The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wash-NYG: The Rematch

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

Cooley and Kevin today with a preview and prediction on one of the biggest late-season Washington games in years. The boys opened with the 49ers win last night over the Seahawks and Cooley talked about some of the important playoff-stakes games he played in during his career. Kevin finished up with "Smell Test" picks and looked back on a memorable Redskins-Giants game 40 years ago.  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 Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. I'm here. Cooley is here. Rate us and review us wherever you can do so,

especially on Apple and Spotify. A quick five-star rating. And a one-to-two-sentence review really helps from Ralejohn. It's like Christmas morning to hear your podcast. Love when Cooley is on. from Nick. Can't wait for Tommy and Cooley when they're on. I guess Rigo

needs to be paid. I don't know if Rigo needs to be paid. I just think Rigo does his own thing. And that's he's, I've asked him, he's just really not available to do anything than this stuff he's doing. I love Rigo and get along with him.

Great. And from Eric, there's nothing better than the Cooley film breakdown. Please keep it coming for these very important final four weeks of the season and some. And I guess the end some would be, and maybe a playoff game or two. I want to start. We're going to get two keys to beating the Giants, and we'll talk about that.

I've got a prediction. I've got a smell test on the show today. Did you watch San Francisco in Seattle last night? Yeah, I watched it. I watched the whole game. And? Well, first of all, I tried to go with a buddy. who is in town to dinner and watch the game,

I do realize the prime, Amazon Prime problem at a restaurant. Yeah, right. Well, we went to dinner. But it was on. Oh, it was on. I know. But this one was on, but they, like, they couldn't get it. We got there at 630 when the game was starting.

Right. And it was an hour and a half pre-game, whatever they had on. we asked three or four times if they could fast forward it. He said no. They didn't know how to. Oh. Wait a minute. Somehow they had started it from scratch.

I don't know if it was on an NFL channel that started an hour and a half late. You know, on Amazon Prime, I mean, you can pause it just like you can do with anything. You can rewind it. Right. You can fast forward it. All he had to do was fast forward it to where. was live. Yeah, no, I'm pretty clear on that.

So we didn't, so we knew what the score was at the end of the first quarter. And so I got home and I just put it like three minutes less than the first quarter. It was a third quarter by the time I got home. And so we watched the very end of the first quarter and watch San Francisco down, go down and score. And then just fast forwarded through commercials and watch the rest of the game. I don't think I was that far behind the finish. Did you ask to just say, can you just give me your remote control and I can take care of it for you?

I can get us to live? So there's these little like two forward triangles. You just push that and then it goes kind of where you want it. And then you push play. It's a bigger triangle. So just pop that one in there. Send it over to real time. I've been in a place.

It was frustrating. I've been in a place before. where the bartender or the person in the restaurant just had no idea how to work the remote to get the station that we needed up. And I just said, hey, if you just hand me the remote, I can figure it out, you know, whether it's DirecTV or, you know, Cable Xfinity or, you know, Fios, whatever it is, I'll be able to figure out and I'll find the station. And that's happened before. Yeah, that would have been kind of frustrating. I don't know what you thought. I probably should have asked for the room.

They're nice people. I mean, I probably should ask for them about more, but we ate and went home. Okay. What was the place? Where'd you eat and Cody or pal? We ate at a burger pizza place in Pal. Okay. By the way, it is so cold out there, isn't it?

Like, as you know, I have Pal Wyoming on my weather app. It's 11 degrees, and next week you're going to be like 15 below zero at night. Good God. Except I'm not going to be here. And somehow over the last two days, the weather changed for next week. It was supposed to be Monday, Tuesday, we're supposed to be really cold. But they're not. I don't know, Kevin, it's amazing.

It's cold today, for sure. But it's calm. There's no wind. The sun's out. It's going to be 28. It's not that bad. Okay. Because I don't, I mean, it is cold.

I'm over it. Like, it's been cold here soon. It was really warm until October the last week of October, and then it was immediately really cold. You know, I mean, I think... This is different for us this year. I mean, you've told me this before, but when you are used to bitter cold and then it's not windy, it's sunny, and yet, you know, it's only 18 degrees. It feels like it would feel like it was 50 here in the middle of winter. 35, 40.

That's fine. we are supposed to have quite a week next week heading into Christmas. There's a chance for a big snowstorm at the end of next week, although the forecast will change on that 15 times before the end of next week. But it's going to be super cold end of next week right through apparently New Year's. And super cold for us means, you know, 20s during the day, you know, teens in single digits at night. But if it snows, that would be nice. We have not had a white Christmas since 2009.

You were here. We had a blizzard the week before Christmas, and it kind of melted a little bit, but it was still a white Christmas by the time we got to a week later. But it's rare around here to have that. And it looks like there's a chance for that. But anyway, back to the game. What did you think of the 49ers?

They're unbelievable on defense. God. They're just absolutely unbelievable on defense. I mean, Joey Bosa is a monster. And that game was over. It should have been 28 to 6 with the pick 6 that they called back on a Bosa roughing. That in no way was roughing the passer. And I think Herb Street said, you know, he can't finish the play there.

Like he ran him into his own guy and then just, he hit him as a ball. Terrible call. It's a horrible call, especially when you're on the 49ers, which I was. But it ended up okay. But that ends that game. You know, there's the one series late in the game that San Francisco allows Seattle to just go down, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, make some plays. No offense, scores. You're like, oh, my God, this is actually a game.

It wasn't a game. I mean, San Francisco was clearly the better team. I didn't think Purdy was amazing. I'm really impressed by him. You know, he was amazing. I thought Kyle, yeah, he heard. hurt ribs. Yeah.

I like him. He moves in the pocket well. You can see he's like shoulder, shoulder turn, eyes all over the place, and he's capable of finding receivers. You know, he had a couple inaccurate throws. He had a couple really good throws. And then they had a couple really creative plays. You know, the first touchdown to Kittle is a double pump screen left, pump screen,

right. Wide dump in the middle is a fun play. You know, and he and pretty executed that well. And it was funny. I was watching it again with my buddy, and they're hyping purdy, and I said, what do you got?

It's somewhere in the fourth quarter of like 205 yards passing. I mean, he's not lighting up the stat sheet. Well, is he that much? But he was good. He was good enough. How is he compared to Garoppolo? The same? Maybe it's maybe potentially better.

I don't like Jimmy G. I'm not a huge fan. We can run through what he's done in certain games in the playoffs. And obviously I understand that. But weekend and week out, I'm not. I don't think Jimmy G's an All-Star. A pro-bowler. I mean, I don't know.

They're a really sound football team. They run the ball consistently. They don't put the quarterback in compromising positions. They play excellent defense. And they got flagged about eight times last night that were really questionable. And some of the calls like, they should have got to play it on a fourth down and two, or they went to a fourth and two at the end of the half or whatever,

with the neutral zone infraction that somehow they didn't get a play. Right. I thought it was refereed more towards Seattle. It felt like it. So a couple of things. You were in San Francisco. I mean, I'm surprised because Seattle was, you know, and I obviously stuck my neck out with Tommy yesterday.

basically saying that I loved the game. I loved Carolina last week. I've been red hot, as you know, with the smell test. So it's, you know, it's one game. Seattle was the sharp side. And yet I said to Tommy yesterday, I don't, like if I were just analyzing this game, I wouldn't like Seattle at all because I think the 49ers are really, really good.

But, you know, I kind of guessed, well, it's Purdy's, you know, first, you know, road start. it's one of the most difficult places to play. Seattle's super desperate. He's also banged up. Who knows you might get Josh Johnson. But obviously Seattle was the wrong side. The one thing that I would disagree with you on is at the end of the first half, Purdy put in a seven to three game. He put one up for grabs. That was an absolute pick six, not pick six, but it was a pick that would have gotten returned, that would have made the score either 10-7 Seattle at halftime or seven. seven to six at half time. Instead, he dropped the interception. They punted, and there was a fumble in

San Francisco got a touchdown before half. And that was the opportunity. That was really the game right there because that was the chance. Now, late, when they scored to make a 2113, of course, I'm thinking, you know, let's get a stop, let's get a touchdown two-point conversion miss and a 21 to 19 final. I'll take that right now. They're not going for it at home. But I would have, I would have felt Well, they would have needed to go for two. They were down eight. And I, and I, and I, and I would have, I would have felt like I stole one for sure. Because the 49ers, I've been saying this for several weeks now.

And obviously the Purdy situation and the Garoppolo situation, you know, made everybody hesitate. That's the fastest and most aggressive defense in the NFL. And it's one of the fastest NFL defenses I've seen. in a long time. I don't think that anybody's a better or more disruptive defensive player and pass rusher than Nick Bosa. But my God is Fred Warner and Greenlaw,

and all of these guys are just so fast. And, you know, Seattle's been a really good offensive team. Actually, I thought Gino Smith made some really good throws under duress in this game. I mean, you know, Metcalf and Lockett are good, receivers, but Gino Smith has impressed me all year. He can make every throw. And I think he's got real poise in the pocket. But that's a team where, I mean, Boso was literally by his guy and on Gino Smith within two seconds. Not even. He had it figured out in the second half. He's playing

against two rookie tackles on the other side. I know. He had to figure it by the second half, he had he had the timing down. And I'll tell you what, I think Cross, their first round pick is the guy that Washington would have thought about taking if he was going to be there at 11, and I think he's played pretty well this year. But my personal view on the 49ers is this. I think it's going to be, I don't care who's playing quarterback, and that's an amazing statement, right, because the NFL is such a quarterback league, and yet this year feels just a little bit different, especially in the NFC. I just think they are the best coach team. I think they are the best. I think they've got probably as good as skill position set as any team in the league. They didn't even have

Debo Samuel Samuel. And by the way, Ray Ray Ray McLeod looked like Debo Samuel incarnate. But when they get Debo back, it's even more dangerous. I mean, the Kittle, McCaffrey, Debo, it's Juan Jennings, Brandon Ayyuk. I mean, it's hard to match their skill position players. You said it, by the way, trade for McCaffrey, which a lot of people thought was way too much. You said they're going to be unstoppable because now Jimmy G's got basically the answers to the test. Well, maybe that's what's making it easy for Purdy. But it's just defensively, I mean, a San Francisco Philadelphia NFC championship game in Philadelphia would be one hell of a football game and one hell of a matchup. But I think the 49ers are the best team in the NFC, if not the best team in the

NFL, and I say that not really having any idea what Brock Purdy really is. I mean, he's been impressive in these first two games. I mean, as much as you should be as a, as a, as a, the last pick in the draft. But man, they are so good everywhere else and they're so well coached. It's the weirdest thing in the world to say that this is a team that I still think is probably that is a Super Bowl contender that I think is a team that will probably get to the Super Bowl, that they started Tray Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo, and now Brock Purdy. Yeah. And just, you put it perfectly, it don't really care.

Like, the differences, and here's actually, this is that sort of crazy. They do have the ability to score, I think, more than Washington does and have had games where they've scored more. But San Francisco, ultimately, to me, is a team that's going to win games 21 to 13 against teams like Seattle. and that defense is that much better than Washington's defense. And Washington is playing great defense right now. But that defense is that much better.

Right. Yeah. I think that's the biggest difference. And really, when you look at him, the biggest difference comes in the secondary. Like, that dude Ward locked down, D.K. Macbath. He locked him down. And I still don't care what he's anyone. You can tell me all day that he can run a route tree.

He can run a slant, he can run a stick, and he can run a go. That's it. and he can't separate on anything, anything. Like, if you're in a back shoulder fade, and he doesn't quite get off the press, and he starts to turn around looking for the ball at five yards. But he knows he can big body guys. Yes.

And he knows he can run by guys, but he does not finish a route. He does not set his foot and stick her out. He's gronk as a receiver, which you have to appreciate. But that dude, I mean, Ward locked him down. He star covered him and locked him down. Fongas are really good safety.

It's better than anything in Washington right now. Tashon Gibson is awesome, outstanding safety. I mean, you go top to bottom on this defense, and you're like, oh, my God. But I think Washington's deep tackles are better, but you add both on the edge, and that's a massive difference in arms. It's still a heck of a player. It's the speed to me that's so striking compared to the other really good defenses in the league, which there are several of this year.

But it's their speed. I mean, whether it's Armstead, whether it's Bosa, whether it's Warner, Warner, just my God. He also Cooley has, I think, like, you can describe it better, but I'll just say he has incredible football IQ. He appears to know what the play is before the play starts on every single snap. He doesn't get fooled by anything. Nothing.

I'm just, I'm so impressed with them. He's a very good pass. I'm trying to think they're like I did pre-frame at once where they, Gino Smith scrambles on a third downplay out to the right and like Warner got turned around and underneath coverage like once. But he's, you know, he's like he's an excellent past cover guy. The 49ers are an excellent past cover defense. They can blitz.

They don't have. to blitz. They create pressure, no matter how they want to do it. They can present a ton of different looks, and they have a corner that can play lockdown on anybody. So it's a good defense. I see them as, I see the 49ers, and I said this to you, however, what, four weeks ago, that that's the Super Bowl team, in my opinion. So I was thinking about the way to beat them, because if Washington makes the postseason, first of all, you're going to get a preview on Christmas Eve if that ends up being a playoff matchup. You know, Minnesota would be the much better playoff matchup for whoever this six or seven

wildcard teams in the NFC are. San Francisco's got a chance now to end up being the two seed and host that, you know, the first two rounds. But New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, who I think is actually an excellent defensive team too, New Orleans really had the opportunity because they stopped the run for the most part, they stopped the run. And Washington has the ability to stop the run, especially without a mobile quarterback. And so if you can stop the run, you know, and then force, like if it's pretty, to beat you from the pocket, maybe defensively you can do what New Orleans did, which basically

they held them to 13 points in the game, you know. And so the 49ers had a couple of opportunities. deep in New Orleans territory and didn't score on a couple of fourth down. So they could have scored more. But New Orleans got field position after stopping the 49ers and got into range into scoring range as well and just couldn't score. They missed a field goal and they had a couple of fourth and goal opportunities. But to me, the only way to beat the 49ers if you're a team like Washington without the great quarterback is you've got to be able to shut their offense down by stopping the run.

and if you can do that and you can get into one of these games that you don't see a lot in the NFL, but literally like a 13 to 10 kind of a game. And again, we're going to see a preview of it. 49ers, you know, they clinched the division last night, but it's not like, you know, they've got three games left. They're going to, and they've got a big, a quasi-by week heading into the Washington game next week. So you're going to get their best effort because they're going for the two-seed right now. And home field for the first two games.

in the NFC playoffs. They'd rather host Minnesota or host whoever plays Minnesota than travel in the second round. So you're going to get their best. And I think the only chance you have if you're a team like Washington who can't score is you've just got to win like what New Orleans was trying to do, win like a 13 to 10 game. And you've got to kick some field goals and you've got to stop the run and you've got to shorten the game somehow. I don't think you can really run against them. Like, it's going to be, it doesn't matter. Heineke-Wence, it really doesn't matter.

I mean, it'll be the first really legit, awesome defensive team that they have faced this year. Because the, you know, the Bears, Packers, Colts, Vikings, Eagles, they ran on, Texans, Falcons, Giants, you're going to, this is going to be one of those games that you're just going to have to punt a lot. be okay with it. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, the team that beat him and beat him soundly earlier was with Kansas City and San Francisco even jumped out to a 14-0-0 lead. You have to score on them.

You can't, I don't, are you going to beat them 14-13? I don't know. And if you are, then you truly have to stop the run. You have to stop the run. The other thing is you have to stop the big play. And so, like, when I look at teams that can beat them, like, I look at Dallas as a team that can beat them, and I know that Dallas is not. the premier run-stopping defense in the league.

But if you can stop the run enough to get them into third-down situation, they can rest the past. Right. And then get them off the field. So can Philly? And I think Dallas is a secondary that can stop the big play. But true. Yeah, very true.

I think Dallas is a better run defense in Philly watching those teams more than other teams. Philly can be. It depends on how they want to do it. And they might be against San Francisco. but I don't. And Philly is a team that can score on them. I think Dallas could potentially score on them. But Philly is a team that truly could score on them.

Like, to me, it's Philly and Dallas that can be the 49ers. Other than that, I just don't see it. But, yeah, like Hertz can move around and make some plays, and he can find guys downfield. They have speed downfield. The Eagles do they have playmakers and they have speed downfield. And if they're healthy, there'll be a problem for San Francisco. because they could put up 28 if they're 30.

Not saying it'll happen, but they can. I think they have the ability. I don't think Washington can be San Francisco. Not in a playoff game. Maybe in week 16 or... They play next week. I'm not saying that I wouldn't rule it up. But in a true playoff game, I don't know if they can get San Francisco.

I don't know if they have the juice. I think Minnesota would be a mismatch for the 49ers. I don't care if that game's in Minnesota or San Francisco. First of all, Minnesota would not be able to stop them from scoring 30. That's number one. And then you've got to put Kirk into total dropback mode, and he's fine, and they've got the weapons. But I don't think they can run the football,

which means he's going to have to match the 49ers. And with Bosa and, you know, in that huge word, it's not like no one's covered. I mean, no one's covered. Jefferson, but that dude Ward will be, we'll present a problem. I mean, he won't be just running free. Yeah. Although.

Yeah, I mean, I just don't see it anywhere else in the NFC. Yeah, although I'll tell you, Jefferson's basically gotten, you know, open against everybody, including the guy that's going to be, including the rookie of the year, you know, in Sauce Gardner. Anyway, I, I just, I'm impressed. It was not, it was not a good night for your boy. I had Seattle for the limit, so I'm not off to a good start, but I do have more smell test picks coming up. Now, as far as the playoff race goes, last night was another great night for Washington and the other wildcard contenders, because Seattle now is flaming out in a big way. I mean, they've lost four of their last five.

They're seven and seven, and they've got to go to Arrowhead on Christmas Eve to face the Chiefs. So you can almost discount right now or dismiss Seattle as a legitimate playoff contender anymore. And now really what it is, it's Washington, the Giants, Detroit. And I mentioned this on Monday, Cooley. We haven't talked, but don't look now. The Packers, if they can make a run over their final four games to finish nine and eight, they're going to have a chance. Now, it's not easy because after the Rams on Monday night,

which you would expect they should win. They have to go to Miami on Christmas Day, and that would be the game, because after that they finish at Lambo against the Vikings and the Lions, and the Lions game would be crucial. There's no way the Packers pull off 4th Street. I don't think so either,

but they've been much better offensively in their last few games. Christian Watson has kind of emerged here. He's changed that for sure. Yeah, and so it's just funny how we've completely discounted a great quarterback or one of the great quarterbacks because I think Kurtz is playing at a high level. I think Kirk is playing at a really high level. But if Rogers got in to the postseason, he'd be the best quarterback in the field.

But anyway, Detroit still is that team. But here's the thing. Washington and the Giants assured themselves of after, you know, this weekend is over, still being in the top seven. The winner will be six, the loser will be seven. Seattle, you know, and the loser now of Sunday night's game, it's not that, you know, the chances don't take a hit because they do. But they, you know, 9, 7 and 1, even if you lose the tiebreaker to the team that beat you on Sunday night, still has a decent chance of capturing that seven seed. The issue is, can you win two of your final three if you lose to the Giants to get to 9-7-1?

Can you beat the 49ers? I don't think so. So then you'd have to beat the Browns and the Cowboys at home to get to 9-7-1 if you lose to the Giants. In the Giants case, if they lose to Washington, they have Minnesota and Indy and the Eagles. And the Eagles Giants game and the Cowboys Redskins game at the end of the year, you know, we don't know if those games are going to mean anything to Dallas or Philly yet. We won't know until really next week when Dallas and Philadelphia play. So anyway, a good result for Washington.

All right, should we talk and preview and predict the game Sunday night? You ready to do that? Yeah, I feel like we've just been doing that. Not really. We haven't talked specifically about the giant Washington. No, I mean, just, no, I'm just saying because we just did this game. Yes, that's right.

It's very strange to play a team back to back. It is, but only Washington's playing the team back to back. The Giants are not. What's Washington? Washington's like a four and a half point favorite right now. Four and a half point favorite, correct. All right, let's get to it right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment where we're going to preview the biggest game Washington's had in December

in a long, long time is brought to you by Window Nation. doing the impossible right now. They are giving you zero percent interest for five full years on new windows and you are going to pay half price on those windows because you get too free with every two you buy. If your windows are 10 years of age or older, if they're drafty, if they're cracked, if they're hard to open or lock when you close them, you need new windows, call them at 86690 Nation or go to windownation.com. Mention my name and they will give you a free estimate so there's nothing to risk. I promise you, this is the company you want to work with. They make their windows here locally. They're terrific with the customer. The product quality is super high. They've

got a 96% retention rate. They've got a 96% success rate on their installs. Go towindonation.com, use my name, 86690 Nation, pay zero interest for five years, and get two free windows with every two you buy. No. limit. Before we get to previewing the game, I do want to ask you what you think the most important game

you ever played in was. Like the biggest feel, the biggest game, highest stakes game you played in. I think it's Dallas in 05. When we had that run of,

we played Dallas or New York, we played Philly to end that season. Was it Dallas or New York? And both of those games felt huge. They were both home games. But to get into the playoffs that year, both of those games felt massive. The stadium was electric. The crowd was electric. We were playing great ball. Those were big games. I know the playoff games were big games too, but almost after we made that run in 05, it felt like the playoffs games were not, the pressure wasn't the same as it was in the run to it. Now, maybe it is Seattle in the playoffs. And if I had been around longer in the league, if it wasn't my second

year, that game probably would have felt bigger. Which Seattle playoff game? In 05? The first, the 05 Seattle playoff game. Yeah, yeah. So the game that you referenced, I've talked about a couple of times over the last few days, I think in terms of regular season crowds, that game against the Cowboys in 2005, when you guys were a 7 and 16, they were an 8 and 5 team. This is Joe Gibbs. This is Bill Parcells. Washington's making a run. You guys have won two in a row to get back into the playoff race. The earlier game was the Monday Night Miracle in week two. And I think of all of the days that I've been in that state, stadium, and I think I've been at pretty much every big game, going back to that season in 2005, even the 99 season, the end of the 2012 season, the game against the Cowboys. But I think that crowd was the most raucous and the closest thing to RFK. It wasn't RFK.

But I remember being there, you know, and saying, this feels like the old days. And you guys blew them out. and you probably had the game of your career. You had three touchdown catches in the game. Yeah. You know, six catches, 71 yards, three touchdowns in a 35 to 7 route. And then the next week felt super big as well. Like you mentioned, it was Christmas Eve.

It was the Giants. The Giants were not, they were 10 and 4. You guys were 8 and 6. You needed to win out to make the postseason as a wildcard. team. And in that game, Cooley, Mark Brunel got hurt and Patrick Ramsey came into the game and played pretty well. And you guys won that game 35 to 20. You had a good game in that game too. You caught a touchdown in that game as well. That was on Christmas Eve and that was a big game. That felt really big. But I think like it was big, but the week before against the Cowboys, in part because

it was the Cowboys really felt big. No doubt. And they were good. They were good that year, too. Yeah. We barely beat them the, what was it, the second we get the season on the Santana Moss play? The two Santana Moss plays, yeah. Yeah, and they were a good team. And we waxed them. That was a fun game. Yeah, that would. Yeah, those two games, those two games, I think were the two big games. Do you know what the largest FedEx field crowd ever?

was. I looked this up the other day because... $4,000? No, it was... Hold on for one second. Let me just get the number up again. At the end of the 2007 season, the year that Sean passed away, when you guys made the four-game run at the end of the season with Todd Collins, the game against the Cowboys to clinch a playoff spot when they had nothing to play for, by the way. That's the largest FedEx field NFL crowd. The largest crowd ever was for Virginia Tech USC in the season opener in 2004. And people who were at that game say that's the loudest the stadium's ever been.

But 90,910 for that game at the end of that year, you guys clubbed the Cowboys. But they weren't playing. I mean, I don't even think Tony Romo played. Or if he did, he didn't play much. You guys won the game, went to the playoffs and played Seattle the following week in a while. card game and lost. But that's the largest crowd ever. Yeah, I think Romo got hurt in that game. Didn't Brad Johnson come play? Brad Johnson did play. You're right. That's who the backup was for Dallas. It's exactly who it was.

You said you got hurt? No, I think Tony Romo got hurt in the first half of that game. Oh, I think they just benched him because they didn't want to be hurt. Or they did bench him? Yeah, because they had the number one seed that year locked up. It was the next week that they lost to the Giants at home. when Romo threw an interception at the end of the game into the end zone and choked away the game for the Cowboys. And then you guys remember the next week at Seattle, you took the lead in the fourth quarter and had a chance to win that game. I know with Todd Collins.

Yeah, with Todd Collins, and then there were two pick sixes in the fourth quarter and the game ended up getting out of hand. So you think it's that Dallas game. What about the 2012 season-ending game again? against the Cowboys. That game felt huge. That was a hard one from, I mean, that's selfishly, it's hard for me to say that was the biggest kid because I know wasn't playing.

Right. I remember the playoff, the lead up to that Seattle playoff game, though. That last Seattle game at home felt massive. The playoff. I thought we were really, I thought we had a chance. Yeah, the playoff game. I thought that team had a chance with Robert. I really did.

I did too. I did too. And you were at 14-0-0 in that game. You didn't play in that game, did you? Well, very little. Yeah. Yeah, I play very little. I played in that game.

Yeah, and then that was it. All right. Washington beats the Giants if. You go first. I'll go, you know, I'll follow, and we'll go one at a time. You go first. So this is amazing. Because I'm thinking back to this last game

as I was thinking about this one. And then I'm thinking back to Washington season. And the last game, I kept mentioning to you, I thought they should have went more tempo. And it's crazy. I just looked at this stat up. And I think this is how Washington wins. Washington runs like 80 plays. You have 80 offensive plays.

You know, or you have 30 more plays than the Giants or 20 more plays than the Giants. But you say that Washington right now is fourth in the NFL and total plays run on offense. I know. Fourth. Yeah. They, that's unbelievable. They're 21st in yards per game. How are you fourth in plays run?

21st in yards per game. And it's not like their third down conversion is like 23rd or 24th and third down conversion. Coley, they're number one in the league in time of possession. Number one in the league. And I told you in the last game, they had an eight-minute drive and never crossed half field across midfield. they had an eight-minute, 38-yard drive. That's impossible to do.

And so... It's unbelievable. And it's not like... Normally they're playing fairly quickly. They got to wear New York down. And that's how Washington's going to win a lot of these games. And tempo's a great way to do that. if you can continue to get these three, two, three, four-yard runs on a consistent basis,

which they've been able to do. It's either Gibson or Robinson, but both of those backs have done a great job of finding positive yardage and getting a yard or two yards after contact and breaking a tackle. And Robinson, like I don't think he's a home run hit guy. I'm not going to say here and say, I think Washington's got to have six big plays because I don't think it's realistic that they're going to get a bunch of big plays down the field. But I think they have to have 20 plays more than the Giants, and in doing so, they have to find a way to wear that defense down.

They have to keep New York's defense on the field, the town of the position, but they've got to wear them down. And so the one thing that is sort of tough when you feel, like I think back to playing when you're running a lot of plays, but you're getting two and three and four yards of play, it doesn't really wear anybody down that much. they're quick plays. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. So if you're not going quick, those three-second inside that give plays, like that's not wearing their secondary down. Right. That's not making them rally and chase the ball. It's,

the point of contact's got a tackle, and you got a couple guys at the ball, but that doesn't wear anyone down unless you run, unless you have a 9, 10, 11, 12 play drive with tempo. So again, I think they have to, go fast offensively, and I think they have to have a large number of plays. And I also believe Washington is the better team.

And we've talked about this a ton of my philosophy on winning football games is if you think you're a better team, go faster, run more plays. So to me, that's the number one biggest key. How it plays out will also be an impact, but I think they're capable of first and ten, second and seven, third and three, first down. First, second and seven, third and two, first down. To me, that's a very capable team, and they're able to do that. If you don't wear New York's defense down, because I don't see him blowing them out,

then it's harder to score in the fourth quarter when you're going to need it. This is what Taylor Heineke said, because he was asked about playing more up-tempo and the benefit of that and, you know, essentially would he prefer that? And here's his quote the other day, quote, there are certain things that we see on film that we think we can get to that hurry up two minute, it doesn't work all the time. Two minute drill, they're more soft. They're trying to not let up a touchdown and maybe let up a field goal.

Now, let me just add, he's specifically talking about, you know, end of half. You can move the ball a little bit easier, meaning the end of half. If you're trying to do it in the middle of the first quarter, the middle of the third quarter, they might throw an exotic blitz at you and you get sacked, and the next thing you know, it's second and 18, and that's not how our offense rolls. So there's definitely a fine line there, and we're trying to be smart about it, closed quote. Well, he's 100% right.

You can definitely stop a drive with a sack. You can definitely stop a drive with the exotic split. But there's also that you're not in two minutes. I'm not saying it's got to be like green light, Chip Kelly offense, or whatever. But you're snapping the ball with 15 seconds left on the play clock or 20 seconds left on the play clock. You're getting to the ball quickly. You're making them show their defense, and you're making it harder for them to substitute. And they're scripted out.

It's not, you're not just going to the ball and going, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Okay, over here. Now let's go hammer on this side, hammer on this side. 60 protection, 60, go, go, go, go, go, go. It's not bad. But you can get plays called in. And you can half funnel or you can call some of the stuff at the line of scrimmage, but it's just a quicker tempo.

Right. And that's what I think they need to have. Yeah, like what you're talking about doesn't limit the playbook. Yes. We're trying to not limit the playbook. We're just going fast. Right. And that puts a lot of pressure on Scott Turner,

and it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the offense. It does not put a lot of pressure on there. There's a lot of ways to communicate that. If people are wondering, because I know I've talked about it a couple times, but I didn't go, I didn't talk about it in specifics, how you have an eight-minute drive without crossing midfield. I don't know that it happens. It's very rare. In that game, that was the kickoff that Gibson let hit as if he thought it might go out of bounds and then he fielded it. So they started at their own five-yard line. Robinson for five yards, Robinson for 12 yards, which was the run of the game for him. Then Robinson for five yards. Then Gibson for three yards, which set up third and two.

And then Robinson just barely got the first down two yards. So they've run, at that point, they've run five plays and the balls at the 32-yard line. Robinson for two yards, false start Logan Thomas. Now it's second down in 13. Heineke, passed to McCorm. Clorne. That was the pass that you loved, I think, the comeback, the hitch at 15 yards. First down at the 44-yard line. Gibson for four gets it to the 48-yard line, and then you had that illegal block penalty on Logan Thomas, which was a terrible call, that moved the ball back to the 38.

Then Heineke got sacked and fumbled. That was the fumble that Vilma thought was an incomplete pass, and then they had third and 21, and they threw a bubble to Samuel for 10 yards, and it was fourth and 11. So it was 11 plays eight minutes because the clock didn't stop once on any of the runs, obviously. There wasn't an incomplete pass. And these were penalties in which they ran the clock because the clock was already running. That's how you get an eight-minute drive that travels 38 yards and never crosses midfield. And you end up with a time, you end up with this, like coolly mentioned, a significant play difference, 17 plays, 82 to 65, and a 41 minute 11 second to 28 minute, 49 second. You had overtime in that game.

You had 10 minutes of overtime. Time of possession advantage. Washington right now, in average time of possession, is leading the league averaging 33 minutes and three seconds, nearly a minute more than Baltimore, which is pretty damn. impressive. And over their last three games, they're averaging almost 35 minutes time of possession. San Francisco actually leads the league over the last three games. So anyway, my first... It's unbelievable. Sorry, it's unbelievable that their third down conversion rate can be 35%. I know. And then they can leave the league like that time. You think they're converting on everything. Exactly. They were three for 14 on third down.

And yet ran 82 place. It just doesn't add up. All right. For me, for me, for me, I will start with that because even though this was my number two, I'll start with the third down conversions have to be better. I mean, I know they were three for 14. I know they ended up with a huge time of possession advantage like we just discussed. But if you think you can be that inept on third down and end up with a 17 play advantage

week in and week out. No, it's not going to happen. That was an aberration. That was not the norm. And in the last game, they averaged third and eight point seven yards. And that's too long. Third and nearly nine is too long for them. They had a third and 21, three third and thirteens, four third and tens and a third and eight. Like Cooley said, like we've talked about for weeks now, this is a small margin for error. They've got to hit single. and have third makeables, it's too much for them to overcome. They've got to be productive on first and second down and have the third makeables, like they did against the Eagles.

That was the best example. I mean, they averaged third and two in that game, and they were 12 of 21 on third down. So how do you do that? For them, it's just eliminating the negative plays. You know, you can't have penalties. You can't have a sack. You can't have a minus three yards. run where Logan Thomas blows a block.

You know, for me, too, I want them to stick with the run, but I like some of the stuff they did against Indy early in that game where they didn't score a lot of points, I understand. And they did some of it against Minnesota, where they ran some of the run extension throws to Gibson. They got them out in space a little bit more. And Robinson on some of those pitches going outside. You've got to get more productive first and second down plays. And then really coolly, third down, you don't have to be 50% or better.

That would be a game-changing number. But if you're 6 of 14 rather than 3 of 14, if you're 5 of 11, if you're in that 40 to 45% range, that's going to keep you on the field. It's going to put you in more scoring position opportunities unless you have terrible starting field position, and you're going to have a much better chance to win the game. So third down conversions on offense, I think, is a major key to the game. And the only way you get that is to get better first and second down production. What do you got next?

Okay. I have two things for the defense. One, he's covered Darius. And he's not one of the elite receivers in the NFL, but when they don't have Kenny Gulladay playing, is Gulladay going to play this week? No. No, I mean, they basically haven't used them. I had somebody on from New York today, and I said, this guy, Richie James might be out.

Like, who's going to play receiver for you? Is Goladay? And he said, it's not even that he's in the doghouse. It's just that he stinks. They just don't think he's any good. And so... How do they not think he's any good? He was a top 10 receiver in Detroit three years ago.

I don't understand. The top 20. But Brian Dable got rid of Cadarius, Tony. He got rid of Cadarius Tony. He got rid of Cadarius Tony. He's not playing Goladay. and that number 18, if Richie James, number 80 doesn't go because he mispractice Wednesday and Thursday,

it's going to be Slateon and number 18. I don't know. They have that guy Johnson who played a little bit. I think they... They've got to cover Slayton, and then also try to cover number eight. Just look out for number 18. He's out there too.

He's out there too. I mean, it should be easy. No, I mean, it's insane. It's like, here, take one Barclay is not... If Sequin Barclay has 230 yards and beats them, my God. I mean, that's just not what I see happening for the Washington defense. But cover Darius Layton and don't let Daniel Jones rush for 70 yards like he did in the last game.

He kept enough alive in that game with his legs to get him to 20 points. I mean, Barclay's going to have 100-yard rushing or the 80-yard rushing. They're going to give him the ball. He's going to get touches out of the back, though, as a receiver. but they don't have anything else. If Daniel Jones is not capable of running, if you keep him in the pocket, he will turn the ball over,

you will put pressure on him, it will be a massive problem. Keep them in the pocket, cover Slateman. How are they scoring? I don't know. Isaiah Hodgins is number 18, by the way. He's not going to be the guy. He might catch one for eight and break a tackle

and get an 11-yard game here or there once or two. twice in this game coming up, but he is not going to change the game against you. None of their weapons change the game. They have Daniel Jones and Slayton. You know what you're getting in Barclay. Okay, let's just make sure Barclay doesn't get 200-yard dressing. The rest of it, could we limit their offense to, I don't know, you know,

maximum between Slayton and Jones, collectively, Slatton's receiving Jones rushing, could we limit that to under 100 yards? I've got to think that's feasible. You said Barclay's going to get, you know, a lot of touches. Barkley had a 21-yard draw at the end of the first half versus, I don't know, six D-Bs in the game. You take that run out of there. He was less than three yards per carry against Washington.

And he's been... You're right. He had 18 for 63. Yeah. And then that was with the 20-yard draw. Right. So 17 for 42 is less than three yards per carry. So it's, I mean, I don't see how the Giants can score if, and that leads me to my number two.

I know this is a total cliche key to a game in a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday discussion of the NFL. But the turnover margin on Sunday is critical. Washington's lost the turnover battle five times this year. They're one and four in those games. They've won the turnover battle in four games this year. They're four and oh. They've been even in the turnover battle, including against the Giants. They are two one and one in those games.

Look, I had London Fletcher on the show the other day. And London, I said, what's the number one reason for the turnaround? And he said, takeaways. And they've had one takeaway, one in the first five weeks of the season. They have had 14 cents. They were minus six the first five weeks of the season. They are now plus six. It's not like it's an overwhelming turnover margin or an overwhelming number of takeaways.

But against the Giants in a game that we just saw was 20 to 20, the team that has plus one or better is going to win the game. I mean, I would be shocked if the team that lost the turnover battle Sunday won the game. I would put the chance of that happening at like one out of ten. You cannot against that team, which we just described as a team that's going to really find it hard to score, especially if they're without, you know, James, etc. And they don't have anybody to throw the football to. And then you're going to ask Daniel Jones to do everything.

The only way that you lose this game is if you lose the game, this will be a game that. that, you know, many NFL games are. It's like the teams, it's not going to be about winning the game. It's about not losing the game. Don't turn the ball over. Don't beat yourself. And you should win this game, I think.

I'm totally with you. The funny thing about the turnover ratio is, some of these games that they're plus six over the last, whatever, they could have been plus zero. Hineke had two balls that could have been easily picked in the game. They've had weird little things come up where they've gotten fortunate turnovers. Right. What was it, the Eagles game where it's the fumble on the running back?

That's clearly a personal foul. It's clear to find a face mask. The face mask on Goddard was a fumble. And then, you know, and then, you know, Hineke bated Brandingram. But no, the most, the ball that, the ball that, he threw for the fair catch for the Minnesota defensive back before he got tackled by the referee? I mean, that's an interception. I mean, no, they've had a ton of, they've had a ton of good fortune. Yes, they want to throw that

into keys to the game? Is some good fortune here? Well, because they've had a lot, this turnover ratio could be much worse than it is over the last six games. He leads the league in turnover worthy plays and it's not even close. Okay, and I know that really makes some people super upset. But the bottom line is he misses easy stuff, and he puts balls up for grabs two to three times a game. And if the John – And he fumbles. And so if they don't get lucky Sunday, as they've been very fortunate, that's the way they lose the game.

So, yes. Getting lucky again. The way they lose the game is they go out and they lose the game. They should win this game. to me they're a better football team. I hate saying with that team that they should win it, but they absolutely are the better team. They have better talent,

and they've got better players on the field Sunday night than the Giants do. They do. And Adory Jackson's not going to be back, so that means Fabian Moro is their best corner. Now, I like, you know, apparently Leonard Williams will be back, and I think Williams and Lawrence are really good. And O'Gillari was outstanding in the last game, and Tibado was great.

And so they are capable defensively of causing some issues. You know, that's why I think... They're really good. They're good up front. Yeah. But they're not good in the back end. Fabian Moro is their best corner. Jackson's not playing.

Play with Temple and make them get on the ball and get their hand down and get going. I also think it's going to be big... I can't just get to things. I also think it's going to be big that St. Juice more likely than not will be back. And they, you know, there were a couple of explosive, there was one explosive play, and there should have been two to Slayton. And I think St. Juice out there with Fuller, I think, you know, it's going to be really hard for Daniel Jones to find anybody open. It's like if Barclay can't run on them and nobody runs on this team, unless the quarterback's really

involved in the run game like Mariotta was and like Jones was, I mean, that's the way the Giants you know, move the ball. It's got to be with total, Barclay, and Jones. And Jones making lots of plays. He's capable of it. Keep him in the pocket. Keep him in the pocket. Because they know they can't protect.

You know that they're going to continue to try to move them outside of the pocket. And they do it every week. And they're creative with it, and they do a good job with it. But keep them outside of the pocket. or sorry, keep him from getting outside of the pocket. And that's where he ends up taking off. And he is athletic. He's a very good running quarterback.

I agree. I agree. You know, I had a guy on from New York on the radio show this week. No, on the podcast, Dan Duggan from the Athletic. And he said this is Daniel Jones' biggest game of his career. Because they're still not settled on whether or not he's going to be the guy in New York. personally, I mean, the quarterbacking in the league has gone down this year significantly. And, you know, there are some guys that, you know, Brady is in the twilight here.

And who knows what Rogers is? I think Rogers still has it. Russell Wilson, obviously. I just, if I were the Giants, I would keep Daniel Jones and I would focus on giving him some receivers. He's had nothing around him, ever. No, it's like the Packers around him. right now. What did you say?

It's like it's the Packers around him. Right. Aaron Rogers has nobody. Like what if he had Washington? They tried to give him Kenny Gawaday. What if he had Washington's group? I mean... Washington is, honestly, this is crazy.

Washington might be a legit Super Bowl contender if they swap quarterbacks with New York. I don't think Daniel Jones is the best quarterback in the league by any means. I don't think he's in the top five. But if he swapped quarterbacks, they might be a Super Bowl team this year. You said top five. Obviously, he's not in the top five. What do you think he is in the top?

Do you think he's in the top half of the league? I think with playmakers, we might view him that way because he's such a dual-threat guy. He's six foot five. He's an athlete. I mean, it's hard to say that right now he's not in the top ten. No. Because you can't, like, okay, here's a great example. swap him with Tua and give him

Tariq Hill and Waddle and Gaseki. And an offense is a better offense. Yeah. You know, who is he then? Like, he's not, he's not Mahomes by any means. And he's not Josh Allen at this point.

It's like he's JV. Josh Allen almost the way he moves. I think Kurt's better. Yeah. I think that's a great, I think it's debatable sometimes with Dak. I take Herbert over him. Obviously, you take Rogers over him. But the rest of the way, like, is he better than Carr, probably?

Is he better than, like, I take him over the, Kyler Murray, who just got hurt. I take him over most quarterbacks here. I think I'm just trying to put a list together in my mind right now. I mean, let's just focus on the NFC. The NFC, for starters, because it's... Where is he in QBR this year? Right now, hurts, cousins.

I mean, Gino Smith has played well this year. He really has. I mean, I've been impressed with Smith. They just aren't very good on business. defense. Harts, Cousins, I still would take Rogers, okay? I don't care. Rogers would still be at the top of the list here.

Man, I don't know if I believe in Dak Prescott completely. I'm not a big believer in Dak Prescott either. Daniel Jones is 14th in total QBR. Jacobi Brissette is over him. I take him over Brissette. Gino Smith is His fifth, amazingly. I think I'd take him over Gino Smith.

Justin Fields, Derek Carr, Trevor Lawrence would be three that are... He's probably right around 10, Kev. I'm trying to throw a list together real quickly here, because I want to... Rogers is 26th in October QBI, though. Okay, so... Here, let's make it really simple. He is no worse than 15. Okay, let's do this.

Okay, Mahomes, okay? Burrow, Allen, Hertz, okay, right now. I just gave you four. Herbert, five. This is weird. Well, I'm going to give you Aaron Rogers, six for sure, because I don't care about performance or numbers this year. Cousins.

Six, Rogers for sure. Cousins for sure at seven. Seven. Would you still take Brady right now? Yes. Eight. Eight. Stafford's not been good this year, but you'd probably take Stafford 9.

I think the issue starts to come in. Now you're talking about guys like the Goths, the Lawrence's, the Gino Smiths and the years they're having, what you think of Justin Fields and his future, Prescott, Tua. I mean, Prescott and Tua with the way they played. I mean, I don't know, Prescott worries me, man. If I'm a Dallas fan, I'm worried, and I'm worried about Tua, too. but they're better than a lot of the guys that we would mention down, you know, further down the, you know, like you're going to take, what about Derek Carr? But there are just some guys right now, like Mike White, who are starting, you know, we don't know anything about Watson.

Mack Jones, I mean, Pickett, Ryan's had a terrible year. You know, Wilson's been horrible. Oh, we forgot Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson's obviously. I mean, I said Lamar, but. Okay. I think there's a weird window of. guys between about 13 and 20 that you could put anywhere. Yeah. And it's not fair to Daniel Jones in some ways to give him a group of weapons that some of these other guys have.

Like, you could put him in Miami. I'd love to see what would happen. It's actually right. Better than people think he is, is all I'm saying. I agree with you. It's actually a discussion that starts at like 10. Like after 10, it's like you can mix, you can mix 10 guys up and put them in any order you want. I mean, because really the nine or 10 that right now, you know, it's Mahomes, it's Hertz, it's Burrow, it's Allen, it's Herbert.

It's Rogers, definitely. For me, it is anyway. I'd still put Brady into that conversation. What did I just give you? I just gave you eight, right? Did I give you eight? Mm-hmm. And then cousins.

Sorry people, but Kirkie. right now this year with the way some of the other quarterbacks have played, top 10 quarterback in the league in terms of what you would want right now. Then you get into this, you know, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, Justin Fields, how you feel about him, Derek Carr. You know, maybe Carr is, this year, like I've never had Carr super high, but this year I'd probably have them budding up against the top 10. You know, how you feel about Tua, how you feel about DAC. It's like, you're right. It's like 10, it's like 12 guys.

And then you can mix up the Daniel Joneses and the Gino Smiths and, you know. And the Ryan Tanna Hills. Well, yeah, the Justin Fields, how you feel about him, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Gough. Yeah. You know. I mean, Jared Goss actually had a really good year this year. It's going to be interesting to see what Deshawn Watson does in his first home game tomorrow, Saturday against the games. Yeah, but I just expect so very little from Deshaun Watson this year.

I agree. I agree. You know their favor? I'm not saying anything negative about him. I'm just saying it's not easy to just pop in at week 12. Do you know their favorite? After not playing for a year and a half, yeah, I did see their favor. Yeah, Tyler Huntley's starting.

I mean, no Lamar back. All right. Any other keys? I have one more that I threw out before the last game. game that I'm going to throw out again before this game, but do you have any more? Well, I think a big problem in the last game was, like, dumb penalties and four special teams play. That's where they beat themselves, in my opinion, with some dumb penalties, and one or two of them I didn't think should have been called, and one or two of them I thought should

have been called on the other side. Like, when Fabian Moreau, I thought it was a clear pass interference on Terry McLaurin, and Terry did nothing to define, hey, look, interference. I think the penalties could not really have meant much worse for Washington. Right. And then the special teams mistakes can't happen. And a couple of those are penalties. So that would be, again, kind of my last thing is like in terms of you're not beating yourself. Yeah, the Butler penalty on that end of regulation opportunity was the difference between the 36-yard line and the 12-yard line where they started, you know, field position was horrible for them in the second half.

that's a really good point about, you know, Gibson can't make that kind of mistake. You can't have Butler, you know, making that mistake on special teams coverage, which costs them 24 yards of field position. They could have won the game at the end of regulation. There's one thing that you're just reminding me of. You haven't mentioned anything about pass protection. That was such an issue in your film breakdown of them going, you know, max protect as much as they did, and it still didn't work out very well.

So they have to protect because they're going to have to throw the ball on third. Even if they're ahead of the chains, third and four, third and three, they're still going to probably have to throw the ball. Yeah, and maybe Heineke's got to scramble a little bit. I'm glad you mentioned that because I did omit completely the protection, which was to me the biggest problem with their offense, and it was that they didn't have what I thought was a great plan to protect against New York. like keeping seven in a lot of the time

I don't I mean I guess they were looking at it and saying look our three guys like Terry and Curtis Samuel and Dotson are should be good enough to win down the field is that what they believed like our three guys are going to win

they didn't so there's got to be a better plan for that and Hineke's got to be able to be decisive they're not going to switch and change protections of the line scrimmage which, by the way, is also why you could go tempo since you're not making checks at the line. But that protection would be huge for them.

Two-s-sack fumble's going to hurt you. Yeah. Scott Turner yesterday and the day of coordinators was asked about Heineke not running as much this year as he did last year. I mean, Heinekees only got 67 yards rushing in seven starts. There were, so the Turner answers, I'm just going to read him. I think he did a lot of that obviously last year. So I think there's been some opportunities to scramble that he had there where he could,

and we encourage him to do that. I don't want him to take a bunch of unnecessary hits. But people have kind of identified that with him too, where he's getting a little bit of extra attention. We've seen a lot of zone coverage where there's a lot of eyes on the quarterback. But there have been some opportunities, and I think he can get out and scramble and maybe just steal a first down a game because that helps. it helps a lot.

And he said, you want to make it through the season health-wise. And he talked about the Tampa playoff game when he was playing for his football life. But he said he knows how important he is to us and our team. He's got to be able to take those opportunities when they're there. But also he's got to protect himself. And I think he's been a little cautious as far as that goes. He's not wanting to take those big hits. Here's what I would say to that.

I do think I've seen more spying on Heineke. but I think we've already pointed out a few times when you've done film. He's had opportunities to be decisive and go, you know, and make plays with his legs. That's his greatest strength. It's his legs. It's his vision as a runner. It's his feel in the pocket. You got four games here.

You got a chance to be a playoff team and actually have a chance maybe to win a playoff game. I want to see him not hesitate scrambling-wise. I don't want to see him take a big hit. I don't want to see him lower his shoulder. Go ahead and go into a slide, run out of bounds. But get out of the pocket and don't take sacks where you're potentially fumbling or you're potentially putting a ball up for grabs. I want to see him be more aggressive as a runner, as a scrambler.

I don't care about, I mean, I prefer more reed option in the offense when you can have it. I prefer more boot and quarterback keeps when you have it. By the way, I don't think we've seen a quarterback draw, and maybe that's because it's zone coverage and there's a spy on him. I don't know. But I want to see him as a scrambler do what he did last year at times. I think it's part of what will make them a better offense. And I don't know if he's trying to protect himself.

Look, if he gets injured at this point, let me assure everybody out there. They know this already because I think Carson Wentz would be starting if Heineke hadn't completed that fourth and four. Wentz is back. It's not like there's going to be a massive drop off if he gets hurt. I don't want him to get hurt. I think he's as good an option as any, and I would not move away from him. But I don't need him to protect himself other than normally in the open field get down. But I want to see him scramble.

Don't you? Well, yeah, I do. But you're just making a clear and obvious point. he wants to protect himself because it's not Josh Johnson backing him up. It's Carson Wentz and one injury or one wrong turn, and you said it perfectly. It's not like there's that big of a drop off. They'll just go to Wentz. Maybe he is really trying to protect himself in that way knowing, look, if I get banged up a little bit and I'm out, I'll lose the job.

Yeah, but he's not done anything to win the job other than the results on the scoreboard, which I know are important. I get done with you. So the results on the scoreboard, the fact that he's still in there is why he doesn't want to do anything to lose. Yeah, but Cooley, he's an unrestricted free agent. There's a big opportunity for him. Now, I would not recommend going beyond what you have, which you're capable of. I think the formula and the offensive game plan is perfect for him. And when they're ahead of the sticks, and even sometimes when they're not.

See, I talked about this this morning. Here's why evaluating him is so hard. Because we say that you've got to stay ahead of the sticks. You can't get behind. And yet, there are two games this year when they were behind in the fourth quarter. They were down two scores at Indy. And they had to throw the football. and they threw the football and they completed two fourth down throws and they kicked a field goal and they won a game on a 50-50 throw to McLaren and he brought him back.

And then against the Giants, they're down seven with three and change left. And he makes some really good throws and he makes a fourth and four magical play. We've seen that now five times during the last two years, fourth down plays that have been, you know, magical plays. And then he throws a dime to Curtis Samuel. He gets away with one on that drive. That number 44 had it all size. up when he threw to, you know, Dotson or whatever it was deep, and he shouldn't have made that throw. But, like, what makes it so hard is that with the game on the line several times,

he's delivered with his best football. I don't. And yet, maybe if he were better for the first three and a half quarters, they wouldn't have needed it. You're asking him to play with the game on the line, the entire game, which is fair. It is hard to evaluate him in some ways. Just because, going back to the golf reference, like, he can shoot in 87. But he's still going to part 17 and 18 to find a way to win. To find a way to win big money. I know. It's true.

Yeah, he's not going to play the best round, but he's going to win the Skins game. Yeah, I mean, he's going to need to make parnett Bertie because he's getting strokes. There's no doubt that Heineke's getting strokes as a quarterback, maybe not as a And he's just got to make parnett Bertie on 18 to win the match. And, you know, he hits it 240. And then the next shot comes up, you know, 20 yards short of the green. But he chips it up there. And he drains an 18 footer for Parnett Bertie winner.

I know. I know. It's like he does make plays when it matters. All right. Here's my other thing. I think the difference is put Taylor Heineke in Miami with that group, and I don't think you're going to see so much difference. Put Daniel Jones there and like Daniel Jones going to be a better player.

The Heineke is pretty consistent in who he is, in my opinion. Here's my last key. I mentioned this before the last giant game. I think both of these teams end up kicking a lot of long. field goals because they're not finishers and, you know, they can get a few first downs and they can get to the other teams 35, but they don't get much further a lot of the time. And Ganoe and Joey Sly both have big legs. Well, in the last game, Joey Sly missed a 52-yarder. The sack knocked them back. And Ganoe missed a 58-yarder at the end of the game. I think we're going to see a game Sunday night

cold weather where there's going to be a couple of those 50-plus-yard field goal attempts. And the guy that makes the kick versus the guy that does, and it may be the difference in the game. It might be, yeah. And it would have been in the last game. If either one of them made a kick, it would have been the difference in the game, and they both missed them.

All right, you got anything else before I ask you for your prediction on the game? I got nothing for you. All right, what do you think? What do you think happens? 24-10, Washington. Oh, my God. You know what my prediction is? Because I've already given it on radio.

23 to 10, Washington. I know that everything says this should be a field goal game. Daniel Jones and his four starts against Rivera's teams. A three-point win, a one-point win, a one-point loss, and a tie. Everything says that these teams are pretty dead even, but I think Washington's just got better players. And as long as they don't shit themselves Sunday night, which, by the way, could happen.

I don't think the Giants are going to score against this Washington defense without, look, they only had 13 points without the turnover at the beginning of the third quarter. They would have, you know, they would have landed on 13. I got 23 to 10 Washington. And by the way, I'm going to get to my smell test pick, but picks in the next segment. But with Cooley here, I'll just give one out early. I like Washington laying the four and a half. Everybody thinks this is going to be a field goal game, so the action and the money is on New York plus the four and a half.

So I'm going to lay the four and a half and take Washington. And then, you know, at that point, if they can get through Sunday night, it's one more win. And they're in the playoffs, which really would be, you know, and they're playing well. And in some ways, certainly on defense. All right, we almost had the identical score. Let's see what happens. I'll talk to you. You want to do Monday and review the game with me?

Can't do Monday. I'm flying to Florida. I'll see my in-laws for Christmas. Oh, that's right. But I will be able to do Wednesday with you. All right, perfect. I'll talk to you Wednesday, but I'll talk to you before that, of course. All right, buddy. Thanks. All right, have a good trip. I'll talk to you this weekend. The smell test is brought to you by my good friends at MyBooky. Go to mybooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. They'll double your first deposit all the way up to a thousand bucks.

Free money, guys, take it. When you join and you sign up, you have to use my promo code, Kevin D.C. To get that bonus, to get that doubling of your first deposit. If something's already written in the promo code section, erase it and write Kevin D.C. I'm looking at my bookie right now. World Cup final odds Sunday morning, 9 a.m. Eastern. It looks like Argentina is just a slight, slight favorite. it's plus 177 for Argentina, plus 179 for France, plus 202 on a draw.

Okay, that is a draw through overtime before penalty kicks. By the way, the over-under for the game, two and a half goals. Seems like a high over under. Croatia is a pretty solid favorite over Morocco in the runner-up, in the third place game. I don't know when that game is. Maybe that game's tomorrow. think that game's tomorrow and then the final is on Sunday. After the 49ers one, by the way, I was wondering if the look-ahead line, which you can actually wager on at My Bookie, would be any

different. It's not. San Francisco still is just a six and a half point favorite over Washington on Christmas Eve. Meantime, Washington, a four and a half point favorite over the giant Sunday night. The total is 40 and a half. MyBooky.ag use my promo code, Kevin D.C. A bowl season gets underway today. There are actually two bowl games today, one that's about to start. Then you have lots of bowl games tomorrow. I think it's really hard the bowls because of the opt-outs because of the coaching changes, but there is one game, and I'll start with this in the smell test,

which is off to an 0-and-one start after I had Seattle last night. And I know that I got a little overconfident, a little chesty on the show yesterday. Some of you suggested that I should have stuck with my analysis of the game rather than my smell test theory. No, I'll never do that. It was a good system play. It didn't win. But I have won 10 of the last 12 weeks, including last week at 3 and 2. The first bowl game of the weekend is the Fenway Bowl.

This is the bowl at Fenway Park in Boston tomorrow. Cincinnati's playing Louisville. Cincinnati's coach, Luke Fickle, is headed to Wisconsin. Scott Satterfield, the Louisville coach, is headed to Cincinnati. This is a game that includes a big-time opt-out for Louisville, all right, because quarterback Malik Cunningham is opting out. But his backup, Brock Doman has played. He's got some time to prepare here for the game.

The public loves Cincinnati. I thought Louisville played well at the end of the year, including the game with Doman. I'll take Louisville and lay the point in a half. I feel like the wrong team's favored, and they're begging you to bet Cincinnati. Let's go to the NFL, and we'll start tomorrow with the Indianapolis Colts plus four

in the first game of the day against Minnesota. You know, I gave out the Patriots on Thanksgiving night. That lost against Minnesota. I gave out the Jets the following week against Minnesota. That lost. I liked Detroit last week. It didn't totally fit the smell test. was some late sharp action on Minnesota, and the action was more split than you would have thought,

but I did like Detroit, didn't give them out, I would have won. I'm giving out Indianapolis plus the four at Minnesota tomorrow. The Vikings are really, I think, a fraudulent 10 and three because of that defense. I mean, every quarterback, with the exception of Heineke, has gone for 300 plus against that Minnesota defense, which is right now ranked 32nd in the NFL. They're ranked near the bottom and a lot of key metrics and advance numbers as well. Their past defense in particular is horrific. They're not that much better stopping the run recently. Indy's going to move the ball and score against Minnesota.

I know they're not a very good team, but that line is, you know, four points. I've seen some three and a halves out there. Minnesota is an explosive offensive football team. They can throw the football. Justin Jefferson is special. You know, cousins, forget some of the numbers you've seen. He's been absolutely, you know, spot on good with the game on the line. He's got six comebacks this year in the fourth quarter. He leads the league in that number. And he was sensational last week in the loss to Detroit. He threw for 425 yards and two touchdowns with no bad plays, no pick. in the entire game, no fumbles. I don't know if Minnesota can outscore Indy tomorrow,

but if they do, it's going to be like 31 to 28, 28 to 26, something like that. I'll take Indy plus the four. I like Cleveland a little bit, but the Tyler Huntley situation is still not totally set for Baltimore. So I think that line's going to change a little bit. That game is off the board for me in terms of the smell test. Let's go to Sunday. I gave out Jacksonville.

for three straight weeks, it's now a fourth straight week. I gave them out a few weeks to go against Baltimore. They won outright. I gave them out against Detroit. They got clobbered. I gave them out last week against Tennessee. They won easily. They're getting four.

The public's loaded up on the Cowboys. Jacksonville still in the AFC South race. I'll take Jacksonville for a fourth straight week plus the four. How has Cincinnati won six in a row and been super impressive in doing so and only laying three and a half at Tampa, a team that got destroyed last week by San Francisco, I'll take the Buccaneers plus the three and a half. And then Washington is laying four and a half to the Giants.

This is a game that I think just the betting public feels like it should be a field goal one way or the other. So they're on the Giants. I'll take Washington and lay the four and a half. I've already given you my final score prediction of 2310, so that would be a Washington under game. Louisville minus a point and a half, and then tomorrow also Indy plus four, Sunday Jacksonville plus four, Tampa plus three and a half, and I'll go with Washington minus four and a half.

That is the smell test for the week. I'm going to leave you with this. 40 years ago this weekend, a very famous Washington, New York giant game. It was December 19th, 1982. that was the strike year. Washington was 5-1 headed to an 8-1 record and the number one seed.

They would eventually win the Super Bowl, their first in Super Bowl 17. They had a game in December in the snow at RFK Stadium that is one of those giant Redskine games that was memorable. The Giants were fighting for one of these playoff spots in what was an expanded

playoff format that year in the strike season with only nine regular season games. Washington, with a win would clinch a playoff birth, but there was something more significant in the game. Mark Mosley had a chance to set the NFL mark for consecutive field goals. He had 18 consecutive coming into the game. He had already made two for 20,

and one more would set the NFL mark at 21. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but back then, field goals were more difficult. You didn't have as many indoor stadiums. You didn't have as many big-legged. kickers. You didn't have as many, you know, soccer-style kickers. Mosley was a straight-on kicker, but Mosley had a big leg. And Mosley was on his way to an MVP season. This game was also notable, as Andy Poland pointed out to me via text this morning when I talked about this game on

radio. This was the game where Joe Thaisman had his two front teeth knocked out. And in an interview at the end of the game with Jack Buck and Hank Stram flashed that smile with the missing teeth. But the game was a memorable game. Snow falling, crowd into it, Mosley trots onto the field for a field goal with nine seconds to go with Washington trailing 14 to 12. I will leave you with the play that was called by Jack Buck and Hank Stram that day on the CBS telecast, a kick that not only set an NFL mark but clinched a playoff berth for Washington in one of those memorable Giant Games. I'll be back on Monday to recap Washington, New York, and all of the football over the weekend. Have a great weekend.

Nine seconds left. Mosley takes a deep breath. It will be a 42-yard trial. And they need a good step. I lost it. It's good. And the kick is good. And the Redskins have the lane with four seconds left. And you both just saw 21 in a row.