Jon Allen talks Commanders Defense in Win Over Cardinals

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Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jon Allen joins The Sports Junkies to break down the Washington Commanders big win in which the defense greatly improved.
Transcript
00:00Quinn said afterwards, I found it very interesting, that he tried to make a point to you guys,
00:05listen, we're not where we want to be prior to this game, but you guys aren't as far off
00:09as you think. And then we were trying to speculate, well, what is he talking about?
00:13And then JP said, well, you know, like say, for example, St. Just has been there a bunch of times,
00:18good coverage, just didn't get his hands up, didn't get the ball knocked down, whatever,
00:22a great throw, great catch, those kinds of instances. I brought up the game against Tampa.
00:27I thought you guys had pressure on Baker five or six times. I thought he was going
00:29to be sacked and somehow he wiggled out of it. Are those the kind of things he was referring to?
00:35Yeah. No, I mean, I know fans get frustrated when you hear a team where you were a player
00:39or a coach, they work close, but the difference between a great defensive performance and a bad
00:45defensive performance is razor thin. And, you know, I think we just made the razor thin plays
00:51that we needed to make, you know, in this game. I mean, Dorris also had a great sack on fourth and
00:56that really changed the game. I mean, who knows how the game was when they go down and score on
01:00that drive. So the difference between playing good ball and playing bad ball is razor thin.
01:04And as a defense, you can't get really caught up on the end result only. I'm not going to say it's
01:11not important because obviously at the end of the day, we get paid to produce and the end result is
01:14why we work. But when things aren't going good, you got to focus on doing things the right way,
01:19day in and day out of practice. And when you continue to do that, then it's just about
01:23translating it from practice to the game. And I think today's last game was the first game that
01:28we really, you know, executed the game plan, went out there and played good on Sunday. And, you know,
01:33it was good for a lot of the young guys to go out there and just see the work that they're putting
01:37in, you know, make plays on Sunday. John, we were kind of talking about it and how Kyler just looked
01:44like a deer in headlights after that first drive. Tell them my theory. I didn't understand it. I
01:50will. I'll tell him your theory. I didn't understand it really because I guess you guys
01:54were just trying to keep him in the pocket because you got to him four times, but there were times
01:58where I thought he could run, but he decided not to. And he just fell down or that he was missing
02:04guys. Maybe it's because, you know, he's a smaller dude and he can't see over you guys. But
02:08Eric thinks that Kingsbury talked to Joe Witt and Dan and said, look, this is what Kyler likes.
02:16This is why he's uncomfortable. He's uncomfortable in this situation, yada, yada, yada. So first
02:22question is, what did you notice about Kyler and how you were able to get to him so quickly? And
02:27then number two, do you think, or no, did Kingsbury talk to the defensive staff about it?
02:34Well, I know when it comes to Kyler Murray, when you allow him to use his legs, not really for
02:39running, but to get out of the pocket and make plays down the field. I mean, it's really hard
02:43to find a guy in the league who's better than that. You know, so we were able to make them
02:47beat from, from the pocket, not saying he can, but we understand what makes him special is his
02:53uncharacteristic athletic ability and his ability with his big arm. If you can make him go from the
02:58pocket, he's a little bit shorter, might have some issues being over the middle of the field.
03:01Then you get them playing on our terms, you know, and as far as coach Kingsbury talking to the D
03:05coordinator, he might have, I don't know. But one thing I do know is this is a copycat league
03:10and all coaches talk, you know what I mean? Like there's friends, there's guys you came up in the
03:16business with and they talk, I'm sure they do. So if there's something that you struggle with,
03:22you're going to see that again and again and again, until you stop it or as soon as you prove
03:26there's no longer a problem. So, I mean, that's, that's really every position, every player,
03:32like if I have a three technique who struggles on double teams, you're going to double him
03:36every chance you get. So, I mean, that's just kind of how the nature of the business goes.

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