Speaker 1: What's going on? What's happened? Everybody? This is the Beatdown Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Senior Wriyah for the Washington Commanders,
Speaker 2: Zach Shelby and the vibes out here are immaculate in
Speaker 2: ways that really haven't been in about a decade. As
Speaker 2: the Commanders thoroughly dismantled the Arizona Cardinals forty two to fourteen,
Speaker 2: going to three to one for the first time in
Speaker 2: twenty eleven.
Speaker 1: How about that. And after doing three.
Speaker 2: Of four road games to start the season, they are
Speaker 2: coming back to Northwest Stadium to take on the Cleveland
Speaker 2: Browns who are one in three, not necessarily the record
Speaker 2: that they would want, but this is still a team
Speaker 2: that's a little bit feistier than maybe some would think.
Speaker 2: They've got a really strong defense to Shohn Watson is
Speaker 2: still maybe not as maybe not now corback he was,
Speaker 2: but still has some flashes of it here and there.
Speaker 2: So the Commanders have a chance to go four and
Speaker 2: one for the first time in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 2: which would just be amazing for this French guys, for
Speaker 2: this team as they get into the first year of
Speaker 2: Dan Clinton's regime, and how do they gonna be able
Speaker 2: to do that. Well, that's what we're gonna be talking
Speaker 2: about today. And with me we have Mitch Tisler of
Speaker 2: Monumental Sports and the Beltwegh Football Pot and Bran Winstein
Speaker 2: and the voice of the Commanders and hosts of the
Speaker 2: Bran Wonstein Show Boys.
Speaker 1: How we do It Today?
Speaker 3: Immaculate.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Mitch, this is a dream come true. I don't
Speaker 4: think I've ever done a show with you. I am
Speaker 4: very excited about this.
Speaker 3: I am very excited about this too. I can't wait
Speaker 3: at the beat you a little bit, all right?
Speaker 2: They all right, awesome, So they mentioned the debate this,
Speaker 2: We're gonna be really quick about it because guys, you
Speaker 2: know how it goes now. I mean, these guys are
Speaker 2: gonna be debating questions, They're gonna they're gonna be given points,
Speaker 2: and uh, there is gonna be a winner. Because it's
Speaker 2: my podcast. I can decide who wins the who wins
Speaker 2: and who loses. But at the same time, you know,
Speaker 2: what you should be more focused on is what these
Speaker 2: guys takes are rather than who wins and who loses.
Speaker 2: Here because he's got some of the best of what
Speaker 2: they do. Uh. And without further ado, let's go and
Speaker 2: get started here starting with the Browns offense. And as
Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier, Deshaun Watson probably not the elite MVP
Speaker 2: caliber quarterback that he was with the Houston Texans, but
Speaker 2: you do still see flashes of the player that he
Speaker 2: once was as he's gone through the first couple of
Speaker 2: years in his tenure with the Browns. So, Bram, I
Speaker 2: will start with you, because the quarterback is still the
Speaker 2: most important position for this defensive stop.
Speaker 1: What's the best approach to.
Speaker 2: Limiting him as they come to him to the Commander Stadium.
Speaker 4: So I think this is really interesting because they don't
Speaker 4: know whether this is by design, or it's due to injuries,
Speaker 4: or they don't trust Watson to make plays down the field.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think only they can really answer this.
Speaker 4: But the vast majority of their offense is underneath. And
Speaker 4: you'll see this in metrics, like he's like thirty first
Speaker 4: in the league in pass yards per attempt, but they're
Speaker 4: all dump offs to running backs or tight ends underneath.
Speaker 4: There's very little plays that are thrown down the field. Obviously,
Speaker 4: he can run and he can move, but he's not
Speaker 4: apt to scramble all that much. He does to extend
Speaker 4: plays you know, he's been held under two hundred yards
Speaker 4: passing in every single one of these games. I think,
Speaker 4: you know, like this team is concerned about giving up
Speaker 4: deep passes for good reason, right, like lack of a
Speaker 4: consistent pass rush, which maybe has taken a turn over
Speaker 4: the last week, which hopefully happened, and you know overall
Speaker 4: cornerback play. Are they concerned with the matchups? And you know,
Speaker 4: the Browns do have legitimate, very good and potentially deep
Speaker 4: threat wide receivers on this team, but they don't profile it.
Speaker 4: So I want to see how Joe and Dan Quinn
Speaker 4: play this, Like are they going to be willing to
Speaker 4: put more people up closer to the line in this game?
Speaker 4: Daring Cleveland to try to do something that they're not
Speaker 4: doing right now at the risk of can you cover
Speaker 4: Amari Cooper and Jerry Judy down the field because the
Speaker 4: Browns aren't doing it. So that's the cat and mouse
Speaker 4: for me here. But from what I see from Cleveland,
Speaker 4: everything's underneath. So I think Washington on some level needs
Speaker 4: to find out if they are willing to take shots
Speaker 4: down the field.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you bring up a good point, because
Speaker 2: the Brands do have some some really solid receivers. I
Speaker 2: would say probably one of the better groups that they've
Speaker 2: faced so far this year. And Mitch, you know, brand
Speaker 2: brought up, you know, bring the secondary close to the
Speaker 2: line of screens, playing a little bit of press and
Speaker 2: and this seems to be where Washington has gotten beaten
Speaker 2: a lot over the last first, you know, first couple
Speaker 2: of weeks of the season and honestly most of last year.
Speaker 2: So you know, I'll kind of pit it a little
Speaker 2: bit and kind of ask you this so about contained
Speaker 2: Sean Watson, like, do you feel comfortable enough with the
Speaker 2: secondary that they are able to go up against Jerry
Speaker 2: Judy and Amari Cooper and some of these other receivers
Speaker 2: that they have.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think you look at this Brown's offense
Speaker 3: and it has a lot of big names on it.
Speaker 1: You know, we keep talking.
Speaker 3: We've mentioned the receivers, the you know, you know about
Speaker 3: the quarterback. But I think it's like a lot of
Speaker 3: a lot of teams that we've seen here in Washington
Speaker 3: going back however many years, some big names, but not
Speaker 3: big production. And I think it starts with what Bram
Speaker 3: was talking about, the fact that they are scared to
Speaker 3: go down the field Deshaun Watson's top five in the
Speaker 3: league and dropbacks and bottom five in the league in
Speaker 3: yards in yards per game, and it shows you kind
Speaker 3: of what they're trying to do on offense. They're trying
Speaker 3: to think and dunk it and run the ball a bunch.
Speaker 3: And even though they are trying to run the ball
Speaker 3: a bunch, they aren't even that successful at it because
Speaker 3: they're bottom half of the league in running the ball,
Speaker 3: and it starts up front for them. They have a
Speaker 3: couple pretty key injuries. They haven't played a whole lot
Speaker 3: this year with Jedrick Willis. Jack Conklin looks like he's
Speaker 3: going to be out Wyatt Teller as well as a
Speaker 3: All Pro guard for them, and they've gotten Deshaun Watson
Speaker 3: hit a lot. He's been hit I think it was
Speaker 3: seventeen times in two of the first four games, including
Speaker 3: an eight sac performance in Week one. I think you're
Speaker 3: gonna have an opportunity to put pressure on him, and
Speaker 3: it's gonna be incumbent on the secondary to be able
Speaker 3: to cover. We know that Joe Witt likes to play
Speaker 3: single high d he likes to play press coverage on
Speaker 3: the outside, and there have been you know some receivers
Speaker 3: that have beat them with it. But if this d
Speaker 3: line and this you know, complimentary pass rush can get
Speaker 3: to Deshaun Watson and pours them off his spot, he's
Speaker 3: proven that he can't get the ball. He hasn't been
Speaker 3: able to get the ball downfield, particularly when he breaks
Speaker 3: the pocket, and he's had, you know, amongst the lowest
Speaker 3: time in the in the league drop back to past year.
Speaker 3: So it's these guys shouldn't have to run around in
Speaker 3: the secondary for five ten seconds like we've seen you know,
Speaker 3: other years. Other teams have to have to try and do.
Speaker 3: And so I do think they're going to be able
Speaker 3: to get up there and use Benjamin Saint Jus's size
Speaker 3: and Jim Met the line of scrimmage a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, that is a good point.
Speaker 2: And you know, I think Watson is really at his
Speaker 2: most dangerous las in the games that I've seen, you know,
Speaker 2: over you know, when I watched it yesterday, is it
Speaker 2: seems like he is at his most deadly whenever he's
Speaker 2: outside of the pocket, whenever he's able.
Speaker 1: To extend plays.
Speaker 2: And you know, I know that the commanders only allowed
Speaker 2: Cali murder for one rush for three yards. But this
Speaker 2: is mobile quarterbacks are still I would say it's still
Speaker 2: a bit of a challenge for this defense. So so
Speaker 2: bram D and as good as they were able to
Speaker 2: play against Calmber, do you think that's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a formula for how this the Stevens the line
Speaker 2: can contain Watson going into week five.
Speaker 4: Last week was by far and not close, their best
Speaker 4: collective defensive performance, and I mean by a mile, like
Speaker 4: by a mile. And I will say this, there were
Speaker 4: multiple occasions where they had Murray confused the fact that
Speaker 4: he took a sack on the fourth and one on
Speaker 4: to tell you everything, you kind of really need to
Speaker 4: know about where he was in reading what Washington was
Speaker 4: doing to them. So I do hope that there's a carryover.
Speaker 4: There was a deficiency on the right side of their line.
Speaker 4: Calvin Beacham played, but he was coming off the hamstring.
Speaker 4: They didn't really have backups, and Doriance Armstrong had his
Speaker 4: best game, you know, as a commander. Off of this.
Speaker 4: To Mitch's point, this is a this is a really
Speaker 4: great offensive line when they have their players together. They
Speaker 4: don't they're missing two or three of their starters. They're
Speaker 4: playing a ton of backups I think they're doing. Go
Speaker 4: watch Chelsea. You want to go watch something interesting on
Speaker 4: the film, Go watch on the outside. Their receivers they
Speaker 4: barely release when they're running the ball, like I think
Speaker 4: that they just they have kind of come into this
Speaker 4: position of they are what they are based on the injuries,
Speaker 4: and I think maybe what the coaches think the capabilities
Speaker 4: of this offense are so they're to me in lies
Speaker 4: a couple of things. One, are they a competent group? Right?
Speaker 4: And if they're not, if Washington get on top of them,
Speaker 4: maybe you can get a couple of sacks. The most
Speaker 4: sacked quarterback in the NFL. I think there's an opportunity
Speaker 4: here to limit them. They're having a hard time scoring points.
Speaker 4: It's partially by design. They're trying to go small chunks
Speaker 4: at a time. So if I'm Washington, you know, I
Speaker 4: think I'm loading up the box a little bit here
Speaker 4: and I'm daring them to throw the ball a little
Speaker 4: bit and see if maybe we can get even bigger
Speaker 4: mistakes than what you're getting now, which is they're not
Speaker 4: turning the ball over a time, they're just not scoring
Speaker 4: and they're not moving the ball in chunks. Can we
Speaker 4: get a couple turnovers here, because that seems overdue and
Speaker 4: that seems to be kind of heading in that direction.
Speaker 4: If that's what's happening here, then I think it gives
Speaker 4: your offense a better shot here because this is and
Speaker 4: I know we haven't gotten another side of the ball yet,
Speaker 4: this is gonna be arguably the best defense they have
Speaker 4: faced up to this point in the season. Maybe maybe Tampa's,
Speaker 4: but like this, in my opinion, this is, across the board,
Speaker 4: probably the best defense they have faced. And therefore I
Speaker 4: think they're gonna need a couple more breaks than what
Speaker 4: they've gotten in previous weeks.
Speaker 2: And before we get to this side of the ball,
Speaker 2: and you're right about that, Mitche, Like, you know, do
Speaker 2: you think, as Brams said, that they're going to try
Speaker 2: to load the box a little bit and try to
Speaker 2: put some more pressure on Watson to make some of
Speaker 2: these more difficult decisions.
Speaker 3: I think they need to, but it's not necessarily related
Speaker 3: to Watson's quick decision making. It's related to stopping this
Speaker 3: run game. If you can make this Browns team one dimensional,
Speaker 3: especially if the offense is able to continue scoring points,
Speaker 3: and you know that Deshaun's going to be dropping back,
Speaker 3: then you're gonna be able to to really get after him.
Speaker 3: But the middle of this defensive line has struggled against
Speaker 3: the run. In the middle of this defense across the
Speaker 3: hole has struggled against the run. And if you allow
Speaker 3: this Browns team to get comfortable and start moving the
Speaker 3: ball easily on the ground, then things are going to
Speaker 3: open up for Deshaun because you're gonna have to start,
Speaker 3: you know, packing it in on that side. And so
Speaker 3: I expect that we're going to see a more concerted
Speaker 3: effort in the middle of that defense. Like Bram said,
Speaker 3: last week was the best defensive performance we've seen in
Speaker 3: a wild year in Washington, and it was awesome to watch.
Speaker 3: But if you there's one criticism we have of it
Speaker 3: is that they're able to run the ball for almost
Speaker 3: one hundred yards directly up the middle, and a lot
Speaker 3: of that was at kind of the end of the
Speaker 3: third quarter start of the fourth quarter, where you would
Speaker 3: think that teams would be more apt to be throwing
Speaker 3: the ball as they're trying to catch up. And so
Speaker 3: I think you know Deron and John obviously we know
Speaker 3: all there is to know about them. I like last
Speaker 3: week that you started seeing some combos of Johnny Newton
Speaker 3: and Frederian mathis playing there in the middle, and I
Speaker 3: think Fiderian in particular, with his size and his strength,
Speaker 3: can help them, especially as the Browns keep trying to
Speaker 3: pound the ball twin tackles.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm really interested to see how this this
Speaker 2: Commanders defensive line goes up against this Browns group, because, yeah,
Speaker 2: if they do have the reputation for running the ball
Speaker 2: really well, although they haven't necessarily done that so far
Speaker 2: this year, probably because they don't have Nick Chubb and
Speaker 2: and they're off of the line speed up, but their
Speaker 2: averaging I think it's like ninety four yards per game
Speaker 2: on the ground right now. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: to your point, like they are still capable of busting
Speaker 2: a long especially against a group that is really you know,
Speaker 2: I would say struggled with quite a bit to contain
Speaker 2: the run, which is I think it's a little bit surprising.
Speaker 2: But either way, we're gonna go on to the next question.
Speaker 1: But before we do that score update, it was todd
Speaker 1: three to three. We miss.
Speaker 2: I really liked the point about about the stack of
Speaker 2: the box to south of run game, So you are
Speaker 2: up four to three as as we get into question
Speaker 2: two here, but it's yeah, you know, the fellow, the
Speaker 2: fellow off the line. We got to stick together at
Speaker 2: some point. But going into the off inside of the ball,
Speaker 2: you know, Braymy mentioned that this is the biggest test
Speaker 2: for the for for Washington offense that that they've faced
Speaker 2: all year.
Speaker 1: I would also argue that this is.
Speaker 2: Cleveland's defense, that the biggest test for the Cleveland defense
Speaker 2: that they've faced all year two because this, this Washington
Speaker 2: offense has been historically great over the special blast three
Speaker 2: weeks or so, they're leading the league in third down
Speaker 2: success rate and I forget what the exact percentage is,
Speaker 2: but it's over I'd say it's about two thirds their
Speaker 2: their third Act of conversion percentage. But at the same time, this,
Speaker 2: this Cleveland defense is seventh right now, So Mitchell start
Speaker 2: off with you, like, what do you think Washington do
Speaker 2: to continue that third down success against the Cleveland defense?
Speaker 2: Who is you know, has been has a reputation being
Speaker 2: very solid and has some of the numbers to back
Speaker 2: it up as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you hate to be too generic here,
Speaker 3: but Jade Daniels has done such a good job of
Speaker 3: keeping them a third and short or third and manageable,
Speaker 3: and they've shown different ways of being multiple in those
Speaker 3: short third downs. And I think that kind of the
Speaker 3: combination of Jaden the so uh so accurate and so
Speaker 3: quick getting rid of the ball and Cliff Kingsberry kind
Speaker 3: of having a little bit of fun on that on
Speaker 3: that offense. I mean, I think we've seen a couple
Speaker 3: of kind of different types of plays from from Cliff
Speaker 3: in this offense. A double pass to uh in Week
Speaker 3: one against the Bucks, and then obviously the touchdown pass
Speaker 3: against the Trent Scott against the Bengals were you know,
Speaker 3: two that kind of stick out. But I think their
Speaker 3: their ability to kind of keep the keep the defense
Speaker 3: off there on their heels goes a long way. That's
Speaker 3: the end of the game against the Cardinals where they
Speaker 3: had Elamind's the Keys kind of motioned into the backfield
Speaker 3: and then motioned back to kind of where he came
Speaker 3: from and caught a quick little screen and took it
Speaker 3: for you know, eight yards and a first down. I
Speaker 3: just think their ability to to kind of keep the
Speaker 3: defense on their heels with a lot of different looks,
Speaker 3: particularly I'm third and down is going to be something
Speaker 3: that helps them a lot.
Speaker 2: No, I really do like how creative Cliff Kingsberry has
Speaker 2: been with this offense. You're right, he does look like
Speaker 2: he's having a lot of fun out there, just kind
Speaker 2: of like some of the players that he's had are.
Speaker 2: You know, they're so creative and so innovative in ways
Speaker 2: that really highlights what these players do best.
Speaker 1: Uh, brand I'll turn over to.
Speaker 2: You because I know, I know you really love Brian Robinson,
Speaker 2: but like, what role did Brian Robinson is he going
Speaker 2: to have? Do you think on Sunday kind of convert
Speaker 2: converting these third downs.
Speaker 4: I was surprised to see his name on the injury list,
Speaker 4: so like, let's just start with like assuming he's available, right,
Speaker 4: Like that was a surprise, like seeing that on Wednesday.
Speaker 4: So I'll kind of reiterate with what Mitch just said.
Speaker 4: I really think one of the most impressive things this
Speaker 4: team is doing here is how they're starting their drives.
Speaker 4: They're getting Jayden in company in second and six or
Speaker 4: shorter situations, and they're going to live good in that way.
Speaker 4: Because of Jayden's ability to run, I think it keeps
Speaker 4: a defense off balance and he opens up the playbook
Speaker 4: immensely for them to play out of that. The one
Speaker 4: time they punted last week, which is the one time
Speaker 4: they punted in three weeks, was the one time that
Speaker 4: on first down they were stunted for nothing and ended
Speaker 4: up in a second and ten. And then oddly, I
Speaker 4: thought they made an incredible call on this play. No
Speaker 4: one's remember this one because one of the million scoring
Speaker 4: drives that they had, they did a delayed draw to
Speaker 4: Brian Robinson, which I haven't even seen them do, right,
Speaker 4: I haven't really seen them do, And it just happened
Speaker 4: that Arizona ran a double twist stunt with their two
Speaker 4: defensive tackles, and I'm not even sure that they made
Speaker 4: the right call. They just happened to have the right
Speaker 4: thing on for this play at that moment, and he
Speaker 4: ends up sliding away from one three hundred and fifty
Speaker 4: pounds dude and running into another one. But it was,
Speaker 4: honestly like it was the right play call at the
Speaker 4: right time, which I think his timing has been on.
Speaker 4: Doesn't mean they all work, but like he's just had
Speaker 4: a feel for this. He's gotten them into very comfortable positions.
Speaker 4: I think it's helped the comfort level of Daniels. This
Speaker 4: is a team that blitzes among the top five in
Speaker 4: the league. They will play a ton of man because
Speaker 4: this is the best set of corners that Washington's going
Speaker 4: to face up to this point in the season. Are
Speaker 4: very comfortable blitzing and hopefully getting an advantage matchup with
Speaker 4: Miles Garrett. So this is one where third and long
Speaker 4: is death for you. I think you're going to see
Speaker 4: a very different outcome this weekend if it's third and
Speaker 4: eight or longer, over and over and over because of
Speaker 4: the personnel that they're facing this weekend. So if they
Speaker 4: can keep this model of whether it's be rob or
Speaker 4: not be rob of getting into these second just four
Speaker 4: yards on first down, second and six or shorter, this
Speaker 4: is where they eat. And I think that that's where
Speaker 4: they can continue. Maybe not to the degree that they
Speaker 4: have over the last few weeks because it's historic and unprecedented,
Speaker 4: but like, could they still be extremely effective possessing the ball,
Speaker 4: scoring points and having a lead on a team like this.
Speaker 4: For everything we talked about earlier about the Browns offense,
Speaker 4: seems like the right path to a win this weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Brian Robinson being on the Ajor report
Speaker 2: was surprising to me as well, because we had just
Speaker 2: got done hearing from Dan Quinn about how reliably is
Speaker 2: how tough he is, and how he really doesn't really
Speaker 2: ever need that much time to recover and get back
Speaker 2: and back healthy. Mitch, like, I mean saying, saying Brian
Speaker 2: Robinson maybe not wouldn't play is kind of a big
Speaker 2: deal for this offense because he's by far one of
Speaker 2: the most consistent weapons. I mean, he has the most
Speaker 2: scrimmage jars for them. I think he's I think behind
Speaker 2: Jane Danis's park downs produced. So you know, say, god forbid,
Speaker 2: he's avail, he's not, he's not too badly hurt and everything.
Speaker 1: He is available.
Speaker 2: But like, what if you know Brian Robinson is ruled
Speaker 2: out on Friday, Like, do you think this is gonna
Speaker 2: have the dramatic effect on the offense and how do
Speaker 2: you think they recover from that?
Speaker 3: I do think it would have a pretty dramatic effect
Speaker 3: because it was one thing when Austin Eckler went out,
Speaker 3: Because Jeremy McNichols is a similar type player in terms
Speaker 3: of you know, catching the ball to the backfield and
Speaker 3: being able to help him pass. Bro they don't really
Speaker 3: have a second Brian Robinson. I guess Chris Rodriguez would
Speaker 3: probably get called up and get a fair amount of
Speaker 3: a fair amount of carries there. But I do think
Speaker 3: that he's a very important part of this team. I
Speaker 3: think you also have to remember that, you know, this
Speaker 3: is week four. There by week is in what another
Speaker 3: ten weeks from now, You're gonna start seeing some veteran
Speaker 3: days here as we go through, and generally when those
Speaker 3: guys sit out of practice, they don't get the designation
Speaker 3: of vetter in days. It's a you know, an ankle
Speaker 3: injury and the injury it did not practice for one
Speaker 3: of those reasons. But regardless, I think the commanders often
Speaker 3: should have a lot of success, particularly in the running game,
Speaker 3: but kind of across the board. Last week against the
Speaker 3: ram against the Raiders, the Browns defense had twenty miss tackles.
Speaker 3: It was a most in a single game in the
Speaker 3: NFL this year. The Raiders came in averaging fifty yards
Speaker 3: on the ground. They ran for a buck fifty five
Speaker 3: or something like that.
Speaker 1: Last week.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's a lot of opportunity to run the
Speaker 3: ball here. And as impressive as Jayden Daniels has been
Speaker 3: in the past game it's been Brian Robbins and Austin
Speaker 3: eckler Jeremy mcnichol's on the ground, you know, opening up
Speaker 3: things and not allowing teams to play this deep cloud
Speaker 3: cover two that we've seen all over the NFL that
Speaker 3: all the all the analysts are complaining about. And so
Speaker 3: getting somebody who's gonna be able to get those tough
Speaker 3: yards of the middle and turn those three four yard
Speaker 3: runs into eight nine ten yard runs like Brian Robinson
Speaker 3: does kind of regularly is certainly a very important part.
Speaker 2: Now, Brandon, before we move on to the last question,
Speaker 2: here another commander running back who is still a little
Speaker 2: who was on the injury port, Austin Ecklery with the
Speaker 2: cushion partival.
Speaker 1: He was limited, you know on Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Seems like he's like maybe on track to to be
Speaker 2: available for Sunday if he is able able to play.
Speaker 2: You know, as much as we love the way Jeremy
Speaker 2: McNichols played and everything, like, how big is that going
Speaker 2: to be for this for this offense to get a
Speaker 2: player like that back?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, either way with Robinson, whether he plays
Speaker 4: or not, and I'm not I don't have any information
Speaker 4: he's not gonna play.
Speaker 3: I was just.
Speaker 4: Surprised on the injury list, like he's really the lead
Speaker 4: running back on the team. I don't think Eckler steps
Speaker 4: up and becomes that for this I think he can.
Speaker 4: He maintains his role, and it's obvious it's a big
Speaker 4: deal if he comes back and plays by the way
Speaker 4: that he's played. But I don't think you're turning around
Speaker 4: and giving him seventeen to twenty carries like you have
Speaker 4: b Robs. So it does change the dynamic of the offense.
Speaker 4: Maybe it limits the amount of carries that you give
Speaker 4: to Robinson, and I think that would be sounds like
Speaker 4: should be trending in that direction anyway at this point.
Speaker 4: And I will say this just largely, and I think
Speaker 4: really there's a couple of things to the success and
Speaker 4: number five is a big part of it, obviously, and
Speaker 4: Cliff Kingsbury's play calling is a big part of it.
Speaker 4: But the buy in and overall physicality of this team
Speaker 4: across the board is it's surprising just because of how
Speaker 4: new it all is, and you hear coach speak and
Speaker 4: cliches and all these things, and like we're going to
Speaker 4: do this and we're going to do that, and everybody's
Speaker 4: got their slogans and this team's living up to it.
Speaker 4: And just go watch Ben Sinnett or Sam Cosmy or
Speaker 4: a big time rejuvenated Andrew Wiley specifically in a run
Speaker 4: heavy type offense. Now go watch Brandon Coleman all the
Speaker 4: things they were saying about him, like in the summer
Speaker 4: that they're like, you're going to see how athletic and
Speaker 4: how aggressive he is. You're seeing this like Terry mclaurin's
Speaker 4: blocks on the edge. Go watch Daniel's touchdown run and
Speaker 4: where he rides his own you know, offensive lineman and
Speaker 4: points out where they're almost like he was navigating to
Speaker 4: Kentucky Derby. I mean, it's pretty wild. Like what you're saying,
Speaker 4: Baddish is he should be in the Pro Bowl for
Speaker 4: the way that he's played so far through four games
Speaker 4: for them as well, like largely and I know this
Speaker 4: is a Commander show, but like go watch them and
Speaker 4: you will be it is. It's shocked how efficient they are,
Speaker 4: how aggressive they are play to play to play to
Speaker 4: play to play. And while you know, I think every
Speaker 4: all the gushing over Daniels is completely deserved because what
Speaker 4: he's doing is literally unprecedented, but everything that's happening around
Speaker 4: him is allowing it to happen at the same time,
Speaker 4: and it's really it's it's amazing. And you know, they
Speaker 4: got a one to three team that at some points,
Speaker 4: you know, and in some groups, doesn't look like that
Speaker 4: they're as locked in as this group is. I think
Speaker 4: if Washington gets on top of them, this is a
Speaker 4: team that could fold. They could fold. And that's what
Speaker 4: I'm hoping to kind of see on.
Speaker 3: Sunday, Bram when your point is so good because the
Speaker 3: running that the offensive line gets credit for the first
Speaker 3: three to five yards of a run, then the secondary
Speaker 3: group of blockers, your tight ends, your wide receivers, your fullbacks,
Speaker 3: whatever they get kind of the next couple of yards,
Speaker 3: and then the running backs are get credit for the
Speaker 3: rest of it. And the blocking that we've seen from
Speaker 3: the non o line has been so impressive. You mentioned
Speaker 3: Ben Sennett, Yeah, the German Jeremy McNichols first touchdown against
Speaker 3: the against the Cardinals, you had Terry McLaurin lead blocking.
Speaker 3: There the buy in that you see across the board
Speaker 3: from these guys, particularly when you compare it to what's
Speaker 3: happening in Cleveland. Braham talked about the wide receivers not
Speaker 3: looking too interested on running plays getting out there the
Speaker 3: mistackles last week. This feels like a team that is
Speaker 3: that you know, is prying to be to to crush
Speaker 3: their souls early in the game and get out to
Speaker 3: a lead and not have to look back.
Speaker 2: You know, if there's one thing I've I've come to
Speaker 2: appreciate over the last five weeks or so, it's the
Speaker 2: power of the buy in. Because, yeah, you hear a lot,
Speaker 2: like you're a coach speak things and you're like, we've
Speaker 2: all heard it, you know, like oh yeah, like you
Speaker 2: know the cliches that every coach says for whatever is.
Speaker 2: But like this, these players really believe in it. And
Speaker 2: I think that's just as big of a of a
Speaker 2: reason why they're three and one are now as you know,
Speaker 2: the way Jaye Daniel is playing with offenses playing like
Speaker 2: they really truly believe like the messages that DQ and
Speaker 2: his staff have have implemented and that it's just that
Speaker 2: I think it just makes it that much more fun.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: But final question, you guys are tied, so there's a
Speaker 2: lot of stakes heading into this third question here, and
Speaker 2: you know, there are a lot of really big matchups
Speaker 2: across the game that's gonna happen on Sunday. We kind
Speaker 2: of talked about a couple of them already. Uh, you know,
Speaker 2: with the Browns receivers versus the Commanders secondary, but the
Speaker 2: Commanders off the line for Miles Garrett and the Browns
Speaker 2: deefsive line. I mean, that's probably gonna be I think
Speaker 2: one of the more important ones, especially considered Miles Garrett
Speaker 2: and then the reputation he has and the pedigree he's
Speaker 2: been able to accumulate over his career. Uh So, Bram,
Speaker 2: start with you, what will the more important matchup for
Speaker 2: the Commanders to win on Sunday? The Commanders off the
Speaker 2: line versus Mouth Garrett, and that even the line or
Speaker 2: the Browns receivers versus the Commander's secondary.
Speaker 4: Oooh god, I want to pass because this team plays
Speaker 4: man more than most teams do, and they will blitz
Speaker 4: a lot. And I and assuming, unlike Arizona, who I
Speaker 4: think tried to switch things up on Jayden to see
Speaker 4: how he would react to it, and they forty two
Speaker 4: points later probably regret that, I'm going to assume that,
Speaker 4: like Cleveland is going to play to their core, which
Speaker 4: is they do bring a lot of heat. They will blitz.
Speaker 4: They're top by blitz team. They're kind of like Tampa,
Speaker 4: so they'll put their corners on an island. And for
Speaker 4: good reason, this is the best set of corners Washington's
Speaker 4: face this year, like across the board collectively, So you know,
Speaker 4: the blitz pick up is everything here again to give
Speaker 4: Jade the time. And then do they have the receivers?
Speaker 4: We've asked this a million times. Do they have the
Speaker 4: receivers to win one on one? And not? Do they
Speaker 4: have the receivers to win one on one just in general?
Speaker 4: But do they against one's a pro bowler and the
Speaker 4: other one's really really good. So let's see where they are.
Speaker 4: To answer your question directly, I am more inclined to
Speaker 4: believe because of the physical nature of the play and
Speaker 4: how kind of in lockstep they've been with one another,
Speaker 4: that there's not gonna be a lot of breakdowns. So
Speaker 4: Jaden's gonna have the time to make the play. So
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go with the receivers against the corners because
Speaker 4: I think that is, to me, is the matchup of
Speaker 4: the day, and that is a massive strength of Cleveland,
Speaker 4: And I still think it's semi and open question about Washington.
Speaker 4: Do they have the level of receivers to beat top
Speaker 4: tier corners like this regularly, So that to me would
Speaker 4: be probably the way I would lean. But it's close
Speaker 4: because Miles Garrett might be the best defensive end in
Speaker 4: the NFL. So you know, like it's close, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Mitch, I a feeling you might go the direction
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna go.
Speaker 1: But what do you got for me?
Speaker 3: I'm actually gonna agree with Brim and I think it's
Speaker 3: wide receivers versus dbs there because I've been so impressed
Speaker 3: with what you've seen upfront from this Washington offensive line.
Speaker 3: Two weeks ago, they played Trey Hendrickson, who was the
Speaker 3: second leading sacker in the NFL last year, and held
Speaker 3: him to one late sack that was a little bit
Speaker 3: of a miscommunication, but for the most part handled them
Speaker 3: almost one on one exclusively with Brandon Coleman and Cornelius.
Speaker 1: Lucas out there.
Speaker 3: And yes, we're gonna see the Browns bring a lot
Speaker 3: of pressure, which I think is you know, in their DNA.
Speaker 3: But the let's pick up from this running back group
Speaker 3: so far this season has been so impressive. You think
Speaker 3: about that touchdown pass, the Terry and Jeremy Nichols, you know,
Speaker 3: body slamming whoever the linebacker was that was blitzing up
Speaker 3: the middle. Austin Eckler has been an absolute beast in
Speaker 3: the backfield, particularly in pass pro, and I think that's
Speaker 3: sort of what's helped him in those kind of quick
Speaker 3: screen games is that these teams are now recognizing they
Speaker 3: have to put pass rush moves on a running back
Speaker 3: to try and get to your QB. And so to me,
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be about making this Browns offense
Speaker 3: one dimensional. I want to see them pack the box
Speaker 3: and not let the Browns run the ball in them.
Speaker 3: Quite frankly, I'm not too scared that Deshaun Watson's going
Speaker 3: to beat them over the top. But obviously if you're
Speaker 3: throwing the wide open receivers thirty yards downfield, that can
Speaker 3: be the case. So I do want to see what
Speaker 3: Emmanuel Forbes and and Mikey Sanders still and Benjamin Saint
Speaker 3: just can do. Because last week those guys had a
Speaker 3: pretty you know, had a pretty good day. Sander's still
Speaker 3: got beat for the touchdown early and then they kind
Speaker 3: of locked it down on that Cardinals receiving cores and
Speaker 3: they didn't get open deep and Marvin Harrison Junior ended
Speaker 3: up with you know, very few yards. Obviously, you know
Speaker 3: there are two guys here in uh in Cleveland who
Speaker 3: can beat them deep, but they haven't done it so
Speaker 3: far this season. So I want to see these corners
Speaker 3: continue to step up, you know, get a little more
Speaker 3: confidence and be able to cover these guys one on one.
Speaker 2: Now, the commons of the corners is going to be
Speaker 2: is going to be massive, Yeah, because I think you've
Speaker 2: seen the Stevens slowly grow a little increments by increments
Speaker 2: over the last two weeks, and they really took a
Speaker 2: big step forward against the Cardinals. And you're right, Jim Schwartz,
Speaker 2: He's been known for bringing the heat throughout his career
Speaker 2: and I think he's probably going to continue to do
Speaker 2: that again. But after much, after all hearing all the
Speaker 2: pontification that from both these guys, the final decision is
Speaker 2: rested upon my shoulders, and I determined that Bram coming
Speaker 2: back from down two points, you are now the winner
Speaker 2: of this episode of the Beatdown Podcast.
Speaker 1: Do you have any parting words of victory for us.
Speaker 4: Like I said, this thing is rigged, like there's always
Speaker 4: sing the whole thing was gonna be rigged. I was
Speaker 4: gonna get the comeback the whole time. Sorry, Mitch, its
Speaker 4: stacked against you.
Speaker 1: You called it the Beatdown Podcast.
Speaker 3: I'll see both of you guys in the media room
Speaker 3: and you better believe I'll be ready for it.
Speaker 2: Oh god, well, I think we sitting next to each other, Mitch.
Speaker 2: I might just sit on the other end of the
Speaker 2: room today. But guys, I really appreciate you guys doing this.
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens on Sunday. Should be a really
Speaker 2: exciting game. And for everyone listening, please you should to rate, review, subscribe,
Speaker 2: and this has been the Beatdown Podcast.