December 13, 2025 • 25 mins
10-Year NFL TE Logan Paulsen gives a detailed insight on the new look New York Giants with Jaxson Dart in tomorrows week 15 matchup with the Washington Commanders.
Host: Jason Johnson, Logan Paulsen
The views and opinions expressed by our analysts and/or hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Washington Commanders or any of their representative.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Game Day Live Preview Podcast. I'm Logan, Paulson,
Heer with Justin Guy Jayson. We are previewing everything you
need to know about the Giants. We've got their defense,
why they're struggling, why you haven't heard about their past,
rush might not be what you think they're And offensively,
it's all about Jackson Dart and the guys he's thrown to.
We get in the weeds on that. It all starts
(00:28):
right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to the Game Day Live Preview Podcast. I'm Jason Johnson.
I'm here with NFL ten year vet tight end Logan Paulson.
You played five years here in Washington, then scattered around
the league. Yeah, and you know what you're talking about.
One of the things about this show that you're gonna
get is great football insight, meat and potatoes, meat potatoes,
(00:53):
And it's not that little New York Strett. Get that
New York out of there. We want the tea boone,
that's right, Get that sucker in here, and that's what
we're going to get. So Logan, let's talk about the Giants,
because last time we saw them in Week one, both
these teams two different places, almost two different teams in
a way. So talk to me about the Giants. What's
different from week one to now? Besides the obvious, you know,
(01:15):
not Russell Wilson, not Brian Daball, not Shane Bowen. But
what is different? Is there anything different in a philosophy
for them? And let's start with the defense.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, starting with the defense.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I don't know if there's that much of a difference
because when I watched the New England game, when I
watched them in the Chicago game, defensively, I felt like
there was a lot of similarities. And I'm I've run
to this bias being an offensive player, because I just
looked for very, very high level trends because like to
me when I played, especially like you're never going to
be able to dissect every single bit of minutia of
(01:47):
a defensive change. But what I will say is I
feel like it's gotten a little bit simpler. I think
they have their base coverage as they like to run.
I think Shane Bowen was a big quarters guy. I
think that threat is still there. I think the freak
was with which they're in quarters is higher. I think
they run a little bit less cover six. I think
they run a lot more like single high cover three
(02:07):
type stuff, which is a relatively easy coverage to kind
of get after now because of the rules and principles
of cover three. Yeah, and so I think you've seen
a kind of in some ways what Dan did. He said,
we're gonna kind of take out, we're gonna strip the fat,
we're gonna make it really simple. And I think they're
they're kind of pitches that the pitches, if you will,
(02:27):
are like, we're gonna be in quarters, we're gonna be
in cover three, and our change up in certain situations
like low red will be cover zero, which every team does,
or some type of fire zone, which, again you know,
when you get a new DC, like some big schematic
overhauls can be really really challenging. And I think that's
kind of what you're seeing here is just like the
(02:48):
new DC kind of said, let's just keep it simple,
let's get the guys playing fast, and let's eliminate some
of the mental mistakes like coverage bus which was a
huge part earlier in the season when Shane Bowen was
the defensive coordinat And so now you've kind of got
a much simpler, much more stripped down version of the
defense with some of the same skeleton elements of Shane Bowen.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Is that pretty common when there's a change at a
coordinator position, whether offense or defense, at the next guy
that comes in will keep, like you said, the skeletal
part of it, and they simplify, Yeah, moving forward. Is
that normally what happens, because we're kind of seeing that
a little bit here with the Commanders when DQ took over,
play calls correct, Like is that kind of.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And I do feel like DQ is limited more by personnel, Like,
obviously you don't have your two starting corners, you lack
the three starting defensive lineman. The Giants are different, man, Like,
they they're pretty healthy on the defense there. Their middle
linebacker got hurt, obviously weak went against us. They've brought
a new guy to kind of fill that role. But
their defensive line is healthy for the most part. Their
(03:50):
secondary is healthy for the most part. There's a couple
you know, kind of Nixon knacks of the course of
the season. But that's been the surprising thing to me,
is like it's the same personnel and you've kind ofimplified.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I feel like Dan has done a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Of simplification because he feels hamstrung by personnel things that
have happened. So the other thing to your question, I
think it's important to mention is that it's really hard
to put new stuff in in a week. Think about
like the NFL offseason, Like you've put installs in over
the course of OTA's mini camps, training camp, preseason. That's
(04:22):
you know, probably conservatively, i'd say fifty to seventy hours
of work on the field. That's not including meetings and
all of a sudden, like to make any kind of
big draft to go. Like, so for a good example
would be like, oh, we should run Brian Flores's defense, Like,
you can't just put that in in a week, right,
It's way too complicated, it's way too nuanced.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That's pretty disrespectful to how good that defense is too.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
It's like, oh we can do.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
That, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
And so I think what you'll often see is even
with offenses, right, like you'll see, you know, when the
new offensive coordinator comes in, Like the verbiage stays the same,
the general philosophy stays the same. There might be a
slight shift in terms of what you're prioritizing, but it's
still the same quote unquote offense it's still the same
quote unquote defense.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
And when you're talking about that, the Giants still have
kind of that nucleus of players on defense. You're talking
about that defensive line, Yeah, with abdu Carter, Dexter Laurence.
So tell me a little bit about there's this conversation.
Tell me if it's true or false that they have
not been playing up the standards this year. Are you
really getting a feel for that. Are we should we
(05:27):
be not as concerned? Are they not as dominant this
year as we thought they would be? Or is this
still a really dominant front? And that's just kind of
a media talking point right now.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean I realized. I think it is a
dominant front. I think you look at Brian Burns, he
has thirteen sacks. Abdull Carter has a higher pressure rate
than him, so Hits Hurry's pressures like he's got a
higher percentage of that. He's close to thirteen. Brian Burns
is right at twelve, and I think that shows up.
You know, he has had some games this year Abdill
Carter I'm talking about now where he's been absolutely dominant.
(05:57):
We're talking over twenty percent pressure rate, which is crazy.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
It's just not showing up on the stat sheet as
a sack.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, it's not showing up as a sack. I think
he's got three or four sacks now at this point
something like that.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
You're saying, he's still definitely affecting the game.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I think so. Like they were just watching the New
England game.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
If you've got some time, go back and watch the highlights,
Like he has seven like clean pressures in that game.
And I think the thing in that game that stood
out to me was like Drake May did a great
job of stepping up in the pocket, managing pressure, delivering
the ball, but he also knew where to go with
the football. And I think it is really close. We
talked about on the Film Breakdown show this week. If
you want to see it first hand, go check it out.
(06:31):
But like they have pretty specific personnel tells at least
to my eye, over the last two weeks of the season,
and again that can change. And that's why NFL defenses
are hard because they're always finding wrinkles and nuance. But
you know, if you're in eleven personnel, they're going to
be in quarters. If you're in heavy personnel, they're going
to be in cover three, And again that's not all
the time, but it definitely feels like you can kind
of tip the deck in your favor. So if you're
(06:53):
going to get that, you know, like the quarterback's going
to get the ball out and then the rush is
going to be a little bit more muted because like
you're again like he had seven clean pressures Abdil Carter
wins On guards wins On it was a backup tackle,
but wins On a backup tackle, and you're like, man,
that those should be sacks, but the balls out.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And so I think that's.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Where where I think the demise of the defensive line
is slightly exaggerated. I think Dexter Lawrence is still playing
at a high level, Like he catches a ton of double
teams in pass protection. I think in the run game
he's still doing a good job, especially when he's playing
that true no spot. I think the weakness comes in
kind of some of their four eye stuff. So like
obviously knows has head up over the center, four eye
(07:32):
kind of inside shoulder of the guard. Those guys have
historically been good players, but they're more pass rushers and
now that they're you know, seeing more runs, they're in
closer games, game flow is such that they're seeing the
ball carrier with the ball in his hands more. Those
guys are being exploited a little bit. And so I
think it's it's kind of this weird ecosystem where I
(07:53):
think as pass rushers are doing fine first and second down,
I think they're struggling a little bit because of some
of that four eye play that they're getting.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
What can you do moving from Minnesota as the commanders
from Minnesota to now facing what you say is a
Giants defensive line that's still playing at a high level.
What can how would you improve moving into the next
game Now they're different defenses, but still good defensive line.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So I think the thing that was overwhelming about Minnesota,
and I think a lot of fans got to see
at firsthand, is that they do a lot of different stuff,
a lot of different pressure packages, a lot of different
looks in terms of like they're kind of in that
seven men up on the line of scrimmage type deal,
and then it's like are they getting into a cross dog,
are they getting into a seven man blitz? Are they
bringing a format overload? Are they dropping in a cover two?
And they're really good at that, right, and part of
(08:38):
that is diagnosing and identifying and challenging your protection rules
just by formation a defensive formation.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
The Giants aren't going to do that.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
They kind of say, hey, we're going to get up
on a line of scrimmage or if it's nickel, we're
going to have four down guys rushing the passer.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
And again they do bring fire zones. They do bring
some stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
That you know is not just like the most vanilla,
but I'm watching it. It's like they're going to in
a format rush, They're going to be in some type
of pretty obvious coverage contour, and they're basically saying those
four guys win. When you have four guys like when
that's the plan that works. Obviously Houston does that at
the highest level. They're probably the their top five defense
at the moment in the NFL. Like that that can work, right,
(09:16):
but it also makes it easier for us in terms
of protection plan. We can have chip help, we can
work slide help, we can just kind of identify a
piece of the front and say this is how we're
going to work our protection rules to kind of take
these elements away. One thing I think you see week
in and week out, as Dexter Lawrence gets double teamed
seemingly at the highest rate in the NFL, like everyone's
sending their slide to him.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
He's not getting one on ones. Guys in the perimeter
are winning.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
But that other defensive player that you know, that three
technique or the other defensive tackle player just isn't winning
at a high rate. And so a quarterbacks step up,
Dexter Lawrence is doubled and the ball is getting out.
So I think it again, because you're not seeing the
complexity or diversity in terms of blitzes or front space,
(10:00):
I think you're in a good spot here if you're
an offensive play caller to be like, Okay, these guys
are really good football players. But now we can kind
of we can take away what they do well or
who we think we need to take away if we
have to.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
So, now that we've talked about the defensive line, what
are ways that we can take advantage of their secondary
the coverages that they play in your film breakdown show
that we do together, which I love. I learned so
much just about football just in general. So like whether
you're just jumping in the football as a watcher and
you want to learn like basics or you want to
(10:32):
get more in the weeds. You give a little bit
of everything on that show. So I encourage everybody listening
to this go check that out Commanders YouTube Film Breakdown
show with Logan. But one of the things you were
talking about with the giants is they play, they get
into certain coverages that you can dictate based on personnel.
So talk to me a little bit about what is
some of the personnel that we can run out there
to then take advantages of the coverages that the use.
(10:54):
Basically take that film breakdown show put it in the words.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, So what I would say is like, for example,
if they want to stop the run, they tend to
get into cover three. And so cover three is great
because you can play an eight man box and usually
you can stop the run pretty well with an eight
bad boxes. Everyone's got a gap, just fill those things up.
The problem is, like cover three, there are some limitations
in terms of coverage, right, So you know, one of
the things that stick out to me and watch in
(11:19):
film is like, if you're in cover three, what routes
I want to run? I want to make sure I've
got something clearing out the corner something that puts the
inside receiver on an isolation around with the safety, and
then something that puts the hook player took the side
of the clear out route in conflict, so basically like
so that he can't back up underneath a deep route.
So like the number one play that comes to mind
would be like scissors some people call it sale, where
(11:40):
you get a post skinny post by number one, some
type of corner by number two, and then a back
or a check down to the flat.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
You just get this nice three level throw cover three.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Hard to cover that, right, and it's one of the
more prolific play action pass concepts in the NFL. Another
one would be something i'd call like hurricane or what
I would call pass in my high school office, where
you get to a post and a cross and then
something to the flat again in cover three that's really
hard to cover because that post safety has to cut
the cross or if he cuts the cross, or you
throw the post. And so they're all really good off
(12:11):
of play action. And if you're going to get into
heavy personnel to stop the run to run the football,
if you're the commanders and then they get in cover three,
you have a lot of really viable play action opportunities
down the field. So that's something I would look at.
Right then if you're an eleven personnel. Obviously they don't
only run quarters, but that's something that's really high on
their menu.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
And if you're in.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Quarters, like, there's ways to exploit matchups there two, right,
you can get your like if you're in trips, for example,
the guy that's gonna have to carry the vertical as
a linebacker, Like, can we get terry on a linebacker?
That's a great way to do that. And again, they
don't they play coverage. I said this on the Take
Command show that I do with Grant Paulson. They play
coverage like it's strung up on Madden, like we're getting
to spots, which is something that people used to do,
(12:54):
like when I played now like with Minnesota, with Seattle,
with some of these better defenses in the NFL. We
just talked about them. They play quarters, they play cover three.
But they do a really good job of matching patterns.
So even though it's drawn up like the circles on Madden,
they're gonna tilt those circles to fit your offensive formation
(13:14):
or fit a lot of concepts that you run to
help take it away and limit the stress in the coverage.
They don't do that from what I've seen, and Shane
Bowen didn't do that. I think that's one of the
reasons why the defense struggled early in the season.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
So I think there's a.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Lot of ways here that you can exploit them and
you can take advantage of them, and I think it's
something to keep an eye on in this game. Right
is Like I think about Jane Daniels if he does
play or Marcus like, one of Jane daniels superpower, in
my opinion, is pre snap identification to coverage and getting
the ball out of his hand quick. And this defense,
at least what they've done the last couple of weeks,
(13:46):
seems to lend itself to that type of play style.
So I'm not saying they're gonna keep it exactly the same.
You gotta be ready for, you know, teams playing more
man blitzing more, because we've struggled with that this year offensively.
But it feels like this is a game for This
is the Jayden Daniels game, and I hope he's healthy
enough to play.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, if you're a visual learner and want to see
everything that just Logan just talked about again. Film Breakdown,
show Commanders to YouTube check it out. Now let's move
to the other side of the ball. We got Jackson Dart,
who's exciting him and Cam'skataboo. When they were playing together,
they were actually really to watch, even though they weren't
winning games. There were a lot of fun We covered
them in the draft process leading up the last year,
(14:25):
and Jackson Dart was actually pretty high on some people's
list when it comes to quarterbacks coming out of that class. Specifically,
I'll shout out Jeremy Green who did a lot of
stuff with that. There was very high on Jackson Dart
and you can see why in some of the film
that you're watching. Tell me a little bit about him,
what's his superpower? And he's still young in his career,
(14:46):
But what do you think the ceiling for him could
possibly be from what you've seen in the NFL so.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Far, Yeah, I definitely think. You know, after watching.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Four or five offensive games of the Giants, like I'm
in on Jackson Dart, you know, I watched all of
his big time throws.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
I watched pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Much every throw that he had of the last two
weeks and I think he's he's got what you want, right,
And so what I mean by that is the arm
talent's there, kind of the moxie, the courage, whatever that
word is. The kind of stereotypical quarterback language is there too.
And he's gonna make a throw.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Man.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
He's confident in his arm. And I think I knew
he had a good arm. I didn't know it was
this good. Like you know, we watched him at Old
Miss and you're like, that's a good throw.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
But can he do that consistently? Does he have to
have good mechanics?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And honestly, like there's a little bit of like Josh
Allen to him, you know, like he doesn't need to
be on a perfect throwing platform. He can really generate
a lot of upper body torque through the throw.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
By the way, that doesn't mean he's going to have
Josh Allen type success. We're just trying to give you
a picture in your head, since this is all he looks.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
He's definitely more so similar to Josh Allen as opposed
to like Joe Burrow. If you're looking for like a
just like a big kid you can run around a
little bit. He's a little bit off schedule in terms
of his approach, like you watch the Philadelphia game from
earlier this season, and he's running around all over the place,
second level opportunities. So again, that's what he brings. I
think the other thing is the courage, like with most
(16:11):
courageous quarterbacks, is a great thing, but it also is
a negative thing. Like he's storing in a tight window throws.
He's not always taking care of the football. It'll give
you an opportunity to take it, but I was not.
I didn't think i'd feel this way because I thought
Jackson Dart in the first round was a little bit
of a reach. But I think I'm getting on board
the train, if that makes sense. Like I love the confidence,
(16:32):
I love the courage, I love the physical toughness, and
so I think that's what you're getting from him, right
And I think the other thing that he brings, which
is important to note, is the way they're using him
in the design quarterback run game is way more comprehensive
than I ever would have thought, and he's done a
great job with that. Now we'll see if they start
pulling back from that because he had his second diagnosed
concussion earlier this year. They're kind of having similar conversations
(16:54):
in their local media market about we got to protect
the quarterback, got to make sure he's healthy, and just
this is a the side, but everyone talks about keeping
quarterbacks safe, keeping them healthy, Like you can't do it sometimes, right,
Like when you're gonna when you got a quarterback that's
as competitive as Jaydon Daniels and Jackson Dart, like they're
gonna do their thing and it's a physical, violent game.
(17:15):
But that's a conversation for another day. So what I
will say is like, I think that's what you're getting
from him. But again, he's also very inexperienced, and I
think you feel the Giants lack of confidence of him
and him at times, like when they call quarterback runs
in third and long, or they're calling a draw, or
they're you know what I mean, They're not leveraging him
the way that I would expect. But I think he's
(17:36):
extremely extremely talented and he's a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Elite neighbors isn't going to play in this game. They're
struggling with playmakers, yes, in their Giants offense, but that
doesn't mean that they aren't able to move ball down
the field or find things for guys. Well, who are
the guys that are starting to stick out in this offense?
As far as Jackson, Dart's got to throw to somebody
who's coming down with that ball.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
To my surprise or chagrin, Like THEO Johnson's been a
guy that's come to the forefront a little bit. And
again I'm gonna make state, yeah ton of from Pence
in and I'm gonna make a comparison here, and it's
more of a body type comparison and how he runs
routes to win than actually like saying he is this
player or going to be this player. But there is
a little bit of like Rob Gronkowski to THEO Johnson.
(18:20):
And what I mean by that is like he's big.
I think he's six six, like two sixty five, two seventy.
I think he ran like a four five nine at
the combine four five eight like which, and he jumped
forty inches. Like he's a just a big physical athlete
and he wins because he's a big physical athlete. Like
it's not like, oh my gosh, look at this great
nuanced route by THEO Johnson. It's like, oh, look at
(18:41):
that huge guy mossing a dB for you know, Philadelphia
or whoever.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, he's very stiff. That's very difference between him and Gronkowsk.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
And Gronk was stiff, but Gronk had this natural like
football playmaking.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
You know, he caught the bike.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
That's the thing I would say about Theo Johnson is
when you go watch his targets some amazing plays like
him just being physically dominant. The thing that I have
a hard time with is he drops the ball a
lot THEO, because I think he's a little stiff, like
you're talking about, he's a little stiff in his upper back.
He can't adjust to the ball super well. But he's
kind of been there guy in man to man coverage
situations where it's like, hey, we need someone to go win.
(19:18):
THEO Johnson's gonna go win for you. Which is a
little bit surprising, right because I'm sure a lot of
people didn't even think about THEO Johnson in that way
until we sat it on this podcast. So there's him
and then there's wandel Robinson, and I think people are
more familiar with Wandell Robinson. But since my lage neighbor's
been out he's kind of getting the a larger target share, right,
He's kind of the slot underneath, kind of win underneath,
(19:38):
kind of playmaker for you. He's very sudden. I love
the way he runs routes. I love the way he
catches a football. But he's five nine, like one to seventy,
so he's not like a big dude by any stretch
of the imagination. And then you got Darius Slayton, who
is very fast. He's a four three one guy, like
very very fast from Auburn, and you don't always feel him,
but when you feel him, you feel it in a
(19:59):
dramatic way. You feel it like that uppercut to the
jaw because he's hitting an explosive play. So New England's
an interesting example because in that game, you know they're
New England trying to show zero or all out pressure.
Jackson's dark checks to play and then he hits Slaighton
on a slant. Somebody misses a tackle and he goes
forty yards for a touchdown. You watch the Chicago game
from earlier in the season, someone misses a tackle, big
(20:21):
explosive touchdown, like he's got that in the bag. And
so even though there's not like these dynamic Molik neighbors
playmakers there, they have enough guys that can hurt you,
and Jackson Dart to his credit, has put those guys
in positions where they have hurt teams over the course
of the year. And then the other element I wanted
to just throw in here too is the playmakers are limited,
but Mike Kafka, especially in close games like you watch
(20:43):
the Detroit Lions game, is going to throw some absolute
craziness at you. And what I mean by that it's
like we got to double pass in the low red zone,
we got to pass attempt to the quarterback. I think
in that same game, like there is just craziness happening
left right in the center because I think they understand
that they're limited us from a playmaking standpoint, so they're
going to throw the kitchen sink at you to get
(21:04):
the plays they need.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
All right, last thing to top off this Game Day
Live preview pod. I know you've talked at nauseum about
this up to this point, but just for the audience
here in case I haven't heard you on other platforms,
You've been a part of seasons like this where at
this point in the year, you're not playing for a
playoff spot. What are you doing as a player, What
is the mentality of a team, What do you need
(21:27):
to have going into a game like this, and what
do you want to see from the Commanders? What do
you want to see on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So as a player, I can only tell you this that, like,
my sole focus was to be in the NFL the
next week, the next year, with either the team I
was currently playing for or a different team. And the
only way that I knew how to do that was
to put my best stuff on film. Like every week
in the NFL as a job interview right Tuesday, they
bring guys in for tryouts. If you're not playing well enough,
(21:57):
you will be a tryout guy the following the week.
So that was my main focus, especially in seasons that
are really difficult to deal with.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
So I think people who have been.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Around for a long time understand that they want to
put their best stuff on film because again, like you're
not auditioning for the Commanders, you're auditioning for thirty one
other football team. So I wanted to make sure I
was putting good stuff out there, even though it was
mentally hard, even though you weren't really playing for anything
like as a team. You're playing for something individually, and
I think that's one of the reasons why the NFL
always remains hyper competitive even when teams are quote unquote
(22:29):
out of it. So that's the first thing i'd say.
There was a second part of your question. It was like,
what I want to see?
Speaker 4 (22:33):
What do you want to see?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, obviously it's a win, right, you want to
see a win, But I'm talking a little bit beyond that. Yeah,
a win, but you get a win because this happens.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah, I think for me, like again, I don't know
who's going to start a quarterback, but I just want
to see the offense look smooth and efficient, right. I
want them to look like the group that we thought
and we saw last year. And again, they've played some
really good defensive groups over the course of this season,
and they've struggled versus those groups. Part of its injury related,
(23:04):
part of its the schematic.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Thing the defenses are doing.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
But I want to see them just look like they
I know they can look right, and again, there are
a million reasons why they didn't look that way, but
that's what I want to see and then defensively, I think,
you know, we do that game Plan show with Dan
every week, and you're in there helping with that show
from a technical standpoint, so we get to talk to
him a little bit. And the thing he says every
week that I think is so true is like such
(23:27):
a big part of his defensive philosophy is getting turnovers.
I'd like this week for them to get a couple turnovers.
I think that would be huge, just to build the
confidence and kind of start laying the foundation for next year.
And Jackson Dart, we've kind of gushed over him there
for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I think as an excellent football player. I think he's
going to be very good.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
He's loose with the ball.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
He's loose with the ball. He's going to fumble, he's
going to throw an interception. He's going to give you
a shot at it. So when he gives you the shot,
let's take advantage of it, right, And so like, if
we get two turnovers this week and the offense looks smooth, like,
that's kind of what I want to see and I
want them to play complimentary football. So defense, can you
get off the field on third down? Offense? Can we
get some level of consistency moving into the back half
(24:08):
of the back quarter of the season.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
That's really what I'm looking for, all.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Right, Logan, stay warm out there on the.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Side, bring my long Johns or something.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
You're one of the smartest football minds. Learn something from
you every time I listen to you. You can catch
Logan all over the place. Take Command podcasts, you can
catch a Command Center podcast. Oh my gosh, You're all
over the place, and you'll learn something every time. One
thing I love about you as an analyst is you
hardly ever repeat yourself. You may give the same point,
(24:42):
but you're gonna give it from a different angle or
like I love you on the Command Center podcast because
you're a host on that, so you'll have like this
topic that we just talked about, but you're you're Steve
nashshing the ball to Fred and Santana on Command Center.
You're very and sus Sin. You want all of this
that we just talked about in two minutes, You've got it.
(25:05):
That's your two minute drill. Take Command. You get a
little more in the weeds with Grant, plus you bounce
off Grant really well.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
And then here I feel like.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
This is just give me the nuts and bolts to
meat some potatoes and let's go play a football game.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
This show definitely feels to be like more of a
like how we would approach a game plan, like very
football heavy.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
So that's why it's fun to do this show off.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah, well, check out Logan wherever he is. We're so
lucky to have you in DC. We only got one
more of these left. It's going to be sad, but then.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Draft stuff that draft stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
That's right, all right, thanks for listening, Thank you, Logan,
all right, but I appreciate it
Welcome to the Game Day Live Preview Podcast. I'm Logan, Paulson,
Heer with Justin Guy Jayson. We are previewing everything you
need to know about the Giants. We've got their defense,
why they're struggling, why you haven't heard about their past,
rush might not be what you think they're And offensively,
it's all about Jackson Dart and the guys he's thrown to.
We get in the weeds on that. It all starts
(00:28):
right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to the Game Day Live Preview Podcast. I'm Jason Johnson.
I'm here with NFL ten year vet tight end Logan Paulson.
You played five years here in Washington, then scattered around
the league. Yeah, and you know what you're talking about.
One of the things about this show that you're gonna
get is great football insight, meat and potatoes, meat potatoes,
(00:53):
And it's not that little New York Strett. Get that
New York out of there. We want the tea boone,
that's right, Get that sucker in here, and that's what
we're going to get. So Logan, let's talk about the Giants,
because last time we saw them in Week one, both
these teams two different places, almost two different teams in
a way. So talk to me about the Giants. What's
different from week one to now? Besides the obvious, you know,
(01:15):
not Russell Wilson, not Brian Daball, not Shane Bowen. But
what is different? Is there anything different in a philosophy
for them? And let's start with the defense.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, starting with the defense.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I don't know if there's that much of a difference
because when I watched the New England game, when I
watched them in the Chicago game, defensively, I felt like
there was a lot of similarities. And I'm I've run
to this bias being an offensive player, because I just
looked for very, very high level trends because like to
me when I played, especially like you're never going to
be able to dissect every single bit of minutia of
(01:47):
a defensive change. But what I will say is I
feel like it's gotten a little bit simpler. I think
they have their base coverage as they like to run.
I think Shane Bowen was a big quarters guy. I
think that threat is still there. I think the freak
was with which they're in quarters is higher. I think
they run a little bit less cover six. I think
they run a lot more like single high cover three
(02:07):
type stuff, which is a relatively easy coverage to kind
of get after now because of the rules and principles
of cover three. Yeah, and so I think you've seen
a kind of in some ways what Dan did. He said,
we're gonna kind of take out, we're gonna strip the fat,
we're gonna make it really simple. And I think they're
they're kind of pitches that the pitches, if you will,
(02:27):
are like, we're gonna be in quarters, we're gonna be
in cover three, and our change up in certain situations
like low red will be cover zero, which every team does,
or some type of fire zone, which, again you know,
when you get a new DC, like some big schematic
overhauls can be really really challenging. And I think that's
kind of what you're seeing here is just like the
(02:48):
new DC kind of said, let's just keep it simple,
let's get the guys playing fast, and let's eliminate some
of the mental mistakes like coverage bus which was a
huge part earlier in the season when Shane Bowen was
the defensive coordinat And so now you've kind of got
a much simpler, much more stripped down version of the
defense with some of the same skeleton elements of Shane Bowen.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Is that pretty common when there's a change at a
coordinator position, whether offense or defense, at the next guy
that comes in will keep, like you said, the skeletal
part of it, and they simplify, Yeah, moving forward. Is
that normally what happens, because we're kind of seeing that
a little bit here with the Commanders when DQ took over,
play calls correct, Like is that kind of.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And I do feel like DQ is limited more by personnel, Like,
obviously you don't have your two starting corners, you lack
the three starting defensive lineman. The Giants are different, man, Like,
they they're pretty healthy on the defense there. Their middle
linebacker got hurt, obviously weak went against us. They've brought
a new guy to kind of fill that role. But
their defensive line is healthy for the most part. Their
(03:50):
secondary is healthy for the most part. There's a couple
you know, kind of Nixon knacks of the course of
the season. But that's been the surprising thing to me,
is like it's the same personnel and you've kind ofimplified.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I feel like Dan has done a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Of simplification because he feels hamstrung by personnel things that
have happened. So the other thing to your question, I
think it's important to mention is that it's really hard
to put new stuff in in a week. Think about
like the NFL offseason, Like you've put installs in over
the course of OTA's mini camps, training camp, preseason. That's
(04:22):
you know, probably conservatively, i'd say fifty to seventy hours
of work on the field. That's not including meetings and
all of a sudden, like to make any kind of
big draft to go. Like, so for a good example
would be like, oh, we should run Brian Flores's defense, Like,
you can't just put that in in a week, right,
It's way too complicated, it's way too nuanced.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That's pretty disrespectful to how good that defense is too.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
It's like, oh we can do.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
That, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
And so I think what you'll often see is even
with offenses, right, like you'll see, you know, when the
new offensive coordinator comes in, Like the verbiage stays the same,
the general philosophy stays the same. There might be a
slight shift in terms of what you're prioritizing, but it's
still the same quote unquote offense it's still the same
quote unquote defense.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
And when you're talking about that, the Giants still have
kind of that nucleus of players on defense. You're talking
about that defensive line, Yeah, with abdu Carter, Dexter Laurence.
So tell me a little bit about there's this conversation.
Tell me if it's true or false that they have
not been playing up the standards this year. Are you
really getting a feel for that. Are we should we
(05:27):
be not as concerned? Are they not as dominant this
year as we thought they would be? Or is this
still a really dominant front? And that's just kind of
a media talking point right now.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean I realized. I think it is a
dominant front. I think you look at Brian Burns, he
has thirteen sacks. Abdull Carter has a higher pressure rate
than him, so Hits Hurry's pressures like he's got a
higher percentage of that. He's close to thirteen. Brian Burns
is right at twelve, and I think that shows up.
You know, he has had some games this year Abdill
Carter I'm talking about now where he's been absolutely dominant.
(05:57):
We're talking over twenty percent pressure rate, which is crazy.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
It's just not showing up on the stat sheet as
a sack.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, it's not showing up as a sack. I think
he's got three or four sacks now at this point
something like that.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
You're saying, he's still definitely affecting the game.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I think so. Like they were just watching the New
England game.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
If you've got some time, go back and watch the highlights,
Like he has seven like clean pressures in that game.
And I think the thing in that game that stood
out to me was like Drake May did a great
job of stepping up in the pocket, managing pressure, delivering
the ball, but he also knew where to go with
the football. And I think it is really close. We
talked about on the Film Breakdown show this week. If
you want to see it first hand, go check it out.
(06:31):
But like they have pretty specific personnel tells at least
to my eye, over the last two weeks of the season,
and again that can change. And that's why NFL defenses
are hard because they're always finding wrinkles and nuance. But
you know, if you're in eleven personnel, they're going to
be in quarters. If you're in heavy personnel, they're going
to be in cover three, And again that's not all
the time, but it definitely feels like you can kind
of tip the deck in your favor. So if you're
(06:53):
going to get that, you know, like the quarterback's going
to get the ball out and then the rush is
going to be a little bit more muted because like
you're again like he had seven clean pressures Abdil Carter
wins On guards wins On it was a backup tackle,
but wins On a backup tackle, and you're like, man,
that those should be sacks, but the balls out.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And so I think that's.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Where where I think the demise of the defensive line
is slightly exaggerated. I think Dexter Lawrence is still playing
at a high level, Like he catches a ton of double
teams in pass protection. I think in the run game
he's still doing a good job, especially when he's playing
that true no spot. I think the weakness comes in
kind of some of their four eye stuff. So like
obviously knows has head up over the center, four eye
(07:32):
kind of inside shoulder of the guard. Those guys have
historically been good players, but they're more pass rushers and
now that they're you know, seeing more runs, they're in
closer games, game flow is such that they're seeing the
ball carrier with the ball in his hands more. Those
guys are being exploited a little bit. And so I
think it's it's kind of this weird ecosystem where I
(07:53):
think as pass rushers are doing fine first and second down,
I think they're struggling a little bit because of some
of that four eye play that they're getting.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
What can you do moving from Minnesota as the commanders
from Minnesota to now facing what you say is a
Giants defensive line that's still playing at a high level.
What can how would you improve moving into the next
game Now they're different defenses, but still good defensive line.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So I think the thing that was overwhelming about Minnesota,
and I think a lot of fans got to see
at firsthand, is that they do a lot of different stuff,
a lot of different pressure packages, a lot of different
looks in terms of like they're kind of in that
seven men up on the line of scrimmage type deal,
and then it's like are they getting into a cross dog,
are they getting into a seven man blitz? Are they
bringing a format overload? Are they dropping in a cover two?
And they're really good at that, right, and part of
(08:38):
that is diagnosing and identifying and challenging your protection rules
just by formation a defensive formation.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
The Giants aren't going to do that.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
They kind of say, hey, we're going to get up
on a line of scrimmage or if it's nickel, we're
going to have four down guys rushing the passer.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
And again they do bring fire zones. They do bring
some stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
That you know is not just like the most vanilla,
but I'm watching it. It's like they're going to in
a format rush, They're going to be in some type
of pretty obvious coverage contour, and they're basically saying those
four guys win. When you have four guys like when
that's the plan that works. Obviously Houston does that at
the highest level. They're probably the their top five defense
at the moment in the NFL. Like that that can work, right,
(09:16):
but it also makes it easier for us in terms
of protection plan. We can have chip help, we can
work slide help, we can just kind of identify a
piece of the front and say this is how we're
going to work our protection rules to kind of take
these elements away. One thing I think you see week
in and week out, as Dexter Lawrence gets double teamed
seemingly at the highest rate in the NFL, like everyone's
sending their slide to him.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
He's not getting one on ones. Guys in the perimeter
are winning.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
But that other defensive player that you know, that three
technique or the other defensive tackle player just isn't winning
at a high rate. And so a quarterbacks step up,
Dexter Lawrence is doubled and the ball is getting out.
So I think it again, because you're not seeing the
complexity or diversity in terms of blitzes or front space,
(10:00):
I think you're in a good spot here if you're
an offensive play caller to be like, Okay, these guys
are really good football players. But now we can kind
of we can take away what they do well or
who we think we need to take away if we
have to.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
So, now that we've talked about the defensive line, what
are ways that we can take advantage of their secondary
the coverages that they play in your film breakdown show
that we do together, which I love. I learned so
much just about football just in general. So like whether
you're just jumping in the football as a watcher and
you want to learn like basics or you want to
(10:32):
get more in the weeds. You give a little bit
of everything on that show. So I encourage everybody listening
to this go check that out Commanders YouTube Film Breakdown
show with Logan. But one of the things you were
talking about with the giants is they play, they get
into certain coverages that you can dictate based on personnel.
So talk to me a little bit about what is
some of the personnel that we can run out there
to then take advantages of the coverages that the use.
(10:54):
Basically take that film breakdown show put it in the words.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, So what I would say is like, for example,
if they want to stop the run, they tend to
get into cover three. And so cover three is great
because you can play an eight man box and usually
you can stop the run pretty well with an eight
bad boxes. Everyone's got a gap, just fill those things up.
The problem is, like cover three, there are some limitations
in terms of coverage, right, So you know, one of
the things that stick out to me and watch in
(11:19):
film is like, if you're in cover three, what routes
I want to run? I want to make sure I've
got something clearing out the corner something that puts the
inside receiver on an isolation around with the safety, and
then something that puts the hook player took the side
of the clear out route in conflict, so basically like
so that he can't back up underneath a deep route.
So like the number one play that comes to mind
would be like scissors some people call it sale, where
(11:40):
you get a post skinny post by number one, some
type of corner by number two, and then a back
or a check down to the flat.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
You just get this nice three level throw cover three.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Hard to cover that, right, and it's one of the
more prolific play action pass concepts in the NFL. Another
one would be something i'd call like hurricane or what
I would call pass in my high school office, where
you get to a post and a cross and then
something to the flat again in cover three that's really
hard to cover because that post safety has to cut
the cross or if he cuts the cross, or you
throw the post. And so they're all really good off
(12:11):
of play action. And if you're going to get into
heavy personnel to stop the run to run the football,
if you're the commanders and then they get in cover three,
you have a lot of really viable play action opportunities
down the field. So that's something I would look at.
Right then if you're an eleven personnel. Obviously they don't
only run quarters, but that's something that's really high on
their menu.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
And if you're in.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Quarters, like, there's ways to exploit matchups there two, right,
you can get your like if you're in trips, for example,
the guy that's gonna have to carry the vertical as
a linebacker, Like, can we get terry on a linebacker?
That's a great way to do that. And again, they
don't they play coverage. I said this on the Take
Command show that I do with Grant Paulson. They play
coverage like it's strung up on Madden, like we're getting
to spots, which is something that people used to do,
(12:54):
like when I played now like with Minnesota, with Seattle,
with some of these better defenses in the NFL. We
just talked about them. They play quarters, they play cover three.
But they do a really good job of matching patterns.
So even though it's drawn up like the circles on Madden,
they're gonna tilt those circles to fit your offensive formation
(13:14):
or fit a lot of concepts that you run to
help take it away and limit the stress in the coverage.
They don't do that from what I've seen, and Shane
Bowen didn't do that. I think that's one of the
reasons why the defense struggled early in the season.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
So I think there's a.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Lot of ways here that you can exploit them and
you can take advantage of them, and I think it's
something to keep an eye on in this game. Right
is Like I think about Jane Daniels if he does
play or Marcus like, one of Jane daniels superpower, in
my opinion, is pre snap identification to coverage and getting
the ball out of his hand quick. And this defense,
at least what they've done the last couple of weeks,
(13:46):
seems to lend itself to that type of play style.
So I'm not saying they're gonna keep it exactly the same.
You gotta be ready for, you know, teams playing more
man blitzing more, because we've struggled with that this year offensively.
But it feels like this is a game for This
is the Jayden Daniels game, and I hope he's healthy
enough to play.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, if you're a visual learner and want to see
everything that just Logan just talked about again. Film Breakdown,
show Commanders to YouTube check it out. Now let's move
to the other side of the ball. We got Jackson Dart,
who's exciting him and Cam'skataboo. When they were playing together,
they were actually really to watch, even though they weren't
winning games. There were a lot of fun We covered
them in the draft process leading up the last year,
(14:25):
and Jackson Dart was actually pretty high on some people's
list when it comes to quarterbacks coming out of that class. Specifically,
I'll shout out Jeremy Green who did a lot of
stuff with that. There was very high on Jackson Dart
and you can see why in some of the film
that you're watching. Tell me a little bit about him,
what's his superpower? And he's still young in his career,
(14:46):
But what do you think the ceiling for him could
possibly be from what you've seen in the NFL so.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Far, Yeah, I definitely think. You know, after watching.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Four or five offensive games of the Giants, like I'm
in on Jackson Dart, you know, I watched all of
his big time throws.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
I watched pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Much every throw that he had of the last two
weeks and I think he's he's got what you want, right,
And so what I mean by that is the arm
talent's there, kind of the moxie, the courage, whatever that
word is. The kind of stereotypical quarterback language is there too.
And he's gonna make a throw.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Man.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
He's confident in his arm. And I think I knew
he had a good arm. I didn't know it was
this good. Like you know, we watched him at Old
Miss and you're like, that's a good throw.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
But can he do that consistently? Does he have to
have good mechanics?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And honestly, like there's a little bit of like Josh
Allen to him, you know, like he doesn't need to
be on a perfect throwing platform. He can really generate
a lot of upper body torque through the throw.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
By the way, that doesn't mean he's going to have
Josh Allen type success. We're just trying to give you
a picture in your head, since this is all he looks.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
He's definitely more so similar to Josh Allen as opposed
to like Joe Burrow. If you're looking for like a
just like a big kid you can run around a
little bit. He's a little bit off schedule in terms
of his approach, like you watch the Philadelphia game from
earlier this season, and he's running around all over the place,
second level opportunities. So again, that's what he brings. I
think the other thing is the courage, like with most
(16:11):
courageous quarterbacks, is a great thing, but it also is
a negative thing. Like he's storing in a tight window throws.
He's not always taking care of the football. It'll give
you an opportunity to take it, but I was not.
I didn't think i'd feel this way because I thought
Jackson Dart in the first round was a little bit
of a reach. But I think I'm getting on board
the train, if that makes sense. Like I love the confidence,
(16:32):
I love the courage, I love the physical toughness, and
so I think that's what you're getting from him, right
And I think the other thing that he brings, which
is important to note, is the way they're using him
in the design quarterback run game is way more comprehensive
than I ever would have thought, and he's done a
great job with that. Now we'll see if they start
pulling back from that because he had his second diagnosed
concussion earlier this year. They're kind of having similar conversations
(16:54):
in their local media market about we got to protect
the quarterback, got to make sure he's healthy, and just
this is a the side, but everyone talks about keeping
quarterbacks safe, keeping them healthy, Like you can't do it sometimes, right,
Like when you're gonna when you got a quarterback that's
as competitive as Jaydon Daniels and Jackson Dart, like they're
gonna do their thing and it's a physical, violent game.
(17:15):
But that's a conversation for another day. So what I
will say is like, I think that's what you're getting
from him. But again, he's also very inexperienced, and I
think you feel the Giants lack of confidence of him
and him at times, like when they call quarterback runs
in third and long, or they're calling a draw, or
they're you know what I mean, They're not leveraging him
the way that I would expect. But I think he's
(17:36):
extremely extremely talented and he's a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Elite neighbors isn't going to play in this game. They're
struggling with playmakers, yes, in their Giants offense, but that
doesn't mean that they aren't able to move ball down
the field or find things for guys. Well, who are
the guys that are starting to stick out in this offense?
As far as Jackson, Dart's got to throw to somebody
who's coming down with that ball.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
To my surprise or chagrin, Like THEO Johnson's been a
guy that's come to the forefront a little bit. And
again I'm gonna make state, yeah ton of from Pence
in and I'm gonna make a comparison here, and it's
more of a body type comparison and how he runs
routes to win than actually like saying he is this
player or going to be this player. But there is
a little bit of like Rob Gronkowski to THEO Johnson.
(18:20):
And what I mean by that is like he's big.
I think he's six six, like two sixty five, two seventy.
I think he ran like a four five nine at
the combine four five eight like which, and he jumped
forty inches. Like he's a just a big physical athlete
and he wins because he's a big physical athlete. Like
it's not like, oh my gosh, look at this great
nuanced route by THEO Johnson. It's like, oh, look at
(18:41):
that huge guy mossing a dB for you know, Philadelphia
or whoever.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, he's very stiff. That's very difference between him and Gronkowsk.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
And Gronk was stiff, but Gronk had this natural like
football playmaking.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
You know, he caught the bike.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
That's the thing I would say about Theo Johnson is
when you go watch his targets some amazing plays like
him just being physically dominant. The thing that I have
a hard time with is he drops the ball a
lot THEO, because I think he's a little stiff, like
you're talking about, he's a little stiff in his upper back.
He can't adjust to the ball super well. But he's
kind of been there guy in man to man coverage
situations where it's like, hey, we need someone to go win.
(19:18):
THEO Johnson's gonna go win for you. Which is a
little bit surprising, right because I'm sure a lot of
people didn't even think about THEO Johnson in that way
until we sat it on this podcast. So there's him
and then there's wandel Robinson, and I think people are
more familiar with Wandell Robinson. But since my lage neighbor's
been out he's kind of getting the a larger target share, right,
He's kind of the slot underneath, kind of win underneath,
(19:38):
kind of playmaker for you. He's very sudden. I love
the way he runs routes. I love the way he
catches a football. But he's five nine, like one to seventy,
so he's not like a big dude by any stretch
of the imagination. And then you got Darius Slayton, who
is very fast. He's a four three one guy, like
very very fast from Auburn, and you don't always feel him,
but when you feel him, you feel it in a
(19:59):
dramatic way. You feel it like that uppercut to the
jaw because he's hitting an explosive play. So New England's
an interesting example because in that game, you know they're
New England trying to show zero or all out pressure.
Jackson's dark checks to play and then he hits Slaighton
on a slant. Somebody misses a tackle and he goes
forty yards for a touchdown. You watch the Chicago game
from earlier in the season, someone misses a tackle, big
(20:21):
explosive touchdown, like he's got that in the bag. And
so even though there's not like these dynamic Molik neighbors
playmakers there, they have enough guys that can hurt you,
and Jackson Dart to his credit, has put those guys
in positions where they have hurt teams over the course
of the year. And then the other element I wanted
to just throw in here too is the playmakers are limited,
but Mike Kafka, especially in close games like you watch
(20:43):
the Detroit Lions game, is going to throw some absolute
craziness at you. And what I mean by that it's
like we got to double pass in the low red zone,
we got to pass attempt to the quarterback. I think
in that same game, like there is just craziness happening
left right in the center because I think they understand
that they're limited us from a playmaking standpoint, so they're
going to throw the kitchen sink at you to get
(21:04):
the plays they need.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
All right, last thing to top off this Game Day
Live preview pod. I know you've talked at nauseum about
this up to this point, but just for the audience
here in case I haven't heard you on other platforms,
You've been a part of seasons like this where at
this point in the year, you're not playing for a
playoff spot. What are you doing as a player, What
is the mentality of a team, What do you need
(21:27):
to have going into a game like this, and what
do you want to see from the Commanders? What do
you want to see on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So as a player, I can only tell you this that, like,
my sole focus was to be in the NFL the
next week, the next year, with either the team I
was currently playing for or a different team. And the
only way that I knew how to do that was
to put my best stuff on film. Like every week
in the NFL as a job interview right Tuesday, they
bring guys in for tryouts. If you're not playing well enough,
(21:57):
you will be a tryout guy the following the week.
So that was my main focus, especially in seasons that
are really difficult to deal with.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
So I think people who have been.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Around for a long time understand that they want to
put their best stuff on film because again, like you're
not auditioning for the Commanders, you're auditioning for thirty one
other football team. So I wanted to make sure I
was putting good stuff out there, even though it was
mentally hard, even though you weren't really playing for anything
like as a team. You're playing for something individually, and
I think that's one of the reasons why the NFL
always remains hyper competitive even when teams are quote unquote
(22:29):
out of it. So that's the first thing i'd say.
There was a second part of your question. It was like,
what I want to see?
Speaker 4 (22:33):
What do you want to see?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, obviously it's a win, right, you want to
see a win, But I'm talking a little bit beyond that. Yeah,
a win, but you get a win because this happens.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah, I think for me, like again, I don't know
who's going to start a quarterback, but I just want
to see the offense look smooth and efficient, right. I
want them to look like the group that we thought
and we saw last year. And again, they've played some
really good defensive groups over the course of this season,
and they've struggled versus those groups. Part of its injury related,
(23:04):
part of its the schematic.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Thing the defenses are doing.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
But I want to see them just look like they
I know they can look right, and again, there are
a million reasons why they didn't look that way, but
that's what I want to see and then defensively, I think,
you know, we do that game Plan show with Dan
every week, and you're in there helping with that show
from a technical standpoint, so we get to talk to
him a little bit. And the thing he says every
week that I think is so true is like such
(23:27):
a big part of his defensive philosophy is getting turnovers.
I'd like this week for them to get a couple turnovers.
I think that would be huge, just to build the
confidence and kind of start laying the foundation for next year.
And Jackson Dart, we've kind of gushed over him there
for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I think as an excellent football player. I think he's
going to be very good.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
He's loose with the ball.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
He's loose with the ball. He's going to fumble, he's
going to throw an interception. He's going to give you
a shot at it. So when he gives you the shot,
let's take advantage of it, right, And so like, if
we get two turnovers this week and the offense looks smooth, like,
that's kind of what I want to see and I
want them to play complimentary football. So defense, can you
get off the field on third down? Offense? Can we
get some level of consistency moving into the back half
(24:08):
of the back quarter of the season.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
That's really what I'm looking for, all.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Right, Logan, stay warm out there on the.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Side, bring my long Johns or something.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
You're one of the smartest football minds. Learn something from
you every time I listen to you. You can catch
Logan all over the place. Take Command podcasts, you can
catch a Command Center podcast. Oh my gosh, You're all
over the place, and you'll learn something every time. One
thing I love about you as an analyst is you
hardly ever repeat yourself. You may give the same point,
(24:42):
but you're gonna give it from a different angle or
like I love you on the Command Center podcast because
you're a host on that, so you'll have like this
topic that we just talked about, but you're you're Steve
nashshing the ball to Fred and Santana on Command Center.
You're very and sus Sin. You want all of this
that we just talked about in two minutes, You've got it.
(25:05):
That's your two minute drill. Take Command. You get a
little more in the weeds with Grant, plus you bounce
off Grant really well.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
And then here I feel like.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
This is just give me the nuts and bolts to
meat some potatoes and let's go play a football game.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
This show definitely feels to be like more of a
like how we would approach a game plan, like very
football heavy.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
So that's why it's fun to do this show off.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah, well, check out Logan wherever he is. We're so
lucky to have you in DC. We only got one
more of these left. It's going to be sad, but then.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Draft stuff that draft stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
That's right, all right, thanks for listening, Thank you, Logan,
all right, but I appreciate it
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