The Kevin Sheehan Show - They Can Beat Baltimore!

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

Kevin and Thom today already looking ahead to Sunday's marquee match-up against the Ravens. Lots of discussion about Sunday's game in Baltimore and what's possible now that Jayden Daniels and the Commanders' offense has proven to be near unstoppable. The boys talked some MLB Playoffs and remembered the great Redskins' cornerback Pat Fischer who passed away at the age of 84.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. Wind Donation is the presenting sponsor of this show.

Call them at 86690 Nation or head towindonation.com. If you need new windows. So Tommy, you were there on Sunday. We've had 48 hours to kind of digest that, the win that got this team to 4 and 1. for the first time in 16 years. We are about five days away from, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it,

the biggest early season, regular season game for this franchise in decades. But before we get to Baltimore, you were at Northwest Stadium on Sunday. What did you think? The story of the day, besides the win, I saw it,

was the crowd, was a literal home field advantage. It was all the players wanted to talk about. It was what the coach wanted to talk about in his opening his press conference before he even got the question. It

was as different a crowd as I've seen in a long time at that stadium. There was no Brown's present to speak of. You know, the crowd was enthusiastic. They were loud. You know,

Dan Quincy's. said he felt that they were, you know, instrumental in a couple of false starts plays by the Browns. And to me, since we have talked so much about the stadium and the crowds, to have that change like that, that was the, that was the big story. I guess. I mean, so I have, I probably have three people in my life that still go to games and they report in always when it matters, and it mattered on Sunday. Number one, the game was not a sellout. Neither was the giant game.

But that's a different argument. I'm not, hold on, let me finish. Secondly, they said both of them, or one of them said it was 70-30. The other two said basically 75, 25, or 80-20, that there was Brown's presence. But they all said the same thing you said, which was it was a great home crowd. Like there was a home field advantage. It was loud. It was raucous.

It was boisterous. It was, you know, primarily almost all, you know, Washington fans because the Cleveland fans that were there had nothing to cheer for and that it felt different being in the stadium on Sunday. And I would imagine that, you know, there are upcoming games where it'll be the same. Now that, you know, you got the. You get the Panthers, Bears, Steelers, Cowboys next four home games. So the Panthers, you know, that should be an all-Washington crowd.

The Chicago thing, I don't know how many of these tickets were sold before the season started. You know, to outside fans. But I would imagine they will, maybe not against Carolina, but starting with the Chicago game, we'll see sellouts. Yes, but not necessarily. But here's the thing. Sellouts generated by who still? The opposing fans or by the Washington fans? You see, I think Sunday wasn't someone, because they were three and one going into this game.

Okay? There was a reason that they had a quarterback who was doing historic things who had the number one selling jersey in all football. So there was, I think, because it wasn't a sellout, in a way, and this is my interpretation of it, it's a slight measure of the damage that's been done and how far they still have to go if it's even repairable.

That's my point. My point is I am very much immersed in this right now. There are lots of different reasons, but part of it is it's just nice to see. see them be a relevant football franchise again and to be getting all of this attention. But the world that we're living in, you know, what we do on this podcast, what I do on the radio show, what you do with your column, is its own kind of orbit. And there's still a lot outside of this orbit that I don't know what they're doing.

Are they doing other things on Sunday? Are they watching the games and they're still, you know, they're starting to get interested. I mean, I still have a bunch of friends, Tommy, that even through five weeks are, you know, yeah, he's really good. I've seen some of the highlights, didn't see the game, you know, watch the game, you're thinking about going to the game. I'm definitely not going to a game, but I could see myself, you know, getting back into watching the game specifically rather than just the league in general. there are still a lot of those people out there. They got a long way to go, but we said the last several years, but definitely after Dan was gone,

that what can change everything around is not just a winner, but a superstar player that's playing on a team that's winning. And they, I mean, this is the mother load for them. I mean, they couldn't have asked for anything better for this season. in terms of the first five weeks. And yeah, I mean, I think a lot of those questions, we talked about this last week, I don't want to talk about it right now because, you know, the people that are listening to us right now, a lot of them care about those other issues.

But you got a football team with a player that's on a role right now that's taking the league by storm no matter what the name of the team is on the jerseys and no matter what those jerseys look like. This is an NFL story right now, and it happens to be in our hometown. You know, so I have a question for you. Do you know what the capacity of the stadium is these days? I don't know exactly. I think it's 63 something. Is it the smallest stadium in terms of capacity in the NFL? Well, it may be. You know, it may be, I think, I mean, you know, I know, I know that, I don't know what Lucas Oil Field is. Lucas Oil Field is probably about $65,000.

So I'm looking at Wikipedia right now. It says that Soldier Field holds $61,500. That's the smallest capacity in Northwest Stadium, Washington's home stadium, is at $62,000. That's the second lowest capacity in the league. So I don't know what the – you know, I can look at the game book. Let's see if it says it in the game book with the attendance was. 59,000, 030.

Okay, good. So that was the attendance. There was 3,000 short of a sellout. I bet they get there the rest of the year. You got to remember that, you know, the NFL, viewing the NFL in person has changed dramatically. No doubt. I agree. Over the course of this decades of dysfunction, it's a different game,

Now, watching at home is typically now the preferred method of consuming this product. Totally agree with you. I mean, it's my preferred method of consuming this product. And this is something that's changed over the last 20, 25 years. Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. That is 100% true. And here's the other thing, too.

You know, the 3,000 seats that were probably available, were probably not the most attractive of seats that were available. But still, I mean, what you said with respect to the enthusiasm of the people that were there and that it was weighted heavily, heavily with Washington fans, that's the kind of environment you want. You know, that's, you know, I mentioned last week. I love that this head coach isn't begging or lecturing people about coming out to games. He seems to have an awareness of what's gone on here,

even though he had nothing to do with it. And he keeps saying over and over again, we have to play well, we have to earn it. He said, we've got to dig it out last week, meaning this support. And look, this Sunday is a total game changer if they win this game. And I'm not just talking about our fans. I'm talking about everything around the league.

I mean, they become an absolute super. Bowl contender with a win Sunday in Baltimore. If not, you know, one of the two or three favorites out of the NFC to get to the Super Bowl at five and one if they go to Baltimore and win. And by the way, let me just say real quickly, and I'll get to this in a moment, I think they can win. But this is, I said yesterday at the end of the show, and maybe you'll come up with something different than this, I can't remember a higher level magnitude

to the league in terms of the standings, the excitement level, than this game Sunday for this franchise this early in the season. They've had games at the end of seasons that were important, but here are the power ranking updates. I'm not going to ask you to do power rankings. But today, NFL.com, Washington's six in the league. ESPN.com, 7, Yahoo, 8, CBS Sports, 6. They're considered to be right now bordering on a top five team in the NFL.

And they're playing one of the top five teams in the NFL. This is one of the games of the years so far. Yes. Yes. And in part because you've got a superstar matchup between the reigning MVP for Baltimore, Lamar Jackson, and the hottest rookie we've ever seen a quarter. quarterback in Jaden Daniels. I mean, talk about superstars. You're off the charts in this matchup. A phenomenal matchup. And a matchup that not only is a two-time MVP against right now

the greatest start to a rookie season of all time, but it's also the matchup of two quarterbacks that, or a matchup against the quarterback that the rookie's been comped to more than anybody else. And so when he was, you know, prior to the draft being talked about when people were doing all the comps, Lamar Jackson was probably the comp most often used for Jaden Daniels. I'll tell you what. And I think he would agree that Jaden Daniels is my impression is, because I remember watching Lamar as a rookie, Jane Daniels is much farther along than Lamar Jackson was when he was a rookie. He's much further along as a passer. Yeah.

It's not even close. I mean, it's not even close. You know, look, what was the comparison is the Thief of Joy, I think is what Quinn used last week. That's fine. You know, coach, you don't need to do comparisons, but that's what we do in our business, you know. And that's what fans do in general. You know, they always talk about, you know, comps. But I mentioned yesterday.

on the show, the quote that Quinn had after the game the other day. It was a very interesting quote. He was asked by David Aldridge about the 66-yard bomb, you know, off schedule. And, you know, it was a sign of kind of progress that Jaden's made as, you know, a guy that gets on the run, but is also looking now to pass, you know, the football. And he said, yeah, it's demoralizing to a defense. I don't have the quote in front of me, but I'm paraphrasing, but he mentioned, he used the word demoralizing. And I said on the show yesterday, I'm like, look, Dan Quinn was looking for somebody who could demoralize defenses. He's been a defensive guy his entire career, and he knows what a guy like Patrick Mahomes or a guy like Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen does to a defense. And remember the line he used, and I had it wrong on the podcast yesterday, and many of you tweeted me, and I appreciate it.

but I, the one word association game that the junkies played with Dan Quinn before the draft and they said Jaden Daniels and he said game changer. And I don't comp him to Lamar Jackson. I think Lamar Jackson demoralizes defenses. Don't get me wrong. But the more and more that I'm watching Jaden as a pro, I really do think that Mahomes is the comp. I think that he is the comp. I think that he is, is there's nothing that he doesn't do at a high level. There are a couple of things that he does at an elite level already. He is an elite off-schedule quarterback. That's the differentiator between really good and elite.

It's Mahomes, Alan Jackson. It's when the second part of the play is available and they take it and they make the ultimate result of the play much better than anybody could have imagined. and they demoralize a defense. And it's like Cleveland, he was talking about a play in which Cleveland had them in third and 13. It's third down and 13. And they've had two great first plays. And now they've got them under duress, under pressure, and it looks like a sack.

And 15 seconds later, they're lining up to play first and goal defense because he threw a 66-yard bomb on the run to Terry McClearn. That's what Mahomes and Allen and Jackson have been doing for years. But more so Mahomes with his arm off schedule, and I think he plays more like Patrick Mahomes. I really do. He doesn't have the arm strength, but it's good enough because Mahomes has obviously a rifle. But it's good enough. And, yeah, he's playing as an elite quarterback right now. I've got the quote in front of me.

He was asked on the impact of quarterback Jane Daniels being able to. to extend and create plays. And this is his quote, yeah, it can be demoralizing because all of a sudden you're creating some long-hearted scenarios. Right.

Just what I was referring to in the third downs. And so to have a big shot to even when the person's guarded well, to put it in the only spot it could go. The play to come from mind today,

before today was the one to Terry McLaren at the end of the Cincinnati game, where there was only one real spot you could throw that pass. So that's what he's referring to. You know, the defense does everything right and they still get beat.

Yeah, I mean, the funny thing is the play that David asked him about isn't really a comp to the play in Cincinnati because the play against the Browns is an off-schedule play. Jaden threw that ball under pressure from the pocket to Terry on, it's a perfect throw. The demoralizing play is when third and long, you got him under duress, you think you're about to get them, and then all of the sudden a new play begins. He gets out of the way of the sack. He avoids it. He gets flushed out of the pocket.

He's moving around, and on the run, he throws a 66-yard strike to his number one wide receiver. You know, let me just tell you that as a, I can't tell you how much. many times with Mahomes, Alan, and Jackson in recent years, whether it was because I was rooting for the team that was playing for them. More often, it was because I bet on the team that was playing against them. And it's like, all right, all right, they're going to get off the field here. It's third and 16. You know, it's fourth and nine. They can get off the field here. And then it's like, oh, and then all of a sudden, there's Kelsey, 25 yards down the field. As Mahomes ran around and ran back up in the pocket and then ran outside. Or Jackson, it's like, oops, look at what he just

just ran for 35 yards. It's Josh Allen. He's running around. He just broke two tackles and then threw the ball to Stefan Diggs, you know, 35 yards down the field. That is the elite level of quarterbacking. There's really excellent quarterbacking, but the differentiator is the quarterback that creates off schedule and makes a second play out of the first one that was called and ends up breaking your heart, ends up demoralizing a defense.

The throw in the Cincinnati game to Terry is a phenomenal throw under pressure. He takes a hit against zero coverage blitz. But it's not that play that I think that I was thinking of anyway. But the bottom line is, you know, going back and I said this and I did 15 minutes on this yesterday if you listen to the pod, but I want to do it with Tommy too. Right now, this is a. very good football team with a quarterback playing at an elite level. Like, there is no quarterback in the NFL right now playing at a higher level than

Jaden Daniels. I mean, take that in, everybody. You know, just consider that. I can't believe we're having this conversation. I know. It's almost hard to believe. It's hard to believe, but it's true. You know what I go back to, too?

I was thinking, like, today, remember when the way we're, wire, when they made the cuts, and everyone was waiting for this team to go pick up some players off the waiver wire, you know, because we assumed that they needed more help, and Adam Peters stood up at a press conference and said, no, we like the guys we've got. Well, they did go and trade for Noah Brown shortly thereafter. Yes, they did, but they did not. There was not the rush that we expected. Right.

there was not this idea, okay, now they can get some players that they could use instead of the guys that they signed and brought in. And Adam Peters declared we like our team, we like our roster. He knew something. Yeah, just like Quinn knew something in the summer when he said the perceived flaws of this team may not be the way we perceive them internally, meaning the offensive line, which right now has been, you know, it's an excellent offensive line. terms of the advanced numbers. I mean, right now, let me just look up next gen past block win right, because they should be out right now. But just back to the quarterback for a moment. I mean, there's no quarterback right now in the NFL playing at the level that Jaden Daniels is playing

at. That is a true statement. You may say that Josh Allen's playing. Josh Allen was nine for 30 on Sunday. He was nine for 30. You know, you may say C.J. Stroud's playing at that level. He's playing awfully well, but I don't know if it's better than our guy. You know, Patrick Mahomes has looked okay, not great. I mean, far from great. His team's 5 and 0, but Patrick Mahomes has not been spectacular. I want to see what Patrick Mahomes is even from a QBR standpoint. I bet he's down there. Jesus. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is 16th in QBR. He's got six interceptions and six touchdowns.

Jaden is third in overall QBR behind Burrow and Allen, but it's close. Jackson's playing at a high level right now. And I went back and watched the Cincinnati game on the condensed version last night. I'm going to tell you what, man, that kid was so good Sunday against Cincinnati, and he was so good from the pocket. Under pressure, blitz pressure, he was excellent. He just keeps getting better and better. Lamar does. So maybe it's Lamar, but it's close, really close. I found the next-gen win rate updates.

So Washington was the number one run-blocking team in the league last week. They're number five this week. They're the number eight pass-block win-rate team. So it's a top five to top 10 offensive line per the advanced numbers. Now, Baltimore, I'm going to bet that they're pretty high. Yeah, there's seven in pass block, 10 in run block. But watching the Ravens just real quickly, Lamar is playing at a high level, but defensively, I think Washington can move the football and score a lot of points Sunday.

I think this is going to be another shootout like it was in Cincinnati, like the Ravens had against Cincinnati. I think that possibility exists. I think you're right. And like two weeks ago, looking forward to this game, you know, really the X-factors Derek Henry. I know we talk about Lamar Jackson, but the X-factor is Derek Henry and how they deal with that.

You know, do they bunch up and try to stop him in the box and then take your chances, you know, outside? with the receivers with Lamar going after receivers or do they let him run wild up the middle and and figure it's better to let him score than it is to let Lamar

score on a 66-yard touchdown play. We're going to get to that now, the Baltimore game? No, we don't need to get to that now. No, I'm ready to get to it. I think that I think the Cleveland game is behind us.

I mean, they beat a team that is literally inept offensively. It's a terrible situation if you're a Browns fan because you've got a quarterback who is now completely checked out, has no chance, I don't think, of being what he was in Houston, which was a top 10 quarterback. And it was as bad a team offensively as you'll ever see in the NFL. That's why I'm not super excited about the defense quite yet. But we're ready to move on to Baltimore. I mean, unless you had anything else on the Cleveland game other than the crowd. No, but again, the crowd, I mean, I don't think people who weren't there,

how big a story it was. It was such a turnaround from what we, the players were just beside themselves with the reaction, especially ones that have been here for a long time, like Tressway. I figure I talked to Tressway in the locker room because, I mean, he's been here longest. He's seen how bad it can be for as long as it possibly can be. And he just, he was just said that, you know, what he remembers the most from the game was the crowd had our backs. they were loud, and I think our defense really fed off that. You know, they're making some place.

The story of the day was the crowd. I mean, it is because you wrote about it, so we'll go with it. No, I had John Allen on the podcast that I did Sunday after the game, and he spoke to it as well. In the same vein that Tressway, you know, the same context that Tressway has around this, is they've been there where it's been a road game most of the time for the last several years. And it's nice to actually play at home and have the advantage of a home field advantage because it's really big in the NFL. It's big.

They got a standing ovation when they left the field at halftime. I can't remember the last time that's happened. Right. All right. Let's get to Baltimore in more detail. It's certainly not too early to do it. We'll be talking about it all week. Can't wait for Sunday. We'll get to the segment that I can't wait to get to right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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I'm going to read this to you. I got actually multiple tweets that were similar. But this one came from Trevor. Trevor wrote, a win against the Ravens is just, icing on the cake. It won't happen, but if it does, great. If it doesn't, we're still in good shape at 4 and 2 with an easier schedule ahead. I got several of these tweets and emails. Approaching Sunday like it's not doable, but it's okay if they lose the game because they've, you know, harvested, as Eddie Jordan would say, they've harvested four nuts already here in five weeks. I just can't subscribe to this. at all. It's loser.

I know. It's loser. It's hedging. It is. It's hedging. It's preparing yourself for a loss before it happened. And if you watch the Ravens, particularly against Cincinnati, a team that this commander's team beat in Cincinnati

3833 a few weeks ago, you know that this is not this is not the annihilation we initially thought of when they put the schedule together. Far from it, I think the commanders can go toe to toe offensively with the Ravens. I do too.

I really do. And it's almost as if it's a fallback position for me, meaning that even if the defense doesn't play well, I feel like they'll still have a chance because they can outscore the opponent. You know, I've seen this team now for five weeks, and I have learned that, A, they've got an elite quarterback, or certainly a quarterback playing at an elite level. And when you have that, and it's apparently very important in this league to have a good quarterback,

when you have that, you've got a chance against anybody. But just the offense as a whole, like we saw this against Cincinnati. We saw not getting off the field defensively for the most part. And winning the game 38 to 33. So even if they can't stop Baltimore on Sunday, I still think they could win in a shootout. I do. And I'm definitely not, you know, subscribing to the idea that this is like an overwhelming challenge, like it would be a massive upset. I don't think it would be. And I'm certainly not subscribing to the idea that this is an icing on the cake game, you know, that we've

got enough cake through five games. We're four and one. Hoo-hoo! You know, we're in good shape, even if we lose this game. No, this is a chance to go into Baltimore, beat one of the best teams in the NFL and announced to the world basically, hey, we've got an MVP at quarterback and we plan on contending for a championship now. You know, that's why the whole idea of, oh, six and 11 would be fine, seven and ten would be good. You know, this is a building block year, et cetera, et cetera. I'm not wired to think that way once the games begin. You know, it's one thing to project at the end of the year if they are 7 and 10 or 6 and 11, you know, is it possible that we'll think the arrow's pointing up? Yeah, that's a hypothetical conversation once we're in the season.

And now, especially after what we've seen for the first five games, you don't want to miss out on these kinds of opportunities. You know, so many things happen in NFL seasons. I mean, you get injuries that can derail seasons in the future. I don't, you know, again, I know I've said this before, but I'm not thinking about next year or the year after that. I'm thinking about going into Baltimore, winning that game to get to five and one and be a legitimate Super Bowl contender out of the NFC, you know, a contender to get to the Super Bowl. Now, specific to the game on Sunday, you know, yes, I think they could outscore Baltimore if they're not good defensively. But one of the keys to the game for Washington

will be to stop the run. They did it against Cleveland, but that's like a different ballgame altogether because of Cleveland's total ineptness offensively. Baltimore is the number one rush offense in the league, Washington's too, by the way, and you've got to stop the run. And if you stop the run,

you've got a really good chance to win the game because of your offense. Now, Cincinnati did that. They packed the box from what I've read to try to stop there in Henry. They did. And they did for the most part for much of the game. Yeah. But that's where Lamar Jackson can pick you apart. They may have the three best tight ends in football.

And Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and what's the other guy, Charlie, Coler? Colar. They're not the best tight ends in football, but as a group, you're saying maybe the best tight end unit. As a trio. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I tell you why, I say,

likely is an unbelievable player, I think. I think he's phenomenal. I think he's their best go-to place. So this is the trade-off. This is when you're playing a great team like the Ravens, you know, you've got to pick your poison. And I disagree with you. I'd rather let Derek,

I'd rather try to shut down Lamar Jackson or make life difficult for him, and then, you know, not try to stop. stop Derek Henry by any other and normal means. I just think the scoring is going to come slower on Derek Henry's feet than it is on Lamar Jackson's arm. Right. And actually, I'd rather have it come quicker because I want number five back on the field.

I don't want them sitting over there while they're going up and down, while they're going down the field methodically, you know, eating eight minutes of the clock. But even if they are somewhat successful in slowing down the run like Cincinnati was, you know, taking Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson and the number one rush attack and limiting it somewhat and making them one dimensional or somewhat one dimensional, it still may not be enough to stop them from scoring a lot of points. I mean, Lamar threw for 348 in four touchdowns, and a lot of it was from the pocket. He was outstanding from the pocket.

But, you know, this is one of those games, too, where you just got to find a way to steal a few possessions, meaning, you know, there's a penalty or there's a turnover, and Baltimore's forced a punt once or twice. Maybe they get a red zone stop and force field goals instead of giving up touchdowns. You know, that's all it took in the Cincinnati game was, you know, a missed field goal, and that ended up being a big difference in the game. and I think something like that, you know, almost relying a little bit on Baltimore to be self-destructive would really give them a good chance to win the game, even though I still believe they can win the game even without that because I think they're unstoppable offensively and they could outscore the Ravens.

You know what, Lamar Jackson is? Lamar Jackson is the racer for your mistakes. Just like Jayden Daniels was a couple weeks ago when the commanders were driving down the first, field and had a couple of penalties that set them back, and then Daniels made it up, and they wound up scoring. Lamar Jackson can have, I mean, I don't recall everything about the Ravens game, but he had a horrific fumble at one point. Yeah. In overtime. That would normally be, okay, that's normally a backbreaker.

Yeah, it was a snap that he wasn't able to handle. The other snap that he wasn't able to handle turned into the play of the week, the touchdown pass to Isaiah likely. which was just a ridiculously incredible play that he made. He's spectacular. No, I think what I'm looking at... The turnover against the Ravens, you know, is not like a turnover against another team

because of Lamar Jackson is such an X factor to erase that mistake. Right. Well, I mean... Just like Jayton is. Yeah, Washington lost the turnover battle on Sunday and won by, you know, 21 points. I mean, I think they can go toe to toe with them, and you're right. It could be the mistake, or the field goal instead of a touchdown.

That is the difference maker. So what if they do win, and they're five and one? If they do win, then the conversation has dramatically changed. You know what? If they do win, my September, my January is going to be all screwed up because I'm going to have to be flying at a Destin Airport to go to playoff game. Well, the Super Bowl's in New Orleans, so it's not that far away. That won't be that long of a play.

Oh, I can drive to the Super Bowl. Yeah. That's four hours drive. That's easy. Are we getting completely out of control here? Of course we are. We are. And almost...

Remember, what's the thing you always read that you've read repeatedly? That's good information about quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, rookie quarterbacks for the Super Bowl, rookie quarterbacks and title game. A rookie quarterbacks never won a Super Bowl, nor participated in a Super Bowl as a starter all season long, and only five of them have gotten to a championship game. Yeah.

And those five had great defenses. We are out of control. I think the Super Bowl talk is definitely a bit much. I mean, we almost sound like Cowboy fans at this point in the season, But the thing that is just right there in front of us, and it's not an illusion, is just how good the quarterback is and just how good the offense is. And, yeah, the 49ers fully healthy are really good. The Lions, fully healthy, really good.

Minnesota's defense is unbelievable. You know, we'll see how much staying power they have right now at 5-0. through the last 12 games with an offense that's still okay, not great but okay, but their defense is dominant. But, you know, in the division right now, you know, My Bookie has Washington at plus 185 and the Eagles at plus 135. I mean, Washington's closing in on being the favorite in the NFC East. By the way, if you want to bet that, go to mybooky.orgie.ag and use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And you could get up to a $1,000 deposit when you use my promo code Kevin D.C. But look, for right now, this is just nice to have this conversation in, you know, early October,

which is definitely going to stretch at least into November at this point. You know, I don't see us all the sudden having a complete 180 done on us with this football team. They're going to win games. They're going to be in the hunt here for a while. And it's just nice after not really having this kind of team to talk about. Like, okay, they were 6 and 6 in 21. They had a chance in 22 at 7 and 5, but you never thought you were looking at a team that even if they got to a playoff berth could do anything.

This team's different. And it's legitimate, I think, to feel this way right now about this team. those Philly and Cowboy games will be off the chain. Yeah. Because they'll all mean something. But before you even get to those games, you have Sunday, you have a game against Caleb Williams and the Bears in a couple of weeks. I know.

And by the way, Caleb had his best game by far. You have the Steelers that'll come into town. And then, yeah, and then you've got, you know, four of your last, I think it's seven or eight, are against the Cowboys and the Eagles, all from mid-November. until the end of the season. Right now, it appears those games will be important. Yes. That's what I was thinking.

That's one of the things I've been thinking about is I haven't even had to consider in these years going down to Destin in January, that there be postseason Washington football of note, okay? You know, that they'd be playing in maybe an NFC title game. And I think we have to fly out a little Destin airport you know, on some puddle jumper to get to wherever the game is. You know, I'm sitting here and I'm listening to like an excitement in your voice,

like an anticipation in your voice. And I'm just thinking, I don't even know who I'm doing this show with right now. Who are you? I know. I know. Well, look, don't do that. Don't do that. What?

Because there's a lot of people that do it on social media. I get a lot of this, you know, when are you going to write your Doomsday column kind of thing? You know, what has there been to write about? Oh, instead, why don't end it? Don't answer those people. There's, come on. I'm not answering those people, but I'm talking about you now. What did they want you to write about and me to talk about when they're four and

getting beat by 30 every week? Just shut up, people. No, I, it's that it's that you have, it's that you. Because that everything in front of. me is different. Of course. Yeah. You know what?

Smart people actually evolve. Like they look at what's happening now and the data they have in front of them and they're able to kind of change their view because it should be changed. But I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about I don't even know who you are because you're kind of like giddy about this. You're kind of excited about it. you're not a fan of the team and yet I sense that you're really excited about the quarterback

and about the prospects of writing about a Super Bowl contender for maybe the next few years. Yes, it's like we've always said. I've always told people that when you're writing about a team, you want them to be either really good or really bad. Because really bad, there's a lot of good stories. When really good, there's a lot of good stories as well.

between is no fun for anybody. Okay? This is fun writing about a team like this. You know, and then particularly after, I mean, you know, we're not immune to the, to the horrors

that have taken place with this franchise over the years and, you know, writing different ways of how pathetic they've been. Now, this is, this is a breath of fresh air. Yeah. A breath of fresh air.

It is. You know, and I think for me it is that this breath of fresh air is going to stick around for a while. Like it's legitimate. It's real. It's not fake. You know, they've gone to the playoffs a few times, not a lot. They've been in contention before, but we always had very low expectations about what it meant, you know, what it meant in the moment and what it meant in terms of, the future as to whether or not it was sustainable.

And now, you know, we're sitting here with a four-and-one football team with a really good young quarterback. And this has been, you know, created by a different owner with what appears to be a professional structure with a legitimate general manager and a legitimate staff who hired a legitimate coach with a lot of experience, and he hired a legitimate and very credible staff to go with him. And, you know, this air that we're breathing right now just seems like it's a healthier breath to take in the moment and for the future. And, you know, more than anything else, you know, they have the structure, all that. But what's most important is they seem to

have landed on one of those quarterbacks that you have to have. And they're not doing it in spite of their young quarterback. They're doing it because of their young quarterback. And that's what makes this so real, is because it's the quarterback. It's like, you know, it's the economy stupid. It's the quarterback stupid. You either have one that's great or you don't. And if you don't, you probably don't have a chance.

Guess what? They do. All right. We've got other things we want to get to, including some sad news on a great redskin from many years ago. We'll get to that more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, best time of the year is football season. It is back, NFL Sundays, college football Saturdays, football on Monday night, Thursday night. And of course, the glorious grind of fantasy football lineups.

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discount. One discount per household. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Okay. All you D.C. Metro people, you all know about Shelly's and you probably, if you haven't had a chance to enjoy it, the best cigar bar in the world at 1331 F Street, northwest of the district. You need to get there. But I'm also speaking to the out-of-towners who are listening, who might be coming to town for any number of reasons, including to watch the high-fine Washington commanders play, somebody like football fan 81 on X. Apparently, he's in Anglishman, and he tweeted out on Sunday.

this Englishman is enjoying it, referring to Shelly's. Always to pop in after dinner when I'm in town for a game, Ghost Skins with a picture of Shelly's in the background. And then he wasn't the only one. Commander Lou also posted a picture of Shelly's. First time in Washington to see the game Sunday, and he was eating and drinking at Shelly's backroom with a picture of the Shelley specials that I always talk about.

So if you're coming to D.C. for any kind of reason, particularly to watch a commander's game, the great post-game place to watch, or the date night before, if you're in town on a Saturday night for a Sunday game, is Shelly's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. Shelly's a great spot to hang out, watch playoff baseball, Tommy. I mean, you got these late afternoon games that go into night games, Phillies and Mets this afternoon, Padres, Dodgers tonight. So always a good baseball crowd at Shelly's. Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely a good baseball crowd.

And all the series are great because they're all tied at 1-1, so they all seem competitive. Right. And look, I know that baseball, and I, I think a lot of people, too, would love to see it come down to Otani versus Aaron Judge in a World Series of Dodgers and the Yankees. I know MLB is desperately rooting for that. The Padres may have something to say about that, but the Dodgers' Padres has turned into a blood feud with fans in L.A., showering the field with debris, with Manny

Machado, throwing a ball in the dugout at... the Dodgers, you know, the Dodgers and the Giants used to be a blood feud for decades. Right. Now the Dodgers and the Padres have become just like that. So, I mean, that's become must-watch as far as the baseball playoffs. The Royals are so spunky coming back to beat the Yankees, you know, behind Bobby Witt, Jr., one of the best players in baseball. I remember watching his dad pitch. Bobby Witt for the Angels. So there's a lot of good postseason baseball to take in as well. Incredible baseball.

Yeah, this thing with the Padres and the Dodgers and the fan behavior is really something else. I mean, look, we had deaths in the Dodgers Giants rivalry, you know, in parking lots after games. It gets real on the West Coast. But, yeah, this is a great – all four of them at one. These are going to be intense days the next few days. So there was some sad news. We found out literally right before the show started that Pat Fisher passed away. Pat Fisher is one of the great all-time Washington Redskins defensive players.

He was a cornerback, a three-time pro bowler. He was a two-time first-team all-pro. He had a 10-year career in Washington from 1968 through 19, He had played seven years in St. Louis prior to that. I forget if St. Louis is his hometown. He's from somewhere in the Midwest, and I should have looked this up real quickly, but he went to Nebraska. I know that. And Pat Fisher was 5'7, 5'8 foot 8, one of the shortest corners in his day in the NFL,

and his matchups with 6'8-inch Harold Carmichael in Philadelphia. were legendary matchups. He was so tough. He was so feisty. He was such a great corner. He was such a physical corner. He was fearless. And, you know, he's not the greatest corner in franchise history.

That, of course, honor goes to one Daryl Green. But Pat Fisher is so memorable to a generation of Redskins fans. He was my uncle's. My uncle loved Sonny and Pat Fisher. And I went to the games every Sunday as a kid with my father and my uncle. And he loved Pat Fisher, in part because my uncle wasn't the tallest guy in the world. And just eight, 175 pounds, you know, drafted, I think in like the 18th or 19th round when they had all these rounds in the NFL draft.

And he was just an incredible competitor and an incredible player. And I did look this up because I was wondering where he. he stood on the all-time interceptions list, Tommy, because he had 56 career interceptions. He is 18th, all-time in interceptions. 18th. But I will tell you something interesting about that number here in a moment. But nothing but incredibly fond memories of Pat Fisher,

the teams he played on for George Allen in particular, because I don't remember the teams prior to George Allen. and the kind of tough, you know, balzy competitor that he was. 84 years old, rest in peace, Pat Fisher. Number 37 is certainly one of the most memorable players in franchise history. Yeah, you know, I got to interview him for one of the books I did, and he was a great interview because he liked to talk about, you know,

he liked playing for George Allen, and he said George did a great deal for establishing a legacy and tradition for winning and he was just he he was he wasn't hard to find at at at homecoming events because he was a very open outgoing guy who loved to like hug his teammates and and fall around with them a little bit and he was just very open and gregarious and just a joy to be around. Yes, he was. So I wanted to just mention to you that the career interceptions leader is Paul Krause with 81. And as I mentioned, Pat Fisher's 56 is still good for tied for 18th all time with Lem Barney. Paul Krause, by the way, was drafted by and played for the skins before, you know, having a long career with

Minnesota. But there's something interesting, Tommy, about this career interception list. You have to go all the way down to Tide for 118th all-time in interceptions to find a player that's currently playing in the NFL. And actually, I don't even know if Patrick Peterson is on a team. I don't know where he's playing right now. He's got 36 career interceptions. He's 118th. And Peterson's been in the NFL for 13 or 14 years. And the reason for that is back in the day, interceptions were commonplace. It was not uncommon to have a game in which there were six or seven, eight or nine thrown in total. And you, I've always tried to tell young people that it's not really the same measurement that it used to be.

The Joe Nevin had more career interceptions than touchdown passes. So did Kenny Stabler. It's not the same indication of how good of quarterback they were as it is now. Yeah, I mean, the bottom line is that's an unbreakable record that Paul Krause has. It's never going to be broken. No one's ever going to have 81 career interceptions. You just, you know, it's impossible to do that. You're never going to do that.

But, yeah, Pat Fisher, something else. Like, I'm looking through, like, I'm curious to see in terms of interceptions what the league leaders had the last couple of years. Last year, nine interceptions. Duran Bland, remember, he was like, he had several pick sixes. It was ridiculous. NFL record for pick sixes in his season. He had nine interceptions. So I guess, you know, nine interceptions, you play for nine years. You would tie Paul Krause if you had nine a year.

But that's actually a lot because in 2022, the league leader had six. In 2021, well, Trayvon Diggs had 11. Man, I'll tell you what, those Cowboys corners under Dan Quinn had a lot of interceptions. be nice to start getting some takeaways. If this team starts getting takeaways, Tommy, I mean 12-13 wins. Oh, baby. Calm down. All right.

You got anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. All right. We're done for today, back tomorrow. Thanks, Tommy. I'll talk to you. And speed is not necessarily the number one requisite for a football player. Never missed a practice.

Never missed a game. Played 110%. It was as tough as nails. Love the game. Tremendous competitors.