Kevin opens the show talking about why Jay Gruden is back for a 6th year and what the ramifications will be with respect to staff and front office. He then recaps all four NFL playoff games before welcoming on Trevor Matich from the site of tonight’s Alabama-Clemson title game. Kevin talks Wizards and Bryce Harper with Ben Standig and discusses Maryland’s win at Rutgers and Virginia’s win over Florida State. He finishes up with some CBS NFL music theme talk.
WHAT’S THE FRIDAY FOOTBALL SMELL TEST?
It’s a contrarian handicapping philosophy. I look for the games where the public is convinced they are right about a point spread and I go the other way. There’s more to it than that including unique access to information about where certain sharp action is but for the most part, it’s the realization over many years that the house wins more than it loses and the house advantage comes from more than just the built-in vig/fee advantage.
The lines used are from covers.com as they appeared Friday during the show. Lines change. Typically, if a line is worse for me than it was on Friday, the contrarian handicapper in me regards that as a good thing. It usually means late sharp money is with me.
Just one pick this week below. To hear how all four of the weekend NFL Playoff games were discussed on Friday’s podcast, go to the 1:19:15 mark below.
https://thekevinsheehanshow.com/2019/01/04/skins-crumbs-from-cooley/
THIS YEAR
Last Week: 5-8
Overall: 107-83-4
SMELL TEST PICKS FOR WEEKEND OF 1-5-19
Sunday, January 6:
Bears -6.5
Kevin asks Cooley about the latest at Redskins Park. It starts at the 55:18 mark. They also preview the four weekend NFL playoff games. Kevin opens the show with a discussion about Reuben Foster. Mike Shanahan was hired 9 years ago tomorrow; Andy Pollin was in to talk about some of the similarities between then and now. Kevin has just one Smell Test pick but gives out “leans” on all four playoff games.
Kevin opens the show with a response to the thought that the “anti-Redskins” sentiment has been media-fueled and mean. He went to the Maryland-Nebraska game and had a brief recap of that. Longtime NFL Exec Joe Banner was on the show and talked about how he would go about fixing the Redskins. Scott Van Pelt was on the show too. At the end of the show, the Reuben Foster news broke and Kevin reacted to that.
Kevin starts with an update on a few things Redskins-related including Cooley’s status and why the Skins haven’t done anything yet. Kevin describes a new idea for owner Dan Snyder to consider. Jerry Brewer/Washington Post is a guest on the show too. Kevin talks College Football expanded playoff.
Kevin starts the show talking about why he still believes Bruce Allen will either be fired, retire, leave for another team, or be re-assigned by Snyder to a non-football position. He talks about Jay Gruden’s future as well as the futures of others on the coaching staff. He recaps the Redskins-Eagles game mentioning one rookie player in particular that he believes has a big-time future with the team. JP Finlay/NBC Sports Washington and Kevin breakdown the season together and make predictions on who stays and who goes. They also spend time on what the plan should be at quarterback. Kevin goes “Around the NFL” and spends time talking about Kirk Cousins and the Vikings being eliminated by the Bears. He also recaps the ending of the Ravens clinching win over Cleveland and the Colts win over the Titans to lock down the final playoff spot. He gives his first gut on the Wild Card Weekend games. He closes the show talking about the two “College Football Playoff” semifinal games.
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