Grant and Danny

Austin Ekeler Joins G&D To Discuss The 4 Game Win Streak, First Look At The Ravens Game

10.8.24 Hour 4

1:00- Austin Ekeler joins G&D for his weekly appointment to discuss the Commanders 4 game win streak, and how they have had so much success on offense.

17:45- We turn the page to the Ravens game as the Commanders have a massive matchup between the Ravens.

Broadcast on:: 08 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

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He joins us every Tuesday, right at five o'clock to give us trusted insight from a trusted insider presented by IT cadre, where DC sports insiders share their exclusive perspective. Austin was back on Sunday against the Browns, and he was big back. How about a 50 yard run, a 33 yard reception, some nice work on kick returns as well. Austin, welcome back to the show and welcome back to the playing field where you made a big impact, dude. What's going on, boys? Hey, that is my job. So that is, you know, something that I've been known for. I had to continue to hold the reputation, but it definitely felt good to be back out with the boys. At the risk of going all Chris Farley next to Paul McCartney, which might be too dated of a reference for a young person like yourself, this is the terrible question I'm about to ask. I love watching you play football. Like, I love it. You to me are like, I've always wanted in a running back, and now you're here doing the thing, and I don't even know what to do with my hands. That's all. Again, not a great question. What's your response to that? Well, look, I think, I think there's been a reason that I've been playing in this league for eight years now. And I, you know, apparently it's because I can be efficient, but not only that, but be exciting on the field as well. And so when you can put those two together, usually hang around a little bit longer. So I'm glad I can continue to share some of, you know, my work on the field with the city of, you know, the DMV area, I should say. So thank you. I appreciate the compliment. Oh, we'll get into some of the specifics of your banner performance, but broadly, the team is four and one. The town is a buzz. We have not experienced this. This team was, has not had this record since '08. It's the second time since 1999. If you guys were able to beat ball tomorrow and Sunday, you'll be five and one. That has not happened here since 1996. How do you feel about the progress you guys have made and, and where you're at right now, at the beginning of what a lot of us thought was going to be a rebuild of four Peters and Quinn? Yeah, I think an important message that Dan Quinn told us when we came into the building back in OTAs is we are not here to rebuild. Like, like that is not even in the vocabulary. Like, we were hired, you know, there's a lot of us that are new to the program at that time, like 60 of us, 30 of us have made it. But he mentioned, we are here and hired to win right now. Like, we are here and hired to win games right now because that is what the NFL demands. And that is what, you know, Adam and, and ownership has put together a team that they feel can win right now. And we didn't know how that was going to play out. You know, you kind of go through that, that culture change, you go through the chemistry change. There's a lot of new things you kind of are, you know, anticipating, but don't really know until you start getting into regular season. And we got a good group. You know, it's been, it's been coming together for us. We have a lot of veterans. It's been a journey that is not to be expected, but not unexpected as well, because we expect to win games, right? We don't expect to always, you know, win like we're winning, which is great when we can do that. But we definitely expect to win games. And so it's been, it's been what we wanted. And however we can get a win, we're going to continue to do, do just that and keep scrapping it out. Austin when Dan Quinn said that, what was the setting was like the first meeting and then also, I'm sure coaches say that even where they're rebuilding. Like, did you buy that right away? Rookie quarterback, 30 new faces, four win team last year. What was your mindset on that? Well, I had been on a team last year where we had high hope for us to go to the playoffs, because we just made the playoffs the year before. And we came out, we won five games. And we had all the talent, we had, you know, everything we thought we needed. And it didn't happen. And so now I'm in a new environment where there's a lot of, there's a lot of veterans around that have won a lot of games, a lot of new coaches around a brotherly type environment where we're talking culture, culture is being coached where it's, hey, I love working here. I love getting up in the morning and going into work and seeing the boys and competing together with this group of men. And so when you start to build that culture, you start to really buy into like, yeah, I think we got something special here. Like, we haven't played at that point yet, but we were talking like when we have those conversations, but you could really feel like this was just a great place to come in and work. And it was really an environment that was inviting. And so when you have that type of environment and some players to go along with it and, you know, rookie quarterback that's been playing like he's been playing, it accommodates for a lot of good things. So I definitely believed it. You got to build it though. It's not something that just happens. But I think we did just that during the off season. Brad Elson Akler with us here. I'm Grant Danny. It was about to ask you about Brian Robinson. I know he was banged up last week with that knee. And then he ends up, you know, basically not playing much in the second half. Is that something you get a heads up on? I think obviously you don't plan on being up by, you know, 30 points, whatever the heck it was. This is the NFL that rarely happens. I guess unless it's you guys beating the brakes off of people. But, um, that's something that you were aware of beforehand, Austin, where, hey, you and Jeremy might go a little bit more because Brian Robinson's kind of nursing this knee or is that just kind of a flow thing? Yeah, you know, in the NFL, there's a lot of questions around injuries and things like that. And it really is a flow thing. Like, you don't know how someone's going to react, you know, how they're doing, how they're, you know, going through the game. Did it get worse? Is it still feeling fine? So you just prepared as if you're going to play the entirety of the game. And I know Jeremy's doing the same thing. He's been playing well too. I'm super proud of our running back room, not only on the running back position, but Jeremy, I know how like four tackles on special teams. So I'm like, man, like our running back room, I'm so proud of the way we're playing and just attacking it. And so going back to the injuries, like it's part of the game, you know, especially in the running back room. And so for us, like I mentioned, we're all preparing like, you know, we're going to be starting the entirety of the game. So regardless of what happens if someone goes down and someone's playing well, we're all ready to go. Last week, one of the things that you wanted to bring up just as an aside to our normal conversation was how you thought it was pretty impressive, how physically you guys were walloping people on special teams. I can't tell you how many times I thought about that. I mean, there were some monster hits and coverage this weekend. Again, I mean, it is pretty wide on real now. How physical I'm telling you what? Yeah, I'm sure you guys, you have remember that if you're new listening, like watch our kickoff team, like they are absolutely relentless. And like I tell them every time I'm watching the kickoff on special teams, me and I'm like, I am so glad that I do not have to go against our kickoff team. Because oh my goodness, they are flying down the field. And it's like, it's something to block these people. Because I mean, I haven't seen anyone really do a good job at it yet. So yeah, definitely one that, you know, usually I'm sitting down on the bench because I'm just relaxing. I'd stand up and I'm like, okay, I got to, I got to watch this action because it's about to be so excited because our kickoff team is all over the place. So definitely something to watch. The 50 R run you ripped off was the longest here, I believe since 2020 at least. Walk me through that play. What worked out so well? Yeah, they had been, you know, just really downhill most of the game. And so, you know, we were trying to attack an edge on that play and did just that. And sure enough, they were downhill again. And when we attack an edge, if you come downhill, there's going to be some air. And sure enough, there was some air got out pretty free, got up on the safety, trying to get these legs going as fast as I can. I got safety one on one, make him miss. And then I'm running down the field. Everyone else is running down the field. This is something else that I thought was pretty cool about our team because I end up fumbling the ball, right? We always talk about the one that you can't see is the one that's going to cause the fumble because I'm looking inside. And this guy's on my right on the outside and he punches it out, but my team is pursuing. And that's something that we've been coaching since training camp is everybody run to the ball. Like you'd never know what the play, when the play is going to be, when you need to be there to recover a fumble or to, you know, push someone in the end zone or make the play positive. So you have to treat every play like it's that play. And sure enough, OZ who was on the other side of the field, sprinting down the field ended up jumping on the fumble with me and securing it. And so it was a great run, great block. I got to obviously don't put the damn ball on the ground. Austin, come on. Make sure I secure that. I'll get that fix this week. And just a great, great effort play for our entire football team on offense. Austin Ecker with this year on G and D. So Austin, again, just what's your thoughts on this? I've got Cleveland's defense was pretty impressive early. Five of the first six players were either for zero gain or a bit negative. There's this one, Jayden Anderson, McCloring shot the kind of change things up there. But I thought they were impressive. And yet you guys still put 24 points up on them in this first half. Did you feel that at first kind of there? As you said, they were downhill. Looked like they were getting to the backfield a little bit. They were disruptive and they're pressing you guys. And there's a counter for that too. It's just just a feeling you have watching it pretty amazing. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I got to give credit to them for, I think we have unfortunately for us, like 11 negative plays, which is not good. But fortunate for us, we had a bunch of bigger plays that we haven't seen as many as we've had in that game in the past, right? We'd have a couple of splash plays in here, but we were really chunking down the field in some of our other games. And this one, it was big chunk. And then we would try to get ourselves the end zone or end up kicking a field goal on the couple of those. One and try to always obviously end up in the end zone. And so it was just a different way. It was a different way that we showed, hey, we can have big plays if we need to have big plays, if that's the type of day that it's going to go. And I think Jaden is, you know, showing himself as, hey, he can, he can make it happen. Like the, you know, the one you spoke about, the one to Terry, there's definitely supposed to be a sack, you know, out of the, out of the, you know, some luck and some athleticism, you know, the two defenders run into each other. And he, you know, gets out of it and bombs it down the field to Terry, you know, for whatever that was, 50 yarder, 50 yarder, something like that. And so being able to have just players that can stay alive on the play, even if it's starting to break down and make things happen is, is what you see good teams doing. You know, you think of the, especially the best quarterbacks, you know, like Pat Mahomes is obviously the best at it right now. And then, you know, Josh Allen's another one of those guys that, you know, starts to break down. And now we're saying we're going to start putting Jaden definitely in that conversation as he's been doing it now this last week and just with his legs for the entirety of the season. So it's really exciting time for us to where we see, hey, okay, it's not all going well. Guess what, hey, we have playmakers out here that can make plays and give us back in the game. Austin Echler, giving us trusted insight. He's our trusted insider presented by I T cadre here on Grant and Danny. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Austin right here at five o'clock with us exclusively on the fan on the fourth and two that set up the first points of the game for you guys. You come from motion from the left jet action. Were you supposed to go all the way around like a sweep? Because Senate kind of gets knocked into the backfield, holds his block, but you L cut into, there's a little lane, but you make a couple guys miss. You end up getting like 10 yards on that play. Was the design that L cut right there? Was that ad lib? Well, the designs get the first down first. However, you get it, it doesn't matter. But, um, ideally, yeah, if we can, if we can set the edge right there, hopefully we can run around the edge. That didn't happen. We had a little bit of penetration as we said, hey, you guys were coming downhill and it definitely showed up on that play. And fortunately, I was able to, you know, put on the brakes and get out of field immediately. And yeah, like you said, made a couple guys miss and then was one away. Ah, so close, so close. It seems like everyone was scored. I couldn't give up by the end zone, but I was one away. Um, the frickin shoestring tackle pulled me down. I like, yeah, like the four or five yard line, but set up B Rob to run it in for the next play. So gave him a little love on that one. But, um, yeah, it was, uh, it was definitely designed to go out. But like I said, Hey, get it. Do you ever make plays? And that's what we need from our guys. Hey, the breakdown stuff's not looking good. How can we stay alive? How can we make it work? And that's another example of that. That was a tremendous play. It was a great run by you. You guys, by the way, are now eight for eight on fourth down this year. And it almost seems like the third down play calling and execution. I don't want to say changes because of that or the cheat code that is Jaden. There was another play later where I feel like guys were watching him and he goes read option and you guys move the chains. Just what does that do for your offense when all the sudden on a third and long, you might only need to get seven or eight because you know, DQ is going to keep you out there and nobody stops you on fourth down. Yeah, you know, it's, it's not just, I mean, on fourth down, but our offense, you get a, it's going to guard us all over the place. You got to guard Jaden for the run. We got guys that can go deep. We got, you know, ours, us in the right and the right back position that have been having success on the ground too. So just guarding and playing good defense the entire game and the NFL is not necessarily easy when you have offense like ours where you have to defend everything. Eventually, something's going to break down somewhere as long as we're continuing to play at that high level. And so, I mean, on fourth down, obviously it's another down. It's the last down if you don't get it, but for us, it's okay, let's execute. Let's continue to keep them spread them out, keep them on their toes. They have no idea where we can hit them from because we can hit them from so many different angles. That's one of the beauties of our offense and why we've been having so much success is because it's not just one guy, right? There's several people all across the board that are, that are having success. And when you have that, it's fun to watch as you can see and, you know, helps you, helps you build confidence in your coaching staff, like, hey, if it's fourth down, yeah, we're going, let's do it. And that's what you're seeing with, with DQ and Cliff, you know, making us, or putting us in positions to win on those fourth downs. Austin, my last one for you. Big game this week, man. This is, you guys are obviously playing really good football. Ravens have been there. That's a really good team. It's probably the game of the week in the NFL. Just talk about that. And what do you guys need to do to come out with a dub? Yeah, absolutely. You know, after like you said, you know, another great football team. So looking forward to this head-to-head matchup. It's going to be exciting, you know, just like all games are for us. And I think it's going to be a good test because, you know, the Ravens are well-respected as far as what they've been able to do, kind of, you know, coming into the season with Lamar and, you know, the rest of their, you know, playmakers on offense and defense. And so it's going to be one of those tests where, hey, we're head-to-head. We're on a roll. They're on a roll. I think they've won like three in a row now. So this is what the NFL is about. It's about, hey, let's do good on good and see who can come out and, you know, win the battle. And if it's close, if it's close, if it's not, if it's not, it's about going out there, giving it out all we can and hoping for the best. And so just like coming into the season, no idea how it's going to play out. I have no idea how this is going to play out. But I do know, and I can promise you this, we're going to get everything we can to continue to put on a show and score some dang points on offense and give ourselves the best chance to win this game. Make sure you're following Austin on social does a really good job on Twitter and the other outlets on Austin Echler. I think you do a Jersey giveaways. I know you sign jerseys every week. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So look, I appreciate all the fan love out there. And so I know you guys don't always get to see that from us because we're kind of behind closed doors. And so that's a little thing I do on Instagram and Twitter is do a Jersey giveaway every single week. So if you want to join in, it's free. It's just a token of appreciation. Well, we appreciate you, man. It's been great avenue on the show every week. We're looking forward to this relationship this year and to you guys continuing to roll. We don't really know what to do with ourselves right now, but we're just going to keep the Ellen on Sunday. Hey, that's all we can ask for. Just keep cheering and just enjoy the moment, man. And let's continue to push forward together. Austin on Grant, you're on the fan joining us every single Tuesday at five o'clock. He is presented by I T cadre. I T cadre is trusted insight, helping leaders of the nation's most important organizations understand complexity, align efforts and make the best data driven decisions to achieve success. I T cadre, your vision, our purpose next on G and D as we take you up to 630 on the fan. We've talked a little bit about this matchup coming up with the Baltimore Ravens. We'll give you our first feel on the game right here on Grant and Danny. [BLANK_AUDIO] >> Washington is found there, Lamar Jackson. The playmaking with his feet is spectacular. And automatically, you're like, this team's going to contend for Super Bowls because of this young player, the passing, the timing of their past game has gone up. Their zone read offense right now is crazy. You're getting like five yards of clip and if that's a bad play, they run the ball well with Brian Robinson. He's connection with those receivers. He's unfazed. Nothing, nothing faces this young man. >> That's Dan Orlowski of ESPN. Welcome back Grant and Danny on the fan. Hopefully you enjoyed Austin Echler. We also had Lewis Riddick speaking of ESPN analysts like Dan Orlowski. Stop by today. Riddick was on the show right at three o'clock. Ravens on Sunday, one o'clock came in Baltimore, nationally televised window at one o'clock. Romo announced the A team. And not because of who Washington's playing or because that was the last game left that they could get to. They literally had to fight NBC to keep the game because they want commanders Ravens that badly on CBS. >> Yeah, spread open at eight, seven, a half depends on your book. It's down to six and a half where the commanders are heavy underdogs in this one. And this is the marquee matchup. The guy that is the two time MVP Lamar Jackson, who is knocking on the door of trying to get by Pat Mahomes, which nobody really has done, to try to get to a Super Bowl for a team that's currently really good. And then the new kid on the block that's trying to get there. And this is must see television. This is the game of the week as far as I'm concerned. Not just because I have a vested interest in who wins or loses, but this is the most interesting game in football this weekend. >> So what's your first feel in this game? You've been much higher on Baltimore this year than I have. The Ravens come in. I mean, there's a case to be made. They could have beat the Chiefs. They could have beat the Raiders. There's a couple wins found. They easily could have probably should have lost to the Bengals. I don't know if you saw the- >> Yeah, holding that they had in overtime. They could easily right now after being two and two going into yesterday or Sunday, they could be two and four as we speak going into Washington. But they are getting their footing. They've won three straight. They played some decent teams, Cowboys, Bills, Bengals. And now this defense that just gave up a ton of yards and 38 plus points to the Bengals should have been 41 if the field goals made in overtime has to deal with the number one offense in the league in that kid, Jaden Daniels and Cliff Kingsbury. >> Yeah, it's strange, right? I mean, with the Ravens, what they've done over the last several years is they've been excellent against the run because it's always Baltimore and they've had great past defense. They've always struggled to put that, I say always. Lately, they've struggled to pressure the quarterback over the last several seasons. Well, now that's not the case. They're getting destroyed through the air at this point. I mean, carved up in terms of passing yards allowed. Dak Prescott won for huge numbers against them. And part of that was that furious comeback, but Joe Burrow just put up video game numbers against them. You can throw it on this team way more than you used to seeing and they're pretty good against the run. In fact, they're really good against the run. So it's an interesting test here for Washington. Now, you could argue they've been good against the run. They haven't been good against Washington's run. They haven't been good against a team that can run the ball like Washington can, right? With all due respect to the Chiefs, Raiders, Cowboys, Bills, Bengals, they don't have Washington's run game. Nobody does except for the team in their locker room, right? It has a rushing game that effective. So it'll be interesting. But if it plays out as it is on paper, this is a great test for Washington's offense. >> Totally. Because Baltimore is going to put up some points that that's Lamar Jackson. That's Derek Henry. This is regular season when guys are healthy, they'll do just fine against you. This is a can you win this kind of game where the thing that you want to do and have done best kind of that easy button, the run game being ahead of the sticks that four or five, six on first down or something easy may be taken away from you to a degree. You might have to go a different way against a good opponent on the road. Can you do that? I think the answer is yes, by the way, but it's a great test. >> So well said. I mean, for me, I lick my lips and salivate over the possibility to get some real answers on what's going to happen when it's not 72 and sunny. And specifically in this kind of situation, like to me, it's about figuring out what scenarios can wash it and thrive in. And we're getting those answers little by little one by one here. But if the Ravens are to shut down the running game, let's say they do a really good job on the Jaden Daniels keeper stuff, which the Browns, by the way, started out doing beautifully on all of his read option keepers, all the stuff around the edge. His first three runs were all for negative yards. Do you remember? >> Yeah. >> I think he had four runs for like negative three. At one point ended up running for 88 yards, ripped off a 34 yard or 23 yard or had some explosives. But those were more on scrambling. >> The Cleveland was ready for every read option look, it seemed like right when it was faking, looked like an inside handoff or something from the gun and he's going out to the right for what's been a free seven or eight. They were stacked up, they were there. >> Plated perfect. Yeah. Now the Ravens practice against Lamar Jackson, you would think they'd be really well prepared based on that to deal with Jaden Daniels and that RPO stuff that Washington's going to use. But if they're able to shut down the run and Washington's got to beat them through the air, they should be able to. Again, they give up 280 yards per game 31st. They give up 7.5 yards per play 27th. They have been terrible in the secondary. You accentuated and documented this pretty well. But we have not seen Washington have to win a game that way. They ran the ball and did kind of whatever they wanted on the ground against Arizona. They did win the game more, I would say through the air against Cincinnati. But that was almost like the death by paper cut where Brian Robinson didn't have a big game, but Jaden Daniels scrambled. They got some big runs from Austin Echler. Jeremy Mc, I guess that was right before Mc Nichols took over, but Echler hit the 24 yarder for the touchdown. Like they got some explosives along the way in the McCorn deep shot. But for the most part, it's the close to line of scrimmage stuff, but they did it really well. But I'm not even talking. I'm saying just in terms of when they've been able to run the ball, I think the Bengals took it away some and they won and they scored a lot and they did have the downfield explosive stuff. They're on the football, but mostly this season they've been able to run it when they wanted to. That's why they're the number two rushing offense in the league. Yes. I want to see what it looks like if they can't run it and maybe we'll get to this week because you're playing a team that gives up 3.05 per carry, best in the league and only 60.4 per game, best in the league right now, is Baltimore's run defense that good or is their opponent a factor there? I think it's both. So far, they've played the Bengals who want to throw the ball, the Bills who want to throw the ball, the Cowboys who cannot run the ball, the Chiefs, actually with Isaiah Pacheco in week one, that's a pretty good running team. And the Raiders are actually a pretty physical running team. So I would say it's a mixed bag. They played some decent running. Yeah, they gave up 27 yards on the ground to the Raiders. I say that again, 27 yards on the ground for the game to the Raiders. But it's pretty good. This where, and I'm not saying you don't respect Jay Daniels because he's throwing the ball all over the place, but you're playing Gardner Menchoo that way. And you go beat us. And by the way, he did him and Devonta Adams had a field day in the fourth quarter, but they might have done that. That to me is what I would try to do and see what happens. I can't give Washington both. So I am not letting you run the ball. If you want to stick with it, Cliff Kingsbury, God bless you. You're going to go 20 for 50 on the ground. But Daniels is going to have to win downfield and from the pocket. That's the other thing nobody's been able to do. And it's way easier said than done. Keep Jayden Daniels in the pocket. He his numbers are unbelievable when he gets out of the pocket. Finds guys, he extends plays, he goes down the field. I don't know how you keep him in the pocket. I'm not smart enough to coordinate that for you. But if the Ravens are able to, maybe that's the answer against an offense that hasn't been stopped. So nine and a half sacks between OA and Calvin, Calvin no way. Then you add in Marabuque, Kyle Hamilton is all over the field. This is a defense with with talent with good pieces. But the fact that they've been that bad against the past is is rather stunning, I would say. We're used to seeing them with with Humphrey and a bunch of other guys in the secondary just play good coverage. But they're getting after the past for a little bit. So that's going to be another big test. Washington passed their most recent one with flying colors. You recall Miles Garrett, defensive player of the year candidate with a big fat zilch on the score sheet. So like burrow, 392 and five. Yeah. I know they played an over time, but still still a lot of that's a regulation 70 something a regulation. We watch Dak shred them. Yep. Now they were playing from behind. Maybe you could, you know, carve it up that way is make an excuse in that regard. But they couldn't force an incompletion as the Cowboys came back in that game. So at first watching that game is where I watch we were in Cincinnati watching it that afternoon with Kia and and was seeing our guys, the law firm, K M lawyers dot com and we're going, okay, this is just because the Ravens were playing prevent. It's getting away from them, whatever. Well, now you get future data points and you go, that wasn't just because they're playing prevent. That's because their past defense has been got awful through it through several weeks. And that's been the case. That's held true. That's why they're not elite yet in my mind. There's a lot of track record here from me in Baltimore. I basically just trust them to be good. They feel names that aren't household names become them because that's what this program does. They win double digit games every year. They're just a really well run organization who lost a lot this past off season and haven't hit the ground running just yet. So this is a tough test. You can see by the way, the fact that the line opened at eight or seven and a half depends on your book. And it's now still down to six and a half. There's a, okay, now you guys are stepping up and difficulty level right here. Whether whether you agree with that or not, that's the perception. That's kind of the pulse. I think Washington will be able to move the ball and will be able to score. I actually like this to end up being a bit of a shootout, to be honest with you. Both of these offenses are much better than the defenses. I'm pretty confident in saying I don't think the commander's defense will stop the Ravens offense. I hope for one of those Lamar Jackson turnover games where he inexplicably has like just two lost fault, you know, loses a fumble running, gets hit in the pocket and gets a sack fumble, maybe throws a pick and you get three turnovers and you go in like a 23 to 20 kind of game. But I think the Ravens are going to be able to move the football. You know what the total is in this game? I haven't seen any. I know 52 and a half over 50 means you're expecting a lot of points. There's only one other game this week over 50. It's an identical 52 and a half and it's Lions Cowboys. Yeah, nobody could stop anybody in that game either. So pretty clearly what the expectation is is both of these offenses are going to be very comfortable. And that's what I think is going to happen. Yeah. And it's by the way, it's not your conventional shootout. It's not greatest show on turf against Manning's Colts either. You know what I mean? It's two teams that are averaging 200 yards rushing a week give or take doing this putting up points on the board. It's going to be fascinating, man. I mean, this is this is one of those where if Washington loses and is not competitive, it'll be a bummer, right? But you'll go, okay, everyone's got one. Everyone's got those, right? If nobody in this league save for Minnesota and Kansas City has gotten through a game where they haven't looked absolutely horrendous. Even the good teams, even teams that we know are good that with with deposits in the bank have had a, that doesn't matter with you. Houston, who is nasty? One on the road to Minnesota looked like they'd never met each other. Got beat 34 seven. Everyone's had a, what the hell's wrong with you kind of a game? That's all it's going to feel like. It's not going to feel like that much of a setback if they drop this one. If they're competitive, win, lose or draw, I think it's going to go a long way to kind of continuing to validate when you're in this new space, right? You've moved further than you've been in some time here as this organization where there are legitimate good feelings that are well earned. If you lose on the road to a Super Bowl contender, which a lot of people still think Baltimore is in that building as they've kind of backed themselves into a corner needing to kind of get, get some momentum going after kind of a lousy start. If you drop this one competitively, it's still another good drop in the bucket. So they are a Super Bowl contender, I would say, and they're also in my opinion, not that good. But that is the league. I mean, I would say the same thing before last night about the Chiefs, honestly. That's your point. Unimpressive. The lions have not had, you know, style points really until their last win. I'm just not sure that there are great teams right now. I think this is kind of the trend in what the league wants. And we're seeing it play out right now. What is your first feel though out there in listener land on commanders Ravens at eight hundred six three six one oh six seven will open up the MGM national harbor listener lines. They are big underdogs. That is telling. I would say there's this expectation for the first time that didn't exist against Cleveland externally. Maybe we felt it just because we've been around this town for a long time. But like the odds makers are actually saying this is the week where the commanders look very human. Are you buying that? Grant and Danny on the fan. You. And Danny on the fan. Taking you up to six. 30. Thank you for hanging out with us. Go get yourself your no punt offense t-shirt. The NPO. I love the design of the shirts. Basically, it's just the word punt with it. Line right through it like a no smoking sign in the nation's capital. We're known for a couple of things. There's a lot of politics stuff that happens. Yeah. Yeah. That's that one. We got some important buildings, monuments and such speed cameras and Danny Ruier. We are known round these parts for not punting in football game. You know, his board most of the time, Tresway. Tresway is a professional holder in high fiber. That's what he does. What do you do with the game today, Tres? High five hits signature handshakes with several special teams, guys, after kickoffs, kick off returns because of our team scores and they got to return the kick off. And then he holds for Austin cyber hybrid cybertron. Commanders Ravens Sunday, the question for you guys at eight hundred six three six one oh six seven MGM national harbor list on. There are a few lines open. What is your first feel? Mine is I think it'll be high scoring. I think both both offenses will be able to move the ball consistently. And I think it will be a very close game. I really do like Washington plus points. I think this is a one possession football game. I could see it coming down to the fourth quarter. And if that's the case, Justin Tucker advantage over Austin cyber at more length than the leg greatest kicker of all time, even though Tucker has missed some big kicks this year, he did hit the game winner and over time from deep and he sent the game to overtime with a long field goal. But in a close game, I would probably give the edge to Baltimore at home, but I think it's going to be tight. And just saying that as they're four and one playing a three and two Ravens team tells you the whole story, doesn't it? It tells you they've arrived. This is real. This is not some fluke. I got a similar feel to be honest with you. I think I probably, if I had to pick it now, would, would say Washington to cover, maybe not to win. I mean, just, there's just too much data, too many deposits in the bank for me on the Ravens. I know they haven't played great this year, but I've seen them do so well so often and win these kinds of games, you know, just have a little bit more in the plan, have a little bit more to slow you down or stop you. Also, by the way, Baltimore always plays these kinds of, I don't know how to say this better, but then in Seattle, always seem to play weird games where there's, you know, uh, uh, uh, plays that you never seen, penalties you never seen called. John Harbaugh is like a rule stipulation argument with somebody. 17 guys report eligible that didn't know by the way. Yeah, I feel like there's always something unusual where like you're going to see Nancy and wrote, like, Romo's going to squeal seven. I never seen that before. Jam golly. And it's going to be weird, right? I just feel like it's always weird up there. I'm glad that you get to watch Tony Romo this weekend. That's what I'm happy about. Volume will be down low. I mean, nobody dislikes Tony Romo on the call more than you do. It's a little bit much. He's, he's not as good as he wants was. He is aggressively okay. He is campy and fun. He's kind of entertaining. It's, it's not a distraction or a negative. It's just, he doesn't add a lot, but in Danny Ria's world, he ruins everything. Yeah, it is a distracted negative. So it used to be, it was worth the cost of admission where he's like, run to the left here, Jim, or they're going to try to get behind this guy. And he called the play out exactly as it was because it was the same as was on film when he was playing six minutes ago. Now the whole league has turned over. He doesn't know it the same way. So we can't do that anymore. And now it's here we go. Most important play I've ever seen. Yep. It's it is exhausting. It is the worst. So yeah, that's right. Let's go to Jack in Springfield on Grant and Danny first feel on the big match up on Sunday in Baltimore. Well, so it's going to be a big one without question. First of all, Grant, I got to get something covered for you. It's uh, look, I know what you want to. Yep. And I know what you're not. And you're not an effing cop. Okay. Attaboy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I get one more? Please go Jack one more. Can I get a what Mrs. Marshall's trying to say is there's a 44th patient. First of all, what Mrs. Marshall's trying to say is there's a 44th patient. Okay. That's the one. Now you got to give me a little prompt. I've been calling you guys since 2003. You guys hadn't been there that long, but I know you will be in the future. You got to tell my man. When I call, like I called earlier, he's got to bump me at least once because I got to get a little prompt. You know what I'm saying? I got to have some bragging rights, but I agree with that. Let me get to my point. Just once that Ryan is that young Ryan is that the fellow? Yeah. We're still on the ropes, you know, Claire. He's just figured it all out together. All right. Well, and I love that. I love him. And I love his uh, casserole, my boy, casserole. But anyway, let me get back to this. I think this is, this is going to be the toughest game they might have all year. Here's why. We both know he's amazing. The offense is standing up. The defense is doing what they can. But now they get to try and catch that quarterback who at his size is almost as fast as the commander's quarterback, right? So it's going to be a boat race as far as I'm concerned. And the offense, I think is going to score probably because their D isn't that good. So the offense is going to score probably 24, 26 points. The D has got to step up for the commanders. If they can pull that off, now here we go. Hot take. I think they might be in the entire conference championship. It's not outrageous again, though. It's just now becoming the norm and start thinking this way. And I'm not telling anybody not to, but it's hilarious. It's just funny. Even after week two, we were all saying this team's not that good, but that was three games ago. And that's a lifetime ago has changed. That's the NFL. Think about the jets. They fire Robert solid this morning. They play the bills on Sunday. If they beat the bills, they'll be tied for first place. And the story is going to be come Tuesday or Wednesday in this league. Jeff Obrick is the man. Nathaniel Hackett was held back by some new energy in the building. Rogers is happy again. Look at him smiling as he throws this game, winning touchdown. Everything changes so fast in this league. Three weeks, three weeks to go. The other way, I guess, technically, but you keep Jaden Daniels healthy. As long as that guy's showing up to the stadium with you, you're going to have a shot. We're two weeks in a day, I think from right before that opening kickoff, when Cincinnati, the whole building was electric and everyone's jumping up and down and bouncing. And I had to scream right next to you. They're going to get mud stomped. And now we're like, they're probably the best team of league, probably the ones in two weeks in the day. Grant and Danny with you on the fan next on G and D. I want to take more calls from you guys at 800-636-1067 on your first fields against the Ravens. Also, we'll tell you who's getting booted off the island on commander's survivor, your last chance to vote right now at Facebook.com/grantanddanny and some things we think we think coming out of week five in the NFL. We're G and D