Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Chiefs, Week 11
Transcript
- 0:00Hey there, everybody, it's Jeff. We are recording this on Tuesday,
- 0:03November fourteenth, twenty twenty three. By the time you hear this, some
- 0:06things may have changed, but we hope you enjoy the show. All right,
- 0:34everybody, you're listening to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast
- 0:38show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, that's
- 0:41ready for ten and a half years strong. But we got a great discussion
- 0:44come in your way as we get ready for this Philadelphia Eagles in Kansas City
- 0:48Chiefs game. My goodness, this is possibly a precursor to the next Super
- 0:54Bowl. Yes, will these teams meet again in the Super Bowl. We're
- 0:57gonna learn a lot about these various matchups, not just this coming Monday night.
- 1:03Yes this is a Monday night game. But we're gonna learn a lot
- 1:04during this conversation right now with our guests. So let's just get right to
- 1:08it. And it is great to have in the show for the very first
- 1:11time, coming to us from the Believe Podcast Network, and he's got a
- 1:15lot of other great content that he's putting out on the interwebs. We've got
- 1:21again, like I said, from the Blieve Podcast Network. Jeff for dootin.
- 1:25How are you doing, buddy, and thanks so much for joining us
- 1:26for a preview show here doing well? Thanks so much for having me on,
- 1:30Jeff. We've got a real exciting, juicy matchup here, just to
- 1:34break down and discuss absolutely. I mean, as I said in the intro,
- 1:38you know this could potentially be a Super Bowl rematch and I cannot wait
- 1:42to get into this discussion with you. But beforehand, I know you're doing
- 1:47some stuff on the interwebs out there with Forbes. Tell everybody where they can
- 1:49find your content out there, Jeff. Yeah. Thanks. In addition to
- 1:53Believe in Chiefs with Joe Valerio, the former Chiefs offensive lineman, my great
- 1:59co host, I also write for Forbes. I cover predominantly the Chiefs for
- 2:04them and other NFL topics. So yeah, definitely check it out. All
- 2:08right, sounds good. Well let's get into this preview show. And I
- 2:12think I think many of us are thinking this week's game, like I said,
- 2:16could potentially be a Super Bowl preview. Both teams are just powerhouses within
- 2:21their conferences. Jeff. And you know Nick Sirianni. He's two and one
- 2:24coming off of bye week. Andy Reid, who we know all too well
- 2:28in Philadelphia, is twenty one and three, which is certainly certainly impressive.
- 2:34So I'm wondering, you know, when you're looking at this game, you're
- 2:37looking at what it possibly means. What do you think the consequences of this
- 2:40game are going to be? Say if you had a crystal ball, what
- 2:44are the consequences of this game going to be for these teams? I think
- 2:47the concert Listen, both these teams win or lose this game. Both these
- 2:52teams are going to be in great shape. They're going to be contending for
- 2:54a super Bowl. So I mean, but I really think the stanks for
- 2:59Actually Evan's going to talk about, you know, it's a Super Bowl rematch,
- 3:02and you know, motivation for the Eagles to get revengement, But really
- 3:07the motivation I think is actually seeding. You know, the Eagles, Eagles
- 3:10are have the best record in the NFL, but as you know, they
- 3:14have a very tough schedule coming up. And the Chiefs also have the best
- 3:17record in the AFC. But you know, if they get the number one
- 3:23seed, they go through Arrowhead Stadium, as they basically have for the all
- 3:29of Patrick Mahomes' ten years of starting quarterback, you really like their chances.
- 3:32But if they don't, if they if they have to go on the road,
- 3:36which Mahomes hasn't done, hasn't had to do during his starter, then
- 3:43maybe that's a little bit more challenging. So I think that throw out all
- 3:46the juicy subplots. That's probably the biggest consequence of this game. Yeah,
- 3:50I would absolutely agree with you too. And I really want to talk about
- 3:53this Chiefs team and what we're going to be seeing is Philadelphia Eagles fans because
- 3:58it's a different team of course them what we saw in the Super Bowl.
- 4:01I mean the Chiefs. Like from an offensive perspective, Jeff, the Chiefs
- 4:05offense isn't necessarily hitting on all cylinders, as many of us know during this
- 4:10twenty twenty three twenty four NFL season, and no doubt there's still a top
- 4:15team in this league as we're talking about here, Yet they still need to
- 4:17clean up some things offensively. So what do you say to the folks out
- 4:21there who say that Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey they just can't do it by
- 4:27themselves without a complimentary and solid wide receiver corps you know, especially within this
- 4:33offense that's been you know, sputtering every now and then. How do you
- 4:36assess this and what do you say to those folks? Right? And it
- 4:41is a factor. I mean if you look at you know, two years
- 4:45ago, they lose Tyreek Hill, You've been one of the great receivers in
- 4:50the game of a guy who's a future Hall of Famer, and then last
- 4:54year they lost Juju Smith Schuster he was had a very good Super Bowl against
- 4:58Eagles, or from the receiver position, he was their leading receiver. So
- 5:02it's pretty hard to just do that. And now they add McCole, Harmon
- 5:06back who's been with the team for a bit. But other than that,
- 5:10all the receivers, no one's been there longer than two years. So it's
- 5:13a young crew. It's they've got some depth, but no no real stars.
- 5:17So that is a factor. But that's you know, nobody's perfect and
- 5:23that's kind of the weakness at least if that's the weakness they have, you
- 5:27know, Patrick Mahomes throwing to them. Yeah, yeah, that's no doubt
- 5:30that. That's we're halfway through the season. I think they will continue to
- 5:33get better, especially Rashi Rice's rookie has looked good. I think he'll continue
- 5:38to get better. But you're halfway through the season. You kind of are
- 5:41what you are at this point to some degree. Yeah, I mean I
- 5:44do wonder about the chemistry between Patrick Mahomes and some of these receivers, whether
- 5:47it's you know, sky Moore, whether it is Rice who you just mentioned,
- 5:50Like, is that like, do you see it coming together at all?
- 5:55That chemistry that on the field. You know, I know that I'm
- 5:59going to be able to trust this guy a little bit more as we're moving
- 6:01on week by week. Are you seeing that at all? Jeff? The
- 6:04one the one is the guy that you can see it coming along as the
- 6:09one you just mentioned is Rashi Rice. That you see there's a build for
- 6:13each of the each of the weeks. Other than that, he really seems
- 6:16to trust Justin Watson, who hey, uh pen guy, you know,
- 6:20a local guy who's who's not the most talented of the world, but he's
- 6:25like consistent, he'll run the right routes, he's faster than people think.
- 6:29So that's the guy that he clearly has trusted. I don't know if that's
- 6:31necessarily building. I think that's been more of a consistent thing. But if
- 6:34there's a guy that's been building, it's been uh Rashi Rice. The other
- 6:39guy's mvs. Vell. The scandaling has been a real question mark. He's
- 6:44like, he's really quiet, then I'll have a big game and then it'll
- 6:46be quiet for a few more game. Same kind of with sky Moore and
- 6:51Hious tone. I don't see like a bill. I'm not saying that.
- 6:56You know, it still could happen, but you're not You're not necessarily seeing
- 6:59a progression with those guys. They were really the guy I was most interested
- 7:04when was justin Ross. But of course he's now on the exempt list too,
- 7:09so he's out of the equation. McCole. Horman's now back, but
- 7:14he hasn't been great as receivers since they've brought him back, but he certally
- 7:18brings a lot of speed. Yeah, it's interesting to see where this chemistry
- 7:23is right now as we are heading into this second half of the season with
- 7:27the Chiefs, and you know, with regard to Patrick Mahomes and his receiving
- 7:30corps. But let's move on to the defensive side of things here, Jeff,
- 7:32because look, you know the Chiefs, you know kind of surprising a
- 7:36little bit to me, even though there's certainly a talented crew. Chiefs have
- 7:41a top five defense this year. In fact, they're ranked number four overall
- 7:45in total defense. I mean, they are a powerhouse from a defensive perspective.
- 7:49Here they're only allowing one hundred and seventy six total passing yards on average
- 7:54per game. Do you see this being a game where the Eagles are really
- 7:59going to need to utilize the running game more or do you think A J.
- 8:01Brown and DeVante Smith are really gonna challenge the Chiefs defensive backs all game
- 8:07this coming Monday. That's the great question and kind of the main question for
- 8:11this part of these The Chiefs defense have been has been so good. They've
- 8:15got really really good corners. Trent McDuffie's playing at a whole Pro Bowl level.
- 8:20The Nickel Lagerius just shut down Tyreek Hill. He's shut down Justin Jefferson.
- 8:26And that allows Coach Bags, the defensive coordinator, to he's he's learned
- 8:31from Jim Johnson and Philly he likes. He likes the blitz. The more
- 8:35exotic, the more aggressive, the better. And if he has those guys
- 8:39locked down, locked up in coverage he can really keep them one on one
- 8:43and just send everybody. But to your point, yeah, it's it's gonna
- 8:46be interesting. So Sneid is a physical press corner and he's done a really
- 8:50good job on Hill Garrett Wilson, Justin Jefferson, really anyone, but he
- 8:54has not faced somebody as big as physical as AJ Brown, So that's gonna
- 8:58be interesting. I think maybe Brown has a little bit more success for that,
- 9:03But I do think the running game is going to be the Chiefs,
- 9:05as good as their defense has been, if there's a weakness, especially if
- 9:09late has been kind of the running game. They had trouble with Javonte Williams
- 9:13both times with the Broncos. They shut down the Dolphins, but most are
- 9:18late when they went to the run. He kind of what he's kind of
- 9:22what brought them back in that game in Germany. So yeah, I think
- 9:26a J. Brown will be a key. But look, the running game
- 9:28is where they they where they could potentially have some success. Yeah, we're
- 9:33definitely going to get into some vulnerabilities with the Chiefs in a little bit here,
- 9:37But I wanted to move along here in terms of Chiefs players that us
- 9:41as Eagles fans really need to watch in terms of certain categories, Jeff.
- 9:46So we're going to do under the radar, over hyped players, and bounce
- 9:50back guys who need to have a bounce back game here. So let's start
- 9:54with the first category here, who is the under the radar player this week
- 9:58for the Chiefs that we as Eagles fans here we're gonna need to watch and
- 10:03keep our eye on. Who is that? Like that that that guy who's
- 10:05flying under the radar here that we're gonna need to focus on. Yeah,
- 10:11I'm just gonna throw out there just because he this guy is an under the
- 10:13radar guy. He's interesting because he's a contract year. He's a free agent.
- 10:18Mike Dana is an edge rusher who has been really good all year.
- 10:24I think people really don't know who he is. He was not the highest
- 10:26drafted player. He was at Michigan for a while and after starting or excuse
- 10:33me, he was at Central Michigan and then transferred to Michigan where he didn't
- 10:37do a whole lot. But he's he's really been good. He's he's so
- 10:45I think that's kind of interesting that he has five and a half sacks,
- 10:48you know, for mine that I don't think a lot of fans necessarily have
- 10:52heard of uh. So he's a guy to watch and he's like part of
- 10:56They're not definitely is as good as deep as the Eagles on the defensive line.
- 11:01I don't know if anybody is, but they have these guys like Dana,
- 11:05like Georgia croloft As they can mix in there and have some depth.
- 11:07So that's kind of a guy that maybe an Eagles fan might not necessarily be
- 11:13aware of, but he's he's making himself a lot of money. Mike Dan.
- 11:16I've been following it a lot for Forbus because he's the guy that's I
- 11:20think gonna price himself out of the Chiefs. And then the other one is
- 11:24I think Lugerius Sneed that flies under the radiar a little bit. Yeah,
- 11:28also in a contract year, just because I think there's more focus on Chris
- 11:33Jones and guys like that in snead. Again, he's he gets the number
- 11:35one receiver every week, so I expect him to line up against d A.
- 11:41J. Brown. He welcomes that challenge. So I think those are
- 11:43two guys to look out for. Some two names there. All right,
- 11:48great, moving on next category, who is good who maybe the mower over
- 11:54hyped player this week for the Chiefs and why I'm wondering who it's gonna be.
- 11:58And I don't think it's Travis Kelsey of course, because we know what
- 12:00Kelsey did the Eagles in the Super Bowl and the Eagles are having major issues
- 12:03with regard to their slot corner corner back and uh and some of the linebacker
- 12:09core every now and again. But who is he? Who is who is
- 12:11the over hyped player this week for the Chiefs? And why? Gotcha?
- 12:18You know, I'm not I'm not sure that there's really one that will be
- 12:22over hyped, just because, like I feel that the great players that they
- 12:26have, the big name players, Chris Jones, Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes
- 12:33all live up to the hype. I'm actually over hyped. You've got to
- 12:37go, Like, okay, I've gotta go. Travis. Travis Kelcey is
- 12:41the best tight end of the game. He probably be the best tight end
- 12:43to ever play the game. But hype with this one with the Kelseys,
- 12:48with who's an Eagles fan who grew up in the area that that there's nothing
- 12:54that could possibly match the hype, So like he deserves all this but like,
- 13:00yeah, that I'm only going for that, not not saying he's a
- 13:03bad player, that I got you anything like that, but like, did
- 13:05he possibly match the hype? I mean, he's everywhere and anywhere. He's
- 13:09an Argentina, he's in Germany, he's you know, against his his brother.
- 13:15So all right, sounds good. I like that one for sure,
- 13:18into and left the logic there, you see, I do. Yes.
- 13:22Well, as we're moving along area, I wonder, which player do you
- 13:26think for the Chiefs is going to need to have that bounce back game?
- 13:28And why, Jeff, I think the bounce back game is just going to
- 13:33be have to you know, I'd actually say that, uh Mahomes is going
- 13:37to have to have the bounce back. We're going to say him yep,
- 13:41right, he I mean he's you know, it's hard hard to he's the
- 13:46best, he's the reigning m v P. He's I mean, what do
- 13:48you say. There's so many accolades, but he did not have his best
- 13:54game. He was under two hundred yards passing, and that's following you know,
- 14:00a real bad game against you know, he was sick and all,
- 14:03but against the against the Broncos. So you're looking last two Gay games.
- 14:09He had two interceptions, no touchdown passes against the Broncos, just one hundred
- 14:13and eighty five yards passing against the Dolphins. So yeah, that's that's who
- 14:18I think, that's who's about. And he usually does. He's such a
- 14:20combetitive guy. Whenever he has a little bit of a you know, a
- 14:24bad game or bad game at least by his standards, he always bounces back.
- 14:30So yeah, all right, he's a bad guy for me. All
- 14:31right, sounds good again, folks. Talking to Jeffdoten from the Believe in
- 14:35Chiefs podcast also Forbes dot com as well putting up great content. There.
- 14:41Two part question for you here, Jeff, is we're moving along getting into
- 14:43this this week's matchup here against the Eagles. I'm wondering where do you think
- 14:48the Chiefs are most vulnerable on offense? Is there a particular unit, particular
- 14:52individual where do you think the Eagles are going to be able to possibly exploit
- 14:56the Chiefs from an offensive perspective this week? Yeah, I think it's those
- 15:01receivers that we talked about. That's really the kind of the Achilles heel of
- 15:03the team. I would throw everything at Kelsey, really try and lock him
- 15:07down and make these other receivers beat you. Also, what's the interest.
- 15:13I don't think this is a weakness. They've held up pretty well. They
- 15:16have new offensive tackles this year. Yeah, and see how that does.
- 15:20I would if I'm the Eagles coaching, any of the Eagles coaches, I'm
- 15:24saying to the officials, watch Juwan Taylor. He still lines up offside.
- 15:30I would be in their ear all game and trying to because that's it's The
- 15:33line has been good, but penalties have been an issue. So maybe that's
- 15:37that's a weakness there that they they could exploit it, especially against such a
- 15:41good Eagles defense a lot. Yeah, Yeah, absolutely, It's gonna be
- 15:43interesting to see how quick Patrick Mahomes needs to get that ball out short intermediate
- 15:48type routes again to Rice or you know, maybe even Marcus Fold the scantling
- 15:52as well. It's gonna be interesting to see, you know, how that
- 15:56short passing game turns out. Where do you think that Chiefs Jeff are going
- 16:00to be most vulnerable from the defensive side of the balls. We're looking at
- 16:03these matchups here, Yeah, and there aren't a lot of vulnerabilities. Like
- 16:07we've said, how good they've been throughout the But again, I think if
- 16:12there is it is that running game is that they've had that's been showing some
- 16:18cracks against the Broncos, even the charges they had, So I think that's
- 16:26that's that's where it is. But it's that you're where you really have to
- 16:30kind of look for with a magnifying glass because there are the holes are pretty
- 16:33small there, so exactly well, I'm wondering, you know, I'm wondering
- 16:37what type of balance the Chief's running backs are going to be giving their offense.
- 16:41Whether it's going to be Pachecko, you know, Clyde Edwards hilarious,
- 16:45he's going to be getting any time as well. Do you think it's going
- 16:48to be kind of same old, same old what we have been seeing with
- 16:49Pacheco being the major running back or do you think they're going to be just
- 16:53distributing the ball around to various running backs. I think Pachecko is going to
- 16:57be the guy. He gets pumped up to play the Phillies, excuse play
- 17:02the Eagles. He grew up in the Philadelphia area, technically in Jersey,
- 17:07but that was his team growing we actually and he read and the Eagles.
- 17:10I did a big Super Bowl story on that, so I think he's gonna
- 17:12be pumped. They also was interesting is the Chiefs when they need a jolt
- 17:18of energy, when they need a burst, Pacheco is their guy that he
- 17:22just he run so hard often coming out and look for this often coming out
- 17:27in the second half. They've they've been going early and often with Pacheco runs
- 17:33to kind of give them a jolt of energy. So it's really gonna be
- 17:37a Pacheco game. Andrew Lair was actually he missed the Germany game hasn't been
- 17:42much of a factor. McKinnon also less so. So it's it's gonna be
- 17:48Checho early and often for sure. As far as the running back, they're
- 17:51at all right, very good. All right to close the sound here to
- 17:55part question in terms of what both teams are going to need to hit on
- 17:57for a win this week at Arrowhead Stadium. What's the one thing, Jeff,
- 18:03the Chiefs are going to need to hit on for a win and beat
- 18:04this Philadelphia Eagles team to really send a message. What are you thinking?
- 18:10You know what? This might be the same thing both sides, but I
- 18:12really think what I'm most looking forward to watching and I'm most interested, and
- 18:17I think is going to determine the game is going to be My co host,
- 18:22my belief partner, Joe Valario would love this because he's he's all about
- 18:26the big uglies. He's a form alignment in himself. I want to see
- 18:29how the Chiefs offensive line performs against this Eagles defensive line, which I think
- 18:33is even better. They lost Hargrave, but Jalen Carter is such a beast
- 18:38incredible right for a rookie. I wanted to do so much talk, so
- 18:42much hubbub about the Chiefs did not give up one sack in the Super Bowl.
- 18:47I want to see if that changes. You know, there's all this
- 18:49talk about the turf was so lousy at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, you
- 18:55know there, so now we're on a different turf. Is there going to
- 18:57be a different if you're there, if they get if the Eagles get zero
- 19:02sacks, you know, I think that the Chiefs win if they have a
- 19:06performance more representative of what we've seen the rest of the year. I think
- 19:10it's a real pick. Come. I know we're going to be talking on
- 19:12our regular show this coming week specifically about that. You know, if the
- 19:15Eagles defensive line or linebacker is able to get three or four sacks on Patrick
- 19:19Mahomes. What does that actually mean for the Chiefs offense? But to close
- 19:25this out here, what do you think the Eagles are going to need to
- 19:27do to hit on the wins? A hit on for a win? Probably
- 19:30something similar, correct, right? I know that's I'm really maybe I'm trying
- 19:36to make things efficient for you, Jeff, to give you answer that that
- 19:41line to scrimmage, that defense, and also one more thing, and though
- 19:44they have to because again I think this is the one area the Chiefs are
- 19:47vulnerable. They have to have a big game running in the football Andrew the
- 19:52rest of the running backs they use gainwell, Scott even Hurts. I think
- 19:59that so that that's going to be a real key. They've got to run
- 20:03the ball because that's where maybe the Chiefs have a little bit of weakness.
- 20:06And again, to keep the Chiefs offense off the field. So I think
- 20:10those are line of scrimmage, running game, that's what they need to do.
- 20:15So very good. Enjoyed our discussion here for sure. Again, folks,
- 20:18Jeff Fidotan from the Believe in Chiefs podcast, you know we love the
- 20:23Believe Network here at the PSD podcast show Forbes dot Com. Check out everything
- 20:27Jeff is putting on the interwebs. Are you on Twitter as well? Jeff,
- 20:30I I I missed that I had not mentioned that. My friend oh
- 20:37No worries. Yeah, check me out there. It's uh it all.
- 20:40I'll spell my name because it's a for both Forbes and looking on Twitter,
- 20:44it's it's a tough one to spell. It's fidotan f E d O T
- 20:48I N Jeff Fidoon. Check me out on social media there on Twitter or
- 20:52my Forbes articles. So yeah, it's been a really it's been a blast
- 20:56and can't wait for this game. Game of the year in my opinion.
- 20:59And you know, I was actually having some chats with like people from ESPN
- 21:04and stuff, and you know, like they're they think in my So the
- 21:08record breaker for Monday Night Football since ESPN has had as far as ratings has
- 21:14was actually Week one, Aaron Rodgers. It's such a big story for the
- 21:18Jets. Could break it could break those numbers. Let's see if it does.
- 21:22For sure. Again Jeff Fidote and folks, Jeff, it was great
- 21:25talking to you, buddy. Please come back join us. I'd love to
- 21:26have you on down the road, my friend. Awesome, man, it
- 21:30was a blast. That was a great conversation. Really so hyped for this
- 21:33game. We are going to see two powerhouse teams coming together. I do
- 21:38wonder how each defense is going to really end up performing. I mean,
- 21:45I think we're all kind of expecting this maybe to be a shootout, kind
- 21:48of like how it was in the Super Bowl between two very high powered,
- 21:52prolific offenses. We know the Eagles have been sputtering a little bit as well
- 21:56on offense, just like the Chiefs. They have been doing a little spot
- 22:00as well. Patrick Mahomes needing that bounce back game from his past game where
- 22:04he wasn't even able to throw over two hundred yards. So let you know,
- 22:07I wonder how the defenses are going to really end up performing and what
- 22:12it's gonna mean. Really hyped for it. Can't wait for this game.
- 22:15It was great talking to jeff again, and that's gonna do it for us
- 22:19here on Opposition Territory. Make sure you are following us on the Twitter dot
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- 22:37do it for us folks. Take care, we'll catch it next time.