Joe Theismann had ‘cautious optimism’ about the Commanders in the preseason, and after a couple of weeks…but now he only has half that, because the modifier is gone after yesterday’s Hail Mary.
“It's exciting times in Washington. We've always talked about cautious optimism…I'm starting to lose the cautious part. Now there's just optimism,” Joe told BMitch & Finlay Monday. “I absolutely jumped out of my chair, like everybody in the stands jumped out of their seats. Jayden did a great job of buying time, and we saw him maybe throw that about 65 yards. You don’t want to say it's a team of destiny, but it's sure starting to look like it with the amazing things that have happened so far this year. They’re a complete football team, and guys are making plays – all the little things that good teams do, we’re doing, and of course there has to be a degree of luck. I’m still in disbelief, almost speechless.”
Joe is friends with Drew Pearson, who came up with the Hail Mary with Roger Staubach in Dallas, and while he himself never had one, he knows, as simple as it seems, how hard it is to execute in every facet.
Well, except when the defender responsible for the guy making the catch is showboating…
“It’s amazing, and a great lesson for everybody that it ain't over till it's over, and the whistle blows, but these are the young guys today who are all about ‘look at me’ when they make a play,” Theismann said. “They get paid to make plays, but you get this flex. You get paid to be on the field to defend plays! Like I said, it’s luck, but there’s a lot of thought that goes into how you address this particular play.”
The pass to Terry McLaurin the play before may have been just as important, because it got the Commanders into the position for the Hail Mary, but as Joe said, ‘let’s just say, the legend continues.’
And as Joe and BMitch discussed the finer points of defending the Hail Mary, the talk moved to what this one will do for the team…and it’s really about how they put it behind them?
“This is Dan’s challenge: it’s a win. Let’s enhoy today, Victory Monday, but we have to go up and play the Giants, who have historically been a pain in the rear end for us, so this is not a game you can take lightly,” Theismann said. “It has to be the same approach, and this is what I’ve seen with this team: it’s been a three-phase aspect of consistent play that's made a difference. I look at the little things with Jayden, and I love watching him grow, and this team play the way they’re playing as a team.”
Take a listen to Theismann’s entire call-in above, as he talks about the Washington defense’s role in Sunday’s win, how the offense is playing so in sync, and more!