Missed Opportunity in Philly/Big one in Dallas

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1:01With Savor, you earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, and at grocery stores. That's unlimited cash back on ordering takeout from home, or unlimited cash back on tickets to concerts and games. So grab a bite, grab a seat, and earn unlimited 3% cash back with the Savor Card. Capital One, what's in your wallet, terms apply, see CapitalOne.com for details. And empire. Become a AAA commander's MVP member today. Get all the benefits of AAA, plus exclusive experiences, discounts, and tickets. Already a AAA member, upgrade for free at AAA.com slash commanders. Hello and welcome to another live stream of this into the John Carreport. Appreciate your time in here. If you're forgetting to find us at empire and media, you know, they're fine. The podcast go check wherever you get your podcast. You can find us. As you can see, I'm joined by my pal, Bram Weinstein.

2:03Oh, by the way, you can also read my work on ESPN.com. Always got to mention that. Bram, how are you feeling coming off that game? Yeah, I wish they won, obviously. But there were so many questions going in. One of them being like considering how much bashing they took, you know, coming into the game. You know, was this going to be an extremely competitive game, which I expected the whole time, but you just kind of, you just don't know what to expect in week one and walking out of it. It's just to me, it's just total missed opportunity. Like they easily could have won that game. And so I'm not in the moral victories, but I feel pretty good actually coming out of it. Yeah, I kind of thought the locker room afterwards. They were, I'm not going to say they're upbeat. That's not that that's not true. I think it was more resolved, right? And like, felt like they should have won that game. Like that was their game to win, right? And so I, you know, again, nobody's saying they're saying, oh, I'm encouraged via this. Like it was more, I think they were encouraged by the fact that like, they know they should have could have won that game or should have won that game. Yeah, I think, I think it comes down to like three or four own goals, to be honest.

3:07Like, you know, this wasn't, I don't feel like they were beaten. I think they beat themselves in just a critical few moments. But that's the difference. I guess a team that wins double digit games every single year. And you're on the road. And unfortunately, like, we could talk through some of them, but like everyone knows which ones they are, there were just a couple of big, big, big moments that are in the, that are really to me the difference. Otherwise, the scoreboards probably inverted. And Washington wins a close game. And we'd be feeling very, very differently about what they did on the road to start the season. Yeah, and I think that's the thing. And it's always hard, as you know, in week one, to draw a lot on like, because we don't know how good anybody really is. Like, the Eagles are always good. But are there flaws in their office with their office? You know what I mean? Like, look what the giants are to the Cowboys, but maybe the Cowboys' defense is really just that bad. Or maybe the giants have are just a much better spot with Harbaugh. Like that's, yeah. Week one is always a tough one to really go to extrapolate too far.

4:08But I think, you know, it's, you know, learn some things, but it's just hard to learn to know what is it that we really learned just yet. Yeah, this reminded me, and it's really because of Jaden. This reminded me week one is rookie season, where I walked out of there, and I went, that guy's the least of our problems. You know what I'm like? Like, he looked like, and he started to really look like himself in the second half again. And that was really encouraging to me. And so, you know, this is why I thought like all the stuff that was said about them coming into the season was kind of laughable. I'm like, you think a quarterback of that level, who if you're paying any attention at a really great camp, is going to be on a team that's two and 15. Like, what are you talking about? Like, why do you think that's the case? And I know his numbers looked the way they looked, but in the fourth quarter, that was Jaden Daniels again. And that was really nice to see. His comfort level was back. I'm encouraged by his play. And again, I'll go back to, you know, I just know moral victories here.

5:08They could have what it should have won. And this is going to hurt because every game is precious in the NFL, especially division games. And they let it get away over a few like choice plays. And we know what they are. And they're their fault. Not that the Eagles did anything. It's, it's their fault. And that's the part that I hope gets cleaned up. But not unlike that first game in Tampa, where we walked out of there. And they had lost and you're like, oh, God, I went. But that number five, that number five, I'm not worried about him. And as things progressed and things got more comfortable and they got into a groove, you saw what they were capable of. And, you know, the other difference here from, you know, from that year to this year is, this defense is wildly aggressive. They can get a consistent rush. They have waves of players that can produce it. And we can talk about the bad stuff that happened to. But that is also very encouraging to me. Like, always debut was really good. Pain looked really good in this defense. Cheson is a chaos agent.

6:09Nick Cross was shot out of a cannon. Like, there was a lot of good. They were the more physical at time teams. They were the more violent at time teams. And so I like all of that. And so even in a loss, I do feel very encouraged that we're just getting started here. And let's see this team get its sea legs and see what happens as things materialize this year. So, Brand, that can lead us into our AAA review of the week. And so this official review is presented by AAA Commanders MVP membership. With the AAA Commanders MVP membership, you'll get trusted AAA roadside assistance. Score Commanders gear with 15% off the online pro shop. Have chances to win game tickets. And attend exclusive team experiences already. Remember review your benefits of upgrade for free. Head to triple a dot com slash commanders today. So let's get into that a little bit. I want to look ahead to the Dallas because this is, you don't neither team wants to start O and two in the division. And I actually had Todd Archer who covers the Cowboys on. I talked to him today. I'll run that probably for Thursday or Friday. I'm kind of leading the weekend just like his thoughts on the Cowboys.

7:10What happened to that opener because it was ugly for them. But let's start with like what was some of the, you know, you brought up some key guys that have big plays. I was encouraged for them by a lot of the play of the newcomers, right? And that's Charles, you know, guys like Charles O'Medney who, you know, Odafe, Sonny styles, Nick Cross and Tony O'Williams. Like there were a lot of guys that they brought in this off season who I felt made. I thought Tin Sennel was solid played solid games and had good games on Sunday. Yeah, I think the depths on the defense was kind of on display in general, except at one particular spot cornerback, which is going to be very much in focus after what happened the other day and clearly who the matchup is this week because listen, the Eagles have very good receivers. This might be the best duo in the NFL. So this is a really, really, really tough task this weekend. And so the stuff that happened on the back end on two particular plays literally can't happen. You're talking about touchdowns being given into these types of players. So like from that perspective, I have a concern there.

8:10I think everybody should have a concern there. But otherwise I agree with you on just about everybody else. I thought, oh, it was outstanding. Not just in the past game, but in the run game as well. Like we're looking for who are going to be the real edge setters for this team. They've been searching for it for the last couple of years. I think they found a couple of those. Cheson is literally everywhere. Chanel missed one gap, which turned into one big run. But overall, I thought he had a pretty good game for them. Cross, I've said this from the beginning of the summer. Most under rating siding this team, this year was this player. He plays like a linebacker. He also plays safety. He's been outstanding in this. I'm sorry to see Frankie Loubout get hurt there because I think this defense is built for him. You saw it early with that. So I'm very bullish that this defense is going to be very good. I didn't interview you on another show. I don't know last week. And they asked, what do you think is going to be surprising about this team? And I said, I think they're going to end up top 10 to top 5 in sacks this year. Partially because of scheme, partially because of how much pressure they're going to bring. But partially because they have waves of people that can do this. So I don't know if it's going to end up leading them in these things.

9:11But if week one is any indication of what's to come here, they could have had her six times. They could have had six sacks in that game. They had him running around. I know that one of the big plays was that big scramble on the third down. But he made a great play. Otherwise, the pressure that was put on, if that's going to be the norm from this team, I think you can expect a lot of sacks this year. And hopefully some turnovers to follow as well. Well, they need to get the turnovers. But yes, that's the thing with the with the past rush to the diversity of players that they're sending sunny styles truck the running back twice. Right? You know, they have they have Omenuhu. When they sign them, I really like them inside. And I agree with you, Nick Cross, for ESPN at one point, I said, who was the they asked us the most under the radar signing in the Aussies? And I put him because I think he was going to be that jostle tell us type that that Dorontay Jones had in Minnesota, the versatile safety that you can really that you can use in a lot of roles. Right? So that was, you know, but I think they have the one thing Quinn talks about in the

10:11Aussies is having waves of players to send that team. The best defense has had that. And I would agree and that and we saw that now the secondary concerns me this week because of not only who they're playing, but you saw this the other day. And there were a couple issues. Obviously, Mikey gives up the touchdown on that long one. That was a bot's communication. Now what, you know, how should have played out like you see Dallas, Dallas got her going down the scene cuts out to the right. You have the receivers running down. Yeah, you have you can see Jeremy Reeves as he's running down. It kind of starts to point over to Goddard as he breaks out. So as and I think you see Mikey peel off like somebody's confused as to what to do. And you know, whatever it was, it was a bad play. And my fear with the when you're in a new defense is you get some of those plays like that early in the year, you know, and that, you know, from communication, from not enough time together. I know people are saying, well, you should have played more in the preseason. You may not have seen that play in the preseason.

11:11So that's that's the hard part to know. But they did see that in practice a lot. So like that's something that takes time. And so I think like that's the one thing that I'm wondering about is just will that be an issue this week because we've seen this before. Dallas goes down there and makes or they go down there. Dallas makes big plays on them for the same miscommunication issues that we saw one one time the other day. And the other touchdown to God, it was just not not a great play. It's just bad play. You know, you need to play that better just to seem ball. I think I told you like there was one guy who played in coach league told me that's like a day one install play and you got to you got to play it better. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, like like let's be real here. Like there were two massive mistakes. Dan Quay doesn't call people out and he was pointed. No, you know, he was pointed about it. And in both plays your eyes don't deceive you. I mean, the amount of separation that Mikey allowed wicks in the end zone, it just it can't happen.

12:13And I think he just lost track of all on the long play down the field. But these are, you know, those are the plays, you know, that you hope he'll get better. He'll learn from the ones that really stand out to me that feel like the own goals. Third and goal from the 17s are touchdown. I mean, it just can't happen. And that's the difference in the game. You give up three, you know, you give up seven, not three. Well, they lost by two, you know, it's the difference in the game to me. You know, a couple of the like the big Barclay play. Look, it happens. Like I'm not upset about it. Like what am I going to say? Like what do we say? Like sick one Barclays Hall of Fame running back. Like he popped off one big run in the game. And, you know, like I'm not going to get upset about like, oh, one bad play had a big run. I don't have a problem with that. But, you know, Mikey had a rough week and two of the most pertinent plays that occurred with that. The other one is obviously look like I thought in the moment that was a penalty on the gotter touchdown. I, you know, we were talking before we started doing this. You and I are having a kind of a discussion about it.

13:13London and I both think it was a penalty. Logan didn't think it was a penalty. I heard Mike Barraire say it wasn't a penalty and looked at real time like it was. But the reality was they didn't blow whistle. They didn't throw a flag. And frankly, like the team learned a lesson of not going through it. And guess what happened? The worst case scenario. So these are the two own goals to me. That is at least seven points there that might have been three. And one that should have been three points given up not seven. And otherwise why should it win this game? And that's, that's the hard part. I think to walk away from it. But largely, I do feel very encouraged for all the reasons we were talking about. Right. And by the way, and I do want to address this real quick, because somebody asked about some injury updates. So for Frank Lube, who has a groin. And he told me after the game that he was okay. But you never know what that means with the soft tissue injury. They still don't know his status for this week. But he's going to be at the very least, I would say week to week. So it could be at play this week. They'll know more. One thing they've learned with, with the soft tissue injuries is not to say a whole lot.

14:14Because sometimes they just don't get better. Like you think they're at one point at the start of the week. And by the end of the week, nothing is really changed. Even though you think it's going to. So they're going to, we're going to go out Wednesday. I'm sure he'll be limited. So we won't really know till Friday about the stats. As far as Chigo Conco, same thing tomorrow. Like none of these guys are going on IAR or anything like that. But we'll know more about the soft tissue injuries guys on Wednesday. It does sound like Tyler Owens is okay. I mean, he said it on I think the McAfee show. But that's also what I heard today from someone else that he would be okay. And so I would expect him to play on. I would think at this point it certainly looks like he would play on Sunday. So that's all good news for them. But we don't know enough about the soft tissue injury players to say whether or not they'll be available for Sunday. It's just too early in the week for that. But as far as the other stuff. And I know like Mikey Sanso is going to be getting hammered on by the fan. Well, that's fine. I still say, Graham, that first one, that long one.

15:15I don't think he lost the ball. I think there was a blown assignment there. And because when he turns a look, he's looking up where the tight end is running. And it's almost like somebody, whether it's whether whether Nick Cross has to go with them or whether Mikey's supposed to. That's the kind of stuff I'm concerned about for Sunday. Like if you have that again, that's a touchdown for CD-LAM. And like those are things regardless of who's that fall. Like, and I, you know, I don't, you know, whatever. But that's the stuff that you don't want to see happen to them. Because that could result in big plays. And I think the one thing the giant showed is the way you limit that offense, too, is by keeping the ball right from them. And if you can do that, then you have it. Or you at least get down there and don't fall behind right away. Because they always seem to fall behind down there. Yeah. And, you know, so, but they do need better secondary play and more consistency back there for sure. And I know, yeah, I would agree. Trey Amos, Trey Amos, you know, unfortunately, he's not going to be out there anytime soon. Or at least for a couple of weeks. But yes, they could use him.

16:16And I think I thought, was he a Douglas did a nice job when he was in there? Yes. You know, I thought my meek Robertson was fine. I just think for whatever reason, you know, the one touchdown for sure that that Mikey gave up was just a bad look. Because the reason why Quinn was upset, too, as you know, he kind of was not shallotly getting over there and getting lined up. That's what bothered him. Like, that was, that was the tough look there. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, like, that's good. Listen, Amos is not coming back for three more weeks. Minimal, right? We like the window to open for him will come around then. And we'll see if he's back then. We don't know. And the question hasn't been asked because he's got to sit out the next three at least. All right, let me just ask you this because since we're talking about corners and their names, they need about, uh, by a million different people. Joey Porter Jr. Is locked in a contractual situation with Pittsburgh. He may be hurt. He may not. He's not playing. The reports are, you know, whatever offer has been given to him was woefully low. And so he might get traded. Do you think Washington is in the business of adding a corner right now?

17:18I don't. It's hard. I'm not going to definitively rule anything out. So what I'm going to tell you is what I know. So does not seem like the Steelers are inclined to entertain offers at this point. It starts there to get their attention. You're going to have to give up a decent amount right now. And so you start there and then you're going to have to pay someone a lot of money. So it's, it's not just paying. It's not just a draft picks. It's the entire package. Now what I do know also is that when Dorante Jones was in Minnesota, they brought in Joey Porter Jr. for a visit. But when it came, they needed corners that year. When it came time to for them to pick 23rd in the first round, they took Jordan Addison the receiver. So, you know, why, and I don't, you know, my understanding is they did not view him as a first-round pick. And other teams didn't either because he went and stuck him out. But that, so I don't know necessarily what that means for, for how Jones used him. What I do know too is Porter Strength has by far been playing press man coverage.

18:20This team plays a lot of zone. So if you can't play a lot of zone and you can't play it well, then it would be a tough fit. So that's like, but that doesn't, you know, I know the rep is that he doesn't do well in zone. I don't know that this would be a William Jackson repeat situation. Or with his length, if he would be, you know, could he adapt to that? And how quickly? But I don't, you know, I don't know that the answer is always just that, right? So I don't, but I can't sit here and say like that they're doing anything. I just think that, you know, Pittsburgh does not seem inclined to do anything right now. So I would say that. And like, no, nobody on the practice squad is better. Come on guys, let's, if they were, they'd put him up. I mean, let's, you know, rise a guillotum. Isaac Adam is a veteran. So at least there's that. And the Fabian Maraud is on the roster right now. So I don't know. Listen, they invited to make a change at this point. I didn't get that, but certainly, you know, he had a rough week.

19:21I think it's been a rough week. Yeah, he did have rough week. And I think they're, you know, listen, he had, he was up and down last year too. So there's, there you have to be have a level of concern. I know that they felt coming into the air that are going into camp that this defense was a good fit for him. Like they remain confident in him for that reason. Now, you got to go out and prove it. You've got to prove that they're right. Because, and so far, we can't say that they are. So you, you've got to see him. You got to play better. And that's, that's just all there is to it. And, but they do have like, with Amos. And then you have, I think, a meeked in a nice job was quiet. And then Rasool Douglas did a nice job. So this is also, bram, a defense that's not heavy. And it's, it's bigger for safety's linebackers than it is for corners. But you still need good court. You still need at least quality corner play. Look, the reality too is like every team has some depth weaknesses. This is one of them for the commanders. I mean, like, you know, coming into, I remember during like early training camp,

20:22I was like barking on shows every week. I'm like, I think they need to sign another quarter. If for no other reason, competitive and depth purposes. And then Wala out came Rasool Douglas. And that made a lot of sense when that happened. You know, now that Amos is hurt and has been hurt, you know, there is, I do wonder. Let's just see what happens here. If they do feel, if nothing else, that they just need to get some more depth out there. But let's just see, you know, like, again, he had a bad week. A lot of guys have bad weeks. He's going to hear about it for sure. Quinn saying the things that he said are very pointed. He's almost never done that. So the message is going to get across. And obviously, the hope here is, is that he has a much better week this week. Because if he doesn't, they're going to be in trouble. I mean, this is, this is a dynamic. Maybe the best duo of wide receivers, most explosive duo of wide receivers in the NFL going right now. Or at least they're in the conversation about it. And they're going to be pissed because they're all in one two. So this is going to be, this is a really interesting week for sure. No, absolutely isn't.

21:22I do agree with K.R. Chapman over here. I said, I'm, it's about penicking too soon, right? Whether about any player, I think that's important. This is week one. And, you know, the problem is that it follows an up and down year last year. But I do want to see more of him in this defense. And the problem that I have was again, the nonchalant lining up on that one touchdown. That was just a tough look. And the other play was a blown coverage by whomever, right? Whether it's him was whatever. It's got to be fixed. And I don't care who it's by. It's got to be fixed. But if the same guy's making the mistakes, then you have to make, you have to start looking at changes at some point. And so, you know, but in again, Johnny Applebaum, like, yeah, he's been terrible at his 2024. Well, I don't know about that. But what I would say, as like I said, he didn't have a good year last year. But they had a high level of confidence in him in this defense. And there's for some reason, for whatever reason, you can disagree, but they did. And, you know, but I would say you don't, you've got to play better.

22:27And they do have obstacles like Douglas has done a nice job since he's gotten here. And then when you get Amos back, like, that will give you the options that you would want. So, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say he's playing great. I'm not going to tell you that. But, but yeah, so anyway, that's, I just want to say that. And then also, Bram, someone helped out their Cornell Yates had a question about Antonio Williams that I want to get to in one minute. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones. And I want to tell you about YouTube Premium. It has offline downloads, so you can watch without Wi-Fi, background play, so you can lock your phone, and it still plays, baby. Oh, and it is completely ad-free. Yes, I said it ad-free. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Trial eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. Parents, have you heard your kids say, I'm not a math kid? Well, with Mathnasium, every kid can be a math kid.

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25:48I have a question about Antonio Williams getting more time this Sunday. Would he get more time? I think he warns it. Of course, he was... I mean, listen man, we've seen him at camp. He's looked good at camp when we saw him this summer. I really like what, you know, it's hard not to like what we saw the other day. The other thing, the other part of that equation is what's up with Chigol Concoil. How much can he play on Sunday? Do you go to more 11 personnel sets with more three receivers? That could also factor into it as well. But they also were using a lot of three receivers sets early in that game, just with Diamy Brown. So that's, you know, but could I see more? He's earned more. So yeah, I think that would be... To me, that would be a good thing because I think he... What you want more on this offense is more guys who can make plays after the catch. And I think he's one of those guys who can do that. 100%. He smooths. He's a great route runner. He's got great hands on display for the catch that he made at the end.

26:49I called that live as an incompletion. I almost couldn't believe that he actually caught that off the... Really, it was really crazy. So, but I would say this actually, it's really interesting. Like in 2019, that was the last time they went to Philly to open a season. They unveiled Terry McClurean on everybody. And I remember, I'll never forget, like he barely played if at all in the preseason. I'm like, they're hiding this guy. And then they just unleashed him on Philadelphia. And it was that moment where you got what we got one. Like we obviously got one in Terry McClurean. I have the same feeling about Williams coming off of this. And it's interesting that it's same round. And in the same place where he popped off. And it was clutch moments. He made the play. Jane made that throw to him on that third and long that they had to make in the fourth quarter. And then the catch he made in crunch time like that. It's just, you know, there are some guys that it's just not too big for them. It is just not too big for this guy. And so I'm hoping we got another one, you know, like we have with McClurean. I think we got another one.

27:49So he really, really impressed him and Sonny, you know, Sonny having the moment with Seguan. Williams just in general here. A lot of the other newcomers again, like I know we're focusing on San Roestell at a bad week, a couple of own goal plays that really hurt them. But I got to tell you like largely again, I don't want to have, there's no moral victories, but I am very, very much more confident about this group. You know, because I think in week one, you just have a lot of questions. And I just feel very confident about where this thing could go. The schedule is nasty. And so hopefully they survive it. You know, like regardless of how they're playing, hopefully they survive it. Because it's really nasty. You know, these first six, seven weeks and even after the buy, it's filling the rams. So it's really nasty. You know, and they just kind of have to survive it. But I feel so much better that it's going to happen. And he's one of those reasons. Like last year, they had nobody catching the ball on the outside. This year, the trio of digs, Williams and McClure, and looks extraordinarily dangerous.

28:50Somebody else, if I can find the comment about Bill, he's like, I know they pulled him after the fumble, but he was really having a pretty good game. He was. He's kind of transformed his body. I like his running style. I think it's going to fit in this offense. He is a big playback for them. There is just some consistency issues with him that I think he's fighting through. What is ball security? Obviously, the most paramount thing. He had a penalty on the outside as well. And there are just some times where you just want consistency out of him. And if we get just a little more, and maybe that's just maturation of playing more, more reps and all that stuff, but I feel very bullish about him too. The explosiveness factor of this team, once Jaden gets his C legs back, with the trio of receivers, they have hopefully, the Cigs not hurt very long and Bill and White and all. I feel really good about where this offense can go. And now, couple that with a defense that looks extraordinarily aggressive. And as depth and waves of players, I like what we have here. And so I feel really, really good about it.

29:51The issue is they have extraordinarily tough games. Through the course of this first portion month to two months of the season, they just have to survive it so that when we get to the other side, maybe there's a spot here to make a run. Right. And I think the one thing, Crosky, Merrick gives you that they again, and you watch what Kenneth Walker did for the team last night. You need guys that have some explosiveness and he has that. I think like that. That's like, yeah, he was, he was tremendous. But you know, that's like I say, Bill can be Kenneth Walker, but he's got a few weeks. It doesn't look like we're playing Darnold and he's not there. So that's a whole, that's a whole different game. Seattle offense all the sudden. Yeah, well, they got the other rookie from Notre Dame. And that can be pretty, you know, but, but yes, I like, like I liked what Crosky Merrick did. I like the vision that cutsy has. He's a good fit in this system because of it. I do worry the fumbling issues were a concern of mine going into the season because he hadn't carried the ball in games in the preseason. Like he's a guy that had some fumbling concerns last year.

30:53And then you go and you're not really getting hit. At some point, I worried about that for him. And you know, after they pulled him, like you're talking like there was what? Two minutes left in the game. Less than two minutes and they're going to, you know, you're using, we're shy of white in those instances. It's I don't know that it was. That's a cage on got some carries there. Late night, you know, and like, you know what? Like he, he ran it like he didn't cap it in the preseason games. He finishes his runs. Now the explosive back on this team is bill. So, you know, hopefully, you know, he's got to be the one that is the lead carry back for them. And hopefully he will, but it is, it's a consistency thing. And obviously a ball security thing. Yeah. And I thought, you know, the one thing too, like, again, he gives you explosive. Reshade white is a, and someone talks about like he looks slow. Well, he's actually runs the 40 pretty well. Like that's, I think the, the hard part for him is compared to like, when they have Austin, when they have German, they nickels. Like those guys are shipped, you know, Austin, especially is a ship to your guy.

31:53That's not reshade white's game. Like he's not, like you saw that in that little swing passway. He's not make, he's not going to make a guy miss per se. He's a city's bigger, right? So like, it's a little bit difficult for him to be that shifty kind of guy that I think can make a good third down back. But, you know, I, you know, so I don't know that you're going to get that, but he is fast. And he has his 40 time back in the day was, was pretty good for a back. You know, it's not like he's just my observation of him. I thought he was step slow too. Like that, that's how I would have seen it. He didn't look like that. I would say that's like from watching him throughout the summer in practice and then somewhat in the games, his real, real strength is running literally straight ahead. And he is really good at dodging tacklers in short spaces. Right. He's like, I think he's a fast straight line runner. Yeah. I don't think he's particularly fast as a lateral runner. Bill's got that talent of he could shift gears and move quickly. And once he makes that cut, he can be gone.

32:54That's that explosive tendency. I don't really see that with white, but I will tell you, if we get the opportunity to see him, especially on screen passes where he catches the pass, he runs straight ahead. What you'll see with him, his speed shows up in those small spaces where he can dodge people and he's moving at full speed. And hopefully you'll see that on display. I agree with everyone, you know, saying, slows a strong word for it, but him running laterally, I don't like him as much as him running straight ahead. And I think it's the quickness. Like in that one, you need to make a guy miss. Like you're right. Like he needs to get the head of steam and get going. They're making people miss. That's why people love him in that screen game, because it gets out on the edge. And if he makes one person miss, then all of the sudden, he's got a lot of room. Yeah, but he needs to get that head of speed, the head of steam going for it too. So I someone out like, you know, would Jeremy, make those a pick that up. We've seen him do that before. But I know like Austin Echo is just a shiftier type guy. Like that's what that's not white's game. That's very quick. Bill's got that quickness. Like you will see, I'm telling you,

33:56you will see the quickness in these short spaces when he's running straight ahead. It's people miss. It's almost like a magic act. He will make people miss. You can't believe someone missed him when he's running straight ahead. But I think that's where they're going to get the strength out of him. Him running laterally is not great. I agree with that. Yeah, and then that's right. And but I do like, Croskmer, it has to keep playing, because he does, they need more guys who have a level of explosiveness, especially like, or Coco was supposed to give you that. And there are a couple of throws to him. For sure. And I think there was another one. Well, there were a couple of throws to him, but depending on your hurt, but you need guys who can make plays. I think that Croskamerican help do that for you in the run game. Then you get Terry, Digs, and Antonio Williams in the past in the in the past game too. So RNG, I appreciate the comment. I have a good salesman. I have a real good say. I could sell. I could sell. Oh, I mean, this one, like the Cobb was never a figure in that play out. Did they? There's what I think. Four in a row. That was that was pretty bad. So, again, it's the first go, you know, for this offense.

34:56And like I really, you know, I think everyone needs to take a step back here. Like this group hadn't really played together. They didn't do much in the games by design. The offensive line was kind of a master out the preseason because all the variety of injuries that we had. I think you saw it materialized a second half went along. And then like I was talking to somebody. They were like his numbers were the Jade's numbers for this. And he's never not that in that. You told me he was so accurate. And I go, look at his fourth quarter numbers. Look what happens. He was nine of 10 with two touchdowns. Like he was back from the middle of the third quarter into the fourth quarter. And that's why I'm feeling pretty good about this. Yeah. And, you know, the other thing is like what he was throwing the ball away a lot more. A couple of years ago, he's running out of bounds and taking one yard loss is for a sack. You know what I mean? Like you're not throwing the ball away. So it's not kind of against your completion percentage. I think where the accuracy sometimes though was even on like the throw to Williams where he's got to throw off his back foot. And it's a little throw. And there are a couple of those. But there weren't, it wasn't like the receivers are just running wide open. And he's just like not seeing anybody.

35:57There were a couple of play. There were a couple of times in the pocket where maybe he drips back a little bit too much. It seemed maybe he escaped a little bit too early once or twice. But by and large, like, you know, he was getting out of some trouble. There were the pockets where pocket was getting pinched. And so I think like that certainly didn't help. And that's a really, really good defense. Like you can't ignore that first game with a coordinator against that defense. It's just, it's difficult. So I agree with you. It is, I want to give their two things. I want to give their secondary a lot of credit because Jayden extended a ton of plays that he had to throw the ball away from because they stayed in coverage. Typically, would you play a quarterback like this who extends plays and they call it the second play emerges with the receivers that we have the speed of the receivers we have now? Typically that burns you. It did not. So like I would give them a lot of credit. They were extremely disciplined. There was one guy though. And this was nice to see. I've seen Cooper DeGene get cooked like that. We got beat up a few times. Ever. Like digs put a stop route on him

36:59and he was literally running the wrong way. Like he, he, they cooked him. I was really surprised. But the Philly defense, you got to give him credit. They're very well coached. They're very good across the board. Zach Bond is tremendous. I love him. Quinion's tremendous. I thought there might be a weakness on the back end with their safeties. Maybe somebody will be able to, will be able to, to expose that at some point. We obviously were not able to do that. But largely, how many times did Jayne escape extend? Not to run, but to throw, which was a good development too for him to see that. But he couldn't find anybody. So I want to give the Eagles secondary a lot of credit. They stayed in coverage for longer periods of time than you typically have to. This is where an elite quarterback like this who can move extend plays typically burns you. And it didn't happen enough for my liking. So I want to give the Eagles credit for that. Football season has finally arrived. And Fandall is here to bring everything you need to get in on the action. Think Washington is due for a bounce back here? You can bet on that. And more with Fandall from same game,

38:01Parallelays to Overunders and more. Fandall has it all. Fandall, proud sponsor of all of our shows here at Empire Media. Whatever you're looking for, Fandall has you covered. Yeah, and just a couple more things and we'll get out of here. But even with that defense, sometimes it's hard. I remember when the solid defense, I thought we'd see more boots and some more plaction boots, et cetera. And we didn't really see a lot of that. And sometimes the Bears did a lot of that against them last year. The Bears were at a different point in their system. They were winning the game. They were running the ball great. So it was a little bit easier to do that. But I know that game was one that they looked at when they're preparing for this game. But you know, and I'd like to see some, this is a detail thing too. Like even for Jayden, like on the play action, you're going to get that stick the ball in their gut. You can't be looking your eyes up here when you're doing it because they're going to know that you're going to look it for a pass. So little details like that. But I also think like, when the more you keep running the ball well, they're going to be okay in that area. And I feel pretty good about what he can do.

39:04I will say, well, they weren't, and Janet's right. There's an adjustment there, but they weren't under center at the time. They only threw like, they only threw like five passes from under center. Like he was a little bit more comfortable from the gun, which you would expect. I do think Janet, as they keep going, that they will be more under the center. I think sometimes it's who you're playing as well, right? So what you kind of gave me expect. But the other thing, the other thing too, Graham on the offensive line, I know like there were some definite hiccups up there. And I see Alligrette getting killed. Like, I don't know about you, but when I went back and watched a game, like there were a couple of times he got to be against Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. If those guys aren't beating Alligrette, they shouldn't be making the money they are. Like that's those, like those guys are going to be most centers. And so I do think that like, I'm not going to take, oh, he stinks because he got beat by Jalen Carter. The block, you know, or Joe, like that, the spin, great move by that, got to make the block, period.

40:05And there are a couple of plays, but the thing I liked about Alligrette because there's a lot of plays in there, and you're going to have some good, you're going to have a lot good, you're going to have definitely bad. But what I liked about him as, you know, he's not covered most of the time, he's uncovered, he has really good awareness up front. And like that is what his strength is. And the protection, the communication seemed to be pretty good. The execution at times has to get better on stunts. And that was the left side a few times. So like that was where, you know, there were some more issues. But with Alligrette, it was about what I would think. A guy who didn't play a lot this summer, and two practices. And is I would say if he's an average center, that's probably what he is, right? He does some things good, some things you put, a big guy like Jalen Carter over him. Yes, there's going to be problems. But you don't get, there were only out of the 38 past drops, backspram only six times with somebody lined up over him. So it's not like that's a primary thing,

41:05but could teams do that more? Sure. And I would, you know, challenge him. Why not just to see? Yeah, I mean, it's like, listen, like every team is going to try to expose your weaknesses. And again, like Jalen Carter made some plays, you're not kidding. He's like, maybe the most disruptive defensive line player in the NFL. So like, of course you got it. And like, same thing I would say about Sequon, like I thought they played really well against the run, except for this one particular time. And oh, well, you know, like, Sequon Barkley had a big play. You're no kidding. Like he's a Hall of Fame running backly. You're not going to, what do you think you're going to hold them to 14 carries for 20 yards? Like it's not going to happen. So, um, so yeah, so yeah, listen, they're a really good team. They have really good players, especially on defense in particular. They're going to have their moments too. And you live with some of that stuff. Like Devon Desmit made an incredible catch on the side. Like you're no kidding. It's Devon Desmit. They made an incredible catch on the side. I'm on the credible throws. Incredible catch. I'm not mad at Rissle Douglas for that. What do you go do about it? Like the other team is going to make great plays too. The thing I wanted to say about the offense to like James Point was this. Like good teams stay healthy first.

42:05And then assuming they stay healthy, they evolve as things go along. And both of these cases for both of these teams are running new offenses. And in some cases, you wonder what the fit's going to be for both. And for Jalen Hertz, a company him being under center a lot and him running a timing offense, I didn't think coming in going. I don't know how that's going to work. Well, how are they not at some point going to bring some of the zone read back into it? Of course they're going to because he's amazing at it. So they'll morph into something that's a mix of these offenses. I would say the same thing about Washington. They ran a little more up tempo and a lot more gun than I expected them to after seven months of hearing about how they're going to be under center and all this stuff. And they were only down at any point in time in the second half one score. So it was never like they were forced to go crazy up tempo to try to get back some big deficit that they had. So, but I'm not surprised that at some point they're going to turn to more of this. And I think you're going to see a morph of it because Jayden is amazing in the gun and you want him to see the field and you want to take advantage of his legs when necessary. So it will evolve. And this was just a first go for everybody.

43:07And it will evolve hopefully to play to strengths. And I heard someone say this, you know, they was one of the X quarterbacks on all the shows. If he's like, first few weeks, you try a lot of things out. You throw away the stuff that doesn't work. You emphasize the stuff that you do well. And sometimes you bring things back that you were really good at that you're not emphasizing this year. That's going to happen with this team. The larger, I think, headline good news to me was Jayden looked like 2024 Jayden in the second half. And that's to me the reason why I have so much optimism about where this thing can go because I know what he is. And if he's going to play like that, then we're in good shape. Yeah, I think they'll be fine. That's where I say I do think or it going back to the offensive line. You have to improve there because you are going to face some good fronts throughout the year. So you have to play better. But, you know, we don't like the hard parts to know we're kind of guessing where they're going to go. Like, with even with David Blah, we don't really know yet what kind of coordinator is going to be as a play caller because we can only based on this game. Like, let's see what he does this week. It gets a defense. As someone else said, they run a similar type defense

44:08as Philly. They just don't have the same personnel. They have a couple of really good interior linemen. They don't have the personnel that Philly does. And they don't have the experience in this system that Philly does. So I think like that's going to be something to watch. So this is a game where, can you start to build some rhythm and then maybe get away with a road division win which would be huge for them and leave Dallas and Owen too. Like, that would be, I'm sure people here might hear, might be happy if Dallas is Owen too and these guys go down there and get a win. So I'm going to get to that original thought like after Tampa his rookie season where they lost. I'm not worried about him. And to the point of this one where he looked let's see Nate who said, Jaden also looked far better at protecting himself which is very encouraging. I agree. The biggest difference here was you remember that first game against Tampa. They brought all that pressure and he just took off. He was like, I'm out of here immediately. And I was like, you know what? You can see the instincts are there. He just needs like some more seasoning in time

45:09and it was his first game. In this case, he had to get out of there a lot but he was constantly looking to throw. And I really like that is a great, great, great development this year. It is. And again, I think that your face, the secondary, their guys weren't open for him in those situations. I think your face, other secondaries where they will be. And if you can get out, if he's getting out there and keeping that play alive and whether they're thrown away or looking down because he's looking down, feel first, nothing there, throw it away. That was just, that's what you want to see from him. So I'm not worried about him. I will say I think I'd like to see him get into rhythm early. I think that's where Blauke as a play caller, you're going to learn how to do that. What does it help to get him going right away? He knows that from being out there but that's going to be something to watch too. Like, can you get him going earlier in the game? Because like I would say, like, you do not want to fall behind down there because that let Dallas have a get right game. Right? That's that's that would be my one concern for that. And somebody else too, I asked about the boot legs.

46:11That was something I guys said, where were they at? I think we'll see, sometimes it's style of defense. And what you notice with the Eagles, that they're very dis-bram brought up the word discipline. They're very disciplined on the edges. So there's a lot of times where like those guys are there, they're going to be coming home and there, like there was one time where it looked like it might be a boot leg but Jayden hands it off. Well, there's a corner blitzing at him, right at him. And if he doesn't, if he turns, like, you may have a go up in the flat or he's going to get killed. So like the Eagles did a really good job in the edges. They were prepared for that too. So I want to see, I don't know. Let's see how that develops before we draw on in conclusions about what it's going to look like this year. So that would be my thought on that. I don't want to draw conclusions on what Blau and the offense is going to do based on how they called this game. Because this is the style of defense and the defense itself. So anyway, any parting thoughts, Bram? Just that we're, I can't remember an early season, Cowboys Commanders game that feel like have like very big ramifications on it like this, especially this early.

47:11Because someone's going to be 0 and 2 and 0 and 2 in the division. So it doesn't, I don't think it ends anybody season obviously, but someone's in a ridiculous hole to start the year. So it's huge. Like it's, you know, it's always a big division game. It's always a big rivalry game. But this one screams like, we got to find a way to get this one to be on track, you know, and not be in the hole that everyone was concerned about when the schedule came out. Right. And exactly. But that's why like we can sit here and talk about there were some encouraging signs from Sunday. But it's why you, it's hard to lose those games when you have a chance. And when you say like if, if you were just done this and this better. Yes. That games there, that's the hard part with all this. And you can't let that happen two weeks in a row. So anyway, folks, Bram, I appreciate you coming on. Everybody, thank you for tuning in. And I'll be back. I'll be back Wednesday nights last Thursday morning with the video about just a midweek report. Give you injury updates, stuff in the locker room, all that good stuff. Appreciate tuning in. Thank you.