Grant and Danny
Jay Gruden On The Commanders Hot Start, Could Washington Win The NFC East?
The DMV's football team has a bright future, it's time for you to plan your own. The exclusive sponsor of our show is the Law Firm Condorian Murat. They'll help you update your last will and testament, set up a trust for you and your family, schedule a free consultation with their estate planning attorneys today. Go to kmloyers.com, tell them we sent you, they'll give you a discount, kmloyers.com. Call our 10 at 800-636-1067, congrats. You're winning two tickets to see the capitals. Take on the Devil's Saturday, October 12th, Capital One Arena tickets, complete cap schedule available at 1067thefan.com. Let's go to the bet QL guest hotline, bet smarter to beat the books. Download the bet QL app, visit betql.com. On air and on the road, J. Groot is driven by the Tedbert Automotive Group, Tedbert Ford and Chantilly and Fairfax, your F-150 headquarters, Tedbert Chantilly-Lincoln and Tedbert Chevrolet and Sterling, home of Tedbert for life, lifetime vehicle coverage, see and shop them all at Tedbert.com. Jay, it's only been a month. Jayden Daniels has played very well. I saw you tweet something to the effect yesterday that it's official. The kid is good. Can we write it in Sharpie that they got their guy, that they got their franchise quarterback or should we not rush to judgment? None of you write it in Sharpie, man, this guy in four games has been pretty impressive. He sees the field well, he escapes, he can run, he can throw it, I mean, he does it all right. He got great poise, too, but I like the best of battle, but he doesn't get rattled, you know, I can tell. Sometimes you can see quarterbacks eyeballs through their face mask. They're so big and scared, but this guy is a, he's a surgeon back there. He's got confidence and plays a lot of poise and he's accurate and fun to watch, man. He's fun to watch. What did you make of the response to the first negative play, it seems like they've had in a month, right? The, trying to give Terry a shot who I don't think, you know, I think kind of lost his footing, wasn't his best throw, sales guy makes a great play for an interception. And for me, I'm going, okay, that was bound to happen, good, bad or indifferent. You're going to have a something negative occur in this league where everybody gets paid to play. What's the response? And then it was unbelievable. What did you make of that? Yeah, I mean, that's, that's just the mental toughness part of it that has to show up throughout the season. You know, it's not always going to be perfect. You're going to have your bad plays, your bad quarters, your bad throws, whatever, but how you respond is just what is the most important and he responded in a big time way and they responded again when Arizona went down a score to cut up two touchdowns. They went right down the field and scored again. So their response has been outstanding in the last three weeks. They, you know, they don't, they don't blink and they stick with the plan. I think Cliff has done a great job of, of not forcing too many throws down their throws. They still mix it up with the runs and some of the design quarterback runs and then obviously the quick game and some play passes and he keeps them in defense under heels. That's for sure. Jay, they've punted three times in four games, once in the last three weeks. Yes. We've got the easiest job in America. I mean, he does. I mean, poor guys got to hold every now and then, but I think you can play more ping pong now. I mean, I'm telling you what, it didn't miss any ping pong games over the years. It's pretty good at it as you know, but they scored on 24 drives and they have 19 incompletions offensively. What do you make just overall of what Kingsbury's doing and how do you summarize for us, like what he's doing so well? Well, I think it's, it's just a combination of things. It's not one thing. He's got a great game plan together. He's mixing them around and pass inside zone and not just inside zone, but he does a lot of different run concepts from pulling guards and, you know, pin in a defensive ends and pulling attack holes and doing a lot of different things and, and then the zone reads and the RPOs and all that stuff off of them and then the play pass. So he's doing a good job of keeping the defense off balance. Now the offense had done a great job of staying positive down a distance, staying ahead of the chain. So they're not in sports and third and long and they're playing ahead the last three weeks. So they're not coming from behind. They're not one dimensional. When Cliff or any good offensive play caller has every play, it is disposal on a drive. It's fun to call plays, you know, when you have to eat, when you have to delete like three quarters of your playbook because you're one dimensional, it's not that fun. But he's done a great job of keeping teams off balance. You look at Arizona, what they try to do, they're getting plans to rush a drop eight and only rush three guys. They did it like 12 times and Jay just stood back there like a statue, just had great poise and just waited for guys uncovered and, and dropped time. So, you know, and then they tried to rough five and he, I, he scrambled outside and threw a guy in a flat. I mean, so I don't know what you do as a defensive coordinator against this guy. Teams are having troubles trying to figure it out. J grid with a share. Oh, great. And Danny, you mentioned this offense. When I get to the offensive line here, Jay, I think Sam Cosby's good. I think he'd play and start for most teams in this league. I'd probably say the same about Tyler Biotich. I'm, I'm a fan of his. I think he's probably, you know, middle of the pack, you know, maybe upper half of the league center. The other guys, I don't know that they'd be day one starters on most offensive lines. Yeah. As a group, I feel like they're playing really well together. What do you see from that old line? Yeah, I've been impressed with the rookie. I think Brandon Coleman has done some good things in a running game and has held his own in the passing game. You know, like I said before, they've done a good job of changing his launch. So he's not sitting, taking five step drops and waiting for high crossers and deep daggers and all that stuff. They're moving around or changing up a launch spot so that Lyman are having some fun. Cosby is doing a good job of right guard. I love Tyler. You know, he did good at Dallas last year and obviously Andrew Weilers, a veteran guy who knows how to play and they're letting these guys come off the line of scrimmage and be physical and they're not asking for the past protector every time. I think the addition of Zach Kurtz and obviously John Bates tied in and the rookie tied in. They've got a mouth physical presence that tight end, which helps the running game, which I didn't have last year. It makes a huge difference Jay Gruden on Grant and Danny here on the fan. One thing I noticed yesterday, more so than in the Cincinnati game, like in the Cincinnati game, whether it was the Terry deep shot or the touchdown in the corner, some incredibly low percentage generally throws that Daniels was able to drop into the bucket and he second in the NFL and completion percentage over expected this year, but they have the highest expected completion percentage of 73% and when I watch some of these other teams, know whether it's the bears with Caleb Williams or whatever, it's not as easy like a lot of stuff around the line of scrimmage. I joke about the horizontal raid, but the expected completion percentage for Daniels this year, 73% and he's actually 82 because he's plus 9% but I guess my question is that's a scheme thing. Right? That's a cliff thing. Your thoughts on that. Yeah, no, they do have a lot of, you know, bubble screens built into the running game, which are easy completions. He's going to get, James is going to get seven or eight of those a game. Cliff's going to dial him up a little quick game or flaps or release screens or bubble screens or, you know, Brian Robinson, a swing pass or Eckler, whoever it is or Mick Nichols, you know, he's going to get seven or eight of those. He's going to be eight for eight and then the rest of them, he's going to have to make good decisions with the football, you know, Cliff did try to get after their defense with some double posts with some high cross and deep, deep, deep throws, but Jayden did some good things with making the right decisions, just kick them out to the flat or find the completion somewhere else. So I think his decision making has been good as why his completion percentage so high is not forcing the ball. The only ball he tried to force was the interception of Terry, you know, and that wasn't a terrible. He just sailed it a little bit. So his decision making has been on point. He's keeping the chains moving and Cliff's calling a good game. Good combination. Jay talking about Cliff, what's that like going back to a place that you've coached before? I know everybody likes to tell you it's not a big deal. I know this when I saw a girl that I dated 15 years ago, I sucked in my gut and tried to pretend that I was confident. You know what I mean? Like it's human nature, right? Oh, yeah, for sure. You want to go back and, you know, prove that you are a capable coach. You know, when you get fired, it's no fun and people doubt your ability to coach the game. Sometimes you need a second opportunity. I could get one one day, I doubt it, but who knows? But it's always good to go back to a place that you were in and kick their ass. That's for sure. I know Cliff is excited about it and he did some good things in Arizona, but over the long haul, he didn't do a good enough job. So he loved go. But now he's making his mark back again. He'll probably be a head coach next year or the year after. Jay, what do you make of the receiving cord down the depth chart outside of McClellan? Now, there was so much made all off season about they don't have enough talent. They don't have enough weapons. And they got an offense that can't be stopped right now. Zacchaeus went ham yesterday, Noah Brown's been good. We had Luke McCaffrey on the show a couple of hours ago. He doesn't get a lot of targets, but he seems to be open a lot and doesn't drop the ball. What have you thought of their wide receiver group? They've been steady. You know, they've made plays when they have to. You mentioned the number 14. I still don't know how to pronounce his name. You can go with him. They make the big plays. People that don't know how to say his name. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the ex Eagle. He did some good things. Eagle Brown is a steady guy. He's got good hands. He's a physical guy. The presence of the running game. He's not going to drop the ball. He's not a speedburt merchant, but he can get open. And I think in Luke McCaffrey's final his way, he's making some plays when he has to. So obviously Terry's a big guy, and obviously Zach Gertz is one of his favorite targets. The back side of the back, he'll do some good things, but the key is Jayden. You know, I think he just takes what the defense gives him. Now, eventually, some teams are going to challenge these guys to play some tighter man-to-man with a spy on the quarterback, and these guys are going to have to separate somehow some way. But they're going to play zones and loosen up their coverages and play spot drop zones. Jayden's got to find a short guy, the intermediate guys, and he's done that so far. So the key test will be when they play a good defense with some corners that can rush a passer with four and see who can separate other than Terry. Yeah, to that point, McCaffrey told us they really have seen very little man at all. And we were asking about his one of the top guys in terms of separation percentage in the league. He basically said, "Look, I'm just kind of finding spots to throttle it down," or whatever. But he said, "We really haven't played man. I just don't think they're going to see that much, man. A, you barely see it in the league. I don't know what the percentage is generally. You'd probably know better than I would on how much man you even see." But also, it seems like teams are petrified to turn their back to Daniels. Yeah, that's what I said. You had to play the spy on a quarterback. And the Arizona played man, and one time they rushed three, had a spy on the quarterback tried to play a little two-man, and that didn't work out. You can play in rush four, but the problem, when you rush four and have a spy on a quarterback, you lose that middle field player that helps with all the crossing routes and all of that. So that's a problem for defenses as well. So if the teams aren't a bind, man, they're in a bind with how they're going to defend this guy. But eventually, I would imagine somebody's going to be able to get home with four and place the man to man with a spy on them. But I don't know. Who knows? Maybe they won't. You're right. Because Dallas really doesn't have the ability to do that. I don't think Philly does. You know? And I don't think the Giants do. They don't have the corners to do it either. They play them. They play them five more times. So I don't think they'll see much, man, to your point. Is this why everyone's looking for the quarterback? Who can run? Well, you got to the combination. No, totally. I mean, if you can't. But I'm saying, like nobody's looking for Derek Carr anymore, right? I mean, the idea is you need everyone's looking for like Josh Allen, so to speak. And I know there's only a couple of those guys. But my point is, is this why... Yeah, because the coverage, as you see, you're limited. You don't see any two men. You don't see any match coverage. You know, you see a lot of different coverage with the quarterback that can't really move. It's difficult. A lot of a ton of blitzes for God's sake. So he had to pick up blitzes like our blitz period used to be like forever. You know, trying to pick up all these damn blitzes at practice. Because, you know, Kirk wasn't much of a runner. You had to pick them up. But with a runner, you know, a lot of those blitzes they're afraid to do. It's scary. Defent the coordinator. Like I said before, I think the first week I think he'll see a lot of spot drop zones and drop eight. Some poor men rushes with... I try to get as many eyeballs on the quarterback as they can. And hopefully he makes mistakes and tries to force it in the coverage. Jay, for the non-Jaden Daniels part of the running game. What are you seeing that's so effective? The last couple of those seats here, Banymed didn't really want to run the ball. Scott Turner loved running it for 2.2 yards to carry numbers approximate. It looks like there's gaps in places to go. And it just seems that everybody's got momentum. Doesn't matter who they hand the ball off to, they're able to find some yardage there. What do you see in this run game and it's making it so good? Well, I told you the most important thing they added tight end presence. So I don't think that guys before Cliff had tight ends that could hold the point of attack, block the backside, be physical with the double teams helping tackles and do all the things necessary. Tight end need to do in running games. The records has done that. This career, John Bates is very good at it. And obviously the rookies file solid at it. So that helps him have physical offense aligned. And I like the way he's running the ball. He's doing a lot of different ways. He's running spread them out, running inside zones. He's running outside zones. He's running some pin and pull plays, which are good. He's changing it up and doing a good job. And the linemen are pretty effective. They're not great pullers, but they're effective enough and they're getting out there. But the inside zones are getting a lot of movement. Brian Robinson has great vision. He's finding holes. Even this Jeremy McNichols guy, he bounced one out for a 27-year touchdown. I have no idea where the defense was. But they're hitting different gaps and they're making defenses cover every blade of grass. And that they settle down and bring everybody up and run. He'll just fire out a bubble for the Terry McClure for a minute. So it's very difficult to defend because Cliff is making them defend every blade of grass. So now that we've seen four games with somewhat progression from week one to week four. I remember week one, I was not thrilled. I think a lot of fans were pretty ticked off as well. Just will look pretty vanilla, pretty, you know, like just let's not screw anything up. And let Jaden Daniels kind of play Superman for almost three and a half quarters. And they didn't weren't able to do much against Tampa Bay in week one. Since then, it's been a steady build into this juggernaut. Now that you look back at the long road, what about that plan? Maybe he's more crystallized. Maybe it makes more sense now now that we have a month of data going back from before the first game to right now. Well, why does they've been able to establish the run and they've been playing with the lead? Like I said, the whole playbook is open. They're not forcing the one-dimensional calls. They're not forced to throw in a 12-yard hook route on third and ten or waiting for people to uncover and all that stuff. So they've been ahead of the chains and they've been able to run in different personnel groups. Two tight end sets, one tight end set, and they're hitting different areas of the field inside the home. They can run right. They can run left. They're doing a lot of good things in that regard. But the key is the same head of the chains. That's why New Orleans was the first two games. They were unstoppable because hell, they had second and two, first and ten, second and two, first and ten. They were just gutting people. Now they are forced to throw the ball. They're not as effective. But, you know, I just think they're doing a great job on the first second now, which is critical and pro football nowadays. Jay Gruden is with us on Grant and Danny. They're on the fan. Let's broaden this out to some other teams around the NFL. We've asked you a couple of times earlier this season about Caleb Williams. The Bears got a defense-led 24-18 win over the Rams. Williams, though, at least the line was better, 17 of 23 for a buck 57. Touchdown, no picks. He was the performance kind of with the line, like better than he had been. Yeah, they got the win. He didn't turn the ball over too much. They still struggle a little bit. But, you know, swift had a big hit in the running game, which helps out a lot. And they got some turnovers, defense and the punter. They're punter. Holy, who's this punter for Chicago? Good guy. Oh, they just drafted him out before. Yeah, that kid was like a mid-round pick. Go to the two to the one. Yeah. So, so, so poor Rams had to drive 98 yards every time. And in Chicago, a great field position throughout the game. And they got away with a victory. But Caleb is looking better. He's making some better throws. But he's still, in my mind, in the first four games, and I am close to what Jay didn't do. Houston won this weekend. Jay, but looked a little shaky doing so. They lost the week before it and played very well. They have great coaching staff. And, obviously, CJ Stroud's ice water in his veins. Very similar approach to the game is Jay and Daniel's. Both of them see the field very well. They don't get rattled at all. And CJ got the two-minute drive down there and was very patient. Just took what the defense gave them and got the last touchdown. But, you know, the Jaguars and the Texans have always played tough games. And then it's very similar. A lot of these division rivals are going to play tight games despite what you think the records are or what the score should be. A lot of pride in these locker rooms and they're going to play hard. And CJ just came out with another gritty victory like he always does. How are the Chiefs who are four and oh, despite, you know, not being really good offensively at all? Now they've lost their only true weapon in Rice with Pacheco already sidelined. Kelsey's been very, very pedestrian. Mahomes is off to arguably the worst start of his career. I mean, he is, I think, second in the NFL and turnover worthy plays right now. How are they going to continue to score and move the ball? I don't know. It's going to be tough. You know, Patrick can only do so much. They got to have somebody that can uncover Xavier Worthy had a big hit last week, but they got to find somebody else. For she, Rice, does a lot more than people think as far as this physicality to the game that he brings on the shallow crosses. He catches them and splits them and all that stuff. I don't know where they're going to find a guy for that. Kelsey will have to do a lot of that. He's got to get in better shape. But I imagine he'll be the go-to guy and somebody else have to merge. I don't know who that will be, but it's tough on Pat. I don't care how good you are a quarterback. They've got to have somebody that could separate right now. They don't have anybody. So it'll be a struggle that spags. We'll keep them in games because they play great defense. And Andy Reid will call a great game and figure out ways to get somebody wide open for touchdown. I don't know. Probably win close to you until he gets some weapons back. Do you get the sense with Kelsey that it is a little bit of just getting him back in game shape? Yeah, he's older, you know, and he's getting thrown down a little bit, but he's still got a great feel for the game. He could find holes and zones now as far as man-to-man separation. He's probably not quite as good as it used to be, but I'm sure he can do a little bit of that. But, you know, they're going to put a couple eyeballs on him at all times now that he's the only weapon, so it'll be a little bit tougher on him moving forward. But, you know, I think when it's all said and done as a season wears on, he'll make more and more plays and be more of a force. But in the meantime, they've got to find somebody else. I don't know who that's going to be. Speaking of weapons coming back, Jay, I'm still an Eagles believer. Doesn't look real good right now this minute as they got smacked around this weekend and kind of been struggling, but no devante Smith, no lane Johnson, no AJ Brown. They've got to buy a week here now. I feel like when they do get some of these guys back, there's still going to be a force to be reckoned with in this division in the conference, but it's getting harder to prove that. Your thoughts on the Eagles? Yeah, you know, they're classic underachievers right now. They're not playing as good as their talent level suggests they should. Obviously, losing the two key weapons hurts a lot against Tampa Bay. Those two whiteouts, he much and lane. They get those guys back. They'll be fine and often. I'm worried about their defense. They don't get any past rush-ups, not getting anything. Jalen Carter is not playing like a Pro Bowl defense. A three technique should be and they're giving up a lot of big plays. And, you know, they don't rush the passer very well. They don't blitz very much. Vic Fanjo has been very conservative in his approach because I think he's afraid of the corners. Very slazy, a little bit older. And the rookie, Quineon Mitchell, is struggling a lot. So they got problems on defense. So when they get their guys back on offense, they got to go back to the pounded type of offense, control the clock, keep their defense fresh, and they'll be fine. Mitchell, a first round pick. Oh, by the way. Jay, before we let you go. Monday night football, we got a double dip tonight. I'm sure you'll be locking in on both games. Titans, Dolphins, Miami's going to Tyler Huntley at quarterbacks. So this will be their third starting QB in three weeks. And then Seattle Detroit. The Seahawks have a chance to get to 4-0. Really would be their first quality win, frankly. Detroit hosting them tonight at 8-15 in the second game. What do you like this evening? I like Detroit. I think Seattle got four defensive linemen out. I think Detroit runs the ball and gets back to their pounded, ground-and-pound type ways that Dan Campbell likes. So I think they'll get the victory. And I think Tennessee will come in and make the play good. I think they'll get back to Pollard and get him to rock. And the spears will get going. And Bill Callahan will have some nice cool design runs. I don't know if they'll work or not, but he'll try. But they got to keep Will Levitz from hurting them. He's got to throw in completions and not turn the ball over. And I think Tennessee will get the win. Miami's, they should be better. The Huntley's is a tough call for a quarterback. Just coming off the couch to start a game on Monday night football. I know he's played a lot. He's an effective guy. But I think Tennessee's defense is pretty damn good. They had a great defensive tackle. They got a great corner. A couple good linebackers. So I think Tennessee gets it done. Jay, thank you as always, man. We'll talk to you next Monday. Hopefully about a four-in-one football team. How cool would that be? That'd be awesome, man. Thanks for having me. Thank you. There's Jay Gruden with us on Grant and Danny every single Monday at 5 o'clock. On Aaron On The Road, Jay Gruden is driven by the Ted Britt Automotive Group, Ted Britt Ford and Chantelian Fairfax, your F-150 headquarters. Ted Britt, Chantelian Lincoln and Ted Britt Chevrolet and Sterling, home of Ted Britt for lifetime vehicle coverage. See you and shop them all at Ted Britt.com. How good are the three-in-one commanders? Are we buying in? Are we ready to say that they have a legitimate chance to win the NFC East? Or are we going to play hard to get? Next on GND. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] Tonight I thought it was really cool to see Burgundy and Gold in the crowd. Behind our bench and to see that here in Arizona, to show up and I felt their presence and so that was really cool. From the team standpoint, I thought a couple of things. First, I thought it was an important road trip. A lot of sacrifice to go out to Cincinnati Monday night, way here, be away from their families to do that. And so we wanted to make sure that was worth it. You know, that sacrifice, I thought the guys worked really hard during the week. You know, getting us ready for this game. They got a number of talented players. I thought the guys coming in late on a Tuesday really put the work in. Then last piece, I thought tonight an example of like complimentary football. Again, why that's so big? You know, first drive down, scoring for us to go answer, you know, a big deal. We had an interception, the defense went, you know, to go three and out stop. So I thought those were the things that I felt, that complimentary ball that I talk about a lot. And then last piece, I thought just a quick shout out to the big guys. That was Dan Quinn from yesterday. Welcome back, Grant and Danny on the fan. Just looking through his transcript from talking to the media today. Sounds like Michael Phelps addressed the team out in Arizona, the Olympic gold medal. That's pretty cool. And champion. I'll read a quick snippet here from his opening statement today. He said, I thought regarding the trip in the game. Saturday morning, we heard a really important message about sacrifice. You heard him say sacrifice a few times. It was actually from USA Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who was absolutely a one of one competitor. Being on the road for eight days, that's sacrifice. And the sacrifice also leads to a lot of connection on the team. It looks like a whole bunch of things on the field. It looked like Doran Armstrong competing until the clock hit zero. Alameda is the key is the crazy support he had on the sideline for his teammates. And same thing with Jeremy McNichols and the sideline going crazy for special teams tackles for guys like Ben Senate, Colson, Yankoff and Mike Davis. That Stan Quinn to me is like the pointing out of he uses the word brotherhood all the time. To me, that's where he just loves the game loves football. He gets so steamed up to know that all those guys are jumping around on the sideline and actually tweeted a video today at Grand H. Paulson of a play that I thought was fantastic defensively where Frankie Louvoo just goes on a collision course mission. Blows up a blocker. The next guy to blow up another blocker. This is on a wide run around the edge. Coming flying in was Emmanuel Forbes. And he did it the way he's got to do it at 160 pounds. Like Louvoo, I'm taking you down. We're both showing down. Forbes basically just went low. Dovitz, someone's likes. Yeah, body block style. And kind of cut it back inbound, literally diving at someone's feet. But then the tackle, Jeremy Chin came in and destroyed the bulk area. And it was all near the sideline and the sideline went crazy. But if you watch it in real time, it's beautiful. It's like a symphony. It's like, bam collision, Louvoo. Bam, cut it back in Forbes. Boom, big time hit by Chin. And the sideline goes crazy. To me, that's Dan Quinn's brotherhood bit. You know what I'm saying? Like that's the whole deal right there. It reminds me of go back to the Greg Williams era here playing defense, right? Where everyone does their responsibility quickly and violently. And good results happen on defense. That's what it's supposed to look like, right? Danny, the way they play is not for everybody. Okay? No, no, especially the first three games. But that's not important, Joe. The fourth game. Huh? Arrow trending upwards, big time. That's for me. The way that we live is not for everybody. Okay? It's not. All right? Because we're going to run and put our bodies on people in a violent manner. This game you did. Yeah. Week one was certainly not for me. Week two and three, it ain't not that great either, but week four. Oh, there was some of that stuff in there. Week four was for me. Yeah, I was in. Week one through three, you can have those. Yeah. Nothing's ever been said truer than a defensive coordinator telling you the way we play is not for everybody. No, because the ball is life. Mm. Two takeaways in four games. Let's start living. I want to live a little. L-I-V-I-M, let's go. Now here's the good news. Uh-huh. Ball is life for that offense too. Yes. And they've only turned the ball over once. There you go. That's best in the national football. That's all over battle, but not the way you'd expect. The Frankie Louvoo play was awesome. Yes, it was. By the way, stick aside, that's a ball is life play. That is a nothing burger moment. You're up by eight thousand. The Cardinals are doing the run out the clock bit, they're just checking it down, bunch of completion, second half of the game. Louvoo's just a dog running from the other side of the formation. Receivers kind of being held up and he just rips the ball out of his hands because he wanted it more. That was awesome. One thing I noticed, no one's going to care about this. No one's going to tell me to just go eat a cookie and that's fine. But I know he's not done much yet and I'm not trying to pretend like he has. When you watch Johnny Newton chase down plays on the All 22, I get so steamed up. You care about that kind of thing at all? Go eat a cookie. I'm kidding. Uh, I do. It's because stick aside, I actually do care. Your suit? Yes. It's, it's, so it's almost comical, but like it is what you, it's teach tape. He doesn't make the play necessarily at the end of the play. But watch him run goes past for like 22 yards. He just turns and holds ass the other direction. Like every single play he's out there. He is just full sprint, 322 pounds, whatever he is, just hauling it. Yeah. Treated as a hockey show. I love that. I'm all about it. If I'm out here, you're getting everything I got. Bits aside. It is a either, this is the thing I've always argued where it comes to, you know, small stuff that you think has nothing to do with, with games seven months later, like guys skipping OTAs and people defending them or whatever, either things matter or they don't. And if you're on the field, how many reps do you get? Everyone could be your last moment and not to be flipping about it. But this, the, the game takes things away from you. It is violent. It is scary. So what you do is you maximize every possible second. If you've got 10 plays, they better be the best 10 plays of your life. And either things matter, all of them, or as sometimes that's okay. Well, this one's not that big a deal. You treat everything with them, with import and you're, yeah, the results up at the end, I'll take my chances. It's how you get the commander tag, Danny. Remember, he got the commander tag. He did before the draft. Yeah. Maybe it'll be a different name tag soon. There's a video that came out that the team put out of them talking about Johnny Newton on draft. John it. Like this is what we want to be. He's everything we want to be. I've got to imagine that's part of what they're talking about. It's just a hundred percent hustle. Every single snap. I mean, his borderline funny, he looks like like Forrest Gump just arms pumping running after every single play. Now, ideally, there's going to be more plays that are around the line of scrimmage than when they get stopped. So he's not turning and burning. I'm not noticing him as much, but it's the same thing like if it's a run to the other side or something, he's, he just, he gives you what he's got. He's empty in the tank. And I like that from the big fella. How good is this football team? We will go on the record with our thoughts next. We'll get yours as well on Grant and Danny on the fan. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] >> What's up, belts? A couple things that says last night, man. We said, it's great when you count on others and they count on you. That way, victory is produced by everybody, all right? And that's what tonight was, man, fast physical. We said anybody, anywhere, any month in time. So we did what we came to do, all right? So there'll be a number of game balls that will be issued now. I'm sure tomorrow, but there's one more thing that ain't leaving this city without one. >> Cliffs, cliffs! >> [APPLAUSE] >> What a glow up for Cliff Kingsbury. My hand is up, it's not my left hand, although my left hand up. >> No one should do that. >> Did not see this one coming. >> I was wrong. >> Cliffy Kingsbury dialing it up. Jake Gruden was outstanding, joined us at the top of the hour if you missed that at five o'clock. On Kingsbury and what he's doing so well, he's got a great game plan. He's mixing in the run in the past. He does a lot of different run concepts, pulling guards, pinning in defensive ends, pulling tackles. And then the zone reads and the RPOs off of that. He's doing a good job keeping the defense off balance. He cannot underscore enough, and this is not to take credit away from him or anybody else. But they've been ahead of the chains. They really haven't had to deal with much adversity because they're executing nearly perfectly. So when first and 10 becomes second and four, and second and four becomes third and two, or a first down, life is pretty good. Cliff Kingsbury, so far, got to be the assistant coach of the year in the NFL has to be. >> To this point, right? I mean, you think about what the offense has been or hasn't been in to be more direct in years here. Years, even with, you know, great pedorees, guys come from Andy Reid's tree, guys come from the, you know, this sort of old school, West Coast offense tree, everything in between. This is phenomenal. This is like best in the league type offense type stuff with, frankly, a sort of piece together offensive line with a, with, you know, one hold over that nobody really wanted, John hold over. That's good. >> Alamities a key. It's in the way. >> And a group of misfit toys as receivers, a guy that was cut at the end of training camp as probably their number two option at this point. So what a tight end that catches and falls from Arizona? >> The number three passing offense in the league, number one on third down, they're converting 54% of third down. >> And it feels, that feels like it's low. >> I totally agree with you. It's because when they don't get it on third, they get it on fourth generally. That's the main reason. >> Yeah, yeah. That's a bummer. >> They are number three running the football. They're number two in scoring. They're number one in points per drive. They are fifth overall in yards and fourth in total offense and yards per play. And number two in terms of being most difficult to get three and out, they don't turn the ball over to number one in that stat. And they are number one in offense of EPA in total, 67.5 points or score on the EPA. Let's go to the phones, 800, 636, 10067. The question is, how good do you think this team is? Danny, your answer? >> Good. Like legitimately good. Like, not talking about elite, best of the best Super Bowl type stuff. Nobody's going there. Maybe some people are. >> They're good. >> Like 10 wins playoff. Good. >> That is where they are. >> It is on the table. >> It was not for me. Even, I'd say two weeks ago. It is now. >> Two weeks ago. How about eight days ago? I was joking about this before you got here. The Monday night game was seven days ago today, exactly seven days ago. We were about to pack up at Thoms Watchball in Cincinnati, thinking we were going over to get walloped and watch them get embarrassed. >> And that opening ceremony, whatever you call it, at the Bengals Stadium at Paycore. That's true. Seven days ago, two hours from now, right before kickoff, Danny looked at me and goes, they're going to get curbs stomped so loudly. And I couldn't hear him because he was right next to me. You remember that, Daris? You were with us. >> It was so loud and crazy. >> Danny said, and I quote, they're going to get curbs stomped. >> I did say mud stomped, but that's either here or there. >> Sorry. >> Well, don't you apologize to me. The thought was that's what it was. I mean, it was like, who could survive this? This desperate team with an MVP candidate a quarterback, like this, they need this one so bad. >> At that point, they played the first game of the season where they were terrible against the Bucks, maybe the worst team in the league. And then the next week, they played a bad half against the Giants in a pretty good half. So we saw one good half of football from Jaden Daniels in the offense, one good half of football really from Kingsbury or anybody at that point. I don't blame you, but Daris, he looked at us and he said they're going to get mud stomped. I mean, following all that energy that we felt in that stadium, I kind of understood it. >> Oh, I totally understood. >> And then what preceded it was or what followed it was a long bomb to the Jamar Chase. So it looked grim. >> Three of the easiest plays ever. I called the Jamar Chase touchdown, by the way, I go, look at it, touchdown, Jamar Chase. Single covered. I could make that throw. I couldn't. But like, that was obvious. And they're down seven nothing just like this week, by the way, ho hum, sorry about it. Watch this. 40 easy 55 yard drive throwing against their seven nothing Cardinals the bottoms about the fallout No, it's not Superman is a jadon or cliff both put on their cape they both came out of the phone booth Flying around mm-hmm. Let's go to Vicki Naka kick. What's up, Vick? Hey, dude. So this is a playoff football team saying remember the day September 30th. No, it's September 30th because tomorrow's my anniversary. That's how I'm running off the field. There you go. Happy anniversary All right 13 years, right, let's go. Thank you, right? So This is a playoff football team anything that I will be disappointed The reason this is a playoff football team because coaching Coaching and culture matters and the culture is different going Waiting doing things right and getting better as you do that you can do things like the office of life was was being Shaking anxious. We were worried. We were fearful at best the office of lives. What is the best playing? He weren't playing Okay, I said something to prove the culture that something to prove and also the line of something to prove and they're proving it And I'll leave with this what I also love is that Jonathan Allen and the wrong team were big For a series at a half yesterday because they were not controlling their gaps as soon as we put madness And I think was Johnny Newton it not only were the gaps controlled, but we had we started Adding the leverage to our different from end-to-end we were sitting in the gaps. We were making tackles And we were making tackles in the backfield Coaching matters when you hold people accountable and you make people do their jobs to give you millions of dollars for and when they were held accountable When they got back in they started competing and playing like they are supposed to play Leading people in the backfield leading their linebackers because the back the linebackers in the D line will marry each other through the through their gas And meeting in the back you that's what happens when coaching and accountability is spread throughout your organization Play off team or bust and I'm speaking to all right. Well, I appreciate you. Thank you I did not notice those guys get benched. I will say now there percentage of plays on the field was much lower But I did not notice them getting benched in the football game at any point My one specifically looking for it. I know they came off the field a couple times I remember seeing it's a rotational position So it's possible that on one of the three and outs Let's say they weren't on the field and he's counting that as a drive. I'm not sure I'd have to go back and really dive in on that before I Confirm or deny those allegations I'll tell you they both played better as the game went on and I'll tell you that allen and pain were both more disruptive from a pass rushing Standpoint yesterday than they have been earlier in the season They still got major issues in the run game The long like 20-plus yard run in the second half Which I didn't mind because they were down by a million so the commanders are probably like Hey, if you're gonna run it, you can have it enjoy it But that was with mathis and newton in there But I did like to they were keeping those guys fresh And they had allen in like 58 percent of snaps or something 60 percent pain a little over 60 percent Those guys were at 75 80 percent of snaps a couple years ago Yeah, and even higher in some weeks. You're up. You're up my four touchdowns Go ahead and give them put their feet up a little bit. Kevin Arlington. You're on gnd. What's up, bro? Hey guys, so I've been thinking about the historic numbers, right? And this is how I want to answer this question about how good we can be Historically, this is the best September we've had since 91 91 is the best season. I believe the franchise has ever had now. I'm not putting those expectations on But let me say a couple things. There's something else is historic Last time we had a number one draft at quarterback with this kind of upside He was in Texas his name was Sammy bawd 37 And yeah, Sammy's responsible for two of the five world championships the organizations have we haven't had a prospect like this And Sammy revolutionized the forward pass and jayman jayman jayman looks like he's an adult Coming out of a lab. I mean honest to god if you took the best of Current quarterbacks my homes and the best of Lamar Jackie you get jay So here's where I was wrong because I thought the ceiling was nine and eight We stayed healthy jayman's who we think he is And the defense wasn't a training that I was worried about the past coverage But it's also worried about the offensive line and guys. I was wrongly calling tomato cans Okay, so what though? I'll say this for you. Thank you. But in the secondary is still a problem that didn't really change yesterday Number one number two. They haven't stopped the run in the defense while it was better for a game I think got bailed out a little bit by some play calling and it's a lot easier when you're playing with a big lead too Team gets one dimensional. You know, they're throwing the football So let's see what happens if you're in a close game like they were against Cincinnati when they couldn't get off the field There's still a lot to be determined. In fact, that's something worth pivoting to next Like what questions do you still have? Do you have any nerves about areas of this ball club at three and one? Browns are coming to town could be a pretty entertaining game and should be an outstanding atmosphere Over at north west north stadium west stadium. You're listening to the fan