September 26, 2025 • 33 mins
The Commanders are heading to Atlanta to take on the Falcons, but how do they pull out a win with a long list on injuries? Senior Writer Zach Selby is joined by Spanish play-by-play voice Moises Linares and John Doran from WUSA9 to break it all down.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What is going on? Y'all? This is another episode of
the Beatdown Podcast, Week four addition, I'm your host, senior
writer for the Washington Commanders, Zach Selby, and we are
riding high off, bouncing back and getting a win over
the Las Vegas Raiders forty one to twenty four. Marcus
Mariota comes in and the team is three to zero
when he takes the majority of the snaps. Looked really good.
(00:34):
Had two hundred and one passing yards, forty rushing yards
in the ground, two total touchdowns, and I would say,
for the first time, it looks like this team is
closer to the identity that was last year, winning it
off for three phases. Jaya Lane with the pump return
touchdown like the longest enfranchise, the longest in franchise history.
Was a crazy play. But now they have to move
(00:55):
on and they're going to be playing another really interesting
opponent here in the Atlanta Falcons, who they have a
little bit of history with over the last two or
three years. Been really close in the Atlanta Falcons. You
know that that game last year came down overtime to
get in the playoffs, and Jayden Daniels hits the touchdown
to zach Ertz at the there at the end. But
it's been quite a contentious matchup even then over the
(01:18):
previous years. You know, if I can remember twenty twenty one,
I believe it was Taylor Heinike was was Duke get
it out with them with Jad McKissick scoring a touchdown
there at the end, Terry McLaurin scoring a couple of
touchdowns either way. It's then, even though I know the
Falcons are one and two, but it's going to be
he feeling is going to be quite the matchup here.
So how are they going to build off that can
(01:38):
get to three and one? Well, that is what we're
going to be discussing today. And I have two more
people here to debate it with. And we have first
we have Moses Lenaris from the Spanish broadcast. More is
that's how you do it?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Man?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
What's going on? My guy?
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Ready for another week of actually excited for week number
four in the NFL. Hopefully the Commanders can come out
with a w oh so yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Know that will be fantastic as the business is always
good when the Commanders are winning for me and you.
But we have a new guest on for the first time.
We have John Durant from WUSA nine. John, how you doing?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Man Dack doing great? Good victory Tuesday. Hard not to
be excited after a win like that over the weekend,
So I'm I'm excited to see what they could do.
I know Atlanta has lost a tough one, but I
think they're still pretty good team, so it should be
a good game.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, you know, I was saying to someone earlier this week,
thirty to nothing is what that last score was for
the Falcons versus the Panthers. But they still had Bjenn Robinson.
They've still got guys like Michael Pennis out there, who
I don't think is completely some symbolic of that performance
he had. They've got a lot of they got Jake
drag London, They've got a lot of really good players
over there on down Atlanta, and it's going to be
(02:47):
a battle for sure. But for us, we everyone who's
listening knows the deal. By now. I'm gonna ask these
people three questions. One offense, defense, more general question. There
will be points given to the end of each and
as always I will be deciding a winner. But as
I've always said, you should be more focused on what
(03:08):
these two people have to say because they are out
of practice. They are the ones who are we that.
All that said, let's jump right into it here and
we'll start off with the Commander's ground game, because it
looked once again like it was the dominant group that
it was last year. After getting only about fifty one
yards against the Packers, they had two hundred and one
yards against the Raiders, who were thin fourth in rushing
(03:31):
yards allowed. You had five different players touch the ball. Gleue,
Marks Marty who we mentioned had forty yards. You had
De Samuel with a couple couple players there. We had
Jeremy when Nichols with a long sixty yard touchdown, longest
since I think it was Adrian Peterson's back in twenty
eighteen rushing touchdown, and he led the team with seventy
eight rushing yards I think over the lass. Since Cliff
(03:52):
Teensbury has become the office coordinator, it's very clear that
when this team has got the ground game going, they
are really really tough to stop. And you know this
Falcons deep the front here is just about as good.
They're tenth in rushing yards Loder right now, they've got
a solid defensive front. So how do they command and
replicate that? How do they get that same success and
(04:14):
build upon what they had? Moys us, We'll start with
you here and yeah, I'm just curious to know what
your thoughts are on how they can have another dominant
performance in the ground like they did last week.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
We have to spread the rock, and I think we've
seen the Commanders put together a great running back room.
People were concerned when we saw Austin Eckler go out
with that season ending injury, but we also knew that
we have some players that are hungry and now name
Chris Rodriguez Junior, who has been one of my favorites.
He is the typical underdog that performs very well. He
(04:46):
said it during training camp. I'm not the guy who's
always getting called up, but when I do one of
my numbers called I'm always ready. And I think we've
seen it right. We saw it against the Raiders this week.
Perhaps he doesn't have the most outstanding games when we
look at numbers, but he's a guy that can get
things going for the Washington command there's a very strong
(05:07):
power runner who just runs through people.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And we signed a.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Few times a few times, so I'm looking at him
to perform once again against the Falcons and Bill. We
know that Bill has a really high ceiling. We saw
him succeed against the Raiders, perhaps didn't get the rock enough.
So if we can get him the ball a few
more times, we're probably going to see a more successful
running game. We'll add McNichols to the mix, and we
(05:35):
know what he can do a guy who just burst
it out for sixty. So when it comes to the
run game, I think after the Raiders win, we see
a Commander's team that's ready to really really go that
way if.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
They need to implement the run game versus Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, you know you mentioned Chris Rodriguez and he's been
one of my favorite stories to six trund pick from
twenty twenty three, and he's been a guy who's bien
a Prid squad, Ben cut, Bill Pratt Squad elevated back
and forth sort of how kind of like how Jeremy
Reeves was a few years ago. But all of a sudden,
this guy is put put into the put into the
spotlight here and he's really produced. So John will switch
(06:12):
over to you in the same question, how do you
think these this commander's rushing game can still get going
incident Atlanta demons in front.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I think it's a it's a few things and I'll
start up front. I think this offensive line is getting
more and more confident every week. Especially Will point out,
you know, Josh Connerly has been asked about it his
first three weeks. He's gone through the ringer, Brian Burns, uh,
Duel Carter. Then he gets Parsons than mad Max Crosby.
So like, I don't think you could get any any
(06:40):
covers in your first three NFL games. But then you
know they made the switch to Chris Paul and Andrew
Wiley at guard, and Dan Quinn seems happy with with
those guys stepping in. I'd just assume that's what we're
going to see in Atlanta. And then I mean, yeah,
you get five, five different guys carried the ball. Se
(07:00):
Rod leads the way with eleven. I mean they're they're mixing,
mixing carries. And I remember right before week one, I
thought it was interesting.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Running backs coach Anthony Lynn said he's got a backs
and B back. That doesn't mean like you know, first
ring and second string, but like his A backs are.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It was.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Se Rod and Bill and his b B box were
McNichols and Eckler, So obviously eck theer's out of the picture.
Have your workload goes to Bill, but they're still able
to compliment one another. So I think, you know, you've
got a lot of good backs in that room, and
they knew that coming out of training camp. I think
(07:44):
Kingsbury said, well, everybody can find a spot on the
you know, on a roster coming out of that room.
The final thing is, I think it's gonna depend a
lot on who plays quarterback. I just from what I noticed,
and obviously Jade is very gifted with his legs, but
I feel like we're he gains yards. Is this you
know what Dan Quinn calls the second play, right, some
(08:05):
things break down, the reads aren't there. He's making a
play with his legs because he's just a gifted, gifted
athlete like that, and not saying Mariota isn't. But I
feel like last Sunday we saw a lot of like
designed runs with him, even on you know, his big
gainer with the unfortunately ended with a fumble, but like
they he's so good. I feel like one of his
gifts is he's so good at hiding the ball on
(08:26):
those read options. It brings you back to last year,
Week eighteen and in Dallas. I mean I think it
was the game winning drive. Yeah, hold he holds out
of the ball. Cowboys defense is in a scrum, no
one knows where it is, and Mariota is running for
like thirty something yards. I think to set up the
game winner. So I think it depends on well we
see more design runs. We saw like packages with Ben
(08:49):
Sinnett and Yankov coming in a lot to you know,
the extra they went big for those plays, and then
you know, it's kind of a long answer, but I
think I think it could be a just a few
different things and very like I said, good at the
read option, good.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
To play action, and a very successful for the Commanders
in this last game. I'll just add one more thing,
sac just for the fans, we're talking about how do
you get better? I thought we saw a great performance
by the Commanders. But if there's one thing that stood
out to me calling the game was the fact that
you have to limit the number of penalties on the
O line when you're number seven, when number seventy eight
(09:26):
and number seventy two are getting penalties at the same time, it's.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Perhaps not a good look. So sure that's one of
the keys to be more.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Successful in opening up those lanes and avoid having to
go backwards on the field.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, you know, yeah, so good points by both of you, guys.
I like the point to see you both made about
the officsive line and about like the running back room
in Jenner about how that that the howarchy's driven up
and Moys is that you know, John brought up the
officsive line first, and I want to hear your thoughts
on this as well, because we here before the game,
Brandon Coleman healthy scratch coaches decision and they put Chris
(10:00):
paul In does pretty well. It seems like they're putting
in a little bit of a competition for both of
those guard spots at least until Sam Cosby comes back,
which we don't we don't know. We're hearing good things,
but we're not exactly sure when that's gonna be able
to happen.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Here.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
What do you think about this this offensive line and
especially those interior guard spots, and how is that going
to play a role in what they're going to be
able to do in Atlanta. Whether it's gonna be Coleman
or Chris Paul or alleg Retty or some other combination
of the of the four.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Yeah, I think it's really and DQ said it after
the game, it's not He's like, don't read into this
decision to sit you know, Coleman and and not play,
you know, not start Ella g Retty. Like, I think
he's like competition week to week because I think, and
it's been the same since training camps, like, what is
this offensive line going to look?
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Like?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
We know LT is the is the LT right, He's
gonna be a left tackle, and we had a pretty
good idea of be Hod it's just gonna be the
starting center. Beyond that, I mean, like, no one's a lock.
So I think it's you find the combination that's that's working.
Obviously they've stuck with Connorly at right tackle. But like,
I think it's a week to week competition. How you know,
(11:09):
were we happy with last week's game, which it sounds
like they were, But until you're right, until you have
the other third solid starter Cosby comeback, I think you're
going to just see unless you know, a tandem sticks,
it couldn't just be by committee.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, No, I think so too, And I think I
think that adds a little bit of a little bit
of a wrinkle to Okay, you don't really know exactly
who you're gonna be preparing for next. Is it going
to be Coleman, Is it going to be Chris Paul?
Because they had very different skill sets there, so that
for that defensivneering for Atlanta, they kind of have to
prepare for a lot of different guys as opposed to
just starting five moys. That's well, we'll before we move on,
I want to I want to hear a little more
of your thoughts about like the hierarchy of the running
(11:50):
back room, because it seems to be a bi committee
approach and there's a lot of different moving parts there
between Debo, You've got Mariota, as we mentioned, we've got
all these other guys in the running back room, and
then Bill and Chris and Jeremy. It seems like they've
they've found a little bit of an answer to with
Eckler gone. Now for the rest of the year, do
you expect that there's going to be some sort of
(12:12):
like a clear packing order at some point or are
they just going to stick with this we're all number one,
where we're all kind.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Of a one A, one B sort of deal based
on what we were just mentioning right now, and the
fact that there's competition on the O line where the
best man is probably going to start, which I think
is the best approach because it creates a culture of competition.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I definitely agree to that whoever is.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Better performing week two weeks should be the starter, and
just looking at the culture of this team, I don't
think that's an issue. I think that's something that the
players welcome. They want to have that camaraderie where they
know that the best player will be on the field,
but they're all going to get an opportunity to perform,
and I think the same goals for the running back room.
(12:54):
I don't think we can truly say this is the
number one guy because looking at at the rule who
Chris Rodriguez was not a consistent player last season McNichols,
he was in and out. Eckler was the number one guy,
and so be Rob was the number one guy, followed
by Eckler, and both of those guys are gone, so
it leaves a void. It leaves an opening for these
(13:16):
players to step up, but based on what we've seen,
I think they welcome it and then we can mix
it up.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That's even better because we saw it against the Raiders.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
Different players had the ball and they had amazing place
McNichols for sixty bill with eight carries that were very
successful in a touchdown and Rodriguez stepping in and proving
that he belongs in the NFL. Therefore, I don't expect
for us to see a number one guy, actually not
on paper at least, but I do expect for this
(13:44):
commander running back room to spread the ball, to keep
confusing defenders and have success with the running game if
they need to go that route. I believe we see
two different games when we have Jaden Daniels on the field.
It's even though they've said it's a very similar playbook,
it's not the exact same playbook. Mariotta is more of
a we're gonna run the ball and when we have
(14:07):
to throw it will sling it down the field. And
it's what we saw with a place to Terry mccloyin
and a couple of sacords.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You've heard a lot of the term like exotic smash mouth.
You've heard a lot of this stuff, and I think
they are fine with how things are going right now. Well,
they like to have one guy maybe, But when you
have a kind of production like they had on Sunday,
it just gives more wrinkles and other things for defenses
to prepare for. And right now, when you're a little
(14:35):
bit beat up and you've got a lot of different
players that you would like to have on the field
not on the field, it adds more things that it's
going to confuse the defense. And I think that's at
this point. I think until they get healthy, I think
that's a strong approach. So we'll move on, but I'll
give both of you guys points. I thought the off
the line of stuff and just the overall running back
takes were really great stuff, so I couldn't just give
(14:57):
one over the other. But we'll move on to the
Devens side of the ball here, and I think we
have to talk about the turnovers right or lack thereof,
to be honest, because there are three teams right now
that have zero takeaways. We have the Miama Dolphins, we
have the New York Jets, and the Commanders. Those three
teams have combined for a total of two in seven records,
(15:18):
you can kind of guess. Do the map here, the
Dolphins and the Jets are zero to three each and
the Commanders the only two the only team that have
those wins and the old You could argue that one
of the reasons why they've been able to stick with
these wins is because the Dolphins hasn't given the ball away.
But you hear DQ talk about it, you hear the
players talk about it, you hear Joe would talk about it.
The turnovers are so important to what they want to
(15:42):
be and we have not seen them yet. Like there's
been opportunities in fairness for sure, but also they haven't
been able to capitalize on them for whatever reason. So
I guess, like the simplest question here is how do
you fix that? What's the best way for them to
get to get over this turnover and drow that they've
(16:03):
been in and get some more opportunity to this offense.
So John, I think we'll start with you for some
on this one.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Yeah, it kind of reminds me of last year. I
remember Joe Whitt kept saying like, I don't I don't
know if they got their first turnover until like week
four last year. But obviously they were. They were still
pretty effective on defense. I think a lot of it
just comes with pressure around the quarterback, which they got Sunday,
But there were so many plays. I know, you know,
(16:31):
defense recorded five sack, but there were so many plays
where you know, just got out of it, like they
didn't they didn't finish, didn't get home and he'd escape
to throw it away or you know, sometimes i'd find
find a receiver downfield. But I think just whenever you
can make a quarterback uncomfortable, this isn't, you know, anything groundbreaking,
but like they're they're gonna be quicker with your decisions.
(16:53):
And also if you you know, get to the quarterback
who's looking and you know panicking in the pocket, uh
that you know that ball can can can come lose,
it helps your DBS out. I mean just when you
get pressure everything, you know, everything works out better in
the secondary. And like I said, I mean the pressure
(17:14):
was on paper very good, but there was also moments
where they could have you know, could have gotten home
and maybe stripped Gino. But you know, panic is the
guy that will turn it over. He'll throw he'll throw
his stuch as he threw one at Northwest Stadium last year,
I believe the Kwan Martin that was a was a
pretty bad pick. So this is a perfect week too.
(17:35):
I guess, you know, see if they can get their
their first one, I feel like once you get your
first one, they'll they'll start coming in bunches or at
least more more frequently, like they did it after you know,
they got their first turnover last year.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But you know, it's it's funny you mentioned that Gina stuff,
and I remember thinking like how many like how did
he get out of those marches sometimes because it seemed
like the pocket was just crashing around him and he
somehow finds a way to stick in there or just escape.
And it was based honestly, there's a there's a good
argument to me they should have gotten ten sacks out
(18:10):
of that because it was crazy to see how they were,
how they were doing things and how Gina was able
to escape. Boys. That's will switch over to you and
ask the same question, is there is there a magic
formula I guess to how they can get this get
this first turnover? And I mean, once they get it,
do you think, as John said, there's gonna be more
that's going to be on the way. That kind of
like a turnover coming a wave situation.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Everybody relaxed, calm down, nothing's happened.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We're only getting two week four.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Like John mentioned, I believe something similar happened last season.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Look, keep playing hard, the turnovers will come.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
If you want me to single out at a specific
moment where the Commanders should have had a turnover which
was right there for the taking. We look at Trey
Amos and Will Harris where miscommunication are both looking up,
looking up and don't make the play.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
But the ball was there.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
I think that was the biggest opportunity for the takeover
for a turnover. Doing this far in the season, I
think they produce five sacks. It tells you they're getting
the pressure on, they're making the plays. We've seen the
team with some strong tackles and some good hits, So
I think it's a matter of time. I don't think
it's something that we need to panic about just right now.
(19:26):
I think give it a couple more weeks. Perhaps this
week we do see a couple of turnovers. Since Panics
hasn't been performing to his best ability because he turned
the ball over a couple of times, he hasn't thrown
a touchdown to a wide receiver or a tight end
this entire season. I think Atlanta presents a good opportunity
(19:47):
for Washington to have a great performance.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Don't get carried away, don't get too confident.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
And I believe that the turnovers are coming sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
So just had to look it up here and do
a little bit of research from the staff department. I e.
Me the twenty twenty four Commanders. They only had one
turnover in their first three games, and then after that
they get there, they get a they get a turnover
in Week four against the Cardinals, and they go on
to both of yours points. They go on this really
good stretch here where they go about seven games where
(20:18):
they get at least one turnover on defense. And to
your so, like I said, to your point, that's that's
exactly the way. It's the way the way it is, like,
you need to not freak out, don't need a panic
because they're doing a lot of the right things. It's
just a matter of the opportunity to have to come
your way, and you've got to capitalize them. And I
will say to this students, coaching staff's credit, they do
a good job of making sure that their players are
(20:40):
able to capitalize on the moment. And John will switch
over to you here for this other question because I
do you know, we're gonna talk touch on the injuries
here in a little bit, but I do wonder, especially
with these injuries to the secondary, I how do you
how do you address that? Because you head on, you
have guys, you have your your death players out there now,
(21:01):
I mean, do you have still have that same mentality
with maybe you guys like who are your second and
third stringers out there potentially getting more snaps like and
their ability to create turners? Like do you does that
concern you at all?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Well, you know, again you got to see how you
know the extent of the injuries, but yeah, your your
two starting corners don't finish the game. I mean, yeah,
those are you know, that's your second round pick and
a guy you trained four who's you know, however many
time Pro Bowl or Marshawn Lantimore, and then you're you know,
you're starting safety you know, goes down earlier in the
(21:36):
in the game. I of course, it's a it's a
little concerning, but it's also got like there's a lot
of experience that stepped in. I mean Noah, I think
Noah could be I mean, this could be a big,
you know, opportunity for Noah. Again, we don't know how
I haven't seen how bad these injuries are. The expectations
(21:56):
that usually comes later in the week when the injury
reports come out. But I think it's just, you know,
there are guys that this team has a lot of
confidence in that are stepping in. I mean, you look
at you know, Will Harris goes down. Jeremy Reeves plays
you know, the most snapsk he's played and I think
two or three seasons and plays well, and he's just
(22:18):
such a not such a I mean not only such
a great special teams player, and you know, when he
has to step in at safety, does a good job,
but like such a leader overall on this team. That like,
when you have a guy like that that steps in,
that's like all right, Jeremy's already at the front of
the room rally, and the guys like this is a
guy we can you know, trust, and he obviously has
(22:40):
the experience. And then you have you know, Noah's been here,
and Antonio has got a lot of Hamilton's got a
lot of experience, as well. So I don't think it's
like super concerning, especially since I don't, you know, Trey Amos,
Amos and Marshall Lttimore weren't exactly you know, like lighting
the world on fire to start, you know, the first
three weeks. I think they Yeah, I think they are
(23:02):
comfortable with the next man up. Obviously you want your
starters out there, but it doesn't concern me that much.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Now, sure, Yeah, and then Moyses before we move on
to ask you the same question, is the potential for
the amount of death players, because as you said, you
want us to you don't want to freak out, you
don't actually want to say the same. Is it going
to be harder do you think for the for them
to stay the same and keep that same standard when
these death players could potentially get more snaps than say
(23:30):
a guy like Amos or Latimo or some of the
other starter in the secondary.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, it's always difficult. You don't want to see injuries,
especially not this early in the season. Perhaps we get
some of these players back before the end of the year,
which is.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
The ultimate goal.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Prime example, Will Harris expecting him to come back before
the year ends.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I think he started off the season on a tier.
He was great.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Perhaps the numbers and the turnovers weren't there, but if
you're watching the game, you're seeing him be impactful on
the way the defenders were playing. I think the next
man has to step up, and it sounds cliche, but
that's the way it is now. Darnell Savage, who was
out of a he didn't have a team. Now he's
with the Commanders. Let's see what he can do. A
guy who's only twenty eight years old, I believe he
(24:12):
can give this Commander's defensive boost. If there's one thing
that we've seen with players that have come to Washington
in the last two years, it's been the fact that
this team has become a second opportunity for them, right
a kind of like a resurrection for their careers or
another just spark to get going.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I think the.
Speaker 5 (24:32):
Commanders can be that team and players that are perhaps
not on their best performance in the last couple of
seasons can see a search and have you have a
better year.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
With Washington moving forward. I think they buy.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Into this idea that this is a team that can
compete for the division, that can compete for to make
a run in the playoffs. And potentially make the Super Bowl. Therefore,
I think that we're gonna be fine. I think from
the front office has done a good enough job to
to know that they're making the best elections possible and
wherever steps in is going to help this team get
(25:11):
some wins.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I felt as these injuries started to pile up a
little bit, I thought, Okay, this is really how AP's
roster building is going to be tested. It's not necessarily yes,
you want to win every game with all the starters
and the stars you've paid a lot of money for,
but it's the other guys that really make up the
bulk or the roster. How good are those guys? And
(25:33):
we're going to see a lot of that, especially this
coming week and maybe even the next couple of weeks
and that Raiders game that passed the tests for sure,
but there will also be some other really tough tests
coming up the next five weeks that I'm no, no,
it's not and I'm confident to them like you are,
but I'm curious to see how they do because it
(25:53):
is those there are gonna be some serious tests there.
So we'll move on to the final question. But I
will get both of you guys. The point again, because
I think both of you guys really really brought the
heat there. Both good answers there, and we've kind of
teased around this injury stuff for a while, but we'll
go ahead and give up the full list here, right.
(26:13):
We have Jonathan Jones on IR. We have Austin Eckley,
as we mentioned on ARL for the on IR out
for the year, Patrick Wise on IR out for the
year of them. We had Trey Amos who was it
was less I think it was a calf injury. They
kept him out of that last portion of the Raiders game.
Vlatimore doing okay, clear for the concussion protocol, he was
(26:33):
still kept out of the game. Terry McLaurin had the
quad injury out for the remainder of that game. We'll
see how he does. Jayden Daniels is the big one
knee as you still day to day, we don't know
exactly how that's going to work out. Point is, there's
a lot of injuries on this team that they didn't
have to deal with last year. And as I mentioned earlier,
the depth of this team is really seriously going to
be tested over the next couple of weeks or so.
(26:56):
Until they can get some of these these these starters
out there on the field again. So my question to
both of you guys is which of those death players
do you think is really going to need to step
up the most? Because there are a lot of opportunities
for guys like McCaffrey or Ben sent it On offense,
or maybe even guys like Davonta deene Baptist, so some
(27:16):
of the other younger players in the secondary, Like, there's
gonna be opportunities for these guys to show their worth.
And I want to know for both of you, who's
gonna have to step up the most with the guy
with guys with a really talented Atlanta offense coming up
next to a lot of other future uponents coming up
a bear time gonna be tough as well. So John Will,
we'll start with you.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
Well, first of all, I loved I totally. You know,
forgot to mention this was but the Darnell Favic skinning
love it. I was there in day when he was
when he was drafted like nineteenth overall that season that
he was teamed up with Preston Smith, another guy they
just grabbed and you know went. They were good defense
and went all the way to the NFC Championship Games.
So I love, love, love both of those pickups. I
(28:00):
don't know if that Sunday might be too soon for Savage,
but we'll see. I because I was thinking about this,
and you're right, there are how many parts of the
team you know right now that are affected by injuries
and who's gonna step up? And you mentioned a lot
of a lot of guys. I think what I.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Landed on was.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Noah Brown. I think is like an under the radar
huff flow, and I've been I've loved Chris Moore stepping in.
I know he was. Yeah, like I think he Chris
Moore or Luke McCaffrey. That was obviously the confidence building
fourth quarter for him, his first touchdown and forty two
(28:45):
forty three yarder. But more, I mean Moore made the
first big play of the season as the Commander's first
touchdown scoring drive. He had that I think it was
like thirty five yards on the sideline. Everyone's like, whoa
first big blake? Who Chris More? They just brought him
up with the practice squad. Well, now, I think you know,
this guy's a ten year vet. He's played a lot
(29:05):
of football struck like Noel Brown. You know, it was
never the number one guy anywhere he went, but dependable experience,
and that is the spot to take. You know, you
want to get Perry Moore involved, but we got to
have someone who can you know, make plays on the
other side of the field and obviously have debo as well.
(29:26):
But I think just having a third consistent guy and
whether that is you know who, maybe it is Luke,
maybe it's Chris. I think whoever steps in that that
that's going to be just I think is super important
piece of you know, the offense moving forward. We'll see
when Noah comes back, but obviously it's been a tough
offseason and preseason and starts at the season for him
(29:48):
injury wise. So yeah, I think that third wide receiver
spot is going to be one I'm very very interested.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
In, very interesting. I like the Chris Moore answer because
I remember in training can a lot of fans are
right him off and all of a sudden, he has
that thirty four yard catch in Week one and they're like,
oh wait, this guy's still on our team. So more
the same question, which depth player needs to step up
the most with these injuries on the Commanders Robster.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, I mean, you know, just listening to to John
talk about the injuries and Noel Brown, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna go the other way because as much as
I love Noah, I think he's probably my favorite player
that came in the past two seasons.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
When we're talking about the offense, I feel that you
have other guys that need to step up, and perhaps
this is the year of the rookies.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Jalen Lane. We saw what he can do.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
He's proving that he can be more than just a
special team type of player, that he can be a
contributor to the offense. Therefore, I'm gonna rely on him
a lot more. Same thing goes with Bill Krossky Merritt, right.
People are asking for him to get the rock.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
A lot more. I think he's shown flashes that he
could be the number one guy. Right now, he's not
going to one guy.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
We have this mixed running back room like you mentioned earlier,
and then Josh Connelly because if there's one thing you.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Have to protect, you have to protect the quarterback. And
he's allowed a couple of pressures. He's allowed four sacks
on his side, and he's a first rounder.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Therefore, you have to show why you were selected selected
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Those are my three guys that have to step.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Up to truly give this command this team a lot
more of that moving forward.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
H Yeah, I'm interested to see what Bill does. I
think Connorley is going to continue to grow quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Man.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Both you guys really have great answers here, both going
primarily on offense. M you know what I think with
the way this off the line is going, I think
you want to see you want to see more growth
from Josh Connelly. I think you want to see more
growth from Bill. The fans are less you want to
see more growth from Bill. So moyses, I'm going to
(31:58):
give you the point and the victor. How do you
feel about taking the win?
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Ah? You know what is not about the wins, It's
about about the brotherhood. This is what we've built around Washington, DC.
So I'm just glad to share the rule with John
and I look forward to many more battles. A lot
of the things he said I think are great. So
what I take from all this is the fact that
I can learn and apply it to the broadcast on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
So let's go.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Yeah, no, I think that's a good point and John
really great answer. Is great having you on first time.
Guess you really brought the heat for Moisas really giving
a really good competition there. But yeah, no, it was.
It was a great, great time talking to.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
You man, Dak boys, this everybody is a winner today.
I had a great time talking Commanders football. I'm really
I'm excited to see what this team can do again.
So yeah, looking looking forward to the rest of the
season and so happy you have me on. This is
a lot of.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Fun, absolutely, And do you know what, for all the
injuries that they've been dealing with so far, if they
get three and one, it's gonna feel a whole lot
better for that for sure. So be sure to rate
your view subscribe wherever you get your podcast guys, and
until next week, this has been dub
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What is going on? Y'all? This is another episode of
the Beatdown Podcast, Week four addition, I'm your host, senior
writer for the Washington Commanders, Zach Selby, and we are
riding high off, bouncing back and getting a win over
the Las Vegas Raiders forty one to twenty four. Marcus
Mariota comes in and the team is three to zero
when he takes the majority of the snaps. Looked really good.
(00:34):
Had two hundred and one passing yards, forty rushing yards
in the ground, two total touchdowns, and I would say,
for the first time, it looks like this team is
closer to the identity that was last year, winning it
off for three phases. Jaya Lane with the pump return
touchdown like the longest enfranchise, the longest in franchise history.
Was a crazy play. But now they have to move
(00:55):
on and they're going to be playing another really interesting
opponent here in the Atlanta Falcons, who they have a
little bit of history with over the last two or
three years. Been really close in the Atlanta Falcons. You
know that that game last year came down overtime to
get in the playoffs, and Jayden Daniels hits the touchdown
to zach Ertz at the there at the end. But
it's been quite a contentious matchup even then over the
(01:18):
previous years. You know, if I can remember twenty twenty one,
I believe it was Taylor Heinike was was Duke get
it out with them with Jad McKissick scoring a touchdown
there at the end, Terry McLaurin scoring a couple of
touchdowns either way. It's then, even though I know the
Falcons are one and two, but it's going to be
he feeling is going to be quite the matchup here.
So how are they going to build off that can
(01:38):
get to three and one? Well, that is what we're
going to be discussing today. And I have two more
people here to debate it with. And we have first
we have Moses Lenaris from the Spanish broadcast. More is
that's how you do it?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Man?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
What's going on? My guy?
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Ready for another week of actually excited for week number
four in the NFL. Hopefully the Commanders can come out
with a w oh so yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Know that will be fantastic as the business is always
good when the Commanders are winning for me and you.
But we have a new guest on for the first time.
We have John Durant from WUSA nine. John, how you doing?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Man Dack doing great? Good victory Tuesday. Hard not to
be excited after a win like that over the weekend,
So I'm I'm excited to see what they could do.
I know Atlanta has lost a tough one, but I
think they're still pretty good team, so it should be
a good game.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, you know, I was saying to someone earlier this week,
thirty to nothing is what that last score was for
the Falcons versus the Panthers. But they still had Bjenn Robinson.
They've still got guys like Michael Pennis out there, who
I don't think is completely some symbolic of that performance
he had. They've got a lot of they got Jake
drag London, They've got a lot of really good players
over there on down Atlanta, and it's going to be
(02:47):
a battle for sure. But for us, we everyone who's
listening knows the deal. By now. I'm gonna ask these
people three questions. One offense, defense, more general question. There
will be points given to the end of each and
as always I will be deciding a winner. But as
I've always said, you should be more focused on what
(03:08):
these two people have to say because they are out
of practice. They are the ones who are we that.
All that said, let's jump right into it here and
we'll start off with the Commander's ground game, because it
looked once again like it was the dominant group that
it was last year. After getting only about fifty one
yards against the Packers, they had two hundred and one
yards against the Raiders, who were thin fourth in rushing
(03:31):
yards allowed. You had five different players touch the ball. Gleue,
Marks Marty who we mentioned had forty yards. You had
De Samuel with a couple couple players there. We had
Jeremy when Nichols with a long sixty yard touchdown, longest
since I think it was Adrian Peterson's back in twenty
eighteen rushing touchdown, and he led the team with seventy
eight rushing yards I think over the lass. Since Cliff
(03:52):
Teensbury has become the office coordinator, it's very clear that
when this team has got the ground game going, they
are really really tough to stop. And you know this
Falcons deep the front here is just about as good.
They're tenth in rushing yards Loder right now, they've got
a solid defensive front. So how do they command and
replicate that? How do they get that same success and
(04:14):
build upon what they had? Moys us, We'll start with
you here and yeah, I'm just curious to know what
your thoughts are on how they can have another dominant
performance in the ground like they did last week.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
We have to spread the rock, and I think we've
seen the Commanders put together a great running back room.
People were concerned when we saw Austin Eckler go out
with that season ending injury, but we also knew that
we have some players that are hungry and now name
Chris Rodriguez Junior, who has been one of my favorites.
He is the typical underdog that performs very well. He
(04:46):
said it during training camp. I'm not the guy who's
always getting called up, but when I do one of
my numbers called I'm always ready. And I think we've
seen it right. We saw it against the Raiders this week.
Perhaps he doesn't have the most outstanding games when we
look at numbers, but he's a guy that can get
things going for the Washington command there's a very strong
(05:07):
power runner who just runs through people.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And we signed a.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Few times a few times, so I'm looking at him
to perform once again against the Falcons and Bill. We
know that Bill has a really high ceiling. We saw
him succeed against the Raiders, perhaps didn't get the rock enough.
So if we can get him the ball a few
more times, we're probably going to see a more successful
running game. We'll add McNichols to the mix, and we
(05:35):
know what he can do a guy who just burst
it out for sixty. So when it comes to the
run game, I think after the Raiders win, we see
a Commander's team that's ready to really really go that
way if.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
They need to implement the run game versus Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, you know you mentioned Chris Rodriguez and he's been
one of my favorite stories to six trund pick from
twenty twenty three, and he's been a guy who's bien
a Prid squad, Ben cut, Bill Pratt Squad elevated back
and forth sort of how kind of like how Jeremy
Reeves was a few years ago. But all of a sudden,
this guy is put put into the put into the
spotlight here and he's really produced. So John will switch
(06:12):
over to you in the same question, how do you
think these this commander's rushing game can still get going
incident Atlanta demons in front.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I think it's a it's a few things and I'll
start up front. I think this offensive line is getting
more and more confident every week. Especially Will point out,
you know, Josh Connerly has been asked about it his
first three weeks. He's gone through the ringer, Brian Burns, uh,
Duel Carter. Then he gets Parsons than mad Max Crosby.
So like, I don't think you could get any any
(06:40):
covers in your first three NFL games. But then you
know they made the switch to Chris Paul and Andrew
Wiley at guard, and Dan Quinn seems happy with with
those guys stepping in. I'd just assume that's what we're
going to see in Atlanta. And then I mean, yeah,
you get five, five different guys carried the ball. Se
(07:00):
Rod leads the way with eleven. I mean they're they're mixing,
mixing carries. And I remember right before week one, I
thought it was interesting.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Running backs coach Anthony Lynn said he's got a backs
and B back. That doesn't mean like you know, first
ring and second string, but like his A backs are.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It was.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Se Rod and Bill and his b B box were
McNichols and Eckler, So obviously eck theer's out of the picture.
Have your workload goes to Bill, but they're still able
to compliment one another. So I think, you know, you've
got a lot of good backs in that room, and
they knew that coming out of training camp. I think
(07:44):
Kingsbury said, well, everybody can find a spot on the
you know, on a roster coming out of that room.
The final thing is, I think it's gonna depend a
lot on who plays quarterback. I just from what I noticed,
and obviously Jade is very gifted with his legs, but
I feel like we're he gains yards. Is this you
know what Dan Quinn calls the second play, right, some
(08:05):
things break down, the reads aren't there. He's making a
play with his legs because he's just a gifted, gifted
athlete like that, and not saying Mariota isn't. But I
feel like last Sunday we saw a lot of like
designed runs with him, even on you know, his big
gainer with the unfortunately ended with a fumble, but like
they he's so good. I feel like one of his
gifts is he's so good at hiding the ball on
(08:26):
those read options. It brings you back to last year,
Week eighteen and in Dallas. I mean I think it
was the game winning drive. Yeah, hold he holds out
of the ball. Cowboys defense is in a scrum, no
one knows where it is, and Mariota is running for
like thirty something yards. I think to set up the
game winner. So I think it depends on well we
see more design runs. We saw like packages with Ben
(08:49):
Sinnett and Yankov coming in a lot to you know,
the extra they went big for those plays, and then
you know, it's kind of a long answer, but I
think I think it could be a just a few
different things and very like I said, good at the
read option, good.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
To play action, and a very successful for the Commanders
in this last game. I'll just add one more thing,
sac just for the fans, we're talking about how do
you get better? I thought we saw a great performance
by the Commanders. But if there's one thing that stood
out to me calling the game was the fact that
you have to limit the number of penalties on the
O line when you're number seven, when number seventy eight
(09:26):
and number seventy two are getting penalties at the same time, it's.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Perhaps not a good look. So sure that's one of
the keys to be more.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Successful in opening up those lanes and avoid having to
go backwards on the field.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, you know, yeah, so good points by both of you, guys.
I like the point to see you both made about
the officsive line and about like the running back room
in Jenner about how that that the howarchy's driven up
and Moys is that you know, John brought up the
officsive line first, and I want to hear your thoughts
on this as well, because we here before the game,
Brandon Coleman healthy scratch coaches decision and they put Chris
(10:00):
paul In does pretty well. It seems like they're putting
in a little bit of a competition for both of
those guard spots at least until Sam Cosby comes back,
which we don't we don't know. We're hearing good things,
but we're not exactly sure when that's gonna be able
to happen.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Here.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
What do you think about this this offensive line and
especially those interior guard spots, and how is that going
to play a role in what they're going to be
able to do in Atlanta. Whether it's gonna be Coleman
or Chris Paul or alleg Retty or some other combination
of the of the four.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Yeah, I think it's really and DQ said it after
the game, it's not He's like, don't read into this
decision to sit you know, Coleman and and not play,
you know, not start Ella g Retty. Like, I think
he's like competition week to week because I think, and
it's been the same since training camps, like, what is
this offensive line going to look?
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Like?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
We know LT is the is the LT right, He's
gonna be a left tackle, and we had a pretty
good idea of be Hod it's just gonna be the
starting center. Beyond that, I mean, like, no one's a lock.
So I think it's you find the combination that's that's working.
Obviously they've stuck with Connorly at right tackle. But like,
I think it's a week to week competition. How you know,
(11:09):
were we happy with last week's game, which it sounds
like they were, But until you're right, until you have
the other third solid starter Cosby comeback, I think you're
going to just see unless you know, a tandem sticks,
it couldn't just be by committee.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, No, I think so too, And I think I
think that adds a little bit of a little bit
of a wrinkle to Okay, you don't really know exactly
who you're gonna be preparing for next. Is it going
to be Coleman, Is it going to be Chris Paul?
Because they had very different skill sets there, so that
for that defensivneering for Atlanta, they kind of have to
prepare for a lot of different guys as opposed to
just starting five moys. That's well, we'll before we move on,
I want to I want to hear a little more
of your thoughts about like the hierarchy of the running
(11:50):
back room, because it seems to be a bi committee
approach and there's a lot of different moving parts there
between Debo, You've got Mariota, as we mentioned, we've got
all these other guys in the running back room, and
then Bill and Chris and Jeremy. It seems like they've
they've found a little bit of an answer to with
Eckler gone. Now for the rest of the year, do
you expect that there's going to be some sort of
(12:12):
like a clear packing order at some point or are
they just going to stick with this we're all number one,
where we're all kind.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Of a one A, one B sort of deal based
on what we were just mentioning right now, and the
fact that there's competition on the O line where the
best man is probably going to start, which I think
is the best approach because it creates a culture of competition.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I definitely agree to that whoever is.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Better performing week two weeks should be the starter, and
just looking at the culture of this team, I don't
think that's an issue. I think that's something that the
players welcome. They want to have that camaraderie where they
know that the best player will be on the field,
but they're all going to get an opportunity to perform,
and I think the same goals for the running back room.
(12:54):
I don't think we can truly say this is the
number one guy because looking at at the rule who
Chris Rodriguez was not a consistent player last season McNichols,
he was in and out. Eckler was the number one guy,
and so be Rob was the number one guy, followed
by Eckler, and both of those guys are gone, so
it leaves a void. It leaves an opening for these
(13:16):
players to step up, but based on what we've seen,
I think they welcome it and then we can mix
it up.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That's even better because we saw it against the Raiders.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
Different players had the ball and they had amazing place
McNichols for sixty bill with eight carries that were very
successful in a touchdown and Rodriguez stepping in and proving
that he belongs in the NFL. Therefore, I don't expect
for us to see a number one guy, actually not
on paper at least, but I do expect for this
(13:44):
commander running back room to spread the ball, to keep
confusing defenders and have success with the running game if
they need to go that route. I believe we see
two different games when we have Jaden Daniels on the field.
It's even though they've said it's a very similar playbook,
it's not the exact same playbook. Mariotta is more of
a we're gonna run the ball and when we have
(14:07):
to throw it will sling it down the field. And
it's what we saw with a place to Terry mccloyin
and a couple of sacords.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You've heard a lot of the term like exotic smash mouth.
You've heard a lot of this stuff, and I think
they are fine with how things are going right now. Well,
they like to have one guy maybe, But when you
have a kind of production like they had on Sunday,
it just gives more wrinkles and other things for defenses
to prepare for. And right now, when you're a little
(14:35):
bit beat up and you've got a lot of different
players that you would like to have on the field
not on the field, it adds more things that it's
going to confuse the defense. And I think that's at
this point. I think until they get healthy, I think
that's a strong approach. So we'll move on, but I'll
give both of you guys points. I thought the off
the line of stuff and just the overall running back
takes were really great stuff, so I couldn't just give
(14:57):
one over the other. But we'll move on to the
Devens side of the ball here, and I think we
have to talk about the turnovers right or lack thereof,
to be honest, because there are three teams right now
that have zero takeaways. We have the Miama Dolphins, we
have the New York Jets, and the Commanders. Those three
teams have combined for a total of two in seven records,
(15:18):
you can kind of guess. Do the map here, the
Dolphins and the Jets are zero to three each and
the Commanders the only two the only team that have
those wins and the old You could argue that one
of the reasons why they've been able to stick with
these wins is because the Dolphins hasn't given the ball away.
But you hear DQ talk about it, you hear the
players talk about it, you hear Joe would talk about it.
The turnovers are so important to what they want to
(15:42):
be and we have not seen them yet. Like there's
been opportunities in fairness for sure, but also they haven't
been able to capitalize on them for whatever reason. So
I guess, like the simplest question here is how do
you fix that? What's the best way for them to
get to get over this turnover and drow that they've
(16:03):
been in and get some more opportunity to this offense.
So John, I think we'll start with you for some
on this one.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Yeah, it kind of reminds me of last year. I
remember Joe Whitt kept saying like, I don't I don't
know if they got their first turnover until like week
four last year. But obviously they were. They were still
pretty effective on defense. I think a lot of it
just comes with pressure around the quarterback, which they got Sunday,
But there were so many plays. I know, you know,
(16:31):
defense recorded five sack, but there were so many plays
where you know, just got out of it, like they
didn't they didn't finish, didn't get home and he'd escape
to throw it away or you know, sometimes i'd find
find a receiver downfield. But I think just whenever you
can make a quarterback uncomfortable, this isn't, you know, anything groundbreaking,
but like they're they're gonna be quicker with your decisions.
(16:53):
And also if you you know, get to the quarterback
who's looking and you know panicking in the pocket, uh
that you know that ball can can can come lose,
it helps your DBS out. I mean just when you
get pressure everything, you know, everything works out better in
the secondary. And like I said, I mean the pressure
(17:14):
was on paper very good, but there was also moments
where they could have you know, could have gotten home
and maybe stripped Gino. But you know, panic is the
guy that will turn it over. He'll throw he'll throw
his stuch as he threw one at Northwest Stadium last year,
I believe the Kwan Martin that was a was a
pretty bad pick. So this is a perfect week too.
(17:35):
I guess, you know, see if they can get their
their first one, I feel like once you get your
first one, they'll they'll start coming in bunches or at
least more more frequently, like they did it after you know,
they got their first turnover last year.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But you know, it's it's funny you mentioned that Gina stuff,
and I remember thinking like how many like how did
he get out of those marches sometimes because it seemed
like the pocket was just crashing around him and he
somehow finds a way to stick in there or just escape.
And it was based honestly, there's a there's a good
argument to me they should have gotten ten sacks out
(18:10):
of that because it was crazy to see how they were,
how they were doing things and how Gina was able
to escape. Boys. That's will switch over to you and
ask the same question, is there is there a magic
formula I guess to how they can get this get
this first turnover? And I mean, once they get it,
do you think, as John said, there's gonna be more
that's going to be on the way. That kind of
like a turnover coming a wave situation.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Everybody relaxed, calm down, nothing's happened.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We're only getting two week four.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Like John mentioned, I believe something similar happened last season.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Look, keep playing hard, the turnovers will come.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
If you want me to single out at a specific
moment where the Commanders should have had a turnover which
was right there for the taking. We look at Trey
Amos and Will Harris where miscommunication are both looking up,
looking up and don't make the play.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
But the ball was there.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
I think that was the biggest opportunity for the takeover
for a turnover. Doing this far in the season, I
think they produce five sacks. It tells you they're getting
the pressure on, they're making the plays. We've seen the
team with some strong tackles and some good hits, So
I think it's a matter of time. I don't think
it's something that we need to panic about just right now.
(19:26):
I think give it a couple more weeks. Perhaps this
week we do see a couple of turnovers. Since Panics
hasn't been performing to his best ability because he turned
the ball over a couple of times, he hasn't thrown
a touchdown to a wide receiver or a tight end
this entire season. I think Atlanta presents a good opportunity
(19:47):
for Washington to have a great performance.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Don't get carried away, don't get too confident.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
And I believe that the turnovers are coming sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
So just had to look it up here and do
a little bit of research from the staff department. I e.
Me the twenty twenty four Commanders. They only had one
turnover in their first three games, and then after that
they get there, they get a they get a turnover
in Week four against the Cardinals, and they go on
to both of yours points. They go on this really
good stretch here where they go about seven games where
(20:18):
they get at least one turnover on defense. And to
your so, like I said, to your point, that's that's
exactly the way. It's the way the way it is, like,
you need to not freak out, don't need a panic
because they're doing a lot of the right things. It's
just a matter of the opportunity to have to come
your way, and you've got to capitalize them. And I
will say to this students, coaching staff's credit, they do
a good job of making sure that their players are
(20:40):
able to capitalize on the moment. And John will switch
over to you here for this other question because I
do you know, we're gonna talk touch on the injuries
here in a little bit, but I do wonder, especially
with these injuries to the secondary, I how do you
how do you address that? Because you head on, you
have guys, you have your your death players out there now,
(21:01):
I mean, do you have still have that same mentality
with maybe you guys like who are your second and
third stringers out there potentially getting more snaps like and
their ability to create turners? Like do you does that
concern you at all?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Well, you know, again you got to see how you
know the extent of the injuries, but yeah, your your
two starting corners don't finish the game. I mean, yeah,
those are you know, that's your second round pick and
a guy you trained four who's you know, however many
time Pro Bowl or Marshawn Lantimore, and then you're you know,
you're starting safety you know, goes down earlier in the
(21:36):
in the game. I of course, it's a it's a
little concerning, but it's also got like there's a lot
of experience that stepped in. I mean Noah, I think
Noah could be I mean, this could be a big,
you know, opportunity for Noah. Again, we don't know how
I haven't seen how bad these injuries are. The expectations
(21:56):
that usually comes later in the week when the injury
reports come out. But I think it's just, you know,
there are guys that this team has a lot of
confidence in that are stepping in. I mean, you look
at you know, Will Harris goes down. Jeremy Reeves plays
you know, the most snapsk he's played and I think
two or three seasons and plays well, and he's just
(22:18):
such a not such a I mean not only such
a great special teams player, and you know, when he
has to step in at safety, does a good job,
but like such a leader overall on this team. That like,
when you have a guy like that that steps in,
that's like all right, Jeremy's already at the front of
the room rally, and the guys like this is a
guy we can you know, trust, and he obviously has
(22:40):
the experience. And then you have you know, Noah's been here,
and Antonio has got a lot of Hamilton's got a
lot of experience, as well. So I don't think it's
like super concerning, especially since I don't, you know, Trey Amos,
Amos and Marshall Lttimore weren't exactly you know, like lighting
the world on fire to start, you know, the first
three weeks. I think they Yeah, I think they are
(23:02):
comfortable with the next man up. Obviously you want your
starters out there, but it doesn't concern me that much.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Now, sure, Yeah, and then Moyses before we move on
to ask you the same question, is the potential for
the amount of death players, because as you said, you
want us to you don't want to freak out, you
don't actually want to say the same. Is it going
to be harder do you think for the for them
to stay the same and keep that same standard when
these death players could potentially get more snaps than say
(23:30):
a guy like Amos or Latimo or some of the
other starter in the secondary.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, it's always difficult. You don't want to see injuries,
especially not this early in the season. Perhaps we get
some of these players back before the end of the year,
which is.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
The ultimate goal.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Prime example, Will Harris expecting him to come back before
the year ends.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I think he started off the season on a tier.
He was great.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Perhaps the numbers and the turnovers weren't there, but if
you're watching the game, you're seeing him be impactful on
the way the defenders were playing. I think the next
man has to step up, and it sounds cliche, but
that's the way it is now. Darnell Savage, who was
out of a he didn't have a team. Now he's
with the Commanders. Let's see what he can do. A
guy who's only twenty eight years old, I believe he
(24:12):
can give this Commander's defensive boost. If there's one thing
that we've seen with players that have come to Washington
in the last two years, it's been the fact that
this team has become a second opportunity for them, right
a kind of like a resurrection for their careers or
another just spark to get going.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I think the.
Speaker 5 (24:32):
Commanders can be that team and players that are perhaps
not on their best performance in the last couple of
seasons can see a search and have you have a
better year.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
With Washington moving forward. I think they buy.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Into this idea that this is a team that can
compete for the division, that can compete for to make
a run in the playoffs. And potentially make the Super Bowl. Therefore,
I think that we're gonna be fine. I think from
the front office has done a good enough job to
to know that they're making the best elections possible and
wherever steps in is going to help this team get
(25:11):
some wins.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I felt as these injuries started to pile up a
little bit, I thought, Okay, this is really how AP's
roster building is going to be tested. It's not necessarily yes,
you want to win every game with all the starters
and the stars you've paid a lot of money for,
but it's the other guys that really make up the
bulk or the roster. How good are those guys? And
(25:33):
we're going to see a lot of that, especially this
coming week and maybe even the next couple of weeks
and that Raiders game that passed the tests for sure,
but there will also be some other really tough tests
coming up the next five weeks that I'm no, no,
it's not and I'm confident to them like you are,
but I'm curious to see how they do because it
(25:53):
is those there are gonna be some serious tests there.
So we'll move on to the final question. But I
will get both of you guys. The point again, because
I think both of you guys really really brought the
heat there. Both good answers there, and we've kind of
teased around this injury stuff for a while, but we'll
go ahead and give up the full list here, right.
(26:13):
We have Jonathan Jones on IR. We have Austin Eckley,
as we mentioned on ARL for the on IR out
for the year, Patrick Wise on IR out for the
year of them. We had Trey Amos who was it
was less I think it was a calf injury. They
kept him out of that last portion of the Raiders game.
Vlatimore doing okay, clear for the concussion protocol, he was
(26:33):
still kept out of the game. Terry McLaurin had the
quad injury out for the remainder of that game. We'll
see how he does. Jayden Daniels is the big one
knee as you still day to day, we don't know
exactly how that's going to work out. Point is, there's
a lot of injuries on this team that they didn't
have to deal with last year. And as I mentioned earlier,
the depth of this team is really seriously going to
be tested over the next couple of weeks or so.
(26:56):
Until they can get some of these these these starters
out there on the field again. So my question to
both of you guys is which of those death players
do you think is really going to need to step
up the most? Because there are a lot of opportunities
for guys like McCaffrey or Ben sent it On offense,
or maybe even guys like Davonta deene Baptist, so some
(27:16):
of the other younger players in the secondary, Like, there's
gonna be opportunities for these guys to show their worth.
And I want to know for both of you, who's
gonna have to step up the most with the guy
with guys with a really talented Atlanta offense coming up
next to a lot of other future uponents coming up
a bear time gonna be tough as well. So John Will,
we'll start with you.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
Well, first of all, I loved I totally. You know,
forgot to mention this was but the Darnell Favic skinning
love it. I was there in day when he was
when he was drafted like nineteenth overall that season that
he was teamed up with Preston Smith, another guy they
just grabbed and you know went. They were good defense
and went all the way to the NFC Championship Games.
So I love, love, love both of those pickups. I
(28:00):
don't know if that Sunday might be too soon for Savage,
but we'll see. I because I was thinking about this,
and you're right, there are how many parts of the
team you know right now that are affected by injuries
and who's gonna step up? And you mentioned a lot
of a lot of guys. I think what I.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Landed on was.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Noah Brown. I think is like an under the radar
huff flow, and I've been I've loved Chris Moore stepping in.
I know he was. Yeah, like I think he Chris
Moore or Luke McCaffrey. That was obviously the confidence building
fourth quarter for him, his first touchdown and forty two
(28:45):
forty three yarder. But more, I mean Moore made the
first big play of the season as the Commander's first
touchdown scoring drive. He had that I think it was
like thirty five yards on the sideline. Everyone's like, whoa
first big blake? Who Chris More? They just brought him
up with the practice squad. Well, now, I think you know,
this guy's a ten year vet. He's played a lot
(29:05):
of football struck like Noel Brown. You know, it was
never the number one guy anywhere he went, but dependable experience,
and that is the spot to take. You know, you
want to get Perry Moore involved, but we got to
have someone who can you know, make plays on the
other side of the field and obviously have debo as well.
(29:26):
But I think just having a third consistent guy and
whether that is you know who, maybe it is Luke,
maybe it's Chris. I think whoever steps in that that
that's going to be just I think is super important
piece of you know, the offense moving forward. We'll see
when Noah comes back, but obviously it's been a tough
offseason and preseason and starts at the season for him
(29:48):
injury wise. So yeah, I think that third wide receiver
spot is going to be one I'm very very interested.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
In, very interesting. I like the Chris Moore answer because
I remember in training can a lot of fans are
right him off and all of a sudden, he has
that thirty four yard catch in Week one and they're like,
oh wait, this guy's still on our team. So more
the same question, which depth player needs to step up
the most with these injuries on the Commanders Robster.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, I mean, you know, just listening to to John
talk about the injuries and Noel Brown, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna go the other way because as much as
I love Noah, I think he's probably my favorite player
that came in the past two seasons.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
When we're talking about the offense, I feel that you
have other guys that need to step up, and perhaps
this is the year of the rookies.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Jalen Lane. We saw what he can do.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
He's proving that he can be more than just a
special team type of player, that he can be a
contributor to the offense. Therefore, I'm gonna rely on him
a lot more. Same thing goes with Bill Krossky Merritt, right.
People are asking for him to get the rock.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
A lot more. I think he's shown flashes that he
could be the number one guy. Right now, he's not
going to one guy.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
We have this mixed running back room like you mentioned earlier,
and then Josh Connelly because if there's one thing you.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Have to protect, you have to protect the quarterback. And
he's allowed a couple of pressures. He's allowed four sacks
on his side, and he's a first rounder.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Therefore, you have to show why you were selected selected
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Those are my three guys that have to step.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Up to truly give this command this team a lot
more of that moving forward.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
H Yeah, I'm interested to see what Bill does. I
think Connorley is going to continue to grow quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Man.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Both you guys really have great answers here, both going
primarily on offense. M you know what I think with
the way this off the line is going, I think
you want to see you want to see more growth
from Josh Connelly. I think you want to see more
growth from Bill. The fans are less you want to
see more growth from Bill. So moyses, I'm going to
(31:58):
give you the point and the victor. How do you
feel about taking the win?
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Ah? You know what is not about the wins, It's
about about the brotherhood. This is what we've built around Washington, DC.
So I'm just glad to share the rule with John
and I look forward to many more battles. A lot
of the things he said I think are great. So
what I take from all this is the fact that
I can learn and apply it to the broadcast on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
So let's go.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Yeah, no, I think that's a good point and John
really great answer. Is great having you on first time.
Guess you really brought the heat for Moisas really giving
a really good competition there. But yeah, no, it was.
It was a great, great time talking to.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
You man, Dak boys, this everybody is a winner today.
I had a great time talking Commanders football. I'm really
I'm excited to see what this team can do again.
So yeah, looking looking forward to the rest of the
season and so happy you have me on. This is
a lot of.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Fun, absolutely, And do you know what, for all the
injuries that they've been dealing with so far, if they
get three and one, it's gonna feel a whole lot
better for that for sure. So be sure to rate
your view subscribe wherever you get your podcast guys, and
until next week, this has been dub
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