- 12 minutes ago
Kevin Sheehan reacts to the Washington Commanders' 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in London. Kevin gives his thoughts on the game overall and rips Dan Quinn's decision on 4th down as well as the horrible officiating from the referees during the game.
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00:00Eight minutes into the game, Marcus Mariota was sacked and injured.
00:04It's not the only reason Washington lost to the Colts 30-13 in London yesterday,
00:09but it was the biggest reason.
00:12Good morning. One and three through four.
00:16The NFC East's first place team, that's right, the Giants are in first place in the NFC East.
00:22They come to town for a game on Sunday that is, I think I can say it at this point,
00:27it's must win, you know, as Jay Gruden would say, it's a code red game.
00:32Can't really see rallying back from a one and four start with the following game being on the road
00:39against the undefeated 49ers.
00:42So it is, you know, put on the cape, put on the brace time for Jaden Daniels, strap it up
00:50time.
00:50The season is on the line this coming Sunday.
00:53I'm not going to say that I know enough to say that he should have played yesterday,
00:58but I certainly hope the reason for him not playing yesterday had nothing to do with the thought that,
01:06hey, we can beat Indy without him.
01:08Indy was a four and a half point favorite in this game.
01:11I know not all of you know that.
01:13Most of you do.
01:15The Colts were supposed to win the game against Washington's backup quarterback.
01:19I don't know if it would have happened had Mariota stayed in the game.
01:22They were 0 for 2 in the low red zone to start the game, which were two hurtful possessions,
01:30but they had a 6-0 lead, and they certainly would have had a decent chance to win that game
01:36had Mariota stayed in it.
01:37But I hope that Jaden, who practiced on Friday, full practice on Friday,
01:43this is a guy who got hurt tripping over the left foot of his starting left guard,
01:50or right foot of the starting left guard.
01:52That could have happened in practice on Friday.
01:55It's time.
01:57I think it's time.
01:59Maybe it should have been time yesterday.
02:02The loss yesterday against the Colts wasn't just because they were an injured football team.
02:10I mean, the injuries mounting up across the league are astounding.
02:14But when you're down to your third-string quarterback,
02:17and then add to that your wide receiver, one, your left tackle, one, your right guard,
02:21one, or all out as well, you're in trouble.
02:24You're in trouble 90% of the time.
02:27At least 90% of the time.
02:29And I actually thought that Ethan Kaliak-Manus played pretty well.
02:36I mean, considering the circumstances, that's not just a third-string quarterback.
02:40That's a rookie, seventh-round third-string quarterback who's never set foot on an NFL field
02:47in a regular season game.
02:49I thought for his status, third-stringer, no wide receiver, one, no left tackle, one,
02:57no right guard, one, I thought he did pretty well.
03:00He was absolutely fearless throwing the deep ball.
03:04I haven't seen that many deep shots by a first-time quarterback since Rex Grossman was the quarterback.
03:11I mean, F it.
03:12Let's go deep.
03:14I mean, that seemed to be his overall thought.
03:18By the way, you could see enough about him in this game.
03:22The preseason is a joke.
03:24I mean, he's playing against guys that are going to be not in the league when he comes in, for
03:28the most part.
03:29But I think you saw yesterday what they saw in him to keep him on the roster,
03:34to keep him as the third-string quarterback, to go in to last week's game,
03:39and this week's game, with him as the backup.
03:41Now, I do think that there is absolutely justification for discussing,
03:48as we did with Ben last week, or before the Seattle game once or twice,
03:53why perhaps they didn't have, you know, a Jeff Driscoll or a Josh Johnson as a backup.
04:00Josh Johnson, by the way, is on the Bengals roster.
04:03He's their third-string quarterback behind Burrow and Flacco.
04:07But, you know, to somehow wrangle him back, to be the backup for the last two weeks,
04:13they certainly, I think, would have been in better shape with a Josh Johnson out there.
04:18But I don't put, you know, this loss solely on that kid.
04:21He did his part.
04:23I think he had a touchdown callback on a great run-after catch by Antonio Williams.
04:28I've looked at that play 17 times this morning.
04:31I don't see the illegal shift.
04:33I definitely don't see the hold.
04:35We'll get to the refereeing here on the show this morning.
04:40He had some stones in the game.
04:43I thought, anyway, but look, I mean, when you are down to your third-string quarterback,
04:49you in trouble in this league.
04:51I know that you're going to hit me.
04:53I'm following the league, unlike many of you.
04:55I watch the league.
04:57You know, everybody that thinks Washington's the most penalized team in the league,
05:00they're like 16th penalties-wise in the league.
05:04Too many.
05:05Too many pre-snaps.
05:07But the flags, they are flying throughout the league.
05:11Washington's nowhere near the top in terms of the most penalized team in the league.
05:17But, look, you're down to your third-stringer.
05:21It's not that hard.
05:23You know, the analysis doesn't have to break a brain, you know, artery at all.
05:28You know, when you don't have your starting quarterback, your backup quarterback who is
05:32playing well, mind you, and then all of the other key positions out on offense, it's going
05:38to be a problem, a big problem.
05:41But, but, I still thought this game was winnable as we were going through it, even after Mariota
05:50was out.
05:51And I thought there were multiple things done to the team, by the refereeing, and by the
05:58team, and by the head coach in particular with some decision-making that were critical
06:04to at least the final score.
06:06Maybe not the actual outcome in terms of the team that won the game, but certainly to the
06:12final score.
06:13I'll start with this.
06:15I thought Dan Quinn's decision in the first half to go for a fourth and one was a really
06:21bad decision.
06:22I'm not second-guessing it.
06:24I swear on my kids, I first guessed it.
06:27In the moment, I said, this is a bad idea.
06:30Put the punter back out there.
06:32And by the way, did you see what they did?
06:34They tried to trick him with a sub-package that sprinted onto the field with Craig Reynolds
06:39at running back.
06:41I'm like, what are you doing, Dan?
06:43You know, just because you have this, you know, phys ed, physical kind of aggressive
06:51mentality that you've decided with analytics and other things you're going to portray since
06:57you've come back to coaching, I loved it in 24.
06:59I love it as a general philosophy to be aggressive.
07:05But there's context, and it matters, and you've got to pay attention to it.
07:11You had your third-string quarterback in the game, and the other team was reeling offensively
07:19because your defense had played lights out to start the game, and Daniel Jones, and we've
07:24seen it before, was shaky.
07:29Terrible decision.
07:31Not after the fact.
07:33First guessed it.
07:34And I bet a lot of you did as well.
07:36It's not a conservative response.
07:40It's a context response.
07:43Third-stringer's in the game.
07:45The defense is playing well.
07:46Daniel Jones is shaky.
07:48You're up 6-0.
07:49Pun it, pin him deep.
07:51The punting it and pinning him deep may have been a problem because I thought yesterday was
07:54one of Tress Way's worst days of his career, legitimately.
07:58I bet he felt the same way.
07:59I actually thought he might be hurt in the game because I can't tell you that I've ever
08:05come in here and said Tress Way had a bad game.
08:08It seems like that's never, you know, come off my list of awful things from the game.
08:15He was not good yesterday.
08:16And the special teams, in general, were not very good.
08:20The penalties on special teams really hurt them field position.
08:23But in that moment, you know, I hated the decision.
08:26I hated the way they went about it, trying to get tricky, late sub-package, giving the
08:31ball to their fourth-string running back in the game, Craig Reynolds.
08:35I mean, what?
08:36Craig Reynolds?
08:38The risk on that decision was nowhere near worth the reward.
08:44Why?
08:45Because the reward was first and 10 from your own 47.
08:49The risk was Indy had nothing going, and now you're going to put them in field goal range
08:56if they get the stop.
08:57They literally were in field goal range for Spencer Schrader the moment they got the stop.
09:02He's got a ridiculous leg.
09:07That decision changed the game in the moment.
09:126-0 lead, 8-30 in the first half, dominating on defense.
09:16Hence, Quinn made an overly and unnecessary, aggressive decision that cost them dearly in
09:24the moment.
09:25And he said after the game, he really didn't think twice.
09:28And I think he answered Ben's question with, you know, kind of a hindsight 20-20.
09:34He didn't say that verbatim.
09:35But you got to feel it.
09:37I know we're sitting on the couch thousands of miles away.
09:40But I'm going to bet most of you were like, my God, I'd rather have our defense on the
09:45field than our offense anyway, with the way they're playing.
09:49Daniel Jones is going to turn it over again.
09:51And this time, it's going to be from his own 10-yard line.
09:56Look, the game once Mario to left it, okay, needed to be a defensive field position game.
10:06That's the kind of game it needed to be.
10:09And the head coach in that moment didn't feel it and didn't agree with it.
10:14These are all, you know, obvious, debatable things.
10:18And they have much more information than we do.
10:22But that game once Mario to left it with a 6-0 lead and a third string quarterback
10:28without the other pieces that you need to have offensively to be successful,
10:34that needed to be a field position, no self-inflicted pain,
10:39and that's the kind of game it needed to be.
10:42And they flipped the game right there.
10:44Now, ultimately, would it have mattered would the Colts have eventually gotten it done?
10:50Maybe.
10:51Not 30-13, though.
10:55They had a chance, despite the injury situation, if things had been, you know,
11:00done differently, and that fourth and one for me is the done differently part.
11:04The other part of it was the officiating in this game.
11:09It was horrendous, and it was one-sided.
11:12Sorry.
11:13I know that the worst thing to do when you are a fan of the team is to blame it
11:18on the officiating,
11:19and I'm not blaming the loss on the officiating.
11:22Okay?
11:23I am not.
11:24I'm blaming the ability to have been in the game competitively at the end score-wise
11:30somewhat on the officiating.
11:32That's what I'm doing.
11:34Because after the bad fourth and one decision by Quinn, all right,
11:38the personal foul call on Amik Robertson was horse you-know-what.
11:43That allowed the Colts, who had done nothing offensively, to turn Quinn's bad decision from
11:52three points into seven points.
11:54It was a bad call.
11:57That was pushing, shoving, ticky-tack, best case if you want to describe it, awful in a
12:04worst case.
12:05I mean, are you kidding me?
12:06A personal foul for that, for pushing and shoving post-play.
12:11Total BS call and a big call.
12:14But Quinn's bad decision didn't have to lead to a touchdown.
12:18It could have led to a field goal had they gotten off the field there, which they had
12:22stopped them on a third down.
12:25So it should have been six to three there.
12:27Instead, ultimately, it was seven to six.
12:29There's an offensive pass interference call on Stefan Diggs that you just have to be kidding
12:34me.
12:35I mean, I've never seen that called ever.
12:37That's not a full extension.
12:39There's barely even any contact, and there's barely any reaction to the contact.
12:44That's a big chunk play called back.
12:47The defensive pass interference flag picked up on the Deami Brown deep shot is insane.
12:53Of course he got interfered with, just like he made that catch in Dallas.
12:58And then I'm going to need more of an explanation on the Antonio Williams touchdown.
13:04He looks good, though, doesn't he?
13:05I mean, he looks like a player.
13:08He dropped the ball last week against the Seahawks, could have cost them, but he really
13:13creates space as a receiver, and that was a gear post-catch that was impressive.
13:20I need a true explanation on the illegal shift.
13:25Now, they went quick snap on that play, and it could be on the quarterback, a third stringer,
13:30rookie.
13:31He probably needed to wait a half beat for everybody to be completely set, although I thought everybody
13:38was completely set.
13:39It was very, very, very close in terms of whether or not anybody in that bunched three
13:47receiver set wasn't completely set.
13:51I think they were, just barely, right pre-snap.
13:54But I think that's one of those where Blau, Quinn, they look at it and say,
13:59we got a third string rookie.
14:01We are going quick snap, but he's got to make sure the receivers are set.
14:09But the hold on Antonio, the hold on Deami was a terrible call.
14:14There's no holding at all.
14:17Look, they had a lot of penalties in the game, 10 to 1.
14:2110 penalties called on Washington.
14:23One penalty called on the Colts.
14:26Here's something that, again, I've mentioned, because I've seen this a lot, and it's with
14:31my friends more, because I tried to stay off dumb, dumb social media during these games
14:37and afterwards.
14:37But a lot of my friends are like, oh my God, the penalties.
14:41This team is just an absolute walking penalty mess.
14:45Yeah, but they're not actually.
14:48The whole league right now is getting hit with penalties at an unbelievable rate.
14:52And I think we've seen this before, in that they call things closely early in the season,
14:59and then they'll let it fly.
15:01They tighten it up early in the season, then they'll let more fly as the season goes along.
15:06But right now, just again, just so we're speaking in terms of the actual facts,
15:13Washington's committed 30 penalties on the season in terms of the against them count.
15:19That's 15th, tied for 15th, 16th in the league, basically the middle of the league.
15:25But here's the number that's actually a little bit alarming.
15:29They lead the league in the fewest penalties called against their opponent.
15:36All right, so they're number one in the league in fewest penalties called against their opponent.
15:43Now, the net difference count isn't the worst.
15:47They're net 11.
15:47They've had 30 penalties called against them, just 19 against the opponents.
15:51That difference of negative 11 is fourth in the league behind Baltimore, Cleveland, and Green Bay.
15:58But, look, let me just say this.
16:01They got a penalty problem right now.
16:04I'm not, both things can be true.
16:07They are committing way too many penalties,
16:09and at the same time, it's nowhere near the worst situation in the league.
16:13And, oh, by the way, the opponents aren't getting called for the same kinds of things.
16:19And I think yesterday was really kind of a one-sided affair.
16:24It just really was.
16:26There's no other way to say it.
16:28When you're 10 for 84 and the other team's 1 for 5, give me a break.
16:32The other team's that much more buttoned up?
16:35Maybe they were.
16:36Remember, they had a starting quarterback in the game.
16:38That makes a difference when it comes to pre-snap penalties and illegal shifts and things like that.
16:44Washington hasn't had their starting quarterback in the game since week two, halfway through the game.
16:51But I'm not taking them off the hook for some of these penalties.
16:55In fact, I think the most damaging penalties yesterday were the ones on special teams.
16:59Because I think the Antonio Williams thing, I don't know that that's an illegal shift.
17:04It's definitely not a hold.
17:05The OPI is not a penalty, period.
17:09The 15-yarder on Amik is not a discipline problem.
17:12It's a terrible call.
17:14The discipline problem was Frankie Louvre running onto the field last week to taunt Sam Darnold and the Seahawks.
17:22Stefan Diggs hugging the goalpost.
17:24Amik Robertson's been their best defensive back, and that was not a penalty.
17:29Should have never been called.
17:32All right.
17:36I'm pissed about the fourth and one decision.
17:39Because that game when Mariota left it, I'm like, okay.
17:44This is a situation where if they're going to win this game, this has got to be like defense gets
17:51takeaways.
17:53Colts, you know, are really shaky offensively, can't move the ball.
17:58Somehow we get a running game going a little bit.
18:01I've got a big beef on that coming up in my game take.
18:06And let's try to get out of here 16-13, 13-10.
18:10You know, that's going to be 12-10.
18:13You know, a couple of field goals.
18:16Two or three more field goals.
18:17The Vikings won a game without scoring a touchdown yesterday.
18:20God, their offense is terrible.
18:23Best defense in the league.
18:25And, you know, our defense could have done more.
18:28It was outstanding, but it could have done more.
18:31Because ultimately, they couldn't get off the field when it mattered in the second half.
18:37Because Jonathan Taylor, they went big dose of Jonathan Taylor in the second half.
18:42And the Colts, you know, basically scored on four of five drives in the second half.
18:47So the defense could have done its part, too, a bit more.
18:51Although, that's not where I'm going in my game take.
18:54Because I actually am super encouraged through four games about what they are defensively this year compared to last.
19:03Not compared to the good defensive teams in the league.
19:07Compared to last year.
19:08I think that this is, right now, looking like an average defense that actually has some playmaking ability.
19:17Adafi Owe made a great play yesterday against a quarterback that just never protects the ball.
19:22And hasn't throughout his career.
19:24The pressure that created that second takeaway.
19:27The Douglas interception.
19:29Outstanding.
19:30I like what they are doing coordinator-wise so far through four games.
19:35Small sample size.
19:36And on offense without the starting quarterback for two and a half games.
19:42The starting quarterback, I can't, I don't know enough to know whether or not he should have played yesterday.
19:48The idea that he'd actually dress and be the backup is insanity to me.
19:53I said that all last week.
19:55I stand by it.
19:56Of course it would have been better with Mariota Hurt with Jaden coming into the game.
20:01But if Jaden was healthy enough to be a backup, then he should have been the starter.
20:05That was my point last week.
20:07If he's practicing, and apparently he was full practice on Friday, if he can practice and you're going to make
20:14him active, he starts.
20:16He gives you the best chance of winning a game that was a pretty big spot for you guys yesterday.
20:23But I don't know enough to say that for sure.
20:25You know, it could have been that the doctor said,
20:28One more week, one more week of healing, and I believe that there is something to the, they want him
20:37to get used to being in that brace.
20:40And I'm not just talking about for practice or in a game, but just walking around.
20:45He had the brace on yesterday standing on the sideline.
20:48They want him to get used to living with that brace on his elbow.
20:53And maybe another week they felt made more sense before putting him in there yesterday.
20:59But again, he got hurt this year tripping over his left guard's foot.
21:06It could have happened in practice on Friday.
21:10So it is time, and I think we're going to get it for sure.
21:15I mean, there's no discussion about, you know, oh, Mariota won two games in a row.
21:20Maybe we should let Mariota start against the Giants.
21:22No, that's out.
21:23He's hurt.
21:24And, you know, I said this about Mariota after he took over in the Dallas game.
21:30The thing about Marcus Mariota that we haven't talked about, maybe some of you, I don't want to create straw
21:36man here.
21:36I don't sense that we've spent a lot of time talking about Marcus Mariota's injury history.
21:42He's hurt all the time.
21:44He's been hurt a lot during his career.
21:46He's missed a lot of games because of injury.
21:49And we saw it last year.
21:50He missed the end of the season last year because of a hand injury.
21:53He sprained his MCL against the Dolphins in the preseason.
21:56And now, apparently, it's a sprained MCL again.
21:59I do want Marcus to heal up quickly because I want Marcus to be the backup quarterback.
22:04I am interested to know what they'll do this week at backup quarterback.
22:09Are they going to leave the rookie as the backup quarterback?
22:12I personally don't think that's their best course.
22:16I think they should go out and sign a veteran that is familiar with Blau, a Driscoll, or a Josh
22:23Johnson somehow bringing Josh Johnson.
22:25Somebody like that.
22:26It's not going to be a Garoppolo.
22:27I mean, Garoppolo, if Garoppolo was interested and worth the swing by teams, wouldn't he have been signed with all
22:37the quarterback injuries so far?
22:39So something isn't there with him right now.
22:42But I liked the kid yesterday.
22:45I mean, the one thing you've got to give it to, you know, a third stringer coming off the bench
22:50in his first game is he certainly didn't need, you know, a change of pants in that game.
22:57That dude thought he belonged.
22:59I love that, the way he just threw it deep.
23:02He's got an arm, too.
23:04He does.
23:06The turnover, obviously, you know, to start the third quarter was hurtful.
23:10All right, I'll get to my game take now.