Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Commanders, Week 11 Pregame Preview

Transcript

OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Commanders, Week 11 Pregame Preview · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Jeff here. I wanted to let you
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: know we recorded this Opposition Territory podcast on Wednesday, November thirteenth,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. So by the time you hear this,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: some things may have changed here or there, but we
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the show. All right, folks, welcome to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Opposition Territory. Here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: eleven and a half years strong. We got a great
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Eagles commander's preview Opposition Territory pod coming your way this week.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: We got a great guest. This is going to be
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: a very interesting game. The outcome of this game is
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: really going to dictate I think who is going to
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: remain at the top spot in the NFC East and
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: really who's going to have a lot of momentum in
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: the NFC Conference in general. Washington Commanders, as we know,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: they have been a powerhouse thus far this season, and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: it's a matchup I cannot wait for. Early this season,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: when we were doing our season predictions, you may have
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: remembered I thought the Washington Commanders were going to be
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a wild card team. They've certainly exceeded a lot of
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: folks as expectations at this point this season. This is
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: gonna be a great matchup. We got a great guest,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: let's get right to it, joining us this week from
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the Trap or Dive Podcast. You can follow him on
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the Twitter slash x at let mal tell It and
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: he's on Instagram as well. Love his content there. At
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: let Mal tellet underscore. Great great follow great guest here
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to get into this Eagles Commander's preview. We've got Jamal
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Forrest Jamal Buddy, how you doing, man?
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Hey, thanks are good.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: Jeffppreciates you for having me back. It's always good chopping
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: out with you.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Boss.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, man, absolutely look this game. As I said in
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: my intro, even before the season starts, did I thought
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: this Commander's team was gonna be a wild card team, Jamal,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: I thought the new coaching staff would certainly be an upgrade.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: It certainly has been thus far. We've seen that, you know,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: they brought in some new talent on offense and defense.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: We're gonna get to the quarterback play in just a bit.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels just absolutely incredible so far this season for
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: this Commander's team. Like stability at the quarterback position, something
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: they really haven't had in quite some time that you've
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: been coming on this podcast now now for years. But
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I want to get into first, like what the vibe
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: is within Commander's Nation about what this team has done
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: this season, the real turnaround with regard to this organization.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: What's the vibe coming from Commander's Nation at this point.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: It's pretty high.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: You're talking about a team, well, you mentioned you thought
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: they were a wild card team. Yeah, a lot of people,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: you know, had conversations about, you know, this is the
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: rebuild year. They didn't believed Dan Quinn when he emphasized recalibration,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: the same thing that Adam Peters said. In terms of recalibration,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: there has been several different steps.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Dakota relaxed.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: I love hearing Dakota. Love here in Dakota.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: You see, I'm looking out the window. Now she see
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: a familiar friend.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: Okay, all right, so the friend is the friend has
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: past the window.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: She's quiet. All right, here we go.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: So when it comes to both the GM and the
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: head coach, they mentioned recalibration, and I think you're talking
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: about fan base who really had a hard time believing
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: that for the same for some of the positions that
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: they they thought were strengths and internally, but but fans
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: really didn't buy it. That's the offensive line. They didn't
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: know what the quarterback was going to look like. They
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: had no faith in the receiver position. And the defensive
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: line and your cornerbacks or your defensive backs. Period is
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: we're all question marks to some extent. And the season
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: starts and you realize like your expectations were off base
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: and you got to recalibrate your expectations. Yes, and and
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: I think for for the fan base, the vibes are
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: extremely high because majority of them are coming around to
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: realize that this isn't a rebuilding season. This isn't the
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: old teams under old leadership slash poor leadership.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: And and you don't have an owner who's finding a
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: way to get in the way. This is just a
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: well run organization.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Who you have an owner who is doing everything that
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: he can to possibly support his team, his players, his staff.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Uh and and encourage the fan base to support again
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: and everything every single call is working right now.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, look new leadership at the top. It just means
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: so much. I mean, we see it across sports not
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: just in football, but when you have new ownership with
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: any team in front office and they want people to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: actually succeed and they have the right lead again, the
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: right leadership, the right pieces in play, good things are
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: gonna happen. We're seeing it with this Commander's team. If
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I take put on my objective hat here, but you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you. I was really concerned
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: at the draft this past year when Jaden Daniels was
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: selected by the Commanders. Watching him in college, I knew
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: he was going to be some sort of force in
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: the NFL depending on what team he went to. And
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: then when the Commanders drafted him, I was like, oh
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: my god. I'm like, we're gonna deal with Jayden Daniels
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: for the next ten years, if not more, as Eagles fans.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: And look, it hasn't been a perfect season for him,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: but I mean, logically, he is looking at possibly being
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the rookie of the year at this point. He had
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: one of his toughest games of the season against the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Steelers this past week, but just an incredible rookie quarterback season.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: So Jamal, I'm wondering, like, what type of quarterback are
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you seeing with Jayden Daniels developing. You know, as as
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: we're entering week eleven here, you know, what, what have
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you seen from him? What can we expect from this week?
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm seeing the same.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: Level of playmaker and difference maker that I've seen from
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: him in college. Yeah, I think the surprise is how
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: quickly it came. But and what I mean by that,
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: like it turned he turned the corner after his first
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: week in the NFL, like against the Tempa Bay Buccaneers,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: he struggled from a process at standpoint, it seems like
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: a lot of things were moving too quickly, but the
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: Buccaneers couldn't account for his legs. So when things went
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: to hell, he just said, I'm about to take off
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: and run.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Yea.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: You know, teams got a little bit smarter, and you
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: go up against like a a NFC. Honestly, not even
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: I was about to say NFC North, but I'm in
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: AFC North. But honestly, just the Pittsburgh and Baltimore's of
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: the world specifically and even Cleveland to some extent. Cincinnati's
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: defense up so it is what it is. But the
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: other three, the other three defenses who are traditionally known
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: to play good defense. You know, you go up against
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: those guys and they can shut down or running quarterback
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: based on their scheme, right, and they did just that.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: But I say that to say, you know, when things
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: go to hell, he relies on his legs, but he
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: doesn't rely on his legs in terms of like every
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: single single moment. He's a cerebral quarterback. He understands defenses,
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: he coveraged, he processes coverages among the best of them.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: And it took him a week to get baptized in
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: that first week against Tamba Bay. But you know, every
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: single week he trended up and trended up. And you're
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: talking about a person who is in the conversation for
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: MVP among some national leaders, national conversation people.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: So it is what it is with him.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: And I saw exactly, you know what he's doing now,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: I saw exactly in college.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: And I'm personally waiting for the day.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: I have patience on my side because I knew what
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: he was and I'm waiting for the day where the
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: season ends for Washington and I go back into the
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Commander's fan base and and and dig up some old
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: tweets just to cause have it, because there's there was
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: a lot of people who are super fans of Jaden
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: now who didn't acknowledge that they were wrong, right and
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: and and wanted other quarterbacks. And and I think that
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: the benefit of having Jaden is understanding he is the
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: player that you can lean on offensively to really keep
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: your team in any single game that you have, uh
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: for his mental reasons, but also his physical attributes. And
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: I think that's just what makes somebody special when and
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: not only uh, do you have to do that, you
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: have to do that and be a dominant player on
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: the field. And and he's doing that in so many
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: different ways. It's not just him. Obviously, Cliff is a
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: big reason. Cliff Kingsbury's offensive coordinator and his supporting supporting cast,
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: meaning his coaches and and obviously some of the players
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: around him. But like he's the reason why things move.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: And in that game against Pittsburgh, you know, he had
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: a very up and down game, but you know there
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: was moments where he did give his receivers opportunities to
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: win and they let him down. And I'm not gonna
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: let him off the hook either, because there was moments
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: where the receivers won and he wasn't able to get
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: them the ball. It was one of those rough games
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: for that offense altogether. And against Philly, I think things
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: he'll have similar opportunities to make to make big plays.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: And honestly, this is just Philly's defense is good, but
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: it's not Pittsburgh's. And I say that respectfully knowing that
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: you don't have a Cam Hayward, you don't have a TJ. Watt,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: and you don't have a high Smith who can really
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: wreck games up front. You have solid players defensively in
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: your front seven, but it's just not the same and
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: that's kind of where the differences lie and Washington can
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: kind of take advantage of something like that.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're gonna get into some matchups in a little
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: bit here. But with regard to Jayden and Daniels, like
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: what I've seen from him thus far, and you mentioned
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: that first game against Tampa Bay and I'm like, oh boy, okay,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: it's gonna have a bit of a rough time here.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: But his processing speed has gotten better, his pocket management's
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: gotten better, His footwork in the pocket's gotten a lot
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: better too. Not one hundred percent perfect, but it's getting better.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: He is very coachable, and I think Commander's nation is
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: they should be so very glad to have him. And
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: I wonder how that dovetails into the next topic Jamal
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: that I wanted to get into, which is the offensive consistency.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I think that's something that we have seen more of
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: from the Commanders this season in general, and I'm wondering, like,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: where has that offensive consistency really come from?
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Is it?
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Is it really because of the rushing attack, the passing game,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: maybe a balance of the two. Where are you mostly
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: seeing the offensive consistency coming from?
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: It?
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Is?
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: Well, first off, I think it has a lot to
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: do with Cliff. Yeah, Cliff has an understanding. I mean,
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: first of all, Cliff, Bobby Johnson, the offensive lines coach,
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Anthony lenn the run game coordinator. You have so many
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: different pieces available to you from a a cerebral standpoint
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: where you can put your minds together and make things work.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: You know, the people who are actually called them plays.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: And I think Cliff has this uh uh, what's the
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: right word this? I don't know the right word, but
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: like he's it's very it's very appreciative, like from an
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: outsider standpoint to know that he values the ability to
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: run the football and and and knowing that you have
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: a Brian Robinson who can who can really tote the
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: rock for you in some tough situations, but he can
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: also make he can get you the tough yards and
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: make things shaken. You gotta back, You gotta running back
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: in Austin Eckler, who is a do it all guy
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: and he's a really he can really offset Brian Robinson
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: or compliment Brian Robinson in a good way. But I
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: think the point is Cliff Kingsbury recognizes that and he's
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: not straying away from the run game. And I think
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: everything that you could do in the run game and
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: make this this team dangerous in how you attack a defense,
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: it creates uh passion lanes that your offense can can
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: really exploit. And I think the ability and not even
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: just that, because there's some moments where you where you
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: don't have to use the run game or the run
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: game isn't effective, and that's been the case in some
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: instances with Brian Robinson out and I think two or
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: three games, so I think for Washington, I think that's
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: just something where you look at this offense and you say,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Cliff Gainsbury has done an excellent job and how he's
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: been able to scheme up run past run pass games.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: He's been he's been attacking these defenses from a balance
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: perspective for the most part of the season. And then
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: you look at playmakers making plays, Jaydon Daniel stepping up,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: Brian Robinson stepping up. Your offensive line and the run
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: game for sure is being able to pass off. A
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: lot of things will from from from their teammates down
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: to like individual assignments, and then how they pass protect.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: You know, they're not the best offensive line, but like
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: they'll never not help each other out. You're talking about
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: ship protection, You're talking about double teams, you're talking about
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: effective slide protection and making sure that the right people
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: get picked up for your quarterback to make the plays.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: So everything is working, and then when all those fails, Jeff,
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: you got Jaden Daniels, who is one of the more
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: difficult players to tackle in open field. Yep let alone
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: have one of the best pocket awareness abilities in the NFL.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: So like when he feels pressure, he knows where to escape,
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: he knows what the void is, and that's just what
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: makes his offense dangerous.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, the adaptability too, I think of the offense, you know,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: during the course of a game, I think Washington's been
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: able to do that as well. To be interesting to
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: see how they implement some of that adaptability during this
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: upcoming game Thursday night against the Eagles. But as we're
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: moving along here, I wanted to get into the Commander's
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: defense with you, Jamal, because again, a defense that certainly
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: hasn't been perfect this season. At times, they've been that
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: been don't break defense from what I have seen, and
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I'm used to seeing a lot of times with the
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles, even though the Eagles defense has been playing
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: very well over the past month, I'm wondering, how would
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: you describe this Commander's defense as we're heading into week
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: eleven here against the Eagles. Do you kind of see
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: it as that ben but don't break type of defense
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: or how would you characterize what we may see Thursday night.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: I think ben but don't break is fair. I also
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: think that this is a defense that's trending upward. Yeah,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: this is a defense who really had an issue communicating
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: in the secondary, and Joe Witt recognized it and he
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: identified that problem. Oh, let's say like honestly, after the
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: first week of the season, it took about three more
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: weeks for them to get on the same page, right,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: But like once they way we get on the same page.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: From a secondary standpoint, thing started to trend upward. You
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: didn't really give up a lot of explosive plays. Even
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: in the last Pittsburgh game where Russell Wilson throws for
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: three touchdowns, most of those was inside the twenty, and
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: like those were your big plays. From a secondary standpoint,
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: the fact that Joe Witt has been able to recognize
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: who his chess pieces are and utilize them in ways
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: that you know, creates mismasses or advantages for the defense.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: I eat, Frankie Louvu's ability to run, blitz and past
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: pass rush has been a tremendous benefit to the defense.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Bobby Wagner, of course, you can't forget him just understanding
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: like he's seen a million different offensive schemes. He knows
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: what people are trying to do, and he's a communicator
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: that can get everybody in the right position to defend
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: the run over the past however which way they see it.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: And I think that's a tremendous benefit. You're talking about
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Dante Fowler, who on the first level, like we're going
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: through all three levels here, that secondary to Bobby to
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: now Dante, who has completely changed the pass rush game
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: from a true four down lineman standpoint. You got Frankie Louga,
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: who can you know, penetrate, You got some some dvs
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: who can rush the pastor but you got Dante Fowler
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: who has eight sacks and five games. He's he's trending,
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: he's trended upward and he's having a career year. He
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: has eight and a half sacks and it's it's still
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: seven games left. Yeah, And I think for for Dante,
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: he's been a person where you know, Washington was asking
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: the question going into the season, who on this defense
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: is a true pass rush threat, especially on the defensive ends.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: But we knew who Dante was, but we didn't expect
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Dante to take off like this. And you know, he's
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: he's doing exactly what Washington needed somebody to do on
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: the edge, and that was a step up. And I
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: think those are all the different things of the defense
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: where you look at him and you say there's three
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: different I mean even on the outside, I mean you
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: got Marshon Lattimore. Nobody knows if he's gonna play against
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Philly definitely on Thursday, that's still in the air. But
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: you got Mike Sandrstull. I'm the rookie who has been
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: holding his own outside until we found it outside cornerback,
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: which we did, and there's a matter of time that
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: he goes back into the slot. But Mike Sandristul is
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: pretty young. He's also five eighty five nine, so that
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: doesn't really bowl too well against a receiver corps like
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: Aj Brown and Davonte Smith. But at the same time,
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: like he's not scared of competition. He's a physical player,
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: he's tough, he can work in the running pass game.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: So there's so many different layers of the defense that's
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: all coming together. I didn't even mention Kwan Martin, who's
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: been stepping up as a as a as a post safety.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: So there's just so many different areas that you know,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: tells you that they're trending upwards. But there's some obvious
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: weaknesses as well. The bigger one that people love to mention.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: In recent weeks it has been Saint Juice.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: And nicely, he has been developing nicely.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: And while he's you know, played good for sixty or
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: seventy percent of the time he's on the field, like
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: those big he can't prevent from happening, whether it's at
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: penalty or a touchdown or big first down allowed. You know,
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: it just continues to haunt him.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I still like the type of corner that
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: he has. To be honest with you, I really do like.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I think he is continuing to develop since he has
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: been in the league, and it's gonna be interesting to
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: see how he matches up against aj Brown, Devonte Smith,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: you know, even even potentially Dallas Goddard as well. But again, folks,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: we're talking to Jamal Forest from the Trap or Dive
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: podcast at let mal tell it on a Twitter, slash
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: x and over on YouTube as well. Check out everything
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: they're doing with Trapper Dive podcast and Instagram as well
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: at let mal tell at Underscore great great follows. Buddy,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Let's get into some matchups here because I am so
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: intrigued as to what we are going to see with
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: regard to the Commander's offensive matchups against the Eagles defense.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: I like to ask our opposition territory guests on a
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: weekly basis, you know, what their biggest concerns are with
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: regard to offensive defensive matchups against the Eagles. So let's
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: start with the offense. Biggest concern with the Commander's offensive
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: matchups against this Eagles defense.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: Do you have any Yeah, it's gonna it's still gonna
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: be upfront. Like I mentioned, you know, I don't think
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: that Philly has a T. J. White or right or
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: uh uh uh, like a real Cam Hayward.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: I was thinking.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: I was thinking of the name Cam Hayward and and
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: and those other those other individuals. I just think, you know,
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: they're banged up upfront. Uh. Tyler Biadis is dealing with
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: three different injuries on the injury report. Yeah, he's still practicing,
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: but he's limited, but he's still He's dealing with three
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: different injuries and it's a short week. Andrew Wiley, they
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: stated that he can play. He could have played on Sunday,
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: but he held himself out. But you know, he's dealing
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: with an injury. So I'm assuming he's back, but who knows.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: I can't speak for them. I have no idea. And
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: then Cornelius Lucas, who is a swing tackle, but he started.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: He starts ahead of Trent Scott, who started at right
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: tackle for Washington on Sunday. They went through hell against
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: that Pittsburgh pass rush. Some moments they held their own,
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: but there was a good amount of times where the
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: pressure was getting back to Jaden and it was even
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: more frustrated in the run game because they weren't in
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: sync when Trent Scott was out there. And that's my
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: biggest thing, because it doesn't matter if you know, b
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Rob is back, if that offensive line isn't playing well
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: and isn't working well with one another along with the
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: inline Titans Ben Sinnet and John Bates who are also
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: active in the run game. So if the trenches aren't
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: available to Washington in terms of like being able to
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: control the line of scrimmage, yeah, it's going to be
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: another moment where you're talking about too much pressure and
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: maybe in erratic Jaden Daniels again. So, if there is
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: one thing that I'm concerned about, uh, it is the
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: offensive line and their ability to hold up against the
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: Philadelphia Eagles this particular week, this Sunday, a Sunday game.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: We may have a different opinion, but in a three
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: day turnaround, Yeah, this is this is exactly a matchup
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: where I'm like, Philly may have an advantage right now.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's do a one eighty and talk about
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: the commander's defense here, defensive matchups that you may have
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: a concern with against the Philly or against the Eagles
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: offense here. What are your thoughts here?
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Hum, well, let's see.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: You got Sakuon Barkley, you have AJ Brown pretty good,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: you got Davonte Smith.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: It's pretty good too.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like you got three options to choose from. Uh,
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if there's a wrong answer. I
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: think Yeah, I think the things that Sauon can do
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: in terms of like his ability to manipulate holes and
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: his his burst like in and out of gaps like
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: that is a game changer.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: And he can he can catch the ball just as good,
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Like you don't need him to to tote twenty five
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: times if you can get them twenty five touches and
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: they're all effective or most of them are effective.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: All fourteen times this past week against Dallas.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, Dallas sucks. I know Dallas terrible.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: I ain't about to put Saquan in no danger against Dallas,
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: but but but I just think I would go Saquan
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: for sure. I think he is the game changer ultimately.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: And while AJ Brown does deserve to respect, I think
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: it should be acknowledged that this secondary is not being
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: coached by the same regime last year.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: The secondary is also not being held back from their
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: ability to generate pressure like this. The way that this
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: coordinator schemes things up, I think it's going to be
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: able to benefit the secondary in a way in which
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: it's not going to leave your cornerbacks in DB's on
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: an island like they did a thousand times against the
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Eagles in previous years. You had to say that Aj
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: Brown and Devonte Smith may not get there is I
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: think they'll have moments, but I'm just saying it won't
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: be complete domination similar to previous years where Aj and
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: Devonte Smith took turns eating against this secondary. It's going
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: to be a little bit different. But you got to
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: be able to control and manage some way or contain
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: is the right word. Sakuon Barkley, that's the guy.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: All right, very good. Well, before I let you go, Jamal,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: two part question for you in terms of sneaky players
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: for US Eagles fans to really look out for in
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: terms of this commander's team. Let's start off with who's
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: a sneaky player we need to look out for with
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: regard to the commander's offense, what are your thoughts here.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: I'm going to say I'll give two options because I'm
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: not too sure. Austin Eckler and while that's a name
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: that people know, you know, he's, like I said, he's
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: a compliment. And assuming b Rob is back, is why
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: I think that he's a sneaky player because he's the
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: person who can really break the game Upen when b
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: Rob isn't taking the tough yards and things like that
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: outside him. Luke McCaffrey, Luke McCaffrey is a receiver who
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: has every single he's only had. He only has thirteen
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: catches on the season. But he's a person who is uh.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: He separates pretty quickly against man coverage type coverage, and
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: he finds his way open on all three levels. Uh.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: There was a couple of times against the Steelers where
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: he was a feature in the offense in terms of progression,
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: but the Steelers defense line blew up the play and
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: they couldn't they couldn't get it to to to Luke.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: And then there was one where I mentioned you know
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: earlier Jaden, you know he had uh some plays where
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: he really he was really off the mark. There was
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: one play where you know Luke would have had like
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: a seventy yard touchdown and he overthrew them. Yeah, and
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Luke was wide open. So I don't think the story
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: is over for Luke. And I think there's gonna be
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: a lot of attension on on Terry. There's gonna be
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: some attention on Zach, and I think Luke is in
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: a in a great position. Obviously, Noe Brown's gonna get
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: some attention to He's the number two, getting fifty percent
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: of the snaps, and that's where I think Luke is
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: gonna have to step up on Thursday. And he's young,
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: he got younger legs. He's gonna have to step up
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: on Thursday, and he's gonna get some opportunities to make
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: some plays. I think this is probably one of the
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: sneaky spots for him.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, what about sneaky player for us to look out
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: for on the Commander's defense? Who do you think that
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: is sneaky?
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: I might I might go with Kwan Kawan Martin.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: I would have said Frankie Louvu, but I think at
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: this point Frankie Loulus has a name for himself, so
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: so I think Kwan is a person in that secondary
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: who has played the post safety will like that single
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: high role. He has really good run support.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: He's playing.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: He's playing really fast in terms of like his play speed,
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: seeing things quickly and reacting. I think that's the person
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: where I say, if there's anything that can help in
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: that secondary against aj against DeVante, it's going to be
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: the guy Kwan. I mean, think about it. I don't
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: know if you all watched the game. I don't know
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: if you watch the game specifically Jet, but like for
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: those who are listening, Kawan Martin is like he ripped
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: the ball out of the running back I forgot his
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: name for a second, but he ripped the ball out
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: of the running backs arms. They're driving into the end
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: zones Crown twenty seven, twenty one, and he forces a
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: fumble at the two yard lines. Like that's a that's
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: a competitor and a that's making a championship level play
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: in one of the bigger spots of the season for Washington.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: And and like that's the level of competitiveness you get
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: from kwand Martin in the run game and the past game.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: He's that physical, he's that much of a dog and
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: I think that's one person where like, if you don't
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: know who kwond Martin is, he probably gonna make a
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: name for himself on Thursday.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Kwand Martin a playmaker for sure. And again, folks, Jamal
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Forrest from the Trap or Dive podcast. Check out everything
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: they're doing over there. Great great content as always, not
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: just with regard to the Washington Commanders, but great NFL
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: content as well. Jamal, Buddy Man, it's great talking to you.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for taking the time. Always love our conversations. Man,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: come back join us down the road. I'd love to
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: have you back on the show.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: My friend, Yes, sir Man appreciates you having me boch.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: in general. We thank you our listeners for being part
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: of this online community with us and within this space.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia Sportstable dot
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: com for all of our podcasts, and follow us on
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: our social sites. You can follow the show on Twitter
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: at Philadelphia PST, on threads at Philadelphia Sports Table, and
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: over on Instagram as well at Philadelphia Sports Table, Take care,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: We will catch you next time.