The Kevin Sheehan Show - Terps Win and Is The Media Too Hard On Skins?

Episode Date: January 9, 2019

Kevin opens the show talking about Maryland's big win over Minnesota last night. He also talks about the notion that the DC sports media is too hard on the Redskins. Chris Knoche joins the show to talk Terps and Kansas City sports radio host Steven Spector comes on to talk about Andy Reid and the Chiefs as they get ready for their playoff game Saturday against the Colts. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I'm here. Aaron's here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com and tell them we told you to call. Chris Nocky will be coming up on the show. He called the game last night, the Maryland game, and the Maryland win over Minnesota last night. He'll join us. Steven Spector is an old friend of all of ours from 980. He's been in Kansas City covering the Chiefs for several years now in Sports Talk Radio. He'll join us to talk about whether or not Chief fans are confident that this year's Andy Reed team will get it done in the postseason. I'll start with Maryland and Minnesota from last night because I was excited for that game. Aaron was too.

And they, you know, when we saw the point spread, it seemed to indicate that, Maryland was the correct side. I was expecting Minnesota to be a four, five, maybe even a six-point favorite. They had won six games in a row. They had just beaten Wisconsin in Madison. They're a good team. They've got veteran players to go along with a good mix of youth. They were playing at home, and Maryland went off, Aaron, as a one-point dog.

That game went off at one. One? Yeah, and Maryland won the game. I'm going to start before I get to the game specifically. So many of you. Maryland basketball fans over the years in our conversations have urged me to really go hard on Mark Turgeon, you know, really be critical of him as a coach. He hasn't gotten Maryland back to where they were with Gary. And some of you have criticized me over the years for defending him because

I'm friendly with him. And that's not why I've defended him. I've defended him because he's been a very good college coach. You know, not great, you know, but you don't compile the record that he's compiled over the years as a head coach. 420 and 242. That's his record. 420 wins, 242 losses. You don't do that without doing something right. He coached four years at Texas A&M and took Texas A&M, which is hardly, you know, a basketball juggernaut, to four straight NCAA tournaments. And it's true that he has not had the tournament success. He did take Wichita State to a Sweet 16 in 2006. They lost to George Mason that year at the Verizon Center in the Sweet 16, and he's taken Maryland to the Sweet 16 just once, and that's a problem. I've never disputed that.

It's a problem. Maryland basketball should be a Sweet 16 team two to three out of every four years, and once out of every four years, they should have a legitimate chance to make a Final Four and contend for a national championship. I believe that. I believe that to be the case, and that's essentially what Gary created. You know, and Lefty, if he had been the head coach at a different time when more teams made the tournament, he would have been in that position of having Maryland every four years contending for a Final Four and playing potentially for a national championship. And I do think that that's what Maryland basketball should be. I've never said anything but that. And it hasn't been that with Mark here for his stretch here since 2011. But he is not a bad basketball coach.

those of you out there that know basketball understand him to be a solid basketball coach. Very good recruiter, too. His teams play hard, all of that. Now, the one criticism that I think has been justifiable over the years is that I think offensively sometimes they haven't been able to figure things out in-game in particular. And not always in-game. Do you see some of the moves that, you know, we all from our couch think are obvious? You don't always see them made. but last night was a different story. Last night's win over Minnesota, a game in which Maryland trailed by eight in the second half

and won by 15. And 15 was not reflective of how tight the game was, really until about the three and a half, four minute mark. Marilyn just pulled away late. But this was a game in which Mark Turgeon gets most of the credit for the win. He does. He pulled every right move.

last night. The most significant being, and if you are a basketball fan, and if you are really a person that understands basketball, you could watch that game in the first half and early in the second half and recognize that Marilyn was having a very difficult time guarding Minnesota man-to-man. It was a parade to the rim from almost every player on the floor for Minnesota. They had no problem getting the ball into the paint and getting the ball to the rim. Now, this is a team in Minnesota coming in that had won six games in a row, and they had just beaten Wisconsin in Madison. So this is a good basketball team, Minnesota.

But they're not the 21st century version of a really good college basketball team, because they don't shoot a lot of threes. They're not a particularly good outside shooting team at all, but they find ways, you know, they play inside. They go inside, they drive the ball, they get the ball to the rim. They make a lot of twos and not a lot of threes. And Marilyn couldn't stop them from getting to the rim. It was frustrating at halftime.

I was screaming to my one son who was watching the game with me. I'm like, he just never goes to zone. He's probably not going to do it, but this is when you have to do it. Because of two things. One, you can't guard them. You can't stop them from consistently getting to the rim for very high percentage shots. And the flip side to that is that Minnesota is not a good outside shooting team to begin with. So that was working in the decision to go to zone.

And Maryland got in a little bit of foul trouble early in the second half. And that's when I was really, I was like, you got to go zone. You have to. It's your only chance to really win this game. And if they end up knocking down a bunch of outside shots, you live with that. But you've got to stop them from driving the ball down your throat every single possession. And then all of a sudden, he went to the 3-2 zone. And it was right after I texted my brother who said,

is he going to play zone? I'm like, no, he doesn't really do it. It won't happen. And then he came out in it. And it totally changed the game. Marilyn went from being down 8 to pulling away late and winning by 15. It was, he also did some really. really good things in game. After the zone was in effect, you know, one of the concerns you have

in a zone is you're not going to rebound well. And they did rebound well after the very first possession that they played zone last night, where Minnesota got one or two offensive rebounds. Ricky Lindo was huge in his effort in the back part of the zone. Fernando at that point, you know, to begin with was on the bench when I think they went to zone with his third foul. They did everything right. But what I was going to say is there were a couple of times where there were timeouts, and he came out and he played one possession of man-to-man. I love when coaches do that when the other team is in the huddle basically saying,

all right, they just went to zone. This is what we're going to run offensively against that three-two zone. And then you come out, and at least for a possession, you show man-to-man. And he did a lot of those things to keep Minnesota off balance. I thought he coached a brilliant game last night. And offensively, you know, it wouldn't have happened the way it happened without really good offense. And Maryland not only ran good offense, but they hit a high percentage of shots. In particular, they were getting to the rim.

And then when they got the ball close to the rim, they were kicking it out for threes. Maryland shot 16 of 23 in the second half, and they were six for seven on their threes in the second half. and they had a 48 point second half. They outscored Minnesota 4827 to pull away and win at 82 to 67. It was a big win. It's early January. There are 15 games left in this Big Ten season. Maryland announced themselves last night.

And for a few additional reasons other than just the win, which I'll get to here in a second, but they announced themselves last night as a legitimate, a legitimate second. weekend of the tournament kind of team. A contender for the Big Ten regular season title, and Michigan and Michigan State right now are lights out. They're very good. Maryland plays Michigan State once this year in East Lansing. That game is a week from Monday night, I believe.

I think that's correct, yeah. And they play Michigan twice, the number two team in America. So they're going to have a chance to contend for the Big Ten title. I can tell you this right now. I'd be very disappointed based on watching a lot of the Big Ten teams, and it's a deep league, man. It is a good league. It is the best league this year in the country, I think top to bottom. But it's not going to be easy to finish in the top four, but I'll be disappointed if Maryland

isn't in the top four in the Big Ten this year, finishing somewhere in that area. I think they've got that kind of potential. And this is why I've said this for a few weeks, maybe going back to the early. portion of the schedule in November. They are uniquely talented. In that, I mean, they've got talent. They've got first-rate talent. They've got second weekend of the tournament talent. That's top 10 to top 16 talent in the country. They have that. It's young. Everybody's young. But they have two big guys that are versatile, 610, 611 big guys that can post you, that can score from the post, can pass from the post, can face and score. And in Jalen Smith's case,

can actually stretch you out to beyond the arc. I think Bruno can do that too. He's just never in a position of doing that. Bruno's also a ridiculous rebounder, a high-volume rebounder. If he's anywhere near the rim on a defensive possession and that ball misses, it's an 80% chance he's going to grab the rebound. Sticks has really gotten confident here. That shot he hit the floater to beat Nebraska.

he's been an almost, he's been a different player confidence-wise. You've seen the talent all year long. He made a great move off. He's pretty good off the dribble. He can actually beat you off the dribble at 610, 611. He's going to be a pro. Both of them are. Maryland's got two pros minimum on their team right now.

It's a really talented team. I know some people will say, well, the Trimble, the Rashad Soleiman, you know, the Diamondstone, team, the Robert Carter, Robert Carter Jr. team that that was a more talented team. Maybe, but this team not only has a talent,

these guys are basketball players too. They're good basketball players. So this is an exciting, I think we're in the midst or at the beginning of an exciting season for Maryland. They have Indiana at home Friday night. The students aren't back. Those of you that don't know anything about Maryland,

Maryland has one of the longest winter breaks of any university in the country. I don't think students go back until January 28th. Yeah, it's like the end of January. It's after MLK Day. Yeah. So, you know, Maryland's got one of the best student sections and environments when the students are there in college basketball.

So you've got two games coming up, Friday night against Indiana, and then Monday night against Wisconsin. Indiana's ranked. Wisconsin is now out of the rankings after having lost them. Minnesota. And so you've got two huge home opportunities here. God, I hope. I know it's a seven o'clock start for Indiana. The Monday night game is a better start time. It's 8.30, but I'd love to see two packed houses, even without the students there, and the kind of environment that Maryland deserves at home after the way they've played here in the last month. It's too bad they didn't get the

Seton Hall win. You know, they had the lead late, gave it up late, because, you know, that That's probably the game that knocked them out of the rankings. They'd probably be ranked somewhere in the low 20 to 22-3 range had they beat in Seton Hall, maybe a little bit higher. Actually, they'd probably be higher. They'd probably be in the upper teens right now. But if they beat Indiana on Friday night, they'll be back into the rankings next week with the road win at Minnesota.

Trust me, Minnesota wasn't ranked. They were other teams receiving votes, but everybody that has watched college basketball knows how impressive that road win. was. And Minnesota is going to be a tough team to beat in their building this year with two of their guys in particular. Jordan, who was in foul trouble and coffee, who to me looks like a versatile pro, like he can play any position at the next level. So anyway, Indiana Friday night, Wisconsin on Monday night, you get some big, big home games now, you know, this year. You still have Michigan at home, Ohio State at home. You get a rematch with Minnesota later on.

in the year at home. This is shaping up to be a season where I think there would be huge disappointment if Maryland doesn't end up being a top five seed in a region with a legitimate chance to play a second round game against an opponent they can beat to get to the Sweet 16. To me, that's minimum right now. They're that talented. And if Turgeon really has this team figured out,

and coaches the way he did last night. They've got almost an unlimited upside. I'm not going to put them, they're not Duke, okay? They're not, I mean, Tennessee's loaded. You know, Virginia, they've already played Virginia. No one's been closer to Virginia at this point than Maryland was in their building, and that was a late November game. They're a different team now.

I'd actually love to have that game now against Virginia. You don't get it, but I think Maryland would perform even better. you know, Michigan State on the road's not going to be easy. You know, they're really good. Michigan's really good. I would be, Maryland's got three games against Michigan and Michigan State. I think they're going to win one of those three games. They should.

You know, they've got a chance to beat a Michigan at home. And they got Ohio State twice, too, right? They've got Ohio State twice too. Yep. And Ohio State's pretty loaded as well. Anyway, big win for them last night. You were going to say something. I was just saying, you know, like you were saying all of these teams,

the nice thing about the Big Ten this year is unlike last year where a lot of these games didn't matter. There are legitimately 11 top 50 teams in the Big Ten this year. So every game they play has the potential to be a big win. And yesterday's game, people are going to kind of look at it. Oh, it's Minnesota. The way the new system works, a top 50 win on the road is huge. Huge. Yeah.

Look, they've got 15 games left. So, you know, I'm not counting chickens before they've, you know, they've broken their eggshells. But I would be really surprised, really surprised if this Maryland team is not a tournament team. And very, you know, really disappointed if it's not better than, say, you know, a 7 to 10 seed. You know, I don't want to, you know, I think this team has a chance to finish as a top four or five, succeed in a region by the time we get done. The Big Ten's playing 20 games this year. They went to the 20 games schedule. So Maryland's four and one right now in the Big Ten. Michigan State, so they're tied for third in the Big Ten. Actually, they're in third all by themselves now. There are a couple of

other teams with one loss, though, just not as many wins. But they've got two road wins. And, and, you know, one of them is against Rutgers. All right, fine. But last night's win was a really good win. I want to read this tweet, because it's It's about the conversation we had with Liz Clark yesterday. And then Tommy followed up with the same sentiment that Liz had on the show yesterday about a stadium not getting built, a new Redskins stadium that Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, nobody's going to give Snyder the land to build a new stadium. I thought that that was a real surprising sentiment.

Liz put it out there, and Tommy agreed with Liz. I don't agree with either one of them. I think somebody will. I think Maryland is the most likely. I want it to be D.C. I do. I did think we learned a lot from Liz yesterday. She was great in talking about how, you know, the Redskins, you know,

vis-a-vis their self-absorption, you know, didn't attack the D.C. opportunity soon enough. And they let too much time tick off the clock. And then they tried to get something into a Republican, you know, Congress bill that wouldn't have been voted on anyway. way because of the shutdown. But I believe that he'll be given the land by somebody, but Liz and Tom don't. Many of you cynically just said as a follow-up on social media yesterday to me, hey, that's fine. You know, let him move the team. And this one tweet from Vic is the tweet I

wanted to read. He said, fine. No one wants to build him a stadium. That's what you and the media want anyway, so be it you might get your wish. Thanks, Vic. Thanks, Vic, for that. It's part of a growing sentiment among some of the fan base that believe that part of the doom and gloom is media-driven more than it is anything that the Redskins have done in recent years. Look, this take, this position that some of you have, that The media is somehow out to get the Redskins is so backwards. It's so backwards. This team is a dumpster fire and has been for 20 years under Dan Snyder.

Look, if you want communist Russia Pravda, if you want that version, watch Redskins Nation every night. It's right there on NBC Sports Washington. If you want that, it's available. But please understand the following. Number one, this is not a tough sports media market. It's not. It's not a gentle media market, sports media market. You know, our last three coaches came from gentle sports media markets.

Jay Gruden, Cincinnati, Mike Shanahan, Denver, Jim Zorn, Seattle. You know, that's why you've heard a lot of complaining from the three coaches, the last three Redskins coaches about what a tough media market DC is. It's because of their perspective. You know, compared to Cincinnati, Denver, and Seattle, yeah, we're vicious, but it's not a tough sports media market. You know, somebody like Parcells would laugh at the notion if he were coaching here that DC is a tough sports media market. You know, he would have asked for it to be more combative. DC as a sports media isn't shy, it doesn't roll over, it doesn't act as a mouthpiece for any of its teams,

but it's not strongly combative. It really isn't. Also, the media, you have to understand that the sports media in most towns benefit from teams winning. And in the Redskins case, it would benefit significantly from a business standpoint if the Redskins were a winner. So there's always this underlying desire. You know, if you care about that stuff as a sports media member for the team to win. You know, it's a much better situation. I don't even think we can quantify that as a sports media because we don't know what it would be because it's never happened in the last 20 years in this century, the Redskins have one playoff win in this century, one.

And so, and they don't have one regular season that gave the town a reason to be super jacked up about the team and the team's postseason prospects. Because every postseason they've made, it's been a late run. It's been an unexpected late season run from a losing record or a 500. record to the playoffs. You know, not one opportunity for an 8 and 2 or 9 and 3 or 10 in 2 mark, you know, in November. You get a city all jacked up about its football team.

Haven't had one of those since 1991. That's amazing. So when I say winning would benefit the sports media, it's just a belief I have. I can't prove it because they've never. had a winner to prove out my premise that it would benefit everybody, but the sports media in particular would be a huge beneficiary of the Redskins winning. I mean, the Patriots media market has benefited, Boston's media market has benefited significantly from the Patriots winning and the Red Sox winning in recent years. Huge benefit. Trust me, guys on Sports

Talk radio up there have huge audiences. I'm talking about. I'm talking about. I'm talking about. I'm talking about not niche audiences, big audiences, because of the teams winning as consistently and bringing in the non-sports fan or the fringe sports fan into the daily conversation of local sports. The Redskins haven't been able to do that. So the media would benefit significantly, in my view, from the teams winning. And then the last, you know, thought on just anybody that really thinks that the sports media is somehow influencing the Redskins are out to get them. Look, I think, you know, I know a lot of the sports media people in town. Most of us are fans.

You know, most of the reactions that we have to the things they do or don't do are rolled up into the emotions of being a fan. Now, a lot of the people that report on the team, they can't be a fan. They have, you know, they can't be biased. But I'm talking about in the sports talk radio, or in my case now, the podcast world where it's more about not, it's not about reporting. It's about opinion. It's about trying to, you know, it's more entertainment than it is, you know, than it is the job of reporting. Nobody, we don't report. I've talked about this before.

I'm not a reporter. Zabe isn't a reporter. The junkies aren't reporters. Those of you that want some unbiased view and think that that's the job. It's not the job. The opposite of that is actually the job. And so for those of us that are in the opposite of being a reporter as a sports media member in this market, I just know many of us are fans or ex-players, former players.

You know, so the reactions we have are emotional reactions to the things that they aren't doing successfully or doing right. I want them to be good. I hate that they're not good. And it's the way that they're not good that is the worst part of it. You know, being a mediocre to bad team over the years, but representing themselves in a way that may have been more admirable or classy or high road, it would still stink that they aren't winning. but if you deem Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen to be of higher quality, I'm not suggesting it would be a love fest with the team if they were still producing the same results,

but if the Redskins conducted themselves with a little more self-awareness, a little more humility, it would benefit them, and it would allow for what I've talked about over the last few months, more disappointment than, which is what they think the fan base is. But what it really is, and the media as well, there's more disgust, there's more distrust. You know, fans and media, I think, are aligned on this, that for the most part, when it comes to the Redskins,

there is disgust and embarrassment, but more importantly, there's a lack of trust. And the lack of trust really stems from a feeling that they are professionally incompetent and personally lacking in self-awareness and character. I think that's the feeling that most have. And that's tough to change. But move the team, no, the media is not rooting for that, Vic.

Worse than not winning would be not having an NFL team to cover. And for those of you that actually think that he would do it, that Dan Snyder would do it, I don't think he'd do it. Again, more times than not, his default, the organization's default, is they think they are still beloved by many, many more, entrusted by many, many more than most think, or more than the numbers would actually say now. I mean, we know what the numbers are.

There is tangible, hard, quantitative data out there that says that fewer and fewer people trust, fewer and fewer people are just disappointed. They're disgusted. They're turned off. They're apathetic. All of those things, in order. Anyway, did you know that today is the five-year anniversary of Jay Gruden being hired as the Redskins head coach?

Big, big anniversary there. Yeah, big, big anniversary. Five years ago today, he was hired to be the head coach. So I was looking back through a lot of my old blog entries, which I've saved. Interestingly enough, I've only saved them back to Gruden's first year. and this is what I found from his very first game as a head coach. If you recall, the first game was a road game at Houston in 2014. And I did my typical, you know, things I liked, things I didn't like,

and I used and I blogged that always when I was at 980. And this was the number two thing on the things that I didn't like for Gruden's first game as a head coach, Aaron. End of first half-clock management was bad. Weird. And this is what I wrote. It was his first game as a head coach, but Gruden can't let the clock run out on the half when you have the ball on your own 41-yard line,

which is what he did. I don't remember it until I read this. They had the ball at their own 41-yard line late in the first half, and he let the clock run out. Now, it was third and long on that play before their own 41, but it was third in 25, meaning they probably had. had, and this is what I wrote, they probably had an easy underneath throw to Roy Huloo, all right, Roy Hulu, Jr., to get, you know, 15 yards, you know, to maybe 20 yards,

and get the ball to the Houston 40 or 39, 38 yard line for a field goal attempt. But he just let the clock run out, and I wrote, that was a head scratcher. A little did I know that that would become a common theme during the Jay Gruden era of coaching. that that has been a big weakness of his. I also went back from the day that he was hired and read some of the stories, including some of the columns. Jason Reed was a columnist at the time for the post. And he wrote the title, the first paragraph read as follows from Jason Reed's column on January 9th, 2014, the day that Jay Gruden got hired. The Washington Redskins got it right Thursday, and hiring Jay Gruden is their next head coach.

owner Daniel Snyder and general manager Bruce Allen needed fewer than two weeks to complete a process. Some in the organization privately hoped would end with Gruden, formerly the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator, becoming the team's eighth coach since Snyder purchased the team in 1999. Now comes the hard part for Gruden, fixing Robert Griffin the third. Anyway, the sentiment, this was my sentiment at the time. it the day they hired him. I said they hired the wrong Cincinnati Bengals coordinator. That Zimmer is going to be the better head coach. And I think I've been proven right on that. You know, although Zimmer got into a little bit of trouble this year. I was going to say, I don't know if the

jury's out on that one. But it's also a personal preference. I like the tough, disciplined, hard-nosed defensive guys sometimes more than the Lucy Goosey players coach guy, especially for this organization, I think that, you know, the one guy that wasn't that way, Marty Schottenheimer, had it going in the right direction. I don't think they'll ever hire somebody like that again. Part of the reaction, though, overall from the day that he was hired, or most of the reaction, was all about Robert Griffin III. It was all about Jay Gruden must have convinced Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen that he could develop Robert Griffin the third into a really good quarterback. and we know how that played out.

I think there is a quote in here. First of all, one of the things that was very prominent five years ago was the relationship that Jay had with Bruce Allen as to why they went Jay Gruden instead of some of the other people that they had interviewed as an example, Vic Fangio, who was the de-coordinator in San Francisco at the time. Mike Zimmer, they also wanted to interview Ken Wisenhunt. They actually interviewed Jim Clangio.

Caldwell, Darrell Bevel, Sean McDermott, Perry Fuel, who ended up being, you know, on the staff. But, you know, it was really Gruden's relationship with Bruce Allen that, you know, made the day for Gruden and made the decision. But Gruden did talk multiple times. I'm looking for the quote, and I can't find it from one of the stories I was looking at. but basically Gruden, you know, implied that he was going to be able to develop Robert Griffin the third and that this was a big part of the interview process. I can fix Robert Griffin the third. I made Andy Dalton a productive NFL quarterback. I can do it with Robert Griffin III. And we know how that played out. It was midseason when Gruden completely did a 180. Actually, I was told back then that he knew in training camp, he knew when they got

to Richmond that it wasn't going to work. He couldn't admit it then, clearly, but he couldn't believe how far Griffin had to go to be a dropback passer. And a lot of the discussion, too, of the day, was just how insufferable Griffin was. And when a lot of us started to hear that in training camp. And then obviously, Jay let everyone know how he felt in that famous interview in November of that year with the NFL network guy, Albert Breer. Yeah, I think it was the Albert Breer story where he went after his starting quarterback more than any coach had ever done it. I mean, he was mean-spirited in some of those quotes. And I remember at the time saying, this is not the way to handle it.

You cannot do that to your starting quarterback publicly. That had to be handled behind the scenes. But one of the things we learned about Jay from the beginning is he was brutally honest in his reactions. He would tell you exactly the way he was feeling until Bruce and Dan told him not to, which happened early that next offseason when he said there's going to be an open competition for quarterback at the Indy Combine. And then the next time we heard from Jay was, no, it's Robert's job. As it turned out, it wasn't Robert's job. Five years ago today, everybody, Jay Gruden hired as the head coach.

Did you, I didn't watch any of the Wizards game. I was flipping back and forth, so I have no idea, you know, they got blown out last night badly. Yeah. In Philadelphia, and they play Philadelphia again tonight at home. So good luck on that one. I hate the back-to-back same opponent in the NBA thing. but sometimes it works in their favor. Actually, interestingly enough,

I want to just see what the point spread is because sometimes it'll be a short number, even though they got hammered last night. Yeah, they're only getting three and a half tonight at home. So they'll probably win tonight against the 76ers at home. All right, let's tell you about wind donation. Harley, Aaron, and Eric listen to this podcast all the time. They're a fan of it, and I'm a fan of theirs,

And I'm a fan of theirs because I've got personal experience with getting windows from Window Nation. Twice over the last 10 years, we've had Windows installed by Window Nation. And it's worked out for me. And it's worked out for a lot of people that I know. If you're skeptical or if you're hesitant right now, but you do need Windows, understand that there's no risk in just calling up Window Nation 86690 Nation or going to WindowNation. And asking for a free estimate. They'll send somebody out to your home.

You tell them the windows you want replaced or the windows that you're thinking need to be replaced. They'll tell you, first of all, if they actually need to be replaced. And if they do, they'll give you a free estimate. So there's no risk. It's not going to cost you anything to give them a chance at your business. And right now it would be the time to do it because when donation is offering their triple zero sale, zero down payment, zero payments, and zero percent interest until 2020. It's also a triple deal, meaning you're going to get $200 off every window, any size, any style.

And if you order a whole house full of windows, window nation will pay your heating bill until the new windows are installed. So now would be the time to get that done while your heating bills are pretty high during the winter. You'll save hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars right now, but who knows how much more with energy savings and higher home value for years to come. It's their triple zero sales, zero down. payment, zero payments, zero percent interest for 12 months, $200 off each window, no minimum purchase required, and they'll pay your heating bill until the new windows are installed. Save today, save tomorrow, save forever. Call 86690 Nation or visit windownation.com. That's 86690 Nation or shopwindonation.com and tell them that I sent you. All right, let's bring in Chris Snocky, who was

on the play-by-play call last night. Johnny wasn't feeling well, and I think that's two games in a row for you and Troy, Troy Wainwright, who's doing a good job as well, filling in for you as you filled in for Johnny on the Maryland Basketball Radio Network. Look, I thought last night going in was a huge game for Maryland. You know, there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of downside to losing at Minnesota because Minnesota is good and it's a road game, but there was so much, you know, upside to a second second straight road win in this league. Before we get to what I thought was one of Turg's better nights as a head coach since he's been here from a strategy, in-game strategy standpoint. Overall, what is that place like? What's the barn like in Minneapolis? I know it's a super

early start for them, you know, central time, six o'clock, but that place has been, you know, heralded over the years is a really difficult place to play. Is it? It can be. It wasn't last night. Students aren't back. Yep. And so you had a lot of the kids missing. It was, it's a cool building, Kevin, for anybody who's been, you know, who enjoys the game and who is into the history of the game, it was built in 1928. Wow. I mean, there just aren't that many buildings around like that.

You know, I was kind of wondering around the upper crevices of the building, you know, the upper floors. and there's a lot of the original hardwood. Updated it a couple of times. It still feels pretty old. But it's unique. It's a special place. All right, let's talk about the game. At what point, as you're watching this game, as a former coach and an analyst,

at what point did you think, we can't guard these guys? We've got to switch to a zone. One of the things that's really concerning and is going to ultimately spell bad news for the Minnesota's penetration against their defense. They, you know, they have some big athletic guards spot they wanted

to get to against Maryland's band, the player on that team. Amir coffee. Oh, love them. It's a real talent. You combine having to deal with coffee, who's not a great outside shooter, with the problems of staying in front of the other guard, I think, you know, going to his own was done

out of desperation. In fact, after the game on the post-game show. That He hasn't done it a lot, you know, over his time at Maryland. He's one of those coaches that believes in playing man to man, and that gives you your best shot. You know, the interesting thing about Minnesota's parade to the rim in the first half and early in the second half is that it wasn't because they had extraordinary quickness at the point guard position where they couldn't stop the ball out front.

They were getting to the rim from the wings, from the post, just every single shot. And it was such an old school game in the first half in general with very few jump shots or three-pointers taken specifically. It was both teams going inside consistently. I actually loved and enjoyed watching the game in the first half. But ultimately, they just had to try something. And I actually thought the three-two was the right way to go, Chris. Although I thought Daryl Morsell was much more effective out at the front of that zone than Wiggins was. Well, you know, I thought the level of that activity was good from both those guys. You know, I don't think either one did a bad job for sure. The game changer to me was the play.

When you go zone, ultimately, the one thing you really worry about is your ability to rebound. Yes. You don't have the traditional boxout assignments. And Ricky Lindo, a freshman, seemed to get every rebound in a stretch where they initially went zone. And so if you eliminate the concern about Minnesota's athleticism around the basket, if you eliminate that and you force them to be a jump shot shooting team, Minnesota is a team that coming into that game, Kevin, was shooting, this is hard to believe because it's a good club, shooting 25% from three in league play.

So, I mean, when you eliminate the rebounding concerns, as windows seem to really help with, and, you know, you put yourself in good shape. Well, and you just mentioned the other reason, you know, where you would be less hesitant if you're not a go-to-zone coach, you're less hesitant knowing that that's not a really good outside shooting team or a good three-point shooting team in that spot. And you're so right. I mean, there were so many key performances. But Lindos' performance, and really his play over the last few games in particular, has been really important. You can tell that, you know, this is a guy that reclassed, you know, should have, you know, should have, I guess been a senior in high school this year at Wilson.

And, you know, obviously the coaching staff saw something in him. And what they saw, Chris, right, is incredible energy and length. And you know what? He actually has a good stroke, too. He knocked down that huge three in the second half. Well, Matt Brady, who's kind of the shooting coach on Maryland, he told me that he told me this a month ago that he thought that by the start of next season, Ricky Window would be the best shooter on the team.

just thinks it structurally, he's got the best shot and the best release. He just has never been asked to play much on the perimeter. But back to the pickup, you know, he's pulled a rabbit out of his hat before in the recruiting season. But this is as good in August, or late July, early August pickup as you're ever going to find. And I think some of it, Kevin, as you, I know you follow the team very closely. Some of that was simply borne by the fact that he probably didn't trust. the guys he had behind Fernando and sticks.

And, you know, he just probably felt like he needed more insurance. And he certainly seems to have found it. Yeah, he really has. All right, let's just talk about the offense, though, in the second half, and their ability to score. They were 16 of 23 from the floor in the second half, and six of seven from behind the arc in the second half. They ran on occasion, especially when they got quick defensive stops or rebounds,

which I love, I think this team is really good in transition. They haven't had a lot of it in recent games. But Anthony Cowen was spectacular. Maybe the best half he's played offensively anyway as a turp. Yeah, and they needed it too. He was kind of dormant in that first half. They got out, they played a lot less, well, they still use the screen, but it wasn't really in a pick-and-roll fashion.

And, you know, it's funny, Bruno's numbers. to me, Kevin. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds, but everything revolves around him. And when he gets fed the basketball, it opens up so many opportunities for other guys. He absolutely demands, or commands a

double team, or help. And I think that one of the reasons why they're playing better offensively, he's not getting more shots because of the way defenses are playing, but he's getting a lot more touches. Oh, time. And it's serving this team very well, right?

Well, I mean, we've seen it now for a few games. I mean, you're talking about a significant percentage of your half-court sets. Start with a way to get him a touch on the post and then go from there. And I actually thought, you know, I thought Smith, I thought Jalen Smith, stick Smith. You know, I actually think Fernando's turned into a really good passer, but he gets doubled more. They doubled Smith at the end, and he did something that I'd love to see Fernando do more of, and that is step through the double and make the pass rather than backing up the way he does.

Smith made a great pass to, I think it was Iala for a key three. Eric Ayala. Yeah. And there was nobody within 10 feet of Iala. I agree. But to your point, initial point, I find it very hard to argue with Bruno's evolution as a path. He's come mild. And they're just different players, you know.

Sticks is a little bit. I bet you sticks, how many, how many, does? double and triple teams you think that guy saw in high school last year? A lot. I mean, in a game, in a game it had to be a dozen, right? So maybe he's had a little bit more history with that, particularly out away from the hope. You know, we've talked about this, that this is a, you know, I think some Maryland fans, if you're, if you've really watched this team, it may be the most talent, it may be the most talented team or certainly most uniquely

talented team that Turg has had because of the two big guys in Fernando and Smith, something you really don't see a lot of, you know, in college basketball where you've got two 610, 611 guys. They both can post. They both can face. I actually, I've asked for this, you know, all year long, and I think you and I talked about it the last time, I'd love Bruno from the mid-range to look at that shot more often and take it. He's got a great stroke. He does. I think the only reason he does not, Kevin, is because he's having so much success around the bucket. No, I got it. And I agree with you. There's just not a lot of tammons like this.

One of the things that Richard Petino said to me before the game last night was, he said, you know, he was talking specifically about his team. He said, you know, we're more experienced. We've got a bunch of seniors. The thing that really worries me is he said, you know, Maryland's just a really skilled team. And he said, you know, that's sort of one of those things that gets lost with the level of athleticism that you see in college basketball is, you know, the number of shot makers that you have. And for a team that early in the season, people were saying, ah, they can't shoot threes, they can't make jump shots, all of a sudden those numbers. I mean, IA is almost at 50% shooting threes.

Cowanover's last four games is right at 50% as well. You know, so they've got enough shot makers or more shot makers than a lot of teams that you see. including some of the other teams in the Big Ten. Yeah, I listened to your interview with him before the game started, and I totally heard the same thing, too. You know, sometimes teams are loaded with athletes but not basketball players. Maryland's got both. They've got skilled basketball players on this team.

One of the guys that I'm enjoying watching, although at times it looks a little bit dicey, but Sorrel Smith, he's rather confident offensively. I wish I had those testicles when I was playing. He is a fearless guy, and the hardest worker, Kevin, you ought to see this guy at practice. He's come miles in terms of his defensive ability. I mean, he's a different guy than he was in September and October,

and it's helped his team a bunch. They get Indiana at home. Friday night, 7 o'clock. You know, I think you feel the same way. I hate these early starts. The 630 thing was a ridiculous start time last week against Nebraska. a seven's really not any better, but it's a Friday night, and it's a ranked team coming in, and they're on a roll. God, I hope that building is packed, and, you know, I know the students

aren't back yet, but, you know, big opportunity for Maryland with two home games in three days, basically, with Indiana, or, you know, yeah, three days, with Indiana and Wisconsin on Friday night and Monday night. These are opportunities, and you have to win your home games. You have to hold and serve. It'll be a lot of fun. And you keep talking. You keep talking, it up. We'll get some people there. I know I'm trying to. All right, thanks. I know you got a run. I appreciate it. And I know you got back late last night, so I appreciate you doing this this morning. I'll talk to you soon.

Thanks, Kevin. See you. All right. Thanks to Chris Naki for doing that. Big win for Maryland. And Maryland fans, I know sometimes you get lackadaisical when it comes to this team, but they're on a four-game winning streak. And Friday night is huge against Indiana at home. It's a 7 o'clock start. I hate it to, you know, rush hour traffic, but try to get there leave early.

That needs to be a much better home crowd environment, Aaron, than the one against Nebraska. And I think Indiana just in general usually would draw more people, but this is a huge game for the Terps on Friday night. Ferrisch, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fairfax. Give me a moment to tell you about what they've got going on out there. First of all, as I've mentioned many times, and some of you kid me about this,

but yes, I am good friends with Ralph Perkins. Ralph runs the dealership. He's a great guy. He's a smart guy. And he and Kevin Farish know what customers want. They make it easy for you. And I promise you that if you head out there and you mention my name and you ask for Ralph, Ralph's going to put you in touch with their best salesperson and you will get a great deal. Their sales teams experienced. Most of their sales reps have been at Ferris for 20 years. Their service department is the best. You never have to wait. You're in and out quickly. Right now the opportunity is. this. Some of the best rebates they've had all year long and a lot of inventory on their lot, that they are continuing to try to move so that they can get their 2019 shipments in. Right now, if you're in the market for a Jeep Cherokee, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, or a Jeep Wrangler, you're going to save big on all three of those. Same goes for the RAM pickup. If you like this show and you've been thinking about something new, a Chrysler Dodge Jeep or Subaru, they've got a Subaru dealership, give Farish and Fairfax a chance. I promise it'll work out for you. They're located

right there in Fairfax Circle. Again, ask for Ralph Perkins when you get there. Tell him that I sent you. You can also find out everything Farish has right now, including live inventory, live pricing, and their best deals at Farish Cars.com. All right, the NFL playoffs coming up this weekend, divisional rounds of the top two seeds in each conference. In play. this weekend in the AFC, Kansas City in New England, and the first game of the weekend is Colts at Chiefs in Arrowhead on Saturday afternoon. And an old friend is joining us right now. Stephen Spector, who was a producer at 980 for many years,

is now the program director at 610 sports radio in Kansas City after a long and distinguished on-air career in Kansas City as well. And you were always a Chiefs fan, so you ended up in the place where you want to. to end up. And I, first of all, just Aaron didn't know this story. Oster's producing the podcast, and he didn't know the story of the earthquake day. It's still one of my all-time favorites, and we don't have the audio as typical whenever I've had you on before. We'll play that audio as a way to flash back to August of 2011 when Stephen was producing me, because Stern was out.

It was just Stephen and I in the studio doing the sports fix. Tommy, I think, was on vacation too, when the earthquake of 2011 hit, and you and I knew exactly what it was when it happened, and then we're told to evacuate the studio as fast as possible. A memorable day. My most memorable moment in the 10-plus years now of doing sports radio, and I'll never forget, You know, we felt that first initial rumble, and we were like, you know, what was that? Maybe someone's just doing some construction in the building. And that second shake, I think both shook us to our core, threw it to National ESPN Radio,

and we got the heck out of that building. So that was certainly one of the most memorable days I've ever had. Aaron just said to me, said, you could actually feel it. Not only did we feel it, the microphones which hung in, you know, were shaking and swaying back and forth. And I said to you after the first one, I said, that's a. earthquake. You know, we're going to find the sound. We don't have the sound now. I'm trying to get access to the sound so we can play it. But anyway, if we don't, we've described it adequately except for the last part of it, which was our fearless CEO, Rick Carmine at the time,

opens up the studio door and screams, get the hell out of here! And with that, you and I quickly threw it to ESPN Radio and headed out of the building. And when he was alarmed at the level that he was alarmed at. I then thought maybe it wasn't an earthquake. Maybe a bomb had gone off in the garage or something and the building was about to come down. But we got out of there and we were safe and yeah, DC had an earthquake. Never thought it could happen, but it happened. And there's still, to this day, repairing places like the National Cathedral, which still hasn't been completely been refurbished since all of the damage it took from that earthquake. Now, you seven years ago or so, seven and a half years ago.

And that was not an easy building to get out of, too. I mean, we were, what, on the fifth, sixth floor? Fourth floor, yeah. Fourth floor, and you got to run down a couple stairs and then out through the main. I mean, it was no easy task in that. I just remember sweating going down those stairs thinking, oh, my God, is this it? All right, you're a long-time Chiefs fan, and you've been covering the team and living with this team for a while.

Andy Reed has just not been able to get it done as a playoff coach. He's been a terrific regular season coach. He's not been a successful playoff coach. Do you think this year is different because of Patrick Mahomes? That's the million-dollar question here that everybody's asking in Kansas City because, you know, the Chiefs have had unbelievably bad luck against the Indianapolis Colts. They are 0 and 4 in their last four playoff matches dating back to 1995. But the asterisk with all of this is they've never had.

had the better quarterback, they've never had Patrick Mahomes. So there is an uneasy anticipation slash sense of confidence here that, yes, we can never beat the Colts when it counts in the playoffs and we've done it in historic fashion, whether it's Lynn Elliott's three Ms. Field goals back in 95 or up 38 to 10 in 2014. But the asterisk, as you said, is Patrick Mahomes. And the Chiefs have never had the better quarterback when they've been going up against the Indianapolis coach, whatever the fourth. matchups have been. So I think they can. Vegas believes that they can, but as a lifelong Chiefs fan, as you kind of mentioned, and as someone who can kind of feel the pulse of this city,

there is a nervous anticipation going into this game because the matchup certainly seems, at least on paper, even though it's a one-verse-six seed, that the Colts of probably all the teams left in the ASC pose the biggest threat to the Chiefs because of what they can do on the ground. It's been since 1993, right? A wild card win over the Steelers at Arrowhead since the Chiefs have won a home playoff game. What is it? Six in a row now? Six in a row. They've lost six in a row at home. Many of them in excruciating, you know, ways. I mean, all of them, I think, were close games. I don't think any of them weren't winnable. Last year was probably the worst meltdown at home, you know, up 21-3 at halftime. And all of a sudden, you know, all hell, broke loose in the second half and you couldn't stop Derek Henry and Mary Oda made a couple of plays including, I think, completing a touchdown pass to himself. He threw a touchdown to himself. Yeah. The most chiefs thing ever. Most chiefs thing ever. So it's that it's that fan base that

has been bitten so many times. And I can imagine that what you're saying, sort of the hesitation to feel like this is the year. Saturday is huge. If you get over that, you know, peace and you win a home playoff game, then you can worry about, well, being in a championship game for the first time, I guess, since Montana was quarterback that one year. Yeah, it's crazy to think because, you know, on the other side of that ballot is the New England Patriots. And, you know, I saw the Chiefs go into Foxborough and they lost because they didn't have the ball last. And it's just kind of crazy to think where we've come since the start of the season that the Colts actually pose a bigger threat to the Chiefs than the New England Patriots.

I mean, that just sounds so backwards in the ASC for the last 19 years in the kind of Brady Belichick era. But it's true because this Colt offensive line doesn't allow interluck to get hit. They run the ball better than almost any team in the NFL. And what are the things the chiefs do well? They rush the passer. That's the only thing they're good at on defense. And then they can't stop the run.

So defensively, this could shape up to be one of those 38, 35 games where if you have the ball, last, you have the best chance to win. And this kind of goes back to the history of Colts and Chiefs. If you remember back to 2003, Peyton Manning came in here in the divisional round after the Chiefs had a buy, and it was the famous no-punt game. And we've seen this movie before. We just need a new chapter in the movie. What's the weather supposed to be like Saturday at Arrowhead? Good weather or not? It's growing, looking like there's going to be snow on the ground. So another thing that would factor into helping the Colts. As of a couple days ago, it was just to be your typical Midwest cold January day, but now there is a snow system tracking towards Saturday.

So it could be an ugly field and some sloppier conditions than we were all expecting. You know, I have all season long, I've been shorting the Chiefs. I've essentially said, I don't believe that their defense will hold up when they get to the postseason as great as they offensively. And I was, you know, during the, you know, the 54-51, you know, Monday night game in the Coliseum and all of the offensive explosion, I was still personally holding out hope and belief that defenses would be a factor when we got to the postseason. And we just saw probably the two best get eliminated in Chicago and Baltimore. But there are still some good defensive teams left, including the Chargers, by the way. And that was one of the games

of the year, that Thursday night game at Arrowhead a few weeks ago. But do you, is that the Achilles heel there in Kansas City, the inability to stop people consistently? Yes. I've been watching football for a long time, and this is the worst defense I've ever seen. I mean, not only do they not really have any talent, the scheme doesn't fit, and people have been calling for Bob Sutton, the defensive coordinator, be fired since last year, but Andy Reid, being the kind of loyal guy he is, gave him another chance. They've drafted some guys who have not. not seen the field. We've had the Eric Berry saga. Kendall Fuller has been okay since coming over from the Redskins in the Alksmith trade. They don't have a lot of talent. Their scheme doesn't work.

And kind of on the flip side, as you know, you always talk about kind of corresponding football. The Chief's offense scores so quickly and so often that they're putting the defense on the field for probably more snaps than a defense should. So it really is whether or not Mahomes can put up 35 points. And if your defense can, and the Chief's defense can hold a team to 31, they probably got a really good shot to win. It's just a question of whether that or not that can happen. What's Mahomes Mania like in Kansas City? It's the best. It really is. I've been on, you know, I've talked to you obviously about kind of my frustrations with Alex Smith over the past five years and kind of the retread quarterback that this franchise has, you know, put in front of us

for the last 20 plus years. But having your guy who's 23, who is new modern football seven-on-seven, can do anything, throw 50 touchdowns, 5,000 yards, make football exciting again after it has been incredibly boring the last five years with Alex Smith. It's unlike anything I've kind of ever experienced. I would say that there are some correlations to that first year with RG3

back in what, 2011, 2012? It has that sense because, you know, Kansas City and Kansas City fans really identify with their sports teams. And Patrick Mahomes has been at the forefront of all this. He's around town. He's visible. He's personable. He likes, you know, being in a smaller market, you know, compared to other teams in the NFL. He's just a guy that fits Kansas City and Kansas City has rallied around him.

So there is that small part. to me that even if they don't win on Saturday or don't make the Super Bowl, I think it's inevitable that this team is going to make a Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes. He's just that special. So back to Andy Reid for a moment. He is considered in all circles NFL related to be this quarterback guru, this offensive genius, creative beyond what's typical for the NFL because a lot of the innovation, a lot of the creativity and offensive football, really, you know, the roots of that are at the high school and certainly the college levels more than they've been at the NFL level. Do Kansas Cittians love Andy Reed and are they patient, you know,

even if it doesn't work out this year? They love Andy Reed from August to December, and then you're going to have that moment in January, which we've had for the last five years, where people legitimately believe he should be fired. You know, 38 to 10 against the Colts lose that game. Pittsburgh comes in here three years ago. Doesn't score a touchdown and you lose. You're up 21 to 3 last year against a bad Titans team. Andy Reid gets very conservative.

They lose 22, 21. So he's just found each year a way to really go about losing a game in which they should never have lost. I think people are patient with Patrick Mahomes. I think they know that Andy Reid ultimately is good for them, but if there's a loss on Saturday, there's going to be two or three weeks where people are really questioning whether Andy Reid is the guy in January,

because not only will he have shown that he can't win in January, but he also kept around the biggest problem, and that's defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. And that loyalty, which a lot of us knew a long time ago he should have been gone, he stuck around for 2018, 2019. And if they lose because of defense and Andy Reed gets conservative, there's going to be a lot of questions arising whether he's the person that had bring Patrick Mahomes along.

I thought it was interesting. A lot of the Bears fans, you know, said they got Andy Reed light on Saturday or on Sunday afternoon because he was a little bit too conservative, I thought, a little bit too nervous the team was against the Eagles in that game. Is Andy Reid still conservative? to be just an atrocious clock management coach? I mean, you think about all the blunders over the years. Has he gotten any better at that? They haven't really had the, you know, the clock management blunders so far this season, but certainly nobody's confident that he just all of a

sudden, you know, completely turned a corner. So, I mean, that's still on his resume. That's still part of kind of his playoff personality, so we'll have to wait and see until Saturday. But, you know, Mahomes, honestly, has probably hit a lot of the... those flaws when it comes to clock management, at least in this past year. But I just want to go back to something you said. You look at the complete opposite of Andy Reed from his tree is Doug Peterson. And he's going forward on fourth down. He's calling the Philly Special in the Super Bowl.

And he's got a ring on his finger. So you kind of, you know, that's the guy who was a Chiefs Offensive Coordinator three years ago. You look at the opposite of Andy Reed and he has a ring and Andy does not. What do you, let's just assume that you break the streak and you win. a playoff game at home Saturday. You're right, the matchup is not a good one. I mean, you'd much rather see last year's Titans coming in than this year's Colts coming in for the first, for the divisional round playoff game. But who do you prefer? Who do you think most Chiefs fans

would prefer in the AFC title game, the Chargers of the Patriots? Wow, that's a great question. You know, my gut tells me the Chargers, because Andy Reed has own the AFC West outside of that last loss on Thursday night. I actually think the Patriots, I think the Patriots are going to lose on Sunday. I think the Chargers are a much better team than the Patriots. I think the Patriots have been finished for a month or so. So I actually do think it's going to be Chiefs Chargers in the AFC Championship from Arrowhead. I would say Chiefs fans with a large umbrella would rather see the Chargers,

but I actually think the Patriots a much better option for the Chiefs that following Sunday. All right. Last thing, and I'll let you run. You were as a Chiefs fan and somebody in that market for several years now, you were thrilled when they traded Alex Smith to the Redskins and got Kendall Fuller in a third round pick. One of the happiest days of my life is a Chiefs fan. You and a lot of Chiefs fans. That was a prevailing thought among Chiefs fans. Not that you guys disliked Alex Smith. You just thought that there was a major limitation to what he could provide. So what did you think of his first eight or nine games in Washington before he shattered his leg? I think, you know, when we last talked, I kind of told you that, you know, his floor is going to be seven or eight wins. And maybe the Redskins do win nine games sneak into the wild card, maybe win a mediocre division. But you'll never, ever have the sense that you truly have a shot at the Super Bowl. he will make you crazy because you're going to win eight, nine, ten games,

but you realistically never have a shot in January. And, you know, I never want to see anything happen to anybody that happened to him. So I feel so, so bad for him because he is such a great guy and so great in the community. But, you know, I'm watching the Redskins on Red Zone or, you know, when they're playing standalone games, and I don't miss that brand of football. It's moving towards you got to score 28 points to win. And I think Alex Smith is part of that older breed where don't turn the ball over, throw for 200 yards in a touchdown, and you have a chance to win.

I think that's the old way in the NFL. And if you're not prepping for those days where you're having your quarterback go 26 to 35 for, you know, 300 yards and three touchdowns, you're behind the curve in the new NFL. And right now I think the Redskins are. You know, one of the things as just a, you know, you know, I'm a diehard, you know, Redskine fan from birth, but as an NFL fan too, I'm rooting for Kansas City and in the chief fan base. It is such a passionate, you know, I think in some ways an almost underrated passionate fan base. Everybody knows how difficult Arrowhead is as a home venue. But it's been

a long time for you guys. I mean, you got to go back to the, you know, 1969, 1970 with Dawson and the upset went over the Vikings in Super Bowl four to find the Chiefs in a Super Bowl game. And it's one of those fan bases in some ways, not in the same way that Philadelphia fans had waited so long. I mean, they're two totally different personalities in the fan bases, but it would be, it would certainly be nice to see as an NFL fan to see you guys finally get back to a Super Bowl and have a chance at it. So I wish you the best of luck.

I'm just going to enjoy the football this weekend, although I am a Philip Rivers fan, so I'm rooting sort of for the Chargers to get through here. But I'd like to see a rematch of that Thursday night game. I really think that was start to finish one of the best games of the year. Yeah, Chiefs Chargers has always been a really good rivalry. Philip Rivers and Andy Reid don't like each other. Kansas City can't stand Phillip Rivers. I think that would make for at least the best storylines when it comes to an AFC championship game.

so I'm kind of with you. I'm hoping it's Chargers Chiefs part three. Are the Raiders still, you know, I mean, Raiders Chiefs, when I was a kid, was one of the top two or three rivalries in the NFL along with Cowboys, Redskins, you know, really maybe the top two in the 70s and first part of the 80s. Do Chief fans still hate the Raiders more than anybody else or not? No. Not since kind of the Marty Schottenheimer era has that kind of existed. The Raiders are just such a dysfunctional franchise and so bad that every time the Chiefs and Raiders get together, the Raiders are looking at a season of 5 and 11, 4 and 12, or they're already 2 and 10, and the game doesn't matter.

The team now is it's Broncos 1, Chargers 2, and Raiders 3. There is that history of Raider Week that Marty Schottenheimer kind of created in the 90s, but in the modern day, it's just not the same that it once was. because, you know, I still think that Redskin fans, it'd be overwhelmingly, you know, number one cowboys, you know, followed by, you know, Eagles, Giants or Giants Eagles in some order. Even though, you know, like Raiders Chiefs, they haven't had those big moments for a long, long time. It's been a long time since they've had those, you know, consistent, meaningful, you know, games in the regular season or even in the postseason. Anyway, hey, I enjoyed this. Always loved catching up with you.

Glad you're doing well in KC. Good luck to you and everybody there for this postseason. Great. Thanks, Kevin. Thanks for having me. All right. Kansas City and the Colts kick it off divisional round weekend, Saturday afternoon. And you heard what Stephen said about the weather at Arrowhead snow now in the forecast for that game.

That's part of the big storm. It's heading in our direction. And trust me, the forecast is going to change another three to four times between now and the weekend for us. It could be a big snowstorm or a moderate snowstorm or it could be nothing. All of those things are still in play because no one actually forecasts the weather. They just read all of this model information now. And it seems to change all the time. But so Arrowhead right now, snow's in the forecast.

For Foxborough, there is a chance it could be sunny and in the mid-20. or it could be snow for the game on Sunday in Foxborough. That's in play as well. I think the Colts have a legitimate chance to go into Arrowhead and win. I mean, they can run the football and the Chiefs defensively have just not been that good. And the strengths of Indianapolis really do match up with the weaknesses of Kansas City.

And I, you know, it could be a shootout. Now, the weather might be a factor, and maybe that prevents it from becoming a full-fledged 38-35 kind of game. but I could see this being a cult win. I could see both Saturday games going to the visitor, and I hate saying that because I don't want the Cowboys to win, and I hope the Rams are better than the Cowboys. The problem is that game is not going to be a home field environment for the Rams.

It may feel like a road game environment for the Rams with the Cowboy fans taking over that stadium. You've got to think they're used to that by now. Yeah, they are used to that. They're a better football team than the Cowboys are, but man, the Cowboys are so good defensively. I love the Chargers. I personally think they're the best team left in the AFC, but they are also the biggest public play right now. As of now, the public likes the Chargers plus four, plus four and a half in Foxborough and Sunday more than any other game.

We'll see. New England could be the Patriots could be a smell test pick. I don't know that I've had the Patriots very often in the Smell Test Test. over the years because very rarely, very rarely is the public, does the public bet against New England. Philadelphia, the public's on all the dogs this weekend so far, and they're on Philadelphia too. I do like New Orleans. That's one side that I feel, but then again, I like Chicago too, and maybe Nick Foles and the Eagles will continue to prove me wrong. I don't want that fan base to get close to another Super Bowl.

good God, they're already so insufferable after last year. ESPN came out this morning with a list of the places that need quarterbacks the most. They call it the quarterback confidence index, rating the NFL quarterback situations, 1 through 32. Where do you think the Redskins came in on that list of 32 teams? Well, considering the Alex Smith situation, I'd put them probably close. close to the bottom? 31st out of 32 teams. Only Jacksonville has a less confident quarterback situation.

And what is written about the Redskins in a brief paragraph is that Alex Smith's future is in doubt as a result of the serious leg injury that ended his season early. Backup, Colt McCoy broke his leg a couple of weeks later, though his injury doesn't sound as potentially career-threatening as Smith's does. Josh Johnson filled in fine while the team's season fizzled. If Smith is healthy, this ranking goes way up, but Washington needs to be in the quarterback market one way or the other this offseason. And it can't be sure who the guy is going to be at this point. Yeah, I mean, we had Jerry Brewer on the show last week, and I think Tommy and I talked about this briefly,

and Jerry talked about in different areas that they're closer than people would think. That's true. They have some talent along the interior, the offensive line and defensive line. but the quarterback situation is in complete and utter turmoil. It's a total question mark. And let's be really honest with each other as Redskinned fans. If Alex Smith were coming back fully healthy, which he's not. Like if he does play, potentially he's going to be impacted by that injury for the rest of his career.

So the one thing that he was really, the one thing that made him, a good quarterback, a debatable top half of the league's starting quarterback. It was his ability to move and create and extend. Hopefully he doesn't lose that, but if he does lose that, you know, it's not the same guy. And even if it were the same guy, the guy that we saw was not very impressive, really, as a starting quarterback in the NFL. You know, other than this thing that a lot of you have hung on for a while here,

he didn't turn the ball over. No, he didn't, and that's great. Until the Houston game, when he did, and it cost him the game, but he didn't turn it over, and he is a smart quarterback, and everybody's rooting for Alex Smith. And I liked, look, I liked the trade. I didn't like the contract extension. I was fine with the trade because I was always an Alex Smith fan,

not at the level that I was a Kirk Cousins fan. I will admit that, all right, I'll concede that point. But I was always an Alex Smith fan. In fact, one of the first quarterbacks I compared Kirk Cousins to, was Alex Smith? And I said, hey, I think at worst, we're going to end up with Alex Smith as a quarterback. And this was back in 2015. But the Redskins have a big concern at the most important position.

You know, they were an average team with health at that position. What are they going to be with that position in doubt? I don't think there's any question that a lot of our conversation between now and the beginning of free agency and then now in the beginning and the draft is going to deal in quarterback conversation for the first time in a long, long time. It is. And I'm not talking about quarterback contract situation or quarterback trade situation. I'm talking about who's going to be the starting quarterback for this franchise in the future. I mean, who is it?

They don't, they, you know, you've got a free agent class right now of Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tyrod Taylor, that's it. Okay, I mean, unless you're interested in Bradford still or Osweiler, oh my God, can you imagine if the owner said go get RG3 and we did that again? So you've got that. And then, you know, in terms of the draft, you know, where are the Redskins at 15 going to be in position to take somebody that they really like? Probably not. So what does that mean? Does that mean they're going to be trading up? You know, the flacco, I didn't mention flacco.

Flacco is obviously a big time free agent, you know, possibility, and it looks like probability. And Tannahill as well, if you're interested in him. I'm not. No. I used to like Tanna Hill. I've seen enough of him now. I think he's fine, but you know what?

And I'll say this. If they want to bring him in for one year, you could do worse. Yeah. I mean, I'm looking through, you know, the possible trade options. Could you trade for an Andy? Dalton, you know, his current contract is $16 million a year? I don't think you can do that with what you're going to have in Alex Smith next year. What about Nick Foles or Carson Wentz?

Yeah, I forgot about both of them. Well, one of them, Nick Foles, more likely than not, because I think they'll lose this weekend. Putting end to the discussion of keeping Foles and trading once. If they win this weekend, though, that conversation hits off. I think the way they should go, really, is to, you know, hopefully have the ability internally to evaluate the position. correctly. I have doubts that if Bruce Allen leads the charge, that they're going to evaluate these players in a competent way. But, you know, Doug Williams was down looking at Daniel Jones, the quarterback from Duke in his bowl game. He was coached by David Cutcliffe, one of the real

good coaches and offensive coaches, Peyton Manning's coach, you know, quarterback's coach, offensive coordinator at Tennessee. Coming from that system will help him. I personally, saw enough of Drew Locke from Missouri to think that he is indeed an NFL quarterback and probably a starting NFL quarterback down the road. He could be there. A lot of you like Will Greer. You know, it's a thin quarterback crop and you don't know what Kyler Murray's going to do. Is he going to go play baseball? Haskins is going to be long gone. You'd have to trade up. You know, you might have to trade up to number one to get Haskins. So a lot of conversation about the quarterbacks between now.

in the end of the year. But that quarterback confidence indicator is probably pretty spot on. The Redskins have a serious issue at quarterback right now as we speak, most of it because of Alex Smith's injury. Some of the coaches that got hired yesterday or reportedly got hired, Todd Bowles isn't going to come here. He did interview here according to sources, but he's going to end up with Bruce Ariens in Tampa. Ariens got that job. I think Ariens has been a good coach. I think Todd Bowles will be an excellent coordinator for him as he was in Arizona. The Cardinals turn to Cliff Kingsbury as their next head coach. That was a surprise.

Big shock. The Broncos apparently are down to Mike Munchack. We actually just have a hire. It's Vic Fangio in Denver and the Browns are hiring Freddie Kitchens. Wow, Freddie Kitchens. They're hiring kitchens. Yes. So that makes Greg Williams potentially available as a defensive coordinator.

I don't know what his relationship is with Snyder. So I don't know if this would be the place he'd want to come to anyway. Fangio was eventually going to get that opportunity. I did think that time had passed him by because of – I thought he was older than he actually was. We looked that up recently. He's younger than I thought he was. But, God, people have been talking about Vic Fangio as a head coach for a long, long time.

You know, it's almost like as long. as people have been talking about Lewis Riddick as a general manager. People have been talking about Vic Fangio as a head coach. He's gotten his opportunity and his opportunity is in Denver. It's interesting that Elway's gone back to back with defensive hires. You know, Vance Joseph and then Vic Fangio. Interesting on that. Redskins fired Tori and Gray yesterday. And again, Bowles probably not going here. Look, right now, if I was hearing anything, I would tell you, I'm not hearing anything definitive other than that things were supposed to happen this week on the staff. John Kime just tweeted out a little while ago, for what it's worth, told, still no

changes on Redskins coaching staff, sorting through everything, where it goes, don't know. Yeah, I mean, most of the beat reporters are in the same position that I feel like I'm in right now, and that is, I'm expecting changes, but I'm not hearing anything. And I think one of the challenges, and we've talked about this, is that, you know, you just aren't going to get the top tier, high-quality, super-impressive candidate here. It's what the place has become for the, you know, in the NFL. Its reputation, and deservedly, its reputation is probably impacting their coaching search here. If the bridge hasn't been burned with Greg Williams, he was officially just relieved of his duty in Cleveland.

I think he's a phenomenal defensive mind and he's aggressive and I prefer to watch an aggressive defensive mindset. And they've got some talent defensively in the front. All right, we'll leave you with this. If you listen to the interview with Steve Inspector, we didn't have the audio at that point. But this was August of 2011, right? earthquake was in August of 2011. I was on the air. Stephen was producing the show. Tommy was on vacation.

Mark Stern, who was our producer, was on vacation. We were in studio on the air live doing the sports fix. Stephen and I were when the following happened. Have a great day, by the way, everybody, and I'm back tomorrow with Tommy. I think under Spurrier, the skins were four and O. Now, I won't compare Spurier to Shat Ann, but what I will compare is... Folks, I'm going to... I got to interrupt you.

I don't know if we just had an earthquake here or we're in the midst of an earthquake here, but the studio is shaking. Stephen, what's going on here? I have no idea. We got to go. We got to go. All right, folks, Kevin Sheehan here, ESPN 980. Our alarms going off.

We're not sure what it is in this building. Could have been the building, but it felt like an earthquake. Stephen, am I right? That was freaky. I have to say that was really creepy. We've got to see if anybody's reporting this right now. If you're in Montgomery County, we're in Rockville. That's where our studios are.

There was some significant shaking and rattling. We've got to go.