Grant and Danny
Blitzing The NFC East
each and every week we spin you around the division get you the latest on each team in the east. So to do that right now we begin with the Dallas Cowboys on Grant and Danny and to do a deep dive on Dallas. Kevin Aglan Midday is 105 3 the fan in Dallas joining us on our blitz of the division. The second half against the Ravens Kevin was very very different. Dallas looked like they had a chance but man did they get annihilated in the first 30 minutes. No freaking kidding. And I would actually argue it was closer to 40 to 42 minutes. But yeah, that team looked terrible. They looked terrible against the Saints. I understand why people are concerned going up against the Giants. What's going on? Why all of a sudden are they are I mean that in the world's game took me by total surprise Kevin. But why are they coming out so flat and struggled so much, especially on the defensive side of the ball? Yeah. So I think you can make an argument and look, we've talked with Jerry and Stephen about this and they feverishly disagree that I kind of wonder just a little bit if like the scheme and the game has maybe passed Mike Zimmer by like I know he's done unbelievable stuff in his football career. But you look at the last couple of years he was in charge of the defense with Minnesota. It was not good. And it feels like they're trying to fit personnel into a scheme that they're not really set up for. And it's been a disaster the first three weeks. They can't stop the run. I mean that to me is the most alarming thing. They're giving up 185 a game, 30 second of 32 teams. They're giving up 5.04 yards per play. Like that's one of those things. I don't want to pretend like that you can't fix. It's a small sample through three weeks. But it's easy to take advantage of. You just ground and pound them. If Washington was playing this week, I'd feel pretty good about the ability to just get downhill on them. I'm sure that's what the Giants will try to do a single Terry. Is there a fix there? Is that just a weird couple of week thing? Or is the personnel suggest that's going to be an all year problem? I don't think there's a quick fix because one of the people that you were hoping could contribute to that quick fix was last year's first round pick. Mazi Smith and he looked good in the fourth quarter against the Ravens. But then again, so did most of the Cowboys. But like everybody else on the team, he struggled mightily in the first three quarters. He's still really getting pushed off the ball. The Marvianne over shown who is a player that I really like. He is also an undersized linebacker so he can get pushed off the block probably easier than you would like. And so I wish I could tell you it was a quick fix. But your audience will probably be glad to know I do not believe it is. Cowboys dominated the Browns in week one 33 17. But we now know feels like a little bit more about Cleveland. They have since been walloped by the Saints 44 19 and beaten by the Ravens 28 25 in a game that for much of the day wasn't that close. As you've heard Kevin mentioned, they're at the Giants Thursday night football tomorrow. And then the Steelers and Lions after that. Oh, wow. I didn't even look at this after the by then San Francisco and Atlanta. What a brutal schedule coming up to. Yeah, I mean, look, and it's weird because I think you can make a really strong argument. Pittsburgh is easily the worst three note team in the league. And then you could make another argument that San Francisco is going to end up being significantly better than their record looks right now. But it is a tough road ahead and you're talking about the rush defense. I'll encapsulate the problems with the rush defense and offense with one specific stat. The Cowboys have run for 10 or more yards three times this season twice by CD lamb. Their opponents have run for 10 or more yards 16 times this season. So that really shows not only it's the run defense, but it's the run offense as well that is just been poor. So Kevin, you mentioned CD lamb. Overall numbers are fine. 13 catches, two or 18 yards top 10 in the league in terms of yards. And you know, they catch a touchdown. But that's not what we're used to. That dude is capable of, you know, 2000 yards this year and a hundred some odd catches. It's so it's weird to say because it's been fine, but it's kind of not what we're used to. Is it the case of people are trying to take him away? Is it a case of that guys look for him yet? Where are we at with CD lamb? I honestly think it's a case of this is kind of his training camp, which I like, I realized by now he's a veteran and you'd think you could just like plug and play, but it doesn't necessarily work like that. Like against the Saints, there is one specific play where he broke to the left when the throw was to break to the right. And you saw a wide open target headed towards the end zone, just completely missed. And CD lamb is like, look, that's on me. I should have known that. And that's another frustrating part about, you know, he was out all this time because the Cowboys like to drag their feet on contract negotiations. And you know, maybe if he was at training camp, they complete that touchdown passes. I mean, they beat the Saints, probably not. But that would have helped along the way. If they beat the Giants, it goes without saying it to and to everyone will calm down a bit. If they were to lose to New York on Thursday night with the extra time going into the weekend, like what is this story going to be in town? And are we too soon to start talking about not wanting to be Mike McCarthy? No, I don't think you're too soon. And I think it would take like an epic embarrassment for that to happen immediately, you know, like 37 to three or something like that. But I said this, I said this morning on a KNC masterpiece that it's a lot more interesting if the Cowboys lose this game than if they win. Obviously, I hope they win. But if they win, you would have beaten what looks like a terrible Cleveland team. What looks like a terrible Giants team. And then the two good teams you played, you got smoked by them. And it's just going to be kind of same old, same old. But if they lose, then the Jones family talking about what we like our personnel, we like our personnel, you're going to have to revisit that and be like, do you Kevin, the other thought on that is I don't think this division is particularly good, right? I mean, Washington has one of the worst events has ever assembled. Philadelphia is two and one, but it's not like this impossible juggernaut two and one, you know, like, they probably should have lost your Orleans here this past week. So even though, you know, Dallas may be hasn't gotten right yet, there's still a pretty good opportunity here for them to make some hay. Yeah, I mean, wouldn't you argue like, I'm not saying this will be the case for sure. But if I told you to 10 and 17 wins this division, wouldn't you be like, I could probably see that for sure. For sure. I could. And so, but I know Cowboys fans aren't known for their patience and sort of big picture view in that way. But is that something that you maybe that there's a pulse of that out there where they go, no matter what happens, you're early. This is still a wonderful division or is that not even on the radar? No, I really, I really think it is, but I think that is mistaken thinking because if you look at when this team, like if they were to lose to the Giants, they'd be one in three, like y'all said, but if you look at this team the last three years when they've been really good in the regular season, their third losses have come when they were five and three, six and three and seven and three. And so they've got way further down the road and you should actually struggle like towards the back half of the season as opposed to early in the season. This is usually when they do really well. So I think I'm actually more panicked, not about the division, but like that this is a sign of what this season is going to be. I think Thursday is going to be pretty talented. For sure. Kevin, thank you. I appreciate you, buddy. No problem, y'all. Go Cowboys, Kevin Aglin, mid days. Oh, no, five, three. That's me every time with a man in Dallas. I tried to get him cut off right before that, but I didn't have a quick enough. Talk over with the thanks, Kevin, but he still got it. Let's talk about the New Yorkers. Patricia Trina. We love having Patricia on Grant and Danny here on our blitzing of the east. Oh, he's such a good insight on the New York football giants. We were just breaking this match up down from the Dallas perspective. How about the G men? They got right. They almost beat Washington, couldn't pull it off. Then they go to Cleveland. They look better than the score. 21 15. You guys got Malik neighbors cooking Daniel Jones plan better and a chance to get back to 500. Patricia. Yeah, big game for the giants. I mean, the Cowboys are really coming off a two game losing streak at both at home, including one which they got blown out. I mean, if the Giants can't snap the Cowboys hold over them this week, I don't know when they're going to do it. So what's the feel? I come into the season Patricia just, you know, full disclosure. I thought the Giants were really going to struggle and be, you know, picking top five. And, you know, we're going to have kind of a disaster playing crash into the mountain kind of season. But I mean, the case, they easily could be two and one as Grant kind of mentioned with an opportunity here on Thursday. What's sort of the pulse among fans and people kind of covering the team? Is it better than expected? Is it about the same? Give me your thoughts there. Yeah, I think if you look at the walks Washington, if you think about it, they're really, you know, if they had a kicker, they probably win that. That's right. Yeah. So, you know, I feel that, you know, the first game, I'll admit this way, the first game that they played, the starters hadn't played in over a month because of the way Brian able to contribute the, the snap. So they look like they hadn't played in over a month. And the fact that they have gradually gotten better week by week by week is certainly encouraging the fact that, you know, they're not out of the playoff race, despite what some people would have you think this early in the season. That's been encouraging in the locker room. And here's the other thing, the guys in the locker room, they've gotten angry over, you know, what has happened to them. So, you know, sometimes when you get angry, you do want to two things. You need to throw a temper tantrum and you take your ball and you go home or you go out there and you, and you start throwing fist cuffs and, and start, you know, fighting for what's yours. And that's what the Giants have done. They have taken that fight, that fight approach and, and, you know, whatever happens happens. I want to go back to Malik neighbors because I'm obsessed with him. He has 130 catches. He's on pace for 1500, 30 yards. He was my favorite receiver coming out in this draft. I just loved watching him with Daniels at LSU. How good is he, do you think? He is something else. I, I mean, I need this comparison and I know I caught a little heat for it because it's still early, but I think he's better than Odell Betam Jr. was when he first broke onto the scene. I mean, Malik neighbors is physical. He's a physical receiver, which makes him so tough to cover. He will fight you for the ball. And I think he's also the type who was never satisfied with his performance. You know, he spoke this week to the media about his performance. And, you know, he, by all accounts, he had a great game against Cleveland, right? He wasn't happy with it. He's like, I could have made better catches. I could have done this. I could have done that. And that's what you want to see in a, in a competitor. You want to see somebody who has never satisfied, who's always working to get even better, even when that person is maybe better than 90% of his competition. How's the defense at this point? The sack totals have been pretty substantial. I would say it through it through a few weeks, but it's still tough to get a feel for how good this defense is. Yeah. I mean, the path rush finally woke up. I mean, now the critics will say, well, it was against a banged up Cleveland Browns offensive line. The Dallas Cowboys line, if I'm not, they're not quite the world beaters. They once were a few years ago, when, when nobody was getting into the backfield on them. But the big thing with the Giants defense right now is still the run defense. That needs to be cleaned up. There's too many missed tackles happening. The run fits aren't there. Guys are getting caught up in the wash. So if they can just tighten that up a little bit and play a little bit better in that regard, I think they'll have something for touchdowns without a pick for Daniel Jones. The last couple of weeks, as is generally the case, the commanders seem to have jump started, Daniel Jones, but he looked really good against the Browns, 235 and a pair through the air. It's only sacked twice. I think three sacks. The last couple games seems like they're protecting him better and he's playing better. Is the heat off of him for now? For now, I would say that the heat's been turned down to maybe a very low simmer. I mean, you're always going to have people who are going to question whether or not he's the guy moving forward, but certainly you don't hear 50 million people coming at him and saying, "Hey, you're no good." The Giants that address Cam Ward or Fedor Sanders pick your quarterback. So I think the heat is definitely turned down. I think they're competitive and they win and he's not making stupid mistakes. Like he was in the preseason and in first game against the Vikings where he just made some mistakes to just let you say, "What is he doing, man? This is year six. I think the heat will probably stay at a low simmer with him." Patricia, thank you as always. My pleasure. Talk to you soon. Hit that Eagle sounder. Ed Krast joins us to break down to those Eagles. Ed, there's some good clock management away from being three and oh, but it doesn't feel that good, huh? Well, the defense, I think you have to be encouraged by the defense. They were just dreadful at stopping the run first two games. They managed to beat the Packers despite giving up a lot of yards on the ground and they gave up a lot to the Falcons. Bijon Robinson almost had 100 on them. They could end in the world and they stopped this high-powered Saints offense averaging 45 points a game over 400 yards of offense. They do a good job. They only give up 219 yards in total offense and of course they hold them to 12 points, one touchdown. So, you know, that is something that is certainly encouraging from the Eagles standpoint. The Eagles are fascinating because they could so easily be three and oh based on how the Falcons game ended, but I could also really easily see them 0 and 3 obviously. And there was this topic I heard I tuned into Philly Sports Radio on our Odyssey app and they were arguing and the question was just like, is this team good? And they didn't know the answers. I'll ask you that question, is this Eagles team any good? Well, listen, three weeks in, if there was one word I would use to describe them, it's growing. You know, they have a whole new coaching staff on, you know, both coordinators and they were just like they were last year, they were 10 and one last year. So, you know, to face some adversity and be, you know, that the one loss and, you know, you haven't played with AJ Brown, you know, their star receiver for just that one game. They've been without him. Now they're going to be without Davante Smith on Sunday, so your two top wide receivers are out. And I think to have this kind of adversity early in the year is probably a good thing in the long run for this team because, like I said, they got the 10 and one last year overcame some stuff, you know, once in close games. But, you know, they're learning how to handle adversity and I don't think that's a bad thing. But I would say this team's growing, you know, they're very young on defense, you know, they're counting on, you know, two, you know, 22 or 23-year-old defensive tackles in Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis and, you know, they're young on the outside. They're starting a rookie cornerback, Kynya and Mitchell. So, I think they're growing and, you know, it's not going to be pretty. You know, there's going to be some moments where it doesn't look good, but I think as the season goes on, you begin to iron it out and then maybe ask me that again. And I'll let you know whether they're good or not. But right now, I think it's too early to say, yeah, they're good or not. They're good or bad. You mentioned the top two wide receivers are out. Obviously, Johan Dodson's next man up. We have some interest in him here in D.C. The Eagles traded a third round pick to Washington to get him. And it doesn't look like he's done a whole lot. Catch your there over the first few games of the season. Would he be their top option at wide receiver going into this game or is this kind of an hour never situation to get him involved? What would you say there? Well, see, again, I think like last year, they didn't have any injuries to Brown and Smith. So they never developed another option. And when Brown went out and didn't play in that playoff game, now the wheels were off the Eagle season by that point. But still, they didn't have Brown and they got tuned up and pampered in the playoff game. So I think learning to play without these guys, it's going to give dots in the opportunity. And Nick Sirianni will say, well, hey, he wasn't here the whole summer. So we're still kind of getting him up to speed. But each week, I can see his role growing and they have a rookie Johnny Wilson. But there's going to be a lot of new faces in the huddle on Sunday. That's for sure at that receiver spot. But they still have Dallas Goddard, who had a monster game, you know, the play then they couldn't guard him 10 catches 170 yards. First time in Eagle's history, a tight end did that since 1965 what Pete Rhett's left at it. And they still have to take one Barkley who's leading the league in rushing with 351 yards. And, you know, he's clearly a difference maker, you know, you could say they might be all in three. If they didn't have to take one Barkley on the steam, I mean, that's how good this guy's been. He's tied for the league lead and rushing touchdowns. He's leading the league and first down, picking up first downs and he's leading the league in rushing. So even though you don't have these receivers, you're going to, yeah, you're going to have a role for Dotson, you know, but you're still going to go to Goddard. You're still about Barkley. They just have so many weapons. And that's where I think General Manager Howie Rosen gets a lot of credit for building this team and kind of has made it foolproof against some of these questionable decisions. Nick Siriani is making whether to kick a field goal or go for it on fourth down because there is so much talent on this team. It's just a matter of kind of getting it all on the same page. You cover my what the question was about to ask about Saquan Barkley, how incredible he's been. Jalen Hertz, there's, you know, a couple turnovers here and there, but it looks better than last year, maybe not quite as good as when he was an MVP candidate. Where are we? Where is he through three weeks? Yeah, I mean, he's doing a better job. I guess the offense in general is doing a better job against picking up the blitz. It was something they struggled with last year, but Hertz is completing 71 of percent of his passes against the blitz. And now they play Tampa who really befuddled him the last few times they've played. It seems like they played Tampa every year. It's almost like they're an NFC East team, but they always be fuddled Hertz with the blitz. So we'll see if, you know, he has taken that step. And you mentioned the turnovers. They, you know, listen, the guy's been in the league now five years. He's got to eliminate some of these careless decisions and some of these late throws because he's had an interception in seven straight games. To his credit, he responds well to him and the Eagles are only three and four in those games, but it could be, you know, one in six or two and five, whatever. But, you know, you got to straighten that out. And he's, like I said, he's been in the league such a long time. Not all the interceptions are his fault. You could blame a receiver for not running the right pattern or fighting for the ball, but they go on his side of the ledger and it's something he needs to clean up. Eagles at bucks one o'clock second straight road game for the Eagles as they go into a buy on the other side of this Tampa game. Good time for that with their receiver room in shambles. Ed, we appreciate you, buddy. Thank you. Hey, my pleasure, guys. Thanks. Thanks a lot. In the fast paced world of attacking, speed is everything. And that's where the Furon 7 plus shines, engineered for accuracy and precision at a rapid pace. It's your secret weapon on the pitch, experience, overall comfort and precise striking, even in the game's fastest moments. The nylon outsole with its V-shaped stud configuration is designed for firm ground, giving you the grip you need to outmaneuver your opponents. Step up your attacking game and learn more and purchase the the fuel on at newbalance.com.