Matthew Berry from NBC Sports joins G&D to discuss Jayden Daniels, and the Eagles-Commanders NFC Championship game.
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00:00for many many years on ESPN I would see him repping the locals now on NBC watching him on
00:06football night in America and you've worn it sometimes Matthew you've been on the wrong side
00:12of jokes people have have pushed this team around and you've stepped up for him and I said you know
00:17we got to talk to Matthew this week he's one of the good ones how are you buddy I appreciate it
00:22it's uh listen it's a lot more fun this week uh than it has been uh in the last 20 years but yeah
00:28yes I am uh I am part of the faithful absolutely and seems like there's a lot of people all of a
00:33sudden on the bandwagon people that are like oh I love this like where have you been where have
00:37you been you know the last 10 years last five years you know so uh so I appreciate don't you
00:43feel like that I feel like there's a lot of people and I don't mind the bandwagon I get it we're an
00:47easy team to root for Jaden is easy to root for but there's part of me that sort of feels like
00:51you know some of these Johnny come lately types where you're just like where have you been like
00:55you can't be a true fan if you didn't have to live through the Snyder era you know what I mean
00:59like uh which is by the way this is what makes all this so much sweeter is that it happened
01:05so soon I mean Cisco could tell you as soon as we got rid of that guy that uh you know good
01:09things could happen yeah I think they're the cool kid right now and they've got the cool quarterback
01:13so that makes them you know a hot commodity and everyone's trying to claim them to an extent so
01:19are you local what's your background how are you a such a fan of the team over the years
01:24I lived in Virginia until I was 12 years old so I grew up there and before I before I moved you
01:29know and then I've moved around since I was 12 but uh from the time I was you know basically
01:33born until I was 12 I lived in Richmond Virginia in Charlottesville Virginia my father's a college
01:38professor actually and so he taught it at VCU and then later at UVA so uh you know back in the day
01:45I mean this is how long I've been a uh a commander's fan like I remember when Jack
01:49Pardee was the head coach like that when I was a kid when I was a little itty bitty kid Jack Pardee
01:54was the head coach and I remember obviously you know I was probably nine or ten when Joe
01:59Joe Gibbs was hired and so you know through throughout the Gibbs era and that obviously
02:03cemented it for me and you know been a Washington fan ever since we're fairly close in age Matthew
02:08Grant's like 11 but you and I are I think I'm maybe a couple years behind you but
02:12logically I would have given it up several times but like you I lived through it it was in my blood
02:17and the joyous memories like you know it's even if I pretended to quit them I would still care
02:23what moment where you go you know what if I could I would walk away do you have one of those?
02:28Oh there's I mean there's so many over the Snyder era but you're right like it's in my blood I mean
02:33it's in my blood since like I have pictures of me as a little five-year-old running around with a
02:37you know with a red skinned helmet I have a you know one of my first autograph I think the first
02:41autograph I ever got was a you know I got a Ken Houston autograph and I got a Joe Faison autograph
02:46like I sent away to the team and I got like a you know a five by seven card that they signed
02:51for me that's you know I was so thrilled and so you know I remember my dad taking me to you know
02:56a game or two at the old RFK so it's just it's in my blood it's it's my first love it's the first
03:02sports team I ever fell in love with I used to collect you know football cards and everything
03:07like that so in terms of times of when I've given up and I've written about this I've written you
03:11know I write a column every week you know originally for ESPN and you know sites before
03:15ESPN and then now I write it for nbcsports.com and rotable.com and you know I've talked about
03:20my fandom many times over the years about like I wish I could quit them right you know uh you know
03:26very I'll tell you the one that just comes to mind and there's so many low points right but the one
03:32that comes to mind was when Bruce Allen got up there and said we have a damn good culture
03:37that press conference right just infuriated me so much because there was so much that was wrong
03:43with the team and so much that I really lay at the feet of Bruce Allen who I think is the worst
03:48general manager in professional sports history you know I mean and like his entire existence
03:53was because he was enabled by Dan Snyder and you know and everything that's come out is sort of
03:57proven that out but I just remember when he got up at that press conference and took no accountability
04:04and basically was like you know everything's fine right he was the real life version of that
04:08meme that you've seen where it's you know it's the dog sitting at a table drinking coffee and
04:13there's flames all around him and he's like it's fine you know everything's fine and you're like
04:18what are you talking about damn good culture what are you talking about any of this stuff like it's
04:22awful you know I mean and you know his you know I think he was the fifth losingest general manager
04:28during his tenure like you know I mean like there's a zillion stats that we can point to and
04:32you know how he how he botched Kirk Cousins and you know he botched Trent Williams and anyway on
04:37and on and on and just how cup bear the cupboard was you know from all his terrible draft picks and
04:42anyway that Bruce Allen presser by the way Matthew was yeah was also gave us this gift
04:48we're winning off the field but we gotta start winning on the field the old we're winning off
04:52the field now it's just about winning on so feel better we're winning off the field because Dan
04:56gave away a turkey last thanksgiving yeah right yeah exactly I mean it's off winning off the field
05:02what you do you sued a grandmother you animals like like I could I could do an hour just on you
05:09know stuff that infuriated me during the Snyder era but but we're here to talk about positivity
05:13and that's right to show you it just goes to show you I mean I don't think there's been ever
05:18a greater contrast or more perfect example of what ownership means in professional sports
05:25than what the commanders who were so who you know you know in one of the biggest uh biggest markets
05:31in the NFL and the ineptitude that they showed for over two decades under Dan Snyder and as
05:36soon as you get a professional sports owner in Josh Harris and his ownership group as soon as
05:41you get somebody like that in here all of a sudden what do you know I mean you know when you've heard
05:46Josh Harris talk about this right you know like culture hard work people that's what it takes
05:53right you know I mean like in it and it's proven itself out it's proven itself out you know in like
05:58it's been a magical ride I hope we I hope we're talking in a couple weeks about the
06:02commander's super bowl victory but you know it's been unbelievable this year because what it's not
06:08some quick fix they have built uh you know uh Josh uh Adam Peters Dan Quinn and the entire
06:14organization have built a foundation that can be built upon for years and years and years
06:20Matthew Barry's with us on Grant and Danny you mentioned this overnight renaissance so much of
06:27it revolves around Jaden Daniels now you do a lot of work obviously in the fantasy community and
06:32pre-ranking and trying to figure out what skill position guys quarterbacks are going to do
06:36what was your expectation coming into the year for Daniels and what do you make of the year
06:41he just had where does it come in in terms of historical fantasy seasons for rookies
06:46you know I mean it's something short of amazing like I think I tweeted this out the other day
06:50where I said something like I was quote tweeting somebody else that had a stat like I think it was
06:54I think it was the you know the Daniel stats like you know how many games he's had with zero
06:56turnovers and zero punts and it's more than you know guys like Montana and Brady and everyone
07:01combined and I said pick a stat any stat and they're all insane when you talk about Jaden
07:07Daniels and so it is uh it is one of it's not the greatest rookie season by a quarterback in fantasy
07:15fantasy um I haven't actually looked at it from a historical perspective to really look at the
07:20point I mean do you call Patrick Holmes rookie season like his rookie his technical rookie
07:25season ever played that one game against Alex Smith but the the next year when he was a full-time
07:29starter unbelievable fantasy year Lamar Jackson's first full year as a starter unbelievable as well
07:35but it's right up there but what I'll tell you is is that um I had I had Jaden Daniels as my QB8
07:42coming into the year I had him on my pre-season love list I had him on the short list for my ride
07:46or die and I desperately wish I had actually chosen him for ride or die but I thought everyone's
07:51gonna think I'm just being a homer you know um if I pick him as my ride or die so I'm not gonna do
07:56that I I regret that now obviously but yeah I was very bullish on him but I didn't expect this I
08:01would be lying if I said I expected him to you know have such a high completion percentage to
08:07uh to be as brilliant as he has been because what I'll you know what I've said is I've said
08:11this on air before what's incredible there's so many different things that you can point to about
08:15Jane Daniels brilliant but one of them is that guys I would argue that Jane Daniels is playing
08:21with a a worse uh core than he had at LSU last year he was thrown to Malik neighbors and Brian
08:28Thomas last year in college you know and make no mistake Diamond Brown and Laminate Zacchaeus and
08:33Noah Brown for a while in the season you know they've had nice moments and they've really
08:36stepped up and Brian Diamond Brown has been fantastic in the playoffs but like you know I
08:42you know Malik neighbors and Brian Thomas is kind of crazy in college you understand what I'm saying
08:48so I just uh it's brilliant what he has done with players that at the beginning of the year
08:55with the exception of Terry McLaurin that the rest of the league sort of felt like
08:59you know there wasn't a huge market for a Laminate Zacchaeus there wasn't a huge market
09:03for Noah Brown you know um no one was beating down Adam Peters door saying hey what what can
09:08we get Diamond Brown for yeah I mean you know and so uh Zacchaeus was out of football guys
09:14Zacchaeus was out of football last year and they've all been brilliant and and that's a credit
09:18to Jaden and that's a credit to Cliff Kingsbury and it's a credit to those gentlemen as well
09:22they've put in the work they've they've they bought into the system and they've been nothing
09:25short of terrific this year. Matthew Barry with us here on GND you just kind of touched on this
09:29Matthew but this is the thing like in talking like other dads that uh you know you're dropping
09:33my kids off at school or you know chatting with friends texting otherwise like you just touched
09:38on a bunch of guys that as you said probably wouldn't be starting or getting reps or looks for
09:4225, 26, 30 teams across the NFL and yet here they are 60 good minutes of football away from the
09:47Super Bowl like how is this happening you know what I mean like I get Jaden Daniels is special
09:51Kingsbury's made some nice adjustments and that's cool but they forced all the turnovers against
09:56the Detroit buzzsaw of an offense like how is this group doing this yeah I mean I think it's
10:02a it's a great question I think they've been schemed open I think um and I think that Jaden has
10:09raised the play of everyone around him in credit to those guys you know like the completion
10:13percentage doesn't happen if guys on the other end of those passes don't come down with them
10:16you know you think about that long pass last week to Diamond Brown with it you know we've seen all
10:21the pictures of the guy hanging on him he's literally like you know he's holding Brown's
10:25you know helmet and uh and Brown still comes down with it so credit the guys for coming down
10:30with the balls when they're thrown to him but I think it's a I think it's a combination of
10:33of all those things that that you know Kingsbury's play calling has schemed them open
10:38that Daniels continually makes the the right read and also just throws a perfect ball right you know
10:44there's you know the saying goes there's no defense for a perfect pass uh Brady said that
10:49um on the broadcast and he's absolutely right I mean that's what it was that long pass to
10:53Diamond Brown that was a perfect pass you just I don't know what you can do to defend that
10:57um and so I think it I think it's all those things but I also think there's just a
11:01there's a level of sort of believing in yourself and believing in the team everything and you guys
11:07are you guys are there locally and so you see it more than I do on a national level but I just
11:11it seems like this team is insanely close off the field that that locker room is tight and that's
11:17accredited DQ and the and the foundation and the culture that he's built among the team and
11:21everyone is bought in and you know Daniel seems to you know well above his years as a leader
11:26on that team and I just feel like it's just one of those things like think about Tom Brady
11:30um think about you know some of those some of the years that you know yes Brady had like uh
11:36you know Randy Moss for you but there's also there were times where like he's out there
11:39throwing work to a shake Aldwell yeah you know but they always seem to make the play
11:43because this Brady was Brady elevated the play of people around him and I think that's what
11:48Jane Daniels is doing here as well just people want to step up and play to the level that he's
11:53inspiring them to do Matthew Berry on G and D here on the fan before we let you go what do you think
12:00how much of a chance do you give them against the Eagles I think we I think we have a really good
12:04shot here's what I think be honest with you guys I think we I think we have the better quarterback
12:10and I think we have the better coaches I think they're probably better than us everywhere else
12:13but that's all right we have the better coach we have the better quarterback those are the
12:17two most important things in a football field and you have those two things you absolutely have
12:21a shot you know we're underdogs but we were underdogs no one gave us a chance against Detroit
12:25no one gave us a chance against Tampa Bay we were underdogs and if we end up beating Philadelphia
12:30we'll be an underdog to the Bills or the Chiefs in the Super Bowl it's all right we've been an
12:33underdog the whole year uh whole year long it's going to come down to turnovers right
12:39the way that the way the Eagles I actually didn't think the Eagles you know should have beaten the
12:43Rams or the Packers they haven't looked that impressive but in each game they got you know
12:47they got a couple of turnovers against the Rams they got a couple of turnovers against the Packers
12:51they end up winning how do we win we got the two turnovers against Tampa Bay we got the five
12:55against Detroit plus the you know the fourth and two where they had 12 men on the field which was
13:00kind of a turnover on the line side of the ball like brutal call brutal uh beat for those guys
13:05so I think it's honestly it's going to you know it's a cliche but I think it's going to come down
13:08to defense and can we can we get a couple of stops can we get um uh some turnovers I think
13:15the most important thing is also how does our offensive line hold up I'm nervous about you
13:21know the cosmic injury I hope we've got a plan for Jalen Carter I hope we're double teaming
13:26them every single play um and so I think line play that's the other that's the that's the biggest
13:31issue for me is like how well do we hold up against their defensive line how well does our
13:36defensive line hold up against their O-line because you know they were just you know getting
13:40these big uh holes for Saquon the last couple of weeks and so can we contain Saquon can we win the
13:45bottom of the line and then also you know can we win the turnover bottle I think we've got a I think
13:49we've got a very good shot you know what I mean I I like our chances you know I feel like every
13:54time we we any people anytime people have doubted this team they have come through so I like our
14:00chances it's it's fun to say Matthew this is awesome a real treat to speak with you thank you
14:04appreciate it guys handle the commander's hill victory be good there's Matthew Berry uh he has
14:09been a very public fan in the media since his early days at ESPN as their main fantasy guy
14:16and now even on football night in America he is kind of the Washington representative yeah
14:21stick aside like I've been reading him and following him and consuming his content forever
14:25yeah like he was the first one through the breach to make fantasy a thing not that people weren't
14:29thing not that people weren't playing but like that we would have legitimate content all the
14:33time and this thing that's ubiquitous everyone's doing like he's like no no I'm gonna make a living
14:37doing fantasy football and you know now everybody follows it seems normal but one of the pioneers
14:42man that was that's it's awesome also that whatever called upon by the way that little
14:46Washington bet was in there I love it