Today’s show starts with a quick look at the first three weeks of the season for the Redskins, and what we can glean from the information that we know. He then turns to Thursday Night Football, primarily around Kirk Cousins’ game and how good the Rams look. Trevor Matich then comes on to talk about the college football slate, as well as his thoughts on what the Redskins have done so far. They talk about Ohio State/Penn State, the SEC, and more. After Kevin lets Matich go, Mike Jones joins to talk about the Rams/Vikings game, which he was at, as well as the rest of what he’s seen in the first three weeks of the season in the NFL, including the Giants and more. Kevin wraps up by giving his picks around football this weekend, plus his smell test picks, which includes a whole heaping of college football picks. The show ends with Andy Pollin joining to give some historical background on the bye and big Redskins moments coming out of it.
It’s a Sports Fix Thursday as Thom Loverro is in. A listener tweeted about Dan Snyder, so Kevin and Thom give their thoughts on if Snyder is still heavily involved in the decisions around the Redskins. They then talk about the first three weeks of the season for the Redskins. Who has impressed? What are they still concerned about? What could trip the Redskins up after the bye week. They move on to the Nats’ home finale from Wednesday night and Kevin asks Thom if he thinks Bryce will re-sign in Washington. He also talks about Max Scherzer’s Cy Young odds, and what makes him angry about this year’s Cy Young race. NFL Power Poll is next, and who has been left off of Kevin’s list? Finally, Scott Van Pelt joins to talk Tiger’s win and more.
Kevin opens today show by taking a deeper look into the NFC East off of yesterday’s “2-team race” comment. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Redskins, Eagles, Cowboys and Giants, and who could surprise? He’s then joined by The Czabe, Steve Czaban, to talk the Redskins, the roughing the passer penalties, Tiger’s big win and more. After Czabe, Mark Zuckerman calls in before what could be Bryce Harper’s last game in DC as a member of the Washington Nationals. What does he think the odds are of Bryce leaving, and will Max Scherzer win the Cy Young after notching his 300th strikeout of the year on Tuesday? Kevin then wraps up with NFL Buy or Sell.
Kevin and Thom discuss Monday Night Football and weigh in on Roughing The Passer. Thom gives his thoughts on Redskins/Packers and why Sunday was such a great day for Bruce Allen. The boys discuss the Wizards and if they’re mouthing off too early. Kevin’s Coaching Blunders and is the NFC East a two team race. All that and more!
Kevin recaps the Redskins win over the Packers and goes through the keys to the big victory. He brings on JP Finlay from NBC Sports Washington to get his thoughts on what went right on Sunday. Then, Steve Sands from the Golf Channel joins to talk about Tiger’s big win. Kevin then goes around the NFL and College Football with Weekend DVR where he talks about Buffalo’s shocking upset, the rest of the NFC East, Maryland’s win over Minnesota, and more.
The Redskins will beat the Packers if….
- ….the NFL is what I think it is. Recent NFL impressions are always the most dangerous. What you see one week more often than not looks like something totally different the next. The Redskins seemed to be overly impressed with themselves after their Week 1 win over the Cardinals so Easy Jay had his team ready for a square dance instead of a football game last week against the Colts. This week will probably be different. I expect the Redskins to play with desperation today. With an early bye week on deck and the prospect of complete gloom and doom for two weeks if they don’t play well, this is one of those moments in an NFL season where a capable team rises up. Yes, I think the Redskins are capable. They have players on their roster who have won games like these before. Add to that, they are playing a team with its best player wounded.
- ….they pressure and hit Aaron Rodgers. The Redskins need to make Aaron Rodgers pay dearly today for standing in the pocket with a bum knee and hoping the head referee will protect him. I don’t see the Packers running it easily. Hit him legally, pressure him into awkward quick throws, and then that leads to next key….
- ….they tackle well. Limiting yards after the catch is a major key today. Graham, Adams, and Cobb are going to be targeted and will have plenty of catches but if the Skins’ defense tackles well ensuring 5- yd catches don’t become 15-yd+ catches, it will be a good day. Yes, it would be nice to keep Rodgers from playing pitch and catch but tackling well and limiting big chain-moving plays is a must. Completion percentages will be high for both teams, limiting YAC will be a priority.
- ….if they take what the defense gives them! They didn’t last week. The adjustment this week is not to take deep shots for the sake of taking deep shots but to take what Green Bay gives them. The Packers will play more man coverage than the Colts did which may allow for more deep shots. Then again, after seeing the Skins struggle against an Indy team that played zone exclusively, perhaps the Packers mix in more zone today. Last week, the Skins didn’t take advantage of what was offered up enough. I would start with this. Get the best players on the field more. Jordan Reed played 40 of 74 snaps against Indy. That’s not enough. He, Chris Thompson, Jamison Crowder and I think Vernon Davis need to be on the field and be the players who touch the ball the most. Gruden is usually very good at finding match-ups that work and scheming up ways to take advantage of those match-ups. Cousins riddled Green Bay last week at Lambeau. Yes he has much better receivers but the Vikings had no running game and were still able to throw for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns. I just don’t know what this Skins’ running game is at this point. The Week 1 success in Arizona seems like it will end up being the aberration. I’m not counting on it at this point. Give me Reed (while he’s healthy!) for no less than 80% of the offensive snaps today and get him the ball if it’s there. If the attention is paid to him, get it to Crowder or Thompson or Davis. Why am I not mentioning wide receivers, why would I? Their best receivers are the guys I’ve already mentioned. Gruden needs to work his offense magic and find ways to get his best players the ball. Motion, stacks, whatever it takes. It puts a lot on Alex Smith but Gruden has told us in so many ways that Smith is better than the guy he had here the last few years. Let’s see it today.
Prediction:
Skins 27-23
The Podcast:
Scott Van Pelt, Dan Steinberg, and Andy Pollin were among the guests on Friday’s show. Click below to listen.
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