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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Panthers, Week 14 Pregame Preview · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's going on, everybody, It's Jeff here. I wanted to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: let you know that we recorded this Opposition Territory podcast
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday, December fourth, twenty twenty four. So by the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: time you hear this, some things may have changed here
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: or there, but we hope you enjoyed the show. Welcome
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: over eleven and a half years strong, and we got
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: some pretty good information coming your way here on Opposition
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Territory this week as we look towards this Philadelphia Eagles
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and Carolina Panthers upcoming matchup Week fourteen just around the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: corner here in the NFL, and for this Eagles team
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: who is now yes ten and two on the season,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: looking like a top Super Bowl content and they're gonna
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: be taken on the Carolina Panthers, who are now three
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and nine, one of the bottom teams of the NFL.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Here as we're heading into Week fourteen, I was supposed
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to have a guest this week coming on to talk
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: about this Carolina Panthers team of what we can expect
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: from them. Unfortunately, that individual flaked out on me, and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: you're just gonna be hearing me on this Opposition Territory pod.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: So it's going to be an abbreviated show. But I
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: wanted to go through some things with you all as
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: we are looking toward this upcoming matchup. For some reason,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: as we are heading into week fourteen here in this
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Eagle season, there's still some Jalen Hurts detractors out there
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and it really baffles me. It boggles my mind as
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: this team again is ten and two on the season
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and looking like they should go deep into the NFL
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: playoffs and specifically at the NFC East again, they're a
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: top Super Bowl contender. But talking about Jalen Hurts, it
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: really is amazing that, you know, he doesn't have to
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: be that prototypical quarterback in the NFL to see success
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: week after week. And I want to give you some
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: stats here with regard to him and what we've seen
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: from him since the bye week, because we all know,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: leading up to the bye week, this team did not
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: look like a good football team. They did not look
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: like they understood how to play professional football. But since
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Week six, Jalen Hurts and this team has really turned
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: itself around. It's an ongoing theme within Eagles Nation. So
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: let's go over some Jalen Hurts stats really quick. Since
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Week six. His completion rate is sixty eight point six percent,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: that is sixth in the NFL. His yards per attempt
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: nine point one, which is third in the NFL. His
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: total touchdowns twenty which is second in the NFL. His
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: passer rating is one hundred and fourteen point one, which
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: is fourth in the NFL. And I think it's also
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: important that when we take a look at Jalen Hurts
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: and his growth as a quarterback in this league. I mean,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: let's go back, folks to the twenty twenty two season. Okay,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. They are thirty five and nine in Jalen
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Hurts's starts dating back to the start of the twenty
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: twenty two season. That's a win percentage of seven ninety five.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: And you know what else that is, folks, It's the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: best in the NFL. Yeah, Jalen Hurts may not be
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: putting up three hundred and fifty yards and three touchdowns
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: passing touchdowns, I should say, per game, but so far
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: this year he's got two four hundred and ninety four
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: passing yards in terms of his rushing yards, he has
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: four hundred and eighty five. He is a major reason
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: why this team continues to succeed, in why they are
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: ten and two on the season. I think the detractors
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: of Jalen Hurts really need to keep their their negativity
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: at bay quite frankly, because yes, he doesn't make all
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: the greatest decisions in the world. We still wish that
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: he would utilize the middle of the field more. We've
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: seen it from time to time here this season. However,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: we also know that him understanding where the blitz is
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: coming from, and his completion percentage when being blitzed, it's
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: one of the top quarterbacks that are blitzed in this league,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: has gotten dramatically better this season. So, folks, again, let's
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: put the hate, let's put the negativity about Jalen Hurts
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: to the side right now. This is a really good
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: offense and it's an offense that is doing some wonders.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: And yes, it's not just Jalen Hurts, it's also Saquon Barkley,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: who is one yard shy of fifteen hundred rushing yards
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: on the season, four hundred and ninety nine rushing yards
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: on the season. Two hundred and forty six carries. He's
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: averaging six point one yards per Carriots big reason why
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: this offense, as we know, is performing at the level
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: that it is. Aj Brown is the leading receiver on
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: this team at this point heading into Week fourteen, seven
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: hundred and ninety three yards and he's got four touchdowns
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: on the season. It's been a bizarre year for this receivers,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: even core for sure, because Davante Smith has five hundred
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and sixteen yards and also four touchdowns as well. When
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: you have Saquon Barkley, you don't need to rely on passing,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: you don't need to rely on receiving, you don't need
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: to rely on the traditional aspects of what NFL teams
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: have done over these past few years. And we've really
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: seen a shift going from the passing game to the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: rushing attacks specifically over the past two years. And that's
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: because a lot of defenses are figuring out the passing game.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: All of this is cyclical here in the NFL. Quite frankly,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I think we need to really keep that in mind.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Let's move over to the defensive side of things. We
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: talked about what the offense has been doing since Week six.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: How about this Eagles defense, which is basically number one
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: in the NFL at this point. They certainly proved a
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: lot down in Baltimore this past week. Boy, what a
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: game that was. They proved a lot and certainly lending
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: myself and our guests this week on our regular show
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: that's dropping Thursday morning, we're gonna be talking a lot
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: more about this Eagles team in detail. But again, Eagles
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: defense from week six. The yards per game allowed two
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: hundred and forty one point three, that is first in
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the NFL. Folks, yards per play allowed four point one
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that is first in the NFL. Yards per attempt allowed
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: five point six that is first in the NFL. We
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: got a few more first in the NFL coming to
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you right here. Sacks thirty they are first in the NFL.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: The sack rate is ten point six percent, first in
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the NFL. The passer rating allowed seventy eight point one
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: that is second in the NFL. Points per game allowed
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: at fifteen point three, second in the NFL. Pure dominance,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: pure and absolute dominance by this Eagles defense. We're seeing
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: it week in, we're seeing it week out. It's really
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: amazing how certain players have really come on strong this year.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Whether it is Nolan Smith quite frankly, Jordan Davis isn't
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: getting enough love, Jalen Carter, as we know, getting held
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: on every single play. We see it time and time again,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: week after week. Milton Williams as well coming on strong
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: during these past weeks as well, and let's not forget
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: about Josh Sweat too. Some of us had concerns about
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: where the pass rush was gonna come from and what
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: it was gonna look like with the defensive line was
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: gonna be able to produce even before the season started,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and right now this team really is peaking. Some folks
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: are saying, yeah, they may be peaking a little too early,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: but I really think it's a confluence of this collective
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: defensive community really coming together. As hokey as that may sound,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I really do believe that they are going to be
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: able to continue to dominate towards the end of the
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: regular season and throughout the postseason. And what I really
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: think is interesting too, is when you look at the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: average age of this Eagles defense twenty five years twenty
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: five years old as of the active roster, that's the
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: youngest defense in the NFL, and they are absolutely killing
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: it and really quick. Something I wanted to mention about
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: this Eagles team in terms of Saquon Barkley, going back
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: to the offense really quick. Saquon Barkley faces four of
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the sixth worst rush defenses in the NFL over the
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: final five games of the regular season. Our good friend
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: of the show, Jeff Kerr from CBS Sports actually tweeted
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: this out. The Panthers one hundred and sixty six point eight,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: thirty second in the NFL. Folks, I think Saquon is
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: gonna eat this week, like eat a lot. The Steelers
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: then ninety point five, that's fourth in the NFL. Commanders
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty seven, that's twenty seventh in the NFL.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: The Cowboys one hundred and forty six point six, that's
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: thirty first in the NFL. On the Giants one hundred
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and forty five point eight. That's twenty ninth in the NFL.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: And as our good friend Jeff Kerr notes, Barkley needs
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: six hundred and seven yards for single season record. I
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: have a feeling he may get it, folks. Facing these teams,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: I got a feeling he may end up getting that.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: So look, the Carolina Panthers as we're moving along with
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the conversation here. Don't let their three and nine record
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: fool you, And by any stretch of the imagination, I
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: don't think the Eagles are going to lose to this
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: team at the link this coming Sunday at one o'clock.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Carolina is making strides in its rebuild. I mean, the
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: team could very well have five wins under their belt
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and they fell just short against much better opponents they have. Look,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: this is a team that almost beat the Kansas City
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Chiefs in recent weeks, and Bryce Young is really starting
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: to show progress and it may be a matter of
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: time before he actually captures that signature win in his
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: young career. Do I think it's gonna be against the Eagles, No,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: I do not, But I gotta tell you the way
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: that Philadelphia went into hostile territory and just left with
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: a big win over the Baltimore Ravens, I think really
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: shows what this team is about. And again Lenn and
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I are really going to talk about that on our
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: regular show this coming Thursday. But yes, the Carolina Panthers
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: have shown progress and coming close to upsetting their life
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: two opponents on their schedule. Again, I mentioned the Kansas
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: City Chiefs Tampa Bay Buccaneers were extremely fortunate to escape
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: a Charlotte with a win this past Sunday, which wouldn't
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: have been possible without basically a stolen touchdown by the officials.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Something that this NFL is gonna have to really deal
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: with in terms of officiating, because there have been games
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: that have been decided by officials. And I know our
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: good friend Josh Schuster, when he's jumped on the postgame
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: show with me, has talked about the fact that we
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: can't blame officials for the way that games turn out.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Well at times, we can, and I will disagree with
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: my buddy Josh every now and again, but there are situations,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: specifically this season. We've seen it time and time again
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: where officials actually do determine the outcome of games. However, yes,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: multiple miss field goals from the most accurate kicker in
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: NFL history. You know, there were definitely some issues with
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: regard to the Carol of Panthers, for sure, and I
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: think that this Carolina Panthers team, as Bryce Young, is
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: continuing to get better week in and week out. Again,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna beat the Eagles this week, but
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: it's a team that has been coming on strong, and
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be interesting to see what they can do
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: against the Eagles. But I think inevitably how the Eagles
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: are really gonna be able to take down this team. So, yes,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: the Panthers have covered as underdogs in four straight games
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: and they have lost those games by a combined eight points.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: And the Eagles they have just three turnovers in an
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: eight game winning streak. That's pretty good news for the
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. Again, Bryce Young've been much better the past
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: two games, and I really think in terms of the total,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: we need to look at the fact that the Eagles
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: have scored twenty eight or more points five times in
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: the last seven and twenty four plus points in all
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: of those games. The Panthers they've actually allowed fifty six
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: points in the last two weeks and scored fifty of
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: their own. So yes, the Eagles should stifle the Panthers offense,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: but you know they could score thirty plus all on
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: their own this coming week. Here, I don't really love
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: the over underline at forty five point five, but bring
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: it down below forty as part of a teaser. Yeah,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: that might actually be a little bit interesting here, Yes,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: it has been a nice run these last four weeks,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: seeing how the Panthers have beat the spread each game.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: But again, the Eagles have the top NFL's rushing offense
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: this season, while the Panthers have the league's worst rushing defense.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: And I think at the end of the day, folks,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: that is inevitably what is going to matter in this game. Again,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley is likely going to eat hell. Kenny Gainwell
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: might end up eating in this game as well. Put
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: in Will Shipley perhaps in the fourth quarter he may
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: end up eating against this Carolina Panthers rush defense here
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: as well. I think it's gonna be a pretty lopsided
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: score when it's all said and done. I think the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Eagles could very well score forty points. Panthers may score
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: about twenty points. You know, I mentioned you know they
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: could they could score more, But I think the Panthers
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: may score about seventeen to twenty points or so. And
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I think when you look at matchups, I know we
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: always talk matchups here on our Opposition Territory podcast, and
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: sneaky players. I don't know about any sneaky players that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: are gonna be coming to us from the Carolina Panthers
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: this week, and in terms of matchups, quite frankly, folks,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles are likely going to be winning every
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: single matchup on both sides of the ball. I mean,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: it's that simple. I guess we didn't need a guest
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: on this week here, so that's gonna do it for us.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Here with our opposition territory discussion again, a short discussion
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: about this upcoming game that the Eagles should win and
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be interesting to see if this team can
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: actually clinch a playoff spot this week. So for the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Eagles to clinch on Sunday, the Cardinals and either the
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Falcons or Buccaneers have to lose. Cardinals host the Seahawks
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: at four h five pm, while the bluck I'm sorry
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the Bucks host the Las Vegas Raiders at one pm.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: The Falcons travel to play the Vikings at one pm.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: So if the Eagles win to improve at eleven and two,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: the worst they could finishes eleven and six, same record
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: as Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Arizona if those teams win out.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: But the Falcons and Bucks each hold the first tiebreaker
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: over the Eagles, which is head to head play. As
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: we know, the Atlanta Falcons beat the Eagles twenty two
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: to twenty one on September sixteenth and Tampa Bay one
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: thirty three to sixteen on September twenty ninth. We remember
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: that game, weren't too happy about it. So the Eagles
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: don't play Arizona this season, as we know, So the
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: next tiebreaker would be the record within the conference. So
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: if the Cardinals went out and the Eagles were to
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: lose out, which I don't think is gonna happen given
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the schedule, the Cardinals would be seven and five of
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the NFC and the Eagles would be six and six.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: So again, yes, can the Eagles clinch their playoff spot
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: this week? Yes, yes, the Cardinals where they have to win.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Of course, this week Cardinals and either the Falcons or
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Buccaneers have to lose. So that's how we're gonna end
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: this Opposition Territory podcast this week. Folks, if you are
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: on the social media's out there, check out the description
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: within the podcast episode here, and you can follow us
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: on Blue Sky, you can follow us on threads. You
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: can follow us on the Twitter slash x as well.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: You're like our Facebook page as well. We don't do
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: too much over there quite frankly, and we're on Instagram too,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: so all right, everybody that's gonna do it for us,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: We will catch you for our regular show, dropping Thursday morning.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time.