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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Buccaneers, Week 4 Pregame Preview · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everybody. Hope you're doing well. We wanted
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: to let you know. We recorded this podcast episode on Tuesday,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: September twenty fourth, twenty twenty four, so by the time
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: you hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: but we hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Opposition
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: That's right, eleven years strong. Boy, I tell you, we
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: got a great discussion coming your way here on Opposition
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Territory as we preview this upcoming Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers game. It's gonna be interesting to see where
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: both of these quarterbacks, who have had some up and
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: downs this season after three weeks, where they're going to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: be heading into Week four, Jalen Hurts Baker Mayfield, what
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: may we see from them? And what are we gonna
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: see from both of these teams offenses and defenses as well.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: We've got a great guest, got a great discussion coming
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: your way, Let's get to it. Joining us this week
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: from A to Z Sports for our Eagles Buccaneers preview.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: He is He's a good friend of the podcast, been
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: coming on for a while. Like I said, check out
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: A to Z Sports. He is fantastic. Evan Winter. How
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: you doing, Buddy, I'm great, Jeff.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: It's always a pleasure to be on Man and the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Happy to Dog Eagles and Bucks. It seems like it's
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: almost a yearly, yearly ritual.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: It really is.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Hey, it couldn't be more happy if that it is exactly.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: And look, the Bucks are just kicking the Eagles butts
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: year after year after year. You know that's the trend here.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: We're're certainly gonna be getting into it. But Buddy, before
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: we start talking about this upcoming game here, I'm wondering,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: you know, get some get some information out there to
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: folks where they can find you on the Twitter, slash x.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: You know some stuff that you're doing in A to
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Z Sports. You guys are blowing up over there, So
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: get some information out there to folks.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So A z sports dot com that's where you
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: can find us. We have coverage for all thirty two
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: NFL teams. I'm Kelsey Kramer. She is our dedicated Eagles rid.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: She's great at what she does, so be sure to
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: check her out. She also does some Georgia pulldogs, so
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of this the Eagles South, you know,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: so to speak. Yep. But then you can check me
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: out on the Tampa Bay side of things. I'm drilled
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: in there and as well as Commanders this year. Those
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: are my two beats and then you can find me
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: on Twitter at Evan underscore a two Z and that's
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: at o Z.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Awesome, Awesome Evan. Let's get into Week four, Buccaneers Eagles Man.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: At this point, the Buccaneers are tied for first place
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: in the NFC South with the Saints, who the Eagles
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: just beat this past week. You know, Bucks, they have
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: certainly had some ups and downs this season, but overall
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: it seems like they're on a trajectory of having a
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: positive season, kind of you know, similar to what we
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: may have seen potentially last year. I mean, this is
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: a team heading into Week four that has had, as
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: we mentioned, the Eagles number on several occasions over the years,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: most notably knocking them out of the playoffs last year.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, like, what are the overall vibes and feels
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: from Buccaneers Nation, from Bucks Nation as this team is
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: now two and one on the season, and again they
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: have had the Eagles number. As we've said, like, what
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: what were the vibes and feels within the fan base
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: at this point.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely done a complete one eighty from the
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: past week. I mean there's a reason why the NFL
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: is called a week to week league. I mean, one week,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: you feel like you're riding high and you're on top
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: of the world. Next week you feel like you know
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: you're gonna be picking in the top three of the
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: next of the upcoming draft. Right I wouldn't go so
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: far to say that Bucks feel like that part of
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: the latter, but Bucks fans right now definitely are upset
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: and at a low point after that Broncos lost though
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: rightfully so Yeah, and when I when I say tough loss,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I don't mean, you know, playing your heart out and
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: losing on a last second field goal as like a
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: ten point underdog. I mean, you know, like tough to watch,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: like scratching your eyeballs out. The Bucks were just manhandled
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: on both sides of the ball. They you know, there's
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: a lot of there's a lot of speculation that they
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: just you know, were riding that emotional high after the
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Big Lions win and then overlooked a Broncos team that
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: was zero and two, had a lot of issues on
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: both sides of the ball itself. Regardless, they just came
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: out and laid an absolute egg on Sunday. Now, with
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: that being said, you know, the the overall outlook is
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: still optimistic and based like you know, you mentioned a
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: couple of times now, based off the recent history. But
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the Eagles Bucks fans are kind of looking at this
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: as they get right game. Yea. But the Eagles, you know,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: outside of that awful Monday night debacle, they could easily
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: be three and oh right now, They've got a lot
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: of good things going for them. So, you know something,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: and we'll talk about this, you know here getting into
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: things a little bit more, but I think this matchup
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: might be a little bit more different than what we've
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: seen in the past.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it may be a little bit more different. And
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I got to say, it was surprising to see the
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Bucks lay an egg the way they did, and we're
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: certainly going to kind of be diving into that throughout
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the course of this the discussion here, but I really
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: wanted to die into the Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. What
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: we have seen from him thus far and just during
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: his tenure. Within his time in Tampa Bay, he had
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a fantastic Week one this year against the Commanders eighty
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: percent completion percentage, he threw for four touchdowns. Then things
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: kind of dropped off a bit for him in Week
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: two against the Lions, and then this past week the team,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: as we just mentioned, just completely laid an egg against
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the Broncos where he threw four point nine yards per
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: attempt for only one hundred and sixty three yards in
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: the air. And look, I'll note that he still has
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: the fifth highest passer rating and completion percentage in the NFL.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: I believe he does at this particular point in timer.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: It's right around there. So how would you assess where
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield is with his play heading into Week four
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: against this Eagles defense, who actually stacked up pretty well
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: against the Saints offense this past week. What are your
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: thoughts here, Evan?
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's fine overall. Now, granted, like United,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: there has been kind of a gradual decline over the
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: last three weeks, but now week two, if we're talking
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: statistical decline, that's just because of what was going on
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: around him. Aiden Hudginson made that That was the Aiden
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Hudginson show from the get go, and that's because the
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Bucks had backup tackle Justin skull In at right tackle
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: replacing Luke Getticky, who's a very very underrated right tackle
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: in this league. So Aiden Hudginson just wrecked that game
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: all day long. But Baker still played well. Like again,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: outside the box score, he still played really well in
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: that game. You know, found Mason really good throws, found
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: the open receivers, didn't make Heart really that many mistakes.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: But now the Broncos game, that's the completely different story.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: He also laid an egg himself from the get go.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: He was just not playing well. He got spooked out
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: of clean pockets too often. He would tuck it and
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: run too often. He thought he was Michael Vick or
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: you know, some a lot more of an established Baker.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Mayfield can scramble, but he's not a top tier scrambler.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: He's not an elite guy when you know he's moving
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: with the ball in his hands, but he can get
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: the job done. You know, he's kind of like a
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Joe Borough type deal. But regardless either way, he just
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: tried to run too many times. The interception he threw
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: to Mike Evans was forced in just an awful decision.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: The Broncos dropped eight. They only had three rushers. He
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: had still had plenty of time in the pocket, and
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: if he just would have stayed patient and went through
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: his progressions, he would have seen what he would have
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: seen that he had his running back wide open in
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: the flat on the left hand side, which would have
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: gave them a first down. Just did not play well.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: But a lot of that was because the Broncos played
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: a lot of really good coverage and Patzertan obviously one
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of the best in the league. Yeah, and the Bucks,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: the Bucks interior, the Bucks interior offensive line just was
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: not good at all. So a combination of things, but overall,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Baker did not play well on Sunday at all. I
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: would still think though he's okay, Lea and Cohen has
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: really made this offense to a point where you know,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: it can it suits him well and he can find
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: a lot of success in it. And we've seen that already,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: you know, within the first three weeks, well, I guess
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: first two out of three weeks. But regardless, I think
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: he'll be fine at the end of the Day.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's bizarre what we're seeing in terms of quarterback
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: play in the NFL in general, because, look, Jalen Hurts.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: While I still am very glad that this Eagles team
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: has him under center, I'm very happy with the way
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts has played generally thus far. It certainly has
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: to cut down on the turnovers, which we talked about
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: on our postgame show. Of course, However, like Baker Mayfield,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: like you said, Jalen Hurts, missing some open guys, missing
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: some guys who are running really good routes who are
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: open down the field and just not seeing them. I'm
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: seeing that throughout the league too.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Evan.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: It really seems to be bizarre that where the quarterback
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: play is this year, unless you're Sam Darnold, or unless
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you're Jayden Daniels, who absolutely murdered this past week. It's
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: really amazing to see where the quarterback play is right
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: now in the NFL. And I don't know if that's
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: because of the preseason. A lot of these Cats, they're
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: not playing as much in the preseason. They got to
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: get acclimated, so that could be it. I don't know
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: if you have any thoughts.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I do have one, and I think it's a
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: combination of two things. I think it's a combination of
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: you know, the obviously the the vaunted cover too that
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: mel kiper Junior is trying to have outlawed, you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: after last week. But no, but in all seriousness, I
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: do think it is defensive playing back a lot more.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Playing those two high safeties, you know, might making quarterbacks
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: take the underneath shot or take what's given to them
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: underneath more than anything. And I also think it's a
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: combination of just bad offensive line play. You know, there's
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: a reason why your top there's a reason why your
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: top tackles don't get traded. It's hard to find good
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: offensive linemen in this league. And when you look at
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: now the guard market, your top guards are getting paid
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: twenty million a year. And I don't think that's some
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: kind of exception. I think that's going to be a standard.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Guards are going to get start getting paid a lot
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: more because defensive interior pressure is starting to become more
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: and more valued, even more than it already was over
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: the years. It's just hard to and then once you
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: get those good players, it's hard to sustain that, especially
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: if you have a good quarterback. Now you've got to
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: pay him, and then if you've got a good receiver,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: you've got to pay him twenty five million dollars a year.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's just it's just becoming harder and harder
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: to staying good offensive line play. So I think it's
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: a I think it's a combination of more team, more
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: defenses playing back, and then a combination of that offensive
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: offensive line play and real quick just with Mayfield this
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: this past week against the Broncos and just the Bucks
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: offensive general, And this is something I think the Eagles
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: will lean into as well. I think the Lions set
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: a really good blueprint on how to defend the Bucks
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: offense in Week two, even with Aiden Hutchinson wrecking the way, Like,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I don't think that was too much of a factor
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: to where the Lions could just, you know, do whatever
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: they wanted on the back end. They still had to
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: be you know, on their on their p's and q's
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: got to sound like my mom saying that, but anyways,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: but I think that that's what the Broncos went off of.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Plus Sean Payton's prior knowledge from playing Todd Bowles six
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: times whenever he was head coach of the Nerd Orren Saints.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: I think that all kind of accumulated, and I think
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the Eagles are going to really look at the Broncos
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: game plan and realized, hey, we've got some of the
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: same piece as they do, so you know, let's try
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: to replicate some of this stuff. Yeah on Sunday.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I think that's really interesting. I think the Eagles are
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: also going to look at how to possibly contain this
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Bucks rushing attack as well, which is kind of seeing
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: some ups and downs too. Look for Shad White, he
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: seems to be having some issues running the ball this season,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: while the rookie out of Oregon running back Bucky Irving
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: seems to be really taking center stage out of the backfield.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: So Irving has looked pretty decisive and balanced, I think
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: out of the backfield from what I have seen thus far,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: He's carried the ball this past week nine times for
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: seventy yards, and we're now seeing kind I think this
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: torch basically being passed from White to Irving. I could
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: be wrong. That's why I wanted to get your take
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: on this, and I'm wondering, is this what the Eagles
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: defense really should expect this coming week in Tampa Bay?
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Maybe for Shad White and not having as many touches
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Bucky Irving kind of getting more touches and kind of
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: being maybe a spark plug within the offense. What are
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: your thoughts here?
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really interesting. It's definitely one of the top
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: debates right now in the community. Todd Bowles said yesterday
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: on Monday that Bucky does to deserve more snaps going forward.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: He has looked a lot better in this offense. Yeah,
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: I do think though Liam Cohen is putting him in
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: or has more specialized situations for Bucky. I haven't been
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: able to dig into the all twenty two from or
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: all of the All twenty two from yesterday just yet.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I was going to try to highlight through NFL Pro
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: all of Irving snaps before I hopped on here, but
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: I had to take care of a couple of other things.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: But just from eye level and watching tape the prior
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: two weeks, he's just putting Irving in these situations where
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: it's a lot more unique play calls. The blocking has
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: just simply been better. Yeah, even I think I think
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: even Todd Bowles said that a couple of weeks ago.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: If it wasn't after the Commander's game is after the
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Lions game where he said, you know, the offensive line
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: needs the block for Rashad like it's blocking for Bucky.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: So it's weird how sometimes that happens. Offensive line just
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: seems to block better for certain players. But at the
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: same time, I think Bucky is a lot more decisive
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: than Rashad, and we knew that coming out of school.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: He didn't test well, but on tape he's just such
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: a good one cut runner and he's got excellent vision.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, he just sees holes and openings like very
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: few backs do for being a rookie, and obviously he's
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: got to work on him past pro and that's probably
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: the biggest reason why he's just not completely taken over yet.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Rashad is definitely more trusted in that aspect, but he's
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: gonna see plenty of more time, or not plenty of
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: more time, but he's definitely gonna see more snaps and
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: we'll see how it goes. But right now, I wouldn't
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: completely if I was the Bucks, I wouldn't completely close
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: the door on Rashad White. I'm not saying that's where
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: things are headed by me means, but like I would
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: still try to find out how to use him a
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: little better. I think it's I think it's a combination
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: of Irving just being good and some other circumstances, along
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: with Liam Cohen still trying to just actually figure out
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: how to use White to his fullest ability. Yeah.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: So well, giving up twenty six points to a Broncos
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: team being led by bow Knicks was very bizarre to
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: see with regard to this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, especially
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: because the Bucks have had a decent amount of talent
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: on their defense defense, you know for some time here.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Where did it all go wrong for the Bucks this
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: past week against Denver Evan? You know, look at looking
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: at the highlights, you say to yourself, like you said,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: you're like scratching your eyes out watching this game as
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: a fan and as somebody on the periphery, I'm like,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you know what this This Buck's defense is not horrendous
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: by any stretch of the imagination. Where did it all
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: go wrong?
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Two words, Sean Payton, That's exactly where it all went wrong.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: So just listen to these stature real quick. I got
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: these out. I was actually looking them up during the game.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Once the clockhead zero, I like, get tweet immediately, so
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: you know, be the first person to get it out there.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: But so again, like I said, Sean Payton played up
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: against Todd Bowles. Has been in Tampa Bay since twenty nineteen.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: He was a defensive coordinator from twenty nineteen through twenty
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: twenty one. Took over his head coach in twenty twenty two,
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: so and then obviously called the defensive plays as defensive coordinator,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: and right now as Bucks head coach, he also calls
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: the defensive plays. So in totality, Sean Payton and Todd
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Bowles since he arrived in Tampa b have gone up
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: against each other seven times as play callers. So guess
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: what Sean Payton's record is against Tom Bowles seven to zero.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: His offense is average. His offense is average twenty nine
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: points seven points per game. Six of those seven games
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: have gone for twenty six plus points, including this past
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: week against Denver, and five of those seven games have
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: gone for thirty one plus points. Out of these seven games,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: He's now beaten Bowls with four different quarterbacks Drew Brees,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Jamis Winston, Taysom Hill, and bow Knicks. Sean Payton just
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: knows how to defeat this defense through and through. It's
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: the same thing he comes out in heavy personnel. He
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: runs the crap out of the ball, he max protects
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: to take advantage and runs play action through that to
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: take advantage of the Bucks aggressive defense. He even said
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: multiple times after the game about how he knew this defense,
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: he knew how to attack it. He even said at
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: halftime to the Fox Sports sideline reporter Laura Kostak that
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: he knows his defense and he knew Bo Pitt and
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: bow Knicks could pick it apart. I mean, he just
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: knows how to beat this defense. And you know, he
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: obviously has Bowls's number. Bowls got the lone victory in
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: the twenty twenty playoffs. I'm sorry I should have prefaced
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: all that was saying that was his regular season record.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Bulls did get the postseason win in twenty twenty during
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl run when the Saints or when the
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Bucks beat the Saints, but outside of that, in the
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: regular season Breeze or Bowl that Peyton just knows how
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: to beat this defense. But at the same time, you know,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: there was hardly any pressure. Now that's because of Vida
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Bay and Colijah Caansi being out. They couldn't stop the run.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: The Bucks couldn't. This is now the third straight game
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: to Or. They've now allowed in every single game this
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: season over one hundred and thirty yards on the ground
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: On offense, the protection was awful, especially along the interior.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: And then obviously we just talked about Baker Mayfield struggle struggles.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: So there was a lot that went on or went
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: wrong for the Bucks on Sunday. Oh and even Sean
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Payton even had an effect on the Broncos defense. He
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: told reporters after the game that he dug into the
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Marshawn Ladham or Mike Evans snaps, and Marshawn Lattimore has
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: a history of shutting down Mike Evans in a big way.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: He even gave patzertain tape from Marshawn Latimore and Mike
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Evans going at it, you know, New Orleans, Tampa Bay
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: and pats Ertan shadowed Mike Evans on twenty four to
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: thirty four routes and held into one catch on eight
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: for eight yards on one target. Wow. So yeah, I mean,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: that's that's just that that's just out with at the
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: end of the day.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great analysis right there, and I'm hoping the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: same thing happens for the Eagles. Kidding well, I mean,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I'm not kidding, but I'm just saying, I mean, the
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Eagles need to learn something here, I think from the Broncos.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: And that's a bizarre statement really to make here, Moving above,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: moving along with the conversation again, folks. Evan Winter from
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: eight to Z sports dot com. Check out everything they
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: have going on over there, and right now, I want
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: to get into the matchups with you this coming week
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: and wondering basically where you have a concern in terms
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: of these Buccaneers matchups. So let's start off. Biggest concern
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: with any of the Buccaneers offensive matchups against the Eagles
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: defense from what you have seen thus far. Wherehere's that
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: biggest concern?
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's not as big as a concern as it.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: So I wrote down some notes last night, you know,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: to get ready for everything. And then about thirty forty
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: five minutes ago, my buddy J. C. Allen, he's a
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Bucks reporter down in Tampa Bay, he broke the news
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: that Luke Getticky is expected to clear concussion protocol and
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: return this week, which is absolutely huge. I was just
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: talking about how much. Yeah, I was just talking about that,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: but I'm still concerned when it comes to the offensive
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: line versus the defensive line. Granted, this is not the
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: Eagles pass russ from twenty twenty two where they you know,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: recorded sixty sacks or whatever the hell it was, but
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: they still generate pressure at a higher rate or a
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: higher clip than they do blitz rate. So you know,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: they're not blitz in a ton, and they're still generating
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: a higher average or a higher pressure rate, which is
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: right around league average for both. That's good enough right
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: now to beat this Bucks offensive line, especially on the inside.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: We'll see how Geedticky is when he's you know, cleared
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: from that concussion. And then Tristan Works. I mean, trust me,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: I am the biggest fan of Tristan Works out there.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: I say that in a non biased reporter way analysis way,
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: not a fan way. But he has had some struggles
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: over these last three games. Now, nothing to where you
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: know you're concerned about him or anything like that, right,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: but he's just definitely not the Tristian Works we've seen
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: or become used to. And so when you look at
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Ben Brettison, who's the left guard, you look at Graham Barton,
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: who's a rookie center, and then you look at Cody
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: malk who's really had some struggles. Now he's somebody that
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: you kind of start to wonder, Okay, is he taking
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: a step back from what's kind of going on with him?
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: But when you look at those three along the interior,
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: and then you go in against Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: and then you're flipping Brandon Graham and Bryce Huff around
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: on the outside from time to time, you know, and
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: then Milton Williams, who I've just been a fan of
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: for since he came. He's always been really underrated in
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: my book. You know, when you have that that just
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: kind of that rotation. Definitely am worried about that because
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: I think Baker will be fine. I think the passing
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: attack will be fine, and then the run game is
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: obviously predicated upon the offensive line. So with Gettekey returning,
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: I'm still concerned, but not as much as I was.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: You know last night.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Jalen Carter had his best game of the season
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: this past week, and it was good for us as
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles fans to see you mentioned Bryce Huff. I
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: have to say a complete non factor so far in
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: this Eagles defense. With regard to his pass rush, I
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: would not be too concerned about him. He's somebody who
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: is just consistently falling down on the ground. I have
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: no idea how and why they were playing him, and aint.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: That's the end. That situation is so weird too, because
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: you know they signs his big money. Yeah. Kelsey, the
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: our beat writer actually worked on an article with her
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: last week. You know, I just don't think they know
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: how to use him, or he's just not a good fit.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: But then because you go back and you look at
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: the snaps, you know he going into before last week.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know what his numbers are now, but he
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: only had like thirty one pass rushing snaps according to PFF,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: which was like eightieth out of one hundred and ten
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: qualifying pass rushers. And then the other half of his
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: snaps were in defense or no sorry, all but four
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: of those were in run defense. So he's not getting
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: a lot of pass rush opportunities. He's getting swapped out.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: You know, the Eagles run a lot of three down linemen,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: you know, big Fangio and stuff. So and then Brandon
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Graham's in mostly whenever they're doing the three three down linemen.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it's like they signed them to his big
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: deal and it's almost like they have no idea how
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: in the hell to use it. It's such a weird situation.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: It's very weird. It's very bizarre to see from an
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Eagles defensive line where there's one particular guy who just
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: looks out of place. That's what we're seeing with Bryce Huff.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: But moving along with the conversation here, wanting to know
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: what your biggest concern is with any of the Buccaneers
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: defensive matchups against the Eagles offense. And as of right now,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: we're not one hundred percent sure if AJ Brown will
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: be back. The hope is that he will be from
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: that hamstring injury. I just wanted to throw that out
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: there for people as we're recording this here on September
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: twenty fourth, Tuesday, not one hundred percent sure yet if
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Aj Brown is going to be back. But the Buccaneers
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: defensive matchups against the Eagles offense, what are you most
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: concerned about?
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, you know a lot of people were, you know,
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: talking a lot about the secondary going into the Lions game,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: and for good reason, because they just didn't Nobody knew
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: what the hell was going to happen because there were
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: so many injuries. But that's kind of died down since then.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Zion McCollum six round thick from a few years ago,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: he's really blost them into almost a top notch corner.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: He looks really good. Jamel Dean, he's had his moments,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: but overall he's looked good as well. I don't think
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: the Buck's secondary is even without Antwoine Winfield Junior. Most likely,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: I think they'll be okay, especially if A. J. Brown
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: doesn't play. You know, I'm a trenches guy, and just
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: based off of the current state of the Bucks trenches
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: on the defensive side of the ball and what they're
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: going up against in the Eagles, that's got to be
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: my concern. You know. Like I said earlier, three straight
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: games all batting a thousand right now of over one
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: hundred and thirty rushing yards, and those are against teams
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: that weren't very good rushing the ball going into the game. Well,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: I should take that back about the Commanders. The Commanders
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: are pretty good. They've had a good inside game with
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Brian Robinson. Yeah, but regardless either way, still you know,
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I don't know with especially if Vitavea, which he's probably
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: not going to play this week, Claijiah Cansey, who the
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: hell knows he's going to play this week, I would
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: say no. Without them on the defensive line, the run
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: defense is just not good and the pass rush is
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: not good at all. I mean, just listen to this.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: So the Bucks, so that the average pressure pressure rate
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: to blitz rate or sorry, average blitz rate, the pressure
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: rate over the last three years in the NFL has
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: been twenty eight point two percent to forty two point
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: three percent. So teams blitz around twenty eight percent of
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the time and when they do that, they generate about
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: forty two percent of pressure. Well, the Bucks blitzed forty
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: one percent of the time against the Broncos and only
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: generated twenty three percent pressure. Wow, So they were Yeah,
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: they were right below the league average in terms of
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: blitz rate, the way below the league average in terms
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: of pressure rate. This comes out. This comes after a
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: thirty two percent blitz rate thirty eight percent thirty eight
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: percent pressure rate in week one and a twenty five
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: percent blitz rate and a thirty one percent pressure rate
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: in Week two. Obviously, they had v Deveya in both
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: of those games, so yeah, there's a huge drop off.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: The Bucks only got two quarterback hits last week on
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: bow Knicks after getting ten on Jared Goff the week before.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: So yeah, if you're not running the ball and you
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: can't get after the quarterback, especially after this Eagles offense
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: that you know, bas Jalen Hurd Saquon Barkley is obviously
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: you know, giving them that element that they've really needed
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: over the last couple of years. That's a really big mismatch.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: And like I said, I don't think Vidavea and Klija
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Kanti are going to play this week. Now. The good news,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts has been blitzed on thirty one nine percent
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: of drop back so far the season, which is tied
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: for sixteenth to twenty nine eligible quarterbacks. Yet he's faced
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: the third most pressure at forty one point two percent.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: The league wide average pressure rate is around twenty eight
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: to thirty percent, so teams aren't having to blitz him
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: too much without and they're still able to get pressure. Yeah,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: he's also been kind of responsible for his own pressure,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: but regardless, So maybe the Bucks can find a way
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: to where they can drop seven and rush for I
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: don't see that happening, but yeah, definitely the defensive line
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: just in general, in terms of run defense, being able
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: to generate pressure. That's easily my biggest concern.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: That's great analysis. Great analysis there, Evan and Buddy. Before
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: I let you leave, have two part question for you here,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: getting into some sneaky players for us to look out
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: for here. So who is your sneaky player for us
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: to look out for on the Buccaneers offense when they're
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: facing the Eagles defense this coming week.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Jayleen McMillan, rookie wide receiver out of Washington. He
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: had a really good summer. He caught a touchdown I
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: think it was a thirty two yarder in Week one
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: against the Commanders, has been quiet ever since then. I
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: do think he re emerges this week. However, I do
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: think the Eagles are going to be quite focused on
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Evans and Godwin, as it should be, and with Luke
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Getticky coming back, I do think that's going to give
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: the Bucks an offensive line that can hold up long
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: enough for Baker Mayfield to take a shot, and I
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: think McMillan will be on the end of one.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: All right, very good and close us out here, your
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: sneaky player for us to look out for on the
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Buccaneers defense here facing facing the Eagles offense. Who's that
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: sneaky player?
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I guess you could still kind of a
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: sneak even though I mentioned him a couple of minutes ago.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: But Zion the column, like I said, former six rounder,
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: he's been in the league, this is his thirty year now,
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: is just really starting to blossom into a top notch
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: corner of the dude's long he's athletic, he's fast, he
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: knows this system, and his confidence is just through the
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: roof right now. He was even talking about that about
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: a week and a half ago, about just how much
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: has changed over the last three years for him, especially
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: as tackling is tackling which is god awful his rookie
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: year and now he's out there, you know, hitting guy.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: He almost looked like Ronde Barber to an extent. Oh
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: my gosh, No, I know I know that name. You
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: know so many, so many fans probably just turned off
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: the podcast listening to this right right now. Yes, yeah,
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: but no, Zion McCollum. You know, he said at the
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: beginning of the year his goal is six interceptions. He's
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: almost had four. He's got one on the docket for sure,
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: but he's almost had like four. But either way, I
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: definitely think he's gonna make some plays against the Eagles
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: on someday again.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Folks, Evan Winter from eight is e sports dot com.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Check out everything they have going on over there. Follow
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Evan on Twitter slash x if you are not already
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: at Evan underscore a to Z. He's a great, great
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: follow my friend. Thank you so much for joining us
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: for our preview show this week, Eagles Bucks. I'd love to,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: as always talk to you at some other point down
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the road. You're always great to come on the pod here,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: join us down the road. I'd love it, my friend.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Hey man, I gotta say Commanders are my other team
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: this year's and I've been following them. So we can
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: have two more appointment listenings for those right there.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
• 27:31
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• 27:33
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• 27:37
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• 27:41
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• 27:44
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• 27:47
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• 27:50
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• 27:54
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• 27:58
  Speaker 1: we will catch you next. Ab