Speaker 1: What is up? What's going on? Y'all?
Speaker 2: This is the Beatdown Podcast. Welcome in week eighteen edition.
Speaker 2: Happy holidays to everyone, Marry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah.
Speaker 1: We obviously took a week off to celebrate.
Speaker 2: And while we were gone, the Commanders secured a playoff
Speaker 2: birth with an overtime, thrilling, overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 1: I'm very happy, obviously.
Speaker 2: It's one of the best seasons of my career here
Speaker 2: in six seasons with the Washington Commanders Slash Redskins, last
Speaker 2: Washington football team, and I'm super pumped that we're gonna
Speaker 2: be playing for at least one more week. Despite all
Speaker 2: the hard palpitations that they gave me against the Eagles
Speaker 2: and the Falcons, it was definitely all worth it to
Speaker 2: see Jade and Daniels do some Rookie of the Year
Speaker 2: caliber stuff. That was really the firing force that ended
Speaker 2: up getting them wins over the Eagles and the Falcons.
Speaker 2: But this week they do have the chance to lock
Speaker 2: up the sixth seed with a win over the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 2: who beat them earlier this year in November. They really
Speaker 2: cannot get out to a hot start there. They did
Speaker 2: come out, come back late in that matchup. But as
Speaker 2: we all know that within the last thirty seconds they
Speaker 2: are about fifty billion touchdowns scored, including a ninety nine
Speaker 2: yard touchdown on the kickoff and then des by Terry
Speaker 2: McLaurin getting the go ahead touchdown with about twenty seconds left.
Speaker 2: Austin Cier misses the extra point, the Cowboy's still still
Speaker 2: up twenty to twenty seven, and then obviously all the
Speaker 2: antics ensued after that.
Speaker 1: But this is gonna be a good matchup between these
Speaker 1: two teams.
Speaker 2: We don't exactly who's been playing a quarterback, We don't
Speaker 2: know exactly how intense the Cowboys are going to be
Speaker 2: intent on winning this game. Either way, this will be
Speaker 2: a chance for the Commanders to get their twelfth win
Speaker 2: of the season, which would be the first time.
Speaker 1: This is nineteen ninety one. And how are they going
Speaker 1: to do that?
Speaker 2: Well, that is what we're going to be discussing today.
Speaker 3: With me.
Speaker 2: We have Alex Flohm from DCU and dc News Now
Speaker 2: and Eithan Gdo covers the commands for Monumental Sports too.
Speaker 2: Maryland are well to say, including me, three Maryland grads here, guys,
Speaker 2: how are we doing.
Speaker 3: Doing great man, thanks for having us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty good and good to good to be always
Speaker 4: good to be on with terps.
Speaker 2: Right we should we should be on the Maryland basketball.
Speaker 2: I have Maryland Pride. Now I've been may show up
Speaker 2: doing their home games. But uh yeah, really really glad
Speaker 2: to be discussing this game with you guys and everyone
Speaker 2: else you know listening.
Speaker 1: They know the deal.
Speaker 2: Here I would be asking these guys three questions on
Speaker 2: an offense, on a defense, more of a general question
Speaker 2: here were doing a little bit different than third question
Speaker 2: because obviously, as everyone knows by now, we have the
Speaker 2: Pro Bowl selections out in Terry McLaurin and Jade Daniels,
Speaker 2: we're both selected with a bunch of other alternates there.
Speaker 2: We'll wet to dive into that a little bit here.
Speaker 2: Uh that there will be points giving out at the
Speaker 2: end of each round. There will be a winner, and
Speaker 2: I will get to the side because it's my podcast. As
Speaker 2: I will say, I get to do whatever I want
Speaker 2: and I get the heavy burden of deciding the victor.
Speaker 2: But as always, if you be more focused on what
Speaker 2: these guys have to say and they're takes, on their
Speaker 2: analysis and the matchups, because those guys are the stars.
Speaker 1: Of the show.
Speaker 2: And with that being said, let's jump right into it.
Speaker 2: And I think we have to discuss who's gonna be
Speaker 2: playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, And the answer is,
Speaker 2: we don't really know right now. You know, Mike McCarthy
Speaker 2: has said, quote, I don't really know. I'm not really sure,
Speaker 2: not really there yet on who's going to be playing.
Speaker 2: Could be Trey Lance, could be Cooper Rush, could be
Speaker 2: you know whoever it is. And Trey Lance even said, look,
Speaker 2: absolutely no doubt, I'm ready to play if I am
Speaker 2: called upon. Well, we have no idea what's going to
Speaker 2: happen with that, because even if Treilance does play, we
Speaker 2: haven't really seen that much of him since his days
Speaker 2: with the forty nine Ers. So Alex will start with
Speaker 2: you here, and what should the Commanders expect from trail Lance?
Speaker 2: Should he get should he be the starter for the
Speaker 2: Cowboys this weekend?
Speaker 4: Well it's funny with him coming up here potentially because
Speaker 4: it reminds me of two years ago when the Commanders
Speaker 4: were facing the.
Speaker 3: Cowboys the last week of the season. The Cowboys were
Speaker 3: in a better situation.
Speaker 4: The Manders were the ones who weren't really playing promunch
Speaker 4: and they decided to start Sam.
Speaker 3: Howell in the last week, so it's kind of a.
Speaker 4: Flipped around situation. But actually, you know, I used to
Speaker 4: be a sports anchor in Harrisonburg and JMU used to
Speaker 4: always end out playing North Dakota State in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: So I have seen in some coverage what Trey Lance
Speaker 4: can do. We haven't seen him a lot in the NFL,
Speaker 4: but he can make plays with his legs, and you know,
Speaker 4: in college he was a very accurate passer down field,
Speaker 4: So it's got to be in there somewhere for him.
Speaker 4: So I would imagine that they're going to let him
Speaker 4: kind of throw the deep ball if he does indeed start.
Speaker 4: So I think that Commanders secondary, which at points has
Speaker 4: been a little shaky as we know, is going to
Speaker 4: need to be ready for that possibility. And the team
Speaker 4: is also going to need to be ready for the
Speaker 4: potential threat of a mobile quarterback, which I think they
Speaker 4: might have some practice within practice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2: And if you look at his his status at North
Speaker 2: Akota State, he was there for three seasons.
Speaker 1: He's really really big season.
Speaker 2: Everyone was you know, going crazy over twenty nineteen had
Speaker 2: twenty seven hundred yards, twenty eight touchdowns, zero interception. Didn't
Speaker 2: really play all that much in twenty twenty for a
Speaker 2: few different reasons. They're obviously COVID being one of them,
Speaker 2: you know, fifteen oh thirty FO one hundred and forty
Speaker 2: nine yards, two touchdowns, one interceptions. Right, he does have
Speaker 2: the ability at some point, but again in the NFL,
Speaker 2: you haven't really seen much of that.
Speaker 1: For for several reasons.
Speaker 2: Right, They the fort Niners took him for you know,
Speaker 2: they knowing he was going to be a project and
Speaker 2: it just didn't really work out for them because they
Speaker 2: also haven't a had Rot Perdy who they lucked up
Speaker 2: and get a franchise guy that mister irrelevant. But Ethan
Speaker 2: will go over to you here and again kind of
Speaker 2: touching on you know, the forty nine ers of it all,
Speaker 2: and you know, him being the third trained quarterback at
Speaker 2: points with the Cowboys, like what do you what are
Speaker 2: you expecting to see out of Trey Lance? Because again,
Speaker 2: the sample size for him in the NFL, while college
Speaker 2: is great, it's still really not that much.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think that's the age old question, right,
Speaker 5: I Mean, the calendar just shifted over to twenty twenty five,
Speaker 5: and the last time we saw Trey Lance play consistent
Speaker 5: football was twenty nineteen sixteen, which is crazy because the
Speaker 5: COVID year barely played with the Niners. I think he
Speaker 5: has eleven career NFL starts. I think the unknown is
Speaker 5: the biggest thing with Trey Lance. He really hasn't had
Speaker 5: a long leash to prove why. He was the number
Speaker 5: three overall.
Speaker 3: Pick back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5: The one year with San Francisco where he was his
Speaker 5: starter at week one, he broke his ankle in week two,
Speaker 5: and like you said, brock Purdy came out of nowhere.
Speaker 3: A few weeks later and that was all she wrote.
Speaker 5: I think the dual threat and mobility running with the
Speaker 5: football is definitely something the Commanders defense has to watch
Speaker 5: out for.
Speaker 3: They've had some success.
Speaker 5: I mean earlier this year, Kyler Murray didn't do too
Speaker 5: much with his legs. But then on the other hand,
Speaker 5: Jalen Hurts a few weeks ago pretty much could do
Speaker 5: whatever he wanted with his legs before he was knocked
Speaker 5: out with the concussion against Washington. I would say Lance's
Speaker 5: legs are certainly more dangerous than his arm right now.
Speaker 5: We've seen some accuracy issues. We've seen just inability to
Speaker 5: sustain long drives with him under center. But in all fairness,
Speaker 5: I don't think there's a real true sample size to
Speaker 5: go off.
Speaker 3: He's barely played in the NFL.
Speaker 5: He's been in the league for five years now and
Speaker 5: has played in seventeen games, just eleven starts. I think
Speaker 5: the unknown is just as scary as the known, which
Speaker 5: is why who if he does get the start, I'm
Speaker 5: very intrigued to watch him play on Sunday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I really am too, because I do
Speaker 2: feel bad for Tray and some instances because again a
Speaker 2: lot of people are really quick to write him off
Speaker 2: with in San Francisco, and I think in fairness, we
Speaker 2: have no idea what he can or can't be.
Speaker 1: Still to this day, we still.
Speaker 2: Have no idea what he can be as an NFL prospect,
Speaker 2: just because he's been hurt, he's been banished, he's been
Speaker 2: doing all this other stuff, and I think he's just
Speaker 2: he's been a long term project that I would, just
Speaker 2: as a human would, I would like to see him play.
Speaker 2: You know, well, at some point, you know, whether he
Speaker 2: gets a chance, you know, this week or not. But
Speaker 2: We'll focus on the unknown factor of it here, because
Speaker 2: a few weeks ago, uh, the Commanders faced another sort
Speaker 2: of unknown factor in Spencer Rattler comes in in the
Speaker 2: second half U in that matchup against the New Orleans Saints,
Speaker 2: and I think he comes in and just he he
Speaker 2: doesn't do a whole lot ten to twenty one for
Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty five yards.
Speaker 1: But he doesn't enough to get them in the game.
Speaker 2: And he does it does enough with stretching the field
Speaker 2: with his arm that it didn't really see that the
Speaker 2: Commanders had a complete answer for him. So Flum going
Speaker 2: back to you, like, I mean, how going just touching
Speaker 2: on like the unknown of it all, Like, how do
Speaker 2: you expect the defense to to react to a player
Speaker 2: they don't really have a big sample size of aside
Speaker 2: from what he did again with North Dakota State, which
Speaker 2: you know is I mean in NFL times, you know,
Speaker 2: a hundred years ago.
Speaker 4: Well, I think the good thing first off, in the
Speaker 4: situation with Trey Lance and not Spencer Rallery. With Rattler,
Speaker 4: you know, he came in after injury, so the Commanders
Speaker 4: didn't exactly expect to be facing him that day. I
Speaker 4: think they've probably if I had to guess this week
Speaker 4: looked at more tape on Trey Lance. But it is
Speaker 4: tough when you don't have that sample size. But like
Speaker 4: I said, I'll go back to the point I made before.
Speaker 4: I mean, when you're going up against Jayden Daniels, who's
Speaker 4: playing the way he is in practice every week every day,
Speaker 4: you know, they're not going to underestimate any opponent, any quarterback,
Speaker 4: no matter how little they've played in the NFL or
Speaker 4: how little success they've had in the NFL. But I
Speaker 4: think that is going to be the biggest thing that's
Speaker 4: going to prepare them because if you think about it,
Speaker 4: Jaden's been making plays with his legs all season.
Speaker 3: Jayden can make deep throws. You know, Jayden's accuracy most.
Speaker 4: Of the time has been very on point. So the
Speaker 4: good things we're saying about Trey Lance, they're very poor
Speaker 4: man's versions of what Jayden can do. So I think
Speaker 4: this team is going to be more than prepared to
Speaker 4: go up against him.
Speaker 2: And and to that point, and Ethan's point on top
Speaker 2: of that, I mean, they've they've gone up against a
Speaker 2: few different rushing quarterbacks this year. You know, Kyler Murray
Speaker 2: and he didn't really do that much for them. Uh,
Speaker 2: you know, Jalen didn't exactly. He had his almost occasionally
Speaker 2: in that first matchup, but not exactly. Was he did
Speaker 2: a lot more with his arm, I would say, than
Speaker 2: than in other cases. And you've got you know, Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 2: You've gotta have a lot of other examples there, So
Speaker 2: ethan real quick before we move on to the next
Speaker 2: question here in terms of like him as a rusher,
Speaker 2: like what do you expect, like how do you spet
Speaker 2: the defensive line to to react and respond to to
Speaker 2: to another guy that that has as as Alex said,
Speaker 2: a poor man's version of Jayden Steell set.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think just ultimately it's gonna sound really cliche,
Speaker 5: but everyone's staying in their rush lanes doing their job,
Speaker 5: and I think that'll be more than enough to stop
Speaker 5: Trey Lance.
Speaker 3: I mean, we've seen Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 5: Part of the reason why he's as good of a
Speaker 5: rusher as he is is because when he's running RPOs,
Speaker 5: it's with Saquon bar who just talked two thousand yards
Speaker 5: like that's such a much bigger threat to hand the
Speaker 5: ball up to Saquon Barkley than it is to hand
Speaker 5: the ball off to Rico Dawdle. No disrespect to Rico Daddle,
Speaker 5: He's had a career year, but it's just a different
Speaker 5: it's a different level of danger when you're a defense.
Speaker 5: And going back to Alex's point earlier, when Rattler came in,
Speaker 5: the commanders were not prepared for him. But if I
Speaker 5: if we even go back one week, Michael Pennix, there
Speaker 5: wasn't a ton of tape on him. It was only
Speaker 5: a second NFL start, But I thought Penix made a
Speaker 5: couple of good throws. Obviously that fourth quarter drive was great,
Speaker 5: but I thought Washington's defense played against him really well.
Speaker 5: So I don't think a lack of film will be
Speaker 5: an issue for Washington with Trey Lance, because if they're
Speaker 5: preparing for him to play, which I think they are,
Speaker 5: I think they'll be more than just fine stopping someone
Speaker 5: who really hasn't proven much in the NFL when he's
Speaker 5: given his chance.
Speaker 2: True, and to that point has turned to the like
Speaker 2: lowing yards on the ground. Yes, they the commanders have been,
Speaker 2: you know, one of them the team to struggle the
Speaker 2: most in terms of a lot of rushing yards, But
Speaker 2: it comes as in terms of running backs, of the
Speaker 2: post to quarterbacks, which I think does you know, speak
Speaker 2: to one positive about the defense, which is now a
Speaker 2: top ten defense you know, believe it or not, compared
Speaker 2: to what they were at the start of the year.
Speaker 2: We'll move on here, but before we do that, I
Speaker 2: will give you a score update. You guys are tied
Speaker 2: three to three in terms of points. So still fighting
Speaker 2: forward here, still still battling it out. But we'll move
Speaker 2: on here to the to more of the offensive side
Speaker 2: of the football. And as much as I pains me
Speaker 2: to bring up this, this this last Cowboys matchup, We're
Speaker 2: gonna do it because that's that's the job. We'll folks
Speaker 2: look at the first half here in terms of like
Speaker 2: how the drives ended for the Commander's field goal, miss,
Speaker 2: field goal, punt, punt, interception, punt in a half and
Speaker 2: that led to a three to three halftime score.
Speaker 1: That I mean it.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 2: Granted, you know the Cowboys didn't do that much on
Speaker 2: offense either, but you're not expecting that kind of performance
Speaker 2: from an offense that is top top ten in several categories,
Speaker 2: top five in several other categories, one of the high
Speaker 2: scoring offenses in the league.
Speaker 1: So far this.
Speaker 2: Year, and it really played a role in leaving them
Speaker 2: with a hole that they were really kind of kind
Speaker 2: of always climbing to get out of. Some of them
Speaker 2: their feet were stuck in the mud on so many
Speaker 2: different our circumstances there, so ethan like, how do you
Speaker 2: expect this offense to adapt and respond to that? Because obviously,
Speaker 2: if they put the other that kind of winning formula
Speaker 2: against Dallas, there's they we're gonna end with the same
Speaker 2: sort of situation that we had back in November, and
Speaker 2: nobody wants that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think establishing the run early and consistently is
Speaker 5: by far the number one thing I'm looking for in
Speaker 5: this game. I mean, the last three weeks, the run
Speaker 5: game outside of Jaden Daniels has been leak at best.
Speaker 3: I mean, Chris Rodriguez has shown flashes, same.
Speaker 5: With Brian Robinson Junior, but it's not nearly what it
Speaker 5: was at the beginning of the season. And Dallas's run
Speaker 5: defense is not very good. I mean, they're twenty ninth
Speaker 5: and yards allowed before contact. So last week we just
Speaker 5: saw safeuon Barkley go for one sixty on them. I
Speaker 5: think if Brian Robinson, Chris Rodriguez Junior can get going early.
Speaker 5: We'll wait and see about Austin Eckler if he's going
Speaker 5: to be back in the lineup this week. But if
Speaker 5: they're able to establish the run early, that will open
Speaker 5: up the play action and from there, I think it
Speaker 5: could be a long day for the Dallas defense.
Speaker 1: You certainly hope so.
Speaker 2: And you know, the team did did get one hundred
Speaker 2: and forty five rushing yards on twenty five carries there,
Speaker 2: averaging five point eight yards per carry. But to your point,
Speaker 2: a lot of that came from Jade and Daniel seven
Speaker 2: carries for seventy four yards. That's been the case for
Speaker 2: you know, pretty much since that Tennessee game. It seems
Speaker 2: like Jayden has really had to carry the load in
Speaker 2: terms of rushing the football here for this Washington offense.
Speaker 1: Now, Alice will.
Speaker 2: Flip over to you here and you know, again we'll
Speaker 2: ask you the same question. I mean, what do you
Speaker 2: expect to see out of this Washington offense that you know,
Speaker 2: to its credit, has put up a lot of you know,
Speaker 2: thirty forty point performances this year, especially in the last
Speaker 2: you know, two weeks against you know, a really good
Speaker 2: defense in the Philadelphia I solid grew of the play
Speaker 2: you know really well, you know last well last week
Speaker 2: at the Falcons. But what do you expect out of
Speaker 2: them to rebound from, you know, just a poor first
Speaker 2: half that they had in the first matchup with the Cowboys.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean I think I'm you're gonna expect
Speaker 4: to see an offense that's highly motivated. I don't think
Speaker 4: they liked the way they played in that game. Asking
Speaker 4: a lot of the guys this week, I didn't really
Speaker 4: say there was a revenge factor, but they made it
Speaker 4: clear that yes, they've locked up a playoff spot, but
Speaker 4: they fully intend to come in there on Sunday and
Speaker 4: play hard and try to win a game. They talked
Speaker 4: about how Dan Quinn said seeding is important. So I
Speaker 4: think you're gonna want to see them early and often
Speaker 4: getting it going finishing drives.
Speaker 3: I think back to.
Speaker 4: The Tennessee game. I think back to the Carolina game
Speaker 4: where they were just totally dominating them, and that is
Speaker 4: what a lot of us expected to see in that
Speaker 4: last Cowboys game. So I think that's what they're gonna
Speaker 4: want to show this week. And I think sometimes we
Speaker 4: see you know, Ethan brought up the run game, which
Speaker 4: I agree with Sometimes we see Terry kind of get
Speaker 4: locked down early on, So I think either get Terry
Speaker 4: going right away the pro bowler we're talking about, or
Speaker 4: if you don't get him going right away, get the
Speaker 4: other guys in that offense going right away.
Speaker 3: You know, we've been.
Speaker 4: Seeing Jamison Crowder and Alamedde's that key is making plays.
Speaker 4: So whoever it is, like I said, get it going,
Speaker 4: finish those.
Speaker 3: Drives, build up a huge lead.
Speaker 4: So then that way you can take the starters out
Speaker 4: by halftime and you know, have that sixth seed locked up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm I'm really curious about the running game specifically,
Speaker 2: not to harp on that too much, but it does
Speaker 2: seem like for whatever reason, this the you know, Brian
Speaker 2: Robinson and Chris Rodriguez, they the yard just have come
Speaker 2: a little bit more difficult for this for this team.
Speaker 2: So Ethan, since you brought it up first, I mean,
Speaker 2: how I mean, they're probably no.
Speaker 1: Easy solution for this, right, I mean it's week eighteen.
Speaker 2: Teams have already kind of picked up a lot of
Speaker 2: what of what you know the Commander's gonna do on
Speaker 2: the ground, But is there an easy fix to this?
Speaker 2: What do you think should be done to remedy this.
Speaker 2: Maybe you know this slog outside of Jayde Nanas rushing
Speaker 2: the football.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, if there is an easy fix, I
Speaker 5: feel like I'd probably be on Cliff Kings very step.
Speaker 5: But I think just remaining committed to it. I think
Speaker 5: when you have such a dynamic quarterback and Jayden Daniels
Speaker 5: who can pretty much do everything on the football field,
Speaker 5: it's easy to want to put the.
Speaker 3: Ball in his hands every single play.
Speaker 5: And honestly, if they did that, I wouldn't necessarily blame them.
Speaker 5: But sometimes it takes five, six, seven carries early on
Speaker 5: for these running backs to get going. I mean, you
Speaker 5: talk to any running back, they'll say, it's so hard
Speaker 5: to get into rhythm when I have limited carries. And
Speaker 5: we've seen a lot of shuffling. We've seen Robinson come out,
Speaker 5: we've seen Rodriguez come in. We haven't really seen them
Speaker 5: remain fully committed to it, and sometimes it's a byproduct
Speaker 5: of the game script. Last week they went up from
Speaker 5: seven to nothing to down seventeen.
Speaker 3: It's kind of hard to stay with that.
Speaker 5: But against Dallas, a rushing defense, like I said, that's
Speaker 5: really struggled as of late.
Speaker 3: I think there's more room.
Speaker 5: To be patient and stay committed and kind of get
Speaker 5: these let these guys get going a little bit, and
Speaker 5: if you can, that could pay off in the third
Speaker 5: and fourth quarner when the Dallas defense is tired, they're
Speaker 5: on the field, Michael Parsons has his hands on his hips.
Speaker 3: That's when you can really strike.
Speaker 5: And I think if they're able to stay committed and
Speaker 5: do that, by the end of the game, they'll really
Speaker 5: start to get that running game going.
Speaker 2: And to that point, I think b Rob has shown
Speaker 2: that he's more of a volume carrier throughout his careers,
Speaker 2: and the more he gets more carrious, he gets as
Speaker 2: stronger he is as a rusher. I remember, like when
Speaker 2: I was in college, we had this play. It was
Speaker 2: just called power. It was really just a running back
Speaker 2: straight up the a gap. It was supposed to design
Speaker 2: to get only a couple of yards, but eventually it
Speaker 2: would get you know, two three one yards per like
Speaker 2: every four or five times running and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you go. So you go for sixty because eventually Devens
Speaker 2: get tired of that. And if you to that point,
Speaker 2: you have to stay committed to the run game. So
Speaker 2: Alex So we we'll flip over or to you before
Speaker 2: we answer me go to the last question here. You know,
Speaker 2: Ethan brought up Austin Eckler possibly coming back. He is
Speaker 2: in his twenty one day window for being placed on
Speaker 2: IR with the scary concussion that he that he took
Speaker 2: that he got in the last matchup against Dallas. You know,
Speaker 2: he seems like he's going to be on track to play.
Speaker 2: We don't know, you know, as of this recording, which
Speaker 2: is on Thursday. We'll see where he is. But Alex, like,
Speaker 2: I mean, how big do you specd like Austin's potential return,
Speaker 2: whether it's this week or maybe even next week, to
Speaker 2: really play into this running game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean he definitely has another dynamic to
Speaker 4: that running game because we know be Rob's skills set.
Speaker 4: You know, talk about how Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols
Speaker 4: have been able to make nice plays as well, but
Speaker 4: Austin really brings that aspect of the passing game and
Speaker 4: that speed on the offensive side of the ball. You know,
Speaker 4: there's been a lot of plays, probably several this year,
Speaker 4: where they dumped it off to him or handed it
Speaker 4: off to him, breaks off for twenty thirty yards and
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, you picked up a huge chunk downfield.
Speaker 4: So I think it would be massive if you get
Speaker 4: Austin Eckler back in there, just as a whole other
Speaker 4: dynamic to the offense. But again, you know, I'm also
Speaker 4: looking at the offensive line and the health situation there.
Speaker 4: You know, I brought up the Tennessee game before, and
Speaker 4: I think if you look at the tape, that was
Speaker 4: probably the Commander's best game in terms of run blocking.
Speaker 4: I mean, they were opening lanes and winning just about
Speaker 4: every matchup in that one. And that game, Cornelius Lucas
Speaker 4: started at right tackle. It obviously Tyler Biatis was that
Speaker 4: out there on the field. So both of them dealing
Speaker 4: with injuries as well, So I think that's another thing
Speaker 4: that's going to be key, you know, and also Andrew Wiley,
Speaker 4: you know, to have that rotation in there on the
Speaker 4: offensive line. So I think the offensive line needs to
Speaker 4: get healthy. And the good thing is they have this
Speaker 4: week before the playoffs to kind of do that, and
Speaker 4: ideally they get the offensive line back to full strength
Speaker 4: and Austin Eckler back on the field and they'll be
Speaker 4: ready to do it for that but like they said
Speaker 4: Dallas first.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, absolutely right, and and I think Eckler's
Speaker 2: value just comes so because the shiftingness is I think
Speaker 2: I think he's one of the best parts of his
Speaker 2: skill set. And you know, it was funny whenever I
Speaker 2: was when Eckler first signed with this, I was really
Speaker 2: excited and in my roommate was like, why are you
Speaker 2: so excited about Austin Eckler being on this offense? And
Speaker 2: you see, like you know, the fleet flicker screen that
Speaker 2: they had against Baltimore, you see some of these other
Speaker 2: plays that he's had, And that's exactly why, because he
Speaker 2: adds like this this unpredictability to it to to this
Speaker 2: offense that I think it is really really benefited from.
Speaker 2: And I hope he gets to come back, whether this
Speaker 2: week or next week, we'll see. Seems to be on
Speaker 2: the right track with again, with concussions, he never really
Speaker 2: know for sure. So final question before we move on
Speaker 2: or update. You guys are still tied, So we'll come
Speaker 2: down to this last case we're gonna make here, and
Speaker 2: it has to do with the Pro Bowl. So we
Speaker 2: had commanded to have two Pro Bowlers for sure as
Speaker 2: primary players. We have Jay Daniels, Terry McLaurin, both of
Speaker 2: which who are having extremely successful years. Terry on his
Speaker 2: way to having a career year. Jade and Daniels put together,
Speaker 2: quietly one of the best rookie performances we've seen, maybe ever,
Speaker 2: you know, at least in this franchise history, maybe even
Speaker 2: in the last you know, twenty years or so, in
Speaker 2: terms of what he's able to do. But there are
Speaker 2: a lot of other players who are listed as alternates
Speaker 2: on the Commander's roster that did not get the primary votes.
Speaker 2: Here we have Bobby Wagner, Tyler aut Nick Bloor, Talabiatic,
Speaker 2: Luvu Tresway, Austin Eckler, Dante Fowler, Jeremy Reeves, Jeremy Chen
Speaker 2: and Zach Ertz. All these guys are alternates at varying degrees.
Speaker 1: So Alex, we'll start with.
Speaker 2: You here, and I want you to make the best
Speaker 2: case for which player deserves to be in the Pro
Speaker 2: Bowl of the of this list of alternates.
Speaker 3: So I have two if that's allowed.
Speaker 1: If that's allowed the judges, the judges have conferred, and
Speaker 1: it is.
Speaker 3: So allowed, it is allowed. Okay.
Speaker 4: On offense, I'm going Tyler Piatt. If we're just talking
Speaker 4: about him in the anchor in the middle of that line.
Speaker 4: You know, the offensive line has been much improved this season.
Speaker 4: He's been good in.
Speaker 3: The run blocking. He's been a.
Speaker 4: Rock for Jade and Daniels in the passing game right
Speaker 4: in front of him. You've just noticed the difference when
Speaker 4: Tyler Biadish is not on the field, the offense takes
Speaker 4: a huge step back when he is out there. Obviously
Speaker 4: been more like a well oiled machine. So I think
Speaker 4: he's for sure a pro bowler. And then Frankie Luvu
Speaker 4: from the gate, right out of the gate start of
Speaker 4: the season, he was all over the field if you
Speaker 4: heard his name everywhere. It's been like that most of
Speaker 4: the season. He's found a great home here with the Commanders.
Speaker 4: So I think he's incredibly deserving to be a pro
Speaker 4: bowler as well.
Speaker 2: Both guys have serious reverberating effects on both sides of
Speaker 2: the ball.
Speaker 1: They are just beyond it.
Speaker 2: Has been such a key piece for Jaden Louve obviously
Speaker 2: has been a stud in so many different ways, having
Speaker 2: a career as a pass rusher.
Speaker 1: All right, ethan same.
Speaker 2: Question, and since Alex get have two, you can also
Speaker 2: have two as well.
Speaker 5: Well, with Alex having two, he took mine on the second.
Speaker 5: Frankie Louhu, I'll just touch on that again. I don't
Speaker 5: want to steal your answer, but the fact that he
Speaker 5: didn't make it. He's been there everywhere for the Commander's defense.
Speaker 5: He should one thousand percent be a pro bowler. But
Speaker 5: I'll go on the.
Speaker 3: Defensive defensive side to start or continue.
Speaker 5: I guess Bobby Wagner another one hundred tackle season, just quietly.
Speaker 5: I think his thirteenth one hundred tackle season, tying London Fletcher.
Speaker 5: We saw that earlier this year. He is the rock
Speaker 5: of this defense. And entering the year, when Bobby Wagner
Speaker 5: signed here, everyone was like, oh, I mean, he's been
Speaker 5: playing in the league for ten plus years, won a
Speaker 5: Super Bowl, been All Pro Pro bowler almost every single year.
Speaker 3: Why would he come to Washington. He should be ring chasing.
Speaker 5: So to say, well, he comes here, this defense turns
Speaker 5: around for week one to the end, and a lot
Speaker 5: of it is him, his leadership, his ability. He's still
Speaker 5: playing at an elite level even in his early thirties.
Speaker 5: I think there's no reason he shouldn't be a Pro
Speaker 5: bowler alongside Franklin Lulu. Those two have, in my opinion,
Speaker 5: turned this defense around completely from what we saw at
Speaker 5: the beginning of the year, but also what we.
Speaker 3: Saw in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 5: And if you give me another one, I'll take another one,
Speaker 5: mister proposal.
Speaker 3: Jeremy Reeves, I think he should absolutely be a Pro
Speaker 3: Bowler special teamer.
Speaker 5: Ever since twenty twenty two, when he actually was a
Speaker 5: Pro Bowler and All Pro, he's really just taken that
Speaker 5: role in stride and done everything he could to be
Speaker 5: the best Pro Bowl gunner he could be.
Speaker 3: And last year, obviously he is the ACL.
Speaker 5: He misses most of the year, he comes back this
Speaker 5: year returns to the top of his game, one of
Speaker 5: the best at his position in the league, if not better.
Speaker 5: Every single time there's a punt return, he seems to
Speaker 5: be the one making the tackle then going to hype
Speaker 5: up the crowd at Northwest Stadium. I think he absolutely
Speaker 5: deserves another trip to the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: All Pro Revo.
Speaker 2: I've been given that name for a reason, and I think,
Speaker 2: you know, him proposing to his to his girlfriend at
Speaker 2: the end of that Falcons game is just such a great,
Speaker 2: you know, way to end that that crazy night.
Speaker 1: You know, the work we're all up till about.
Speaker 2: One in the morning, and you know he's out here
Speaker 2: just you know, creating an even better moment for himself.
Speaker 2: He'll obviously never forget for a variety of reasons. Final
Speaker 2: decision here, this one was super tough. I feel like, uh,
Speaker 2: you know, we've become the Frankly the Frankie Loebu podcast recently.
Speaker 2: I feel like he's been brought up a few times
Speaker 2: of the last month or so, and deservedly so. Also
Speaker 2: with Hallibiatita. I think he's again his effects on the
Speaker 2: offensive line.
Speaker 1: He is clearly the leader.
Speaker 2: I Meank calls him badass because he is a badass
Speaker 2: and what he's able to call out the defense and
Speaker 2: help Jayden out. With that being said, man I cannot
Speaker 2: argue with the Hall of Famer and Bobby Wadner's influence
Speaker 2: on this d this team, his relationship with Jade, and
Speaker 2: his relationship with everybody on that on that team, he
Speaker 2: is a mentor to all these different guys. Uh so
Speaker 2: ethan first time on the podcast, First victory, Do you
Speaker 2: have any parting words for us before we hit our
Speaker 2: way out of here.
Speaker 3: That's a one hell of a streak right there.
Speaker 5: I'll have to come defend my crown another time, but
Speaker 5: no for seriously, thanks for having us.
Speaker 3: This was a ton of fun. It's been a lot
Speaker 3: of fun to cover this team this year.
Speaker 5: Back on the beat, so looking forward to the Sunday
Speaker 5: in Dallas and a playoff run that hopefully can go
Speaker 5: a few weeks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I certainly hope so.
Speaker 2: And you know who knows what the scene is gonna
Speaker 2: be between you know now and then with their sixty
Speaker 2: with their seven seed. Either way, this the season has
Speaker 2: been magical for so many different reasons, and I I
Speaker 2: really believe that Washington has a shot at beating any
Speaker 2: team that they go up against this year just because
Speaker 2: of their offense, where the defense has improved. They it's
Speaker 2: it's gonna it's gonna be something special, I think. And
Speaker 2: it's been a great start to Decuse tenure, great start
Speaker 2: to add in Peters tenure, both of which I think
Speaker 2: should be Coach and Executive of the Year candidates for
Speaker 2: what they've been able to do to turn this team
Speaker 2: around from going four and thirteen a year ago to
Speaker 2: being on the cause of winning twelve wins, tripling their
Speaker 2: win total in less than three hundred and sixty five days.
Speaker 2: That just is phenomenal. But again, guys, thank you so
Speaker 2: much for coming on. Really appreciate this has been great
Speaker 2: talking to you guys, And like Ethan Hope with the Commanders,
Speaker 2: will be celebrating a win with their twelve and five record,
Speaker 2: hopefully against the Dallas Cowboys, because it's always good to
Speaker 2: beat the Dallas Cowboys, no matter when it is, no
Speaker 2: matter what the situation requires.
Speaker 1: And we will be seeing you next week Trar the
Speaker 1: Playoff Push.
Speaker 2: How about that? Be sure to rate, review, subscribe wherever
Speaker 2: you get your podcast, and this has been the Beatdown