The Kevin Sheehan Show - What Happens In Vegas....

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

Kevin solo today with his recap of Washington's win over the Raiders in Vegas. Kevin on who played well, who didn't, and he gave his first thoughts on the huge upcoming match-up against Dallas. He recapped the rest of the day in the NFL, talked some college football, and went even more in-depth on the sudden departure of Mark Turgeon from Maryland on Friday.  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. Gots personified by Johnson and Washington in the league with 37 to play. Four in a row, boys and girls, four in a row. And we have our biggest Dallas week in several years.

Wow. What a win. 1715 in Vegas. Dissimilar to Monday, 17 to 15 win over Seattle, where I thought they dominated the game and were lucky to hang on there at the end. Yesterday's game was really throughout kind of a coin flip game that could have gone either way, but it went Washington's way, and they are living right on some of what happened in the game yesterday. Just a reminder to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't.

It helps us. It doesn't cost you a thing. Rate us and review us, especially on Apple and Spotify. five stars and write a quick, you know, it can be a one to two sentence review on how much you like the podcast. That really helps as well. You know, I was looking at something prior to the show. In 10 of their 12 games this year, they have gone into the fourth quarter in a one-score game. The only two games where that wasn't true, the Green Bay game at Lambo and the Buffalo game up in Orchard Park. Those are the only two games entering the fourth quarter where they did have a chance to win the game. Now, I think some of you would say, I didn't really think they were going to beat the

Chiefs, but it was 17 to 13 entering the fourth quarter. In fact, they had a chance in that Kansas City game to go up 16 to 10 on what would be Dustin Hopkins' final kick. But they've been in really most of these games. Look, there is the case, and it's a legitimate case that you can make, that they are when they were two and six, excuse me, when they were two and six, they were much closer to 0 and 8 than they were anything better than 2 and 6. I mean, they were, you know, very lucky to win the two games. They won. They had a player on the opponent's team jump off sides on a

miss field goal that gave Dustin Hopkins another chance against the Giants. And they were down two scores at one point against the Falcons on the road before rallying to win that game 34 to 30. But what we've seen over the last four weeks has been nothing short of stunning. And everything now is suddenly at stake with five games left. The division's at stake. A wild card spot is at stake. And you know what? More than that is at stake. And I think now we have all seen enough over these last four games. to say with some level of confidence that the future of this team's quarterback situation is at stake over these final five weeks. Taylor Heineke has earned the right right now to be in the discussion for everybody capable of being open-minded.

I'm not saying that you have to know right now if he should be the starter next year or not. But I am saying that if you say that you know he's not the guy for next year, well, you're stuck on stubborn. You know, if you're being fair and you've been watching these last four games, you've got to consider him a possibility, a legitimate possibility for next year. And I'm not talking about just, you know, taking context like, well, they may not be able to get anybody else. I'm talking about in terms of the team potentially choosing him. before they go into this offseason to be the guy moving forward.

That is in play right now, and you're not being open-minded if you don't think that's true. It was not his best game and plenty more on his performance coming up in my game recap. But Taylor Heineke has been a significant influence, positive influence, on this four-game winning streak. They are two games back of Dallas in the NFC East race with the Cowboys coming to town again for one of the biggest December showdowns with Dallas in a long while. Dallas is a five-point favorite. Like the Raiders, they're coming off this mini-by week

because they played on Thursday last week, not the most fair in terms of scheduling. In fact, if you look to Washington's next game after Sunday, it's at Philadelphia, and the Eagles are coming off a buy week. And the Eagles are sitting there at six and seven. after their win at MetLife yesterday against the Jets. Not necessarily fair. Scheduling quirk for sure, but it didn't bother them yesterday.

We'll see what happens this coming week. It's amazing to me what they have coming up this Sunday. For any of you that says you saw this coming, you're lying. You're lying. Nobody saw this coming at 2 and 6. The last four games are a major surprise. but they've earned all of them. They deserve this.

Ron Rivera said after they beat the Panthers a few weeks ago that we just have to get to these final five division games with a chance. And they're here with more than just a chance. They are playing for a division over these final five games and they are playing worst case for a wild card spot. Philly is six and seven, Washington is six and six, Dallas is eight and four. Washington's got two games left with the Cowboys, two with Philadelphia. Dallas has the two with Washington and one with Philadelphia, and Philly has the two with Washington

and one with the Cowboys. Over the final five weeks of the season, there's going to be a head-to-head matchup each week featuring two of these three division rivals. Rivera called it last week. I thought it was a funny reference. He said, we just got to get to the final five where it will be a round robin. It's not exactly a round robin, but it's close. You've got a lot at stake. Really quite amazing where they are considering where they were. But it should be fun down the stretch. Now, to win the division, Sunday's a must. Being two games behind the Cowboys with five to play, they can't fall three behind the Cowboys with four to play. So Sunday for Washington, to win the division and have a home playoff game, Sunday becomes a must.

And then that will make the rematch in Dallas on December 26th, another massive showdown between the two teams. But to really have a legitimate chance to win the division, they're going to have to win Sunday at FedEx Field, where I believe they will have the largest crowd of the year. Now, just so you know, I was told this before the Kansas City game, by a very reliable person that most of the tickets sold for this cowboy game were bought by Dallas fans. And that was obviously with the Cowboys at, you know, 4 and 1, 5 and 1, 6, and 1, whatever they were in Washington floundering,

we've seen what the crowds have been, you know, all season long. This is going to be the biggest crowd of the year. How many Dallas fans versus Washington fans in the crowd will be very interesting. But I do think that there is all of the sudden a very important. increased interest in the team. I put out a poll on the radio show earlier this morning. How much are you into this football team and the run that they are on right now? 62.2% overwhelmingly, 100% into it. Finally paying attention a little bit, 17.4%, still skeptical 17.7%. Not into it at all, just 2.7%. There's been

not only winning over the last four weeks, but it's kind of the way they've been winning. They've been winning as a smart football team, a well-coached football team, and with a real battler, gamer, baller, whatever you want to call them, at quarterback. All right, I'm going to get to my game take next. I'll tell you what I liked, what I didn't like. We will go around the NFL before the end of the show as well. I'll give you my first blush on next Sunday. the game against the Cowboys.

And I'm going to finish up the show today with more on Mark Turgeon's sudden departure from Maryland on Friday. I talked to a lot of people over the weekend. I texted back and forth with Mark. But I had some more concrete and I think maybe more organized thoughts than I did in the moment on Friday as I was trying to scramble off the stunning news that he was leaving Maryland. By the way, they lost their Big Ten opener yesterday to Northwestern, did not look like a good basketball team at all. The Wizards didn't look very good over the weekend as well. They've been blown out in three of their last four.

All right, my Washington Raiders game recap right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Pay attention. He's Kevin's Game Take. My Game Take is presented today by My Bookie. Everybody's trying to cash in on the next best crypto. but if you want a guaranteed way to double your money, all you need to do is use my promo code, Kevin D.C. At my bookie.

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Man, Maryland's. in a bowl game. They're going to play Virginia Tech in the pinstripe bowl. You've got your final four college football playoff field set with Bama against Cincinnati and Michigan against Georgia. Those are New Year's Eve games. And remember, MyBooky's got fair point spreads, money lines, totals, and very fair pricing. It's the best time of the year to watch football and bet on football. Go to mybooky.com or mybooky.agy.ag and use my promo code. Kevin D.C., they'll give you free money. They'll double your first deposit so that you have double to bet with. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere with my bookie. All right, let's get to the things that I liked,

the things I didn't like, and then a few other observations from the game. All right, I'm going to start with this on the list of things that I liked. I thought the defense was really, really good through three quarters anyway. The final numbers defensively are great. They gave up just 15 points. Nearly a fifth straight game of holding an opponent to under 300 yards. The Raiders barely over 300 yards, 310 in total. I mean, most of those, you know, they got 18 yards, I think, on that final drive to put them over 300. A fourth straight game of playing outstanding third-down defense. The Raiders were 2-4-8 in the game.

That's now 12-for-39. The defense has allowed during their four-game win streak on third-down. They're still 32nd in the league on third down defense, but now they're just one percentage point away from 31st in the league. As recently as three weeks ago, they were like five percentage points behind the 31st possession. I think it's 50% even now on third down that they're giving up. They have really improved. Their third down defensive results have changed dramatically, and so have the results of the games here. That is no, you know, minor thing during their four-game winning streak.

Getting the other team off the field on third down has been a major reason for their run over the last month. The defense gave up 140 yards and two scores in the fourth quarter, but it was really the work they did in the first three quarters that allowed for the team to win a game, despite scoring just 17 points on offense. I thought the defense was once again. super high energy, flying around, tackling well. There was a mistackle here. I know Jamie Davis missed a tackle,

but they tackled pretty well. They were flying to the ball. They were disciplined at the same time. You know, defensive coaches, this is what they love. Like, you know, at any level for those of you who have ever played football or coached football at any level, defensive coaches love you to pursue until the whistle blows. Pursue, they want everybody running to the ball until the whistle blows.

And Washington has had that weekend and week out over the last four weeks. I think it's been very impressive. Yesterday, their run stopping, especially in the first half, made the Raiders totally one-dimensional. If not for the scrambles by Derek Carr on that final drive before the field goal that they got at the end of the half, as Washington was headed towards a first half shutout, if not for those scrambles, the running backs had 14 yards on seven carries. They made the Raiders one-dimensional. Now, Jacobs had a couple of good runs in the second half,

but for the most part, in a game that was very close, one score. Throughout, the Raiders dropped back 42 times and ran it just 16 times. There was pressure throughout the game from the front four. They got good pressure with four-man pressures. They got good pressure with extra-man pressures. I thought pain and ionitis in air. Allen were really tough to deal with inside. I thought James Smith Williams had some good pressures.

By the way, I mentioned this early in the radio show because I did not have the snap counts at the time. John Allen wasn't on the field as much as he usually is. There's no injury-related news on him, I don't think, not as I'm recording this interview. But he played on just 53% of the snaps in the game yesterday. That is super low for him. By comparison, Dron Payne, played on 80% of the defensive snaps. Usually Allen is the higher or it's super close, but Payne was on the field for 47 defensive snaps, Allen for 31, Ionitis for 33. So pain and I and Ionitis were on the field more than John Allen was. I don't know the reason for that, but I did, you know, make a note to myself during the game that it seemed like John Allen wasn't on the field,

as much as usual, and I wondered why, and it turned out that it was true based on the snap count. Also on the list of things that I liked after starting with the defense, Antonio Gibson. You know, his final numbers in this game, 23 carries for 88 yards in terms of rushing yardage, they weren't as good as I thought they were. I said the same thing after the Tampa game. I said, you know, his numbers weren't that great, but it seemed like he really had, an impact on the game. Well, here's one of the reasons for it. Like in the Tampa game, he had a couple of big lost yardage plays that really skewed the numbers a little bit. He had minus 10 yards

on two different carries. I think there was a minus seven and a minus three. So you take away those two runs, and I know you can't really, but he didn't have a chance on those two runs. They read it perfectly. They were in, you know, they were sort of wide zone runs and they were back there and they nailed them for a big loss. You take away those and he's 21 carries for 98 yards. That's much more in line with what I thought he was doing, you know, over four yards per carry. He was outstanding in this game. He was a big factor in this game as he has been because his running ability, and you give the offensive line, their credit too, but it allows them to remain balanced. 30 passes, 30 runs. Doesn't get much more balanced than that. He also had five

catches in the game, including a touchdown catch. His third down and one run on the opening drive, third and one, when he was trapped behind the line of scrimmage for a three or a four yard loss and somehow worked himself free, then powered his way. God, does he run with some power? Then powered his way to a first down. That's one of the best third and one runs you'll see all year long. That was the difference between continuing a drive, which ultimately, you know, ended in a touchdown or kicking a field goal for a three-nothing lead. I thought Gibson was exceptional yesterday. I think he is, you know, take away the fumbling issue that he's had. I think he is really developing into an upper tier NFL back and versatile as well. All right, next up on the list of

things that I liked. Logan Thomas, devastating injury for sure. It's apparently a torn ACL, torn MCL done for the year. It's too bad because Logan Thomas was, you know, Pete Hainer, the tight ends coach. He was the guy, at least if you believe Rivera, that said, I think this guy can play tight end in the league. Nobody was giving him a chance. The signing was a very benign signing. No one was super excited about it. You're like, eh, take a flyer on Logan Thomas. Former quarterback has played a little tight end. Maybe he can play tight end. They certainly have a need for a side end. Logan Thomas, in the time that he's been here, last year and then in the few games that he's played for this team this year, he is a major difference maker at the position.

He's really, really good. He had three catches yesterday for 48 yards before going out after he got hurt. And again, he's done for the year, it would appear. And that's a big blow. You know, I asked Ron Rivera about three weeks ago on the radio show, I said, of all the guys that you've been missing offensively in terms of your skill position players, Curtis Samuel, Diami Brown, and Logan Thomas, who have you missed the most? Because really only they would know. And he said Logan Thomas. I think a lot of people who, you know, probably thought, well, he's going to say Curtis Samuel. They've missed that dynamic. Well, DeAndre Carter has done a lot of what you know, Curtis Samuel was expected to do. Maybe not as a ball carrier. But he said Logan Thomas.

Logan Thomas is really good. He has a chance. Hopefully he recovers from this injury and he's got a five-year healthy run at playing this position. He's got a chance to be one of the better pass-catching tight ends in the league legitimately. I'm not talking about like top 10, top 15. I'm talking about top five. He's got quarterback hands. He's got quarterback IQ.

He is physical. He gets great. position. He runs great routes. He blocks. The touchdown catch that he made to start the game was a ball that, you know, let's be fair, sailed high, and he snagged it with one hand as a wide open receiver. It was a first and goal. If he's not able to rein it in, they're still going to have another chance. Great catch, excuse me. There was a third and five in the third quarter, another ball that was super high, and he snagged that one. He's really good, really, really big blow to lose Logan Thomas. Bates, by the way, did a nice job in the game, especially after he left. Also on the things

that I liked list. The kicker, the new kicker, Brian Johnson, Bethesda Maryland Zone, Brian Johnson, Gonzaga Purple Eagle, Brian Johnson, two of two on PATs and his first field goal attempt, just a little bit of pressure, down 15, 14, from 48 yards out. That thing looked like it was headed right, didn't it? It looked like he was headed right, and then it straightened out at the end and got inside that right up right from 48 yards out to give Washington a 17-15 lead. He was great in his first game. Can't complain. You know, the time of possession, I referenced, you know, the balance and the controlling of the ball a little bit, but this was another game where Washington had the ball for the duration. You know, not anywhere near the disparity

of their previous three games, but when you go seven of 13 on third down and you're a opponent is two of eight on third down. And when you don't have one three and out the entire game, not one three and out the entire game, you're going to end up with an advantage. And yesterday, it was 33 minutes, 42 seconds to 26 minutes, 17 seconds. Cole Holcomb's on the list of things that I liked. You know, I know that he occasionally got beat, but man, he is out there for a lot of the game. I don't think he came out on one play yesterday. He's in, you know, he's got run responsibilities. He's in coverage a lot because he can run. You know, he got called for the PI in the end zone that set up the one Raiders touchdown of the day, but he made some really good plays. He knocked the ball

out of Moreau's hands on what would have been a big play. You know, sort of earlier in the game, he made a really good play in the end zone on Moreau on a ball that might have been a little bit underthrown, but Moreau had a chance to pull it in and he knocked it out. That drive, by the way, ended in field goal for the Raiders, so it was a four-point saver. I just like Holcomb in the way he plays. I really do. I thought he had a solid game. Two more things on the list of things that I liked. Taylor Heineke makes the list. This was not as clean of a game as, you know, the Tampa, Carolina, or even the Monday night game. But I think without him, they don't win this game. I think there was so much more good than anything else in this game.

I'll concede, not the cleanest game. I'll concede he got very fortunate at the end. That pass he threw that MoRig from TCU, the safety had right in his hands. It should have been the game ender. Should have lost the game. And the conversation today would have been much different. That was a terrible decision. decision, much worse than the interception he threw, which his hand got, you know, his hand got

knocked into by Crosby. I mean, that's why the ball fluttered, and that's why it was intercepted. It's because his hand got hit by Crosby. But the interception that got dropped at the end, that's a game ender right there. I'll get to that a little bit more. I want to focus on the positive. I want to start with this. Taylor Heineke, during this four-game winning streak, has been at his best with the game on the line and at his best on the most important down, third down. Washington was 7 of 13 on 3rd Downs yesterday. Of the seven conversions, five of them were because of him. He threw to Terry McLaurin on a 3rd and 10 on the opening drive. Pressure in his face. Yeah, he's off his back foot, but he hit him in stride 13 yards, keeps the drive alive that leads to a 7-0 lead.

That play was monstrous. The people that were nitpicking on the throw to Thomas that it was too high, it was still a touchdown. They don't get to that throw, if not for his third and 10 throw to McLaren. There's a third and two in the second quarter. He moves the sticks with a really good throw to D'Andre Carter. Read it perfectly, got the ball out. Carter catches and boom, move the chains.

Same thing, third and four to Humphreys for six yards in the second quarter. The third and five that was also high to Logan Thomas in the third quarter that Thomas pulled in, Still, I mean, he was under pressure a lot. He got hit a shitload in this game yesterday. Move the chains. The third and six scramble for seven yards. And then the third and goal touchdown throw to Gibson that made it 14 to 6. That throw, by the way, showing how he's really good at contorting the arm angle.

That was a sidearm throw to Gibson. Maybe a little bit late, but it was good enough. You know, there was another third down conversion that he took a roughing the pass. penalty on that was really, I thought, kind of dicey. But he was responsible for five of the team's seven third down conversions, all of them moving the chains. And he nearly had another third down conversion on a third and 15 where somehow he pulled off like in the Carolina game. A Houdini escape from Crosby who had him by his leg, he gets away and he throws that ball too high to Logan, no doubt. That's third and 15. He should have been able to hit Logan, but just the ability

to escape what was an absolute lock to be a sack was amazing. He once again had a very high completion percentage. You know, he got some help in this game from some of his receivers, but 23 of 30. That makes this kid 92 of 119 during the four-game winning streak. 77.3% completion percentage over this four-game stretch of wins. Now, I did not do the research on the third down numbers over the last four weeks, but they're likely very good. He had two touchdowns in the game. He had one interception that was, again, I think defensive force.

He got his arm hit by Crosby causing the ball to flutter. I don't know if the read was right. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it would have gotten picked had it been a good throw. It was a terrible interception for the timing of the game, but it wasn't his fault that the ball came out fluttering. Again, he got his arm hit. The play that really was the worst play for him during the game

was the end of the game. And again, I'll get to that in a second. There were a few other things I just wanted to mention. The bottom line is much more positive influence on the outcome of the game than anything else. He does miss high. I've been talking about that on this podcast since August. His misses are high. His accuracy is inconsistent.

He's had some receivers, make some really good plays. And look, it's not that his accuracy is always off. You know, he throws a very catcher. ball. You know, he's got great touch on many of his throws. But I think you've all seen enough to now know that his misses, whether they are completions or incompletions, are high misses. They sail on him. They sail on him really because I think most quarterback coaches or most coaches in general would tell you his footwork isn't consistent enough. You know, rather than getting his feet right and driving the football. He throws a lot of back foot falling away. And I think that's what a football coach would tell

you is a big reason why the ball sails on him a lot. The touchdown pass to Thomas was really a near miss of a wide open player on a first and 10 play action or first in goal play action. He had another one to Thomas that Thomas caught on the third and five that was too high. He missed on the magical escape from Crosby on the third and 15. He missed high on that. you know, he had a throw in the third quarter, second and 15 that he's late on, that he throws to Terry. This one wasn't high, but this was late and behind. The ball gets deflected up into the air nearly picked. The next play, by the way, was that, you know, that escape from Crosby in the near completion to Thomas. But, you know, this is all nitpicking stuff, okay? You know, the sailing the ball,

missing high footwork. That's all right now stuff that he's going to have to work on and he's going to have to improve. And I think in some ways he has improved some of that during the course of the year. The stuff that he does at a high level, like his athleticism, his escapability, high-level stuff, the fact that he is absolutely fearless,

his approach to it, his mentality, his psychology, elite stuff. those things are big deals too. You know, you want to talk about his inaccuracy, which I've been talking about. You want to talk about it as being the flaw that you can't overcome in terms of him being a franchise quarterback. He's overcoming it right now. He is overcoming those things right now.

Now, maybe he won't over the final five games, but he is right now. And even when they were losing, he was overcoming some of those flaws with some of the things that I would call not only a strength, but a high-level strength. Now, the play at the end of the game, first and 10 at the Raiders 40 with 59 seconds to go,

that is very fortunate because that is the kind of play that he really does need to eliminate. Like it's that play more than back foot, throwing to an open receiver against the blitz, you know, driving the ball from the far hash to a comeback on the far sideline. things that he doesn't do well that he's got to work on. But the decision making on that first and 10 at the Vegas 40 and a game that you're trailing 15 to 14 and you've got plenty of time and

you are essentially five yards away from solid field goal position, 10 to 12 yards away from really good positioning for a game winning field goal. You can't hitch, wait, throw late, and then put it up for grabs like he did. He's very, very fortunate. that that kid, Morg, dropped it. It was a pick six right in his hands. Even if he doesn't take it to the house, it's game over on the pick. And we're having a different conversation today. There's that fine line. Now, I would not have overlooked what he did to get him into position. And I think that final drive showed for him a hell of a lot of poise. He delivered two big time throws to Humphreys. They were in position. But that one mistake, would have been a bad one, a real bad mistake. Really would have cost him dearly in terms of playoff positioning and, by the way, overall confidence in him. Because he had thrown an interception on the previous drive,

even though I don't really chalk that up as one that's on him. But the one that got dropped was totally on him. But, you know, this team's been living right here during this four-game stretch. Remember, D'Andre Carter fumbled that kickoff return when they were down 14-7 in Carolina, and somehow Troy Apkey went in and dug it out. I mean, Carolina could have gone up two scores. It could have been a much different game. DeAndre Carter muffed a punt in the Monday night game against Seattle.

That could have been a massive game. So they're really living right, and I'll get to the throw at the end of the game, the Zay Jones potential pass interference on Bobby McCain. But they're getting things to go their way. And they weren't going their way early in this season. Um, he is, though, really, really impressing the hell out of me. I am not ready to say definitively. We don't need to look.

Let's sign him to a long-term deal. But over the last four weeks, my mind is open and I love what he's done. Yesterday was not his best game during this four-game winning streak. I give them a B for the game. You might want to give them a B plus, you might want to give them a B minus. It's in that range. It was not an A game from Taylor Heineke yesterday, but it was a B game. They're not in that chance to win the game late on that final drive without him.

If he had thrown that pick, if that had been caught and the game had ended, he still put him in position to win the game. B for Taylor Heineke. Last thing on the list of things that I liked. You know, they won this game without a player that, and I didn't have this on Friday's podcast, I don't think I did because I don't think the news had been announced yet. But I really thought they were going to miss J.D. McKissick going into this game.

And they didn't have Landing Collins. You know, Mr. Buffalo Nickel, Mr. Big Nickel, Mr. Downhill Safety himself, landing Collins. These are two players that were really significant over the three-game one. streak heading into the game yesterday. I really thought they were going to miss McKissick. Smallwood came in on a few plays, had three touches in the game. I hope McKissick's okay for the Dallas game. I think he's huge for this team. And I think Collins is too. Love the way Everett played. I love the way Curl played. But, you know, this team, when you think about it, they were also

missing Schweitzer. They're on their fourth string center. They're on their fourth kicker of the year. They are without McKissick. They're without Collins. They lose Logan, Thomas during the game. Man, Ron Rivera and his staff are coaching them up, man. They are coaching them up. This is, I think, the reason when they hired him, I was really pleased. Because I think they got a guy. Well, I think we're starting to learn now. They got this guy. They got a guy that is an adult and the players respect the hell out of and they respond to even in the worst of times. And they have coached their asses off for the second straight year. I mean, they were two and seven last year, one in five, two and seven.

This year, two and six. And once again, you know, quarterbacks, the quarterbacks that they plan to play this year, the guy that they plan to play played, you know, a quarter and a half. And they've had injuries, just like some of their opponents have had injuries. The Raiders were missing with Darren Waller yesterday, big time injury. Jackson, Deshawn Jackson also not very healthy in the game yesterday. I was looking at his snap count because there was not a lot of Jackson on the field. He played in just 41% of the snaps, and they said he was not completely healthy.

And they missed his threat, you know, at times down field. Now, I think Derek Carr may have missed him on a couple of plays. too. But really, really good job overcoming two of their players, you know, key players not being there. And I give Ron Rivera and his staff a lot of credit. You know, I think they have a guy that you can be competitive year and year out with and it's going to be an adult operation. Now, we'll see what happens on the other side of the building, okay? I mean, I understand. I know what Tommy Surgeon General Warning is, and I am, I've read it many times, and I understand, and I'm not about to jump all in like this is, they finally got it right. But they got themselves a competent

NFL head coach, and because of all the adversity that this organization usually puts people through, he's the kind of guy that can deal with it. The list of things that I did not like from the game. You got to score more points. This is going to catch up with them at some point. They're moving the football too well to be a team that scores 17 in a game like that, or the game on Monday night. The Raiders had not held a team to less than 20 points. You have to go all the way back to, I think it was week two. Hold on. I'm pulling it up here for a second. Week two was the last time against the Steelers that they held an opponent to less than 20. That was the last time.

In recent weeks, 33, the Cowboys scored 33, the Bengals scored 32, the Chief scored 41, hell, the Giants scored 23. The Broncos, who aren't great offensively, scored 24. So they have given up a lot of points, and Washington managed only 17. moving the football, just like they did on Monday night. They were moving the football. They had some long drives. They had some long play drives that ended in punts. They didn't go three and out at all. But this is going to catch up with them if they can't figure out how to, you know, not go literally two full quarters without scoring. They scored on their opening drive and then they scored early in the fourth quarter to take a 14 to 6 lead.

So they got to be better. Look, I said this on Friday. I'd rather have a team moving the football and not finishing very often than a team that can't move the football. They keep moving the football. It's going to pay off. I think it's going to pay off. But you've got to score more than 17 points. Number two on the list of things I did not like.

You got to cover Hunter Renfro. There's no Darren Waller. Deshawn Jackson's not right. And Renfro is a favorite of Darry. a car. It really seemed like, for whatever reason, that was the one thing they couldn't figure out. Now, Renfro is really good, and they had some good schemes to get them open. But he caught nine balls for 103 yards on 10 targets in the game. Next thing on the list of things that I did not like. How did Zay Jones get behind the defense on that first snap after the Johnson field goal

gave Washington a 17 to 15 lead. Let me first say this. There are 31 seconds left and they're starting at their own 25-yard line. You know, most teams defensively are thinking, I would guess. They've got a timeout left. They probably got to get the ball to around the 40 to try, you know, a 57-yardish, you know, field goal. So they have, you know, roughly 35 yards to travel. And they've got a timeout left. So it was very doable for the Raiders there at the end. And so, you know, typically are they going to throw to the sideline on first end? Are they going to take their chunk, you know, play down the middle, try to get 15 to 20 yards, you know, call their one time out and then get another one or two plays off.

31 seconds left. You can get four or five plays, you know, six plays with one time out left. So working their way into field goal range was still a good possibility. They didn't need to get it all in one shot, which is why I think, the deep shot that they took was a bit surprising. Maybe it was surprising to Washington as well. But first in 10, you get car out on the edge, no pressure, and he steps in and he lets one, I mean, he launched one. Brendan, my producer on the radio show said, or maybe it was Ben Standing told me that the ball traveled over 68 yards in the air, and it was the longest throw in a few years.

I mean, he launched that thing. It was really the really, the first massive deep shot they had taken. And Zay Jones gets behind the defense. I mean, you can't let him get behind the defense. Zay Jones can run. He's not a great player, but he can run a little bit. And the ball was in his hands, and I think it was catchable. But more importantly, Washington got really, really fortunate that the flag didn't come out.

There's a clear tugging of Zay Jones's jersey by Bobby McCain. Now, it's my opinion that that's one of those subjective things that we see called, and sometimes we don't see it called. We've seen less called and more not called. So I thought, you know, I think, you know, Standing told me this morning, I said, he goes, the second quarter you get flagged for that, you're like, yeah, but in the fourth quarter, they kind of let the players decide it. And that's what Greg Olson said on the broadcast. but still, if the flag had come out, we wouldn't have been bitching about it today. I'm sure Raider fans are bitching about the fact that it wasn't called.

If it had been called, you couldn't have argued that it shouldn't have been called. The fact that it wasn't, we've seen a lot of, you know, the jostling and a little bit of, you know, jersey tugging every once in a while not get called. It's not like it's a lock to get called. It's probably a better than 50-50 possibility that it would have been called, even in that position, but it wasn't. They're living right. Living right. And by the way, Zay Jones still should have caught the ball. A couple of other observations from the game. What the hell was that penalty on Jonathan Abram for? I know what it was for. It was a defensive

illegal block. You're not allowed to go low on a player still, I guess, inside the box, five yards from the line of scrimmage or something like that. But he made the tackle. How can that be a penalty if he makes the tackle? You're allowed to go low to make a tackle because you can't go high. How do you tackle people? I thought that was a big, big play in the game because it was already first and 20 after what I thought was a questionable holding call, a questionable holding call on the center, Ismail. But really, that's a penalty?

he goes low? By the way, the Ingaqwe going low on Logan Thomas and injuring him was a cheap shot. It was legal. I thought it was cheap. But it was legal. The Abram play, apparently, you can't go in and make a tackle if you're taking somebody else from the team,

a player who doesn't have the ball out at the same time. That's a ridiculous rule. But it was big for Washington because it turned a second and 20, because that was a no gain play into a first intent from their own 40, and that was a drive that ultimately concluded with a touchdown, with the touchdown pass to Gibson on third and goal from the Raiders 4 and a 14 to 6 lead. Huge play in the game.

On the Raiders final drive after the Zay Jones, no interference called, I don't know if you notice this, but there's a pass to renfro over the middle to the 36-yard line. The Raiders had one timeout left. They didn't call the time out until there were 10 seconds left. The play ended at 14. That's a big difference because 14 seconds still gives you a chance to throw the ball over the middle for a chunk play, maybe field goal range, and get up and spike it. But 10 seconds does not.

The coach had no idea what to do there. Carr was asking for the timeout, but I think he asked a little bit too late. And they only put 10 seconds back up. Maybe they should have put 11 up there, but you've got to be on the sideline. If you're the Raiders, you've got to understand. That ball was completed inbounds, tackled inbounds. You've got to call the time out right away. You're not going to get up there and spike it at that point.

Your best chance is to call the time out with 14 seconds left. And then you've got a chance maybe to throw to the sideline twice, or you could get one play, a quick one over the middle for 15, 16, 17 yards, spike it. and then maybe have a chance at a super long field goal for Carlson. I thought Derek Carr missed some stuff in the game. I thought he should have had a touchdown on their go-ahead field goal drive, but he didn't throw with enough touch. I think it was to Jones.

I thought Perryman leaving the game for the Raiders was big for Washington. I thought he was their best defensive player in the game. Ron had a really good challenge on an Edwards catch. Brian Edwards catch in the first half. It was an 18-yard gain. He challenged the catch it was overturned. And the last thing I just wanted to mention about this game, that was an intense game. Both teams really needed it.

They were both flying around, playing urgently, intensely. I love the way the hitting was in the game. There was a play where Kenyon Drake fumbled and Washington recovered, but it was rightly ruled knee down and no fumble. But that play, Everett, Jamon Davis, the kid wise, Daniel Wise, they're all flying to the ball. They nearly broke Drake in half. I loved the way the game was played by really the intensity by both teams.

There's a desperation now this time of year. And Washington is really playing these games as an urgent football team that's well prepared, that's ready for these games. I really feel like this is the thing that I'm most confident in, that they're going to be ready for these games, they're going to play at a level that reflects their position in the playoff race. And that's my first blush on the Dallas game. I think they're going to be ready to play this game.

And I think it's another game, like this game. I said on Friday, I liked their chances to win the game. I picked them. I liked their chances on Monday night to beat C. Seattle. I think what I'm really becoming confident in is they're going to be well-coached, ready, and they've got some ballers. This is part of the Ron Rivera picking his own players, the coach-centric part of it. A lot of you have been convinced already that he's not a general manager, even though he might be a decent coach. It's too early to determine that. Part of, you know,

picking a winning roster is to find the right people. And he's found the people that are responding to him. He's finding the people that are playing like their lives are on the line in these games. You know, it's been a long time since we have felt that. You know, maybe the whole thing turns on its backside over the final five games. Who knows? But I'm confident right now that they may, you know, they may put out a dud, but I don't think they're going to lose or go down over these Final five because they're not ready and they're not prepared and they're not playing with a high level of intensity. I like that about this team right now. I really do. And my first blush on the Dallas game is this is going to be a very, very close, tight game. Dallas's health will be big in this game

because they haven't been right physically during this, you know, losing three out of their last four or whatever it is and not even looking that good against New Orleans. They had lost three or four going into that New Orleans game, so I guess it's, you know, three losses in their last five. A lot of that has been because of missing pieces offensively. So their health is big for this game Sunday. But my first, you know, thought is I don't care what the point spread says. It's five.

Dallas is a five-point favorite. I think Washington's going to be ready for this game. I think it'll be an intense game, super intense. and super winnable. I think it's a winnable game Sunday. Now, if we see the Dallas offense of earlier in the season, that could be tough to stop. By the way, the early forecast, long range,

is for some wind and rain potentially on Sunday. We may get some snow Tuesday night and Wednesday. I don't know if you guys know that or not, but Sunday, some rain, some wind, maybe some falling temperatures. although it's supposed to be mild early in the day. But, you know, these five games are going to be fun. I can't believe we're here in talking about these last five games

in the way that we're talking about them. All right, I'll finish up the show with a little bit of what went on around the league yesterday. And I do want to take another swing at the Mark Turgeon departure from Maryland basketball on Friday. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I told you guys, everything we need is in this room. Everything we need is to understand this more so than anything else.

Okay? Understand it's more than anything else. We can do what we want and be what we want. It's up to us. Nobody dictates to us. Okay? Nobody does. We decide.

You know what I decide? Jack, we end. Jack! PJ the baby! Another fiery post-game locker room speech from Ron Rivera, man, these have been fun to watch the last four weeks. By the way, for those of you that don't understand the whole throwing of the rock thing, which he asked Jack Del Rio to do, you could hear him saying,

where's Jack and Jack through the rock? I didn't know what it meant last week, and for whatever reason I just kind of ignored it and didn't really follow up on it. You know, the guys on the beat knew what it was. So it goes back to the Tampa game when he was comparing why, Washington and Tampa as like David versus Goliath. And he said the only way to knock off the giant is with a stone. So after these wins, they've been taking a stone or a rock and throwing it into the wall at the end of the game.

Somebody's been designated the stone thrower, as if, you know, there's the giant. We just knocked them off. And Jack Del Rio got that honor yesterday. Teams having a lot of fun right now. That is for sure. A couple of things real quickly from the college football weekend before we get to the NFL. It played out in a way that was very easy for the committee to determine the teams. The Oklahoma State Baylor ending was phenomenal.

The Baylor kid getting caught as he stretched the ball out to the pylon and just missed the Oklahoma State kid, excuse me, and Baylor holds on for a 2116 win, which knocked Oklahoma State out and actually gave Baylor some faint hope if there had been chaos the rest of the day. But the rest of the day went pretty much chalk with the exception of Bama, Georgia. But Michigan won big, Cincinnati, one big. They were both Smeltest Picks. Smeltest 7 and 1 over the weekend. So I'm now in winning, I'm now have a winning record on the season. It's been a really good four-week run. Seven and one, the two college games were the two favorites, Michigan and Cincinnati. They both covered pretty easily. But, you know, Michigan won Cincinnati one, Bama, of course. I mean, by the way,

does anybody else just kind of wonder like, what was Bama doing all that year? Like, what were they doing? Because we didn't see anything resembling what they did to the best defensive team in America. I did have this thought on Saturday watching the game. It's like, you know what? When in doubt, when it comes to a big time football game, take the better quarterback because Bryce Young is much better than Stets and Bennett. Anyway, the teams were easy to pick at the end of the night. You know, Georgia, Bama, Michigan, and Cincinnati. There was no debate over that. Seeding them, I thought Michigan had a case to be number one overall. And I think, you know, part of why Bama wasn't number two in Michigan was one is they didn't want to see an immediate

rematch between Alabama and Georgia. Now, the committee chair said that's, not what they do in seating, that they seat them based on where they think they should be seated, that there's no consideration given to like an immediate rematch. I don't know. I thought Michigan had a case for number one. I thought they were incredibly impressive. And now Michigan gets Georgia where they will be a seven and a half and a half point underdog in one semifinal. And Bama is like a 13 and a half, 14 point favorite over Cincinnati. I guessed before the lines came out yesterday. The Bama number pretty much spot on.

But I was wrong about the Georgia game. I told my son, I said, I think Bama is going to be two touchdowns. And I think George is going to be less than seven. Like I think this is going to be five, five and a half somewhere in there. It's seven, seven and a half higher than I thought it would be. Anyway, oh, one other quick thing. did anybody see Kenny Pickett's 58-yard touchdown run in the ACC championship game, the Pitt quarterback, who is more likely than not going to be a first-rounder?

He did a fake slide on a run that stopped the defense, and then he didn't slide and he kept running and ran for a touchdown. They're going to have to create a rule against that. You can't do that. If you're not allowed to hit the quarterback when they start to go into a slide, If they go into a slide and they're faking, that's going to have to be a penalty. You can't do that. You know, it's the same thing where you get some of these quarterbacks that will fake like they're going to run out of bounds

and then they go up the sideline a little bit more for four, five or six more yards because they know they can't be hit by the sideline. You can't do that either. If we're going to take hitting the quarterback out of the game, quarterbacks can't take advantage of that and do fake slides. It was incredible the way he did it, but you can't do that. By the way, how did that game stay under the total? The total was 75.

There were 35 points. It was 21 to 14 with still four minutes to go in the first quarter, and the game stayed under, finished 45-21 pit. The NFL yesterday, the NFL yesterday was, you know, there were some, you know, not the crazy results with the big, favorites yesterday. In fact, the big favorites like the Rams and the Colts in particular, you know, the Buccaneers, they all won and covered. You know, if all the sudden the betting public was like, I'm taking these big underdogs, they've been covering and winning

outright. Well, yesterday wasn't the day because the Buccaneers were a double-digit favorite. They won 30 to 17 over the Falcons. By the way, there was a horrendous play by Tampa Bay at the end of the first half. Their own eight yard line throwing the football with 20 seconds to go. And there was a pick six. I mean, what are you going to do throwing the football? And it was a swing pass to Four Nett. That was crazy. But they covered as a big favorite. The Colts covered as a double-digit favorite. The Rams covered as a double-digit favorite. And the chiefs did not go off as a double-digit favorite, but they nearly covered as well as a nine-point favorite. And so did the Cardinals as an eight and a half nine point favorite.

They covered. So the big favorites yesterday, all won. It's like the first time that's happened in a while. In fact, favorites yesterday, I'm going to do this real quickly. They were 1 and 0, 2 and 1, 2 and 1, 3 and 1, 3 and 2, 4 and 2, 5 and 2, 5 and 3 and 3 and 3, and 2, 5 and 3 and 3 and 3, 5 and 4, 6 and 5, 6 and 5, 7 and 5. So favorites were seven and five yesterday. And if you go back to the Thursday night game with Dallas, they were eight and five over the weekend. The game yesterday that was really might be a jaw bender was the Detroit first win of the year on a throw on the final play of the game against a defense that I have no idea what Minnesota was doing.

defensively. Of course, they'll blame Kirk Cousins for that. But Mike Zimmer may have cost himself his job yesterday. I don't know if they're not going to fire him in the buy week. They play, I'm sorry, in the Thursday night game. I didn't mean the buy week. They play Thursday night against Pittsburgh. Look, I think Zimmer's a really good defensive guy. I have no idea what they were doing at the end. They played that like they were in Hail Mary mode. And they let a guy go into the end zone, sit down in front of coverage that was three yards behind him. On a three-step drop and a hitch and a step, boom, right there. Detroit wins the game 29-27 after really Cousins had strapped the team to his back in the second half

and taken them from a 14-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead. The other thing, too, by the way, just with the NFL yesterday, there are a couple of other games I want to mention. I would bet you right now that the two-point analytics people and the fourth-down analytics people are not looking great. I don't know what the two-point percentages are right now or the fourth-down percentage. It just seems to me that they're not at the normal rate of success or at conversion. Minnesota missed three two-point conversions in the game. They should have never gone for the first one that set them on the path of having to go for the next two.

Baltimore went for the two-point conversion at the end of the Pittsburgh game to try to win it down 20 to 19, and Harbaugh said it was because their two corners were down and he didn't think that they could win in overtime. Okay. And it should have been converted. Mark Andrews should have caught that ball. It wasn't the best throw by Lamar Jackson, but should have caught it. By the way, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, seriously, there's been nothing better than Pittsburgh Baltimore for a decade now. In terms of rivalries and the intensity of these games.

and the closeness of these games. They always seemed to end this way. It's amazing. By the way, the AFC North, with Baltimore losing and Cincinnati losing to the Chargers, the Chargers were a smell test pick. With Cincinnati losing to the Chargers, how about the AFC North? Baltimore's in first place at 8 and 4, Cincinnati's at 7 and 5. The Steelers now at 6-5-1.

Rothesberger, by the way, announced that this was it. He's playing his last few games as a professional quarterback in the NFL. And then Cleveland was on a by week. They're 6 and 6. The AFC West, 8 and 4, 7 and 5, 6 and 6, 6 and 6. Right now, every single division leader is 8 and 4. Of course, you've got New England playing Buffalo tonight in what could be a wild weather game. High winds, rain changing to snow during the game.

You know, Buffalo's not a good running team. I kind of like New England, not giving it out. But I kind of like New England tonight. The Seattle game, I gave Seattle out as a smell test pick. Why? Because they were only catching three after looking as horrible as they did. On Monday night, and the 49ers looked great. The 49ers were one of the hottest teams in the league.

They had won three in a row and three in a row impressively. They had blown out the Rams, blown out the Jags. They held on and held off the Vikings at the end, winning by eight. They go to Seattle. It looked like Seattle was dead on Monday, and Seattle rises up and wins the game 30 to 23. Garoppolo drove him 95 yards from his own two-yard line after a turnover, down seven, had him in position but couldn't punch it in from the first and goal at the Seattle.

Three, and now San Francisco is 6 and 6, and Washington is in the sixth spot in the wild card race. Look, the standings are crazy. This going into the final five games of the season in both conferences, nuts, I mean, right now in the NFC, you've got 12 teams that legitimately have a chance at being in the postseason. And in the wild card race, spots 6 through 12 are all separated by a game. Washington's at 6 and 6, San Francisco is 6 and 6, Philly 6 and 7, and then you've got 4, 5, and 7 teams. Nobody's out of it. Nobody's out of it. In the AFC, you know, you look at the wild card spots, and right now, you know, buffing

is the five seat at seven and four, and then you get the chargers at seven and five, the Bengals at seven and five, and then Steelers are six, five and one, the Colts are seven and six, the Raiders are six and six and six, the Broncos are six and six, and the dolphins are one of the hottest teams in the league. They've won five in a row. They are really good defensively. The dolphins are really good on defense, and they play the Jets this Sunday to get to seven and seven. They do have after that Saints, Titans, Patriots to finish up the season. But they will be, I would assume, a big favorite on Sunday against the Jets. They are, let me see what they are. I'm sorry, they don't play the Jets this week. They have a buy this week. The Dolphins and the Eagles have

and, by the way, after tonight the Patriots will have all played 13 games. So next week, you end up with the last of the buy teams. It'll be the Colts, Dolphins, Patriots, and Eagles, and that'll be it for the buys. But a crazy playoff race, for sure. All right, I want to finish up the show with this. I know that a lot of you listen to me talk about Mark Turgeon's departure from Maryland on Friday.

Appreciate the feedback. Not everybody agrees with a lot that I said, but it had a quick short turnaround after the news, and I just thought about a couple of things, and I talked to a lot of people over the weekend. And I just wanted to summarize it maybe a little bit more succinctly than I did on Friday, in part because I'm really passionate about what happened. I don't like what happened.

And I certainly don't like a lot of what I read and heard Friday afternoon, Friday night, Saturday. because there is piling on and hyperbole and just fake news when it comes to him. And I want to clear it up. You know, first of all, you know, for those of you that didn't hear me talk about it on Friday, you know, Mark Turgeon's out. It was said that it was mutual, but this was more about his choice. Okay, this was him deciding that he was going to be out at the end of the year. more likely than not.

And him, you know, getting booed at home against Virginia Tech last week in the Big Ten ACC challenge, there were fireturgent, firemarked turgeon chance coming from the student section of all places. There was ridiculous behavior by people on social media towards his family. That's been an ongoing thing. And the bottom line is he had had enough of the fan base. The fan base had obviously had enough of him. and I think he thought leaving now when it was a foregone conclusion that he would be out at the end of the year was A, healthier for him and his family, and B, better for the program,

that it would give them a major head start on the hiring process. I think he felt like moving forward in what might be a difficult season for Maryland. I mean, I said this before the Virginia Tech game and after the Virginia Tech game, that for the first time early in a season that I'm worried, because I don't see where the offense is going to come from. But I also said, you know, Turg has figured these things out before. It wouldn't surprise me if it figures it out again. I don't think they're going to figure it out.

But I think that, you know, he felt like he was going to continue to be the focus of real negativity from a fan base that can be difficult and that he just thought it was best for the program for him to leave now. I'll be the first to admit. I was shocked. I don't like the fact that he left in the middle of the season, but I think he really believes that the health of his family was first and foremost, and that it was just going to get uglier with the fan base this year, and that that was not going to be good for his players or the program at all. So why is he out? Well, because he didn't win enough in March. March. He took Maryland to the tournament five times, won five games advancing just once past the

first weekend. His best team in 2020 would have been his sixth NCAA team, if not for COVID, shutting down the season. And that team would have been his highest-seeded team in the NCAA tournament team, likely a three-seed, maybe a two-seed if they had done well in the Big Ten tournament. They were ranked 12th in the country. Their power ranking was a little bit higher. If they had done well in that Big Ten tournament, which was also canceled. They had a chance at a two, but they were more likely than not going to be any worse than a three. His NCAA tournament record of five and five with just one sweet 16 isn't good enough for Maryland. That's why he's out more than anything else. I'm not talking about it not being good enough for the delusional part of the fan base. I'm saying

it wasn't good enough for the reasonable portion of the fan base either. You know, this is where the delusional and the difficult part of the fan base and the more reasonable part of the fan base, we can all agree that one sweet 16 in 10 years at Maryland isn't good enough. You know, you add to the NCAA tournament woes. Maryland didn't make it beyond the semifinals in either the ACC tournament or the Big Ten tournament in 10 years, in his 10 years. In the six Big Ten tournaments, Maryland was in there with him as the coach. They only made two semifinal appearances. After finishing, by the way, in the top three in the regular season four times. So they underperformed in the Big Ten tournament, and they underperformed in the NCAA tournament.

The lack of March success is the number one reason. A significant part of the fan base wanted someone new. and why nobody in the athletic department or school really had his back. He was flying solo the last few years, something that you guys need to understand. There was very little internal support. Do you know that one of his best assistants and recruiters, Bino Ransson, who had been with him for a while, left Maryland in this offseason to go to DePaul to be an assistant because DePaul paid Bino more money.

DePaul. So there wasn't much support internally or externally. And the reason was he didn't win enough in March. I think there are a couple of other reasons. He's out, but none is significant as the lack of March success. But there were a couple of other reasons. He just didn't win enough of those memorable marquee games like Gary and Lefty did. Gary and Lefty, even in relative down seasons, would pull off

massive wins. You know, Maryland under Gary and Lefty beat more number one teams than any program in college basketball history. Now, they had more opportunities. Carolina and Duke were ranked number one a lot more than teams than the Big Ten were. But Mark didn't have enough of those signature moments. Now, he won some big games. He beat number two Duke in the final home game against Duke in 2013. I was on the call of that game. He beat multiple top five. He beat multiple top teams in the Big Ten, all of those games at home, but, you know, and none of those games on the road. But the 2020 season produced some memorable road wins like the win on Friday night at Illinois in a big time highly ranked matchup in February or January. I think it was in February.

The win at Indiana that year where Sticks had the bucket with about eight seconds to go. The win at Michigan State that year with Cowan hitting all those threes. The 2020 team really created the moments of his season. coaching tenure, which is why it sucks that that team didn't get a chance in March. They were poised for big things, but the lack of those Gary Lefty signature wins didn't help. To be fair, though, it was always going to be hard in the Big Ten to win games that made everybody in the fan base feel warm and fuzzy. Nothing in the Big Ten was going to compare to beating Duke or North Carolina. So look, why is he out?

He's out because he didn't win enough in March. That's the 95% of the reason he's out. And then I think, you know, three, four percent of it is he wasn't regularly having those memorable moments, those marquee wins that Gary and Lefty always produced. I think those are things that are really. true. I also think that he never connected personality-wise with a fan base that had been attached at the hip to the two guys with outsized personalities, Lefty and Gary. You know, Lefty could blow a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds to Dean Smith and Carolina, but people still loved Lefty, in part because in the next game, they'd knock off number one ranked Virginia.

You know, Gary got crucified after a home loss to Florida State in 2001. He basically gave the fan base a middle finger salute on his way out of the arena and said, watch this and went to the final four that same year. You know, he did it with that, you know, us against the world personality that, you know, we all fell in love with and identified with as sort of the redheaded stepchild in the ACC. It was a perfect mixture with Gary. Perfect. So again, number one, didn't win enough in March. Number two, not enough signature memorable wins. And number three, he just couldn't pull it off from a connection standpoint the way Gary and Lefty did. Was it a fair outcome?

Well, it depends on your perspective, okay? Some people just wanted him out because they thought he was a bad coach. Now, those who wanted him out only because of that, well, they're wrong. Okay, he's a good coach. Nobody that knows anything about basketball would ever say that Mark Turgeon can't coach. He can coach. He's a good coach. If you know any coaches that have coached against him, ask them.

Okay, because I know somebody who is getting calls all day Friday from Hall of Fame coaches throughout the country saying, what is wrong with your fan base? Do they not know how good of a coach he is? If your perspective is that he is a good coach, but the results weren't good enough, and he's had enough time to produce better results, and things have gotten stale, so let's try something new. That's totally reasonable. If your perspective is he's a good coach, we go to the tournament almost every year now,

his best team didn't get a chance to play, and that was just two years ago, he's gotten better as a coach in recent years, he runs a clean program, and while we might be able to do better, it's also possible we could do a lot worse. Well, that's not unreasonable either. As many of you know, that's basically been my recent position. I think four or five years ago I felt somewhat differently, but I've seen a good coach get better, a coach get the program to where it's basically a given

that you'll be in the tournament four out of every five years. And if he gets enough swings at it, he's going to break through like I think the 2020 team would have broken through. But even with that perspective, which is mostly where I've been, as a Maryland guy, I've wanted better and bigger results and still do. I'm with you on one sweet 16 and 10 years not being good enough. You know, the question is, were those better and bigger results coming with him or not? We'll never know.

But we do know this. You know, the same people who desperately wanted him fired, you know, and are rejoicing that he was, that he is gone. Again, not fired. This was his decision. The same people that, you know, were so excited the other day and rejoicing over this news, you know, you were doing the exact same thing after 2018. They didn't make the tournament in 2018.

They went 19 and 13. They lost Justin Jackson with a torn labrum for the season. they still nearly went 500 in the Big Ten, but after they lost Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament in Madison Square Garden, the natives were restless, and they wanted change then and there. The drumbeat for him to go after 2018

was as loud as it's ever been for him. I bring this up because I just want you to know what came next. What came next was a bounce-back season where they got beat at the buzzer in the second round, round of the round of 32 by a team in LSU that had a salary cap that year. And then in 2020, they were ranked as high as third in the country and were pretty much in the top 10 all season long. They won 24 regular season games, won a share of the Big 10 regular season title, and they

were going to be no worse than a three seed in the tournament before the world shut down with COVID. So just a reminder, because some will try to rewrite history, which by the way, has been going on a lot over the last few days. The cries for firing turge were loudest after 2018. And the next two years, there were a lot of games that ended with a lot of social media tweets that said, bad night for the turgeon can't coach crowd. Bad night for those that think the turgeon can't coach. You wanted them out some of you so desperately at the end of 2018.

Look, I remember thinking to myself, Jesus, we can't, we got it. We can't not make the tournament. Now, you know, there was an injury that year. And it's the only year in the last seven that he didn't qualify for the NCAA tournament. But the cries for him to be fired were loudest at the end of 2018. And what did he do the next two years? He did pretty well. So don't try to rewrite history on this.

You know, because there were just too many nights that many of you were like, yeah, maybe I was wrong. Do you know that he won three of his last four games head to head against two of the best coaches in the country? He won three of his last four against Izzo and he won three of his last four against Matt Painter. To me, one of the best and most underrated coaches in the country. I think Izzo's the best, or certainly among the best two or three. But again, let me emphasize because I said the same thing after 2018. The position of he's a fine guy and a fine coach, but the results in March aren't good enough and we can do better, is and has been a totally reasonable position. It was a reasonable position in 2018, and I guess it's a reasonable position now.

I'm just making the case that when you said it the first time, he bounced. back with two of his best teams and probably his very best team. I do want to address some of the hyperbole that's gone on in the last couple of days and what's next. So there have been some things out there and too many to even keep track of, whether they be spoken or written about the Turgeon era that just doesn't match with the reality. First of all, this notion that he was a great recruiter and a bad coach, nah, that's not true. Okay, first of all, he was an okay, recruiter, not a great recruiter. He had a couple of really good classes, borderline top 10 classes, but do you know what his average ranking on his recruiting classes were over 10 years?

30th. That's not an elite recruiter. So don't give me the great recruiter average coach thing, not true. Various people have written he recruited so well, which wasn't true, and that he never developed these incredibly talented players because he was such a great recruiter. That's what a lot of people have said and a lot of people have really said over the last couple of days. That's a really good take for the people who are just repeating like talking points from people who haven't watched any of these games and have wanted him out. But the facts say otherwise. Alex Lenn was a project coming in, NBA first rounder. Jake Lehman might be the best example of taking a guy with some legit talent, yes,

but limited in really understanding how to play the game and taking that kid and turning him into an NBA player. Bruno Fernando, big athlete coming in, massive improvement after one year with Turgeon to the NBA. Kevin Herder, not super highly recruited, could shoot it, pass it a little bit, but he turned into a well-rounded player and was an NBA first rounder after. or two years. Anthony Cowan. Wow. Nobody saw Cowan early in his career at Maryland developing into one of the best point guards in the country and one of the great players in Maryland history. How about Jalen Sticks Smith? If I had a nickel for all the people who said to me midway through his freshman year, Jesus, man, I thought he was supposed to be really good.

He's not an NBA player. A year and a half later, first round pick. Aaron Wiggins early on, What is he, Sheehan? He's inconsistent. He's not very assertive. Is he a wing? Is he a guard? What is he? Well, all Aaron Wiggins did was get better and get drafted. Daryl Morsell, born tough, basketball rough around the edges, though. But he just kept getting better. Not a better example of how good Turgeon was with taking a guy who had the mindset and the desire to play defense and then watch him learn how to play defense the right way. same by the way with a lot of his players they always grew defensively the only glaring example of a guy that seemed to max out his freshman year was mellow tremble he's the only player who came in great and seemed to never get better now there were guys that came in like diamond stone and justin jackson who got hurt with great talent but they were only concerned with themselves in a quick path to the NBA without much interest in a longer developmental stay all right and they missed out by not buying in and letting themselves get coached for a year or two by mark turgeon they were recruiting mistakes shack clear roddy peters james graham who just entered the transfer portal but every coach has those i've heard a lot of people say yeah you just kept losing players players kept transferring you're not paying attention to the sport okay everybody keeps transferring look around here locally virginia and georgetown are examples of programs that have been losing players and running players for a while now. Most programs deal with that now. Kid comes in, doesn't get the playing time he wants, or that his parents think he should get, and he's gone.

You cut bait a lot faster than maybe you used to, but Maryland's no different than anybody else. But those that have said over the years that Turge doesn't develop players, you sound stupid to anybody that's been paying attention. stop also with the he can't coach thing especially in the big ten where there are many elite coaches I've heard that over the weekend yeah he was just in a league with really really good coaches and he was just you know in over his skis uh look the big ten's had some really good coaches during maryland's first seven years in the league iso's the godfather of the league painter's great Holtman's outstanding, Underwood is good, the guy at Rutgers can coach,

guard and before that, Beau Ryan at Wisconsin, both excellent coaches. Fran McCaffrey's okay. I get it. You know, the Big Ten's had some really good coaches for a long time. Turgeon was 82 and 50 in the Big Ten people. 82 and 50. More wins than anybody in the Big Ten during his seven years except is Owen Painter. Okay?

Most wins, let me repeat. in the Big Ten during his seven years, except for Isow and Painter. Thirdmost wins in the league. Not good enough in March. I get it. Okay? Stop trying so hard to make not good enough in March sound like Maryland's been the northwestern of the Big Ten, though. Stick with the truth.

He's been a very good coach. Finished in the top three, four times in seven years in the best league in the country. Won a shitload of games and has owned some of the best Big Ten coaches. coaches recently. Also, for those that can't remember two years ago and have written or tweeted to me that Marilyn was headed to an early exit in the tournament in 2020 because they were playing poorly down the stretch that year, they won 10 of their final 13 games. The losses were to a ranked Ohio State team on the road, a ranked Michigan State team at home two weeks after they had beaten Michigan State in East Lansing. And they lost at Rutgers on a senior night,

where Rutgers desperately needed the win to solidify their at-large possibilities. By the way, Rutgers was going to be in that tournament, and they were going to be a tough out in the 2020 tournament. Maryland beat Michigan soundly in their season finale to clinch a share of the Big Ten title. They were headed to the Big Ten tournament, I think, is the one seed, or maybe the tiebreakers had them as a two overall seat. I forget where the tiebreakers landed. And they would have been no worse than a three-seed in the NCAA tournament.

maybe a two if they had won some games in the Big Ten tournament, as I've said. They were ranked 12th in the AP poll, 11th in the final coaches poll. Stop telling me that they were going to exit early because they were playing so poorly. Again, fake news. Maryland under Mark Turgeon did not suck. In fact, Maryland's never really sucked at all. You got to go back to the Bob Wade years. You know, Maryland's one of the only major programs that hasn't cratered for at least one

season. They haven't had a losing season in nearly 30 years. Kentucky, Carolina, Duke, all of them have cratered once or twice. Acknowledge that he didn't win enough in March. Acknowledge that he did not win enough in March, yes. But don't pile on. Lots of wins. Six of the last seven seasons qualified for the NCAA tournament. 32 games over 500 in the Big Ten. One of the best programs in the Big Ten while he was there. All right. 23 or more wins six times in 10 years. Four top three finishes in the Big Ten.

I mean, come on, man. The truth about his underwhelming NCAA tournament record will do. It's enough ammo for those who wanted him out. You don't need to make shit up to add to your case. Five and five in the NCAA tournament and one sweet 16 in 10 years is your mic drop. It is. I get it. I understand that. It's totally reasonable. Kevin, everything you're saying is true, but five and five in the NCAA tournament with one suite 16 in 10 years, time for something else. Okay. But all the other stuff is just piling on, and it doesn't match up with what the facts are.

All right, lastly, so what's next? Maryland is a top 15 to 20 job, just for those of you that have reached out to me to tell me, Maryland's not even a top 40 job. No, you ask anybody and it was written and said all weekend long about this job opening, it's considered by anybody that knows college basketball to be a top 15 to 20 job. Now, it's not a top 15 to 20 program right now, but make the distinction. As an available job, it's a top 15 to 20 job. job. Why? Well, because it's the location, the conference. It's a hotbed of high school basketball

talent right in their own backyard. It's got a tradition of being a basketball first school. It's got an incredible home building with an incredible home court environment. They've got tradition, which includes a national championship. There's a long time, very passionate fan base. And again, while they're not currently a top 15 program, this is a really good job. Everybody understands that. Now, just because it is a really good job, it doesn't mean that everybody's going to want the job. There are a couple of potential negatives out there about Maryland.

One is that Maryland's got to pay up. Turgeon was the 28th highest paid coach in the country in overall compensation. So if it's a top 15 to top 20 job, they got to pay it like it is. You've got to support it like it's a top 15 to top 20 job. You can't have assistant coaches leaving for DePaul because DePaul pays better as if Ray Meyer and Mark Aguier are still there. You also need a better practice facility. This is, I understand, they have an incredible home building.

Why don't they just practice there? Why don't they just practice in the practice facility they have right now? But you're in a competition, you know, for recruits. They don't have one of the better practice facilities, and that is a bit of a problem for them. They also, by the way, need to reconsider the relationship with Under Armour. It's a relationship that some will tell you has hurt recruiting. Nike and Adidas have much more penetration into AAU and high school programs, and those programs are steering kids to Nike and Adidas schools.

Names I've heard, Kevin Willard, Seaton Hall, Ed Cooley, Providence, I love both of those guys. I'm a huge Ed Cooley fan. And Maryland's a better job than both of those jobs. Rick Petino, if you want to go that route, would be a home run in terms of a coach. He would kill it here. Now, if you go down that road of having to answer why you hired somebody who knew there were hooker parties going on for recruits at Louisville, I'm fine with it at this point. It's a very different direction, obviously, if they went that direction than the first class integrity that Turgeon had. You know, he ran a clean program with the utmost of high integrity.

But, you know, in this day and age of college basketball, NIL transfer portal, cheaters like Will Wade out there still coaching and winning, you know, it seems like college sports are headed to a new day. There might be some pushback on Petino's past, but if he came here and once he started winning games and lots of them, which he would do, that noise would go away. Personally, I don't get the fascination with guys like, Nate Oates, you know, at Alabama. Why would he leave a job that pays big and has no pressure associated with it? That's the trick with some of these guys, oats, pearl, football schools,

no pressure, but they pay big, you know, and they know, by the way, how demanding this fan base is. Maryland offers a lot in the ability to win, and win big and win quickly. Hopefully it will find through, you know, a compensation package, the right guy for the job. But anyway, I'm done. I just wanted to spend a minute or 25 or whatever it was because I felt like I didn't get everything out that I wanted to say on Friday. And then there was so much written and said over the weekend. And many of you really coming after me on Twitter, which is fine.

I enjoy the debate. I enjoy the conversation. I really do. But I know that the bottom line here is he was a really good coach. and he also didn't win enough in March. Both of those things are true, and both of those things meant that it was okay to advocate for more of him,

but it was also okay to advocate that we try something new. I wish him the best, he and his family, and I'm excited to see what comes next. All right, that's it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.