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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Cowboys Pregame Preview · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:01
Speaker 1: Hope you are doing well. It's Jeff here at the
0:03
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table Podcast Show. We wanted to let you
0:06
Speaker 1: know that we recorded this podcast episode on Tuesday, September two,
0:09
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. By the time you hear this, some
0:12
Speaker 1: things may have changed here there, but we hope you
0:14
Speaker 1: enjoy the show. Welcome to Opposition Territory. Here at the
0:39
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table Podcast Show, the longest running weekly Philly
0:43
Speaker 1: sports podcast show in the world. That's right over twelve
0:46
Speaker 1: years strong. And folks, this is our very first Eagles
0:50
Speaker 1: pregame show of the season where we are previewing the
0:54
Speaker 1: upcoming Philadelphia Eagles versus Dallas Cowboys game to kick off
0:58
Speaker 1: the season this Thursday day night, Thursday Night Football. It
1:02
Speaker 1: is going to be an extravaganza as the Philadelphia Eagles
1:06
Speaker 1: raise the Super Bowl champion banner at the link. I
1:10
Speaker 1: had to say that in front of our guests because
1:12
Speaker 1: I love him. I desperately love him and his jersey
1:15
Speaker 1: that he is wearing. Bless his soul. We have from
1:18
Speaker 1: Bloggingtheboys dot Com David Howmon, buddy, thanks for jumping on here.
1:22
Speaker 1: Thanks for being a good sport too, and uh, I'm
1:25
Speaker 1: looking forward to the conversation. How you doing.
1:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I you know, I've been better.
1:31
Speaker 3: It's been Uh, it's been a week for for Cowboys fans, yes,
1:37
Speaker 3: for people who cover the team and uh, you know,
1:40
Speaker 3: and it's been it's been a year for the city
1:42
Speaker 3: of Dallas, tore you know, the Luca don Chits trade,
1:45
Speaker 3: Michael Carson's trade, everything in between.
1:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, I am.
1:52
Speaker 3: Excited that football is back. The Cowboys also will play.
1:58
Speaker 1: They'll play some some lens of football, right.
2:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, football field. They will be doing things.
2:06
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, this is where US Eagles fans, those who
2:12
Speaker 1: are listening to this podcast too, are absolutely eating it up.
2:15
Speaker 1: And look, you're awesome to come on, great sport to
2:19
Speaker 1: come on. We've had you on the show before. You know,
2:20
Speaker 1: We've had great conversations, and we really want to get
2:23
Speaker 1: into what this matchup and what this game is going
2:25
Speaker 1: to look like, because it's a big one. It's a
2:27
Speaker 1: division game again, Eagles coming off the Super Bowl win.
2:31
Speaker 1: But the Dallas Cowboys, you know, they have talent on
2:35
Speaker 1: the team. But yes, there is that vibe going into
2:37
Speaker 1: the season where this Dallas Cowboys team is going to
2:41
Speaker 1: struggle in certain areas. I mean, that is an ongoing narrative,
2:44
Speaker 1: and I kind of wanted to get into like where
2:46
Speaker 1: some of the where some of the season is going
2:49
Speaker 1: to start. And I guess we have to first start
2:52
Speaker 1: and talk about Dak Prescott here, because he's coming off
2:54
Speaker 1: a season where yet another injury sidelined him and he's
2:58
Speaker 1: certainly no spring chicken at this point, David, as we know,
3:01
Speaker 1: heading into his tenth year. In fact, he's only played
3:04
Speaker 1: one full season over the past five seasons, and if
3:07
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, I think it might have been twenty
3:09
Speaker 1: twenty one. He did play sixteen games. I think he
3:12
Speaker 1: only missed one game that year where he was inactive.
3:15
Speaker 1: But look, he needs to get back into the swing
3:17
Speaker 1: of things for sure, and he actually said this past
3:20
Speaker 1: week that the Cowboys offense needs to be the aggressor
3:23
Speaker 1: against the Philadelphia Eagles this week on Thursday Night Football.
3:26
Speaker 1: What do you think that we are going to see
3:28
Speaker 1: from Dak Prescott this week, David? And is it realistically
3:33
Speaker 1: going to take him some time to kind of get
3:35
Speaker 1: that rust off? You know, what are your thoughts here?
3:38
Speaker 2: Yeah?
3:38
Speaker 3: You know, this has been, uh, this has been an
3:42
Speaker 3: ongoing debate in Cowboys circles for a few years now,
3:45
Speaker 3: because really when Mike McCarthy showed up is when they
3:51
Speaker 3: really started getting into this routine of resting their starters
3:53
Speaker 3: during the preseason, especially Dak Prescott. Of course, you know,
3:58
Speaker 3: his very first year, there was no preseat because it
4:00
Speaker 3: was the COVID year. And then five games five games in,
4:03
Speaker 3: Dak suffered what was the first of his several season
4:07
Speaker 3: ending injuries that he had, and so then the first
4:10
Speaker 3: preseason we saw in the McCarthy era, you know, he
4:12
Speaker 3: didn't take any preseason reps and and so then you know,
4:17
Speaker 3: he had a phenomenal twenty twenty one season twenty twenty
4:19
Speaker 3: two he wasn't as good, and people started saying, oh, well,
4:22
Speaker 3: he needs the preseason reps. But that was also the
4:25
Speaker 3: year where they traded away Amari Cooper, Michael Gallop was
4:28
Speaker 3: coming back from the ac Waltaire. There were a couple
4:32
Speaker 3: of other I think Tyron Smith went down like two
4:35
Speaker 3: days before the season opener. Yeah, lots of different factors
4:39
Speaker 3: that led to a poor week one showing and he
4:42
Speaker 3: ended up having a pretty good year, but there was
4:46
Speaker 3: it was touch and go for the first couple of weeks.
4:48
Speaker 2: How much of that is rust.
4:49
Speaker 3: How much of that was just the factors, you know,
4:51
Speaker 3: dogging the offense overall. I personally, I don't fall into
4:57
Speaker 3: the rust belief so things. But you know, we've we've
5:02
Speaker 3: been here several seasons now where he's he hasn't played preseason.
5:07
Speaker 3: Most of the time he comes out looking pretty sharp.
5:10
Speaker 3: Uh And but this year, of course, we're we've seen
5:13
Speaker 3: we're seeing a new offensive play caller, Brian Schottenheimer's calling
5:17
Speaker 3: the plays. And it's kind of a weird system because
5:20
Speaker 3: he's a new head coach. Majority of his coaching staff
5:23
Speaker 3: is new. Brian Schottenheimer is a new play caller. Uh
5:27
Speaker 3: And he says that they're tweaking a lot of things.
5:29
Speaker 3: But he also has been in Dallas for the last
5:31
Speaker 3: three years. He was there for the last year of
5:33
Speaker 3: Kellen Moore and for the last two seasons when Mike
5:35
Speaker 3: McCarthy was calling plays, the first of which Dak Prescott
5:39
Speaker 3: finished second in MVP voting. So he's seen highs, he's
5:44
Speaker 3: seen lows for Dak Prescott. But we don't really know
5:48
Speaker 3: what the offense is going to look like in terms
5:50
Speaker 3: of scheme, in terms of how much they're gonna run
5:53
Speaker 3: versus past. Mike McCarthy was very past happy, just like
5:56
Speaker 3: he was in Green Bay back in the day. Brian
5:59
Speaker 3: Schottenheimer tridditionally has been a run heavy coach. He says
6:01
Speaker 3: he wants to establish the run, but we don't. We
6:05
Speaker 3: don't really have any answers at the running back.
6:08
Speaker 2: After preseason, and we'll get to that in a bit.
6:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's lots of questions there. I don't have many
6:14
Speaker 3: answers just yet. We're gonna find out Thursday night, So
6:18
Speaker 3: I think I think that for this game, though, I
6:21
Speaker 3: think they're going to rely on Dak press Got a lot,
6:24
Speaker 3: just because there is a lot of uncertainty. They know
6:28
Speaker 3: a couple of things, but Brian schottenheimmer knows what Dak
6:31
Speaker 3: press Got likes and doesn't like.
6:34
Speaker 2: He knows he knows.
6:38
Speaker 3: His relationship with Ceedee Lamb is like that. Those two
6:42
Speaker 3: know each other super well. They know how to how
6:45
Speaker 3: to ball out. They also know that they have a
6:46
Speaker 3: guy named George Pickens, who you know if you if
6:49
Speaker 3: you lob it up to him thirty forty yards down
6:51
Speaker 3: the field and you put it in the vicinity, he's
6:53
Speaker 3: probably coming down with it. So I think that we'll
6:57
Speaker 3: probably see this Week one game is going to look
7:00
Speaker 3: a lot like Brian Schottenheimer calling up the things that
7:03
Speaker 3: Dak Prescott likes most, just to do what's comfortable for
7:06
Speaker 3: him and then kind of figuring out the rest of
7:08
Speaker 3: it as he goes along the way.
7:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think some of that comfort is also
7:12
Speaker 1: and if my recollection is correct, watching the Dallas Cowboys
7:17
Speaker 1: the first couple weeks of the season with Dak Prescott,
7:20
Speaker 1: he really likes those intermediate routes. I mean, he loves
7:22
Speaker 1: when his receivers are running slant routes, if they're running
7:25
Speaker 1: some shorter curl type routes, those intermediate routes Dak really likes.
7:30
Speaker 1: And it goes into the next topic I wanted to
7:32
Speaker 1: dive into here with you, David, which is is the
7:36
Speaker 1: wide receivers and the tight ends what their role is
7:39
Speaker 1: gonna be. I mean, talk about Dak here, and with
7:42
Speaker 1: regard to the receivers here on this Cowboys team, I
7:45
Speaker 1: think he's gonna he's just gonna need them to step
7:48
Speaker 1: up in a big way in Philadelphia to start this
7:53
Speaker 1: season here. I mean, the Cowboys receiving core is gonna
7:55
Speaker 1: be going up against one of the youngest secondaries in
7:58
Speaker 1: the NFL. I mean that that is a reality. And
8:00
Speaker 1: I think that with Ceed Lamb, George Pickens you mentioned
8:04
Speaker 1: as well, and even with their tight end Ferguson, I
8:09
Speaker 1: think could potentially be some problems with regard to a
8:12
Speaker 1: very young secondary. The cornerback two position for the Eagles
8:15
Speaker 1: isn't necessarily the strongest here. So how do you see
8:18
Speaker 1: the Cowboys wide receivers and tight ends really in terms
8:22
Speaker 1: of their role having that taken shape this coming week here?
8:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think when I look at this
8:29
Speaker 3: game on the whole, in all the different matchups, I
8:31
Speaker 3: think that's probably the easiest way for the Cowboys to
8:35
Speaker 3: have success because, like you mentioned, this defense has a
8:37
Speaker 3: very young secondary. You know, losing j Gardner Johnson is
8:41
Speaker 3: as big that's a big problem.
8:44
Speaker 2: Yep.
8:44
Speaker 3: And you know, I know the Eagles really like the
8:46
Speaker 3: guys that they have. For you know, four or five
8:49
Speaker 3: years now, we've been saying every April like, Howie Roseman
8:52
Speaker 3: does it again, like another great draft. So we're gonna
8:54
Speaker 3: find out if those guys really are that.
8:57
Speaker 1: Great, If Andrew mccooba is the real deal, Yes, exactly.
9:00
Speaker 3: And uh and you know I've got my Arizona State
9:03
Speaker 3: flag up here. I watched Andrew mccoomba and those Longhorns.
9:07
Speaker 3: You know, it winned two overtime, so we we did
9:09
Speaker 3: our best against that defense. But Andrew mccoomba is talented.
9:14
Speaker 3: He seems like a really good fit for what Philly
9:17
Speaker 3: likes to do. But you never know with rookies, and
9:19
Speaker 3: and you know, and Dak Prescott, you know, throughout his career,
9:22
Speaker 3: I know we talked about like rust and will he'd
9:24
Speaker 3: be ready to go. But when he is, you know,
9:27
Speaker 3: playing the way that he is capable of, he can
9:32
Speaker 3: he can really toast some rookies. He can toast some
9:34
Speaker 3: veterans too, especially with that connection with Ceedee Lamb. I
9:37
Speaker 3: think the Pickens edition opens things up vertically. That opens
9:42
Speaker 3: up more for Ceedee Lamb. Underneath that opens things up
9:44
Speaker 3: for Jack Ferguson. Brian Schottenheimer also really wants to use
9:48
Speaker 3: Cavante Turpin in this offense. Turpin has been their their
9:52
Speaker 3: pun returner, their kick returner. He's I think he's been
9:56
Speaker 3: in the Pro Bowl each of the last two years now.
9:59
Speaker 2: He's been used some.
10:00
Speaker 3: On offense, but not a whole lot. They're trying to
10:04
Speaker 3: use him more. They're playing him in the slot, they're
10:07
Speaker 3: using him as a kind of gadget player on like
10:10
Speaker 3: some of those Jets sweeps things like that. Even in
10:13
Speaker 3: some of the training camp practices, they've lied him up
10:15
Speaker 3: a running back and they've used him as a ball carrier.
10:19
Speaker 3: I don't think that he's going to ever have you know,
10:21
Speaker 3: more than five carries in a game, but on you know,
10:24
Speaker 3: certain packages, they're going to get the ball on his
10:27
Speaker 3: hands and let him do what he does best. So
10:32
Speaker 3: I think that, you know, before the Pickens trade, a
10:35
Speaker 3: lot of people were looking at the Cowboys and saying
10:37
Speaker 3: they don't have any weapons out of ceede Lamb. I
10:39
Speaker 3: think now the pictures becoming a little bit more clear,
10:43
Speaker 3: there's more options there. Pickens does a lot for opening
10:46
Speaker 3: this offense up because now we don't need to rely
10:49
Speaker 3: on Cavante Turpin, you know, making it as a wide receiver.
10:52
Speaker 3: You don't need to rely on Jalen Tolbert, who was
10:55
Speaker 3: quietly really good last year and has a strong chemistry
10:58
Speaker 3: with Dak Prescott, but you don't need to rely on
11:00
Speaker 3: him being a wide receiver too. He can kind of
11:03
Speaker 3: split time with Turpin in that wide receiver three year
11:06
Speaker 3: role that kind of cleans up after the defense takes
11:09
Speaker 3: attention away from all the other guys. So they have
11:12
Speaker 3: some really good weapons through the pass game, and I
11:15
Speaker 3: think that's why we will end up seeing a more
11:17
Speaker 3: pass happy version of this offense than we may see
11:19
Speaker 3: later on down the throat.
11:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's gonna be a lot on Dak Prescott's
11:24
Speaker 1: and these receivers shoulders for sure, because we just really
11:28
Speaker 1: don't know what to expect from this Dallas Cowboys rushing
11:31
Speaker 1: attack on offense right out of the gate here. I mean, yes,
11:35
Speaker 1: Javonte Williams is there, Miles Sanders, who, as Eagles fans
11:38
Speaker 1: know very well, Jayden Blue as well. They all seem
11:42
Speaker 1: to have an ability to potentially be that lead back
11:46
Speaker 1: at some point, maybe perhaps early this season, who knows.
11:50
Speaker 1: I don't know. You're seeing much more of Cowboys camp
11:54
Speaker 1: than I am, David. What can we expect from the
11:57
Speaker 1: running back situation in Dallas now, and and what the
12:01
Speaker 1: rushing attack may actually look like against Philadelphia?
12:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, first off, nobody knows anything at this
12:09
Speaker 3: point except for Brian Schottenheimer.
12:11
Speaker 2: I'll lead with that. I will say. So they went.
12:15
Speaker 3: Into the start of training camp with Javonte Williams, who
12:18
Speaker 3: they signed in free agency, with Miles Sanders who they
12:21
Speaker 3: signed in free agency. They drafted Jaden Blue, and they
12:23
Speaker 3: drafted Film MafA out at Clemson.
12:26
Speaker 2: They also had Duce Fund still left over.
12:29
Speaker 3: So we were looking at like, you know, these are
12:31
Speaker 3: the two guys, and we were saying, sorry, these are
12:36
Speaker 3: the four guys. And and there's two veterans, two rookies.
12:39
Speaker 3: A lot of people thought Duce Fund wasn't gonna make it,
12:41
Speaker 3: which he didn't, and it was it was kind of like,
12:45
Speaker 3: how do they want this thing to shake out? Javonte
12:48
Speaker 3: Williams didn't take a single preseason snap, so we're pretty
12:51
Speaker 3: sure Javante Williams is going to be RB one right
12:54
Speaker 3: at the start of things. Miles Sanders, he played in
13:00
Speaker 3: one preseason game, did not look very good, got hurt,
13:02
Speaker 3: didn't play the second preseason game, but he made the roster,
13:06
Speaker 3: so it seems like they really like him. Jadeen Blue
13:10
Speaker 3: looked very impressive in the preseason, but he also had
13:13
Speaker 3: an injury that kept him out in most of training camp.
13:15
Speaker 3: He missed the first preseason game. So my best guess
13:19
Speaker 3: is Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders are the two main guys,
13:22
Speaker 3: Williams being more of that downhill kind of type, Sanders
13:25
Speaker 3: being more outside the tackles, helping out as a pass catcher.
13:28
Speaker 3: And they'll kind of bring Jadeen Blue along and as
13:32
Speaker 3: he starts to do more and more, he'll be more
13:34
Speaker 3: and more of that RB one for the season. And
13:38
Speaker 3: they also really like Phil Maffa, who started starting the
13:40
Speaker 3: year on the injured reserve. He'll be able to return
13:42
Speaker 3: at some point. Whenever he does return. If Miles Sanders
13:47
Speaker 3: has not wowed us with regular season performance, he's probably
13:50
Speaker 3: the one who's most in danger. Okay, but for this
13:53
Speaker 3: game Thursday night, I think Javonte Williams probably gets the
13:56
Speaker 3: first carry. Miles Sanders will come in and spell him.
13:59
Speaker 3: Built They'll give Jayden Blue some work. Like I mentioned,
14:01
Speaker 3: they'll give Cavanti Turpin some work at running back. They
14:05
Speaker 3: also really like their fullback Hunter Litkey, who's a fullback
14:08
Speaker 3: but he's also been a lead back in college in
14:10
Speaker 3: North Dakota State, has also lined up a tight end
14:13
Speaker 3: in the past for the Cowboys. He's gonna be kind
14:14
Speaker 3: of a hybrid piece. They're gonna use him all over.
14:18
Speaker 3: They even end up doing a trick play where he
14:20
Speaker 3: throws the throws the ball at some point. Who knows
14:24
Speaker 3: that that might be fun. So they have a lot
14:28
Speaker 3: of options. My guess is they're gonna try. They really
14:32
Speaker 3: like Gavonte Williams. They're gonna try and ride him. But
14:36
Speaker 3: we haven't seen him in a Cowboys uniform outside of
14:38
Speaker 3: PREAMI game practice.
14:40
Speaker 2: So is it gonna work.
14:42
Speaker 3: I don't know anybody's I know they're very excited about
14:45
Speaker 3: Jaden Blue. They just don't want to put too much
14:47
Speaker 3: on him because he's a rookie and he missed some
14:49
Speaker 3: time early. But but long term, when we get to
14:52
Speaker 3: the end of the season, he should be the guy
14:55
Speaker 3: that they're most excited about.
14:56
Speaker 2: From this room, it's gonna.
14:58
Speaker 1: Be interesting to see what happens with this Dallas Cowboy offense,
15:00
Speaker 1: for sure, especially with the quote rushing attack. I'll say
15:04
Speaker 1: at this point, so look, folks, you gotta follow David
15:08
Speaker 1: and what he and his colleagues are doing. Over at
15:11
Speaker 1: bloggintheboys dot com. Great great site if you want to
15:15
Speaker 1: if you want to get into it with some Dallas
15:16
Speaker 1: Cowboys fans out there. They got great content, great guys
15:20
Speaker 1: over there, as well. And David, I know you're over
15:23
Speaker 1: on the Twitter slash x at underscore d H four
15:26
Speaker 1: four underscore. Where else can folks find you on the
15:29
Speaker 1: interwebs out there if they want to check out?
15:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you can find me on Blue Sky at
15:35
Speaker 3: d H four four. I was able to get in
15:37
Speaker 3: there without the underscores.
15:38
Speaker 1: There you go.
15:41
Speaker 3: And uh yeah, I mean I write at blogging the Boys.
15:43
Speaker 3: I also cover as on a state go devils there,
15:46
Speaker 3: devils in detail. So also heartbroken about cam Skataboo being
15:51
Speaker 3: a New York Giant.
15:52
Speaker 2: That is tough one to swallow.
15:54
Speaker 1: Dude, it's the worst. I've told you how many times
15:57
Speaker 1: I mean being a Penn State fan here, how many times,
16:00
Speaker 1: whether it's MICHAEH. Parsons, Sean Lee, how many? How many?
16:04
Speaker 1: How many Penn State guys have been going to the Cowboys.
16:07
Speaker 1: It's heartbreaking.
16:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, By for a while was a giant too.
16:11
Speaker 1: It was awful, awful.
16:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I do have Scatterbin two of my fantasy teams.
16:17
Speaker 3: So at the very least, there you go, I get
16:19
Speaker 3: off of it.
16:20
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16:42
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16:45
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16:48
Speaker 1: We are going to be taking a break to pay
16:50
Speaker 1: some bills. We are going to be back in just
16:52
Speaker 1: a bit with more of our pregame preview show, Dallas
16:56
Speaker 1: Cowboys against Philadelphia Eagles. Stick with us, all right, We
17:00
Speaker 1: are back with our good friend David Howman from Bloggintheboys
17:03
Speaker 1: dot com. We were talking about the offense before break. David,
17:07
Speaker 1: let's now get into the defense here, because of course,
17:10
Speaker 1: you know, of course, losing Mike Parkins was huge, you know,
17:13
Speaker 1: one of the best defenders in the NFL. And look,
17:16
Speaker 1: I was reading some articles this past week. I know
17:19
Speaker 1: the ESPN has predicted the Cowboys defense to potentially allow
17:23
Speaker 1: the most points this coming season. They put it at
17:26
Speaker 1: four hundred and thirty nine points. I was like, holy crap,
17:29
Speaker 1: unreal is this Cowboys defense going to end up being,
17:33
Speaker 1: in your opinion, the shakiest in the league. And how
17:36
Speaker 1: are they gonna match up against this Eagles high powered
17:38
Speaker 1: offense this week?
17:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, anytime you lose a guy like Michaeh Parsons,
17:44
Speaker 3: it's not gonna improve your odds.
17:49
Speaker 1: So it's like, it's like you had to say it,
17:52
Speaker 1: even though it's like the obvious that I love it.
17:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's you know, they didn't get better, right,
18:01
Speaker 3: all due respect to Kenny Clark.
18:03
Speaker 2: Kenny Clark is a great player.
18:05
Speaker 3: He does He does do a lot for what was
18:07
Speaker 3: their biggest weakness, which was the run defense.
18:10
Speaker 2: Right, Does that make up for what you're losing? Not
18:15
Speaker 2: quite so.
18:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, the the defense will not be as good as
18:20
Speaker 3: it has been in the past with Micah Parsons, although
18:22
Speaker 3: granted last year they were not very good either, and
18:27
Speaker 3: he played for most of that game, I mean most
18:29
Speaker 3: of that season.
18:29
Speaker 2: He missed a couple of games here and there.
18:31
Speaker 3: But uh, I think I think the idea that they're
18:35
Speaker 3: going to be the worst defense at least by scoring,
18:38
Speaker 3: I would probably be a little bit surprised if it.
18:40
Speaker 2: Was that bad. That's what I was.
18:45
Speaker 3: Unit necessarily, But I mean they have a new defensive
18:48
Speaker 3: coordinator in Matt Eberfluss, and I know that he's not
18:52
Speaker 3: his head coaching ten here was not great in Chicago,
18:56
Speaker 3: but the min is that is definitely a defensive savant.
18:59
Speaker 3: I mean he was also calling the plays for those
19:01
Speaker 3: Bears defenses. The defense was not the problem with those
19:04
Speaker 3: Bears teams. The defense with the Colts when he was
19:07
Speaker 3: there was also really good. So he's a guy who
19:11
Speaker 3: knows how to build a good defense. He has a
19:13
Speaker 3: very he's very confident in his scheme and what he's
19:17
Speaker 3: trying to do there. That defense is also very much
19:20
Speaker 3: built around pass rush by way of the three technique
19:24
Speaker 3: defensive tackle. They have a guy named Osa Diguizua who
19:28
Speaker 3: really is like Taylor made for this kind of defense.
19:30
Speaker 3: I think he's going to have a breakout year. He's
19:32
Speaker 3: been really good the last two years, but I think
19:34
Speaker 3: he's going to have the best year of his career
19:36
Speaker 3: playing in this defense. And it's also predicated on the
19:39
Speaker 3: secondary being able to force takeaways. That's been one of
19:43
Speaker 3: the things that the Cowboys have been consistently great at
19:45
Speaker 3: for the last four or five years. Ye Trayvon Diggs
19:48
Speaker 3: gets interceptions all the time, to Ron Blaine gets interceptions
19:51
Speaker 3: all the time.
19:52
Speaker 2: They traded for kyer.
19:54
Speaker 3: Elam, who's a first round former first round pick for
19:57
Speaker 3: the Bills, never really quite found footing in Buffalo, but
20:01
Speaker 3: he's been easily their most impressive defensive back throughout this offseason,
20:05
Speaker 3: even ahead of guys like Bland, who just signed a
20:08
Speaker 3: contract extension with them. So I think there's Like I said,
20:12
Speaker 3: I don't think that they're gonna be a top ten defense,
20:14
Speaker 3: but there's definitely potential there. Matt Eberflus has the track
20:17
Speaker 3: record as a defensive coach. They should be able to
20:20
Speaker 3: make plays. They should be able to play good enough
20:23
Speaker 3: defense that if Dak Prescott and Ceede Lamb and George
20:25
Speaker 3: Pickens are doing their thing, they can win probably more
20:29
Speaker 3: games than they'll lose and at least be in the
20:31
Speaker 3: playoff hunt if not making the playoffs out right.
20:34
Speaker 1: All right, Well, that boy, that is certainly a great
20:36
Speaker 1: take right there from you. I love that take. But
20:39
Speaker 1: like in terms of like looking at this.
20:41
Speaker 2: When they're gonna sweep the Eagles, of course.
20:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, of course, absolutely, of course, of course this weak
20:46
Speaker 4: Eagles team, yes, but look, I mean one of the
20:50
Speaker 4: most important aspects of playing football in general.
20:53
Speaker 1: And it's always interesting to watch with these two teams
20:56
Speaker 1: when they go up against each other twice a year.
20:59
Speaker 1: How important the trenches are again, both sides of the ball.
21:03
Speaker 1: It's critical, and it's critical in terms of winning games
21:06
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So I guess that brings us to
21:08
Speaker 1: you know, what we might see from the Cowboys defensive
21:11
Speaker 1: line here, because I'm wondering, in your opinion, David, how
21:14
Speaker 1: does the Dallas pass rush really match up against this
21:18
Speaker 1: Eagles offensive line, which is one of the best in
21:20
Speaker 1: the league. What are your thoughts?
21:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, like you said, Eagles offensive line is
21:26
Speaker 3: is elite. Jeff Stoland is I mean the work he's
21:30
Speaker 3: done is their offensive line coach. It's funny that like
21:33
Speaker 3: the most like the core piece of this Eagles dynasty
21:36
Speaker 3: is one of the few holdovers from the Chip Kelly
21:38
Speaker 3: are Yes, I just love that detailed but yep, I
21:43
Speaker 3: mean their offensive line is is great, it figures to
21:47
Speaker 3: continue to be great. And I mean just the way
21:51
Speaker 3: that this offense works with so much of it built
21:53
Speaker 3: around the run game, so much of their past game
21:56
Speaker 3: being built off RPOs and play action. I think that's
21:59
Speaker 3: probably gonna increase even more with Kevin Patulo as the
22:03
Speaker 3: offensive coordinator given his own backgrounds. That on its own
22:08
Speaker 3: just makes it hard for a pass rush to win
22:10
Speaker 3: because you don't have time to rush the passer most
22:13
Speaker 3: of the time. And I think that's kind of when
22:17
Speaker 3: you look at Jalen Hurts last year that that was
22:19
Speaker 3: his biggest issue was he does hold.
22:20
Speaker 2: The ball a little too long off season.
22:26
Speaker 3: So if they can get him like get more quick
22:29
Speaker 3: game schemed up there, it's you know, you're probably gonna
22:32
Speaker 3: be game over for the defense because there's already that
22:35
Speaker 3: issue of the pass rush and you lose a guy
22:36
Speaker 3: like Michah Parsons. Mattie Reflus did make a good point though,
22:40
Speaker 3: hitting into preparation for this week is he said, well,
22:44
Speaker 3: Micah hasn't practiced with us as long as I've been
22:47
Speaker 3: here because he was holding out and also had this
22:49
Speaker 3: back issue. So he's like, it's really no difference for me,
22:52
Speaker 3: Like I haven't I haven't done anything with Micah, and
22:56
Speaker 3: now I'm not doing anything with Micah. So they have
22:59
Speaker 3: a second round and Donovan as a rocker who they
23:01
Speaker 3: really really like. He's flashed a lot in preseason. They
23:06
Speaker 3: have Sam Williams who is coming off an ACL there,
23:09
Speaker 3: but they really like Marshawn Neeland was a rookie last year.
23:12
Speaker 3: They brought back Dante Fowler, who led the Commanders in
23:15
Speaker 3: sacks last year. He was with the Cowboys the years
23:17
Speaker 3: before that, and then they also added James Houston a
23:21
Speaker 3: few days after a training camp began. James Houston was
23:24
Speaker 3: a draft pick I want to say he was out
23:28
Speaker 3: of Jackson State by the Lions. He was like a
23:31
Speaker 3: sixth or seventh round pick, and he had become like
23:33
Speaker 3: a pass rushing savant for them. He had I think
23:37
Speaker 3: like there was one game where he had two sacks
23:41
Speaker 3: on like nine snaps played in one game for them,
23:44
Speaker 3: and then injuries kind of derailed his career. They ended
23:47
Speaker 3: up he was a preseason cut. They brought him in
23:50
Speaker 3: and he made the roster because he got All he
23:52
Speaker 3: did in preseason was make play after play after play,
23:56
Speaker 3: and so that's another guy that I think like they
23:58
Speaker 3: might be able to use him as kind of a say,
24:00
Speaker 3: situational pass rushing type alongside all these other guys. They're
24:03
Speaker 3: gonna they're gonna have a deep rotation along the edges
24:07
Speaker 3: and like I said, Osa to Guazoo is gonna be
24:09
Speaker 3: really the engine of the defense, especially they're in the middle.
24:12
Speaker 3: They build so much of it around trying to attack
24:15
Speaker 3: up the middle, and especially going into this game with
24:18
Speaker 3: Landon Dickerson and his injury, and yeah, I know it's
24:22
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's been declared one way or
24:24
Speaker 3: another if he will play.
24:25
Speaker 2: But even if he.
24:26
Speaker 3: Does play, you know how what percentages he playing at
24:30
Speaker 3: against the guy like Osa to Guzoo. That's a potential
24:32
Speaker 3: for some pass rush wins.
24:35
Speaker 1: There, absolutely And Nick Sirianni was asked just today about
24:40
Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson's potential back injury didn't want to comment on it.
24:43
Speaker 1: So there's definitely something with that for sure. So buddy,
24:47
Speaker 1: before we let you go on our opposition territory shows
24:50
Speaker 1: and specifically our pregame shows all you know, all the
24:54
Speaker 1: over the years that we have been doing this, we
24:56
Speaker 1: want to get into what both teams are gonna need
24:59
Speaker 1: to hit on for a win this week. So let's
25:02
Speaker 1: start with the Dallas Cowboys. What do you think is
25:04
Speaker 1: the one thing the Cowboys are gonna need to hit
25:06
Speaker 1: on for a win this week against this Philadelphia Eagles team.
25:11
Speaker 2: You know, I think it's.
25:14
Speaker 3: It's gonna seem like low hanging fruit, but it's gonna
25:16
Speaker 3: start with the offense needing to move the chains consistently
25:20
Speaker 3: and stay out on schedule. When I think about Vic
25:22
Speaker 3: Fangio and the Cowboys have had a lot of run
25:24
Speaker 3: ins with Vic Fangio in the last few years with
25:27
Speaker 3: different teams.
25:28
Speaker 2: They haven't.
25:29
Speaker 3: Dak Prescott didn't get to play against Fangio last year
25:32
Speaker 3: due to the injury, but ye Vic has had his
25:35
Speaker 3: number in several games with the Dolphins, with the Broncos,
25:39
Speaker 3: and the most consistent thing there has just been that
25:42
Speaker 3: they get behind the chains and then we get into
25:45
Speaker 3: the third and along and you know, Dak's an aggressive guy.
25:48
Speaker 3: Like you said, he wants to be the aggressor. He
25:49
Speaker 3: always wants to be the aggressor. When he gets into
25:52
Speaker 3: those third and lungs, that's where his mind kind of
25:54
Speaker 3: goes like I'm either throwing the first down or I'm
25:56
Speaker 3: throwing a pick, but I'm taking a chance.
25:58
Speaker 2: And that's exactly what Vic Fangio wants you to do.
26:01
Speaker 3: So in going up against the defense like this, even
26:04
Speaker 3: though they have you know, like like we said, the
26:06
Speaker 3: youngest secondary, they they lost several pass rushers as well,
26:09
Speaker 3: which that'll be interesting to see how those things change
26:13
Speaker 3: with that dynamic on that defense. But if Dak can
26:17
Speaker 3: play ahead of the chains and he can play on schedule,
26:21
Speaker 3: he doesn't get put in those gotta have it situations
26:24
Speaker 3: that will be tailoring into his game and I think
26:27
Speaker 3: with with the weapons that they have, they should be
26:30
Speaker 3: able to do that. But it's just against the guy
26:32
Speaker 3: like Big Fangio, it's hard to have those answers. He
26:35
Speaker 3: has built a really, really successful career out of not
26:39
Speaker 3: giving quarterbacks those answers, most recently against a guy named
26:43
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes. Maybe you've heard him. He's pretty good and
26:48
Speaker 3: he couldn't do much of anything against Big Fangia.
26:50
Speaker 2: So very true. Easier said than done, But that's the
26:53
Speaker 2: key for me for the Cowboys. All right.
26:55
Speaker 1: Well, on the flip side of that coin, David, to
26:58
Speaker 1: close this out here, what the Eagle is going to
27:00
Speaker 1: need to hit on for a win against the Cowboys.
27:04
Speaker 3: I think it's going to really be focusing on Jalen
27:07
Speaker 3: Hurts and taking care of the ball, and I think
27:09
Speaker 3: that's in a nutshell, I think that's what he does
27:12
Speaker 3: best when he's at his best. You know, he's not
27:16
Speaker 3: necessarily is going to be the guy that always throws
27:18
Speaker 3: for four hundred yards five touchdowns, but he lives to
27:22
Speaker 3: play another down. And and the Eagles also know that
27:26
Speaker 3: they have four downs because of the twitch push list,
27:28
Speaker 3: you don't necessarily need to do it in three downs.
27:32
Speaker 3: But then there are those games where he tries to
27:34
Speaker 3: be that guy, he tries to do too much and
27:37
Speaker 3: ill gated him in trouble, And you know, I think
27:40
Speaker 3: he's I think he's, you know, definitely a good passer,
27:43
Speaker 3: but there are times where there's certain throws he can't make,
27:46
Speaker 3: and other dbs will be able to take advantage of
27:48
Speaker 3: those mistakes. Against the matt Eberflus defense, they're very much
27:51
Speaker 3: designed to take advantage of those kind of mistakes. So
27:54
Speaker 3: if they can force him into those situations of him
27:57
Speaker 3: trying to make something happen, kind of similar with what
27:59
Speaker 3: I said of Dak Prescott. You know, if you're if
28:04
Speaker 3: the quarterback is trying to make something happen when it's
28:06
Speaker 3: not there, that's when Mattieberflus thrives. That's when his steam thrives.
28:11
Speaker 3: But with the Eagles, they have such a good running game.
28:14
Speaker 3: Most of the time and the should with with the
28:16
Speaker 3: offensive line on Saquon Barkley. Usually he's not going to
28:19
Speaker 3: be put in those situations. But that's what the Cowboys
28:22
Speaker 3: have to do, is put him in those situations and
28:24
Speaker 3: force him to try and create when there's nothing there.
28:27
Speaker 2: Yeah.
28:28
Speaker 1: Well, folks, the NFL season is just about here. This
28:30
Speaker 1: game kicking off Thursday is going to be interesting to watch.
28:33
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting to see what happens with both
28:35
Speaker 1: of these teams, Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles throughout
28:39
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six season. Again, our
28:43
Speaker 1: friend David Howman from Bloggingtheboys dot Com at Underscore d
28:47
Speaker 1: H four to four Underscore over on Twitter slash x.
28:50
Speaker 1: Give him a follow. It's a fantastic, fantastic guy, buddy,
28:53
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. I appreciate you taking the time to
28:55
Speaker 1: come on our pregame podcast show here and come back
28:59
Speaker 1: and join us down the road to have you back on.
29:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, always have a fun time coming on here. You know,
29:06
Speaker 3: seventeen to oh for the Cowboys starts right here.
29:08
Speaker 1: Let's go, let's do all right, well, let's not do
29:11
Speaker 1: it actually, all right, we'll end the show there, folks,
29:14
Speaker 1: and we'll see you later. That's gonna do it for
29:16
Speaker 1: us here on Opposition Territory this week. Please share our
29:20
Speaker 1: podcast with your friends and family members who are Philly
29:23
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29:26
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29:29
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30:00
Speaker 3: Zo