Full Show | September 15, 2026

0:00He's off to the left. There's Kenneth Walker. A snap of fast Walker. Got it. Still going. Kenneth Walker. Still going. Touchdown Kansas City on fourth and a one. 60 yards. Joe Buck last night on the opening Monday Night Football call at Arrowhead where the Super Bowl MVP ran wild after getting nearly 15 million a year in free agency from the chiefs. Be nice to have a back like that. What a performance last night by Kenneth Walker. The third good morning everybody. I got this from Dan in Damascus. Max listen carefully. Dan writes Kevin and Max, how do you feel about your preseason picks? L.O.L. Did any of your division winners actually win this week?

1:02Denver in the Rams. It's a ball. It's all blown up after one week. Yeah, well, that's kind of the idea of the NFL. Just don't predict what everybody else is predicting. It's one week, Dan. I did not have Denver in the Rams. I had Kansas City in the Rams. You had Denver in the Rams, right? I did. And don't feel great in the Rams. I wrote down all of our picks. Let me just see if I actually had any division winning prediction teams win. Washington, no, Green Bay, no, New Orleans, no, the Rams, no. Ofer four in the NFC. And then in the AFC, I had New England, no Pittsburgh, yes. Houston, no, Kansas City, yes. Out of the eight division winners in week one, only two of my eight one games. You had Buffalo winner, Baltimore winner, Houston, loser, Kansas City winner. That's three Philly winner, Chicago winner, Tampa Bay loser, Rams loser.

2:06Yeah, it's one week. Dan, it's one week. Give us a break. But you know what? It doesn't look great for certain teams because of injuries. Like the Rams really are banged up. Can you imagine if, like just say in week two, Matt Stafford went down and in the first two weeks of the season, the heavy Super Bowl favorites lost Miles Garrett and Matt Stafford? And didn't they lose somebody else in the San Francisco game? I might be thinking of somebody else. Man, last night, by the way, speaking of Dan's, Dan Quinn spoke yesterday. Dan and Damascus and he really said something about Mikey Sanrestil that for Dan Quinn to say it was pretty damning. We'll get to a lot of what he said in his Monday day after press conference coming up. I do want to spend a moment on last night's game.

3:06I actually in watching it thought I was watching one of the best rushing, pure rushing performances that I've seen in a while. And then some of the numbers started to come out from Kenneth Walker III's season opening 23 carries for 173 yards, 7.5 yards per carry. He also, by the way, had three catches for 18 yards in a touchdown on that pretty wild play at the goal line where you had Patrick Mahomes in a three point stance. That was outstanding. It was pretty much, it looked like single wing football from like the 40s. But anyway, I'm watching this performance by Kenneth Walker III and I'm like, we talked about this during the postseason and then in the Super Bowl. He liked several guys that I've really loved over the years. I loved watching Lavinan Bell run the football.

4:09It was so different than other great backs like he would literally be so patient behind the line of scrimmage that he would come to a full stop with the ball in his hands behind the line of scrimmage and then size it up and then dart through a hole. Kenneth Walker III runs similarly to Lavinan Bell. It's not as exaggerated. Beigeon Robinson has a lot of that as well in his running style. But in watching last night's game, the whole story was the fact that the chiefs just decided they were going to run the football at one of the best defenses in the league last year. By the way, the best defenses in the league last year Houston Denver, they struggled among several others. They rushed for 220 yards. The chiefs were a 38 run team last night in attempts and just a 29 pass attempt team.

5:14It was 27 but with the two sacks that my homes took, 29 overall pass plays. A heavy run to pass, a favorability percentage. But Walker's performance was so exceptional last night. In his first 149 yards, which is what he had after the 60 yard touchdown run. At that moment, he was, I think, 16 carries for 149 yards. In those first 149 yards, 146 were after contact. He did it all himself. That's what was so impressive about the performance. He ended up, I think, with out of his 173 yards, something like 152 of them after contact. It was like 99th percentile stuff per sumer sports in terms of yards after contact. That is an odd circumstance NFL free agency wise that you sign a back to that much money.

6:21I know that the Eagles did it with sake one, Barkley. That's true. But more times than not, it's not that dramatic of an impact. And last night Kenneth Walker, the third showed that he could be a massive, massive impact on Kansas City's team in 2026. I always liked Kenneth Walker coming out of Michigan State, picked in the second round by the Seahawks. I thought he was a really good back. He shared carries with Zack Sharbinay. They've got this guy that they played last night, the Nebraska back, Emmett Johnson, who is a bigger back. At like 210, something like that. He's going to be a guy that's going to get carries no doubt. Kenneth Walker, the third was really platoon with Zack Sharbinay until Sharbinay got hurt late in the postseason. But man, what a performance last night by Kenneth Walker, the third. I just sat back as a fan and just said, wow, that's as good as it gets from a running back in a game.

7:28Meantime Patrick Mahomes, he was running around not impacted by the ACL injury and the recovery, what a recovery for him. And the Broncos looked terrible. It's funny on their opening drive when they scored. After the pick by Mansour Delain, the first round pick out of LSU, the Kansas City had, they remember they traded up for Delain in the first run. And then he went out. You've seen a lot of players this weekend go out early with hamstrings, soft tissue stuff. Again, it's because they haven't played wheel football over the summer. But anyway, I thought that first drive was so, or the second drive was so impressive. And then there was nothing after that. They were impotent offensively and Nick's looked terrible. Legitimately looked awful. New play collar in Davis, Webb. How long will that last? With Sean Payton as the head coach will see. But Bo Nick's who was so solid last year and then got hurt.

8:29Remember in the AFC championship game could not play. I'm sorry in the divisional round game couldn't play in the AFC title game. He was excellent last year, part of the 2024 class. Of course, the last quarterback of the six taken at number 12 overall. He looked horrendous last night. We'll see what happens with Denver. It is like I keep saying it's one week. It takes a while to figure out the NFL. And week one is always the biggest fools gold week. But Kansas City back. And now all the sudden a heavy favorite to win the AFC West after one week. I might get that one right Dan in Damascus. Maybe I'll get that one right. I got this from Barry yesterday. Barry wrote Kevin. I don't understand the hysteria of this fan base. Six point underdogs played fast, aggressive defensively. And the offense has challenges against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

9:36And now there is gnashing of teeth and anger over a close loss. I hate losing. But how can you not be excited about this team? The complaints about the defense giving up big plays. That's what the Vikings defense does. And he's making the comparison Dorante Jones coming from Minnesota, Brian floors. And then he finishes his note to me saying, I'll take 10 TFLs and all of those three in outs all year long. They will be a force in the second half of the season. So I have no idea if they're going to be a force in the second half of the season. That's so far down the road. We've got seven to eight games, seven and a half to be exact before you reach the literal halfway mark of the season. But they're not going to play. Let's just see schedule wise. They won't play their eighth game of the season or ninth game of the season until November 12th.

10:40I mean, we're two months away from that. So I have no idea, Barry, what it will look like and whether or not they will be a force in two months. But the point that Barry was making is a bit lost on me. I did not sense. And this is where I'm going to ask you, Max, because you spend more time on social media. I'm assuming during games. I don't. I'll tweet out stuff. But I don't spend any time reading tweets during games. I find it distracting. I like to watch the game. I'm impressed by all of the people and set many in media who can tweet out legitimately after like every play. I don't know how you catch it all. Bless your hearts because you're better and more able to multitask, I guess, than I am. But I have zero interest, honestly, in what is being said on social media during the games and the injury stuff occasionally. I'll go to that to see what, you know, does anybody have an injury update?

11:49Usually the game broadcast is pretty good at getting you injury information pretty quickly. But I did yesterday morning when I got in here early, I did read through a lot of sort of the social media reaction to the game from my little, you know, tiny, tiny corner of our fan bases, bubble. I did not sense that there was a lot of negativity about the loss. I did actually, I mean, there were a couple people I almost responded, but I'd rather do it, you know, in a longer form, you know, like talk radio, like three hours of talk radio. I couldn't believe how many people were and it must have been early in the game saying, Jaden's way overrated, he's terrible in this game. I just, I can't imagine what game you were watching to think that he was terrible. Obviously, I would think at the end of the game, you had a significantly different opinion of his game, but I actually, you know, thought he was definitely off and not super sharp through the first three quarters, but at the same time, not doing anything to hurt the team.

13:01I thought that a lot of what was going on was the fact that nobody was getting open. And by the way, watched a lot of the all 22 for what it's worth. Okay, I mean, I'm just like any other idiot watching the all 22, but not a lot of people open, not a lot of people open until we got to late third quarter and the fourth quarter. There were a couple of plays where he could have let it go and maybe, but it's a good thing he didn't force it because then you wouldn't have had a game more likely than not in the fourth quarter. But back to the berries over a arching theme, which is people gnashing their teeth, angry hysteria. I didn't get that. I didn't get that from the calls. We took what an hours worth of calls, 45 minutes worth of calls. Did you get that from social media? I mean, it's crazy. What what you get on that during games, the impulsivity, the over reactions in the moment. But did you get that max that people weren't happy at all with the performance.

14:04I mean, it's a knee jerk reaction type thing, especially when things weren't going so well through the first like three quarters. I think that's what everybody was so worked up about. But watching that fourth quarter, it really, personally, it calmed me down to kind of make help me realize that these are David blouse first four quarters in a regular season calling against Vick Fangio, one of the best defensive coordinators in football. So I think everybody needs to step back, take a deep breath, reset. It's only week one and move forward. Yeah. I, I, I, um, that that was, and we don't know what Philadelphia will be every years a new year. We do know they have very good players on defense. They've, they've been very good players and they are very good players. And you have literally like a guy that's going to be considered one of the all time greats as a defensive coordinator. And he's had all off season to prepare and Washington's new coordinator was who he was preparing against calling his first game. I actually think the way Barry described the game, you know, playing fast, playing aggressive.

15:14Defensive defensively facing, you know, an experienced defense with a great coordinator, all those things. Um, the challenge was a significant one, you know, and the openers are weird, you know, Philadelphia. I remember also had like I'm, I was there in a stand alone evaluation. The defense was, I thought really good other than the big plays, you know, other than, you know, John Wilkes Booth, Mrs Lincoln. But other than the big plays, I thought the defense was a pleasure to watch on Sunday. We're comparing it to what we've been watching as a fan base of this team from last year in the year before in particular and even going back to 2023, which was embarrassingly awful on defense. But, um, remember, it was a new coordinator and a new offense for Philly. So you may have had an advantage because they were new, you know, and they were still they're still trying to figure it out offensively.

16:14You're going to get a proven offense on Sunday and Dallas with a veteran quarterback who's been in this particular system, you know, for a little bit and two very good and explosive wide receivers, a back. So it's going to be a bigger test, I would think in week two for this defense, then it was in week one against a Philadelphia team that does have some players. Obviously, say, Juan, Jalen Hertz played very well. I thought, um, Devon T. Smith, Dallas, Goddard, et cetera. But they were new. They hadn't played football over the summer. So it was brand new for them too. We'll see. I will say this. The 10 TFLs I went back and looked this up. The most in a game, all of 2025 was 13 TFLs in a game. And that was the Browns with a defense led by Miles Garrett and company that Cleveland defense was nasty last year. So that that was the most in a game last year. Washington had 10 on Sunday against Philadelphia. By the way, they were one of just three teams with two TFLs for three players.

17:27The Eagles had 11 drives and punnid seven times 11 real drives, you know, the end of the game was the kneel down. They counted as a drive as the 12th drive, just like Washington's end of first half where they, you know, ran a play, which I think they should kneel it and not run a play and let the clock run out counts as a drive statistically, but it's not really a drive. So the Eagles had 11 real drives punnid seven times and had four three in outs. Yeah, Barry, I'll take that also most weeks against a good team. I just like to increase the takeaways and decrease the big plays allowed. You know, if they can do that, it's going to be a good defense. If you can force a team to punt seven times on 11 drives with four three in outs and minimize the explosives and get a couple of takeaways, you're in good shape. Really good shape. So I do, you know, I thought the defense gave the team a legit shot to win the game and in a standalone one game week one game, it was encouraging.

18:39But we'll see because they're going to play a more experienced offense and a team that's more used to running their stuff with the play caller that they have. We'll see you on Sunday. I did not really get the sense in my bubble of people that I interact with about our team that there was a lot of gnashing of teeth and anger. If there was, I don't know what it would have been about big plays allowed. Yes, offense didn't do a lot. Look at the, you know, look at the actual opponent. You know, they get paid to as they say. So we've got a long season. They're going to go play the other 16 regardless of what happened on Sunday. That's the good news. And we don't have to wait long. We get one on Sunday at 425 in Dallas. The cowboys are three and a half point favorites after their loss to the Giants.

19:40So they are a shorter favorite at home by right now by about two points than Philly was at home against Washington. I don't know who the right side is at this point. My guess is is that it will be very much a split game. And I won't be giving Washington out for a second straight week in the smell test. I did have Washington plus the five and a half in the smell test on Sunday to which I did have a couple of people ask me. So were you rooting for overtime and a converted two point conversion or not because yes, overtime is not the friend of two things, the underdog better and the under better. If you have the under or the underdog, overtime is typically not your friend. But I didn't care about that. I, yes, I wagered on Washington plus five and a half. And if I had no rooting interest, I would have been rooting for them to miss the two point conversion so that the bet won without having to sweat it out and overtime. But I would have gladly, gladly taken that as an L.

20:48If they'd gone to overtime and somehow lost by six or seven because that was that's how you could lose an overtime Philly gets the ball. They score touchdown. They kick the extra point. Washington gets stopped. And it's a 31 to 24 final. The, the, the favorite covers. It's the only way the favorite could have covered in that game after the touchdown pass. Well, there are other ways. They could have returned the onside kick for touchdown. That could have happened. All right. I actually, you know what I want to, I want to do here. I want to take calls at 301230980, 301230980. It's not so much about what Barry wrote, but it's, it's simply this, you know, tell me what you thought before the game about what this season was going to be. And tell me how you feel now 301230980, 301230980. You had, you know, in opinion, I think most people, many people have a very definitive opinion. I think that's crazy in the NFL.

21:58But I want to know what you thought about this team before the game on Sunday in Philadelphia. And what you think now. I'll share with you my thoughts. I'm wondering if anything you saw influenced how you feel now. And by the way, if you feel the same, that's fine too. 301230980, 301230980. Also, when we come back, you'll hear what Dan Quinn said about Mikey Sanrestil's performance. Kevin, she and show the team 980, the team 980.com. Don't forget we are free. We are live and we are on TV YouTube TV. Just go to the team 980 YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button and the like button when you get there. Dan, with Mikey up to the two plays, he was going to be on the wrong hand on the 60 plus yarder at the top, shadow in the corner.

22:58I don't know if there was any correlation. I couldn't tell if he was maybe pausing for some reason. What did you see on those two plays and where is he at at this point in his third year? Yeah, sure. The touchdown play definitely felt like as the motion got over it made like you have to go get set. And like those are things that we have to get corrected. We've definitely identified a few things that like, Amen. These are the things that we have to get corrected. Mike's a very good competitor. I'm certain that we will. But have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time, like completely not acceptable on the second play, the deep past play that I think you're referring to. The same thing as you lost track of the ball, like finished it out, man. And so I think that's the lesson in the game. It wasn't schematically related to him or something that communication error, some normal things that go into like a big play to go. So that's definitely the things we've identified with him. And I'm certain that he'll work on that. We definitely. I mean, that was as damning of a specific player performance that you'll hear from Dan Quinn, who literally almost always takes it to the highest possible spot on the road.

24:16Like he said, Hey, man, these are things that we have to get correct corrected. Mike's a very good competitor. I'm certain that we will. But to have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time, completely not acceptable. That was on the touchdown. Okay, he went actually in reverse order. Did the touchdown first and then the 64 yarder second. And then he said on the second play, the deep past play, I think you're referring to the kind of the same thing you lost track of the ball. You got to finish it out. That's the lesson. And then he says this wasn't a scheme issue. This wasn't a communication issue, which sometimes you can blame the play call or the scheme or, you know, a communication from another player that was incorrect. No, this was him. They don't have a lot of options right now. I mean, it's possible. The dude just can't cover at the NFL level. We saw a very encouraging rookie season.

25:23But last year, look, I don't know how much you really put into last year, but you can individually evaluate some players at certain positions. But you'd have to have other players on the field that are performing as well. But I make Robertson. I thought was solid in game one. And I thought, was a little Douglas was decent. Sandress still had to be. And I, I don't have the, you know, advanced grades from the various services. I don't even think PFF does it anymore. Maybe they do. Maybe they do. You have to pay for it. Well, I did see that Jaden, our guy Nick Akridge, I think, puts something out or somebody put something out that had Antonio Williams was the highest graded player in Jaden Daniels. I think was the second highest grader. Maybe it was Cosmie then Jaden Daniels. Yeah, Jaden had like graded out to like a 70 in PSF, like 74 or something like that. Yeah, which is pretty good. You know, solidly above average, solidly in that B range.

26:26Yeah, I don't know what you're going to do. Trey Amos is on injury reserve for at least four weeks. You know, it's four or four weeks, but that doesn't mean he's going to be ready in four weeks. You know, Joey Porter, Jr. is available. Just saying. And Adam Peters doesn't have a great history with second round picks. So. So. Corner is in season. Well, he doesn't have a great history drafting second round pick. So I let's take a second and put a package together. Oh, you're saying you're you're I thought you were going to say that well, Joey Porter, Jr. was was a second round pick, but he wasn't Adam Peters pick. Yeah, the 2024 look, I always say give it three years, give it three years and we can evaluate well, we are approaching at the end of this season, three years. And the six picks in the top 100 are not looking great right now. Johnny Newton, Senate, San Restill, remember when we fleeced apparently the how we roseman getting all those picks, they got Cooper Dijon would have been better to have Cooper Dijon just saying.

27:39And the 23 draft when we fleeced New Orleans apparently got Johan Dotson in Sam Howell and Brian Robinson, Jr. Yeah, the Saints got Chris a lavet. He by the way had 10 catches for 182 yards on Sunday in his third season, fourth season, whatever. Joey Porter, Jr. didn't get his contract from Pittsburgh and there is a lot of discussion about him being on the trademark it. Anyway, let's see what happens. They played a lot of zone. I still haven't seen those numbers. Have you seen those numbers max? I guessed 70% of what they did was zone. But, you know, the that is that says much as you you're going to get from Dan Quinn about a player. You know, that's as much as you'll get. By the way, a little bit later on in the show will play with Quinn thought about the two point play in hindsight. And what he thought about what I said yesterday, I think was the worst defensive call of the game, the third and goal from the 17 touchdown past to Goddard.

28:44They were in cover two and you started talking about the past rush gets to get and needs to get home. No, you need to rush three and drop eight and make sure nothing gets behind you and everything is in front of you. Check down tackle field goal, not hard. 99% of the time, that's the way it goes. Maybe 99% of the time, that's the way it goes. All right, so 3012, 309, 80, 3012, 309, 80. Tell me what you thought about our team before the game on Sunday and tell me what you think about our team after one game. So it's a dangerous game one game. I'm not going to beat that dead horse anymore. What I thought about this team before Sunday included very little that I felt strongly about. But there were two things that I felt the most confident about heading into the season and mentioned these things many, many times going back to the end of last year and through the off season.

29:50Number one, Jaden Daniels needs to be healthy and if he is, this team's going to be a competitive team that has a good chance to win more games than it loses. And number two, the defense cannot be as bad as it was last year. It's got to be better than it was last year. It would be really hard to duplicate that defense from a year ago. And knowing those two things and if those two things happen, Jaden stayed healthy and the defense wasn't as bad as it was last year. I thought this would be a very competitive football team and they could win more games than they lost and be in contention for a playoff spot. I didn't feel confident about anything else. I think it's like I've said a million times. Washington's in that group of 25 to 28 teams, seven and 10 to 10 and seven depending on the bounce of a ball, the a call made a call missed and injuries. You know, all things you can't predict before season begins. You know that gottor touched down on that third and six. You know, I still haven't seen anything that definitively points to it was a penalty that didn't get called, but that's the kind of an example that you can't predict during the course of the year.

31:06If you get a call like that, you win a game that maybe you wouldn't have won and it makes a big difference. Those are the two things I felt about the team before the game on Sunday and coming out of the game, even with my it's one week, it's the first week, it's never a real indicator of things to come. I just can't help myself on this one and that is to be excited, excited and optimistic that not only is it going to be hard for the defense to be as bad as it was last year. Maybe there's a chance it could be, you know, a middle of the pack defense. And if you get that, I know and I'm very confident in what the quarterback can do if he's healthy all season long. And I think you saw that, you know, after the rust of not playing since, you know, early December or barely really playing at all last year, once you saw that rust off, even against a good team with a good defense and a good coordinator, he absolutely lit that team up on those final two drives, 9 of 11 for 100 yards to touchdowns.

32:26He was exceptional at that point. So that's what I would say. I told you what I thought before the game and the way I feel after the game, there's just even though I understand this is one game and it's not a predictor, I just am a little bit more optimistic, encouraged, intrigued. And yes, actually excited that the defense not only won't be as bad as it was last year, but might make a sizable jump from where it was last year. I like the players. I like the way they played and I liked airing on the side of, you know, trying to create some chaos and be aggressive. Now you can't give up these big plays defensively. You can get 10 TFL's and three sacks and seven punts, but if you give up six explosives, it's going to wash all that other stuff out and you're going to be on the wrong side of it at the end, especially if you don't get takeaways.

33:323012300980 max. Tell me what you know, repeat what you thought before and whether or not you have changed the way you thought after seeing one game. Preseason, I had them nine and eight. A wild card team. I mean, there are going to be some growing pains with new play collars, especially like David blow. He's, I understand he's got a wealth of experience under a lot of really good coaches, but this is the first time he's calling the plays and it's on. Him. So I understand getting cute with that two point conversion wanted to do something like that. I mean, the chiefs did it for a long time and they just did it again last night with Kenny Walker. Now that wasn't really like a forward pitch, but the penetration upfront that that's just going to happen, especially against a really good team. They gave it. Let's hold on. They ran almost a single wing, you know, shovel pitch pass behind the line, it wasn't the true shovel pass, but they gave it to arguably their second best player. Yeah, we tried it with baits and so ends the problem. I that is the problem. Like I, and at the end of the game, that's what I was saying. And a lot of people were saying online is give your best players the chance to make the play.

34:45And so you got also first and goal. Wasn't it for them, not a two point conversion. I believe so. So it wasn't really it wasn't exactly like not a per shut up time. What apples apples, right? Yeah, but I'm encouraged. I mean, there was a lot of fight, especially in that fourth quarter. I mean, the team kind of came together and held strong as they were coming down the stretch. That gives me a lot of hope going forward. I'm not sure what to expect a week two against Dallas. They, their defense did not look great. But we'll see, man. This corners are going to have one hell of a hell of a time next week against Pickens and Lamb. So we'll see. I'm prepared for week two to be prepared to be 0 and 2 after week two, but from there, I think the sky is the limit. Once we start kind of figuring things out on offense. All of our NFL and Washington coverage on the team 980 is presented by Xfinity score the most reliable Wi-Fi one price five years guaranteed Xfinity. Imagine that. All right, I see everybody on hold stay there. We got to get a break in. But I want to know how you felt before the game and how you feel now after the game in Philadelphia.

35:56Greg Ross, Kurt DC, Kevin, Athan, Anthony, everybody stay on hold. I'll get to you next. All right. What did you think before Sunday and what do you think now about our team after a two point loss in Philadelphia 3012309 80 Greg and Gathersburg? Go ahead. Kevin, glad we're talking to the ball. Before Sunday, you know, preseason shows me not much, you know, but I always expect them to lose a couple of games to teams you expect them to lose. But after Sunday, I was very optimistic because you know, it feels good. And you know, there are a lot of other good teams. So I'm expecting them to make some improvements. And I don't mind the loss as long as it's competitive. I don't like them to beat themselves and lose by, you know, 21 points. So that's my opinion.

37:01All right. Thank you, Greg. I just I don't like when they lose period. I losing is losing and you gotta, you know, it doesn't matter how you lose. Look, last year was painful. Understood. They were blown out in so many games. And you don't want that, but you also don't want another two point loss on a miss two point conversion on Sunday. And then on the Sunday after that against Seattle, you know, have a walkoff feel goal by, you know, Seattle's kicker. And you got three close losses, but you're out in three headed to London. You really do look, I have. I believe in this team more than I ever have because Dan Snyder's not the owner and they have a quarterback. They're two most important things in an NFL franchise ownership top down the way the franchise is run and quarterback. Those are the two most important things. And we had a terrible owner and never a quarterback or rarely anybody that could play quarterback. Now we have no Snyder and we have a quarterback. So there is legitimate reason every year to be in a reality mode, optimistic.

38:21You don't have to fake it because there was no chance when Dan on the team, no chance. And now he's not here and you've got an elite level talent at quarterback. So I have a different mindset now than I did before. And my mindset is, okay, every years a new year, every weeks, a new week in the NFL, but you got a chance every year. Now to be a team that competes for something. So I don't want to accept three straight, close losses to start this season. They got to find a way to get a win Sunday in Dallas. It's a division game. Oh, and two is a tough hole to climb out of even though there's a long way to go. And now with 17 games, there's more time to make up for it. But with the defending Super Bowl champions coming in the following week, I don't want close losses. There's no moral victories. You got to, you got to win in this league. And they're good enough. I think at quarterback to do it. Let's go to Ross. Ross go ahead.

39:29Hey, what's going on? Hey, so you know, going into the season, my thoughts haven't changed at all. You know, we're talking about it often for coordinator and David Blow going against the man who's been coaching in the NFL longer than he's been alive. I saw that graphic on the TV, which is crazy to think. So he was coaching in the game. My first ever NFL game back like 2001 that went to that's along. He's been coaching so that was a big experience factor. And we held our own now with the defense. Everybody say all you know the defense isn't good. Whatever, whatever. But like you mentioned, the Eagles, they had a brand new scheme going on. You got Jalen, Jalen hurts. And it is like 18th offense in his career. Let's see this weekend when you go against the offense and Dallas that kind of has like that camaraderie because they haven't changed anything over the off season. I want to see how our cornerbacks can handle George pickets and CD lamb. But no, my thoughts haven't changed. Not one bit. I went into this opener thinking like, you know, it's our game to have. And I'm not getting off my 10 and 7 prediction.

40:29But I'm going to tell you there's going to be a lot of games that we're going to lose that we wish we wouldn't have like this one. There's going to be some games that we win where we probably should have lost. That's just how the ball is going to bounce in our favor. But I'm keeping it cool positive the whole time because there's no reason to panic. It's only week one, baby. Yeah, only one week only week one. You know, I'll just remind everybody that last year's opener against the giants at home was perhaps the best defensive performance of the season. Now Russell Wilson was the quarterback and he was absolutely horrendous that day. But I remember coming in the Monday or maybe the Tuesday after week one last year saying, all right, the defense. There's something to be encouraged by. There's something to be somewhat excited. It's one game and the giants aren't very good. And the quarterbacks terrible right now at this point in his career. By the way, the following week he went and had an unbelievable game at Dallas and week two. Russell Wilson did. But, and then it all fell apart starting with green Bay, you know, and guys like Gino Smith and Michael Pennix Jr. ended up having their best days of the year against Washington's defense. And that was a great game.

41:40So I think Washington's defense. And that was before all of the injuries started to set in. Let's go to Anthony Anthony go ahead. So there were too many if for me to have any leanings one way or another. So, like I said yesterday. I'm optimistic. But I couldn't, I just went in to the weekend with a totally blank slate, whatever it will be, and I came out of it with optimism. So that's how I looked at it. And it's funny how you brought up Peter's draft class because I heard a caller on another show mentioning that. I mean, it's looking beyond bad. Did she and it even hit the field yesterday? My calf, we didn't dress. Sandwich still is throwing up all over itself.

42:40I mean, yeah, you're right. The 24 class, not looking super sharp. There's no doubt about it. Now, now, Sonny Stiles and Tony Williams and Josh Josephson, Kate Tron Allen, looked pretty good in one game and, you know, Connerley continues to progress. And Jalen Lane's a good punt returner. And Croskey Merritt looks like, you know, at least a starting NFL running back. But yes, the 24 second and third rounders don't look like if you get through the three years, which I say, give it three years, it's not promising right now. Right. And yeah, your boy and Mark has been all over this. So I'll give him credit. Mark and Largo. Yeah. So you, you, you are high on Chica Conco and he may be a good player. But from the very beginning, I want it likely. Likely. And I was mentioning, I was telling Max during the break. I'm like, remember, likely Kenneth Walker, boy, a Maffe, a lot of guys that really balled

43:45out in week one, one week were all guys on the list. But Chig was on the list for me, no doubt. And as was Cros, who played very well. But the difference is between Croskey and the reason why I wanted it likely because likely was established. Yeah. So yeah, you're right. Yeah. All right. Thanks, Anthony. All right. We got a break. Sorry. We're getting, I'm going to get to all of you. I promise. And I understand that it's taken a while to get to all of you. Preseason thoughts before Sunday. And what are your thoughts now after watching one football game? 3012, 309, 80. Kevin Chien show the team 980 and the team 980.com. From McKale, before season absolutely no clue after first game, optimistically, no clue, well said. 3012, 309, 80, 3012, 309, 80.

44:48What did you think before Sunday about this team's 2026 season? And what do you think now? By the way, thank you, Vic. Vic sent me the Sumer Sports numbers. Wow, there's a lot of detail here. They played zone 84.8% of the time Sunday. That's even higher than I thought. The blitz rate was at nearly 40%, 16.2%, 16.27% higher than the NFL average. The pressure rate was at 48.48%, 9.93%, higher than the average. And their TFL rate was 15% higher than the NFL average. Yeah, they had a really good day with tackling the opponent behind their line of scrimmage or the line of scrimmage. 3012, 309, 80. What did you think before this season began? What do you think now? Bobby in North Carolina, thanks for holding. Hey, Cav, if you remember the conversation, we had a couple of months ago.

45:53I got a thought the offense would probably start out slower than the defense. And I was optimistic about our defense. After Sunday, Cav, really optimistic about both of these things getting better. Offense came on in the fourth quarter, but the defense was excellent, Cav, and all day. And I really, this morning thinking about it, looking at all these fancy numbers that are floating around, I'm more disappointed today than yesterday or even Sunday. And we had a chance, man. We had a chance. You know, we let one get away and I got a good friend, you should say, Harvard sees nuts. We let one get away Sunday, Cav, and they were beatable, and we were right down there to beat on man. It's just a shame, but it just makes Sunday, you know, you hate to say less wind, but it'd be good to get this wind on Sunday and come back home. Yeah, it's not must wind, but it feels like both teams at O and one, you know, an O and

46:54two start never feels good. It's not Doomsday anymore, especially with 17 game seasons now, but two dropped within the division, even though they're both on the road, you'd love to get this one Sunday. I think they got a shot. Why not? I feel good, but one more thing too, and I know you probably will disagree with me, but I'm telling you, I'm calling BS from that false story and that last TV drive for the Eagles, just freaking left tackle move, Kevin. I've watched it a bunch of times, Bobby. I think the left tackle did not actually, that you're allowed to point with your left arm. I don't think he moved. Okay, well, I'm going to disagree, you know, I always value your opinion, but I'm going to disagree with you on this one. That's fine. That's fine. I mean, Dean Blan Dino watched it in, you know, in game and said it was a legal play. I have not yet seen any sort of follow up on that play other than people complaining in the moment on Sunday that something appeared to be wrong with it.

47:56It didn't look right. Here's the bottom line. You got to play the play defensively. I know you know, and they stopped. I do. And funny got behind. He was trailing the top. He's my that one little split second cost and you know, I'm saying because he was trailing all the way, but you know, they played well, our defense is great. That really good. I mean, we got to figure out my key what his deal is, but I think he's going to be on a very, very, very short way since Sunday going forward. Yeah, just don't know what they, what they do on Sunday, who, who, I guess Fabian Marok, a Moroccan play, Moroccan play for him. I guess is that the guy I'm looking at the depth chart right now? You see an active. You have a, you know, he was active. He was active. He was active. You're right. He was. You got to put him in there. You got to put somebody else because my key struggle and confidence has gone and he was in order on a couple of those plays on Sunday, man. And he heard us really bad.

48:57Anyway, but I have a good day. Appreciate it. Let's go to Scott in Severna Park. Scott, what did you think before the game? What did you think after the game? Well, I got to tell you, my expectations on Jane Daniels still doesn't change. I called last year, said he held the ball too long. Sure enough, he, I swear to God, you know, if he threw that ball as fast as, there's a way called out in San Francisco, we would have had a much of a different outcome. I just think he had offensive line where the heroes of the day because he held that guy, held that ball for so damn long, it was like five seconds every play and you have the best possession receiver in the league and you didn't even throw it. Did you look at the old, have you, have you looked at the all 22 to see how many people were open when he was holding it? Because there were many people open. There's a good quarterbacks find a guy who's open and you just, a 50, 50 ball, a 50, 50 ball.

49:57Number 17 is going to catch that ball every time. Well, 17 was bracketed a lot in the zone coverage and in the man coverage that Philly played and Brady was 100% right during the call of the game. They're just what anybody opened and I actually give Jayden a lot of credit because I actually think there were times in 24 and even in the few games that he played in last year, the very few games with the wretched wide receivers that he had that he probably tried to force it a bit too much. I think the score and game situation really required him and Blau, quite frankly, to be patient and I thought that they did a good job doing that. Yeah, I don't, I don't think he holds it too long. I don't think that's his issue at all. I think his issue has been taking on too many tacklers as a runner and I think we saw some progress on the one scramble on Sunday when he actually got down after he got the first down.

50:58What else got? I agree with you on that. The one guy I was really stoked about coming into the season, sunny styles, man, that guy's money. That's all I got. He played. Thanks Scott. Appreciate it. Let's go to Kurt. Kurt, what do you think before Sunday? What do you think now? Kevin, I'm not going to be like the rest of you call those, man. I'm heated. I'm going to tell you right from the end of the last season, corner back was the issue. We have zero corners and they've done nothing to address that. There are teams out there that have fourth and fifth corners that would be our number one here. That's the first and foremost. I knew that before the before free agency, I knew that it was a big huge problem and it's showing that it's a problem. They still got people out of position. I feel like I've talked to you two or three times about Mikey staying real still being a nickel corner zone or a third safety who has to be in a specific like help out position watching the quarterback. He's not an outside corner and I'm just heated about that.

51:59Then when you get to the two point conversion place, the slant curl was wide open, the running back to the flat was wide open. That should have been the very first read and you're going to do a shuffle the base at the teeth of that defense. No, man, I'm heated. I'm not panicked. I'm a realist. Before the season started, the team's out there with Joe for Joe, man for man. We're bottom five. So yes, bottom bottom bottom bottom five team roster. Oh, roster. Like player for player, player for player. Like when you put us up against every team and you go player for player, their receivers, their corners, their corners, their line, our line, you know, all the way through. There's not many teams that you could say, oh, you got to pick our starters over their starters for every single position. So you got to play as a team when that happens and you got to have your x's right because you're Joe's ain't right. And that's what I'm upset about because they just, man, it's not even. Well, they added more players and free, they added more players and free agency than any other team in the league, as you know, spent the third most money on free agency.

53:05And Amique Robertson, the corner that they signed in free agency, had the best game of any corner in the first game. We got a long way to go. The San were still take. Look, if you've had that take for a while, you, you, you, you, it looks like right now you're trending towards being a hundred percent right. And I would agree with you that he's probably not in outside corner and he's probably more of an inside corner and more of a zone corner, which they did play 84.8% zone coverage on Sunday with respect to the two point play. Just so you know, and I, this is, this was my first guest and then Jaden backed it up with his comments. The play was, he's reading the edge defender. If the edge defender plays quarterback, then it's shovel to baits. If he plays and crashes down, then he throws to the flat or he's got the option to run as well. So Jaden actually ran the play that was called the correct way.

54:05I'm with you though. I wouldn't have wanted shovel pass to baits. And quite frankly, even shovel pass to Chica Conqueau had he been healthy and had that been his spot. I would have preferred to have gone with our best players. And in that moment, it was the quarterback. It was the rookie receiver, Antonio Williams and it was digs. And of course, it's always Terry. So I, I agree with you on that front. Now bottom five talent in the league. I don't know. There's certainly not in the top half of the league in talent. That's fair. Thank you. You got a, yeah, good call though. Ivan in Florida. Go ahead. Kevin, what's up, man? What's up, Ivan? Hey, look, I had a, you know, I had us going five and old before the, before the season started. And right now, right now, I'm 401, Kevin, because I'm a homer. Hey, look, I told you that the defense will keep us in the game and I told, and I said

55:06that they will be, actually be the story of the game. And as fans, we encouraged them rightfully so about the defense. But I tell you one thing, Kevin, the team better be on red alert, Kevin. The team, if we go, if we lose the Dallas, Kevin, we go, we're all in two and then we got Seattle, we go all in three. And then, you know, and the, and the, and the, and the judge look a lot more dangerous than what they, what they did originally. Kevin, our season could be over before the by-week. It could be over. Yeah, which is why I'm, I mean, you're, good call, Ivan. Thanks for cheering us up. That was well done. You had us five and oh, yes, and you're bailing after one game. No, that's because I'm a fan. I'm always going to rule for the team, Kevin, but I'm real. Well, this is why, look, this is why I'm irritated and angry that, you know, Jaden only got three snaps in the preseason. We needed Jaden to go into the phone booth before the game and send it after the third

56:09quarter. Right. Yo, he needed to be ready. Yo, it's now practice, you know, based on last season results, his injuries and everything. And, and this season's brutal opening. You know, it's, it's now practice that he only got three preseason game snaps. If we lose the Dallas cat, Kevin, I'm going to be full, flash chicken little, Kevin. Well, I mean, you flip on a dime, brother. I mean, seriously, you go from five and oh to oh and five faster than anybody I've ever seen. I'm going to be a regular move for you. I'm still I'm a regular move for you. Kevin, as a fan, I still got a swarm one, one, one, one, but look, what I'm concerned about is that the team, the team better be on code red. This is Jaden's last season before we have to pay him. So our season is right now. We have to, we have to try to go for it right now. And if, if it's me, I'm on the phone for Brandon, I you can, I'm telling Jaden, get

57:10on, get on the phone and get them in here. All right. All right. All right. Write it down. Annually, when they lose the opener going back many, many years, Ivan is a week two, you know, early week two caller that has the sky falling and rapidly. Go ahead and straight today, Ivan. Ivan is a man of means on the golf course for much. Kevin, Kevin, the guy who was brutal coming out, coming out in the box. But it's also brutal after the by week. Well, it looks a little stretch, but it looks that way now, it looks that way right now. Yes, it does. We'll see what we get there. Hey, Ivan, you can only play him one shot at a time, Ivan. One shot at a put that shank on seven out of your mind. All right, get up and down. I got to go. Thank you. That'll be ready. Ivan in Florida. DC, DC. What did you think before Sunday? What do you think now? Great day, great day, Kevin.

58:11I'm here to restore some order and face in our team, brother. But I was optimistic before the season. And I'm still optimistic now. We still didn't have our full roster on defense, but we're building trust, understanding and chemistry right now. And that is what our offense and defensive coordinator along with the plays. Blau trusts Bates because he knows what he can do. He's familiar with him. I think Bates run more down the field routes than I had two years with Cliff Kingsbury. And when it comes to defense with the raw tape, he's going to have to understand when they're blitzing, Mikey's going to need help over the top. And I think they have the wherewithal to make those changes to the offensive defense. And I hope Tyler Owens is healthy because he was out there being a monster playing like how we all should play. Yeah. Good call. Thanks. G from the shop. Callers are so terrible. It's Dallas week.

59:12Not. Oh, it's, no, it's G from the shop. That was D.C. No, I know that was D.C. G from the shop just DM to me. Of course, G from the shop writing callers are so terrible. It's Dallas week, not Seattle or, not Seattle or anybody else. Beat Dallas. That's it. That's all. It is Dallas week. That is true. And beat the Cowboys. It will be really, really excited this time next week. Tom in Columbia. Tom, go ahead. Hey, Kevin, my expectations prior to the first game was didn't have any because there's nothing to evaluate. They give you nothing in the preseason to evaluate, except for some snippets of some slow motion catches or some plays here and there, but it's absolutely nothing to evaluate. But I think of the conclusion of the game. I go back to the same mantra. Can the defense stop the run? And I think they showed they are aiming in that direction.

1:00:12So that was a positive. And I think offensively, can you effectively run the ball? And I think that they're going to do that. I think short term you look at it with a bitter case in your mouth because the game was there for the taking. It was a competitive, winnable game. So you have a bitter taste leaving the game. But I think from like the 30,000 foot view, you see the positive is growing with this team and the mistakes that are correctable. And I think when you take the perspective of the game, not played in a vacuum. I don't know where you get these callers. Maybe it's all shoot of the crack epidemic of the 1980s. I thought it was a pro football. Pro football is not played in a vacuum. It's not mad and it's not fantasy. You want to help make standards so up what you do is you increase the pressure. And I see that. That's a positive. The defense of the back shouldn't get better as the pressure of front gets better. So you scheme up the hand you're dealt. And I think that they have the saw. Look at it. They have the parts. They have the parts to increase that pressure.

1:01:13They have the parts to start having the other team configure. They're all fans knowing that the defense is bringing something to the table. And so I looked at it as a huge positive that when they look at this team now, it's not a pusher over defense, but they see parts of the game that are going to make you say, man, we got to account for this. So I see it's huge positive. OK. Thanks for the call. Tom, I'm not a big fan of what you interjected into the middle of that call at all. And I think you do that occasionally when you've got actually salient football points to make. But yeah. Yeah. Look, I do think that defensively, that stopping the run is absolutely crucial for any football team. And this particular team in with the emphasis on bringing in big time pass rushers, you can't allow you don't allow those pass rushers to flourish without better down in distances. And they had Philly in good, down in distance situations.

1:02:15In the game, Philly overcame a third and 17. We talked about the third and goal, 17 touchdown pass at nauseam yesterday. And then the third and 18 that Jaylin got out of Dodge and ran 22 yards with. But yeah, I think that Sanrestill would benefit from increased pressure. But I think anybody would in the back end. But there is definitely an issue with him right now covering receivers when they play man coverage or when he picks up a responsibility of man coverage in zone. Athan, Athan, go ahead. What did you think before Sunday? What do you think now? I have a nine and eight before the season. And I have a nine and eight now. And it's really, it just goes back to a lack of depth. And I think it's going to be exposed with injuries and talent with the, some of the other callers have talked about the Sanrestill, the Newton, the Senate, the Amos, the McAfriees.

1:03:16Yeah, Kevin, you mentioned earlier the Jaylin lanes, the Tyler Owens, Bill's Antonio Williams. But the problem is the second and third round picks needed to be quality starters, if not solid backups. And most of those guys have not proven that they can even do that. I mean, you got Willie Steve flying around the field last night for Kansas City. And he could be our number one corner. And he went back there on a one year six. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For on a one year deal. So we have no depth corner. We have no legitimate pass catching tie down now that Shig's going to be out. And then it's like Jay Gruden said yesterday, he didn't have a problem with the, have we haven't gotten word on Shig being out yet, right? Nothing yet. Just come down. It's a hamstring. So I'm guessing he's going to be out. But we're going to have more information tomorrow. Yeah, you're right. It could be. I didn't know if you actually saw something that was an update to that. But okay, go ahead. You know, Jay, Jay Gruden said yesterday, he didn't have a problem with the two point call. He had a problem with running it behind an unathletic center and an unathletic guard.

1:04:17He didn't say that. Just goes, I thought he said that on Grant and Danny. That's what he was quoted saying today. Who said that? Quintet. Jay, Jay Gruden. Oh, Jay Gruden. Jay Gruden. I thought you said, I thought you said Quinn said that. My fault. Oh, I mean, I mean, I, I think you're going into the teeth of the Philadelphia defense on an option on a play that doesn't include one of your best players. That's the biggest problem I have with the play too. Yes, it was, it was poorly executed. There was also a very good play made by their defensive tackle, a, a Jomo. He made an incredibly athletic play because both things can be true. Allegrette didn't do a good job and a Jomo did. Both of those things are true. But the bottom line is you call the play that essentially the game relied on executing because you would use up your timeouts at that point. You had one left with a minute one, minute one to go in the game. And you had to convert it and you decided to go into the teeth of their defense

1:05:19with baits as an option on the play. No, thank you. Athen, go ahead. Thanks for holding was. Athen. Oh, that was Athen. Of course, I meant Polly. Polly's up next. Polly go ahead. And to the W man's going on big guy. What's up? Man, man, man, man, a lot of loser talk, right? Oh, no, not all of it, not all of it. But yeah, there's a lot going on out here. Man, look, before the season, my expectations were. I didn't really get in. But I was like, you know, we get in jaded back. Let's see how it goes. After Sunday and see how he lit that deep. My expectation is we're going to have a good season. And everything's going to be all right. And we're going to go out here Sunday and we're going to beat Dallas. And I'm not worried about, you know, the whole for the learn. I'm not worried about Mikey.

1:06:19And he'll figure that out, man. His part of this, of he didn't look like a physical thing with Mikey. He looked like a mental thing. Like he was lost. And sometimes when you learn something new, like a new defense or whatever, you know, sometimes you're getting your own head. And that's what it looked like on both some plates. You know what I mean? So it's early, you know, they barely played. If we're going to be out, man, we got five. Did you see how you played in that four quarter? Yeah, I saw it. Yeah, I know. Well, that's what that. Yeah, that's what we got. That's all this talk of lack of death and no pass. Because it's tight in it. We got five. We're going to be all right. So get this win on Sunday. Be one award, right? And then they move forward from there. You start with all the loser talk, man. It's not. Hey, see, I think, I think you're being, I think you're being a, this is where I didn't

1:07:21get this, by the way, after the game. I didn't get a lot of people, you know, feeling angst and feeling like disappointed other than that they lost, but having, you know, sort of negative, pessimistic feelings about the team moving forward. I actually got more positive. So I think you're, maybe you're in the world of social media where everybody's negative. I, I haven't sense that. So I, I'm not, I'm not overly sensitive to people being overly negative. We had Ivan, who's, you know, a bit wacky to begin with. Love you, Ivan, talking about a no and five, you know, chicken little, uh, start. But after the game, yeah, yeah, after the game, yeah, you heard some, you know, people probably have a little, but today, it's not just this show, but just like I said, social media, others know, I don't know what it is today. It's like, he would be the guy for it. It's a match. You're producing like, I'm prepared to go over to you. What? The quarters don't look good, Polly. I'm, I'm not ready.

1:08:22I'm not prepared to go on to. I absolutely think we got to legit shot Sunday. The closer we get to Sunday, I'll change my tune. Yeah. It's down. I had to lose the Dallas. I prepared to be down and add. Let's go. Yeah. We owed them one. All right. Hailed at the W Pollock. Hailed to the W. Yes. And Tim, I am wearing a hoodie with the W on it. Tim said, do you have commanders gear on? No, I have, I have a hoodie with the W on it. I don't own anything and I will never own anything with commanders written on it. The W stuff I like. That's our team. Washington. And it's a Washington Dallas week. Used to be a big deal around here. We can make it a big deal again. We'll have somebody on from Dallas to talk about the olden at the times when this was a big deal.

1:09:25Like literally it was the two weeks out of the year where you didn't care what happened in the previous game. By Tuesday, it was Dallas week. By Monday morning, it was Dallas week. God's, you youngins have no idea what it was like. The two games against the Cowboys, the hype from Monday until kickoff was insane. Certainly in our market, but even in Dallas, it was a big deal. All right. When we come back, what Dan Quinn said about the two point play upon sleeping and thinking about it and then coming to the podium yesterday, you'll hear that. Also, the third and goal 17 touchdown to Goddard was legitimately the worst call for the defense. And Quinn, for the most part, confirmed that yesterday. You'll hear what he said. Kevin Chien show the team 980 and the team 980.com. Some interesting things about week one around the NFL, which I will get to coming up in about 15 to 20 minutes.

1:10:33But Dan Quinn held his day after press conference yesterday. And I thought that there were a couple of interesting quotes from Quinn. We already played the sound bite on Sanrestill. Ben standing asked him was the last question of the press conference. Asked him about the Sanrestill performance. And Dan Quinn was as critical as I think I've ever heard him be. And it wasn't direct criticism, but he typically tap dances around any sort of public criticism of a player. T that one up again. Max, let's just play for those that didn't hear what Quinn said about Mikey Sanrestill in the performance. Ben asked him the question. Here's what he said. Dan, with Mikey, this is the two plays. He seemed to be on the wrong hand on the 60 plus yarder. And the touchdown on the corner. I don't know if there was any correlation. I couldn't help him. It might be pausing for some reason. What did you see on those two plays?

1:11:34And it's kind of where is he at at this point in his third year? Yeah, sure. The touchdown play definitely felt like as the motion got over it made like you have to go get set. And like those are things that like we have to get corrected. We've definitely identified a few things that like, amen. These are the things that we have to get corrected. Mike's the very good competitor. I'm certain that we will. But to have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time, like completely not acceptable on the second play, the deep past play that I think you're referring to. Kind of the same thing as you lost track of the ball, like finish it out, man. And so I think that's the lesson in the game. It wasn't schematically related to him or something that communication error. Some normal things that go into like a big play to go. So that's definitely the things we identify with him. And I'm certain that he'll work on that. We definitely need to. You know, I'm looking for something because I got a, you got a tweet from somebody who said, didn't Quinn talk up Sanresto all summer?

1:12:35He kind of did, didn't he? He did that with Juan Martin two years ago and then Quinn had his terrible year. So again, the point being that even the people in the building sometimes don't know until you play real games. But back to what he said about Sanresto, that's his critical is you're going to hear Dan Quinn calling something, you know, not acceptable. That is, that's, that's tough love on Sanresto and they got to figure this out for sure. They got to figure it out at corner. This was him talking about the two point conversion after sleeping on it and thinking about it. Here's what he said. Hey, Dan. You know, the big talker obviously today is the play call and that two point conversion. You've had, you know, 24 hours to kind of digest and reflect on that, on that play call. I guess kind of explain your thought process looking back over the play, looking over the film, which you've done anything differently.

1:13:36The execution not there. Kind of just take us through that the last 24 hours kind of looking at that play. Yeah, you want to be specific when you're going through a game plan to get it all organized and going. I thought it was a good play. It was one that we had practiced. Their play also made a good play spinning out of the block with Nick, you know, to kind of stuff the play to go. But with a well executed play, I think we got really got a great chance to go execute the two point play, which was going to lead to overtime and others. But it's an effective two point play. It's an effective, you know, low red zone play. So I don't want to just, you know, base it purely on the outcome. The execution is definitely a part of that and also give credit to Philadelphia. You know, their defense is exactly certainly made a good play. You know, so look, it's true. Shovel passes are good red zone plays condensed field. See teams once you get into the red zone, they really emphasize trying to run the football,

1:14:36trying to, they'll get quick bubble screens. You see more of that in the red zone. You see more with the dual threat quarterbacks, more zone read in the red zone sometimes, because it's a condensed field. It's hard to get people open in timing when you can't threaten the field vertically. There's not much field to threaten in the red zone. So those kinds of plays tend to be effective. Now he mentioned what I think is 100% true, which is, it was a very good play by Moro with Jomo number 97. It was also simultaneously not Nick Gallagherty's best. Maybe it was his best and that would be a problem. I also just want to mention one other thing because God, I've watched this play like maybe many of you have a bunch of times. So again, Jaden's read is, is Jalix Hunt number 58 on the outside. Okay, if he plays Jaden, he's got to shovel it. That's what the play calls for.

1:15:37So Jaden put the Superman cape on and say, I don't really like this play call. I'm not giving it to baits. I don't trust our interior offensive line against their strength of their interior D line. I'm going to pull it even if Hunt is playing me. I'm going to get around him and I'm going to throw to white in the flat where I'm going to run it myself in because remember the throat to white, if he decides to not read his key and throw it, Jalix Hunt is actually going to have some say in whether or not that balls out, you know, in timing and if he's able to get it out accurately. Just like on that touchdown throw to Antonio Williams, there was pressure off the edge. Jaden had to throw it borderline sidearm to get it there. Now the thing that I wanted to point out after watching this so many times is everybody just assumes if Allegretti makes a really good block or if, you know, if a Jomo doesn't

1:16:38make an incredibly athletic play that baits walks in, it would have been close because Jalix Hunt is a very, very good edge player and he would have bounced right off of it and he'd have been right there to potentially stop baits short of the goal line. Not to mention that Jihad Campbell was sort of let free as well. So it would have been close. Bates obviously would have had a better chance, had a Jomo not made that player Allegretti made the block, but it wasn't like 100% that he was going to cakewalk into the end zone behind, behind Cosmi. Anyway, that play was certainly one in which yes, it does work. Yes, it does work in the red zone, but on your team versus the team you were playing was that the best choice. I would say from my seat, which isn't an expert seat by any stretch of the imagine, I would

1:17:39say no. All right, this was him on the third and goal from the 17, right? That's what we're playing right now. No, we're playing the Allegretti bite. This was him talking about Nick Allegretti's performance overall. Coach, now you've had a chance to look at the film. I'm curious how you assessed the offensive lines performance, especially Nick Allegretti with his first start at center. Yep, so I liked how we had some good zone plays early in the game, Liam, especially the first run. So we thought that would be one that we would need to when a team plays, you know, to some too high safety defense, you have to be able to challenge them to say can we get some run game going in that space. The front and the linebackers like said, the kind of the core, that's the strength of their group, especially the interior there front me. And I thought all three of the big guys were active and involved and had their chances

1:18:40to make some plays. So I thought overall, you know, in the run game, I thought, maybe we would let a little bit of meat on the bone on some of the plays. I thought baits did a nice job getting out of the edge on the blocking in that space. I thought Bill and they were running back for decisive with their cuts. As far as Nick goes, I would say there's, you know, times that it, you know, look good. There's times that, you know, like to have some plays again, but at the end of it, it was like a good hard division battle like I thought it would be. Yeah, you know, when he says, you know, about their interior, the, you know, the strength of their group, especially the interior of their front, maybe that should have been considered a bit more on the two point play. By the way, and going back and watching a lot of the all 22 yesterday, you know, who is just an outstanding player for them. We know Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis and Quinyan, and he gets so many good players.

1:19:42And Jonathan Bernard didn't even play. But one of the best free agent acquisitions in the last three years was Vic Fangeo, how he rosemite company, plucking Zach Bond from New Orleans and turning him into a middle linebacker, which he had not played. He is an outstanding player. He is just, he's been great for them for now. What? This is season three, right? Season one was their Super Bowl season. He number 53 is one of the best inside slash middle linebackers in football. And they just, it's almost like they've got so many name, big name players defensively. And I think sometimes people and Zach Bond's one of them don't get me wrong. But he might be the best in the most versatile and the smartest on that entire defense. I mean, he is definitely Vic Fangeo's mind and voice and communicator and player on that

1:20:44field. That's one thing you see with Bond is, first of all, he plays every single snap. He's on the field, every single snap. And he is just an outrageously, I think, great middle linebacker. And I think a little bit under discussed around the league. All right. This was Quinn. Actually, we'll save this. I know we got a break. I wanted you to hear what Quinn said about Sonny Stiles this first game and what he said about that third and goal 17 touchdown pass to Goddard in the early part of the second quarter. We'll get to that next Kevin Chien show, the team 980 and the team 980.com. There are two other Dan Quinn sound bites from his media presser yesterday that I want to play. He was asked about Sonny Stiles who certainly had some big plays in his first game. Here's what he said. And then on the kind of flip side of that with Sonny, what stood, I know the speed and

1:21:48the power, but like what stood out particularly on that sack where he ran through Barclay and got to her? Yeah, I think you guys have been hearing me talk. I've been definitely laying some breadcrumbs. I don't know if you're following them or not. I had said all along I was excited to show his blitz ability. And he didn't do a ton of it. His previous year playing at a high estate, but he definitely could run and hit. So we knew that was going to be part of his game. Part of being a blitzer is like using your physicality on the block and then the next time to change it up where you have to go about it differently. But I liked not just in the past game, but he also had a good TFL to wrap up on. So in that game, you saw him covering kicks. He saw him being our green dot when Frankie left and making some big plays. I thought that's a sign of a mature young player who impacted the game in some different ways. And so when ready for that moment, I thought he really delivered. As first games go, you know, to have a sack in your first one or a big play here and

1:22:49there. And he gets a sign of things to come for him. He really is into his preparation to make sure he's detailed and on it. But at the end of it, like I said, one of the things I liked about the defense was just their overall physicality. And so I was very much far that. Okay. Real quickly on the styles portion of it, you know, he did everything on Sunday. When Louvue left the game, he's wearing the green dot. He's playing special teams. And you know, it's true. He did not blitz a lot at Ohio State. I loved him as an early down blitzer in particular. That aside, I just want to mention something because this is the second time, third time I've heard this. I really, really like Dan Quinn. I think everybody does who's, you know, certainly the people who've been around him. He is incredibly highly respected, well respected around the league. He is a players coach. I think he's a good coach. I do. I don't like when he said at the very beginning, if you guys have been listening to me talk,

1:23:55you know, I've been definitely laying some breadcrumbs as in, I've kind of been telling you guys, you know, sunny styles look pretty good here for us. I, let me just, this isn't overly critical. This is just an observation because I do like Quinn. And by the way, I say it all the time that especially with guys like Quinn, the best things you can take from August is sometimes what a coach says, especially if it's a coach that likes to talk and likes to lay out breadcrumbs. You know, I said, I've said it for the third straight summer, Quinn, if you listen closely, he'll tell you a couple of things here, you know, sometimes you don't have to read between the lines. So just tell you directly, it's the first thing that pops into his mind. Sometimes you got to read between the lines. But here's what I would just say to him because I do like him a lot. He's a bit too much of a pleaser with the media. You know, this should be more of an inconvenience for him.

1:24:56I, that doesn't make the job easier for those that are doing it. And there are people that would say, no, no, no, this is exactly how you should do. And he, he went through a lot of media training, remember with Laura, what's her name, Oak Min or whatever. I think her name is when he was out of coaching. But I just, he comes to every presser, he's got an introductory statement, a theme, something. He doesn't have to do that. It's helpful for the, for the beat reporters. There's no doubt. He is very, very media accommodating, media pleasing. I think sometimes I prefer the coach that comes off with, you know, as, you know, you guys are idiots and this is an inconvenience for me. Not that he should treat them that way because you don't want to be, you know, some of the guys that have been total first rate, you know, ails. You don't want that either. But it's a bit too much of trying to please.

1:25:59And you just better win, you know, when you've got, tell the truth Mondays and you've got a lot of these, you know, things and themes and you're, this should be an inconvenience. This should be the last thing you're focused on. Now they have a completely different PR department out there than they used to have and it's first rate. It is one of the, I think they won the award for the best public relations. I mean, that is a sea change from what it used to be. I mean, they had legitimate incompetence in their PR department during the Snyder years. And Sean and all of them out there do a phenomenal job and they get them ready. This is more about how he innately sort of handles it. He is definitely trying to accommodate and please everybody in these pressors. And I think that that's fine, but you got to win. You know, you got, you absolutely have to win or that stuff looks like you shouldn't

1:27:00have been worried as much. You shouldn't have prepped comments before or had anybody do it for you. You should have gone in and tried to make it as quick as possible and get back to work. You know, that, I think there are a lot of guys that treat it that way. He doesn't and he is respectful, incredibly respectful of the media. And I think that there is a savviness to what he's doing. I'm not suggesting that there isn't, but he doesn't need to lay bread, bread crumbs for anybody. That's not his job. You know, everybody else's job is to figure it out. And usually you got to wait until the real games begin to start to figure it out. Anyway, just a thought as I listened to that for a third time over the last 24 hours. There was one more sound bite that he had talking about that third and goal touchdown, which I thought was the worst defensive call of the game on what was, I think, a pretty good day for Gerontet Jones in his debut as defensive coordinator.

1:28:01I'm going to play what he said when we come back because there's no doubt that the actual play call given down distance field position was the wrong call. That's next. No, no, no, a PR guy just sent this to me. Kevin liked what you said about Quinn, but the idea from a PR perspective is to build those relationships with the media. Whether they have your back when you need it most, I get that. I do. And I probably should have mentioned it that way. So I know that you are right on that. I guess my preference would be for him or anybody in that position to not worry about whether or not the media has your back. I mean, all due respect to those of us in the media, more times than not, we just don't know enough. And often don't know anywhere near enough. And I think he is incredibly accommodating to the media here.

1:29:09And I, you know, it's just an observation. It's an observation. That's all. My preference would be for the coach as a fan, not as a media member, but as a fan for him to treat these things more as a nuisance and an inconvenience, not outwardly, not rudely, but he does go beyond what most coaches do in these multiple, weekly, you know, three, four times a week get together. I mean, he comes with, you know, he comes armed with themes and, and, and answers in the PR department as a phenomenal job. I'm telling you this, you guys have no clue as to what an absolute disaster the Snyder era public relations group was. I mean, some of the biggest incompetence you've ever, ever seen in your life, and it is the 100% opposite 180 degree turn.

1:30:14First rate is the group now. All right. The last of the Quinn sound bites that I wanted to play because look, part of it is he does give you the answers, you know, sometimes he gets sideways and turned around and you don't get as much, but he will, you know, if there's something there, he'll give it to you. And he was asked about the two third, uh, the, the gotter touchdowns, the, the third and goal from the 17 first early in the second quarter. And then of course, the third and six where there was some movement. You'll hear the question and then I want you to listen to the answer carefully. Hey, Dan, um, you mentioned earlier the, the chunk plays, particularly obviously there was the wicks one, but two plays after that gotter had the touchdown. I was wondering what happened on that play that kind of left him wide open in the back of the in zone. I guess what would you have preferred to see there? Yep. Give you both of them.

1:31:14Um, on the play, it was a version of cover two. And so, uh, on that particular play, they had four verticals and anytime you played two man, like your past rush has to be on point because the outside guys are getting rerouted and we were just talking to Nicky a moment ago, like a, how do you help on the outside guys where there's a safety over the top and it's, you're vulnerable down to the seam. So I'd say in that down in distance, um, you know, he'd like to see us align differently, um, you know, where we could, you know, maneuver our guys into the right locations to go. Um, I'll definitely give credit to them on the space to go, but on that particular one, um, there's definitely one that we can, you know, adjust how we would play it as well. So, but that's what happened on it where you're vulnerable down the seams and that's where they hit. Yeah, he did not answer the question, uh, the two part question. The other one was about the third and sixth in the fourth quarter that they scored on. He focused on the third and goal from the 17, which I talked about yesterday.

1:32:15And it's in a game that there was so much positive to take from it defensively and from a defensive coordinating standpoint and play calling standpoint, he said it, you can't be aligned the way you were aligned. That's not, that's not a third and goal from the 17 alignment, seven men on the line of scrimmage with three dropping and getting a late drop. You know, that's just, you got to beat everybody. You should never be able to score on your first read progression on third and goal from the 17. We've all watched football forever and ever when team score on third and goal from the 17, nine times out of tenets because you've got an athletic quarterback who ran around, extended the play and guys got lost trying to cover for that long. And then somebody ends up, you know, open for a touchdown. You know, it's not on the, the snap, a hitch, boom, to Goddard who's running by

1:33:15Kwan Martin and Frankie Lovoo and Jeremy Reeves who's dropping into coverage. After lining up on the line of scrimmage, you want to rush four, that's fine, but your seven have to be in coverage playing everything in front of them so that the ball gets checked down underneath and you rally to tackle. I don't love three man pass rushes in any situation. I want pressure definitely, but a lot of teams rush three drop eight in that situation and they make sure nothing's going anywhere near the end zone. You're going to have to check this down. We're going to rally. We're going to tackle and your guys going to come out and kick a field goal for three. You're not getting six. And essentially that's what Kwan said about that play is that they're in cover two, which that's crazy. And you had four verticals, which is true. And one of those verticals was Goddard. And he said your pass rush has to be on point, not on third and goal from the, in the red zone from the 17 yard line.

1:34:17Your coverage has to be on point. And he said, you know, you'd like to see us align differently. Like yes, there should have been a different play called in that particular spot because you left open the possibility of being vulnerable in the seams on a short and field on third and goal from the 17. So these are the things like first time coordinator, it wasn't going to be perfect. And that is a play that was not perfect. But they'll get another swing at it. Obviously Sunday in Dallas. But that's the difference between three, three down seven, three big play in the game. The other third and six, which he didn't get around to was the, you know, the controversial play, I guess, where, you know, was Goddard and the left tackle moving simultaneously, which would have been in the legal shift and a penalty. And they didn't call it.

1:35:19And by my, you know, observation at this point, no one from any, you know, legitimately, legitimate places come out and said that that was an illegal play. Dean Blan, you know, in game on the broadcast, watched it during the break and came back and said that was a legal play. And I think based on watching it over and over again, I would have to agree. I don't think two players were moving simultaneously. Goddard was lateral, you know, you're allowed to move laterally as long as no one else is moving. It's motion. So there you go. All right. How about a few things from the NFL week one? First of all, the chargers losing the Arizona on Sunday eliminated in the biggest survivor pool in the world, the circa Vegas survivor pool, which I've actually participated in before. I'm not in this year.

1:36:2110.3 million dollars worth of circa survivor entries were eliminated with the chargers loss. First of all, if you don't know what a survivor pool is, it's, you just have to pick one outright winner every week. No points, Fred, just one winner. And if it wins, you survive to the next week if it loses your out. Now, you can't pick the same team twice in one year. So you have to pick every week has to be a team that you have not picked before. The chargers and Jacksonville were the two biggest plays of the weekend. And it seems like this happens every year. Pick one or week two, some big favorite in the chargers were the biggest favorite loses outright and eliminates a massive chunk of the biggest survivor pools out there. By the way, the other thing about the circa survivor pool because my guy, Aaron Oster, who was a producer here, who produced my podcast and now is involved in running the big circa

1:37:28pools out in Vegas, lives in Vegas, works for the circa. Aaron texted me that Washington was the only team that did not have one entry. Nobody in the entire circa survivor pool picked Washington. They were the only team not picked. That's insane. Hold on, let me get the exact, yeah, 31 of the 32 teams were taken week one in the circa survivor. Washington was the only team not chosen. And that's out of tens of thousands of entries. That's crazy. But nobody thought Washington would win. And typically you're not in a survivor pool. You're not taking underdogs. You're taking favorites more often than not. Some people took underdogs means that somebody took Arizona and somebody took Cleveland.

1:38:28And the Arizona pick was a pretty good one. What else did I have for you? Did you know that the Raiders, Cardinals, Jets and Giants all winning in week one as, now the Raiders were favored to win. The Giants, Jets and Cardinals were underdogs. They're all want to know for the first time since actually in NFL history. I mean, that's crazy because there have been times in which the Raiders, Jets and Giants were all good at the same time, but maybe not at the same time that the Cardinals were good, whether they were in St. Louis or Arizona. But it's the first time those four teams all won their openers. And then did you hear this over the weekend, two different stories that I thought were interesting. The first one may have been a Friday story that Max Crosby, after the deal, fell through with the Ravens.

1:39:29The Rams were interested in trading before they traded for Miles Garrett. They were interested in trading for Max Crosby. However, Crosby said, no, I want to stay in Vegas and next it. And then how about this from Adam Schaefter yesterday? Drew Breeze apparently was mulling a return to the NFL for the AFC championship game and his former coach Sean Payton after bone next fractured his ankle in the overtime playoff win over Buffalo. Denver's then offensive coordinator, Joe Lombardi, an offensive assistant Pete Carmichael had discussions with Breeze about the former star coming out of retirement and having him ready for the AFC title game. Brady had just turned 47 years old two days before spoke to both of the coaches and told

1:40:37them that he wanted to work out first to see how his body would respond. And once he did work out, he found discomfort in his wrist and next the idea that would have been one of the more improbable returns in recent NFL history. But remember Philip Rivers came back last year as well to quarterback the Indianapolis Colts late in the season and lead a near stunning upset of the team that went on to win the Super Bowl Seattle. That would have been crazy though. But remember how confident Denver was about Jared Stidem? It's funny about Jared Stidem in his career because he was a fourth, a fourth round pick by the Patriots all the way back in the late 20 teens. I don't know what year that was probably 2017, 2018, something like that. But you know, Bella chick liked him and then Josh McDaniel when he got at the job with

1:41:37the Raiders, he liked him and then Sean Payton liked him. It's like there must be something about Jared Stidem because some of the best coaches and best offensive minds seem to really, really like him. But God was he terrible on that AFC championship game. I mean, look, the weather was not great. Obviously, but let me let me go back and just find what he was in that title game. In the team, the 3133 yards of touchdown and interception, sacked three times. Yeah, it was not, it was not a very good outing for sure. And I actually felt some level of confidence going into that game with him because I felt like Sean Payton could coach up, you know, a guy that clearly people believed in for some reason, but it didn't happen. Yes, Stidem had a fumble as well. He had two turnovers, had a pick and a fumble in the game and had a 19.6 QBR in the game.

1:42:44God that was a wild AFC championship game with the way the weather turned in the second half. All right, there are a couple of interesting notes that I wanted to get to in addition to the one just gave you which weren't all about week one, but a couple of very interesting notes about week one, including what Chicago did to Carolina scoring 59 points in the efficiency of it. We'll get to that next. Our Waldorf Honda X pole of the day driven by Waldorf Honda. It all starts with a click. Waldorf Honda dot com is the cornerback position is still an issue for Washington. Would you be in favor of the team trading for Pittsburgh corner Joey Porter Jr. Yes, or no, that is up right now. I just retweeted it from at Kevin, GM DC. If you want to vote on our Waldorf Honda pole of the day, Joey Porter is a good corner.

1:43:47You know, I think he does have the attributes that make up a number one type of corner. He was, you know, and is seeking a massive contract extension, which Pittsburgh said if they didn't get it done before the season started, that was it. They were not going to get it done during the season. They were not going to do that during the season. So there you go. There's a lot of discussion that teams like Detroit and even potentially a team believe it or not, like Philly, I mean, like Dallas could be interested in Joey Porter Jr. Yeah, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other right now. I'd have to give it more thought. But I will say this, this is a position right now where there's some concern. There's some mystery around it. The game has played well last year, but missed a big part of his rookie season and now is

1:44:51missing a chunk of the season to start. So there's a column that I love to read during the NFL season. Once the NFL season starts and you've got real games to sort of look at, Ben Solak does a really good job at ESPN writing about things that, you know, he does a significant amount of research into and then writes about typically on Tuesdays of the NFL season following the previous week. And there was legitimately one major outlier performance. I mean, the Bears and their 59 points against Carolina in the opener. By the way, that was a very good football game through three quarters. It was tied at 31 piece going into the late third quarter and then there was a turnover and neither team could stop each other. Really, I think I already mentioned this. There were 1,030 yards total in the game.

1:45:54Chicago had 552 yards. They were 10-14 on third down. They had 26 first downs. They rushed for nearly 300 yards in the game, 2901 to be exact, 7.5 yards per carry for Ben Johnson's offensive football team. Two backs that went for 100 or more. The quarterback rushed for 65 and threw for 269 and Caleb Williams was amazingly good. So Solack writes about the Bears performance that for Caleb Williams in particular 72.4% completion percentage in the opener with an off target rate, which was an issue for him in year one for sure. At 13.8% that's low. He was great for the Bears in the opener. And offensively, it looks pretty obvious that the Bears are what Ben Johnson hoped to

1:46:58be. That was a team that threatened the scoring mark in a season. He is pretty good at what he does clearly and they've got talent. And Caleb Williams, remember, it was only a year ago where there were major question marks about Caleb Williams and his ability to not only play the position but understand the position. Remember, all of the discussion about that first year in some of the issues he was having. Ben Johnson's made it pretty easy for him and the 24-year-old from USC in Oklahoma before that and Gonzaga before that looks like a star quarterback. I mean, he is so good off schedule. He is so good when a play breaks down. I mean, he is so fast as a runner. I think Jaden's extremely fast. Lamar is extremely fast. Caleb Williams may be faster than both of them as a runner.

1:48:03Now they get the Brian Flores defense, Minnesota in week two. Brian Flores is Vikings in the Soul Act column on ESPN.com. Against the Packers in Jordan Love and the Packers were banged up along the offensive line. They blitzed Jordan Love on 73.8% of his drop-axe. That's the highest rate at which any quarterback has been blitzed in three seasons. They created havoc. Now there was something in here that I thought was interesting and may be interesting for our team as well with Toronto Jones as the defensive coordinator. Ben Johnson has actually done pretty well against Brian Flores defenses, both as a coordinator in Detroit and as a head coach in Chicago. One of the key Soul Act rights is quick snapping a Brian Flores defense.

1:49:09He points to the two games last year that the Bears played against the Vikings. In the first game in week one, they quick snapped the defense, meaning they get to the line of scrimmage and within two seconds between the line getting set, they snapped the ball. We know what a quick snap is. They get to the line of scrimmage. Everybody gets set. They snapped the ball. They did it 17 times in week one against Minnesota and 19 times in week 11. The idea is Brian Flores is going to make you think. He's going to show things and he's going to try to create total indecision and confusion at the line of scrimmage. Ben Johnson's theory is, yeah, we're not going to pay attention to it. We're just going to quick snap it. They're going to have to react to our play.

1:50:12Johnson has done a good job in 2025. No offense had more quick snaps and more condensed formations than the Bears did against the Vikings last year. Those led to very high expected points added per play against that team. I bring that up because I thought it was an interesting note. Washington's going to be a team and you saw it in week one where they're going to show a lot pre snap. They're going to have guys up at the line of scrimmage who are going to drop. They're going to have guys not at the line of scrimmage that are going to come. Wild teams start to do what Ben Johnson's done against the Vikings and quick snap Washington will watch. Solack also had something that I thought was very interesting because the Houston Buffalo game was definitely one of the games of week one going into the Sunday week one and then the game itself in which Buffalo won the game 36 to 31 in dramatic fashion.

1:51:17Josh Alam through a late touchdown pass and then CJ Stroud had Houston in position and then coughed up his second fumble of the game. CJ Stroud now in his last two games has seven turnovers. I said on the show yesterday when we did our recap, I said, you know, CJ Stroud can't turn the ball over. It's going to kill Houston again. But man, he looked good and the offense really looked good for Houston with David Montgomery in it with Nico Collins back. Remember, he didn't play in the playoff game with Dalton Schultz healthy. He went, he left the playoff game. They also have the kid, Jalen Noel, who they, who they drafted from Iowa State, who now is in there for Higgins. So they, they played well offensively against the Buffalo defense and Solack wrote that

1:52:17I think the Texans offense will win some games this year. The Texans defense was a machine last year. Houston just needed an offense that could do enough to win those games in which the defense struggled. Sunday was one such game. The Texans gave up 36 points to the bills and lost. So did the offense fail to clear its low bar. Technically yes, but the underlying signs were encouraging. In the first game of Nick Kayley, he's their offensive coordinator. Second season, Houston was efficient. Explosiveness has never been an issue for CJ Stroud let offense, but efficiency has been a problem. Since the bills, the Texans had an offensive success rate of 45.7%. That's the ninth best start during Stroud's career. And they had a first down conversion rate. How many of their first and tens became a new first and 10? Okay, a conversion on first and 10 or a touchdown, first down or a touchdown of 78.1% the sixth

1:53:19best of Stroud's start. When he gets into other keys about their offense, their offense should be a good offense. CJ Stroud's turnovers are obviously debilitating and soul crushing for that team. He's got to stop turning the ball over, but they are an explosive offensive team. And he can really, really push the ball down the field. I think the narrative on CJ Stroud got sideways after the playoff game against New England and after a season that was up and down, but they had injuries on that offense. It was the first year of Nick Kayley, the offensive coordinator. They've got some things going on in Houston. I agree with that. And the Houston defense will that be an outlier performance? The thing about defense, I've said this for several years, it's the thing that you can't necessarily count on year to year as much as you can count on offense.

1:54:19It changes and sometimes with no good reason. The Houston's got great defensive players. So and a head coach who's a defensive head coach in Domingo Rions, well, I think is excellent. But still they gave up a lot to Buffalo, 36 points and over 400 yards they gave up. Also from the SoulLac column. He said basically, you know, the Bengals went out and bought a defense and it paid off in week one. They paid Brian Cook from Kansas City. He forced a fumble. They paid Dexter Lawrence. His pressure forced a quick check down, which ended up in a fumble. They paid boy a Maffe. He got a forced fumble on Baker Mayfield. The Bengals forced and recovered four fumbles in what turned out to be just a six point win over the Buccaneers. In the previous five seasons, there were only seven games in total of four plus fumble

1:55:22recoveries. And he also wrote that the Bengals got high value takeaways. One was a scoop and a score. The other was in the end zone to prevent a Buccaneers touchdown and two more were on the Buccaneers side of the 50 yard line. The Bengals generated 18.6 expected points on fumbles in the game. The 16th highest in a single game in the last 20 years. Now by the way, did you know Jonathan Allen is a part of that defense in Cincinnati this year? You know, he played for Minnesota last year. John Allen side by side with Dexter Lawrence on that defensive line. And Allen had a sack and another TFL in his first game with the Bengals. I mean, you just look at Cincinnati and you think like, you know, like other teams and I would put our team in the mix too, Dallas in the mix.

1:56:23It's like, could you just give us a defense that takes the ball away occasionally and finishes somewhere near the top half of the league because offensively, we can probably handle that part of it. Cincinnati, you know, held on for a win in which they turned the ball over and lost the turnover, won the turnover margin by three, but just the game by six. And then there was one other thing that I wanted to read from his column. Let me just get it. It was, sorry. Yeah. Oh, he said, he said he thinks the Titans who were absolutely horrible offensively in week one and in week two, by the way, the Titans face the Philadelphia Eagles in week two. And in the Eagles, what do you think the Eagles should be favored by at Tennessee?

1:57:26Max, have you looked at it already? I have. We talked about it yesterday. We did. Off air, but do you want me to give the line? Six and a half. Oh, six and a half. See, it was seven. Yeah. I'm seeing six and a halfs and sevens. If it's under a touchdown, the Titans will be a pick for me. I mean, they were dreadful and Solac writes, I cannot remember a team that looked less functional on offense in week one than the Titans and their loss to the Jets. I went back and looked at the past few seasons of week one, a travesties. By the way, he had Russell Wilson's Giants in week one at FedEx, at Northwest Field on the list. But he said that it was truly one of the worst displays of offense in a week one game in a while. They lost 23 to 10, by the way, I gave out the over in that game that did not work. Cam Ward did not look good. They couldn't run the football at all. And L Tate, by the way, in his first game, four catches, 38 yards.

1:58:31But they were horrendous against the Jets, two of four of 12 on third down. And most of their offense actually came with the game decided in the fourth quarter of that game. Yeah, there were a couple of other things that he had in here. He thinks Detroit's second area is an issue. He thinks Trevor Lawrence that this is the season that he breaks out and he contends for the MVP. And he thinks the bear should trade for Joey Porter, Jr. If the Steelers legitimately want to trade him. Man, the bears are going to get a lot of hype if they smoke Minnesota this week. And if they roll up points against a Brian Flores defense in week two, I have to say that I did not. I like Ben Johnson a lot. I like Caleb a lot. I didn't think any team would be that explosive that early in the season. If they go to Minnesota and let's just say put up 35 plus and another 400 plus yards

1:59:34against that defense, that's going to be impressive. And they'll be an early season major league buzz team out of the NFC. The bears are one of those teams that when they start well, nationally, people like to jump on it. They like to the bears, the 85 NFL season when the bears went 15 and one and had that defense was in the moment a massive, massive national sports pop culture story. The bears have that, they have some of that to their overall, you know, Q rating for a team. They get off to a two and a start look out. By the way, if they win and the Eagles win, that is the week three Monday night game, Chicago hosting Philadelphia. That would be a good one for week three. All right. Other things to get to, we will do that after this.

2:00:36Kevin Chiencho, the team 980 and the team 980.com. We'll send this to me. I don't know who this guy is, but somebody named Brandon Thorn on X who evaluates O line and D line play. He was some sort of an award. I don't know if he was a coach or what he is, but he's got 87,000 followers. He tweeted out, Sam Cosme had the best tape of any offensive line I've seen from week one. He put Jalen Carter in Alcatraz whenever they faced off 1v1, stacked this on top of his awesome performances versus him in 2024 as well. He's elite. Sam Cosme is a really good football player. They've got a really good inside interior offensive lineman in Sam Cosme. They missed him last year over those first six weeks of the season.

2:01:36I don't know that he ever really got back to where he was in 24. Big signing for the caps today. Ryan Leonard signs a massive contract extension. Eight years, $84 million. It will carry an average value of $10.5 million. Ryan Leonard extended as the Caps training camp has gotten underway. I think this was somewhat expected. This is a young player that I want you to tell me, but they have high hopes for Ryan Leonard. Quite a bit. He's every clip that you see of him in international play or the past couple of years as a cap. He's a grinder, man. Unbelievable on the ice physically. It's really exciting to see him kind of sign this long term deal. We weren't exactly 100% sure because a lot of teams have brought his name up in trade

2:02:40talks whenever the caps are trying to engage in something. There was some worry about that, but locking him up for eight years, $10.5 million. This is the last day that guys are going to be allowed to be signed by their teams for eight years for extensions. The new CBA kicks in. I saw TARC tweet that out. The new CBA kicks in tonight. You're going to see a couple young guys. I think Conor Baudard also signed a big long term deal up in Chicago. Bright Future for the caps. Very excited about the season. The roster is coming together. I'm really, really, really excited about this season. We shall see, man. Good roster overhaul. Good off season from Brian McClellan and Chris Patrick. All right. Well, season opens up October 2nd, Friday night at Carolina in the opener. There you go. A couple of weeks after that, we'll get the NBA season opened up. When football starts, and I am as excited for a wizard season as I've been in a long

2:03:43time, but, man, once you get to football season, it just kind of covers up everything else. We will spend time on this show talking about the wizards until the season falls apart. But I think there's a palpable level of interest increase in the team this year. This coming Saturday night in college park, 2-0 Maryland, they walloped Yukon on the road on Saturday night after their week one win over Hampton. They will take on Virginia Tech. This will be, you know, a lively crowd to say the least Virginia Tech in Maryland playing in college park Saturday night, 730 kick. And James Franklin's got his first Virginia Tech team at 2-0. James Franklin can be an odd dude. Yukon really come off as incredibly fond of himself in sort of press conference situations.

2:04:50I've never been a massive James Franklin believer. I don't think the Penn State people are. But good hire for Virginia Tech. They blocked a punt or two, I think, already in the first two games. So they're playing some beamer ball. But yesterday in the lead up to the Maryland game, a writer asked him, was trying to ask him about about Mike Loxley and his relationship. Remember, James Franklin and Mike Loxley were both products of the Ralph Fregin teams here in college park in the 2000s. And both of them love and speak very highly of what they got from Ralph as a head coach. But listen to this very weird exchange, exchange, excuse me, with Mike Howes, I believe it is Mike writes for the Baltimore Sun. This was yesterday. Question today. We'll start with Michael, please. Hey, coach, Michael Howes with the Baltimore Sun.

2:05:50Hey, Michael. Um, hey, Michael. What, what do you remember about work? What do you remember about work? What do you remember about work? Hey, Michael, I'm a life cycle. Michael, how you doing? Can you hear me? Yeah, I'm saying how you doing? Good. How are you? Good. Good. Um, what do you remember about working alongside coach Loxley in those early years at Maryland? All right. I want to hear what he says about Loxley in a moment. But this was a zoom exchange between Michael Howes from the Baltimore Sun in James Franklin. And I guess James Franklin, unless there's some sort of beef between the two that I don't know about, didn't seem to learn anything about that. But this is a zoom exchange in a press conference. And James Franklin's being a first rate tool, in my opinion, again, there could be some, you know, stuff that I don't know about in a relationship with the sun or something to

2:06:53that degree. I mean, he hasn't coached in this area since the late 2000s before we went to Vanderbilt after he didn't get the head coach here, a head coaching job here, which was promised to him if Ralph left or he'd get paid a million bucks, which he did by Debbie. Yeah. And then he went to Vanderbilt and he won it. Vandy. And he did a nice job of Penn State. Penn State fans might disagree with that. And I understand where you're coming from. And now he's at Virginia Tech. But in that exchange, you're not, you know, he is played again. Michael introduces himself, tells him where he's from and what's he expecting after he said, after the address for him to say, how are you doing? I guess that's not the way these things work. Play it again real quickly. Question today. We'll start with Michael, please. Hey, coach, Michael has with the Baltimore Sun. Hey, Michael. Um, hey, Michael, what do you remember?

2:07:53Hey, Michael, what do you remember? Hey, Michael, you know, what do you remember? Hey, Michael, I'm sorry. Michael, how you doing? Can you hear me? Yeah, I'm saying how you doing? Good. How are you? Good. That's just so weird. Like are you supposed to exchange pleasantries? He introduced himself properly, professionally, ask your question, let the coach answer and move on to the next question. Again, there might be something there that I don't know, but that was just strange. Totally bizarre. Yeah, I want to hear what he said about Loxley and his relationship because I think they've had a close relationship over the years. So let me hear it. Yeah, I just got a ton of respect for Lox. I've known him personally and professionally for a long time. I know his wife, you know, one of the, you look at his, his resumes, resumes impressive, right?

2:08:54I've been able to coach at a ton of different spots, pretty much been successful wherever he's been, whenever responsibility's been put on his plate. He's thrived, whether that was the running backs coach with Lamont Jordan or whether that was the recruiting coordinator when he was able to, you know, do a really good job of not only recruiting the area, you know, the DCPG County area, but also nationally, did a great job in that role. And then obviously went on to be the offense coordinator, Illinois and had a ton of success there with coach Zook. You know, his time at Florida. You know, his time in Alabama, obviously a broodles award winner and then goes back, you know, to his home and takes over to University of Maryland and has done a really, really good job. Produced a bunch of NFL players. He's had a really good career. He's got a lot to be proud of. And I know, I know that Maryland program and that area is very personal to him, which

2:10:00I think has been important too. But yeah, I got, I know, I've known Lox for a long time, personally and professionally. I got a ton of respect for what he's been able to do. You know, the coalition that he put together, he's just done a ton of different things. And you know, it's going to be a tremendous challenge. I know they're going to have these guys ready to play, you know, Mike, Clint Ted, Matt Barnes who's now back with them again as a special team. We don't have to get into it. Maybe he'll, you know, introduce himself, Hey, Michael, Hey, Michael, Hey, Michael, Loxley. By the way, Lox has been in all time recruiter man everywhere he's been. He's just got to get more wins as a head coach. And Saturday night for Maryland is huge because I hate to look ahead and I feel like I do this every year with my Terps football team. But if they can actually legitimately win and they are a short dog, they're two and a

2:11:00half point dog on Saturday night. If they can win that game to get to 3 and 0, the schedule actually sets up where they've got UCLA next UCLA is not very good. That could be 4-0. They're at Nebraska. That wouldn't be easy, but it would be doable. And then they've got a game with Ohio State on the road. It could be five, they could be 5 and 0 headed to Columbus. Big game Saturday night. I will be there looking forward to it. That's it for the day, back tomorrow.