The Kevin Sheehan Show - Taylor H.

Episode Date: January 11, 2021

Cooley and Kevin with their recap and analysis of Washington's 31-23 playoff loss to Tampa Bay. Lots of discussion about Taylor Heinicke and whether or not he's a potential starter next year. Lots on the other playoff games as well. Kevin had a pick on the National Championship game and thoughts on Maryland's upset of Illinois last night. 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. There is four. He still is flushed. He's pressured. He's got to fling it.

He almost came up with it on the back end of it as it was battled for. But that will turn it back to Tampa and bring this one in all likelihood to an end. That was it. That was the final chance. fourth and 21 on Saturday night, a season that looked at one point like it was going to be Trevor Lawrenceworthy Cooley, ends up in a division title, a home playoff game, a nearly big time upset pulled off and a massive offseason question at quarterback with a quarterback that none of us knew a month ago and now may be in the mix to be the starting

quarterback in 2021. I have to tell you, seriously, from Saturday night on, I couldn't wait to do this podcast. Could not wait to hear what you had to say about one Taylor Heineke. We should start there. We'll get two coolies. You know, this is what I want to say or whatever it is that you've renamed your game take. I've got my game take. We've got to talk about the future. We've got to go around the league. It was an incredible weekend of football. Did you get a chance to watch all the games? Watched every game. All right.

Sat on my couch all day, Saturday, watched every game, was back and forth between lunch and a couple things and watched every game at the restaurants and stuff yesterday. What a great weekend of football other than last night. All right. I have two words for you and then I want your response. Taylor Heinecke. This is my true response and you understand and I think a lot of people that know me understand

it. after he came back from that shoulder injury, I found myself rooting more for Taylor Heineke than I did the Washington football team. I truly just, I wanted the kid to win. The story, the Cinderella story, the underdog, the performance, everything about this kid, I fell in love with. And I think a lot of people watching this game

really started polling for Taylor Heineke. He was amazing. Can he be their future? It's so impossible to say he's the future off of one game. I can clearly say one thing. You can't put limitations on Taylor Heineke at this point. There's no reason why you should say he cannot. Why has everybody said already through much of his career that he could not,

including the people that signed him and added him to the practice squad a month ago? They cut him at the end of 2018 in Carolina. They brought him in. Remember, let's not forget that Stephen Montez in the first game where Heineke was going to be available to play. Initially, they said Montez was going to be the backup. By the way, how about the shot of Montez when it looked like he might come into the game? I thought he was going to wet himself. Seriously, he looked like he wanted no part of it.

He did not have Taylor Heineke written all over. And I hate to say that about the kid because he never got in the game, but I remember something that Ron Rivera said. Ron Rivera said about the reason Heineke ended up being the backup and playing against Carolina. Yes, Stephen seemed a little bit in awe of this situation. And I thought, well, there are no fans. I mean, there's nobody there. And so I did not think if Montez had come into the game, there was much of a chance.

Did you? There was no chance if Montez came into the game. game none i'm sorry at the point he was at they started showed him and it was almost like he was looking at the locker room door when is taylor coming out of there and then he started going around talking to his teammates not going around talking to them saying all right let's go guys let's fired up i'm almost like so do you think i can do this how do you hey brandon how do you think this is going to go for me i'm i'm a little bit worried about it it they're scary they they're gonna hit me hard aren't they it's yeah it's gonna be bad they were coming over to

him and you could see him just he was just sitting there yeah no no no i i'm fine thanks man thanks thanks so jesus christ no i'll be i'll i'll do my best i'm gonna work hard out there for everyone exercises um and then heine if he came in to save the day fortunately uh oh he's back he's back thank god he's back the savior thank god the next camp at drive as many of them were took a long time. So we'll get to that. You know, it's, first the thing with Heineke, though,

that blows you away. What? It was against a Tampa Bay defense, number one against the run, in the top 10 against the pass. Demeaning, demonstrative, crush you pass rush where Bulls is bringing blitzes,

good back-end coverage, a mixture of everything. And you can't run the ball. and out comes Heineke with unbelievable poise. He's going through progressions, making throws down the field to second and third reads. He's decisive with everything he's doing. He ends up being completely accurate other than maybe one throw to Logan Thomas on the day. He took shots down the field when he needed to.

His movement in the pocket with his vision and eyes is outstanding. He scrambled when he had to scramble with like the five. of dodge ball, dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Because that was what he was doing a bunch of the time. I got a comp for you. And it's the moment that I came up with the comp and watching on Saturday night was when he ducked and then he got out of there and made a play. Jeff Garcia.

Jeff Garcia, to me, is the comp for Taylor Heineke. Now, that's like for me, like, if he really is the real deal, He could be Jeff Garcia. Some people will say, well, what was Jeff Garcia? Jeff Garcia was a long-time quarterback, who, by the way, I believe had his start in the CFL before he got discovered by the 49ers. But the reason I said that is Garcia was always moving around and making people miss and making plays. Plus, he always threw sort of a catchable ball. But Garcia was one of those guys that wasn't as small as he looked.

You know, Heineke 6-1, but man, he looks small out there. That was the guy that I came up with as I was reading many people start to say things like, that's Drew Breeze. That's the next coming of Drew Breeze. He's got some Joe Montana in him. He looks like Steve Young. Stop it, okay? I'm trying to exert a little bit of patience here because there are reasons why he didn't play.

But Garcia was the guy I thought of watching him. What do you say to that? Well, Garcia played in three Pro Bowls. Thank you. Yes. Yeah. Garcia was really good. What do you think about the comp? I think the comp's completely realistic.

Garcia was more mobile, I guess I wouldn't say more mobile Steve Young, but he was almost like a perfect transition for the 49ers to a guy that moved around with a little bit more intent to move around than Young. Young could scramble when he had to, but Garcia kind of had that back and forth duck, dip, dive thing in the pocket. Right. Yeah, and then Garcia was, it's a great comp.

The more I think about this, the more I see that. Because it's not Drew Breeze at this point. No. And I'm looking, I mean, we're getting carried away here. I didn't even realize Garcia had been to three pro balls. So that's even me getting carried away. But I remember mentioning this. You're just describing who he looks like to you.

I mentioned this on the radio show and people are like, he's better than Garcia. And I'm like, wait a minute, Garcia was pretty good. Garcia's first start in the NFL was at 29 years old, too, because I was right. He played for the Calgary Stampeders from 94 to 98. Went to San Jose State. You know, was not a big time, you know, prospect at all. Went undrafted, was not drafted. So there's a lot of comps there.

I always remember Garcia being a bit of a baller, a bit of a gamer. And as I was watching him the other night, I'm like, maybe he could be a Jeff Garcia type. By the way, he's a four-time pro bowler. Yeah, I should have remember the fourth because I hung out with him at the Pro Bowl in 2007. Yeah, he was a pro bowler with Tampa at 37 years old. But anyway, so real quickly, we're going to get to your game take or whatever you call it now. This is what I want to say or whatever it is now. Change it every week.

And I'm going to get to my game take and we're going to go around the NFL. We're going to do all those things. but right now, just give me your best guess he played one game and two series against Carolina. Is he a guy that's back in competing for the starting job for 2021? Yeah. He is? Yes. Okay.

Well, okay, this is that we're going way into this, but you got to think about why he isn't on the field. And in his situation, it's not always fair. This isn't this isn't the free world quarterback. These coaches and GMs bank on those first, second, third round picks, and they get the opportunities, and they get the reps and practice, and they get the looks because you're going to go down with those guys. It's unfortunate, but that's what you're going to do. And if you're not one of those starters or you're not the first or second team through training camp, you're getting like seven plays at the end of the day. The third and fourth string quarterbacks aren't getting looks, especially the fourth guys in training camp. they're just hanging out.

That's it. And so he's this undrafted kid out of Old Dominion, who's probably better in games, especially watching him scramble and move under big time pressure with balls, man, like with balls in this game, that wasn't getting looks in practice. And that certainly wasn't getting enough looks in games

and wasn't getting any starting reps. Now, it's not fair. But there's only one quarterback and most teams got one. You know, he's got a chance. I remember what you said about Deshaezer Everett, and I thought it was just such, it made so much sense to me. DeShazer Everett, you know, what he does best doesn't show up at practice because what he does best is tackle well and hit. And he's a bit of an intimidator. And, you know, it took him a while.

He had a couple of opportunities here and there. Now, for a guy like Everett, there are always the special teams to keep you around on a roster. when you're a quarterback. You know, Joe Thaisman return punts. But, you know, most quarterbacks, if they really end up having the potential to be a starting quarterback, and they're one of those people that you don't note it, you don't get to know that until you see them out there because they're just gamers. You know, they show up.

They know what to do when you get out there. And other than that, in practice, they're not going to show you a lot. I think this guy probably impresses them in the meeting room, though. I bet that that's a, I mean. Well, you heard him talking about the math, the advanced math stuff. Yeah, he was taking like derivatives classes. So he's probably pretty bright. And there was nothing they held back in the game plan that had been as a part of the game plan throughout this year that I saw.

They didn't limit anything for Heineke. I'm sure that was something that Scott Turner loved about. I mean, it was Scott Turner's guy. And it was basically what they said. But, you know, Scott Turner's guy when Turner was what, a quarterback's coach or a quality? control coach that he loved him. Yeah, I mean. Can you imagine quality control Scott Turner coming into your office in 2016?

And he's like, this kid, Heineke, man, you got to go back, guys. And you got to go watch Old Dominion come back against New Hampshire. I mean, yeah. In front of 28,000 at Foreman Field, Heineke had 791 yards offense. Was it really Foreman Field? Did you make that up? No, it was. five touchdown passes.

Okay. Running around, making plays, brought him back. Watch this New Hampshire game. And they're like, how big is he? Oh, he's just about 6'1. Uh-huh. And why was he passed up everywhere? I'm not sure, but he's good.

Scott, I know your dad's really big deal, but you're a quality country. Just let us evaluate the guys. In the back of his mind, he's like, when I get my shot, I like Heineke. just other people not believe in him and it makes it tough and he's undrafted so he's not getting these shots the point is he got a shot and he made the most of it in a huge way and he showed you a few things in my opinion he showed one that no moments too big he showed that a play through something because that shoulder was banged up and not only play through but play through with some some real skill showed you that he is going to keep

his eyes down the field against a big time rush against blitz pressure. Although he's moving and scrambling, which he also showed he can do, his eyes are down the field and he's got vision to his receivers. He showed you some accuracy. I think that everything you saw from Heineke, you got to say, maybe we should go back and watch that New Hampshire game. Maybe we should go back and watch some of the things he did when he played.

And certainly let's go back and watch. when he played a Carolina in the game and let's see what this kid really is. But for Washington, Alex has got to be done. And I think that's a big conversation. But I think he will want to be done. I think he proved everything he needed to prove to himself. Got healthy, got back, did everything to overcome, led this team essentially to a division championship. And at this point, he's got to say, I can't make it through a year.

Now, maybe he stays as a backup. But Washington also, I think at this point, has to say, do we draft a guy in the first round if somebody's there? Do we draft a guy in the second round if we like someone that falls? And then is that what's the competition between Allen and Heineke? With Heineke actually having a chance to win the job, not being the fourth guy in camp, not getting the last quarter of the fourth preseason game,

which actually doesn't even exist anymore, legitimately getting a shot with the ones and twos, I think he deserves that. I'm not saying he's the answer. I'm not saying that they don't end up drafting a guy, but I'm saying somewhere he should be given a definitive chance. Yeah, I'm totally for giving him a chance. I don't think, I think at this point, you know, look,

I think I have to just trust the professionals at this point. I think it's interesting because I'm just looking through the 2012 season that he had when he led O'DU to the quarterfinals against Georgia Southern. He passed for 5,076 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions that year. And on September 22nd, 2012 against New Hampshire, a Division I record 730 yards and five touchdowns. And, you know, I do think there is something, I mean, I'm going to go with the basketball analogy,

because for me, it's much more something I'm familiar with. if a guy can score, I'm sorry, if a guy can shoot, he can shoot it, period. I don't care what level he's at. When a guy can just shoot it, he just can shoot it. Like when a guy can score, he can score. So if a D2 guy from Shippensburg State averaged 41 points a game as a junior, but he's undersized, I'm still going to be like, I'm sorry, there's just too much production. to ignore. It's way too much production to ignore because clearly this guy knows how to score

or for a shooter, this guy, he can shoot it. This guy could throw it. This guy could put up numbers. He could move the ball. He could score. And I understand it was O'DU, but O'DU was a power at that level. But again, the thing is, he wasn't ignored. I mean, he- Why wasn't he went? Why wasn't he? This is the Baltimore quarterback. This is so bad. We got drafted out of Division 2. Baltimore, forever.

Flacco? Flacco. He wasn't one of these two guys because he didn't have... Flacko is 6'6, though. Exactly. Yeah. That's why he wasn't drafted out of a Division 2 school. He's a Division 2 player that doesn't have the natural size in athletic attributes.

Well, he's athletic, but he doesn't have that pure size. Those are the quarterbacks that come out of D2 that have a chance now. Or that are drafted now. This is a guy that couldn't get on the field for the St. Louis Battlehawks. He was behind Nick Fitzgerald, who was the Ole Miss, the Mississippi State Quarter. How many? How many? Not many before it was shut down because of the pandemic. And practice.

Not a good practice player, clearly, or doesn't show his skill set in practice. We're going to have so much time to talk about him. I'm just going to mention this. He was the number one reason they had a chance Saturday night, period. We watched him Saturday night. The context of the game was a playoff game against a great defense, and he had no running game. And he was an A coolly in the game. I'm saying that before, and I can't wait for your film breakdown tomorrow.

But he was an A, and he was the number one reason they had a chance to win the game, and whatever number two was was a distant number two, because they certainly didn't have a chance because of the defense. Who saw that coming? Nobody did. I wanted to say something before we got to our game takes and eventually to all of the games. I just, you know, there's a lot of optimism right now. You know, they were seven and nine, and by the way, they lost the game. And I understand that, you know.

I understand why some people would say they were seven and nine in a terrible division and they lost a playoff game. So let's, let's, you know, put the brakes on here. But you can't. You can't do that because the bottom line is that the measuring stick for a good season around here is competitive and playoffs, not winning in the playoffs. It's sad because I'm certainly of the era where getting to the Super Bowl was the measuring stick. And it was that way for two decades. Like if you weren't in the Super Bowl, it was a disappointing season from 1981 until like the mid-90s.

But around here for 20 years, getting to the playoffs is a big win. And I wanted to just say this about what I think was the biggest takeaway from the 2020 season. And that is they got the head coach right. Ron Rivera did an amazing job. It's actually incredible to think about what he had to deal with in his first year as not just a head coach, but is the face and the voice of the franchise. It was a franchise once again in peril, per usual, except even on steroids, right?

Name change, organizational, you know, harassment claims, investigations, legal battles between majority owner and minority owners. You know, on the football side, you had a quarterback that the owner wanted that nobody else believed in. Then you started out one in five, and there was, we were talking about it. You know, they could be in the hunt for Trevor Lawrence. I remember saying, ah, their defense is getting better. Their defense is pretty good.

They're probably going to win four games, five games. You know, when all of a sudden done, they're not going to be in the Trevor Lawrence thing. And I think you agreed at the moment. But still, they were one in-five. We had in-game quizzes. We had late game tapping out. Remember that? I mean, when he was tapping out of those games saying, I want to save people from injury.

By the way, then he's running plays at the end of the first half the other night, but I'll save that for my game take. All the while, this man was battling cancer. Like, it's really, I loved the hire. Most of you know that. I thought it was a really good hire. I was a fan from afar of his teams, who I always felt overachieved. I always felt like he got the most out of what he had.

And we saw that this year. It was an amazing accomplishment when you think about it, Cooley, to A, keep the team interested. B, keep the team competitive. C, continue to coach it up where it improved as the season went on, which, by the way, has been a hallmark of his head coaching career. His teams have consistently gotten better as the season's gone on and they've played their best football at the end of the year. And sure, it took a little bit of luck because of a bad division,

but he won the division in his first year. And for me, you know what that means? It means Rivera is one for one. He's one for one because he basically almost exceeded the measuring stick for success in the first year. He made the playoffs. He almost won a playoff game. And I know what his record was. Okay, I get it.

But Rivera is one for one. There can be no owner intrusion after a playoff season in the first year. No suggestions about, you know, gassing up, you know, Redskin One and chasing down the free agent when free agency begins. No rearranging of a draft board on draft night. Rivera has earned, he's earned my trust. I think many of you out there listening he's earned the trust of, and we have to hope that he's totally earned the trust of the owner as well. He's got to win. He's got to continue to win and continue to improve because we've been here before where we've been optimistic. You know, we were optimistic after Marty's first year, then he got fired. We were optimistic

after 2012. You know, we said all the same things. They've got the right coach. You know, they've got now in, you know, in 2012, they've got the right quarterback. You know, we've said these things before. But I think with Ron Rivera, there's reason to be optimistic again. There's not a reason to be blindly optimistic because you're a fool if you do that. I did that a couple of times years ago. I'm not going to do that anymore. But I am optimistic because I think it's reason. to think that this team, the football side of it, is on the right track. Now, the quarterbacks is still the biggest question mark. It still is. Taylor Heineke did not just solve that on Saturday night. He just presented another potential option. And by the way, if you tell me right now that we

can get Matt Stafford for a second and a third, I'm doing that. I'm doing that. I'm having Heineke. I'm going to bring Heineke and Kyle Allen back. But if Stafford's available, that's the direction I'm going. But I think for the first time in several years, really, there's a little bit of hope and it's reasonable. And those that are very cynical and say, well, they were seven and nine. And the only reason you had a playoff game for this guy to even play in was because the division was so bad. Okay. But I still learned that they have the right guy as a head coach. It doesn't mean it's going to work out. But I felt that they had the right guy in Mike Shanahan, and it didn't work out for him. I'm not changing my mind.

they did have the right guy. I mean, I think the coaches that have gone on off his staff is proof that they had the right guy. I think they had the right guy, obviously, with Joe, but that was Joe's decision at the end of 2007. They definitely had the right guy with Marty. So it doesn't mean it'll work out. But for the moment, and we can only live in the moment right now, I think Ron Rivera just deserves so much credit for the way I feel as a fan right now, which is, you know, hope is a good thing, Red. Hope is a good thing. I'm optimistic.

I'm optimistic. I'm really looking forward to next year. Anyway. Looking forward to next year, too. And it was so funny, someone tweeted us from the show on Friday. Oh, it's my favorite. It's my favorite tweet in weeks. About a month ago, you and I said, and you agreed,

you can't put limitations on this team. There's nothing they can't achieve in the playoffs. and then on Friday, you said to me, so it doesn't seem like this team has much of a chance. And I said, no. And someone tweeted us. What happened to you can't put limitations on this team? No, it was at C. Wellion, who by the way can be pretty harsh. I think it's the guy that I've gotten into it with before.

Maybe it isn't. I can't remember. I will tell you this. When I read this at C. Welian, I laughed so hard. It was so funny the way it was laid out. And I don't even know if it was verbatim, but you laid it out. It was close enough. You laid it out beautifully because you wrote two weeks ago at Kevin Sheen, D.C.

I'm not going to put limitations on this team. And at the Cooley zone, you can't put limitations on them. And then you wrote, today is in Friday. Kevin, they don't have much of a chance, do they? Cooley, no. That was brilliant. In all fairness, though, it's a great tweet by C. Williams. But in all fairness, Alex Smith was playing at a pretty high level.

I think it was coming off the Detroit game or the next game that they. And not the Pittsburgh game. The Pittsburgh game. The Pittsburgh game. And going into this Tampa game, who the hell knew what Taylor Heineckee was going to do? But we did know that Alex was incredibly limited. Right. So we both understood this offense would be very limited.

Hindsight, or sorry, moving forward, had they pulled that out some way, I would rescind they don't have a chance and say you can't put limitations with Heineke. They're good enough that you shouldn't limit this team. Right. If we had seen Heineke do what he did on Saturday night in a win over Pittsburgh, let's just say it was him. We would have said the same thing and we wouldn't have backed off it

going into the postseason. Look, I mean, this is what happens in these situations because I got it all morning long. I remember I called you on Friday and I told you that Heineke was going to be awesome? Look, that's great, and I'm glad you had that vision. It was totally the reasonable viewpoint to assume that you had no idea what Taylor Heineke was going to provide off of two drives against Carolina.

That was our position. My position was simply put, I did not want to see Alex Smith out there if he couldn't at least be what he was against the Eagles, because if he was what he was against the 49ers, they had no chance. And we were starting to get an inkling that it may be more difficult for Alex Smith to be at that level that he was at least at last week. And so what did you have? You had Taylor Heineke. And yeah, my opinion was more likely than not. Like if you forced me to wager, look, I pulled, I had Washington and the smell test. So for those of you that said, and the tweet, you know, and we probably did go back and forth on something like that. So, you know,

of it tongue placed firmly in cheek. I did put them into the smell test plus eight and a half and I did predict them to be in the game in the fourth quarter with a chance to win and my final score prediction was 20 to 15. So I didn't think really when it came down to it that they didn't have any chance. I will tell you though, Cooley. I tweeted out and for those that didn't get this, you know, I had Indie winner. I had the Rams winner. I had the Bears loser. We'll talk about, you know, how the Bears lost a little bit later. So a two and one smell test weekend. I pulled the Washington play. I gave him out on Friday.

I should have stuck with it. I would have been three and one. But I pulled it for this reason. When it was announced that Alex Smith wasn't going to play, the line shot up to 10.5. 11. Okay, Tampa went from 8, 8.5 to 9 as the news was getting, you know, starting to percolate, 9.5.

And then when it was official, that line went to 10.5 and even 11 in some spots. And then came back a little bit to 10. and a half. And what happened was when the line went really high, the public came in and bought Washington back a little bit. And so I pulled it from the smell test. I didn't like the game. It had a lot to do with Heineke. Don't get me wrong. But it had a lot to do with, you know, the shark money too was saying, or the shark money was saying without Alex Smith, they don't have a chance. So I pulled it from the smell test. And I will be honest with you, if we did a show right before the game, knowing that Taylor Heineke was going to start, I would have said,

I have no idea what to expect, but my guess is it's not going to go well. That would have been my guess, and that they're going to need a heroic defensive performance, especially by their best defensive player, to have a chance in this game. Well, I would have been dead wrong. The only reason they had a chance was because of O'DU and Taylor Heineke. It's the only reason they had a chance. By the way, I wanted to mention this one thing because there was a conversation that I had with somebody who basically told me they knew after the Philadelphia game that it was going to be Hineke. Now, you know, they were still holding out hope that there could be a miraculous recovery. But Alex in the second half was hurting again against Philadelphia. He was much better in the first half.

and with Bowls as the defensive coordinator and the kind of aggressive defense they were going to face against Tampa, they all knew after the Tampa game that Heineke was going to be the starter. And they definitely, during the course of the week, we're planning on Heineke being the starter. And in fact, Ron told Heineke on Friday, you're starting. Let's keep it quiet, though, until tomorrow, but you're starting. But I was told that basically, you know, Alex,

Alex, they thought Heineke at 100% was so much better than Alex at 50%, especially given the context of a Bowles defense. And that Tampa's defense was going to be aggressive, and they were going to have to have some mobility and the ability. They were concerned that Alex wouldn't have survived that game. I'll be honest with you. The only thing I'm disappointed in is not understanding what they were doing throughout the week on my part. was so obvious when they said they're going to rotate quarterbacks and do there was no rotation. I never bought that. I bought the idea that if Alex couldn't, that Heineke might come in was kind of what I thought. And then maybe if I need he wasn't playing well making throws, Alex

could come back. But it was, it's so obvious. The writing on the wall, there's no rotating Alex Smith. So we should have known on Tuesday, they're just playing Heineke. Oh, I didn't think, I didn't think that the rotation thing was legitimate. I did think the possibility. But we should have understood. We should have said on this podcast on Tuesday is what I'm saying to you. Okay. The only reason they're saying this is because Alex can't play. I think we should have. That was, that is so easy looking back at it. Yeah. That I didn't know. Yeah. Um, frustrated to myself. I mean, I, I can tell you that they, they were still, they were still holding out hope that there would be some sort of miraculous recovery, but they

were not putting Alex out there compromised against Tampa. They, they, they felt he was good enough to go against Philly. And you know what? They were right for the most part. He was not great and He was immobile in all those things, but he did enough in the first half to get him into the game on Saturday night. But against the defense they were going to face, they pretty much knew at the end of the Philadelphia game when they won that game that it was going to be Taylor Heineke. All right. Let's get to your, you know, what you want to say about the game. Then we'll get to my game take right after this word from one of our sponsors. All right.

Coolies. What is it? What do you call it again? Let me tell you my thing. Yeah, let's get to that from the game Saturday night. One day you'll remember this. It won't be next year, though, likely. Here's what I loved from the game. The things that I liked from this game, Heineke.

We just spent 30 minutes talking about this kid. I loved everything about him. I was pulling for him. Had he managed to come back. down the field and tie that ball game up, I think I would have been off the couch. I thought he was going to. I think I would have had to stand to watch it.

I was hyped for him. I thought he was going to. I thought it was going to come down to a two-point conversion, which they were O-for this year, I think, on. I really thought when they held them to a field goal, they were going to come down and it was going to be a 31-29 game with like 15 seconds to go with a chance to force overtime. Did you?

I guess how did you not how could you not have felt that way but gosh man I mean Heineke made throws all day big throws all day I mean you look I think the first drive they score on he hits Logan Thomas scrambling right for a big throw comes back the next throw he hits Terry McLaurin deep over the middle and he's just he just felt it he was there he was great he was sought felt it knew what to do with the ball I loved it And then you're looking at his mobility. The first scoring drive in the second half, he scrambles on a second and 11 where it looks like he's sacked in the pocket. And that's the point where you decided he was Garcia.

Yes. But like the up, back, up a little bit, still to throw, then take off. God, it was good. And the touchdown scramble where he extends for the pylon where I think he hurt his shoulder. That's where he heard it. Yeah. That was such a big time scramble. Dungy's sitting there going, I don't know how we got out of that.

I mean, even Dungy's in love with him. Everyone's in love with this guy as the game goes on. Just big throw after big throw. The throw to Sims Jr. in the corner of the end zone was huge. I mean, he just threw out. He's seven to 14 and third down situations. It was awesome. I mean, the couple things from He don't like,

he fumbled at the end of the half where he's ruled down by contact. That was a fumble. No doubt. Was it a clear recovery? Yeah, I was a fumble in recovery. They should have lost that ball. They're down 18-7 at that point. Yeah.

It's at best 21-7. I guess he could miss a field goal, but Tampa's scoring there. I don't know that there was a clear recovery. Tampa had it. Okay. You missed Logan Thomas on a third and four, the opener of the third quarter,

the one where he was just M-F and himself. Yeah, well, he also had. the one in the red zone that should have been picked by Whitehead. And he had one that should have been picked by Whitehead. And then he had the sack on the third and ten that I'm excited to see the coaches film before the last throw Logan Thomas, which by the way, I loved on the third and 20. You're going to scramble around and you're going to throw a 50-50 ball to your tallest receiver. You mean the fourth and 21, the last one?

Yeah, the fourth and yeah, I agree with you. I got it. It was a great throw. That's a really smart point because we have seen in the past, you know, a shot to somebody that wasn't capable of making the catch. And it's beyond the sticks, please. He just understood situationally everywhere he needed to go with the ball throughout the game. He knew when to get rid of it. He knew when to throw it away.

There's a ball batting. He knows, like, immediately, like, I'm just going to knock this thing down. He made no stupid mistakes that you see a young quarterback that doesn't understand. situations making a game. He knew exactly where he was in the game and the situation on every play. I thought it was terrific. Some of the other things I liked in this game. I thought the red zone defense was good, and that's about it on defense.

I mean, they held Tampa to one of five in the red zone, which was huge. I mean, Bostic makes a big stop on a third down with gronk in the back of the end zone, but it's good job running with him. They stepped up big other than the last drive that Tampa scored on. I thought they were good in the red zone. They blocked a PAT. They stopped them on a two point. That's a three point swing in the game.

Those are huge moments in playoff games. That kept them alive in this game to some extent. No doubt. They had a big time punch out by Duran Payne in a critical moment in the game where they get the ball back. I love that by pain. If they could have created a couple more turnovers, they would have had a chance in this game. They couldn't create enough turnovers. I just, I loved the game in general.

Just, I loved watching the game. There was a lot to like of it. I mean, Sims made a couple of plays. Sims had a couple of poor plays. But there were guys that made plays throughout this game that I really, I was impressed with. What I didn't like, they were overmatched. And we knew this going in.

And Tampa was so hard to stop. and Tom Brady was awesome. Although he wasn't amazing in terms of completion percentage, which he was aided. One thing I did like, Godwin dropped about five balls in this game. Yeah, he was awfully charitable. But I mean, Tom Brady was good.

And I think at one point they said, when we were talking to Tom, they said, if we have any time against this front four, we'll hurt the back end. Yeah. He knew they were going to hurt the back end. And one of the things I didn't like was that, They tried to be cute at times in the back end.

The first touchdown to Antonio Brown, they're playing a two-invert. Derby runs hard to the middle of the field. Jimmy Morland barely gets a bump on Antonio Brown. And Brady's going to see that, Kev. It's just, Darby's been a guy that you can put one-on-one, and now you're going to play them as a two-invert guy. Two-invert's not been a good thing for them this season. They have not had great success with it.

I didn't like on the first touchdown driver, maybe it was the second one. They get a run stop for two. And I told you on Friday, if they can get them in second and 12th, third and longer situations, they have a chance. And on a second and 12,

they give up a first down to Godwin in front of Bostic and Holcomb misses a tackle. And they're not, they don't even get to third down right there. Right. That was right before they blew the coverage on the drive with Antonio Brown. The next touchdown,

Godwin runs a, crosser right in front of Darby and just as I say Darby's been good covering guys. He has no chance staying with Godwin on the crossing route. And that's another easy touchdown. I hated the onside kick attempt. It wasn't. I didn't hate. It wasn't an onside kick.

He missed the ball. It was no. It was an attempt would he call a mortar kick? They had. Yeah, no. I hated it. I hated it in the moment, but I didn't mind it after I heard his explanation. I'll save that for my stuff. I like the call. I hate the execution.

Yeah, of course, yeah. They're trying to kick it at one of the front six. And if you're going to do that, you've got to kick it harder. All right. I'll do this right now. Do it right now. First of all, on Friday, I said he's going to try some stuff, and he should. Yeah. You know, this is a playoff game.

They're a big underdog. Let's try some tricky numbers. And what they said is they had scouted something, and they thought there was an opportunity to kick it into a, spot where a lineman would have to field it against their speed on that side rushing down on them. And they thought that they could catch them off guard. It was 9 to 7. They had just scored their first touchdown. In the moment, when they did it, I'm like, what are you doing? Because at that moment, I still thought the defense had a chance to be really strong in the game, which obviously

it turned out it was not. So why would you give them that field position? And obviously, it turned out that it was not a great idea to give him that field position. And it was too bad that it happened. But I didn't mind the explanation because he was going for something. They had to try a couple things to gain some possessions. And he said the kick just didn't go to the spot where they hoped it would go. Yeah, I don't hate the idea that you're attempting it. And there was two things that I thought with the kick.

One, the first reason, the reason you're doing this is because they're turning to run without seeing the ball kicked, if that makes sense to you? Yeah. So you're guessing that they're turning to take off and run before they see the ball. So you have two things you can do. You can kick it five yards shorter and actually have a chance in that spot where your guys can get to it. If they're doing that, he kicked it too far. And the other thing you can do if they're turning to run is you can kick it at them

and hope that you bounce it off their chest or bounce it off their back as they start to turn to run and then there's a live ball. Right. He didn't execute either of those two situations. He gave an easy, wobbly little squib for 20 yards. That was the easiest pickup ever. So the execution was what I hated. I actually liked the idea of attempting something.

Me too. That's my point. I like that they were aggressive and they were trying to pick up a possession. And the execution wasn't bad. And by the way, I'm watching it again. And it's not a lineman down there to field it. No, they kicked it all the way to the upback. No, they kicked it to somebody wearing 88.

You would call them the upback. Yeah. Okay, but the way he actually... I don't know where he kicked it. I just... What he did was weird. Actually, he's number 98. So maybe he was a D-Lineman.

So maybe they did have an idea that the D-Lineman wearing number 98... Wouldn't field it? Yeah, it wasn't going to be... Yeah, Anthony Nelson was the guy. So maybe they just thought, you know, he wasn't going to be able to field it, and they had some guys running down there that would make the play. I think they wanted to put it a little bit further in front of him, so he had to run up.

He kicked it almost too hard into him. Anyway, go ahead. That was too hard or too soft or not hard enough or it wasn't a good execution. That's all. No. I didn't like the execution of it. Defensively. Dude, what happened?

You're supposed to be a top five defense. Top five defense can't give up 500 yards, including 142 on the ground. I told you all year. The four net was good. He averaged almost five yards. carry, but that can't happen to this defense. You can tell me all you want. It doesn't mean I'm going to like it on Monday.

I know, but I've been telling you all year. I thought this was an Achilles heel, the stopping of the run. And you didn't think it was as much of an issue. Well, it wasn't as much of an issue as Tom Brady throwing for 381. Well, I know that. And really, it should have been about 450 of Godwin hadn't dropped five balls. I had 12 targets to Godwin. He only had five receptions.

Exactly. Should have had four more. He's officially down for four. drops. I think it's five. I thought it was five, too. Yeah, but it would have accounted for another 50 to 60 yards. Yeah, there was some open throws to Godwin that he didn't make plays on. So that's brutal.

You know, they couldn't cover Cam Brate who had four receptions. Really, he dropped the touchdown. I'm starting to hate this drop rule. I know the ball bounced a little bit. I thought he caught it. I don't like the drop rule, but they couldn't cover Brate. Chase Young, for someone who wanted Tom Brady, was a non-factor. And I'll tell you right now, I've watched that matchup with Donovan Smith.

I thought Donovan Smith had a great plan for Chase Young. There were times where he short-setted him and hit him right in the chest and stoned him. And Donovan Smith controlled the matchup and controlled Chase Young. He was the one that had the plan. That was apparent. There wasn't enough pressure in this game from the Washington D. defense and there wasn't enough back end. It just, it was not good enough. And I thought, Kev, as I was watching this game, the defense would adjust as they did in the second half. And they

were somewhat better. But up 2116, they gave up this touchdown drive, 20 yards to Evans, a 17-yard run by four net, eight yards to Scotty, Scotty Graham, 19 more to Evans. And then after the Bray overturned, Scotty Miller, after the Brate overturned touchdown, down a three-yard run by Fournette. They didn't face one third down on that drive. They marched it down the field to take a 28-16 lead. Give me a stop. I mean, I just kept saying, I'm like, all right, they answered.

They answered. Let's get a stop one. Is the defense going to step up? Like, I kept thinking they're going to step up like they did in the Pittsburgh game in the second half. They're going to step up like they did against a nine or something's going to happen. They're going to make a big play. And they never did.

They never did. Well, Duran Payne did. And I'll get to him in my game. Kev, I should have added Duran Payne to the things I like. in this game. He was actually awesome. Yeah, he was. Two big time sacks and a forced fumble.

And he was the guy up front that got things done. He's been your guy. Obviously, I love Duran. I think he's had an outstanding year. You see the grades we've graded him all year. But yeah, I thought he was very good in this game. The rest of the defense, probably not so much. The couple other things that I wanted to mention that I,

that I was frustrated with in this game. one you got to start fast and heinicky made a big throw early in the game to cam sims 25 downfield and he dropped it and he had another drop and Isaiah Wright had a big drop on a corner route that I thought was a big ball yeah definitely and Sims there's another drop and then there's a third nine that I thought was PI on Carlton Davis yeah he was a little early but that's That's a play they got to convert. Actually, that play I've watched a couple times. If Heineke gets to Logan Thomas in the flat, he's going to get a first down. They've way overplayed Sims on the slant. But that one was frustrating. And then, God, how lucky can that dude Murphy Bunting be with that interception? Like you're trying to start fast and they get this tip pick. And who the hell keeps a double name with Murphy Bunting? What kind of name is that? Well, it's part Irish. It might be full Irish. I'm teasing. I don't. I'm I'm sure he's proud of his name teasing, but what a lucky play that was. And so again, you can't start fast because of a couple situations where they get fortunate on a play,

and you don't make a couple plays. And you couldn't afford it against this team. You can't afford to get down against this good of a football team. Tampa's got a shot. They played good football, Kev. Tampa really played well in this game. Brady. My God.

I mean, seriously. Tom Brady looks like he's 25. Does anybody handle the pocket better than he does? I mean, it's just, it's really an art. The throw he made moving the left across his body later in the game to Evans. Oh, my God, what a great play. What a great throw. He created the time and then he just throw, oh, he is spectacular.

They are three-point underdogs at New Orleans. They weren't close in two games against the Saints this year. This is their third matchup. The Saints are awfully good defensively. But yeah, I mean, I'll tell you what, to be honest with you, and all four of these games, I guess Kansas City shouldn't get tested by Cleveland, but we'll get to these games. Before you go and you're going to, I'll just, if you don't mention the thing I want to talk about,

I'll get to it at the end. All right, perfect. Let me get to my game take right after this word from one of our sponsors. Pay attention. Here's Kevin's Game Day. All right, my game take. brought you today by My Booky. It's that time of the year when the divisions are decided, champions are crowned,

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That's MyBooky.ag. Don't forget to use my promo code, and you'll get your deposit matched halfway up to $1,000. All right, my list of things that I liked. I'm going to keep it short. Taylor Heineke, we went on and on about him. I just loved the way he was able to stretch the field too, coolly, like no other quarterback really did this year. And everything about what he did, he had three, four balls dropped.

He would have had a bigger day. He threw for 306 yards for crying out loud. The touchdown run is just a ridiculous touchdown run. You know, he's got to protect the ball. You mentioned the fumble. That was definitely a fumble. I don't know if it was a clear recovery or not, but it was a fumble. His size appears to make deflected throws a possibility,

like we've seen with some of the smaller quarterbacks. That's what led to the interception. But anyway, I just thought he was really, really fearless. And there was a point, like on the first drive, I'm like, oh, that's the guy we saw at the end of the Carolina game. So this is a good start. He's not nervous. Like it was so obvious that he wasn't nervous. And in the context of being the starter in a playoff game with, by the way, no running game against Todd Bowles and that defense, it was in A performance.

Scott Turner's on the list of things that I liked. Scott Turner, first of all, is the person that identified. Taylor Heineke. He's at least partially responsible for having him on the practice squad. He is very responsible for getting Taylor Heineke prepared to play this game. He was prepared to play in that Carolina game. And then Cooley, you'll help me with this tomorrow. But damn, I thought Scott Turner, I think there were a lot of games like this. I think people were open. I mean, I think they were wide open in some instances. I thought Scott Turner not only had a really good day, but had a good year in his first year as an offensive coordinator. They're nits to pick

with him, definitely, but I think what we learned because we knew nothing about him as an offensive coordinator is that he belongs. On the list of things that I like, Duran Payne, he was the he and Cameron Curl, I felt, were the only two defensive players that stood out. Payne obviously had the force fumble, the two sacks, a couple of tackles for loss. Duran Payne, you know, has been, I think Duran Payne and Young and sweat a longer shot. But I think Payne and Young are legitimate future top three at their position guys. He's freakishly athletic. And the other night, when they needed interior pressure, they got it.

When they did get it, they didn't get it a lot. They got it from pain. And one of the reasons they were effective in the Red Zone was his sack there at the end. I put Red Zone defense. on this list of things that I liked. But to be fair, Chris Godwin dropped a touchdown pass on one of the field goal attempts. They had four field goal attempts, all of which were red zone field goal attempts, and then they scored on the four-nette run.

Cameron Brayt dropped a touchdown pass, or they ruled that he dropped a touchdown pass. I think that was a drop, you know, based on refact. It was by the rule. I know. You know, the bottom lining, you said it. you know, the fact that they were able, whether it was Tampa Bay's doing or they're doing, that they were able to go one for five in the red zone. By the way, five in the red zone is a very high number, which tells you where I'm going to start when we get to the list of things that I did not like.

But that kept them in the game, you know, four field goals instead of two touchdowns, two field goals, which it very easily could have been, if not for Tampa Bay is doing. One last thing. on the things I liked list. They were seven for 14 on third down, man. Heineke, you know, kept up that thing that they were doing with Kyle Allen initially and then with Alex Smith when he was healthy. And that was being a very good third down conversion. The list of things I did not like. I start with the number one reason they lost the game and there's no close number two. The number one reason they had a chance to win the game was Taylor Heineke and there was no close number two. The number one reason that they didn't win the game,

was the defense. It was their worst game of the year, by far. They gave up 31 points and 500 in seven yards. 5007 yards. Let me just say this because I know several of you got upset because I was tweeting about the defense during the game. I was really disappointed with the overall defensive effort. I've said this for about a month and a half when many of you have tried to insist that this is an elite defense. It's not an elite defense, and Saturday night proved it. You know, it doesn't mean that I'm not really optimistic about the defense because I am. I think it's going to be a great defense and potentially a dominant elite defense in the years to come. But it is not right now, and it hasn't been. Their great defensive days were against teams that, quite frankly, weren't very good or weren't playing well at the time offensively. You know, they beat Dallas and Cincinnati and they had a good day defensively, okay defensively against Carolina and San Francisco.

And then Pittsburgh wasn't playing very well offensively, and they had a short week. And Seattle wasn't a very good offensive team at the end of the year. When they faced the legit offense that they hadn't faced since the, you know, since they got torched by the Rams back in early October or whenever that was, it wasn't even close. They were completely outmatched, as you said. That was a disappointment because the defense was the number one reason they were playing on Saturday night. There's no doubt. They brought him to the dance and they escorted them out on Saturday night. They were dreadful.

The defense was brutally awful on Saturday night. There's no other way to get around it. You know, the red zone thing is nice. De Ron Payne forcing a fumble, getting a big sack in the red zone. Okay, 570. yards and 31 points, and Chris Godwin personally contributed to probably 10 points in 60 to 70 lost yards. Brady should have thrown for 450 in the game. I know. Well, I know. Um, and the problem was multifold. Number one, they were not good against the run, and they didn't have to face Tampa's

best back in Ronald Jones. Leonard Fournette, if you've watched Tampa this year, if you've been an NFL fan, Fournette has stunk all year long when he's had opportunities. He was been like a three and a half yard rusher per rush guy. Well, he didn't stink on Saturday. No, he didn't. He looked like Leonard Fournett that year that Jacksonville went to the AFC championship game. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry. 19 carries 91 yards, 93 yards.

He shredded them. And because they couldn't stop the run, they couldn't do what we said they needed to do, which is make Tampa one-dimensional. And Brady carved them up. And one of the reasons he carved them up is there just wasn't any pass rush. And that gets me to number two on my list of things that I didn't like from the game. If you're going to talk to talk, you've got to walk, period. I didn't have a problem with Chase Young saying, I want Tom.

But this became the I Want Tom game for Chase Young. You know, when you do that, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. Forget about the fact that you could end up looking foolish. You know, and again, I didn't have a problem with it. You know, when Dexter did it way back in the day, I didn't have a problem with it. But you know what Dexter did when he told Joe Montana he was going to ring his clock, not his bell, but his clock?

He knocked him out of the game. That's what he did. So if you're going to talk, you got to back it up with some walk. He's a great player. He was the player I wanted. He's the player earlier in the season when people were saying there's no stats. He's overrated. I was saying, what game are you watching?

Cooley was like, what game are you watching? He's great. He'll be the defensive rookie of the year, and he'll deserve it. But maybe Chase Young learned that he doesn't need to put that much pressure on himself. He's a very enthusiastic player. He's a very pumped up player. He's a great teammate and leader. He is going to be, in my opinion, one of the best three at his position in the years to come.

He was a non-factor in the year. in the biggest game of the year. A non-factor handled all night long, whether it was by Smith or Grunkowski. Okay, I saw some Max protected times for Tampa Bay. Sure. You'll have to tell me if I'm right about that. But let's be honest, Chase Young's I Want Tom game was a disaster. It was a disaster.

Now, those that said Chase Young didn't come up big in the semifinals last year against Clemson, Clemson was triple teaming him that night. I mean, and he was still getting close to Trevor Lawrence, who was getting the ball out. He was not close last night. Now, edge pressure rarely bothers Brady anyway, but Young didn't provide much of it at all. Nope. And this was long before he got injured. He had a bad night, people.

You know, Payne had the big game. Pain walked the walk and didn't say anything. Young, I didn't have a problem with it. All right. I'm not pulling an okay. boomer on you, okay? I'd prefer, as most of you know, under-promising and over-delivering. That's my preference in teams and players. But if somebody wants to talk and backs it up, don't have a problem with it. He didn't back it up. He was an absolute non-factor in the game.

There were a couple of moments. I didn't have a problem with what he said, just so you know. I know you did. I didn't think it was an aggressive, outrageous. We were coming after you. I just thought we want Tom, we're excited about winning the game. That's great. That's all. And you know what? When Dwayne took the selfies, a lot of people reminded me that I didn't have a problem

with that. I thought it was just young exuberance and it would be fine and, you know, he made one mistake. And I didn't have a problem with what Chase Young said. I'm just pointing out the fact that it became a big thing during the week. And one of the things he'll learn is what he said was relatively benign. It was certainly not a big boast. but in the lead-up to a playoff game, this time of year, when everything gets magnified, and when you're talking about the greatest of all time, the goat, it's going to get a lot of play

and it's going to put some pressure on you to perform. So maybe in the future he'll recognize the moment and say, I don't want to put that kind of pressure on myself. I'm going to go out and I'm going to dominate and then afterwards I'll tell everybody what a game I had. The drop passes are on the list of things I didn't like. And Cooley, I'm surprised you didn't mention this. Hey, Ron, at the end of the half, make up your mind, bro. Do you want to score or do you want to go into halftime? I felt that way.

Because when you have the ball at your own 10-yard line with 30 seconds to go, and you're going to run some plays and you're going to throw a little pass out to McKissick for seven yards. And then not call time out. And not call time out. well, then what are you doing? I mean, you're not really intending on trying to score. So why would you run plays and risk a turnover or even an injury? I pick one or the other. Make up your mind. If you're going to score, let's go for it. Tampa Bay didn't have any timeouts left. It's not like they were going to call timeouts. They had none left. So take the knee if you don't intend on scoring and let's get to the break 18.7. And I would have been fine with that. The field position was not was not very good. couple of other things that I wanted to point out, just additional observations. I thought it was really unfortunate on the final drive of the game, and I was really angry that the throw to

McKissick, where he fumbled it out of bounds, was called an incomplete pass. You know, that drive, the final drive, I really was very confident. You know, I'm like, please hold him to a field well, first of all, after the touchdown and the throw to Sims, Jr. on the third and ten, which was a touchdown. I know both of his hands came off the ball briefly. It was, one didn't come off the ball, I didn't think. Even if it was a touch, even if it did, that's not, he's not in danger of losing the ball. Nope. So, you know, thankfully that was not overturned. What a beautiful throw that was on third. Oh my gosh. Um, so, um, I, all I wanted was, okay, now, you know, five minutes to go, 28, 23. This is now a fucking winnable game. Get,

one stop. Please get a stop. And I was screaming at 99, and my son was going, please stop. I'm like, he's been, and of course he was out of the game. He's going into that drive. I'm like, 99's got to make a freaking play here. All right, a big play now. Now's the time.

Turnover, third down sack, get him off the field. I want to see their punter. We haven't seen a lot of their punter. But no, they drove it all. all the way down the field and that second down throw. What a throw to Evans. What a great throw by Brady. Like, you know, I'm so upset in the moment, but at the same time as a football fan,

you just have to appreciate the dude's 43 years old. He's just dropping dimes on you. But then you got into the situation and they held him to the field goal. And I swear to God, Cooley, when they took over, I'm like, they've got time. They've got timeouts. They didn't have timeouts. They'd used them on defense. But I'm like, they've got plenty of time.

He's going to take him down this field and they are going to have a chance to score and go for two. And they got two big breaks on the throw to McClorn and on the throw to Cam Sims. There were two defensive holding calls declined, yes, but it stops the clock. So they got some time saved by those two defensive holding calls. And then on the second in 10 at midfield, he throws to McKissick, and McKissick clearly catches it, in my view, and fumbles it out of bounds for a five-yard game, which would have set up third and third. five. And by the way, the clock probably would have rolled because they would have deemed the fumble to have been, I think, you know, if you're an offense. But they had plenty of time.

Yeah. But so you would have gone to. But it would have been third and five instead of third and ten. They didn't have, unfortunately, they didn't have any timeouts to challenge that. And I don't know if they would have challenged it, but third and five is better than third and ten. And I really thought that that was a bad call. I thought it was obvious he caught it and and then fumbled it out of bounds. Anyway, the third. It's unfortunate. It wasn't within two minutes. right it was unfortunate that it wasn't within two minutes i mean it would have been better if it was like at 159 or the first play after the two minute warning um but it set up third and 10 and you know heinecke took a big big sack i mean it was a big i'm watching that play on coaches film

right now that third and 10 yeah he's got sims wide open on a short crosser and he's got cam sims he's got stephen on the short crosser he's got cam sims coming open and he should have let it go I know that when we get to the film breakdown on him tomorrow, that you're going to have some things that are going to show that it wasn't perfection. But you know what? Against a team like Tampa in the playoffs with no running game, which I should have added to the list of things I didn't like. But we sort of knew that going in.

By the way, Gibson was not healthy. He did not look like Antonio Gibson at all to me. But anyway. No, and that was the last thing that I didn't mention. was I didn't feel like they needed that balance. And they weren't getting real balance from it. They ran it too much. You know what?

That's a really good observation. I feel the same way. When you just said that, I feel the same way. It's funny, I was sitting there going, you know what, their best opportunity here is to just let him chuck it. Let him make plays and let him chuck it or let him run it. And, you know, if they, because I'll tell you what was not working, was trying to run into the interior of that D-line.

They're quick. They were missing their best player, one of their best players defensively, certainly their best run stopper in Devin White. This is going to be a bit of an issue next year. They're going to have to figure out how to run the ball more consistently. And I think Gibson has a chance to be a really special back. Anyway, a couple of other quick observations. Then we'll go around the rest of the NFL.

First of all, they blocked an extra point. They almost blocked a field goal. They had some really good edge pressure. on the kicks. I thought that Sims Jr. had that really good touchdown catch. He dropped a ball. He also let a punt, you know, drop and roll down to the 10-yard line.

Oh, I forgot to put that on the things I loved. He didn't field the ball. It's so funny because I hated the field position that he gave up, which was about 10 to 11 yards of field position. However, that was the punt at the, at the end of the half. And I didn't want him fielding that pun. Even though if he fields it and returns it,

maybe they're out to the 25-yard line with 30 seconds to go. Maybe they got a chance. They're down 11, you know. But I didn't want him fielding that. All I kept thinking was, oh, my God, if he fields it, it could be 25 to 7 at halftime. The, what else do I have on this list? How about Hopkins, his P.A.T, hitting the upright,

and going through. You know, the app key play on the punt. So I'm a little bit confused about this. I'll tell you why. They came back afterwards, and when the ball was at the 20-yard line instead of the 7-yard line, I knew exactly what had happened.

I didn't think about it during the break because there was a special teamer recently in the last couple of years for the skins that carried a punt into the end zone and it ended up being a touchback. But according to ESPN, the rule now is it's a dead ball once it's touched and that they screwed up and the ball should have been at the seven-yard line, not the 20. So I don't know if anybody else was wondering about that. Wasn't paying attention to that.

Yeah. You already mentioned the P.I. against the Sims by Davis. I thought that was definitely P.I. But, you know, the one thing I noticed all weekend long in every single one, of these games, they were letting them play. And I like that. I absolutely love that they were letting them play. You know, I thought the sheriff hold was really cheap, you know, on a big scramble by Hineke. It was a third and seven scramble and sheriff got called for holding. I didn't like that call. I didn't like the horse collar call on Gibson. I didn't think that was a horse collar,

you know, against them. You know, I had a lot of people tell me, I hope I Officiating is going to be a, no, it's not my big thing. It's not my big thing at all, okay? That was not a game lost by officiating. That was a game lost by a defense that was supposed to be the strength of this team that gave up 507 yards and 31 points, and it realistically should have been a lot more. It really should have been. I mean, Godwin, who is a great receiver, literally had a one-man charity on Saturday night,

just saying, here, we don't. I don't want to put up 600 yards on you guys. Let me drop five balls on your behalf. That was the part that was really disappointing more than anything else, is I went into this game and I said on Friday to you, it's going to have to be one of those games that you see in the postseason where Brady's getting pressured. He's throwing a couple up for grabs.

You're getting a couple turnovers and you're hanging in there and it's 17 to 9 in the fourth quarter and you got a chance. You know, it's 20 to 15 in a lot. 17, 10, and the 4th, you got a chance. And it turned out that the game was opposite of that. The defense couldn't get a stop when it absolutely needed to. And Taylor Heineke just put them up and down the field, drove them up and down the field at key times. And they had a chance on the final drive because of him. I'm trying to think of if I forgot anything else. I think overall, like it's a season that leaves me much more optimistic than I've been in a while. I was optimistic after 2015 because I thought that they had a quarterback that they could

be held around. But obviously they didn't want any part of that. But the big difference too is I was never like a big fan of Gruden. And I know he's a guy that you like. And Jay was so likable personally. I think for the first time since Shanahan, for me, I feel like they've got a leader and a coach that knows what he's doing. He's done it before. The thing I love about him is that team did overachieve over the final eight games. It did. You know, they need another receiver.

They need another middle linebacker. They probably need a quarterback, even though we saw something that will keep us in conversation for much of the next few months. They probably need another corner, and they may need a left tackle. Brandon Sheriff made All-Pro, first Washington player to make All-Pro since 1996, which is really incredible that that's the case. I don't even know if Brandon Sheriff had an All-Pro kind of year, but I do know this.

They really do need to re-sign him because he is, that O-Line and Matt Scho, the offensive line coach, I think they overachieve this year. I think you had a lot of portions of this team, which is typical of Rivera's teams, that were better, you know, the sum was better than the parts. I think that's a good way to look at it. And I know what the record was. You don't have to remind me. It was 7 and 9.

I understand that. But they also had to go through what they went through with Dwayne for the first four games. And by the way, did I read this that Dwayne's getting a meeting in Carolina? Did you read that? Yes. I saw that. I want him to get another shot. I really do. What else on this game?

Is there anything else? Well, you're just talking about the season. And I think more importantly than saying they overachieved, I really think they established who they are. I think they have an identity. And I think they know what they need to build on moving forward. They played within themselves, especially through the back half of the season.

They understood their strong suits. They understood how to put guys in positions to win. we understand and they do for sure watching where their deficiencies are. And ultimately, Kev, it's a season that just didn't have a quarterback. Or they're probably a 9-10 win team. Agreed. And I loved, you know, someone said, they were talking about in the broadcast that Rivera had said, I didn't think we'd get this far or come this far this fast.

And I think that's part of some of his preseason quiz stuff, which one way or another I still don't like. Some of the pre-season or the early-season stuff I wasn't a fan of. But I do like that they figured out who they were as a team. Yeah, this is, as long as the owner allows it, this is going to be a roster and a staff on the football side of this organization that has quality competitors, tough guys and smart guys. It's the Gibbs model in many ways.

You know, he is a player's coach in the same way Joe was, but there was a level of, I need guys that get it and that are in it for the same reasons I'm in it. That's why he didn't fuck around with Trent Williams or Quentin Dunbar and he didn't want to waste any more time with Dwayne Haskins. And so that's a good thing because it has been truly, you know, a real, a real amateur. presentation by this organization on the football side for a while now. And you just didn't have much of a chance at doing anything with that. So we'll see. We'll see. I am optimistic today.

I'm also very aware, as I said, of having this feeling before. So, you know, it's not going to be a shame on me situation. My eyes are wide open. I know what's possible. I know how it can get completely. completely messed up. But at the same time, Rivera was the right hire, and he did a hell of a job this year. And there's more optimism going into a season, 2021 season, than there's been in a long time, a long time. I mean, I think even more than the 2016 season after 2015, because while you really

felt like offensively they had a chance to be great, you know, there's something about having a great defense, you know, or the potential of having a great defense. And that's what, we're going to get to next because I think that was in part the story of the rest of the weekend. We'll get to the other games right after this word from one of our sponsors. And they start with a horrible snap all the way back to the two-yard line and the grounds bouncing into the end zone where they wind up with a touchdown. Of all crazy things, you don't go to the playoffs for 18 years and that is the way it starts in the first 14 seconds.

That was the first play of the final super wild card round game. Cleveland and Pittsburgh last night. Cleveland with their head coach at home, with other coaches at home. The old man Bill Callahan was at home. And they ended up scoring 28 on the Steelers in the first quarter of the game last night in route to a 4837 win, knocking out the Steelers. The Steelers started 11 and 0. They lost four of their final five games. And the one game they won. They won. They were down 24 to 7 in at halftime against the Colts. I think we should work our way through these games chronologically and end with that game because there was a lot to that game, but there was a lot to some of the other games. And one of the themes to me, Cooley, of the weekend. I love that you themed the weekend, just so we're clear. The fact that you themed the weekend is amazing. Dominant defense wins. And the Rams and the Ravens were truly dominant defensive teams this weekend, and that can still win playoff games. Now, Lamar Jackson was terrific, and we'll get to that game. The Rams ran the ball a little bit, but had to play Jared

Gough. He's dreadful. But Aaron Donald was the best player that I watched all weekend, and I'm not sure it was close. Oh, it's close because Josh Allen was the best player I watched the weekend. That would have been my number two. That would have been my number two. In a game that I really thought Indy beat themselves in. Let's start there. Let's start with the first game of the weekend because I had Indy as a smell test pick, but let me just share this with you. I had Indy on the first half line plus three and a half. I had Indy on the first half money line. I had Indy on the money line for the game. Do you know what happened at the end of the first half? I'm getting three and a half. It's 10-7. It's fourth and gold, the four, and Wright goes for it.

So that's the analytic situation where I actually agree with Wright. Oh my God, you do? On a third down play that lost two yards? I don't look. The play call, maybe not. I don't care about the play call. The thing is, is you're saying we like our defense.

We don't know how many shots we're going to have to score points. That's the, the analytic to that says you should go for it. And I think the context was there. I think you know Buffalo is going to continue to score. You have an opportunity to get points. You believe in yourself in a fourth down. Now, they had another controversial call later in the game that I didn't agree with Reich.

I didn't agree last week, and I think context of everything, when Peterson went for it down there. But I just, I don't hate it. Can I tell you why I hated it? You can, and you're going to be right because they didn't get it. No, no, no. I didn't have a problem with this one. I'm going to tell you right now. I think it's, first of all, I think it's a very debatable thing. But like we always say, with fourth down analytics or two-point analytics, context means everything.

God, in this sport with 22 people on the field and real emotion involved and conditions and everything else. You know, this isn't an inside sport with a couple of people. Buffalo had gone three and out on four drives, okay? Indy had controlled that game. They were in total control of that game, but the score was only 10 to 7, and I just felt like they couldn't give Buffalo a spark. Like if they kicked, look, if they had on third and goal,

if they had gotten it to the one-inch line or had gained, you know, because that third down play was the pitch to Taylor. He lost three yards. You went from third and goal at the one, to fourth and goal at the four. I think the context and the feeling is, oh my God, Buffalo just knocked us back. Buffalo is fired up now.

They just got to stop. They'd love to see us go for this fourth and goal from the four. This wasn't forward momentum to the four-yard line. This was backward momentum to the four-yard line. And a field goal makes it 13-7. By the way, locks up my plus three and a half first half bet. I'll concede that that that was a lot of it. a big part of it. But I just thought

13-7, you have stopped them on three of four drives. You might get the ball back again if you get another three-in-out. But once they got that stop, and by the way, that was the, I think that was one of the only bad throws Rivers had all day long. He just overthrew Pittman.

Now, Pittman could have stretched out for it, maybe. He was open, the play was a good play. Rivers just overthrew him. And it would have been a huge play if they had scored on it. Don't get me wrong. But the notion, and, you They were talking about it during the game about how Reich had said, we have to score. But the game wasn't going that way.

The game hadn't gone that way. Buffalo had seven points on four drives, and the other three drives were three, three and outs. And I just thought, man, 13-7, even if Buffalo comes down and gets a field goal, you know, to end the half, you're going to, you know, you've got a shot here to really be in this game. and I think they jump started Buffalo. Buffalo got the stop, and I swear to got cool. Once they got the stop, I'm going, oh, my God, they're going to go down on a 96-yard drive-and-score. No one said that. Well, I did because I had Indie plus three and a half,

and it was the only way to lose that first half bet. And, you know, they made, so I thought they beat themselves in the first half with that play, and then the fourth and three jumping off sides. Oh, my God. How absolutely horrible was that? I don't even know if Buffalo was going to run a play there, coolly. I think it was a total try to draw them off sides. And this dude, Torre goes off sides and you're like, you idiot.

Oh, my God. It was, and yet, they fall behind. And I thought this thing was going to get completely out of hand at 2410. I texted a friend of mine who also had Indy, and I said, this is 3810. It's over. because they had missed a field goal too. Their kicker had missed a field goal. It was like a 35 yard or two.

It was a short one, which was just a brutal miss in a 1710 game. But then they came down, they closed it to 2416, and here was another decision, and I'm going to tell you right now, I did not have a problem with this one. So they went for two after there was an off-sides on the PAT, on the extra point, they got to move the ball to the one yard line to attempt their two-point conversion. If they chose that, or they could add the five yards to the kickoff.

They moved it to the one and went for it because, you know, the two-point analytics tell you that down 14, you should always go for two. I wouldn't always go for two, but that's beside the point. Reich ended, didn't go for two and didn't use the two-point analytics down 14. He went to kick the extra point, but when he got the extra yard, he went for it and they missed it again and they were down 24 to 16. Anyway. I didn't like going for two there.

You would have just kicked it? I would have just kicked it. I think there's a lot of scoring left in the game at that point. I would have kicked it too, but when the ball got placed at the one after the off sides, that I just, what I'm saying is I didn't have a problem with it. I didn't have a problem with it. I was like, you know what, if from the one yard line, you can give it to Jonathan Taylor and he can bust it on in there and it's 24 to 18,

Man, you're really now putting the pressure on Buffalo. Anyway, here's what I just didn't get. First of all, you had some drama, man, in this game. Buffalo's up 27-24, and they're trying to run the clock out. And they got a good chance to run the clock out. And they just keep throwing the football. They just come out slinging it. They came out slinging it, which I kind of liked.

But when they got deep into Indy territory, and I don't know where they got, did they get to the 25-yard line? Where was it where he took the big sack and fumbled? Where did that play start? They were at the 14. They went what? Oh, no, no, no. I didn't, I didn't actually write where they were.

They took a 23-yard sack. I got it right now. They were first in 10 at the Indy 34-yard line. Okay, Indy only had one time out left with 350 to go, and they're still throwing it. Yeah. They're still throwing the football. At that point, I loved throwing it early. Yeah, me too.

Then as you get to midfield, you're like, okay, we don't. don't need to throw it at this point. We're literally, at this point, you know, they have one time out left. We, if we make a first down on third down, it may be game over. And yet, he drops back and he gets sacked and the ball comes loose. And I'm like, oh, this poor guy, Josh Allen, who is brilliant, is going to blow another game like he did last year in the postseason against Houston. And that ball's on the ground. Now, they recovered it.

But that immediately meant, you know, it says here, by the way. Second and 33. It was a 17-yard loss. Yeah. So it became, yeah, I don't know how it was second and 33 when this was a 17-year loss. Oh, because it was recovered. So, yeah, second and 33, third and 33, they punt it. It was a 23-yard loss.

Yeah, Indies got the ball plenty of time, okay? Two minutes and 30 seconds to go. They got time to go down and win the game. They definitely have plenty of time to get down there and kick a field goal to tie the game. And they went for a fourth down. And then- And Taylor gets it. And then the play that was the throw to Zach Pascal,

who catches it and then gets up and is hit and stripped by Poir. Poir yanks it out. How did replay fuck that up? That was a fumble. That's a definitive fumble. There's not a question whatsoever. He was not touched. And I guess the only thing I think they're saying is that they couldn't say clearly

that Poirer's hand didn't touch Pascal's back. With the knee on the ground. With the knee on the ground or not because it was from. behind it. But he didn't. There was no way anybody that was watching it saw that as he touched him the instant the knee came up and it was like a pivot. So as soon as he pivoted on his toe, his knee was up and that no part of the shin was touching. So there's a fumble. There are a couple of things. I thought you put the shots together. It was obvious that the knee was just barely off the ground when he did get touched, which meant it was a fumble. Number two is, you know, McDermott called

a time out. He called a time out because he wanted that play reviewed. And then they said that New York actually stopped the play. Well, I don't know that New York stopped the play or not. He called the timeout to make sure that New York did stop the play. Yeah, but then they gave him the timeout back because they said that New York stopped the play. Which was the right thing to do because New York has to stop the play. They should. It's their job. But it didn't look like they were going to do it if McDermott did call the timeout. No, Indy got a playoff. Yeah. No, it doesn't matter if Indy gets a playoff or not if New York goes back and says, no, we're stopping the play. They can overrule that play. Okay. Well, the bottom. Now, if McDermott had to take a time,

If there's two minutes and 20 seconds, and then he gets the play off, the snap, then the play starts. New York can stop it. All right. So after what I felt was, you felt, was a blown replay. You know,

Phillips got the ball first and ten at the Buffalo 45-yard line with 28 seconds to go. They have no timeouts left, and the clock is going to start on the referee's whistle because that play was ruled down and Indy didn't have any timeouts left.

why did rivers feel like he could only work the sideline? I don't understand that. He had, with 28 seconds to go an opportunity, to work the middle of the field, to get into field goal range, and plenty of time to clock it. They threw a ball to Pittman, who went out of bounds. A lot of people were saying,

why didn't the clock stop there? Because he fumbled it before he went out of bounds, and him fumbling it out of bounds meant that the clock was going to continue to roll. That's what they ruled. All right. They then had a snap at 14 seconds. This was so smart, I thought, by McDermott. He still could have thrown the ball over the middle and clocked it. All they needed really was six, seven, eight yards to get a field goal to tie it. They lined up before the snap at 14 seconds and had a completion. And McDermott let it. Rivers call the play, get all the way to the line of scrimmage, and then call time out right

before the ball was snapped, which I thought was brilliant because now you get your defense set. Right. No, you're right about that. It was so smart by McDermott to stop the hurry up right before the ball was snapped, but let them use the six seconds to get the ball snapped. It was awesome. He did a great job with that. Rivers actually under threw his receiver, and the play didn't count anyway.

And the receiver would have had to sort of roll himself out of bounds there. But the point is, is they had first down at the Buffalo 45-yard line, and they never gained a yard. And to me, at that point, when they got the break on the replay, I'm like, well, they're going to get, Rivers is going to find somebody. He's going to find, you know, big old Jack Doyle over the middle for 10 yards. They'll clock it. And the guy's going to come out for a 51-yard field goal, 52-yard field goal to tie this thing. And the tight ends for Indy were so good in this game. Oh, my God.

Doyle and Burton and Moali Cox all made huge plays in this game. I think I read that the Colts became the first team in NFL postseason history to roll up 450 plus yards with no turnovers and lose a game. They had 472 yards of offense and no turnovers. And by the way, only two penalties and they lost the game. Why did they lose the game? And off sides on fourth and three, a decision to go for fourth and four. They missed a field goal.

It was really a shame. You know I was, I love Buffalo and I love Josh Allen. I think they can win the Super Bowl. But you and I both really enjoyed watching the Colts and how well coached they are and how good defensively they were. I thought really for three fifths of the game, they were the better team. I really felt that way. Three-fist, maybe. I don't know.

Josh Allen's great. Look, let's just go to this just quickly. First of all, I think the Colts did blow out in the first half, and there were a couple different possessions. One, early in the game, they throw the ball all the way down the field and then get it into the red zone, run it a couple times, and they end up kicking a field goal. They're electric throwing the ball down the field.

It should have been seven points on that drive. Secondly, Alan was unbelievable at points in this game. I mean, just a quick flip out of his hand. And, geez, dude. And then when you go for the fourth down, okay, you're up 10-7, and I get it that the field goal makes it 13-7, but you're saying to yourself, a minute 53, we're giving the ball at least the 25-yard line. Although, if you kick it five-yards deep, Andre Roberts is bringing that sucker out. So maybe not. Cordell Patterson and Andre Roberts are the only guys that like returning kick-offs.

They're coming out. But you're saying, give them the ball of the four-yard line with a minute 53, the way we're we're playing defense. We'll give them the ball in the four yard line, which is why I didn't have a problem with them. And you're also saying to yourself, given the ball in the four yard line, we might get another possession around midfield

with a chance to score. Even if we don't score now, we might get another possession. And Kev, you just don't account for the fact that Allen's going to make this unbelievable throw down the sideline, toe tap to Davis,

and then do it again. Like you just don't think Alan's going to make these two plays and then draw you off sides and then on a second and 10 with 27 seconds left run a freaking quarterback draw which I loved

I mean Buffalo had like seven quarterback draws in this game Alan was amazing I think on that final drive I'm going back to look at it that there were like three replays that all were accurate the one on the sideline to Davis that you talked about another one to Davis again another one to Davis

you had the left you had the interstom in the end zone that got overruled. Yeah, you had two interceptions in the end zone. That's right. You had two interceptions that were overruled. The game was, by the way, a high-level game with just a lot of really interesting decisions and debatable decisions and replays and reviews. It was just a really good game.

Buffalo is really capable, man. at Baltimore. We'll get to this game in a moment. I thought Indy was going to be one of the tougher games the way they matched up against Buffalo, and it was. And I think Indy's really good. I do too. I think, and I think you were right about the matchup,

and I was right about the public loading up on Buffalo minus the six and a half and not getting it done. All right, the second game that day. My God, are the Rams good defensively? I've told you the defense of the league. I know. There are a couple of things.

Oh, I wanted to mention one other thing. I had one other note from the indie game. Quentin Nelson has to be one of the top two or three guards in the NFL. He's amazing. He is so dominant and it's so odd to say that when you notice somebody watching a game, when you notice a guard as good as he is, you know. He steamrolls people. I love

Punk's dudes Back to the Rams Oh my God Aaron Donald before he got hurt Jesus Christ If he's He is so far in a way The best player on defense in the league

I don't know who's number two We'd have to consider that But it really doesn't matter He is so dominant And can He is the one player right now defensively much more than Kaleel Mack

who was actually handled Aaron Donald's the player defensively that can totally win a game by himself. And he really did. I mean, their defense was exceptional across the board. Don't get me wrong. No, they're amazing. And it doesn't hurt that Donald's got Joseph Day, who's outstanding, and Morgan Fox,

who's outstanding. And then he's also got Leonard Stevens or Leonard Floyd. Leonard Floyd coming off the edge who's got so much speed and length. And it doesn't help that you really can't just single in on Aaron Donald. God, the sacks on Russell Wilson and the pressure in the backfield. They made Russell Wilson look so bad. Oh, my God. Russell Wilson.

I mean, this is where it's funny. I tweeted something out at the Ravens game, and I said, this is what playoff dominant defense looks like, you know, hashtag Rams, hashtag Ravens. And I really actually wasn't trying to take a shot at Washington. I just loved, I was so thrilled. It's my favorite kind of football to watch. I just love, I hate, you know, the big hits and the physicality being legislated out of the game.

I love great defensive teams, especially this time of year, because it can win. Now, we've seen, you know, that offense and great quarterback play really does now carry the day, but San Francisco almost got home with a great defense, but they also had a great running game. To watch the Rams totally bring Seattle to a standstill in that game, Seattle was two for 14 on third down. They generated 278 yards. It didn't even seem like that was possible at times. I mean, other than the fact that they have Russell Wilson who can make plays, and he made a couple. He was 11 of 27. Russell Wilson was. 11 of 27. He got sacked five times. He's lucky he didn't get

sacked 10 times in the game. The other thing is, I told you about Cam Acres earlier in the year. I'm like, that guy to me is such a natural zone runner. Look at his very. vision. He's developing into a great back. And a big time receiver, which is what McHae loves. Oh, yeah. Now, Aaron Donald apparently tore some rib cartilage, but will play on Saturday against the Packers. I'm so happy about that because I want to see them at their best against Aaron Rogers. I'll tell you what, Cooley, that defense can get Aaron Rogers. You know, it's hard to rattle the Aaron Rogers of this year. He's been so good. Tampa did. The Rams are the best defensive team in the playoffs right now. We agree on that, right? Agree. Okay. I think they can beat the Packers. I don't think I'm going to predict it because

Aaron Rogers is just having a special year and Devante Adams just seems to be uncheckable. But the Rams have a chance. I give them definitely a puncher's chance, even more than a puncher's chance because it's going to be one of those games coolly early on if rogers is having his way it's over because the rams won't be able to match green bay if they're going three and out he's getting rattled and he's missing people and people are getting hit you're going to know in the first quarter of that first half of the first quarter of that game if the rams have a chance to win it it'll be really truly how their defense matches up and and bakhtiari is out right didn't he get hurt in the last game? I didn't see that. I don't know.

I, God, watching the Rams. Now, I had the Rams, and it's always more exciting when you bet on the team that's winning, but I'm telling you, man, that defense was unbelievable in that game. They were unbelievable. They checked them all day. That was my lock of the week. Yeah, it was your lock of the week. But it was just

I mean, you're watching that game, Kev, and Goff, he was really bad. And maybe he'll be a little bit better with his thumb. in another week but screwed together. But as soon as Darius Williams picks that wide receiver screen, the college play. He took the college play the other way.

I told you. As soon as he picked that, you're like, this game's over. This game's done. Yeah. It was, it's funny, when they really bogged down offensively with golf, I was like, oh, boy, because now Seattle's basically just saying, go ahead, Goff beat us, because Acres, you know, got a little bit banged up too in that game. Seattle had chances, but it just, the LA defense just kept coming up big each time.

Then they had the fumbled punt return, and it was big. The game yesterday early, I'll just tell you, down 10-0, I didn't think it was over, but what was really troubling if you were a Baltimore fan is that defensively they were really tough on the first drive and then they were setting up third downs but they kept converting the third downs on the second drive and then on the third drive they converted on a couple of third downs as well

and you're like oh my God and Lamar Jackson's throwing a pick and can't do anything and Tennessee defense hasn't figured out and we said can Jackson come back from down two scores well and they did it in the capacity that he can do it. They ran the ball.

They didn't get away from running the ball. Which they did last year in the playoff game. Exactly right. And he was great. But so was their defense. They held Derek Henry to 40 yards, 2.2 yards per carry. That Martindale really knows what he's doing, man. Baltimore, I don't think, like, when I look at the Ravens,

this isn't the talent that the Ravens have had defensively at times. I'm a big Marlon Humphrey fan, and I think Marcus Peters is a real playmaker, and I like Judon. And Queen, you didn't like him as much, I like him, and Brandon Williams is great. But Pernel McPhee, he was here. No, I didn't like him early in the season. He didn't play well early in the season, and then all of a sudden he turned it on. They benched him, actually, for a couple games. I think a game early in the season, or he was hurt.

He didn't play well for the first four weeks. He started playing amazing at that point. I think Martindale is one of these guys that just figures it out, man. They had a game plan, and they totally. shut down Derek Henry. Totally shut him down. They shut them down enough, Kev, that the one

mistake I think Tennessee really made in this game, and I can't believe that Brable did it, was punt down 1613. 1713, 4th and 1713 in the fourth quarter on a fourth and two at midfield. I cannot fathom

at that point thinking I want to give Baltimore the ball back and let them start running it. You know, It's really funny. I listened to Vrable talk about that because, you know, the analytics people were like it was the most cowardly punt of the year. Apparently, it was 25-yard punt.

Yeah. It was fourth and two at the Baltimore 40. 10 minutes to go fourth quarter, 17-13 Ravens, and he punted on fourth and two. And by the way, the third and two was a pass where Jono Smith got blown up and couldn't. Still, if he catches it, I don't think he gets it. Let me just tell you something. I don't think they were going to make the fourth and two. And that's why Brable punted it.

And watching that game, I was like, you know, I don't think they'll make the fourth and two. I was not surprised that he chose to punt. Obviously, you hate the fact that the punt only went to the 15-yard line. You would have loved to put it inside the 10, you know, and giving the Ravens the ball there and trusted your defense. Their defense played well. It wasn't like Baltimore was moving the ball up and down the field. And when they did, it was all about Jackson just making incredible plays, including the amazing. including the amazing touchdown run that he had.

But I, look, we're going to get to the final game here in a moment where Tomlin makes the worst decision of the weekend on fourth down. I didn't really in the moment have much of an issue with it. And watching that game play by play, I didn't think they were going to make a fourth and two. That's the bottom line. I just think you got to live and die there. Well, I mean, you know, the fourth.

keeping the ball. The fourth down analytics will say, well, yeah, it's the most cowardly pun ever. But you know what? In context, the percentage that they were going to make the fourth and two for me was less than 50%. Still Derek Henry, dude. You have the best back in the league. He couldn't get a yard. I understand that.

But he's your best player. Okay. And he's the best back in the league. There's got to be a time where you say, we're going to get it done with this dude. Then why didn't you run him on third and two? I don't, on third and two, why don't you say to yourself? Was that an RPO, by the way? You might have to go back and look at that.

I might have to go back and look at it, but I don't care. I'm not giving the P.O. I'm going run, run. Yeah, well, they didn't. I'm going freaking run, run. Baltimore, when they got the interception late, up seven, they did the dancing on the logo at midfield, and that's because that's what Tennessee did at Baltimore.

They huddled on the logo last time they played. And they got a 15-yard penalty. And man, that was a stupid-ass penalty. So dumb. I mean, Tennessee had all three timeouts left. There was still, what, two minutes to go, minute 55 to go, whatever it was. And at that point, you know, you just can't do that, man. You can't, you had great field position after the interception.

And now after the 15-yard penalty, you know, for taunting, you're going to, you're going to, You're going to potentially be in a spot where if you go three and out, they're going to have 15 yards better field position to come down and tie the game. You just can't do that. It was unlike a Harbaugh team, too. Don't do it at the end of the game. They were really ready defensively. That's to me the most intriguing matchup of next weekend, Baltimore at Buffalo.

Agreed. Buffalo is only a two and a half point favorite. I thought they would have been a solid three. They've just been on too much of a role. I think Baltimore can win the game. but I think Buffalo is better defensively. I think you've got to throw the football to move it on Buffalo. I really do.

And we'll see. But damn, Martindale and Baltimore's defense, I can't trust me, people, I'm not a Ravens fan. But, man, there's something about that organization over the years. That's an organization with an identity, you know? Oh, yeah. The NFL only has a few of them. The Steelers have an identity. The Ravens have an identity.

and they came through, and I was happy for Lamar Jackson. He's such a humble guy. I was really happy for him because it did not start well. Last game was the game last night. I just want to go forward to 3523 after they were down 357, and Rathlisberger's thrown basically an interception to everybody. And now all of a sudden, here come the Steelers. It's 3523.

It's still the third quarter. They're within 12. I mean, after your guy, Collinsworth was demanding. This game's not over. 28-7. 35-23, 3-and-out punt, and here are the Steelers. I mean, they start late third quarter. They're going to cut this to a one-score game.

They've got Cleveland reeling at this point. This is going to be 35 to 30 within four minutes. And then they're going to win this game. I really thought, oh, my God. God, they are coming back. This is going to be one of the all-time great comebacks. By the way, they went for two when they shouldn't have gone for two, and then they didn't go for two when they should have gone for two.

I mean, I just, my game. Yeah. But here is the absolute worst decision of the entire weekend. It's 3523. Cleveland is reeling. Rothlisberger is red hot. I mean, he is now, they've gone touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. They've gone defensively, they've gone punt, punt, punt. This game has totally turned,

and he's got a fourth and one at the 46 yard line, their own 46 yard line, fourth down and one for the first play of the fourth quarter. And when they come back from the commercial, they got their punter out there. I'm like, what are they doing? And then they ran a fake, like they were going to fake the punt, but they were really trying to draw Cleveland off sides. Tomlin, are you? Are you serious? Tomlin's one of the most aggressive thinking coaches, and he's going to pun it there? They've got – I mean, that's a fourth and one in context, coolly. Okay, you do have to go to the break and they get a rest, you know, at the end of the third quarter, you know, if you want to say that that played into it. But the chance of them converting that fourth and one is 90%.

Cleveland is exhausted. If you're not, you're down 12 punning it away into the fourth quarter. It's your last chance to continue to come back. Oh, my God. They punted the entire season away. I can't believe it. I don't know what he has said about that. I should have probably looked that up.

That was just, that was mind-boggling that he did. Mike, here it is. Tomlin explains his decision. We had gotten some stops. I wanted to pin them down and provide a short field for our offense. We had maybe two or three consecutive stops. You did. I just wanted to keep the momentum going in terms of field position,

but we weren't good enough in terms of doing that. No, man. No, you weren't. God, did you see Ben's face? It was so funny. You knew they weren't out of it, but after they go down 28-0, or there's that pick that's a crazy pick,

what that was tipped. Yeah. He comes off the field and you see his face, like, what the hell is going on here? Could we have more unfortunate it plays. And I think at that point down 2080, they'd had like five drops already. Ebron had dropped a couple. Deonti Thomas

had dropped one or Deontay, I'm doing a bad job with full names today. But Deontay had dropped one. You're like, what is going on here? Pittsburgh prepare at all for this game. And you could still tell that it wasn't over.

And the other thing is, is like, I was thinking about this, because college were, they're talking about the Browns playing soft coverage and stuff. if I'm not the head coach and I'm up 28-0, I'm playing soft. If I'm the interim for the day, now I have half my staff there, I'm playing soft. All right. I had no problem with that. Rothlisberger, by the way, set an NFL record, regular season, postseason with 47 completions.

He finished the game 47 of 68 for 501 yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions in the game. Smith-Schuster 13 catches on 19 targets. Deontay Johnson, 11 catches on 16 targets. 47 completions is an NFL record. And, you know, if they had gone for it on the 4th and 1, they may have had more. Maybe he would have finished with 55. I'll tell you what, they don't run the football very much.

We know that. Through it 68 times, they ran it 16 times. But 28-0 and Cleveland moves on. And I'll just say what I said on Friday. I don't know why Kevin Stefansky couldn't have been at that game. I don't understand that for the life of me. No. But anyway, Baker Mayfield was awesome.

They've got really good backs in Chub and Hunt. And their receivers, you know, Landry's really good. Hooper had a really good game. They're a 10-point dog. I don't like their chances. But they can run the football, you know? They can run it. So we'll see.

Cleveland's just, Kansas City's okay defensively. They're not great defensively. So we'll see. It's going to be another good weekend. It's the epitome of the NFL playoffs, though, that game. No one thinks that. How many times are you going to get a start like that? Exactly.

All right. Let's wrap this up. National championship game tonight. No smell test pick. The public split down the middle in this game. Alabama is an eight and a half point favorite. I actually like Ohio State's chances. I'm giving the Buckeyes a chance in this game.

I just think that they're going to score a lot. It's the same way I felt about. Florida, that Florida would score a bunch against Alabama and what was the final there, 56-46. They covered. So Ohio State would have to get inside that and have it be some sort of 52 to 45 game. I think they've got a chance. There's something about this Buckeye team and the win they had over Clemson.

I'm excited to watch the game tonight. It's probably going to last four and a half hours. These college games are so long. gosh. I'm excited for the game too. Do you have a pick or not? You know, you missed the Saints game. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

We didn't talk about the Saints game. How did I miss that one? That was my smell test loser. I don't know. Can I let me. I feel so bad for that kid whims who dropped that ball in the end zone. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me?

Unfucking believable. It's seven. You got a chance against one of the best defenses and you got to find a way to make place. And they dial up a great trick. play and this dude whims drops it after a great catch on that drive yeah a catch that was first called incomplete and then overruled by re uh by a challenge so here's i've got two things from this game number one Mitch trubisky really played well um for chicago when he took over for foals and he was

one of the reasons that they were in the postseason he played well i mean even in the losses like last week you know he was he was decent coolly i was if if anybody was thinking about Mitch Trubisky as a free agent target. Watch that game yesterday. After that guy whims dropped that pass, he was disinterested in participating. He became a conscientious objector in the game. I thought it was one of the worst competitive efforts by a high-profile position player I have ever seen. There's a fourth down in that game at 7-0 that they went So bad. Field goal range.

And he scrambles and he's got an easy chance to go. Oh, my God. To get the, it was like he lost where he was. He's reaching out early and he's a yard and a half short. He runs out of bounds at yard and half short. This guy was an absolute non-competitive person on the field. I would never, after watching that game, never want Mitch Trubisky to be my quarterback.

And there are things about Mitch Trubisky's game that I. I like. I was saying earlier in the year, I think the Bears have a better chance with Trubisky, even when they benched him. But I, in watching that game, that was, if you're, if you watched that as a bear fan and you want him to be your quarterback, good luck. What a gutless performance that was. I mean, their defense was good enough to be in that game and have a chance. The Bears have an outstanding defense. And by the way, they were fired up for that game. They were hitting in that game. That's why in some ways I give Tampa a decent chance against New Orleans. But man, their quarterback wanted no part of participating. You know, Matt Nagy should

have recognized it and put foals, who is a competitor? Should have put foals in the game. And the last couple games where they were effective, they were playing good against bad defense. defenses. I thought the same thing with Foles is, you know, maybe against New Orleans, Fools is a guy that's going to survive in the pocket, extend plays, be able to work some stuff down the field. And if you can't run it and get some of your run action stuff going, Trubitsky's dead. That they maybe should have considered Fools before the game. Well, you couldn't consider Foles before the game with Trubisky. I know they were playing shitty defenses, but he was playing well. I mean, he turned around.

He's just a better. Whatever. I mean, Foles was a better player in that matchup. I'll tell you what, you're right about that in hindsight. I mean, I, Trubisky, I thought, had some really good moments down the stretch, but to your point, they played terrible defensive teams that they beat. You know, they won three in a row there against Houston, Minnesota, and then who was the game they clinched against last week? Jacksonville a couple weeks ago. Three awful. Three garbage defenses. Yeah, garbage defenses.

But, oh my God, I've never seen a guy basically tucked tail between legs and want to get home and back to Mommy more than Trubisky did. He did not want any part of that competition. Any general manager considering signing Trubisky just needs to watch that game. I don't know. Maybe he's sick. Maybe he's got COVID. I don't know. But it was a gun.

Nutless performance by Trubisky. I mean, you've got to compete, man. Your defense keeps giving you the – that game was 7 to 3 late in the third quarter. I mean, the defense just kept me. I mean, New Orleans was definitely the better team. Oh, no, yeah. There was some plays in that game that – well, I mean, you're talking about the ones whimsdrop.

There was also – Taysam Hill ends up having a tip pick where he's got to think Michael Thomas so open on a two-man concept down the field, and he's throwing it. pressure though. And that's Chicago's defense, but that's a fortunate play. Yeah, but Chicago was just pressuring quarterbacks all day long. How many, I mean, how many pressures do they have?

Breeze still made a lot of throws down the field. Breeze made some place. Breeze is, you got to give him so much credit. He had a, that touchdown pass to, was it Murray there at the end where it was a third and goal and he's pressured and he's moving backwards and then up and then sideways and he just sort of, he basically just throws it. like almost like an underhand into a just push shot and two La Javius Mervy who catches it and goes into the end zone.

He was great. Oh, the other thing I was going to tell you. So the game went off at 10 and a half 11. I bought it to 11 Chicago. It was, I mean, I'm watching this. I'm like, once they got it to 213, I'm like, well, Trubisky is not going to score. Well, they had a chance, you know, they got to stop on a fourth. It was a touchdown.

And then they overruled it on replay a breeze touchdown sneak. worked down from the 99 yard line with a minute and 50 to go against soft defense obviously he drives him down the field and he throws a touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham on the final play of the game to make it 21. What a catch by Graham. Great catch by Graham. One handed. But you know what the new rule is they don't kick the extra point if it's not meaningful if there's zeros on the clock. So no yeah. So no extra point meant 219 instead of 2110 and they push. Oh. Anyway, the smell test was plus 10, so I was going to lose that anyway, unless they came out and went for two. Who knows? One last thing before we go. Not a good night last night for the Mark Turgeon

should be fired crowd. And there are a lot of you that contact me quite often, and you're really upset with me all the time when I defend him and I say he's a good coach. By the way, just to be clear, never said he's an elite coach. It's the Kirk Cousins thing. It's not elite. There are a lot of coaches out there that are better, but he's a good coach. He wouldn't have the record that he has if he couldn't do it. I actually think he's improved as a coach, too. Maryland went on the road last night as a 10-point underdog at 12th-ranked Illinois. Illinois is a final four contender, no doubt. And they won. They won without Eric Iala, their starting point guard, and Darrell Morsell had the game of his four-year career. He was outstanding, and Maryland now

in the Big Ten has probably the two most impressive road wins. They won at fifth, ranked Wisconsin two weeks ago, and last night they won at 12th ranked Illinois. They're only two and five in the Big Ten. Cooley, the Big Ten is the best. This year is the best basketball league I've ever seen, and Maryland's ever been a part of, including any year in the ACC. It was unexpected. I understand all of you that would say that, but most of you thought they had no shot.

And what his teams do is they compete, and even in losses with the exception of the Iowa game, which they did not play well in. They very easily could have beaten Indiana. They were up 10 against Indiana, and they were up four against the team that I think is the second best team in the country behind Gonzaga, Michigan. They were up four on Michigan when Morsell got hurt. And so they were without Morsell for the second half of that game, the entire Indiana game, and then when he wore the mask for the first time, he was terrible against Iowa, and then he went off last night. I was happy for him. He's been the heart and soul of that team for a few years now. Tough Baltimore kid who is just very much, you know, their best competitor by far.

It's a long season, College Hoops is, and Maryland's certainly shown capable of playing with the best teams in the country. They have talent. Their problem, of course, if you've been watching them, is they have no size, although I thought, I thought Chole Muriel. gave him some good minutes last night. And not only do they have no size, they have no size in a league of some of the best bigs in the country, including Coburn, who they faced last night. All right, that's it. Let me get this out, Cooley, and we will talk tomorrow. Offensive film breakdown. I am curious to see what Taylor Heineke ends up with, and we'll do that tomorrow.