My friends, THE GURU sees a franchise quarterback and, truly, I can’t believe my eyes. Indeed, the arrival of Jayden Daniels has been a long time coming.
Sure, the Washington franchise has had plenty of terrific QBs. Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen may be the best pure passer who ever lived. Joe Theismann led the Skins to a title, made back-to-back Super Bowl trips and won an MVP. And Mark Rypien and Doug Williams both had their Super Bowl moments in the sun.
Atop the Burgundy & Gold leaderboard, of course, is Sammy Baugh, still considered one of the top players in NFL history. The legend retired after the 1952 season with 15 years as the team’s primary starting quarterback under his belt and no Washington QB has held the spot for more than eight straight seasons since. That honor belongs to Theismann, who ran the offense from 1978-85.
Of late, the position has turned into the worst kind of revolving door with 13 starters, including Daniels, since 2018. What we wouldn’t give to see DC politicians turn over at that rate, eh?
Taylor Heinicke tops that unfortunate list with 24 starts while Ryan Fitzpatrick lasted a little more than one quarter before injuring his hip, ending his 17-year NFL odyssey.
The full monty:
Heinicke (24 starts)
Sam Howell (18)
Daniels (17)
Alex Smith (16)
Dwayne Haskins (13)
Case Keenum (8)
Carson Wentz (7)
Kyle Allen (4)
Josh Johnson (3)
Colt McCoy (3)
Fitzpatrick (1)
Garrett Gilbert (1)
Mark Sanchez (1)

Amazingly, Theismann - who played his last snap in 1985 - remains the franchise’s all-time passing yards leader with 25,206, a paltry number by today’s standards that ranks 80th (!) in league history. In fact, the team’s top three are Theismann, Jurgensen and Baugh, respectively, with #4 Kirk Cousins the most prolific Washington passer in the modern age with just 16,206 yards. Wow.
The hope here is that Daniels will be the first since Baugh - or at least Theismann - to lock down DC’s QB spot for a decade or so. And that, yes, brings us to tonight with My Beloved Commies (12-5, 5-3 away) visiting top seed Dee-troit (15-2, 7-2 home). Kickoff is at 8 pm on Fox.
The task is tall indeed for Washington as the Lions have been the best team in the NFL this season. That said, both of the blemishes on Dee-troit’s record occurred at home - a Week Two defeat to Tampa (20-16) and a Week Fifteen loss to Buffalo (48-42). The former was a defensive battle and the latter an offensive slugfest, showing that there are multiple ways to topple the Honolulu blue juggernaut.
This game could definitely go off the rails early but there’s a calm about Daniels - and Coach Dan Quinn - that should keep this game close. And, if JD5 has the ball late, will you bet against him? Let’s say Washington, 33-31.
The Wild Card Weekend record was 4-2 (.667), moving the season mark to 179-100 (.642). On to the rest of the games…
SATURDAY
4:30 PM, ESPN/ABC/ESPN+
I like the host Chiefs (15-2, 8-0 home) against the Texans (10-7, 5-4 away) but think Andy Reid’s squad is certainly vulnerable. Sure, they pulled many starters in advance of the 38-0 Week Eighteen loss at Denver, but they’ve played with fire all season with 11 wins by one score. If they flirt with disaster today, the result could be a Houston upset.
SUNDAY
At 3 pm on NBC and its weak-sister Peacock, I’m picking the Eagles (14-3, 8-1 home) against the visiting Rams (10-7, 5-3 away). I’d love to see an LA victory here, but the somehow-underrated Birds are simply too strong for McVay & Co…
…at 6:30 pm on CBS and Paramount+, I’m rolling with Buffalo (13-4, 8-0 home) to topple the Ravens (12-5, 6-3 away) in Orchard Park. Baltimore is a sledgehammer of a team but I’m not picking against Josh Allen at home in January unless they’re facing against the Chiefs.

MONDAY, 7:30 PM, ESPN
I’m rolling with Ohio State (13-2) to defeat Notre Dame (14-1) Monday night in the College Football Playoff, giving the Buckeyes their first national championship since Urban Meyer’s crew claimed the 2014 crown with a 42-20 win over Oregon and QB Marcus Mariota.
I’d love to see ND make it a great game, but OSU is on another level from everyone else in the sport. Ryan Day wins and improves his career record to a stunning 70-10 (.875), the best winning percentage amongst FBS coaches in history.
That’s it for this weekend, folks. Enjoy the games and God bless!