Speaker 1: What's up with happening?
Speaker 2: All?
Speaker 1: This is the Beatdown Podcast, and guys, we're ready to
Speaker 1: get started into week two. And today we have two
Speaker 1: more guests. Last week we had Lake Lewis and David Harrison.
Speaker 1: This week we have Candy Waller, president of Booie TV Sports,
Speaker 1: and Alex Flohm from DC News. Now, guys, how we
Speaker 1: doing pretty good?
Speaker 3: Zach? Ready for week two?
Speaker 4: Yep? Same here? Ready to get rocking, as DQ would say, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think we're all ready to move on from whatever
Speaker 1: that was in week one for sure. You know, this
Speaker 1: week we have our home debut against the New York Giants,
Speaker 1: which I've been saying all week it seems to be
Speaker 1: more of a quote unquote in the Washington Commander's weight
Speaker 1: class as opposed to the perennial playoff contenditor that the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers were. But yeah, I think I think this is
Speaker 1: going to be a little bit more of a competitive matchup.
Speaker 1: And guys, let's go ahead and get jumping right into
Speaker 1: it here. Starting with the first question that we will
Speaker 1: be debating over between you two is you know Washington's
Speaker 1: offense went up against the buzz Saw in Todd Bowles's
Speaker 1: defense and you know, they blitsed them about forty two
Speaker 1: percent of the time, which is gonna make it gonna
Speaker 1: speed up Danny Daniels process and led to him runs
Speaker 1: in the ball sixteen times, which nobody wants. But Katy,
Speaker 1: we'll start with you here, and you know, the big
Speaker 1: question is what do you want to see from Washington's
Speaker 1: offense that Cindy struggle a little bit there going against
Speaker 1: the Todd Bowles. What do you want to see them
Speaker 1: do against the Giants defense that likely is not going
Speaker 1: to blitz as much as the Buccaneers.
Speaker 2: I would really like to see from Washington's offense a
Speaker 2: bit more, just you know, creativity. How can they get
Speaker 2: the other players involved? If we saw the run game
Speaker 2: get going a bit, we saw you know, a big
Speaker 2: run by Austin Eckler, We saw you know, b Rob
Speaker 2: doing what he does, but perhaps getting Austin Eckler involved
Speaker 2: a little bit more kind of couldn't get the wide
Speaker 2: receiver group going, so, you know, would love to see
Speaker 2: a bit of that.
Speaker 4: Can they connect?
Speaker 2: Can can we see where Jaden will have a chemistry
Speaker 2: or connection with Terry or with Luke or.
Speaker 4: With Diami o Z.
Speaker 2: Let's see how that works out and then just the
Speaker 2: tight ends like.
Speaker 4: All Duram Camp. We saw, you know, zach Ertz being kind.
Speaker 2: Of like that security blanket but just couldn't get that
Speaker 2: going so where they can really be creative and utilizing
Speaker 2: the different position groups on offense.
Speaker 4: Love to see that happening in week two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you very have a good point about the
Speaker 1: wide receivers because in the first half the wide receiver
Speaker 1: group as a whole had one catch for no yards
Speaker 1: and that was for Luke McCaffrey, who who did have
Speaker 1: end up having a pretty solid game. But that you're right,
Speaker 1: that is nowhere close to what you'd want from from
Speaker 1: those receivers. And else we'll bring this to you here.
Speaker 1: And you know, she brings up the wide receivers now,
Speaker 1: like what do you think they can do to get
Speaker 1: more get more action from their years? It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: just giving Jane more protection or is it just the
Speaker 1: receivers getting up it? Like what do you think about that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I think it seemed did seem like the
Speaker 5: receivers were struggling a bit to get opened last week. Obviously,
Speaker 5: you know, we barely heard Terry mcclaurin's name. We didn't
Speaker 5: see much, you know, from Dimmie Brown, from Luke from Alamide.
Speaker 5: So I think the receivers need to do a little
Speaker 5: bit of a better job this week getting separation. But
Speaker 5: one thing under the radar that I'm going to be
Speaker 5: keeping my eyes on this week is how much we see.
Speaker 3: Brandon Coleman on the field.
Speaker 5: They were about two drives where he had a lot
Speaker 5: of time on the field, and those two drives were
Speaker 5: the two drives that the Commanders scored a touchdown this
Speaker 5: past week. So I think seeing him on the field
Speaker 5: little more. And I know he dealt with some injuries
Speaker 5: in preseason, so I think if they can get Coleman
Speaker 5: in more, and you know, I think a lot of.
Speaker 3: Factors play a role here.
Speaker 5: I don't think anything was exactly jayde Daniel's fault last week.
Speaker 5: I thought he had a pretty nice and solid debut.
Speaker 3: But I think a little more.
Speaker 5: Protection and a little more separation from the receivers, which
Speaker 5: they hopefully should get against the Giants this week, I
Speaker 5: think we could see a much bigger day from the
Speaker 5: passing offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really think so too. And if you look
Speaker 1: in I mentioned at the top of the show that
Speaker 1: the Commanders were blitzed about forty two percent of the time,
Speaker 1: which was the second highest across the league in general.
Speaker 1: Now the Giants, their hand, they blitzed about half of
Speaker 1: that and that was about twenty six in the league.
Speaker 1: So either way, no matter what we're gonna see from
Speaker 1: this Giants kind of defense with that new deeps of
Speaker 1: coordinator and Shane Bowen, you're you're gonna get a lot
Speaker 1: less pressure at least from you know, blitzing you know,
Speaker 1: five or six different guys. Now the defensive line is
Speaker 1: for the Giants a little bit a little bit different
Speaker 1: question just because they're so dominant. But Candy, I'll ask
Speaker 1: you this is, you know, say, say Jayden does get
Speaker 1: less pressure, which we I think is gonna be expected
Speaker 1: compared to what we saw from from the Buccaneers, how
Speaker 1: do you think that that fewer amounts of pressure is
Speaker 1: really going to help him in his progressions, in his
Speaker 1: process and trying to you know, get some of these
Speaker 1: wide receivers up and get some of these some of
Speaker 1: these weapons more involved. As you said earlier, I.
Speaker 4: Think it will help Jayden even probably.
Speaker 2: Get a bit more comfortable to the pace of the game.
Speaker 2: It's almost like at times in Week one, you know,
Speaker 2: it was like, Okay, is Jayden panicking?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 4: Is it? Like, you know, did he did he? Did
Speaker 4: he run?
Speaker 2: Because he just was a you know, we know that
Speaker 2: he's a competitor and he needs to go, but it
Speaker 2: also can resemble like panic mode as well, like oh
Speaker 2: my gosh. So it's almost like wanting to see that calm,
Speaker 2: collected poise that we've seen throughout camp.
Speaker 4: Perhaps this is a week where he can really.
Speaker 2: Get comfortable into the maybe passing first QB that we
Speaker 2: know dead Quinn and uh, you know all offensive coordinated.
Speaker 4: Cliff Kingsbury has said they would like to see him do.
Speaker 2: So I think it's more of a is this the
Speaker 2: week where we see him really get comfortable into his role?
Speaker 4: Like y'all said, it was a solid.
Speaker 2: Game, but at times it looked a little haywire, and
Speaker 2: so maybe it looks a bit more collected and confident
Speaker 2: even and the weapons that he currently has the round him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're right, I mean in training camp it
Speaker 1: seeing what we saw not so a completely different offense,
Speaker 1: but it did seem like it was a little bit
Speaker 1: more uh polished, a little bit more in synct than
Speaker 1: what you said, no, No, Granted, some of that is
Speaker 1: to be expected because they're doing more vanilla stuff. They're
Speaker 1: not doing these these complicated concepts. They're keeping things simple
Speaker 1: for the you know, the fact they want to bring
Speaker 1: Jade and the rest of the offense along. But fum,
Speaker 1: I'll bring this to you, you know, before we move
Speaker 1: on to the next question, is you know she mentioned
Speaker 1: that the quote unquote the freak out stuff that would
Speaker 1: happen occasionally, and how Jade would sort of speed up
Speaker 1: his progressions. That Another thing we didn't really see that
Speaker 1: much in the game was the amount of exposive play
Speaker 1: that seemed to be starting to open up a little
Speaker 1: bit more during training camp. And we do know that
Speaker 1: that Jayden has the ability to launch the ball down field.
Speaker 1: So say he does get more protection from from Brandon Coleman,
Speaker 1: like you said, assuming he plays or Cornelia suits whoever's
Speaker 1: out there, how do you expect that to to help
Speaker 1: him in terms of like stretching the offense down the
Speaker 1: field and getting some of these guys open, like Terry
Speaker 1: Luke and even Diami.
Speaker 5: Well, we did see a couple of times they tried
Speaker 5: to launch it downfield and a couple of times. It
Speaker 5: did look closer, you know, close last week, and like
Speaker 5: the Candy said, we saw it in preseason. We know that,
Speaker 5: you know, he's capable of making.
Speaker 3: These plays in practice.
Speaker 5: It's just a matter of seeing that happen for the
Speaker 5: first time in a game, and you know it should
Speaker 5: happen this week against the Giants.
Speaker 3: Like we said, the Bucks a little bit.
Speaker 5: Stronger of a team, stronger of a defense, and I think,
Speaker 5: to me, I think they're gonna want to get one
Speaker 5: of those plays off early. And you know, it's week two,
Speaker 5: it's early in the season. I would have to imagine
Speaker 5: we're going to see dan Quinn with Kingsbury taking a
Speaker 5: couple maybe extra chances early, just so Jayden could get
Speaker 5: one of those big plays. Because you know, this is
Speaker 5: the start of his career. You know, we have to
Speaker 5: remember that. You know, he's just getting rolling, and you know,
Speaker 5: I think once he hits one of those big plays,
Speaker 5: we're going to see that he's capable of doing that.
Speaker 3: He's going to see that he's capable.
Speaker 5: Of doing that in an NFL game, and I'm sure
Speaker 5: we're going to see it a lot more than once
Speaker 5: going forward to you.
Speaker 1: Know, the Commanders were last in the league in quitted
Speaker 1: air yards last year with thirty or last week with thirty,
Speaker 1: So we we definitely do expect them to at least
Speaker 1: be better than that, especially with the you know, they
Speaker 1: don't have the best receiving corps out there, but they
Speaker 1: do have some explosive weapons that can definitely help them.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna move on to the next question, but
Speaker 1: right now we'll give you a little bit of a
Speaker 1: score update. Alex. You were in the league four to three,
Speaker 1: so it's still pretty tightly contested battle here, but we
Speaker 1: do have a chance to to even the odds a
Speaker 1: little bit with a defensive question, and it's even more
Speaker 1: of a general one. You know, obviously the offense was
Speaker 1: had its up and down performances, but it was still
Speaker 1: largely and i'd say, closer to the mean in terms
Speaker 1: of stats around the league. The defense, at the other hand,
Speaker 1: was definitely closer to what we saw last year, which
Speaker 1: is a little bit disappointing in terms of allowing explosive plays.
Speaker 1: Nine plays of at least fifteen yards or more and
Speaker 1: then third downs was the one of the biggest concerns
Speaker 1: that the Buccaneers hit about sixty nine percent of their
Speaker 1: third downs, which is just, you know, not acceptable in
Speaker 1: any any sense, not a winning formula at all. But
Speaker 1: Alex will start with you first. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: things to improve upon for this Commander's defense, for sure,
Speaker 1: But what do you want to see the most in
Speaker 1: order to get a bounced back performance from this unit?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I definitely want to see the secondary step
Speaker 5: up a bit. I know they had a tough time
Speaker 5: with the Bucks passing attack, but I do think it
Speaker 5: starts with the pass r us.
Speaker 3: Just having a slightly better day.
Speaker 5: I mean, Coach Quinn talked about it yesterday at practice.
Speaker 5: There were a lot of points where they were getting
Speaker 5: back there and applying pressure, but there were many many
Speaker 5: points where they were not finishing and not picking up
Speaker 5: a sack in those instances. So I think the pass
Speaker 5: rush has to be better than it was last week.
Speaker 5: And like we said about the offense, I think the
Speaker 5: defense itself should be better. You know, this Giants team
Speaker 5: is a team that looked very, very bad in Week one.
Speaker 5: You know, they're the only team that didn't win and
Speaker 5: also didn't score a touchdown in their first game. So
Speaker 5: the Commanders just have to make sure, you know that
Speaker 5: they don't play down to the Giants, and I think
Speaker 5: a lot of that.
Speaker 3: Will start with the pass rush getting back there.
Speaker 1: Cand It. We'll go over to you next, because you know,
Speaker 1: the inability to finish was so critical against Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: and now they go up against Daniel Jones, who has
Speaker 1: round every other team in the league has not really
Speaker 1: performed up to his from caliber that he was that
Speaker 1: he was drafted in. When he goes against the Commanders,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, he seems to play like he's one
Speaker 1: of the top quarterbacks in the league. So in terms
Speaker 1: of getting to Daniel Jones, what do you want to
Speaker 1: see from them to get him on the ground and
Speaker 1: get him to get him you know, speed of the process,
Speaker 1: and get him under pressure, because for whatever reason, Daniel
Speaker 1: Jones seems to be a big problem for this unit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is kind of exactly what Alex was saying.
Speaker 2: You know, the defense is inability to finish last week
Speaker 2: was glaring.
Speaker 4: So as you just mentioned, Zach, yes, Daniel Jones has
Speaker 4: like career games against.
Speaker 2: The Commanders and I'm sure everyone is thinking, you know,
Speaker 2: the Commanders can't lose to the Giants. But guess what,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure the Giants are thinking the same thing. Oh,
Speaker 2: we cannot lose to the Commanders. So I think you'll
Speaker 2: probably see a different team on both for both teams.
Speaker 2: But the ability to just finish. The defense missed so
Speaker 2: many tackles on Sunday and they need to they need
Speaker 2: to make Daniel throw, but don't even give him an
Speaker 2: opportunity to The more there could be a bit more
Speaker 2: grass or mud on his jersey, the better off for
Speaker 2: this defense. So this is the game where we don't
Speaker 2: want it to be another so many high houses for
Speaker 2: the defense, and here we go again with it being
Speaker 2: down the tubes. This is an opportunity for the defense
Speaker 2: to say, hey, we had to get the kinks out,
Speaker 2: we had to knock the dust off a bit in
Speaker 2: week one, but we are legit and Daniel Jones will
Speaker 2: not be successful against us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're exactly right, And you know this kind of
Speaker 1: goes into you know the other part of the question
Speaker 1: for as far as Daniel Jones' performance is his weapons, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's not gonna have Sagon Barkley or he's gone.
Speaker 1: He's playing for Philadelphia. Darius Slayton seems to be in
Speaker 1: the concussion protocol, so I don't know if he's going
Speaker 1: to be playing or not. We'll see what monitor that
Speaker 1: to see how he how he does, but blite Neighbors
Speaker 1: is gonna be it would seem to be a big,
Speaker 1: big problem for this secondary which allowed only six incompletions
Speaker 1: for Baker Mayfield. He had two or eight nine yards
Speaker 1: four touchdowns. He was bawling out in a way that
Speaker 1: we really haven't seen him in quite a while. So
Speaker 1: Alex will switch back over to you here in like
Speaker 1: how concerned are you about this secondary or about the
Speaker 1: secondary which allowed so many exposive plays as far as
Speaker 1: you know in communication probably had to play a role
Speaker 1: in that, But like, how concerned do you and what
Speaker 1: do you what do you expect them to do? Going
Speaker 1: against a different receiving court that is not as as
Speaker 1: talented and harold as the Buccaneers, but still pretty solid
Speaker 1: ish group.
Speaker 5: I would say I'm pretty concerned about the secondary just
Speaker 5: because it resembled a lot of what we saw last
Speaker 5: year with their struggles. I think a lot of people
Speaker 5: were expecting to see a different look, a stronger play.
Speaker 3: Emmanuel four.
Speaker 5: Obviously, he had his struggles in his rookie year, and
Speaker 5: you know, didn't really show many signs of a step
Speaker 5: forward this past week, though I know he was dealing
Speaker 5: with a bit of an injury, but I know, I think.
Speaker 3: The secondary definitely needs to step up.
Speaker 5: It's a little bit of a concern, and Malik Naghbors
Speaker 5: does concern me a little bit from the Giant side
Speaker 5: because we talked about the fact that their game last
Speaker 5: week was a disaster.
Speaker 3: He was one of the lone bright spots in that
Speaker 3: game for them.
Speaker 5: He had five catches for sixty six yards, including a
Speaker 5: twenty five yard grab. So I think they're gonna, like,
Speaker 5: just like we talked about the Commanders needing to have
Speaker 5: big plays, they're gonna need to limit the Giants big
Speaker 5: plays because it's one thing when it's Mike Evans and
Speaker 5: Chris Godwin, that really tough passing attack led by Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 5: But this week he said, it's a different story. It's
Speaker 5: not as strong of a group. And you know, I
Speaker 5: think for this secondary, this is a chance to prove
Speaker 5: themselves and a chance to show after last week that
Speaker 5: you know, this is a different group this year and
Speaker 5: they are ready to take that step forward.
Speaker 1: Candy same qu Before we move on to the final
Speaker 1: question how big is the communication going to be, because
Speaker 1: I mean Bendamussain's you said after the game there was
Speaker 1: a big deal, and dan Quinn even said during Alla's
Speaker 1: money prescotens this was also a big deal they need
Speaker 1: to fix going forward.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I mean it was glaring right that you can
Speaker 4: see that they could.
Speaker 2: Almost look like they did not know what was going on,
Speaker 2: and so this is going to have to really look
Speaker 2: like these guys are much more sync and being able
Speaker 2: to read any verbal and nonverbal cues as well, because
Speaker 2: not sure what it you know, came off on the TV,
Speaker 2: but even watching it live it was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: they don't know where to go and they have no
Speaker 2: idea where the football is.
Speaker 4: So that is.
Speaker 2: Definitely going to have to tighten up a great deal
Speaker 2: much of what we saw last week, and I know
Speaker 2: dan Quinn has been saying it that you know, we'll
Speaker 2: all see a much improved team, more aligned.
Speaker 4: In the brand of football that they want to play.
Speaker 4: But if that's what, If that's.
Speaker 2: True, this is to this is the week to prove
Speaker 2: that against a very much struggle Giants team.
Speaker 1: Yes, completely right, And you know this kind of goes
Speaker 1: into the last question here, but before the quick scoretate again, Kenny,
Speaker 1: you are now ahead again with one point, so see
Speaker 1: if l Alex can get back in the lead here.
Speaker 1: But for this last question, Canny, we'll start with you here.
Speaker 1: Finish the sentence. Washington will win on Sunday if what happens.
Speaker 2: Washington will win on Sunday. If the defense actually makes
Speaker 2: Daniel Jones look like.
Speaker 4: The real quarterback that he is in real life and
Speaker 4: not Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, You're completely right on that, Alex,
Speaker 1: same question. Washington will win on Sunday if what.
Speaker 5: Happens, Well, Kendy went with defense, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 5: the offense. Washington will win Sunday if the offense gives
Speaker 5: Jaden just a tiny bit more time and the receivers.
Speaker 3: Get a little bit more open.
Speaker 5: I think we saw what he can do with his
Speaker 5: feet last week. We've seen what he can do with
Speaker 5: his arm this entire preseason, and I think he's ready
Speaker 5: to unleash that and show it to the NFL. And
Speaker 5: I think even if Daniel Jones doesn't have an awful game,
Speaker 5: if the Commander's offense can counteract that and step up
Speaker 5: and make.
Speaker 3: Some big plays like we talked about.
Speaker 5: I think people are going to be talking about Jaydon
Speaker 5: Daniels's Rookie of the Year already, and the Commanders are
Speaker 5: going to be celebrating with a win at home to
Speaker 5: start the season.
Speaker 1: You know that that is such a good point, because
Speaker 1: I really do think this this offense is much better
Speaker 1: than the twenty points that it put up, especially considering
Speaker 1: that they had a were in scoring opportunity twice and
Speaker 1: came away with two missfield goals. Now we hope that
Speaker 1: Sebert is going to be a little bit better than
Speaker 1: what k you're put together again last week against the Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: But and you know, ultimately, though those six points may
Speaker 1: not have played too much of a role in the outcome,
Speaker 1: But you know, thirty seven to twenty six whole looks
Speaker 1: a whole lot better than thirty seven to twenty and
Speaker 1: I think it is a little bit more indicative of
Speaker 1: how the offense played. And especially I think going against
Speaker 1: the defense that is gonna play a little more straight
Speaker 1: up with him, I don't think they're gonna blitz him
Speaker 1: as much. I think they're gonna be able to protect
Speaker 1: him a little bit better. Even with Dector Lawrence and
Speaker 1: Brian Burns and Kevon Thibodeau. I think I think this
Speaker 1: offensive line is going to play a little bit better
Speaker 1: than the I think it was two point three five
Speaker 1: seconds of time to throw that they gave Jayden Daniels
Speaker 1: in Week one. I think that's gonna be a little
Speaker 1: bit better. But as as valid as those points are, Alex,
Speaker 1: I have to give it to Candy here because I mean,
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones has been the bugaboo for this team for
Speaker 1: the better part of three years now. They have not
Speaker 1: beaten him in a while. They have They had a
Speaker 1: chance to beat him twice in twenty twenty two, they
Speaker 1: came with a tie and the loss. Twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: they you know, they underperformed in several aspects in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three and ended up losing both of those games.
Speaker 1: So Candy, I have to give you the win here,
Speaker 1: because Daniel Jones it seems as weird as it sounds.
Speaker 1: He is the factory. So you're you're the victor. How
Speaker 1: do you have any parting words for us?
Speaker 4: I mean, whoo really no, of course, it was great
Speaker 4: to do this with you all.
Speaker 2: Algie brought up some fantastic points as well, So this
Speaker 2: this was great, but this is absolutely if I know
Speaker 2: it's just sweek two, and I know that folks continue
Speaker 2: to say it's just one game and this will just
Speaker 2: be Week two, but I do think that this is
Speaker 2: a must win this week for the Commanders.
Speaker 1: I would agree. I would agree with that in some
Speaker 1: in some instances because I think, yeah, it's week two.
Speaker 1: If they go into it's not great, and it definitely
Speaker 1: the number of the probability of you making the playoffs
Speaker 1: though and two definitely goes down. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I think from just a larger perspective, just winning against
Speaker 1: the Giants does bring a little bit more of a
Speaker 1: morale boost to this to this team, especially for the
Speaker 1: players who have who or who are still here, the
Speaker 1: few that are still here from last year, the last couples,
Speaker 1: last couple of years. If they can be the Giants,
Speaker 1: I think things are all the way back. They get
Speaker 1: a one to oh start in the division, and I
Speaker 1: think they get if they get back on track and
Speaker 1: get ready to face the Cincinna Bigel. So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be another tough test. But guys, I really appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming on. It's been fantastic having you guys, uh, and
Speaker 1: we will see you in the press box on Sunday.
Speaker 3: Zach and congrats hard to go against the goat. Congrats
Speaker 3: on the room.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, we shures a rate review. Subscribe to
Speaker 1: the DM podcast and we will see you next week.