WEBVTT - Cowboys ⭐️ vs. Commanders Matchup + We're Talking about Playoffs! | Command Center Podcast | Washington Commanders | NFL 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.480 In today's episode the Command Center Podcast, we are recapping 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:04.440 the Philly game that defense played a little bit better 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.840 than I think fans think. We're also in the final 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.440 quarter of the season. We're doing a self evaluation. We're 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:13.000 talking playoffs, Yes we are playoffs. And then we got 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.760 Dallas week. It's a big week. Everyone's super excited. They're 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.520 struggle a little bit, but it's a rival where you 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.320 never know what's going to happen. Then we got hell 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:26.200 yeah or hell no. It all starts right now. Welcome 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.639 to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Logan Paulson here with 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.320 Fred Smoot and Santana Moss and guys. Yeah, a lot 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:33.960 of football to talk about. It feels like it's been 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.680 a long time since this game happened because it happened 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.400 on Thursday night. But let's talk about the Thursday night 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.360 game against Philadelphia real quick. Let's start with our high 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.479 level thoughts. Fred, you always like to talk, so why 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:44.479 don't you start first. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:46.760 I feel like we played a high level team that's 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.480 in a super Bowl window. I feel like for three 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.360 and a half quarters, we gave him hell offense, defense, 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:54.760 special teams. I believe we left a lot of plays 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:58.520 out there if there's a measuring stick with them being 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.840 a team ended one to think about this offense that 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.320 I'm gonna tell you about. They got the best offensive 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.200 line in football. They got a quarterback that can run 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.600 and throw. They got too legit receivers, one A, one B. 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.479 They got a tight end in Dallas Goddard that's Sevebles 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.319 in every way possible. And they got one of the most, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.640 if not the most electrifying running back in football in 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.120 the backfield. We head them off as long as we 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.840 could until we couldn't. I cannot wait to play them 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.600 again at home. Not a short week and not going 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.360 through that Pennsylvania guntlet. We had just went through the 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.760 Pennsylvania gunlet. We had just played Pittsburgh and then we 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.280 played Philadelphia, them two physical teams. I thought he took 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.760 his toll on us, especially in the fourth quarter. Yeah, 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:42.679 you know, I said, I said it a couple of 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.520 days ago. I thought it was a game of missed opportunities. 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:47.960 I think when you have a defense that you know, 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.680 whole of offense that he just mentioned that's high power 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:52.840 to the field goals, and then they go back and 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:54.040 missed those field goals. 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:55.760 Offensive you gotta get points. 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.080 You gotta do something, you know, when the defense give 0:01:58.160 --> 0:01:59.760 you the ball back like that, and for us not 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.120 to get at points, for us to sit there and 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.120 have the game, have the league all the way up 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.000 into the fourth quarter, knowing that we in their back 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.799 we in their backyards, and it's gonna get tougher. They 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:10.600 steady trying to get you know, hit you know, hit 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.480 a home run with that run game, and it just 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.160 it just wores out, you know, over time. 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:15.640 I think our defense just couldn't hold on. 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.040 And then, you know, like I said, offensively, we wasn't 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.880 ourselves and when things kind of got to the point 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:22.880 where the defense really needed us, we just wasn't there. 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.079 So it was missed opportunities offensively. But I think collectively 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:27.960 it shows you each and every week, man, that this 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.320 team is, like they're kind like this close really being 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:33.680 being what we want, you know, want want from this team. 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.120 You know, I see it, but they just haven't you know, 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:37.200 got over the hump yet. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.080 When I look at the two teams we played, though, 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.680 what wonder they in compared to the wonder we are. Yeah, Like, 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.680 and that's why when I look at these games, I 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.880 guess I ain't judging as hard as I could judge, 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.360 because they are in a Super Bowl. Wonder if they 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:54.120 don't do this in the next two three years, they 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.040 it's not gonna be done. We are just throwing our 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.600 one though, And I think that's the difference. They are mature, 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.600 You're like this, they have maturity all around at rosters 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:08.040 the youth that Philadelphia has queenam Mitchell cooping Dejen their 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.000 youth is playing beyond their years. So you know, I 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.440 just feel like two different windows. But like this, we 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:15.280 raised the eyebrow. 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:16.000 They know we here. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.480 Yeah, and we're gonna talk about that more specifically for 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:20.840 the commanders and kind of compare to Philly in a 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:22.359 little bit. And I think that's a good way to 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.520 get that started. But you know, just in terms of 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:26.760 let's just like double click on the defense, I thought 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.919 they did about as good a job as they could 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.640 have done. Obviously, there's a couple of plays. It's funny 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:32.480 like when you're watching the tape, you know, you're going 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.400 through the plays, You're like, oh, here's this one exposive 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.160 play to Sa Kwan. But outside of that, it took 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.200 so I got to play. I'm trying to remember the 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:43.120 exact number, it was like sixty five and then they 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.320 had the explosives. Then the explosives came in. So like 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.480 for sixty five plays, you did a great job defensively 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.000 of bending but not breaking. Like Mike Sanders saw had 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.240 a great game. I thought Saint Jus did a good 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.280 job when he was matchup on all with AJ Brown. 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:00.320 Davis came in, did a great job. Chalked about Cheny. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:03.880 It's hard to be again for those sixty five players 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.280 to overstate how well they did, you know, just the 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.520 way they like, the way they played their zones, where 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.200 they passed off concepts, the way they fit the runs. 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.760 Like I thought, it was just really like a great performance. 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.800 To think about where they were, you know, at the 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:18.680 beginning of the season and where they are now. 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.039 It's like a completely different group, you know what I mean. 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.000 Patience, Like they weren't gonna come in with a new 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.560 defense and sitting new players and just gonna hit that switch. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.599 They needed to mature in this defense and understand what 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:33.480 coach with wants and how he wants to do. 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:35.800 And with that being said, I think that's why you 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.920 see the kind of you know, Fred said it well 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.760 last week about these fans being spoiled because what we 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.400 thought would take time, they came out hitting on all 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.680 Sylvas and now of fans are like, you know, we 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.279 can't go backwards and so but what they failed to 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.800 realize too. You know, as players, we've been here like 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.680 it doesn't always start and then you just keep going 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.479 like this, you have a moment where you. 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:01.680 Found yeah, you got to exit a little bit. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.240 All right, man, you know we got you know, like 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.440 like you saw Kent's City this past weekend. You know, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:08.719 like they've been they've been knocking at the door to 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:10.280 lose and then they founding loss. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:10.880 You know what I'm saying. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.040 So it happens like that in his lead because each 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:14.640 and every team is gonna be gunning for you. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.600 Yeah. I think that's such a great point. There are, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.359 you know, ups and downs to the season. There's ebbs 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.680 and flows for sure. And again we'll talk about that 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:23.800 more specifically in a minute. I just want to touch 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:25.440 on the offense before we move on to kind of 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.440 some of those higher things I think offensively. To me 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.400 watching it, yeah, it felt a little bit like we 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:33.960 I don't say, that's not the way I way to 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.680 put it. It felt like Jayden wasn't ready And I 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:39.680 don't mean this like the coaches didn't getting ready for 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:44.200 how good Philly offensive see, and it's like the way 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.840 they play this kind of like weird quarters match kind 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.920 of deal. Yeah, and you don't really know like what 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:52.480 they're in all the time. And I felt like there 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.680 was a little bit of hesitation from him. And it 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.159 wasn't like anything terrible. It's not like he played bad. 0:05:58.279 --> 0:05:59.119 It just wasn't clear. 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.720 It wasn't clear. And then because of that lack of clarity, 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.240 the rush was really able to get to him. We 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:05.800 weren't able to run the football the way we wanted 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.120 to because again, that defensive line for Philly did a 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:09.920 great job. So I think, to me, that's kind of 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:11.600 where I fell in. A lot of people are like, oh, 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.320 he's hurt. I haven't really seen that from him to me, 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.240 because again, he played well. He played well against the 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:17.479 barrass that's right after the injury. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.520 Could we agree this time of year, all fifty three people, 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.680 true are hurt. Now we might not be injured. It's 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.520 a difference, all right, but all of every guy in 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:28.240 that locker room right now is hurt. And he just 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.520 happened to be one of them that the microscope is on. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:32.680 I think it has more to do with the fact 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.280 that these last couple of weeks he hasn't been able 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:35.960 to practice. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:37.240 Now he's been able to. 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:38.719 He brought that up. 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:39.520 Now. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.400 The one thing about it is now, yeah, my timing 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.719 is off on his throat. Yeah, you said you were 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.119 gonna run that at six, but you running it at five. 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.480 You lose these nuances when you don't practice, especially quarterback 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.479 wide receiver. Like this is a time and thing because 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:56.600 because we was running these like this in the first 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.279 couple of week, we switched this up. Now we're not 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.240 running it like that, So I think miss that valuable 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:02.640 practice time. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:03.920 I've seen it through. 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.360 No, I think that's a hunt. It's a great point, 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:09.080 like obviously like Philly did a great job, but I 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.400 do think some of the like for example, like some 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.880 of his rhythm on the throw, some of his footwork. 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.760 You're just when it's not like at the end of 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:19.360 the year, like we said it was impeccable and now 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.520 it's just a little and it's not bad. I don't 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.560 want to make it sound like it's just a little off, 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.679 and I think it does affect his accuracy on throws. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:27.920 It affects because he's not like, uh, you know, I 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:29.880 watched a little bit of like Anthony richardson this weekend 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:32.920 or Josh Allen. They've got these just ar cannon. Yeah 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.040 they can like it doesn't matter what my feet are going. 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:36.560 I'm about to let it loose. 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.080 And that's not really how he's wired. That's really not smooth. Yeah, 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.080 he's he he needs his lower half in there, and 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.480 so when it's not timed up, well, I think it 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:46.960 affects him. And so I think it's the practice thing 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.160 is something that we talked about off air last week. 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.000 It's like, how many throws are you getting in practice? 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.000 He not, He wouldn't get in any Yeah, and so 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:53.520 it's like. 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.440 I don't care how good you are, Like you need 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.120 that timing, You need those reps. You need to understand 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:00.480 like what you can and can't do. And I think 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.080 it's definitely showing up. But I do think that they 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:04.120 got a little bit of time off. 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.920 Oh they needed it. They needed it like they needed it. 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.280 This talk about waiting on a bye week, like when 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.040 you got to wait for a Thursday night to be 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.360 your short bye week, because your bye week is in 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.800 deceb That's something different, man, that's. 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:26.120 With us definitely. I was I was looking forward to 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:28.080 let's think about this. 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.000 Think about the rookies on this team. They didn went 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.640 from their year of college and they first break come 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:39.520 in bowl season. Basically, like, that's ridiculous, man. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.439 It is unbelievable. And I think the other thing too, 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.000 is like they you know, you get this little time off, 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.120 everyone's gonna get healthy. But you said this already, Fred, 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:49.920 But I can't get over that they played phil They 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.920 played Pittsburgh very physical group. Then they played Philly very 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.200 physical group, and like they were all banged up. Like 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:57.880 you look, get the old line, those guys are playing hard, 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:00.640 but you know why these guys shoulder Holman's got his 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.280 shoulder Ali ready, you know, got four or five in there, 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:06.280 and then be honest, like his whole left side of 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.400 his body's messed up. You know what I'm saying Like that, 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.400 it's it's adding up. It's just at the point of 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.679 the year and people say, oh, like every team, it's 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:14.880 it's especially hard on a short week to kind of 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:16.920 bounce back. And then we're not making excuses for them, 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:17.800 and they're not gonna make excuse. 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:19.640 This is just the truth. But like this is true. 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.960 That's ten always says like we've played it, we know 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.120 how our bodies would feel, the time of year, and 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.080 it doesn't feel great. And so it's I think getting 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.040 a little bit of break, get a little bit of recharge, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.160 it's gonna be gonna be really really important. 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.760 Guy like bet rob in and out of line up 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.760 rhythm stopped the rhythm of everything that you're doing. He 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.079 go identity, But no, it ain't your identity because the 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.080 horse that gives us this identity can't play for two weeks. 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.600 So it's just one of them things where it's the 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.679 bumps and bruises storing the add up. And I could 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.120 see some players slowing down a tad bit and this 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.920 is why they bow week comes in. Just just get 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.240 away from it for a second recharge. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.280 And even this like this ten day period like this 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.360 is this is there is gonna feel so good. Yeah, 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.120 just mentally reach och. I think that's the other thing. 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.280 Physically you're banged up, but mentally the NFL season is 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:09.480 so so challenging because it's like each week I got 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.240 to be at one hundred mentally and physically, and that 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:13.439 that wears on you a little bit. 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:16.120 That's how you lose your hair. 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.080 I mean that happened, yeah recently. That's because I'm working 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.400 with you though, and so yeah, that kind of leads 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.040 us really nicely to our next point. So we're gonna 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.319 kind of do like a final quarter of the season 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:28.480 selfie valve, like where's the team at? You know? And 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.439 so a lot of people say, you know, the offense 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.439 started hot, it's kind of cooling down a little bit. 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:34.360 Let's start with them. I think we've already touched on 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:35.560 some of the things. But I look at and I 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.199 say to myself, like, the reason that's happening is they 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:40.839 played two really good football. 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.200 Teams, super Bowl teams. 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.720 Right now, if I was the X one hundred people, 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:47.719 I'm sorry, Fred, but think about what Pittsburgh just did 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:48.280 to Baltimore. 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:49.800 That's what I'm telling you. 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.920 Like, No, I watched it there, like, okay, we played 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.480 commitment and we played the still as better say that 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.440 and not to say we was there the game in 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:02.400 our hands. You know what I'm saying, lost the game 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:04.440 the way with this, I'm trust me, bro, Go ahead, Fish, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.240 And what did I want to hear? 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:06.640 No? 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.600 No, did you see what they did to Lamar. Yes, 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.760 I said that week when we played, and they're like, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.600 why they stopped them? Like they played Lamar year, Like, 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.240 if anybody's capable of stopping this team, specially with that 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.880 defense that they have instead Pittsburgh team. We just played 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.160 two teams that legitly like Tom the super Bowl win 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.760 ahead coach, quarterback Russell Wilson, super Bowl winning quarterback. 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:29.520 They have a super Bowl defense. 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.160 And you talk about the Ravens, I mean Philadelphia, what's 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:34.400 the weakness on their roster? 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:39.200 Dude, Philly. We said this in the intro right and 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.920 then in the previous show last week. Definitely definitely the 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:44.920 most talented team we've played this year. And what I 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.640 mean by talented is like to man, look at the corner, 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.040 look at the safety. Look there's nobody here like that guy. 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:52.760 It's one thing having a good defense, but then you 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.000 got the names to go win, and they got there 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:55.920 playing up to that. 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.599 You know that status, and it's across both sides of 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.440 the ball. Like defensively, your like you got Carter first 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.719 round pick, you got Joan Davis first round pick, you 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.520 got Nolan Smith first round pick. For the second round pick, 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.440 and then you go to the two first round picks, 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:12.000 and you're just like. 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:18.040 Not, nobody's even talking about forgotten. 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:22.080 Me and and uh And obviously Pittsburgh has this reputation 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.840 of playing great defense. But I actually think right right 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.040 this second, and again, you know this we just talked 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.520 about season goes up and down, Philly is and this 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.160 is not an indictment of Pittsburgh because we're doing a 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.840 good job. Philly's playing better defensive football. Like they're playing 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:36.760 better in the back end. They're more talented in the 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.720 back end, and they're it's showing up and it's and 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.160 it's just I think that's important for people to understand, 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.120 like this, this offense is still good, like when you 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.720 watch the film, there's still opportunities, there's still things like 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:49.760 just the windows in the margin for error when you 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:50.679 play good teams. 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.560 It's like that I tell you, like this from what 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.520 we saw and like we just spoke about two teams 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.800 that's very physical and it's safe to say that we 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.680 deal went out there and didn't play our best game. 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:05.319 We win, we didn't play our best game and that's 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:06.040 why we got. 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:07.600 Went blow for blow. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.079 So when when you're when yourself basically I guess when 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.520 yourself are critiquing yourself throughout the week as a player, 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.120 and you can go out there and just say, man, 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:17.920 here got a hand for the players, where we just 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.400 clean this up, you know what I mean? Because even 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.280 with us having those three and outs that we didn't 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:27.520 have all year the last three weeks, turnovers, turnovers, not 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.600 even the turnovers, but we still leading these games in 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:32.319 the fourth quarter, basically the game. 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.800 And think about the Pittsburgh game. I think that's a 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:39.360 really good in complete passes, drop past drops. So like, 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.040 even so, you hit that ball to Luke McCaffrey in 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.600 the Pittsburgh game, probably win the game. Hit the ball 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.920 to Oz in the third quarter, probably win the game. 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:51.440 Again, get the right spot, you probably win the game. 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.120 And even on the play before that, they call a 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:57.160 draw to Jad and Cosmey doesn't get the quite get there, 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.240 there's literally nobody else. 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:00.320 Yeah, he'll be still running. 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.080 He'll running running at least a field goal. Yeah, And 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.719 so that's great. And then you look at that, like 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:07.840 we're watching the film again. The offense struggle a little 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:09.480 bit in this game that it's a good defense, but 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:11.880 there's opportunities like if they hit this, if they get 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.520 to this read if they get that there's this stuff there, 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:15.880 So I think, like I guess it's. 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:19.320 Never out of a game with Super Bowl contendent. That 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:19.800 tells me. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:21.600 That's why I say, I don't even get there. I 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:23.840 don't get caught up in the whole win or loss. 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.600 I want to see our team playing good, meaning football, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.760 you know, meaningful football at this time of year. And 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:30.760 I think they are doing that. And that's what you 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.480 can hang your hat on. Despite having all the different 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:36.560 aches and you know what I mean, things. 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:38.400 That starting to show up. That's football, it happens. 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.120 But like you say, this little ten day period should 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:42.760 give us a chance to clean some of that stuff 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.040 up and give us a little boost because you got 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:46.080 two more games for a bye. 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.280 It's something. You got these games to look forward to. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.560 Get it to that. And like we so beat up 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.240 a little bit that I kick it was out. 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.960 Yeah, like three weeks right, three weeks, two weeks, and 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:57.680 let's be honest. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:02.240 He's been kicking the wheelson out for let's be honest, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.440 like he has before he got injured. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.160 He was leading the league in made field goals. But 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.120 it's safe to say his backup is kicking. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.120 But I'm just saying, like the tails you how beat 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:12.960 up we are at a certain this point if your 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:13.480 kicker is. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.080 Hurting, No, I think that's a great point. And so 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.320 I think that that context is important. And again we're 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.880 not making excuses like they want to win this game. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:22.400 The coach won in this game. We want them to 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:24.440 win the game. Fans, you your expectations are how you 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.160 want them to win them too. But I'm just saying, like, 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:31.720 those teams are good teams, and so legit when people say, oh, 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:34.680 it is the offense regressing? Is Jaden regressing? When you 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.240 play good teams, usually you don't play as well, like the. 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.920 Just they don't play as well. It goes back and forth. 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.080 Yeah, And so I think that's some good context there. 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:44.320 And then the other thing we talked about this a 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.600 little bit already is the defense seemed to be kind 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:48.480 of flipping the script. You know, they started cool, now 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.520 that you're yeah, yeah, now they're maturing and what would 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:52.200 you credit that to? 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:53.760 Time together? 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.720 Problem solve And the one thing about defense, we don't 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:58.520 know how to correct them until we miss it up. 0:15:58.600 --> 0:15:59.480 We need to mess it up. 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.800 For that's going to be so annoying. You have to 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:03.000 be so annoying. 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:04.760 But you also have to have it in your head 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.680 that you got us, you won't get us again. 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.080 They're also playing better together to yeah, we have an. 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:12.360 Answer, Like they're learning how to play off each other, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.840 like let's just use like Frankie luvu, he just shot 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:17.800 out of cannon. Like, but when you got a player 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.120 like that, the player that backs him up, figure, I 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.080 gotta figure out how to play behind. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.560 Him because it's always gonna bring some take something, take 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:27.080 some away. 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.200 So they're learning like this, why you're seeing Frankie shoots 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.120 this gap and who comes to clean it up? 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.160