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Football at Four: Which Questions Did the Eagles Answer Vs. Commanders? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Football 4 is powered by the Inside the Birds podcast.
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• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Adam Kaplan's here on a Tuesday as the Eagles win
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  Speaker 1: their first game of the season.
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  Speaker 2: But.
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  Speaker 3: Do they have more.
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  Speaker 1: Questions than answered? What questions did the Eagles answer? And
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  Speaker 1: which ones were left unanswered against the Commanders? We bring
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  Speaker 1: Adam Kaplan in to kind of comb through all of
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  Speaker 1: it with us here on that Tuesday after the first
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  Speaker 1: win of the season for the Birds against the Commanders.
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  Speaker 3: Adam Kaplan is back. What's going on, Adam?
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  Speaker 2: Mike, yeah, good to talk to you. In fact, our
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  Speaker 2: subject of our segment last Friday was the Eagles are
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  Speaker 2: going to answer some questions, so now we have the answers.
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  Speaker 2: The big one, the number one issue for the Eagles
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  Speaker 2: by far, was the timing element with Jalen Hurts and
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  Speaker 2: the passing game. And we'll get to Sean Manning, the
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  Speaker 2: new offensive coordinator, in a second. But it was really good, Mike.
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  Speaker 2: Just remember, for the people saying, oh, it's the same
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  Speaker 2: old offense, number one, you're wrong. Not even close to right,
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  Speaker 2: because we outlined this inside the tape today with Greg Cosell.
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  Speaker 2: What it looked like, it was actually really good. Jalen,
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  Speaker 2: this is the most in time, on time he's been
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  Speaker 2: in years. just really made so many good throws. Remember, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: he only threw the ball 25 times into 14 completions. Now,
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  Speaker 2: some of the issues were, and we're going to get
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  Speaker 2: to that, the protection, but he made several good throws. And, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: you'll see us show the Goddard throw, the Wicks throw,
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  Speaker 2: on Inside the Tape with Greg. You can watch it
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  Speaker 2: on YouTube or listen to it on any podcasting platform.
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  Speaker 2: But the bottom line is, Hurts played well. That was not...
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  Speaker 2: This is what we always say, Mike. Until you see
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  Speaker 2: the All-22... The coaching tape, you really don't know. And
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  Speaker 2: you can be fooled sometimes. But that hurts on the
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  Speaker 2: timing elements, what we saw in training camp. It was
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  Speaker 2: up and down. This was the good Jalen. He was good.
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  Speaker 2: And the seven runs, almost all of them were scrambles.
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  Speaker 2: They were not designed. He just scrambled because he was
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  Speaker 2: under pressure. And Greg said he answered it because he
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  Speaker 2: knew I was going to go there. He said, no,
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  Speaker 2: Jalen did not look to bail. He read the coverage well.
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  Speaker 2: Because you know, a lot, unfortunately, over the years, where
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  Speaker 2: he would not let the play run, and then he'd
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  Speaker 2: roll right, he'd kill the progression, and fans would get
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  Speaker 2: on Kev Patulo, Brian Johnson before him, or even Kellen Moore,
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  Speaker 2: but it was not them. It was actually Jalen. But
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  Speaker 2: Jalen was really good to move us along. No, he
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  Speaker 2: was not a problem. He was actually really, really good.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, three touchdowns, 14 of 25, not the most efficient
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  Speaker 1: day in the world, but he made the big plays
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  Speaker 1: when it mattered most. And Sean Mannion called out his
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  Speaker 1: big run, the 18, third and 18 to 22 yard
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  Speaker 1: run that he got that led to that touchdown pass
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  Speaker 1: to Dallas Goddard in there. What about the, you know,
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  Speaker 1: some of the other questions on offense that stood out
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  Speaker 1: in terms of things that were answered?
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  Speaker 2: All right, so Sean Mannion, look, he's running an old-school
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  Speaker 2: West Coast offense. This is about timing. You talk about
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  Speaker 2: the tight end, Dallas Goddard, getting involved this season. He
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  Speaker 2: looked great. Goddard, his ability to pivot and turn like
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  Speaker 2: he did on that big play was remarkable. Great throw
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  Speaker 2: by Hertz, by the way, and I love the timing
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  Speaker 2: on the down the seam in the end zone. That
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  Speaker 2: was a big-time throw. He led Goddard. Goddard had to
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  Speaker 2: go get it. That's called timing. He threw it halfway
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  Speaker 2: into the route. I just like, and by the way,
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  Speaker 2: the bomb was not the play, the bomb to Wicks
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  Speaker 2: for the big play. Please understand that was not supposed
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  Speaker 2: to be the play. We knew it when we watched
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  Speaker 2: the tape, and Greg pointed it out, and Wicks talked
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  Speaker 2: about it after the game that he was not the primary.
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  Speaker 2: What happened was that's an alert. The term is an alert.
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  Speaker 2: He saw Wicks being covered one-on-one with Mike Sainer-Stroll on
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  Speaker 2: the outside. Mike Sainer-Stroll was an outstanding nickel two years ago.
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  Speaker 2: He was asked to play outside last season. He did
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  Speaker 2: not play well. Now, as a nickel, sometimes you have
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  Speaker 2: to be outside. And they went after him, and what
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  Speaker 2: an unbelievable throw. I mean, we know there are a
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  Speaker 2: lot of guys who have strong arms, but show me
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  Speaker 2: a better downfield passer than Hurts. Hurts has just got
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  Speaker 2: this knack to throw the ball downfield accurately. You know
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  Speaker 2: what's interesting, Mike? This was not a strength of his
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  Speaker 2: in college.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I saw a.
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  Speaker 1: I think I saw a stat over the weekend, his
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  Speaker 1: 138 passer rating on attempts of 25 or more yards.
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  Speaker 1: He is the best in the NFL when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to air yards, yes.
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  Speaker 2: Shane, I saw a lot of negativity to say about offense.
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  Speaker 2: Hurts is 14 for 25. Do you realize how poor
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  Speaker 2: the interior of their offensive line played in pass protection?
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  Speaker 2: We'll move there now.
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  Speaker 3: We'll get to that real quick, by the way. This
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  Speaker 3: was from the Eagles.
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  Speaker 1: Hurts leads the NFL in passing touchdowns, completions, on throws
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  Speaker 1: of 25 or more yards since 2022. He is number
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  Speaker 1: one in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, now, 22, look, this is the year that
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  Speaker 2: the league had no idea what to do with him
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  Speaker 2: and A.J. Brown because they had no tape of them
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  Speaker 2: playing together. The league adjusted after that, but I was
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  Speaker 2: just really, to move this along, I was really impressed.
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  Speaker 2: And that's why I, we were very disappointed with the
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  Speaker 2: run game when Jeff and I did our post-game show,
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  Speaker 2: and we were right. It was awful. I mean, we're
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  Speaker 2: going to get to that right now, Mike. Greg Cosell
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  Speaker 2: did point out that Barkley looked a little stiff. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: that's his job. This is what Greg does. He just
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  Speaker 2: evaluates tape. He tells you what it looks like. And
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  Speaker 2: he says it's not an opinion. It's a fact. It's
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  Speaker 2: what it looked like. So he felt pretty strongly about it. And, look,
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  Speaker 2: Landon Dickerson had an awful game. Landon admitted it, as
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  Speaker 2: you know, on WIP in Philly. He's going on injury reserve,
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  Speaker 2: which means he has to miss a minimum of four games.
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  Speaker 2: It's a right bone bruise. By the way, I've had
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  Speaker 2: it at Bombers before. It's unbelievably painful. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: how the hell he was able to play. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: he shouldn't have played, to be honest about it. But
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  Speaker 2: the run game, think about this, Mike. One rush, 42
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  Speaker 2: yards for Barkley, then the rest. He was 14 for 41,
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  Speaker 2: less than three yards per carry. That's awful. That's unacceptable.
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  Speaker 2: That's troubling, Mike. I was more optimistic than most on
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  Speaker 2: the run game this season. It's only one game. And
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  Speaker 2: we're going to see Drew Kennel going forward most likely
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  Speaker 2: until Dickerson comes back. But that's troubling. Like, for one game,
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  Speaker 2: it looked bad, really bad.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, obviously you mentioned Dickerson, and, yes, he
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  Speaker 1: will be out. And he said the back end of
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  Speaker 1: the season, so I would imagine it's not going to
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  Speaker 1: be a four-game absence for him. It'll be interesting to
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  Speaker 1: see how this offensive line looks without him out there,
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  Speaker 1: if it does actually improve in the run game. But
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  Speaker 1: how did they look in pass protection?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Struggled in the interior, good at the tackle spots.
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  Speaker 2: He was okay, but they just had too many unblocked defenders. See,
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  Speaker 2: what happened was, so, Durante Jones, you know, Mike, a
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  Speaker 2: Brian Flores disciple, he said it was very clear to
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  Speaker 2: us that they weren't worried as great as Smitty was,
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  Speaker 2: and it is. He went and said a great game
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  Speaker 2: for a couple big plays, but he was very quiet
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  Speaker 2: in the second half. They weren't worried about the Eagles'
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  Speaker 2: pass game. They were worried about the run game. They
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  Speaker 2: loaded up that box. And as we talked about on
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  Speaker 2: our pregame show, they totally revamped their defensive front. Not
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  Speaker 2: only do they have a couple new players, the front,
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  Speaker 2: they're running a 34. They've been running 43 for years.
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  Speaker 2: So it was just different. The Eagles, of course, it's
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  Speaker 2: not like they'd seen this. They saw what they saw
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  Speaker 2: in preseason tape, but that doesn't mean anything. Because you're
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  Speaker 2: going for a vanilla, not really playing many stories, if
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  Speaker 2: at all. uh... you know that they'll talk to it
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  Speaker 2: but they're at the run game extremely disappointing uh... it's
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  Speaker 2: only one game but look we have to call it
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  Speaker 2: we see it it it was very bad i was uh...
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  Speaker 2: going game but i i was surprised and then the
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  Speaker 2: other part was troubling the run back to pass protection
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  Speaker 2: thumbs down not good barclay got blown up by it
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  Speaker 2: took a day to see he wrote a shoulder as
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  Speaker 2: ridiculous this is bad it's a place that he'd like
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  Speaker 2: to have back there are others that were not good
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  Speaker 2: by the back overall We mentioned this last year that
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  Speaker 2: they missed Kenny Gainwell. Well, they just don't have a
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  Speaker 2: pass protection back. The third down group of running backs, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: is a problem. We're pointing it out here. We're going
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  Speaker 2: to monitor this the rest of the way. Will Shipley's
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  Speaker 2: average at it. Barkley's below average as a pass protector.
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  Speaker 2: And a Tank Bixby who barely played is not a
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  Speaker 2: third down back. Mike, they have a problem there in
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  Speaker 2: pass protection. We've got to watch that.
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  Speaker 1: All right, let's go to the defense, which I've got
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  Speaker 1: to be honest, I was a little disappointed. It reminded
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  Speaker 1: me a lot of the playoff game against San Francisco.
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  Speaker 1: Couldn't get off the field in the fourth quarter, couldn't
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  Speaker 1: get the key stop. They end up winning the game,
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  Speaker 1: but a lot of that had to do with Washington
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  Speaker 1: missing an extra point, blocked the two-point conversion thing. Then
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  Speaker 1: they get stopped on a two-point conversion. But, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the pass rush, I just didn't think the defense was
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  Speaker 1: as dominant as I was hoping for against a team
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  Speaker 1: that's in the middle of the road at best.
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  Speaker 2: Mike, I was really surprised. I would say I was
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  Speaker 2: wrong about what I expected their defense to do. I thought, well, look,
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  Speaker 2: the yardage was great. They did great. Vic was right
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  Speaker 2: in his press conference today. Vic Fangio was right. The
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  Speaker 2: yardage was not the problem. It's the fact that they
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  Speaker 2: could not. Pressures and Greg Cosell talk about the stat services.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: He doesn't agree with the stat services a lot on
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  Speaker 2: pressure rate. Although coaches I talk to like it, they
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: even got to run big on analytics to pressure rate
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  Speaker 2: it as a tool to use when you evaluate pass rush.
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  Speaker 2: But the tapes show that they just could not get home.
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  Speaker 2: They were able to move Daniels off the spot, then
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  Speaker 2: they could not contain him as a runner. It's unbelievable,
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  Speaker 2: that 14-yard run especially. They just couldn't get to him.
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  Speaker 2: What the Eagles don't have right now without Jonathan Grenard, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: very clear to me, it's only one game, and it
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  Speaker 2: could change, obviously, but right now they don't have a finisher.
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  Speaker 2: They just don't. Noltsch had a good game, very powerful.
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  Speaker 2: with his hands uh... jokes on it's a good thing
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  Speaker 2: to go k uh... they should advocate a kitty came
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  Speaker 2: off the bench at the third which we knew it
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  Speaker 2: could happen to get a lot of good rush but
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  Speaker 2: they don't have a picture that the problem like when
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  Speaker 2: they go against the bears so they did you know
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  Speaker 2: what matthew stafford you know i know he struggled week
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  Speaker 2: one we get that but you know he can do
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  Speaker 2: that that would were made up a warning against cam
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  Speaker 2: ward and the times but some of the monitor No doubt.
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  Speaker 1: So the pass rush, struggles without Grenard. I think they
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  Speaker 1: had one sack, which was kind of a meh. Not
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  Speaker 1: a lot of pressure to begin with. Two tackles for
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  Speaker 1: a loss, so just not playing on the other side
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  Speaker 1: of the line at scrimmage.
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  Speaker 3: What did you think of the coverage?
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  Speaker 1: Specifically, let's look at Wolin, who I thought Mitchell played excellent.
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  Speaker 1: And Wolin, what did you think of him in his
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  Speaker 1: first game?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, they weren't tested a lot, but they were fantastic, Mike.
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  Speaker 2: I mean... I didn't see Dan Quinn. I have a transcript,
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  Speaker 2: but I didn't look at it after the game. But
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  Speaker 2: I just want, like, McCorn. McCorn was on the sideline.
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  Speaker 2: Was he benched or was he guessed? Did they shut
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  Speaker 2: him down until late, obviously? But Cooper DeGene had a
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  Speaker 2: bad game. It happens, Mike. He's a great player. He
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  Speaker 2: got caught in man coverage. He lost his discipline. He
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  Speaker 2: lost his eyes. More a nickel than a safety. And
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  Speaker 2: then Will was fine. He did a great job. Again,
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  Speaker 2: these guys, the troubling is Antonio Williams, who was probably
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  Speaker 2: the best slot receiver for this draft. In terms of
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  Speaker 2: what he can do, he's not as strong as physically
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  Speaker 2: as Mekhi Lemon. Mekhi Lemon, to be honest, was higher rated.
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  Speaker 2: And I know he didn't have a good game, but
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  Speaker 2: he got a long way to go because he missed
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  Speaker 2: a lot of time. But Antonio Williams was great, and
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  Speaker 2: so was Stefan Diggs. He was phenomenal. He can't run
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  Speaker 2: like he used to, but those guys... Those guys did
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  Speaker 2: a great job. Those guys brought them back. So Vic
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  Speaker 2: was right. If you watch or listen to Vic Fangio today,
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  Speaker 2: he didn't sugarcoat it. He clearly was not happy.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: How those guys came back, that was not good.
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  Speaker 3: And I agree. I agree with him.
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  Speaker 1: The fact that they scored two touchdowns in the fourth
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  Speaker 1: quarter at home, again, we saw that in the game
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  Speaker 1: against San Francisco in the playoffs last year. So defense
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  Speaker 1: has to be better. And you mentioned they got the
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Bears in two weeks who put up a 59 spot.
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  Speaker 3: The other day.
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  Speaker 1: Those were some of the things. Real quick, before we
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  Speaker 1: get out of here, Adam Kaplan's with us. Is Kendall
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  Speaker 1: the guy that you think, I know Jeff McClain insinuated
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  Speaker 1: or inferred that they could use one of those guys
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  Speaker 1: at center and move Juergens, or do you think Kendall
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  Speaker 1: will get the first crack to play left guard?
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  Speaker 2: The only reason why they would do that is if
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  Speaker 2: they didn't think Kendall was ready. Kendall had a good
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: training camp. He was one of their off-season superstars. Um,
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  Speaker 2: The only way I could see something different is if
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  Speaker 2: they feel that Kennel isn't quite ready to be a guard.
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  Speaker 2: You've got to learn how to play guard at this level.
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  Speaker 2: He put on the weight. We've talked about a 15-pounder muscle.
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  Speaker 2: He looked great. He's my member's dad, Pete, who's a stud.
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  Speaker 2: Stud on interior offensive line. And Pete's a little bigger,
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  Speaker 2: by the way. I saw him in training camp. But overall, yes.
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  Speaker 2: Barring a pretty significant surprise, it's going to be Kennel.
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  Speaker 2: By the way, he replaced... I'm Dickerson training camp. You know,
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  Speaker 2: Jeff caught this. Jeff, I don't know if you saw it.
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  Speaker 2: Jeff talked about it on our show. One of the
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  Speaker 2: ones that he noticed that Dickerson late in training camp,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: like they pulled him out and put Kendall in because
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: now we didn't know. And that may have been around
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: when Dickerson got hurt. You know, he's had this bone
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  Speaker 2: bruise for a couple weeks. Not like he just hurt.
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  Speaker 2: Not just like he got it hurt in the game.
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  Speaker 2: He might have aggravated it. But if you've had a
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: bone bruise... It's so stiff. I don't know how. By
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: the way, that's why Greg Cosell said he noticed that
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  Speaker 2: Landon would not finish a lot of plays. He would
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  Speaker 2: pull up. And that tells you he was stiff and
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  Speaker 2: couldn't move. So there you go.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll certainly be watching that this week. The Eagles
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: take on a very tough interior defender with the Tennessee Titans,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simons. And, of course, Simmons, you've got– Simmons in
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: there in the middle of the field. Excuse me, the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: middle of their defense where you struggled the most in
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: your interior. We'll talk about it. Football at 4 right
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: here on the Sports Bash Live on 97.3 ESPN. Adam Kaplan, everybody,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: is host of the Inside the Birds podcast, which you
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: can get on all podcasting platforms.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Adam.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Matt.