Speaker 1: What's up? What's happening now?
Speaker 2: This is another episode of the Beatdown Podcast. And I
Speaker 2: don't know about y'all, but I'm still over the moon
Speaker 2: about that thirty eight to thirty three win over the
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals. I mean that touchdown to Terry McLaurin to
Speaker 2: ice the game, just inject it into my veins. But
Speaker 2: we're gonna have to find a new fix this week,
Speaker 2: as the Commanders need to turn the page for Week
Speaker 2: four and take on the Arizona Cardinals in hopes of
Speaker 2: starting three to one for the first time since two
Speaker 2: thousand and eleven, so well over a decade here. And
Speaker 2: the Cardinals are a very solid team. Caler Murray is
Speaker 2: very dynamic both in the passing game and on the ground,
Speaker 2: and they're even a little bit fister than you might think.
Speaker 2: So how the Commander's going to be able to take
Speaker 2: them down? Well, that is exactly what we're going to
Speaker 2: be discussing today. And with me, we have two more guests,
Speaker 2: Scott Abraham from ABC seven and David Harrison from SI
Speaker 2: dot Com making every turn.
Speaker 1: Guys, how are we feeling this morning?
Speaker 3: Let's go, let's do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm doing doing good.
Speaker 5: Doing very excited to avenge my previously unearned defeat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna ask you that. And David, it's seven.
Speaker 2: Am where you're right out right now, so I really
Speaker 2: appreciate you doing this kind not it's in the early
Speaker 2: hours of the morning out there in the desert. But yeah, David,
Speaker 2: you you lost in week one, the first podcast of
Speaker 2: the beat Down to Late Lewis, so you're definitely you're
Speaker 2: definitely feeling out for revenge.
Speaker 4: Right, Oh yeah, absolutely, got I got it.
Speaker 3: Wait, who determines who wins? How do you figure that out?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm really glad you asked that, because that's exactly
Speaker 2: what we're going to be going over next. So for
Speaker 2: anyone who is just now listening for the first time,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be asking these guys three questions over
Speaker 2: the next twenty five to thirty minutes or so. Won
Speaker 2: an offense, won a defense, A more one, more of
Speaker 2: a general ish question. These guys will be giving points
Speaker 2: based on their and their answers, And again, you don't
Speaker 2: need to take the points too seriously. It's you know,
Speaker 2: what's more important is the objective information that these guys
Speaker 2: are giving you. Because they, like everyone else on the
Speaker 2: beat there to some of the best of what they do.
Speaker 2: But that said, it is my podcast and I get
Speaker 2: decide who wins and who loses.
Speaker 1: Uh. So that's your answer, Scott.
Speaker 3: Uh, it's good thing I sent you a venmol before
Speaker 3: this started.
Speaker 1: Ah.
Speaker 2: You know, you know, extra incentives are always welcome over
Speaker 2: at the Beatdown Podcast. So with all the pleasantries and
Speaker 2: the information out of the way, let's go ahead and
Speaker 2: get started here. And yeah, I know as much as
Speaker 2: I love to eat my desserts. First, we are going
Speaker 2: to start with the medicine, which means we're gonna start
Speaker 2: with the commanders defense here. And I don't think anyone
Speaker 2: needs to point out that it has not been the
Speaker 2: greatest start for the group as they would have wanted.
Speaker 2: Their last and third down converts allowed, they are near
Speaker 2: the bottom end yards allowed, passing yards allowed. They're okay
Speaker 2: on on the ground, but still they give a lot
Speaker 2: of a lot of decent plays. It's till a chunk
Speaker 2: plays in the middle of the field between the tackles
Speaker 2: either way, Like I said, not exactly what you would want.
Speaker 2: And Scott Sin's you are new, we will start with
Speaker 2: you first. There's a lot of things right that the
Speaker 2: Commanders need to improve upon. But which area do you
Speaker 2: think they need to improve on the most in order
Speaker 2: to get a win over the Cardinals.
Speaker 3: Listen, they got to stop the pass man that The
Speaker 3: secondary has been a problem all year long, and I
Speaker 3: think it's going to continue to be a problem. Look
Speaker 3: at what the opposing wide receiver ones have done through
Speaker 3: the first three weeks of the season against that Washington secondary.
Speaker 3: Mike Evans went off, Malik Neighbors went off, Jamar Chase
Speaker 3: went off. What is the solution? How do you fix that? Well,
Speaker 3: you gotta look at the big boys up on the line.
Speaker 3: Can you get pressure on the quarterback? Can you get
Speaker 3: pressure on the quarterback? Sack the quarterback while rushing being
Speaker 3: only four? Remember the secondary and the defensive line, you
Speaker 3: kind of work in concert. When one is off, the
Speaker 3: other is off. So this is something that defensive coordinator
Speaker 3: Joe Whitt Junior has been trying to figure out. They've
Speaker 3: had a few days off in Arigona trying to figure
Speaker 3: figure out the game plan for Kyler Murray from Marvin
Speaker 3: Harrison Junior. You have Emmanuel Forbes coming back that could
Speaker 3: be a boost the secondary. I think Benjamin Saint Jews
Speaker 3: for the most part has been pretty solid. But it's
Speaker 3: really tough, you know, trying to figure out how to
Speaker 3: shut down the opposing team's wide receiver one. But I
Speaker 3: think it comes down to pressure making the quarterback uncomfortable
Speaker 3: getting home and trying to get those big guys up
Speaker 3: trying to get to the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you know, honestly, that is such a good point
Speaker 2: because Jonathan Allen and Deron Payne are two of two
Speaker 2: the reputation suggests there are two of the best demons
Speaker 2: of tackles in the game right now, but they have
Speaker 2: not really gotten off to as good of a start
Speaker 2: as you would want. Like the rest of the defense,
Speaker 2: I think they only have about five and a half
Speaker 2: tackles between the two of them. So, David, I'll kind
Speaker 2: of pivot here and and really kind of asked you
Speaker 2: the same question, but with more of a defensive line twist, like,
Speaker 2: what what do you think it is about Jonathan Allendron
Speaker 2: Payne and that that defensive line that's that's really not
Speaker 2: been as productive as you would like to life and
Speaker 2: to be over the first three games.
Speaker 6: And you know, I think I think ultimately what it
Speaker 6: boils down to is the assignments that these guys have
Speaker 6: right now, they're just simply not winning them enough and
Speaker 6: winning them in tandem enough to make make the effect
Speaker 6: that they need to make to make.
Speaker 5: You know, when there's a lot of games you can
Speaker 5: play up front. Obviously he has a defensive front, and
Speaker 5: Joe Junior has mentioned that, you know, he uses the
Speaker 5: worst weak and you know, whether you want to call
Speaker 5: it adjusting or shifting or changing or whatever word you want, Like,
Speaker 5: the good news here is.
Speaker 4: That the coach understands this isn't good enough.
Speaker 5: And it's not just the simple fact that my players
Speaker 5: aren't executing. But when you do try the table a
Speaker 5: good times where you know a guy will kind of
Speaker 5: pain blockers down, then maybe the twister, the stunter or
Speaker 5: the outside linebacker we'll come back.
Speaker 4: In or whatever.
Speaker 5: This either the gap it doesn't get there in time,
Speaker 5: or gets there with a bad angle or over pursues,
Speaker 5: and that's where things kind of get messed up. I
Speaker 5: mean going back to week one, and you know, everybody
Speaker 5: kind of has their hand in it. So I think
Speaker 5: that while we on the outside focused on kind of
Speaker 5: the bigger names in it, they're they're opportunities for guys
Speaker 5: from time to time that just aren't being taken advantage of.
Speaker 5: And I think for Joey Junior, so okay, is it
Speaker 5: not being taken advantage of because my players.
Speaker 4: Just not doing the job, or is it they're a
Speaker 4: different way I can make this job approachable forward this.
Speaker 5: Player, And I think it's encouraging to know that the
Speaker 5: coach is trying to do that and.
Speaker 4: Get those fixes, because who's got's point?
Speaker 5: I think that's where improving the past defense really starts.
Speaker 5: And to even add to that, in this game specifically,
Speaker 5: there are defenses the area mccarlo's offensive face already that
Speaker 5: are performing at a better rate right now and producing
Speaker 5: better than the Washington Commanders defenses. And they're still able
Speaker 5: to exploit those defenses that again are playing at a
Speaker 5: better clip. And the way they do that is their
Speaker 5: shortstop quarterback, right And the problem with any mobile quarterback
Speaker 5: is if you don't have pocket discipline, containing discipline while
Speaker 5: you're trying to have Russia while you're trying to get
Speaker 5: better here, you're going to get burned anyway.
Speaker 4: But the problem with Kyler Murray.
Speaker 5: Being that shortstop style quarterback is he can do it
Speaker 5: on either side this dude has thirteen pass that's outside.
Speaker 4: The pocket this season so far, he's completed nine of.
Speaker 5: Them, or he's got fourteen completion sorry outside the pocket,
Speaker 5: and they're basically evenly split from the left side and
Speaker 5: the right side. This student can escape the pocket on
Speaker 5: either side and still make you pay with his mobility.
Speaker 5: So it's not like a quarterback that you know, needs
Speaker 5: to scramble for the right side to say, a thrower
Speaker 5: or needs to scramble to the left side. He can
Speaker 5: do it all over the field and the best secondaries.
Speaker 4: In the world.
Speaker 5: If he can get out there and create five seconds
Speaker 5: of time for his receiver, they're always.
Speaker 4: Going to get open. And that's really where this pass
Speaker 4: rush has to get better this week.
Speaker 5: Specifically, you just want to get to the quarterback, but
Speaker 5: you also need to keep Piler in the pocket because
Speaker 5: that's where his number goes down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, absolutely right.
Speaker 2: You know, it seems like if you can crash the pocket,
Speaker 2: you can kind of make feed up his process a
Speaker 2: little bit and get him off because then he's a
Speaker 2: he's a small dude, and if you can you can
Speaker 2: get around him, he's got you're to limit his vision.
Speaker 2: But Scott you also mentioned, you know, the secondary and
Speaker 2: getting manual fours back with the thumb injury, you know,
Speaker 2: and you also brought up how these number one receivers
Speaker 2: that Washington has gone up against has really given them
Speaker 2: a tough time. And Marvin Harrison Junior is another one
Speaker 2: who is I mean, just as dynamic, if not more
Speaker 2: so than elite neighbors who gave them a lot of
Speaker 2: fits in week two. You know, we'll we'll go we'll
Speaker 2: go into the secondary here specifically because I think that's
Speaker 2: that's gonna be another big challenge for them, even with
Speaker 2: Emmanuel Forbes out there is you know, Scott, what have
Speaker 2: you seen from from Marvin Harrison and what do you
Speaker 2: expect of this secondary?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: You know, as they go up against a passing a
Speaker 2: passing group, they didn't have necessarily as many weapons as
Speaker 2: as the Bengals do. But again, like they've got some
Speaker 2: some pretty interesting pieces out there.
Speaker 3: Well, Marvin Harrison Junior comes from some pretty good DNA.
Speaker 3: His father, Marvin Harrison Hall of Famer, well did his
Speaker 3: thing with Pinton Manning in Indianapolis, one of the greatest
Speaker 3: of all time. And Marvin Harrison Junior did his thing
Speaker 3: in college was tremendous at Ohio State, and after a
Speaker 3: slow Week one in the NFL, the last two weeks,
Speaker 3: Marvin Harrison June has shown why he's going to be
Speaker 3: one of the best receivers in the NFL for many
Speaker 3: years because he can do it all. He has the
Speaker 3: route tree, he can be physical, he can take the
Speaker 3: jump ball, he can be elusive and show off his speed.
Speaker 3: So it's going to be a handful for this Washington secondary.
Speaker 3: How do you stop Marvin Harrison Junior. Maybe get a
Speaker 3: little physical, well them cam him at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 3: get him off get him off kilter a little bit,
Speaker 3: don't give him a free free release. You know, you
Speaker 3: got to try something. Clearly, what Washington has been doing
Speaker 3: the last three weeks against those wide receiver ones hasn't
Speaker 3: been working. So you got to go back into the playbook.
Speaker 3: That's why Joe Wick Junior is a defensive coordinator, That's
Speaker 3: why he works in magic with the Dallas secondary. Last year,
Speaker 3: they got to figure out a way to shut down
Speaker 3: Marvin Harrison Junior. And I think a key element of
Speaker 3: all this is let's get some takeaways. Boys. Let's try
Speaker 3: to figure out to punch the ball out, get a bumble,
Speaker 3: get an interception. Since this defense has been giving a
Speaker 3: lot of yards and a lot of points, seems like
Speaker 3: the only way this defense can maybe stop the opposing
Speaker 3: offense creating some turnovers. So maybe be a little bit
Speaker 3: more aggressive, take some chances, be physical. I think I
Speaker 3: think throw the kitchen sink at at this point, guys,
Speaker 3: because what you've been doing hasn't been working. To try something.
Speaker 2: Different, David, real quick before before we move on to
Speaker 2: the next question. Scovery's of an excellent point. They only
Speaker 2: have one turnover U through the first, you know, three
Speaker 2: games of the season. What can they do to get
Speaker 2: more opportunities for for for their offense because they simply
Speaker 2: cannot go through these interests where the commanders have to
Speaker 2: put up no point, no no punchs, no turnovers. They
Speaker 2: have to basically pitch a perfect game every single week
Speaker 2: in order that you give themselves the best chance to win.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they gotta have faith. That I think is the
Speaker 5: key here. So Coach Witt kind of talked about this
Speaker 5: where you know, there are guys in positions to make
Speaker 5: plays and they're either just not reacting fast enough or
Speaker 5: or they're not they're not trusting what they're seeing with
Speaker 5: their eyes fast enough to go and make the best
Speaker 5: play right. They're in position to maybe make the hit,
Speaker 5: or try to get the tackle, maybe try to get
Speaker 5: a punch out in all those things. But there's opportunities
Speaker 5: there to break on the balls and break on routes.
Speaker 5: He's up the trust what you see, man, and and
Speaker 5: you know that could be hard, you know, especially when
Speaker 5: you're talking about the secondary.
Speaker 4: That's returning, you know, and you're just organic lineup.
Speaker 5: You've got three three members of the secondary that are
Speaker 5: recurring from the worst past secondary.
Speaker 4: In the twenty point three NFL season, and then right
Speaker 4: now when Jeremy Shid dropped.
Speaker 5: Down in the box and putting Percy Butler out there
Speaker 5: on the fields, and Night's got four members in that
Speaker 5: secondary that are problem with.
Speaker 4: That work pass defense in the NFL. So it's kind
Speaker 4: of understandable from a human element to know, like those
Speaker 4: guys are probably a little bit shell truck. They're a
Speaker 4: little bit inconfident, unconfident in.
Speaker 5: What they see their odds, and I think that's what's
Speaker 5: leading to some of these hesitations.
Speaker 4: And as they get more confident, you know, I think
Speaker 4: that's where they can play fast. You're always your coaches said,
Speaker 4: once you're playing completely fast.
Speaker 5: I think these guys are in their heads a little
Speaker 5: bit more than Joe At wants them right now, and
Speaker 5: they're thinking, you.
Speaker 4: Know a little bit, the Scott's going.
Speaker 5: I think Benson Saint Jus is playing with a lot
Speaker 5: more confidence than maybe some of those other guys, and
Speaker 5: I think as his confidence.
Speaker 4: Growth, maybe you'll be able to see those things as well.
Speaker 4: And I agree.
Speaker 5: I think that when you watch the Arizona and Cardinals,
Speaker 5: they have a few receivers that really have issues making
Speaker 5: catches through contact, which is why I really like a
Speaker 5: guy like Noah Abanagni to maybe get more snaps in.
Speaker 4: This game, because that dude is a very physical cornerback.
Speaker 5: Now, the trade off there, and you have to be
Speaker 5: willing to accept this, is if he gets a significant
Speaker 5: amount of snaps, he's probably also going to get a
Speaker 5: flagger two right from me physicality. But again, if you
Speaker 5: did that's the brand of football you want to play.
Speaker 5: You have the stuff that sometimes you're going to get
Speaker 5: those penalties, but if you can get into your opponent's
Speaker 5: mind where maybe you're not even on cover, maybe Marvin
Speaker 5: is able to get some separation, but he can't see
Speaker 5: that he's that separation.
Speaker 4: And if he just thinks, say, you're probably there, that
Speaker 4: can impact the play as well.
Speaker 5: So you know, those are all the things I think
Speaker 5: that you know, they need to get better at than
Speaker 5: obviously a work in progress, but they're Joe, it's confident
Speaker 5: that they're getting there. Playing that poor and of Commander's defense,
Speaker 5: and you know there are signs to say that perhaps
Speaker 5: they are. I'm interested to see how Emmanuel looks coming back,
Speaker 5: if he does indeed get to get back on the
Speaker 5: field this weekend.
Speaker 2: The Commanders are one of just four teams to have
Speaker 2: two or fewer turnovers. They joined the Raiders, the Titans,
Speaker 2: and the Jaguars who have zero. So it always can
Speaker 2: be worse, but one is not necessarily the greatest thing.
Speaker 2: We're gonna move on to the next question here, but
Speaker 2: before we do that score update, you guys are tied
Speaker 2: five to five and points. I really like stuff you
Speaker 2: you brought up, David about no egg bnogny and being
Speaker 2: more physical. I really thought that Scott made a good
Speaker 2: point about the turnovers. So but we're gonna flip onto
Speaker 2: the other side of the field now and go to
Speaker 2: the offense because the Commanders have a big weapon that
Speaker 2: they have lost with Austin Eckler into concussion protocol. This
Speaker 2: guy is second in scrimmage charge for this team. He's
Speaker 2: spent just a just production magnet. He's been able to
Speaker 2: really kind of give a spark to this unit in
Speaker 2: ways that I think maybe a lot of people outside
Speaker 2: of the Commanders organization didn't really think that he could.
Speaker 2: So David, we'll start with you next. Now that Austin
Speaker 2: is out, who want office need to step up for
Speaker 2: to replace that production in week four?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I actually asked Cliff that that almost
Speaker 5: exact same question, and I like the way that he said,
Speaker 5: you don't replace Austin Eckler, you know, but they've got
Speaker 5: to come up with a way to kind of fill
Speaker 5: in for him while he's out, and even though you
Speaker 5: don't just one for one replace him. And I definitely agree,
Speaker 5: especially when you look, you know, on the Dross, but
Speaker 5: just across the NFL, like there's not really another Austin
Speaker 5: Eckler out there that's as effective as Austin has been,
Speaker 5: and he's certainly has been this season for the Commander,
Speaker 5: So I think trying to just fill in, right, Jeremy
Speaker 5: and McNichols is kind of the low hanging crew, as
Speaker 5: a name goes, But I also think that he provides
Speaker 5: this dynamic that you know, you always want to keep
Speaker 5: your opponents on their toes.
Speaker 4: And I think when you have an offense that just
Speaker 4: came off.
Speaker 5: This you know, multi layered historic performance on Monday Uniting
Speaker 5: and Cincinnati Bengals, and you kind of see this evolution
Speaker 5: of this of this team, like as Cliff Kingsbury and
Speaker 5: Jade Daniels have been able to together on role more
Speaker 5: of their playbook and more of their dynamic ability on offense,
Speaker 5: there has been kind of a path, right, Like you
Speaker 5: go from week one to two and three and you
Speaker 5: see this kind of natural progression of the offense. So
Speaker 5: while every week looked a little bit different, and certainly
Speaker 5: the performances has obviously been a lot different, there is
Speaker 5: a theme there. So bringing a guy like Jeremy McNichols, then,
Speaker 5: while you would obviously much rather have Austin healthy, it
Speaker 5: gives you an opportunity to switch it up a little bit,
Speaker 5: change the tempo, and make the Arizona Cardinals defend looks
Speaker 5: that they haven't and make them defend a type of
Speaker 5: running back to will with Bryan Robinson Junior and Jeremy
Speaker 5: and McNichols that they haven't seen yet.
Speaker 4: So how did Cliff Kingsbury get them to kind of
Speaker 4: dance off with each other? That's going to be really key.
Speaker 5: And if they can come up with kind of a
Speaker 5: new wrinkle, then the addition of Jeremy McNichols can actually
Speaker 5: be turned into an advantage at least early on. I mean,
Speaker 5: every defense was dounit just eventually if you can kind
Speaker 5: of get that early spart the air Lanvarnald are a
Speaker 5: team that has known if they fall behind early, they
Speaker 5: will almost completely, but they will very significantly go away
Speaker 5: from James connerd. So if you can use your offense
Speaker 5: to help put pressure on their offense and do that
Speaker 5: and that only that, that simplifies their offense and makes
Speaker 5: the defensive job you here.
Speaker 2: You know, I like Jeremy mc nichols. I liked him
Speaker 2: a Lotstin's training camp. I think he brings a lot
Speaker 2: of unique things to this offense. And he played really well.
Speaker 2: Uh whenever Eckler went out, have that really good that
Speaker 2: good pass block that really helped set out the touchdown
Speaker 2: from Jade to Terry.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: But Scott A mcgoveror you next, and what you know?
Speaker 2: I think you know obviously, like like if David said,
Speaker 2: you can't really replace Eckler's production, But what about guys
Speaker 2: like zach Ertzlut McCaffrey, some of these other weapons that
Speaker 2: they have. Do you think they're gonna be able to
Speaker 2: get more snaps and more looks Now that you know
Speaker 2: Eckler is going to be out for this week, it's.
Speaker 3: Time to unleash Luke McCaffrey. He took the words right
Speaker 3: out of my mouth. That dude is an athlete. He
Speaker 3: used to play quarterback, transition to wide receiver. He's speedy,
Speaker 3: he's shifty. He could be that Swiss Army Knights type
Speaker 3: player that Austin Eckler is. You're not going to replace
Speaker 3: an Austin Eckler. Sure you can try to mimick. You
Speaker 3: can try to replicate with Luke McCaffrey. Line up, line
Speaker 3: them up all over, you know, the offense, outside, inside slot,
Speaker 3: maybe put them out in the backfield, get get you know,
Speaker 3: creative with Luke mccafrey. Because again you talk about the pedigree,
Speaker 3: the DNA of a Marvin Harrison Junior.
Speaker 4: Uh yeah.
Speaker 3: Luke McCaffrey has that pedigree in DNA, so he can
Speaker 3: be in that Austin Eckler type role. Also rely on
Speaker 3: your studs, guys. Rely on a Terry McLaurin, rely on
Speaker 3: a Brian Robinson Junior, rely on a zach Ertz. Those
Speaker 3: guys are you know, been there, done that they can
Speaker 3: be those players when you need that third and four,
Speaker 3: When you need that third and five, Okay, go to
Speaker 3: your safety blanket and zach Ertz for a first down.
Speaker 3: Get Terry McLaurin more involved like you did against Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: Brian Robinson Junior, stick to the running game, open up
Speaker 3: some holes on the offensive line, big guys for Brian
Speaker 3: Robinson Junior. And I think another key factor is the
Speaker 3: kind of to lessen the blow of not having Austin Eckler.
Speaker 3: You've got to play in front of the sticks. So
Speaker 3: you don't want to get in third and lungs. You
Speaker 3: don't want third and seven. You don't want third and eighth,
Speaker 3: you don't want third and nine. You want to play
Speaker 3: in front of the sticks. You want those short distances,
Speaker 3: Get those first downs, get those third and ones, get
Speaker 3: those third and twos. I think that's gonna be key
Speaker 3: of them not having those third and lungs because that's
Speaker 3: where Eckler came into play. So if you can stay
Speaker 3: in front of the sticks manage those down in distances
Speaker 3: of a third and one and third and two, I
Speaker 3: think you'd be much more successful.
Speaker 2: You know, the Commanders are sixth in third down conversion rate,
Speaker 2: and I think a lot of it has to do
Speaker 2: with with how they've been able to rely on the
Speaker 2: running game as much as they have, much more obviously
Speaker 2: than they did in twenty twenty three when they were
Speaker 2: last and run past ratio. But David, you brought up
Speaker 2: Brian Robbinson first, and you know, we often hear about
Speaker 2: how surprised this this coaching staff and a lot of coaches,
Speaker 2: even the previous regime. We're surprised at how good Brian
Speaker 2: Robinson is the pass catcher. And we've seen some of
Speaker 2: that every now and again, right, Like I mean last year,
Speaker 2: you know we saw some of that against the Seahawks.
Speaker 2: We've seen some of that in other other cases. Uh,
Speaker 2: do you think we're going to see more of that
Speaker 2: with the Cardinals, Because you're right, he does have this
Speaker 2: ability to make these screens and do make some people
Speaker 2: miss in the open space as a well.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think I think there's a very
Speaker 5: good possibility again when you have a when you have
Speaker 5: a quarterback like Jaane Diagels is an extend plays.
Speaker 4: I think that's kind of the.
Speaker 5: Next step in the evolution of the quarterback here is
Speaker 5: you know, and we talked about kind of going from
Speaker 5: week one to week three, and week one, I don't
Speaker 5: call James Daniels nervous, but I think you can tell
Speaker 5: like his internal clock is certainly accelerated in the first
Speaker 5: NFL game, Top Bolt defense, you know, road game, all
Speaker 5: those and the certainly plays into that. And there are
Speaker 5: some reads that you would like them for him to see,
Speaker 5: anticipate and deliver on that he doesn't.
Speaker 4: And then we two he's delivering on more of those things.
Speaker 5: Week three, we obviously kind of see the whole thing
Speaker 5: just just really kind of explode and you and you
Speaker 5: really get the first glimpse that Jaden is like on
Speaker 5: his most collided putting in.
Speaker 4: The National Football League.
Speaker 5: Well, the next step in that is understanding, you know,
Speaker 5: when your first plan doesn't work out and your second
Speaker 5: playing doesn't work out, how do you keep that play
Speaker 5: a lot for your teammates to give them that third
Speaker 5: and the fourth look, break those.
Speaker 4: Those bonus downs as some coaches will call them after
Speaker 4: the play the original play, who's on during the fourth?
Speaker 4: And that's where a guy like Brian Romins can really
Speaker 4: do a lot of damage.
Speaker 5: And you know, we know the ability is there, right
Speaker 5: We've seen it in practices at the ability to extend
Speaker 5: the play, manipulate the defense with your athleticism and take
Speaker 5: advantage of that is there. It's getting it up to
Speaker 5: the full NFL speed right now that you're in the
Speaker 5: regular season. And if that next step happens this week,
Speaker 5: It's it's easy to try to get excited about every
Speaker 5: week there being a next step for Chad and Daniels today,
Speaker 5: but I think that really is that next step, and
Speaker 5: if that happens this weekend, it's just going to unlock
Speaker 5: another level of the Washington Comanders offense.
Speaker 1: So Scott, real quick, before we move on to the
Speaker 1: final question.
Speaker 2: You bring up Lout McCaffrey's ability as a as a
Speaker 2: Swiss army knife here, and he was a little bit
Speaker 2: of a running back back in his college days. Do
Speaker 2: we see possibly the first lout McCaffrey touch out of
Speaker 2: the backfield as a runner.
Speaker 3: Do you think why not maybe like a little wide
Speaker 3: retiever handoff here? You just I think they have confidence
Speaker 3: and Jerry McNichols and Brian Robinson Junior they'll get the handoffs,
Speaker 3: but don't be surprised for maybe like a little a
Speaker 3: little wide retiever action getting getting a little reverse action
Speaker 3: and you don't I don't see Luke running in between
Speaker 3: the tackles per se like McNichols and Brian Robinson Jr.
Speaker 3: But I certainly think he can fit the mold as
Speaker 3: being that athletic type of Swiss army knife where you
Speaker 3: get the ball in his hand, good things usually happened.
Speaker 3: So I think, uh, he's shown some glimpses. He's grown
Speaker 3: and grown each and every week of making an impact
Speaker 3: on this offense. So I think more and more as
Speaker 3: the season goes on, and especially on Sunday, I think
Speaker 3: they're going to get the ball in the hand the
Speaker 3: little bit more of Luke McCaffrey.
Speaker 4: Guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think Luke is gonna have an
Speaker 2: interesting game because you saw a little bit more of
Speaker 2: that with a thirty yard pass on fourth down. I
Speaker 2: think they're starting to open him up a little bit
Speaker 2: more and I think that's gonna be able to really
Speaker 2: help out this offense. So final question, But you guys
Speaker 2: are still tied dead heat heading into the last question here. Uh,
Speaker 2: And we're gonna stick on the offense. And we've seen
Speaker 2: how this offense has really produced. They've been the talk
Speaker 2: of the league for like the last few days or
Speaker 2: so with how impressive that win over the Bengals was.
Speaker 2: You know, the first thirty eight point game they've had
Speaker 2: since twenty twenty in Thanksgiving. It's been a long time
Speaker 2: since we've seen since we've seen this kind of level
Speaker 2: production from a commander's offense. But uh, David will start
Speaker 2: with you, what do you think the next step is
Speaker 2: for this commander's offense now that Jaden and Terry have
Speaker 2: started to connect on these explosive plays.
Speaker 5: It's it's the consistency in the explosive plays, right, So
Speaker 5: we've seen already then go to the map and they
Speaker 5: and they can they control the clock, then.
Speaker 4: They can use that air running back, and they're willing
Speaker 4: to use their running back.
Speaker 5: And now we're starting to see that explosive connection come together,
Speaker 5: not just for Jae and Terry, but like Fred mentioned,
Speaker 5: Luke McCaffrey, the pride of cass Arock of Colorado.
Speaker 4: But you need to see that more consistently. Right, So
Speaker 4: two really big anomalies that we've seen in the last
Speaker 4: two weeks.
Speaker 5: A team kicking nothing but field goals and winning, and
Speaker 5: then a team only having four explosive plays on offense
Speaker 5: and not only hitting but scoring almost forty points like
Speaker 5: that almost never happened. When you look at expected points
Speaker 5: per average on drives, when you have explosive plays, that
Speaker 5: expected points per average drive goes up to four point
Speaker 5: seventy nine.
Speaker 4: When you don't have explosive plays, that drops to one
Speaker 4: point two.
Speaker 5: And when you think about it, for the mand new
Speaker 5: team that really wants to have like fixture seven drive
Speaker 5: games because they want to con twelve o'clock, they want
Speaker 5: to run it, they want to let us go home early,
Speaker 5: which you reatly appreciate. Like you're talking a difference of
Speaker 5: eighteen points potentially on drive, where you don't if you
Speaker 5: have an entire game, which is pretty rare with no
Speaker 5: explosive you're talking about an eighteen point difference there on average.
Speaker 5: That's very, very significant, especially in the defense that's struggling.
Speaker 4: So you love seeing the explosive connections. And just like
Speaker 4: I just kind of talked about before, and I know
Speaker 4: I was kind of getting into dangerous waters maybe free
Speaker 4: answering the final question.
Speaker 7: But the next evolution for Jade Daniels can also help
Speaker 7: online the next evolution of this Washington Commander's offense, because
Speaker 7: we've all seen again Brian Robinson take that short dump
Speaker 7: off and turn it into big yards.
Speaker 5: Well, now get that short dump off with three or
Speaker 5: four members of the air zoning the Cardinals defense, chasing
Speaker 5: Jade and Daniels, and now you're behind them, and I
Speaker 5: don't know, two or three other receiver art defenders are
Speaker 5: on the opposite side of the field because they're defending
Speaker 5: routes on the other side of the tree. You've got
Speaker 5: half that defense that already basically out of this play
Speaker 5: for Brian Robinson Junior, and now you've got to make
Speaker 5: each of that space. That's how you generate more explosive
Speaker 5: than of course play action and all that stuff opening
Speaker 5: up lane for these running backs. Now, I think it
Speaker 5: is important also when we talk about the commanders having
Speaker 5: only forest flow the plays on offense igin Cincinnati Bengals
Speaker 5: forting to realize too, like a couple of those closes or.
Speaker 4: Near closes, like a sixteen yard pass the Noah Brown
Speaker 4: that you ball down to the four yard line or
Speaker 4: whatever it was, like the.
Speaker 5: Sixteen yard pass is not in the closest technically very
Speaker 5: good play. And then obviously from four yards out you're
Speaker 5: not getting explosive in either the run game or the
Speaker 5: pass game.
Speaker 4: So you know when we're when we're sticking strictly, you
Speaker 4: can explosive. Mark. That's where those numbers come in. And
Speaker 4: if this team can generate.
Speaker 5: Six, seven and eight of cloth of offense to play
Speaker 5: per game, then you can more more confidently.
Speaker 4: I think we're expect the twenty four plus point.
Speaker 2: Helpus, all right, Scott, same question, what is the next
Speaker 2: phase of the Commander's offense?
Speaker 3: A sidebar layer? And I don't think none of us
Speaker 3: have talked about it yet. Let's give some flowers to
Speaker 3: the Washington offensive line guys, because they have been really
Speaker 3: really good pass protection, uh you know, in running the
Speaker 3: football in the last couple of years. They've been a
Speaker 3: storery lineup and they protect the quarterback Sam Howels the
Speaker 3: most a quarterback guys. They did a tremendous job against
Speaker 3: Cincinnati and pass per text and I think the evolution
Speaker 3: of this offense, let's let's let's let's continue to get
Speaker 3: nasty a little bit, build a little identity in the
Speaker 3: trenches in that offensive lineup. Let's stick to that running game,
Speaker 3: because the more you run the football in the NFL,
Speaker 3: the more successful the offense usually is. And Brian Robinson
Speaker 3: Junior went off against the Giants, had a tough game
Speaker 3: against Cincy. I mean, had a lot of carries, but
Speaker 3: not a lot of yards. But stick to that running game.
Speaker 3: It'll make it much easier on Jaden Daniels as a
Speaker 3: rookie quarterback.
Speaker 4: And I love the.
Speaker 3: PLAYAB little edge PLAYAB little nastiness, take the will of
Speaker 3: the opposing defensive line. So I think that's a big
Speaker 3: part of this too. And Cliff Kingsbury knows what's working
Speaker 3: right now for this Washington offense. They've been relying heavily
Speaker 3: on that dynamic due all Boston Eckler and Brian Robinson Junior,
Speaker 3: part of that duo is going to be missing on
Speaker 3: So we talked about maybe some of the changes they
Speaker 3: may implement. And I also want to see as this
Speaker 3: offense evolved. In the evolution of the offenses. Jaden Daniels
Speaker 3: as the passer. You got a glimpse of that on
Speaker 3: Monday against the Cincinnati Bengals, that deep balls, stretching the fields.
Speaker 3: The more and more he's gonna get comfortable of reading
Speaker 3: defenses sitting there in the pocket. Having a clean pocket,
Speaker 3: which was crucial on Monday, will allow him to stretch
Speaker 3: the field more and push the ball down the field.
Speaker 3: So I think it starts with the offensive line, to
Speaker 3: be honest with you, guys, start with the offensive line.
Speaker 3: The pass pro get a nice little pocket for Jane
Speaker 3: Daniels to feel comfortable where he can stretch the field,
Speaker 3: and I think that's gonna be all part of the process.
Speaker 2: You know, honestly, the Commander's offensive line was expected to be,
Speaker 2: to your point, Scott, one of one of the worst
Speaker 2: in the league heading into the season, and I think
Speaker 2: there's been no There's been some some hiccups here and there,
Speaker 2: but I think mostly you haven't really heard that much
Speaker 2: about them.
Speaker 4: And that's what you love.
Speaker 1: As an offensive liney.
Speaker 2: You don't want you don't want to create two many
Speaker 2: headlines other than the fact that they've beginning gotten great
Speaker 2: production for Jayden and Daniels. All Right, So drum I
Speaker 2: feel like I should added rumble here into this. You know, Scott,
Speaker 2: I love the points you were bringing up, you know,
Speaker 2: about the OFFICI line about uh, you know, Lil McCaffrey
Speaker 2: about creating the turnovers.
Speaker 1: But David, I gotta give you the win here.
Speaker 2: Just no, no, I think that's look modern offenses in
Speaker 2: the league. That's it's all about generating as supposed to plays.
Speaker 2: And I think that's that the more you can make
Speaker 2: it in this league, the more you you're gonna be
Speaker 2: able to be successful and overcome a struggling defense. So David,
Speaker 2: first win of the Beatdown you have any.
Speaker 5: Look, and maybe I one against the big time, but
Speaker 5: I'm now one to know against the ACC and I'll
Speaker 5: take any time your own defeated against any any power conference.
Speaker 3: Love that, Love it all right, guys, Thank you?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really appreciate you guys doing this.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, hopefully next week when these these you was
Speaker 2: listening to the Beatdown podcast, we'll be talking about a
Speaker 2: third straight win. But again, thank you, guys. Uh and
Speaker 2: for everyone else listening, please rate, review, subscribe, and this
Speaker 2: has been the Beatdown podcast,