Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: What's Next for the Eagles Passing Game?

Transcript

Football at Four: What's Next for the Eagles Passing Game? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Ninety seven to three.
0:01
Speaker 2: ESPN presents this Sports Bash with Mike Gill. It's time
0:05
Speaker 2: for Football at four powered by the Inside the Birds Podcast.
0:09
Speaker 3: Just hungry to bring back another Lombardi to Philly.
0:12
Speaker 4: It's the fans deserve it, our team deserves it, culture
0:17
Speaker 4: begs for it.
0:18
Speaker 1: Now live, This is Football at four.
0:21
Speaker 2: And Football at four powered by the Inside of the
0:23
Speaker 2: Birds Podcast. It is brought to you by the Fanatics
0:26
Speaker 2: Sports Book at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
0:29
Speaker 1: Jeff Bocher is in the house today.
0:32
Speaker 2: He had some interesting things to say about the Eagle
0:34
Speaker 2: offense yesterday, and that's one to grow on. Remember those
0:37
Speaker 2: things on NBC when we were growing up. That's one
0:40
Speaker 2: to grow on. Jeff Moscher, is this offense one to
0:44
Speaker 2: grow on? We're going to get into that and more
0:46
Speaker 2: for today's Football at four. You know, South Palantonio sent
0:49
Speaker 2: me an interesting email about an hour ago that I
0:52
Speaker 2: read on the air. The last five weeks, the Eagles
0:54
Speaker 2: and Raiders have basically been the same team on offense.
0:57
Speaker 2: The Eagles have scored only one touchdown in the last
1:01
Speaker 2: five weeks, eight than the Raiders have seven. They are
1:05
Speaker 2: the worst two the last five weeks in the NFL.
1:09
Speaker 2: This offense right now is being compared to the Raiders.
1:11
Speaker 1: Jeff Bocher.
1:12
Speaker 3: That's really not the company that you want to be.
1:17
Speaker 1: No, it's not. No, it's not.
1:19
Speaker 2: And they're gonna lose their quarterback. It looks like this
1:20
Speaker 2: week Kenny Pickett looks like he might be the starter,
1:24
Speaker 2: which adds another wrinkle to this thing. Can you imagine
1:26
Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett coming in here and adding to the misery
1:30
Speaker 2: that is going on here? But when I tell you
1:32
Speaker 2: that these offenses have been very similar, does that kind
1:34
Speaker 2: of exemplify the woes of this offense.
1:40
Speaker 4: Yes, you should never be in any kind of offensive
1:43
Speaker 4: category with the Raiders this year. Now, having said that,
1:47
Speaker 4: the Raiders have played the Broncos twice, I think in
1:50
Speaker 4: the last five weeks, they've also played another pretty good default.
1:54
Speaker 4: They played the Chargers, right, they always scored fourteen against
1:58
Speaker 4: the Chargers, and they played the Browns. Browns actually have
2:00
Speaker 4: a pretty good defense. It's everything else about them that's
2:03
Speaker 4: not been very good. The Cowboys they didn't score a
2:06
Speaker 4: lot of points either. But you look at the Eagles
2:09
Speaker 4: and they're you know, the Bears are good, but I
2:11
Speaker 4: wouldn't call them. You know, like a Bronco style of defense.
2:15
Speaker 4: So in some ways you might look at the Eagles
2:17
Speaker 4: and say, well, at least the Raiders were playing the
2:20
Speaker 4: number one defense in the league Broncos twice in five weeks,
2:23
Speaker 4: and then the Chargers are top ten. What's your excuse
2:26
Speaker 4: for only scoring twenty one points and then going flat
2:28
Speaker 4: against Dallas and then only scoring fifteen against the Bear
2:32
Speaker 4: So it almost almost, Mike, is almost worse of an
2:36
Speaker 4: excuse for the Eagles.
2:37
Speaker 2: Well, and you know a lot of conversation about what's
2:39
Speaker 2: wrong with this team. You brought up yesterday that you
2:41
Speaker 2: actually saw them trying to do more things.
2:44
Speaker 1: Do you think they should? Can continue down that path?
2:47
Speaker 2: Keep doing it the next four weeks, just keep even
2:50
Speaker 2: if you end up not you know, the outcomes not
2:53
Speaker 2: what you want.
2:55
Speaker 4: Now, Yeah, I mean you have to because, like I
2:58
Speaker 4: said yesterday, despite the turnovers, which you know Jalen Hurts
3:02
Speaker 4: is probably not I'm going to go on a limb
3:05
Speaker 4: and stick my neck out and say you're not going
3:08
Speaker 4: to see him turn the ball over five times in
3:10
Speaker 4: a game or throw four interceptions.
3:13
Speaker 3: But if you can set that aside, there were some
3:16
Speaker 3: really good throws.
3:17
Speaker 4: I think I told you yesterday and I've watched I
3:20
Speaker 4: keep watching it because it's so impressive.
3:22
Speaker 3: To me.
3:22
Speaker 4: The twenty eight yard throw to Devonte Smith in overtime
3:27
Speaker 4: is about as good of a timing anticipation on target
3:30
Speaker 4: throw that you'll see. And you can make an argument, well,
3:33
Speaker 4: that's what good quarterbacks are supposed to do, and that's true,
3:36
Speaker 4: but that one was not one that you see Jalen
3:39
Speaker 4: Hurts do a lot. And then you know on Inside
3:41
Speaker 4: the Tape that dropped this morning on Inside the Birds
3:43
Speaker 4: with Greg Cosel, we laid out four five six plays
3:46
Speaker 4: of using different concepts that they haven't used before that he.
3:52
Speaker 3: Hit big on.
3:53
Speaker 4: So you've got if you see something good, it's you've
3:57
Speaker 4: got to kind of as mix sure on in my say,
4:00
Speaker 4: treat it like a flower, let it grow, keep planting
4:03
Speaker 4: it and try to let that, you know, blossom into
4:06
Speaker 4: your offense.
4:06
Speaker 2: And I guess one of the things that you know
4:10
Speaker 2: is you know, you see him make that throw to
4:11
Speaker 2: Devontae Smith and then there's like, you know, some quick
4:14
Speaker 2: slant stuff that you do see from time to time.
4:17
Speaker 2: But why is that not a bigger part? Is that
4:19
Speaker 2: a Hurts thing or is that just not what the.
4:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's definitely a Hurts thing and
4:24
Speaker 4: I'm not trying to.
4:25
Speaker 1: Be but he looks good in doing it at times.
4:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, But I mean, like, you know, take the upper
4:33
Speaker 4: twenty five percent of the NFL. Now, separate the upper
4:37
Speaker 4: twenty five percent from the upper five percent, and.
4:40
Speaker 3: That's what you'll find.
4:41
Speaker 4: Like, you'll find some really good players in the upper
4:43
Speaker 4: twenty five percent who can't do what the upper five
4:47
Speaker 4: percent do, but they're still good. And Hurts is never
4:50
Speaker 4: even with the new additions to the offense.
4:53
Speaker 3: You know, Greg and I were talking about this and
4:54
Speaker 3: add him to on the show.
4:56
Speaker 4: I mean, Hurts is never going to be the guy
4:58
Speaker 4: that you want dropping back forty times and he's going
5:01
Speaker 4: to go thirty three of forty and really, even with
5:03
Speaker 4: these concepts dissect and carve up, he's not going to
5:06
Speaker 4: be Matthew Stafford.
5:08
Speaker 3: And I don't mean to be disparaging on that.
5:09
Speaker 4: I think there are a lot of good quarterbacks who
5:12
Speaker 4: aren't Matthew Stafford. Okay, Matthew Stafford a special. He just
5:15
Speaker 4: sees the field, He uses every blade of grass. He
5:18
Speaker 4: makes throws that a lot of quarterbacks don't make.
5:21
Speaker 3: He makes no.
5:21
Speaker 4: Look passes because he's so confident in his arm and
5:24
Speaker 4: his an ability. Josh Allen doesn't play and pass the
5:27
Speaker 4: ball like Matthew Stafford. So the point is I think
5:30
Speaker 4: I was trying to hit on you with yesterday, is
5:32
Speaker 4: not that you're going to completely transform Hurts for the offense,
5:37
Speaker 4: but can you get him to be twenty five percent
5:39
Speaker 4: better using newer you know, some of these past.
5:43
Speaker 3: Concepts, And if that's what you do, that might be
5:46
Speaker 3: all you need.
5:46
Speaker 4: It's still a very talented team and if they can
5:49
Speaker 4: ever get some running back, you know, their running game back,
5:52
Speaker 4: then then you're better off for it.
5:53
Speaker 2: All right, Let's talk a little bit about the run game,
5:55
Speaker 2: because they had one hundred twenty two yards rushing from Barkley.
5:59
Speaker 2: He had maybe his best play, but fifty two came
6:02
Speaker 2: on the same play. So did they really have a
6:05
Speaker 2: good night in the run game?
6:09
Speaker 3: A better night but still averaged by their standards?
6:12
Speaker 4: Right, So take the fifty two yards out of it,
6:16
Speaker 4: and it's more like I think it was nineteen rushers
6:18
Speaker 4: for seventy yards, which is under four yards per carry.
6:22
Speaker 3: And he also.
6:24
Speaker 4: But he had two good runs, one of nineteen one
6:26
Speaker 4: of eleven. I think, so that's thirty yards on two
6:29
Speaker 4: runs right there. So then that takes the other sixteen
6:32
Speaker 4: run or seventeen runs and shows you that they had
6:34
Speaker 4: very little yardage on that, which is not good. It's
6:37
Speaker 4: not consistent, it's not grinding, it's not wearing down a defense.
6:42
Speaker 4: And that's what they did last year. So they're still
6:45
Speaker 4: even after a game like that, there's a whole lot
6:47
Speaker 4: of goodness that can still be done in the or
6:50
Speaker 4: left to be done in the run game.
6:52
Speaker 2: So I was talking earlier today Mosher Jeff Mosher Football
6:55
Speaker 2: four from the Inside the Birds podcast which you can
6:57
Speaker 2: get on all podcasting platform and.
7:00
Speaker 3: Carried away with this under center, is that what you're
7:01
Speaker 3: about to hill? Right?
7:02
Speaker 1: No?
7:02
Speaker 2: No, I said Kevin Batool as the play caller here
7:06
Speaker 2: or the play designer, is he like I was saying,
7:09
Speaker 2: he could watch a game from last year and literally say,
7:12
Speaker 2: I'm gonna play your eyes Kellen Moore's play calls. I'm
7:15
Speaker 2: gonna call the exact same game. If the play call
7:18
Speaker 2: was two four power sweep, he could say run two
7:21
Speaker 2: four power sweep here. Last year, Kellen is getting eight
7:24
Speaker 2: yards on that play. This year the same play, they're
7:27
Speaker 2: getting one and a half that is a big challenge
7:30
Speaker 2: for him as a first year play caller of not
7:33
Speaker 2: being able to run the stuff that you were successful
7:36
Speaker 2: at one year ago.
7:38
Speaker 3: Oh, without a doubt.
7:40
Speaker 4: I mean, he is the unfortunate offensive coordinator for the
7:44
Speaker 4: first Eagles team since I don't know, two thousand and
7:49
Speaker 4: maybe nineteen or twenty that really can't run the ball
7:52
Speaker 4: very effectively. I mean every single coordinator has had it
7:56
Speaker 4: to some degree a successful o line and run game.
8:00
Speaker 4: Not so much because of all the injuries they had
8:03
Speaker 4: on the upfront. But I mean that was not first
8:05
Speaker 4: year for Doug or Press. But yeah, he's not.
8:10
Speaker 3: That's not his fault that they have all this either decline.
8:14
Speaker 4: In production or injury responsible decline and production on the
8:19
Speaker 4: offensive line, and then the fact that they don't have.
8:21
Speaker 3: A running game. Totally not on him and also a
8:25
Speaker 3: great reason.
8:26
Speaker 4: As I have said many times, I counter the argument
8:29
Speaker 4: that Kellen Moore should not have taken that Saints head
8:32
Speaker 4: coaching job.
8:32
Speaker 3: I laugh when people say that, because you want to know.
8:37
Speaker 3: I know you are, That's why I'm bringing it up.
8:41
Speaker 4: You do when you get a chance to coach, being
8:43
Speaker 4: the head coach of the team, unless it's a mess
8:44
Speaker 4: of an organization. But even even still, you take that opportunity,
8:49
Speaker 4: you just can't guarantee you're gonna get.
8:50
Speaker 3: The same set of circumstances that you're that you're leaving.
8:54
Speaker 2: Oh listen, I have kid on that, but you're almost
8:58
Speaker 2: like he had this group of guys that he won
9:03
Speaker 2: a super Bowl with and it's like, do I want
9:05
Speaker 2: to go to Tyler Shook and that team or do
9:08
Speaker 2: I want to get another year of this? And like
9:10
Speaker 2: there's a lot of good jobs that are kind of
9:12
Speaker 2: be open this year that you know, he could have
9:13
Speaker 2: possibly got the Giants job. I think that's a job
9:15
Speaker 2: that now has the quarterback. So there might have been
9:18
Speaker 2: better opportunities had he had done that.
9:20
Speaker 3: Sure, sure he could have gone to Ben Johnson round.
9:22
Speaker 1: I mean that's absolutely, absolutely.
9:24
Speaker 2: That's a great example of Ben Johnson saying, Hey, I
9:27
Speaker 2: think there's a better opportunity for me, and I'm going
9:29
Speaker 2: to bet on myself by being even better this year
9:32
Speaker 2: because this offense is way better than whatever team I'm
9:35
Speaker 2: going to.
9:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's fair.
9:38
Speaker 4: The only I think the difference would be like Kellen
9:40
Speaker 4: was not sort of I mean the same.
9:43
Speaker 3: I don't know if he interviewed anybody else, he was
9:44
Speaker 3: not as hot of a commodity as Ben Johnson was.
9:49
Speaker 2: And Ben Johnson Okay, so that's asked this question. Everybody's
9:52
Speaker 2: blaving Kevin Patula. Do we think if Kellen Moore was
9:54
Speaker 2: the play caller, they would still be having these problems?
9:58
Speaker 3: Yes, they had problems last year. Correct, they were the twenty.
10:01
Speaker 1: You put it out there, right.
10:02
Speaker 2: I'm just because a lot of people believe that Patula
10:06
Speaker 2: is the problem. So you're essentially saying, well, look, Kellen
10:09
Speaker 2: Moore could be here and the same problems would probably exist.
10:13
Speaker 4: I mean, there's an argument to be made that as
10:15
Speaker 4: a guy who came here already as a play caller
10:20
Speaker 4: and a number one offense that he had in Dallas
10:22
Speaker 4: I think once or twice, there's an argument to be
10:25
Speaker 4: made that he at least had a little bit more moxie,
10:28
Speaker 4: like knowing when to call certain plays, as opposed to
10:31
Speaker 4: Kevin Patulla not having that same moxie.
10:35
Speaker 3: But you're just not guaranteed to get that every year,
10:37
Speaker 3: and you know, well do we?
10:41
Speaker 4: And the point, the other point that's gonna make was
10:43
Speaker 4: Kellen tried to do a lot of Kellen Moore things
10:45
Speaker 4: for the first four weeks five weeks, scrapped that and
10:48
Speaker 4: they went to ground and pound basically from from week
10:50
Speaker 4: six on.
10:51
Speaker 2: So well, one of the questions I would have is
10:53
Speaker 2: is how much do we really think, like big picture,
10:57
Speaker 2: that the consistent change of coordinators is affecting Jalen Hurts.
11:04
Speaker 4: I think not as much as ordinarily because it's the
11:07
Speaker 4: same offense, right. I think that there are quarterbacks who've
11:11
Speaker 4: had to deal with guys who come in and sort
11:13
Speaker 4: of radically redefined a playbook and it hasn't worked. So
11:20
Speaker 4: I don't think that much, but maybe, but certainly a
11:23
Speaker 4: little like look at the Lions. They're running the same offense,
11:26
Speaker 4: but John Morton, who came from Denver to be the
11:29
Speaker 4: offensive coordinator to replace Ben Johnson, just wasn't feeling that
11:33
Speaker 4: he wasn't pleasing Dan Campbell. He was doing things a
11:36
Speaker 4: little bit differently, and Dan Campbell took over play calling.
11:40
Speaker 4: I'm not sure that that's been much better for the Lions.
11:42
Speaker 4: They've been explosive at times and then not at other times.
11:45
Speaker 4: But the point is Campbell felt like it just was
11:49
Speaker 4: something missing, and maybe when you're changing year to year,
11:53
Speaker 4: yeah there's something missing.
11:54
Speaker 3: That would be the area I think.
11:56
Speaker 4: But I think he's fortunate as opposed to other quarters
12:00
Speaker 4: that the people who have come in have basically ran
12:02
Speaker 4: the same offense.
12:04
Speaker 2: Jeff Bosher Football for Inside the Birds podcast. The run
12:07
Speaker 2: game has been their staple. It's not working. Is there
12:11
Speaker 2: another wrinkle in the run game? Can they be more creative?
12:13
Speaker 2: Can they go, you know, a little bit more off tackle,
12:16
Speaker 2: a little bit more to the outside, because it seems
12:18
Speaker 2: that everything they do in the run game is similarly
12:20
Speaker 2: between the tackles.
12:22
Speaker 3: Mike, I think yes.
12:24
Speaker 4: The answer to that is yes, could going under center more?
12:26
Speaker 4: I've heard you talk about that it be something that helps. Yeah,
12:30
Speaker 4: like any anything you can do that maybe you have
12:35
Speaker 4: done well in the past or the data says you
12:38
Speaker 4: do well with is something that should be on the table.
12:41
Speaker 4: But the issue is this is that I think that
12:45
Speaker 4: we get caught up a little bit too much in
12:47
Speaker 4: why aren't they doing this more? Why aren't they doing
12:49
Speaker 4: that more? I mean, they are what they are as
12:52
Speaker 4: an offense, and if they start doing X, Y and
12:54
Speaker 4: Z a little bit more for two or three weeks,
12:57
Speaker 4: just like when they did start going under center and
13:00
Speaker 4: added the jumbo package, you put that on tape and
13:03
Speaker 4: the defense to see it and they adjust. So while
13:06
Speaker 4: I do see that their numbers going under center are
13:09
Speaker 4: good and probably beg or or maybe want them to
13:12
Speaker 4: do that more, it's it's not there are there are
13:14
Speaker 4: benefits to being a shotgun, and their offense has worked
13:17
Speaker 4: really well for years at times, whether it's a rushing
13:21
Speaker 4: offense or a passing offense or an RPO offense, which
13:24
Speaker 4: you would.
13:24
Speaker 3: Do from the shotgun. Right, you are what you are.
13:28
Speaker 4: So if you start trying to do too much of
13:30
Speaker 4: the other stuff because you have small doses of success
13:33
Speaker 4: with this, then you get away from who you are,
13:35
Speaker 4: and then once that catches up to you, then you're
13:38
Speaker 4: a team without an offensive identity.
13:40
Speaker 2: Yeah you just said something about because that like the
13:42
Speaker 2: last play of the game. Okay, that is kind of
13:44
Speaker 2: an RPO type of play.
13:46
Speaker 1: There.
13:47
Speaker 2: We don't see them execute that or even utilize it
13:53
Speaker 2: nearly as much, it feels like as they used to.
13:55
Speaker 1: Are you seeing that as well? Well?
13:57
Speaker 4: The whole league doesn't use RPO as nearly as much
14:00
Speaker 4: as say the Eagles did when they first went to
14:02
Speaker 4: the Super Bowl because the crackdown on illegal man downfield
14:07
Speaker 4: also the way teams defend it. Now, excuse me, the
14:11
Speaker 4: way teams defended now because it's again, it's like anything.
14:14
Speaker 4: I remember when the Dolphins I don't know fifteen twenty
14:16
Speaker 4: years ago ran the Wildcat with Bill Parcels right, and
14:18
Speaker 4: everybody's like, wow, this is amazing look at them, and
14:21
Speaker 4: you knew that it wasn't sustainable.
14:23
Speaker 3: So it's a good part of their offense.
14:26
Speaker 4: But it's not something that can be a play that
14:29
Speaker 4: they do as much as they did five years ago
14:31
Speaker 4: before people, you know, the crackdown and before the league
14:34
Speaker 4: adjusted to it.
14:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, what did you think that.
14:36
Speaker 2: Let's go back to that last play, because that is
14:39
Speaker 2: an RPO type of play where he could have handed
14:41
Speaker 2: it to Saquon he had that option, he could have
14:44
Speaker 2: ranted himself.
14:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's an RPR run past run correct.
14:48
Speaker 2: And he also had Goddard open underneath in the flat there.
14:55
Speaker 2: Do you look at that play and say it's a
14:58
Speaker 2: good play? Hurks just made it bad to say yes, right, Like,
15:03
Speaker 2: now that's a play that you're actually like, man, they
15:06
Speaker 2: actually schemed up a good play there, and he made
15:09
Speaker 2: the worst decision that he could have possibly had of
15:12
Speaker 2: all the options on that play, because I think if
15:14
Speaker 2: he hands it to Barkley, the play successful. I think
15:16
Speaker 2: if he keeps it himself, the play might be there.
15:19
Speaker 2: If he just dumps it to godd or that play successful,
15:22
Speaker 2: all right?
15:22
Speaker 4: And then I keep hearing, well, why didn't they just
15:24
Speaker 4: line it up under center and run the ball?
15:26
Speaker 3: They had the momentum.
15:27
Speaker 4: Well, I mean they ran the ball in the second half.
15:29
Speaker 4: Every time they did it other than the touchdown, it didn't.
15:31
Speaker 4: There were a whole lot of really good runs for
15:33
Speaker 4: the Eagles at that point, but Contraly on the on
15:37
Speaker 4: the on that drive man he threw it. He threw
15:39
Speaker 4: an amazing passage DeVante Smith. So I mean, you can
15:42
Speaker 4: everybody can always second guess. I mean, there's no in
15:45
Speaker 4: two unless you have a crystal ball. You have no
15:47
Speaker 4: idea what the Eagles would have done had anything differently
15:51
Speaker 4: been done.
15:51
Speaker 3: But that was a bad decision that we know.
15:53
Speaker 2: Right so, and interestingly enough, somebody's watching it on YouTube.
15:56
Speaker 2: It said in overtime at the seventeen of the Chargers
15:58
Speaker 2: no run play call but instead pass to a crossing
16:01
Speaker 2: dots and dumb on Petullo and Nick. And yet dumb
16:04
Speaker 2: on Hurts. I don't think the play is dumb on
16:06
Speaker 2: Petullo and Nick. I think that's a good play. The
16:09
Speaker 2: play was read wrong by Hurts because there was three
16:12
Speaker 2: plays to be made on that play.
16:14
Speaker 4: I was just about to say, how can you criticize
16:15
Speaker 4: a play call that has three potential options based on
16:19
Speaker 4: the defense that you're seeing. I mean, what, No, No,
16:23
Speaker 4: everybody's an armshair. I guarantee you, and they got a
16:27
Speaker 4: few yards, nobody would have been upset.
16:28
Speaker 1: Right.
16:28
Speaker 2: We talked about this all the time. People criticize the
16:31
Speaker 2: play caller. You're criticizing the result of the play more
16:35
Speaker 2: so than the actual You always say that's a terrible
16:38
Speaker 2: play call, not if they execute it right correct now.
16:41
Speaker 4: I mean that doesn't mean we can't take some play
16:44
Speaker 4: calls and say, well that one just didn't make sense.
16:46
Speaker 3: We can.
16:47
Speaker 4: But in that case, there's three different plays, and the
16:50
Speaker 4: play call err Kevin Petullo, Nick Seri anywhere, he's not
16:54
Speaker 4: once that ball snatchy is not responsible for whatever what
16:58
Speaker 4: the play is executed because there's three different options there.
17:02
Speaker 2: By the way, on this conversation, these are the kind
17:04
Speaker 2: of things you get right. Bench Hurts make the ball
17:06
Speaker 2: move and save the season and the playoffs run.
17:10
Speaker 3: It's just not happening.
17:11
Speaker 1: It's not happening.
17:12
Speaker 2: But I say before like to even bring it up.
17:15
Speaker 2: It's embarrassing to whoever asked that, Like, that's not even
17:18
Speaker 2: under consideration. I would imagine there's not They're not sitting
17:21
Speaker 2: in an office like you know what we really should do,
17:23
Speaker 2: but we just can't.
17:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's I think, respectfully, it's a fair
17:28
Speaker 4: question to ask as a journalist, but not necessarily because
17:33
Speaker 4: you think it's gonna happen or realistic. But you want
17:36
Speaker 4: to see how the coach responds, because there are times
17:39
Speaker 4: when a coach will respond a certain way that'll give
17:42
Speaker 4: you an impression of how that person is really feeling,
17:46
Speaker 4: and you can only find out by asking the question.
17:49
Speaker 4: But it was the correct answer by Nick Sirianni to
17:51
Speaker 4: shut that down.
17:52
Speaker 3: That's fair.
17:53
Speaker 4: I don't see any scenario where he gets benched unless
17:56
Speaker 4: he has another four interceptions of that. And even if
17:59
Speaker 4: even if you were to be benched, it might be
18:01
Speaker 4: more like the McNabb thing where you sit him in
18:03
Speaker 4: the second half of the game where he stinks, and
18:05
Speaker 4: then just reinstate him the next week.
18:07
Speaker 3: But you know, the schedule looks pretty man.
18:09
Speaker 4: If they well, I don't want to I was guilty
18:13
Speaker 4: of this two years ago, saying there's just no way.
18:15
Speaker 3: So I won't I won't do that again. But I
18:17
Speaker 3: really don't see him getting better.
18:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, and again I compare you compare this game to
18:21
Speaker 2: the Cardinal game a couple of years ago, where it's like, ah,
18:23
Speaker 2: they got the Cardinals, they gotta be Devin. The Cardinals
18:25
Speaker 2: game here and scored thirty eight points on you. And
18:28
Speaker 2: that really just continued the downfall of what that season
18:31
Speaker 2: ended up being. And you know, you wonder, can this
18:35
Speaker 2: that defense couldn't get out of its own way. They
18:37
Speaker 2: just could not. They could not get out of the funk.
18:40
Speaker 2: Can this offense, you know, get out of the funk enough?
18:43
Speaker 2: You know, they won game against Green Bay with ten points,
18:47
Speaker 2: they didn't turn the ball over. They won the game
18:50
Speaker 2: against the Lions with sixteen points, they didn't turn the
18:53
Speaker 2: ball over. They lost games where they turned the ball
18:56
Speaker 2: over multiple times. I mean, is as simple as if
18:58
Speaker 2: they just stay simple, well, they can win regardless.
19:03
Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
19:05
Speaker 4: It's possible with the schedule, right, I mean, I think
19:07
Speaker 4: the Bills game will be very telltale, uh, because you
19:10
Speaker 4: know I do I get concerned about the whole idea
19:13
Speaker 4: of beating your next two opponents and then this false
19:16
Speaker 4: sense of security sets in. But however, I would say,
19:19
Speaker 4: if the Eagles win the next two games, but they
19:21
Speaker 4: only win by like six and eight, you know, like
19:23
Speaker 4: people are gonna still say this is the same old Eagles.
19:25
Speaker 3: I think people are I definitely give the Eagle fan credit.
19:28
Speaker 3: They know when something, especially at this point. You know,
19:30
Speaker 3: earlier in the year, it was like they all they
19:33
Speaker 3: know how to win.
19:33
Speaker 4: Bull crap that you always hear when you block a
19:35
Speaker 4: field goal, like as if you planned.
19:37
Speaker 3: It that way.
19:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no sin, they just know how well.
19:42
Speaker 4: I guess they've forgotten they don't know how to win
19:44
Speaker 4: anymore because they've lost three straight.
19:46
Speaker 3: But I think people are now really smart about who
19:49
Speaker 3: the Eagles are and and what to expect.
19:51
Speaker 4: And we'll see, we'll see if we'll see if two
19:53
Speaker 4: wins are a win or two makes people get a
19:56
Speaker 4: little gag again.
19:57
Speaker 3: I don't know.
19:57
Speaker 2: So do we feel pretty good about the defense bounced
20:01
Speaker 2: back and they're back to where they were.
20:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I'm.
20:05
Speaker 4: Really curious to see if the Eagles play a team
20:07
Speaker 4: that runs the same way the Bears do, because they're
20:11
Speaker 4: a couple of times a year this happens to the
20:13
Speaker 4: Eagles where they face these really outside, wide stretch zone
20:16
Speaker 4: teams like Atlanta last year, and they just get sucked
20:20
Speaker 4: into defending it incorrectly.
20:21
Speaker 3: And I'm wondering that the problem.
20:24
Speaker 4: With this for opponents is if that's not really your
20:26
Speaker 4: bread and butter, you're not going to do it. You know,
20:28
Speaker 4: the Chargers run a mix of inside and outside zone,
20:31
Speaker 4: but they don't run it the same way that the Falcons,
20:34
Speaker 4: the forty nine Ers, and of course the Bears now
20:37
Speaker 4: are doing.
20:38
Speaker 3: I'd because I would really.
20:40
Speaker 4: Wonder how the Eagles played defensively if they played a
20:42
Speaker 4: team that runs their outside zone run like that.
20:46
Speaker 2: Again, yeah, I agree that, I don't know. That Charger
20:50
Speaker 2: offense just seems so limited the other night.
20:52
Speaker 1: Now, I don't know if that has.
20:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, four backups in on the offensive line, it's I mean,
20:56
Speaker 4: my gosh.
20:57
Speaker 2: Well it couldn't pass the ball because they couldn't get
20:59
Speaker 2: any protection of course, right, Yeah, So yes.
21:03
Speaker 1: That being said, I was I don't want to say
21:07
Speaker 1: I was surprised.
21:07
Speaker 2: I was encouraged by how active the defense was in
21:14
Speaker 2: that game. And again it could because their offensive line
21:16
Speaker 2: is so bad, but at least made you feel like, Okay,
21:19
Speaker 2: they settled into this game as opposed to the last
21:22
Speaker 2: two games where you saw them get gashed for five
21:24
Speaker 2: hundred yards essentially in both those games.
21:28
Speaker 4: Correct, correct, So, and you're probably not gonna see that
21:33
Speaker 4: any style like that, I forget. I don't think the
21:36
Speaker 4: Commanders run a stretch outside wide zone like that.
21:39
Speaker 3: They do have a good offensive line, though.
21:41
Speaker 4: And they were at one point before all the injuries,
21:43
Speaker 4: a really good running team.
21:44
Speaker 3: And you know, now with.
21:45
Speaker 4: Probably Mario, and I'm guessing Mario is gonna start for
21:47
Speaker 4: the rest of the year. I mean, poor Jayden Daniels
21:49
Speaker 4: gets killed every time he plays. It'll be interesting to
21:52
Speaker 4: see if they're able to move the ball on the
21:55
Speaker 4: ground against the Eagles when.
21:56
Speaker 3: They play in a couple weeks. And they're gonna play
21:57
Speaker 3: twice in three weeks.
21:59
Speaker 2: All right, Well, yeah, down the stretching coming. And you're right,
22:01
Speaker 2: that Bills game at the beginning of this year, when
22:04
Speaker 2: you saw that on the calendar, you're like, week seventeen.
22:07
Speaker 2: Both these teams are probably not a lot to play
22:10
Speaker 2: for by then. Well, now the Bills are fighting for
22:12
Speaker 2: the division, they're fighting for wild card.
22:15
Speaker 1: The Eagles are.
22:16
Speaker 2: Fighting for you know, division, they gotta win games still,
22:18
Speaker 2: so that Bills game this game. I don't know that
22:21
Speaker 2: the Eagles could do anything to make people feel better
22:24
Speaker 2: about them just by beating the Raiders, I mean outside
22:26
Speaker 2: of just steam rolling them like six, right right right.
22:30
Speaker 1: Right right, all right?
22:32
Speaker 3: Even then might come up and asking, I agree. I
22:36
Speaker 3: have a question for you with Jillen Hurts, like would
22:39
Speaker 3: you you would agree?
22:40
Speaker 2: Like?
22:40
Speaker 4: The narrative for people who are really appreciate what he
22:44
Speaker 4: does is that he generally wins games. He makes the
22:49
Speaker 4: throws he needs to make unlimited attempts compared to other quarterbacks,
22:52
Speaker 4: doesn't turn the ball over, right, and that's what makes
22:55
Speaker 4: him one of the better quarterbacks in the league. Right,
22:57
Speaker 4: And you don't really judge him against the guys throwing
22:59
Speaker 4: forty your fifty times because that's not what the team needs.
23:02
Speaker 3: Correct that that's generally the narrative about Jalen.
23:05
Speaker 1: Hurts, Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay.
23:07
Speaker 4: Why do people say that Jalen Hurts outplayed Patrick Mahomes
23:12
Speaker 4: in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago?
23:15
Speaker 1: Why did they say that? Just because? Why?
23:17
Speaker 3: That is a narrative?
23:18
Speaker 4: And I think I thought I heard you say this
23:20
Speaker 4: today too, that I just don't understand because by the
23:22
Speaker 4: same metrics, I mean, Patrick Mahomes had three touchdowns, no turnovers,
23:28
Speaker 4: no interceptions, completed fourteen to fifteen passes in the second half, had.
23:31
Speaker 3: Some key runs, and won the game.
23:34
Speaker 4: How did Jalen Hurts outplay Patrick Mahomes by the same
23:37
Speaker 4: standard that we judge Jalen Hurts.
23:39
Speaker 3: How do we say that Patrick Mahomes got outplayed.
23:42
Speaker 1: I think it's a fair question.
23:43
Speaker 2: I think at the end of the night, if the
23:45
Speaker 2: Eagles ended up winning that game, you would have said
23:48
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts was the reason why they won that.
23:50
Speaker 3: Game if they had won the game. But don't you
23:53
Speaker 3: we say that the reason why the Chiefs won is
23:55
Speaker 3: because they had Patrick Mahomes.
23:58
Speaker 2: Yes, And conversely, the reason while the Eagles lost that
24:00
Speaker 2: game was essentially because Hurts fumbled that ball and it
24:03
Speaker 2: turned the whole game around.
24:05
Speaker 4: That's that is my exact point, is that Patrick Mahomes
24:08
Speaker 4: did everything he needed to do to win the game.
24:10
Speaker 4: And if the whenever those situations are reversed, people say,
24:13
Speaker 4: ignore the gaudy stats, that's what counts about Jail Hurts.
24:17
Speaker 4: So what I just don't understand how Patrick Malmes was
24:21
Speaker 4: outplayed by by some people's standards and metrics by Jalen
24:25
Speaker 4: Hurts in that Super Bowl.
24:26
Speaker 1: Well, I mean the game is thirty eight that and.
24:28
Speaker 4: We have to acknowledge that Tom Brady outplayed Nick Foles
24:32
Speaker 4: in the Super Bowl, right if because he had more yards,
24:35
Speaker 4: if he had more.
24:36
Speaker 2: Time, you know, I think when it comes down to,
24:38
Speaker 2: I think what it comes down to in that in
24:40
Speaker 2: that particular night, Jalen Hurts was twenty seven of thirty
24:42
Speaker 2: eight for three hundred yards and a touchdown. He ran
24:45
Speaker 2: fifteen times for seventy yards and three touchdowns. So on
24:48
Speaker 2: that night, that was as n that was about as
24:51
Speaker 2: good of a day, you know.
24:53
Speaker 1: I've Hurts.
24:53
Speaker 2: Mahomes was twenty one of twenty seven for one hundred
24:56
Speaker 2: and eighty two yards and three touchdowns. He also ran
24:59
Speaker 2: six times for forty f so the numbers across the board,
25:02
Speaker 2: Hurts kind of had that particular night, but when it
25:05
Speaker 2: mattered the most, Mahomes ended up winning the game. But
25:08
Speaker 2: I think if you look at it and said Jalen
25:10
Speaker 2: Hurts was twenty seven or thirty eight for three oh
25:12
Speaker 2: four with another seventy yards rushing and four total touchdowns.
25:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, can make an argument that yeah, he had a
25:19
Speaker 3: great individual game.
25:20
Speaker 4: But then if we're gonna say that, then we have
25:23
Speaker 4: to say that Tom Brady out played Nick Foles.
25:25
Speaker 1: That's fine. I don't have a problem with that. I'm
25:27
Speaker 1: not saying that.
25:28
Speaker 3: Nobody has ever said that.
25:32
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, you know.
25:33
Speaker 3: I love it.
25:34
Speaker 4: I love I love attacking sort of the narrative and
25:36
Speaker 4: twisting it around.
25:37
Speaker 3: It's all.
25:37
Speaker 2: It's all well, And I would say for for Jalen,
25:42
Speaker 2: he's the I thought about this earlier. You know, you
25:44
Speaker 2: can go to any bar in Boston, bring up Tom Brady,
25:47
Speaker 2: universal conversation.
25:48
Speaker 1: If he's the best.
25:50
Speaker 2: Go to a bar in Indianapolis, bring up Peyton Manning,
25:53
Speaker 2: universal discussion, he's the best. Go to a bar in
25:57
Speaker 2: New Orleans, breeze the best. Go to a bar down
26:01
Speaker 2: the shore on a summer night and bring up Jalen
26:03
Speaker 2: Hurts and you'll have a fight on he stinks he's
26:06
Speaker 2: the best. He should be in the top five. He's
26:08
Speaker 2: one of the bottom five. It's unbelievable for a guy
26:10
Speaker 2: who's been a Super Bowl MVP, been to two Super Bowls,
26:14
Speaker 2: that there's so much split on what he is.
26:20
Speaker 3: I love it.
26:20
Speaker 4: It's what makes our industry so great and fan conversation
26:25
Speaker 4: so awesome.
26:25
Speaker 2: Jeff Boucher, everybody Football at four will do it again
26:28
Speaker 2: tomorrow here on Football at four on the Sports Best Live,
26:32
Speaker 2: brought to you by the Fanatic Sports Book. All right,
26:33
Speaker 2: when we come back. Q Myers is in the house,
26:36
Speaker 2: We'll get his take. He covers the Raiders for Raider
26:38
Speaker 2: Nation Radio. But I want to get his take the
26:40
Speaker 2: national perspective. He's the host of Game Night on ESPN Radio.
26:44
Speaker 2: What does he see from this Eagles team? And is
26:46
Speaker 2: the Raiders the perfect remedy? That's next