The Kevin Sheehan Show - WFT & NFL Season Predictions

Episode Date: September 9, 2021

Kevin and Thom talked Dallas-Tampa Bay to start the show. Thom weighed in on the Tanya Snyder interview with Adam Schefter. Then it was prediction time for the Washington Football Team. The boys gave their WFT season record prediction with footnotes before moving on to their NFL Super Bowl picks. Kevin finished up the show with an early "Smell Test" pick on tonight's NFL season-opener.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Today's show is brought to you by MyBooky. Head to MyBooky.orgie. And bet the lock of the season,

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and it only costs $10 to enter. There's big money on the line this year, so don't wait to get in the game. Join now. Head to mybooky.orgie.orgie today. Use my promo code, Kevin. Kevin D.C. You'll instantly receive double your first deposit. That's double your funds to double your winnings. Again, use my promo code, Kevin D.C. to receive double your first deposit and get started with my bookie today. But anything, anytime, anywhere with my bookie. Later on in the show, Thomas, does anybody ever call you Thomas? Did your parents ever call you Thomas? No. Thomas, later on in the program, I have a smell test pick for the old.

opener tonight between the Buccaneers and the Cowboys. I am really excited about the opener tonight. I think it's just a heavyweight, marquee kind of matchup. Like I was looking through recently the openers from the last several years. Last year, it was the Chiefs in Mahomes off their Super Bowl win against the Texans and Deshawn Watson. Boy, a year is. changed his life. The year before that was a boring, boring game representing the 100-year anniversary of the NFL. Remember, they didn't do the Super Bowl champions. They had the Packers and the Bears.

That was a 10-3 game. In 2018, the Eagles as the defending champs played the Falcons. 18 to 12 was the final score. The year before that was a really good one. And we didn't know it at the time that the Chiefs were going to be really good that year. And they turned out to be a pretty good team that year. Kareem Hunt made his debut, Tyreek Hill, and they beat the Patriots 42 to 27. But, you know, I'm giving you matchups.

The Panthers and the Broncos had a rematch after their Super Bowl in the Thursday night opener. The Broncos won that game 21 to 20 with, by the way, Trevor Simeon as the quarterback. Remember Peyton Manning retired after winning that Super Bowl and Simeon was the quarterback. But anyway, this is a big one. It is Tom Brady and the defending champions against what is typically the biggest draw in the NFL to Dallas Cowboys. It's a division team. It's the return of Dak Prescott. It's an important game for us, for Washington.

I don't know. I think this is this is as big an opening night game. I've said it for a few weeks, maybe going back when this game was made. I think this has a chance to be the highest rated opening NFL Thursday night game in history. And one of the highest rated NFL regular season games in history tonight. I think it's very anticipated. You don't feel the same way, though, do you? Well, look, I'm excited about it.

I'm happy for the start of football season. I'll be watching it. I don't think it's going to be the highest rated of all time because, well, for one thing, the ratings are so warped these days. I'm talking about in recent times, in recent times, and comparing it to these Thursday night season openers, which have been going on for, what, 15, 20 years, whatever it's been. Right, and I still think COVID throws everything into disarray. and sometimes you would think that that would work in favor of people sitting in front of their TVs and watching it, but it doesn't always.

So I'm not confident it will be the most watched game of this Thursday night opener era. But what is interesting to me is it is a heavyweight matchup, but on one side, it's a heavyweight matchup because of the team, the Cowboys. On the other side, it's a heavyweight matchup because of one player, Tom Brady. are the defending Super Bowl champions, too. Yeah, but I mean, half the people who watch this game, and I won't tell you 10 players on the buck. That's fair.

I agree with you. Brady's the headliner. Brady's the headliner. Yeah. And you have this occasion. You know, we've talked about this before. There are certain franchises that are star franchises in this league. You know, the bucks have not been one of them.

the Cowboys have been the biggest. And Brady's been the biggest star. Yes. Yes, he has. And now, after what he did last year, he basically can strike, he can walk into any bar and say, I'm the baddest man in football and be right.

The baddest man ever in football and be right. Yes. I think he can. And I've said Jim Brown for years. I know. I know. John Orand, our friend, who writes for Sports Business Journal and does such a great job with his newsletter. I was reading him this morning.

CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus says that he hasn't seen such a robust ad sales market for sports in at least 25 years. Fox SportsExexec VP sports sales, Seth Winter, who's been selling spots since the late 1970s, says the market is as active as he's ever seen it. NBC Sports Exec, VP ad sales, Dan Lovinger said, press outlets have already reported strong sales from others in our space, and NBC is no exception. All networks reporting NFL sellout levels over 90% for regular season and pricing increases in the low double digits. NBC is already saying they have virtually sold out the superiors, Super Bowl already with some 30-second spots commanding a record high $6.5 million for a 30-second spot.

Holy shit. So Fox saying they're already starting to sell their 2020 three Super Bowl spots. So, yeah. And by the way, real quickly and then comment. college football off of week one saw a double-digit increase from a year ago. Now, we know that a year ago, there wasn't a full slate of college football. A lot of the leagues started late, and, you know, you didn't have the same thing. So it's apples and oranges as far as a comparison goes there.

According to front office sports, the story in front office sports, experts in the industry are expecting $1 billion to be spent this year on sports gambling ads. $1 billion. Yeah, amazing. On gambling ads. So this is, I mean, I would think that some of the bump, if not the majority of the bump, I don't know what it is, it's going to come from the gambling ads. I mean, you have all these traditional plus new companies that are going to want to get noticed

and start spending money on advertising. You want to clear your throat? I was so excited about the game. Yeah. You were very excited about the game. You lost your voice. there. No, there is no doubt. There is no doubt. And this is what the league saw coming, what all sports saw coming, what sports talk formats like radio and podcasts saw coming with the legalization

of sports betting was these entities jumping in and in the early days Wild Wild West style spending boatloads of money to try to get out and be the first and the biggest. And we've benefited from that, you know, in radio and sports radio and sports podcasting and anything sports related. And for the NFL, remember, it was also a benefit not only from an incremental sales advertising increase, but also there was always the thought. that more people getting involved in betting would mean more people would be interested in the sport, and therefore more people would be watching the sport.

And that's why we've had these conversations in the past, but when they were trying to get integrity fees from a lot of these sports books and basically the sports gaming industry legalized said, you know, go pound sand. You know, we're the ones that have been keeping the integrity of your games for years without it being legal, which there's some truth to, but you know, you're going to benefit in so many ways that can't even be quantified right now by the legalization of this. We're not giving you any of our profits. But anyway, back to tonight, I think it's a really interesting matchup. First of all, Tampa's defense is flat out nasty. And the last time we saw it, we saw it healthy with Devin White in the

lineup in the Super Bowl. And yes, Kansas City was banking. up along their offensive line in the Super Bowl. But Tampa's defense dominated that football game. They, they were... Todd Bowles' defense. Damn, he can coach. Always has been able to coach defense. Bruce Ariens is brought every...

Do you know, they're the first Super Bowl defending champion to bring all 22 starters back in NFL history. That's unbelievable. It's remarkable in this day and age. And they've got Brady. And so obviously Tampa is one of the favorites to win the whole thing, and they should be. But there is risk with Tampa. And the risk is their quarterback.

As great as he is. They're 44-year-old quarterback. He's their risk. Because we've been talking about it for so many years now, And there have even been moments like early in seasons where you're like, it's over. I mean, going back like four or five years ago, I remember there was a Monday night game.

I forget who it was against. I think it might have been the Chiefs. And he looked terrible. And everybody said it was over. And I think he was like 38 or 39. But he's 44 years old. So the risk is that for whatever reason Tom Brady falls off, which I don't know, looking at him,

I don't think that that's going to happen. he's an incredible shape. Yeah. No, I look, Tom Brady has got that status now in that you don't bet against him until he loses. You know, there are certain people, there are certain champions that, you know, you don't pick against them until they lose. So Tom Brady is in that category. But, look, speaking from experience, a 44-year-old.

body is a little bit more brittle than a 34-year-old body and a lot more brittle than a 24-year-old body. Right. And the key has always been to disrupt Brady and get to him. And that will be even more so. I mean, because I think most teams will think, well, if we don't get them, we're not going to beat this team. So I think you're going to see even more of an effort to try to come after Brady, even if it means sacrificing big plays along the way. Yeah, the irony about that course. quarterback, 44-year-old body is he's playing against another quarterback on the other team who's 28, but has a very brittle body right now that people are very concerned about. And to me, and I think everybody else that follows football, this is one of the big storylines in the NFL this year because Dallas is loaded on offense if they've got Dak Prescott healthy for 17 games. They're going to do some real damage offensively to teams if he is, you know, the Dak Prescott before the

injury last year against the Giants. You know, back to Tampa for just one second. You know, pressuring Brady, especially with interior pressure, has always been his and almost every other quarterback's Achilles heel. I mean, you get interior pressure. It's the, you know, it's the shortest line between, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So you get that, that interior pressure on any quarterback.

It's disruptive. And that's always been when Brady's, you know, been in trouble. and hasn't been, you know, or looked like Brady. And we always think about the two Super Bowl losses to the Giants. But they're loaded on offense, too. I mean, they've got Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who dropped a ton of passes in the postseason last year, five of them against Washington.

Scottie Miller, who really sort of, you know, has developed into one of those diminutive, you know, slot kind of guys that Brady loves. Antonio Brown's on the team. You know, Gronk is back. OJ Howard is back. You know, he was hurt. They didn't even have him last year.

And they've got Ronald Jones healthy. You know, Fournett was the playoff guy. And then they've just got an awesome defense led by, you know, maybe one of the top five defensive players in the game who's going into just his third year in linebacker Devin White. They're loaded across the board. They should be a team that if the quarterback, doesn't fall off a cliff, wins 12, 13 games.

You know, it's funny, Tommy, because I remember talking about this heading into the postseason last year about Tampa. Last year, I picked Tampa to win the Super Bowl, which I think it's the first time I've gotten that right ever. And all throughout the year, I'm like, you know, this team just hasn't gotten it together yet. There have been moments here and there, but they got blown out by New Orleans. and, you know, Kansas City really handed it to them, even though that score, you know,

I think it was like 20 to nothing at one point in that game. They came back and made it a game. But then they closed the season going into the postseason against four subpar teams, Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit, and Atlanta twice. And they won all four of those games. But I thought going into the postseason, it might be a little bit misleading. because they had struggled at times but then got right against a weak closing schedule. And then, you know, they really put it together in the postseason.

And Devin White, after missing some games, including the playoff game against Washington, was back against New Orleans. And he was a havoc wreaker in the postseason. So it's a team that's loaded. It's a team that's great. You're right that Brady's the star. And the Cowboys, you know, there are always expectations for the Cowboys. They're the favorite in the division, a slight favorite, but it all comes down to whether or not

Dak Prescott is healthy and can play like Dak Prescott. Tonight, they're not going to have Zach Martin, who, by the way, Zeke Elliott said, is their best offensive player. He's out with COVID. They have another player that's out with COVID. And then defensively for the Cowboys, I can tell you this, my cowboy friends cannot wait to see the debut of Micah Parsons at Penn State. Apparently he was a lights out in the preseason, and they've got a new defensive coordinator and Dan Quinn. It's a really good matchup, very intriguing. I do have a smell test pick on this game later on. What else do you have on this game?

Nothing in particular on this game. I just think that the NFL will – I mean, the NFL is bigger than everybody. but they will break out in a cold sweat if Tom Brady goes down in the first game in the season. Sounds like you're rooting for it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. But you have to, I mean, the odds you would think would increase with every birthday. Wouldn't she think so? I mean, it's logic.

Yeah, you know, remember the year that Brady got hurt in New England and didn't play. He played the opener and got hurt. Achilles or torn ACL. I forget what it was now. One of the other that knocked him out for the year. And Matt Castle came in that year, and they went to 11 and 5 that year without Brady. But they did not make the playoffs at 11 and 5.

Yeah, but they won 11 games. You're right. With freaking Matt Castle. You know, we're going to make some football picks on the show, and Tommy's going to probably just save his, picks for like the Super Bowl pick because he told me before the show he doesn't want to go division by division. But I'm going to give you some division winners and some wild cards, etc. on the show today. But the, I think the Patriots and Belichick, has Belichick ever had a year

in which he faced pressure in the last two decades? I think there's some pressure on him this year. I think there, it's not, look, there's no pressure like losing the job or anything. but does his legacy take any hit if Brady goes out and wins another one and then this year without all of the COVID opt-outs that he had last year and a team that added a shitloading free agency, they went for it, but is starting a rookie quarterback in Mack Jones. Don't you think there's a little bit of pressure on Belichick to get back to the postseason, to have a legitimate upper-tier team? Yeah, I think there is.

And I think he welcomes it. He's starting a rookie quarterback. Probably because that's their best option for winning, but also part of him is thinking, look, I'm going to take this kid first year in the league, and I'm going to kick all your asses. They've got a good team around him. You know, it's not the best supporting cast.

but defensively they should be really good again. And they, I think they've got a chance to surprise a lot of people. I had Eric Zimni from Hollywood Sportsbook and Racebook on the show yesterday. I love Eric. He's a great guest. By the way, I asked on the radio show because I played some of it back this morning. And as I was listening to it, rather than being involved in it, he sounds like somebody. and I couldn't place it.

But my friend Brian texted me and said, he's E! He's E from Entourage. And that's exactly who he is. That's exactly who he sounds like. So it's pretty even. There actually is a little bit of liability on them to win the conference. I'm surprised to a degree that there isn't more on them to win the division. Because if you think about it, look, I mean, the Giants are not very good.

the Eagles also stand to not be very good. And at that point, you know, do you have to worry about the Cowboys? You know, you're probably going to get off to a good start tonight if you're a Washington football team fan with who that would work tomorrow night with who Dallas plays. There he is. Eric Zimni, VP of the Race and Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino, aka E from Entourage. Up next, Tommy weighs in on Tanya, and then we'll give you our Washington football. team 2021 season predictions with footnotes. That's next right after these words from a few of our

sponsors. Our Washington football team season predictions coming up here shortly. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. That always helps us a lot. Rate us and review us as well. I really appreciate the reviews that have been coming in. A lot of you love the two of us together from Diamond Wolves via Apple Podcast. Great show, love the Skins Talk, and the Tommy Kevin banter. Here's one. I'm here for the team information. I love the guys.

Tom couldn't be more of an elitist, but I like them anyway. Go Skins! Exclamation point. But for a lot of you, you've really come through in writing these questions. Quick reviews. They can be one sentence. They can be two. They don't have to be long.

And if you can rate us five stars, and a lot of you have been doing that, that really helps us. Really appreciate it. A lot of Sports Fix 1.0 fans have been listening to the podcast for a while now. And it's great to hear from you. It's funny, Tommy. I didn't realize, I'm such an idiot. I didn't realize that on the Apple platform and on the Spotify platform and on the Google platform, like all of these reviews, written reviews, are just sitting there right there because they keep them

and they're there as part of it. And so about a week ago I started reading through them and they really were incredibly kind and some of them honestly very moving. So it's much appreciated and the feeling is this. same coming back to all of you. Also, real quickly, some of you may notice either today, tomorrow, or maybe over the weekend, there is a new logo for the podcast. I have hated the logo that we put together in a day and a half when my radio deal didn't work out three years ago now, and we launched this podcast. And despite everybody asking me to change the logo and me want

to change the logo. I didn't because I'm very superstitious when it comes to things like that because things were going well and they've been going well and I didn't want to screw it up. But because the former team name, Redskins, was part of the logo, we were starting to get a little bit of heat on that. And so with a new football season and that in sort of the backdrop as a backdrop. up, we've put together a new logo. And I want to thank Riley Fanning for helping me with that.

She's a terrific artist. Anyway, all right. So what do you want to say about Tanya and the interview with Adam Schaefter on his podcast? Well, I mean, what did we expect? Did we think that Dan Snyder was married to Mother Teresa? You know? Of course not. I mean, this woman presumably shares a bed with this guy for years.

Presumably. Okay. Well, you know, they've been married for 30 years probably or 25. So at some point, a lot of marriages end up with not necessarily sharing beds. Continue. So, I mean, when she comes out and expresses not one woman. ounce of sympathy for the victims

of her husband's policies and practices and instead makes herself makes her and her husband out to be victim how they've suffered through this but they've managed to stay strong

because that's who they are I mean it's it's shameful I mean but again what would we expect like I mean again This woman did not sit there quietly and say, oh, boy, my husband, he's a terrible human being. If I was in charge, I'd be different. So it was shameful. I mean, but it was to be expected.

However, there, you know, I mean, there's some people who think that she was brave to do this and smart to do this. So what do I know? No. I talked about this yesterday. There was a big piece missing from this. I don't care how nervous she was or how inexperienced she was. You've got to go into that knowing that you're going to be asked about the last year and the last 20, really, and the shenanigans and the issues that this organization and your husband,

had as the owner of this team, and you have to, you have to acknowledge the 42 women, plus that have come forward and accuse the organization of being misogynistic, bullying, and harassers. But I suggested yesterday, is it possible that she and her husband, and by the way, it's right from the Snyder playbook, which is, is it's always someone else's fault. We didn't do this. We're, we're now 100% owners, Tommy. We're 100% owners in the organization. So, you know, we're in a much stronger position to make each and every change we need to make. I mean, the shot. What a fraud that is. What an absolute fraud that is. As if the minority owners had some kind of power.

Of course they didn't. So, So there are a couple things here that I don't want to forget. So I'm just rip them off one by one. Number one. Dan kept saying recently, I got to get more involved. I haven't been involved. And remember simultaneously they were saying, well, these are all old accusations. Are they that limited that they can't do the math?

Okay, so you were involved when all of these things were happening if you do the math, because they were a long time ago. but I haven't been involved recently. And then when the accusations died and went away, you weren't that involved. So just, you know, put one and one together and get two on your calendars on this. Number two is this. Of course these minority shareholders had no input. They had no voting rights.

They had no say in the organization, even if they own 40% of the equity. Number three, the shot at the media is ridiculous. All right. The media wasn't in that building every day. The media wasn't treating their partners and their sponsors in an absolutely horrific way. In a way that I've heard from many of the new people out there, they've said, you wouldn't believe some of the people we got rid of and just what assholes they were. Well, we knew it.

We were working with some of those people for years. And I do want to say this one thing, and I said this yesterday. I think some of the two things. I think it's very possible that the defiance, if you even want to describe that, you know, the 100% owners, the shot at the media, you know, she stopped reading all these allegations because they were so ridiculous. I think on one hand, if you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, she may have been referring specifically to the smear campaign.

The Dwight Schar, Bruce Allen, and whomever else was involved, and we don't even know if they were involved, but we suspect that they were involved. Dwight Schar, I've been told, will never be able to own equity in an NFL franchise again. So there's something around this guy that ain't right. She took the one instance where they could possibly claim being victimized. Right, I know.

use that as her model. So if you give her the benefit of the doubt and specific to those remarks, that's what she was referring to, that's fine. It doesn't excuse not acknowledging the, not one or two, not even three or four, but 42 plus that came forward. And by the way, a league in a statement in a wrist slap of a punishment, I think we all agree with that. Said about their environment, this wasn't, this wasn't about Dwight Schar or the Indian Media Company or Bruce Allen. They said that the environment was highly

unprofessional, particularly for women. There was bullying and intimidation frequently. It was a culture of fear, numerous female employees reporting having experienced sexual harassment and a general lack of respect in the workplace, and ownership and senior management paid little or no attention to these issues. In some instances, senior executives engaged in inappropriate conduct themselves, including use of demeaning language and public embarrassment. I ask you, is it possible that she and her husband not only pass the buck as sort of a default, but they don't believe any of these allegations. They don't believe them to be true. I, at some point during that interview,

You know, and again, Adam doesn't know the detail day-to-day minutia like we know it. At some point, you say to her, well, what about the 42 women plus women? What about the statement from the league? What about them? Understood. It's been a tough year for you and your husband and your family for a lot of reasons. What about them? And then if she doesn't acknowledge them, then you have to follow it up by saying,

well, is it that you don't believe them? It's possible that they don't believe them. You're right. You're right. You're right. She wouldn't be the first wife to do that. She is much better than her husband in that situation and comes off as much more likable. That's a small bar to leap over. Understood. So the other thing was about the name, you know, and I went on and on about this yesterday, I never cared about the name in the first place, one way or the other,

because I don't have any interest in it. But I find this, you know, I mean, a little bit frustrating and a little bit humorous. Right. The whole controversy over the name. And how to describe what exactly she meant with what she said yesterday. That was real hilarious to watch. all that takes place. Well, I do think it is a little bit confusing.

Like, I think that, you know, when you listen to that, I think there's the possibility that she was answering it the way she thought it was. And what she said you can take literally, which is, yeah, no, the three came from those eight. Or she didn't really know. Or she was a little bit confused. I think there's some nuance and some gray things. there. But that's not even the issue. The issue is the fact that for the second time in a month, the teams had to clarify

confusion on information they provided. And to me, that's just so them. And I, I, the, the Adam Schaefter had to tweet yesterday that a WFT spokesperson said this morning that the list of eight names is a selection of names that were highlighted in they're making the brand video, not a final list of potential name candidates, which is exactly what Jason Wright was forced to do like a month ago to clarify some confusion on that, because the confusion came from their making of the brand video. And then she created more confusion, which created another reason to put out a clarification

from the team. It's just always a cluster F with them. You know, the no one, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand's doing and vice versa. I just think it's hysterical that the team on two different occasions as it relates to this name rollout have had to make statements clarifying a confusion that they actually created. I mean, that's just funny to me. And then, of course, for me, you know, I just at this point, honestly, the rollout, of this name and brand is not going well for them. And I think really it's time for them to shelve it.

Either tell us what it is or just shelve it until the season's over. And maybe it'll give them some time to get a little bit more organized on what they're doing here because they're annoying, frustrating, and aggravating and even angering a lot of people. I want to make one thing clear, too. I don't give a shit about you guys out there who really, really are super interested in this, you know, discussing it. I just don't want them continuing to basically soil themselves in the launch and the rollout of this every couple of weeks once the games start.

I don't need that. I'm focused on the games. That's what I enjoy. And they start tonight and their first ones on Sunday. And I think it's personally in their best interest as much as they've screwed this thing up, you know, in terms of the communication of it, just to shelve it until the season's over. That would be my advice. But what do I know? Okay. So, so, well, let me ask, so you're of the school, you're not of the school thought

that as long as people are talking about the name, this is good for your product? No. No, not in this case. They've screwed it up so much. Tommy, they, they, when you roll out something new, you've got a rollout schedule. you know, a launch schedule. You know, the last thing is, this is the date, you know, February 23rd, 2022, press conference, Ashburn, all sorts of, you know, branding things and imaging and the whole thing, and it's going to be a great day. But here are all the steps between now and then.

And branding people will tell you that part of changing a big brand, like a name, you should, make it a process that's perceived as more inclusive and more communication of the process is better than less because it becomes less

jarring when you drop the new name on everybody and so they're following the playbook it's just that they're not executing the playbook very well I mean when you in one month have to put out a clarification statement on

something that was confusing that you caused, that wasn't intended. You know, if you think that that's part of the whole thing to create some activity, no, because you're aggravating people. I know, I know, but still, if you're aggravating them about the name of your product, they're interested in it then. Yeah, but. I mean, there is a school thought. I mean, I don't know how much more damage they could do.

to their fan base with this whole name thing. So I'm not so sure it's that bad of a thing to have people arguing, debating, and being frustrated about it. Yeah, but Tommy, it just goes, it's part and parcel to what they've been, that everything off the field matters as much, if not more than what happens on the field. And I think there was at least a feeling or at least some hope that the last year and the new people in the organization,

that things were going to change. And they have changed, I think, very clearly on the football side of the building. I think that there's real professionalism, real quality, and the arrows pointed upward. But you still have, you know, this fric-fract Larry Moe and Curley show going on on the other side of the building. And if, you know, if you had a plan to roll this out, to be, you know, to communicate it, often, and to do it in a certain way, okay, but you've got to execute that well, and it hasn't been executed well. It's been botched. So if I were them, I'd put it on hold for right now. I would change the rollout schedule, and maybe during the buy week, I would have an update

scheduled on the name during the buy week. But other than that, let's at least give out the perception or the impression that we are really into winning on the field. And all of our focus is on what's going on on the field rather than having this distraction of botching, you know, these announcements or these making the brand videos or the co-CEO doing a podcast and basically putting out potential contradicting information that then needs to be clarified the next day. I'm not suggesting that people who are interested in this stop talking about it. I'm suggesting that the team shelve it for now. Okay.

I get that. Look, they start the season 0 and 2. There'll be lots of suggestions for names for this team. Whatever it is, Tommy, people are going to hate it. They have a big week ahead of them, a big week. that could change the conversation quickly for the better or for the worse. These two games in five days are big. I agree with you and they're two home games.

And within a five-day period, there could be, I mean, incredible excitement and optimism and buy-in, buy-in, meaning literal buy-in, like ticket buy-in. I think a real intriguing storyline for Sunday is actually how many people show up for this thing. And do they have a legitimate home field advantage for the first time in a couple of years, which would be great. And it's going to be helpful. They've got a good defense and you get a good home crowd. And that can be very impactful and influential towards, you know, your performance.

But, yes, you go out and you lose Sunday. And then a few nights later, you lose it home to the Giants and you're 0.2. TV. You know, at that point, I might recommend doing some name talk. At that point, I might say to you, hey, remember that thing where I said they should shelve it for the season? They've got this mini buy after a Thursday night game and they're playing Buffalo on the road in their next game. I think they should shift the conversation to the name. When the name comes out, it is going to be hated by so many. And there will be people that will like it too, but it's not going to be a universal embrace.

And the best chance they have of any sort of meaningful embrace would be to have a good season. So let's go there. Let's do our season predictions right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Prediction time for the upcoming Washington football team 2021 season. Somebody said to me recently, you and Tommy used to always basically bail out on this segment. You always gave eight and eight. I don't think that's true at all. I don't have a list.

Did you do it? I did. Okay. I would do that. You did that. Okay. Yeah. I didn't remember that.

I didn't remember doing it myself. I'm not saying that I haven't over the years occasionally given out. and eight and eight. But I know that I've given out plenty of 10 and sixes, and I've given out, you know, a 5 and 11 or a 4 and 12, I think a couple of times too. But before we get to this, I just want to remind you, Thomas, that this is a 17 game schedule. So make sure your final record prediction includes a sum total of 17 games. Even though it's possible they could forfeit one. Yes, they could. Look, I know it's a 17 game schedule because I wrote a column about the 17 game schedule. Yes, you did.

Yes, you did. Do you want to talk about the column? Tell me what you wrote. I have not read that one. I don't want to tell you. Basically. I did read your column, hold on, hold on. I did read your column from the other day, and I highly recommend Tom's column about a Katrina survivor who ended up in D.C. and is a huge Nats fan. That was a wonderful story. Continue with the more recent column. Well, this isn't such a nice story. It's one of my typical soap boxes.

I just point out simply that I don't care what kind of data the NFL has come up with. If you add another game, you're going to have more damage to these players. You're going to have more long-term damage. You're going to have more players years from now. suffering from damage as a result of playing. I don't care what you've done. I don't care how you painted. If you are partaking in a dangerous job and you add more time on that job,

you're increasing the risk of the danger on that job. So let's say that that's what the column is. Let's face it. I mean, they could paint it whatever they want, but basically this adds more. risk to players long-term health. Another game. Okay.

Do you consider... That's simply it. And it also pointed out that the so-called partners in this, you know, the players and the owners, the owners don't take any of the hits, you know? They're not partners in that. They're not the ones who are going to be sitting in a dark room years from now after they went to their medicine chest in the morning. Okay. There's no partnership there.

The only thing that I would say to you, because I remember when we were first talking about 17 and 18 game regular season schedules, is that, you know, if you do the math on this, especially after what we saw in this more recent preseason with three games, but more importantly, with teams really cutting back on the plays that the players that are going to play on their regular season roster played. I mean, this was, you know, the net. takeaway is that not only was there one less game, but there was a lot less playing by the players who are going to play or be eligible to play in the 17 games. So unless you think playing in a preseason game is less dangerous than playing in a regular season game, the actual math of it may add up to an individual player is going to play less or the same amount of football with the addition of the 17th regular season game. Well, again, I mean, there's no way to quantify that unless you break down, you know, players playing time, starting players playing time in preseason.

Well, it dropped. As opposed to a lot, not just because of the addition, not because of the one less game. It dropped because of a strategy for a lot of teams had. As opposed to a playoff push in December. Right. Two different sets of times. No, understood. I'm just telling you, it's very likely that they would.

will end up playing the same amount of football. They'll be on the field for the same number of plays with a 17th regular season game. I don't think that's true. Well, I think it'll pencil out that way this year. I'm not suggesting that every preseason will be handled the way this one was. But this preseason was handled by some teams with no starters even playing one snap. So even if those players play every snap in 17 games, it's going to be less than the year before was 16.

Well, not last year because they didn't have a preseason, but a normal 16 game schedule, it'll be less. You know, because if you add up the two quarters that they would have played in the open, the one quarter and then two and then maybe three, boom. It's not the same intensity of time. So you think it's less dangerous to participate in a preseason game then? That it is a December playoff game. Yeah.

Okay. After you played the whole season and you've been hurt probably during the season, season and you're not 100% as opposed to when you're starting the season, just coming out of training camp. Yeah, I think that's possible. That's just a guess. Okay. By the way, I think it is a guess. I'm not sitting here saying that I disagree with it. I think adding the wear and tear of the first 16 games going into the 17th is definitely a piece of information that should be considered. But again, you know, I would say that there is at least a 50-50 chance if the NFL teams continue to handle the preseason the way they did this first one at three games,

that players will play less overall than they did before in terms of snaps on the field. But at the same time, your point that, yeah, but that 17th regular season comes after 16 of wear and tear. That's fine. But the postseason, for the teams that went to the postseason, you know, you always had that wear and tear as well. Anyway, we could, we could, you know, do this for a while now, but let's get to our season predictions. Do you want me to go first or would you like to go first? Why don't you go first? Because it's your podcast. I know, but I kind of feel and like to think that when you're on it, it's our podcast. Thank you. Okay, you ready? My Washington football team predicted 2021 record is 8, 8, and 1.

A 500 record with several footnotes. Number one, the tie is going to come against Seattle on November 29th on Monday night football. Seattle seems to have had a lot of tied games over the years. I don't know why that is. How many times have they tied the Cardinals? It seems like a lot. Footnote number two, I've already said this one in our bold predictions. but Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to start all 17 games,

and he's going to have a good season, not a great season, but a good season. And the last footnote is we're going to come to the end of this year, and even though the 8-8-1 will likely not produce a playoff trip, we're going to believe that the arrow is still very much pointed upward because to us, as football fans, appear to be a better team. than last year's team. They were better offensively, which, again, as you said earlier about Dan, low bar to clear. But they will be better offensively.

And hopefully the defense takes another step. But I do think, and I've said this many times, this is on paper an unbelievable list of brutal offensive quarterback situations that they face. It is just one week after another. Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen this week. Josh Allen, Stefan Diggs, and week three. Matt Ryan, Calvin Ridley, week four. James Winston, who I think has a chance to be the comeback player of the year.

Michael Thomas, you know, Alvin Camara in week five. Patrick Mahomes in his weapons then. Then you get a break with Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams. And then two weeks later, it's Tom Brady and the Buck. and then two weeks after that it's Russell Wilson. And then you close with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense twice. Who knows what it's going to be when we get there? I understand I say that every year about the schedule.

But more likely than not, they're going to face a significant majority of those quarterbacks. Quarterbacks don't get hurt as much as other position players. And I just think they're going to be a better team than they were a year ago. They will win one more game than they won last year. and they will lose one less game than they lost last year. Eight, eight, and one, a 500 record and a 17-game schedule. That's my prediction. What's yours?

Well, it's pretty close to that. I think they're going to be better this year. I think they're going to win eight games instead of seven, but they're going to lose one more. They're going to lose nine games this year, which is what they lost last year. Right. So I think there'll be eight and nine, which ironically, I think will be good enough to win the NFC East again. That's your footnote.

Yes. Okay. I think they'll make the playoffs for the second year in a row. Well, that would be. I think Kyle Allen will lead them into the postseason. Kyle Allen. That's right. You talked about Kyle Allen recently.

Listen, this stretch of games. from October 10th to November 14th, Saints, Chiefs, Packers on the road, Broncos on the road, bucks. That's nightmare scenario right there. Well, you already predicted that the quarterback change comes during the by week and that it's not Taylor Heineke, that it's Kyle Allen. Yes, and sadly, fans will realize. even though they're 8 and 9, one game better, and they win the division again,

they're no closer to a quarterback at the end of this year. Your Ron Rivera 8 and 9 making the postseason will allow you to continue with, he only has three winning seasons in 12 years or whatever it would be at that point. I know that doesn't count for much. I know. It would be amazing, though, wouldn't it? he took a team to the playoffs three times with a losing record. That would be amazing. That would be, I think, a record that would never be matched because he's already the only coach to have ever taken two different teams to the postseason with losing records.

I did it with the Panthers in 2014 when they went seven, eight, and one. All right. I want to finish up the show today. with some NFL predictions for the season. And I will do that. I'll give you the division winners. I'll give you the wild card teams. And then Tommy will jump in with his Super Bowl matchup prediction and winner.

I'll do that as well. I've got an early Thursday night NFL smell test pick as well. Right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, we're going to finish up the show today. I've got my NFL season picks. Division winners, wild cards, Super Bowl matchup, Super Bowl winner. Tommy's going to jump in when we get to the Super Bowl matchup and Super Bowl winner, and then I'm going to end the show with an early Thursday night NFL smell test selection.

Okay, let's start in the AFC East, Tommy. I like New England in a bounce back year. I think it's going to be a Bill Belichick big year. I like their team. I love Buffalo's team as well. I think New England figures out a way to win this division. They'll be one of those teams that goes from not in the postseason to winning their division. You've got to think about that when you make these predictions because more often than not,

you end up with half or somewhere close to half the playoff teams were not playoff teams from the year before. So you've got to think about putting new teams into the postseason via the division-winning route or the wild card route. I like New England's team. I like them defensively. I thought I saw enough even in the preseason from a very comfortable rookie quarterback in Mac Jones. He's got a great offensive coordinator and play caller in Josh McDaniel.

I think New England figures out a way to win this division. Buffalo finishes second. I like the Jets' chances to be much, much improved. In fact, I'm going to give you a player that I really liked in the draft. coming out. And I know Washington liked this particular player as well. And that is the rookie from Ole Miss Elijah Moore. Look for him to have a breakout year with Zach Wilson at the quarterback spot. They've got Keel and Cole, Corey Davis they brought over. By the way, James and Crowders on the COVID list for the opener. But I think the Jets will be improved, finished third in that

division, and I have Miami finishing fourth. I guess. I guess. Yes, I'm leaning Miami last because I don't at this point believe in Tua, subject to change. AFC North. Baltimore's become a trendy pick to fall off this year. They lost J.K. Dobbins, Justice Hill. They've got some running back issues. I don't see it that way. I like the Ravens to win the AFC North.

I still think they are very difficult to stop. It's not like people are going to figure out Lamar Jackson all of a sudden. I think Pittsburgh makes a bounce back this year. I think Rathlisberger still has something left. I think Tomlin did his best coaching job two years ago. They started last year 11 and 0 with no running game. And I think they added in the draft a guy that could be the offensive rookie of the year in Najee Harris out of Alabama.

They have T.J. Watt debatably, one of the top two or three pass rushers in the game. I like the Steelers this year to really be in this thing. in the AFC North with Baltimore. And I know Cleveland is the trendy pick to make a deep run into the postseason. I have them finishing third in the AFC North with Cincinnati and fourth. And the AFC South, two very well-coached teams will battle it out, Tennessee and Indy. I'll go with Tennessee and Derek Henry and Ryan Tannahill over Indianapolis with Carson Wentz, even though I think their offensive line is unbelievable.

I think Quentin Nelson is almost underrated at this point. The fact that he wasn't in anybody's top 10 on some of these top 100 lists, I think, was a big whiff. I've got Jacksonville 3rd, and I have him winning games in being competitive. Houston appears, at least on paper, to be in the most dire circumstance of any team in the NFL. Moving to the AFC West, I've got the Chiefs winning the division. But I think Denver is going to be a very improved football team. I thought Drew Locke would win the starting job there. I did.

I know I picked Denver a couple of years ago to make it to the AFC championship game. I think there was two years ago. You know I'm a big big fangio fan if you listen. They've got Sutton back. They've got Judy who could have a breakout year. KJ. Hamler. They've got Noah Fant. They've got Melvin Gordon.

They've got the rookie from North Carolina, Javante Williams. That's just on offense. Defensively still, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb. They added Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller and drafted Patrick Sertan. This is a team with a lot of talent. I think Denver has a very good season, finishes second in the AFC West behind Kansas City. I think the Chargers are a very competitive team. This division loaded, maybe not the NFC West, but the AFC West is loaded. I've got the Chargers finishing third and the Raiders fourth. But I think the Chargers, Denver and Kansas City are all good teams. I think Kansas City just has too much offensively in a league that has become very offensive. But I think Denver and L.A., the Chargers that would be from L.A. are going to be good teams in the AFC West. All right, let's move to the NFC. In the NFC North, I like Green Bay, followed by Minnesota, Chicago, and Detroit. I think this is going to be a big year for the Packers. I think Minnesota is a very interesting team.

They've got 10 new starters on defense, but they lost, you know, a budding star in Irv Smith at tight end. Their first round pick Christian Derrisaw, their left tackle, they picked him out of Virginia Tech, hasn't played at all. They're going to try to get them ready for the early part of the regular season. I think Minnesota is a feast or famine team. I think they are 5 and 12 or 12 and 5. You know, I think that's their range. Chicago, I think we'll see fields at some point. Detroit, I'm just not a believer in Jared Gough.

at all. The NFC South, I'm going to go with Tampa to win the division, but I think there are three other very good teams. This is another division that is really loaded top to bottom, at least as it pertains to offensive potential. I like the Bucks. They're too good defensively. They still have Brady. I like them to win the division, but I really love James Winston's chances to become kind of a comeback player of the year. I think they've got talent, maybe not a lot of depth, but a lot of frontline talent. Calloway really seemed to have some chemistry with James Winston. You know, at some point they're going to get Michael Thomas back. They have Alvin Camara, obviously in the back field, a great offensive line and a lot of defensive playmakers. You know,

Marshawn Lattimore, Malcolm Jenkins, Marcus Davenport, Cameron Jordan, and they're well-coached. I think the Saints are going to give Tampa a run, and I think Carolina is going to be very improved this year. I have been thinking that the Matt Rule Joe Brady combination would produce something. If Darnold's right and McCaffrey's healthy, that team should be much better than it was last year. They have weapons in DJ Moore. Terrence Marshall in the second round. And obviously, if you've got McCaffrey, you're in great shape. Star potential in Brian Burns and Derek Brown defensively.

I like Carolina to be a surprise team in the NFC in a very tough division. NFC West. I love Matt Stafford. I love Sean McVeigh. I love their defense. I think the Rams win the NFC West. Another division. My God.

Rams, San Francisco, Seattle, Arizona. A lot of people have Pittsburgh. picked almost everybody in that division to win it. I've got the Rams winning it. San Francisco finishing second, Seattle, third, Arizona, fourth. And then in the NFC East, I've got Dallas winning the division, Washington finishing second, but I think Philly's going to be right there with Washington. I've got Washington finishing 8-8-1, Tommy.

I think Philadelphia is going to be right there, though, as an 8-9 team, maybe a 9-8-8-2-place team. I think they are very underrated defensively, and if they're offensive lines healthy, I think they could be a big surprise. I'm not pulling the trigger. I thought very long and hard about pulling the trigger in Philadelphia being a massive surprise team in the NFL. But I'll have them finishing third, the Giants, fourth. My AFC wild cards, after predicting New England, Baltimore, Tennessee, and Kansas City's division winners, my AFC wild cards are Buffalo, Denver, and Pittsburgh.

That would put Denver and New England is two new entrants into the playoff field in the AFC in the winter of 2022. In the NFC, my three wild cards are 8-8-1. I'm going to get it done. Sorry. San Francisco, New Orleans. and Carolina as my three wild cards in the NFC. My Super Bowl matchup is Packers with Aaron Rogers against Mahomes and the Chiefs.

It would be an all-time quarterback matchup, and I've got the Packers winning the Super Bowl. There you go. I gave you my division winners, my wild cards, my Super Bowl matchup, and my Super Bowl winner. let me hear your Super Bowl matchup in Super Bowl winner. I have the Packers in the Super Bowl from the NFC. That's who I had if you were listening. Yes, I was listening. Okay, good.

I think that I don't know if it's a rub it in your face year, but there's just enough chaos going on in Green Bay for the opposite of what you might expect to happen, that they could wind up having a great year, even with all the turmoil about Aaron Rogers. So I like Green Bay in the NFC, and they'll face the Tennessee Titans, the AFC champions. Tennessee Titans. Green Bay, Tennessee.

And the Packers win it? No. Tennessee wins. Tennessee wins a Super Bowl. They win their first Super Bowl and franchise history. Yeah. Tennessee Titans. They were close. They were close.

when that FedEx plane went down, man. Old, you know, Tom Hanks from Memphis, he came back and all of a sudden they had a football team. The Tennessee Titans, who used to be the Houston Oilers. And what? Helen Hunt, what? They played in the Super Bowl. Wow.

We have a pro football team now, but they're in Nashville. Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay. They used to be in Houston. First, they were the Oilers. Now they're the Titans. Houston Oilers are the Tennessee Titans.

Yeah. That's not all. We went to the Super Bowl last year. You've got Tennessee over Green Bay. I have Green Bay over Kansas City in the Super Bowl. That would be the Chiefs in three straight Super Bowls. And I, in the NFC, I was just quickly doing my math. on this.

If I'm right, then I would have one, two, three, four new playoff teams in the NFC. Six overall out of the 14 in the postseason. So there you go. Okay. Finish up with the smell test, early smell test pick. Two, two and one last week. Wait a minute. What?

Wait a minute. I'd like to add in my prediction for Washington. Washington's opening games since I'm not going to be talking to you. Oh, please, please. Thank you for reminding me, okay? Okay. Mr. 8 and 9 division winner? Well, this is going to be one of those eight wins.

I've got Washington football winning the season opener at home over the Los Angeles Chargers by the score of 26 to 24. Okay. The defense will take two interceptions away from Justin Herbert that will control. tribute to good field position and put Washington on top. So I have Washington as a winner. And the crowd going home happy on a beautiful, supposedly weather supposed to be gorgeous for that day. 26-24. I mean, you're going to have to start having them lose a lot of games in the upcoming weeks

if Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to get benched in the by week. Don't worry. There's the mid-season swoon. Swoon, mid-season collapse. Mid-season death. Early smell test pick. Full smell test tomorrow. 2-2-1, week 1 of college football in case you missed it.

I was 2-2-1, so you didn't really miss anything. 500 week. Tonight's Tampa Bay Dallas game, the Buccaneers are now an 8-8-and-a-half-point favorite, almost everywhere. The books are going to need Dallas. You heard Eric Zimney tell us that yesterday. But I don't like Dallas. There's a lot of sharp money on Tampa as well.

I always say New England with Brady there. but I do like the under. People think this will be a shootout, a high-scoring game. The totals 51 and a half in this game. I like the under. The public really likes over. Typically in these marquee, you know, primetime matchups, you get a lot of over-bending just to begin with.

But I like the under 51.5. The last time I had Tampa was in the Super Bowl, had the under, had the under in the first half in the Super Bowl. I like this game to stay under the total. I'd lean Dallas plus the eight and a half, and if it goes to nine, you know, probably, but there's too much sharp money on Tampa to make it a smell test pick, even though your bookmaker and every other one around the country is going to need Dallas to cover tonight. Under 51.5 is your smell test pick for the day.

You got anything else? I got nothing else for you, boss. All right, Thomas, good show today. I'll be back tomorrow. Cooley will be on with me Monday to recap the Washington Chargers game. All right, he is committed to coming on Monday's podcast to recap the Washington Chargers game. He is already about to coach his third game of the year out in Wyoming. They're 2-0.

His high school team is, and he'll tell us a lot more. about that and what he's doing out there on Monday. Have a great rest of the day back tomorrow with a full-fledged preview of Washington and the LA Chargers.