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Speaker 1: What is going on? Commander's Sam. This is another episode

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Speaker 1: of the beat Down podcast. Welcome in. I am your host,

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Speaker 1: senior for the Washington Commanders, Zach Selby. I'm still kind

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Speaker 1: of riding the high a little bit because it's hard

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Speaker 1: to even to describe even though we've there's been so

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Speaker 1: many stories written, so many things shown on social media

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Speaker 1: about the Hail Mary pass that ended the Chicago Bears

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Speaker 1: game with Washington coming out on top eighteen to fifteen.

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Speaker 1: But you know, I will say, you know, it's usually

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Speaker 1: pretty subdued in the press box, right, I guess as

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Speaker 1: it should be. You have to be quiet and cheering

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Speaker 1: the press box all that other stuff when that play happened.

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Speaker 1: You know, there there are some moments where the rules

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Speaker 1: kind of go out the window a little bit, And

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Speaker 1: even though it was still a little subdued, there was

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Speaker 1: still a lot of a lot of buzz in that

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Speaker 1: press box for what you just because it's a history

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Speaker 1: making moment. What's one of the best moments in franchise

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Speaker 1: history already and I mean everyone, everyone who was there

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Speaker 1: will remember for the rest of their lives. But while

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Speaker 1: we're all still really excited about the Heil Mary Pass,

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Speaker 1: the Commanders still have to turn the page. So they

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Speaker 1: are moving on to their second Division match of the

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Speaker 1: season against the New York Giants, going on the road

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Speaker 1: to MetLife Stadium. It's you know, you can never count

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Speaker 1: out Division matchup, but you know, the Commanders and Giants

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Speaker 1: have always played to other really tough Disask any Commander's

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Speaker 1: fan over the last two years about what that matchup

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Speaker 1: has been like. You can never count the Giants out

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Speaker 1: for anything. You never count the Commanders out for anything,

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Speaker 1: no matter what their record is. So the Commanders is

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Speaker 1: trying to go to seven and two for the first time.

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Speaker 1: He's nineteen ninety six against the Giants, and how are

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Speaker 1: they going to do that? Well, that is exactly what

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Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about today, and we have

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Speaker 1: two more guests they were going to be talking about this.

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Speaker 1: It will be Candy Waller coming back to us from

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Speaker 1: booy TV Sports and Andrew Pisad, Giants writer a form

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Speaker 1: for Sports Illustrated. How are we doing, y'all?

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Speaker 2: I'm with you, Zach, I'm doing I'm still riding high

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Speaker 2: from from the raise Hail Mary on Sunday that the

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Speaker 2: Commander's offense executed. So I'm still kind of riding high

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Speaker 2: from that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's it's it's pretty crazy just to

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Speaker 1: just to imagine what that's going to be like, you know,

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Speaker 1: talking about it for years from now. And Andrew, how

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Speaker 1: are you doing over there?

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Speaker 3: I appreciate you having me on. You know, it's I'm good,

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Speaker 3: but you know, obviously my football team is not very good.

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Speaker 3: So it's it's always a it's always an interesting time

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Speaker 3: of year when they barely have any wins heading into November.

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Speaker 3: So it is what it is at this point.

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Speaker 1: But you know that that is right. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, like I was saying earlier, you just know

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Speaker 1: how competitive they're going to be. Considering how competitive the

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Speaker 1: the NFC East is. Anything that happened, it has for

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Speaker 1: the last you know, decade or so. I don't think

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Speaker 1: that there's been a repeat winner in that span. Uh

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Speaker 1: so really anything it happened because these guys just beat

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Speaker 1: up on each other all the time. Uh But you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll move on from that now and we'll get into

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Speaker 1: the match up here. Before we do that, all of

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Speaker 1: yours know the spiel, they know the deal. Here. These

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Speaker 1: guys are going to be answering questions that I present

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Speaker 1: on an offense, on a defense, and one more of

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Speaker 1: a general question. There will be points that forget that

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Speaker 1: will be given out, and there will be a winner,

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Speaker 1: because I in the post of the podcast, I could

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Speaker 1: decide who wins and who loses. But at the same time,

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Speaker 1: you should be more focused on the objective takes that

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Speaker 1: the that these individuals have because they're they're the insiders,

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Speaker 1: they know what they're talking about. And all that being said,

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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and get into it. Starting with the

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Speaker 1: Giants defense, which I think is probably you know, their

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Speaker 1: biggest strength right now, especially in the front seven. Dexhah

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Speaker 1: Lawrence is a monster right now leading the team in sacks.

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Speaker 1: They're first in the NFL with thirty five sacks, which

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Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised that whenever I whenever I

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Speaker 1: first saw that stat Wednesday when I was making the

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Speaker 1: preview story. So it's gonna be a big challenge for

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Speaker 1: this Washington offensive line. Who is They are playing a

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Speaker 1: lot better than I think a lot of people expect

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Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year. Their top ten unit

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Speaker 1: in Pathlock Win Ray. I mean, they're working really well together,

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Speaker 1: especially in the interior. You know, with Brandon Coleman, So

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Speaker 1: you know, maybe coming back as he gets in the

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Speaker 1: concussion protocol, they'll be a little bit closer to full strength.

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Speaker 1: But iner, since you are the guests here, you're your

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Speaker 1: first time guests, I will I'll go with the question

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Speaker 1: to you first. What role is that battle between Washington's

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Speaker 1: off the line and the giants stephensive line going to

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Speaker 1: have on Sunday?

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Speaker 3: You know, it's it's pretty it's a pretty crucial role. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: a lot of like the talking point is that games

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Speaker 3: are one in the trenches. Looking back at the last matchup,

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Speaker 3: we had five sacks and seven hits on on Jayden Daniels.

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Speaker 3: But the thing is like it wasn't from our defensive line,

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Speaker 3: so we had a lot of safety blitzes and linebackers

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Speaker 3: kind of come down. Jason Pinnock, our safety, led the

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Speaker 3: team with two sacks. Our edges were shut out. Desha

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Speaker 3: Lawrence didn't have a sag either. So, like you said,

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Speaker 3: I think Commander's offensive line has been playing better than expected.

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Speaker 3: But now that where our games are, what seven weeks apart,

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Speaker 3: the Giants have definitely turned it up since then, It's

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Speaker 3: gonna look a little bit different this time. Uh, Keavon

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Speaker 3: Thibodau is an Ir with a wrist injury, which means

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Speaker 3: as he's o Ja Lari is gonna be stepping in.

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Speaker 3: He stepped in pretty well over the last couple of games.

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Speaker 3: He has a sack at least one sack in three

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Speaker 3: straight games. Brian Burns has a sack and four straight games.

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Speaker 3: And then obviously Dexter Lawrence is just a monster and

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Speaker 3: he kind of wins any matchup presented in front of him.

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Speaker 3: So it's gonna be it's gonna be like you said,

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Speaker 3: it's always a good matchup with the Giants and Commanders,

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Speaker 3: and I think this is gonna be where most of

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Speaker 3: the where most of the fund is gonna be, at

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Speaker 3: least for my side, because it really isn't much else

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Speaker 3: to be excited about. So seeing seeing them get after

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Speaker 3: Daniel is gonna be a fun matchup for sure.

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Speaker 1: You know, I cannot you cannot understate the the impact

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Speaker 1: that Dexhah Lawrence is really having. I mean, my god,

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Speaker 1: he is just a force to be dealt with. And

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Speaker 1: I think, you know, telabadis Is is very is very

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Speaker 1: real equipped to to to deal with that. You know

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Speaker 1: him think he's ninth in in run block, run block,

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Speaker 1: Win Ray like he's he he has the the ability

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Speaker 1: for sure, uh you know, to go toe to toe

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Speaker 1: with Dexah Lawrence. But Candy, you know, we we've seen

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Speaker 1: how this offensive line has has really grown over the

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Speaker 1: last you know, gosh where we you know, we're in

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Speaker 1: week nine, and I would say that they've they've really

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Speaker 1: come on even more because you know, they they looked

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Speaker 1: more impressive in week one, for sure, but lately this

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Speaker 1: seems like they are churning out and and humming and

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Speaker 1: in a way that I as a four off the

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Speaker 1: line and I'm very pleasantly, you know, surprised and very

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Speaker 1: very happy to see. But how have you seen this,

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Speaker 1: this Washington offensive line, uh grow from from the last

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Speaker 1: time we played the Giants and we two to now

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Speaker 1: heading into week nine?

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Speaker 2: You know during OTAs Zach, I recall uh Tyler uh

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Speaker 2: Fia saying, you know, the offensive line was really already

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Speaker 2: and this was in May, you know, learning how to

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Speaker 2: operate five as one. And I continue to go back

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Speaker 2: to kind of his first presser, if you will, with

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Speaker 2: us and thinking about all of the things that he

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Speaker 2: was saying that they were working on back then that

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Speaker 2: we're actually seeing now on the field. Now, they are

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Speaker 2: dealing with some injuries, right, you know Commanders offensive offensive lineman,

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Speaker 2: you know Brandon Coleman, hopefully he is back this week

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Speaker 2: from concussion protocol. We know Cornelius Lucas left the game

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Speaker 2: on Sunday during with injuries. So now it's around that

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Speaker 2: time where and I know Andrew you mentioned some of

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Speaker 2: the injuries to the Giants defense as well. Now it's

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Speaker 2: kind of like around that time where folks are starting

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Speaker 2: to get injured, so you have to really look through

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Speaker 2: the depth chart, you know, to kind of pull and

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Speaker 2: plug there. But this offensive line, and especially with Jayden

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Speaker 2: Daniels dealing through his rib injury and pushing through through that,

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Speaker 2: I think this offensive line is completely and totally brought

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Speaker 2: in to protecting Jayden Daniels at all costs. And if anything,

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Speaker 2: I think what Sunday this past Sunday did was continue

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Speaker 2: to show that improve that the team did a heck

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Speaker 2: of a job blocking for Jayden to get that ball

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Speaker 2: off for that long twelve second to him to get

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Speaker 2: it off, they did a tremendous job. You saw Austin

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Speaker 2: Eckler running running back. Austin Eckler get involved there as

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Speaker 2: well with Trent Scott then at that point in as

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Speaker 2: the depth chart person and coming in to help protect

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Speaker 2: So I think this offensive line is brought in. I

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Speaker 2: think every member of the commanders is totally bought in

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Speaker 2: with protecting Jayden Right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you mentioned you mentioned Brennan Coleman. You know,

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Speaker 1: he talked to us outside of the locker room, uh,

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Speaker 1: yesterday Wednesday, and it seemed like he he said he

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Speaker 1: was doing great, you know, he said, he said he

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Speaker 1: it felt great to be back out there on the field.

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Speaker 1: We can never really guess with the concussion protocol stuff,

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Speaker 1: but you know, the hope is that he's he's back,

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Speaker 1: he's back in, you know, suiting up on Sunday and

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Speaker 1: you know, it's it seemed like he's on the right track.

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Speaker 1: But we'll see what the official designation is once we

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Speaker 1: get further into the week and hopefully by this time,

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Speaker 1: you know, be announced that he'll be able to go.

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Speaker 1: But again, we'll we'll never we'll never know here until

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Speaker 1: until then. But Andrew you mentioned, uh you know, came

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Speaker 1: on Phibodeau uh and him being on I R. And

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Speaker 1: you know that that seems like that's such a big

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Speaker 1: blow because he's so athletic as a as a player.

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Speaker 1: What what has that done with the reverberating effects of

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Speaker 1: not having Thibodeau and how how the Giant's been able

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Speaker 1: to adjust to that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So I just want to give credit to u

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Speaker 3: Zizo Jalari because he stepped in really well. From pass

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Speaker 3: rushing standpoint, he already has six sacks on this season,

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Speaker 3: and from just a pure pass rushing standpoint, I think

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Speaker 3: he has at which is kind of crazy to say.

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Speaker 3: I think he's a little bit better than Kavon in

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Speaker 3: that category. But the drawbacks of not having Kavon is

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Speaker 3: his support in the run game. And now like our

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Speaker 3: run defense has never been uh hasn't really been good

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Speaker 3: over the last several years. But Kavon has always known

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Speaker 3: like how to set the edge and things like that,

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Speaker 3: and and rack up tackles for losses and things like that.

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Speaker 3: Azi doesn't have that at all. He does He's really

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Speaker 3: a non factor in the run game. So if you

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Speaker 3: run towards his side, it's pretty much you're going You're

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Speaker 3: going to get yardage, and that's that's.

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Speaker 1: Really the main thing.

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Speaker 3: But Aziz has stepped in well from a from a

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Speaker 3: pass rushing standpoint, and I don't really see much of

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Speaker 3: a drop off in production. So the run, the run

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Speaker 3: defense is really the main concern that I've had with

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Speaker 3: Thibodeau off off the field for four weeks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it seems like, you know, see what they've

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Speaker 1: they've still managed to do okay right in managing their run.

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Speaker 1: Let's see if I can just look up here exactly

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Speaker 1: how well they're doing against the run, the Giants are

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Speaker 1: and I you know this, I mean that they're they're

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Speaker 1: near and there near the bottom at one hundred and

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Speaker 1: forty one point eight yards per game. But again, like

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Speaker 1: in the interior, like I said, DESHL Lawrence, with all

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Speaker 1: of these other depth pieces they have there, they're still

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Speaker 1: gonna be really tough to run against. Uh Now, now, Candy,

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Speaker 1: you know, he you know, Andrews brings up a good

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Speaker 1: point about the run defense. And you know, if there's

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Speaker 1: any I've been saying this for weeks, if there's any

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Speaker 1: big the biggest strength of this Commander's offense, it has

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Speaker 1: definitely been, uh the the way they've been able to

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Speaker 1: dominate on the ground. I think their third right now,

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Speaker 1: and rushing yards per game. I mean, you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: obviously last week was a little bit of a different

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Speaker 1: story because of the Bear. The bear defense was just

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Speaker 1: so good. But do you do you foresee them getting

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Speaker 1: back on track against the Giants? And you know, do

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Speaker 1: you think is the biggest cause of why they're why

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Speaker 1: they often Line has been able to be so good

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Speaker 1: in terms of just uh, you know, opening these hold

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Speaker 1: up of Brian Robinson and Austin Eckler.

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Speaker 2: You know what, I think one of one of the

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Speaker 2: reasons why they've been so successful. It's kind of funny, right, zactly.

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Speaker 2: I remember last year Sam Cosmi, you know, at the

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Speaker 2: end of the year was kind of like run the ball, right,

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Speaker 2: almost like they wanted to run the ball. They want

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Speaker 2: to get out there and block it, hit and must

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Speaker 2: ask and do all of these things. They it's like

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Speaker 2: it excited them to just to be able to do that.

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Speaker 2: So it's kind of like that's one part of it,

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Speaker 2: which might seem like kind of funny to say, but

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Speaker 2: it's almost like, hey, these got this is what these

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Speaker 2: guys want to do. They're like, we have some dynamic runners,

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Speaker 2: get the ball on the ground. Let's let's do what

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Speaker 2: we do best and let's and let's roll with it.

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Speaker 2: So I think that's a key part of it. We

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Speaker 2: know that Brian Robinson Junior has been dealing with two injuries.

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Speaker 2: I think that maybe have some something to do with

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Speaker 2: it as well in terms of just why it may

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Speaker 2: have been up or down, because as we all know,

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Speaker 2: when Brian Robinson Junior is on, it just elevates the

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Speaker 2: entire offense in the run game for certain So I

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Speaker 2: think this is a game that they would still really

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Speaker 2: try to get that going because it has been such

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Speaker 2: a strength. But I think the guys just love running

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Speaker 2: the ball and they love seeing that power and that

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Speaker 2: strength at speed from Austin Heckler. Jeremy McNichols has also

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Speaker 2: flashed in a variety of different spots for the Commanders

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Speaker 2: this season, so I think that has a lot to

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Speaker 2: do with it.

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Speaker 1: And you know, so the Commanders had two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifteen rushing yards and thirty five carries against the Giants,

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Speaker 1: and we in week two, I would expect that they'll

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Speaker 1: have a pretty similar approach or at least try to

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Speaker 1: heading head at the start of the game to see

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Speaker 1: how the Giants ad Just we'll move on to the

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Speaker 1: next question.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: Before that, we got a score update. Candy, you are

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Speaker 1: ahead five to three, So congratulations and winning round one, Andrew,

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Speaker 1: you staw some time to make up for it. But

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Speaker 1: we'll go over to the Giants offense here and we'll

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Speaker 1: talk about Elite Nighbors because I think he well this

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Speaker 1: well the Giants offense, as you know, they've they've had

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Speaker 1: some rough patches here and there. I think Milite Neighbors

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Speaker 1: has definitely been a star, you know, in a lot

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Speaker 1: of different ways. In Week two, he was started eighteen

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Speaker 1: times for one hundred and twenty seven yards in a touchdown,

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Speaker 1: got ten catches on the day. You know, they they

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Speaker 1: just continued to go at him over and over and

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Speaker 1: over again. And you know it's hard to blame him

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Speaker 1: because of how how much of a special talent he is.

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Speaker 1: But Canny, we'll start with you here and I'll ask you, like,

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Speaker 1: do you how do you expect the secondary to adapt

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Speaker 1: to Milite Neighbors in the second matchup between them, because

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Speaker 1: I would imagine like the Giants are still gonna target

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Speaker 1: him quite a bit, but also the secondary has really

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Speaker 1: improved a lot as well.

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Speaker 2: I was just getting ready to say that we've definitely

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Speaker 2: seen some improvements overall in the defense, but definitely in

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Speaker 2: the secondary as well. We know coming into the season

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Speaker 2: there was so many questions and was like, okay, out

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Speaker 2: of all of the position groups, which one is the weakest,

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Speaker 2: And you know, I know for me it was the secondary.

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Speaker 2: It was like, all right, you know, there's some challenges

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Speaker 2: back there. So what I've continued to say throughout the

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Speaker 2: season is when the defensive line, when they're able to

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Speaker 2: get that pressure up front, it helps the secondary tremendously

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Speaker 2: because Malik Neighbors is just he is just awesome. He's

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Speaker 2: just great. I mean, it's just one of those receivers

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Speaker 2: where it's like you cannot expect the score to just

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Speaker 2: be zero, right, you cannot expect a shutout completely when

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Speaker 2: you have a star like Milite Neighbors on your roster offensively,

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Speaker 2: So it is going to be important for you know,

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Speaker 2: the defensive line, the linebackers to get as much pressure

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Speaker 2: as they can on Daniel Jones. I believe he is

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Speaker 2: still starting. I know there were some questions about some

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Speaker 2: changes that at quarterback, but they're not going to make

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Speaker 2: a change, sounds like. So it's it's one of the

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Speaker 2: things that I shared and going into Week two was

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Speaker 2: you know, got to get the sack. At that point

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Speaker 2: in time, the defensive line of defensive world, they weren't.

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Speaker 2: They will not finishing at all. So they were allowing

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Speaker 2: allowing Daniel Jones to do what he does best against

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Speaker 2: the Commanders. As you mentioned in the opening, this team

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Speaker 2: has struggled so much against the New York Giants, and

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Speaker 2: so this is an opportunity to kind of make up

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Speaker 2: for that struggle. While they did win in Week two,

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Speaker 2: they certainly did still struggle against Daniel Jones. So I

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Speaker 2: think if the defense is able to get that pressure

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Speaker 2: up front they're able to finish, that will help the

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Speaker 2: secondary out tremendously because once the balls in the area

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Speaker 2: goes to the Neighbors, he's going to make the play.

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Speaker 2: So I think it's not so much while what the

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Speaker 2: corners can do, because they're gonna do the best that

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Speaker 2: they can, but I think it to stop the League Neighbors,

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Speaker 2: the pressure's got to be upfront with the defensive line

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Speaker 2: and the linebackers.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was just out of curiosity, I looked

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Speaker 1: at how many targets Millie Labs has got in this year.

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Speaker 1: He's had in seventy three, which is the second highest

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Speaker 1: in the NFL, which is that's just that's just crazy

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Speaker 1: to me that they see but they their their offense

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Speaker 1: really is is driven by him and and Andrew, like

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Speaker 1: you know, like I just mentioned, like you know, seventy

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Speaker 1: three targets. You know, they he clearly is, like you know,

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Speaker 1: their best weapon. So what are the different ways that

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Speaker 1: they've been they've tried to get him involved because obviously,

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Speaker 1: you know, you can't just use him as a deep threat.

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Speaker 1: He's got so much more ability than that. So what

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Speaker 1: what are all the different ways they tried to you know,

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Speaker 1: make him, make him at the focal point of the

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Speaker 1: office about without you know, the teeth the entire devents

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Speaker 1: keying on him on every single play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So, like you said, those seventy three targets are

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Speaker 3: actually insane. And what's crazy about it is he missed

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Speaker 3: two ins with a concussion. Yeah, so that's it's it's

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Speaker 3: really it's cool to see because we haven't had this in.

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Speaker 1: A very long time. So with the last time these

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Speaker 1: two teams met.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, Neighbors did what he had to do, but a

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Speaker 3: lot of the route concepts were kind of short. There

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Speaker 3: were a lot of shallow crossers. It was just getting

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Speaker 3: him the ball in space and letting him get yards

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Speaker 3: after the catch. I believe eight percent of his yards

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Speaker 3: in that game came after the catch. So the deep, honestly,

365
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Speaker 3: the deep threat that he was in college, it's obviously

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Speaker 3: still there, but we haven't really given him the opportunity

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Speaker 3: to showcase that because of the quarterback play. The offensive

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Speaker 3: line play hasn't really been great, and like Candy was saying,

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Speaker 3: it's more of like a trickle down effect. So our

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Speaker 3: left tackle, and Andrew Thomas is out for the season

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Speaker 3: and we've had just the last two to three games.

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Speaker 1: It's just been awful awful.

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Speaker 3: Can even can not protect on that side of the line,

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Speaker 3: so it's been hard to get neighbors the ball. So

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Speaker 3: coming back from the concussion, he hasn't really.

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Speaker 1: Had that big game just yet.

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Speaker 3: He almost had a touchdown in the Steelers game, but

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Speaker 3: his foot was out of bounds, but it was it

379
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Speaker 3: would have been a crazy catch. But in this game

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Speaker 3: or the last couple of weeks, I should say, it's

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Speaker 3: just been more a lot of over the middle type

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Speaker 3: of stuff. I believe on a on a fourth and

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Speaker 3: one play against the Steelers, they kind of just did

384
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Speaker 3: like a little out route and got them like three yards.

385
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Speaker 3: But they've they've mixed it up for sure. They've even

386
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Speaker 3: put him in the backfield on some plays, jet sweeps

387
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Speaker 3: things like that. I haven't seen a lot of slants,

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Speaker 3: to be honest, since that though. The Week three game

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Speaker 3: in Cleveland he ran like two really good slants and

390
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Speaker 3: it was really nice. But I haven't really seen that

391
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Speaker 3: much since. But a deep threat hasn't really been there

392
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Speaker 3: too much yet. So if I were the Commanders, I

393
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Speaker 3: wouldn't worry about it because we can't really protect for

394
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Speaker 3: that long anyway.

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Speaker 1: But it's been it's been a it's been a.

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Speaker 3: Joy to watch because it doesn't really matter who's in

397
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Speaker 3: front of him. He's can he can kind of go

398
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Speaker 3: up and just win that matchup regardless.

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Speaker 1: It's it's been fun.

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Speaker 3: I feel like the big moment that we've been weighed

401
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,679
Speaker 3: to have been since he came back from the Culture

402
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,919
Speaker 3: Protocol hasn't happened. But I feel like we're close, So

403
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Speaker 3: I think it might happen this game if if Jones

404
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 3: can get him the ball for sure.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and to your point, the Giants are you know,

406
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Speaker 1: they flowed the third most sacks in the NFL so

407
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Speaker 1: far this year with twenty six. So and I was

408
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Speaker 1: looking up, you know, milite nighbors just game by game,

409
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Speaker 1: you know stats here, and his best game came against Commanders.

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Speaker 1: Uh second will be against Dallas. Uh so Candy, Like

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Speaker 1: you know, obviously, it's one thing to say that the

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Speaker 1: secondary is improved and you know all that other stuff,

413
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Speaker 1: but like, I mean, who do you who do you

414
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Speaker 1: see them putting on elite neighbors or is it gonna

415
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Speaker 1: be more of a group effort between you know, the

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Speaker 1: entire group.

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Speaker 2: I think I think I would envision a group effort.

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Speaker 2: But at the same token, I'm sincing Mikey, Mike Samras

419
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Speaker 2: still yeah, And the reason why is because I'm just

420
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Speaker 2: I just immediately as soon as you were asking that question,

421
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Speaker 2: I was thinking about the Ravens game when Zay Flowers

422
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 2: was just going off like they like, you know, Coach

423
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 2: Wick told me in the presser you know, hey, they

424
00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,000
Speaker 2: just had a good day, and sometimes that, hey, milite

425
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,479
Speaker 2: neighbors could very well just have a good day. But

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Speaker 2: I think perhaps that was a lesson learned because in

427
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Speaker 2: the second half of the Ravens game. They put Mikey

428
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Speaker 2: one day and it's pretty quiet, right, So I'm like,

429
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Speaker 2: maybe this is you know, rookie rookie opportunity and Mikey

430
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Speaker 2: gainst that work on on Sunday. But I think we

431
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Speaker 2: we'll see some adjustments having to be made as well,

432
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,080
Speaker 2: because we like, like you know, Andrew were saying, Zak

433
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,680
Speaker 2: he was saying, Malite Neighbors is having a terrific year.

434
00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,400
Speaker 2: So I mean, and he's going to get well the targets, right.

435
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,680
Speaker 2: I know, he was out in concussion protocol for a bit,

436
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 2: but he's there. If Danie Jones could get the ball off,

437
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,879
Speaker 2: he's going to get the ball to Milite Neighbors, banking

438
00:21:54,960 --> 00:22:00,840
Speaker 2: on if nothing else, a potential DPI mm hm. Because

439
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:05,560
Speaker 2: unfortunately sometimes you could almost count on one someone in the

440
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:11,320
Speaker 2: commanded secondary getting that. So well, we'll see what happens.

441
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 2: And it kind of feels bad to say that, but

442
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,360
Speaker 2: I mean, I know, we're just you know, we're thought.

443
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 2: I mean that it's the truth. So that that is

444
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 2: how I envisioned. I think, you know, the pressure up front,

445
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 2: but if it's one on one match up, I'm thinking

446
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 2: maybe Mikey has that one.

447
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's that's been one of the

448
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: biggest differences I think with this with his defense, and

449
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,399
Speaker 1: you know, Dan was even saying on Wednesday that, you know,

450
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,439
Speaker 1: it was it was a big move for them to

451
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 1: move move Mike to the outside, and they may grapple

452
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 1: with it quite a bit, but so far it's really

453
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,639
Speaker 1: turned out well from it, even though he you know,

454
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,719
Speaker 1: Quinny even meant I think it was the last two

455
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 1: weeks ago that you know, he's more of an inside player,

456
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 1: but because he's just so good at a lot of

457
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 1: other things that he's able to, you know, they're able

458
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,159
Speaker 1: to move him around. So I think we're gonna move

459
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: on to the final question here. But you know, Andrew,

460
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 1: you have tied up, so there's that, you know, we're

461
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,480
Speaker 1: hitting the last round with a little bit of high

462
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: stake situation here.

463
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:05,160
Speaker 2: Uh.

464
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,159
Speaker 1: You know, I was looking thinking about how to you know,

465
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 1: phrase this final question here, and I think it's a

466
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: little bit of an interesting uh you know, Dux's position here.

467
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 1: But there's obviously gonna be a lot of you know,

468
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,040
Speaker 1: a lot of different players that are gonna have big,

469
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,880
Speaker 1: big roles in this. I picked two that I think

470
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,280
Speaker 1: are a little bit diametrically different, but I think it

471
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 1: have have their own impact in very different ways. One

472
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: is Austin Eckler and and the other is obviously dexteror Lawrence.

473
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,399
Speaker 1: Uh So, Andrew will start with you, who do you

474
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,159
Speaker 1: think is gonna have the bigger effect on Sunday's outcome?

475
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 1: Is it going to be Commanders running back Austin Eckler

476
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:40,600
Speaker 1: or is it going to be Dexter Lawrence.

477
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 3: So obviously, watching Decks over the last several years, just

478
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 3: seeing the player he's turned into once switching to strictly

479
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,000
Speaker 3: as a nose tackle has been pretty pretty crazy to watch.

480
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 3: So obviously I'm gonna I'm gonna take Lawrence in this situation.

481
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 3: He didn't have he didn't really have a not a

482
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 3: bad game or anything, but he just didn't have a

483
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 3: big game against the Commanders a week two. But I

484
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 3: think with the momentum that they've had over the last

485
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,240
Speaker 3: several weeks, with all the sacks they racked up, decks

486
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 3: just getting to the quarterback and more consistent rate than

487
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 3: last year, I think he's going to win. And Tyler

488
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 3: Biattis is a more than capable center. I think he's

489
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,199
Speaker 3: I think he's played pretty well this year, but I

490
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 3: think Lawrence is going to win that matchup. Now, Eckler,

491
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 3: with the way this Giants run defenses has played all

492
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 3: season long, Eckler can definitely have an impact in some way.

493
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised about that. But I think Dexter

494
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 3: is just going to continue his dominance and I think

495
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,200
Speaker 3: he's gonna if I believe that the stat was before

496
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,159
Speaker 3: heading into the season, whenever Lawrence has one sack, the

497
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,880
Speaker 3: Giants win. That obviously isn't the case this year because

498
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,440
Speaker 3: we had he had a sack and we lost.

499
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: A few games. But what he.

500
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,320
Speaker 3: Can impact the game in so many different ways, and

501
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 3: I think he's going to come out on top this

502
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,360
Speaker 3: week in this matchup.

503
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 1: And you did touch on the reason why I included

504
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,919
Speaker 1: Austin Eckler in this in this this matchup between the two,

505
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,680
Speaker 1: because I think he has some really special ability, especially

506
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 1: we could happened against the Giants defense. But Candy, you

507
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,679
Speaker 1: are up, is it going to be Austin Eckler or

508
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 1: Dexter Lawrence will have a bigger impact.

509
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 2: On some day. So I definitely was wanting to pick

510
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 2: Dexter Lawrence, and I thought about it and I said,

511
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 2: if I go back for a minute in the week

512
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,919
Speaker 2: two games, what happened? Oh, I think Austin Eckler had

513
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 2: a touchdown that came back on special teams.

514
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 1: Yes, he did.

515
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 2: And I said, you know what, because I've been waiting

516
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 2: for a specialty. Have been waiting And I said, perhaps

517
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 2: that's where Austin Eckler can make the biggest impact in

518
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 2: starting field position. I know, and you know we know

519
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 2: the zact that that is one of the areas the

520
00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,480
Speaker 2: categories that that when it comes to hell the truth

521
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 2: one day for the commanders, they are looking at, you know,

522
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,199
Speaker 2: several different categories starting field position being won for the

523
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: offense because of a dexter lawrence. I think it would

524
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 2: be in their best interest to be as close to

525
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 2: scoring touchdowns as possible, right, and an opportunity to do

526
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,919
Speaker 2: that is on special teams. Austin Eckler was having a

527
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 2: good day, but he ended up I think did he

528
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 2: have to know that wasn't a game he had to

529
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,920
Speaker 2: leave out that was Cincinnati, but this was definitely the

530
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 2: game where he had a special teams touchdown and I

531
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 2: had to come back. So I think that may be

532
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:40,720
Speaker 2: where we see impact from Austin Eckler, I mean overall

533
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 2: in the offense again, just the overall run game, yes,

534
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 2: because this was also the game that the compandits didn't

535
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 2: score any touchdowns and we saw a little bit more

536
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 2: of that last week until the Hail Mary. So this

537
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 2: this could be an opportunity to really get that run

538
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,399
Speaker 2: game going and use it Boston Eckler for sure on

539
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,399
Speaker 2: special team as well as on his speed in the run.

540
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 1: Game, you know, And I was mostly thinking about how

541
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,360
Speaker 1: you know, obviously b Rob he has like that that

542
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,920
Speaker 1: game breaking ability, but you could I think some of

543
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,560
Speaker 1: the biggest runs and the biggest plays come from Austin

544
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,240
Speaker 1: Eger because of his speak of his quickness. But the

545
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: special teams is so good of a point because the

546
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,200
Speaker 1: Commanders right now are looks like six in return yards

547
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,719
Speaker 1: and a lot of that is because of Austin Eckler

548
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: and this special teams unit for the Commanders I think

549
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: is playing is at a really high clip there. They

550
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: look like some of the most efficient in the NFL,

551
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 1: and they're they're flying around that field. That's such a

552
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: cliche phrase, but that's that is the way to describe it,

553
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,800
Speaker 1: because they play with a lot of physicality and Special Teams.

554
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,719
Speaker 1: I think is is so fun to watch with the Commanders,

555
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 1: you know, I obviously you know Special Team, the spect Teams.

556
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: He doesn't get as looked at his offensive defense, but

557
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,400
Speaker 1: it definitely is a lot of fun to watch them,

558
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,919
Speaker 1: watch them just fly around and hit people. And uh,

559
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 1: that's been very refreshing. But okay, so winner here. Uh,

560
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: you know, it was a very tough match up for sure,

561
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 1: but I think the Special Teams point really puts you

562
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 1: over the top. Candy and the first two and oh

563
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 1: winner of the Beatdown podcast. How are you feeling about that.

564
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 2: Defeated? Let me play my trip to Doney World.

565
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's yeah, so that that's that's really really big.

566
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 1: Hey you can you can invite me to Disney World.

567
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 1: I will head down there never been actually so that

568
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: that'll be exciting. But Andrew, I thought you gave it,

569
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 1: gave some really good points to get some really good

570
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 1: inside the Giants. You know, it was a great great

571
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 1: having you on. And yeah, I think, like I said,

572
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: the Giants are going to be quite a tough matchup

573
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: uh this year. Uh, and it's in the in this rematch,

574
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 1: you never know what's gonna happen when you go into

575
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: met life, because I mean, look two years ago, I

576
00:28:57,760 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 1: was not expecting them to tie.

577
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,720
Speaker 3: And yeah, that was that was I was at that

578
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 3: game too. It was my goodness, it was insane.

579
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 1: And then the last day when they were met Lefe

580
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, that was quite the battle. It

581
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 1: came all the way down to the very end. Ryan

582
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 1: Payne had that fumble recovery and they had the last

583
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: chance to win the obviously the Commanders obviously didn't come

584
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: up with it. But yeah, I think it's gonna be

585
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,680
Speaker 1: quite the interesting game. And even though the even though

586
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: the Giants two and six, I think they've still they've

587
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,280
Speaker 1: got some pieces on on there on the team that

588
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,560
Speaker 1: make them themselves a lot more competitive.

589
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, definitely it should. It's gonna be a good matchup.

590
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,840
Speaker 3: I'm going to be in the building Sunday, so we'll

591
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 3: see it's it's gonna be. It's gonna be fun like

592
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 3: they always are.

593
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 1: Yeah for sure. All right, Well, guys, that'll wrap it

594
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 1: up for another episode of the Beatdown podcast. Make sure

595
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 1: you rate reviews, subscribe wherever you get your podcast, and

596
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 1: check out the game on Sunday. Hopefully We're talking about

597
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: a seven and two commander's team, and this has been

598
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:53,160
Speaker 1: the beaton