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The Eagles Don't Feel Like A 2-0 Team (PST Episode 532) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Hey, everybody, it's Jeff. We've recorded this podcast episode on Wednesday,
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September twenty, twenty twenty three. By the time you hear this, some
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things may have changed, but we hope you enjoyed the show. All right,
0:35
everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
0:39
running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. That's right over ten years
0:42
strong. We've got a great show, great content, come of your way
0:45
this week. A lot of subject matters that we have to get into here
0:48
in the world of Philly sports. I am Jeff Warren and I'm here with
0:52
my good buddy Len Hunt. Sick or how are you doing, Lenn?
0:54
I am doing good. We had a nice long conversation before and we did
1:00
going over everything with our our houses and our lives and stuff. So it's
1:03
it was good stuff. I'm having a patio put on my house. I'm
1:07
like part of me is scared to death because of the cost of something like
1:11
this, and it's like, God, I hope this. I hope this
1:14
contractor knows what they're doing. And I'm sure I know they I know they
1:18
do know what they're doing, but it's like, I don't know you invest
1:21
that much money into your home and into a project, and you're like,
1:26
I just don't want any hiccups. I just don't need that right now in
1:29
my life. Well, and you hear horror stories from other people that have
1:32
used the contractor that you know you didn't do what they said they were going
1:37
to do or whatever, and you're just like, oh god, I hope
1:40
I don't get one of those, and just like yeah, it's I mean
1:44
that that should be more. It feels like that should be more of a
1:48
you know, just okay, this is gonna go fine. Then it turns
1:52
out to be sometimes yeah, yeah, well I know, I know with
1:55
you being a new homeowner, the listeners know you're a new homeowner, but
1:59
they're having a little album with the leaves falling off the trees. There's a
2:04
lot more yard work, and I mean, and I know it's falling happens,
2:08
but it's like, oh my god, I'm gonna be doing this forever
2:12
because there's just it's covered, Like my yard's completely covered. And I get
2:15
it done, i look up and there's still a ton still up there,
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and I'm just like, oh my god, I'm gonna be doing this every
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week. Yeah, dude. You know what, I didn't tell you this
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before we hit the record button, But at our old house that we were
2:28
at across the street, one of our old neighbors, he was obsessive,
2:31
compulsive with leaves that would fall onto his property. No decent amount of trees
2:38
around. He was constantly outside with his leaf blower. And I'm not talking
2:43
about the stuff that's in your backyard land. You're talking about a blanket of
2:46
leaves. This guy would be out there. I'm not even kidding. If
2:50
there were like maybe six leaves, a dozen leaves, he would be out
2:54
there just making sure that they were off his property. He wanted green ground
3:00
ass constantly through. I mean we're talking constantly. It couldn't He couldn't even
3:04
go a day without it. It was the most amazing thing. It's sometimes
3:07
Michelle and I would be like, wow, man, he's so dedicated and
3:12
that he just wants to get out of the house. Yeah. Yeah,
3:16
maybe because I remember the one type. Seriously, there were like six leaves
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and I'm like, what is he doing there are six leaves on his property.
3:24
I'm like, it looks nice, it looks nice, but he just
3:28
had to have it done. Yeah, And the time it takes him to
3:30
go to the garage and actually get the leaf flower out of you just yes,
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pick him up in one hand and just be done. Oh gosh,
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I miss watching that guy and thinking to myself, boy, what's going on
3:40
in his head? Really, you're probably better off not know, probably,
3:45
Yeah, exactly. Alright, folks, we got a great show again,
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like I said this week, a lot of great Philly sports content for you.
3:53
Of course, we got to get into the Philadelphia Phillies a couple of
3:57
different aspects of this team. We're gonna be getting into actually some minor league
4:01
talk. We've got Nick Abel who was promoted to Triple A Lehigh Valley,
4:05
amongst some other players as well. And then we're gonna talk on a scale
4:09
of one to ten about how concerned we are for the starting pitching as this
4:14
postseason is right around the corner, because there's a lot of ambiguity, as
4:15
we know. And then we're gonna get into some listener feedback that specifically deals
4:19
with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. From there, because we got let on
4:24
the show, we're gonna get into some Philadelphia Union talk kind of the look
4:28
at the final stretch of the season and could the final four matches actually be
4:32
playoff previews essentially for this team. And then we got a bunch of Eagles
4:36
talk coming your way, Len and I are going to talk about the one
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Eagles player who has surprised us thus far after two weeks of this season.
4:45
And then what we're thrown down on the table. We've got Shane Half from
4:48
the Chalk Talk podcast and Bleeding Green Nation dot com. He's gonna join us
4:53
for some early season Eagles analysis of what we've been seeing from this team on
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the offense and defensive side of things. Not perfect by any stretch, but
5:00
the Eagles are two and oh. Can't necessarily complain with two and oh.
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But again, great show coming your way here, Len. Let's get into
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this Philadelphia Phillies team. First and foremost some minor league talk. And it's
5:15
interesting how two specific gentlemen promoted from Double A to Triple A just during the
5:21
last week of the season, Mick Able and O'rian Kirkering. I think that's
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how you say his last name, right, Kirkering. I believe you're right.
5:30
Yeah, Oriyan Kirkering again promoted to Lehigh Valley, So Mick Able,
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you know, He's had some control problems that have popped up at times,
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but he's been very effective as of late. In his last four starts has
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allowed just three runs over twenty three innings and he's gonna look to keep that
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rolling as he finishes the season with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. And Kirkering,
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he's twenty two year old that was taken in the fifth round of the
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MLB Draft last year. It's kind of broken out as a bullpen piece this
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season. So he started off in Low A clear Water, just continuing to
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rise through the ranks with successful stops in High A, Jersey Shore, in
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Reading and again now he's in Lehigh Valley, so it's it's gonna be interesting
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to see what he does. One point five four ERA with thirteen point three
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strikeouts per nine in forty eight appearances across three levels, So pretty good numbers
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here, lenn And it seems that the Phillies have both of these guys in
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mind potentially for next season, really getting the developmental aspects of what these guys
6:35
could be for this team potentially next season. But I thought it was an
6:40
interesting move. They wanted to get them up to triple age at least during
6:43
this last week of the season. Yeah, and these are two of the
6:47
more interesting names in their system. I mean, Kirkerring is a guy that
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you know, big arm, a guy that you just like envision as one
6:55
of those bullpen weapons. There was a point at which I thought to myself,
6:59
like, is there a chance that they bring him up, you know,
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to the big team, like as a like late inning or you know,
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playoff, you know, bullpen weapon or whatever. I think it's a
7:11
smart thing to not do that. But yeah, I mean he's been he's
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been good everywhere he's went this year, going from, like you said,
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from Clearwater to Jersey Shore to Redding. So it's great to see him.
7:21
And I guess it's age appropriate at age twenty two, but but it is
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great to see him, you know, jump across a couple of levels,
7:28
have success across a couple of levels, and then you know, be at
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the point where, okay, he'll get a taste of trip away. Maybe
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he'll probably get an invite to camp next year, and you know, maybe
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he really impresses out of camp. More likely he gets back down a trip
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away. But you know, he's a guy I'm expecting to see in a
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Phillies uniform next year, probably not maybe like not till the middle of the
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season, but I expect to see him in a Phillies uniform next year with
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the way his season's gone. Yeah, with Mick Abel, he's got a
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four point one four er in twenty two starts for the reading fighting fills,
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ten point four strikeouts per nine innings and five point one walks per nine not
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necessarily terrible numbers, but he is progressing, like I said, because some
8:13
control problems have come up at times for him, but he's certainly been effective
8:18
as of late. His command I think has been pretty consistent. So I
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think they're really trying to see if able at the at the Triple A level
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is going to be able to handle things way he has been recently. Yeah,
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I mean, and this is the guy that did spend the entire year
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at one level being at Reading up until this call up. And yeah,
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he earlier in the season there was a lot of more control issues, So
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that this is a guy that you know, maybe they're that they're I don't
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know if they'd be looking at him next season as a starter, but you
8:48
know, he's I think going to be part of that You know that starting
8:52
rotation depth that you know you're looking at how where how each team has to
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have, you know, like eight to ten starting pitcher because injuries happen and
9:01
things like that. He's a guy that I could also see in Philadelphia next
9:05
year. I don't think he's going to be they're part of their five going
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out of spring training. I don't think that's in the plans at all.
9:11
I would be very surprised if anything happened as far as that. But he's
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a guy that I think over the course of the season, you know,
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if he you know, makes the adjustments he needs to make, has a
9:22
strong season in Lehigh Valley next year, He's a guy I think they're they're
9:26
going to look at is like, Okay, rather than buy somebody at the
9:30
trade deadline, we just bring this guy up and just see what he can
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do for us. Absolutely, and speaking of pitching, lenn As, we're
9:35
moving along here, you know, we're looking at this postseason potentially for the
9:39
Phillies. I don't want to put the car before the horse, even though
9:43
you know their percentage of making the postseason, it's like it's pretty high at
9:48
this point, and you know they had they had a really nice series against
9:52
the Braves, and this is a team that, even though there are certain
9:58
aspects of it, even from a from an offensive standpoint, that I feel
10:03
confident in, when it comes to the pitching, man, I am just
10:07
scared to death. So I kind of wanted to get into here. On
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a scale of one to ten, how concerned we are for the starting pitching
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as this postseason is around the corner because, like I mean, aside Len
10:18
aside from Zach Wheeler, I mean, aside from Zach Wheeler, the trust
10:24
level is like really really low. And yes, Tylan Walker, he leads
10:28
the team with fifteen wins, but his inconsistency in the second half of this
10:33
season is likely going to give Rob Thompson some pause, you know. I
10:37
mean, look, Thompson might look to piggyback his starters with you know,
10:41
some variation of other starters out of the bullpen. For instance, you know,
10:45
Sanchez could start one game with Lorenzen who's accustomed to pitching out of the
10:50
bullpen, you know, coming in for the third time through the lineup.
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Or if Aaron Nolas struggles, Sanchez or Walker might have to make an early
10:56
appearance, perhaps in Game two. You know, for instance, So I
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guess I don't know if I want to look at it as good news.
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But Rob Thompson, he has a lot of options to choose from. But
11:07
the bad news is Zach Wheeler. Aside, the starting rotation is just not
11:13
the strength going into this year's playoffs that it was last year. So with
11:16
that said, like I'll be honest, on a scale of one to ten
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in terms of how concerned I am, ten being the most concerned and one
11:24
being no concern at all, I'm right around like a seven point five believe
11:28
it or not at this point with the starting pitching. You know, as
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we're heading into this playoffs, how are you looking at this right now?
11:37
Yeah? Now, I'm right there. I'm actually at an eighty. Yeah,
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Like I just you know, you look at a lot of these,
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you know, the main contenders, and just like, Okay, these teams
11:48
have at least their top three starters figured out. If you're gonna go with
11:50
the four man rotation in the playoffs, most teams have their four, if
11:56
not at least three, Like you said, you know, okay, Wheeler
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is going to pitch Game one most likely if things line up as Rob Thompson
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probably wants him to. Aaron Nola would pitch Game two, but you're not
12:09
you know which, Aaron Nola You're gonna get you. There's not been that
12:15
confidence all year I would have hoped going into a free agency year. Look,
12:18
he's still gonna get paid, probably more than he's worth. But I
12:24
just he hasn't had the year that you would have hoped he would have had
12:26
going into free agency. And it's just from one game to another, you
12:30
just don't know what to expect the guy. So I think that there's gonna
12:33
be from Rob Thompson's perspective, a lot of you know, Okay, we're
12:37
going to kind of fly by the seat of our pants, and you know,
12:41
okay, we've got Nola and Wheeler and Walker and Suarez and Sanchez and
12:45
lorenz and and a couple of those guys are I mean, be ready to
12:48
be along man quite often in this series, because if our starters are getting
12:52
smacked around earlier, we're going to have to go to somebody else. So
12:56
whoever those four are, I mean, I don't I don't even know if
13:00
those last two are going to be set in stone. I think it's just
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gonna be playing matchups. I think it's gonna be you know who who pitched
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yesterday? Like, I think there's gonna be a lot of mixing and matching,
13:11
more so than a manager wants to do in a playoff series. And
13:16
even in the playoffs where you know, the leash is shorter and you use
13:20
more bullpen guys, I think even by those standards, it's gonna be more
13:24
more shuffling around than than a manager would want to do. It's so much
13:28
pressure on the offense. I mean, it is so much pressure on the
13:31
offense. You're basically saying, Schwarber, you're gonna you're gonna need to hit
13:35
like two home runs a game here for us. Yeah, Like, you
13:37
know, get us, get us six runs a game, guys, Like
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that's that's what you're because you know, and and every now and again,
13:45
Wheeler has a game where he just doesn't have it, and you know,
13:48
doesn't happen quite as often as the other guys. But you know, he's
13:52
human just like everybody else. So what if God forbid he has one of
13:56
those in the playoffs, Like it just it makes it a lot tougher series
14:00
to win. What are you thinking out there, folks? Philadelphia Sports Table
14:03
at gmail dot com. We'd love to read your email here on the show
14:05
and respond to it with regard to this Phillies team. How concerned are you
14:09
for the starting pitching here scale one to ten. Let us know. We'd
14:13
love to read your email here on the show as this postseason is right around
14:16
the corner. And speaking of listener feedback, len, as we're moving along
14:20
here, we've got an email from a longtime listener this podcast, Patrick,
14:24
who is serving in the Armed forces over in Amman, Jordan. He wrote
14:30
to us about the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. Haven't done two too much seventy
14:33
six Ers talk recently on the show, just simply because that hasn't been too
14:37
too much movement. But Patrick makes some really good solid topics or thoughts and
14:46
things that really think about for the future of this team and where the fanbase
14:50
is mentally with this team as well. So let's get into this here,
14:54
he says, gentlemen, great podcast as always. I don't know about y'all,
14:56
but I don't know if I can survive another process, especially since the
15:01
NBA loves the medal with the Sixers. Even if Harden was back and happy,
15:05
this Sixer squad is fundamentally flawed. I'm sorry, he says, I
15:07
love him, Bead, but we're the rare team in modern basketball where the
15:11
center is the star, but also a star whose health is always a concern.
15:16
We're also a Twitter trade demand away from losing him, and we have
15:20
zero leverage in retrospect. It was over when we chose to buy us over
15:26
Butler to prevent the return of the Dark Ages to arm Moory with more picks.
15:31
It may be time to trade him Bead before he demands a trade and
15:35
we get peanuts. It'll hurt, but much less than watching Ish Smith highlights
15:39
and a blowout loss again Patrick, and I'm on Jordan. Patrick. Thanks
15:43
so much for taking the time to send us that email. And really it's
15:48
something that I've actually been given a lot of thought to Len when the shoe
15:52
is going to drop, and specifically what Patrick mentioned here in his email when
15:56
he said about the Sixers not having any sort of leverage necessarily with regard to
16:04
that potential and I say potential inbid trade down the line. You know,
16:10
you just look at the pathway of where this team is going. And we've
16:15
we've been around this long enough Len to know that we're seeing you know,
16:19
we're seeing the pathway of where Joel Embiad's career may end up going, because
16:26
there's precedent for this type of stuff, and we know that players in the
16:30
NBA have a lot of power. I like that they have a lot of
16:33
power. I said a number of times on this show, Joel Embiid is
16:37
going to have a lot of power if he does not want to be in
16:41
the city of Philadelphia anymore. I don't know. I completely get where Patrick's
16:45
coming from here. And not that I want them to trade Embiad right now,
16:49
No, not at all, But yes, man, I can see
16:52
it happening perhaps after this seasons. As we've talked before, Eric and I've
16:56
talked about it on the show. It's it seems like there's an inevitability to
17:02
all of this based on where this team is at right now, and I
17:04
feel like us fans are just downtrodden about it. I don't I don't know
17:07
what are you thinking, man? Yeah, I mean I've said it.
17:11
I think a couple of times over the past couple of weeks where I'm just
17:14
not as excited for the this sixer season as I have been for previous ones,
17:19
and it's because like I am kind of allowing myself to look a couple
17:22
of years down the line, and it's just like I love him beat as
17:26
a player, and I love you know, he's He's such a good fit
17:29
personality wise for this city. If that time comes, when it's time to
17:33
trade him, it's it's gonna be a true bummer. Like absolutely, But
17:38
I get where Patrick's coming from. And the fact that, like, you
17:41
know, okay, once that demand is put out there, once he says
17:45
I want out, Once any NBA player says I want out of whatever city,
17:49
I'm in the value of that because everybody else knows, Okay, your
17:55
guy wants out. And this is a league where these guys basically get everything
17:59
that they want. So you know, all of a sudden, the package
18:03
that I'm willing to give you is less, I think, because the guy
18:07
just wants out. And whereas if you were kind of striking first and be
18:12
like, oh okay, well man, we have this opportunity to get this
18:15
player. You know, we're gonna have to go up the moon for him,
18:19
I think that goes away once, you know, and especially you know,
18:23
because these guys talk all around the league and and you know, want
18:27
to be in the strike up friendships with other guys. So what if?
18:32
What if MB not only says I want to be traded, but he pulls
18:34
Damian Lillard and says, I want to be traded to that team and that
18:40
team only. So that's the other thing you have to concern yourself is you
18:44
know, Okay, I want to be traded, but I'm only I'm going
18:48
to limit what you guys can get because I only want to go to this
18:52
one market. And they're not feeling claude. You'ru did that? I mean,
18:56
he you know, he could have gone to College Rotto when they could
19:00
who's ahead a lot better pharma system. But you know he wanted to go
19:03
to Florida, So that's where you win. He gave them the one destination
19:08
and you know that, man, that makes it so much harder to get
19:11
a good deal. It absolutely does. And that's the part I hate about
19:15
where the players are going in the NBA specifically. You know, whether it's
19:18
Lillard, whether it's hardened too, like when you actually are demanding the specific
19:22
team that you want to go to and you're hampering the ability of the team
19:27
that you're on to actually get that done like it's it's counterproductive. It just
19:33
completely counterproductive. Yeah, like you would think, Okay, if you want
19:37
to be out of here that badly, you know, you at least give
19:41
your your the team that's trading you some options, right because they their goal
19:45
is to not make you happy, to get you exactly where you want to
19:49
be. They have a business to run, they have assets that they need
19:52
to acquire back to, you know, make sure that their organization is healthy.
19:56
That's there, that's their thing first and form. So if you can
20:00
give them a couple different options so that they can get the best deal they
20:03
can, that only increases your chances of getting out of a situation you don't
20:07
want to be in a lot better. Whereas like this thing with Lillard,
20:12
you know, he's not helping them out by saying I only want to go
20:15
to Miami, same thing with Harden with the Clippers. At least Lillard,
20:18
you know, doesn't have a track record of this, and he's you know,
20:22
a far more productive player at this time of the career. James Harden
20:26
I just think has zero, like he has no idea of how he's viewed
20:32
around the league and how how where he's at and this point of his career.
20:36
I think he's completely oblivious the fact that he thinks he can he can
20:40
just get a thing to only one team and you know they're going to pony
20:44
up for him. No, it's not going to happen. You're you're not
20:45
that guy anymore. So yeah, I mean that that just man, it
20:51
makes it so hard. So I don't know, I want to him be
20:55
to stay, but you know, I want this all to work out,
20:56
but we're kind of getting the point of it's getting harder and harder to believe
21:02
that it is going to work out. Absolutely, and it really is because
21:03
James Harden too, it really is. And it's Darryl Murray bringing him in.
21:08
You know, they had a relationship. You know it's that. But
21:11
but man, Patrick couldn't be more right. When when when when you go
21:15
back in all this and it really is that thing of choosing Tobiason and Butler,
21:22
Yeah, not just choose it, but like you know, basically choosing
21:26
Ben Simmons over Butler, Yeah, and Brett Brown over Butler. Like you
21:30
know, granted, I know that's a lot of people, but I mean,
21:33
just imagine this team with Butler and Ebide over the past couple of years
21:37
they have a championship. I am I am absolutely probably would, yes,
21:41
convinced they would. God, oh, it's terrible to think about anyway,
21:45
Patrick, thanks buddy for sending us that email. Writing to us again,
21:52
stay safe, my friend. I sent your response Stay safe overseas. Thanks
21:56
so much for what you're doing over there, and folks, again, we'd
21:59
love to hear from you Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd love
22:03
to read your email here on the show and respond to it as we did
22:06
with Patricks. And if you're new to listening to us, subscribe on whatever
22:08
podcast platform you're on. We'd appreciate that. Give us a follow on Apple
22:11
Podcasts, and if anything happens to your feed, you can always head on
22:15
over to Philadelphia Sportstable dot com. That's where we've got all of our podcast
22:19
shows. You can follow Len on Twitter at Len Hunt, Sicker, Me
22:22
at Jeffrey Underscore, Warren and the Show at Philadelphia PST. Search us out
22:27
on Instagram as well, and give us a follow there. We greatly appreciate
22:32
that. And now we are going to take a break to pay some bills.
22:34
We're gonna be back in just a bit with some Philadelphia Union talk and
22:37
some Philadelphia Eagles talk. Stick with us, We'll be right back. All
22:42
right, We are back, and Len, it's now time to get into
22:45
the Philadelphia Union. Boy. The the Union in Cincinnati battled to a stalemate
22:52
recently, and it's interesting to think about where this team is going to be
22:56
going, you know, as we're looking down the final stretch of this season.
23:00
But interestingly enough, Daniel gazdag he became the first player in MLS history
23:06
during that Cincinnati game to score ten penalty kick goals in a single MLS regular
23:11
season. Wanted to throw that out there because it's something and something very substantial
23:18
that happened here with a Philadelphia athlete. And I'd be remist if I didn't
23:22
mention that. Yeah, he's automatical on those things. It's it's been just
23:26
a thing all year. I think he had one, I don't know if
23:29
it was it was it was a penalty kick tonight against Charlotte. But he
23:33
had another one tonight. I believe there was a goal kick. So yeah,
23:37
I think he might be up to eleven. Now were you were you
23:40
able to watch the Union Cincinnati game. I was not. Actually I watched
23:44
the first half, and then I had to go to bed just because I
23:45
had my alarm goes off at one in the morning for work. So yeah,
23:49
I wanted to stay up, but I just had to get some sleep.
23:52
And it sucked because, like I was, you know, it was
23:55
like, Okay, they're up to nothing at the half. You know,
23:57
they've got a game at home against the top team in the East sir Conference.
24:00
You know, Cincinnati is by a good margin. They're they're eight points
24:06
up on Orlando, who's second in the East. So I mean they're running
24:08
away with the East. So I was like, Wow, to get a
24:11
win, even if it's home against you know, the top team in your
24:15
division, would be great. They were up to nothing, it was half.
24:18
Then I went to bed, I get up. I checked the score.
24:21
It ended up being a two two draw. So it was like,
24:23
oh man, you let one slip through your fingers there. I mean,
24:26
it's good to still get a point, but you know, yeah, that
24:30
that's one where they're going to look back and be like, oh man,
24:33
we we had that and we let it fall slipped to our fingers. Yep,
24:37
neither team they were Neither team was able to find the game winning goal
24:40
and a lot of yellow cards in the game too as well. When yeah,
24:42
it was I mean I was even I was watching that the uh the
24:47
the the whole first half, it was like, man, this is pretty
24:51
chippy. There's there's a lot going on, and and it continued after I
24:55
went to bed, and second half it was a lot of the same.
24:57
A guy on each team ended up getting a red car for forgetting two yellows.
25:02
So the Union didn't have Jack Elliott on their back line tonight versus Columbus
25:07
because of that, because he got a red card, so he was out.
25:10
So yeah, I mean that. You know, when you ever you
25:14
had one of those games, it's just like, I, don't do too
25:15
much damage to yourselves here, hurt yourself for this game or the next one
25:21
or whatever. And you know it happened. But again, it's kind of
25:26
like it's a funny thing with soccer, is just the perception, right,
25:29
So, Okay, they let one slip through their fingers versus versus Cincinnati at
25:34
home, but then they're basically in the same situation, but they're in the
25:40
opposite direction against Charlotte where they're the better team in the standings and they're on
25:44
the road and they're down two to nothing, and then they come back and
25:47
tie it, and they come out with a two two draw, and you
25:48
feel, oh man, that's a good result, you know, given where
25:51
they were. It's the same result almost the exact same way. Aly this
25:56
time it went your way. So yeah, it's just funny how that happens.
26:00
They have a ninety eight The Union has a ninety eight percent chance to
26:03
make the playoffs according to five to thirty eight. And what I think is
26:07
interesting, did you take a look at basically the last four games of the
26:12
season, And I'm trying to find that really quick. Yeah, the last
26:15
four games of the season. I think it's gonna it's it's gonna be a
26:21
gauntlet like like no other. I mean, they're gonna be facing Columbus,
26:25
Atlanta, Nashville, and New England, who currently sit between third and seventh
26:30
in the conference. And again I think they've got LAFC who's who's sitting in
26:33
the Western Conference this Saturday. Absolutely, yeah, I mean it's it's a
26:37
tough road ahead. I see these matches as being playoff previews basically, Lenn,
26:42
I think that's what we're gonna see here. Yeah, absolutely, I
26:48
mean there's gonna be tough, sled in the whole rest of the way.
26:51
So yeah, it's uh, it's it's gonna be really interesting to see how
26:56
they perform in these games. New England is the one that they closed the
26:59
year with. But yeah, I mean I'm trying to see I'm trying to
27:03
think of it. I think it's the top nine make the playoffs and Cincinnati
27:07
will get to buy because they're they're the top seed. So I'm just trying
27:11
to see who. So I guess Philadelphia would kind of match up against maybe
27:17
Nashville maybe so that that game could be a playoff preview. It absolutely there,
27:22
that's they're they're a tough team. Well, thankfully it's going to be
27:26
a home match. In fact, they have two consecutive home matches against Atlanta
27:29
in Nashville. As you were just mentioning, I mean, if it's gonna
27:34
be challenging for them, but imperative. If they want to host multiple playoff
27:40
matches, they got to win those games, those home games. Yeah,
27:44
absolutely, I mean, this is you know, it's it's important to you
27:48
know, just get the best spot you can. You know, I don't
27:51
know, they're they're not the team I don't know if they're the team that
27:53
they were last year and this might be you know, it's it's tough because
27:59
it changes from year to year. But you know, I was reading an
28:00
article a couple of nights ago where this might be the last year where they
28:04
have Kranza. He's getting a lot of you know, interest from from European
28:10
teams. Yeah, we talked about that. Yeah, yeah, Kaive Wagner
28:14
as well, he's looking to make a move maybe back to Europe. So
28:18
you know, those are two very prominent players for this team. So you
28:22
know, how do you replace that? I mean, I know, I
28:26
know they they they signed a forward Tai Burrebo recently, who's playing I think
28:33
in the Austrian Bundesligua right now. But you know, is he going to
28:37
be as good? You know? So it's could this be the last hurrah
28:41
for this team in this in this fashion? So yeah, you want to
28:45
you want to make the most of it. You don't want to kind of
28:47
get into a six or situation where we're like, oh man, we had
28:49
that run and that was our shot right there and they came, you know,
28:52
so I don't know. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to watch for
28:56
sure. If you're a Union fan, let us know what you're thinking about
28:59
this fine stretch here Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'll read your
29:03
email here on the show and respond to it all right Land before I let
29:07
you go, buddy, and before we get to what we're thrown down on
29:08
the table. Great interview with Shane Half from Bleeding Green Nation dot com and
29:12
a chalk Talk podcast. We're gonna get into some Eagles talk here, but
29:17
specifically one player, one Eagles player who has really surprised us thus far after
29:23
two weeks. For me, I am gonna go with because it's interesting where
29:30
this team is at right now. Like I said at the top of the
29:32
show, a team that is two and oh, it doesn't necessarily feel like
29:36
they're two and oh right now and one of the top ranked teams in the
29:41
NFL in terms of power rankings. I mean, you look at various power
29:44
rankings and they're they're top five or sometimes mostly top three, and it just
29:48
kind of doesn't feel like that based on what twenty twenty two was. But
29:52
for me, when I'm actually looking at like whether it's an underrated player or
29:57
like we said, a player who's really prize does for me. That is
30:00
linebacker Zach Cunningham, who accumulated eight tackles, five of them were solo in
30:07
the Thursday night game against the Minnesota Vikings in that thirty four to twenty eight
30:12
victory there, and he was on the field for twenty I'm sorry, fifty
30:17
one defensive snaps. That was ninety three percent of the snaps he was getting.
30:22
And he's now tallied after the first two weeks twelve tackles and one fumble
30:26
recovery again through those two games. So the middle linebacker position and what he's
30:30
been doing kind of picking up that, kind of picking up that mantle.
30:34
Perhaps perhaps what TJ. Edwards was last season before TJ. Edwards went to
30:40
the Chicago Bears. I think Zach Cunningham has been providing this team the necessary
30:47
you know, whether it's intestinal fortitude or just the sheer grit of what he
30:52
needed to do for this defense. He's getting it done, and he's been
30:55
surprising to me thus far. Land. Yeah, No, he's been.
30:59
He's been real good. You know, I was obviously excited about the potential
31:03
of Nakobe Dan coming in being you know, the quarterback of that defense.
31:07
He's out for a little while. But it feels like with Cunningham's performance,
31:11
you know, the linebacker unit's been it's been strong, like even even without
31:15
Dan there, you know, it feels like they've gotten really good play out
31:19
of that position, which you know has always been a bugaboo over the past
31:23
couple of years with them. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Well, who
31:26
who is your most surprising player thus far? Again, it's only two weeks
31:32
that we have seen. You know, certain guys have, certain guys are
31:36
flashes in the pan, you know, throughout the league, not just with
31:38
the Philadelphia Eagles, and some guys are gonna need a little bit of time
31:41
to really kind of get going. I'm sure we're going to talk about that
31:44
with Shane half and a little bit. But for you, who has really
31:48
been surprising for you and like really impressive? I actually have a positive surprise
31:55
and in a not so positive surprise. Okay, And again, you know
31:57
we're gonna we're gonna take it. You know, we're gonna you know,
32:00
like you said, it's only two weeks, so we're gonna take all of
32:05
this with a grain of salt. You know. Jordan my Latta has been
32:07
very strong so far on the offensive line. I don't understand how they grade
32:13
these offensive line players, like what metrics they use, how they do it.
32:16
But you know, he's apparently grading really high high the metrics. Know
32:22
he follows that so much more than I do, you know more about it.
32:25
But my lot is the guy that I've always kind of liked, and
32:29
you know, it's been interesting to see him come along and go from the
32:31
project that he was when they first signed him to you know, being this
32:35
guy that you know, if he stays at this level, you know,
32:37
hey, maybe he's a Pro Bowl player by the end of the season.
32:40
So really quick. According to Pro Football Focus, Jordan my Latta earned a
32:45
ninety six point nine PFF grade against Minnesota, which is the highest individual game
32:52
grade by an offensive tackle since twenty ten. Jeezy, god, that's that's
33:00
pretty great. Yeah, so Jesus, Yeah, so's he's been great so
33:04
far. I don't want to use the word negative, because I'm not I
33:07
don't have any negative feeling towards the guy at all. But I just remember
33:14
the Super Bowl with Jael and Hurts and you know, take away that fumble
33:17
and and it was you know, I honestly, you know, it's hard
33:22
to think of, you know, many better performances by a guy whose team
33:25
didn't win in the Super Bowl. I mean Brady in that game that the
33:30
Eagles won, you know, you can put that up there, but Hurts
33:34
was electric in that game. Even my home said it in the postgame press
33:37
conference, how how good Hurts was. So I just feel like he has
33:40
not been at that level yet, you know, kind of like feeling like
33:45
he's kind of having to build back up to that and we haven't seen it
33:47
yet from him, and I just I like, I'm waiting for it,
33:51
you know what I mean. I don't mean it as a negative because I
33:53
know he's going to be just fine, Like I'm not worried about him,
33:58
but it's just like I haven't seen it. I'm like, oh man,
34:00
where's that guy at I have seen over the first couple of weeks of this
34:05
season, and I think we're going to see it also against the Tampa Bay
34:07
Buccaneers, where I don't want to say teams are figure quote figuring out the
34:13
Eagles scheme, but they're really stymying the RPO. I have noticed that thus
34:17
far, and and that that's been that's been the bread and butter. Do
34:22
I still think that Jalen Hurts is going to quote get back. I see.
34:28
That's the thing, like we're saying, like get back to normal.
34:30
And I know maybe last year was not an anomaly at all. He is
34:36
he is one of the best quarterbacks in this league. He showed it to
34:39
the world last year. I think part of it is just not playing during
34:44
the preseason. I do think part of it is that, you know,
34:45
it's like a pie, yeah, you know what I mean, And there's
34:47
certain percentages with things. I think that he works so hard that perhaps perhaps
34:53
at times he is overthinking whether he's in the pocket or whether or not he
34:58
needs to get I know, he needs to roll out. I think there's
35:01
a little bit of everything going on with him where he inevitably will calm down
35:06
and things will quote get back to normal. Yeah, And I think that's
35:12
kind of what we're all looking forward to as Eagles fans. Here Absolutely all
35:15
right, buddy, Well they'm gonna let you go here. We're gonna get
35:19
to our interview here with Shane Half Buddy, thanks for jumping on here.
35:23
Always awesome conversations with you. Do you have any final thoughts before we head
35:28
out this week? With you I do not. Just come on, Phillies,
35:32
get that pitching figured out. Yes, and uh yeah, we're times.
35:37
Time's up pretty soon here. We playoffs are going to be starting soon.
35:42
So yeah, I just hope they can get some things figured out.
35:45
Good luck with the leaves. I really hope there's like video somewhere of your
35:49
name, like your neighbors have like a video camera. You know that just
35:52
happens to be pointed batties where I'm like falling over stuff or whatever. But
35:58
it's just like you get a bunch done, yeah, and then you go
36:01
outside a couple of days later, it's like, oh my god, like
36:05
and I know that's the nature of the outdoors, and you know, your
36:07
grass keeps growing all and stuffing. It's like, holy God, I just
36:10
did all this stuff, and it feels like I didn't. It looks like
36:14
I didn't do a goddamn thing, right, I love it. Well,
36:17
good luck with the leaves, buddy, folks. We are going to take
36:21
a quick break here and we will be back in just a bit. We
36:23
got some more Eagles talk coming your way. Stick with us, all right,
36:28
We are back, and now we gotta get to what we are throwing
36:30
down on the table. More Philadelphia Eagles talk coming your way. Let's get
36:35
to it right now and now on the table, joining us to get into
36:40
this Philadelphia Eagles early season thus far here in twenty twenty three, we've certainly
36:46
seen some ups from the Eagles and we've certainly seen some downs as well.
36:49
We're gonna be getting into it with our amazing guest, are awesome guest this
36:53
week. You can find him on YouTube's got a great, great YouTube channel
36:58
and that podcast called Chalk Talk, as well as a contributor over at Bleeding
37:02
Green Nation dot com. As well. You can find him on Twitter dot
37:07
com at Shane Half NFL. We've got mister Shane Half. How you doing,
37:10
Buddy? Doing great? Jeff? How about you? I'm doing all
37:14
right. I've really been enjoying the fact that the Eagles are too and no
37:19
no losses yet. Of course, this coming week either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
37:23
of the Philadelphiagles are gonna get their first loss of the season. But like
37:25
I said, it's been a season thus far, in early season thus far
37:30
of ups and downs with this Eagles team. So I just want to let's
37:34
just start getting into it here, Shane, and then first and foremost,
37:37
I think the one guy who just everybody has their eyes on at this point
37:40
is Jalen Hurts. And you've done some analysis on his first couple of games
37:45
this season over on Chalk Talk and again folks search out Chalk Talk on YouTube.
37:51
Shane's got a ton of great content there. But moving on here,
37:54
you know, somehow Jalen Hurts he's not totally seeing the field, at least
38:00
from what I've seen in looking at some of the film and looking at some
38:04
of the plays that have been run during the course of these first two weeks.
38:07
I mean, there are receivers who are wide open that he's not even
38:09
looking at. Necessarily, his pocket management has been off based on what we
38:14
saw from him last season. Shane, what are the biggest hurdles that Jalen
38:19
Hurts really needs to meet head on here this season, as he certainly hasn't
38:23
been playing his best football yet. What are your thoughts? Yeah, first
38:28
of all, it's been the perfect start to the season because the Eagles are
38:31
two and oh. But there's plenty of things we can complain about, right
38:36
So, yeah, it's like last year, it's just too easy and nobody
38:38
you know, there's nothing to complain about it. That's what I said on
38:42
our first postgame show for Bleeding Green Nation. I said, the Eagles won,
38:45
and I am furious about it. Football is so bad. But yeah,
38:51
to your a question about Jalen Hurts, I think the biggest thing is
38:53
he just needs to settle in. Yeah, he's been blitzed on forty six
38:58
percent of his dropbacks this season, which is up from last year. Last
39:00
year it was thirty eight percent, and so that speeds things up. Now
39:07
you've got a new play caller. It's a it's a familiar system. The
39:09
system didn't change a lot. They are throwing to backs Moore, but he's
39:13
got a new play caller, so there's a little bit of unfamiliarity there.
39:16
I really think he just needs some time to settle in and not be playing
39:20
against one of the best defensive coaches in the league. I mean Bill Belichick
39:23
into Brian Flores and to Todd Bowles is not a great recipe to feel great
39:28
about your offense through two or three games. So but if you look at
39:31
it, his adjusted completion percentage is up from seventy seven point four percent last
39:37
year to eighty two point four percent this year. And some of the misses
39:40
they've had have been so close. I mean, you look at last week
39:44
the but I think it would have been a touchdown. It might have been
39:46
overturned on review with the babble to AJ Brown, but the Rashad Penny holding
39:52
that, I don't really think that was a pretty ticky tack holding. Yeah.
39:54
A couple of plays later, he marvelously navigates the pocket alas Gotter gets
40:00
beat, He's able to shuffle up to the left, set his feet and
40:04
he drops one on the dime to A J. Brown and past interference.
40:07
It doesn't get called, but it's just you know, inches past Brown's arms,
40:12
and I think if he doesn't get grabbed, he probably gets there.
40:15
And so you know, we probably think about that game a little differently if
40:19
he's got two touchdowns in it, and maybe it's a little different fuel for
40:22
the season as well. So I think it's a game of inches, and
40:24
in a small sample size, I think the ball just hasn't bounced his way
40:30
on it. I was just gonna say the way, which that's what I
40:31
was just gonna say. I mean, whether you're talking about the game,
40:35
hockey, game baseball, and these sports that where every inch matter. Sometimes
40:39
when the ball just doesn't bounce your way, or the pluck doesn't bounce your
40:42
way, or whatever the case is, if it doesn't bounce your way,
40:45
it's not It doesn't mean that the talent's not there. It doesn't mean that
40:47
you know the season is going to be garbage. Sometimes the ball just doesn't
40:52
bounce your way. Yeah, absolutely, And I think that's what you've seen
40:58
a little bit this year. So there's a lot of things. I'm not
41:00
concerned on a small sample size, I'm not really concerned about a Jalen Hurts
41:05
regression. Yeah. I think the Eagles offense is going to be fine,
41:08
and I do think there are some positive signs in the second half of that
41:12
Vikings game. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I want to get into the
41:14
offense a little bit more with you, Shane, and in one particular area
41:17
that I actually do have some concerns. So now here, here's when we
41:21
can complain, moan and gripe about something okay with regard to this dominant Eagles
41:25
offense. And we've known for the past like season in two weeks basically here,
41:30
So this is something you recently dove into on chalk Talk. And then
41:36
that is the Eagles offense struggling with blitz packages coming from the opposing defense.
41:40
I mean, the blitz was an issue for them in twenty twenty two,
41:44
and we're seeing it rear its ugly head again this season, at least again
41:47
from what I have seen these first couple weeks here or the season. The
41:52
Patriots blitz the ton from my perspective in week one. I mean, you
41:55
just said, first two weeks forty five percent blitz coming towards Jalen Hurts and
42:02
it really kind of stifled the offense. So how does this offense contain the
42:07
blitz more, not just in Week three, but for the rest of the
42:08
season. Yeah, So it's kind of funny. I So I've done the
42:14
All twenty two video on my YouTube and the first one I put out talking
42:17
about how the Eagles just didn't have answers to the blitz, and he saw
42:22
the first drive of the season. They get down to the red zone,
42:24
they go empty. It's a six man pressure. You know, you gotta
42:29
be hot. If the six guy comes, you're you gotta make it.
42:31
You got you gotta be responsible for it. And there's just nothing, no
42:34
short breaking route to that side. There was nothing there, and I talked
42:37
about that quite a bit, and then this week I put out one with
42:39
that I named Answers to the Blitz Yeah, question Mark, Like, I
42:44
saw growth and I started to see things I liked, especially in the second
42:46
half of that game. The Patriots blitz Hurts on forty two percent of his
42:52
dropbacks. The Vikings did it on fifty one percent. At on forty percent
42:58
of his dropbacks, they blitz six or more people max blitz. Also at
43:02
the same time, they dropped aid into coverage, only rushing three on forty
43:07
percent of the snaps. That is the mote. That's the highest rate of
43:10
either of those things of any game in the last three years. And they
43:14
did both of them in the same game. So they were throwing the kitchen
43:15
sink at hurts. Yeah, And you saw their eventual response to that was,
43:22
if you want to stick linebackers in the A gaps and let Jason Kelsey
43:25
just reach out and touch him right after the snap, let Cam Jergens just
43:29
reach out and touch him, we'll just run the ball all over you.
43:31
And that's what they did. And so they were a blitzing, but they
43:35
were doing it in a way that's not structurally sound. At the Buccaneers are
43:39
gonna blitz, They're gonna be a lot more structurally sound out of stacked boxes,
43:43
heavy personnel. But you look overall against the blitz, Hurts's completion percentage
43:49
is up two and a half percent this year. His yards per attempt is
43:52
up one point six yards. Big time throw rate has more than doubled from
43:57
three point one to seven point four percent. Now, some of that comes
44:00
with his pressure to sacreate also increasing. He was at eighteen point seven percent
44:05
last year. He's at twenty six point seven percent this year, so he
44:08
is converting pressures to sacks more routinely. But I do think he's also making
44:14
some better plays against the blitz as well. So it's almost like there's been
44:17
more variants this year. But generally, I would say it's trended a little
44:22
bit better. Again in a small sample size against two really blitz happy defensive
44:25
teams. Well, thank goodness to the Eagles have the offensive line that they
44:29
have, and they also have a running back room that is able to put
44:32
up some yards. Understand, you know, understand what's in front of them.
44:37
Because DeAndre Swift had his breakout game. As we know this past week
44:40
and just put up some incredible numbers and it poses an interesting running back and
44:46
backfield challenge. I think once Kenneth Gainwell is healthy, So, Shane,
44:52
how do you see things playing out when Gainwell is back, if that's going
44:54
to be this week, if he's healthy, he's ready to go, how
44:59
do you see things sha out? I mean, of course running back by
45:00
committee, but in terms of potential, you know, percentage of this back
45:05
getting this type of play against this back on these particular uh you know,
45:10
personnel packages, Like, how do you see the running back room here shaping
45:14
up? Yeah? DeAndre Swift is just a better back than Kenny Gainwell.
45:19
Now, he is slightly worse as a pass blocker. And that's not to
45:22
say that Gainwell is good. But DeAndre Swift allowed one sac and three pressures
45:27
on seven pass walking snaps against Vikings, so not good against the Blitz.
45:32
He Swift rinks ninth in the NFL right now, and yards per carry after
45:37
contact. He you know, he ripped off the long run. One run.
45:42
The one long run in this game. I think Kenny Gainwell's longest run
45:45
of his career is like eighteen yards. He's just not explosive. Now,
45:50
all that said, running back is not a position that you want to run
45:52
somebody into the ground. It's a long season. I still like Gainwell,
45:57
he's not as good as Swift is, but he's got his use as a
46:00
actually as pass blocker in the two minute drill, those sorts of things.
46:02
So you know, I would like to see something around like a sixty four
46:07
sixty forty split favoring Swift. But I don't think you want to run Swift
46:10
into the grounds. You don't want to give him twenty eight touches every week.
46:14
Yeah, and that's what I was going to ask too. How many
46:15
touches you think that he may end up getting. I mean, I'm thinking
46:20
it's probably gonna be somewhere maybe around maybe fifteen to eighteen touches a week perhaps.
46:25
Yeah, I think I think that's good. And I think game script
46:30
will dictate teams too, Like the Eagles are still a team where they're so
46:34
good running and throwing. You got to pick where you want them to beat
46:37
you, and the Vikings picked that they wanted you to beat us beat them
46:40
running the ball, so they did. The Buccaneers are probably going to say
46:45
they want you to win throwing the ball because they like to stack the box.
46:47
And so I don't think you're gonna have a you know, twenty touch
46:51
Kenny Gainwell or DeAndre Swift game on Monday Night football. I think it's gonna
46:55
be a little more of a spread it out and spread and shred sort of
46:59
attack. Right. Well, let's move over to the defense here, Shane.
47:01
My goodness, some of the depth just wasn't ready to take on critical
47:07
roles and and and there their depth pieces for a reason. And there's one
47:12
gentleman that I'm really interested in seeing where his play is going to go,
47:16
where his development is going to go this season. It's Mario Goodrich. I
47:20
mean, he really looked unprepared of filling in for Avonte Maddox and and you
47:25
know, he was thrown into a situation. Yes, by the end of
47:28
the game, it seemed like he's settled down a little bit here. But
47:30
I'm genuinely concerned about how he plays against some of these slot receivers that are
47:36
gonna be coming down the pike. I'm really concerned about it. So how
47:38
concerned should we be about Mario Goodrich or however they're going to handle that slot
47:45
corner position, especially in nickel based packages. With Vonte Maddox likely missing the
47:51
remainder of the season and just some of the other secondary depth as well,
47:55
that just didn't necessarily seem like they were prepared to really get the job done
48:00
on I don't know what are your thoughts on this particular storyline that we're gonna
48:02
be following here for weeks to come. Yeah, it's never ideal when you're
48:07
relying on a UDFA to step into the slot cold off the bench in the
48:10
second game of the year. You know, Maddox is often injured. You've
48:15
got to have a plan for that. And Josh Job looked really good in
48:20
the game. Now he had the benefit of knowing all week he was going
48:22
to be the starter versus good Rich who's coming in cold off the bench.
48:24
But I think Josh Job is the third best healthy corner on this team right
48:30
now, and so if it was me, I would put James Bradberry in
48:34
the slot and put Josh Job out wide. Bradberry took reps in the slot
48:37
in training camp, primarily to deal with teams like the Buccaneers who will use
48:42
a big receiver like Mike Evans in the slot, or the Chiefs who will
48:45
use Travis Kelsey in the slot, so he's taken some reps there. But
48:51
you know, like Keiley Ringo, Eli Rix, those are not guys that
48:53
can plain in the slot. They don't have the agility to handle two weight
48:57
goes. You're not gonna kick Josh Job in the slot. So it basically
49:00
becomes do you want to put James Bradberry in the slot and Josh Job outside?
49:06
Or do you want to put Mario Goodrich in the slot and James Bradberry
49:09
outside. I would say you put the best three corners on the field,
49:13
and yeah, I would also be interested in seeing Sidney Brown start to train
49:15
in the slot. He played three hundred and sixty five snaps in the slot
49:20
in his three years in college. He is aggressive coming downhill, he's physical,
49:24
so he'd be a plus in the run game because your slot corner has
49:28
to fit the run. So I would be interested to see them do that
49:31
with Brown as well. But short term, this week, Bradberry would be
49:35
my guy in the slot. I think what we have seen from the Eagles
49:38
offensive line over the years and the type of coaching that's done there is the
49:43
adapting and the versatility, and I wish that we saw that a little bit
49:47
more from a defensive side of things, and yes, two completely different sides
49:51
of the ball. And yes, folks, I know that being an offensive
49:53
lineman is different than being a defensive back. Yes I know, but it
49:58
seems like the verse utility isn't actually as as prevalent with this Eagles team in
50:06
terms of the depth as we have seen from an offensive perspective. I don't
50:08
know, maybe that's league wide and I'm just kind of thinking out loud here,
50:12
Jane, but it's something again that I'm a little concerned about as we're
50:15
moving forward here. You know, God forbid James Bradberry goes down again or
50:20
Darius Slay goes down again, we could have some real, real problems.
50:22
That did keep seven defensive or seven cornerbacks on the roster from what I remember,
50:28
But still it's a concern. Yeah, you were worried about injuries at
50:34
the cornerback position, and we talked a lot in the offseason about Slay and
50:37
Bradberry both over thirty. They're probably not both going to play every game this
50:40
year, and of course Bradberry's already missed one, although that's a concussion that's
50:44
not really like an aging thing. But the one we didn't talk about and
50:47
we should have as Avonte Maddox because Vonte Maddox is always hurt and he's when
50:52
he's healthy, he's one of the best slot defenders in the league. He's
50:55
just rarely healthy. And so, you know, they kept a lot of
50:59
young guys that they liked, and some of those guys are gonna have to
51:01
step up this season because again, it's pretty unlikely that Darius Slay and James
51:06
Bradberry are each going to play the next fifteen games. There's probably gonna be
51:08
some mistime in there, and you need guys to be ready to step up
51:13
in those situations. Absolutely, all right, Well, sticking with the defensive
51:15
side of things, And on a positive note too, I know we're kind
51:20
of crapping on the team here, at least I feel like I'm crapping on
51:22
the team. Meanwhile, they're two and oh I love that they're two and
51:25
oh we all do. But again a positive note in terms of this defense,
51:29
we're just seeing great things from Jordan Davis and Jail and Carter. I
51:32
mean, Carter is the highest graded rookie after Week two according to Pro Football
51:37
Focus. He and Jail and Carter I'm sorry, no, He and Jordan
51:42
Davis sorry, are the third and fourth ranked defensive tackles in football through two
51:46
weeks here. So what I think is remarkable is that these guys are going
51:50
to continue to develop even more, Shane, They're going to get better.
51:54
What are your thoughts on these two just amazing defensive players at this point in
51:59
the seas and what they're giving this defense. Yeah, I was never wrong,
52:04
only early on Jordan Davis. He was number seven on my big board
52:08
last year and I was on a I was doing a radio hit right before
52:12
the draft started, and they asked me what was going to happen, and
52:15
I said the Eagles were going to trade up in front of the Ravens to
52:17
take Jordan Davis, and Eagles fans would be mad about it, but they
52:21
shouldn't be right, And that's exactly what happened, and Eagles fans were mad
52:24
about it. And you know, last year, I really think injuries derailed
52:29
as rookie season. There's a getting up to speed in the NFL. I
52:31
felt like he was just getting his legs under him and he gets injured and
52:35
then you bring in Linvall Joseph and Dominican sue. The run defense is good.
52:38
You don't mess with what's not broken. In a Super Bowl year,
52:42
Yeah, well, this year he's developed some pass rushing shops. He ranks
52:45
tenth in the league and pass rush win rate. He's really disrupted the pocket.
52:51
I loved the one where he just like shoved this guard back into Kirk
52:53
Cousins legs and tripped him. Now he's played thirty five snaps in Week one.
52:59
He seventeen snaps in Week two. Hopefully the rotation stays like that to
53:02
keep him fresh. Like at his size, conditioning has always been a concern.
53:07
You don't want him to wear it down like I want September Jordan Davis
53:10
to be the same Jordan Davis we see in December and January. And so
53:15
he's shown that he can take that leap. Now, I just wanted to
53:17
be able to stay healthy and you know, to stay it near one hundred
53:21
percent as you can over the course of a long football season throughout the year.
53:24
Absolutely again, folks, we're talking to Shane Half content creator four Bleeding
53:30
Green nation dot com. You know would love Bleeding Green nation dot com.
53:32
Folks over there and also search out Chalk Talk on YouTube. Shane does a
53:37
fantastic job giving you some analysis with regard to this Philadelphia Eagles team, some
53:43
football in general. It's a great great subscribe over there for sure. So
53:49
Shane is we're heading out here last but certain real quick, Yo, Yeah,
53:52
I just realized I never even mentioned Jaylen Carter when I was talking about
53:57
so yes, he's awesome. Yeah, he was number two on my big
54:01
board in this year's draft, and obviously he falls. There's some off the
54:05
field concerns. It's not necessarily fair to say, you know, oh,
54:08
this team should have taken and this team should have taken him, because most
54:12
of the teams that didn't probably didn't for non football reasons. So you take
54:16
that for what it's worth. But he ranked six and pass rush win rate
54:20
this year from defensive tackles, and nobody above him has been double teamed at
54:23
a higher rate. He's been double teamed on sixty six percent of his pass
54:27
rushing snacks. This is a guy that's playing next to Fletcher Cox, by
54:30
the way, So Fletcher Cox looking really good this year, it's because Jordan
54:35
Davis is the guy they're choosing to double team. Yeah, he leads the
54:38
NFL in pressure rate at defensive tackle at seventeen point nine percent. Last year,
54:45
that would have ranked first. Last year, the leader was Javon Hargrave,
54:47
who was first with fourteen percent. So I mean, really, so
54:52
far this year he has been a younger, less expensive, better Javon Hargrave.
54:55
He's rushed the passer better, he's been better against the run. Hopefully
55:00
he's able to sustain that over the course of the season two. But the
55:02
Eagles have a special duo on the interior of the defensive line. It's incredible
55:07
how the trenches have been built and developed with this team, whether on offense,
55:12
whether on defense. You're saying that Eagles fans, and yes, they
55:15
were not too happy about the Jordan Davis draft pick, and it's incredible that,
55:22
you know, hindsight, being twenty twenty, you have a step back
55:25
and say, the trenches, it is where the foundation of this team is
55:30
going to go in the future. And for anybody complaining about the trenches,
55:35
folks, we're looking at some absolute dominance right now, specifically on the defensive
55:38
side of the ball. And Shane, I don't mind it. I just
55:43
don't mind it. And I think we gotta get we gotta get Eagles Nation
55:45
in that mind frame around draft time that no, we don't necessarily need the
55:49
wide receiver, we don't necessarily need the quote flash from the skilled positions that
55:53
the trenches is so incredibly important. Yeah, it's not sex And Eagles fans
56:01
get tired of it sometime. And I get there too, Like I would
56:05
love for the Eagles to go draft to safety in the first round. Oh
56:07
yeah, Like I'm not there with a linebacker. Like I'd like to have
56:12
competent linebackers, but I don't want to spend a first round pick on that.
56:15
And the Eagles continue to hammer the trenches. Trenches, trenches, trenches,
56:17
trenches. But as you look at you know, I preview each matchup
56:22
each week on Twitter as many different aspects as I can think of, and
56:25
one of the ones I always come back to as the battle and the trenches.
56:29
And the Eagles have a decisive advantage over every team they play in the
56:31
trenches. Yep, And that's part of the reason they're so good as a
56:35
franchise. Absolutely absolutely all right, Well, last, but certainly not least,
56:39
my friend, we have to talk about the punter situation here. I
56:44
mean This has been crazy the past three weeks. How there's been so much
56:49
ambiguity with the Eagles punter position. And look, I've always liked talking about
56:54
special teams. I've always been one of those guys. I think special teams
56:58
are really important. It's a unit the It's overlooked all the time in football,
57:01
but again important for a number of reasons. Braden Man, he's now
57:07
going to be the Eagles new punter heading into Week three, how much of
57:09
a boost is he really going to give special teams and the punting game in
57:13
general, which hopefully is going to inevitably lead to some you know, better
57:16
field position potentially for the Eagles and some worse feel position for the opposition.
57:22
So what are your thoughts on, Braden Man with the punting h what the
57:24
punting game is going to end up meaning for this team down the road.
57:30
Yeah. So, I may or may not have All twenty two on my
57:36
screen when I'm in zoom meeting. Sometimes I may or may not watch All
57:39
twenty two on my phone while I'm in the pickup line to pick my kids
57:44
up from school. There you go. I can I can either confirm nor
57:46
deny those things. What I can confirm is. I'm not out here grinding
57:52
punter filed, but there's a puntolytics count on Twitter at the punt runts and
57:58
they're kind of my go to for that stuff. Nice they have da I
58:00
don't know how to calculate this, but they said that Aaron Sippos was fourth
58:05
worse than the league through two weeks and punter epa per punt above expectation at
58:09
negative point two six. And according to them, Man has a bigger leg,
58:15
he can flip field more easily. He's a little more inconsistent, and
58:19
they even said, like you know, if you had it. Of course,
58:21
this is a punter account, so take that for what it's worth.
58:23
But they said that Eagles should use Man to flip the field and they should
58:27
use Sipos and pin him deep situations. Now, only somebody running a punter
58:30
analytics account would think you should dress two punters on game day. But you
58:35
can take that for what it's worth. All right, Very good, Very
58:37
good again, folks. Shane Half from Chalk Talk search about on YouTube.
58:43
Great great podcast and also he's doing some great stuff over at Bleeding Green Nation
58:46
dot com. Follow on Twitter at Shane Half NFL. Great great content that
58:51
he's putting up on the Twitter dot com. Shane, Boy, it was
58:53
great talking to you. Come back join us down the road. Let's get
58:57
into some more Eagles talk in the future. I'd love to have you back,
58:59
my friend, absolutely, anytime you have, anytime you message me,
59:02
I'm here. I absolutely love Shane's content. I'm not just saying that because
59:07
I was just talking to him. I tell you right now, if you
59:08
see chalk Talk, he is explaining the game to you as he's looking at
59:14
the all twenty two. Shane is a fantastic follow on the interwebs out there,
59:19
really very passionate about what he is doing as well. So again at
59:22
Shane Half on Twitter and search out chalk Talk on YouTube. So that's gonna
59:28
do it for us folks here. I mean, it is a interesting time
59:30
in the world of Philly sports. Of course, Lenn and I are talking
59:34
about the Phillies earlier, looking postseason bound for that particular team of the Eagles
59:39
right now at this point two and oh, you know, thinking they're probably
59:44
gonna be beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hopefully. I mean, look, I
59:46
think the Eagles are a more talented team. We'll see what happens. Who
59:50
knows what's gonna happen with injuries? Who knows what's gonna happen, gosh with
59:54
the secondary. So anyway, we've got some time here to give things some
59:59
thought. I just want to say thank you. Look to the long time
1:00:01
listeners. If you are new to the show as well, thanks for taking
1:00:06
the time to listen to us. We've got all of our podcasts over at
1:00:07
Philadelphia Sportstable dot com. We've got some PSD special podcasts for you as well.
1:00:14
We are on Twitter at Philadelphia PSD. You can follow me at Jeffrey
1:00:16
Underscore, Warren again Lenn, give him a follow at Len Hunt Sicker even
1:00:21
though even though he really doesn't tweet anymore. I don't even know why promo
1:00:23
Len's Twitter. There's a whole lot of nothing, a whole lot of nothing
1:00:28
coming from him. I think he does like maybe five tweets a year at
1:00:30
this point. So why don't you shoot us off at email Philadelphia Sports Table
1:00:35
at gmail dot com. Tell Lenn that he needs to tweet more. I'll
1:00:38
make sure he gets the emails that you send in. So all right,
1:00:44
folks, you all take care. We will catch you next times