows the difference. And I think Pat's got company. I do think there are a lot of people that really don't understand what they're watching this time of year. I know that at the beginning of training camp, I always do that training camp preseason game public service announcement. Hey, what you're going to see here and read about over the next month and a half, 50% of it's going to be dead wrong. In fact, the opposite of it is going to be true. And it's really hard to predict which of the 50% is going to be dead wrong and which of the 50% might be close to the truth. But what you're seeing here is not real. It's not what. what you will see when the team starts to play games that count.

And Pat and people like Pat, I don't think hear the PSA or would understand it even if they heard it. Pat, by the way, they do play 17 games now. So I don't know if Pat would change his prediction to 5 and 12 or 6 and 11. Neither one of them would be very good. Five and 12, not too good. Anyway, look, he just doesn't, you know, and people like Pat, they don't seem to realize that our trench players actually haven't played yet. I mean, I guess they have.

There were three snaps in the Detroit game where three-fifths of the anticipated starting offensive line played three snaps. Because remember, Sam Cosme was sicken out and Nick Allegretti wasn't playing. And then in that same game, many of our defensive. starters played two snaps, but not all the defensive starters. Kinlawn Payne didn't play at all. So the true starters, trenches and otherwise, hey Pat, they haven't stepped on the field for any game action. I always think like when I have these conversations, whether on radio or sometimes with

people in person or people that I know, it's hard to get them to understand. that yes, they got absolutely run out of the building by Baltimore on Friday night, 41 to 3. It didn't look good. They didn't look ready. They weren't energized all that. Let me be up front. I did not watch the game. I was out of town.

I had a terrible voice last week. I lost my voice, which is why I didn't do shows on Thursday and Friday. And I ended up being out of town over the weekend as well. And I didn't watch the game. I watched a 30 minute or so highlight reel of the game. And anytime you get beat 41 to 3, you're probably not as energized as the other team. But Pat and people like Pat, you're misguided if you think that that's a tell on anything. Most of the players, which includes the trench players that played on Friday night in Baltimore,

they were either cut yesterday, cut and signed back to the practice squad today, or in the case of a few, they might play some this year as backups. The only thing Friday night proves is that Baltimore's cuts yesterday, the players they waived, were better than the players that Washington waived yesterday. I guess you could say that speaks to the Ravens being a deeper team than Washington, but I think I could have told you that before the game. I mean, Baltimore is a Super Bowl contender in 2026. Washington is not perceived as a Super Bowl contender.

But those that, like Pat, predict Doom based on the results of players who won't be playing in the regular season. And, you know, playing, by the way, without any level of game planning or in-game adjustments, it just doesn't mean much. It means very, very little to what you're going to see on September 13th. Now, it doesn't mean that the last month and a half doesn't raise questions, but they just haven't been answered yet in a real test environment. And the real test environment is a real game that matters, that the coaches prepare for, that they devise a game plan for,

that the starters play in, that the starters play in for the entirety of the game. game. There are questions, yes, no answers to those questions yet, other than you lost your second best player on the team in Laramie Tunsell. You have an answer to that because he got injured. You also have an answer to you added a quality veteran wide receiver and Stefan Diggs during the summer. That provided an answer to do you have a legitimate, you know, other receiver? You probably do. But I have some questions about our team. Questions are different than concerns. They are different than conclusions for sure. Just so you know, Pat and people like Pat, if your conclusion here on August 31st turns out to be right, and it could, they might go

5 and 12 or 6 and 11. If your prediction of 5 and 12 or 6 and 11 turns out to be right, just know that it's not because of what happened on Friday night in Baltimore or the week before in Detroit. Because, again, most of those players that were involved in producing those results aren't on the team anymore. I don't know why that's so hard. Now, enough of Pat and people like Pat, and I know that much of the panic, and yes, I'd call some of what we've seen and heard a borderline panic after Friday night. I know a lot of it is social media reaction. I understand that.

The Fire Quinn, Fire Peters, like that would actually happen before. the actual season begins. I know it's some real dumb-dums on social media. I get that. Ignore the noise should be the mantra. But this particular summer does seem noisier than normal. But there are questions. Yes, the offensive line is a question mark entering the season.

Not because of the three snaps we saw against the lions with three-fifths of the starters or even the pass protection issues that they apparently had against the Ravens in a joint practice. Again, there's no game planning for any of that. Game planning is a big deal, people. If you have a concerned area, a weakness, you can call plays that protect that weakness, that can mask that weakness to a certain degree. Example, if you're having trouble protecting your passer with pass rush pressure, You know, Detroit in that game had six on the line of scrimmage.

Your quarterback isn't going to go in the game with a game plan that calls for a lot of dropback passes. No, you're not going to game plan and play call dropback passes if you're having issues protecting. You're going to go to more quick game. You're going to get it out quickly from the quarterback's hands. Short passing game. Bubble screens, regular screens, hitches, slants, fades to nullify. the disadvantage that you might have up front. You didn't see any of that in the preseason with even the starters in their three snaps

or any of the backups. But the question about the offensive line starts for me, not at center, but with the loss of Tunsell. For me, the center position is a question mark. But losing Laramie Tunsell, the second best player arguably on the team is a big deal. And given that left tackle is a position. that protects the blind side of a right-handed quarterback, it's rather important.

It's great that Brandon Coleman has played left tackle for us. It is, and he's done a nice job, and he might be better in year three than he was in year one. That's comforting, but he's not Laramie Tunsell. So there's a big question for me about the offensive line. It starts at left tackle, not at center. You know, will they be able to replace Laramie Tunsell to a level that doesn't really wreck them.

The center position is a question mark. I'm not saying it isn't because Nick Allegretti hasn't really done it before. This is their plan. Now, we haven't seen their plan. You know, today, Peters and Quinn address the media. And Peters made a comment to the effect of, you know, the fans don't get to see what we're working on and what we're essentially, you know, not showing.

They're not showing anything, of course. And we feel pretty good about what we're going to roll out on September 13th. And they feel really good about Nick Allegretti. They think he is really smart, a great communicator, and they think they are in good shape with Nick Allegrety. They think they are in as good as shape with Allegretti, if not better, than they were with Tyler Biotish. Now, he's got to be healthy, and it doesn't seem to me like they had a competitive enough camp at that position. and as of the recording of this podcast, they have not added to that position. Other teams have around the league.

But their plans, Nick Allegrety, we'll see if they're right. They have not been proven wrong yet because they haven't played a real game. They haven't been proven wrong on anything yet because they haven't played a real game yet. They seem confident. So it's not like, you know, it's not like Allegretti is the starting center against Philadelphia because the other starting center got injured during camp. He is the starting center, and they were comfortable with that going into camp, and now we'll see if they end up being right.

By the way, even if Aligretti had been healthy all throughout training camp, he wasn't going to play. He was going to play those three snaps. Maybe those three snaps would have turned into four or five snaps. Who knows? I would have preferred to have seen a healthy Nick Allegrety during camp so that they could get more reps together, he and Jaden. But I heard Quinn say today, they've got a lot of reps going back to the spring together.

Let's just hope they're right about him. But is that a question mark along with Tunsell going down and the replacement, Brandon Coleman, a question mark? Sure. But it's not a conclusion at this point. And for me, it's not a concern yet. I'm at zero on the concern meter or the panic meter. or the panic meter. All right.

Five, you know, run for the hills. Zero. You're not, you know, stressed at all. I'm at a zero. I have been a fan of this sport for my entire life, like many of you have. I remember that pre-seasons are not very good predictors of what's going to happen in the regular season.

Another question mark, you know, I think with Trey Amos now and I are for the first four weeks of the season at the very least. I have a question about cornerback. Do they have enough there? I will say that for those that act like Trey Amos going to injured reserve and being lost for four games is like devastating. What are you talking about? He's played 10 total games as a pro.

Yeah, he looked apart, but they didn't just lose Daryl Green or Dion Sanders or Mike Haynes. I mean, he's played 10 total games in the NFL. and a lot of the reaction was, oh my God. I mean, are you kidding me? He's going to injure reserve. Did they handle the injury wrong? How can they play without Trey Amos? I think they're going to try.

I think they're going to try. I like him as a player. I'm not saying that I don't, but to act as if like this guy's a proven, you know, number one corner. No, not in 10 games. Rassoul Douglas, by the way, I looked this up. He's played 135 games in his career.

Fabian Moreau, who they call him. back today after waving yesterday, 124 games in his career. Not 10. 18 of those games for Moreau, by the way, with Durante Jones in Minnesota. I have a short-term question mark

and it's whether or not Adafioi and Kala Von Cheson are going to be available for the opener. You know, they're very secret about their injury situations. This group has been, I don't really care that much. If they think they're gaining a competitive advantage, go for it.

But I have a feeling if O-A and or Chase-on aren't going to be available, we're not going to know that until game day when we see the inactive list. But because Dorrance Armstrong is suspended for that first game, it's possible you enter the opener with basically, you know, a couple of unproven players like John Baptiste and the rookie from Tennessee, as two of your starting or key third and long pass rushers. Anyway, I have a question about the kicker. We don't have a clue how Drew Stevens is going to handle kicking in NFL games at this point.

I have a question about the defense in general. I think it will be improved, but how much improved? I'll tell you this, it has to start with a strong run-stopping group. You can't be a legit contender in the NFL without being able to stop the run. And for three straight years, this team has been awful against the run. 2022, really solid against the run. 23, 24, and 25 horrendous against the run. It's still incredible to think that they got to an NFC title game in 2024 without being able to stop the run.

Of course, it totally caught up to them in that championship game. And they couldn't beat a team that could have named the number of, points they wanted to score against Washington's defense. You've got to be able to stop the run. I think that's a question mark, you know, at this point. So I have questions, but again, they don't rise to the level of major concerns or conclusions. And they won't until I see what it looks like with the team in a real game that counts in the standings and includes starters on the field playing most of, if not the entirety of the football game, with a staff that is prepared and game planned for this specific opponent.

I could go from a few question marks to, you know, five alarm fire real quickly. I could, but I doubt that I will. I think that the regular season early on week one for sure is a head fake. And even early in the season in general doesn't really tell the tale on what a team will be. I mean, it can take. Quinn said it to me two years ago. I played it back a few weeks ago, I think early in training camp, basically said you really don't know what you have

until you've played nearly half the season. Anyway, a lot of anxiety floating around. A lot of it on social media. I get it. A bad narrative about last year's preseason into the regular season I want to discuss next. after these words from a few of our sponsors. Summer can really add up when it comes to how much money you spend,

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That's all I ask. If you've been thinking about new Windows 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com. This from Bath 05. Bath 05 writes, oh, Bath 05 gave us a five star rating and wrote this quick review. I appreciate that, Batho 5, very much so. Batho 5 wrote, Kevin, keep ignoring the obvious comparison to last year all you want. bad preseason, bad regular season start, bad regular season middle, bad regular season end. Dan Quinn runs a soft summer that leads to a rough fall and winter.

I liked that from you, Beth, 05. It's actually a good email to, you know, pick at a narrative about last year's preseason into the regular season. I mean, you can even go back to 2024 if you want. Like, if you really believe that Dan Quinn doesn't prepare a team with whatever he does in the preseason for the regular season, you know, the results actually kind of dispute that. The preseason, by the way, hasn't been great, I don't think. That might be true. I mean, I think the Tunsel news is the worst and a lot of the other injuries that have kind of piled up and cost players time in camp. practice time in particular because many of them weren't going to play in these games anyway.

Last year's preseason was not good for sure. Terry, they didn't have for the entirety of it. They opened up, remember, getting blown out by the Patriots 48 to 18. Again, not one starter played one minute in that Patriot game. And then they played the Bengals and, you know, the starters went right down the field in four plays, but Jaden didn't even throw a pass and he scrambled on a drop back for a touchdown. But it wasn't thought to be a great preseason. But we really weren't sure at the time. But whatever, you know, if you want to say the preseason wasn't very good last year, that's fine.

But to say that that bad preseason last year led to a bad regular season start is inaccurate. Washington opened up the 2025 season with a 21 to 6 win. over the Giants at home. Was it perfect? No. It was actually probably their best defensive game of the year. Of course, they were playing, you know, a giant offense that was, you know, not very good. I mean, Russell Wilson, it was awful in that game, if you recall. But Jaden had a solid game.

He was 19 to 30 for 233 yards. He rushed for another 68 yards, and they won the game 21 to 6. They were never really threatened in that game. and it wasn't, you know, a 2024 perfection game from the offense, but it was the opener. You know, Bill in his first game had 82 years. They rushed for 220 yards in the game. Debo Samuel in his first game had seven catches for 77 yards. Okay.

Then week two, obviously that was a problem at Green Bay. Short week, excellent team they were facing. And Jaden got hurt in the second half. Now, that game was never competitive. But then week three, without Jaden, with Marcus Mariotta starting, they blew out the Raiders 41 to 24. They were very good on offense. They actually played not great on defense, if you recall. Gino Smith actually lit them up in that game.

And then week four, it was more of a defensive problem, but offensively, even with Marioita, they moved the football, they scored 27 points. And then week five, they blew out the chargers on the road. and what was easily their best, you know, complete game of the year and the best game for Jaden. And then they were, you know, one rainstorm and dropped, you know, handoff, fumble against Chicago from starting the season four and two. You know, there was nothing alarming about this start to their season last year. Sure, it didn't look pretty against Green Bay. Sure, the defense really struggled against Atlanta and Michael Pennix Jr.

But once they got it together and got Jaden back, you know, they were. missing him for three straight games. They rolled the chargers and they were beating the bears who turned out to be a pretty good football team until a big, big turnover unforced at the end of the game.

And then the injuries just started piling up and the rest is history about 2025. Look, 2024, they may not have played well against Tampa in the opener, but they were four and one after that. Now, who'd they beat? The Giants,

the Bengals. I mean, the Bengals, that was a landmark win in the coming out game for Jaden Daniels. They beat the Cardinals. They beat the Browns. But they were four and one. They ended up starting the season seven and two. So this narrative about these soft camps leading to soft starts is just not backed up by the evidence. Maybe it will this year, because I'll tell you what, at Philly, at Dallas, Seattle at home, on paper, Doesn't look very easy. They'll be underdogs more likely than not in all three. I mean, things could change like, you know, Dak Prescott could go down.

By the way, Dallas cut Joe Milton. Sam Howell is the official backup for Dak Prescott in Dallas. I think, and I've always thought about Sam Hal, he should be a backup quarterback in the NFL. He was, I think, third string last year, right, somewhere? But anyway, I just think it's a, I don't want to call Bath 05 to take a lazy take, but I think people have gotten caught up in this belief that, look, Quinn did say that he didn't feel like they had the same edge last year. But the bottom line is the edge or no edge in training camp last year, that's not why this season imploded. The season imploded because they lost their very best players to injury.

after, by the way, a reasonable start to the year with some injuries. Yeah. The cut down to 53. I did want to just mention a couple of players that I, it's not that I was surprised at. And I'll update you on some of the transactions from today. But I will tell you that Van Jefferson is flat out a better wide receiver. than Luke McCaffrey is.

Now McCaffrey's an excellent kickoff returner. Van Jefferson could do that. They have other options too for kickoff return people. But Van Jefferson, I'm sorry, he's a better receiver than Luke McCaffrey. He just is. And he had an excellent camp by all accounts practice, we're talking about, not the preseason games. Like pros, pro, really excited about him.

I know they hated to cut him. And if they didn't sign Steph, Diggs, he probably would be on the roster. But I did not love Van Jefferson not making the team and Luke McCaffrey making the team. Now, there is the thing about, you know, a multi-year veteran. And if they make the week one roster, they're then locked in in terms of getting paid for the entire year. Is it possible that Van Jefferson gets brought back in week two, maybe? And certainly injuries could bring him back very quickly. But I think out of everything, even though I'm not surprised they went that way,

I'm disappointed they went that way. Because I think Van Jefferson could have been a contributor to the team, and maybe he still will be. I also thought that Cahoe getting cut instead of Medrano. It's not, again, that it was a major surprise, but I really liked the way Cahoe played. And then there was one other, Antonio Hamilton, Senior,

I just think that they love him as a special teamer, and I thought there was a chance he'd make the team outright. Now, here's the news as of today. Practice Squad, 12 players as of the recording of this podcast, have been signed to the practice squad. Jaden Bradley, the receiver, Byron Cowart, the D-Tackle, Fred Davis, the Corner, Julian Good Jones, who got released yesterday,

signed back to the practice squad. Sam Hartman back to the practice squad. They went with, you know, Callie Manis from Rutgers. I thought he, you know, looked like a better quarterback prospect than Sam Hartman did. But that's because I've seen a lot of Sam Hartman. But, you know, again, preseason environment, who knows, but they went with him anyway. Robert Henry Jr. was brought back. DJ Johnson was signed to the practice squad. Cahoe was brought back. Craig Reynolds, who I think they like a lot. running back brought back to the practice squad. Trent Scott got released, brought back to the practice squad.

So was Darius Rush, he was added. And the team did sign Chief's offensive tackle, ASA pull to the practice squad as well. So those were some of the moves. And Antonio Hamilton, and I'm just reading this right now, he declined a spot on Washington's practice. squad. So he must have other options. And they brought back Tuttle and Merow today, officially putting Laramie Tunsell and Johnny Newton on injured reserve. So that kind of gets

you up to speed on the roster. And back at practice today, Allegretti, Duran Payne, but guys like Oway, Chase on, Jordan McGee, Senate, and Kroski, Merritt. we're not practicing today. So we'll see. I mean, we've got 13 days until the opener against Philadelphia. Something about that opener that I want to share with you when we come back after these words from a few of our sponsors. August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins. And honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet.

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go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order using promo code Sheehan. That's goldbelly.com code Sheehan for 20% off your first order. Quick schedule update for this upcoming week shows tomorrow and Thursday with Tommy and definitely a show on Friday as well, which will include the first smell test of 2026. Also tune in to Thursday show because there may be a smell test pick for Thursday night's college games. I did not give out a smell test selection for this previous weekend, week zero. Sorry again for last week, Thursday and Friday. I legit lost my voice completely, was unable to do a show on either one of those days. Wednesday this week is up in the air. More likely than not a show, but not guaranteed. And then next week, we are in full regular season form. I'll have all of my predictions.

Tommy will have his. We'll go division by division. We'll pick the playoff teams, division winners, wild cards, conference champions, Super Bowl winner, and of course, we'll have our skins. season prediction as well next week. So MyBooky right now has Philadelphia as a four and a half point favorite over Washington. Why am I mentioning that? Well, MyBooky is the place to bet football for 2026. Go to mybooky.ag or mybooky.com and use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and you'll get a cash bonus. But this just illustrates that all of the angst, all of the concern and even borderline panic,

you know who's not panicking? The odds makers, the boys in the desert. They have this number right where it's been since the schedule came out. I even found some three and a halves today for the first time where Philly's only a three and a half point favorite. I also saw five and I saw five and a half My bookie's got it at four and a half. It's exactly basically what it's been for the majority of the offseason. I think actually my bookie hit five at one point, maybe even five and a half. But the boys in the desert don't consider summer to be important people, which is why you shouldn't either.

I know some of you don't care about this. But those of you who know do know that they tend to try to make money and not give away wins for their better. So these lines reflect that. If they were really hyper concerned about Washington getting ready to play a season that's doomed, Philadelphia at home in the opener would be every bit of a six, six and a half seven point favorite. We would have seen it skyrocket. Nothing over the summer impacts these numbers except for major injuries, most notably to quarterbacks.

Washington's over-under number at my bookie is still seven and a half hasn't changed hasn't dropped to six and a half or five and a half. It's still at seven and a half. Now, I will mention it is less expensive to play the over than it was a month and a half, two months ago. It's at minus 108 right now if you play the over and it's minus 115 if you play the under. Those numbers were actually reversed. Actually, for a while it was minus 125. to play the over, which, you know, it's costing you more to play what they believe to be the side of that bet that will be bet more.

And they're trying to even up kind of the action. But the number itself hasn't changed. And the point spread for week one hasn't changed. Philly still remains a four and a half point favorite. The total in the game at my bookie, 45 and a half. the college football from over the weekend, hard not to mention that Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels, who actually went off as a nine and a half point underdog. That game actually went to 10 and a half at one point.

They won in the first game of the year in Dublin, beating TCU 15 to 10 in a game in which Belichick's defense was outstanding. They stopped TCU on crucial fourth and shorts in the fourth quarter. they were, TCU was one for five on fourth down. TCU was supposed to be, you know, an explosive offensive football team, 15 to 10 heels over TCU. This, you know, Belichick is, you know, at Carolina is a disaster. It might prove to be true.

But the guy can coach. He can flat out coach. And they were pretty good defensively at the end of, last year. Now, his son was the defensive coordinator. He's not a part of the team right now. I don't know what's going on there. But, you know, towards the end of the year, they had moments defensively. They won a couple of games. They held Virginia almost beat Virginia in a game that went to overtime. It was like, I think it was 20 to 19, something like that. I should look that up. But they were okay defensively at times last year. Big win for Belichael.

and North Carolina. It's going to be interesting to watch them. They play Clemson in two weeks on the road and then Notre Dame after that. Elsewhere, how about UVA? Tony Elliott's squad last year was such a surprise. They made it to the ACC championship game where one win away from the playoff.

They lost to Duke and that allowed Miami to get in with the ACC screwed up tie-breaking situation, which they have fixed for this. upcoming season, but Virginia opened up with an absolute beatdown of NC State, 34 to 8. They were only three and a half point favorites in that game. The quarterback, Bo Prabula, who transferred from Missouri, was at Penn State before that, 155 yards, two touchdowns throwing the football, 9 of 11, and then rushed for another 100-plus yards in the game.

They rolled NC State. UVA's got a favorable schedule. No Miami on this schedule. They do have to play at Florida State and at SMU. But right now, their schedule, the only ranked team that it's showing is SMU on the road. They could be 6 and 0 going into that game. I don't know if that's what they'll end up being. But I think Saturday was an indication that last year there's some carryover.

The quarterback's changed and they've got new players. but this looks like a pretty decent football team. Although, let me just mention, like in the NFL, week one in college can often be a major head fake because they don't have any preseason games. There's nothing except for themselves to practice against. So that opener sometimes serves as a preseason game. This upcoming Labor Day weekend filled with games,

It's not a great week one lineup, to be honest with you. There's one exceptional game, and that is LSU at home in Death Valley against unranked Clemson. There is not a matchup, I don't think, between ranked teams in week one. I'm pretty sure that is true. But I am looking forward to Lane Kiffin's debut. Should be interesting. That team will be much talked about all season long.

How about the Nats last night? Another bullpen blown save. The 35th of the season. They gave up six runs in the top of the ninth. They entered the top of the ninth with a two to nothing lead. Alvarez was great in his start. Pitch six innings, no earned runs, just two hits. And then Cosgrove meltdown.

Beater was okay in his two innings. but a disastrous ninth for the Nats who fall to 65 and 74 after they had taken the first three from the Marlins. And then I wanted to finish with this in case you didn't see it. Venus Williams at 46 years old last night played in a match, first round match. The U.S. Open now opens up on Sunday, not on Mondays. So there was a full slate yesterday. And that included, by the way, last night at Ash, the main stadium, The double header was going to be Jokevich last night playing against this Argentinian

named Mariano Navone, followed by Venus Williams in a match that would follow. The problem is the Djokovic match went nearly five hours, and Venus didn't take the court against her opponent, Sophia Kenan, until 1213 a.m. Eastern. That is absurd. Now, Jokovic real quickly, he was sick, he was vomiting on the court, actually took a two sets to one lead and then just had nothing left. Lost the last two sets, 6-2 and 6-1. Djokovic, first time he's lost in the first round of a major since 2007. Now, I don't know if that's going to mean the end of Jokovic.

We'll see. Venus at 46 years old hasn't won a match since 2025 in D.C. She's lost 14 consecutive first-run matches. But here's why you got a match that started at 12, 13 a.m. Several years back, probably in the wake of the summer of 2020, the U.S. Open decided against a longstanding, you know, scheduling format where at night on the main center court stadium, Arthur Ash, there would be two matches scheduled, highlight matches,

women's match to kick it off and a men's match to follow. They switch that around to where sometimes the women, play the second match, you know, kind of the nightcap, rather, you know, in a bigger highlighted spot, I guess, rather than playing the first match. The problem with that is you run into what they ran into last night, which is starting a match at 12, 13 a.m., which, by the way, did not end with Venus Williams losing again, 7-6 in the second, lost in straight sets 6276. But you can only start a match after midnight if the men's men's men's men. match is the first match on the card because women's matches are best of three. Three hour matches are

like the max, a three hour match. So if it starts at seven or seven 30, it's over at 10, 10.30. And the men's match takes the court at 1030, 1045, something like that. Not at 12.13 a.m. So I understand that they wanted to have some, you know, they wanted to equal it up with respect to women being able to play in the second more highlighted feature match on the center court at Ash at night, which the U.S. Open at night is a big deal. But you can't really do it. You've got to be practical about this unless you're going to move the women's matches to best out of five, which they're not going to do. You play the women's match first. By the way, I would suggest that that first match is a more highlighted spot anyway. I mean, starts at 7.15, 7.30, whatever it is,

you know, goes, if it's a long match, it ends at 930, 945. I mean, a men's match starting at 10, 10, 15, that's not, you know, incorporating the majority of the country watching it. But they should go back to that format. So what happened last night can't happen again. Venus is playing with Serena in doubles. I always like the U.S. Open. I love the fact that it coincides with the end of summer, the beginning of fall, the beach, the beginning of football season.

Although this U.S. Open, with Jokovic out, sinners not playing, Al-Qaraz is just coming back into, after a long injury. I think the men's side is fairly wide open. Maybe this could be an opportunity for Francis Tiafo, who's the 11 seed. He plays tonight to make a run. He's made a couple of runs already,

but maybe to a final or to, an actual major championship. I don't know if he's good enough to win a major championship, but the men's side at the U.S. Open seems kind of open. All right, that'll do it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with Tommy, who is all over this, you know, prediction that he's made,

the aura of collapse. He seems to be excited about his August prediction. We'll talk to him tomorrow. That's it for today. We wound up five and 11. Not very good. But there was some worse than us. I guess that's one positive way to look at it.

We weren't the worst team in the league.