Speaker 1: What is that? What's going on, y'all? This is another
Speaker 1: episode of the Beatdown podcast and we're back. We are here.
Speaker 1: We have survived in at least another week because the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders have advanced to the conference championship for the
Speaker 1: first time since the nineteen ninety one season. And how
Speaker 1: about that win, right, a forty five to thirty one
Speaker 1: victory over the Detroit Lions. Is just I remember sitting
Speaker 1: there just listening to the broadcast and thinking, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is actually going to happen, because you always want
Speaker 1: something like this to happen, right, You always vision and
Speaker 1: vision whenever you work in sports, or whether you're like
Speaker 1: me or you're somebody else, you always want to be
Speaker 1: able to go to a championship game. And still don't
Speaker 1: know if it's really it really hit me yet because
Speaker 1: I've been working for this team's going on my six
Speaker 1: years now and we haven't really gotten close. This is
Speaker 1: the first time I've been to playoff games is twenty
Speaker 1: twenty longest I've been working this intensely for a season.
Speaker 1: But here we are, and it's one of those pincherrself
Speaker 1: ones because it truly is, truly is magical and They're
Speaker 1: going to have a three match, if you will, against
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles for a ticket to the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: in New Orleans against the the AFC champion. And surprise, surprise,
Speaker 1: this Eagles team is still as dominant as they were
Speaker 1: the first two times that they played the Commanders. Jalen
Speaker 1: Carter is phenomenal. Taekwon Barkley has since rushed for two
Speaker 1: thousand and five yards in a season. Jalen hurts good,
Speaker 1: but we'll maybe he's a little bit injured there. We'll see.
Speaker 1: We'll see what he's got going on for the rest
Speaker 1: of the week. And how are the Commanders going to
Speaker 1: do this? How are they going to advantage to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl for the first time since ninety one and
Speaker 1: the first time in dan Quinn's regime. Well, that is
Speaker 1: exactly what we're going to be talking about today and
Speaker 1: with when we have Wander Marrow from the Spanish broadcast one.
Speaker 1: How you doing doing good?
Speaker 2: Doing good? This? As excited as you are? Man Championship week?
Speaker 1: Oh okay through the roof Cloud nine, still am. And
Speaker 1: on the other side of this, we have Alcoholty. You
Speaker 1: can find him on the Alghaloty podcast out high You.
Speaker 3: Doing doing well, super pumped, amazing that we are here.
Speaker 3: But here we are, and let the good times continue, guys.
Speaker 1: Yes, let the good times keep on rolling. And guys
Speaker 1: listening to this, they know the deal by now. They've
Speaker 1: listen to this for better part of four months. Now, debates, questions, points, winners, losers.
Speaker 1: I get to decide who the winner is. With all
Speaker 1: that being said, let's just jump right into it here,
Speaker 1: and I think we have to start with this Philadelphia
Speaker 1: Eagles defense, specifically one guy, Jalen Carter, because, my god,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned at the top of the show, he
Speaker 1: has just been a dominant force up front this year. Definitely,
Speaker 1: if he's not top of the top defensive tackle in
Speaker 1: the league, he's definitely top two or three. This guy
Speaker 1: has been a mauler. He has just been this. He's
Speaker 1: been the same player in the postseason as he has
Speaker 1: been in the regular season. Right he has seven tackles,
Speaker 1: two sacks to sixteen sack yards loss, two tackles for loss, twas,
Speaker 1: two bass breakups, had a forced fumble he had last
Speaker 1: week against the Los Angeles Rams. And he's going to
Speaker 1: be a problem for this for this Washington Commanders offense.
Speaker 1: That is gonna be without Sam Cosmy as he had
Speaker 1: an ACL injury against the Lions and he will be
Speaker 1: out for the remainder of the playoffs. Is going to
Speaker 1: be again, it's going to be I think one of
Speaker 1: the one of the top priorities, if not the top
Speaker 1: priority to get a final answer for him. So one,
Speaker 1: we shall start with you, what do you do with
Speaker 1: this guy? Like, what do you do with Davin Carter?
Speaker 1: Especially if you're down you're starting right guard heading into
Speaker 1: this NFC Championship matchup.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the first thing you have to do
Speaker 2: is get hands on him. Don't hold him. I get
Speaker 2: your hands on and get your shoulder pads on him.
Speaker 2: Don't let him have a free run like he did
Speaker 2: to basically kill the game for the Rams last week
Speaker 2: and on that last minute drive that the Rams were
Speaker 2: I mean a lot of success on he single handedly
Speaker 2: killed the game right there. He had freedom run because
Speaker 2: of a confusion on the offensive line. I think that's
Speaker 2: what you know, Dan Quinn and the offensive coaches need
Speaker 2: to make focus here on this game is no mistakes,
Speaker 2: no mistakes on the line. Make sure you know your
Speaker 2: assignment and always know where ninety eight is at.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's definitely the case. And again, even
Speaker 1: if you know where he's at, he's he's really hard
Speaker 1: to stop because he's got such quick canes, he's got
Speaker 1: such quick feed. He's a powerful dude. He's got a
Speaker 1: rare blend of skills here and the quarter of PFF
Speaker 1: you know, regular in postseason, he's the fourth highest graded
Speaker 1: pass rusher for his position. He has sixty five total pressures,
Speaker 1: seven sacks. I mean, he's got fifteen his forty three hurries.
Speaker 1: I mean this, this dude is such a big presence
Speaker 1: in the past game and I think you know, Jaydon
Speaker 1: Jane Dannis has proven he can make a guy miss.
Speaker 1: But again, Jalen Carter has just been He's been a
Speaker 1: big challenge for the for any interior off at the
Speaker 1: line that he's gone up against. And I'll go over
Speaker 1: you next and we save question. I mean, if you're
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury, if you're Jaden Daniels, and you're all this
Speaker 1: guy at all the guys in this this oppensive meeting
Speaker 1: room trying to figure out how you stop Jalen Carter,
Speaker 1: what are you doing?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I don't think you stop Jalen Carter. I
Speaker 3: think you survive Jalen Carter as best as you can.
Speaker 3: I mean, Cliff Kingsbury has said it. Now that Aaron
Speaker 3: Donald is retired, Carter may well be the single best
Speaker 3: interior defensive lineman in the NFL. We saw the at
Speaker 3: least somewhat surprising tactic of Trent Scott put in place
Speaker 3: of Cosme during the winning at the Lions, but you
Speaker 3: know that was an in game thing. I really do wonder,
Speaker 3: with a week to prepare, if we see another path
Speaker 3: taken and to me and you know it's always tricky
Speaker 3: with offensive line play, but just outside looking in, what
Speaker 3: you always want to do is get your five best
Speaker 3: offensive linemen on the field. In theory, you could do
Speaker 3: that if you shifted Andrew Willie from right tackle to
Speaker 3: right guard and to put Cornelia's luck is at right tackle.
Speaker 3: Wiley has played guard. I don't know that that necessarily
Speaker 3: is where he is at his best, but generally speaking,
Speaker 3: guard is easier than tackle. So if a guy can
Speaker 3: do reasonably well at tackle, he should be able to
Speaker 3: do at least reasonably well at guard. I would think
Speaker 3: that that's on the table now. We don't know what
Speaker 3: you know, Cliff Kingsbury and Dan Quinn are necessarily thinking here,
Speaker 3: But I think it starts with coming up with, Okay,
Speaker 3: what is our best setup when it comes to starting
Speaker 3: front five for this game, and then you go from there,
Speaker 3: because look, even if Cosmy was healthy, I mean, Cosmey
Speaker 3: had issues with Jalen Carter, like he's a really tough matchup.
Speaker 3: So I think you got to figure out, Okay, what
Speaker 3: is our best way to make up for Cosmy being out? Personally,
Speaker 3: I would do Wiley at guard, Lucas at tackle, and
Speaker 3: then you go from there and you hope for the best,
Speaker 3: but it's not easy. Carter is a force. The Eagles
Speaker 3: defense has been tremendous this season. The Commanders know that,
Speaker 3: and this is probably the same biggest concern for Washington
Speaker 3: in this game, handling that mighty interior of the Eagles
Speaker 3: defensive line. Given that caused me is out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really, it really is. And again, really tough
Speaker 1: for cose Me to see him go out like that,
Speaker 1: because I mean, that's one of the biggest fears as
Speaker 1: an off the lineman because you're getting rolled up from
Speaker 1: the back like that. There's really nothing you can do
Speaker 1: about except it's move your feet, and even then it's
Speaker 1: kind of a little bit of a gamble. But you
Speaker 1: mentioned you mentioned the difference between garden tackle, and I
Speaker 1: mean you are right. I mean, gard in some ways
Speaker 1: is definitely a little bit easier than tackle. But uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think you know, Trent Scott or Andrew Walla,
Speaker 1: do you have the size, I think the girth to
Speaker 1: to be able to handle that position swap because you
Speaker 1: need to be wide up. But you also have really
Speaker 1: quick feed, the ability to pull, and you be able
Speaker 1: to dig out those nose guards. You got those three
Speaker 1: techniques and work on those combos up to the second level.
Speaker 1: I think Andrew Willy and Tren Scott do have that ability.
Speaker 1: But you mentioned Trent Squatt, and I think he did
Speaker 1: do well for what he was given. You know, for
Speaker 1: what it's worth, he did have the best pastors in
Speaker 1: great cording to PFF, among all of Washington's off of
Speaker 1: the lineman. After that game, so one, you know, al
Speaker 1: brings up the prospect of maybe maybe moving Andrew Willie
Speaker 1: over to guard, putting Cornelis who was the right tackle.
Speaker 1: I mean, what would you what would you do between
Speaker 1: those two between you know what that first proposition also
Speaker 1: just letting Trent s God, just state that guard position
Speaker 1: is letting it roll there.
Speaker 2: I mean, we don't see the practices, right, we don't
Speaker 2: see what they're doing every day. I mean, they have
Speaker 2: an active Chris Paul for most of the year, but
Speaker 2: we've seen that he's actually handled guard pretty well at time.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's an option that's on the
Speaker 2: table as well. Moving Andrew Wiley to the inside might
Speaker 2: be might be probably the best move, because you're right,
Speaker 2: we want to put Lucas on the field. He's played
Speaker 2: both sides of the line at tackle, and you need
Speaker 2: your best offensive lineman. I think Al has a point.
Speaker 2: You want your best five out there. And you know,
Speaker 2: I think that Andrew has done a great job at
Speaker 2: right tackle, but it's not anything that you know, you'd say, oh,
Speaker 2: it's a spectacular You're you're gonna miss, you know, something
Speaker 2: super out there on the outside. So I think Cornelius
Speaker 2: Lucas stepping in for him on the right side and
Speaker 2: maybe Wiley on the inside it might be a good combination.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it might be. And again, this is
Speaker 1: one of those things that Cliff d Q, they're not
Speaker 1: going to tell us. This is one of those things
Speaker 1: that we're not going to see in the open portion
Speaker 1: of practice there if they if that is the decision
Speaker 1: they go, they're going to tweak that and and play
Speaker 1: with that as best they can. And I think it
Speaker 1: is very key that, you know, you do have Corniscus
Speaker 1: who has played very well at tackle whenever he's been
Speaker 1: put in there, and also that experience of guard with Wiley.
Speaker 1: It just seems like that would be a good option.
Speaker 1: But again, I think I think Trend has shown that
Speaker 1: he can at least do some something in the run game,
Speaker 1: just straight up against against some guys that granted, Dylan
Speaker 1: Carter is a different kind of guy compared to what
Speaker 1: they were seeing with the Lions, I think that he
Speaker 1: can at least maybe handles on it if he gets
Speaker 1: some chip held and he gets some help from the
Speaker 1: set from tallabadish or or Andrew Wiley up their tackle.
Speaker 1: But al before we move on to the next question,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you, like in terms of establishing
Speaker 1: this run game against I guess a really really good
Speaker 1: you know, deep in the front with the Eagles. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously Jaen card is gonna pay big role in that,
Speaker 1: but like, what else can they do to replicate the one
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty two yards that they had against the Lions,
Speaker 1: because I think that was a really big point in
Speaker 1: keeping the town possession and keeping that offense churning while
Speaker 1: they were able to establish some points. Yeah, that was massive.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's funny the Commanders have won seven consecutive games,
Speaker 3: but that was the best the rushing offense in terms
Speaker 3: of running backs had been since the first game of
Speaker 3: that winning streak to win over the Titans. I mean,
Speaker 3: throughout the winning streak, the rushing offense had not been
Speaker 3: that good. Dan Quinn has been pretty you know, blunt
Speaker 3: about that. So a lot of what the Commanders did
Speaker 3: in the win at the Lions in terms of the
Speaker 3: rushing offense was spread the Lions out. The RPO game
Speaker 3: really opened things up, and that allowed for the Commanders
Speaker 3: to do which I always want to do, which is
Speaker 3: run against light boxes. The problem with the Eagles is,
Speaker 3: first of all, their defense is not nearly as banged
Speaker 3: up as the Lions defense. Second of all, the Eagles
Speaker 3: defense is a lot better than the Lions defense. And
Speaker 3: third of all, there ain't nothing light about those Eagles boxes.
Speaker 3: Well mighty Jalen Carter in the middle, So it's gonna
Speaker 3: be a tall task to run the ball as well
Speaker 3: as the Commanders did this past Saturday night, this coming
Speaker 3: Sunday afternoon. Now, that doesn't mean that that can't happen.
Speaker 3: You know, It's funny I mentioned that game against the Titans.
Speaker 3: One of the things that gets forgotten about that game.
Speaker 3: The Titans went into that game with one of the
Speaker 3: best run defenses in the NFL, and the Commanders ran
Speaker 3: the ball down the throat of the Titans. So, you know,
Speaker 3: we can talk about stats and matchups all we want.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's just about, hey, how you perform on that day.
Speaker 3: So I'm not dismissing any possibility, but I do think
Speaker 3: we have to be realistic here. I mean, even when
Speaker 3: the Commanders beat the Eagles about a month ago. Now,
Speaker 3: it's not like the Commanders ran the ball exceptlutely well
Speaker 3: in that game, Like that was a Jade and Daniel
Speaker 3: specialty that was airing the ball out. And I think
Speaker 3: when it comes to offensive success, that's a lot of
Speaker 3: what you're going to have to be looking at. Doesn't
Speaker 3: mean that you give up on the running game, but
Speaker 3: I think that we do have to be mindful of
Speaker 3: what happened last Saturday night, Is it necessarily what's gonna
Speaker 3: be happening in this Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1: No, that's that's absolutely true. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: it's gonna come down to how much they really trust
Speaker 1: the run game, because they they run the ball forty
Speaker 1: two times against the Lions, and that's that'd be great
Speaker 1: if they were able to do that. I don't know
Speaker 1: if they're going to be able to do so, especially
Speaker 1: with me the kind of path, kind of passer that
Speaker 1: that Jaden is, and also considering what happened with Kenyon
Speaker 1: on Mitchell, I think that could be an golden opportunity
Speaker 1: for them to establish a good presence through the passing
Speaker 1: game and maybe that'll set up the run game. I
Speaker 1: think it also b Rob continues to improve the way
Speaker 1: he did against the Lions. I think that's a good
Speaker 1: positive sign here. We will move on to the next question.
Speaker 1: But score update here, you guys are tied heading into this.
Speaker 1: Really good points made by both guys, and we're to
Speaker 1: move on to the second question here, which will gonna
Speaker 1: be the have the Commanders defense deals with Jailen Hurts.
Speaker 1: We've been mentioning this a couple of times. He Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts did come out a little hobbled in that game,
Speaker 1: and Nix, you're on to say, we'll see how the
Speaker 1: week goes. You know, I think it was Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: who's sat out of the game. Look, I finished the game.
Speaker 1: That's all that really matters. At this point, he seems
Speaker 1: like he's gonna be ready to go, And just from
Speaker 1: a competitor standpoint, I would be very shocked if he
Speaker 1: didn't go out there and play, because this is a
Speaker 1: you never know when you're going to get back out
Speaker 1: of this opportunity again, even when you're a talented team
Speaker 1: is the Eagles. But he really has not put up
Speaker 1: solid numbers of the passer this year. Nine of his
Speaker 1: nine games through nine games this year, he throw for
Speaker 1: fewer than two hundred yards. And also it just seems
Speaker 1: like whenever you put the ball in his hands more
Speaker 1: often than not, that's kind of the way that you
Speaker 1: beat the Eagles, as weird as that sounds. If you
Speaker 1: if you make him become a passer, it makes it
Speaker 1: a lot harder for him to do things. So all
Speaker 1: will start with you here, and I want to ask you, like,
Speaker 1: what's the best way that this secondary and this defense
Speaker 1: can take advantage of Jalen hurts deficiencies as a passer
Speaker 1: because again hasn't really done what you would want from
Speaker 1: from an offense as just talent wise stacked as that
Speaker 1: group is. Yeah, it's been an ideal.
Speaker 3: I mean the Eagles, of course two and zero postseason,
Speaker 3: but you look at their total net yards passing in
Speaker 3: each game, just a buck twenty one in the win
Speaker 3: over the Packers, just sixty five in the win over
Speaker 3: the Rams. Hurts sacks seven times in that game, didn't
Speaker 3: miss an offensive snap, but got fitted for a knee
Speaker 3: brace on his left knee during the game. So he's
Speaker 3: not one hundred percent now you know, like how much
Speaker 3: less than one hundred percent he is? Who the heck knows,
Speaker 3: But like he clearly is not one hundred percent. If
Speaker 3: you see the sack on which he suffered the safety,
Speaker 3: I mean, he did not look like the Jalen Hurts
Speaker 3: who we have come to know. You know, it's an
Speaker 3: ideal with Hurts because I don't think he's a bad quarterback,
Speaker 3: but I think the last year or two has kind
Speaker 3: of shown us he's maybe not as good as it
Speaker 3: was looking like he might be. Given the restricted mobility.
Speaker 3: Given that the Eagles passing offense right now is not hummin'.
Speaker 3: I think this is a pressure situation. Some of the
Speaker 3: especially like sim pressures from the Rams in the last game,
Speaker 3: really gave Hurt some problems. I think that might be
Speaker 3: a way to go if you're Joe Wit junior. You know,
Speaker 3: Joe Whit does like to blitz a decent amount. Obviously
Speaker 3: there's always risk in doing that, but I think you
Speaker 3: can get to Hurts here. I mean the guy again,
Speaker 3: seven sacks he took in that game against the Rams.
Speaker 3: That's that's a very significant number. And when it comes
Speaker 3: to the other aspect of the Eagles offense, Saquon Barkley, Look,
Speaker 3: he's gonna get his to at least some degree, especially
Speaker 3: with how this Commander's run defense has been this season.
Speaker 3: And again, you've got to be realistic about things. If
Speaker 3: you shut Saquon down, awesome, but you know, are you
Speaker 3: counting on that? So I think the path to defensive
Speaker 3: success here is can you do a good job against
Speaker 3: this Eagles passing offense. I think that you can, especially
Speaker 3: if Hertz is in fact ailing. I would like to
Speaker 3: think that Marshawn Lattimore in this game will be better
Speaker 3: than he was in that last game against the Eagles.
Speaker 3: I was a tough spot for Latimore coming off the
Speaker 3: hamstring being tasked with AJ Brown. I thought Latimore was
Speaker 3: better in the win at the Lions, and I look
Speaker 3: for him to continue to do well. Mikey sand was
Speaker 3: still is doing really well. Kwan Martin's doing really well.
Speaker 3: So I think the Commander's secondary is in a good place.
Speaker 3: Noah igbanagany, I don't think he gets enough credit, So secondary,
Speaker 3: I think is in a good place. Firts does not
Speaker 3: appear to be in a good place. This is the
Speaker 3: defensive matchup for the Commanders that actually way well break
Speaker 3: in their favor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you mentioned Saquon, and like the struct
Speaker 1: of the question, because I mean, the key to the
Speaker 1: key to this game at all, it is the stopping Saquon.
Speaker 1: If you do that, it's great. But nobody has done
Speaker 1: that all year. So it's it's more like, Okay, tackle him, great,
Speaker 1: that's fantastic if you can do it. Nobody really has
Speaker 1: been able to do so. But one will switch over
Speaker 1: to you here and the same sort of question, but
Speaker 1: I want to also just kind of focus on the
Speaker 1: secondary here. Because it brings up you know, Latimore, Ignogny, Sammer. Still,
Speaker 1: all those guys have really seemed to come into their
Speaker 1: own recently, especially with Latimore. Seemed like in that that
Speaker 1: lines game, he really don't play that one size was
Speaker 1: moving around. So what do you what do you see
Speaker 1: out of that out of that group there, and how
Speaker 1: can they do their job to affect Jalen Hurst's options
Speaker 1: heading into heading into Sunday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's what I was going to say
Speaker 2: that you know, in the first few games with Latimore,
Speaker 2: you know, you had them following the the number one
Speaker 2: receiver all over the field, and I think over these
Speaker 2: last couple of games where you've just given him at
Speaker 2: least at the second half of the Tampa game, uh
Speaker 2: and versus the Lions, he played half the field and
Speaker 2: he did well. He did very good. He did very good.
Speaker 2: You know, you saw them testing out Sanders still, golf
Speaker 2: tested sander Is still quite a few times, and Sander
Speaker 2: still came through. So I think the key is our
Speaker 2: pass rush and al mentioned it seven sacks. A lot
Speaker 2: of those weren't Hurts to be honest, a lot of
Speaker 2: those is not on this offensive line. The offensive line
Speaker 2: is a great offensive line. But if you confuse hurts,
Speaker 2: if you if you give him looks that he doesn't like,
Speaker 2: he doesn't like to throw turn off, he doesn't like
Speaker 2: to risk throwing interceptions. So you got you have to
Speaker 2: get to him. You have to make sure that you're
Speaker 2: giving them different looks and confusing him.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, I prefer more coverage than than blitzing him
Speaker 2: because he if you know he's hurt, you got you
Speaker 2: gotta see this injury report the next couple of days.
Speaker 2: If you know he's hurt, he's not gonna run, So
Speaker 2: there's no threat of him running. So I feel like
Speaker 2: you just need to play the coverage and make sure
Speaker 2: that you're confusing him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think, you know, the pass rushing against
Speaker 1: his offensive line is so interesting because to my to
Speaker 1: my eye, the Eagles have the best offensive line of
Speaker 1: the game. Uh. They they're they're full of all Pro
Speaker 1: They're full of Pro Bowlers. I mean, they're these are
Speaker 1: guys that they have homegrown, talent, driven guys are I mean,
Speaker 1: they're the best of their craft in a lot of
Speaker 1: different ways. So you mentioned bringing the simulated pressures, and
Speaker 1: I mean, do you think that's that's enough to get
Speaker 1: passes off of the line to put pressure on Jailing
Speaker 1: because it seems like whenever he's out there, he just
Speaker 1: has all day to throw. And you know, that's probably
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why he hasn't been able to
Speaker 1: throw the hadn't had to throw the ball so much
Speaker 1: because he doesn't really need to, especially with Saquan and
Speaker 1: all them. So like, I mean, how do you how
Speaker 1: do you is there is there a simple way to
Speaker 1: get past this offensive line put pressure on jail In
Speaker 1: and maybe the injury plays the part in there as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, there isn't a simple way. I mean a
Speaker 3: simp pressure. The idea would that you can confuse Hurts
Speaker 3: enough pause, enough pause to wear he's a bit off.
Speaker 3: But yeah, the Eagles offensive line is outstanding and there's
Speaker 3: probably only so much penetration you're going to be generating.
Speaker 3: So the hurt sacks, to Want's point, a lot of
Speaker 3: them are going to have to be on him. Now
Speaker 3: we know how it is a lot of mobile quarterbacks
Speaker 3: take sacks because they're out there scrambling buying time. So
Speaker 3: that is part of this equation too. But again, seven sacks,
Speaker 3: I mean, that's an unacceptable total. That's not something that
Speaker 3: any quarterback should ever be taken. And I don't care
Speaker 3: you know what his characteristics happened to be. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, we don't know the status of this knee. Again,
Speaker 3: it's a weird deal. He did not miss a snap
Speaker 3: in that game against the Rims. He played on one
Speaker 3: hundred percent of the Eagles offensive snaps. But he got
Speaker 3: fitted for a knee brace, So that's significant. Like, that's
Speaker 3: not nothing. And again, if you watch the game, he
Speaker 3: did not appear to be himself. So we'll see. But
Speaker 3: I think there's an overarching theme here, which is the
Speaker 3: Eagles passing offense is not in a great place right now.
Speaker 3: It's not killing it, it's not thriving the way Saquon
Speaker 3: Barkley is thriving. And so if you can keep that
Speaker 3: going for just one more week, that very much plays
Speaker 3: into the Commander's favor as much as the Commander's run
Speaker 3: defense has been an issue the past. Defense, if you
Speaker 3: look at some of the stats, if you're looking out
Speaker 3: of the season has gone on, it has not been
Speaker 3: as bad. Like I don't want to say it's been great,
Speaker 3: but it's it's been better, you know, Like I think
Speaker 3: you have to differentiate commander's run defense, commander's pass defense,
Speaker 3: commander's pass defense. Commanders have gotten some sacks. Commander's defensive backs,
Speaker 3: like we talked about, have done some good things here lately.
Speaker 3: So I don't think that's so reasonable to think that
Speaker 3: this commander's pass defense in this game could end up
Speaker 3: being a positive. We'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mentioned in the knee brace, and I
Speaker 1: don't know how much time he's ever played in a
Speaker 1: knee brace, but I can tell you that from my
Speaker 1: personal experience, it takes a little bit of time to
Speaker 1: getting used to just of how awkward it is, a
Speaker 1: little bit of a like movement deficiency there. So I
Speaker 1: wonder how much that's going to play if he doesn't
Speaker 1: wear the knee brace on Sunday, how much of a
Speaker 1: factor that's going to play. But one before we move
Speaker 1: on here, just kind of focusing on the injury a
Speaker 1: little bit. And I mean, one of the things that
Speaker 1: I noticed in that second matchup with the Eagles was
Speaker 1: how it seemed like they like, once once he got
Speaker 1: past the initial commander's rush in the few stands that
Speaker 1: he played there really wasn't like too much of an
Speaker 1: answer for it. It seemed like he was able to pull
Speaker 1: out these big, long chunks of rushing yards whenever he
Speaker 1: was just get past that initial rush. So, like, how
Speaker 1: how much do you think his inability maybe to move
Speaker 1: around is going to play a role in getting Jalen
Speaker 1: hurt to stay him is keeping in the pocket. And
Speaker 1: do you expect the commanders to test that a little
Speaker 1: bit to see how much he can actually move at
Speaker 1: least in the first quarter.
Speaker 2: I mean, it would be huge if he's not able
Speaker 2: to use his legs because you know who also cooked
Speaker 2: in that first quarter when he was in the game
Speaker 2: was Saquan After uh you know, he did have that
Speaker 2: long run after the series after he got hurt. But
Speaker 2: other than that, the Commanders kept them in check for
Speaker 2: the rest of the game because the game plan was,
Speaker 2: let's dare can he pick get to beat us? I
Speaker 2: think it kind of has to switch to list there
Speaker 2: for Jalen hurts and this uh you know, hurt passing
Speaker 2: game to beat us. You know, let's let's let's bet
Speaker 2: on that rather than focus all our attention on on Saquon,
Speaker 2: We're gonna we're gonna have to dare Jalen to try
Speaker 2: and throw over the top and hopefully you know our
Speaker 2: secondary is up for the task this time. You know
Speaker 2: that the Kenny pickt did lead a drive that could
Speaker 2: have ended the game right there, with the with the drop,
Speaker 2: with the drop by Smith right basically before that could
Speaker 2: have killed the clock. Now we have to ask ourselves
Speaker 2: if you know, if you as a secondary, are you
Speaker 2: willing to test that again? Are you willing to take
Speaker 2: that risk and make sure that it's on? It hurts
Speaker 2: to be either rather than squon.
Speaker 1: We will move on to the final question here and
Speaker 1: I will keep the score to myself. I'll do that.
Speaker 1: I did that last week. I think it add a
Speaker 1: little more intrigue. I think we do so again and
Speaker 1: we'll stick. We'll switch back over to the offense here.
Speaker 1: And I think obviously J Jalen Jayden has to play fantastic,
Speaker 1: right he has throughout his entire playoffs. He's top five
Speaker 1: and all among all postseason quarterbacks in passing yards, completing
Speaker 1: rating QBR. He's he has just been by far. I
Speaker 1: think objectively speaking, just about the numbers show the most
Speaker 1: consistent quarterback that we've seen throughout the postseason. But aside
Speaker 1: from Jayden, aside from those guys. Uh, there are obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of other offensive players are there who could
Speaker 1: who had a big role in this game. So one
Speaker 1: we'll start with you here, really simple, which offensive player
Speaker 1: besides Jayden needs to have an impact on Sunday for
Speaker 1: the Commanders to punchter take it to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: I think it has to be Austin Eckler to be honest.
Speaker 2: The first game, we saw a lot of him, especially
Speaker 2: in the passing game. Uh. He was basically the only
Speaker 2: option that we could throw down to because Philly likes
Speaker 2: to dare you to try to throw deep with their
Speaker 2: with their two deep safety looks. So he's gonna have
Speaker 2: to be eating there in the short game and in
Speaker 2: the in the short passing game. He wasn't available for
Speaker 2: the second game, which you know, obviously, I think the
Speaker 2: Keys took more of that role of his job in
Speaker 2: in that game. But I definitely think Austin Eckler being
Speaker 2: back it might be a wildcard for the Eagles defense.
Speaker 1: It might be. And for what it's worth, among all
Speaker 1: all all pass catchers through the postseason, Austin Eckler leaves
Speaker 1: the leads all pass catchers in receiving grade. He really
Speaker 1: has been such a key part of this off especially
Speaker 1: since he's come back. A lot of people didn't think
Speaker 1: he could, but here he is making an impact for
Speaker 1: this team. Al will switch over to you same question
Speaker 1: aside from Jayden, which after the player needs to have
Speaker 1: an impact on Sunday.
Speaker 3: I would say Diami Brown. So if you look at
Speaker 3: the two games between the Commanders and Eagles during the
Speaker 3: regular season, the loss for the Commanders at the Eagles
Speaker 3: in the Thursday night or, Terry mcclaurin ended up being
Speaker 3: like a total non factor in that game got taken
Speaker 3: out of that game. Second game, Terry was much more
Speaker 3: of a factor the win. Five catches, sixty yards and
Speaker 3: a touchdown on six targets. But whatever happens this Sunday afternoon,
Speaker 3: and look, I don't expect Terry to be taken out
Speaker 3: of the game like he was in that first game
Speaker 3: against Eagles. But Legals defense is good. Legals secondary has
Speaker 3: been really impressive this season. So you know, we can't
Speaker 3: just count on Terry necessarily having you know, ten for
Speaker 3: a buck fifteen if he does, awesome, But if Terry
Speaker 3: is removed from the game to whatever degree, is there
Speaker 3: another Commander's receiver who can emerge. And this rise of
Speaker 3: Diami Brown this postseason has been nothing short of stunning.
Speaker 3: I mean, you look at Diami Brown. Over his first
Speaker 3: four regular seasons, he never had at least four catches
Speaker 3: in each of at least two consecutive games. He has
Speaker 3: had at least five catches in each of these two
Speaker 3: games this postseason. I mean, statistically speaking, that's not supposed
Speaker 3: to happen, and yet it has. He's doing a really
Speaker 3: good job. He has emerged as the team's number two
Speaker 3: receiver in these playoffs, as the commander is remember, and
Speaker 3: I feel like this gets forgotten. They're playing without their
Speaker 3: number two receiver, Noah Brown. I know Dan Quinn doesn't
Speaker 3: like to say there's a number two receiver Noah Brown.
Speaker 3: Was there a number two receiver this season, like you
Speaker 3: go by basically any stat that was the case. Noah
Speaker 3: Brown's been out for about a month now, and Diamy
Speaker 3: Brown is really stapped up.
Speaker 1: And so you know, with this game, obviously you.
Speaker 3: Want and need Terry to be Terry, and I think
Speaker 3: he will be, but you need more than that, Like
Speaker 3: it can't just be the Terry McLaurin show. And you know,
Speaker 3: as odd as it may sound, I think there is
Speaker 3: a need here for Diami Brown to keep doing what
Speaker 3: he's doing. He has been a revelation these last few weeks.
Speaker 3: You know, there are of course other options. A Lama
Speaker 3: days the keys is certainly perfectly capable, but Diamy Brown
Speaker 3: has got it going right now. And you know he's
Speaker 3: making deep catches. He's generating yardage after catch, which which
Speaker 3: is obviously always key. So would love to see Diami
Speaker 3: have himself a third consecutive impressed about him.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been really happy for diam in the
Speaker 1: last few weeks. He leaves the team in yard lead,
Speaker 1: the team receptions. It's taking a while for him to
Speaker 1: really get going, but over the last two weeks, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's been, as you said, a revelation because you could
Speaker 1: argue the Commanders don't win these games without Dimmy Brown.
Speaker 1: The clutch catch he had, you know, to get the
Speaker 1: get the the the Commanders on the plus side of
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers territory to get set up that game leaving
Speaker 1: field goal. That insane catch he had uh near the
Speaker 1: the goal line of the Lions with a defender like
Speaker 1: hand in his face mask, making that catch. His trust
Speaker 1: in jaden Is was tremendous, really happy for Dioma to
Speaker 1: see what he's been able to do. All right, winner
Speaker 1: here this is That's why I always call it a
Speaker 1: burden because this was really really tough. You guys were
Speaker 1: tied heading into it. Both made excellent points. Both really
Speaker 1: made a strong case for the final question here who
Speaker 1: As much as I love Eckler, I think I have
Speaker 1: to go with Yami and now because as I said,
Speaker 1: like there's a big key that there's an argument that
Speaker 1: they don't win these games without without Diami. He really
Speaker 1: has stepped up. And I think, Alvali, you have won.
Speaker 1: You've got your win for the Beatdown podcast in the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship. Addition, do you have any words of victory
Speaker 1: for us?
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that. You know, it's like Jade and Daniels,
Speaker 3: you stay humble, you stay focused. Fourth quarter over time
Speaker 3: becomes winning time, like Dan Quinn likes to say. And
Speaker 3: we did what we could do, but it was not
Speaker 3: easy one. It was a very difficult opponent. Not unlike
Speaker 3: the Eagles this Sunday afternoon. This was a battle as
Speaker 3: big of a battle as we have this Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1: Uh Yes, and one. Again, I appreciate the afford. It
Speaker 1: was fantastic And again you made a really good point.
Speaker 1: I think Austin ecler is going to have a great
Speaker 1: impact in this game as well, because he was one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players that we signed this offseason. Actink timetime. Again,
Speaker 1: he has proven to be such a big key to
Speaker 1: what makes his offense right, makes what I think what
Speaker 1: makes them into a really good offense into like a
Speaker 1: really great offense.
Speaker 2: And I'm just happy that we can say we need
Speaker 2: Diyami to have a big game. You know, if we
Speaker 2: didn't have that in a Bengal card two months ago,
Speaker 2: I don't think so. Now that he's stepped up and
Speaker 2: he's doing good, I'm just happy that, you know, finally
Speaker 2: he's getting some shine, he's getting a chance to flourish
Speaker 2: into this offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Same. And look, we're all living in some crazy
Speaker 1: times because nobody thought this team was going to be
Speaker 1: an NFC championship. Just I mean, just a year into
Speaker 1: this new regime for dan Quinn Adam Pears, here we
Speaker 1: are and I think, as I said on Twitter after
Speaker 1: that game, the Commanders made a statement to the rest
Speaker 1: of the world that they're here and they are going
Speaker 1: to be a problem for a long time. And hopefully
Speaker 1: we will see you guys again next week covering the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, which is just wild for me to even say,
Speaker 1: but like al, hopefully the Commanders will be celebrating a
Speaker 1: win at Lincoln Financial Field, which by the way, would
Speaker 1: be just so sweet, so sweet to be celebrating on
Speaker 1: their own on that turf. But anyway, again, hopefully we'll
Speaker 1: see you guys next week. No matter what happens, be
Speaker 1: sure to rare or be subscribe wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1: And this has been the beat Down MHM.