Grant and Danny

Beltway Blitz, Commanders Win OR Lose If This Happens, What If We Start Off 1-0

9.6.24 Hour 3

1:00- Hokies-Bill Roth, Nats- Dave Jageler, NFL- Zach Krueger, Commanders- Michael Phillips

22:15- The Washington Commanders will beat, or lose, to the Bucs if this happens.

32:50- Let's say the Commanders win Sunday... What will fans be saying?

Broadcast on:: 06 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

Hey Mike Villeini here, host of Cash The Ticket alongside my partner Jim Costa. It's really simple. Are you tired of podcast claiming there are a bunch of pro bettors when they live in their mommy's basement? Are you tired of podcast that claim they hit 80% of the games? When really, they just lose like most of us. Think Cash The Ticket's the spot for you. We're real, we're transparent, we're having a hell of a good time with it. And we sit there and we're there for the sweat with you guys. We're just trying to figure it out just like you. Follow and listen to Cash The Ticket on the free Odyssey app or wherever. You get your podcasts. [MUSIC] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too, with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. As the exclusive sponsor of our show, the law firm Condorian Murad will guide you and your family in the right direction, help you to draft a will, set up a trust or create a healthcare power of attorney. Schedule a free consultation with our guys, Condorian Murad. And they're a state planning attorneys at kmloyers.com. Be sure to tell them GND sent you to get a discount, kmloyers.com. We've got a jam-packed Beltway Blitz. It's going to move. We're talking college football, the nationals, the NFL and the commanders all jammed into one segment. So let's get it started right now on the gridiron. The voice of the Virginia Tech Oakies is our buddy Bill Roth. And I got to say, Bill, man was I bummed. This past weekend, I had him at five and O to start the season. I was one of these people sipping the Kool-Aid thinking playoffs and I guess with the new format, nothing's done just yet, but that was a brutal loss at Vanderbilt in overtime 34, 27. They just couldn't make any stops as that game went on. No, you know, it was really interesting that the Kool-Aid turned into a big Gulf of sour milk for all of us. But tomorrow it's Marshall and hopefully we've got a sellout crowd here at Lane State, even Blacksburg and we're looking forward to the game and see what they can do and bounce back. And they got to get off to a good start. You know, they were down 17, nothing at Vanderbilt. They really dominated the third quarter. They went ahead in the game 27 to 20, but then they couldn't get stops at the end. And disappointing loss, very frustrating for the players. They've got some injuries, but hopefully they'll be able to bounce back tomorrow. And they've got four non-conference games to start the season and they need, man, they need to bounce back tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, preview this one for us against Marshall's in the comes in 1-0. Marshall's got a new offense. We don't even know who their quarterback is. They're playing an air raid offense. They had three QBs last week, each of them through a touchdown pass. But I think for Tech, I visited with Coach Pry about an hour and a half ago in his office. He says, "We just got to get off to a good start." They talked about that a lot this week. Come out, throw the first punch, be ready to go from the beginning of the game. And I think that's going to be the key to Virginia Tech. Maybe not only just tomorrow, guys, but the rest of the season. They've got to get over this slow start thing. It bugged them a bit last year. They need to get off to a good start tomorrow. They're the better team. They want a three touchdown favor. They've just got to play like it. It's so hard as a fan, you know, as I was saying, to kind of move on. But to your point, it's a game, right? They've got a schedule ahead now with Marshall, old Dominion Rutgers before they play Miami. Now, they've got a chance to put some hay in the barn here. Talk big picture, if you would, just about what lies ahead. And the fact that because of the new format, they still have plenty of time here to get this thing back on track. You know, the ACC is going to get a team in the playoff. And here we are a couple of weeks in. I'm not sure who the best team in our league is. I mean, Florida State was the preseason pick to win the league. Now they're 0 and 2. Both are in conference losses. Clemson was picked second. They are 0 and 1. And so the league is certainly wide open. If you asked me today, what's the best team in the ACC football wise? I don't know. It might be Georgia Tech. And it may be Clemson by the end of the season. I don't, but right now, I think the jury is still out on our league and it wouldn't surprise me at the end of the year. There's more than one ACC team in the playoffs. So I think the Hokies, they can't be thinking about that yet. They need to get their ship right. They need a better performance from Kyron drones at quarterback who last week he did throw for a career high 320 something yards passing, but all of it in the second half. I think they've got to be good early and drones is kind of the key, you know, like any team, it's how your quarterback plays. He needs to be efficient. He needs to make the right reads. He had an interception and two near picks in the first half last week. He needs to be sharp against Marshall on this field here tomorrow. So Bill, quick one, it seems like not quite to the NFL levels, but week one was a little bit, I don't want to say flooky, but a little bit odd kind of around the country, right? I'm wondering with, if it's got to do with transfer portal and a lot of rosters turning over and things been a little bit different, maybe than they have been before, do you feel like that may be contributed to, I don't want to say Virginia Tech not being ready to play out the gate, but maybe that sort of played into that slow start a little bit. You know, it's really interesting. It's a great question because, you know, you've got Duke's quarterback starting for Notre Dame against Duke's former coach now at Texas A&M. I mean, you really do need a roster and, you know, the whole Riley Leonard for the Irish against his former coach now in college station, Texas was one of the real unique storylines of the opening week, LSU is 0-1, Florida State is 0-2, so yeah, it is kind of like the NFL. You just don't want to be, if you're the Hokies, you know, you don't want to be, I don't know, the Cincinnati Bengals that go 1-3 every year before they rip off nine wins in a row. You know, the season isn't that long. We don't have 17 games. I think that who can get this thing figured out with whatever coach you are, you all have transfer portal guys on your team, and so how you figure this thing out in September is really, really critical. Bill, the broadcast is always fantastic. We'll be checking out right here on 1-0-6-7 the fan and on the network. We'll eat 2-30 pregame tomorrow, correct? 2-30 pregame. We're getting set to go at 4-30. You know what I'm most excited about? This is the 25th anniversary of Virginia Tech's undefeated season, 1999. All those dudes are back. Michael Vick. We're all going to dinner tonight here in Blacksburg. It's going to be so fun. You know who our scoreboard anchor was in 1999, guys? Who's that? Dave Jaggler. No way. We're going to hear from Jags, right? We are right now, actually. You can ask him about that. 1999. Jags, everyone gives Vic credit. It was really Jags. Jags, is this true? I'm going to bring you on before you're actually supposed to come out of the curtain. Is this true? Bill has got his years wrong. I was there in 1993. I was in Boston in 1999, so you're giving me improper credit. I was actually in Morgantown, West Virginia for their undefeated season, when they went to the Sugar Bowl. I was in Morgantown for their undefeated season, but I watched from afar and admired your calls of the Hokies undefeated season in Canada. I remember. I remember. I remember. I honestly grant. I texted Bill because I'm trying to go, you know, I've got a game to prepare for and I'm listening to him just throwing on about the Hokies. I'm trying to get on and get out with my life. Bill is one of my good friends and he was very instrumental early in my career, working with him on the Hokie Network, also worked in Morgantown. He helped get me a job in Charlotte, which launched my career, so I'm forever indebted to Bill. So I will wait on hold for 20 minutes if I have to listen to Bill talk. I had no idea, by the way, that you guys had a, honestly, like these are two of my all time favorite play-by-play guys. I'm marking out. This is like the Avengers. It's the Syracuse connection. How about that? Bill, you and Dave go back. I had no idea. We go way back and we tie together. You know, Zach Bricksy made his big league debut for the Nats this week. He's a Hokie. We're excited about Zach. I hope, you know, everybody in Virginia in the Hokie nation is pulling for Zach in the Nats. We appreciate you, Bill. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, buddy. And let's get this thing back on track tomorrow. Sounds good. Thanks, guys. Good luck, Jags. All right. See you, Bill. All right. Now let's talk baseball with the Jaggler and the Nationals and let's start with Zach Bricksy, who's my guy who was dominant in the minor leagues at a really bad debut, but bounced back in his second outing and got back on track. Jags, what have you made of him so far? I think there's a chance he ends up helping them for a long time in the pen. Well, yeah. I mean, he's going to get some, you know, middle to low leverage appearances now just to get his feet wet. I mean, that this is really rehab year. I mean, he missed all of last year with Tommy John Sergers for him to be in the big leagues is a tremendous win for the organization starting the year in the complex league. And, you know, he was, he was really a long shot. I mean, Charlie interviewed him for the pregame show the other day, you know, he was not highly recruited out of high school. He ends up at Virginia Tech and, you know, that's the COVID year. So he's not drafted. So you're not really highly recruited. You're not drafted. And so, you know, he was just so excited to be in the big leagues. I think you kind of have to throw out the first appearance, you know, some jitters and the bright lights and all that. And so, you know, he was very good last night. He had a scoreless inning and kind of a mop up situation. So hopefully he'll just, he'll finish the year healthy. That's his goal. And then you go into spring training off a full healthy season, you know, competing for a spot, you know, mid to high leverage. Next season. Jax, Jake Irvin, I'm bummed that he's had a couple of these huge crooked numbers in recent starts. It's kind of putting up a cloud over what I think is still a really successful and really excellent year. The overall numbers are going to look that way, maybe unless he, you know, kind of writes the ship over his last few starts. But what have you seen? They just kind of give me your thoughts on Irvin. Yeah. But yeah, I'm worried maybe that he's kind of fatiguing at this point. I mean, you know, he is, he has been top five in the league and innings pitched in the national league, at least here for the most, most of the season. So he's had a workload that he's never been before. So, you know, they're going to have to have him finish the season on his feet. And if the numbers are spoiled a little bit, so be it. But I'll take this to the bank, Danny. You look at the seven runs he gave up against the Cubs in the second and the other day and the five innings that he gave up in the second and last night. But how did he finish those out? I mean, here's, you know, normally you get it, you know, he threw 46 pitches in one inning last night in the second and he was able to pitch three more innings, you know, giving up one run where there was an error involved. He retired the final eight batters that he faced at the game on Sunday, he gives up a touchdown yet he gets eight more outs after that. So he, even when things go poorly, there's still something positive you can hang your hat on. So, you know, hopefully he'll, he'll take this whole six month season as a learning experience. He trains maniacally between starts, so he'll have to make that adjustment to, to not maybe you know, run out of steam in September to get to the finish line, you know, to the end of September and hopefully someday into October. So even when things don't go well, there's still something at the end of the day. They're like, man, he, he did this well. And that's happened in the last two games, even though it's really hurt as a RA. Dave's got pregame with Charlie at six 10 about two hours from now. And then first pitch tonight from Pittsburgh at beautiful PNC Park at six 40. Hey, before we let you go really quick, Dylan Cruz is cooled off, expected after he got off to the hot start with a couple homers in his first four games. What have you made of him overall so far? Yeah, I think right now, struggling to catch up to the, to the fastball a little bit, but you know, still giving you some decent at bats. I mean, he drew a walk last night through two walks the night before. So, you know, it's not like he's totally overmatched. You know, I think last night he'll be frustrated about the ball that he dropped in the gap and right center would have been a nice running catch, the ball hit off the heel of his glove really hurt Jake Irvin in that five run inning and speaking of the pregame show on Dylan Cruz, we've got a special treat tonight. Paul Skeens did a media availability. So we got to ask him a bunch of questions about, you know, Dylan Cruz and not facing Cruz and Dylan taking him deep when, when the schemes was at Air Force. So kind of a special, something a little different on our pregame show tonight to hear from the other side. You know, obviously Paul Skeens could have been a national if, you know, if the pirates had taken Cruz or if the NASA had the number one pick. So that will hopefully be enjoyable for folks tonight. Jags, thank you so much. We'd have a great call. All right. See you boys. Hit that NFL sounder, please, Dares. Our buddy, Zach Krueger joins us to break down week one of the National Football League. Zach, first, what'd you make of last night, that game and those two teams? What's up, guys? Long time, though. See, happy to be on the opening game, but I think everything we kind of hope for is football fans. You had two offenses, both, you know, making the way down the field, the star quarterback between the homes and Lamar kind of, you know, did what we expect to see out of them right out of the gate. I thought for everything Lamar dealt with from just an offensive line perspective and really conservative play calling, I thought I did a nice job of overcoming some of those things even just to keep the game close. Late in that one, obviously the out of bounds past Isaiah likely was an unfortunate turnout, but it was an exciting first start. I'm really looking forward to the start of the season, obviously, and I'm happy to be on here and chop it up with you guys a little bit. So let's go around the horn on some injuries that I know you're tracking from what you do normally on the fantasy side of things. Colts Texans, no Josh Downs is going to be out with an ankle. What else are you monitoring on an injury front? Yeah. So for Josh Downs, he's officially been rolled out for the Colts. The guy I'm monitoring in that game just to see how the Colts are going to look to replace him is rookie Adonai Mitchell. He's the second round receiver out of Texas. He totaled 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns. Last year, he has four, three, four speed. It was reported after down suffered the injury in camp that Mitchell was possibly going to work out the slot. In his final preseason game, he ran 12 out of 15 routes from the slot for PFF. So Mitchell is a guy. I'm kind of looking to see how they're going to work him into the passing game. Obviously, we know what Michael Pittman Jr. can provide, but there's going to be, have to be someone else can catch the ball, you know, work in the short and intermediate areas, maybe stretch the field a bit. Adonai Mitchell, the guy who I think could maybe supplant down with him being rolled out week one. Can make it a return and week two for next week. How are you viewing bingles Patriots with Jamar chase showing up to work like an hour before they play their first game? I know T Higgins has been on a hamstring too. Yeah, it's a tough one. The T Higgins one was not expected. He popped up on the injury report yesterday. He actually said afterwards on practice yesterday, he said, I feel amazing. And that quote didn't exactly align with Friday today. He did not practice. He was officially lifted as doubtful. So T Higgins is probably a long shot to play. And then for Jamar chase, he's ruled himself as a game time decision. Head coach, that tailor said, we'll see we, you know, he's, he's been pretty vague about everything regarding the Jamar chase. I expect that Jamar chase is going to play especially with Higgins likely to be out. But again, another set of receivers to watch with Higgins probably set to miss is Trent Irwin, who filled in on the outside in games where T Higgins missed last year. He also dealt with the hamstring injury. And then second year wide receiver, Andrea Yosovac is a player to watch. He won the slot receiver role this year for the Bengals. Some may forget Tyler Boyd, the former slot man is now at the Titan. So Andrea Yosovac, he's six foot three. He's another speedster out of Princeton, who really impressed last year and has now earned a starting slot role. So with Higgins likely to miss those are two wide receivers I'm watching in addition to Chase, who also said earlier today with the media that he's probably going to be on a snaps count. I would still, you know, obviously be bullish on Chase producing in this one, but he could, he may not be on the field first, normal assortment of snaps. Is that Kruger's with us here on G and D. All right. How about any breakout players you're looking at this weekend? Anybody to keep an eye on that's got a good matchup and then also localize it for us and give us a commander that you like in their match up with Tampa Bay. Yeah, so let's actually stick with Tampa Bay real quick. Tampa Bay and commanders. One rookie I'm watching it specifically against his commander secondary. We'll see how they do is Gail and McMillan. He's a third round pick out of Washington. He impressed in the preseason as well as in camp and actually earned the second outside receiver role opposite Mike Evans. I'm curious to see how McMillan could perform against this commander secondary. He's a player. I'll be keeping an eye on. And the other one is James and Williams. We know him. We need a former first round pick out of Alabama for the Lions. A rough start between ACL and suspension over the last two years, but he's been getting a lot of high praise. I'm very interested to see what he can do against the Rams secondary that's already banged up. And for the local 53, Terry McLaurin is the guy I like. It's kind of a easy one to mention here. But last season, the Buccaneers third most passing yards, loud per game, eight ties YPA and 11th highest quarterback rating. I think McLaurin is going to be funneled a lot of targets in a game that could end up being either a shootout or perhaps even a negative game script where Washington may be asked to throw a little bit more than they were planning to. Zach, thank you as always, buddy. Talk soon. Thanks a lot. I take it easy. Sounds good, my friend. Hit that local 53. Dares. Our guy, Michael Phillips, you hear him on the radio and in, let me see it. Today's the sixth. And it's the seventh and in three days, you can read him in the Richmonder joins us here to break down the local Washington 53 whose names should change immediately. Miguel, are people looking past this Tampa game? Tampa's not bad. Oh, I hope not. I mean, I think they're underdogs in this game. I think you, you've got a couple of factors here. One, the unknown, right? If you want to fill the wind, hey, these guys haven't shown what they can do yet. You haven't seen a Cliff Kingsbury offense, Jane Daniels. We haven't really seen him run, right? There's a lot of unknowns. Tampa's got a plan for you. You'll play it the other way. There's a team that knows what they're doing. Tampa was a good respectable outfit last year. They hit the run at back button. Everybody's there. They didn't have to waste time and training camp, but wearing name tags and getting to know each other and figuring out systems. They know what they're doing. I think there's a compelling argument both ways. I think you got to consider Tampa the favorite though, coming in. How much of a chance along those lines do you give Washington though? Yes. This is the NFL, so predicting a one score game is not exactly. I'm not exactly giving you a hot take here. NFL games are one score games, and I think this will be a one score game. To me, your key matchup, can the corners contain these Tampa receivers, right? You got two really great receivers. Do you have two corners who are up to the task? Is Benjamin St. Jude's going to rise to the occasion? BSCB1 Disrupt Pass is a manual for in a spot where he can assist, or is somebody else one of these other guys, or maybe even a Mike Stan Rich to label the rotate forward and do it. If you cannot contain these Tampa receivers, it's going to be a long day. I don't think they can. So anyway, I was just thinking of the rest of this matchup though. To me, this is about what Jay Daniels does, doesn't do, and everything in between. I'm terrified. I'll be terrified kind of throughout this rookie season of him getting hit and unnecessary hits and maybe lack of production at times. Your prescription a week one, what kind of day do you see him having and how do they attack? No, it's such a, everybody's a playoff contender in week one. You like to win. Winning is good. There are things that are more important than winning. I think the kid's development is one of them. I was cringing, watching Lamar last night. I mean, dude took your team on his back and just got hit and he got hit. He's lower in his shoulder to try to get a first down like, no, you lost weight, but don't do that anymore. That's not your body type. You know, if he does that every game this year, he's not making it 17. Everybody sees that. You know, I don't want Jay Daniels running the ball double digit times. I love it. I love the idea. I love what it's going to bring to the table. I want him playing games this year, and I don't know that that's the recipe to do that. Phillips, I'm going to go off the beaten path. So I apologize if I'm putting you on the spot here, but I love it. We were talking to Bill Roth about the Hokies right off the top. You and I were talking a lot at the event you and I did with AWAD down in Richmond and with Danny and the crew about Virginia Tech getting off to a good start. Obviously, they didn't happen. What college games, low of the locals, whether it's Maryland, Virginia, whatever, are interesting to you this weekend? Well, I hope the tech game is not interesting. They need to win. That was a coaching loss on Saturday. Brent Pry knows that in year three, they've got to be better than that. He's got to handle his business, 25th anniversary of the 99 national championship game team. They'll all be their sellout crowd. You got to bring the fans back on board. I'll love Virginia, Wake Forest, Anthony Calandri is the quarterback of Virginia. Second year player, he's exciting. He can run. He keeps his eyes down field as he scrambles. He's not afraid to make any throw. Prom is great. He's not afraid to make any throw. Last year he played six games, had 14 turnovers. He actually can't do that in college football and win. He looked a lot better in the opener. If he can get his head on straight and not turn the ball over, that might be a sneaky team to watch an ACC play. All your shot Tampa, Washington on Sunday, who wins what score. I got Tampa by seven. I do think it's a shootout. I know that's probably the way everybody else is going here too. Give me maybe a 31 to 24 something in that ballpark. I think the kick and score points. I love Cliff James Berry in an opener. I think there's a lot to like about the offense. Two left tackles. That's clearly better than one left tackle, obviously that's just simple math. So I do like the offense, but I go back to what you said, Danny. I think you put it very succinctly after I said a lot of words, how could you possibly think these corners are going to be able to contain the Tampa receivers based on what we've seen? Miguel, thank you, buddy. Take care guys. See you bud. Enjoy your weekend. That is a juicy, chock full Beltway blitz. A little foreway there. By the way, were you guys scoring at home? Did you notice that? That was wild. That's, I mean, head on a swivel right there. I mean, that's good. Quickly. That got real. Ryan threw a trident. Danny killed a guy. Probably wanted for murder, meaning to tell you, you should probably lay low commanders, beat the bucks if they lose to Tampa Bay if and how are we going to feel with a win or with a loss? That's next on G and D. Hey, Mike for any here host a cash to ticket alongside my partner, Jim Costa. It's really simple. We're tired of podcast claiming there are a bunch of pro betters when they live in their mommy's basement. Are you tired of podcast that claim they hit 80% of the games when, really, they just lose like most of us. Think cash to tickets the spot for you. We're real. We're transparent. We're having a hell of a good time with it. And we sit there and we're there for the sweat with you guys. We're just trying to figure it out just like you. Follow and listen to Cash the Ticket on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. With Danny, I'm Grant. This is the fan. It's week one. The commanders play the box in two days. We'll open up the MGM National Harbor listener lines for you guys. If you want to hop in on the commanders now, the commanders beat the bucks. If let's fill in that blank and then we'll talk about a loss and what would lead to that. But the commanders will beat Tampa Bay if you get some really big explosive plays on offense and you would think that comes through the passing game. I don't know how that's going to happen, but this again, this is a good secondary. The best free safety center field around Toronto Windfield Junior and football. But if you can hit a couple of home runs here, maybe one easy button, long touchdown, catch and run or catch them on a wares or sucker of the defense up with enough of the gut punch, read option and downhill thumping to Brian Robinson, block something up and play action and get something deep and hit a home run. I think if you get a couple of huge plays on offense, you got a legit chance to beat Tampa Bay Jaden Daniels balls out. Maybe Tampa Bay of Daniels has a day. I don't see Griffin against New Orleans in his debut in 2012 at the super dome in the cards when he threw for 300 and they went for 400 on offense and 40 points. But something where we leave the game going, we got him, you know, Daniels is just that dude where the headlines on the blogs or he's him and all that kind of stuff because he just ran for a hundred and threw for 225 and he just had a field day. If he comes out and lights it up, he makes good decisions. That means protecting the football, not turning it over. Jaden Daniels plays a great game. I think you win. Other side of the ball defensively, if I'm going to look for an answer there, I would say they generate a legit pass rush and they for a spaker mayfield in the bad decisions. They get takeaways, couple of picks, maybe who knows a manual Forbes for goodness sake gets his hands on a football for the first time in his career or maybe a linebacker, Lou Voo or Wagner jumps in a passing lane at some point because mayfield has to force something, but no valent or pain, push the pocket or maybe it's, you know, Fowler or Jamie Davis or somebody off the edge. If they're able to generate pass rush more than we're expecting in this first game to the point where they're hitting the quarterback, sack fumbles, interception, something like that happens a couple of times, I think all of a sudden in a one possession type game, which is what most of us are expecting. That swings the pendulum. It's hard to properly quantify just how truly bad in all facets, Washington was last year defensively against the pass on an average pass play. If you receive the snap from your center, whether shotgun or under center and you drop back to pass, you gain seven yards. That's your average pass play. That's what happens. So if you check it down for five, you hurt your average. It's the, it was the most, it was the easiest thing to do in football last year was to pass against Washington. If you played Washington as a quarterback 17 times, you would have been the MVP full stop. That's got to change. That's got to get better. They win this game. Two things. One for me on offense is you get something explosive down the field against Tampa because I think if you line up and try to thump them and play them, they'll say, thank you very much and end up winning that game. If you get a couple of home runs, that's great. To me, this is really boiled down to the area that needed to improve the most on defense, which was the secondary coverage. All things in between, it's not an enormous set of personnel upgrades, right? I mean, camcrolls, go on Jeremy Chin's in. I think that's maybe a mild upgrade there. You need everybody covered. So everybody that's not rushing the passer, linebackers have to be better in that regard. Safety's have to be better. Corners have to be better. You've got as good a set of secondary coaches, trainers, guys to assist with development that you're going to have. So get tested first week, man, two, two different kinds of guys, shifty underneath in Chris Godwin, Richard White's really good out of the backfield for the linebackers to do with and you know about Mike Evans, it's, it's boring and he doesn't run as fast as maybe he used to, but he's gone for a thousand, he's gone for double digit touchdowns. And if you're Tampa Bay, a Tampa fan, you're probably licking your chops for the week one matchup. Commanders beat the box if lose to Tampa Bay, if fill in those blanks for us, phone lines wide open 800 636 1067 is how you can join us on Grant and Danny here on the fan Washington's defense last year finished 31st in yards per play 26th against the run and 31st passing wise in yards per play, 7.45 per pop to what you were referencing, Danny. They also gave up 262.2 yards per game, two quarterbacks on average, which was dead last in the NFL. How about Washington loses to Tampa Bay? This to me is as simple as the outside corners are getting beat. They're getting manhandled. Again, last year, just to quantify, Washington gave up 39 touchdowns through the air. Only intercept that eight passes. Their opponent quarterback grading was 105.7 again. That's the MVP of the league last year. If that's different, if that's better, if it's diff, look, honestly, Tampa's not great at running the football. They've struggled with that for a few years now, and it's not as if for Charlotte White's or a great bell cow, he's more of a versatile, scat-back kind of a guy. If you, you know, sort of force them into running type moments, right? If you're taking away some things, maybe some late boxes, maybe your whole game plan is to not let them beat you through the air and everything about that turns into a let's have a slug fest. I'll take my chances in that regard with Washington versus Tampa in a mucky AFC North kind of a game. But if you let them sling it against you, it's over. I think we're seeing it similarly, by the way. I think both of us view the fear of the game the exact same way, which is to say, I look at their biggest problem, their issue being if Evans and God when get going. If those guys are running free, getting open, making plays, that's curtains. It's over right then and there. I'm starting with pass rush. That was why I said they got to do that to win. We're talking about more just being able to have some coverage that works out. But if Evans goes seven for a hundred, Godwin goes six for 90 or whatever, those guys are combining and both having big days and they're moving the chains. Tampa Bay sustaining drive, staying on the field, you know, Michael Phillips as an example, came under in the blitz and said he thinks it's a 31 24 Tampa Bay win, something like that. Well, that is a script where Tampa Bay through the football success, yes, they were effective and efficient through the air. Evans and Godwin probably get their numbers. Maybe McMillan is a contributor as well. But to me, the path to a win is to your point, taking at least one of those guys out of the game and just making sure that Mayfield's not comfortable and not dropping back thrown for two 75 and three scores. That's the way you beat Tampa Bay. Make them one dimensional and let them pound the football because points aren't coming from the running game. Yeah, if you want to pound the rock, you're doing us a favor. That's the way I do it. I mean, last year, that was the case. They were good against the run for the most part, I think it was 4.5 a pop middle of the pack in the league, but you were doing Washington's defense a favor every time you didn't throw it. And that's not hyperbolic. That was what the stats said. So barring, not not just an improvement because an improvement, you're still regular terrible barring a cat is not a catastrophic a profound turnaround. That's still the weakness of the or of the team, in my opinion. So I mean, that's the, at least on that side of the football. So that to me is where I'm most worried. And again, I don't think Baker Mayfield's gonna have a great season. They'll have a great game though. Updated commander's injury report for the record, Marcus Marioda again today did not practice and was ruled out. So your backup quarterback, the big picture plan, the whole mariotas, the guy, if Jaden Daniels comes off the field, not in week one, that'll be Jeff Driscoll in the first game of the season for Washington. Johnny Newton did practice. He went from being unable to take the field on Thursday to limited, but he is doubtful for the game. So don't expect him to make him to make his debut doubtful now also means essentially out. It's like a 25% chance. It is going to go weird that they wouldn't just completely rule them out to be honest with you after a DNP and was limited today. But for whatever reason, they listed him as doubtful. And then the rest of the way, everybody was full go and isn't even on the injury report in terms of game status. Brandon Coleman with a shoulder full practice, Cleveland Farrell with the knee, full go. He was actually named the captain of the defense for this game. Dante Fowler, junior dealing with the knee full practice all week. They're on pain, started the week limited with a back. He was full go and Trent Scott with the knee limited on the start of the week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, full go as a swing tackle. So they come into this game for what it's worth, extremely healthy as good as you can hope for you. Only Newton, their third detackle, their second round pick, but a guy that didn't play all pre-season anyway and was pretty sparsely involved in training camp. He's the only guy that's dealing with anything really going into the first game. The only guy you were counting on who's, who's not going to be himself and I probably won't play. But that's sort of, that's not one of those, what happened in pre-season or it happened in training camp. This is like a lingering thing from the springtime or the late winter, you know, where it was like rehabbing and coming back from that. Just looking at the bucks injury report too, I hate to say it's good news. But Elijah Kancy, who's their detackle next to Vida Vaya, who's good. I mean, that guy went to pit because of that and also his quickness and size. He gets some like young Aaron Donald comps, limited today after not being on the injury report with a calf problem and now listed questionable. Normally, if you go from full practice for a couple of days to limited on Friday, there's a good chance you don't play. That would be a godsend if they didn't have to deal with him and Vida Vaya. They also ruled out their starting defensive and Logan whole who didn't practice all week with the foot. So at least from an injury standpoint, Washington has the early better shape there, yeah, going into the game next on GND. If the commanders get off to a one and O start, what are we going to be saying around here next week and if they lose in their own one, what's the conversation going to be, you could join us next on the MGM National Harbor listener lines at 800-636-1067 on GND. First football Friday, the season will hit the phones in just a moment, 800-636-1067. If you want to line up to talk commanders, Bucks, Danny, how are you going to feel if they win? Let's say Washington starts one and O, Daniels plays well. The conversation around town is going to be very positive, very optimistic next week as it should be. Not much downside. There's only one scenario to me where I'll be upset or hurt or sad or whatever and that's an injury to Jay Daniels and I'm not being hyperbolic. I mean, to me, patience is the name of the game. I know a lot of fans don't want to hear that. A lot of fans are sick of waiting. I get it. I'm in here too. It's for me also, but now there's a real way out. There's a real chance. Game is meaningful. It's not meaningful when Carson Wentz is your quarterback or Ryan Fitzpatrick or Casey Keenan or any of the other jags that have come through here has leftovers from somewhere else with a real GM, real ownership and a quarterback that's got a shot, patience is the name of the game. So slip up, you lose week one, he doesn't look great, whatever gets sacked a bunch. No problem. If they win, it means that he did something pretty special. That's my guess. You can, you can do the spoon feed the rookie Ben Roth, those program Pittsburgh or Russell Wilson in Seattle as part of like a good team that he's taking over. This is not a good team that he's taken over. He's got to kind of be the savior and if he does that week number one, that's something pretty special, it'll be hard to contain my excitement. Yeah. It's not a great team for sure. I don't think it's a terrible team though. It's certainly not like the, the second worst team in the NFL, which is what they finished last year because they signed 25 new guys and 70% of new roster and there's a lot of veterans and decent football players on one year deals that they brought in here to elevate the personnel group. So I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle where yeah, it's not a great team. It's definitely not a terrible team, but I'm with you. He's got to play some hero ball if they're going to really overachieve, which maybe doesn't happen and doesn't have to. I just hope that he starts fast this season. I don't necessarily mean in this game, but overall, I think it would be really important and really good because you and I have been around these blocks since 2014 doing this show for 10 years. And at least our perception on the outside looking in, I'd say is that despite a new owner and a new front office and a new head coach and a new quarterback, I don't remember like this little juice going into a week one game for us. Yeah. Something with our listening audience, and I really do hope that Daniels having a huge game or Washington getting somehow a win this weekend and then they're off to a two and oh, start against the Giants. You know, maybe it's a snowball rolling downhill starts building on itself. But regardless of the wins or the losses, I just hope he plays well enough because really that's what he'll get people to start being excited and buying in. Let's go to Kevin and Arlington on Grant and Danny. What's up, Jeff? Hey, boys. Happy Friday. Yeah. I get Grant that the buzz isn't, you know, what it's been, but I think part of it is it's such a new team with over 50% new players we've never seen play together. It's on the road. You know, I just think there's so many unknowns and I think that's why we're being cautious. Plus, you know, we've all been snake bitten before, but unenvisioning it to be a ball security game because of the bad weather and that if we can come out on top, both of you should protect the football and then taking away the football in a Joe with DQ type of defensive performance. It's going to be, let's go leading into week two. I really do think that. I think it'll be a lot like the buzz after the New Orleans game and Griffin came out and just surprised. Remember, we really weren't sure what we were going to see there either. And it was fairly obviously the difference being and I appreciate the guys always kept the difference being that going into that game, everyone's chanting his name at every practice. And I mean, he's already been crowned me tonight show for goodness. Yes. You know, as like, as a celebrity, that's not even a quarterback, you know what I mean? Boxing because of the Heisman and he's on every commercial and whatever else it was a whole different world. I also think it was just a different organization and a different fan base. The fan base was bigger. It was more passionate. We're still called the Redskins, a lot of people that don't care about them anymore still did people that currently care about them a little bit cared about them a lot more at that time. There was a lot of differences, but the point is the same, which is we didn't really know what it was going to look like. And in one fell swoop in four quarters with that new offense that was so dynamic and Griffin playing the way he did and then hitting some of those explosive plays to Garcon and others that they were able to. I think that the expectations changed massively in three hours and everybody really, really got excited. In the end, they would obviously win the division. Let's go to Alex and College Park on G&D. What's up? Hey, thank you guys for taking my call. So I think, you know, for my time on social media as a Washington fan, I think we're a fan base that's quick to make decisions pretty impulsive. And with the new ownership, I think that if we win week one, I think a lot of people are going to be praising Peters and Harris and the new ownership. And if we lose, it's going to be the complete opposite. Just like you guys were saying, it's like a new roster and everything. So I think if we win, they're going to be like, wow, they turned it around. And if we lose, I think they're going to be like, look what they did. They took away all of our good players. So I just think however week one goes, it's going to be how a lot of the fans judge the new ownership. Interesting. Yeah. When we've been so starved for a sample, so starved for something, the little we get is how we make judgments. I mean, think back. You actually used to do a great bit about this. Remember, I remember how long ago, it was like two years ago, the Mets started out like red hot. They were the best team in baseball in April. And it was like, oh my God, no, it's going to beat the Mets. It's like, bet you somebody does bet you they come back down to earth. And then of course they did. And that was that. But everyone's reacting to the early sample because we've all been so starved. So if they go one and O, you know, you're going to get the same cadre of fans that are going, this is probably the 17 and O team. This is probably the team that that supersedes the dolphins. This will be better than the Patriots group that's at the points record. We're going to the Super Bowl this year, year one of Dan Quinn. Everything is perfect. We're great. You know, if they lose, they'll go. Oh, and 17. Everyone should be fired. I mean, that normal reactionary fandom type stuff is there when you've got no other sample to compare it to. I don't know about you though, GP. I get the sense that we're still very much in the honeymoon phase for this ownership. If there's, you know, for three, four years from now, there's a bunch of missteps and things that they said, we're going to be better, aren't better. And, you know, the over promise and under deliver sort of hallmark of, of the Snyder regime. I'm not talking about scandals. We're never going to approach that crap again. But you know what I mean? Like if it, if it doesn't go well for a while, I think that's going to wear off, but I still feel like we're very much in that honeymoon phase. Totally agree. Yeah. Yeah. I think for most people, they're just happy. Dan Steiner is not the owner. And maybe that's where some of the lack of like energy about a week one game against Tampa is maybe the excitement isn't there to see Bobby Wagner play linebacker, but they're happy that there's a general manager, happy that they fired Ron Rivera. You know, there's still kind of in 2023 mode in that way possibly. Let's do this next on GND. Let's extrapolate the conversation out to the national NFL going into week one and the rest of the match ups. And let's predict the headlines after the games for each of the contests in week one. We'll go through all of the matchups next at 525. We'll get back into the commanders. We'll jump on some overzonders against Tampa Bay, project some of the stat lines for Washington's key players. You're listening to the fan. Hey, Mike Felenny here host a cash to ticket alongside my partner, Jim Costa. It's really simple. Are you tired of podcasts claiming they're a bunch of pro betters when they live in their mommy's basement? Are you tired of podcasts that claim they had 80% of the games when really they just lose like most of us think has to tickets the spot for you. We're real. We're transparent. We're having a hell of a good time with it. And we sit there and we're there for the sweat with you guys. We're just trying to figure it out just like you. 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