- 3 hours ago
Kevin Sheehan was impressed by the Commanders defense in primetime last night. He felt they made clutch plays late in the game to help lead Washington to the win in New York.
He also goes through some of the other positives from the team including Ben Sinnott. The Commanders needed the win, and they got it. Kevin runs through the best parts from Washington's win.
He also goes through some of the other positives from the team including Ben Sinnott. The Commanders needed the win, and they got it. Kevin runs through the best parts from Washington's win.
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00:03McCarthy, he's going to be taken down at the 42-yard line, run down by Sonny Stiles, fourth down.
00:11What a great play by Sonny Stiles. What a great job by the defense.
00:16Super clutch down the stretch. Third and three.
00:19Look, if he gets that to a yard, you know, or even two, do the Giants, you know, go for
00:26it to try to end the game?
00:27Do they line up and try to draw them off sides again, you know, requiring another disciplined effort by the
00:35defense?
00:35What a read of the play. He said after the game, I watched his part of the press conference.
00:42He said they knew they were going to try to crack down on the edges and that when they went
00:48empty,
00:48it made sense to him that this was going to be a quarterback keeper.
00:51And he found, you know, a gap and he shot through it and he made an absolutely great tackle.
00:59Two-yard loss and at fourth and five, the Giants had no other option but to punt.
01:05And that next punt traveled 12 yards.
01:09That punter, by the way, let me just mention real quickly, that punter, Jordan Stout, in the game,
01:15had a 64-yard punt, a 68-yard punt, and then he also had a 34-yard punt and a
01:2212-yard punt.
01:24Yeah, an up-and-down day for Jordan Stout.
01:28All right, let's get to my game take.
01:39All right, the good, the bad, and several other observations from a pretty wild game last night.
01:4524-21, Washington keeps the season alive.
01:49The Skins really were up against it there over the final few minutes after two back-to-back interceptions by
01:57Jaden Daniels.
01:58As they come away with the win, sort of about time that they're able to kind of close it out
02:03and get a couple of the opportunities that they got to get it done, including the pass interference against Burks.
02:10That was, you know, that was close.
02:12I mean, he was grabbing the defender's helmet and pulling the defender towards him.
02:17And then what a throw by Jaden to Diggs.
02:20I'd like to see Diggs just get into the end zone.
02:24More on that coming up.
02:26All right, the good.
02:27What I liked from the game last night from a Washington perspective.
02:31I've kind of referred to this already, but just the overall resilience when it mattered the most.
02:37Not just Jaden Daniels getting off the mat after two picks, but the defense.
02:42I mean, wow, you know, what an ending.
02:44Two straight three-and-out stops, and then the interception when all the Giants needed was field goal range to
02:52try to tie it.
02:53The interception by Douglas, which came after a dropped pick.
02:56You know, a fluttering pop-up that he just let go through his hands.
03:01But a really good interception.
03:03Neither the offense nor the defense was perfect by any stretch of the imagination throughout the game.
03:08But with the season on the line, and even more than that, with the probability leaning heavily against them in
03:16the final two minutes, everybody delivered.
03:19Everybody did.
03:21Number two on this list.
03:23Third downs on the good list.
03:25Seven of 14 offensively.
03:29Four of 12 for the Giants.
03:31So a good job defensively.
03:32The seven of 14 on third down for the worst third down offense in the league heading into last night
03:40included six of the seven conversions were, listen to this, I'm sure you can guess, third and ones.
03:49Actually, a couple of them were third and inches.
03:53Six of their seven third down conversions were third and one or less.
03:59Um, so this should be more about their ability really last night to stay very much on schedule, thanks to
04:08an effective first and second down offense at times.
04:11Uh, but staying on the field last night against a good defensive football team was a big part of why
04:18they won the game.
04:20And staying out of those third and longs, they had a third and super long to start the third quarter.
04:25It also was protective of the quarterback and throwing situations.
04:30So that was a positive for sure.
04:33Defensively, they held the Giants to four for 12 on third down, including third down stops on the final three
04:41giant drives.
04:43And the plays they made were outstanding, right?
04:46Dietrich Wise does a really good job on the third and one from deep in their own territory.
04:52When Jameis is in the game, trying to, uh, quarterback sneak it for the first down wise makes a great
04:58play.
04:58Obviously the initial call was first down and then immediately Washington challenged it.
05:04Great challenge.
05:05And the call was overturned.
05:07And then you had the Giants lining up.
05:10I never thought they were going to snap the ball and the discipline to not jump because we see it
05:16a lot.
05:17And even with the, who let the dogs out barking, uh, sounds from Jameis Winston, nobody moved.
05:24They forced the punt.
05:26And then of course, Sonny styles on the third and three, uh, getting that stop, which gave Washington a chance
05:32of first down there.
05:33And it's game over.
05:34Um, so really, really good job on third downs, both offensively and defensively.
05:40Uh, number three on my list of good, just the defense overall, there were some moments where they gave up
05:47yards to Scadaboo and even McCarthy in the run game.
05:50Certainly McCarthy in the past game, he threw for two 93, the third and seven 66 yard touchdown pass to
05:57Isaiah likely with eight plus minutes left in the game was a killer.
06:01Still, I'm not sure why Nick cross hesitated and let up on that play.
06:06Um, other than, did he think that he might get flagged?
06:10Did he think JJ McCarthy was going to pump and end up running?
06:13Um, but man, he was so close to making a huge play.
06:18And instead it was a touchdown the other way.
06:21Um, there was that flip from McCarthy to Scadaboo when he was about to get sacked.
06:25What a great play that was by McCarthy ended up being a 34 yard game.
06:30I don't know how much you could do about that.
06:32That's just really good play by McCarthy.
06:35And then of course, by Scadaboo, but I, you know, there were moments they gave up plays.
06:41They gave up some rushing yards, but I thought the defense was more positive than negative as a whole for
06:48the night.
06:48And obviously came up super clutch at the end.
06:52I mean, they had to have those stops and they got them.
06:55They were aggressive all night long.
06:57I actually thought they played more man coverage than they played a lot of this year.
07:01Max, whatever service you use to break down that, I'm going to guess it was close to maybe not 50,
07:0950, but maybe 60, 40 zone demand, which would be the highest percentage of man.
07:14And they've played all year.
07:16I thought that the plays, the Giants made, they earned those plays.
07:21You know, some of those successful plays by the Giants were so close to being successful plays for the defense,
07:28including the flip to Scadaboo, you know, was very close to a sack.
07:32Even the likely touchdown pass.
07:34I mean, what's Cross pulling up for?
07:37He's there.
07:38They called the right defense.
07:39He's going to nail McCarthy for either a sack or for a ball that's going to flutter through the air
07:44and fall incomplete or maybe be intercepted.
07:47And by the way, on that play, it looked like, you know, dropping into that part of the coverage, Styles
07:53had a shot for a PBU.
07:56So they earned it.
07:57You know, McCarthy made some excellent throws.
08:00There was a perfectly layered throw, I think, to neighbors on the sideline, to a, you know, dropping Amos in
08:09zone coverage.
08:11It was a great throw.
08:13He made great throws against Houston in that win.
08:15He made some solid throws.
08:17It was a little bit different against Philadelphia, but he can throw the football.
08:23Scadaboo, you know, there were a lot of yards after contact, tough yards for him.
08:27They earned a lot of what they got.
08:29I just thought the defense continued to be a very encouraging part of this team.
08:35Two more takeaways.
08:36The punch out by Luvu on neighbors.
08:40Good job.
08:41Thank God they didn't call that an incomplete pass because he was clearly established.
08:46And then an excellent job by Reeves to make the recovery.
08:50You know, they've had a couple of fumble recoveries with the ball on the ground that have been very impressive
08:57fumble recoveries.
09:01What else?
09:02The interception at the end of the game, of course.
09:04The second turnover by Douglas is massive.
09:07I mean, that's Malik neighbors.
09:08You know, they're taking a shot.
09:10And if somehow Douglas doesn't go up and snag it, and that's all-out blitz on the other end, you
09:17know, you end up with – a lot of bad things can happen when you throw the ball deep to
09:22neighbors.
09:22And Douglas made a really good play at the end of that game.
09:26I just thought with the game on the line, too, Durante Jones just said, you know, deal with this.
09:32We are not going down playing soft, even with the three-point lead.
09:38We don't want you to get into field goal range.
09:41We'll give up maybe a touchdown to lose by being overly aggressive because when you go zero coverage, it could
09:48end up being, you know, a house call the other way.
09:51They got after McCarthy.
09:52They hit him.
09:53They sped him up.
09:54And eventually, they got the pick to seal it.
09:57Again, the Giants only needed field goal range.
09:59And they didn't get there after a big first down in completion to midfield.
10:05I thought a good night for the defense, a clutch night for the defense.
10:10Really just growing week to week.
10:14They play hard.
10:16They tackle well.
10:17And I think Durante Jones is really starting to figure a lot out about his defense.
10:23And without Kinlaw and Payne now for a third straight game, they're doing a nice job with lesser players up
10:31there.
10:33Defensive standouts for me, I mean, you got to start right with Sonny Stiles.
10:38I love his press conferences, too, man.
10:40This is just a mature, young player.
10:43He just looks like a star in the making.
10:4813 tackles and had that big third and three, minus two on McCarthy.
10:55He was really, really good.
10:58I'm sure some sort of analytic service will say he was bad on this coverage play.
11:02He missed this tackle.
11:04Sonny Stiles is, right now, top two or three defensive player on the team.
11:12Maybe the best.
11:15I thought that Jeremy Reeves last night was outstanding.
11:19I mean, he had that big fumble recovery, not an easy fumble recovery.
11:23He tackles so well.
11:25He caused the fluttering ball on the next-to-last play offensively for the Giants,
11:30the one that Douglas should have intercepted on the blitz.
11:34Reeves just has been a solid player since he got here and was given the opportunities to play defense.
11:42I thought Amenehu, again, was solid.
11:45I thought Amik Robertson, he got beat on a double move, but for the most part, he was there all
11:50night.
11:50Man, does he tackle.
11:53Louvoo, cross, except for the opportunity to knock out J.J. McCarthy.
12:01Yeah, those were the players that stood out defensively for me.
12:06I'm sure I'll add to this after watching another version of the game.
12:10And Durante Jones, man, when in doubt, we're coming.
12:13We're going to err on the side of being aggressive.
12:16I like the defense right now.
12:19I really do.
12:20Now, they will get tested in their next game because that will be the best offensive football team
12:26from a passing standpoint that they'll face all year long.
12:30Cincinnati.
12:32Ben Sinnott.
12:34Who knew he was still on the team?
12:36How about the first half he had when Chig was out?
12:41And then he made a catch in the second half as well.
12:44Four catches, 42 yards, the touchdown at the end of the half.
12:49I don't know if that was intended for him.
12:51I think Jaden thought he was throwing to digs.
12:54More on that coming up.
12:55But Ben Sinnott with a really good football game.
12:59And, you know, that hurdle on that one catch, that was some of the stuff that we thought
13:04we were going to get when they drafted him out of Kansas State because that was the highlight reel.
13:08You know, a lot of really good yards after catch.
13:12Good job by Ben Sinnott last night.
13:14And they needed him.
13:15Needed him desperately on that final drive of the first half when Chig was hurt
13:20and not in the game.
13:22Pass protection is on my list of good.
13:26That's a good pass rush, guys.
13:28I talked about it yesterday.
13:29It's a really good pass rush.
13:31Now, fortunately for Washington, they weren't in a lot of third and longs.
13:35They, again, had seven third and ones, converted six of them out of their 14 attempts.
13:43I'm going to be interested when Suter does this film breakdown for me to see which players
13:48stood out because that was a decent pass protection night, at the very least, against a good pass rush.
13:55But I wrote down Paul.
13:57I thought he played well.
13:59Cosme.
14:00And I thought Connerly Jr. played well.
14:03And for all we know, Allegretti, communication-wise, was a big part of why they were able to block up
14:10some of the pressures.
14:11But bottom line, you know, against, you know, blitz, non-blitz, Jaden pretty much had ample time much of the
14:19night.
14:20In fact, on a couple of the blitzes, I actually thought he had more time than he even thought.
14:27They also did a good job of moving the pocket a little bit last night, more than they have.
14:32So, Stefan Diggs is on the good list.
14:34Six catches, 83 yards.
14:36Look, this is a guy that can get open.
14:39He's their leading pass catcher, leading receptions, leading touchdown getter.
14:45Sorry, my guy Billy and Chantilly.
14:48He's not a culture killer.
14:50He's crucial to this team right now.
14:52I didn't love what he did.
14:54I understand there's an idea to burn clock.
14:56I don't think that's what he was trying to do.
14:58I think he was trying to make the touchdown dramatic.
15:00What bothers me about those situations, and this is a small nit to pick, is that the longer you take
15:07to get into the end zone, when you can get in right away, there could be something bad that happens
15:13on the back end, like a penalty.
15:15You know?
15:17I understand that, ultimately, you would have loved to have burned more clock and run around up and down the
15:23goal.
15:24You know?
15:25He's dramatic.
15:27He's also really valuable to this team.
15:30Really valuable.
15:31And you can tell that Jaden's got a ton of trust in number three.
15:37Special teams-wise last night, Stevens didn't miss a kick.
15:41Luke McCaffrey's play, you know, that comes on the kickoff following the go-ahead giant touchdown to Likely with eight
15:49minutes to go.
15:50The return game wasn't great.
15:52The coverage was outstanding.
15:54But that play by McCaffrey, you know, the rule is that if you have part of your body, any part
16:01of your body, out of bounds, and part of your body is covering the ball inbounds, that's an out-of
16:06-bounds kick.
16:07Ball out to the 40-yard line.
16:09If you've watched football long enough, you know that that is a weird kind of interpretation of the out-of
16:16-bounds kickoff rule.
16:17But if the player covers up the ball, is touching the ball, has control of the ball with his body
16:23out of bounds, that's on the kicking team.
16:25Ball comes out to the 40-yard line.
16:27So good coaching, good recognition, but it was close in terms of being able to reach out and control the
16:36football and also be out of bounds.
16:38Because he had to reach for that.
16:40And keep in mind, if he isn't able to reach for it and they're down there covering the kick, at
16:45that point, that is a loose football and a free football for anybody to fall on.
16:50But ultimately, it worked out.
16:52He knew the rule.
16:53He put himself in position to, you know, execute on that rule, and they ended up with the ball at
17:01the 40-yard line because of it.
17:04Some big hits on coverage, man.
17:06Medrano had the punch out.
17:07God, they were so close to ending that game right there.
17:11Medrano with the punch out on the return.
17:12Sanders still had a chance to recover that.
17:16Yeah.
17:18The last, by the way, 57 seconds in general were a bit agonizing, right?
17:23They had the chance to recover the fumble to end the game, the chance for Russell Douglas to catch the
17:28pop-up fly.
17:29And then, you know, you're like, oh, God, this isn't meant to be.
17:33They had two chances to close it out.
17:34They didn't do it.
17:35Giants are going to end up scoring.
17:36We're going to lose in overtime.
17:38But good night for the special teams.
17:42You know, nothing really in the return game.
17:45But the McCaffrey play is a 40-yard, you know, is a huge advance for a field position.
17:52Here's one for you that's on my good list.
17:55I thought they managed the clock at the end of the game perfectly.
18:01No timeout under two minutes and ten seconds to go was the area in which I focused on the most.
18:09So let me take you through it.
18:11This is the drive that ends up with the Sonny Stiles stop.
18:16Scadaboo with 2.15 gets a run for five yards.
18:20The clock stops at 2.10 and Washington burns their first timeout.
18:25A hundred percent correct.
18:27You want to use your timeouts before the two-minute warning defensively when you're trying to get the ball back.
18:32But, and this sets up the second down play where Scadaboo gets a two-yard gain, you don't want to
18:38use a timeout with, say, 2.07, 2.06 or less.
18:44And the reason for that is you then give the other team a no-risk throw.
18:51They can throw for the first down on third down.
18:54They can do that anyway, but there's no benefit gained by running the football in that situation.
19:02And there's no risk to throwing it if you call the timeout defensively with 2.05 to go, 2.04
19:09to go.
19:09Because the next play, regardless of the result, the clock's going to stop at the two-minute warning.
19:15This is a mistake you see teams make all the time.
19:18And given how many mistakes Washington's made recently, I kept saying before that snap with 2.10, I'm like,
19:25whatever you do, Dan, if this is an inbounds play with the clock running, do not call your second timeout
19:32here.
19:32Because that will give the Giants third down with the opportunity to throw the football for the first down to
19:38end the game.
19:40So that was good recognition.
19:44Excellent clock management in that spot.
19:47The Giants ended up, you know, after the first play post-two-minute warning,
19:52they ended up lining up a play, a designed run for McCarthy.
19:55That's where Stiles makes the great play and forces the punt.
19:58And then I thought offensively, they, look, the drive was quick.
20:03You know, the DPI stops the clock.
20:07Jaden scrambling out of bounds.
20:09That actually could have been a clock rolling situation because he didn't really make forward progress at the sideline.
20:16And, you know, and they didn't.
20:17They stopped the clock.
20:18And then you had the play to Eckler that set up the third and four, poised.
20:24No unnecessary early timeout offensively.
20:27You don't want to do that.
20:29They were not going to, more likely than not, with two timeouts remaining,
20:35time really wasn't the issue once they got the big play to Burks
20:40and they were sitting at the giant 38-yard line with a minute 40 to go.
20:45You know, at that point, do what you need to do to score a touchdown, you know.
20:50But you don't have to worry about stopping the clock offensively until we get down to 30 seconds or less,
20:57you know, at that point.
20:58So, excellent job at the end of the game.
21:03And I think the key was, and you see this a lot, man, you see teams call timeouts defensively with
21:10like 2.03 to go.
21:11And that is a massive mistake because it gives the other team offensively an absolute no-risk opportunity to throw
21:23the football
21:24because the clock's going to stop on the next play after the next play regardless because of the two-minute
21:29warning.
21:30So, good job there.
21:32I liked that.
21:33The end of the first half's a little bit different and a little bit more complex in terms of the
21:38way they handled that.
21:39I'll get to that when I get to my list of bad when we come back, the things I didn't
21:44like, lots of other observations from the game.
21:47Your calls about 20, 25 minutes from now.
21:51We'll see if we can get to your calls if you want to start lining it up at 301-230
21:56-0980.
21:58Kevin Sheehan Show, the Team 980 and theteam980.com.