November 8, 2024 • 28 mins
The Washington Commanders swept the New York Giants last week and are looking to start 8-2 for the first time since 1986 with a home matchup against Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Senior Writer Zach Selby chats with Logan Paulsen and Al Galdi about how the Commanders can prevent Wilson from making plays downfield, the challenges in the red zone and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
This is the Beatdown Podcast. Welcome into another episode. I
am your host and you're right for the Washington Commanders,
Zach Selby and guys.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
The Commanders one in the Meadowlands. That's it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
They swore the Giants for the first time since twenty
twenty one season with the twenty seven to twenty two victory.
Wasn't exactly the prettiest win, but it was efficient and
they got the job done, which is really the most
important thing. They are now seven and two for the
first time since nineteen ninety six. I was four years old,
just just a wee lad back in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
And now they are.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Heading back to Northwest Stadium to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers,
a big interconference matchup here. Russell Wilson is flying high
right now. I mean, what's the what is the Seals
version of Let's rile, Let's weld?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Is that? What that is?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Either way, the Steelers are doing really well right now,
six and two, coming up of buy a week. So
how did the Commanders pull off this win and go
eight and two for the first time since maybe eighty six? Well,
that is definitely what we're going to be talking about.
Joining me today is Logan Paul and Algaldi. You can
find him on the Algaldi podcast. Guys, how are we doing?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm doing great too, Yeah, doing well, man. Super pumped
for this game. You know, I'm actually married to a
Steelers fan, so this is an especially big game in
my household. But really excited with what's going on with
the Commanders right now.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god, since you brought that, I gotta know, like,
what is the what is the dynamic there?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, I mean she's from Pittsburgh, she came down here
to teach and diehard Steelers span Her dad was a
season taken older for years, and you know, they're used
to a certain caliber football up there with you know,
the Steelers not having had a losing season in forever
and having just you know, three head coaches over the
last you know, two hundred years or whatever this dad is.
So it's really nice to have a team now that
(02:03):
is right on that level, if not.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Above that level. I mean, this is great.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
This is a big game on Sunday afternoon, so super
funp Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It really is, and I'm really excited for it. You know, again,
I've never been seven and two with this franchise. One
went away from doubling the wind toll they have them
last year, which is always fantastic. But the people who
are listening, they know the spield, they know the deal. Here.
We're gonna be asking these guys three questions, one offense,
one of defense, and one more of a general question.
(02:31):
There will be points that will be given out at
the end of each round, and since I am the
host of this podcast, I get decide the winner. That
is a heavy burden that is rested upon my shoulders.
But you shouldn't focus too much on on the results.
You shouldn't focus too much on who is the designate
of the winner, to be more focused on the points
and the objective opinions that these guys are gonna be
(02:52):
bringing out. And with all that being said, let's just
jump right into it, starting with the guy we mentioned earlier,
Russell Wilson. And ever since he replaced Justin Fields as
the Steelers starting quarterback, they've really done a good job.
You know, I only know a lot of people were
really expecting him to put out some of the more
(03:14):
Seattle Seahawks asque performances that he was putting out with
the last couple of weeks Agains steel with Steelers, but
he really has had that offense working in a very
different way. And dan Quinn even mentioned it in his
in his Wednesday press conference that this guy is an
exceptional deep ball thrower, and over the last couple of weeks,
I mean, that's exactly what he's been. Thirteenth on deep
(03:36):
passes in terms of overall gray from Pro Football Focus
and the average depth of target for Russell Wilson on
deep passive twenty plus the yards is thirty six as
third in the NFL already. So in terms of in
terms of how the Commanders are going to be able
to stop this guy with the secondary that is improving.
(03:57):
And obviously they did just completely trade for larsh Marshall
atam or. I don't we don't exactly know when he's
going to be playing, and we know that he's often
going to be playing in the near future.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
We're just gonna win.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
UH. But in terms of how they can prevent these
explosive passing plays, which UH does, has come up a
little bit here and there. There were a couple of
plays against the Giants where that was a little bit
of an issue, but Logan starting with you, like when
you when you're when you're looking at the tape on
the Steelers, like and you're trying to figure out the matchups,
like what are some things you know, the committerer should
(04:26):
do to be able to prevent Wilson from being able
to make these exposive passing plays on them.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, so I think, you know, one of the things
that jumps out to me when you're watching the Steelers
film is that, like, that's not an overly complex offense.
And what I mean by that, they don't get in
a ton of bunches. There's not a ton of shifts,
there's not a ton of movement, you know, very kind
of you know, agonist to what it was when Arthur
Smith was in Atlanta, which was a little bit surprising
to me. And so they really are just kind of
(04:53):
they're running the football, they're kind of hitting some play
action looks, they're trying to get Russ out of the pocket.
And then when they need these explosive plays like they're
it's not like, oh, we're gonna run two posts on
a rail and get the pick route and get Pickens open.
It's like Pickens is running a vertical route. I'm gonna
throw the ball to him and he's gonna make me
right on this fifties fifty contested catch. So to me,
there's nothing is there a lot of mystery. It's just
(05:14):
about to me matchups, then understanding like how to play
that deep ball opportunity. And then I think, you know,
how you affect him as a passer because he's not
a big guy, he can't see very well, and he
does remind me a little bit of the Arizona game
versus Kyler Murray in terms of kind of how it works.
It's like, if you can't find that explosive chunk play,
he's not super effective from the pocket. So to me,
(05:36):
it's like, can we find a way to create a
little bit of pressure on Russell Wilson. The offensive line's
been a little bit banged up. They've got their backup
center and backup right guard Rodger Jones has struggled pretty
pretty tremendously over the last couple of weeks in terms
of past pass blocking, and I think that's one of
the reasons they've been so committed to running the football,
maybe as a way to get him settled in. And
then I think the other thing that's important to just
understand is these are fifty to fifty contested catch opportunit
(06:00):
co unities. They are not going to hit on all
of them. And I think when you look at that
Jets game as a really good kind of sample size
of this, George Pickens makes three tremendous catches in contested
catch situations. If he drops two of those, which is
exactly what they are, it's fifty to fifty. It's just
pure statistics that they're not going to come down with
all of them. They probably lose that football game. So
(06:21):
what I would say is like, probably pick your best matchup,
which is sent Benjamin Saint Jewish, throw different covert structures
at them, and make sure that that you're giving different
looks so that when they do throw that deep ball,
sometimes it's banding man, sometimes it's covered two. And then
the other thing that I think is incredibly important in
terms of stopping Russell Wilson in this offense and getting
(06:42):
out of getting them out of their comfort zone is
being very effective with the commander's offense and scoring a
lot of points, getting them out of the type of
offense they want to run and get them into a
more conventional drop back, which I don't think would be
very successful for them. So I know I throw a
lot out there, but to me, the offense got to
stop the run. Commander's offense has to be have to
get them in a good game flow and get them
out of this this kind of this shot played down
(07:06):
the field type environment and make them kind of run
more efficient passing attack. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, you mentioned a lot of your points there, and
I want to I'll circle back on those on a
little bit, but I really want to focus on the
other part of this explosive passing attack, which would be
George Pickens. And you brought him up and right now
he's ninth in the NFL with contested contested catch targets
with eighteen just one one one behind Late Neighbors. And
(07:31):
you know, uh, goalie, we'll switch over to you because
I think you know, George Pickens is an interesting matchup
for this Commander secondary. And again we don't know exactly
when Marshall Lattimore is going to play as he gets
up to speed, but in this current iteration that we
have this Commander secondary right now.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
What do you what do you how do you how
do you expect the you know, Joe A.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Junior in this and this Commander secondary to address the
challenge of t and then limit George Pickens.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
So Pickens is a really interesting guy. He's very good,
he's very talented, but he also can be a head case.
There have been issues with Pickens during his time with
the Steelers, and he strikes me as someone who you
can get inside his head and you can potentially rattle him.
And you know, I know that Benjamin Saint Jews has
become like a pinata for a lot of people. I
(08:24):
don't think he's as bad as some people make him
out to be. And I think Marcel Latimore being a
part of the Secondary's going to do Saint Jews a
lot of good. But you know, I think about Saint
Jews and one of the most obvious things about him,
right is that he is handsy, and that can work
against him, but that also can work for him. And
so I wonder if this is a matchup where maybe
Saint Jews can rattle Pickens a little bit, can frustrate
(08:45):
Pickens a little bit. Like I said, Pickens to me
is prone to if things aren't going his way, he
can start to sour. And so I think there's some
of that that could be in play here. But I
think the number one thing with Wilson, and this is
true of a lot of quarterbacks, but you do have
to pressure.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
His success with.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
The Steelers has stood out no doubt, these last two games,
averaging more than nine yards per pass attempt, averaging more
than fifteen yards for completion. Those are dare I say,
Jayden Daniels like numbers, but if you dig a little deeper,
you go buy sharp football analysis. The stats that Warren's
got up there. Wilson is just six for seventeen on
pass attempts when pressured, So when he's being pressured, he's
(09:23):
not having success. If the Commanders can generate pressure, I
think they can rattle Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
And you know I think about this. You mentioned Joe
wid Junior.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I don't know how serious he willis when he said
this during his preractice press conference last Thursday, said that
he should be sending Jeremy Chin more.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Now.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
I don't know if he said that just to say
that if you legitimately felt that, but shit is playing
really well. We saw him have a number of standout
plays in the win at the Giants. I wonder if
you maybe see some of that on Sunday afternoon in
an effort to get to Wilson. But I think if
the commander's pressure Wilson, they can dude this Steelers offense,
which has been going really well. It's two games, you know,
(10:03):
it's not some massive sample size, So I think there's
still a lot to be proven in terms of all this.
Steelers truly good offensively, and like Logan said, connecting on
deep balls is great, but it also is kind of
a you know, it can't be a thing.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
It can't be a thing. It's random, it can fluctuate.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You are dealing with a lot of fifty to fifty propositions.
Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don't. Hopefully this
Sunday afternoon they do not go the way of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
And you know, you both mentioned mentioned press pressuring Russell Wilson.
I think that these commanders have done a very good
job against mobile quarterbacks. I mean, you look all the
way back, you know, to Kyler Murray. He had his
lowest pass performance of the season going against Washington. Uh,
you know, Deshaun Watson obviously it had a really tough
go in there. The following week in Northwest stadium. Lamar
(10:51):
Jackson has had his day because he's Lamar Jackson and
he's an Ivy P.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Caliver candidate.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But you know, the last you know, few weeks or so,
these manners have, uh they've allowed less than one hundred
passing yards up until like the fourth quarter, and I
think a lot of that is because of how well
the pass rush has has really improved.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Uh, you know over the last two weeks or so, like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
You've got you know, Johnny Newon, You've got to Ron
Payne and John Dante Teller has been has been really
really solid over the last two weeks. You know, there's
not necessarily the a A tier, top of the class
defensive pass rusher that you're they would really expect have these.
But at the same time, this this this pass rush
is top ten or least around that in sacks. So,
(11:35):
you know, Logan, you mentioned that, you know, the offensive
line of the Steels offensive line being a little beat up.
Roger goes not playing exactly as well as maybe he
wanted to. It's at some points, but in terms of
you know, how this how this Steelers offensive line matches
up against, uh, the Commanders defensive front, what are you
seeing so far and like, how can they take advantage
(11:56):
of some of their some of the Steelers and maybe
miscues there.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, So I think it comes down to kind of
who the Steelers want to be. And when you look
at their offense, they want to run the football. They
want to be in a kind of you know, I
look at Mike tom when he's a defensive head coach.
They want to be in a defensive led game. And
what I mean by that they want they don't want
to make any mistakes offensively. They want to kind of
let the defense drive the ship. And they're okay, kind
of being very conservative on first, second, and third down,
(12:21):
nothing too crazy, not putting the ball on harm's way.
Their turnover to differential is very very high. So I
think the first thing I'd say is like can you
stop the run? Yes or no? And on first and
second down and then get them to third long situations
where they have not been overly effective rushing the passer.
And I think when you watch the offensive line, one
thing that jumps out to me on film is while
they have very talented pieces at certain spots, I think
(12:43):
when you look at you know, Isaac so Mallow, excuse me,
you know from Philadelphia, one of the better reguards in
the NFL. They Dan Morris playing good ball at the moment.
They have good pieces, Zach Fraser went health he's doing
a great job. They have good pieces, but they're not
playing together very well as a group. And then makes
sense because they've got a new offense that they're all learning.
So to me, it's like, put those guys in difficult situations,
(13:05):
get them and third and long, and exploit those matchups
the way that the Washington Commanders have exploded them all season.
And what I mean by that is like, can we
get good front matchups for Frankieluvu mentioned Dante Fowler, you
mentioned Dorance Armstrong. Those guys have shown they can win
in obvious passing situations because they understand when to take
their shot, how to anticipate the snap count, they have
a go to move, and they've been very productive. And
(13:27):
so I think that's that's what I'd say is this
team is not built to be a passing team, so
force them to do it. And now you have to
commit more resources on first and second down to stopping
the run, which makes you more susceptible to shots down
the field. But ultimately I think that's the way you
want to go, or you go the way that they
went last week with the New York Giants, and you say, hey,
we're gonna play cover two shell, We're going to let
(13:47):
our offense get a fourteen point differential and eventually the
Pittsburgh Steelers will have to throw the football and our
defense will be able to capitalize. So to me, those
are the things that I look with the defensive line,
the commander's defensive line going against the offensive line, and
that I think could be favorable matchups.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Yeah, and you also talk about, you know, making sure
that you were able to stop the run on first
and second down, which I think, you know, it's not
necessarily related so much to prefering that to the explos
passing yet, but it is related at the same time
because you want it, like you said, you want to
force them into do something that they're not necessarily you know,
equipped to do. Goaldi is a real question, like real
(14:23):
quick before we move on to the next question, is like,
you know, talking about stopping the run here, like this
has not been an area that the commanders are incessily
always the best that I think they're like around twenty
eighth in yards allowed per game. But you know, Pittsburgh
top eight team. You know Najee Harris is running the
ball really well. Right now, as you look into that matchup,
(14:44):
what are some some concerns that you maybe have that
you really kind of hope the Commanders address going against
that the Steelers rushing attack.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, well Harris is hot Steelers in the midst of
a three game winning stree. Harris is averaging right around
six yards per carry during that streak. He, in a
lot of ways, is what makes that offense go. It's
a cliche to say like it starts with stopping the run,
but I think in this case it does. I think
if you do a good job against Harris, this is
going to be a good game for the Commander's defense.
(15:14):
He's a good back, he runs violently, and he's had
some big games here lately. You know, it's tricky with
this Commander's run defense because you look at individual guys
and you say to herself, this should be a pretty
good defense against the run.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Bright like the Ron and Gerie is a good player.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
We have seen Johnny Newton do some good things, and
obviously there are big expectations for what he could be
but Darien Mattis.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
Is having a step forward season. He's doing some good things.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
If you look at Bobby Wagner's PFF grades, he ranks
as one of the best run stopping linebackers in the NFL. So, like,
you look at the individual parts and you say, Okay,
they shouldn't be that bad against the run, but of
course that has been an issue and it certainly is
something that has to get fixed. You look at this
week against Najie Harris, the fuddling game. Just a few
days later at the Eagle Sakon Bar we was been
on buire for. But you do have to stop the run,
(16:03):
especially as the weather starts to cool down. But I
think the good news here, like Logan said, the Steelers
offensive line has talent, but it's not necessarily a great
unit when everything's coming together. Uh, when you look at
everything together, and I think with this Stealers offense, if
you can stop Harris, and that's a big if, but
if you can do that, I think that set sets
you up quite nicely to have a good defensive performance.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah, I think so too, And I think you're you're
right on the money there in terms of I think
this this run defense is maybe a little bit better
than the numbers would suggest, but they do allow, you know,
some of those those bigger explosive plays occasionally. I think
that does bump up the averages a little bit. Either way,
I think I think it's gonna be quite interesting to
see with how they're able to handle that. We're gonna
move on to the next question, but first score off
(16:46):
it Logan you are ahead by to uh. You know,
realize some of the points you were making there, but
you know we've still up plenty of time, uh for
for for people to catch up here. We're gonna move
on over to Commanders often the side of the ball,
Steelers defense side of the ball, and I think this
is this particular match up.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
That things gonna be interesting is in the red zone.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You know, the Commanders have they're not always the best
in terms of getting into the red zone. I think
they're near the bottom third in terms of red red
zone touchdowns. The Steels, on the other hand, have the
best red zone defense in the league in terms of
allowing touchdowns. They are allowing touchdowns on thirty seven point
five percent of the time. That's leads by you know,
pretty decent margin there and I look at that and
(17:28):
I think, Okay, Like I like the I like the
way that Washington Commanders are able to move the ball
in between the twenty up to the twenty yard line,
but once they get there, I think it's it's that's
something really where the the matchup is going to be
quite interesting. Uh So, Bobby, we'll start with you first.
And you know, I think I really like the way
Cliff Kingsbury has been able to design this offense. But
(17:49):
what do you think that they can do to put
hi that he can do to put the Commanders in
more advantageous positions in the red zone, to to to
just just get in the end zone against Steelers, which again,
like has has been very very stingy in terms of
allowing touchdowns so far this year.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah, and normally you say, well, if you don't do
great in the red zone, you can survive that if
you hit on a lot of explosive plays and score
touchdowns from beyond the red zone. But the Steelers defense
is really good, so I don't know that you can
be counting on connecting on a bunch of forty yard
touchdown bombs. Although again, Jaden Daniels, you know, I don't
think we've been anything past him at this point. So
I think this is where Brian Robinson Junior potentially being
(18:28):
back is huge. Running the ball in the red zone
oftentimes can be more advantageous than passing the ball because
you have that condensed field.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
And Robinson is.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Like a perfect red zone running back right because of
his size, his physicality, his ability to display first. I
think the Commanders have missed Robinson in the game that
he's missed this season. I think like it has really
stood out that they have not had him in those games.
I think that you really need him back and I
would love to have him back now.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
If he's not back, here's what I wonder.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So Chris Rodriguez Junior had been buried for so much
of this season, right, he got cut from the cut
down to fifty three, signed back to the practice squad,
got elevated for a game, didn't get any carries in
that game. But then last Sunday afternoon happened eleven carries
fifty two yards and Dan Quinn has been singing the
praises of Rodriguez ever since. Made it a point to
(19:18):
praise Rodriguez during Quinn's opening statement of his postgame press conference.
Then Quinn this week has praised Rodriguez once again multiple
times in back, Rodriguez seems like, you know, a little
brother version of B rob in terms of like physical
runs violently. If Robinson isn't back, I would not be
(19:39):
against Rodriguez getting some red zone carries.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
I know the lead has been more toured well.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
If Robinson is out, to go with an Austin Eckler
or Jeremy McNichols, and they certainly have had their success.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
But man, I like Rodriguez. I thought he did a
good job last season.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
You know pretty clearly his training camp season, his preseason
did not go particularly well ergo, he was let go
in the cutdown of fifty three, but I think he
has talent in it. I would not be against him
getting some red zone carries if Robinson is out. Obviously
you can basketball in the red zone. We saw that
with the JAD and Daniels touchdown pass to Terry mcflure
on the first one last Sunday. But if you're gonna
(20:13):
have to run the ball against his tough Steelers defense
inside the twenty, I think Robinson or Rodriguez might be
the way to go.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, and you bring up Rodriguez, and I was really
happy to see that he was doing well, you know,
led the team in rushing yards, really had I think
like five carries there in that last ride to help ice.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
The game against the Giants.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
But you also bring in Brian Robinson, you know, who
was out last week, and he's he was limited in
practice on Wednesday. We'll see what happens at the time
of this recording, it is before practice on Thursday, so
we'll see where he goes.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
But Logan like.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Just specifically talking about Brian Robinson, like how how much
more diverse is he? Like does he allow the offense
to be especially like you know, in scoring position like that?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, I mean I think it's it's simple in the
sense that he's an efficient He's an efficient runner. And
what I mean by that is he's a guy that
you know, has excellent content balance, excellent vision, and can
keep you on schedule. So when the run's not blocked
exactly riot, he has the power to kind of create
his own hole, create his own space, and the vision
to kind of find the soft spots and ride the
crease as they call it. So to me, he's just
(21:13):
to me, the value that he brings is that he
gives Cliff confidence in the run game. And I think
that's where you know, like Al was talking about with
Chris Rodriguez, he has a very similar skill set and
he's got the power to kind of create his own opportunities.
So to me, that's the value. And in the low red,
like when the throwing windows are tight, when the opportunities
are sparse in terms of throwing windows, like, it's nice
(21:36):
having a guy that can keep you on schedule and
fall forward for three yards when there's nothing there for you,
and you can live in those situations a little bit
more reticently when the down and distance favors you. So
I think that's where b Rob's value comes in in
the low red. It's just he's an efficient, powerful runner
with good vision and can maximize touches in difficult looks.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, he really does. And you know, again, he's not
like he's not necessarily Derek Henry. He's gonna be able
to just.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Run rushot over everybody.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
He's not, you know, like Christop McCaffery, who's gonna be
able to speed past too. But he does have a
little bit of both, I think, and plus like he
has a really tough guard, especially on third and short.
I think that's that's really where his value uh brings
a lot, Like it's just because he's able to keep
the change moving and keep the momentum going. I think
that's that's so big for this offense. And I hope
(22:23):
he's able to play because I want I love watching
him run. And two, I think this offense is a
lot more exciting and a lot more fun. Uh when
when you have a talented gaal, I'd be riving there
the backfield, even though Rodriguez assuming he if he does,
you know, if he does have to play, and there's
some some things with the roster that have to go
for they have to happen for that to be a reality. Uh,
either way, we'll see what happens. We're gonna move on
(22:43):
to the final question. Uh, you guys are tied. Uh
So there's that, but we're this is all gonna come
out of the last question here. And obviously there's gonna
be a lot of really key players for the commanders
to have to to account for. One of them on
offense we were I talked about would be George Pickens.
The second one will be TJ. Watt, who is. I
(23:04):
think a lot of people put put him with the
odds on favorite to win Devensive Player of the Year.
He's just been that explosive, just been just that good
as we all expected from Galla TJ Watt. So, Logan,
we'll start with you first, very just binary question here.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Who do you think is more important for the Commanders
to account for and stop on Sunday? TJ. Watt or
George Pickens?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yeah, I mean we talk a little about George Pickens
at the top and when he brings to the offense
in terms of his ability to maximize those contests to
catch opportunities. So I definitely think it's important that you
regulate him. But in terms of who the Steelers want
to be, what is their identity to their core, they're
a defensive football team, and who leads the defense at
TJ Watt? And again, he's not the most prolific or
effective down to down pass rusher, but against some of
(23:44):
the best pass rushers I ever played against in my career,
they understand the moment, they understand when to take their shot.
And in watching him, watching his sacks from this season,
it's I haven't seen someone this year studied someone this
year that understands that better than t J. Watt. He
understands when to take a shot, and when he takes
his shot, he usually connects on it. He leads the
NFL with four force fumbles, like their impactful plays not
(24:07):
only in terms of the sack, but in terms of
turning the football over. So to me, you know, are
the thing that drives this team right now is the offense.
Who helms the offense? It's Shadon Daniels. How do we
keep him upright? How do we keep the offense efficient?
And that to me is managing t J. Watt, managing
High Smith, managing Nate Herbig if he does end up
playing like those three pass rushers, all need to be managing.
(24:28):
And the guy that kind of helms the ship, the
leader of the horsemen of the pass rush in Pittsburgh
is TJ. Watt. Definitely to have a plan for him,
whether that's ship, help slide, help minimize his impact on
the game and let Jane Daniels do what Jade Daniels does.
So to me, he's the guy that needs to be
accounted for on this game.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
And to your point, I think the commanders have done
a very good job against He's you know, really solid
pass rushers. You know, dexel Ourent didn't record a pressure
last week again with the Giant, Miles Gear didn't scord
a stat at all. He was basically a non factor
for the Browns a few weeks ago. So yeah, I
do feel really confident about what how they offer THEE
can handle TJ.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Why all right?
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Now?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
The same to you George Pickens or tjy.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Yeah, I would say TJ. Watt Pickens is good, but
I don't know that anyone can argue realistically that he's
the best receiver in the NFL. You can make a
compelling argument that Watt is the best edge defender in
the NFL. He's so good, He's been so good for
years now. You know, you mentioned his ability. Logan did
about like recognizing the moment. If you go by overall
(25:36):
PFF grades in fourth quarterers, TJ. Watts is not ninety
three point three for this season like he has been
at his best in clutch time, in winning time, as
Dan Quinn has been calling it. So yeah, I think
you got to stop what He has the ability to
take over a game, which is not something you can
say for a lot of defensive players in the modern NFL.
But what certainly can do that? Now you just mentioned
(26:00):
and Zach, I think a key point. The Commanders this
season have done such a good job against some of
these elite defense in alignment. When you look at Miles Garrett,
when you look at Dexter, Lawrence, Cliff Kingsbury has shown
an aptitude for coming up with a plan to neutralize
these guys. Now, I'm not assuming that that's gonna happen
with Lot Again, he is really good, and the Steelers
have other good edge defend. There's two including just having
(26:22):
traded for a guy we know well in Preston Smith.
But you know, if you can have another game in
which Brandon Coleman does a really good job at left
tackle and you give Coleman help, he could get some
help in that win at the Giants. But you know,
maybe you can survive what doing what he does because
he's gonna have his moments like he's going to win
his share of reps. I think that's pretty obvious. But
(26:43):
do you allow those one reps to wreck you or
are they more Okay, he pressured you, but.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
You were able to survive that snap.
Speaker 4 (26:50):
So I think that's gonna be key, but what is
a special player and the commanders are going to have
their hands full with them, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
And you know, you mentioned Cliff and I think one
of the one of the more fun things that I
that I've enjoyed over this of the season is watching
Cliff Is come of these really unique concepts in terms
of slide protection, in terms of chipping, in terms of
just insulating this offensive line in ways that you know
they I mean this, this is one of the one
of the worst in terms of allowing sacks last year.
Obviously there were other factors involved in that, but this
(27:17):
year they've they've been I.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Mean really really good.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
And there's a lot of other things for that, but
like the players themselves have also been very solid. All right,
So winners. You know, it's a very very close matchup,
you guys, very close, but I think I have to
go with Logan. I have to go with you. I
think you're the You're the winner here. Do you have
any parting words of victory for us?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well, just Al was a great competitor day, a lot
of good points. Learned a lot from his insight today,
So thanks Al for all that, and Zach, thanks for
having me on the show and looking forward to be
back soon. It feels good to come out of here
in such an illustrious competition with a victory.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Professional as always Hopefully like the Commanders will be coming
out of this weekend with another win, a four straight
win going to eight and two Radi inter Divisional play,
the harder Divisional play with another matchup against the Philadelphia
Eagles on Thursday Night football, which we will not be
previewing guys, so we'll be skipping the next week's we'll
be heading our next time you hear this will be
(28:17):
against the Dallas Cowboys in that preview. But be sure
to rate, review, subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
And this has been the beatdown
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
This is the Beatdown Podcast. Welcome into another episode. I
am your host and you're right for the Washington Commanders,
Zach Selby and guys.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
The Commanders one in the Meadowlands. That's it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
They swore the Giants for the first time since twenty
twenty one season with the twenty seven to twenty two victory.
Wasn't exactly the prettiest win, but it was efficient and
they got the job done, which is really the most
important thing. They are now seven and two for the
first time since nineteen ninety six. I was four years old,
just just a wee lad back in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
And now they are.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Heading back to Northwest Stadium to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers,
a big interconference matchup here. Russell Wilson is flying high
right now. I mean, what's the what is the Seals
version of Let's rile, Let's weld?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Is that? What that is?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Either way, the Steelers are doing really well right now,
six and two, coming up of buy a week. So
how did the Commanders pull off this win and go
eight and two for the first time since maybe eighty six? Well,
that is definitely what we're going to be talking about.
Joining me today is Logan Paul and Algaldi. You can
find him on the Algaldi podcast. Guys, how are we doing?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm doing great too, Yeah, doing well, man. Super pumped
for this game. You know, I'm actually married to a
Steelers fan, so this is an especially big game in
my household. But really excited with what's going on with
the Commanders right now.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god, since you brought that, I gotta know, like,
what is the what is the dynamic there?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, I mean she's from Pittsburgh, she came down here
to teach and diehard Steelers span Her dad was a
season taken older for years, and you know, they're used
to a certain caliber football up there with you know,
the Steelers not having had a losing season in forever
and having just you know, three head coaches over the
last you know, two hundred years or whatever this dad is.
So it's really nice to have a team now that
(02:03):
is right on that level, if not.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Above that level. I mean, this is great.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
This is a big game on Sunday afternoon, so super
funp Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It really is, and I'm really excited for it. You know, again,
I've never been seven and two with this franchise. One
went away from doubling the wind toll they have them
last year, which is always fantastic. But the people who
are listening, they know the spield, they know the deal. Here.
We're gonna be asking these guys three questions, one offense,
one of defense, and one more of a general question.
(02:31):
There will be points that will be given out at
the end of each round, and since I am the
host of this podcast, I get decide the winner. That
is a heavy burden that is rested upon my shoulders.
But you shouldn't focus too much on on the results.
You shouldn't focus too much on who is the designate
of the winner, to be more focused on the points
and the objective opinions that these guys are gonna be
(02:52):
bringing out. And with all that being said, let's just
jump right into it, starting with the guy we mentioned earlier,
Russell Wilson. And ever since he replaced Justin Fields as
the Steelers starting quarterback, they've really done a good job.
You know, I only know a lot of people were
really expecting him to put out some of the more
(03:14):
Seattle Seahawks asque performances that he was putting out with
the last couple of weeks Agains steel with Steelers, but
he really has had that offense working in a very
different way. And dan Quinn even mentioned it in his
in his Wednesday press conference that this guy is an
exceptional deep ball thrower, and over the last couple of weeks,
I mean, that's exactly what he's been. Thirteenth on deep
(03:36):
passes in terms of overall gray from Pro Football Focus
and the average depth of target for Russell Wilson on
deep passive twenty plus the yards is thirty six as
third in the NFL already. So in terms of in
terms of how the Commanders are going to be able
to stop this guy with the secondary that is improving.
(03:57):
And obviously they did just completely trade for larsh Marshall
atam or. I don't we don't exactly know when he's
going to be playing, and we know that he's often
going to be playing in the near future.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
We're just gonna win.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
UH. But in terms of how they can prevent these
explosive passing plays, which UH does, has come up a
little bit here and there. There were a couple of
plays against the Giants where that was a little bit
of an issue, but Logan starting with you, like when
you when you're when you're looking at the tape on
the Steelers, like and you're trying to figure out the matchups,
like what are some things you know, the committerer should
(04:26):
do to be able to prevent Wilson from being able
to make these exposive passing plays on them.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, so I think, you know, one of the things
that jumps out to me when you're watching the Steelers
film is that, like, that's not an overly complex offense.
And what I mean by that, they don't get in
a ton of bunches. There's not a ton of shifts,
there's not a ton of movement, you know, very kind
of you know, agonist to what it was when Arthur
Smith was in Atlanta, which was a little bit surprising
to me. And so they really are just kind of
(04:53):
they're running the football, they're kind of hitting some play
action looks, they're trying to get Russ out of the pocket.
And then when they need these explosive plays like they're
it's not like, oh, we're gonna run two posts on
a rail and get the pick route and get Pickens open.
It's like Pickens is running a vertical route. I'm gonna
throw the ball to him and he's gonna make me
right on this fifties fifty contested catch. So to me,
there's nothing is there a lot of mystery. It's just
(05:14):
about to me matchups, then understanding like how to play
that deep ball opportunity. And then I think, you know,
how you affect him as a passer because he's not
a big guy, he can't see very well, and he
does remind me a little bit of the Arizona game
versus Kyler Murray in terms of kind of how it works.
It's like, if you can't find that explosive chunk play,
he's not super effective from the pocket. So to me,
(05:36):
it's like, can we find a way to create a
little bit of pressure on Russell Wilson. The offensive line's
been a little bit banged up. They've got their backup
center and backup right guard Rodger Jones has struggled pretty
pretty tremendously over the last couple of weeks in terms
of past pass blocking, and I think that's one of
the reasons they've been so committed to running the football,
maybe as a way to get him settled in. And
then I think the other thing that's important to just
understand is these are fifty to fifty contested catch opportunit
(06:00):
co unities. They are not going to hit on all
of them. And I think when you look at that
Jets game as a really good kind of sample size
of this, George Pickens makes three tremendous catches in contested
catch situations. If he drops two of those, which is
exactly what they are, it's fifty to fifty. It's just
pure statistics that they're not going to come down with
all of them. They probably lose that football game. So
(06:21):
what I would say is like, probably pick your best matchup,
which is sent Benjamin Saint Jewish, throw different covert structures
at them, and make sure that that you're giving different
looks so that when they do throw that deep ball,
sometimes it's banding man, sometimes it's covered two. And then
the other thing that I think is incredibly important in
terms of stopping Russell Wilson in this offense and getting
(06:42):
out of getting them out of their comfort zone is
being very effective with the commander's offense and scoring a
lot of points, getting them out of the type of
offense they want to run and get them into a
more conventional drop back, which I don't think would be
very successful for them. So I know I throw a
lot out there, but to me, the offense got to
stop the run. Commander's offense has to be have to
get them in a good game flow and get them
out of this this kind of this shot played down
(07:06):
the field type environment and make them kind of run
more efficient passing attack. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, you mentioned a lot of your points there, and
I want to I'll circle back on those on a
little bit, but I really want to focus on the
other part of this explosive passing attack, which would be
George Pickens. And you brought him up and right now
he's ninth in the NFL with contested contested catch targets
with eighteen just one one one behind Late Neighbors. And
(07:31):
you know, uh, goalie, we'll switch over to you because
I think you know, George Pickens is an interesting matchup
for this Commander secondary. And again we don't know exactly
when Marshall Lattimore is going to play as he gets
up to speed, but in this current iteration that we
have this Commander secondary right now.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
What do you what do you how do you how
do you expect the you know, Joe A.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Junior in this and this Commander secondary to address the
challenge of t and then limit George Pickens.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
So Pickens is a really interesting guy. He's very good,
he's very talented, but he also can be a head case.
There have been issues with Pickens during his time with
the Steelers, and he strikes me as someone who you
can get inside his head and you can potentially rattle him.
And you know, I know that Benjamin Saint Jews has
become like a pinata for a lot of people. I
(08:24):
don't think he's as bad as some people make him
out to be. And I think Marcel Latimore being a
part of the Secondary's going to do Saint Jews a
lot of good. But you know, I think about Saint
Jews and one of the most obvious things about him,
right is that he is handsy, and that can work
against him, but that also can work for him. And
so I wonder if this is a matchup where maybe
Saint Jews can rattle Pickens a little bit, can frustrate
(08:45):
Pickens a little bit. Like I said, Pickens to me
is prone to if things aren't going his way, he
can start to sour. And so I think there's some
of that that could be in play here. But I
think the number one thing with Wilson, and this is
true of a lot of quarterbacks, but you do have
to pressure.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
His success with.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
The Steelers has stood out no doubt, these last two games,
averaging more than nine yards per pass attempt, averaging more
than fifteen yards for completion. Those are dare I say,
Jayden Daniels like numbers, but if you dig a little deeper,
you go buy sharp football analysis. The stats that Warren's
got up there. Wilson is just six for seventeen on
pass attempts when pressured, So when he's being pressured, he's
(09:23):
not having success. If the Commanders can generate pressure, I
think they can rattle Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
And you know I think about this. You mentioned Joe
wid Junior.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I don't know how serious he willis when he said
this during his preractice press conference last Thursday, said that
he should be sending Jeremy Chin more.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Now.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
I don't know if he said that just to say
that if you legitimately felt that, but shit is playing
really well. We saw him have a number of standout
plays in the win at the Giants. I wonder if
you maybe see some of that on Sunday afternoon in
an effort to get to Wilson. But I think if
the commander's pressure Wilson, they can dude this Steelers offense,
which has been going really well. It's two games, you know,
(10:03):
it's not some massive sample size, So I think there's
still a lot to be proven in terms of all this.
Steelers truly good offensively, and like Logan said, connecting on
deep balls is great, but it also is kind of
a you know, it can't be a thing.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
It can't be a thing. It's random, it can fluctuate.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You are dealing with a lot of fifty to fifty propositions.
Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don't. Hopefully this
Sunday afternoon they do not go the way of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
And you know, you both mentioned mentioned press pressuring Russell Wilson.
I think that these commanders have done a very good
job against mobile quarterbacks. I mean, you look all the
way back, you know, to Kyler Murray. He had his
lowest pass performance of the season going against Washington. Uh,
you know, Deshaun Watson obviously it had a really tough
go in there. The following week in Northwest stadium. Lamar
(10:51):
Jackson has had his day because he's Lamar Jackson and
he's an Ivy P.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Caliver candidate.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But you know, the last you know, few weeks or so,
these manners have, uh they've allowed less than one hundred
passing yards up until like the fourth quarter, and I
think a lot of that is because of how well
the pass rush has has really improved.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Uh, you know over the last two weeks or so, like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
You've got you know, Johnny Newon, You've got to Ron
Payne and John Dante Teller has been has been really
really solid over the last two weeks. You know, there's
not necessarily the a A tier, top of the class
defensive pass rusher that you're they would really expect have these.
But at the same time, this this this pass rush
is top ten or least around that in sacks. So,
(11:35):
you know, Logan, you mentioned that, you know, the offensive
line of the Steels offensive line being a little beat up.
Roger goes not playing exactly as well as maybe he
wanted to. It's at some points, but in terms of
you know, how this how this Steelers offensive line matches
up against, uh, the Commanders defensive front, what are you
seeing so far and like, how can they take advantage
(11:56):
of some of their some of the Steelers and maybe
miscues there.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, So I think it comes down to kind of
who the Steelers want to be. And when you look
at their offense, they want to run the football. They
want to be in a kind of you know, I
look at Mike tom when he's a defensive head coach.
They want to be in a defensive led game. And
what I mean by that they want they don't want
to make any mistakes offensively. They want to kind of
let the defense drive the ship. And they're okay, kind
of being very conservative on first, second, and third down,
(12:21):
nothing too crazy, not putting the ball on harm's way.
Their turnover to differential is very very high. So I
think the first thing I'd say is like can you
stop the run? Yes or no? And on first and
second down and then get them to third long situations
where they have not been overly effective rushing the passer.
And I think when you watch the offensive line, one
thing that jumps out to me on film is while
they have very talented pieces at certain spots, I think
(12:43):
when you look at you know, Isaac so Mallow, excuse me,
you know from Philadelphia, one of the better reguards in
the NFL. They Dan Morris playing good ball at the moment.
They have good pieces, Zach Fraser went health he's doing
a great job. They have good pieces, but they're not
playing together very well as a group. And then makes
sense because they've got a new offense that they're all learning.
So to me, it's like, put those guys in difficult situations,
(13:05):
get them and third and long, and exploit those matchups
the way that the Washington Commanders have exploded them all season.
And what I mean by that is like, can we
get good front matchups for Frankieluvu mentioned Dante Fowler, you
mentioned Dorance Armstrong. Those guys have shown they can win
in obvious passing situations because they understand when to take
their shot, how to anticipate the snap count, they have
a go to move, and they've been very productive. And
(13:27):
so I think that's that's what I'd say is this
team is not built to be a passing team, so
force them to do it. And now you have to
commit more resources on first and second down to stopping
the run, which makes you more susceptible to shots down
the field. But ultimately I think that's the way you
want to go, or you go the way that they
went last week with the New York Giants, and you say, hey,
we're gonna play cover two shell, We're going to let
(13:47):
our offense get a fourteen point differential and eventually the
Pittsburgh Steelers will have to throw the football and our
defense will be able to capitalize. So to me, those
are the things that I look with the defensive line,
the commander's defensive line going against the offensive line, and
that I think could be favorable matchups.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Yeah, and you also talk about, you know, making sure
that you were able to stop the run on first
and second down, which I think, you know, it's not
necessarily related so much to prefering that to the explos
passing yet, but it is related at the same time
because you want it, like you said, you want to
force them into do something that they're not necessarily you know,
equipped to do. Goaldi is a real question, like real
(14:23):
quick before we move on to the next question, is like,
you know, talking about stopping the run here, like this
has not been an area that the commanders are incessily
always the best that I think they're like around twenty
eighth in yards allowed per game. But you know, Pittsburgh
top eight team. You know Najee Harris is running the
ball really well. Right now, as you look into that matchup,
(14:44):
what are some some concerns that you maybe have that
you really kind of hope the Commanders address going against
that the Steelers rushing attack.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, well Harris is hot Steelers in the midst of
a three game winning stree. Harris is averaging right around
six yards per carry during that streak. He, in a
lot of ways, is what makes that offense go. It's
a cliche to say like it starts with stopping the run,
but I think in this case it does. I think
if you do a good job against Harris, this is
going to be a good game for the Commander's defense.
(15:14):
He's a good back, he runs violently, and he's had
some big games here lately. You know, it's tricky with
this Commander's run defense because you look at individual guys
and you say to herself, this should be a pretty
good defense against the run.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Bright like the Ron and Gerie is a good player.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
We have seen Johnny Newton do some good things, and
obviously there are big expectations for what he could be
but Darien Mattis.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
Is having a step forward season. He's doing some good things.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
If you look at Bobby Wagner's PFF grades, he ranks
as one of the best run stopping linebackers in the NFL. So, like,
you look at the individual parts and you say, Okay,
they shouldn't be that bad against the run, but of
course that has been an issue and it certainly is
something that has to get fixed. You look at this
week against Najie Harris, the fuddling game. Just a few
days later at the Eagle Sakon Bar we was been
on buire for. But you do have to stop the run,
(16:03):
especially as the weather starts to cool down. But I
think the good news here, like Logan said, the Steelers
offensive line has talent, but it's not necessarily a great
unit when everything's coming together. Uh, when you look at
everything together, and I think with this Stealers offense, if
you can stop Harris, and that's a big if, but
if you can do that, I think that set sets
you up quite nicely to have a good defensive performance.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah, I think so too, And I think you're you're
right on the money there in terms of I think
this this run defense is maybe a little bit better
than the numbers would suggest, but they do allow, you know,
some of those those bigger explosive plays occasionally. I think
that does bump up the averages a little bit. Either way,
I think I think it's gonna be quite interesting to
see with how they're able to handle that. We're gonna
move on to the next question, but first score off
(16:46):
it Logan you are ahead by to uh. You know,
realize some of the points you were making there, but
you know we've still up plenty of time, uh for
for for people to catch up here. We're gonna move
on over to Commanders often the side of the ball,
Steelers defense side of the ball, and I think this
is this particular match up.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
That things gonna be interesting is in the red zone.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You know, the Commanders have they're not always the best
in terms of getting into the red zone. I think
they're near the bottom third in terms of red red
zone touchdowns. The Steels, on the other hand, have the
best red zone defense in the league in terms of
allowing touchdowns. They are allowing touchdowns on thirty seven point
five percent of the time. That's leads by you know,
pretty decent margin there and I look at that and
(17:28):
I think, Okay, Like I like the I like the
way that Washington Commanders are able to move the ball
in between the twenty up to the twenty yard line,
but once they get there, I think it's it's that's
something really where the the matchup is going to be
quite interesting. Uh So, Bobby, we'll start with you first.
And you know, I think I really like the way
Cliff Kingsbury has been able to design this offense. But
(17:49):
what do you think that they can do to put
hi that he can do to put the Commanders in
more advantageous positions in the red zone, to to to
just just get in the end zone against Steelers, which again,
like has has been very very stingy in terms of
allowing touchdowns so far this year.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah, and normally you say, well, if you don't do
great in the red zone, you can survive that if
you hit on a lot of explosive plays and score
touchdowns from beyond the red zone. But the Steelers defense
is really good, so I don't know that you can
be counting on connecting on a bunch of forty yard
touchdown bombs. Although again, Jaden Daniels, you know, I don't
think we've been anything past him at this point. So
I think this is where Brian Robinson Junior potentially being
(18:28):
back is huge. Running the ball in the red zone
oftentimes can be more advantageous than passing the ball because
you have that condensed field.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
And Robinson is.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Like a perfect red zone running back right because of
his size, his physicality, his ability to display first. I
think the Commanders have missed Robinson in the game that
he's missed this season. I think like it has really
stood out that they have not had him in those games.
I think that you really need him back and I
would love to have him back now.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
If he's not back, here's what I wonder.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So Chris Rodriguez Junior had been buried for so much
of this season, right, he got cut from the cut
down to fifty three, signed back to the practice squad,
got elevated for a game, didn't get any carries in
that game. But then last Sunday afternoon happened eleven carries
fifty two yards and Dan Quinn has been singing the
praises of Rodriguez ever since. Made it a point to
(19:18):
praise Rodriguez during Quinn's opening statement of his postgame press conference.
Then Quinn this week has praised Rodriguez once again multiple
times in back, Rodriguez seems like, you know, a little
brother version of B rob in terms of like physical
runs violently. If Robinson isn't back, I would not be
(19:39):
against Rodriguez getting some red zone carries.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
I know the lead has been more toured well.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
If Robinson is out, to go with an Austin Eckler
or Jeremy McNichols, and they certainly have had their success.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
But man, I like Rodriguez. I thought he did a
good job last season.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
You know pretty clearly his training camp season, his preseason
did not go particularly well ergo, he was let go
in the cutdown of fifty three, but I think he
has talent in it. I would not be against him
getting some red zone carries if Robinson is out. Obviously
you can basketball in the red zone. We saw that
with the JAD and Daniels touchdown pass to Terry mcflure
on the first one last Sunday. But if you're gonna
(20:13):
have to run the ball against his tough Steelers defense
inside the twenty, I think Robinson or Rodriguez might be
the way to go.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, and you bring up Rodriguez, and I was really
happy to see that he was doing well, you know,
led the team in rushing yards, really had I think
like five carries there in that last ride to help ice.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
The game against the Giants.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
But you also bring in Brian Robinson, you know, who
was out last week, and he's he was limited in
practice on Wednesday. We'll see what happens at the time
of this recording, it is before practice on Thursday, so
we'll see where he goes.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
But Logan like.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Just specifically talking about Brian Robinson, like how how much
more diverse is he? Like does he allow the offense
to be especially like you know, in scoring position like that?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, I mean I think it's it's simple in the
sense that he's an efficient He's an efficient runner. And
what I mean by that is he's a guy that
you know, has excellent content balance, excellent vision, and can
keep you on schedule. So when the run's not blocked
exactly riot, he has the power to kind of create
his own hole, create his own space, and the vision
to kind of find the soft spots and ride the
crease as they call it. So to me, he's just
(21:13):
to me, the value that he brings is that he
gives Cliff confidence in the run game. And I think
that's where you know, like Al was talking about with
Chris Rodriguez, he has a very similar skill set and
he's got the power to kind of create his own opportunities.
So to me, that's the value. And in the low red,
like when the throwing windows are tight, when the opportunities
are sparse in terms of throwing windows, like, it's nice
(21:36):
having a guy that can keep you on schedule and
fall forward for three yards when there's nothing there for you,
and you can live in those situations a little bit
more reticently when the down and distance favors you. So
I think that's where b Rob's value comes in in
the low red. It's just he's an efficient, powerful runner
with good vision and can maximize touches in difficult looks.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, he really does. And you know, again, he's not
like he's not necessarily Derek Henry. He's gonna be able
to just.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Run rushot over everybody.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
He's not, you know, like Christop McCaffery, who's gonna be
able to speed past too. But he does have a
little bit of both, I think, and plus like he
has a really tough guard, especially on third and short.
I think that's that's really where his value uh brings
a lot, Like it's just because he's able to keep
the change moving and keep the momentum going. I think
that's that's so big for this offense. And I hope
(22:23):
he's able to play because I want I love watching
him run. And two, I think this offense is a
lot more exciting and a lot more fun. Uh when
when you have a talented gaal, I'd be riving there
the backfield, even though Rodriguez assuming he if he does,
you know, if he does have to play, and there's
some some things with the roster that have to go
for they have to happen for that to be a reality. Uh,
either way, we'll see what happens. We're gonna move on
(22:43):
to the final question. Uh, you guys are tied. Uh
So there's that, but we're this is all gonna come
out of the last question here. And obviously there's gonna
be a lot of really key players for the commanders
to have to to account for. One of them on
offense we were I talked about would be George Pickens.
The second one will be TJ. Watt, who is. I
(23:04):
think a lot of people put put him with the
odds on favorite to win Devensive Player of the Year.
He's just been that explosive, just been just that good
as we all expected from Galla TJ Watt. So, Logan,
we'll start with you first, very just binary question here.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Who do you think is more important for the Commanders
to account for and stop on Sunday? TJ. Watt or
George Pickens?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yeah, I mean we talk a little about George Pickens
at the top and when he brings to the offense
in terms of his ability to maximize those contests to
catch opportunities. So I definitely think it's important that you
regulate him. But in terms of who the Steelers want
to be, what is their identity to their core, they're
a defensive football team, and who leads the defense at
TJ Watt? And again, he's not the most prolific or
effective down to down pass rusher, but against some of
(23:44):
the best pass rushers I ever played against in my career,
they understand the moment, they understand when to take their shot.
And in watching him, watching his sacks from this season,
it's I haven't seen someone this year studied someone this
year that understands that better than t J. Watt. He
understands when to take a shot, and when he takes
his shot, he usually connects on it. He leads the
NFL with four force fumbles, like their impactful plays not
(24:07):
only in terms of the sack, but in terms of
turning the football over. So to me, you know, are
the thing that drives this team right now is the offense.
Who helms the offense? It's Shadon Daniels. How do we
keep him upright? How do we keep the offense efficient?
And that to me is managing t J. Watt, managing
High Smith, managing Nate Herbig if he does end up
playing like those three pass rushers, all need to be managing.
(24:28):
And the guy that kind of helms the ship, the
leader of the horsemen of the pass rush in Pittsburgh
is TJ. Watt. Definitely to have a plan for him,
whether that's ship, help slide, help minimize his impact on
the game and let Jane Daniels do what Jade Daniels does.
So to me, he's the guy that needs to be
accounted for on this game.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
And to your point, I think the commanders have done
a very good job against He's you know, really solid
pass rushers. You know, dexel Ourent didn't record a pressure
last week again with the Giant, Miles Gear didn't scord
a stat at all. He was basically a non factor
for the Browns a few weeks ago. So yeah, I
do feel really confident about what how they offer THEE
can handle TJ.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Why all right?
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Now?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
The same to you George Pickens or tjy.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Yeah, I would say TJ. Watt Pickens is good, but
I don't know that anyone can argue realistically that he's
the best receiver in the NFL. You can make a
compelling argument that Watt is the best edge defender in
the NFL. He's so good, He's been so good for
years now. You know, you mentioned his ability. Logan did
about like recognizing the moment. If you go by overall
(25:36):
PFF grades in fourth quarterers, TJ. Watts is not ninety
three point three for this season like he has been
at his best in clutch time, in winning time, as
Dan Quinn has been calling it. So yeah, I think
you got to stop what He has the ability to
take over a game, which is not something you can
say for a lot of defensive players in the modern NFL.
But what certainly can do that? Now you just mentioned
(26:00):
and Zach, I think a key point. The Commanders this
season have done such a good job against some of
these elite defense in alignment. When you look at Miles Garrett,
when you look at Dexter, Lawrence, Cliff Kingsbury has shown
an aptitude for coming up with a plan to neutralize
these guys. Now, I'm not assuming that that's gonna happen
with Lot Again, he is really good, and the Steelers
have other good edge defend. There's two including just having
(26:22):
traded for a guy we know well in Preston Smith.
But you know, if you can have another game in
which Brandon Coleman does a really good job at left
tackle and you give Coleman help, he could get some
help in that win at the Giants. But you know,
maybe you can survive what doing what he does because
he's gonna have his moments like he's going to win
his share of reps. I think that's pretty obvious. But
(26:43):
do you allow those one reps to wreck you or
are they more Okay, he pressured you, but.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
You were able to survive that snap.
Speaker 4 (26:50):
So I think that's gonna be key, but what is
a special player and the commanders are going to have
their hands full with them, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
And you know, you mentioned Cliff and I think one
of the one of the more fun things that I
that I've enjoyed over this of the season is watching
Cliff Is come of these really unique concepts in terms
of slide protection, in terms of chipping, in terms of
just insulating this offensive line in ways that you know
they I mean this, this is one of the one
of the worst in terms of allowing sacks last year.
Obviously there were other factors involved in that, but this
(27:17):
year they've they've been I.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Mean really really good.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
And there's a lot of other things for that, but
like the players themselves have also been very solid. All right,
So winners. You know, it's a very very close matchup,
you guys, very close, but I think I have to
go with Logan. I have to go with you. I
think you're the You're the winner here. Do you have
any parting words of victory for us?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well, just Al was a great competitor day, a lot
of good points. Learned a lot from his insight today,
So thanks Al for all that, and Zach, thanks for
having me on the show and looking forward to be
back soon. It feels good to come out of here
in such an illustrious competition with a victory.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Professional as always Hopefully like the Commanders will be coming
out of this weekend with another win, a four straight
win going to eight and two Radi inter Divisional play,
the harder Divisional play with another matchup against the Philadelphia
Eagles on Thursday Night football, which we will not be
previewing guys, so we'll be skipping the next week's we'll
be heading our next time you hear this will be
(28:17):
against the Dallas Cowboys in that preview. But be sure
to rate, review, subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
And this has been the beatdown
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