WEBVTT - Monday Night Football + Jayden Daniels = Cheat Code? | The Booth Review Podcast | Washington Commanders | NFL 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.840 Coming up on the Booth Preview of Monday Night Football, Logan, 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.240 Washington's got to stop by dynamic Connection tonight. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:08.840 Yeah, and with the addition to t Higgins, that gets 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:10.559 a little bit more complicated. 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:12.760 It does. How about Jadon Daniels though we might have 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:13.720 our own cheat code in. 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.200 Washington, man, I certainly hope so. And like with jayde 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.120 and Daniels and versus Cincinnati, defense is a really narrow 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:21.480 path to victory, but it's there. 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:22.880 Hopefully they can get it done. 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.800 We're saying there's a chance on the Booth Preview. It's 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:34.320 coming up. Welcome into this week's edition of the Booth Review. 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.159 Bram Einstein, Logan, Paulson. We're going to call this the 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:41.360 Booth Preview because we have not called Washington and Cincinnati 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.000 first primetime Monday Night game that Washington's had early in 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.440 a season in a long time, in the first Monday 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.279 night game that they've had in two years since they 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.760 had that memorable one in Philadelphia, the b Rob game 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:54.800 where they ran the ball down the Eagle's throat ended 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.720 a Philadelphia undefeated season. Psyched, Logan, you psyched to get 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.760 into the Booth tonight for the Monday Night against Joe Burrow. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:04.440 Yeah, man, really excited. I mean, I think this is 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.039 gonna be a really fun game to watch. And you know, 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.039 the more it's so funny every time you kind of 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.080 do a preview, you know, whether it's for Command Center 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.200 or whatever, like, there are some engaging storylines and some 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.760 interesting thoughts experiments about like football at its core. So 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.720 it's gonna be fun to watch that be executed tonight 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:23.000 on a primetime stage. 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:26.080 All right, let's go. Let's do a little booth review 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.000 of the other teams in the nfcas really quickly, and 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:34.039 just on Dallas where the score looks better than at 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.840 least the first three and a half quarters were against 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:42.000 the Ravens. Their run defense was swallowed up by Baltimore. 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:46.360 They were getting blown out yesterday. Suddenly off of a 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.720 quick turn of events and a recovered on sidekick, they 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.480 made the score look better than it was. What, just 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.680 in general, is your take on Dallas right now? 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:57.240 Yeah? I mean I think Dallas has got to kind 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.640 of figure out like who they are defensively and kind 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.040 of figure how to stop some of this stuff, you know, 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:03.960 some of these run schemes that people are thrown at them, 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:05.800 and to me, it's not even like super technical at 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.000 least the stuff that I've seen. It's more just a 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.960 physicality mindset, and like how they've constructed the team. 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.200 You know, we talked about a little bit last night. 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.720 They've got these kind of undersized defensive tackles and they 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.560 are used to playing in a certain type of game flow. 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.280 They want to be ahead, so they can rush the pass, 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.519 they can run stunts, they can bring pass rushing pressers, 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:25.920 and all of a sudden, when you're in kind of 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.360 a close gamer year behind, that's really challenging to deal 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.360 with with the personnel you have on the field. And obviously, 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.640 like Mazie Smith for them, hasn't lived up to the 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.880 billing in terms of being that kind of big, disruptive, 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.320 run stopping defensive tackle. But I do think that's something 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.280 they definitely got to look at. They're young at the 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.880 linebacker position, they're kind of Lafou from Notre Dame is 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:46.280 kind of a guy that I thought was going to 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.160 be very productive for them, but it is struggling to 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.800 kind of find his feet from an intellectual standpoint. So 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.200 they got some they got some growing to do on 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:53.760 the defensive side of the football. For sure, And I 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.679 think when you've got a defense like that, offensively, you 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:58.560 need to make sure you're you're you're more productive and 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.000 you're more consistent. And they just weren't that yesterday, or 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.399 at least Ax wasn't that yesterday. And obviously they came 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.600 on late in the game, which is important. But I 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.800 think it's the way that teams built is the offense 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.240 has to be excellent, and the offense wasn't excellent yesterday. 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.240 All Right, how about the Eagles real quick who got 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.680 by had some interesting decision making, right, and then Saquon 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:24.040 Barkley saves them, I mean, makes a couple of humongous 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:28.000 runs and they're in a tight game and they get 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.880 what I think is a pretty good early season win 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:32.480 for them. 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:34.680 Yeah, I was gonna say, I think that's a's a 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.360 nice win for that team. I think, you know, like 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.800 that a lot of adversity, and some of that was 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:41.960 done by themselves, you know, in terms of the you know, 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.200 going forward on fourth down in the red zone. But 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.440 I think that shows a grit for that team and 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:48.000 it's something that they needed to do. You know, people 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.720 are calling for Sirianni's job out in Philadelphia and I 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.880 think that win like had to happen, and it kind 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.760 of came in in a little bit of an unconventional way. 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.480 And it's supposed to play from the running back, you know, 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.800 this position that's supposed to be devalued, and obviously they 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.120 went it made an investment there, which is fantastic for them, obviously, 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.360 and then Dallas Goddard with an explosive playoff of a 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.160 coverage bust and then you end up getting the w 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.640 late late late in the game. So showed a lot 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.440 of grit and you know, you're never supposed to root 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.640 for Philly, but I like seeing teams kind of persevere 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.560 through those moments, and it was great to see Philly 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.760 manage that and hopefully at least not versus the Commanders, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:24.720 but hopefully, you know, that's something that they can that 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.479 organization can carry for a little bit because it is 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:29.320 one of those kind of character defining wins. 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:33.040 So all right, so let me go back to Dallas 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:35.280 for a moment and get your thoughts on something, because 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:37.960 I think it kind of applies to Cincinnati, who's got 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.360 a lot of pressure on them. They have an all 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:44.080 world quarterback, there's high expectations, there's an assumption that they're 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.200 going to be really good playoff team and potentially more. 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.159 And in Dallas, who's got a lot of expectations and 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.400 a very good quarterback and all this stuff, there are 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.640 a couple things that I think are kind of characteristic 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.040 of both of these teams. And I just want to 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.600 start with Dallas and I'll transition over to our game tonight. 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.640 Dallas can't seem to run the and can't stop the 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.920 run right now. So if you can't do either one 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.320 of those things effectively, or you really can't do both, 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.640 I don't know how you have some high expectation of 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:13.800 what your season is going to. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.120 Be, right well, I mean now, I mean it definitely 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.320 seems like defenses, you know, like this is the era 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.479 of defenses catching up and they're playing softer coverage structures 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.279 and you know, one of the like kind of football 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.400 one on one day one installs in terms of how 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.040 to get people out of two high shells to run 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.200 the football. And if you're not impacting the game effectively 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.800 running the football like you're going to get these You're 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.680 going to allow them to like play bracket over cd Land. 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:39.160 You're going to allow them to play these two high 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.760 structures which are going to limit your explosive plays. And 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.480 you know, like if you look at explosive plays corollary 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.520 in terms of you know, top ten offenses the league, 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.239 like you need to find a way to drive explosive plays, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.560 and if you can't get them out of these two 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.720 high shells, they're really going to limit what you can 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.240 do from a production standpoint offensively. 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.279 So I definitely think running the football. 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.640 I know that's like kind of archaic in terms of philosophy, 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:02.599 but I just think when you look at what defenses 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.560 are doing now, like it's something that you have to do, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.159 and when you can't do it, you're putting everything on 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.520 Dak and like that's just not an effective way to 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:10.840 run an offense. Like even when you look at some 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.279 of the best offenses and some of the best quarterbacks, 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:14.840 you look at you know, Peyton Manning, you look at 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.560 Tom Brady, look at Drew Brees, like all those teams 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:19.440 the thing that made them excellent. And I think when 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.760 you look around the modern landscape of the NFL now, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.720 like like Detroit, San Francisco, they can do both. They 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.960 can beat you throwing the football. They have explosive playmakers, 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.080 but when they have to put it in four wheel drive. 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:31.040 They can get it done. 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.880 And so right now, I think again, Dallas has a 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.360 lot of youth on the offensive line. They you know, 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:38.800 what is their actual identity. I don't really have a 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:40.440 definitive answer for you at the moment, but I think 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.680 they definitely need to figure out a way to get 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.279 that done because they're going to need it at some 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:46.480 point in this season obviously. 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.520 So let me transition over to the Washington game tonight 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:54.960 and Cincinnati's zo in two. They've got tremendous amount of 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.120 expectations placed on them for a lot of good reasons. 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.240 And at the same time, here's what their problem is. 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.680 Early in the season. They're giving up one hundred and 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:05.480 sixty yards per game on the ground. They're having a 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.000 hard time stopping people. Some of that is injury related, 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.000 which we can get into because they're missing people in 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.360 their interior defensive line. And they also don't have the 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.560 run game they've had in the past with Joe Mixon. 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.600 They have a run game that is struggling as well. 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:24.080 So I see similarities here between these two issues. With 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.640 slow start doesn't mean watch he's going to go win tonight, 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:32.280 But like I see the pathway, don't you. I do. 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:33.560 I do see the path I mean it is a 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.480 narrow pathway, but I do see it. I think when 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.240 you're a team like Cincinnati that is, you know, kind 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.600 of known for your quarterback and your two wide receivers, 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.160 like people often lose sight of like kind of the 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.640 fundamentals of football. And so what I mean by that is, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.160 like we just talked about it with Dallas, like your 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.080 ability to stop. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:50.920 The run, your ability to run the football when you 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:51.160 have to. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.920 Obviously, like if you're Cincinnati, like that seems foolish because 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:56.600 you know your best player, you want him touch the 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.440 football all the time, but you need to kind of 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.880 find ways to de leverage him, you know, to make 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.720 it easier for him to play good football, you know, 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.640 for the entirety of the football game. So I do 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.720 think there are a lot of similarities. I think, you know, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:11.800 you mentioned Joe Mixon being gone. To me, it's more 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.200 of a personnel thing, you know, when you look at 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.200 kind of the offensive tackles specifically that they brought in, 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.440 and they bring in Trent Brown, they bring in Orlando Brown, 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.160 who again are great pass protecting tackles. 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.000 They're big hulking guys. 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.400 You know, they're six eight, they're three thirty, they're three forty, 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:29.600 They're gigantic. I think in trends, Casey might be closer 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.319 to four hundred pounds. But when you bring in guys 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.280 like that, you use, you lose some of the lateral 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.400 mobility of the on the offensive line and you and 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:39.520 you make your run game less effective. I know that 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.880 seems counterintuitive, but like that, you know that right tackle 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.439 has to cut off a three technique on the backside 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.439 of an outside zone run, and if you can't get 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.439 that done, that three technique is going to make the tackle. 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.080 In the NFL n aut of ten times. So they've 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.600 made stylistic decisions in terms of roster construction. I think 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.520 inform inform why the run game has been semi inefficient. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.920 And also, like you know, you about Joe Mixon. I'm 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:02.640 not saying he was a world beader. He was an 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.160 efficient back, and I think they felt that they, you know, 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:06.840 they kind of played the moneyball game and said, oh, 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:08.920 we can bring in you know, Moss and he can 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.080 be sent he can be just as efficient. And that 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.320 is true. But I also think you've seen, like we 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.960 just talked about in the Philly example, like how an 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.640 excellent runner can elevate an offensive line. I think you 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.520 saw that Week one in Houston with Joe Mixon and 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.480 how effectively he ran the football there. So I think 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.760 I think they've made some decisions in terms of how 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.480 they've built the team. And again, it makes sense to 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:29.960 me because you want to protect Joe Burry, you want 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.400 him to be the focal point, so pass protecting offensive 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:33.880 linemen are going to be at a premium for you. 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.080 But I do think that informs why they're having such 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.640 a difficulty running the football and then defensively stopping the run. 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.920 I mean, they've just been absolutely waylaid by injuries. And 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.800 you know, guys that they brought in, they brought it 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.000 in the draft haven't played yet. The veterans they brought 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.600 it in are hurt hamstring, soft tissue injuries, so they're 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.400 kind of, you know, scrounging the bottom of the barrel. 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:54.319 They brought in Guy Lawrence, a guy that was playing 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.760 when I was playing, to kind of fill in on 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.320 the defensive line. So they are in a tough spot there. 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.080 And you know, as much as you want to say, 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:02.960 like you know, defense is a mass game in terms 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.760 of stopping the run, and it is you need some 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.520 bodies in there that are capable of standing up and 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.079 stopping the run. So I think there's it's multi factorial 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.319 for them. I think offensively in terms of running the ball, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.520 it's stylistic that they want that. And defensively, I think 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:18.199 they're just they're they're so banged up. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.319 So yeah, okay, so let's stay on their offense, the 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:24.600 Bengals offense. And if you're Washington, you're Joe at Junior 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.440 Dan Quinn, don't you want them running the ball tonight? 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.240 Like to your point of people are playing defense where 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.600 they're basically begging you to run the ball, and we're 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.240 seeing passing numbers across the league go down, and people 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:39.559 like mel Kiper literally complaining about the passing numbers going 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.280 down because the way people are playing defense and describing 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.720 this as baseball, like we should outlaw the shift like 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.560 for whatever reason, Like, isn't though, this isn't this what 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.360 you want? Don't you want Cincinnati running the ball tonight 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:53.679 as much as possible if you're the Commanders. 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.120 One thousand percent. These remind me of games. 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:58.120 You know, a couple of years ago, when you know, 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.600 there kind of was this movement to too high and 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.120 everyone was playing you know, these too high structures, these 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.600 quarter structures versus Patrick Mahomes, and they were forcing Andy 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.600 Reid to call runs, and like I want I would 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.000 prefer that, I would prefer that they run the ball 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.199 forty times and throw the ball twenty because again, the 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.280 most effective weapons in their offense are Joe Burrow and 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:19.679 Chase and t. 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.439 Higgins and they're all going to play and then they've 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:22.240 got a great tight end. 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.560 In Gaseki in terms of catching the football. So I 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.000 want them running the ball. Force them to run the ball, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.880 I know, like analytically, you know, like they're just in 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.280 terms of VPA, is just a less efficient play, Like 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:34.600 as much as we want to say, like you got 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:35.880 to run the ball to get the amount too high, 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:37.160 like run the ball. 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:37.880 As many times you want. 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:39.480 Because one of the things that happens is when you 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.800 watch team teams that are good at running the football, 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:43.959 they'll have like a five yard run, a six yeard run, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.000 a ten yard run. Then they'll have a neutral run, 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.200 a run of zero yards, and then that's where you 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.280 have to make your money defensively and capitalize because now 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.920 you've pinned them into a kind of more obvious passing down. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.920 Can you get an incomplete pass? Then you got a 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.360 third and ten, and now we're cooking. So I'm playing 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.000 baseball here, playing you know, playing the moneyball game and saying, 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.679 this is a less efficient play, especially for the Bengals. 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:06.920 Let's get them to do it as much as possible 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.640 so that we can capitalize when they hit on a 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:11.880 non official. And that's the other thing is, even though 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.800 like mathematically, like if we play light boxes, they just 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.120 have not run the football well at all this whole season, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.680 the Cincinnati Bangals. So not only is it a less 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.040 efficient play across the NFL, but it's especially less efficient 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.320 for the Cincinnati Bengals. So lean into those things. They're 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:30.240 going to make a mistake. It kind of reminds me 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.839 of the Shane Baddier playing defense on Kobe Bryant. You know, 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.040 he's like he's he's the most he's the least efficient 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:36.959 off the dribble. So I just forced him off the 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.199 dribble as much as possible and kind of played into that, 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:42.000 and his shooting percentage was like twenty percent or something 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:44.080 like that. Like that's all you're doing just playing math, 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.920 like Kobe Bryant is going to score, Cincinnati's going to score, 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.600 But how do we limit the total number of points 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.199 they score? And I think it's like enticing them to 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:52.959 run the football. 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.280 Yeah, and I think that the pathway here and to 0:12:56.320 --> 0:13:00.400 your point might be narrow. But Washington successfully running the ball, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.600 you know, possessing the ball, hopefully doing so against a 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.720 weaker you know, run defense, and this is their strength 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.040 obviously coming in at least of the first couple of weeks, 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.120 and Cincinnati forced to run the ball more, maybe even 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.360 against their will, runs the clock shortens the game. Suddenly 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.560 you're in a close ballgame in the fourth quarter, and 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.600 then who knows what happens. There's a couple of other 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.480 things that are going on with Cincinnati that I think 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.800 are really interesting. They have a new offensive coordinator this year, 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:27.160 their ex offensive coordinator's head coach Tennessee Now and last 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:31.560 week against Kansas City, they threw fourteen targets the tight ends. 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.000 And I know T Higgins wasn't playing and he was injured, 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.880 but that seems off to me. That their best weapons 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.560 are on the outside, and yet the bulk of the 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.360 offense isn't going through it. So what do you make 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.320 of how Cincinnati's in general played offense through a couple 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:48.960 of weeks. 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:50.800 Well, I mean, I think that's kind of how they're 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.679 constructed at the moment. Obviously, yoshievsh is the other guy 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.120 that's kind of playing opposite Jamar Chase at the moment, 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:57.840 and he's a good player. He's kind of got that 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.080 big prototypical like ex Bill, you know, sixty three, two 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.280 hundred and fifteen pounds. He's from Princeton and a good player, 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.960 but definitely not t Higgins at this point in his career. Right, 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.680 They've got Burton, the kid from Alabama who's the speedster, 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.080 and he hits some explosive plays. 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:11.840 But when you look at. 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.839 The experience of the receiving corps, I mean, I look 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:16.840 at the tight end position and I say, you know, 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:18.760 Mike Koseki has been around for a long time and 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.440 he's basically a big slot at this point in his career, 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.040 he's like six six, he's like two thirty five, So again, 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.680 not like a big, hulking guy, and that. 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:27.600 Makes a lot of sense to me. 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.120 He's going to be able to create favorable matchups very 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.520 similar kind of actually to the Washington Commanders going to 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:35.880 be able to create favorable matchups underneath, and he did 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:37.880 and they were able to capitalize on that. He's explosive. 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:39.640 He ran a four to four coming out of Penn State, 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:41.680 and you see that explosive speed. 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.240 I want to say it was like the fifth or sixth. 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.080 Player of the game where they're trying to hit a 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.240 choice route to Jamar Chase. They bracket him, and then 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.000 Joe Burrow kind of works the progression. Extensive play hits 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.080 him across the middle of the field, he beats a 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.280 safety in one on one Mike Koseki does and is 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.400 able to run the sideline for a forty five yard game. 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.760 And then you have Eric All I think is his name, 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:02.280 Eric All, the tight end from Iowa, who is like 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.160 super physical in the run game but can run. They 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:07.360 hit them on like a little scissors concept. So post 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.960 by number one, corner by number two off of play 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:11.520 action and he can get after it. So when I 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.040 look at the athletes they have there and the experience 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:15.920 that they have there, I say to myself like that 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:17.600 it makes a lot of sense because you're going to 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.840 draw good matchups now with t Higgins, back, I expect 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.240 that target share to distribute more of the way you'd 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.400 assume it would, right, you know, the two outsides, we 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.200 get more targets, But don't sleep on the guys they 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:29.880 have in the middle, especially at tight end. Like when 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.760 you look at their depth chart in terms of tight end, 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:35.400 they have five guys active on game day, five guys 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.600 because they all bring something a little bit different to 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.560 the party, and I think they honestly do. Envision Gaseki 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.760 is a true big slot, Like he's not playing in 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:44.680 line a lot. So to me, don't think of Gasek 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.480 as a as a tight end. He's more of a receiver. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.280 So I think when you kind of break it down 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.400 like that, you say, you know, treat Gaseki receiver. It's 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.560 only actually then seven targets for true tight ends, which 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:57.280 is a more reasonable number. So I think when you 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.520 kind of contextualize it that way, it makes a lot 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.360 more sense and quite fine. Frankly, like last week, those 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:03.880 were the best players in the field were the tight 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.160 ends and Jamar Chase. 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.840 Yeah, it will be for this week of Higgins's back up, 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.280 but Tanner Hudson's injureds He's already been deemed out, so 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:12.920 they will be missing one of those tight ends this 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:17.760 week tonight. On Chase, I think the striking number with 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.960 him through a couple of games, and only they can 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.120 really answer this, because you know, he didn't practice in 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.120 camp because he was in a contract stalemate with the team, 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.040 and maybe that's part of it, or maybe it's just 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.360 structurally what's going on around the league, or maybe it's 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.880 just them. His yards per catch numbers way down from 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.640 where he's is as explosive a receiver as there is 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.440 in the NFL. He's getting under ten yards per catch, 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.760 So at least through a couple of weeks, teams that 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.200 have played them have limited the big play to him, 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.720 which is such an obvious key to tonight that he 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.760 cannot defeat them on the outside with over the top 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.880 explosive plays. So I don't know what you've seen so 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.360 far that people have limited Chase, but clearly that needs 0:16:58.400 --> 0:16:59.960 to be replicated coming into tonight. 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:02.560 Yeah, the problem is, I'm not sure it will be 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.320 able to be replicated because when you look at how 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.160