The Kevin Sheehan Show - Thommy or Tommy?

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

Kevin and Thom opened with a conversation about the proper spelling for Thommy/Tommy. The boys reacted to Commanders' fans doom and gloom with Thommy/Tommy believing that his "Aura of Collapse" is reaching new heights. The ESPN "Top 100 NFL Players" list, the Cubs' big HR night, the Orioles' fantastic finish, and a lot more on the show as well.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Download the PrizePicks app today and use code SHEEHAN to get $150 instantly in Lineups if you win your first $5 Lineup!   If you want to try Momentous Signature Spec Creatine, head to livemomentous.com and use code SHEEHAN for up to 35% off your entire first order.   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to www.quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.   Search Whatnot—W H A T N O T—in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Tommy is here. I am here. It is the first day of September, Tommy.

Does not feel like the first day of September. It's hot as hell out there today. It's very hot out there. brutally hot and humid. I think we've got a few more days of that. And then it's going to cool off. But then I was reading that it's going to get hot next week as well. Yeah, we've arrived in that first month that brings in, ushers in fall in a few weeks.

The show's presenting sponsor is always Windonation 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com. I got this from Matt, and this is for you, Tommy. Question for Tom. I'm a big fan since the Sports Fix Days and was wondering, how do you spell Tommy with an H? No-H. Curious minds want to know. When I read this, I didn't know what the answer was. I don't know how guys who spell Tom, T-H-O-M, like you do, versus T-O-M, how do you spell Tommy?

Well, that's a good question. That's come up before. I've spelled it both ways, but I would generally say, just the normal accepted way, T-O-M-M-M-Y. would be okay. Remember, I've told you before, I just manufactured Tom. You just manufactured Tom? What do you mean? Yeah.

In other words, like, I went by Tom, T-O-M for years, and then I got into journalism, and my first, I think it was my first job, I went by Tom, T-O-M. But then my next job, I changed it to T-H-O-M. because there was a sports writer in Philadelphia named Tom Greer. You've never told me this. You have never told me this. I have told you this. You have not told me this.

Yes, I have. There was a sports writer in Philly named Tom Greer, and he spelled his name T-H-O-M, and it jumped off the page. So I said, I'm going to change it to T-H-O-M as my byline, just to make it different. It's been that way for... Well, for almost 50 years. You've never told me that story.

I absolutely would have remembered that story. That was my creation. Okay. Well, what did your parents think of that creation? What did my parents think? Yeah, that you went by THOM, which was not the spelling they gave you, and not the spelling that you grew up with. It never came up.

I mean, you know, it's funny because my mom used to have a scrapbook. of all my newspaper articles. She never brought it up. What? She never brought up that you changed the spelling of your first name? Well, it's still, my first name is Thomas. Everything else is a nickname. Thomas hasn't changed.

Right. So I didn't change my name. I just changed my nickname. Is there, I get that T-O-M, N-H-O-M, are short, shortened versions of Thomas. I mean, T-O-M, their first name is T-H-O-M-A-S. I get that. I'm curious as to whether or not the nicknames Tom or T-O-M have any kind of origin.

Like, do Brits spell it T-H-O-M versus Americans that spell it T-O-M? Is there a reason that some, I mean, most Tom... Mrs. Spell Tom, T-O-M, correct? Yes, yes, that's correct. Okay, so is there any sort of root for derivation, whatever word I'm looking for, for the spelling T-H-O-M? You know, you're giving this much more thought than I ever have. Okay. I have no idea.

I have no idea. I'm looking to see if our short versions of Tommy is commonly used T-O-M-M-Y. The origin of the name Thomas, okay, it's just all about the popularity of St. Thomas, who is one of the 12 apostles. But there isn't a lot. Okay, so the answer to the question from Matt is... Either one is acceptable. I know, but you spell it T-O-M-M-Y. Yeah.

You know, when... I don't use it. I don't use Tommy. You know, I don't sign anything, Tom. I know, but people, I call you, I call you Tommy. I refer to you as Tommy. But no one can see the letters that you're saying. Yes, but you want to hear something interesting when I've like, say,

corresponded with people and somebody said, you know, what's Tom doing? If I say Tommy is on the show on Thursday, I actually have always spelled it T-O-M-M-Y. But I've always wondered, am I doing it the right way? Apparently I am. But either would work. Either would work. All right. And now we find out that this was...

Gain attention. Well, like almost everything else in your life. After you, everybody else comes first. Yes. T-H-O-M was manufactured by Tommy because he thought it looked better in print. Yes. And it's been that way for 50 years.

I just can't believe that your parent, Like, somebody in your life and your family wouldn't say, why are you spelling your name differently than you have for your whole life? Never, never, has never come up. That's strange. Except by people who, you know, want to say, are you phom? Yeah. And I would say to him, I'm not thomas. So, no, I'm not thom.

I got this from Fish. ORA of collapse, question mark, question mark. I wish both of you would collapse on each other in an RG3 pile on the worst part of FedEx field. Well, that's not nice fish. And by the way, or of collapse fish isn't mine. It's Tommy's. All right. T O'MM-Y, apostrophe S.

Let's get to that right now. Okay. Mr. Orr of collapse. But I want to make sure that fish and others don't put nigh, me into the hysterical aura of collapse in August before they've actually played a real game. That's my creation. Yes, it's your creation. So I guess the Baltimore game gave you confidence that aura of collapse is actually going to be realized.

Oh, no, no, no. You see, you're misunderstanding the word. It's like, you know, you need to study words more. The aura of collapse is currently all. over this team, people believe they're a train wreck. Okay, that's the, that's the aura that's around this team right now. Do you believe that this season is already doomed and a train wreck? No, I don't believe it's already doomed.

But I do believe there is the aura of collapse that's right now surrounding this organization. That exists. People think they're going to fall apart. Okay. and that's the atmosphere surrounding them. The reality may wind up to be different. But this team, no doubt, has the aura of collapse around it. Is collapse the right word?

Oh, absolutely. It's like, it's just like within a matter of weeks, it went from, you know, no reason to, I don't want to say optimism, because the rest of the world outside the Beltway didn't have optimism. but within the Beltway, within the commanders' nation, so to speak, there was relative optimism.

I mean, Jane Daniels was healthy, you know. I mean, they had signed Stefan Dix. There was every reason to be optimistic about your team. And then one injury, you know, a center who can't get on the field, two guys like that, and it just showed how thin the structure was. I think pretty much everything collapsed after that. And it started with the Detroit game with the three plays we saw Jaden in, and it continued with the Baltimore joint workouts, joint practices,

which from all counts were a disaster, offensively at least. and it certainly manifested itself in the Ravens preseason games. I understand what aura of collapse is. I didn't know if you subscribed to the aura of collapse in terms of believing that those that have created the aura of collapse are right. It sounds like you don't necessarily think they are right. What I think is, I think it's their. now.

Okay. I think it's there. Oh, look. Do I think it's their future? I'm not willing to say that. No. Yeah. I mean, on the show yesterday, I talked about, there is no doubt that the level of angst with many in the fan base.

And I do think that it's mostly social media, but it's not only social media. Is it? No, it's not. Because I, you know, in the cigar store, I hang out in Frederick, there's a lot of I know. I know. And they are crestfallen. Yeah, I was, you know, around friends this weekend, and many of them seem to be alarmed by some of the tweets that the beat reporters were putting out there.

And they seem to feel like this season is in trouble before it starts. So, yes, there is certainly a percentage right now of the fan base. that is alarmed. I honestly think it's the silliest thing. It's just dumb. I don't think it's silly. Oh, I do. It might be wrong.

I don't think it's silly. I think it's completely silly. I don't know how we got to this. Based on what? Based on the only actual moment that you could call substance or that would give you pause on one side of the ball, which is the offensive side of the ball, is that Laramie Tunsell,

the second best player on the team, is essentially out for the year. That is a legitimate reason to feel a little bit differently about this season that is going to start on September 13th. Nothing else, seen, heard, or red should lead a longtime NFL fan that's paid attention to the league to a conclusion about what's going to happen this year. It's absurd.

I've done this every single year for the last five years, gone back and looked at the feelings in the preseason about the upcoming season. And they are blanket across the board, 50% dead wrong. And it's impossible to identify at this point which 50% is going to be right and which 50% is going to be dead wrong. Okay, listen. What we're seeing that has caused concern, you know, has nothing to do. What have we seen that should cause concern? Players that got cut didn't play well? They can't even protect their quarterback.

What quarterback? Doing the basic vanilla plays that they run in preseason. Two snaps with three-fifth with two. theme of joint joint practice when Jane was running for his life. Yeah. Okay.

Right. That's true. Well, it wasn't true against Miami. It wasn't true against Miami. They lit up the dolphins in joint practice. Okay. You found the team that they look good against. Okay.

I found a joint practice partner that they look good against. Or aren't even going to be in the NFL by the end of the year. Well, you know, it is the NFL. You don't know that for sure. sure, but yes, the preseason prediction for the dolphins is not very optimistic, and the preseason prediction for the Ravens is very optimistic. I'm just saying that what we see, you do not need to subscribe to the notion that you can still subscribe to the notion that they're not showing you anything about what

they're going to do offensively. And they're running this vanilla preseason offense that that doesn't show you anything. But they haven't even been capable of running that. Tommy, when you say that, you're talking about three offensive snaps with, by the way, with by the way, two starters on the offensive line out. And you're talking about three defensive starter, you know, reps with four starters out, with no game planning. I'm talking about the ability to protect your quarterback.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. I have no idea if they can protect the quarterback or not. We haven't seen them play a game yet. They haven't played. That's my point. But you didn't feel that way at the beginning. No one felt that way to be beginning a camp. It was always that if Jayden can help.

And that may have been wrong too. That may have been wrong too. of doing that. Let me just point out that in the Detroit game, which a lot of people have pointed out to me, dude, it was right there in the Detroit game, the three snaps. Sam Cosme is probably right now their best offensive lineman.

He didn't play in that game. And their starting center didn't play in that game either. Look, I think it's totally reasonable to suggest that there are question marks. about this team. And by the way, maybe even a new question mark about the team because of the tonsil injury and because of Allegretti's lack of availability. But there's zero reason if you've watched the NFL over the years to come to any conclusions at this point, to even be legitimately concerned or panicked at this point, because the players that they picked

to play in the games that matter haven't played yet. They haven't played yet. And that's why, and I know you're going to love this quote from Adam Peters during the Peters-Quinn presser yesterday, where Adam Peters said, just the overall character of the men in that room and the level of coaching that we have. I'm very confident.

And I think obviously our fans are passionate and you love to have passionate fans. great, but there's a lot of stuff that we're doing here that maybe they don't see, and there's a lot of things that I'm really excited to see in a couple of weeks. We couldn't be more thrilled than to start our season, I bet, when we're starting it, and it's going to be a great challenge, and we're looking forward to it. I can only imagine when you read or heard that quote, what was going through your mind. I want to hear it first. That's one step away from Paul to Bonnie. You know, the fans who really, really get. understand. Now, the same level of our...

No, no, just go ahead. Continue. It's just it's like, we know more than you, and of course they do. I would hope so. Okay, but that does not, again, that does not... Do you... Okay. Try to put aside this whole you've dug for yourself, you know,

that this zero level. of concern kind of thing. Do you think they're going to protect Jaden this year? I have no idea. I'm asking for your opinion. My opinion is that whatever people think it's going to be, it's not going to be anywhere near that bad. Because I know what, now, but when I say,

I don't know, part of it is going to rely on a first-time offensive coordinator. coordinator's game plan around weaknesses. They target weaknesses. They try to protect their own weaknesses. What you've seen in joint practices or the three snaps in the Detroit game, two dropbacks, would not happen the way it happened in a real game. I'm not saying that it can't happen. Of course it can.

But guess what? In that game, they're going to actually go back out onto the field with a chance to make it better in the next drive rather than leave everybody feeling that that's it. They can't protect him. I mean, two snaps. You know, your backup center, actually it turned out to be the center that got cut, and your backup guard, actually it wasn't their backup guard, it was their third string guard.

And that's it. No, I don't have any, Tommy, I've said this about the NFL for fucking years. You don't know anything until they start playing real games. The only predictor, true predictor, is do you have a quarterback that is of a high, high level? That's going to give you the best chance to predict correctly that your team's going to be a competitive team. So do I think they're going to be able to protect Jaden? I really don't know. And I don't really have an opinion at this point.

At this point, I will say this. I do have a question about the offensive line. I do have a question about corner. I do have a question about the kicker. I do have a question about the two coordinators. But I can't come to any reasonable conclusion about anything I've seen, read or heard over the last month and a half. That would be going against years of experience of knowing that most of what happens, or at least 50% of what happens over the summer, is meaningless.

It's not a predictor of things to come. Right. Yeah, but you don't know which 50% it is. I know that. Last year it was Jaden's going to be great and the defense is going to be great. All right? Jaden, but they're going to struggle at times because Terry's contract, you know, has gotten, you know, sideways. The Terry people were right about that.

Many times. You've said many times last year was an outlier because of the injuries. Yes. No one predicted the mass injuries that they had. Well, you can't predict injuries. Yeah. Right. You can't predict injuries.

Right. But this time, okay, game planning to protect your quarterback. Right. Just an amateur, you know, viewpoint. What would that entail? Well, if you go into a game against a team that is really good up front, And you think that you aren't capable of dropping your quarterback back consistently, drop back game versus quick game.

Let's just keep it really simple. Dropback is a pure dropback, whether it's play action or whether it's in shotgun dropping back. You're throwing the football. They know you're throwing the football. Can you hold up in protection until receivers get open to get it out? Verses we're not going to allow the pass rush, which we don't think we can block to affect our quarterback.

So we are going to, first of all, we're going to do our best to run the football. And then secondly, our pass game is going to be totally reliant on quick, get it out of his hands quickly, short, quick passes, hitches, quick, you know, bubbles, etc. That's what we're going to run to nullify the disadvantage that we might have up front. Now, there is a point in games in which if that doesn't work, and if you can't run the football, and you can't stop the other team and you get behind, uh-oh, we're going to have to drop back because we're down two scores in the fourth quarter. But that's how you would enter a game to give your team a chance to nullify an area that you think you have a disadvantage in. Or if you are going to drop back, we're going to drop back with more people in protection. We're bringing in an extra

lineman. We're going to keep our back in and we're going to block seven against six or six against five to give him a chance. So none of that happens in the preseason or joint practices. Let me just point out that one of the things he said was to run the ball, obviously. Yeah. Okay. No one's scared of the commander's running game. Okay.

I mean, it's an average running game at best. It is? You've seen it already? I haven't seen it yet, so I can't describe what the running game is. It's a totally new scheme. they've got a new running back along with one from last year, and they've got right now an offensive line that will feature two brand new pieces in their center

and their left tackle, even though the left tackles played. I have no idea what their running game is going to be like. Right. But if I had to venture, I'd say it will be an average running game. Now, last year, they actually ran the ball pretty good. They didn't get credit for it, but they ran the ball pretty good. good. The other way to do this when your quarterback is under

duress to keep the pass rush off of him is to do what? Have the quarterback run the ball. Well, that isn't necessarily. You have to have that fear. That defense has to have that fear.

Sure. The quarterback as a run threat, as part of the run game, which helps in play action, is great. My guess is, if this is going to be a true kind of Shanahan McVeigh slash Ben Johnson offense. We're not going to see

Jaden incorporated into the running game, either as an option runner or an actual designed runner. I would agree with you. I would agree with you unless they have to. Yeah, well, maybe

I, maybe they will be able to run the football. Maybe they will be able to play action off of that and it'll work because it's second and three instead of second in ten, or second and four instead of second. I mean, every game is different. It's its own entity.

I have not come to a conclusion on anything about the upcoming season, with the exception of two things. I feel like as long as Jaden Daniels is the quarterback and he's healthy, they're going to be a competitive team this year. And they're going to have a chance to win more games than they lose, and they're going to have a chance to contend for a playoff spot. And then the other thing that I feel very strongly about is I know that Brandon Coleman played left tackle for the majority of 2024. And he might even be better as a three-year player than he was as a rookie.

But it's going to be pretty hard to replace one of the top three or four left tackles in the game with Brandon Coleman. So there's going to have to be more game planning around that left tackle position than there would have been with Tunsell. With Tunsell, it's like you go into the game and it's like, even if it's, you know, anybody not named Miles Garrett, you're like, Tunsell's got them. We're good. Let's worry about the other four offensive linemen and tight ends, et cetera. So those are the two things that I feel like are reasonable conclusions about the season before it started. Jaden's really good and Tunsell will be missed. other than that, I have questions, yes, about Allegretti and about Coleman and about the lack of, you know, a true number one corner and whether or not Oway and Chase on, you know, are going to be available early in the season. You know, their two best pass rushers that they signed in free agency.

We know Dorrance Armstrong is going to miss the first game via suspension. Will that affect the early portion of the season? But even the early portion of the season, I want to be really clear on this because I, I'm consistent. I say it every year. Week one's a head fake, and you really don't know much about your team until they've played several games.

Not one or two, several. And it's just the way the NFL is. Like, let me just tell you, if they start off two and one or three and oh, I'm not going to be in here saying, you know, crushing the people that were panicked in August because there's a long way to go. There's another 14 games and things could turn quickly.

But I don't have a clue as to what is going to happen this year because two new coordinators, 10 to 11 new defensive contributors, and we haven't had a chance to see any of them play football yet and certainly not play a real game yet because that doesn't come until the 13th. So I think the people, I think this is a new phenomenon to a certain degree in terms of the, The feeling that I have, which is the feeling you have, which is there is a sense of doom in the fan base with, you know, I don't think it's a majority, but I think it's a larger percentage than it usually is. And I don't know what to blame for it. I think a lot of the play-by-play tweeting, the belief that preseason games in some way are predictors of the regular season, all of the. of that sort of adds up for some people. Now, I get a lot of stuff, and I haven't read as many of these recently, but I get a lot of stuff from people that says, oh, my God, what is wrong with people?

Are they, do they realize that basically every player that will play in the regular season, 41 players didn't play against Baltimore? I did say this, Tommy, that the only thing Friday night proved was that Baltimore's players that got waived on Sunday were better than Washington's players that got waived on Sunday. And that can be a sign

that Baltimore is a deeper football team. But I could have told you that before the game started. Baltimore has a better roster than Washington does and probably a deeper roster. But how that plays out in the regular season when the real, again, I don't know

how anybody could come to a conclusion at this point when the real players haven't played football yet with a game plan, with coaching, within-game adjustments. Yeah, no, people have come to conclusions. People have come to conclusions. I know people have come to conclusions. But I think it's reasonable to believe that the odds of things going wrong have gotten worse as camp has gone on.

I would say that if you say that because of the, I would say that because of the tonsil injury, I would say that's fair. If you say it's because of what happened in a joint practice or in the Detroit game, I think you're absolutely nuts. I want to talk about the Baltimore game a little bit. You do? We'll do it after the break. I admitted on the show yesterday, I didn't even watch it.

I did watch a condensed version of it, like a 30-minute highlight reel of it. It is the worst and least predictive. game that gets played at any point in any sport on the calendar, on the sports calendar. We'll get to Tommy's recap and analysis of the 41 to 3 win by the Ravens on Friday night after these words from a few of our sponsors. Football is finally back, guys, and prize picks is bringing out their best offer yet. New users who sign up will get $150 in lineups if you, win your first $5 lineup. That's right. If you win your first $5 lineup, you'll get $150 in

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Get top quality replacement windows indoors from Window Nation. Visit windonation.com today to get your free in-home estimate. You can call them as well at 866-90 Nation. Wind donation, they're the real deal. Before you get to your recap of the Baltimore preseason game, I just wanted to weigh in on the Adam Peters quote that I read that you reacted to, and I think has gotten a lot of reaction from fans where he says, and I think the key part of that quote is,

there's a lot of stuff that we're doing here that maybe they don't see, as in our passionate fans. And there's a lot of things that I'm really excited to see in a couple of weeks. So I would not equate it to Paul Toboni, who essentially said, look, if you don't know, you don't know, all right?

There are people that know they're the smart fans, the people that don't know, they're the dumb fans. But I will say this about that quote. I don't think it's smart to say that. I think anytime you tell the fans, hey, relax, we're going to be okay. You're basically setting yourself up for being, you know, absolutely hammered if you don't produce, if the team doesn't produce. Not that I don't think they're not in that position already, Tommy, because I think they are.

I think Quinn and Peters right now are in that position, you know, even though last year, I don't think was their fault at all. It doesn't matter. Last year happened. People look at the record. People are panicked here. Some are with the preseason, you know, aura of collapse. And the fan base believes or a certain percentage of it believes it's put up or shut up time.

And I think that there is a sense that this team better play well this year. Because if it falls apart, both of those guys could be looking for. a job next off season. So I would say that my advice to him would have been to say something like the season starts in a couple of weeks. We can't wait to get to that point where, you know, hopefully we've done enough here in the off season and we'll have a chance to prove it. But, you know, there are areas where we still need to improve and we're always looking

to do that. But I can imagine if they're paying attention. to any of the reaction since the... Like, you nailed it. It was like the dig signing, you know, everybody's tweeting how good Jaden looks, et cetera, and then all the sudden Tunsel gets hurt, and then everybody has a different feeling.

And it's all about training camp in the preseason. I'm sure if they're following this, and I think they are, they cannot wait for the real games to begin. Because, you know, a decent start to the season will make everybody forget pretty quickly any sort of conversation they were having in the summer. But I don't think it was, I think he is probably in his own way, along with everybody out there, saying things like, are you guys kidding me?

We haven't even played our players yet. Do you guys realize we haven't played our players yet? Let's at least wait until our actual team, the team that we are going to field for the upcoming season, plays a game. You keep saying that. But the criticisms are not directly related to the fact that they haven't played their players yet. Yes, they are. No, they aren't. People are consuming the summer of training camp, joint practices, and preseason games as if that's the team they're going to field when the season begins.

I think most of the criticism is based on the realization that they haven't been able to protect their quarterback from even doing the basic do-nothing plays. On two plays. On two plays. No. In joint practice. But they dominated practices in Miami. They did. You're right.

With that with a vanilla game plan? The criticism has nothing to do with the fact that they haven't played any of their players. I think that's a misdirection. A misdirection. They just goes deeper than that. Well, wait a minute. If you believe that the players that are going to play in the regular season, you recognize that those players haven't played football yet, real football yet.

No, they haven't. No, they haven't. They haven't. A lot of them did. Yeah, but not for them. the entirety of it, not with a scoreboard, not with a clock, not with Jake James wearing the yellow jersey. I mean, it's just a...

The minute the practice began, it was a disaster. You were there? Or were you taking the word of the beat reporters that were there? I'm taking the word of a beat reporter. Okay. Who you have on your show. I have them all the time. And I told Ben the other day, don't you think, Ben, that they would have game planned for a past protection disadvantage?

Of course they would have. Well, then what are we talking about? What are we talking about? I just, I just, I mean, I'm going to tell you this, Tommy, if this line, which by the way has come down a little bit, my bookie now, it's at four from four and a half, and I've seen some three and a halves out there, because the boys in the desert don't seem to have the same level of alarm at this point about their past protection issues. if that line comes down to three or less,

Brinks truck time backing it up to my book to say Burgundy and gold plus the points and on the money line because that will be the biggest anti-public play of week one, although actually I think right now the 49ers might be against the Rams. But I just, again, like I don't, at this point, whatever, if you think whatever you want, I've, this is, my first flight, all due respect. We've all done this. You've done this. Most of you listening

have done this. When has the preseason ever legitimately been a predictor of anything? You're absolutely right. So I just, I'll wait for the real games. By the way, this is one specific part of their game. Well, no, people are very, very concerned about the corners. Some of our fans are talking about Trey Amos as if he's Daryl Green. He's played in 10 NFL games.

Look, I don't know how good their corners are. People who seem to know more say that he was their best corner. I think he's talented, no doubt. But they didn't just lose Michael Haynes for the first four games this season. Okay, and Durante Jones, if we're going to see a Brian Flores-style defense, we're going to see a top 10 zone team in the league. You know, and so you're not. talking about, oh my God, who's going to match up with Devante Smith or C.D. Lamb or Pickens,

they'll play a lot of zone. I'll tell you this. The number one, number one for this team is the quarterback staying healthy. I think number two for this team is they have to become a competent run-stopping team because they haven't been since 2022, and it's hurt them. It hurt them in 23. They were disaster offensively, too, in 23. In 24, somehow, they overcame a bad run defense and made it to the NFC title game, which was amazing. Of course, that's when Sequin Barclay ran through them like a knife through warm butter. And then last year, another, you know, atrocious overall defense, bad run defense, they've got to be able to stop the run this year.

They've added 10 new players. They've got a new scheme. Kinlawn Payne are back. They haven't played at all. They haven't even really played much in the joint practices. This is number two for me. Actually, turnover margin would be number two. But number two really is you cannot be on the field defensively for six, seven minutes at a time with your best player watching from the sideline.

You've got to get teams off the field and it starts with stopping the run. That's something I'm going to be really interested to see. early in the season. You know, week one, are they, you know, are they keyed in on Sequin Barclay or does Barclay go, you know, 22 for a buck 70? Like, you got no chance really in that environment. And they've been in that environment. And they've overcome it, you know, even last year a couple of times with their offense.

They were in games, even with their horrendous defense. I don't know how I got off on that. But anyway, I do want to hear. about your Baltimore recap. Can we break again real quickly and then you can lay it out for us? If you want to. We'll do that. We'll do that.

It's yours on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. Wait. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. It's not a big recap. Okay. Don't do this thing. Don't diminish it by building it up.

I didn't know I was doing that. You interrupted me in the opening segment of the show. I said I wanted to talk about. Hey, I want to talk about the Baltimore game. Okay. Right. Well, what would you? There's no breakdown.

Did you hear me say the word breakdown? No. No, that may have been a bit of exaggeration. But now you've really, really created some intrigue about what you're going to say about the Baltimore game. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Summer can really add up when it comes to how much money you spend, and it adds up pretty quickly. You know, a trip here, a dinner there, a couple of outdoor concerts later, and it should have you wondering if you're getting the most out of your money.

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Then you can take your act outside. But they've got a great outdoor seating area at Shelley's, beautifully decorated, lots of tables and chairs. And while you're out there, and we talked about their cigar menu the last time I was on the show, I want to talk about one part of their food menu in particular because we've raised about, you know, they're great food at Shelly's. their great custom blend beef that they have with their burgers and other. But I haven't talked enough about the appetizers. Okay.

The things that you start your meal with. Okay. You love your apps. You love your apps, don't you? Yes. Yes. Yes. And Shelly's has these great wings called Camp Fire Wings.

They were voted D.C.'s best wings, according to one Paul. Wow. It's one pound of roasted, not fried, season and marries. jumbled, jumbo chicken wings with choice of shelley's honey mustard, blue cheese, or ranch dressing. We get those wings at our DC-Graise, fundraisers, cigars, and curveballs that we do at Shelly's, and people rave about them. You know, people rave about them. There's so many more. They're shelly sausages.

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combo. I mean, mariner's great, but I prefer the first combo, yes. Well, meatballs in mariner would be, and they also have meatballs and weed. Shelly's has it all, man. They got it all. And for all you ladies out there, they have hummus.

So don't be worried about that. That's good. That's good. You don't eat. I guess you don't eat hummus. You're not a big hummus man. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. Oh, man.

Hummus for you ladies out there. All right. So let's get to the Baltimore game. What this talk that you want to have about the Baltimore game. Go ahead. The floor is yours. Well, now it's anti-climatic. Okay.

Yes, after meatballs and Maryland. Now that you've diminished it by building it up. Okay. Okay. I think it could be, it could be viewed what we saw as a reflection on coaching. I think it could. I think it's reasonable that we saw people out there,

particularly on defense. that didn't have any idea what they were doing, that that seemed lost in a lot of the plays. And these are people that have been in camp, many of them, from most of training camp, have been part of your operation, part of your team, listening to your coaching drills, listening to your head coach,

and they go out there and present that product. that is the only sense where it would matter to me or be embarrassing to me. And I think Dan Quinn was embarrassed by it. I think he felt it was reflection on him. We've always talked about Mike Shanahan. Even with bad players, there was a certain level of competition that you always saw. Okay. I think that I feel a lot better about the coaches if they lost 24 to 10.

and 41 to 3, even in a meaningless game. Right. So I just think that it raises the possibility that they're not a well-coached team. I don't think that that's unreasonable. I think that one of the things, and I've talked about this, when we get to the preseason games, is to hope that your team comes out with a level of effort and energy and excitement and enthusiasm.

And by the way, for the players that were playing on Friday night, they're actually, most of them aren't necessarily fighting for a roster spot, but they're fighting to be considered for the practice squad. Or they're fighting, you know, to put something on tape that other teams will see and give them an opportunity for another practice squad. And so I get that. I do get that. And I do think often, you know, the teams overall,

vibe, effort, energy level, et cetera, can be a reflection of coaching. And I'll remind everybody that last year's preseason ended with a game against the Ravens in which the team lost 30 to 3. And they had also lost earlier in the preseason 48 to 18 to the Patriots. Now, again, you know, people will say, well, wasn't that a harbinger of things to come? yeah, except for the real reason the team had a terrible season is that their best players who didn't play in the preseason also barely played in the regular season.

So there is that, which is rather major. But it's funny that you bring this up because I'm looking for the tweet. Somebody tweeted me and I can't find it. But anyway, I know what the gist of it was. The person basically pointed me back to New England's preseason finale last year. and things that were said about the Patriots in Boston after they lost to the New York Giants in the third preseason game last year, 42 to 10. Like it was, you know, an absolute blood bath blowout from the beginning. Now, none of New England starters played.

It was a new coach in Vrable, but there was a lot of concern with just how ill-prepared the team seemed to be. Let me just say, we could find, this isn't the only example. I would bet my life on it. We could find plenty of examples, not even needing to go back to, you know, when teams did play their starters. Like obviously the three Redskins Super Bowl champion teams were horrible in the preseason. You know, there was doom and gloom going into the 91 regular season opener after they went 0 and 4 in the preseason and didn't look good. And they beat Detroit in the opener 45 to nothing. But the point is that the Patriots went on to have a great season

and a season in which they ended up being in the Super Bowl despite losing their final preseason game 42 to 10. But I think that what you've described is fair. And I bet you Quinn was disappointed about that. Now, I would say that in the Detroit game, a game in which they actually came out with some defensive starters at the beginning of the game, not all of them, but some of them. It started with great energy and enthusiasm and a defensive touchdown on the second play from scrimmage.

And then another turnover on the next, you know, possession. Look, the third preseason game, you really can't take a lot out of it. But you could say that you were disappointed that the coach. didn't have them looking more prepared, especially with a group of players that for the most part, knew they were going to get cut the next day or two days later, and needed to be out there putting something on tape to give themselves a chance just to be called back to a practice squad.

So, yeah, I hear you on that. I do. Okay. Okay, that was my only thing. I mean, I know. I mean, and you're right. I mean, if we went back to look at some of the Gibbs losses in preseason, they were probably embarrassing.

Yeah, I don't even like to do that because it was just different back then. Starters did play, you know? They played, and, you know, there were four games then, and we're not going back to the six-game pre-season of the 70s. But it's like, you know, legitimately you could maybe evaluate a little bit more, you know, on your starters versus their starters, player evaluation, mono-a-mono. No game planning back then, although there was probably more game planning than there was

today. But pre-season has really over the last 10 years for sure since Sean McVeigh became a head coach and really stopped playing a starters period. But I would say over the last 20 years, the NFL's preseason has become a joke, an absolute joke in terms of it being a predictor of things. to come. Like, you know, the Cardinals scored 38 points in their preseason game the other night. Does anybody think the Cardinals are going to be a great offensive team? Maybe they will be, but it wasn't their starters who played. I mean, again, I'm going to say the same thing about

week one. You know, if Washington wins in week one, I'm still going to say, be careful. This isn't necessarily based on the last 20 years, week one is often a head fake. The Raiders went into Foxborough last year and beat down the Patriots. And the Patriots basically couldn't lose from that point forward, and the Raiders couldn't win from that point forward. You said something in the last segment that I actually wanted to respond to. You said that you've dug this hole for yourself. Tell me what you mean by that.

Well, in other words, I mean, you basically ridiculed any notion that this team. could be in trouble. That's not true. That's not true at all. And in fact, it's kind of the way I read your aura of collapse. I haven't said that there's no reason to consider that this team's in trouble. What I've said is nothing we've seen yet is a predictor of things to come. They may end up being horrible.

They may end up having a massive protection problem. and that dooms the season or the corners may doom the season or whatever it may be. I'm just saying that what you've seen, read or heard so far isn't the reason that's going to happen because those players haven't played. The players that are going to be out there have not played football, real football yet. The first time we see them play real football with real coaching and game planning will be September 13th against Philadelphia. you. That's the time. I could go, Tommy, from zero level, you know, a concern or panic or conclusions

with question marks, though, to five alarm fire, you know, early in the season. Now, it won't be after week one, because I'm not going to make that mistake. I've made that mistake many times in the past. I've learned from it. Week one, you got to, you got to wait a few weeks. But by week three, if they're 0 and three and they have a massive protection problem and they can't cover anybody and the new players on defense, you know, aren't what we thought they would be. I could be right there, but it'll be based on three real football games, not players who are not in the NFL anymore playing in August. That's all.

So the whole I've dug is, I don't think anybody that is doom and gloom at this point has any reason, legitimate reason, to be doom and gloom. And if it turns out you're right, it's not because of what you saw read or heard in August. It just isn't. It's impossible right now. Oh, that's ridiculous. No, it's not ridiculous. Even if I'm wrong, I'm not wrong because you were right.

That's correct. No, that's bullshit. No, it's not bullshit. The reasons they are predicting Doom have nothing to do with the team that will take the field in the regular season. reasons doesn't mean they're not legitimate. I think they're ill. They are illegitimate. They're not legitimate reasons, in my opinion.

Of course they're not. If you want to say that's the hole you've dug, put me in that hole. I'm fine being there. There are absolutely no legitimate reasons other than Tunsell being injured to believe that the season is over before it started based on what, everything else you've seen. That is ridiculous. It's embarrassing, actually, to actually feel that way as a football fan. You know, like other than tonsill being injured, that's like saying,

other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like to go? No, I said that if you tell me you're very concerned about this season. Well, that's the basis. No, it isn't the basis. Of course it is. Most of those people think Coleman's going to be fine. Most of those people say that's not even the issue. They love Brandon Coleman.

They'll be fine there. Yeah, but Chris Paul is struggling, and a lot of people think that's because tonsils not next to them. Okay. Again, if you say you're legitimately concerned about this season because their second best player isn't going to play for most of it, if not all of it, that's legitimate. If you tell me it's because of the two plays against Detroit,

three plays against Detroit, or the joint practice against the Ravens, or the 41 to three preseason finale against Baltimore, those are not legitimate reasons. Sorry, they're not. You're... Take out the 41 to 3 thing against Baltimore. The other two you mentioned are directly tied to the absence of their best protector. No, they're not.

I think they are. They had a backup center and a backup guard in the game. the pressure was immediate and it was up the center of the field with no game planning against it. Just so you know, and I know you know this, but for those that don't, yes, this is condescension, they would have actually in a real game gone back out onto the field with an adjustment to whatever happened on those first two plays. They wouldn't have called the game at that point or the season. Come on, Tommy.

How many times do we have to do this every summer? It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. I mean, they might have called that game. By the way, there's nothing to worry about because Nick Allegretti is healthy and on the field. Well, you know what?

I think some of that is what Adam Peters is referring to. Like when we actually put the team on the field that we went out and, you know, put together in the off season, we feel confident about that group. I will say this. I'm,

that's a big question mark area for me, But it was before he had the calf injuries. It was like, this is the planet center. You better be right. And they've said, smart, better communicator. They really like them. I think Tyler Lindervam probably was plan A, but I think they felt great about Allegretti.

And guess what? It looks like he's going to play in the season opener. So we'll get to see him for the first time play as a center in the NFL. I can't tell you if he's going to be good or not. I have no clue what Nick Allegrety is going to be. I have a question as to what he's going to be. I think it's a question mark area, as is the O line in general right now, especially because of Tunsell, much more so than Allegretti.

But I can't tell you conclusively that it's a disaster and the season's doomed because of it. No, you can't. You're right about that. Can't do that. It's he better be right kind of situation. Yeah, I think as it relates to the players that will get to see play on September 13th for more than three snaps, more than two snaps, but for the majority or if not the entirety of the game, I think the areas in which Peters is kind of, you know, on the line here is definitely at center. No doubt about that. and I would say

man it's really hard to kill Peters if the O line ends up being a bad O line when he traded for Tunsell and took another tackle in the first round in 2025 I agree with you I wrote a column last week

saying basically that that Dan Quinn and Adam Peters inherited such a roster that was so devoid of talent, it's going to take more than three years of drafts and free agency to build it into a competitive team. You need a functional offensive line, and then, well, let me put it in the proper order. You need number five, Jaden Daniels to be healthy and play 17 games, unless, of course, he sits the 17th because they've clinched the division.

But more like... He's the corrector. You need him to be healthy and play 17 games. And then you need a functional offensive line. You need a good coordinator who's able to, you know, attack weaknesses and protect weaknesses. And then you need a defense that's much improved. That's really what it comes down to. I don't criticize Adam Peters.

I think he's tried to address the offensive line. I think Connerley got okay marks for a rookie last year. No reason to think he was a disaster, and there's still no reason to think he's a disaster. But, you know, he hasn't been a standout either. And by trading for tons, I was all in favor of to trade, and I think it was the bold right move to make. He has tried to address the offensive line.

There's just so much more. There's been so much more. I think a really... I think a real important part of, you know, thinking about the offensive line is that there's going to be a major scheme change. You know, the same qualities that you needed in Cliff Kingsbury's offense are a little bit different in the offense that I think we're going to see, starting in Philadelphia. So, and not to mention, Connerly, you know, has a year under his belt. Those positions rarely come out as all pros as rookies. It's one of those positions that takes time, you know, often with young players.

I don't know that we're going to be in love with Connerley throughout his career, but it doesn't mean that they didn't try to invest in that area. Look, the offensive line in general, left tackle, center, and I would add right tackle, actually, I have a question mark next to that. unit on the team. Can't wait to see it in a real game. Can't wait to see how it holds up. And look, on paper, they're going to get tested early. They're going to get tested with one of the best defensive fronts in football in the opener with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, etc. Dallas is

much better up front, you know, after they added Quinn and Williams last year at the trade deadline, Rishon Gary in the offseason, and then Seattle is just flat out nasty up front. Now, maybe it looks different when you get there. But we're going to, through the first three games, it is quite the test and quite the challenge for one of those question mark areas. But last year, let's just remind everybody, you know what wasn't a question mark area? Quarterback. You know what else wasn't a question mark area based on all of the tweeting and reporting? Oh, the secondaries lights out.

This is night and day with the addition of Trey Amos and Will Harris, you know, in for Jeremy Chin and San were still going into his second year. And just defensively overall, this is Joe Witt really finding his sea legs. They had a lot of injuries on defense too. I'm not diminishing that because it was a big part of it. But even before the biggest injuries came, that defense was a wreck becoming a train wreck. It was not good. They have to be better there, for sure.

Yes, they do. All right. ESPN put out their top 100 player list. I wonder if Jaden made this list. He didn't make the one that the players voted on. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins. And honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet.

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By the way, Tommy, I don't know if you saw this. The Rams are going to leave like either the day before or two days before the game in Australia. San Francisco, I think, is leaving today. Today or tomorrow, like a week, a solid week before to Ackle. I have no idea which one works, but they're approaching it completely differently from one another. And I haven't mentioned this, but Aaron Donald signing back with the Rams. This is one of the better teams on paper heading into a season I've seen in a long time. Yes.

Let me just give both the Rams and the 49ers recommendations because I flew the Sydney, Australia, to cover the 2000 Olympics. Kind of. And what helped me, and what helped me a lot, was 14 Victoria Bitters on the plane. 14 of them. 14, how,

but one for each hour it took to get there from L.A. 14 Victoria Bitters. And I felt pretty good when I got off the plane. I've done that flight, too. You said you were going to cover the Olympics. I mean, you kind of. there to cover the Olympics. It's kind of hard to cover the Olympics when you

park it in a nearby saloon. But I did it. I think I've told this story before. My in-laws moved to Sydney with their kids. It was my brother-in-law's job that sent him to Sydney for, I think,

two years, maybe a little bit longer than that. We flew over. My oldest was basically like 18 months, two years old, something like that. Wow. And we flew from Dulles to L.A.X. And he screamed and cried the entire way.

It was one of the most miserable flights for us and everybody around us that I've ever, ever dealt with. It was just we could not get him to stop crying. And when we arrived at L.A.X, I said to everybody sitting around us, the good news is, We're sticking on this flight all the way to Sydney if you're going to join us. It was so miserable. But then that last, you know, L-A-X to Sydney, he slept the entire time, which was great. That is a trip, as you know, that really is almost 24 hours door-to-door. If you account for travel to and from the airport and Leo Group in L.A.

That's a long trip. But well worth it. I flew to L.A. And I stayed overnight. And then I got on a plane the next day to fly to Sydney. That helped me a lot. So the 14 beers were from L.A. to Sydney. Yes.

One beer an hour. Yeah. Why not? It worked out perfectly. All right. So ESPN put out their top 100 player list for the upcoming season. It was voted on by 12. NFL analysts and reporters. And it's not a, you know, a list that has anything to do with last year or years before.

It is ranking players based on expected performance for the 2026 season. Laramie Tunsell was not considered because he had the triceps injury. Aaron Donald was not considered because he didn't come out of retirement officially until this past weekend. And everybody else was in consideration. I think Laramie Tunsell would have easily been in the top 100. I will tell you, we have just one player in the top 100, and I'll get to him in a moment. The Eagles have the most players on this list for the second straight year. They've got eight, and then the Lions and 49ers are next with six players each.

The Jets are the only team without any players. on the list. So, let me start with top down. The number one player is voted by all of these NFL analysts. Miles Garrett, number one overall. I don't have a problem

with that. I personally would take a quarterback, Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, probably, but Miles Garrett, the number one player in the league. Oh my God, the combination of Miles Garrett. If Aaron Donald, is Aaron Donald

Tommy? Yeah, I know. I mean, are we back at the fearsome, foursome, level, or the purple people leaders at this point? You know, the fearsome, there was pictures of the fearsome for some posted on social media

yesterday, and Merlin Olson, and there was a picture of Merlin Olson side by side with Deacon Jones. Jesus. Those two are in every conversation for the best ever at their position.

I know. That's remarkable. Incredible. They played side by side. I mean, certainly Pittsburgh in the 70s with Elsie Greenwood and mean Joe Green and, but all that linemen, only Joe Green is considered among the greatest defensive tackles of all time.

Yes. I mean, these two guys are, Deacon Jones on many lists is the best, one of the best defensive hands ever. Merlin Olson, who was like a pro bowler for 15 straight years, is considered one of the best defensive tackles ever. It's hard to believe. What about Paige Eller-Marshal?

Page and Eller. Eller, is not considered among the greatest defense events of all times. Page was an MVP. Was he? Eller or, no, Paige was the MVP. Page was the MVP, yes. Yeah, yeah, Paige, I would put on that list. which is remarkable considering he's only 200 he was only 218 pounds

Carl Eller is a hall of famer Tommy yeah I know I know he's a Hall of Famer he's a great defensive end if you shorten your list to the greatest of all time he's not on that list Alan Page is I guess what I'm getting at is you could argue that if Aaron Donald is Aaron Donald that the two best defensive players in the 21st century. That's not a crazy statement. I know that some people would say Ray Lewis, I think there would be some Ed Reed people out there,

but you could certainly argue as it relates to D-Linman that they're the two best D-Linman this century, and they're playing together. Absolutely, I mean, Aaron Donald is in that conversation among the greatest defensive tackles of all three. And Miles Garrett is going to be in the conversation of the greatest defensive ends of all time. Yes. All right.

The rest of the top five after Garrett is Josh Allen 2, Lamar Jackson 3, Jemar Chase, 4, and Patrick Mahomes, 5. And then the only Washington player, you got to scroll all the way down to 61 to find. Jaden Daniels. Daniels is listed at 61 in the top 100. He's the 10th quarterback listed. So based on this top 100 list, the expectation is that Jaden will be the 10th best quarterback in the NFL heading into 2026 or in 2026. What's written about him, Daniels has posted arguably his best training camp coming off an injury-filled season. He's been relaxed, appears comfortable in the offense. David Blouse said the quarterback is as accurate as he's ever been. It helps that he's got a healthy Terry McCorn and that the team signed Stefan Diggs. The question mark, of course,

is the O-line without Laramie Tunsell. They have his 2026, Tommy, stat projections. You're looking at them, right? Yes. And I mean, I was kind of surprised at the interceptions. were as high as 10. And it's not tremendously high. 22 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. I mean, Jayden's, for one I remember from Jay when he was at his best, it was protecting the ball.

I don't recall him being a guy to make many mistakes. 10 seems a little high. 3851 passing yards projected, 670 Russian yards. The 38151 passing yards would put him last year at number nine overall. The 22 touchdowns would put him in like the top, you know, 11 or 12. And the 10 interceptions, you don't want to be in double-digit interceptions.

You know, if it's 35 to 10, that's fine. You'd rather be where he was as a rookie, nine picks. Less than 10 would be nice. 10's not terrible. No, it's not. But, yeah. And the rushing yards is less than what he had as a rookie where he rushed for 891, I think. Yeah, I mean, the 10 quarterbacks, the nine quarterbacks in front of them include, you know, I already mentioned Alan, Jackson, Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford.

And then you get to, I think the next one on the list is Drake May at 30 overall. Our Dak Prescott's next. Then Drake May, then Justin Herbert. and then you get, I think, the last one before him is Jordan Love. Actually, I'm sorry, it's Drake May, Justin Herbert, then Dak Prescott, then Jordan Love, then Jaden Daniels. That's your top 10. If you didn't follow that, I'll give it to you again.

Alan Jackson Mahomes, Borough Stafford, that's your top five. Then you go to Drake May at six overall, Justin Herbert at seven. at eight is Dack Prescott. At nine is Jordan Love and then at 10 is Jaden Daniels. There you go. The only player from our team on the list entering 2026.

Now he was not on the list of the players list? No, he was not on the players list. But the players list... Well, Lamar Jackson was 69 on that list. So it's really about more about last year than it is about the projection of this year, even though it's called the top 100 players of 2026.

It's just kind of misleading because the best players, the core, like, Burroughs really low. And I mean, does anybody think Lamar Jackson's, the number 69 player in the NFL? No, but he didn't, he was hurt last year for some, it's a portion of the season. So this is more of a projection of what's to come. The only difference is this is a projection of NFL analysts at ESPN, I think, primarily. Some of those other lists of units and rankings were actual NFL front office execs, GMs, assistant GMs, coaches. Look, thank God we're nearing the end of list season.

That's all I've got to say on the matter. But he was, you know, number 62 overall. Ahead of 61 overall, ahead of Caleb Williams, who came in. at 62. Yes. Yes. Speaking of lists, when is my homework do? Which homework? The predictions, the season predictions. Oh, that's, we will be doing our season predictions next week, Tuesday and Thursday with you next week. So I'm going to need, you know, division by division predictions, you know, with records. I mean, we can, we can shorten it up if you'd prefer and we could just go division winners, wild cards.

Make fun of people who read things in the pre-season. It doesn't mean it's bad content. Then you ask me to predict what's going to happen in the season. It doesn't mean it's bad content. Everybody does this stuff on the eve of the season. I know everybody does it stuff, but it's absurd. Well, think about this. I had 8, 8 and 1 in 2022.

on our team. That's one of the most absurd predictions I've ever made, and it turned out to be right. Do you think I thought I had any chance to be right on that? I have no idea what's going to happen in an NFL season, but it's not going to stop us from making predictions. You and I both had. We had the Redskins in the Super Bowl last year. Yes, we did. I had the Redskins and the Ravens.

Yeah, I had the skins and the Chiefs. I had that would have been you know you'd had you would have had plenty of protesters outside the stadium um yes but of course i hate i hate the team by the way i had them going to the super bowl last year but i hate the team oh yeah no no you hate jaden daniels and yet you've written the most glowing columns on jaden daniels that you've written on any player in decades those are the people by the way that you've been defending a little bit here on the show. I just want you to know that. All right, I did want to just close with this. The Nats, you know, they've actually played well recently. There's not a whole hell

of a lot to talk about as it relates to them. But did you see what the Cubs did last night against the Brewers? Nine home runs. The second most ever in a game, Toronto had 10 against the Orioles in 1987, nine homers, and not one by Pete Crow Armstrong. Not one. I know. That's done. You know, it's him and Otani for MPC. It's him. It's him.

It's him. Yes. Since Otani's pitching now isn't a part of the equation, and PCA is just absolutely knocking the cover off the ball. The Cubs, by the way, in the month of August, finished with 62 home runs, the second most in any calendar month in the history of baseball. The Yankees had 74 in 2019. Don't you think it's

Crow Armstrong at this point? I think what O'Tonnie did before they stopped pitching them still counts. Let me see what the odds are at my bookie right now. For MVP. I am interested.

National League MVP. Oh, my God. He is a massive favorite. Really? Pete Crow Armstrong at my bookie right now, minus 590. Shohei Otani's plus 156. So a massive favorite right now to win the National League MVP. I don't know. I don't follow it as closely as many of you who are listening do. It just seems to me like every night there is Pete Crow Armstrong highlight.

It seems to start with a lead-off home run and then a game-winning home run. Because I think he's now had a lead-off home run like four. It's like three or four times this year, something like that. He had... You know, but Otani is 8-2 with a 179 ERA. I know. But he's not pitching right now. I know that, but he pitched in 14 games.

I get it. Okay. I mean, here's what I think if Armstrong wins, I think it's the Michael Jordan-Charles-Barkley syndrome. I think that writers won't want to give another MVP to Otani, and they have a viable candidate. No one can argue that Armstrong's not worthy of being the MVP, just like Barkley was when he wanted to break up the Jordan run of MVP. I think that's what's coming into play here. Okay. By the way,

Crow Armstrong had three homers two nights ago, two homers on Sunday. He had five homers in back-to-back games. And then on a night where his team had nine, second most in history, Alex Breggman, by the way, had three. He had none. He was one for five last night.

Crazy. I'll tell you, how about the ending for the Orioles last night? The catch that, That unbelievable catch made by their outfielder. I'm sorry, I'm blanking. I had it. Colton Krauser at the warning track, incredible catch to preserve a 2-1 win over Colorado. The Orioles are at 500 right now, 69 and 69 and a half game behind Cleveland for the final wildcard spot in the American League.

God, what a turnaround. There was a point this season where the Orioles, some people, thought they might end up with one of the two or three worst records in baseball. Am I right about that? You know, like early in the season? Well, I don't know about that. I'm not quite sure that they've turned around. They were eight games below 500 on May 20th.

Okay. So they're 500 now. Yeah. They certainly weren't thought of as a playoff contender in the first half of the season. Well, that's because I don't think anyone thought the America League would be so pathetic. Right. when it comes to records and playoffs. Let's see what they do in September.

I'm going to Camden Yards on Sunday because they're celebrating the 30th anniversary of Eddie Murray's 500th home run. Oh, nice. So that's why I'm going. Oh, good. Didn't you have a pretty decent relationship with Eddie Murray? Yes, I did. I only knew. I know I knew him for that 96th season.

I mean, I've talked to him since then. when he got traded from Cleveland, Baltimore, in the middle of the 96th season. And I got to know him for two reasons, you know, because he had a contentious relationship with media. One, he was a big boxing fan. Right. He actually managed a fighter, a heavyweight at one point.

So he was huge in the boxing. But the big thing was his good friend and Orioles, coach Elrod Hendricks gave me the seal of approval. If Elrod told Eddie that he could talk to me. If it wasn't for Elrod, Eddie wouldn't have talked to me. Didn't you have your boxing, your Hall of Fame boxing writer status? I feel like has opened up the door for closer, relationships with players.

But I'm thinking of it. Was it Davy Johnson or was it Dusty Baker? Who was the boxing fan? Was one of those two a boxing fan? Well, Dusty was a boxing fan, but Dusty was a fan of everything. Right. Including himself. Dusty had a man of very taste.

Right. But it helped me in a baseball clubhouse in particular when I would come back from covering a heavyweight title fight or a title fight and people would have questions. It helped me, definitely. All right. Anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. All right.

You can start on your homework assignment. You got a week to be prepared. We'll do half of the predictions on Tuesday and the other half on Thursday. Of course, the Thursday will be when we make our predictions about the upcoming Washington season. And I will, I'll tease it a little bit that I am going to be optimistic, but nowhere near as optimistic as I was last year. But I'll probably be dead wrong because it's hard to know in the NFL. All right. Are you ready to leave or, you know, we can, you know, collapse upon one another at FedEx Field and call it a day. Is that it?

I think I've been built down and teared down enough for one day. Built up and teared down enough. I'll talk to you on Thursday. Tomorrow everybody is TBD. Thanks, Tommy. Okay, boss.