00:00Have you given up on this season yet?
00:03Specifically, have you given up on the possibility that our team makes the NFL playoffs?
00:12301-230-0980, 301-230-0980.
00:17I want reasons why and or why not.
00:20I've not given up on this season at all.
00:24I think through six games at this point, at 1-4-1, I'm disappointed in the record.
00:33But I'm not overly disappointed in a lot of what I've seen so far.
00:41First of all, let's start on the defensive side of the ball.
00:44Because to me, this was going to be a massive mystery.
00:46What were we going to get?
00:48Last year's defense was truly all-time bad, especially during the second half of the season
00:55after they lost key players like Dorrance Armstrong, Dietrich Weiss, etc.
01:00Trey Amos.
01:03And yes, they overhauled it.
01:05We've got a first-time defensive coordinator.
01:07They added between 10 and 11 expected contributors.
01:13But still, we didn't know how it would come together.
01:15And maybe it hasn't come together yet.
01:18But I think the signs are encouraging.
01:21I look at Monday night, and yet it was alarming how easy it was for San Francisco in the first
01:27half.
01:28And then how difficult it was for them in the second half after they lost to Mike Evans.
01:33That was a big deal in the game Monday night, no doubt about it.
01:36They could not check Evans, and he opened it up for everybody else.
01:41But that fourth quarter, the way they came alive is similar to the way they played at times during games,
01:50early in the Indy game in London, where they completely dominated the Giants
01:56on the Giants' first five possessions of the game.
02:01They did the same to the Giants for basically two and a half quarters.
02:06The Seahawks and the Cowboys moved the football pretty consistently,
02:10but they had takeaways in the Seattle game.
02:13And I thought defensively it was week one, and week one is often a head fake,
02:18but it was very encouraging against the Eagles.
02:21I actually believe that defensively they are not only improved from last year,
02:29but they're significantly improved from last year.
02:33Now, they're not the defense we saw the other night, okay?
02:37Understood.
02:38They're not Houston's defense when Houston's healthy and good,
02:42and some of these better defenses, Cleveland's defense, etc.
02:46But do they have a chance to be, you know, a middle-of-the-pack defense this year
02:53when all's said and done and 17 games are completed?
02:56I think they might.
02:58You know, right now, per DVOA, they're 23rd defensively.
03:03They're 19th offensively in the league right now through six weeks.
03:09Now, that's up from, like, they were 25th last week,
03:12so clearly Monday night's performance helped them.
03:16But can they get into the, you know, mid-to-high teens defensively per the DVOA metric?
03:21I think they can.
03:22This is not the sieve.
03:26This is not the defense with holes throughout that we've seen.
03:32It's not a great defense.
03:33Don't get me wrong.
03:35Don't misquote me.
03:36But it is definitely an improved defense.
03:40Now, we can say, how come we, you know,
03:44didn't adjust to what the Giants were doing last week?
03:47What took us so long to get it right against the 49ers?
03:51Again, Mike Evans probably had something to do with that.
03:55And they're just really good.
03:57That is a really good football team on both sides of the ball.
04:02But I feel good, and I'm encouraged by the defense.
04:06You know, specifically, I'm encouraged by players.
04:09Yes, Sonny Stiles.
04:11Yes, Amik Robertson.
04:13Yes, Jeremy Reeves.
04:14Yeah, Frankie Louvoo's back, and I think Louvoo is ascending.
04:19I think he's got a lot of ability.
04:20I think they really like him.
04:23Chason is probably their best pure pass rusher at this point.
04:29Look, Owe's been a bit of a disappointment,
04:31certainly as it relates to sacks and pressures,
04:34but he's been a good edge-setting run-stopper.
04:38We've seen the emergence of a guy like Medrano.
04:41I think Settle has had moments.
04:43You know who's having a quietly decent year in a contract year?
04:48Duran is.
04:49Now, I don't know what the Kinlaw injury is.
04:51Quinn didn't have updates on him yesterday,
04:53but hopefully he'll be fine and ready to go coming out of the bye week.
04:57We haven't seen enough of Nick Cross,
04:59but the early indications of Nick Cross were good.
05:02We're getting Trey Amos back, Dorrance Armstrong rounding back into shape.
05:06I think Russell Douglas has been decent in the absence of Mikey Sanristill being a player.
05:13Sanristill, obviously, the most disappointing defensive player this year,
05:17but I'm encouraged.
05:21And I think that this is not a great defense,
05:25but I think it's a defense that by the end of the season could be in that mid-to-high
05:30teens.
05:34offense, offensively, it's really not that hard.
05:38Jaden Daniels is the best football player on the team, period.
05:42He plays the most important position.
05:44They are a completely different outfit with him on the field,
05:48playing healthy and playing confidently.
05:50The brace doesn't seem to be an issue, knock on wood.
05:54They have issues, certainly, at running back.
05:58They have not figured the running back piece out yet.
06:02And offensively, there are offensive line issues, for sure,
06:06especially at center and at one of the guard positions.
06:10But for the most part, I think Cosme, Connerly Jr.,
06:14Brandon Coleman's been a little up and down.
06:16I don't think he was great the other night.
06:18I don't think anybody was great.
06:19I said that on my recap.
06:20I thought that it was the most difficult day slash night of the season for the offensive line.
06:27But again, the other team had something to do with it.
06:31They're really good.
06:34But now there's a concern, obviously, without Terry, offensively.
06:40And so guys like Burks, Diami, you know, they're going to have to step up in a big way.
06:47And Antonio Williams is going to have to become a veteran here pretty quickly.
06:52They're going to have to count on him.
06:54I think Chigakonquo is a guy that can absolutely be a force for them offensively.
07:03The quarterback does elevate everything around him.
07:07Can he do what he did in 2024?
07:09I don't know.
07:10He had Terry McLaurin on the field in 2024.
07:13Okay, Terry was great in 2024 for Jaden.
07:16You know who else was really good in 2024 for Jaden?
07:19Zach Ertz was on third downs in the red zone.
07:24So a Conquo is going to have to become that.
07:27A back has to emerge here because we're without Bill for another month.
07:32We're, you know, right now it's J-Mac, Jeremy McNichols, Austin Eckler, and Rashad White.
07:41I'm encouraged, though.
07:43I have not given up on this season.
07:46301-230-0980.
07:48Have you?
07:49I'm going to give you one other piece of data that I usually don't use, but I'm going to use
07:52it this time when we come back.
07:54Kevin Sheehan Show, the Team 980 and the Team980.com.
07:57Have you given up on the season yet?
07:59But specifically, have you given up on a playoff season yet for our team?
08:03301-230-0980.
08:06So you guys, if you've listened to me long enough, you know what I think of the schedule game.
08:10Other than doing a mock schedule before the actual schedule comes out.
08:14Really difficult, obviously, every year.
08:17I mean, at this point, like if you had Cleveland on your schedule in, you know, May, laughable.
08:22If you had the Rams on your schedule, chalk it up as a loss.
08:25The league is crazy.
08:27It's week to week.
08:27Every week is its own entity.
08:29It really is.
08:31But if you're interested with respect to, you know, looking at not only the division, obviously,
08:38but what everybody in the division has left, then that may factor into your, you know, have you given up
08:47yet?
08:47I haven't given up on the season because of number one is Jaden Daniels and the way he's playing right
08:54now.
08:55And the idea that if he's available to them over these final 11 games, he's going to give them a
09:00chance to win.
09:01And yes, all of you guys have sent me his record.
09:03I mean, come on, man.
09:05Have you watched the games?
09:06He's played great.
09:08He's not the reason.
09:10Now, last week, he was part of the reason that they tied.
09:13No doubt about it.
09:15Okay?
09:16But he gives me reason to believe.
09:20And then defensively, you know, in 2024, when they got to 7-2, I kept saying over and over again,
09:28this is fun, but it's not sustainable when you're this bad on defense against the run.
09:33You can't go deep into the postseason when you can't run the ball, when you can't stop the run,
09:40and you really can't stop anybody in general.
09:42And they won two playoff games on the road, outscoring their opponent, you know, 45-31 in Detroit.
09:49You know, they had to put up 45.
09:50And look, Tampa and Detroit were a little bit banged up, you know, defensively in those games.
09:55Offensively, they weren't.
09:56And the defense actually stepped up, remember, in the Detroit game.
09:59But anyway, I feel encouraged.
10:01No, I have not given up on the season.
10:04Schedule strength.
10:06The remaining 11 or 12 games, depending on how many teams have.
10:10Right now, Washington has the fourth easiest remaining schedule in the NFL.
10:16Now, Dallas has a slightly easier schedule.
10:21But Philadelphia's is significantly more difficult, and the Giants, who are in first place right now,
10:27they are 10 spots ahead of Washington in remaining schedule strength.
10:31Now, here's what I have a problem with in looking at schedule strength right now.
10:36Is like a team like Houston, who is 2-4, that looks like, you know, that makes your schedule look
10:43easier.
10:44Well, does anybody think Houston's going to be a sub-500 team?
10:49I mean, if you've watched them the last couple weeks, even in some of their losses.
10:52Like, I wouldn't want Houston on my schedule.
10:56I'd rather, there are 4-2 teams that I'd much rather replace with Houston on my schedule.
11:02Right?
11:02You'd much rather have Cleveland on your schedule as a 4-2 team than Houston.
11:07Probably would rather have Pittsburgh rather than Houston on your schedule.
11:11Maybe even Denver or, you know, who else is 4-2?
11:16That's basically the 4-2 set.
11:19But, for what it's worth, Max, have you given up on the season?
11:22Have you given up specifically on them being a playoff team?
11:25No, they're still in the division, but that's the only way they're going to be able to do it.
11:29They need to win the division.
11:30They're not going to get a wild card spot.
11:31They're not going to get any of that.
11:33It needs to be a 2024-esque run here after the bye week into the second half of the season
11:39for this team.
11:40If they're going to make the playoffs.
11:42But I haven't given up hope, but we're getting close.
11:45I do think that wild card conversation is very premature, even though I mentioned it a few weeks ago.
11:51So, I'm culpable.
11:52I'm guilty, too.
11:53You know, it's interesting.
11:54Like, the NFC South now only has a team with, only one team with a winning record.
12:00The NFC West only has one team with a winning record.
12:04The NFC North has all four teams with a winning record.
12:07That division is going to be wild to watch the rest of the year.
12:11And the Packers play the Lions this week, right?
12:15Yep.
12:15We got a great slate, 425.
12:18Then the Sunday night is, what, Seahawks, Chiefs.
12:21And Monday night, we've got the Eagles and the Cowboys.
12:24Let me just real quickly, before we get to the phone lines, I want the Eagles to win that game.
12:30Because I think the Eagles are in the most trouble right now of any of the four teams, personally.
12:35I do feel that way because of the quarterback situation.
12:37I'm sorry?
12:38I would imagine so with the quarterback situation and the fact that Lane Johnson's gone, Cam Juergen's gone.
12:43Yeah.
12:44They're a mess.
12:44And they're a mess now with the whole Jalen Hurts thing and Sirianni talking the other day.
12:49Why did they have Sirianni addressing that issue?
12:51Makes no sense to me.
12:53But anyway, it would be great to see Philly coming in feeling good on a short week because they play
12:59Monday night.
13:01For a Sunday night game, did I mention this already?
13:04It's staying Sunday night.
13:05I actually got the explanation from my schedule guy.
13:10So I'll tell you why.
13:11Because the league wanted to move the game, but ultimately the other networks wouldn't let them move the game.
13:16I'll explain it later.
13:18But Washington Philly staying in the Sunday night spot.
13:21I thought it would get flexed.
13:23All right.
13:23Have you given up on the season?
13:27And specifically, have you given up on a playoff season?
