Good Omens, Jalen Carter and Commanders-Packers Preview

21:10Jourdan Rodrigue:It's interesting because before the draft and talking to a couple of different evaluators and scouts and all that, it was like very clear. It's like, if you are going to draft Tyler Warren, which a lot of teams wanted to, you are then committing to designing most of your offensive game plan to go through Tyler Warren, specifically as a mismatched player. You're not going to be asking him to do some of the traditionalist, more inline tight end stuff all the time. You're going to get him in space. You're going to get him the ball and you're going to flow and funnel that passing game through this sort of unicorn type of player.

21:43Jourdan Rodrigue:That's what Penn State did. That's how he emerged in his last season there. And that is what made him so covetable by Shane Steichen because Shane Steichen has really been wanting that player. He has had a lot of experience coaching and scheming for tight ends. This is exactly who he wanted. And he's also, I think Shane Steichen wanted to flex a little bit to your point on omens. No pun intended. He really... He's a flex player. Yeah, and he wanted to... Boo. Boo! anyone. I mean, if you're going to go root and toot and all week long, let's try and help you out. So I just think that this is like, it was him.

22:18Jourdan Rodrigue:I always love, I love what you said about play callers doing this. All of these guys do this. They basically tell you who they think they are with their opening scripts. And that's exactly what Shane did with Tyler Warren. So just to recap, literally the first play from scrimmage of the season, 14 yard pass to Tyler Warren, where he makes a defender miss and goes up the silent silence. Second completion of the season was the third pass. Tyler Warren over the middle for eight yards. Then a nice throw to Michael Pittman. Then a deep pass up the sideline to Tyler Warren for 21 yards in between the cornerback and Minka Fitzpatrick, who was in zone coverage.

22:57So that is three of your first five attempts and six plays overall that are going to this guy. and they're all at different parts of the field. I know the opposition was forgiving, I guess, on Sunday, but look, Patrick picked the Dolphins to win. I thought the Dolphins were going to win. And so I think that was a statement play-calling series and game by Tyler Warren. I am so excited to see what's next. Give me another omen.

23:28Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm going Los Angeles Chargers on this one. So there was a moment. It came at the very, very end of the game after a pretty strong Chargers performance against that Chiefs defense. When Justin Herbert keeps the ball, runs for the conversion, and then slides down. That in itself, maybe not an omen, but it's the little flourish. And you'll see it if you're watching on YouTube. As soon as he slides down, it's the little flourish where he sort of flexes one arm and he sort of points with the other. And he's got this face. See, he's sliding with a lot of flourish here with the flex. Oh, he held it.

24:02He held it for so long.

24:04Jourdan Rodrigue:And he held the pose. right? This was magazine cover style posing. Now, Justin Herbert, for people who don't, who aren't as familiar, he is a very quiet, very shy, like media shy, more introverted type of person. And in fact, you hear more from Jim Harbaugh about Justin Herbert, when you talk about gassing up your quarterbacks to an excessive level, you know, this is who you hear from most of the time talking about Justin Herbert. But I think that that in itself, not only was an omen that they're going to use him more on the ground, which he did that game. He ran a couple of times. I was at one of their training camp practices.

24:40Jourdan Rodrigue:They were installing more design runs for him. It's also, he's healthy this season versus the start of last season when he was dealing with the foot injury and they're going to use him to be a weapon in that way against defenses, but also an omen of Justin Herbert, maybe emerging into the, into the spotlight a a little bit more this season, maybe taking the mantle of being this more, maybe public facing guy who's going to put a flourish and a little edge at the end of some of these plays versus quietly, you know, kind of going a little more comfortable in his skin. Yeah. Hey, just a kid having fun out there.

25:13Justin Herbert. Like you could, I think you could see it. I think there was a looseness and a confidence in the way that he played. And you can look at the rushing totals and he had 31 yards on the game and think, Oh, that's not that crazy. That's actually one of the higher marks of his career. In a given season, he'll usually top that once or twice. But in general, the seven attempts stand out to me more. That's more, again, than almost any game that he's had as a pro. Like one or two at most each season, he runs more than that.

25:43Jourdan Rodrigue:And it wasn't all scrambling. Some of it's designed. And then also picking up a couple of crucial downs too. I mean, it was absolutely a threat. And you could tell that the Chiefs were a little bit on their back foot defending that. So I didn't mean to have a theme with mine. but I just went with rookies and specifically wanted to give some love to the Browns rookies against the Bengals. I know they lost that game and it just felt like the most Browns-y thing ever. But before the season, all we said, you know, we were focusing on the quarterbacks, but all we said was like, the only thing that matters is going to be the development of these rookies on this team this year.

26:17And their rookies were awesome in week one. And that's to me, just such an incredible own them. And I'll start with Harold Fannin, who, you know, is a great player after the catch, had a carry, played as a fullback, and him and Tyler Warren actually are now the co-leaders in the history of the NFL for receptions by a tight end in their first ever game. Like, no one's ever caught more than seven than Fannin and Tyler Warren. And the leader of that, and I guess it's becoming a trend, was Brock Bowers a year ago set the record. And watching this game and just seeing all the different ways that they used Harold Fannin was so exciting.

27:02And then looking at the box score, Dylan Sampson, I thought, played much better than the box score indicated. It was really good as a receiver, didn't have much to work with as a runner, but reminded me of like a Gio Bernard. But like right off the bat, really was up for everything, looked like he belonged. And then finally, Carson Schlesinger at inside linebacker. Like I, I know we've had a joke about Mason Graham. He just didn't really show much this game. We'll move on from, we don't know. It wasn't good. It wasn't bad. But Carson Schwestinger goes out there as a rookie linebacker and was really running things for the Browns, like run and chase and looking good.

27:37And this is a guy who was a walk-on at UCLA right off the bat. Really good signs. And that's what their, their quarterback sitting on the sideline.

27:44Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. It's interesting. A lot of people, and I think because we, a lot of us are scratching our heads over this, but a lot of people were making the headlines about the quarterbacks that they drafted, right? In Dylan Gabriel and Sanders, but very, very subtly, you know, Andrew Barry had a really, really good draft. He found multiple starters at key positions that they're going to need. And Joe Flacco spoke so glowingly of Harold Fannin Jr. all throughout training camp to the point where, you know, reports on the ground out of there early on were saying this guy is getting moved all over the formation.

28:19Jourdan Rodrigue:He's coming out of the backfield. He's in the slot. He's out wide. He's in motion. Like he's doing all of these different things as a true mismatch player who not only can change the looks, but also can change the gaps. Because if you have a player that big aligned out wide and you send him in motion to either in the stack or on the other side of the stack or even in the backfield, you're automatically changing every single gap for the defense to defend on the field. And that is insane. If you have Joe Flacco, who's like, oh, heck yeah. You know, having some fun at his old age. Plus just the mental anguish and the shame of giving up that big of a day to someone wearing the number 44.

28:56Jourdan Rodrigue:It's okay. That's a fullback number, though. Come on. I know. And I think he's wearing it for fun. I don't know. I actually believe I read that whatever he wanted was not available. And so he ended up with the 44. But they use him as a wildcat. and my favorite rep for him was as a fullback on the goal line, blowing open a hole for their rushing touchdown. Was that Samson? I forget who it was. But either way, to be able to do that, but also have great feet, great vertical ability, really pop as an athlete. His feet move so quickly. And then Schwestinger, PFF's not perfect, but he was their fifth highest rated linebacker in all of football last week.

29:37He was the highest rated player on the Browns. And he is the classic, like, see it and just trigger so quickly. Kind of like a Navarro Bowman type of player. If everything, like, went perfectly well, man, they have a lot to be excited about. So I think that's a good omen that actually the Browns are going to be more fun this year than people.

29:57Jourdan Rodrigue:And certainly more fun next year. That too. Andrew Barry might not be around to enjoy it. Yeah, I was going to say. You said he had a really good draft. I was like, we got to see it on the field, but now we have. Yeah. And I couldn't remember if I said Andrew or accidentally said Adam, which is his brother who just we just had a feature on in the athletics. So so many. Yeah. So he works for the Eagles, right? Yeah, it works for the Eagles. Yeah. OK, my third one, my omen here. And this might take a second because I want to get through the little pieces of this, Greg. But I know that you have witnessed over text me totally geeking out about this.

30:29Jourdan Rodrigue:And so I appreciate the space. Big special teams gal. Okay. The Vikings icing Monday night's win over the bears on a situational mastery moment on special teams to me is an omen for the season. First, I want to kind of narrate this clip of, of actually what happened. So there's two minutes and five seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter. Um, the Vikings are receiving the kickoff up three points. Cairo Santos bears kicker kicks a returnable ball. Ty Chandler looks the returner looks right at Kevin O 'Connell on the sideline who's waving him onward. And I love the call by the booth. They described it as a third base coach waving on the runner.

31:07Jourdan Rodrigue:And I love that. So returning this kickoff, taking it out of the end zone, burned out a natural stoppage for the two minute warning. So the Bears then had to lose their last time out that they had instead at a minute, 47 seconds left to go after the Vikings ran a play immediately on the other side of that. So if the ball would have been kicked through the back of the end zone. Ben Johnson did say after the game that this is what they had hoped would happen. There would be no runoff, right? And then they would have that two-minute warning as a natural timeout, an extra timeout, instead of having to then just burn their last one.

31:44Jourdan Rodrigue:Because obviously the Bears, who were down three points at the time, really wanted to get the ball back. And Ben Johnson estimated they would have gotten it back with about a minute left if the ball would have gone out of the back of the end zone. The other thing is they could have kicked it out of bounds If you did not, if you did not think your kicker, which bears fans were really letting me know in my mentions that they don't think Cairo Santos could kick it out of the back of the end zone from that distance. So they were saying, so you could have kicked it out of bounds at that point situationally.

32:13Jourdan Rodrigue:And all that would have happened was still no time runoff. You would have incurred an illegal penalty and a five yard penalty for that. So you would have started at the, you would have allowed the Vikings to start at the 40. Yes. There is no re-kick in that situation. Right. But Ben Johnson did not want to give up, seemingly did not want to give up the five yards and instead wanted the ball to go out of the back of the end zone. Kevin O 'Connell sees this thing floating through the air and it's going to be short. Ty Chandler stares him down as he catches it. It's just an epic moment. It's such a, it's such an epic moment of situational awareness.

32:45Jourdan Rodrigue:And the reason why I have it as an omen, Greg, is because we saw the absolute duality and range of what the JJ McCarthy experience is going to be for the Minnesota Vikings this season, where it's going to be a little bit. started out God awful and then ended really, really cool, right? They're going to experience that every single game and they're going to need every edge and every advantage that they could possibly have this year and possibly get this year, including their defense, which really showed up for them, especially in the second half because of Brian Flores and that group. And then also every tiny situational edge and advantage.

33:19Jourdan Rodrigue:And Kevin O 'Connell really, really preaches this internally has extra meetings for all of these things. And that factored in in a huge way on Monday night. I thought that was one of the plays of the game. It was great. And that was a great job narrating it. And you think back to the Kirk Cousins, you know, great year with the Vikings. And then you think about last year and then this year. And I don't think it's a mistake that they have been great in these one score games and great situationally. Now, I think it is fair to point out it was almost a bigger blunder by the Bears. in ultimately execution and not understanding that that was not an easy thing for Cairo Santos to do, then it even was like a great play by Minnesota because we were going back and forth.

34:04And I was curious. I was like, well, they must have told them it was obvious he had to take it out. And Kevin O 'Connell did confirm that, that like the yes, the special teams coach had gone over it with everyone to take it out at the time. But who was the returner again? Ty Chandler. You You know, he's not their primary returner. I mean, look at his face. Yes.

34:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, look at his face. He's not the primary returner. They have two back there, and they tried to avoid their returner who had a great night, and so they kicked it specifically trying to kick it at him and make him make a mistake. So even though they had gone over it ahead of time, he sort of panics in the moment and isn't quite sure, and a great job by O 'Connell to be like, come on out, bro. Yeah, and that's what I'm saying. It's like I don't want to really get on the Bears too much about losing the situational advantage. I do think that... Just kick it out of bounds. Peyton Manning's calling for it.

34:52Troy Aikman's calling for it. If everyone's first guessing, you can get on him. That was a huge mistake.

34:56Jourdan Rodrigue:It was a huge mistake, but it's almost like, okay, you have to, you have to understand, are you willing to like, you have to be the coach who's willing to seed five yards to make a less, ultimately a less risky play. And that's a big lesson for Ben Johnson, I think in this case, but that's what I'm saying about this on the, on the Viking side. It is a simple executionable thing, right? But if they don't do it right, then you're, you're only up three points in the Bears. defense is coming after you, you know, and it's, I just think that this was, it's the little tiny slivers of moments. That's an omen for what the Vikings will need to do to win games this year.

35:30It decides so many games in the, in the bears figure, they just got a head coach. That's going to be better at these sort of situations. But on night one with one decision, he made a mistake. And, uh, yeah, Peyton Manning on the Manning cast. I didn't see this at the time. Cause I'm prepping for our Monday night show. We're getting ready to go text for me that I missed until afterwards, but I saw him and yeah, like he, he was screaming and yelling before it even happened that you have to kick it out of bounds. You have to kick it out of bounds. Not even through the end zone, just, just make sure to do it.

36:02And they did not. And so lesson learned, but great job. And a great moment there, man, Kevin O 'Connell just seems like he would be a fun coach to play for it. And they always have great moments in the locker room. I saw this and I just figure if we're talking to O 'Connell, let's get his post-game locker room into the show.

36:18Jourdan Rodrigue:None of this happens. This feeling that we have right now does not happen without one other guy. All right? Did not go the way any of us wanted. This guy, all right, I could tell from the jump, he was poised. He was poised. But this guy didn't quit me, and you always thought he would figure it out. Two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown all in the second half.

36:48Enter J.J. McCarthy losing his ever-loving mind. And everyone just so fired up about it. I like it, though, because Kevin O 'Connell is so long-winded and game recognizes game. It took him like four minutes to even get to the big J.J. McCarthy finish. But you could tell he was saving it all up for J.J. McCarthy last. And you did see the true enjoyment of all the teammates happy for J.J. in that moment.

37:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it was cool. And Kevin was like living and dying with every single play that was happening. And you could see after JJ McCarthy ran in that touchdown, Kevin O 'Connell, I thought a vein in his neck was going to burst. They zoomed in on him, celebrating on the sideline as if he had been the one to run in the touchdown. It's like former quarterback trying to be the guy for this young quarterback that Kevin never had. He's been open about that. And I just think, man, we ran through the range of emotions for each team throughout that game. That was a classic in my mind. He's had so many quarterbacks, but this is the first one that's like, that's his.

37:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. That's his long term. Oh, that's kind of nice. And there can only be like one first game, you know? And so I think you're absolutely right. It was a little extra. And he's all about the quarterbacks and fixing the mistakes that he must believe that the Patriots and Jets made back in the day with him. when they had total lack of faith in him and they cut him pretty quickly after making him a third round pick behind Tom Brady and Matt Castle. I mean, that was a tough situation. Let's wrap up very quickly with one that we went and checked back in the Omen Committee, decided actually bad omens can happen all the way back in training camp.

38:33It was some sound from Mike McDaniel that was really capped off during week one, but this is back in training camp. Let's listen. Good morning.

38:42Jourdan Rodrigue:False. Great morning. Let's go.

38:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Because we're another day closer to death.

38:53I don't know why that would make it a great morning. Mike McDaniel being one closer to death, unless you're like really into the afterlife. Maybe he's a man of faith. That's possible. But yeah, that seemed to bounce around your head when we were thinking about this week one and what could be kind of a season-long death of the 2025 Miami Dolphins from a football side of it. I think it's that first drive. I think it was the fourth play of the game or so. Tua Tungavailoa throws an interception over Tyreek Hill's head and their miscommunication. This was nothing more than just missing a pass that Tua just sailed into the waiting arms of a Colts defender and it just, it just felt like a bad moment.

39:41I mean, it was a great interception celebration. So I enjoyed that by Cam Bynum, but yes, that was a silver line. It was just like, it feels like this whole off season has been a bad omen for the dolphins.

39:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And omen of your Anna Ruma sans to that you've been talking up. Um, but I would say, um, that that clip has stuck in my head because I do know Mike McDaniel to be sort of a dark humor kind of guy, a sarcastic guy, a dry humor, like sort of one liner guy as well. But in that one, he did not look like he was having any fun with it at all. And a little bit, a little, it just has stuck in my head and I'm like, Oh man. But why would that be a good day? I, you know, I know it's been a, well, it's like a nihilistic sort of sense of humor, except it's just like, Ooh, but also you might have a year.

40:32We will be released from all this pain. that I'm in now before I'm just back to like calling plays for the 2026 Green Bay Packers or something.

40:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Someone, my colleague at the Athletic Ted Wynn goes, wait, hear me out. 2026 Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. I was like, oh. Everyone, you know, is going to have their Dolphins jokes. And to start the game that way for Xavier Howard to be in the mix on a lot of these plays and say he gave some help knowing their playbook, the former Dolphin. It just... It's what you just don't want out of week one, which is all the negativity that they've had around them the whole offseason within literally a fraction of plays. We talked about the first drive by Tyler Warren and like a new day starting within Indianapolis.

41:23And the total opposite was happening on the other side, which is like, wait, this is like last year, but totally even worse. Maybe they turn around in week two and we're wrong. and that it's not a bad omen. Omen season is now officially over.

41:37Jourdan Rodrigue:Man, what a ride it was. It was. It was great. I want to take a quick break. I do want to tell everyone listening, you know, you'll hear some ads. We'll pay the bills. But right on the other side of the break, you do not want to miss what Patrick Claiborne has cooking for us. I don't know what it is exactly, but he sent in a two minute long voice memo that I'm just ready for. So that's going to come up right after the break.

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43:18Jourdan Rodrigue:A new NFL season means a new chance to see promos for a new run of episodic crime dramas. Do we think today's NFL Daily crew can spot the real among the fake? Let's give them some options. Number one, Crime Line. Features Gerald Hickson, a sarcastic detective with a keen eye for details, navigating the organized crime scene near the port of Seattle, Washington, all while continuing a decades-old search for a sister that went missing in his childhood. Number two, 10-4. Features 911 operator and beleaguered former officer Shaw Johnson, who, despite efforts to clear his own name, elects to take matters into his own hands to provide victims with their chance at his own brand of justice.

44:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Number three, Sheriff Country, features Mickey Fox, a straight-shooting sheriff in the small rural town of Edgewater, California. She must balance the demands of law enforcement with the complexities of motherhood, community politics, and a past that won't stay buried. Number four, FBI New Origins. From award winner Dick Wolf and the team behind FBI and Law & Order, FBI New Origins is a high-stakes drama focusing on the trainees at Quantico who are thrust into service after a sleeper cell is revealed to be operating within the United States government. Those are your options. One of them is real.

44:41Which one is it, Greg? Which one? My favorite thing about this is he wanted to just play this game off-air the other day and we didn't have time and that he got to use his great voiceover skills. This is amazing. It is one of my favorite parts of the new NFL season, seeing what the new shows are on CBS and Fox and not quite believing them. Okay, I'm going to do the process of elimination. You can try to assist me here however you want. Or you can just completely disagree. FBI New Origins with the Quantico Supercell. That had a little Claiborne flair to it. So I'm eliminating that one.

45:22Jourdan Rodrigue:Okay, so because of your knowledge of Patrick. It almost felt, yeah, that one felt a little too tongue-in-cheek for me. So I'm going to eliminate that one. That leaves us with three. And honestly, they all work equally to me. There is something about share of country. That just hits a lot of demographics, Greg. A female sheriff balancing work, being a mom and a past that won't stay buried. I can just I can just feel that in the pitch meeting. The 911 operator going vigilantes is insane, but just insane that it might be real. It's just like one shots of him driving a van around everywhere. For some reason, it was the name in Crime Line, which he decided to use Gerald Hickson, which I didn't buy.

46:12We're going to go Gerald Hickson. I don't think so. the detective looking for his sister, among other things. I am going Sheriff Country. You guess and then I'll guess.

46:20Jourdan Rodrigue:So you're guessing Sheriff Country. I'm going Sheriff Country. I'm going to go FBI New Origins. Oh my, that's insane. Do you know the answer? No, I don't know the answer. There's no way FBI New Origins is the answer. I don't know who is on a microphone back there. Maybe it's Quab, maybe it's Eric. Please tell us, what is the answer? So we're going to go with Greg's guess because Claiborne sent me two separate audio files, a right answer and a wrong answer. So we'll go with, we might just play both just so we can hear more Patrick. So we'll go with Sheriff Country. Yes. Greg's answer. And this, here you go.

46:52Jourdan Rodrigue:Great job team. You're a crack team of investigators who not only pay attention to the game on the field, but the promotional materials that make football so much fun. Let's go. If you see something, watch something. See you on Wednesday. And then of course, I mean, again, just to get some more Patrick Claiborne on the show, here's the wrong file. Oh no, unfortunately, Only that answer is incorrect. It's important to remember that despite the fast paced action of NFL football, as well as the demands of facilitating one of the top football podcasts on the planet, we still need to pay attention to the promotional materials to make football so much fun.

47:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Remember, if you see something, watch something. See you on Wednesday. I love you, Patrick. You're a beauty. And I got to say, after getting just wiped out in my picks against Cynthia on this show, against you, Patrick, on Game Debut, it all doesn't matter because I nailed this. I feel so good about myself after getting Sheriff Country. I had no previous knowledge. Sheriff Country, like the internal struggle of what is it? Law, motherhood and a past that won't stay buried. You thought you thought you could get me, Patrick. that makes me happier than almost anything that's happened to me today.

48:11So that says a lot about me. Thanks, Greg. Let's talk about Thursday Night Football. What a week two Thursday Night Football game. Technically the first Thursday Night Football game because the first game is counted as a kickoff and they let NBC do it because it's part of the television package. So it's not the first Thursday Night Football game. And I think that's why they gave maybe the best, certainly one of the best games on the TNF schedule, Two prime video right here. Commanders at Packers. The Packers are favored by three and a half. And we will have Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreet on the call.

48:49Man, just start anywhere, but two of the most dominant teams in week one. I was just curious. I know DVOA means absolutely almost nothing after week one, but I was like, I bet there'll be two of the higher rank teams. They got to be. And they were. They were number one and number three. The commanders were tops and the Packers were number three. I was surprised the commanders were so good. And then I realized like that offense was incredibly efficient last week and the defense did whatever they wanted.

49:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, it was incredibly efficient. They were a little loose at times. I'm really curious to see what this is going to look like against this Jeff Halfley Green Bay Packers defense that looked really, really good against the Detroit Lions to open the season this past week. Like, you know, Jaden Daniels, I have no doubt that this is just week one getting, you know, getting to the line of scrimmage, getting the, you know, all the timing, right? A couple of penalties, a couple overthrows, especially, you know, he and Terry McLaurin are still kind of getting their feet under them as a connection, you know, after Terry missed so much of training camp.

49:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Debo Samuel was used a lot, but this offense at times just looked a little bit. And yeah, Giants defense, defensive front was stout and all of that, but just looked a little bit just loose. And I don't expect we'll see that moving forward. I think this is when they really start to turn it on. This is when you start to see the commanders as the commanders that we know them to be. But I am very curious to see what the strategy and what the plan is going to be for this Packers defense now featuring Micah Parsons. I don't know if you guys have heard the name recently. Right. I mean, it's a great test for the commanders.

50:23but I, you know, watching that game back, I thought the Giants line played really well. They did. And that just, to me, gives great credit to the commanders who ultimately, like, were one of the most efficient running teams in the NFL. They had a million penalties and that's...

50:39Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Just a little loose at times. But on a per play basis, they just kept getting out of, you know, problematic situations. And Laramie Tunsil was awesome in that game. He really did a good job. Like, it's the reason you sign him. Josh Connerly, I thought, was solid. I actually thought he competed really well, like, in tough matchups. Like, you're going against Dexter Lawrence. For the most part, they ran the ball. Like, they ended up with over 200 rushing yards. Like, what more do you want there? And then for the most part, I thought Jaden Daniels was protected well.

51:11Like, the couple times that he got sacked, it felt like it was a little bit more of him, like, being too far back in the pocket and holding onto the ball. And he said that after the game. He said two of the three sacks were on me.

51:22Jourdan Rodrigue:And some of that's Brian Burns. They were sort of in this like one-on-one battle at certain times during the, you know, during a couple of these quarters where Brian Burns would get to him and then Jaden Daniels would flush out and then run by Brian Burns. And at one point he stared him down as he was running by him after Brian Burns had gotten two sacks on him. And so I just think that this is like, you know, that was week one. It was sort of a flush out. Yes. This is when we're going to actually see the full powers of the commanders. Because like I said, again, Terry McClure was not super involved.

51:51Jourdan Rodrigue:He will be moving forward. Debo, the plan for Debo, I think stays like this was a really solid, versatile, multiple plan for him. And then their run game looked great. Bill, who was getting like Bill Nye, the science guy chance you could hear over the broadcast, um, you know, and has like massive media scrums around his locker every day because the, the legend of Bill grows. Um, it's just, it's, it's a fun group. They're still doing everything that they did last year with the tight ends, um, Zach Ertz and John Bates being the red zone threat, John Bates being that sort of backside blocker and the run blocker that they need.

52:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Um, you know, Greg, I actually also think though, so I thought Jordan Love played amazing. I thought he had an incredible game, um, for the Packers against Detroit. And I, I am really interested to see what the commander's defense looks like against a competent offense because the commander's defense looked really improved in every phase. Linebackers were already good, but in every phase up front, they look bigger. They were stopping the run. Well, giants could not move the ball at all. All, all, um, pressure points of Russell Wilson's pocket were being affected, whether it was the interior or the exterior, they couldn't do anything.

53:01Jourdan Rodrigue:And yes, that's part of it. They were missing Andrew Thomas and it's the giants and they, they, they just are struggling to be cohesive on offense. That's part of it. But this commander's defense, like legitimately and truly looked like an improved group. I totally agree. And I think that is the bigger test. Like, is the Washington defense that improved or was it just about the opposition? Because they just could not have had a better week one in terms of their offseason moves, which I question. Like, Javon Kinlaw had one of the best games, I think, of his entire career. Marshawn Lattimore, you know, he's going up against Malik Nabors for a lot of that game.

53:32He had a couple penalties, but he looked faster. He looked healthier. They've been talking about Jeremy Reeves, who's always been this great special teamer, now actually playing at safety. And you mentioned, like, the pass rush as a group, I think was effective overall. But now they're going up against a Packers offensive line, which normally is great. But Zach Tom got hurt in that game. Aaron Banks, their big free agent signing, got hurt in that game. When Tom was knocked out, they actually brought in Darian Kennard, who they just signed or just traded for, rather, from Philadelphia instead of one of their young players, Anthony Belton, who got a couple snaps.

54:07But basically, you know, if you're counting on potentially two backups there for the Packers starting. That's at least on the table against this improved group. Von Miller was really the only one who was pretty quiet, but I think you made a great point that as a group, they really worked well and looked disciplined. And I think it's going to be a really big test because we just saw Dan Quinn coach up one of the most consistent defenses in the league three straight years before coaching up one of the worst defenses in the league last year. So there is a lot of reason to believe that with this talent that they could be a lot better this year.

54:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it looked like a part to hold defense. Like last year, I think where we got really excited, and I think rightfully so, is with a play of Bobby Wagner and Frankie Louvoo. Those guys popped and they had to be by nature of how the defense was, but also they were all over the field and they really flashed. And Frankie Louvoo was getting sent on every kind of pressure you could ever imagine and having to cover. And Bobby Wagner was getting sent on pressure and having to help stop the run because they couldn't do it up front. And so, but this, this looks more like, like a functional full picture of what it's supposed to look like when it's not necessarily like you have one position group that has to do everything.

55:19Jourdan Rodrigue:It's everybody has to do a piece of something. That's what this group looked way more like. And yes, again, caveat week one caveat giants offense, but in terms of being where they needed to be being, um, you know, rushing as, as one group rushing as a part to whole, like I said, and playing the run as a part to hole. To me, it looked really positive. Yeah. And obviously this will be a much bigger challenge. And you mentioned Jordan Love. And to me, we're kind of seeing the old Jordan Love in that game. And by old, I mean, like when he first came into the league. He wants back on quarterback island.

55:49Yeah. Where it's just a lot of great throws. That first touchdown to Tucker Kraft. There was such a little window there.

55:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, such a good throw. The bomb to Romeo Dobbs that Dobbs dropped. but it was an unreal throw that the the bomb to Jaden Reed was all fantastic but ultimately like he didn't throw the ball that much and he did almost gift wrap an interception on a play where he freaked out a little bit to Alex Anzalone and held on to the ball and he did literally throw a pick six which was a great play by Brian Branch and it was called back by penalty but the penalty had nothing to do with the play and so it's something I've tracked with him on PFF especially Like when he first came in the league, he had the highest percentage of big time throws, the highest percentage of turnover worthy plays.

56:36I thought last year he really reigned both back in where we didn't see as many high highs or as many low lows. And this game was kind of back to being like gunslinger love. And it'd be interesting to see that against this, I think improved commander's defense with Amos and Igbenogany was making plays. Like there's a lot of good players. If you just add them up, they just didn't play well together last year.

56:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Tom Brady, who could not say Igbenogany's last name. to save his life. But this is going to be interesting because I have to think that we see flashes of this, obviously, and we certainly saw it last year, too. But I think Matt LaFleur gets the tight ends a lot more involved with the linebackers in conflict. And I think you see more Matthew Gold in this game, too. And some of those gadget types of things that really, again, stress the second layer. The best players on the field still are those linebackers for the commanders. And so to put the guys who they're so, you know, basically controlling traffic at any given point, to put them in conflict with a lot of motions, a lot of using different players out of their traditional position, putting them in sort of these hybrid roles.

57:37Jourdan Rodrigue:I think we're going to see a little bit more of that and we'll see how it goes. And on the other side, Jeff Halfley is starting to cook a little bit, I think. Well, he's got Edren Cooper. I want you to talk about him in a second, but it's really interesting because I think people looked at that first Jaden Daniels game and thought he was like a little off, like missed a few throws by a little bit. He did miss two touchdowns. I'm not, I'm the biggest Jaden Daniels fan there is. He missed two, what would have been touchdowns that he's going to hit at any other point in the season. Right. And, and one of them is Terry McLaurin.

58:09And like, he missed those throws, but I thought it was a good game from Jaden Daniels because I think you could already start to see, which is crazy, the year one to two growth. The game just seems so slow for him. Our friend Ollie Connelly was pointing out about like hunting matchups. And I really see it in the Lamar. And Lamar is the right comp for him, ultimately, in terms of like the way they're running their offense and the way the run, I think, sets up the rest of the running game and the way the run sets up the pass. But when he is moving around, scrambling, trying to manipulate the defense to open up holes, the game is so slow for him.

58:42And he just seems so mature beyond his years that that's really exciting. And that's the type of thing Jeff Halfley can't really plan for. No one can. And that beats like good plans.

58:54Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And it's going to be really interesting because you do have, obviously there's Mike Parsons who we expect his, his workload to increase a little bit. Dan Quinn says his plan would be if he were coaching Mike Parsons to rest him, to sit him. So obviously a little, you know, mind game, mind warfare there shooting across the, across the country there. But I think that it's funny because like Jaden Daniels has no fear. I think Micah Parsons is going, is a player, obviously you circle on the defensive plan, but like he has no fear. I want people to go back and watch that play again where he races Brian Burns around to the edge and then runs by him.

59:29Jourdan Rodrigue:He's staring him in the eyes. It was so veteran quarterback. I'm not afraid of you even though you just took me down twice. It was such a cool play. You have guys like Micah Parsons. You have Edren Cooper who is one of the best young players on that defense. In fact, Micah Parsons was telling the reporters in Green Bay that he drafted him in his IDP Fantasy League. Whoa. Yeah. My colleague Matt Schneidman captured some great sound and some great comments from Micah Parsons today because he said he, Edgman Cooper scored 36 points for him in IDP Fantasy because Micah Parsons like couldn't draft himself.

1:00:12Jourdan Rodrigue:So he's like looking for a player to draft and picks up Cooper. And it's true. I mean, he's one of the bright young players on this defense. He's an outstanding player. You watch him. There's a play this last game where he sheds, he reads and sheds emotion like so perfectly to where he's helping force a play wide. They wanted to cut up field at a certain point and he helps force the entire play wide and it's all read and react and like shedding unnecessary, like garbage shoot stuff that he doesn't, that's trying to throw him off his timing and still making the play. Like it's, he it's incredible.

1:00:44Jourdan Rodrigue:It's going to be so fun watching those two guys play together. And how they help, you know, the people around them. I think they can leave Quay Walker in a more just like point and shoot type of role instead of asking him to do too much because Edron Cooper is now doing more. That now Lucas Van Ness is finally rushing more from the interior, which makes more sense in part because Parsons is there. It is all like really setting up. I think the matchup in the slot, if there's one guy to pick on with the Packers, it's probably their slot defender, Javon Bullard. And so that's the matchup with Debo, who played a lot in the slot, or Zach Ertz, who still is getting it done.

1:01:18And man, Debo's first week just made that look like, wow, as long as he stays healthy, which is a big if, the way they used him on the deep overs and in real ways that... You got to end around... I think they kind of said stop doing in San Francisco a little bit. They had stopped having him be a real wide receiver and they used him both ways. I think Cliff had a couple special running plays with Daniels and Debo in the red zone that were exciting. This is going to be an awesome game. Three and a half points. You picked Thursday night or Friday night rather really well last week. You picked the Chargers to upset the Chiefs.

1:01:55So who do you got this time?

1:01:56Jourdan Rodrigue:I got the Packers this time. I do as well. Although I would, you know, if I was into that sort of thing, and I can't be because I work for the NFL, I would what I call thread the needle, which is I would still take the commander. Three and a half points at this point in the season where I think these are two good teams and we don't know that much about either one of them. I would just take free points and I would take the free points, but I would take the Packers to win. Fun. See you next Tuesday show. I know. The trick is, though, I won't see you next Tuesday. I'll see you tomorrow, Wednesday.

1:02:26And then I'll see you Sunday. And just a little.

1:02:30Jourdan Rodrigue:You haven't gotten sick of me yet, Greg? Just a little. Not at all. The show is just peaking because we have Jordan Rodriguez and her Harold Fannin season, you know. Good omen for this podcast. She's just dominating in a variety of roles. Just something to keep an eye on tomorrow. We love the preview show, our favorite show of the week, at least for me. And we wanted to expand it really and be able to talk about every team even more. So you'll see that in your feed tomorrow in a couple shows. But you will get every single team covered, every single game and even more preview action. So we are really excited about that.

1:03:09And you can also check us out, of course, on YouTube and the NFL channel. Fast channel. Free over whatever it is. Television. That's it. I need to go to sleep. No, we need to get ready for the preview show.

1:03:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Omen season is over. Omen season is over. But football is back. I was going to stop saying that. You set me up. But it's back.

1:03:35Jourdan Rodrigue:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human