Two weeks, two wins, two totally different games – and through the first two weeks of the season, what has impressed you the most about the 2-0 Commanders?
Grant & Danny opened up the MGM National Harbor Listener Lines on Tuesday to have you answer that question, but they went first…and it seems both men are on the same page of strength – physical and mental.
“It’s a little corny, but for me it’s the resiliency,” Danny said. “I’ve been hard on Ron Rivera, and the results speak for themselves, he’s been pretty middling as a coach and even worse as a personnel executive, but guys really do rally behind him. The guys play hard, and there’s no quit or panic at any sign of adversity. The fact they’re still battling when things aren’t going their way and keep coming at you has been the most impressive thing.”
“To me it’s been their defensive line, and that’s me knowing coming in they were going to be good,” Grant said. “They’re No. 2 in the NFL at 16 percent sacks per pass attempt – about 16 percent of the time, they get a sack when the quarterback drops back. What they’re getting out of Montez Sweat, and got out of Chase Young in an exciting return, you knew the guys at tackle are the best interior in the league – but the depth guys are also flashing. All the way down the chart, everyone has contributed, and as much as I thought they’d be fine, I wondered what kind of shape they’d be in. They smothered the Cardinals, and when it looked like they were about to get waxed by the Broncos, they locked down and smothered them. That line is special, and I’ve been so impressed by them.”
That lockdown goes back to Danny’s point.
“Think about that – as it’s 21-3 and Denver has the ball, it’s easy to get down and despondent and mail it in,” he said. “But instead of moping and going through the motions, they changed the game. You’re never really out of it in this league, but it would be real easy in that situation to not be able to rally, but they played great.”
“Their ability to get off the field and get the big stop is huge – they’re eighth in the NFL on third down,” Grant replied. “That stat has huge undulations, but after being No. 1 last year, they’ve done a great job there, and in the red zone, they are tied for fourth-best in football. If we’re talking about things we’ve been impressed by, I’m putting that at the top of the list.”
Take a listen to the entire conversation above!
