The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wide Open NFL Weekend

Episode Date: January 17, 2026

Kevin opened with plenty of Skins' conversation including the latest on the defensive coordinator search and the new Asst. QB coach added today. He previewed the NFL Divisional Round games this weekend and went down memory lane remembering Washington's history in this round of the playoffs which includes 16 all-time games. Jay Gruden jumped on with thoughts on David Blough, Kliff Kingsbury, and had his "NFL Lock of the Week" and thoughts on all four games. Kevin had two NFL "Smell Test" picks as well. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match 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 Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Jay Gruden will join me on the show today. Back after coaching in the Hulable last weekend, we'll get Jay's thoughts on David Blow being elevated to offensive coordinator.

We'll get him to preview all four divisional round playoff games, and we'll get Jay's lock of the week as well. He'll join me beginning in the next. segment. I've got playoff smell test picks at the end of the show if you're interested after last weekend. Window Nation is the presenting sponsor of this show if you need new windows. I highly recommend Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or go towindonation.com. Mention my name. They'll take really good care of you. I got this from Chris in Los Angeles. Chris writes Kevin. The David Blow hire just doesn't make sense.

Why would Dan Quinn stake his future as a head coach in the NFL on an unproven play caller, especially when he knows the only way the team will succeed next year is if the offense is great again. Mike McDaniel, Brian Dable, Kevin Stefansky,

Todd Munkin are all proven and would have made a lot more sense. Keeping Kingsbury would have been a lot less risky. It seems like it's a risk not worth taking and a total Hail Mary. Thank you for that, Chris. Look, there's no doubt that when you elevate an assistant QB's coach, which is what

David Blow was at the beginning of this year and through much of the year until Tevita Pritchard left to take the Stanford head coaching job, that more times than not, when you elevate an assistant QB's coach, two steps up to the offensive coordinator, the perception is very risky, especially when there are experienced options out there and maybe available. And I say maybe available because there was no guarantee that McDaniel or Stefansky or Monkin or Daibel. I don't think Daible would have been an option anyway, would have taken the gig here. You know, there are other opportunities out there. Some of those guys are interviewing for head coaching opportunities and might get one.

and there are other really good offensive coordinator openings, Detroit, Baltimore, Philly. I think Washington's attractive because of Jaden Daniels and because Quinn is a defensive head coach and you'll have total autonomy as an O.C. here, but still, no guarantee you're going to get an experienced play caller. So look, I do agree that generally it's a big jump and the perception of of Hail Mary, you know, high risk would be there. But I don't think it's there in this particular case. In terms of your description of it being a Hail Mary, because I'll tell you this, nobody out there believes that this is a Hail Mary move.

From the day they hired him, they saw a bright future for him and hoped it would be here. I think they hoped it would be here after, you know, Cliff Kingsbury had a year or two of major success and then got, you know, a big time head coaching job and said, I'm going to take this head coaching job. This was great. I'm going to miss you guys. It's not exactly the way it worked out. But I think they always saw Blow as a future OC if Cliff ended up with a head coaching job. So they've not viewed David Blow as anything other than a potential future offensive coordinator in the organization and then an eventual head coach in another organization, if it wasn't going to be this one after a Dan Quinn retirement following two Super Bowls.

You know, I'm just giving you, you know, what the rosiest of outlooks, you know, I think that was an outlook. They talked about, and Quinn talked about having depth on his coaching staff. You know, when he lost Kyle and he lost everybody that Kyle took with him after they went to the Super Bowl in 2016, he talked about learning from that experience. And Blow was part of that coaching staff depth. I also don't think you'd get many people around the league to describe the elevation of David Blow from assistant QB's coach to start the year to offensive coordinator. You had three teams last year, remember, that wanted to interview. him. And Washington blocked those. They denied those requests. Detroit wanted to interview him for

their open O.C position just a week and a half ago. And I think the only reason we haven't read about more teams being interested in David Blow is because Quinn took him off the market so quickly. You know, I believe that if he were still, you know, the assistant QB's coach or QB's coach, and Quinn hadn't moved yet, I think there would be three, four, five other teams that would have requested an interview with Blow. So I think the rest of the league has had this sense about Blow. You know, the bright, you know, future of the next big thing,

that's not something that just Washington knew about. Now, it doesn't mean anybody's going to be right about him. It doesn't mean that Quinn's going to be right about him. It doesn't mean that the teams that have been interested and maybe would have been interested in interviewing him that they would have been right had they hired him. I just think that the Hail Mary description, you know, isn't the right one. It's, you know, the Hail Mary description, Chris, is more apropos of a guy that no one's ever heard of and nobody else was interested in. Blow's been interesting to not only our team, but others around the league as well, because he's been labeled as, the next big thing in terms of young offensive coaches in the league for a few years now.

And the idea that Quinn's job is tied to Blau's performance, keep in mind, I would bet that it wasn't just Quinn who wanted Blow to be the offensive coordinator now in the organization. I think it's very possible that Peters and others in the front office and maybe many others in the organization saw it the same way as Quinn. I don't think Quinn's out on a ledge or a limb picking blow, elevating blouse. I think that there was some consensus that this was the direction they wanted to go in. So my point being, if it doesn't work out, there are others that were right there with Quinn in making this call. I think Quinn's, you know, call to move on from Cliff may have been mostly Quinn, not that Peters wasn't involved and didn't agree and didn't

collaborate on it, but I really do think Quinn probably drove that. But as far as Blow, I think everybody in the organization has sensed what he could be since the moment he arrived. Quinn needs to win next year, whether it's obvious that Blow was the right higher or not. Now, you know, if they're going to win next year, odds are the offense is going to be really good like it was in 24, but for Quinn, his future as a head coach is tied to winning more than it is to anybody, you know, any higher. Anyway, good email, good thought. And I know that you're not the only one that believes this is super high risk.

I think there's some risk involved too. No doubt I do. But I'm also more inclined to say that Kingsbury did an excellent job, including this year and I would have been fine with Cliff coming back. And I would have been fine had they gone out and found a Shanahan-style coordinator because that is an offense of style and system that I do prefer. So, no news as of the recording of this podcast on anything related to the defensive coordinator search.

I think I have this, right? They've interviewed six so far per reports. We know that they interviewed Patrick Graham, the Raiders defensive coordinator. They interviewed Joe Cullen, the Chiefs defensive line coach. They interviewed Brian Flores. They've now interviewed Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals head coach. They interviewed Carl Scott. I think we got that information yesterday, the Seahawks defensive backs and passing game coordinator.

Dynard Wilson, the Titans defensive coordinator. I think those are the six so far. But nothing as of now. Now, there is some news out there related to Gannon and Flores in particular. Shefter reported just about an hour ago that Gannon scheduled to interview Sunday in Tennessee for their head coaching job. So Gannon's not going to be named defensive coordinator here in Washington. before then. There are also reports that Gannon will interview in Dallas sometime next week for

their open defensive coordinator spot. There's also some information out there about Brian Flores. I think most of you know that Flores did interview in Baltimore a day or two ago, but this from Alec Lewis, he covers the Vikings. He's part of the beat in Minnesota. He reported that former Falcons head coach Rahim Morris is definitely in play for the Vikings' defensive coordinator position if Brian Flores was to leave. Morris spent time with Kevin O'Connell in Los Angeles. They won a Super Bowl together. O'Connell is the O'C., Rahim as the defensive coordinator for Sean McVeigh, and has relationships with some of the defensive coaches in Minnesota as well, Alec Lewis.

rights. So actually two pieces of news there. Rahim Morris would definitely be in play. I've thought about him in Los Angeles if Chris Shula were to leave and get a head coaching position because he was the defensive coordinator for Sean when they won the Super Bowl. Obviously he has ties to Quinn as well. But the suggestion that Brian Flores may leave. Now that may be a suggestion about Brian Flores if he were to leave to take.

take a head coaching position. But I think the Brian Flores situation is an interesting one, because I think there's a lot going on there. The fact that he's gone on defensive coordinator interviews like here tells you that, you know, all may not be well in Minnesota. He is a free agent. He's not under contract, which is why he's allowed to take these interviews for defensive coordinator openings. In Minnesota, there's a guy by the name of Phil Mackey. We've had Phil on the show. Phil runs Purple Daily, the largest Minnesota Vikings podcast. Phil and I have actually become friends over the last few years. I had Phil on just about a month and a half ago before Washington played Minnesota. So on his podcast yesterday, Phil in talking to one of the other gentlemen on the

podcast. They were talking about Brian Flores. And one of the guys said to Phil about Brian Flores, he said, quote, I've not heard of any sort of schism with KOC, Kevin O'Connell, or others. I have not heard of any sort of fallout between Flo, Brian Flores, and others out in Egan. Egan, Minnesota is where their headquarters are. Phil said, quote, there is drama in some form behind the scene. The exact nature of it has not come out. Closed quote. The other gentleman on the podcast said, well, define drama, Phil.

And Phil said, quote, it's not football. There's something off behind the scenes with Brian Flores that's not football. There's enough smoke here where him going to interview for another defensive coordinator job makes it even more interesting, closed quote. So two things. one. Kevin O'Connell did say yesterday or the day before that if he doesn't get a head coaching job, Brian Flores, they're going to do whatever they can to keep him in Minnesota. The smoke line, look, there's been smoke around Brian Flores the last six, seven years,

you know, ever since he became the head coach in Miami. There's the lawsuit, of course, with the league, the racial discrimination lawsuit. But remember what Ryan Fitzpatrick said, who played for Brian Flores in Miami. He said at the end he became a dictator and alienated everybody around him. It's very possible that Brian Flores is a short shelf life guy. You know, three years is enough, and people are ready for him to move on.

I don't know if that necessarily, you know, is smoke that Phil Mackey mentions. It might be something else. Other teams don't seem totally you know, moved by whatever the smoke is. I would assume other teams have heard what that smoke is if it's a legitimate story because he's getting interviews everywhere. Now, I don't think he's going to get a head coaching job.

I don't. But he will certainly find a defensive coordinator job, you know, assuming that the smoke isn't super serious. Even if he is a difficult guy and has a short shelf life, teams would be willing to take that short two to three year shelf life if it means having him coordinating and calling a defense. All right. So we'll see if anything happens this weekend with respect to defensive coordinator. I'm expecting that by this time next week at the latest, Washington has its defensive coordinator.

There was some news. We know that they hired DJ Williams the other day, Doug Williams' son, to be the quarterback's coach. The team hired today Danny Etling to be the assistant quarterback's coach. Danny Etling was a Purdue quarterback when David Blow was at Purdue. Etling transferred and played at LSU. and after he transferred to LSU, Blow took over as Purdue's quarterback. Now, Danny Etling's time at LSU doesn't come close to overlapping with Jaden Daniels.

He was there before even Joe Burrow was there. But he's played actually the last two years for the UFL's Michigan franchise. Etling was, I think, in camps, but never. took an NFL snap. He had brief stints with, I think it was Jacksonville and Atlanta and some practice squad and training camp opportunities, et cetera. Now, Ben reported that there actually is a tie to Dan Quinn. He was in Atlanta briefly when Dan Quinn was the head coach in 2019. So Danny Etling, I remember Etling is the quarterback at LSU. Danny Etling is the assistant QB's coach.

So they have defensive coordinator, O line coach right now. And then, you know, I think I mentioned this the other day. Ben suggested that, you know, an offensive senior assistant or consultant, like a Daryl Bevel, still might be in play. But yeah, they still have to hire an offensive line coach. That will be a very important hire. By the way, as it relates to Daryl Bevel, that was if Brian Johnson left. Brian Johnson might be disappointed that he didn't get the offensive coordinator a job.

He was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia a few years ago, the 23 season that did not go well in Philadelphia. Philadelphia's had Shane Steichen and Kellan Moore, who have succeeded offensively with Jalen Hertz and company, and then Brian Johnson, and then this year, Kevin Petulow obviously did not work out. All right, let's get to these playoff games this weekend. Divisional round playoff weekend, the last weekend for us with football on both Saturday and Sunday. Remember next weekend, it's championship Sunday, no games on Saturday,

and then we'll go a weekend without football before the Super Bowl the following week. It's sad this time of year, and that's why you really have to embrace this final full weekend of football. We've got the two games tomorrow, we've got the two on Sunday, and we've got the national championship game on Monday night. This is one of the better sports weekends of the year. Many football fans think it's the best football weekend of the year. I would disagree. I think Thanksgiving weekend would be my number one with all of the college football rivalry games. with Thanksgiving days, triple header, a Black Friday NFL game, lots of college games on

Friday, all of the rivalry games on Friday and Saturday, and then the NFL on Sunday and Monday night. I love Thanksgiving weekend is a great sports weekend of the year right there with the NCAA tournament, you know, first and second round that Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the first weekend of the tournament. I liked last week a lot. I mean, I think last week with the two semi-final games and then the six playoff games. Even though you're missing the top two seeds, it's a hell of a weekend. And we had great games last weekend. But this is a really, really good weekend.

And I can't remember a more wide open divisional round of the NFL playoffs, the final eight. I can't remember one, this wide open. I know we've talked about during the season the possibility that we would get here and it would feel wide open. We talked about it before Wild Card Weekend a week ago. But there's literally no Super Bowl matchup at this point that would be a shocker. I mean, Chicago Houston might be a bit of a surprise, but it's not going to be a shocker.

You know, Buffalo, Chicago, Buffalo Rams, New England, San Francisco. I mean, you've got eight teams in four games in which I think basically everybody believes anything can happen. And we just haven't seen that in this particular round of the NFL playoffs in a long, long time. In fact, if you think about just the AFC, just the AFC alone, basically since the Patriots started their dynastic run, the AFC has had a top-heavy, prohibitive favorite or two every single year, which by definition meant it was never wide open in the AFC. you'd have to go back pre-New England pretty much to find a season that wasn't, you know, top-heavy.

I mean, I know New England missed the playoffs twice, you know, the year after their first Super Bowl and then the year that Brady got hurt. But, you know, between New England and Kansas City, seven years leading into this one, Kansas City was a top two seed and one of the top two favorites to win the Super Bowl, win the Super Bowl, not just make the Super Bowl. seven consecutive years. And then you add Baltimore and Buffalo into that equation. I mean, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo have been two of the top three seeds, if not the actual top three seeds, seven consecutive years before we got Denver, New England, Jacksonville this year. So just the AFC alone, you know, and the top heaviness of the AFC for a long period of time

speaks to this year being the most wide open overall. The NFC hasn't been as top-heavy as the AFC for the most part, but Philly and San Francisco in recent years, they've represented the NFC in the last three Super Bowls. In five out of the last six years, Philly and San Francisco have been participants, one or the other, or both, in an NFC title game. The only year that they weren't in the NFC championship game,

One of the two were both of them because they did play against each other in the NFC championship game in 2022. But you had that one year with Brady in Tampa where they played Green Bay in the NFC championship game. But it's just so wide open. I think the game that I can't wait to watch the most is Sunday 3 o'clock, Houston at New England. Let me just start with this on that game. weather now definitely going to be a factor. They are expecting not only cold temperatures in the low 30s, but snow in Foxborough. And it could be, it's going to be really close based on this storm track.

You know, by the time we get to Sunday, the forecast will bust and it'll be sunny in 45. But right now, as we're, you know, doing this podcast, there's a chance for accumulating snow during the game in Foxborough. but just this matchup between this Houston defense, which we've been talking about now for two plus months, against a Patriots team that I think is legit regardless of the schedule that they faced. This is the game that I can't wait to watch the most. I also have a pretty interesting wager on Houston to win the AFC championship, which I made two plus months ago when Houston was 30 to 1. to win the AFC championship.

So I do have a rooting interest in that game. I think, you know, C.J. Stroud is a part of the equation here. If he puts the ball on the ground like he did against Pittsburgh, no chance. He also made some really good plays against Pittsburgh. They were incredible on third down against the Steelers. I think they went 10 for 15 on third down, and Stroud had a lot to do with that success. But he lost two fumbles and he threw a pick in the low red zone.

his performance has to be error-free, or at least one or two errors max, can't have what he had the other night in Pittsburgh. And I do think the Patriots are better equipped to handle Houston's defense, certainly than Pittsburgh was, because of Drake May's mobility. I think to make plays against the Texans, you've got to have a quarterback that can make plays off-schedule and can hurt that defense with runs. And Drake May had, you know, 65 yards or whatever it was against the Chargers defense last week. So I'm hoping for Houston, I'll tell you right now, I do have a smell test pick on this game, but it's not the side. It's not New England or Houston. It's on the total. I can't wait to watch this game. I think the key is Strouds, errors at a minimum. Remember, not going to have Nico Collins. That is a massive loss for the Texans. Massive loss with the

concussion. So that will really hurt Houston offensively. They ran the ball against Pittsburgh. The rookie from USC, Woody Marks had a big night. Nick Chubb had some good runs, but man, that New England defense was so good against the Chargers. I saw that Mike Vrable called the Texans defense the best his team has faced all year long. There's no doubt about about that. Now, the Charger defense was excellent. The Cleveland defense they faced earlier in the year was good, but nothing like this Houston defense. Houston's got a team. They don't try to trick you. They line up with four and they rush four, but Will Anderson, Jr. and Daniel Hunter are the best pair of edge pass rushers in the game. And New England's got rookies on their offensive line.

Their left side is Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. Now, Will Campbell was a top five pick, and he's been an outstanding rookie left tackle. By the way, I'm thinking Will Campbell, perhaps, at LSU faced Will Anderson at Alabama, maybe, I don't know. But look, this is going to come down to, you know, the two quarterbacks. They can't make mistakes if their teams are going to win. C.J. Stroud made a lot more, and they survived. Drake May made a lot of really good plays. Like C.J. Stroud did, but like C.J. Stroud as well, made some mistakes. He threw a pick deep in his own territory. Now that was a deflected ball. He fumbled twice in the pocket. One was almost a scoop and score. They only lost one of those two. But he can't do that and he's

going to be pressured and he's going to get hit. I do think though, again, his mobility could end up being the difference. Can't wait to see this game. Great coaching matchup. Vrable. D'Amico Ryan's has done a great job. Can't wait to see. see this game. I think the one game this weekend that I would say has the best chance of being kind of a one-sided game would be Saturday night in Seattle. Now, Sam Darnold's questionable. I think he's going to play. But if he doesn't, that's a big deal. Drew Locke is the backup. But this is a game we saw two weeks ago. We saw the week 18 matchup where Seattle dominated San Francisco. I mean, it was a one-sided beatdown. They ran the ball.

against them with Kenneth Walker and with Zach Charbonnet. 171 yards combined those two guys. But it was really what Seattle's defense did to a red-hot San Francisco offense. They shut it down completely. Three points, 173 yards, nine first downs, two of nine on third down, O for two on fourth down. The final score was 13 to 3, but it really was played like a 30-to-3 game.

Seattle missed a couple of field goals. Darnold took a sack on first and goal at the one. They should have scored a lot more. That, you know, vision I have in my mind says that now that Seattle's playing at home, I mean, how do they look so different two weeks later? Maybe they do. The NFL changes week to week. And the San Francisco coaching staff with Kyle and Sala, you know, they're going to coach them up

and they're going to probably have a ton of adjustments from that week 18 game. But San Francisco defensively is just at a disadvantage. They're just, they're too hurt. They've been absolutely, you know, torn to shreds multiple times down the stretch. Philly didn't do it to them. That's true, but Chicago did it to them. Indianapolis with Phillip Rivers in the week 17 Monday night game, they put up 27 in like 390 yards.

Rivers threw for nearly 300 in that game at 48 years old or whatever he was, 44, I think. I think that's the game that has a chance to be the most one-sided. But, you know, I wouldn't count Kyle out, you know, in terms of having that team playing at a much higher level than they did in the week 18 matchup. And the Sam Darnold injury is obviously huge. The player that I'm rooting for the most this weekend without question, Josh Allen. He put on a show last week. That was a one-man show.

Jacksonville, I said this on Monday, was a much better team than Buffalo. They didn't lose to Buffalo, Jacksonville. They lost to Josh Allen. Now, Josh Allen won't have in this game, Shavers, won't have Gabe Davis. He's banged up. By the way, that reminds me, and I didn't say this about the Houston game, no Nico Collins is a big deal for the Texans. Nico Collins not playing with that concussion that he suffered in the second half at Pittsburgh on Monday night is a huge deal.

So no Gabe Davis, no shavers. I mean, they're running out of bodies at receiver the bills are. But Denver, Bo Nix, don't trust that too much. I do trust their defense. do trust their home field advantage. You know, they're a one seed for a reason. Sometimes we get to this round and we're like, hey, Seattle and Denver, oh, they're one seeds for a reason.

We kind of forgot about that because we just saw six games that didn't include either one of those two teams. But Josh Allen can do it, I think, against Denver, but it isn't going to be easy, but it didn't look easy and I didn't think he was going to do it last week. I wouldn't count him out. That's a great matchup. The key for Buffalo is stay out of third and long. I mean, he handled it last week against Jacksonville's pass rush. Denver's pass rush is even more lethal. You can't be in third and long against Nick Benito and company. Not a good deal there. You know, I saw this earlier, and I mentioned it actually on the radio show. It was an interesting thing about the Denver defense.

The Denver defense has been flagged for the most defensive pass interference penalties in the season this year, 20 of them. It's cost them 350 yards this year. Riley Moss, their corner, has been flagged more than anybody in the league this year for pass interference. He's actually a good corner, and I've watched some of those games where you're like, that's not a good call. But he led the league in defensive pass interference penalties. I think Buffalo needs a couple of those. And look, you know Josh Allen will take some chances with whomever is out there at wide receiver. So maybe a couple of big defensive pass interference penalties on third and nine, third and ten keeps Buffalo in the game.

Buffalo's defense is a problem. Their run defense, you know, a big problem. But they've really, Denver in particular, they've really not. been the same as a running team since losing J.K. Dobbins. And then to me, the scene that I can't wait to see more than any other this weekend is the scene at Soldier Field Sunday night. Temperatures in the teens with wind chills below zero. The Rams, an indoor team. The Rams, a team that I've thought for much of the year, was the best team in the league, or certainly one of the two or three best teams in the league. But man, they've had some head scratchers the last month. I mean, the two games

against Carolina, the one they lost in the regular season, last week in the postseason, they could have lost. Losing to Atlanta on Monday night football in week 17 when the one seed was still available for them. The 16-point lead, they blew at Seattle in the fourth quarter. That game was over. Stafford's had some bad moments, too. I mean, as good as he is, is, you know, he's thrown some picks in recent weeks. And the Bears lead the league in picks. Al Harris coaching those D-Bs. They lead the league in interceptions.

I still don't see a way, though, that the Bears can stop the Rams from scoring 24, at least. I like the Rams in this game. They're just the better team. Now, you know, defensively, they've given up some shots, you know, Carolina moved the football. scored points. Atlanta moved the football scored points. Seattle obviously got it together and scored a bunch of points. I do

love their edge rusher, Jared Verse, you know, and yet Caleb Williams is phenomenal at escaping, you know, really good pressure. This is the scene that I can't wait to see. Soldier Field was electric last Saturday

night. This should be a hell of a game. I like the Rams. I do like the Rams. to win this game. Stay tuned to see if they're in the smell test. Hell of a weekend coming up. Four really good football games, four really good matchups. You know, our team played on this weekend about a year ago, almost to the day,

January 18th, 2025, in Detroit, 45-31 against the one-seed, in a hostile environment. I called the Detroit win the number one DMV sports moment of 2025. I did a top five DMV sports moments of 2025 on the New Year's Eve show that I did a few weeks back, if you want to go back and listen to it. I know that the Tampa game was great, the Hail Mary game was great, the Philly win at the end of the year was great, but I don't think any game topped the Detroit game. Going on the road in this round of the playoffs against the one seed as a big underdog, and hammering them 45 to 31 is really all-time memorable, even for older people like me who remember all of these divisional round games that the franchisees played.

In fact, I did some homework on that. 16 times our franchise has played on divisional round weekend. This was created really post-merger 1970. So post-1970, 16 games for the Redskins and actually the commanders because the Washington football team did not play on divisional round weekend. But 16 games for Washington over the now 56 years or 15, years of divisional round weekend. Seven and nine is the record all time.

Seven and nine. And so many incredible memories from this round of the playoffs with our team. To me, the Riggins 37 carries 185 yards against the Vikings following the 82 season in a 21 to seven win to advance to the NFC title game. That's the greatest individual performance. in this round in franchise history. I mean, Rigo took a bow as he came off the field. It was the game in which the crowd went nuts with We Want Dallas at the end of the game.

It was absolute theater. And of course, they went on to beat Dallas the following week. And then the week after that, there was no two-week break that year because of the strike season. They faced the Dolphins in Super Bowl 17 in Pasadena and won Riggos. individual 37 carries 185 yards. That's the greatest individual performance for our team this round of the playoffs. The best overall performance by the team may have been last year, but I'd go back to the 83 playoffs.

January 1, New Year's Day, 1984, following the 83 season. They beat the Rams as the one seed at RFK Stadium, 51 to 7. went back and looked this up. They were up 38 to 7 at halftime and had 316 yards in the first half. They held Eric Dickerson, the rookie of the year, to 16 yards on 10 carries. Rigo rushed for 119 and three touchdowns. Thysman threw for over 300. Art Monk caught two touchdowns. Charlie Brown had 171 yards in receptions. Fifteen. one to seven over John Robinson's L.A. Rams team. That was dominant. They went on to beat San Francisco the following week in the NFC title game and then lose to the Raiders in Super Bowl 18. But that

was the most impressive team performance in this round. I actually kind of when I'm thinking about this round of the playoffs for our team, I think more about some of the losses than some of the wins because I'll tell you, Joe Gibbs' final game before he retired in early 1993 was against the 49ers at Candlestick in the divisional round. Washington had backed into the postseason as the defending champs. They needed the Green Bay Packers to lose in the final weekend of the season against the Vikings. That was Brett Farve's first year in Green Bay on a good Green Bay team. But they needed Green Bay to lose to get in. Green Bay lost, and then Washington went to Minnesota in the wild card round and won, and that set up a matchup between the two best teams of the last

decade, the 49ers and the skins. They had won a combined seven of the previous 10 Super Bowls. They were the two winningest teams over the last decade. They had played in the postseason a few times already, but that game on a muddy track at Candlestick was an incredible football game. Washington fell behind 17-0-0, came back. They were down 17-13 on the move, about to take the lead, and Rippin went to hand the ball off to Brian Mitchell, the hole you could have driven a truck through. He would have scored to give them the lead, and Rippin with the muddy track, the hands were wet, the ball slipped out before B. Mitch could grab it, hit the ground, the 49ers recovered it. I remember not because we knew Gibbs was retiring, but because they were the defending champs

and they had the heart of a champion. And that was a game that seemed over and then they came back in it. And they had all the momentum. And if that exchange went well, they would have had a 20 to 17 lead in the fourth quarter with all of the momentum. I think they would have won that game. and they would have gone on to face Dallas in the NFC championship game. That was the other part of it, because Washington had faced Dallas twice in NFC title games, both at home. They had never played Dallas in Dallas in an NFC championship game.

Of course, they didn't win that game. They lost. The Cowboys came to candlestick the following week, and that was their first Super Bowl team under Jimmy Johnson. That was, I remember that. I remember the loss is, I remember the loss at Tampa 14 to 13 following the 99 season with the, the Turk snap that never got back on the final attempt of a field goal that could have given them the lead with about 30 seconds to go.

Yeah. I think the most memorable win, man, I mean, maybe that Minnesota game to get to the NFC championship game. Maybe the first divisional round game that they won against the Packers in 72, or maybe last year, maybe the Detroit win, because it was so unexpected. They were favored over Minnesota. They were favored over Green Bay in 72. They had some really, really satisfying road wins. Two of them back-to-back years in Chicago against those Bears teams. The first year, they got lucky. McMahon didn't play. Doug Flutie was the start. in 86. In 87, that's the Darrell Green punt return. That's probably the most memorable play

in the history of this franchise during this playoff weekend. His punt return that gave Washington a 21 to 17 lead, and that was the final score. People think that punt return happened like late in the fourth quarter. It actually happened in the third quarter. Fridid Day, Walter Payton's final day as a Chicago bear, devastating. loss for the Bears. They were favored. They were up 14 to nothing in that game. Doug Williams brought him back, and then of course they went on to win the Super Bowl that year. Divisional round weekend, great weekend of football, and we've got a lot of history in this round, just not recent history. All right, Jay Gruden, after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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To do that, 86690 Nation or Windonation.com. But the product is good. The offer is great, and they do it right the first time. Windonation.com or 86690 Nation. joining me as he does every Friday, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden. Last week, he was in Florida prepping for the Hula Bowl, in which I'm pretty sure you coached against your brother in that game on Saturday.

How did it go? You know what? It was interesting. It was, you know, the organization of the Hula Bowl was not up the par, quite frankly. A lot of guys didn't have their uniforms or helmets that were practiced. you know, the meeting room which weren't set up, the playbooks didn't get done in time,

so I had to install my entire offense on a grass field by the beach, just walked through it everything. Hey, you got this, you got this, you got this, hey, when I say this, this means this. And the players actually handed it pretty good. But it was kind of chaotic. It was supposed to be on CBS Sports Network,

and they bagged at the last minute, so it didn't really get aired to be on a YouTube thing. But the players were great. Just the overall experience was a little unorganized and chaotic, but me and my brother made it work. He ended up beating us 38-21. It was a good game. We had four quarterbacks. They all got to play.

I think the players that were there were pretty satisfied with the work they got in practice and the game. So that was really what was all about trying to cater to the players and let him get a look at front of the scouts. You know, the Hula Bowl was a big deal when I was a kid. I remember watching, you know, the Senior Bowl, the Hula Bowl, the East West Shrine Bowl, you know, all of those different games, the blue gray. Do you remember? the blue gray they used to play it on Christmas Day? I played in the blue gray and I played in East West up

Palo Alto, California. Yeah, those are great bowl games. Was the blue gray the one in Montgomery, Alabama? Montgomery, Alabama, yeah. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure they played it on Christmas Day. Yeah, I played in East West a Grand game. I had Andre Reisand on my team with it. I had Oliver, the safety from Florida. I'd see that water on our team. We had pretty good spot.

Wow. I think Jeff Lagerbund played on my team in a blue gray game. Yeah, we had It was fun. Those were good games. Yeah, these used to be big games and televised in the whole thing. I mean, you know, way back when in the 70s, they had in the summer before the NFL preseason kicked off, there was the college football versus NFL Super Bowl champion All-Star game. Can you imagine the Super Bowl champs played a group of college all-stars every year, like the end of July, early August,

the week before the NFL preseason kicked off. Do you remember those games? I do remember those games. I don't think that'll ever happen again, though. Never, never. The last one, I think I'm right about this. The last one was the Steelers. It would have been their 75 team,

which was their second of back-to-back Super Bowls. And that game was played at Soldier Field in Chicago, I'm pretty sure, every year. and there was a massive thunderstorm that came through. They stopped the game in the third quarter or second quarter or whenever it was, and that was it. They never played it again. I'm pretty sure that's the way it ended.

But I just can't imagine. I mean, there's just zero chance that you'd ever get either college all-stars or even an NFL team to play that kind of a game. It was- It's hard to get them now to play in anything. Even the senior bowl guys are opt-in-out at the last minute. They go for practice. and then they don't play in the game.

That's happening now. Who were your quarterbacks? Did you have any impressive quarterbacks? Yeah, we had the kid from Tulane. We had a kid from UAB, Kittner's son, John Kittner, John Kittner, Jalen Kittner. We had the kid from USM and Southam. And who was the fourth one?

Kitt was Monmouth, yeah. They were okay. They were pretty good. The kid from Tulane was Retslaff, right? Yeah, Jake Retslap, and his brother, Reggie played. He was a receiver. Jake was the best one. Derek is pretty good.

Jalen, Jalen Kitt is raw, but he looks apart. He's like 6'3, 220 pounds. They can run a little bit, but, you know, he's got a lot of work to do. You know, these guys are all probably late round, free agent type guys, maybe get in camp, maybe make a practice squad. They're probably not to be invited to the combine, but just got the extra work. So it sounds like given the disorganized sort of nature of it, that this may have been the last one for you and your brother?

Yeah, I would think so. It was rough. It was rough. You know, you get there, you're expecting playbooks and some organization. I got no playbooks, and there was one meeting room set up, and John was going to be a meeting room,

I'll take my guys outside. Yeah. It was nuts, but yeah. We got it done, man. It was pretty amazing that actually, you know, my install method, actually I kind of liked instead of, you know, doing it in a meeting room with a projector,

the play drawn up on the screen. I just took them outside and talked it through. and actually responded pretty well. We had very limited mental mistakes. I didn't spell a whole lot of plays, but we had about 60 plays in there, and they had a pretty good job execute. You know, I'm trying to think. Did you ever coach against your brother?

No, I never did. Yeah, never did, right? When I was at college, I was a quarterback at Louisville, and he was a graduate assistant at Tennessee. That was the only time we actually went against each other. So the possibility would have been when he was the head coach of the Raiders and you were still coaching here if you guys had played the Raiders in any of those years.

Yeah, we never did. Never did. So what did you make of the David Blow hire? You know, it's surprising to me. I don't know him, but he was in-house guys. So obviously, Coach Quinn feels like he's got a huge upside. And he worked with the offensive guys already. I just surprised a little bit,

because Coach Quinn's a defensive-minded coach and to hire a guy with no experience call and plays a little bit. risky in my mind. You know, I think when you have a defense of mine, a head coach, you want your offensive guy to have some experience, you know, very similar to what Ben Johnson did on defense. The other, Dennis Allen, a very experienced guy to handle the defense, so he doesn't have to worry about it.

But you're hiring a brand-new rookie play caller, it can be tough. You know, Philadelphia learned that last year. You know, they already fired their guy, polluted a petula and petula. Yeah. You know, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I just thought that Dan would hire more of an experienced guy

who's been there and done that. So many people, Jay, have said about Blow since the moment they brought him in last year. And many of us have heard this since they hired him last year. They said he's the next big thing. He is going to be a guy that isn't going to be a position coach for very long. He's going to be an OC and then an eventual head coach. You've been around those guys. You've hired them. You've promoted them. When it comes to the next big thing as an offensive coach in the league, what are people usually seeing in that guy? What they mean when they're describing the next big thing?

It just means that they have a good feel for coaching players and a good feel for the offense. And I obviously have a great relationship with Jaden. I think that's the most important thing. I think Jaden must have signed off on it. He must have really like them. And that's important to have that communication that connection between the quarterback and the play caller. So hopefully that is the case, and that's why they hired them.

And it's really all about Jaden. It's all about developing Jaden Daniels, you know, whoever that is. If it's David Blow was an experienced guy, they have to get along, they have to feel for each other and understand what they like, what they don't like, and move forward with the offense. But, you know, Blow's got to do a good job of not only coaching Jayden. He's got to coach the coaches, and the coaches got to buy into Coach Plow's system. Whatever it is, it's going to be a little knockoff of Cliff Kingbury, a little bit of the Detroit Lion system, combination of the two.

But he's got to sell the coaches first, and the coaches got to commit. and then they got to coach the players, obviously. We haven't talked since Kingsbury was cut loose. What was your reaction to that? Oh, surprised. You know, this guy led Jaden Daniels the best rookie season ever for a quarterback, and that's kind of big. And then he got injured.

You know, this year didn't play a whole lot, and then they let him go. So there obviously was a disconnect between him and Peters and Coach Quinn for whatever reason. Maybe they want to run the ball more under center, whatever it was. Maybe it was personnel related. I don't know, but it was a little odd for me. that they would fire Cliff, somebody who did what he did in his first year with Jaden Daniels.

And, you know, last year was kind of a scratch, really, because he didn't play but seven games, eight games. So it was shocking to me, but, you know, things happened. What did you identify with Cliff's offense in the first two years that you think Quinn may have had an issue with? Probably just all the shotgun. And maybe, you know, maybe Jaden got hurt. Maybe they felt like he didn't need to put Jaden in those situations.

But I don't really fault Cliff at all for, you know, those plays. That's what makes Jaden great his ability to run. And that's a major part of his game. Jay's got to do a good job of protecting himself. You know, that first play he got hurt on, you know, was a fluke-type play, but it was probably unnecessary to call that. At the time that he called it when they were down so much. But, you know, Cliff, you know, he had Tyler Murray and, you know,

they tried their things there. It didn't work out. But, you know, he does some good things with no huddle, the uptempo, a lot of the spread-type things. But sometimes those things dry up, and I think Coach Gwen want to be more with physical-type team that can pound the ball between the tackles and work to play actions off of it. You know, a lot of coaches are like that now. They want to be more physical and try to eat the clock up a little bit, play the time of possession game, and let their defense rest. But you go no huddle a lot, you know, put your defense in a tough situation sometimes. When you got the head coaching job here in 2014, and we're probably covering a ground that we've

already covered, but it's sort of timely now, a lot of the coaches, because you didn't, you hadn't coached before, you hadn't been a head coach before. So a big part of your staff in 2014 was carried over from the Shanahan staff, correct? Yeah, I kept the defensive staff pretty much, Coach Haslett and Rahim and those guys, you know, because I, Coach Hasl hired me in the UFL, gave me my first coordinator job and you know we got along pretty good and I knew he knew the defense and defense did some good things here and there but eventually had to make a change but yeah I try to keep a lot of things intact I try to keep some of the run game intact

for Robert and Kirk and all that stuff I try to cater to a lot where it wasn't just a total makeover change because you know there were some pieces in place that were pretty good it wasn't like the Shanahan left me with an empty cabinet you know I saw Jordan Reed Trent Williams and made Fierrearsons we had some decent players defensively we were kind of weak. We had to really address a whole lot of issues on defense personnel-wise. But overall, I tried to make it a smooth

turnover. You know, if I had to do it all over again, I probably would have just gutted the entire building, but the time I thought it was necessary to try to keep some things in place, you know? Yeah, you weren't necessarily feeling it with, I love

when we go down these these 2014-2015 defensive players, but like E.J. Biggers. He was on that team, probably. There were some, Tinar Jackson was on that team, probably. Right? Yeah, Ternard was a good player. He just got a trouble. Yeah, true, true, true. He was really good. You had Mary Weather. I saw Mary Weather at the Hulow,

he came on our sidelines for a bit. So, yeah, it was pretty cool. You know, my running back coach is Chris Thompson, my line, defense of the line, coaches, Ionitis, by DB coaches, Sean Jarrett. So, yeah, right. So when you got here, you, you, obviously had to interview Sean. You had to feel comfortable with Sean. So what made you comfortable enough for him to become your first offensive coordinator? I knew Sean forever. You know, Sean was a he was our secretary, basically, for my brother. My brother gave him his first job, so I got to know Sean in Tampa. Then I hired Sean in the U.S.L when I was

coordinator. When it hasn't hired me as offensive coordinator in the U.S.L for the Florida Tuskers, I brought Sean on his receiver coach. Now when I got the job at Cincinnati as offensive the coordinator. I tried to get Sean to be my receiver coach from Washington. He was quality control, but then they said no, and they made him tight end coach. And when I got the job, I needed a smooth transition to install my offense, which he knew

very well, and combine it with the Shanahan. So Sean was perfect fit for me. He's 28 at the time, but I knew I was going to do most of the offense and the installs and all that stuff, but he was a guy that could really marry the two systems together. He's very bright, and he communicated very well to players. It was easy

transition. First year, we didn't do very good. You know, can imagine if I fired them after the first year, like the Eagles did with the pollute the Pallute, Petula. You know, things would have been a lot different in the NFL if I did that right now because guys would not be looking for the next Sean McVay. I don't know who they'd be looking for. Yeah, you know, it's interesting as fans. Like, you know, we don't know anything about the position coaches. You know, the front-facing people are the head coaches, and we know the coordinators, and we tie a lot of responsibility to coordinators and head coaches. So when Sean was elevated, the only thing I can tell you, and I've probably told you this before, is Cooley, you know, his first year on radio with us was 2013, and he said, I'd make Sean McVe, the head coach right now.

And he was the tight ends coach, and we were like, what are you talking about? He just thought he was super impressive. And, you know, that's what we've heard about David Blow for the last two years. You know, when will you have an idea watching from the outside as to whether or not he's comfortable? comfortable in the job. What will tell you when we get started next year that, yeah, this guy's cut out for this? Situational football, for sure. Third down's red zone. Game time. There's tough decisions, fourth down. You know, those key play that you've got to call, those are the tough ones.

You know, how you pick up blitzers, that's the most important thing. How you protect and Jaden? Everybody can call play first, second down. You know, those are easy. But you're third and seven, and they're double A gaps and they're similar. They've got guys on the edge. You know, you got to have a protection plan. You've got to be able to convert critical situations. You come from behind, play with the lead, four-minute drill, all those situational type things, see how you handle that. So it'll be important in how they evaluate players and how they make players better. You know, the young players, how they develop the young players, how they develop the coaches.

So, yeah, it's a time-consuming thing, but you can tell kind of early how they handle certain situations. When people talk about marrying the run game to the past game, specifically the play-action pass game, Just describe what that means. Yeah, I mean, obviously you want to be able to run the ball. That's number one. You know, you can't marry anything together if you can't do anything very well, and you have to commit to the running game to marry those two together. You know, I think when you watch Sean a day's offense,

what makes them very good is they stick with the run, Kiron Williams, front of the ball, and then the play axes off it, everything looks the same, but they're different. You know, you motion the guy inside like he's blocking the safety. Okay, he'll block the safety. You run the ball. He smash it between the tackles. And all of a sudden, motion him inside.

It looks like it's blocked space. Boom, he goes in the corner tight and he's bounted the flat. Tavers out in the corner and gets easy completions. Here comes the Bontana low cross. So they have to marry together. You want plays that look the same that are different, and that's the most important thing. First, second down are very, very important.

And then you've got to have a third down plan, obviously. But if you can be good on first and second down, third down has become, you know, very minuscule. You know, so that's why good play callers can do that. When the Lions were at their best last year, that's what they were doing with Jared golf, the play actions. And then obviously Ben Johnson's that way right now in Chicago,

say what you want about his creativity, but he runs the ball pretty well with those two backs and then the play actions off of at the boots. You get easy completions that way and big plays off of that. Yeah, to me, the one thing that I think we'll see, this is obviously a fan talking, but given the Ben Johnson influence and even a little bit the Kevin O'Connell influence,

those two guys have lived in the play action passing game. They've been, you know, among the top two or three teams in the league every year in play action pass attempts. And Washington's been in the bottom third, bottom quarter of the league in play action passing attempts. And to me, Jaden would really benefit from a run game and being able to throw in sort of a play action passing mode. I think he'd be sick in that mode. It'd be unbelievable, really. I mean, seriously, I mean, get him out on the edge on the boots and just to play action. You know, if you have three-level throws or what have you,

he'd be outstanding. And I think it would give him a little breath of fresh air, too, because of the protections are usually seven-man protection, so we have more time to do it. You know, so it's very important to have that element. And it's easy for the quarterback. People think, well, it's harder. You don't know, those are easy type.

Those are easier type plays and going spread and trying to read the cover two, cover three of the quarters. I'm working the side. I'm working the side of the peer progression is, you know, so this way you're just coming out. You're firing a D, you're going deep, to short, you're deep to intermediate, to short. You're getting the ball out of your hands and you have

opportunity for huge chunk plays. And, you know, sometimes they don't work, but when they don't work, if they cover him down, then he's got the ability to run and make plays with his legs. So, yeah, I think it would be a huge benefit for them to do a lot more of that, not just a little bit, but a lot. So here's a question for you. If they end up increasing that portion of the offense,

does it have to happen under center? Or can it happen from the pistol where the back is still behind you and you still turn to play action with the back. You don't do that in shotgun where there's more of a mesh, but can you do that with Jaden feeling more comfortable, not under center? You can do a little bit of that. Yeah, I just, I know the backs don't like the pistol. And the majority of the backs that I talk to or at the coach do not like the pistol because they can't really see weird. They don't like the, they don't like where the quarter, they don't like the quarterback being right in front of them, you know, so, but you can do it.

There's no doubt about it, but under center, it's a lot better. In my opinion, it's better for the back, especially when you hand the ball off. They got better vision. They can press the hole a little bit more one cut and they're gone. And the pistol, they kind of got a weight and delay. And then it's just a little bit harder and not quite as fluid for the backs in pistol. But it obviously can be done. Defensive coordinator is still vacant.

The position here, Brian Flores interviewed the other day. What do you think of Brian Flores? Oh, he's great what he's done at Minnesota. You know, I'm surprised they're letting them go. I think Brian Flores will go for a head coaching job. I don't know if he'd go lateral for a defensive coordinator job. I don't know what's going on in Minnesota, but I would imagine he would stay in Minnesota,

but who knows? But he'd be a great hire because of his aggressive nature. You know, he's got the blitz package that scares the hell out of people. But he also is very sound in what he does when he plays coverage and his cover two, cover three, whatever they are. He's very good. But, you know, when you play against the Brian Flores type team, you've got to be prepared, man.

There's going to be some fire coming at you. Some cover zero that when you don't expect it. It would be first and ten all the things. He's at eight guys looking at you. Like, what the hell? First of ten, dude. You know, so yeah, he's an aggressive guy. I think he'd be a great higher.

Who is the most difficult defensive coordinator for you? You know, probably Spaggs. You know, Spaggs had some good automatic blitzers, you know, at Kansas City. And he was with the Giants. I think the Eagles, I don't remember all the teams he was with. I played a good many times. I had audibles called Spags, you know.

So he was probably, the best. And Dickleboe was really good at Pittsburgh when I played against them. Obviously, all the Baltimore defensive quarters that they had McDonald's and I forgot Pete, Dean Pease was pretty good. All those guys, you know, most defense coordinated a lot better than have good defensive players.

You know, they can play four-man rushes and play different type of coverages and match coverages and zone drops. And all of a sudden, they got the heaters, the all-out heaters that look the same. And then they drop eight. They look like they're coming with eight, and they drop eight. They're like, shit. There's been a lot of good coaches, but typically the best coaches have the best players. I think, correct me if I'm wrong, I think he was the defensive coordinator in the 2016 season finale when Rogers Cromarty picked off the pass to end the season.

I'm pretty sure he was the D.C. that year, right? In New York? Yes, I believe he was. It might have been Philly, though. Okay. We lost the Philly as well that year. He's one of the two. I know, yeah, it was one of them. Yeah, you guys that year, no, in 2016, you didn't lose to Philly. The year Josh Johnson played, we got crushed by Philly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was 28, that was 2018. Right, yeah, you got crushed by Philly at the end of the year.

But I'm talking about the 2016 game at home to go to the playoffs for the second straight year. I think he was the defensive. In fact, I just found it. He was. He was the defensive. Yeah. Carmardi undercutt it on the, yeah. Kurt Cudoranos 2, man.

And yeah, yeah, that was that was... God, that game. All right. Let's talk about these four playoff games. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, Chime is changing

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I'm sure it would have been a winner. Who do you have this week? Well, Dallas didn't count. They pulled back in the second half. I didn't know that. Week 18, week 18, week 18 is impossible. Impossible. I should have stuck with the games that mattered. That was a poor decision on my part.

Anyway, I got San Francisco getting a points against Seattle. You know, Brock Purdy's, I think, won four times at Seattle. He's had a lot of success there, and for them to have that big of the spread, I know Kittles out, but I still think Seattle, or that game will be close. I'm not saying that San Fran is going to win, but I did. think it's going to be a close game, it's going to come down to a field or, you know, a missed extra point or something crazy. Well, let's start with that game then.

You've got San Francisco getting seven. It's all sevens out there now. I'm looking at the board right now, all sevens. So you get the 49ers plus seven as the lock of the week. Sam Darnold, you know, missed practice yesterday with an oblique, but he says he's going to play. The backup would be Drew Locke if he has to play. The last time we saw this was Week 18.

and Seattle dominated San Francisco. That final score, Jay, was not reflective of how much of a beatdown that game was. They missed two field goals. They got sacked in the red zone on a first and goal at the one. It felt more like 30 to 3 than 13 to 3. So tell me how San Francisco against that defense on the road this time hangs in there. Yeah, they beat them on the road the first time. So, you know, they can do it again.

I just think that McCaffrey will be a big dose of McCaffrey. Obviously, Kittle is a big minus in that game. His blocking on the perimeter is huge, but I still think they'll get the ball of McCaffrey lot. And I think Seattle's going to have trouble scoring against San Fran. You know, despite Warner being out, obviously still. They have some pieces missing, but I haven't been impressed with Seattle's offensive for the last six weeks.

You know, they have not been a very explosive. Their running game has been okay, you know, not great. And I just worry about Sam in a big game. You know, I've got to show me in a big game that he can handle it. You know, so we'll see. I know they got in Jigba. they got a decent running game, but I do think Seattle will probably win the game, but I think it can be a close game.

Like, they have been a couple times they played. What do you think Darnold's problem is when we see him getting sacked a lot, when we see him throwing bad balls? What is it? Is it processing? Is it vision? Is it anticipation? What is it?

Yeah, sometimes it's processing. He doesn't see things. He doesn't anticipate things very well. He can't hold the ball. Waits for guys to get open. And by that time, they get open. It's too late. He's baxter.

You know, whatever happens. He's got to step up, and then the timing is disrupted. So, you know, their key is obviously Kenneth Walker and Charbonnet. They've got to run the ball and hopefully get some play actions off of it, some shots. But for them to be a drop-back type team, he's not really good at that. You know what I mean? So it's going to be very important for them to handle the line of scrimmage, play good defense, create some turnovers like Seattle can do, and then play with the lead.

That's come from behind, you know, San Fran will win the game. Yeah, I'm surprised that Walker and Charbonnet haven't had much bigger years. They had a great game against San Francisco. They relied on the run in that game, and they combined for 171 yards, those two backs in their last game. All right, the earlier game tomorrow is Buffalo at Denver. By the way, I thought Josh Allen last weekend, and I know you love him. I thought by far and away, he was the best player wild card weekend, and he literally carried that team to a win over a really good football team, I thought.

Well, Jacksonville was a better football team. Yeah. But Josh Allen won the game by himself. There's not a quarterback. Maybe it's ever played the game. It would have won that game. I just, the guy's incredible, Josh Allen. So, you know, he's banged up a little bit.

They lost Gabe Davis. They lost another receiver. They're short in the receiver room right now. They have a short week. Everything is pointed for Denver. It's at Denver. But I'm thinking, I think Buffalo is going to get it done. I think they get Bernard back.

They might get Ed Oliver back. I'm not too sure about those two guys. If they come back, that's a huge lift for the defense. And, you know, the one thing that Buffalo struggles with is the run, but I don't think RJ Harvey's really that big of a threat for Denver. So I think, you know, what Buffalo can do is play the path very well. And I think they can create some turnovers with Bo Nixon, get enough done to get the big win for Josh.

I'm pulling for Josh. I want them to advance in a big way. Yeah, I kind of feel the same way. And the way you described it, I said the same thing on Monday. I'm like, I watched that game in the entire game. I didn't think Buffalo was even close to how good Jacksonville was. But I thought one player might be able to do it. I can't remember a team being outmatched like that with a quarterback carrying them to a victory.

I thought it was thrilling to watch. Let's go to Sunday the first game. I mean, Houston's just been on a roll. 10 wins in a row now, I think it is. And they destroyed Pittsburgh on Monday night. do the same in Foxborough to the Patriots. Not if CJ plays like CJ did the other day. I've never seen a quarterback play that poorly and win a game.

I mean, he was trying to give the game away to Pittsburgh. And fortunately, their defense is amazing, but I don't think that happens against New England. The wing was pretty good on defense, too. And Drake May, I think the difference in the two teams right now is Drake's ability to hit you with his legs and his off-schedgedged scrambling. You know, the pressure is one thing, but when you have a quarterback to avoid the pressure, and run for yards with his legs. I think that'll be the difference. I think New England gets it done at home.

Rams and Bears. By the way, that New England game could be a snow game. It's like 50-50 in terms of snow during the game. Rams, Bears, frigid soldier field. The Rams are three and a half point favorites on the road against Chicago. I still don't know how Chicago is here after Green Bay blew that lead. Who do you like and why? I like the Rams.

I think the Rams are tough. physical football team, and I think Sean has a very good idea how to attack a Dennis Allen defense. I really do. I think we've done that before a few times, and I think that the Rams get it done. I think the experience of Matthew Stafford, the experience

is Devante Adams, Pooka Kuka Nakua, I think defensively, they're pretty good. I think if the Rams have a weakness, it might be past protection just a little bit, and the secondary might be a little bit weaker, you know, Forbes is out there. He's struggling a little bit. I think there's some big plays that he had

possibly, but I think the Rams get it done. I think the Rams get some pressure on Caleb, and I think Matthew, with his experience, gets it done. You know what? You guys really did rip apart the Saints a couple of times offensively. You didn't win all those games. And I remember the game, you know, where Chris Thompson got hurt and 15-point lead evaporated at the end, lost in overtime in the Superdome. But you guys had the Saints number over and over again, right? Yeah, I felt like that. Yeah. That's what I kind of feel like. I think Sean, you know, that's the other point when you have a young offense coordinator,

David Blow, he doesn't, you know, he has never gone against all these coordinators. Like, Sean in his roller decks in his mind, I remember Danesana. He remembers all the coaches he's gone against him, knows how to attack him, and he can pull plays up from the past, you know, where David doesn't really have that. That's the experience factor I'm talking about when you have a play caller. So, yeah, I think Sean will dip down in some old school-type plays and rip apart Denifal's defense, and I think the Rams get it done. I was going to pick them of my lock of the week, but I just like seven points for the 49ers

because I think that'll be a close game. That last point that you made about Blow, I mean, if you had been, let's just say Dan Quinn, let's just assume for a moment you were a defensive head coach. Would you have hired Mike McDaniel? No, no. I've never been a big Mike McDaniel fan, to be honest with you. We can throw bubble screens anywhere. Anybody can put in 17 bubble screens.

So no, I would not have. I think I'd rather go with a young guy, and hopefully that he has a bigger ceiling. Interesting. I don't know if you've ever told me that. I don't think. Yeah, no, I'm not a huge. No, no, no, I'm not a huge McDaniel. Well, what about some of the other guys that are out there? What about a Stefansky? When you mentioned what you mentioned about Blow and his inexperience and not being able to kind of, you know, use recall against defensive coordinators that he'll face,

what about a Stefansky or somebody like that? I just don't know how much Defansky's been involved in offense. You know, the last few years, he's hired offensive coordinators to call plays for him. Obviously, he's an experienced guy, but I don't know. I'd have to get these guys on the board and talk to them and see what they've done and what they've been doing as far as calling plays and the impact that they've had on their offense. The Fanski's struggle offensively for the last four or five years their teams have.

They've struggled picking a quarterback. They've went through 12 quarterbacks or something. You know, so, you know, now that you have an experience or a, you have identified your quarterback here for the next 10 years, that may be, but I've never been too impressed with us to the fancy offense either to be out to the other. All right. Is there anybody out there that you are impressed with that you would have hired? I don't know the list of characters that are available.

So maybe they did the right thing and hiring a guy that, like I said, I think the connection between he and Jaden was probably the selling point for Coach Quinn. You know what I mean? I think. And then I obviously have an Anthony Lynn there still. I think they kept them as a run game coordinator. I think that'll help out a lot to have an experienced guy by his side. They can help him in the running game and all that stuff. So the connection between, and I don't know who they're going to hire as a line coach, which is very important. Yeah. So that's going to be an important connection as well. But I think having Anthony Lynn there is big. I think have a David Blow, a young guy, a good connection with Jake. I think you can work out fine.

As long as we're, you know, getting some real hard truths from you on coaches, what did you make of Harbaugh to the Giants? It looks like it's going to be finalized here shortly. I think they just needed some stability in there, and I think it's a good hierarchy. Obviously, he's done a lot of good things at Baltimore. They had some, you know, they probably lost the locker room a little bit at the end, which happens when you have great players and you're not making a playoff.

It's hard to imagine that Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton and the guy that they have and they can't make the playoffs and beat Pittsburgh in an important game. But, you know, this guy's won a lot of football games. He knows how to build culture. He knows how to build football teams. keep teams together. So I think it's a good hire for New York with all the stuff they've had the last

five or six years. They need somebody that's been there and done that an experienced guy that come in there and lead. Now it's going to be about who he's going to hire as an offensive coordinator and handle Jackson Dart because he brings nothing to the table as far as coaching offense or defense. When you talk about X of the O, he's, you might as well have a Christmas tree in there. I'm looking at a Christmas tree.

Okay. You haven't taken it down yet? No, hell, no. That's my wife's job. When does she finally take it down? Well, she took all the ornaments off. I'm just sitting here looking at a bare Christmas dream. Okay, yeah, we handled it last weekend.

All right, anyway. Yeah, so I think that, yeah, Port Hires for him is going to be Fort Nair. I don't know who it's going to be, so we'll see. All right, enjoy it. We'll talk next week. Thanks. All right, thanks. Jay Gruden, everybody.

I'll finish up the show next with the smell test after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. The smell test is always brought to you by MyBooky. If you're looking to wager on sports, my recommendation is to do it at MyBooky. Right now, MyBooky's offering all of my listeners a 50% cash bonus when you either sign up for the first time or you go back as an existing MyBooky customer and make a new deposit. a 50% cash bonus.

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Reload. All right. 0 and 5 last week, a complete and utter disaster. And many of you weren't very happy with me. Week 20 on this season was just the second week out of 20 where I had a losing record.

There was a week, I think, at some point in November where I was 4, 5, and 1. And every other week was a winning week and typically a big winning week, But not last week, not in the postseason. Oh, and five. And really, other than the Green Bay Chicago game, nothing was close.

I gave out Oregon plus the three and a half. That wasn't close. I had the under in that game. Whenever you have the under in a game, and the first play of the game is a pick six, usually not a good sign. That game obviously sailed over the total. The total in that game was 48.5 that I gave out under, and it went 56 to 22 at halftime.

It was 35 to 7. So they were just one touchdown away from going over. And Oregon plus the three and a half was obviously never close. I had Green Bay on Saturday night. We know what happened there. But then the pick on Sunday night, the Chargers plus the points, and then Pittsburgh on Monday night plus the points. neither one of those two was close. So it was 0 and 5.

I think I mentioned on Monday. I had three other plays that I was very close to giving out last week in the smell test, and all three of those would have lost. So it could have been worse. I was very close to giving out the under in the Rams Carolina game. That went 34-31, so that wasn't close. I was very, very close. to giving out Philadelphia.

In that game went to six at one point, and they obviously lost outright, and I was very close to giving out Jacksonville as well. So all three of those would have lost, and it would have been an 0-and-8 week. But it was just 0-and-5, just 0.5. My record falls to 117, 70, and 13. still 62 and a half percent on the season. So let's get to this weekend. I'm going to mention right now that I'm not going to give on the show today

the Monday Night National Championship pick or picks. I think there's a really good chance I'll have a side and a play on the total, but I'm going to tweet that out on Monday. So follow me on Twitter at Kevin Sheehan, D.C. to get that pick or picks on Monday. I'm off of radio on Monday. I will be doing a podcast on Monday. And I will likely have the championship plays on the podcast. In fact, I will have it on the podcast.

But I will tweet it out as well at Kevin Sheen, D.C. I'm sure you can only imagine what I'm going to have, Monday night with the way I play because the whole world is on Indiana and the whole world is on the over. But let's see what happens over the weekend with sharp money and even public money to see what happens with the game on Monday night. I'm not going to give it out on Friday. There's just too much time between now and Monday and a lot can change. So I've got two plays for divisional round weekend. The first one is tomorrow night. Seattle's laying six. Seattle's laying at home against San Francisco. Seattle minus seven is the play. Now, I want to just give a heads up on this.

Sam Darnold's status is questionable. The minus seven play is based on Sam Darnold playing. If we get news early in the day that he's out, you know, or towards kickoff, that line's not going to be seven. I may still have Seattle as a play, but I'm not going to play it right now. And you should didn't play it right now either. Seven's not a bad number. It's a good number with Sam Darnold playing, and I think there's a good chance he's going to play. But the number's not going to change significantly once he's ruled in. It might go to seven and a half, and that's a big half point. I understand that. But if he doesn't play, that line with Drew Locke in the starting lineup, it's going to come down. I still may give out Seattle as a play minus four and a half or wherever

the number would come down to. But again, follow me on Twitter at Kevin Shee in D.C. But as of now, you know, assuming Sam Darnold starts and plays the game, Seattle minus seven is the play. San Francisco is the biggest public play of the weekend. You know, they are, you know, a recent memory. And that's what you get in divisional round play. You get those recent impressions with the one seeds.

We haven't seen them in two weeks. Seattle, the last time we saw them, as I talked about in the open of the show, they destroyed San Francisco. The number seemed big to the public because San Francisco just beat Philadelphia. And they're getting seven and a half because that's where the number went to. It opened at six and a half, a lot of sharp money moved it to seven and a half. This darnal news probably knocked it down a half point. But I like Seattle at home. I think that they can run the football like they did in week 18.

San Francisco defensively is a mess, even though Philadelphia didn't take advantage of it. Everybody else has. And I think Seattle's defense is the second best in the league behind Houston. If Brock Purdy throws two interceptions against Seattle like he did against Philadelphia, they're going to get blown out by this team on the road. Seattle minus seven is the first play. And then the second play is Sunday's game in Foxx. borough the over over 40 and a half uh everybody's on the under in this game because houston you know

held pittsburgh to six and new england held the chargers to three and the weather is supposed to be bad um and everybody thinks you know anything 40 or higher is too high and this is one of those rare instances where the public actually in a standalone game likes the under uh i've told you you guys this so many times over the years. These standalone games, the public loves to bet overs, because it's just easier to root for. So I'm going to go over because this is an underplay, a rare underplay for the public better. I'm going to go over 40 and a half in the Texans Patriots game, the first game on Sunday. Those are the two plays, Seattle minus seven, and the over in the Houston, New England game, 40 and a half. But definitely follow me on Twitter in case there's

any change to the Seattle play based on Darnold News. And then I will have the National Championship pick or picks on Monday. Good luck. Back on Monday. They laid it on the ground and the players come with it. Man Mitchell lost it on the handoff. These fans know how big a play that was. Watch is Rippin never gets the ball to Brian Mitchell. He's supposed to hand it to him. The ball started to fall out of his hand. You want it in the pocket just about where the front of your numbers are,

and the ball hits him a little low. You see it? It slipped out of Rippin's hands. As he started to, the ball slipped out, and instead of being a handoff, it was slipped into Brian Mitchell. There was not Mitchell's fault. It just slipped. away from ripping.