The Kevin Sheehan Show - Washington Holds On And Moves Up

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

Kevin with his recap of Washington's 19-13 win over the Falcons yesterday to start. Jay Gruden jumped on for a few minutes to talk about the Commanders' third straight win and where they rank right now among the likely NFC playoff teams. Kevin went "Around the NFL" and then brought ESPN's "Stanford Steve" on the show to talk about the college football weekend and project the playoff field. Kevin finished up the show with Maryland's blowout win over Rutgers to finish up a 7-5 regular season.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show is Kevin. Oriota. The pass. It's deflected in the air. It is picked off potentially by Washington.

It is. It's Kendall Fuller. That was the game right there between two very evenly matched teams. It came down to a team making a play and the other team making a mistake. stake. And that deflection by Duran Payne and the interception by Kendall Fuller where he cradled it before the ball hit the ground in the end zone was not only a difference maker in the game, it could have been a difference maker in this season. Washington 19, Atlanta 13, they've won six of their last seven games. They are seven and five. And as of this morning, they are in the postseason in the

NFC playoff picture. They moved into the seven spot when the Raiders got an 86-yard touchdown run from Josh Jacobs in overtime to beat Seattle. That dropped Seattle to the eight spot at six and five. Washington's at seven to five with two of the most significant head-to-head games against a division opponent in December in a long, long time. They've got back-to-back games with the Giants coming up. First of all, it's not just division opponents. They haven't had big games against the Giants in December in years, where both teams, both teams had major stakes. They had the game at the end of 2016, understood,

but the Giants didn't have anything to play for on that New Year's Day, 2017, actually, when Washington lost in a game that all they had to do was win to make the postseason. You got two big-time NFC play. playoff stakes showdowns coming up. Now, the Giants have Philadelphia in between the two games. Washington has a buy week in between two games.

So a bit of a break there as well. I mean, the scheduling quirk of playing a team back-to-back rarely happens, and it rarely happens late in the season. But we saw this when the schedule came out. I don't think any of us thought, well, these would be two significant playoff stakes games for both teams in the month of December. By the way, let me just remind everybody, and I would look for this today, tomorrow, or Wednesday maybe, at the latest. I think sometime this week, you're going to get the schedule for the weekend of December 17th and

December 18th. Washington's one of the five designated games that could be moved to Saturday, December 17th, and I think it will be. I think the Washington Giant Game here in DC at FedEx Field will be moved to Saturday, December 17th. Have no idea what time, maybe a primetime matchup, although Miami and Buffalo are one of those games that'll probably get moved to that Saturday as well. But really, of the five potential games, Miami, Buffalo, Baltimore, Cleveland, Indie, Minnesota, Atlanta, New Orleans, and the Giants, Washington.

The two games where both teams will have a lot riding on them are the Miami Buffalo and Washington, New York games. So I expect Washington Giants to be moved to that Saturday, December 17th. What a win, though, yesterday. And what a job that this team, this coaching staff, this group of players, what a job they've done. I mean, the NFL season's a long season. I understand that. And I'm the biggest, you know, advocate of if you don't like something, just wait a week or two because it changes in the NFL. And you can't really determine how good a team is, or how bad a team is, until we get to almost halfway through the schedule.

But Washington was teetering, you know, one in four, playing on a Thursday night against a Bears team. And really, I mean, they were within a whisker, a whisker of losing that game to Chicago. They needed a muffed punt that set up a six-yard touchdown drive for the lead. They needed a big-time play at the end of the game when Chicago had, you know, a goal-to-go situation. And Benjamin St. Juice made a big play on Darnell Mooney.

Look, maybe if they had lost that game, they would, they'd be on a five-and-one run right now and be back at 500 instead of being two games above 500. But, wow, it would have seemed like it would have been seen. season over at that point at one and five. But they survived that game and then they got, you know, a break really, I think in many ways, you know, literally and figuratively. And that was to Carson Wentz's finger because Taylor Heineke has been a boost to this team. He's what the players want. I know he's not lighting it up. I know he's not, you know, giving them a great chance to be super dynamic in the past game. And I'll get to his performance here yesterday. But the players like him. He is a gamer. They believe in him. And, you know, that combined with,

I would say, a really improved defense. It was already improving heading into the Chicago game. They had played well against the Eagles, Cowboys, and Titans. They were lights out and have been lights out. A vastly improved offensive line and a better situation with respect to movement and health along the offensive line. So some things have happened. Brian Robinson Jr.'s, you know, entrance into this season was a big deal as well. There are a lot of things that happen, but, man, Rivera gets a lot of credit for this because they won that Chicago game to get to two and four.

They had the quasi-by week. They had a Packers team that was reeling coming in. They were able to survive that game. survive what could have been a disastrous first half. And they have been, you know, they've been resilient. They've been the team that's made the big plays at the end of these games, with the exception of the Minnesota game. And really the last two weeks in particular,

and I said this about last week, because I really thought it was a reflection of the coaching staff. You know, after a Monday night win, an unexpected upset win on the road against an undefeated team with a short week playing a bad team in a very sterile environment. It was very much the NFL proverbial trap game. And they were up for it and they destroyed Houston last week. And yesterday you had rain.

You had another distraction with the Sean Taylor thing. Not that the players saw that or it impacted them at all. And I will comment on that a little bit later on in the show. they were playing a team that was much more physical up front than I thought. I mean, Logan Paulson nailed it on the podcast Saturday. He said he thought Atlanta was going to be the toughest foe they faced when it came to stopping the run. Washington had been lights out against the run, and they got run on yesterday. But still, at the end of the game, after a miss PAT, after a play in which the quarterback of the other team was nearly down by contact on what would have been a huge.

sack by Duran Payne late in the game, but instead he makes a big play. They're on the doorstep of taking the lead, and there is Big 94, getting his paws on a ball, deflecting it up into the air, and Kendall Fuller, who had a pick six last week, you know, is the only starting corner in the game yesterday with Benjamin St. Juice out, is able to come up with it in the end zone, and they win the game 19 to 13. This is a hell of a run. It really is a hell of a run. It feels, as I've said, the last couple of weeks, especially after the Philadelphia game, it feels much different than 2020.

It feels much different than 2015 and 2012. 2012 is kind of a standalone because of the RG3 factor and how exciting they were with him at quarterback. But, you know, you've got to go back to really, I think, the 2005 season. to find a team that was really good defensively, that were physically beating teams, that were super well-coached and disciplined. And I don't know. I mean, right now, I would not put it past them

to not only make the playoffs, as I suggested last week, I think the sixth seed is in play, because now they're ahead of Seattle. Now, if they catch the Giants, they're the sixth seed. They're only a game and a half behind the Cowboys for the five-seed. They can't really win the division, although last night I kept thinking, you know, Philadelphia loses this game. And then all of a sudden they're nine and two. And Washington is seven and five.

And they have the Titans and they've got the Cowboys. And, you know, what if they got on a little bit of a losing? Could they win the division? I mean, they're not going to win the division. And they weren't going to win the division more likely than not if Philadelphia even lost the game last night. My God, was Jalen Hertz fabulous last night? But they have a chance to catch the Cowboys. Only a game and a half behind them for the five seed.

And by the way, in the NFC, remember, the five seed is going to play the NFC South winner. Probably a team with a losing record. You know, it's like when Tampa came here in 2020 as the five seed to face Washington, who was the four seed but had home field advantage because they were a division winner, even though they were only seven and nine. Tampa was a big favorite, obviously, in that game. Alex Smith didn't start. Taylor Heineke started.

First time we really got a chance to see what Taylor Heineke was made of in terms of being a competitor. You could have the reverse. If Washington really goes on a run here at the end of the year and catches the Cowboys somehow, you could end up having Washington go to Tampa with Tampa having a losing record as a division winner. And you know what? we would all think they'd have a chance against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers on the road. I don't want to put limits on this team. I think that Dallas is better. I think San Francisco's better. I think Philly's better. I don't think that Minnesota's definitively better. As I've said

before, I think they're terrible in defense. I think their past defense is wretched. And I think, and they've got a bad kicking situation there. You know, I think those are the the teams, Philly, Dallas, and the 49ers that would be tough to beat on the road in the postseason. By the way, with Dallas, I think there's also a chance that Dallas wins the division. They still have a chance to do that. But wow, what a story. I mean, seven and five, best record this late in the season since 2008. Remember, they were seven, five, and one in 2016. So they've got that, a chance to top that for the best 13 game mark in recent history. But in 2008, when they had that six and two start, they were on the decline, but they were seven and five

after 12 games. And then they pretty much lost out down the stretch to miss the postseason. I think that was an eight and eight year, right? They started six and two. and went two and six with Zorn in his first year. But really a terrific run here by this team, an exciting time. And part of a division that's, you know, right now record setting in terms of their aggregate win total, their aggregate winning percentage. I mean, Washington's in the last place at seven and five. You know, until two years ago, obviously an entire division couldn't make the postseason

because there were only six playoff teams and the four division winners qualified so it was only two wild cards but now with three wild cards for the third year in a row we could have an entire division make the postseason. In fact, the odds are probably in favor of that happening now, although I still think Seattle's got a chance

to get back into the wild card race. And Atlanta yesterday, that was a big law, for them. They're probably more focused now on the division because they're only a half game behind Tampa. And they finish with Tampa at home on January 8th. And that could be for the NFC South. And I don't know, a 9 and 8 record or an 8 and 9 record to win the division. But that probably, in fact, I'll go out on a limb right now and say that's your Sunday night season finale on January 8th. It's Atlanta at Tampa for the NFC South.

It could be actually Baltimore and Cincinnati. Baltimore plays at Cincinnati to finish up the year. That could be your Sunday night finale. Hell, Washington hosting Dallas could be your Sunday night finale on January 8th with a playoff birth or playoff seating maybe at that point being a I don't know. We got a lot of time between now and then. But yeah, I'm impressed. I'm really impressed with what they've been able to do. It's much more interesting to have conversations about games that matter after Thanksgiving weekend heading into December than it is what we

usually do around here, which is, you know, start looking up, you know, where the draft positioning needs to be and who might be available as we start looking ahead to the next season. This is fun. Enjoy it. It's a rarity around here. Doesn't always happen that you are alive and well, not only alive and well, but you're not chasing anymore. You control your fate, your playoff fate at this point. You're seven and five. You're in a playoff spot right now. And you've got two games coming up against the New York Giants that are massive games. and your favorite in the first one on the road, a one and a half point favorite. I think the matchup's a good one.

I thought the matchup was a good one yesterday, and they could have easily lost that game. The Giants will have a lot of rest, having played on Thanksgiving, and Washington just went through a grind yesterday. But hell, massive game Sunday in the Meadowlands against the Giants. All right, coming up next, I'll get to my game take. Jay Gruden will join us on the show. and we'll finish up with some other NFL and certainly the college football weekend. I'll have a few comments about that as well.

And I will give you my thoughts on this Sean Taylor Memorial Mannequin that they had yesterday at the stadium a little bit later on in the show as well. All right. Let's get to my Game Take right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Pay attention. He is Kevin's Game Take. The game take is a list of things that I like from the game, a list of things that I didn't like in a few other observations. If you're willing to do it, rate us and review us,

wherever you can rate us and review us as you listen to this podcast. It's really important for us, especially on Apple. If you haven't done it and you want to pause us for 30 seconds and give us five stars and write a quick one to two sentence review, it is really helpful to the overall effort here. All right, the list of things that I liked. I will start with Brian Robinson Jr. This was his best game by far.

18 carries 105 yards, average 5.8 yards per carry, had three catches for 20 yards, including a touchdown catch that gave Washington an early 7 to 3 lead where he basically bulldozed his way through two would-be tacklers into the end zone. Outstanding day for him. This was his best day. I mean, I thought he really came out against the Eagles, on Monday night, but you know, he only averaged 3.3 yards per carry. He hadn't had one game yet

where he averaged, you know, four yards or more per carry. And last night he was at, or yesterday, he was at 5.8 yards per carry. I see what they like in him. I do. I still like Gibson more, but I really like Robinson Jr. now, too. He is one physical load, man. And, you know, it took him a little while after he went through, after what he went through, obviously. And he made a great locker room speech, by the way, after the game, after being presented with a game ball, and had the biggest hat I've ever seen on a human being on as well. Apparently, it's a friend of that sells those hats. But Brian Robinson Jr. was outstanding. There was one run on an 11-yard run where he bounced off one to two guys, you know, spun, and then carried a dude for, you know, the last three yards.

He is strong. I still think sometimes he looks a little. little bit upright. I still think sometimes he misses some things. And I still overall think Gibson's ability to be physical as well as be the home run threat is a little bit greater. But I like Robinson Jr. I do. And yesterday was a game in which clearly what they wanted to do was run the football in the rain. It's what they wanted to do since Taylor Heineke took over. You know, they are a run-first team. They want to be physical, and they were that. Both teams were. But Brian Robinson, Jr. was outstanding. I also think one of the reasons that Robinson Jr. yesterday went for 105 yards on 18 carries at 5.8 yards per carry, is because unlike the Philadelphia game where he pounded out 86 yards on 26 carries for a 3.3 yards per carry average,

there were holes yesterday. I thought the offensive line did a really good job yesterday in the run game specifically. I didn't think they were that bad in the past blocking as well. Now, they didn't throw the ball a lot. And some of those were play actions where they looked like play actions, whereas earlier in the season, whether it was with Carson or Taylor, some of the play actions didn't even look like typical play actions because the rush was so immediate. But I think the offensive line gets a lot of credit for you.

yesterday. Sam Cosmy, and I made a note of it during the game, and I've got the snap counts here. Cosmy played more at right tackle yesterday than Lucas did, which I think is the right choice. Yesterday, too, Trey Turner got injured and Sadiq Charles came in, but I think for not only Robinson Jr., but for the entire group of runners yesterday, and they had several of them. I mean, Gibson in the game also went for 32 yards on nine carries. Jonathan Williams, and I'll get to him in a moment, had a nice day. Samuel had a bunch of runs. I just think they did a really good job.

So the offensive line, especially the run blocking, is on the list of things that I liked. I think it was different than the Philadelphia game and games in recent weeks. I think, you know, Robinson Jr. and Gibson did a lot of the work themselves. Yesterday, I think there was a lot of room to run. also on the list of things that I liked sticking with the running game, Jonathan Williams. Jonathan Williams is a player that last year, when he came in in the first Dallas game, the game they got beat 27 to 20 in, but it was 27 to 8, remember. He made his debut for the team, and I remember saying after that game in my game take,

that guy looked pretty good. I don't know who he is, but he looks pretty physical, pretty quick. has good vision. And I asked Rivera about him the following week on the radio show, and Rivera said, oh yeah, we really like Jonathan. We got to find ways to get him the ball a little bit more. And, you know, there were a couple of opportunities. Remember how, you know, ravage they were with COVID and injuries. But in the season finale, he had a big game against the Giants. He's been banged up this year. You know, he had an opportunity with some big runs in the Dallas game that they lost, but they were able to run the ball. if you recall, much better against the Cowboys in that game.

They got to the outside with Gibson. Williams had a good day. McKissick actually had a good day there. And recall that, you know, Brian Robinson, Jr. wasn't available at that point. But Jonathan Williams is a player they like. I mean, he's 28 years old. He has bounced around, played at Arkansas. He's been with five teams now.

Nobody except for Indianapolis back in 2019 really gave them, you know, an opportunity in regular season games. In that particular season, by the way, he averaged like 4.8 yards per carry. Ended up with like 235 yards rushing. They like him. I know they do, and I think in some ways they believe Jonathan Williams

and they used him yesterday in this role is more of the actual backup when they're really trying to pound the football than Antonio Gibson is. Because there was a series or two where they went with Williams, and Gibson did come back in. wasn't injured. I thought he was injured at first. I personally think Gibson's also really good

between the tackles. I don't know. Maybe they were worried with the rain and a wet ball with Gibson, but he hasn't fumbled yet. I don't think there's been a running back fumble on the season. I think there have only been quarterback fumbles. Have there been a wide receiver fumbles? Did Samuel fumble? Maybe he fumbled in a game. Jonathan Williams on the list of things. that I liked from the game yesterday. Terry McClorne's on the list. Look, he only caught four balls for 48 yards on six targets. It's just amazing to me how open he gets, you know, 95% of the time.

John Bates, you know, with, you know, they had Cole Turner out there. They had Logan Thomas out there. But, you know, Thomas was not, you know, what they really had last week with Thomas. So Bates stepped up. That touchdown catch was a really good pattern, really good schemed up, route running, dots and clearing it out for Bates. But Bates, I thought, played pretty well. Also on the list of things that I like, let's move it to the defensive side of the ball.

First of all, Kendall Fuller has now made two massive plays in back-to-back games. And no Benjamin St. Juice yesterday, I don't think Christian Holmes, from my vantage point, had a bad game. but then again they weren't facing a real dynamic passing quarterback but Fuller coming up with that ball off the Durrond Payne deflection was just massive. I'll also point out that he broke up another one of those bubble tunnel screen plays. Going back to when he first was drafted by this team, I don't think they've had a player at Corner that is that instinctual on quick, you know, quick throws at the line of scrimmage more than Fuller.

Man, he must study and prepare. He came up and popped somebody for like no gain on one of those plays. And then obviously had the interception. Kendall Fuller on the list for the second straight week. And Duran Payne's on the list. I mean, pay him. I mean, start working with his agent right now. Let's not let this thing get to the offseason where he's able to test the market

and we've got to franchise him. I think Duran Payne is an absolute dominant interior defensive lineman right now. Now, I think he and John Allen make up the best pairing of defensive tackles in the league. I think Duran Payne's an easy top eight player at his position. There are a lot of good players at that position now in the league. He just, you know, on the final drive of the game, he almost got to Marriota on that big pass play that he threw to number 17, Zachius, and just couldn't reach his hand out to touch him when he went down. He had other pressures in the game.

and then had, you know, obviously the big deflection that got picked off by Kendall Fuller. Duran Payne is on the list of things that I liked. And by the way, I'll point out that when we get to one of the weaknesses or one of the things I didn't like from the game, I mean, pain was doubled much of the day. So was Allen. I mean, we're going to get to Atlanta's running game here in a moment. But he's dealing with it, I think, just as much as John Allen is dealing with it. And then the last thing on the list of things, actually two more things.

Number one is, you know, they were five of 12 on third down. They had, you know, another one of those days where it wasn't like the Philadelphia game, but they had two third and ones. One of them they missed, they had to go for the fourth and one. They had a third and two. They had two third and threes. They had a third and five. They had a third and six.

They weren't manageable third downs much of the time. Now, when they weren't, they didn't pick up a third and six, didn't pick up a third and eight, didn't pick up a third in 15, didn't pick up a third in 18, didn't pick up a third and 11. They're not going to most times. Most teams don't. They also didn't convert on a third and five there at the end, but they weren't trying to.

They were just trying to run the clock, you know, get Atlanta to burn that final time out. But, you know, the down and distance for the most part was pretty good. Hence, five of 12 on third down. You know, if they can stay ahead of the chains and they can, you know, create more of these third makeables. They're going to stay on the field longer. And they ended up with a time of possession advantage yesterday in the game of 3309 to 2651. They ended up with a five-play advantage, 60 to 55, in what was a very fast-moving game.

The two-minute warning, by the way, in the first half, came at 159. PM Eastern. I don't think I've ever seen a two-minute warning before two o'clock. It was a fast game because both teams were running the football a lot. So the clock was churning. You didn't have a lot of penalties in the game. That was another thing I would add to the list. Not a lot of penalties in the game. They had a turnover. Ultimately, it didn't hurt them. Could have. It sort of did hurt them, though, because I think they would have had a chance for points, given where they had the ball and given how much time was left. But that is, that's the list of things that are like.

Oh, the other thing was I would just kind of, you know, feel fortunate if you are a Washington fan that the opposing quarterback really isn't a great thrower of the forward pass. Marriota does a lot of things well and is a dual threat runner and he was outstanding in the read option game. yesterday. He just, I mean, even the balls he completes. I mean, he had Drake London wide open for a big play and London had to go down to his shoe strings to make the catch. He's just not a good thrower of the football. And given how well they ran it, I don't know. I think Washington should feel lucky that they faced the quarterback that they faced yesterday. I mean, I think we've kind of said that a couple times. Like, go back to the opener. I mean, Trevor Lawrence missed so much in that opener. You know, they got Cooper Rush, who wasn't bad in the Cowboys game. You know, Sam Ailer, actually, I thought he played pretty well, to be fair. But last week, I mean, Davis Mills had no chance.

Yeah, I think it's fortunate that Marietta isn't a better thrower of the football, because with the way they were running it, they could have been more explosive in the past game. All right, the list of things that I did not like. I'm going to start with the run defense. mean, this is a shocker to me because I've been talking about it. I mean, not that you guys haven't been. Of course you have been. They've been, you know, per DVOA on football outsiders, they were the number two rush defense in the NFL entering this weekend. And we know how good it's been. It's just been outstanding. They've been shutting every big time running back and running game down. And yesterday,

they got run on, you know, to the tune of 167 yards on 29 carries, five point. eight yards per carry. I mean, they've been holding teams to less than three yards per carry. They held Pierce last week to 0.8 yards per carry. How did they do it? Well, they did it with their quarterback being a dual threat quarterback. They had a lot of read option into the game yesterday. I also, if I didn't say this already, and I may be repeating myself, Logan Paulson came on this podcast Saturday and said, this is the best run offense they're going to face. And I said, well, they've got a lot of good run teams that they're going to be facing the rest of the way. You know, the Giants twice, the 49ers, the Browns, the Cowboys,

he's like, yeah, but they're really good up front. They're really physical up front. And they really, Arthur Smith, is doing a great job of scheming up a really good run game. Now, they have a running back in Tyler Algier that if you go back to May, you'll remember me saying this is the back that if they're really going to take a running back, which Ben Standing told us they were going to take, Tyler Algier is the guy I want in the third, fourth, fifth round, something like that. At a BYU, he's been outstanding as a rookie. He's got over five, you know, he's got 552 yards rushing, you know, yesterday against Washington, 11 carries for

54 yards, you know, nearly five yards per carry. He went for seven yards per carry last week against Chicago and a loss to the Chargers a few weeks back. He had 10 carries for 99 yards, nearly 10 yards per carry. He's been excellent as a rookie and a physical runner, and I'm sure you saw that yesterday. But they ran on Washington. Washington got run on yesterday. Logan Paulson was right. I said they're going to stop the run, and that's the key, because Marriota certainly can't beat him with his arm, which would have been true, but they ran the football, which kept them in the game and gave them a chance to win the game. How did they do it? You know, it's going to be one of those things that we'll get Cooley on Wednesday to talk about, you know, how Atlanta ran it.

But, you know, the quarterback being a run threat certainly was part of it because now you are 11 on 11 in the run game. You know, for those of you that haven't heard us discuss this in the past, you know, when your quarterback is a run threat and presented as a run threat and ends up running the ball, well, he's not just handing it off and watching the action. At that point, it's 10 on 11. With the quarterback involved in the run offense, it's 11 on 11, which was the number one thing Mike Shanahan, I remember, said. to me, when we had a conversation one day out at the park, I think we were talking at Redskin Park, and I said, man, it's just so fascinating to watch. I said, what's the biggest benefit of doing this? Is it that play action becomes easier because you've got the defense freezing every time the quarterback sticks it in the gut? You know, he said, well, that's a big part of it. He said, but it's 11 on 11.

You usually play football 10 on 11. and the Falcons play like Arthur Smith did with Ryan Tannehill and Derek Henry in Tennessee when he was the O.C. They play 11 on 11 in the run game. And Marietta was really good with his read option decisions. By the way, he looked really good as a runner, quick, decisive, fast. You know, there were a couple of tackles that were just barely tackles. If not, he'd still be running.

They had Algier and Corderell Patterson doing a great job. And the one thing I noticed against a lot of five-man front. Washington ran a lot of five-man front. They had one linebacker on the field, true linebacker and Jamie Davis on the field. I mean, Bostic played like less than half the snaps. They had Ridgeway in there, and there was one play where Cordarell Patterson ripped off a 21-yard run against a five-man front and like almost nine in the box. They were double teaming both Allen and Payne consistently and getting big opportunities, you know, between the tackles and on the the edges. They got run on. I didn't think it was possible after watching them the last five to six weeks. More than that, really. Going back to when they lost a couple of games to Philly, Dallas, and Tennessee, they were still good against the run. And Atlanta ran it. They've been running it against everybody. It's a really good rush offense. They were number three in the league coming in. And Washington's going to face a team similar to Atlanta in the Giants with Barclay and a dual threat quarterback.

in Daniel Jones, so maybe it was good practice. But I wonder if we saw something that maybe was a vulnerability, you know, because Jaylen Hertz, there's a lot of RPO, there's a lot of scrambling for his yardage. And by the way, he was amazing last night against Green Bay set in an Eagles record with 157 rushing yards in the game. Amazing. And they won't face that against Cleveland. They won't face that against Dallas, really. not, well, a little bit. They won't face it against San Francisco. They will face it the next two games against the Giants.

But Atlanta, give them credit. They've been doing this against everybody and they did it against Washington. But it really didn't lead to their ability to make massive plays in the passing game. You had the 45-yard play on their final drive, which was, you know, after Marriota had slipped and he got back up and the defense, you know, got lost a little bit and lost Zacchaeus. That was the biggest throw, 45 yards. I mean, he had a couple throws that were dropped. There was a third and two early that Drake London dropped on a quick bubble that would have picked up the first down. I think Washington was lucky that a team that ran the ball as well as they did

with a dual-threat quarterback didn't pick them apart through the air with big plays, big chunk plays, especially given that their best corner was out. So yesterday was probably the perfect day, maybe. to get run on, but they got run on. That was number one on the list of things that I did not like. Number two was Joey Sly missed an extra point. Look, he's only missed two field goals, and yesterday was the second PAT he's missed all year.

He's been a positive, much more than anything else. I mean, look at where they were last year with the kicking situation. But that missed PAT could have been the difference between win and loss. I mean, it was 19 to 13. It wasn't 20. to 13. And I know it was a rainy day, and I know that field is not the best, and there was some wind, et cetera, but that would have been a gut punch had they lost because of his missed extra point. And if Atlanta punches it in there at the end, then, you know, in Washington doesn't

answer with field goal range and a field goal attempt. We're talking about the missed extra point. And then lastly, on the list of things that I didn't like, because that's not a long list today. Taylor Heineke's interception before the end of the first half. It's just a bad ball. I mean, quarterbacks throw picks. You know, this is something we've been talking about for a while. Going back to cousins, you know, they throw picks every once in a while. And that was a bad ball.

And he probably should have had another pick on a really good play by the corner on Terry McLorn, on a ball that was late and a little bit of a floater. But other than that, and I'll get to Heinrich's. here as I go through some of the other notes that I have from the game, I thought he executed the game plan pretty well and did what he was asked to do and didn't make, you know, killer mistake after killer mistake. You know, the pick at the end of the half, custom points more likely than not. Now, Atlanta didn't get the field goal from 58 yards,

but Washington had the ball, you know, with time and a completion or two away from a Joey Sly field goal and a 13 to 10. halftime lead. And that pick, you know, obviously ended that and gave Atlanta the opportunity at the end of the half. But that's the list of things that I didn't love from the game. Short list, stopping the run was number one. All right, let's get to some of the other observations from the game. I wanted to start, I'll talk about Taylor Heineke's overall performance and give him a grade here in a moment. But a lot of you were tweeting me, and I saw this late last night, about Ron Rivera's clock management at the end of the first half. And the situation was this. Atlanta in a 10-10 game

took over at their own 15-yard line, and they got a big play on the first play. One of the biggest plays that Marietta had in the past game, a 23-yarder to Zacchaeus, and they're out at the 38-yard line with a minute 39 to go after he went out of bounds on the catch. And now they're at the 38-yard line. So let me just tell you, the mindset there is, okay, what are we able to do offensively in terms of moving the ball through the air? Who's getting the ball to start the second half? What's the score? It was 10 to 10. Washington was due to get the ball at the beginning of the second half. Atlanta has offensively gone 11-place field goal, four-plays punt, but the three-plays, a three-and-out punt situation, four-plays and a punt, but the third and two that

they didn't convert was a drop pass by Drake London. They went 11 play 77 yards in their previous drive and scored a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead. So they have moved the ball. Do I want to start using my timeouts after this first and 10 play to get the ball back with them approaching the 40-yard line to give them a lot of time to score a touchdown? Or am I happy right now with the possibility of maybe the best that they'll do is three. Well, they ran the ball to Algier for two yards. They went hurry up. Ron didn't call timeout.

I did not have a problem with that. He threw an incomplete pass, and it was third and eight from their own 40-yard line with a minute 15 left. Washington was sitting there at that point, you know, with timeouts left, and the ability to stop the clock defensively. Marietta throws to Zacchaeus for seven yards,

and the ball's out at the first. 47-yard line, and they're facing fourth and one, and the clock is rolling, and the 42nd clock is moving. And Atlanta isn't going hurry up. Atlanta's not calling a timeout, and Washington isn't either. I think both teams handled it correctly, and the reason is this. If Washington calls a timeout before a fourth and one that it looks like Atlanta might go for from their own 47, and by the way, with the way they were running the football, their odds of picking a it up were probably pretty high, then I'm just giving Atlanta more time with a new set of downs to go down and get more than a field goal potentially. And I don't want to do that. So I'm going to

let the clock run here and I'm going to either get a stop and have a little bit of time to get a field goal of my own if I get a stop or worst cases they pick it up. Hopefully I can get a stop. if not, the best case for them at that point is a field goal. I think Ron played it exactly the way I would have played it. And I think Arthur Smith played it exactly the way it should have been played. Why? Because they let the clock and the play clock go down to one second and call the timeout with 29 seconds to go. And they went for the fourth and one.

The reason for that is if you miss the fourth and one, do you want to give them a full minute to try to get a time? If you're going to go for this, you've made up your mind, you're going for the fourth down. Okay? So if you're going to go for it, do you really and truly want to give them like 50-some, 50 to 60 seconds to get a touchdown potentially and then get the ball to start the second half? No. So I think he played it well. Now, the one argument you could make for Rivera calling a time out earlier,

instead of, you know, letting it go down and have them call the timeout with 29 seconds, maybe call a timeout with, say, like, 40 seconds to go, is that maybe you then make Atlanta reconsider going for the fourth down. And maybe they punt. Maybe. But I actually didn't have a problem with either coach at the end of the first half. And the way they handled it. And the way it turned out is they missed the fourth and won.

It gave Washington a chance to get in field goal range. but Taylor threw the bad interception, and then Atlanta had a chance to get in field goal range, which they didn't get in range, but they got to a point where they had a 58-yard attempt from Koo. All right, a couple of other things to get to. Taylor Heineke. He had the one bad pick.

He had a couple of throws that weren't great, but overall, personally, I understand what his numbers were, okay? And I know that he only threw for, you know, like 34-yard. in the second half of the game. He was 14 to 23 for 138 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, didn't get sacked once. I thought he got off to a great start. He was five for five.

He basically had all of his passing yards in the first quarter for the most part. I thought that he did a pretty good job of doing what they asked him to do. Right now, this is a team that understands what they are and understands what they do well, and understands their limitations. And they are a team that wants to run the ball, stop the run, and not turn it over and not make any big mistakes, and hope to make the big play at the end one way or the other on defense or on offense to win a close game.

And that's what they're asking Taylor Heineckee to do. So they're not asking him to drop back and throw the ball, nor should they. They're not even really relying on him in, you know, certain situations to push the ball down, down the field even on big play action opportunities, although, you know, he did have a couple of big throws. He had a 26-yarder on the opening drive to Terry, had the touchdown pass to Bates, had a good throw. I wouldn't say it was a great throw, but it was a great catch by Deami Brown for 17 yards. But based on what they're asking him to do, I think he's doing a good job. I'd give him, you know, a C plus B minus. And if he hadn't thrown that interception and that near,

second interception, and I know those are big ifs, understood. They probably could have gotten points at the end of the half without that interception. But, you know, if he doesn't throw the pick at the end of the first half, it's another for me, you know, solid B performance. You know, B minus C plus is where I have them. You know, he extended a couple of plays. He had a third and nine in the first half on their third drive where he did a really good job of getting outside the pocket and finding Terry for 13 yards. He had a really good throw in stride to Gibson on a third and three on that same drive. I know that some of these passes are easy pitching catches.

Part of that is Scott Turner's really doing a good job of getting some of these guys open. The other part of it is they're running the football and they're sucking that defense up. And the third part of it is they've got some good receivers. I mean, Terry just freaking gets open. You know, he had a couple of those pitches where he just shoved the ball out. One, you know, they thought was a fumble briefly. clearly wasn't. Another one he completed to Gibson. The throw to Bates for the touchdown was a beauty. Yeah, I mean, they're not asking him to do a lot. So it's hard to really criticize him for his statistics.

You can't do that with him. They're not asking him to complete 20 balls, you know, and half of those being, opportunities for chunk plays. I think he was fine yesterday. I really do. I thought there was maybe one opportunity to run on one of his scrambles where he threw incomplete. But other than that, I thought he had an okay day. And I think that's what you want.

You want these kinds of days from him because if there's wild swings, I guess against some of these opponents, it may ultimately mean you'd didn't win the game. I mean, 14 to 23 for 138 yards, two touchdown throws with 176 yards rushing and just one turnover on the day and you didn't lose the turnover battle and you didn't have a lot of penalties, these are the games they're trying to win. And with their schedule and with the teams in the conference and without a dominant, dominant, elite, elite level

quarterback, you know, it's going to keep them in a lot of games the rest of the way. There were a couple of other things I wanted to mention real quickly. I mean, I think Scott Turner continues to get pretty creative. Did you see the play where they had two jet sweep motions? They had one pre-snap with Samuel and then post-snap. Here comes Terry McClain right behind Samuel for a jet sweep run for like five yards. I don't know that I've ever seen that before. I love that. I loved the, oh, there was also you know, when they're trying to force Atlanta to take their final three timeouts after the interception at the end on that third and five, wow, that ball was almost fumbled on the handoff between Heinecke and Samuel. That would have been a disaster. But it wasn't.

They didn't get the first down. They forced the last time out. And then they got the running into the punter kicker. Again, with this, you know, pressure on punters, it's getting close. That one wasn't as close as some of the near punt blocks in recent weeks. But that was big. By the way, on that play, on the fourth and two punt, where it was running into the kicker,

Washington got the first down and got into victory formation. On the return, did anybody else think that that was a late hit out of bounds on that punt return? Because if it had been called that, you would have had offsetting penalties, and Washington would have been forced to punt it again. The return was like for, for eight, eight yards, and I think it was Mayo who made the tackle, but that tackle was out of bounds. And I thought, you know, we've seen less get flagged, but they didn't flag it, and Washington got the

five yards in the first down, and it was game over. But look, the bottom line, this was one of those tidy, fast-moving, you know, low-possession count games. I think Washington had eight possessions, and Atlanta had nine. Both teams ran the ball successfully. Both teams churned the clock successfully. Washington had 60 offensive snaps. Atlanta had 55. Both teams were right around the 40%,

somewhere in that neighborhood on third downs. And you missed an extra point. That was a big play in the game that could have decided it. But ultimately, the play that decided it was a second and goal at the four, and Atlanta decided to throw the football, and I don't know why they decided to throw the football. I think that was a terrible decision, not because it didn't work and because it ended in interception,

because even if you had scored on that play, which, you know, of course they would have taken, you would have left Washington with too much time left on the clock. Washington had called their last time out after a first and goal run by Marietta, keep run, or read option that got stopped by sweat for a two-year-old. loss. That was Washington's last time out with a minute three left in the game. And they had run the ball. Take away the big play on that final drive. After that big play, the 45-yard pass that took it from

their own 30 down to the Washington 25. It was Alger for six yards, Alger for five yards. On a third and four, by the way, third and four. On second and ten, Alger went for six. And on third and four after the two-minute warning, he ran the ball for five yards. Then it was Patterson for six yards, Patterson for three yards. Then it was Alger for a couple of yards, but it didn't matter because it was off-sides, Washington. And so it was first and goal at the two. And then after the two-yard loss, they had second and goal from the four. Washington had just called their last time out. I thought for sure Atlanta was going to stick with the run. And if they didn't get it in on second and goal from the at least they would have let the clock start rolling and Washington couldn't have stopped it,

which meant they were coming down to two plays to win the game, rather than, you know, two plays or a play to take the lead. Because if they score on that pass on second and goal at the four, and Patterson was open. He was open. I don't know if he scores, it's close on the interception play. But Washington's going to have, you know, 50 some odd seconds. just to get in field goal range with a kicker with a big leg.

So I thought it was a bad call for them to throw the ball in second and goal, especially with the way they were running it. They should have run the football. They should have run Alger. They should have run Patterson. And, you know, if they don't get in, then it's third and goal. And you got two plays at that point after, you know, 35 seconds of the clock winds down. And now you've basically put it on two plays.

You're going to win the game with a touchdown and an extra point. or you're going to lose it if you don't get it in, but you're not going to score and then watch them go down and get a field goal. And again, playing that kind of game gets dicey. And look, if their second and goal play from the four, that was the play they thought gave them the best chance over any third down play or fourth down play, they could have run to get it in the end zone.

Well, then, of course. But I just thought that they were running the ball so well that they had a chance to just run it in from the four-yard line. Really good football game, you know? I mean, came down to basically one play, and they got that play. You know, you go back in the Philadelphia game probably came down to a face mask that wasn't called. I mean, that was a massive play in that game. The Minnesota game, they lost, but it kind of came down to a big play, right?

It was the interception. It was the third and seven cousins to Jefferson. It was a couple of plays that decided. side of that game. The Colts game, I mean, they would have still had a chance, but it came down to a 50-50 ball with Terry McClorn that he pulls in and he makes the catch and one play later from the one-yard line they're in with a 17 to 16 win. I mean, you know, the Packers had a chance, third nine, and Heineke makes this incredible throw and McLaren makes this incredible catch. The Bears game, one play, Darnell Mooney right there.

Benjamin St. Juice breaks it up. Really want to go back to the muff punt, one play. The Titans game, their first and goal, they got a chance to win the game, interception at the end, at the goal line. I mean, this is who they are. This is who they are going to be the rest of the way. Get ready.

Strap it up because you got some games coming up against the Giants, the 49ers, Browns, and Cowboys. Five big games that will decide not only their playoff fate, but their playoff seating, which I really think ultimately is going to be the discussion because I said before the Atlanta game, I think that they can get to 10 plus.

I think they can win four out of these final six, and right now to get to four out of six, they only have to win three of their final five. They're going to be favored in the next two, one and a half point favorites at New York, and then more likely than not, you know, they'd be favored at home in the rematch on either December 17th or 18th.

There'll be a dog at San Francisco on Christmas Eve. That's for sure. But then they could be favored against Cleveland at home on New Year's Day, and then the cowboy game. It'll depend on what the Cowboys are playing for. Good job out of Ron Rivera. Good job out of the players. They've really turned it around.

They're good football team right now. They're not a great football team. I still would put Philly, Dallas, and San Francisco with home playoff games against Washington ahead of them. I think they could go to Minnesota and win with a running game. I really do. They already proved that they can hang with them. They already prove they can beat Philadelphia for that matter.

Let's see what Jay Gruden thinks. He'll join us next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, let's welcome on to the podcast, a former Washington Redskins head coach, Jay Gruden. It's always great to have Jay on the show, especially on a Monday following games. That way we don't have to project what will happen. We can talk about what you. did happen. And let's start with Washington's 19 to 13 win over the Falcons. Actually, before I ask you specifically about the game yesterday, what about this team over the last seven weeks?

Six and one, they're seven and five. If the playoffs started today, they'd be in the postseason. The whole division would be. What's changed here over the last seven weeks in your mind's eye? Well, obviously the addition of Heineke's been a big change and a big boost for the team morale. They're playing very hard for him. He's doing a great job in the pocket, outside the pocket. But I think the defense has really stepped up and played like everybody thought they should play early in the season. They struggled for some reason. Couldn't put a finger on it.

But now they're starting to play well, whether it's the subtraction of William Jackson, where they're playing better in a secondary, or just everybody just playing harder and playing more dominant, like the front should have done early in the season. They're very good on defense. They don't really have a weakness, and they're keeping the offense in games or getting them in good field position. They're getting stops when they need stops and giving Heineke a lot of opportunities. All right. We'll come back to sort of what you think about their prospects moving forward. Let's talk about yesterday. I thought it was a pretty evenly matched game that came down to one play, you know, a turnover that the defense got on what looked like a Falcons touchdown drive. to take the lead. How would you describe the game yesterday? Yes, it was a tough game. I think both teams are playing very hard. They're running the ball effectively. I think Washington ran the ball extremely well. Brian Robinson continues to move the

pile and get positive games on first down. But it's going to come down to a play here or there, a goal line stand, a referee call, a roughing the punter or whatever it might be. These close games are going to be decided by some kind of stand. or turnover or referee call. You saw it in the Jacksonville game. You see it in the Tampa game against Cleveland. There's so much parity that usually the better defensive teams are going to come out or a great play by a quarterback or referee call.

And Washington's holding up in a lot of areas. They're running a football. They're playing good defense, and they're doing what it takes to win. Why was Atlanta the first team really since the Lions in week two to really be able to run the ball effectively against a defense that's been lights out against the run. I mean, Atlanta rushed for 167 yards, nearly six yards a carry. The quarterback was obviously involved, but what did you see that allowed Atlanta to be the first team in weeks to be able to run the football against Washington's defense?

They have a great scheme. They have good tight ends. Their physical, Arthur Smith comes from the Tennessee Titans where he had Derek Henry and good tight ends. They're able to run the ball, and he's carried over that mentality to Atlanta. You know, they have a good running quarterback and Marriota, Cordero Patterson. They have a couple other backs can really pound the ball. They have tight ends that can hold up. And that's their style of play. They've been pretty successful.

Not a lot of people gave Atlanta any chance to win any games this year, let alone be in contention to win the NFC South. So I think Arthur Smith and that offensive coordinator of Dave were going. They have a great scheme. They have powerful offensive linemen and good tight ends, and they're able to move the pile. Washington played a ton of five-man front yesterday, and they bring Ridgeway in to be almost a,

a nose tackle with the other four guys, you know, two on each side, one linebacker. They're bringing down safeties to try to stop the run. And yet Atlanta still ran it. Like I've been so bullish, Jay, on, you know, they're able to shut teams down from running the football and make teams one-dimensional. And that's going to give them a chance against almost anybody. And yesterday was kind of alarming for me anyway. I mean, did you see something that said problem moving forward,

or was it just that Atlanta's really good at what they do? I think Atlanta's pretty good at what they do, to be honest with you. And there's a little bit of alarm there, but not much. They still hold them to 13 points. So there are some merit to, hey, it's been, but no break, forcing them to punt, force them as some third down. You know, they got them in position to, Atlanta got themselves in position to win the game,

but Durant Payne made a great tip on the ball. and Fuller got the closing pick. But I still think they're good enough to stop the run on a consistent basis. They do have to play a little bit better moving forward against some of these teams like the Giants, and Saquan, Barclay, back to back. They're going to have Cleveland with Nick Chubb. Obviously the Cowboys later on. So they're going to short up a little bit.

They're going to play better and have to play better in the passing game as well. Let's flip it to the offensive side of the ball. Taylor Heineke obviously is doing what they're asking him to do, but how much can you really rely on 34 yards passing in a second half of the game and a tight game week in and week out? Yeah, I mean, there's some concern there, but I think with the Giants coming in, I think that's a style of play you've got to play. You've got to control the clock.

They're doing an excellent job of getting positive gains on first down, which is keeping them in positive down and distances moving forward in the drives. They're able to convert the third down of shorts. They're able to run Brian on first, second down, and sometimes even third down and not making Heineke do too much. When they do ask him to do too much, I think there'll be a problem. But if they continue with this game plan, play solid defense, run the football 25 to 30 to 35 times, they'll have a chance in every game as they play.

What about the people right now? And when I say people, I'm talking about a lot of fans primarily that say this is a pretty damn good football team that's limited in their ability to be dynamic in the passing game. And maybe they should look at Carson Wentz now, that the defense is better, that Brian Robinson's in the mix, and maybe it would add something to their offense. What would you say to somebody who says it's worth considering? I don't think it is right now. I think he's playing too good. I mean, he had some errand throws.

Obviously, he had a couple picks. One at the end of the half was not pretty. The comeback on the side of the sideline of Terry was a little bit thrown inside and a little bit short. but he is still playing good enough to win. And you can't take a winning quarterback out of the mix. He just can't do it, in my opinion, out there. We're to lose the Giants back-to-back games, maybe. But with the Giants back-to-back coming up and a by-week in between there,

you've got to stick behind him. I agree with you, and I don't think there's any way that the coaching staff doesn't agree with you. Speaking of the coaching staff, given all of what this shit show of an organization it has been off the field over the last couple of years, in particular, the intensity of it over the last couple of years. You had to deal with a lot of it as well, but the last two years have been insane. How much credit do you give Ron Rivera for this team being at 1 and 4

and looking like the season was on the brink on a Thursday night in Chicago where they could have easily lost that game to now being 7 and 5 and being a pretty good football team? Yeah, for sure. I think getting the win really helped the team turn it around against Chicago. The winning cures a lot of pain. And then you get a back-to-back win. Then you win three in a row, and nobody really cares about what they're saying about the front office.

If you lose another game, then the front office is this, the coaches is this, the team's lost this. They're not practicing hard enough, whatever it might be. But getting those wins, keeping the team together, says a lot about Coach Rivera, says a lot about the players and the leadership of that team, the Jonathan Allen, you know, the leadership. and obviously the addition to Heineke with the spark, Terry McCorring making plays when he needs to. I think they have enough good quality people in that locker room to override any negative things that are being said by the press. Or being done by the front office.

Yeah, or by the press about the front office. Yeah, exactly. All right. So let's look at the NFC right now. Who's obviously better than Washington right now in the NFC? Well, I think they can compete with everybody. I think it's been, you know, like yesterday, you know, the 49ers, they win 13 and nothing. It's not like a, they're not like world beaters.

But I think 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys right now, those are the three, and probably the Vikings. But they stood toe to toe at the Vikings. They beat the Eagles. They're going to have a chance against the 49ers in the regular season, show exactly where they stand. I think they compete with everybody. They play this style of defense, and if they can run the football, control the clock, then they will be in every game that they play moving forward. So there's nobody in the conference that you say in January, on the road at the link against Philadelphia,

in Santa Clara against the 49ers in Minnesota. If you don't think any of those teams, they can't go and beat in the postseason. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't. The way they're playing defense, they have great speed on the edges, especially if they get Chase Youngback. I mean, there's two very fast outside defensive ends that can chase down. I mean, you saw what Jalen Hurst did last night. I don't know what the Packers are doing on defense.

They must have forgot that he could run. But to combat a running quarterback, you have to have speed, and Washington has that. They can stop the run with Payne and Allen. They have speed on the edges. Their corners are playing a lot better. Their safeties are getting involved. So, yeah, I think defensively they can hold up against any team that they play.

You know, now it's a matter of offensively if they get to, tucking some third and longs or some known passing situations. That's where I think they'll have trouble. But if they can stay in games, keep them close, keep Brian Robinson involved, keep your running game going, the jet sweeps, and then get McKisick in there. And obviously Gibson is a change-up. And, yeah, I think they can compete with everybody. I want to come back and ask you about a couple of the other NFC teams in more detail.

But you were a part of the group that drafted, obviously, Duran, John, and Montez, sweat. But with respect to Duran specifically, why did it take a few years for him, I know it's a contract year, to be consistent because we've always known it was there talent-wise. What have you seen from him this year? And then how do you think the team should handle this? Because he's a free agent at the end of this year. Yeah, I personally think he's one of the better defensive tackles in the league. He can play the nose. He can play a three technique. He can play four-eye. I mean, whatever you want him to do, he can do. And he's athletic and he's strong as hell, and he plays hard. You know, I think he might

have not been as active as he was with me because we played a different style. He's more of a two-gap, Jim Tom Sula, and, you know, he taught more of a two-gap, hold up your guy before you penetrate. You know, I think Durant Payne is much more effective when he can penetrate and get those A and B gaps and wreak havoc, as opposed to holding up a double-team. and Stanner, and then rush it. You know what I mean? He's a lot more active now under this scheme and a lot more productive. What would you do at the end of this year?

I mean, right now, the only way to guarantee... I'm a big proponent on keeping your good players on defense, especially if you don't have a marquee quarterback. If you had a $100 million quarterback on your team, then you might have to make a move because of salary. But if you don't, if you're going to stick with Heineke, then I'm keeping as many good defensive players as I can. There's no doubt about it.

You've got to play great defense in this league to have a chance if you don't have a marquee type quarterback. And right now, the commanders can play great defense because of that front. What do the Giants look like to you and what will be the first of two matchups for Washington? They've got the Eagles in between. Washington's got that bye week in between Sunday.

It's at the Meadowlands. So what does that size it up for me? I think the Giants is taking a little step back the last couple weeks. Obviously, they've lost a couple here after a very hot start. Dave-ball is an excellent coach. You'll get a lot out of Saquan. I think they're going to stop the run, obviously, and they've got to have to really prepare for the quarterback being able to get outside the pocket.

He's doing a great job. Daniel Jones is a lot more athletic than people give credit for. So the play action pass getting Jones outside the pocket will be their game plan moving forward, and Washington is going to combat the running style. as him. And offensively, they got to continue to do what they're doing. They got to get Brian Robeson's in the ball, get Antonio Gibson the ball, get the ball on the perimeter with some of those speed receivers that they have and play ball control. All right, let's get, let's finish up with just sizing up the NFC, because I asked you to compare Washington to all of those teams.

But right now, if you had to rank them, let's just say one through five, how would you rank them? In terms of... I'd probably go, yeah, I think the best team right now overall, top the bottom is probably Philadelphia, although their defense really looks shaky to be like. They got run on. God, they got run on last night. Yeah, yeah, and then I'd probably go San Fran because Jimmy and the offensive personnel what they have, they have a great running game, two great backs, Debo if he stays healthy,

and in Minnesota, obviously, and in Dallas, those are the top four, in my opinion. I mean, I was thinking Tampa still had a chance with the talent that they have and with Brady. I can't figure that out. I just can't figure it out. They have way too many good players on offense to score 17 points. It just can't figure it out. You know, offensive line, they're struggling a little bit, but they should be in the 20th, at least every game, 20s and 30 points a game with Mike Evans and Tom Brady and the offensive weapons that they have.

I watched Seattle a lot of that game yesterday, the first time I've really watched them this year. I was really blown away with how good Gino Smith looked in that game. I know he's had great games all year long, but they can really score and they can really move the football. What do you make of them? Yeah, I think that's a great story. I think they've done an excellent job offensively. The two young tackles are holding up, but Gino still had a couple awful plays in that game. that they had to avoid. They're not good enough to overcome those right now defensively.

You know, if Heineke makes a couple of those plays in the game, which you did, the defense can help them out. But yesterday, they couldn't stop the run at all. And that was a concern for Seattle moving forward. But offensively, they got the weapons and Gino's playing pretty well. All right. Thank you for doing this. As always, I hope you're well. We'll talk soon. All right. Thank you. All right. Let's go around the NFL a little bit. There were some exciting games, especially late yesterday afternoon and last night.

The biggest plays and the clutch moment. It's time to go around the NFL. Jacob with running room right up the middle. Jacobs is on his way. The Raiders are going to win this game. That was the run. That was the game that put Washington into the seven spot in the NFC playoff race. Josh Jacobs, 86 yards and overtime, the Raiders,

with their second straight overtime win. This one, 40 to 34 in Seattle, dropping the Seahawks to 6 and 5. And in second place in the NFC West, a game behind the 49ers who shut out the Saints 13 to nothing. Jacobs, by the way, 229 yards rushing. That's a franchise record for the Oakland slash L.A. Las Vegas Raiders.

He also had six catches for 74 yards. So his 303 yards from scrimmage were the most in franchise history, the seventh most by any player in any game during the Super Bowl era. 40 to 34, the Raiders beat the Seahawks. That was a smell test pick, smell test good weekend, 9, 5, and 1, 4-1-1 in the NFL yesterday. Tried hard to get the Texans back into it. They had the ball down 15 after trailing 30 to nothing at half. time, but couldn't get it done. Raiders win. Seahawks dropped to six and five. Seattle's going to be one of those teams. Washington and the Giants are going to be battling with for, you know, more likely

than not, the final two wild card spots after, you know, Dallas and or Philadelphia wraps up one of them. Seattle's got the banged up Rams on the road this coming week. Then they've got the Panthers at home. And then they have a huge Thursday night game at home against the 49. on December 15th. They also play the Chiefs and the Jets, and then they get the Rams again. The Rams right now might be along with the Texans, the worst team in the league. I mean, it doesn't look like Matt Stafford's going to play again this year. You know, they're still capable, I guess, on defense. But you've got to think, even though Seattle was favored yesterday, you've got to think

that Seattle is going to have a chance to win another three to four games, maybe. certainly another three to get to nine, but I think Washington's going to beat Seattle out. Let me just see who's favored in the NFL's game this week between Seattle, Seattle at the Rams. I'm going to assume with the Rams banged up that Seattle's at least a field goal favorite. Yeah, they're a four and a half point favorite. So anyway, that's the Seattle story.

Big loss, helpful loss for Washington's cause. Let's go to Philadelphia for Sunday night football. Eagles and Packers. Faint to gain well. Hertz has a lot of space over here. Take it off. Anybody are going to catch him all the way down to the five-yard line? Another incredible individual performance last night is the Eagles beat the Packers 40 to 33.

Jalen Hertz in the game, 157 yards rushing, setting a record. for an Eagles quarterback. You know, wasn't Michael Vick. It's not Michael Vick. It's not Randall Cunningham. It is now Jalen Hertz, the single game holder of the rushing mark for a quarterback in Eagles history.

He also threw for 153 yards. He became the first player since 1950 in the league with 150 plus yards rushing and 150 plus yards passing with multiple touchdown passes in the game. He threw for two. touchdowns as well. Jalen Hertz put on a show last night. The Eagles rushed for 363 against the Packers. Miles Sanders had 143 yards rushing in two touchdowns. But the Eagles get back on track offensively.

They had struggled the last few weeks against Indy, against Washington, against Houston to a certain degree. But they were explosive last night, but it was the quarterback. And the quarterback, Jalen Hertz is right back in to the race with Patrick Mahomes for League MVP. What a performance last night. The Packers lost Rogers during the game to an injury. Jordan Love came in through a touchdown pass of 63 yards to Christian Watson, and the Packers got the backdoor push for me losing 40 to 33. But they were in this game.

It was a wild game back and forth early on. But the Eagles get to 10 and 1 on the season with the title. Dayton's coming to town. Let's go to Jacksonville for the Ravens and the Jags. Hurry. No timeouts. 20 seconds to go. Lawrence, throwing to the end zone, Marvin Jones. Yes. They call it a touchdown. Trevor Lawrence, with maybe his signature game in his very young career, driving Jacksonville, 27 to 20 with just one time out and two minutes to go. 75 yards throwing that touchdown pass. They would go for two and he would complete a pass to Zay Jones for the two-point conversion and the win, 2827. Devastating loss for Baltimore. They dropped to 7 and 4 and now in a first place tie with Cincinnati in the AFC North.

Big win for Jacksonville. They were a smell test pick. Lawrence threw for 321, three-toucher. touchdowns, no picks in the game. They had no ability to run the football against Baltimore. It was all Lawrence and his receivers. They win the game 28 to 27. By the way, there was another game yesterday where a team scored a late touchdown and had the option of kicking for overtime or going for two. Chargers scored late, went for two, Justin Herbert, touchdown pass, two-point conversion pass, and they beat the Cardinals 25. to 24. And that pretty much snuffed out, by the way, any cardinal hopes. Because at 5 and 7, they would have been back in the hunt a little bit. But they're now 4 and 8 on the season. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Bengals beat the Titans 20 to 16 on the road. So the Bengals and the Ravens right now in a battle in the AFC North. The Titans fall to 7 and 4. They're not clear of anybody for sure in the AFC South. I know they have two wins over Indianapolis. in the AFC South.

But here comes Jacksonville. I mean, you know, they're three games back, and the Colts are two and a half back. But Tennessee is still comfortable. I'm not saying that they're not. But, you know, they play the Cowboys. They play the Jags twice. So the Jags actually have a chance

to get back into that thing in the AFC North. And how about Carolina beating Denver with some of the defensive players screaming at Russell Wilson? Apparently they do not like him much. Mike White, big game for the Jets. over a Justin Fields-Less Chicago team. Mike White, 22 of 28 in for Zach Wilson, 315 yards, three touchdowns.

The Jets roll 31 to 10. They are 7 and 4. The AFC East, another division like the NFC East, all four teams with winning records. The Patriots are in last place. The Jets very much in the wild card race in the AFC. Some good football yesterday all day long. Really good games late in the. the day. I mean, you had the Browns overtime win over the bucks in the one o'clock window.

And then you had the Jags winning on a two-point conversion. That was a one-clock window game. The Chargers late, 25, 24 over the Cardinals, the Raiders, 40 to 34 over the Seahawks in overtime, and then last night shootout between the Eagles and the Packers. Okay, let's finish up the show and I'll save the Sean Taylor stuff for tomorrow with Tommy. I was going to get to that. at the end of the show. But Stanford Steve is available to talk some college football with, and it was obviously a big weekend with respect to the college football playoff scenarios. And so Stanford Steve from Scott Van Pelt Show, of course, joins me now. But Stanford Steve does his own show. He's part of those gambling shows on ESPN. He does the podcast with Felica, the bear, Chris Felica. And by the way,

what's your record this year? Where are you right now in all your picks? I think I'm like 28 and 21. Not bad? Felica's actually, no, Felica's been unbelievable. I think he ended up winning. We had to do ours early last week, and we both were definitely feeling Michigan,

but didn't go there because of the quorum news, and that would have been an extra winner. But Felica, I think he's about, he's got to be close to 30 and 10. He's like 20 games. Wow. That's unbelievable. Yeah.

You know, in watching him on game day, he definitely has kind of my approach in Van Pelt's approach to the games, right? I mean, he's looking for the stinkers. But 30 and 10 is ridiculous. Obviously, it was, yeah, he was like around, I want to say he was like 24 and 8 at one point. And then I don't think he's lost many. All right. Let's talk about the weekend. And we got to start with the Michigan Ohio State game, which did an unbelievable television rating, by the way, on Fox.

I mean, one of the most watched games in recent memory in college football. I got to tell you, I loved the game. I, for whatever reason, I kind of had this sense that Michigan, and I've called it for a couple of weeks that I thought that they could win this game. I didn't think they could win it this way, you know, not being able to run the football at all in the first half. But look, this was an ass kicking. I don't know any other way to describe it. Would you describe it any differently? Yeah, I know everybody's going to look at the score

and definitely it entails a butt-whoop and when I just think back to how they did it, Kevin, that's what was so impressive because they stayed with what they do well. And, you know, talking to guys that were there, you know, there's just this ang. of, you know, what are we going to do in this situation? They knew Coram wasn't going to be able to go. They were really worried about Donovan Edwards because he's more of the throwing threat out of the backfield. He's the guy they worked on matchups.

And then he comes out with a brace on his right hand, and they don't know how much they're going to get. And, you know, the broadcast showed what he looked like, uncomfortable carrying the ball in the left hand. You saw the two long run. He's out the gate, and the ball's in the wrong hand, and it's been an effective speed-wise. because they were not going to catch them.

But when you look at the game plan and what they did, I thought they waited things out. They saw what Ohio State was going to do defensively. Ohio State was going to put as many guys in the box as possible against that run and say, hey, McCarthy beat us. And boy, did he beat him. They got two one-on-ones. The receiver made plays.

And that was just a huge, you know, burdened lifting off their back because you can see them pressing, going back to last week with Illinois, wondering how they were going to do things without quorum. And then just to see them methodically, you know, give the ball to the running back and trust that offensive line to wear down. I thought McCarthy's run in the beginning of the third quarter was huge, where he didn't slide, you know, got like 12 yards for a big first down and ended up running out of bounds right in front of Ohio State's sidelines.

So I just think it's a tribute to Michigan on what they did, because that was the way they were going to beat him. And the defense showed, I thought they, you know, going for it early. I wasn't sure. I loved their field goal kicker. And I thought it was going to be an under game going in. I really did. And obviously the late touchdowns caused it not to go under.

But, yeah, it's butt-wop and whatever. Michigan wouldn't wind it any other way the way they won that game. I mean, you know, it's funny because one of my really good friends is an Ohio State guy, and he was there. And he sent him pictures. and stuff before the game. And he said, he texted me right before the kickoff. He said, I've been here for a lot of big games.

I'm not sure there's a more, you know, sort of bloodthirsty crowd like this one. Because it's been a while where Ohio State's been in that position of kind of wanting revenge and not, and needing it, you know. And look, to me, it was an ass kicking more in the second half. I think that the play in the game that was crucial. was it 10 to 3. They had not really been able to run the football, and you could tell. And I thought that was going to be the key.

If they couldn't run the football and be physical up front, would McCarthy be able to beat him with his arm against man coverage? I didn't think so. And that third and nine hitch that he threw to Johnson that he turned into a touchdown from 70 yards out was game on. Because if he doesn't complete that, if they get home with that zero blitz coverage, and they sack them or the ball's out,

and it's, you know, incomplete. Or if he gets tackled and stopped, it's 10-3 Ohio State with the ball, and it may be, you know, a totally different afternoon, but they just, you know, Ohio State, Steve, Ohio State hasn't been good on defense for a couple of years now. It's been a couple of years. That's been their Achilles heel.

You can score and move the football against them. Maryland did last week. That's exactly where I was going. and Kevin, because I went to that game last week in college parking. On the sidelines, I just wanted to watch Ohio State brought to the table up front because I've watched Michigan numerous times. and I think their offensive line might be better than it was last year, and that's saying a lot. But when I watched Ohio State, I really was thinking I was going to see more with their interior offensive line.

They have mammoth offensive tackled, and I wasn't really that impressed with them up front, and I said, this is why Michigan can hang around, they're going to wear on these guys, and that's exactly what they did. Look at Stroud in the first half compared to the second half. You don't get pressure on them. couple big throws. Then you start getting hands in his face and look how uncomfortably he was.

And then you saw him ultimately pressing and trying to throw that flip throw going in. That ends up being the difference in the game. So I just seeing them in person, I thought their defense is better than it has been. But I still, I don't know why they didn't have another option defensively than just go and cover zero the whole time. I thought you could have played the run with not minimal guys, but just your base defense. And it really surprised me that they got caught in those defenses against the past. And everybody's going to say it was coverage bus, but I'm not one to the tight end down the right sideline. The safety for Ohio State was the best player, he just jumps the route, thinking he's going to run it out.

And the tight end just continues up the sideline. So just a great, great scheme by Michigan. And like I said, I love when teams stick to the game plan. And that's exactly what they did. And then they end up busting those long runs in the second half. And that's the big difference in the game. It's really amazing college sports. I mean, sports in general, I mean, two years ago, these Michigan people, they had had

it with Harbaugh, you know, and they were ready to move on. And here we are two years later. It's kind of the same way I refer to my Villanova friends who wanted Jay Wrightout. I mean, there was a time there before, you know, there's like, all right, that's it. We can't get out of the first weekend of the tournament. We need something new here, you know, and he goes on to win all these national championships. and Harbaugh now two straight years. I would have to say, and tell me if you agree with me,

last year obviously was satisfying because they finally beat them. But what happened Saturday at the shoe had to be even more satisfying if you're Harbaugh or if you're a Michigan man, you know. That had to be, that felt even better, I would bet. No doubt. No doubt about it. You got over to hump last year. but then this was the ultimate.

I mean, for 365 days, you heard about, wait till Michigan comes to our place. You know, those Ohio State fans live more controlling people on the internet than anybody. And I don't know what they're doing now.

I mean, they must have a lot of time on their hands. But yeah, it was definitely satisfying, gratified, whatever, going there and getting the job done like they did. And I don't know if,

like Saturday, I'm sitting there watching the end of the game day, game days on the field, and it's just all Ohio State. I mean, they're showing senior days. Then you flip over to Fox, flip over to Fox for their typical noon kickoff at 1215. Exactly. You just see more and more Ohio State.

And I'm just sitting there. I'm like, Michigan, I hope they're not on the field. And then sure enough, they show Harbaugh in the tunnel peeking his head out. I'm like, this team's ready to go, man. And they were just awesome, awesome effort. Love seeing it. Nothing better than winning on the road at college football. You know what?

I don't think there's anything more thrilling than, a road team winning in sports in a big game period. There's something really, I don't know what it is. It's compelling as hell when you go into an absolute, you know, snake pit like Columbus was on Saturday. And as an underdog, and you come out with a win in that kind of environment, it's thrilling when you see it happen. What were the other big things that stood out to you from the final regular season weekend of the year? I was just amazed at, on the other TV at the same time, I had Clemson, South Carolina on, and I just couldn't believe the blows that were being thrown by each team with the big plays,

you know, Shipley in the run game, and then South Carolina just staying with it and making big throw after big throw and seeing Clemson not be able to get stops defensively, and Davo still not make the switch at QB. I was blown away. I mean, he had a lead. he had plenty of time to go to it and he still didn't do it. I think DJ completed nine passes and now he says that's our guy for the ACC championship.

I was blown away at that, that idea of seeing that go in front of your home crowd, win streak on the line, kind of a thing, you know, a home team that's dominated for years and just see it wither away and then you lose the game ultimately. I think there's got to be some second guessing going with Clemson because the way the Domino's fall, they still had a chance. Oh, yeah. They just won that game. Yep. You know, and just see that opportunity. I kind of saw

LSU coming. I said right when they beat Alabama, I wasn't sure they were going to go to Atlanta because I thought Arkansas was up for it, and then Jefferson doesn't play. But they're not there. They played out of their minds against Alabama, and they've had a great

season turning things around. But that was an ultimate trap game. Going to A&M and knowing that A&M doesn't have anything left to play for. They were going to be up for that one. And LSU, I think, was feeling themselves a little bit and not ready for that kind of environment having a chance to be there and knowing what that environment is capable of.

Oregon State, I was really, really proud and happy for them. Just same team. Just knowing you have a backup quarterback and say, we're not throwing the ball. We're going to run it down your throat. And Dan Lannning, I get it. No, but they're not. No, you can't get it. You can't go for fourth down from your own 29-yard line.

In multiple games. It cost yourself a season. Cost them against Washington and cost them against Oregon State. That's the reason Oregon's not in the playoffs. Because this coach bowed to these fourth-down analytics nerds when you really didn't, the momentum wasn't with you. Hell, the Washington game, he didn't have Bo Nix in the game. He was out and it was a tie score.

And this one, he had the lead. What are you doing from your own 29-yard line? I don't get it anymore. I mean, for those of you that don't know what we're talking about, Oregon finishes the regular season 9 and 3, okay? They lose two out of their last three games. They lost to Washington 37 to 34 when they went for a fourth down from their own 29-yard line at the end of the game and missed it with their backup quarterback and Washington won on a field goal. All they needed was a field goal.

That was a tie game. On Saturday at Oregon State, they had a 31-10 lead. They were up 34-31 and from his own 29 with all of the momentum against him, all of it in the game. Oregon State playing lights out. He decides from his own 29-yard line to hand him the ball there for the game-winning touchdown. What a dope. A complete and utter dope.

Cost his team potentially two games and a playoff berth. No other way to say it. Let me just mention a couple things because I'm, I want your reactions because you didn't mention a couple of games. I thought, and you know that I have an interest in TCU, my oldest son went there, and I was in Dallas last week for the Baylor game with a bunch of his friends at a bar, which was a lot of fun. I thought their performance was the best performance of their season and one of the best performances of the weekend.

They beat Iowa State 62 to 14. It's not that they won the game because they were a sizable favorite. were nine and a half, you know, nine and a half, ten point favorite. Iowa State's been one of the best defensive teams in the country, and they annihilated that team, annihilated them. And their defense, which wasn't very good, basically completely shut down Texas and scored, I think, two touchdowns in that Iowa State game. I still think they could lose to K-State, and we'll get to the playoff ideas here

in a moment. On LSU, they, I thought. they were in a little bit of trouble, too, going into that game. I did, and I almost bet Texas A&M, and I almost gave A&M out as a smell test pick. It was 17-17. They had the ball. They were driving, and Daniels fumbled on a run, on a read-option run, and it was picked up and run back for a touchdown. And that was the play of the game, because I think LSU, just like they did against Arkansas, I think they were hanging in there, hanging in there, and I think they're getting ready to really lay it to A&M with their running game.

And that play turned it completely around and it was an onslaught after that. But I don't think they would have beaten Georgia anyway. But I do want to ask you, do you think Georgia, even with the win over Tennessee where they got really conservative in the second half, do you think they've looked vulnerable here in recent weeks? I mean, Kentucky. So do why? Yeah.

I'm really, really interested to see how this all plays out, Kevin, because we could have some awesome, awesome matchups. And I had before, the week before the rankings, we were asked to do our rankings on College Football Live. And I had TCU, too, and I kept them there the whole time. And you go back to what, you know, I know what you said, Iowa State, but you're watching that game. Every single graphic that comes up, it's Iowa State.

First time under Matt Campbell, they've given up this many points in the first quarter. First time they've ever given this points up, this many points up in the first half. Like it was just an onslaught, and you mentioned it, the defense is what has really, really kicked in. They have some physical, physical dudes.

The kid Johnny Hodges is from here. He went to Quinn's Orchard. Yeah, QO, I know. And transferred to you. He's a, yeah, phenomenal player. And they bring it to you. They're not this, the Big 12 defense. that's just going to hang around and try and keep everything in front of you,

they bring the attack to you. And I was really impressed because, like you said, look at what other teams had on their table and how did they respond. DCU has all the pressure in the world because people still are doubting them. And that's going to affect them in their ranking. So to go out and do what they did, and I'm with you. I still think Kansas State is really, really dangerous this coming Saturday. But, yeah, really impressed with TCU, you know, what they did.

in LSU, I get it. You know, again, I didn't pull the trigger on A&M. But yeah, Georgia, because when I looked at Georgia, I said three weeks ago on our podcast, right after Oregon, Oregon lost to Washington. I said, what if Oregon lost to, who did they play last week, Utah? What if they lost that game and lost to Oregon, or Oregon State, and then they ended up with four losses,

that's Georgia's best win. You know, the Tennessee win, but that resume is not great. Go down their schedule. I know. And they had the ability to get in several weeks before big games. Actually, the South Carolina win looks good now. Yeah, yeah. You know, much better than it did.

No, we said that going into the Tennessee game. We talked about who have they really beaten. And, you know, we discounted opening weekend. Like, I think it should be discounted to a certain degree. You know, the first week, that Labor Day weekend every year is a bit of a head fake. But I don't know. They've looked to me too conservative offensively. And, you know, and Bennett, if you pressure him, it's a problem.

They've got to be able to run the football against you. I mean, Georgia Tech had a 10. Georgia Tech was down 10-7 at the half, and they had moved the football against them. But anyway. Yeah, I look at that. No, I'm with you because I still think there's a dynamic with Kirby Smart and Munkin, the offensive coordinator, that's a little off. Because when you look at their personnel, I think, I mean, if I'm lying, about Georgia, I am lining up and bashing people with those tight ends and that offensive line. And I still think Munkin throws the ball a lot more than they even need to.

So I think it's more of trying to keep everybody happy, you know, with all the guys they have. and they really haven't been healthy at wide receivers. So I'm really interested in them. I do expect a big effort out of them because in all this, their defense has really gotten better. And they had some major, major shoes to fill on that defense with what they put on their two linebackers and calls and assignments. They had two young guys come in, I believe his kids from St. Francis,

that's calling all the shots now. He really stepped up against Tennessee and Mississippi State. So I'm expecting their defense to be really, really good Saturday against LSU. Did Caleb Williams wrap up the Heisman Saturday night? I mean, I would hope so, Kevin. I really would. I mean, I feel like I'm thinking about, you know, broadcasting all this. I'm trying to think the last time college game they didn't go to a game of the Heisman

trophy winner during the year, you know, and they're not going to, they're going to big 12. And the big new, I mean, Fox now has the priority. with games. And I thought that I thought, you know, everyone combined did a really bad job documenting his season,

watching him every week and seeing what is on his plate, every single snap, and what he gets his guys into as far as best case scenarios. And then after the ball is snap, there's nobody, nobody like him,

that has the ball in his hands and is asked to do as much as he is. It is so fun, to watch, watch him do his thing, and know that you're going to have to, you know, you're going to knock that, you've got to knock them out. I mean, think about what Utah had to do to finally kill them and beat him in Salt Lake in that 43-42 game. I'm really excited to see. I kind of like Utah. Oh, you like Utah. I know. Yeah. Yep. I kind of like you talk Friday night. I like all the dogs, I think. I mean, I was, I was looking at the slate first thing

this morning, and I mean, I don't get it. I just think. There's the point, the lines don't make sense to me, and they are very, very short. So as you always say, you got to lean towards the dog. I mean, Utah's getting, for those of you that don't know, two and a half. I mean, you want to buy that thing to three, but they already beat them once, and that's the one loss. And so let's wrap this up, okay, with the playoff projection. So right now, it's really easy in terms of what we're going to see in the top four tomorrow night. We're going to see Georgia 1, Michigan 2, TCU 3, and USC 4.

Before we get to, you know, what happens if teams start losing, who do you think will be 5 and who do you think will be 6? Because this will determine if, you know, what the next team in is if you get, you know, a loss from USC or maybe even TCU. Is Ohio State 5 and Bama 6 or is Bama 5 and Ohio State 6? I think Ohio State's five. Okay. And Bama 6.

Don't you think Bama is better? Yeah. No. No, not necessarily. No, I don't. Alabama is another one. You know, I wanted to see more. I felt like I said it all every week.

But I'm not there yet. I know the points Freds will have Alabama's a favorite over Ohio State. But I'm not there yet. I still think. The offensive line has holes. And another guy that's just unbelievable to watch him. And being what is asked of Bryce Young every snap and see him do his thing. They don't have the difference makers.

That's been well documented at wide receiver. So, and now it looks like the guy, a couple guys nicked up with, you know, running back. So, no, I'm not there yet. I think the one loss definitely is. I get it. Alabama has two walk-off losses. But here's another thing, Kevin. how great would bowl season be?

I mean, look at these games we could have, but now we're in the age of, you know, no one's going to play because they're getting ready for the draft, but like somehow, some way, if they were in, we get an Ohio State, Alabama Sugar Bowl or something, that would be incredible. So you agree with me, right, that Georgia and Michigan are in regardless of what happens

in their championship games, right? They're in. If I was in the call, I say TCU is too. Okay, well, that's the next one. Okay, so Georgia and Michigan, regardless of what happens, they could get blown out in their conference championship games, which probably won't happen, but they're in. So I agree with you. I think TCU is in with a close loss.

I think a blowout loss to Kansas State could be the problem that they would have. What do you think? Yeah, I could see that. I mean, think about that's the one scenario. No one discussed going in the Michigan, Ohio State. What if Michigan went there and blew and won by double-dits? No one even brought to that. No one brought it to the table.

And now here we are with them with a double-digit win on the road in Columbus. So, yes, I still think TCU is all right. But, yeah, you start factoring a blowout loss. Then the narrative started about this. And, you know, then they'll go back and talk about how many close wins they had. this and that. So I'm in the TCU. Like I said, I've been in the CCU camp since early on

watching this team, going back to the SMU game and just seeing what the offense is capable of that defense. Yeah, they were in trouble in that game. They're going to need them again. Yeah, yeah. So they're going to need that defense again. But yeah, I think CCU should be in with a loss also. But you think it's got to be a close. It's got to be a competitive game.

Yeah. Yeah, I would. I think it's like I said. The double-digit loss. Yeah. Like a blowout loss, considering that this team was also in their last game down double digits to K-State before they rallied for a win. If they get blown out, I think it could be a problem for them. But then let's move on to USC.

They have to win to solidify their spot. If they lose, they're out, right? I would think so. And then you'd put Ohio State in it. It's so weird to have a – Yeah. And then you know what's crazy, Kevin? is USC's playing Friday night.

Yeah, I know. And everybody else is playing Saturday. So the dynamic of that is going to be pretty incredible to see how it plays out Friday night. Because that's going to be, that's a monster, monster game knowing people in Columbus are open for a result. And the idea of USC losing to the same team twice, like think about that. They're four. And then what do you do with them if they have two losses and to the same team? in a season, that's tough to overcome because you could still talk about how you've made improvements

if you were to beat Utah Friday night in the Pac-12 title. Yeah, if they lose their out, Ohio State's the next one in. If TCU loses and a blowout and USC loses, then I think both Ohio State and Bama move into the field. I mean, that would be the wild. I think if TCU gets hammered, and I'm talking about, you know, 40, you know, 45 to 17, and USC loses, I could see them both being out in Ohio State and Bama both moving into the playoff. I think if TCU has a competitive loss, they're in. I agree with you on that. USC's out with a loss to Utah. There's no way they can recover and is a two-loss team be in it.

Ohio State would move ahead of them. And then you could get some seating issues, which would be interesting because let's say TCU lost a close game, dropped to four, and Ohio State moved into three. with USC losing and you got an Ohio State Michigan semifinal rematch. That would be pretty wild. That would be nuts. That would be absolutely nuts. So you just look at the hooker injury for Tennessee and say no chance?

Yes. Yep. And by the way, there are two lost team. And if you're going to compare them to Bama and Bama beat him head to head, understood. No, Tennessee beat him. That's what I meant. Bama lost to Tennessee head-to-head.

So if you're comparing the two lost teams, I guess you could go there. But without Hooker, you can't put Tennessee into that playoff. Yeah, that's... Because you're evaluating them with the eye test, too. Now, they really came through against Vanderbilt. I bet you, did you like Vanderbilt? I know.

I kind of liked them. I didn't play them, thank God. I saw too much of it. I thought Vandymen ended up being a public play because everything I heard, oh, Tennessee, they don't want to play anymore. They're out of it, hookers out, this and that. There were tech flying around about this and that. I'm like, I still don't trust Vanderbilt.

I mean, we're talking about Vanderbilt here. I think we're going to end up with Georgia, Michigan, TCU, and Ohio State. I think USC is going to lose to Utah. I think Utah is exceptionally well-coached. By the way, so is USC. And I think they're tough enough to win a game against a team that will give up yards and points. I got to don't you think Notre Dame is kicking themselves

Kevin they got to be kicking them those turnovers were brutal they should have on that game they had they they should have won that game they were in the game they were in the game at 17 7 driving UCLA too UCLA as well

I mean well hell if we're going to if we're going to go back I mean Cal had a chance against them you know Oregon State had a chance against them so that's that's my guess. I think USC loses and TCU ends up in there with Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State. Even though I personally disagree with you, I think Bama would beat Ohio State, and I think

they're better than Ohio State, but it would be one loss, you know, versus the number two seed versus a two-loss team against, you know, nobody who's in the playoff. Both of the teams they lost who wouldn't be, wouldn't be in the playoffs. So Ohio State would get it. So what's your fine. What's your guess? I think I'm with you. I think TCU and S. C are going to lose, and I would

definitely keep TCU in, so I'm with the Ohio State for that way, they have perfect matchups. Because you could go Georgia against Ohio State and then Michigan against TCU. But it's, I love

to see USC get in. I just think it's great for the sport if you get four teams and one from, you know, a different, nobody from the same conference. I think that would be huge to keep the interest in, and you get Georgia, you know, USC. The one thing I was thinking about, and you might know this, I haven't dove into it. Can Georgia play in the Peach Bowl, even though they played a regular season game there? I thought that was a rule that you can't play there. I was just assuming that they would be playing in Atlanta as the one seed. I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, because one of the things with TCU, I'm like, just get them to three and then they can play in Arizona and they don't have to play in Atlanta against Georgia. I just assumed Georgia would be playing there. I mean, I could be wrong. Yeah. But by the way, in your scenario, I think Ohio State might jump to the three seed and TCU would fall to the four if TCU lost a close game to Kansas State and state in there. And you might get an Ohio State-Michigan rematch. See, I don't think they want that. I don't know.

I don't know. Did you see the ratings for that thing? Yeah. Yeah. And it would be an ESPN game. I get it. That's a lot to ask for. Man, that would be the best case scenario for Ohio State.

Because then you get it right back. You don't have to wait another year. Right. With the opportunity. Exactly. So. All right. We'll talk about, you know, the final four when we get there.

I appreciate you doing this. Thanks. Absolutely. And I just want to say that I'm rooting for the. manners just for the sake of your show. It's awesome to see. Here you talk about a football team that matters, and I know that's all the people want.

So it's a really fun ride watching that team do it. I mean, you talk about sticking to a game plan. They are the epitome of that, and it's awesome to watch. Yeah, they're a good team right now. There's no doubt about it. It's going to be fun. It's been a while since there have been games in December against division rivals that, you know, matter for them.

So I got two of them against the Giants coming up. Now they're favored at MetLife this week? They are. Did I see that? They are. Oh, boy. One of a half point favorites. Oh, boy.

Yeah, I mean, it's weird. You know how I feel these days. Steve and I talk a lot. It's just you saying the commanders just kind of, it just, it seems foreign to me. But there is no doubt Ron Rivera's done a hell of a job. with this team, and they are a good defensive team. Really good defensive team, although they got run on yesterday. Atlanta, man, that was interesting to watch them.

All right, I got to wrap this up. Arthur, that's a great coach. Great coach. I will talk to you soon, thanks. Absolutely, thank you. Stanford, Steve, everybody. All right, one last thing that I just want to finish up the show with, and that is I just want to, first of all, say that this segment's brought you by

my bookie. go to my bookie.ag. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. And they'll match your first deposit dollar for dollar all the way up to a thousand bucks. But I wanted to congratulate Mike Loxley and the Maryland football team on a really solid season. I told you before the year, I thought this would be his best team that they could win, you know, eight games. I thought eight was a possibility. And really the game that made the difference between the seven and five regular season.

And they finished up Saturday by blowing out Rutgers. a Rutgers team that had been competitive against some good teams, but they blew out Rutgers 37 to nothing, had well over 500 yards of offense. Their defense played lights out, and that, you know, that captured the first overall winning regular season for Loxley as the head coach at Maryland. But, you know, the Purdue game that they lost 31 to 29 is really the difference between an eight and four, five and four Big Ten conference season. where they are now four and five in the conference seven and five overall. And don't forget, Purdue clinched the Big Ten West,

and they're going to play in the championship game on Saturday against Michigan. But they had close games against Michigan, close, really close game against Ohio State. They had the ball down three at midfield with a chance late in the fourth quarter. They had two lopsided results at Penn State and at Wisconsin in really bad weather games. but Loxley's making progress, and I just wanted to mention that it was, you know, a fun season to watch, and it'll be fun to watch them in a bowl game for the second straight year.

Anyway, that's it for the day. Back tomorrow, and I'll do the Sean Taylor stuff with Tommy tomorrow.