The Kevin Sheehan Show - Washington-Kansas City Pre-Game

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Kevin opened with the recent history of Washington being a giant-killer in games in which they are huge underdogs. He had his "keys" to an upset over the Chiefs before welcoming on Ben Standig from Kansas City. Kevin finished up with his prediction for tonight along with thoughts on yesterday's NFL games. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Want to spruce up your lawn? FastGrowingTrees.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. This from Ari to open up the show. Ari writes Kevin I've never called or written. But I want you to know I am taking the points tonight and playing Washington to win the game outright on the money line. They've been big game hunters in recent years.

The Eagles with Taylor Heineke a few years ago, the win over the Steelers in 2020, and the playoff game last year in Detroit. Something about this team has made them tremendous as large underdogs. What do you think? Well, Ari, I'll let you know what I think in just a moment. The show's presenting sponsor is always Window Nation 86690 Nation and WindowNation.com if you need new windows. If you're thinking about changing windows before winter arrives, do it now.

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86690 Nation or windownation.com if you need new windows before the true cold air arrives. It was kind of chilly over the weekend. Feeling like Halloween. week, this last week of October. Ben Standig's going to join me from Kansas City in the next segment, and then I'll have my prediction on tonight's game and a few thoughts on yesterday's NFL games in the final segment. I'm going to try to keep this show to right around an hour so you have the ability to consume it before the game kicks tonight at Arrowhead. So Ari, in responding to your email. You're right. They've had some big wins as big underdogs. Some of those least expect it when you expect it moments. You mentioned the 2020 game against Pittsburgh.

Remember that COVID weird year and they played Pittsburgh on a Monday afternoon and beat the Steelers when they were 11 and 0. Now, they were not a huge underdog. That line ended up coming down to like six and a half, seven. But that was an upset, no doubt. Nobody was expecting Washington to win that game. As it turns out, Washington started playing pretty well. They went on to win in San Francisco. Chase Young and Montez Sweat were playing their best ball to never be seen again.

Although Chase Young had a strip sack fumble yesterday for the Saints. He's actually playing pretty well since he got back from another injury. But yeah, 2020. went over Pittsburgh. 2021, they were a 10-point underdog at home and beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, 29-19, on their way to winning four in a row. 2022 is that game on Monday night football. They were an 11-point underdog at Philly, given no chance to win the game.

Remember in that game, they rushed the ball. 50 times, 50 in the game and won 32 to 21. Joey Sly had all of those incredible field goals. He made a 58-yarder. He made a 55-yarder. Heineke was fine. Remember, he drew the big late-hit penalty. I think it was on Brandon Graham at the end of the game that salted the game.

But in that game, Washington rushed 50 times. Hold on. I had it here a second ago. 50 rushing attempts for 152 yards. So it's not like they were crushing it in yards per carry. But they stuck with it. It was Brian Robinson Jr. Antonio Gibson. They used Curtis Samuel that night in the running game. Taylor Heineke ran.

Heineke didn't have a bad game. He was 17 of 29 for 211 yards. No touchdowns had a pick and was sacked three times. But the biggest play he made was really that drawing of that late hit. In Washington, you know, after Casey Two Hill recovered one of those pitch arounds at the end, they had themselves a stunning 32 to 21 victory. Remember that season, I think I've mentioned this recently. they were competitive in that season.

They got to 7 and 5. After beating Marcus Marriota and the Falcons, they had that big game against the Giants on Sunday night football that got flexed. They were in the playoff race that year until that loss to Cleveland at the end when Ron Rivera had no idea that they could be eliminated with a loss. Then you moved to 2023. They played Philly at Philly early in the season as a 10-point underdog. and lost 34-31 in overtime.

Remember they scored on the last play of regulations. Sam Hal threw, was it Dodson? He threw two? And they decided not to go for the two. It wasn't, was it Dodson? I think it may have been Jahan Dotson that they threw to at the very end of the game. I'm pulling it up right now. Yeah, Dotson, with no time left to tie it.

And they kicked instead of going for two. And then they lost in overtime 34, 31. didn't win that game, but they covered easily as a 10-point dog. Also, the game at home against Philly, there were a 7.5 point underdog, and they covered in that game, even though they lost that game, 38, 31. Now, I will tell you about the 20-23 season, if you recall, it went sideways at the end. They were big underdogs and got crushed by the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, got crushed by the Dolphins as a big underdog, got beat by the 49ers as a big underdog, and then in the season finale got crushed by the Cowboys as a big underdog.

But I almost don't want to count that. The season had already gone south. I mean, they had no quarterback. They had an offensive coordinator that a lot of the players on the team had a major problem with. But then last year, you mentioned Ari, the Detroit game, in which they were a nine-point underdog, and they went to Detroit in the playoff game 145.31. They were a seven-and-a-half point underdog. It's Cincinnati.

three and won that game 3833. So yeah. Now that line's dropping. It's about 10 and a half now. I'll give you an update on that in the final segment when I talk about where you can wager on this game at my bookie. But yeah, they've had a bit of kind of especially prime time or big sort of, you know, isolated game spots. The Pittsburgh game in 2020, the Philadelphia game in 2022. and then the SINC game on Monday night last year in the Detroit game, the playoff game as well. Look, this is a tough sell on an upset tonight. And I understand like all of you do, it happens all the time. Double-digit, big underdogs on the road or at home.

They win games in the NFL. The fine line talent-wise produces these moments. Games are their own entities and things happen. but it's a tough sell tonight because no Jaden Daniels and a defense that has really turned awful and just lost arguably its best player in Dorrance Armstrong. It's a tough, tough, you know, ask tonight at Arrowhead, especially when you consider the Chiefs really need it. They're healthier than they've been all year.

They're playing well. And when I say they really need it, I mean, Denver's. six and two. They don't want to fall two games behind the Broncos. The Chargers won on Thursday night football. They're five and three. The AFC West is turning into quite the race, and the chiefs have to kind of keep pace here, and they need the win tonight at home. So it's not likely. There are spots in which, you know, big underdogs, you're like, yeah, they got enough. They could pull it off. Tonight, given what they have, it would be a bit of an all-timer if they were to go in their backup quarterback, struggling defense. They are getting Terry and Debo back. That is huge for

Marcus Mariotta. But let me give you the formula for a stunner tonight. Let me give you my Washington beats Kansas City if. So I've got four things to kind of focus on. Number one is this. They've got to shorten the game, and shortening the game to me tonight means running the football. You know, Kansas City is fourth in the league in time of possession. Washington is 28th in the league in time of possession.

That is a big change from where they were last year. I think if they get, you know, beat. in the time of possession by say 33 to 27, 33 minutes to 27 minutes or 34 minutes to 26 minutes. That is probably a tell, a big tell that they got run tonight. I think Washington has to shorten the game. I'll get to the running game in particular in a moment, but they go hurry up. They go up tempo. They snap the ball a lot with 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 14 seconds on the play clock. You don't have to.

There's no rule that says you have to snap it with a lot of time left on the play clock. I know they feel like it gives them an advantage. They're an up-tempo, hurry-up team. Get to the line of scrimmage. Keep Kansas City in the package you want them to be in. But just don't snap the ball until, you know, there are five seconds left on the play clock. And look, Washington does have those situations where the play gets in, late and they barely get the playoff or they have to call a timeout or they even take a delay

of game penalty. But too many times they're snapping it with tempo in mind, with hurry up in mind. And I think tonight shortening the game is crucial. And I think their best way to shorten the game is by running the football. And when I say running the football, this is all 11 involved in the run game tonight. Marcus Mariotta's got to be a huge part of the run game. It is what he does best. He is an excellent read option quarterback. He's an excellent design run quarterback. He'll be good in any kind of RPO that they want. Remember, RPO is not zone read, read option. RPO is run pass option. That's him either giving it or throwing it. There is a blended zone read RPO and they might have some of those involved too. But I think 11 on 11 in the run game, Kansas City's good,

man. They got Chris Jones, remember him? They've got Carl Loftus. I'm a big fan. Nick Bolton is having himself a season. But Kansas City's giving up four and a half yards per carry this year. That's 22nd in the league. I went back and looked at the game that they played against Baltimore, because that's the game they played against a team that had a true dual threat attack. Lamar got hurt in that game, remember, in the second half. They turned it over twice, Baltimore did in the first half, but they ran the football. They ran the football to the tune of 166 yards and 9.8 yards per carry.

They were up 7 to 3 and on the move late first quarter heading into the second quarter, and they threw a pick. They had a fumble in the first half, and they fell behind 20 to 10. The two turnovers were crucial because they were moving the football against the Chiefs with their run game. You know, Derek Henry, Justice Hill, and Lamar Jackson. That's what it's got to be tonight. It's got to be Marcus Mariotta, you know, Bill Kroski Merritt, Chris Rodriguez, you know, Jeremy McNichols.

They've got to use all 11, and they've got to use Markis. Marcus Mario da is a run threat and presented as a run threat. That'll make it easier for them to run the football. Cliff's got to be, you know, dedicated to this. He's got to try to run the football and shorten the game. I think it's 150 yards of rushing offense with Marioita getting at least 50 of those 150. And I think if you see that, you see a time of possession advantage, Washington, any kind of advantage. 31 29, 3228.

I think they were in that game. They had a chance. So, yeah, you've got to shorten the game, and I think they do it with their run game tonight. Number two is you've got to win the mistake battle. And when I say mistake battle, I'm not talking specifically about turnover margin. Mistake margin is partly turnover margin,

but it's other things. Here's their deal in their last three losses. Minus five turnover margin, 22 penalties for 208 yards, 10 dropped passes, and a ton of mistackles. I mentioned last week going into the Dallas game. You can't drop passes in this game.

You can't have a lot of penalties in this game. You can't turn it over three times like you did against the Bears. And they, you know, had two turnovers, They had 11 penalties for 118 yards. They had another four drop passes, a bunch of missed tackles. This has to be them winning the mistake battle. I think it's plus two or better minimum in the turnover area. The bad news on that is the chiefs have the fewest turnovers in the league two through seven games,

only two giveaways, and Washington has the fewest takeaways. second fewest, excuse me, behind the Jets. The Jets have just one takeaway. Washington has just three, but somehow you've got to be plus two to beat the Chiefs tonight. No more than five penalties tonight and no dropped passes tonight. You got Terry and Debo back, but you can't have those plays in which the sticks will move, or it's instead of second and ten, it's second and four. instead of third and nine, it's third and two.

Got to catch those passes tonight. They've got to win the mistake battle. Turnovers, penalties, drops, tackles. Number three, Washington will win if they limit the explosives. This is a bit of a reach here because they've been giving up explosives every week. But you can't give it up. You can't give it up quickly. and then you got to, if you don't give it up quickly and you make them earn it,

then you got to get a break in the red zone, you know, and hold them to a couple of field goal attempts. The problem, of course, with this is there's no better off-schedule quarterback, no better creator than Patrick Mahomes. And there's no answer to it, you know? Yeah, you can try to contain them, you know, in the pocket. But Washington's pass rush, come on. How are they going to contain them in the pocket?

and if you blitz him too much, he's going to shred you. And he'll make you, you know, look silly and get outside the pocket. And he'll do it on third and 15. Like, let's just say they get a holding penalty on a second and seven. And all of a sudden it's second and 17. And then they have an incomplete pass and it's third and 17. It's not over yet. He will make you look silly.

He'll extend, extend, extend, and then throw to a wide open rice. It'll look like he's sacked and then he's not. and he's off and he runs for 18 and gets out of bounds. But you've got to limit those plays. You've got to limit them to maybe two or three tonight or you really aren't going to have much of a chance. And then lastly, I thought there were some interesting numbers I was looking at special teams-wise.

Washington leads the league in kickoff returns at 31.1 per. We know what Luke McCaffrey's been. I don't expect Debo, even though he's back to play to be on kickoff returns. So some hidden yardage. on special teams with kickoff returns. How about a driver or two that starts from your own 45? Or Kansas City's 48. You know, we also know Washington's an excellent kick coverage team.

In fact, sixth best in kick coverage in the NFL. Now, Matt Gay, please, no kicks out of bounds. Please, no touchbacks. Washington is fourth in punt coverage this year and their third in net punting average. So there's a lot of hidden yardage in special teams that can be to advantage Washington tonight. You know, better starting field position with coverage and returns.

And Butker, by the way, when we get to the kicking game, Matt Gay's had his struggles, obviously. Matt Gaye's missed three P, not Matt Gay, Harrison Butker's missed three PATs, and three field goals this year. He's been anything but himself. So shorten the game, shorten it with the help of 11 on 11 in the run game,

win the mistake battle, limit explosives and win in the red zone, and then win that hidden yardage battle with some good special teams. Not the easiest thing to pull off tonight, but there's always a way. It is doable in the NFL. NFL always, even with a backup quarterback who's more than capable of playing at a competent

level. Marcus Moriota, they can, I think he's better in the zone read game. I've mentioned that than Jaden. And with Jaden wearing that brace, he may be a more effective tonight anyway, dual threat running quarterback. They win this game tonight with their offense more than anything else. Offense staying on the field, keeping the defense off the field, and and shortening the game and scoring when they have the opportunity to do so. All right, we'll go to KC, talk to Ben Standing next after these words from a few of our sponsors. Guys, everybody understands that from time to time, we have personal finance issues, banking relationship issues that include things like overdraft fees, missed payments,

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When did you get into town? Yes, Sunday, during, like, the 1 o'clock games. Have you been to Arrowhead? No, this is my first time. I've been to St. Louis, but I've never been to this part of the state. I purposely, when I got into my rental car, I purpose like I want, Kansas is not far away, and I wanted to check that off the list, you know?

So I drove to Lawrence, Kansas, and I went to see the University of Kansas and had lunch in the college town. It was pretty cool. And then I have not been – actually, I've not been downtown to the city yet. I'm going to do that before the game. I'm blanking on the name of the bar. The wheel. The wheel is the name of the bar. Did you go to the wheel?

In Lawrence? No. Oh, that's a friend. Okay. Well, our friend Michael Phillips went to University of Kansas. Okay. So I said to him, hey, I'm going for lunch. Where am I going?

He steered me to some, you know, sort of a, you know, nice sports barry kind of a kind of a play. But I did want to watch some of the games. So I did that, and then I just drove around for a bit. All right, because the wheel is, I think, the big time, like game day place in Lawrence. Scott's been there. Stanford, Steve, I think he's been there. Rigo's even told me stories about the wheel

and being at the wheel. But, okay, no worries. So how long was the drive from Kansas City to Lawrence? About 45 minutes. There was, you know, no traffic. And I was listening, I was, you know, I had Justin Fields going into my fantasy league. So I was listening to the Jets Bengals on the serious XM while driving.

It was, you know, it was a very pleasant drive. It was actually a good game. Everything about, you know, you sort of hear. about the Midwest applied on this route. Very flat, nothing there. Sure. Just, you know, trees and hay bales for as far as the accuracy. But Lawrence was, you know, from what I could tell, it was pretty cool.

I mean, it's exactly what you picture a old-school college town would look like. Did you go into Allen Fieldhouse? Well, I tried. The doors were locked. I did see it. The doors locked. I guess there's a museum, you know, including like James' Neville. Nate Smith's original rules of basketball and stuff like that.

I wanted to go see you, but it was a Sunday, so I think we have regular business hours for that place. I mean, that's on the bucket list for me. Alan Fieldhouse is apparently just unbelievable on game days. I'm trying to think. I've been to Cameron Indoor, but never for Carolina Duke, which is kind of on the bucket list. I was in L.A. over the summer, and we happened to have been, near Westwood, and I have never done this before. I've been on the UCLA campus, and it's gorgeous, and Westwood is gorgeous. But I've never been in Polly before. And I think I did what

you did, which is I walked around the arena. Every single door was locked. And then there was some, you know, guy walking around. And I said, any chance you can just let me in so I can just walk in and see it. And he was like adamant that it couldn't happen. No, I've done that in other places where you're kind of just, you happen to be there and you can just kind of walk in. Like, I've walked into South Bend into Notre Dame Stadium before. Have never been there on a game day, but walked in there and seen it, almost like the movie Rudy. There was like a gate open. I was meeting with a supermarket chain in South Bend, Indiana.

This would have been in the late 90s. That was the only time I've ever been to South Bend. But anyway, um, uh, barbecue-wise, did you end up doing barbecue last night in Kansas City? No, but I have planned today, the aforementioned Michael Phillips is in town for the game. So he is, you know, being from this part of the world, he is steering me. We're meeting up somewhere, one of the classic barbecue spots. That was a definite bucket-linted item if I'm going to make this trip.

So we'll be doing that today. Okay. Well, there's a lot to do in that. I've been to Kansas City a couple of times. I've driven by Arrowhead, never been in Arrowhead for a game. Actually, this is one of those places that, you know, if you're there and it's game day and you're heading to the game, kind of exciting. I mean, this isn't, you know, Charlotte for a Skins-Panthers game.

You know what I mean? Even as a reporter. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously, it seems to have been, you know, the best team in the league for last decade and oh, I had to get, having not been, but it's, you know, it's revered a new, RFK was before

it, you know, the war, I don't know exactly, I don't exactly remember what year era has built, but my entire life, they played it, right? So, yeah, and I, yeah, I do think it's one of those places where is, uh, it is above and beyond his atmosphere.

I'm excited to to, uh, to walk around and, uh, you know, We'll see if there's a famous person who shows up at this game as well. You never know. All right. Terry and Debo are back. Duran Payne will find out a little bit later on. What about the kicker, Matt Gay?

That's something I did not know about when I was talking to you on radio not that long ago. Matt Gay kind of found his way onto the injured list. If he can't kick tonight, I was checking. out who they have on the practice squad. They don't have any kickers on the practice squad. What would they do? Yeah, I mean, presumably have somebody on standby, depending on how, you know, on how concern they are with whatever Matt Gay is dealing with. I did check, and I have tried checking around. I even hit up somebody in the same Gonzalez as orbit, but nothing there. So I'm sure they have some sort of contingency plan

and the way it would work would be if they decide that Matt Gay is not going to go, they would find somebody kicker presumably to the practice squad and then elevate them the game. They could even do that and then even if Gay were to even if you were to openly

play, they could do that just in case. That would be the contingency plan, but I have not heard as the time we're talking what's Are I forgetting anybody else who's out other than the obvious, you know, Dorrance Armstrong for the season, which is a major blow? What else did the injury report look like?

Colton Yankoff is out for this one. I mean, obviously we'll often discuss five, but he'll be the other obvious inactive because of injuries. So those are the ones from a health standpoint to keep an eye on. I mean, Duran Payne, obviously being the biggest, but Mad Gay, like you're saying, is maybe the most curious or interesting because of the ramifications. Yeah, and the Chiefs, once again, there's an odd story, and for those that have listened to the last few shows, we had Stephen Spector or a guy on from Kansas City last week. Josh Simmons, who was drafted by the Chiefs at the end of the first round. And if you recall, Washington drafted Josh Connerly Jr., just a few picks before the Ohio State,

tackle Simmons was picked. Simmons started the season and was lights out for them as a starting tackle, as a starting left tackle. And he is essentially AWOL right now. There's a ton of mystery around his absence now. I think this will be week four without him. And, you know, they also have Trey Smith with their starting guard who's doubtful for tonight. They've been playing without Simmons. but that's a weird story. I mean, you hope everything is okay with the young man or even the young man's family, but what have they said, you know,

have you heard anything updated on Josh Simmons in his absence? No, I think, I mean, you just kind of laid it out. Well, I mean, it's, you know, obviously sometimes players have to miss a game for real world circumstances. I mean, typically in health, or theirs or somebody else's. But, yeah, in this case, it feels like much more ambiguous as to what is happening here. You know, he slipped from a – he had a significant knee injury, right? Needsur, I think, last year that hurt his draft value.

He could have been possibly a top five or ten pick if he had been healthy based on what people saw. But he flipped all the way to the end of the first. And, you know, I don't know for sure, but imagine maybe there's some – you know, on the background check of things, that maybe there were some questions, because, you know, like you said, he came out really hot for the chief, and it's not like the warrant a bunch of offensive linemen

picked this year ahead of them. Well, I don't, it clear, I mean, whatever the injury was, it didn't bother the chiefs who are a team known to be willing to take risks on guys, including guys who have maybe temperament concerns. So I don't know, I'm not just speculating now, but, yeah, it's very weird.

In your 24 hours plus being there, do you sense any concern among, you know, Chiefs people that this is a loseable game from their standpoint? I mean, I'm sure there's some nervous nowadays out there, but, you know, it's a subscribe to the Joe Gibbs approach that, hey, you know, we could lose to the local high school team, you never know. But I don't really get the sense that there's too much going on, and especially without, you know, Jane Daniels is here. Obviously, we would all be looking at this very differently.

I don't believe, I don't think they're going to have too much fear about the Marriott-led offense. But also, again, the Chiefs are humming right now. It would be, you know, if this was earlier in the year, when the Chiefs, as was the case often last year, where their offense just didn't, you know, just wasn't moving the ball. They were just in this slog. That'd be one thing. When you have a top five defense as they do and the home of, you know,

if I think from like a fantasy football perspective, he was the number one fantasy guy is going into this week. He's splitting up good numbers. They're getting guys healthier. They still, their running game is still a bit of a mess. But, you know, in general, they look pretty good. You mentioned Trey Smith potentially being out. He's doubtful.

He was kind of a guess he's going to be out. But, you know, he's one of their top interior offensive linemen, of course, and now you mentioned Simmons. So, yeah, I mean, they've got some pieces missing, but, you know, what team doesn't? And everywhere else, they look really good. also like that, you know, we obviously know about Travis Kelsey, but this is a team that would throw the ball to multiple different tight ends, and we've seen Washington have issues covering

the tight end. So, you know, I just think, I don't think too many people are concerned beyond that, hey, you know, you never know in sports. Dan Quinn said, we're going to be better than we've been defensively last week. Joe Witt Jr. then spoke the next day, and the very last question was on if he thought about personnel changes on defense, and he said, quote, yeah, and you'll probably see some of it this week. Yes, closed quote. So what do you think we'll see defensive personnel change-wise tonight? Well, again, you know, they were going to, whether these coaches said anything or not, they were going to have to make changes because of the Doran's Armstrong situation. Right. From a practical matter, they only have two defensive.

ends who were sort of big enough that you could say could be out there for like every down, not that they would be, but Jaylon Holmes and Preston Smith. Other than that, they're going to have to move tackles outside Johnny Newton played a lot at end. In the last game, when Armstrong went out, they're going to have to use Frankie Lou who probably down, with his hands down, which would mean putting in like Jordan McGee next to Bobby Wagner, perhaps. They even, you know, Joe Whit even mentioned Kane Madrano.

A lot of this about what they're looking to do here is create more speed. They're trying to simplify the play calling so guys are not thinking, and they can just react, hence, you know, get faster in that way. Madrano should he be, should he play, he was the fastest linebacker times at the combine this past year, so that would be a reason to potentially use him, but he hasn't played defense all year yet. He's only been off, I think, like, one game, maybe two games, one game. So those are the types of personnel changes. Like in the secondary, I don't see too much happening.

I don't know what they can really do at Corner. I don't sense that they're going to sit Marshall-Ladamor or anything along with dramatic like that. Darnel Savage maybe gets in some more reps, but he's already been playing more and more since he's gotten here. So I just think the biggest thing for them is try to simplify the defense. I think what that generally means is from what I was, what I understand is basically instead of having it, play X is called, but then you change the play, depending on what the defense shows, now it's more like, we're going to call this play,

and you just know your responsibility no matter what happens from the offense. So maybe that helps, and that's what they're ranking on. So you see Jacob Martin, Preston Smith, lining up as the defensive end starters, potentially Johnny Newton moving out there. Remember last year we saw Duran move, you know, to defense. offensive end when they were having all those edge-setting problems for at least portions of games. And Kinlaw's done it before any chance either. Well, Payne's got the injury, so he may not go anyway, but any chance that that would be a part of the plan, Kinlaw, Payne, you know, and then using

Goldman and Newton inside as replacements, you know, part of the rotation inside. Yeah, I don't want to dismiss the athleticism of some of the defensive tactics. tackle, so please, fellows, if you hear me, don't hurt me. But, like, I think you've got to be a better athlete to play off of the edge

than you do probably in the middle. I mean, if nothing else, it's a longer run to the backfield, you know, and you've got to have a little more flexibility, you know,

to be able to bounce outside and cut off the edge. And I think Kim Law, to me, would probably be, of those guys, like the better bet, or, you know,

the best options there. But, again, the pain situation could throw that into, could throw those plans into the garbage because we can't have both of those guys probably not be inside. But yeah, I mean, but that's what I'm saying. Like they're going to have to do mix and match. I mean, if we were talking about basketball, we'd be talking about your throwing out some sort of junk defense

just, you know, to throw off a team that maybe because you don't have a room protecting big man or something. So in this case, it's somewhat of the equivalent. It's Patrick Mahomes, if you've got to deal with a guy who automatically, you know, can make plays from anywhere. and so he's a surprise on its own, well alone. You're going to try to surprise him. We'll see how that works.

I'm actually excited if Kane Madrano gets on the field to watch him. I thought that he was a playmaker at UCLA and even a bit over the summer. Flip it to the offense. Do you feel like they feel they've got a legitimate shot to be more than competent offensively with Marcus Mariotta? I think so, sure. I mean, the one thing about the offense this year, yes, it's not been as impressive as last year, but it's hardly been poor. You know, the, they're, you know, top 10 scoring offense going into this week, you know, even with all the changes, quarterback, receiver, et cetera, losing off the neckler and so on.

So, yeah, I mean, I think they believe that they can still do some good things there. Of course, you know, Marriota, you know, he's got to have to make the right reads and know, and know when. to, you know, be, you know, put the ball down and, you know, run or throw it away and not try to force it too much. But, you know, I think they believe we have looked at with Terry and Debo back, you know, together for the first time since week two, week three. You know, that's a huge deal for this for his offense. But, you know, Kansas City, again, one of the top defensive, one of the top defenses in the league. You know, they've got, you know, all pro-level players at all three levels. Chris Jones,

most notably on the defensive line. So, you know, it's not going to be, you know, easy by any stretch. But, again, based on what this team has done offensively this year, despite all the injuries, I think they, again, even in the Dallas game, you know, it was 20 to 15 when they scored that late touchdown with 40 seconds in the first half. They put up over 200 yards of offense, I believe. And then, you know, then they gave up a touchdown. Jaden gets hurt, and that was kind of it.

So, you know, I believe they think the answer is yes, but, you know, putting this on Marriota would obviously not be the most ideal scenario. All right. Your formula for a shocker tonight at Arrowhead is what? I mean, it's, you know, pretty simplistic stuff. You've got to win the turnover battle. They've been negative five the last two games. They're negative five on the season. Kansas City is plus five in the turnover margin. I think it's like top five in the league. So that's a pretty simple one. You've got to do that, though. You've got to, on the offense, control the clock.

both to keep Mahomes off the field, but also to keep your defense off the field. And I think that with the two receivers back that should unclog the line of scrimmage area or within five yards of the line of scrimmage, which will help Jacori-Krosky-Marrett, should help Marriotto, when he wants to turn up the field as well. So, you know, if you can run the ball, again, simplistic, but this is what they're going to have to do to beat the chiefs. It's easy to say, well, you know, somebody has to make a big play. Sure, of course. like, you know, they got to do the fundamental stuff much better than they have been and

consistently to have a shot. So I think those are the things, you know, they have to do. Obviously, the defense has to create turnovers. It's not just a matter of the offense. Not creating turnovers. You've got to give your team an opportunity to play well. And look, you know, even on maybe this is a night where the special teams, which has been really good all year, can come up with a play to, you know, to tip the field, tip the balance,

whether that's in the return game. Before you ask, no, I don't know. if Debo is going to be back there and not the way Luke McCaffrey's going. I don't know why you would put Debo back there. Yeah, he won't be back there. I can't imagine. Yeah. Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, so, you know, hey, this is a good time for, you know, to not only to make plays and then take advantage of them. That's the thing. It's not enough to create the turnover if you then don't, you know, if you go free and out and punt, you know, take advantage of the opportunities. And that's what they're going to have to do. They probably won't be a lot, but whatever they get, they've got to make the most of it. All right.

Prediction. Yeah, I mean, look, I, I, I, I, I don't, you know, I'm going to side with the people that thinking the city is going to win this game and, you know, it won't stun me. I think, you know, you told me to spread like 11 or so. So it's not going to stun me if the chiefs win this thing like 34 to 21. I just think they have too much going for them. But again, this is where Washington is at right now. It isn't enough to say they have to play well, which they do.

They need to play better, you know, just to look, give themselves a better chance in the next games against Seattle and Detroit at home. otherwise if they just look like a mess as they have in some of these other losses then it's hard to get too much too many positives to go into the next week so to me I think that's the biggest thing there's no moral victories and all that

of course and they're going to do whatever they can to win but they've got to just look better if the choose to win because the chiefs are just better hey that's no that's no knock on Washington but they can't look like they don't belong right they've got to look like a team that's giving Kansas City some trouble and if they could do that

then that bodes well going forward. It may not be enough for this game, though. Thanks for doing this. Enjoy it, and I'll talk to you later in the week. Of course, man. See you. At Ben Standing on X on Twitter, Ben's got a very good substack column where he writes pretty much every day on the team, and he's got a podcast as well called Last Man Standing. I'll finish up with my prediction and talk a little bit about what went on around the league yesterday when we return after these words from a few of our sponsors. So with holiday season approaching, it's usually about fit, feel, and price.

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This segment of the show is brought you by My Booky if you want to bet on tonight's game. I recommend doing it at My Booky. First of all, signing up for the first time, you'll get a 50% cash bonus. Returning as an existing customer, you'll get a 50% cash bonus as well. In both scenarios, you have to use my promo code. It's a new one, DC Reload, DC, RELO-A-D. If you're a new customer, go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com slash my bookie. and when you're signing up under the promo code section, type in DC Reload.

If you're a returning customer, just log on, make your deposit, and when they ask for a promo code, DC Reload. Right now, Kansas City, a 10.5 point favorite. The over-under is at 48 at My Bookie. And by the way, next week's number at My Booky right now, Seattle laying three and a half. half on Sunday night football at MyBooky. If you want to get Washington plus more than a field goal, you can play it right now at MyBooky plus three and a half. The total in the Sunday night game is 46. Keep in mind, Washington will be entering Sunday night's game on a short week, Seattle entering Sunday nights game off of a buy.

So big advantage, net rest advantage for Seattle. But if you want to bet on football, baseball, the World Series, anything, my recommendation is to do it at My Bookie. They're the best. They're old school. Fair numbers, fair pricing. And again, the Kevin Sheeonshow.com slash my bookie promo code, DC reload to get a 50% cash bonus. All right, my prediction is Kansas City 27, Washington, 20%. I actually like Washington plus the points tonight.

I did not give it out as a smell test pick. There is more Kansas City action, and there is sharp action here over the last few days on Washington. That numbers come from 13 down to 10 and a half. I like the under 48 as well. 2720 would put you right under it. Yeah, I thought about this morning giving Washington out as a late Monday. night football smell test pick because there is more action on Casey and there's there's you know a lot of

sharp action on Washington but it's not overwhelming public action on Kansas City. Remember that the underdogs in these primetime games recently in the NFL have done really really well. I mean if we just go back you know three or four weeks you know that Thursday night game where San Francisco had all those injuries, and they beat the Rams outright as a big dog. Jacksonville as a dog beat Kansas City outright on that following Monday night game. I'm trying to think of what that Sunday night. And New England went into Buffalo and beat the bills as a big underdog. Then the following week, you had the Giants upsetting.

The Eagles is a big underdog. Chicago upsetting Washington is a dog on Monday night football. Atlanta upsetting Buffalo as a Monday night dog on Monday night football. What was the Sunday night game? That was KC. Detroit. Following week, you had Cincinnati beating Pittsburgh as an underdog. And then, yeah, last Monday night, not so much. But we've had six-in-one big underdogs of seven points or greater.

Six-and-one against the number on the underdog. and three outright. So it takes seven primetime games this year where the favorite has been seven or more, favored by seven or more. They are one and six those favorites are against the number and three and three outright. So yeah, I mean, I kind of like Washington in the under tonight. As I've said many, many times before, in these standalone games, the public almost always plays the over. It's just easier and it's more fun to root for the over. The smell test, by the way, second straight week of 500. Last week, it was 5, 5 and 1. This week, it was 5 and 5.5. So still not a losing week. I know you lost money if you just played my picks, but in terms of the overall record,

still not a losing week this season. Maybe this was. the market correction, and maybe we get back to some big time winning weeks next week. I've already looked ahead, and I like a lot of games, especially on Saturday in college football. So, yeah, 2720, Kansas City tonight, bet it at my bookie using my promo code, DC reload. I want to get this out quickly, and I want to keep this show super short so I can get it out and you guys can listen to it before the game. But as far as yesterday goes, the Giants and Eagles, that tush push in which Kavon Thibito stole it from Jalen Hertz is he was still being pushed and he was still trying to gain yardage is if the tush push wasn't dead already, which I thought it was, it's D.O.A now.

I mean, there's no way that you can officiate this play fairly. The NFL's already said how difficult it is to officiate it fairly. And that was highway robbery, as have been, you know, the false starts that haven't been picked up. You know, that's all I got. You know how I feel about the tush push. I think it's done. I think this is the last year. We'll see it. And good riddance when it is gone. Now, as far as the game goes, look, Philadelphia has bounced back off of those losses to Denver and then to the Giants with an impressive win last week in Minneapolis. And in a impressive win yesterday. Cam Scataboo lost for the year with that broken ankle. But Philadelphia now in two straight games has gotten it going offensively. Jalen Hertz in his last two games. You're

ready for this? 34 or 43, 505 yards, seven touchdowns, no picks. And then they got Sequin Barkley going for the first time yesterday. He rushed for 150 yards on 14 carries. did tweak his groin late in the game, had a 65-yarder in the game's second play, and then Tank Bigsby, who they traded for, he rushed for over 100 yards in the game. They had 276 yards rushing against that giant defense with no A.J. Brown as a wide-receiver threat. That A.J. Brown situation is getting weird. John Dotson had a touchdown catch from 40 yards out, contested, went over the back of defender and made a nice catch. He was only targeted twice, only had one catch. If you're

wondering about Jahan Dotson, he's got eight catches now through eight games for 151 yards and one touchdown. It's not like he is really developed into a threat, but he caught one yesterday with A.J. Brown inactive. And the Eagles go into their by week at six and two. They do have the Packers at Lambo on Monday night football coming out of the by week. They get the Lions at home on Sunday night football the week after that, and then they have to go to Dallas. So three tough games coming out of the buy, they still have, obviously, you know, Washington twice. They also play in L.A. against the Chargers and in Buffalo late in the season against the bills. But these two wins for Philadelphia, it bounced back from where they were.

It does feel more and more like 20, 23 and the implosion that they figured some things out. They had Jalen Hertz under center a lot more yesterday, which improved the running game for sure. Staying in the division, Dallas was terrible in Denver. There are some bad defensive football teams this year, man. I mean, some really, really bad defensive teams. and Dallas may be the worst. You know, Washington certainly right now among the really, really bad. Cincinnati's terrible.

Pittsburgh is awful defensively, but Dallas yesterday, they lose in Denver, 44, 2424. They just could not stop Denver. They couldn't get them off the field. Denver averaged like nearly eight yards of play. they rolled up, you know, couldn't get stopped on third down. Bo Nix had a good game. threw a pick on the opening drive after that.

He was outstanding. J.K. Dobbins, I talked about him all summer long. He's having a hell of a year. I think he's third in the NFL and rushing right now. 634 yards, four touchdowns. He had 111 yesterday. Dallas can't stop anybody. There was an interesting opportunity for them down 30 to 17 in the third quarter,

midfield and they had a fourth and five and Romo was like, you gotta go for this. If you punt it, you're gonna be down 20 when you take the field. We're 16 if they hold them to a field goal and sure enough, they punted. Denver goes 12 plays 84 yards. They're up 37 to 17. So the Cowboys are three, four, and one now. They do have games against the Cardinals and the Raiders coming up.

They're good on offense, although DAC was not good yesterday. and they are horrendous on defense. Look, our game last week, and Ben mentioned it, it wasn't, you know, with the receivers and the limitations they had, they still had 215 yards of offense in the half, and they were moving in the second half to make it a 27-22 game before Jaden fumbled and got sacked and got hurt on that play. But still, not the best offensive performance

against a bad defensive football team. Denver quietly now, I guess not so quietly, right? Because they did beat the Eagles on the road. They are six and two. You know, their two losses were basically at the gun against the chargers on the road 23 to 20. And they lost Indy in a game in which Indy missed a field goal at the gun. But Denver was off sides. The kicker got another opportunity. He made it. And Indy. The Annapolis won that game. Denver is very close to being undefeated. And that's where KC tonight is like, we got to keep pace with the Broncos and win to get to five and three. What else did I want to mention?

The Jets come back against the Bengals. Justin Fields, after being thrown under the bus by owner Woody Johnson, to see him play the way he played. He had a quote afterwards that said, you know, he was in his closet, basically had broken down crying during the week. Look, I said it. Fields played two of the worst games I've ever seen a quarterback play. And then yesterday he came out and played great. He threw for 244 in a touchdown. He rushed for another 31. The Jets against that Cincinnati defense, the Jets who couldn't score, couldn't

generate anything in back-to-back games against the Broncos and the Panthers. They ended up rolling up 39 points in 502 yards. The NFL man, I know Cincinnati's bad on defense, but the Jets, 502 yards and 39 points. Can't figure out the NFL. I'm not sure why on the Cincinnati final drive they didn't throw to Higgins or to chase. Flacco did have two balls dropped by Yosef. Vatch on that final drive that would have kept them alive for a potential game-winning field goal. I thought they would get in field goal range. And if Cincinnati had won that game and they were sitting there at four and four, they'd be in pretty good shape.

But, yeah. By the way, Jamar Chase, 19 targets in yesterday's game. In the last two games with Joe Flacko at quarterback, he's been targeted 23 times and 19 times. He has 28 catches on 42 targets. I don't think I've ever heard of a receiver being targeted that many times in consecutive games. What else do we have? Last night, of course, Aaron Rogers against his old team. Very strange game from this standpoint.

The Steelers are also bad, bad, bad, bad on defense. But they were up 16 to 7, Pittsburgh was at halftime, looking pretty good, had the ball to open up the third quarter to extend the lead to either 23 to 7 or 19 to 7. And they had a third and eight from their own 30-yard line, and they did what Aaron Rogers has done his whole career. They got Green Bay to jump off sides. Aaron Rogers takes a shot down field. It's incomplete. But that's okay.

We're going to get another play at third and three, except for they didn't call the off-sides. It was nearly unabated to the quarterback. one of the worst misses you'll ever see. Like, they just missed it. And Rogers was absolutely, you know, beside himself. And it just flipped the game. They ended up punting. And Green Bay then went touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal,

field goal on five consecutive drives. Now, that's not Pittsburgh's offense. That's Pittsburgh's defense. But Pittsburgh also ended up having just one terrible 15-yard penalty after another that just kept killing their offensive drive opportunities, and then they fumbled. I think Pittsburgh is fine on offense, but defensively, they've gotten old, it would appear. And Jordan Love completed 20 consecutive passes at one point. That's a Green Bay Packer franchise.

record. I think he tied Brett Farve's record or either broke it. I forget what they said last night. I'm looking through the game recap. Whatever it was. It was impressive. But it was mostly just easy pitching catches and then massive runs after catches. He had 360.

He threw four and three touchdowns. His best is borderline elite. His worst isn't terrible, but it can look ugly at times. as it did against Cleveland earlier this year. Speaking of Cleveland, Drake May had himself a football game again. They beat the Browns 32 to 13.

I've seen all the talk, and I'm getting it for many of you. Just relax on Drake May. He's really good. He's playing at a very high level. Stop with the comparisons. When he has two road playoff games in his 60 minutes from the Super Bowl, after one of the greatest rookie seasons in the history of the game, which he can't have anymore. And he literally straps a very average to sub-average team to his back and carries it to 14 wins.

You know, we can talk about him being much better or better than Jaden. I don't see it that way right now. I do see a very good quarterback, though. And I see a guy who is an incredible off-schedule thrower and runner. He threw for 282 and three touchdowns against the Browns defense. The Browns are horrific, obviously, on offense. He also rushed for 50 yards, and they beat the Browns 32 to 13. Here's the one thing.

Drake May's second in the league in sacks taken to Cam Ward. He's taken a lot of sacks. He got sacks six times in the game yesterday. Five of them by Miles Garrett. I was talking to Scott last night, Van Pelt, last night. we were just talking about the day of NFL football before he went on the air last night. And he just said, is there any doubt that Miles Garrett would be the number one pick if you drafted NFL players to start a team after, you know, several quarterbacks? And I'm like, there's no doubt.

He is the best non-quarterback in football. He's the, I mean, he's better than a lot of quarterbacks. But he's the best player that is. isn't an elite quarterback in terms of his impact in football. He's got 10 sacks on the season. He had five on the day. They just are terrible. Here's the thing about the Patriots too.

And they're doing a lot of what Washington did last year against the last place schedule. They did have that win at Buffalo. But other than that, they lost to the Raiders in the opener. You want an example of why week one is just not even worth paying attention to and is the all-time head fake. They lost to the Raiders. in week one.

Their wins are over the dolphins, the Panthers, the Saints, Titans, Browns, and yes, the Bills. They lost to the Steelers in a game in which they turn the ball over five times. But the good news is they don't really play anybody the rest of the year. They have a very interesting game coming up in two weeks at Tampa against Todd Bowles. Bowles usually does a pretty good job against young quarterbacks. I'm really interested to see that match. but they still have the Jets twice.

They play the Giants. They play the Bengals. They play the Ravens and Dolphins. We don't know what the Ravens will look like. They're going to be a playoff team in the AFC. I don't think there's any doubt about it. The issue is whether or not they'll win the division. They already own a win over Buffalo.

And their second meeting with the Bills is on December 14th in Foxborough. That may be for the division. But, you know, do I think, do I see them? beating Kansas City or Buffalo or maybe even Indy. I don't know, but I can tell you this. Drake May, I liked Drake May, okay? I definitely liked Jaden and Pennix Jr. More than Drake May, but I like Drake May.

And if Washington had ended up taking Drake May, I would have been very upset at number two, but if they ended up having, say, the third pick and not the second pick, and it went Caleb Jaden to other teams and they took Drake May over, over, Pennix Jr. I wouldn't have been upset about that. The comparisons that some were making to Justin Herbert or to Josh Allen, I thought were a bit much. But then there was the, you know, he's, you know, he played like Sam Hal in college. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. This is, he's not Sam Hal. He's a legitimate first round pick and worth taking a high pick and a chance on, and he's having a tremendous year.

He takes some big shots. I love his arm. I love his deep throwing ability, and I love his off-scheduled stuff. And he's a runner, too. He just is like a lot of young quarterbacks. There are times in which you're like, ooh, that did not look good. Got to get rid of the ball. But he played a legit defense yesterday.

I mean, a legit defense. And he took six sacks and he threw a pick, but he also. through for 282 and three touchdowns. Like we've said before, quarterbacks aren't perfect. We nitpick our own quarterback to death. Drake May took six sacks and had an interception in the game, but he was outstanding in the game.

And the Patriots are six and two. Other than that, I know you guys want to hear what I have to say about Kirk Cousins. I did have somebody literally right before we started recording this. because he's a Kirk Cousins fan. Send me the pro football focus. He was like better than average in the game per pro football focus for what it's worth. If you watch, he was like the fifth highest rated offensive player for the Falcons.

The Falcons yesterday were so bad on defense and couldn't run the football with one of the best backs in the league. And with Kirk at this point in his career, if you're not running the football and you can't get some play. action off that. It's going to be a tough day. It was really their defense and their running game that did them in. But Kirk was not good in his first start this year. You know, 21 or 31, 173 yards, no touchdowns, no picks, took only one sack, but a lot of it came in garbage time. They got thumped. And by the way, just as an aside, Washington, this next chunk of the schedule, it's like, well, at least we get the dolphins in Madrid. The dolphins have weapons. I mean, they carved Atlanta up yesterday.

Tua was 20 of 26 and through four touchdown passes. They have running backs in Achein, obviously, and Ollie Gordon out of Oklahoma State is really having a decent season. And they still have Waddle. They still have some speed. So, you know,

they are not good defensively. They were one of the worst rush defenses in the league, and Atlanta had 10 yards rushing in the first half on nine carries. So, but I still think that should be a game. Washington wins if they're healthy when they get to it. Baltimore stayed alive.

They're the favorite in the AFC North now after Pittsburgh lost and Cincinnati lost. Carolina had been on a roll. They got thumped by Buffalo. Oh, the Texans, they were a smell test pick. I am not giving up on the Texans, even though the Colts and they walloped the Titans. Look, when you end up with a point differential like the Colts at 7 and 1, I don't care who you've played. Okay, they're plus 116. That's 14 and a half points in terms of their point differential. They're the leading scoring team in the league over 33.

They are for real. There's no doubt. They have a good roster. They're well-coached. I don't know if they beat Kansas City or Buffalo in a playoff game or even Denver, even though they already beat Denver once, but I think Houston's the team to keep an eye on in that division. I think they are far from done. They're excellent defensively. I like Stroud. I don't care how people have given up on Stroud and thrown in the towel. I like the way he throws it. I like

his playmaking ability. And they still have the Colts twice and the Jags twice on their schedule. And they are outstanding defensively. All right, that's it. I'll be back very early in the morning following tonight's game with a recap.