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ITB Week 4 Pregame Show With Greg Cosell: Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Los Angeles Rams · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the inside the birds pregame show. I'm Jeff Mosher.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I got Adam Kaplan with me. And of course we
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: have Greg Cosell, who's going to help give us a
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: tape based preview of this week for game in South
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Philly at the link between the Eagles and the Rams.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Somehow this is just a one o'clock game, even though
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: these teams were expected to be very good going into
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: the year. And yet somehow the Rams are one and
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: two coming off a loss to Denver, the Eagles two
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: and one, but coming off a major 20-point blowout to
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: the Bears on Monday Night Football. Short turnaround for them,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: and when you often have short turnarounds, what you see,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Adam Kaplan, is injured players who do not get ready
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: in time to play, and both teams are facing some
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: major injuries. We'll start with the Eagles, Adam. No Dallas Goddard.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: He continues to be out with the knee. No Landon Dickerson.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: But then it gets worse. No Devontae Smith and Zach Bond.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Smith with a hamstring issue and Bond with a concussion.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: It just seems to get worse for this team injury-wise.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: With.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Devontae Smith, let's not forget, folks, this is the third
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: month he's had this injury. It started early August, all
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of September, and now into October. And it's not going
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: to get better if he keeps playing on it. So...
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: He didn't practice this week. No surprise. And with Hollywood
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Brown out, man, they're really down at receiver. As a
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, the only receiver, and if you want
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: to call him one, that they have on their practice
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: squad is Xavier Gibson, who's a returner. So it's not good.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: They're in a tough spot right now, in fact. And
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: we'll get into matchups and Makai Lemon. But Elijah Moore
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: now is going to have to get more reps than
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: he normally would play because they just don't have anybody else.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, we've talked about Darius Cooper, who's, you know,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: no matter how good of a training camp he had,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: it wasn't going to be, it wasn't going to matter
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: unless there were injuries. Well, now there's injuries.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: As you mentioned out. So it looks like the top
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: three are Dontavion Wicks, Makai Lemon, and either Elijah Moore
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: or Darius Cooper.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Cooper's definitely out of them. Yeah. There's no question. It's, Greg,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: as we send it over to you and, you know,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: you look at these matchups, How do you handle this
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: as a coach? Like personnel, and we'll get it, Goddard's
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: out again. What kind of personnel groupings? What could they
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: do with this group here to be able to move?
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Well, it becomes schematic. Obviously, you don't have receivers that
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: you feel comfortable just lining up and saying, we're going
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: to win one-on-one. Now, obviously, Jalen Watson is also out
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: for the Rams. I'm sure you're going to get to
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: the Rams injuries. There's others as well. But Jalen Watson
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: is out for the Rams. But they don't have the
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: receivers now that you just line up and play. So
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: now it becomes schematic. It becomes use of formations. It
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: becomes use of motions. You have to create opportunities based
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: on tactics and schematics as opposed to let's just line
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: up and play. They don't have that guy right now.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: So that's ultimately what you have to do. And then, look,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: we can sit here and say, you know, Sean Mannion
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: obviously last week struggled a bit against Dennis Allen. but
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: he's been around the league. I'm sure he's a smart
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: young guy. Nick Sirianni is still there. He's been around
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: the league. You know, now you have to figure that
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: kind of stuff out from a schematic standpoint.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Let's also, let's be even more real about the situation.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: There comes a time in any ball game where no
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: matter how well you scheme it up, the defense gets
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: paid to, and sometimes you just need great players to
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: make great plays, right? And we have seen A couple
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: of times this year, Jalen Hurts really just say, this
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: ball is going to Devontae, whether it's good or not.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: No question. And we've liked what we've seen from Dontavia
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: and Wicks for sure, and other guys will get opportunities.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: But I don't know that they have somebody that can
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: go just get the ball down the sideline, which is
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: the best ball Jalen likes to throw. So this is
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: not just scheming different. This is now a comfort zone
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: issue for your quarterback for the pass he loves to play.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: That's a great point, Jeff. And if I could just
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: add to that, someone a lot smarter in the past
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: game than I, Kurt Warner has talked about that a
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: lot that when you have, let's say a boundary, a
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: true boundary X, which obviously they do not have as
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: good as Devante Smith is. He's not a true boundary X, right?
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: You know, it's just a total security blanket. I mean, look,
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: look at a team like Cincinnati with Joe Burrow. When
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: he sees one-on-one based on the coverage, we either Higgins
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: or chase, he he's going to throw him the ball.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: You know, AJ Brown and people can, you know, be
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: unhappy about all that in any way they want. But A.J.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Brown was that guy. And how many times did we
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: see that over the last, what, three, four years where, hey,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: critical situations, you go to one-on-one with A.J. Brown and,
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: you know, you feel comfortable. The thing is, it's a
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: quarterback comfort level. You know, he knows, hey, I got
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: my guy. I can throw him the ball and I
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: feel pretty good that he's going to win. So now
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: they don't really have that. So your point is 100% correct.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: So, Jeff, on your question of what can they do,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and Greg was talking about certain things informationally, this is
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: where Stack releases bunches. You're trying to give them anything
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: you can to free these up. Our old friend John
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: DeFilippo did this in 2015 when he had Andrew Hawkins
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: as his ex-receiver, John told me. He did all sorts
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: of stuff. He said, I've got to be creative because
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: they're not going to win on their own.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: For sure.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: If I send it back to you, Jeff, and Greg
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: brought it, you're going to have to find out You're
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: going to have to find some things that you know
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: they can do. But you're also going to have to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: help them. And you've got to do all you can
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: to free them up. It's going to be hard, but
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: this is a major challenge.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Major.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: There's one more injury on offense that I want to–
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: we talked about it last week, and I don't want
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: to gloss this over because the Eagles got away with it.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Good for them. Maybe they have a plan. But Fred
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Johnson will be out again. He is their backup left tackle.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: We know Markel Bell is a right tackle by trade.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: He did cross-train a little bit of left tackle during
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: the spring. I mean, in training camp. But they did
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: not elevate an offensive tackle, which we thought that they
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: would do last week. I'm guessing they're not going to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: do it again because they didn't do it last week.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Why would they do it again? I think they're playing
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: with fire a little bit. If Jordan Maialata gets hurt,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: stubs his toe, has to come out, who knows? Goes
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: to the medical tent like Jalen Hurts had to do
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: just for a series. I just don't understand what they
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: do at left tackle that they're comfortable enough with against
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: a good defense like the Rams. So that's just always
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: something to watch.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would back his bell as a college left tackle.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that in practice these last two weeks that
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: he took a ton of reps at left. Now, John
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Ojukwu is the guy you're talking about who was a
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: big surprise, who started a couple games at right tackle
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: for the Titans a couple years ago. He had the
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: pectoral injury, but he's fine. He was cleared. He's on
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: the practice squad. But you're right, they don't have a choice.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: So they don't have much of a choice here. It's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: a tough deal. You're right. The Fred Johnson one, didn't
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: he get hurt in practice? I think they added him.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, it was one of those pop-up injuries that happened
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: in practice.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Too bad.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, interesting. All right, let's flip it to the defense
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles. Big loss. Obviously, Zach Bond, concussion. He's
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: going to be out. So, obviously, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. will
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: get in there. We have talked a lot about Trotter Jr.,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: how impressive he's been when he's had to play. I
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: will say, if there was one game where I wouldn't
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: want to have to see him sort of get in
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: there and play against the starters, it's against the kind
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of offense that the Rams have. with all their multiple
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: fronts and tight ends who can catch the ball and
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: receivers that go over the middle. Because we know Trotter
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: is more of an instinct player than a great athlete.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: And so I'm sure this is music to Sean McVay's ears. However,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: this is the situation that they're dealt, Greg. And you
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: have now Jihad Campbell, who, as you mentioned on our
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: show Inside the Tape and with our Patreon group, he's
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: still learning. Keenan diagnosing is still coming to him. And
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: now you have to put a guy next to him
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: who is not an all-pro linebacker. Just complicates it more
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: And I think where it really plays out is probably
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: in pass coverage because Vaughn's one of the best pass
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: coverage linebackers in the league. And I know through conversations
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: that I've had, that they can do a lot of
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: things in their zone concepts because of Zach Vaughn. So
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: you'd have to assume they won't be able to do
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: exactly the same things. And I liked Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: a lot, and I really liked him coming out of
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: college at Clemson. But I don't know if he could– well,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: we know he can't do exactly the same things as
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: Zach Vaughn. So what we don't know is how that
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: impacts how Vic Fangio game plans and calls the game.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: That's what we don't know.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Right. I guess it's possible we could see more dime
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: coverage where one linebacker and maybe more defensive backs, whether
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: it's Marcus Epps on the field, although he's a little.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: Well, Marcus Epps, I believe, has been ruled out.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: He's out. I meant Michael Carter Jr. But again, it
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: complicates it if you wanted to play dime because you
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: don't have Marcus Epps.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I assume Michael Carter gets the start
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: at safety now with Kuba. Does he not?
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: He will.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: He is. I mean, who else would there be in
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: the secondary if they wanted to play dimes?
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: It's a great question. I know everybody's going to say, well,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: what about Kenny Moore? But, I mean, you heard Vic
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Fangio say Kenny Moore is weeks away from being weeks
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: away from understanding how to play defense. Now, could he
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: get on the field and play some nickel in, like,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: interior slot? Maybe. Maybe he can play some diamonds.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: I'm sure there are coverages he's played a long time that,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: you know, if you're going to say, hey, we're going
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: to play a basic quarters coverage or a basic cover three,
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Kenny Moore certainly knows how to do that. He does
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: not probably know all the subtleties and nuances of a
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Vic Fangio defense. But, you know, this is what you
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: deal with, you know, when you're a coach and you
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: lose people. It changes your playbook.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. So this will have to be a big challenge
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles defensive backfield against this Rams offense. Already
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: a little bit, you know, obviously a little bit undermanned.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, I suppose, Adam, maybe Mack Rick Williams can
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: get himself on the field. It's... really difficult.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Jones would be the guy who's, who's.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: That's a good point. That's a good point. He has
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: played both inside and outside of this.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: He has. By the way, he did get added to
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the injury report Friday, but he got cleared.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: He's now 33 years old. So it is what it is.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all part of the complication. Not great for
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: the Eagles. Not the type of offense you want to
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: be facing when you're that beat up at the secondary
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: and linebacker level. Let's talk about the Rams, though, because
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: they have injuries as well. Yeah, now the good news
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: for them, at least, is that Puka Nakua is expected
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: to play. I think he's had a hip injury for
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: the first two weeks. He hasn't played, so this will
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: be his first game. It'll be interesting to see. how
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: if he's 100% if he's 85% but he will be
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: able to play or how much he plays or how
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: much he plays right um so he comes back but
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: out for them is their tight end Terrence Ferguson he's
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: been dealing with an injury although they do have about
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: six million other tight ends.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: That's a big one though because from a matchup standpoint
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: he's the one true athlete they have the group right
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: and that that does change a little bit of what
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: you can do yes they've Davis Allen our guy the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Tyler Higby, who continues to get it done, but Ferguson's
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: a matchup guy.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: And they have Max Claire, who they drafted in the
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: second round. So I bet they still have four tight
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: ends up.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: For sure. How is Max Claire? I feel like Max
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Claire would be a good, maybe, you know, I'll let
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: you describe it, Greg. I mean, he caught passes at
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Purdue and then a little bit at Ohio State, but
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: is he a guy that can be a two-way tight end?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Why for them?
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: I think he can. I liked Max Claire coming out.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: He just is not an explosive. I mean, Ferguson, Adam's right.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Ferguson is their most explosive mover at the tight end position.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: He's almost another one of those guys. He's not quite
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: in the Colston Loveland category, but he's more like that
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: than a true attached tight end. And that's the way
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: they deploy him a good part of the time. So
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: he's there. He's sort of their intermediate vertical dimension at
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: the tight end position. They, they don't really have another
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: guy exactly like that, but you know, they will, they
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: will dress for tight ends and they're still going to
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: play at a 13 personnel.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Claire dressed last week, but he only played on special teams,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: only four snaps. So now he's going to get some
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: snaps on offense. But from a matchup standpoint, this does
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: impact him not having Ferguson.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: It sure does.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: And then on defense, they are without some serious firepower.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: They've already been without Myles Garrett, who's on injured reserve.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: they will not have Aaron Donald who had, you know,
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: made his comeback two weeks ago. He is out with
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: a back injury, so he won't play in this game.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And Jalen, uh, uh, Jalen Watson.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Jalen Watson, the cornerback they signed over from
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: the chiefs. Who's a super bowl champion also out. What
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: does that do to their defensive backfield, Greg?
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Well, Watson's a starting corner, obviously. So, I mean, Forbes. Yeah.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: I mean, I would assume it's, it's next man up.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, uh, you know, they're a big dime team.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: So that's, that's, we'll get into that.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: We replaced them last week, but it'll be.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: Emmanuel Forbes because they don't really have another outside corner
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: that is on the roster right now. Wallace can play outside. Yeah.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: But he's, he plays more nickel or inside.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: He's, he plays more. Well, it's interesting because do we
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: know what is Cameron kitchens? Yeah.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: He's expected to play.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah. He's well, that makes Quentin Lake the nickel.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: So what'll happen is Forbes will play on the outside.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Got it.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: All right. So that is a, it's not ideal for
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: the Rams either. They would love to have those guys,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: especially their, they would love to have their Garrett Donald tandem.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: That's what this defense was going to be a feast on,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: but they will have to make do without him. Now,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: if this were years past, we would talk about Emmanuel
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Forbes starting and say, what an advantage because AJ Brown
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: would own him. They don't have AJ Brown anymore. So
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: we'll have to see. what that matchup is like. And
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: that brings us to the first part of the show
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: where we get into the matchups, Eagles offense against Rams defense.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: I've been thinking about this guys for a little bit,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: you know, in what, in some ways, poor Sean Mannion
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: entering his fourth game ever is basically have to coach
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: with his hand tied behind his back, but no Devante Smith,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: no Dallas Goddard. He's already got drew Kendall at center,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: a backup. And then Juergen's playing out of position, left guard. But,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: you know, he got the job for a reason. He
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: impressed himself upon this coaching staff, upon ownership. They liked him.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: They thought he was bright. Greg, you were kind of
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: alluding this to this before. It's your job to come
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: up with some kind of schematic way of working around
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: your deficiencies and catering to your strengths. So where does
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: that begin for the Eagles?
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, it's some of what we talked about.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: You know, obviously, the run game becomes a big factor here.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: because you need a way to control the pace and
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: tempo of this game. And you're not necessarily going to
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: do that by throwing the ball all over the yard.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: So the question is, you know, how do they see
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: their run game? I mean, up to this point in
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: the season, outside zone has clearly been their defining and
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: their foundational run. Saquon Barkley, I think is second or
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: third in the league in terms of the number, the
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: percentage of outside zone runs through three weeks. So that's
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: been their foundation, and that's something that they're going to
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: have to lean on and be able to do in
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: this game. The thing is, even without Aaron Donald, and
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: we know Myles Garrett is out, he's been out for
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks, but this is still a difficult
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: pass rush team because they are one of the highest
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: percentage stunt defensive lines in the league. And when you
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: have a center who's making, what, his third start, is it,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: or second start? Third start. Yeah, third. And Juergens, you know,
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: playing a new position, they're going to test that for
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: sure with their stunting. And, you know, they're very, very
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: good at it. And they still have some juice up front.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: You know, Fisk is good. Young is a good rusher.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's not as if they don't have Kobe
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Turner is a load to handle. So it's not as
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: if they don't have any players at all. And, you know,
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: this is a team that often plays in their dime,
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: a five, six dime. In other words, five defensive linemen
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: and six defensive backs. Jalen McCullough is a very good
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: player for them, plays a lot of snaps, has their
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: dime safety. So, you know, it's still not an easy
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: defense to play against. So again, the run game to
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: me becomes absolutely critical in this game. And, and if
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: you're being honest, they did a really nice job last
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: week through the first half and the first two runs
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: of the third quarter. And then they stopped running. I guess,
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: you know, the game kind of got away from them.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Cause I think as Adam, you mentioned, they only had
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: two more carries after that for a, for Barkley, but
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: you know, you have to find a way to stay
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: on the field, have the run game be sustaining. Maybe
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: Barkley can break one. Um, and then, and I, and
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: every coach says this, but it's probably more true this
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: week to be in manageable third down situations where you
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: can scheme up, uh, you know, completions, you know, when
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: it's third and four or third and five, you can
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: scheme up completions more so than when it's third and
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: nine or third and 10. Hmm.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: One more thing I'll add. Another injury that came up
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Friday for the Rams, Josiah Stewart, who I guess is
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: one of the starting edge rushers.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: He didn't practice today. He's got a great injury. He
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: was added to the injury report. That's big. Yep. Wanted
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: to make sure I met.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: If he can't go, and I guess he hasn't been
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: ruled out, though.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: No, no, he's questionable.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: But if he can't go, that's big because he's actually
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: a very good player, and he is a major part
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: of that 5-6 defense that they play.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: Third rounder out of Michigan. Go ahead.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: The Eagles have, in the past, always been able to
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: run the ball well against the Rams because the Rams
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: have always been lighter up front. And now they continue
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: to be light. There's no Aaron Donald. There's no Miles Garrett.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: There's no, as Greg just meant. Well, there might not
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: be a Josiah Stewart. We'll see. But he might be
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: playing hurt.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: He's small.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: That's weird.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Well, they've got some inside, even though they're not big.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Puna Ford's always been a very good run defender. Tyler
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Davis from Clemson is a very good run defender as well.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Those guys are not pass rushers, but they're run defenders.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Right, but if you're going to run the ball to
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: the edges, like the Eagles have done well against the
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Rams in the past.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, then it'll be interesting to see how Chris Shula
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: handles that if Stewart can't go.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Adam, I would say it's very important in a game
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: like this that a guy like tank Bigsby makes the
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: most of his opportunities and doesn't put the ball on
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the ground because he basically got put in the doghouse
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: after he fumbled deep in their own territory against the,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: the bears, but he can't afford to not, I feel
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: like if the Eagles are really going to do this thing,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: it's not about 40 carries for Saquon. It's about really
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: hitting them with a variety of running backs and keeping
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: control of the chains.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: It would help. But also to add to what you
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: just said with tank Bigsby, uh, rain is expected on Sunday. No,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I know. I'm sorry to bring it up. He played
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: in Jacksonville.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: He should be used to that.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: What's that?
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: He should be used to it. He played in Jacksonville.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: It's always raining.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, that's true. It gets humid there. But, yeah,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Bixby's a guy that had a great training camp. Andrew
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: and I were there. You were there. He looks great.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: He fits the scheme very well. We were pretty impressed
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: with the way he looked. Hasn't been the factor yet
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: that we thought he would be. You and I talked
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: about this. They don't need to overwork Barkley. That's the thing.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Go ahead, Greg.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Do you guys know, Adam, have there been any elevations
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: for the Rams?
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: No, that's on Saturday. No, neither team will make them
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: this early. Yeah.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Greg, we've spent a lot of time. in the last
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: two weeks talking about blitz pickup. Some Saquon Barkley struggles
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: with it. How would you evaluate Will Shipley in that department?
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Because I imagine he'll be important. Well, let me ask
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: you this. How would you evaluate that? Plus, the Rams approach.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Do you expect them to come after Jalen Hurts? Do
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: you expect them to show like they are and drop
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: like we saw with the Bears did occasionally? What are
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: you thinking from Chris Shula?
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, it's almost too early to say, you know,
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: what a team exactly is, but they've not been a
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: high percentage blitz team through three games by NFL standards. Now, again,
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: could that change? Of course it could. I mean, because
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: they could feel that with Kendall at center and Juergens
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: at left guard. And depending on who's in the backfield,
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: if it is Barkley, they may want to challenge that.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: You know, Cam Curl has always been a pretty good
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: blitzer going back to his commander days. So, you know,
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: we'll see. That's something they could do. You know, we
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: don't know the answer to that. Because, you know, look,
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: the Rams need a win. You know, just like I'm
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: sure Eagles fans believe the Eagles need a win. But
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: the Rams need a win. So sometimes coaches– I don't
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: want to say they step out of who they are,
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: but they might hit a certain part of the playbook
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: a little more feeling like, hey, we need to step
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: out of a tendency, so to speak, and show something
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: a little different. So that's something you don't know the
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: answer to. And they may also feel, even without Watson,
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: Forbes has played a lot of football. Has he been
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: the player that was expected when he was, I believe,
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: the 16th pick in a draft in the first round? No.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: but it's not as if he can't play. He's improved
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: since that first year when he clearly got torched a
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: couple of times. You know, you can line up and
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: play with him at corner. It's not like he can't play.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: And they may feel with who the Eagles put out
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: a receiver that they're okay on the back end.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I would have to think this would be another heavy
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: 11 personnel game for the Eagles. Even without Devontae Smith,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: you still don't have any depth at tight ends. And
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: if you want to run the ball, you're probably going
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: to run the ball out of 11 with Munt as
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: your inline blocker.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: And you could. Yeah.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Now it's up to your slot receiver to be a
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: decent blocker, whether that's Lemon or Wicks or whoever they're
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: going to put out there. This is, Adam, again, why
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: you're right to say don't forget about Darius Cooper. He's
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: ahead of Elijah Moore, and he is someone that they
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: have used in the slot as a big dirty work
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: type of receiver, and he's good.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: He's strong.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Greg, you've mentioned that he almost kind of has the
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: same frame as A.J.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Brown.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: He's a strong guy.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, again, you never know when a guy
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: then gets more snaps. That's what you don't know. You know,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: I've always equated it to baseball where, you know, when
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: a team signs a free agent who bats seventh for
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: a team and hits 30 home runs, and then they think, well,
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: we're going to make him our number three hitter because
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: his numbers at batting seventh are really good. You never
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: know how that works. So I like Cooper, but if
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: he ends up playing 60 snaps or 50 snaps, whatever
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: the number is, far beyond what he's played up to
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: this point, is the production the same? You just don't
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: know that.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Correct.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like permanent average in the NBA when you, you,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: these guys, Oh, the, he averages per, per six.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Right. Right. Right.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And then, but then when he becomes a starter, he's
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: not the same player because it's, he's not playing the
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: same minutes.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: So yeah. You know, so you don't know.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Cooper does. Cooper does have inside outside capability and he's strong.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: And what I did notice in training camp, wasn't just Wix.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Hertz trusted Cooper. Like they were starting, they were starting
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to develop some chemistry and, But this is a big
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: deal here. There's nowhere else to turn. They don't have
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: any– their depth is being severely tested. Because we started
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: the season saying, wow, their depth– it's not the best talent,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: but they have depth. Well, now it's severely being tested.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, because don't forget Hollywood Brown is out too. Yep. Right.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Right. Last thing I want to mention on offense. I
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: know it's not a big part of the Shanahan-McVay style
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: of offense that Sean Mannion's brought here, but this has
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: to be a career low for Jalen Hurts in rushing
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: yards after– in the first three or four weeks. He
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: is now just not a part of the rushing offense
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: the way he was earlier. And anything is a scramble.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: And he doesn't even– I think Greg pointed this out too.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: The way teams are stunting up the middle, they're clogging it,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: they're not even giving him those lanes to run. Would
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: it benefit this offense if they did try to get
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: him involved in more design runs? Is that an element
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: that they need now that they're so undermanned in personnel? No.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: They might. I mean, look, every game is different every Sunday.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: We all know that. So this might be a game
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: where in order to sustain offense, they need to add
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: in some zone read concepts, some design runs. You know,
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: it's not a matter of him running for 30 yards.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: It's a matter of staying on the field and trying
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: to control the pace and tempo of the game. I mean,
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: that's ultimately what you're trying to do. So, I mean, again,
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: you know, It would not surprise me in this game
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: if they added that to the equation. Now, again, that
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: doesn't mean you're coming out with it on first and 10,
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: but I mean, you're going to have situations where the
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: design run game can be a factor.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: I would say as a change up, right? Because they
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: were not under center very much less. You could be
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: under center a little bit more. As Greg talked about
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: design runs, which they're still not quite there like we
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: were hoping they would be because we haven't really seen
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: it as much as we thought we would. When you're
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: down in a pass target group, right, tight end of receiver,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: you've got to find inventive ways, man, to create offense.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: That's what Greg led off with. I thought he's right.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I'm just talking to coaches over the years when you're challenged.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: It's not only showing the defense something different. You've got
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: to come up with something different because you don't have
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the other guys. And they know their personnel. What does
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Darius Cooper do really well? We haven't really talked about
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: that very much. What does Elijah Moore do very well?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: He's going to have to play. They have nowhere else
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: to go here. What does Wicks do? Like, Wicks has
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: been there. They'll take a couple shot plays with him. Okay,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: we know he can line up inside. And then a
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: tight end, I don't know what they have.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: You know, you have to create things. You have to
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: do misdirection. You have to do, you know, not gimmicks. Gimmicks,
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: you know, yeah, could there be a gimmick play? Sure.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: But like the Niners did on the first series, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: last Sunday when they did that, you know, lateral. And, again,
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: that got them off to a good start, obviously, but
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: that's not something you do seven times in a game.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: but you can't have misdirection elements in your offense. You
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: can't have those kinds of things. And Adam mentioned it, stacks, bunches,
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: things that create, you're trying to create completions. That's what
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: you're trying to do.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Right. I do wonder, you know, if our discourse after
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: this game and going forward will continue to be about,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: is everybody being put in the best position to succeed?
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: That is the number one job of a coach is
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: to put your players in position to succeed, maximize their strength,
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: minimize their weaknesses. They've thrown about six screens. I think
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: all six have been blown up this year. Four of
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: them have been just because of bad blocks in front
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: of them, whether it's Goddard, Ertz had one, Devontae Smith
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: had one. They're not a good screen team. They continue
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: to try to pop one or two, and it's been
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: hurting them. That was the second play they ran from
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: scrimmage against the Bears. in the third quarter, right after
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: a nice Saquon Barkley seven yard run. And it immediately
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: put them behind the sticks. So if there's anything, I
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: think that you really have to do when you're facing
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: this Rams team and this Rams, and you're trying to
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: control the ball, keep the ball away from their offenses,
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: move the chains and do it in the best way
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: that's caters to your personnel. You know, maybe going back
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: to more inside running, you can run zone inside. Eagles
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: do it all the time, but they've been trying to
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: run to the outside. You don't have great blockers on
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: the outside at tight end or, wide receiver. So I'll
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: be very interested to see if there's been some organizational
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: discussion this week and to try to balance it.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: It's been an interesting three weeks because they're trying to establish,
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: as all good offenses do, have some kind of defined identity.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: The first two weeks it was tough because they couldn't
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: run the ball at all. And when one half of
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: your offense, your run game, pass game being the two halves,
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: let's say, and one half doesn't really function effectively, it's
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: difficult to develop some kind of rhythm and continuity and
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: identity to your offense. Now they were able to win
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: both those games. Jalen Hurts played very well in both
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: those games. This past week, they actually came out and
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: ran the ball well, but the past game, for reasons
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: we discussed when we evaluated the game earlier in the week,
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: the past game did not do really anything in the game. So,
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: you know, that half of the offense did not function well.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: So therefore they played three games in which it does
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: not seem as if there's a true identity yet to
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: their offense. Is that a fair statement, guys?
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Absolutely fair.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: Absolutely fair. So they're striving for that because every offense
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: strives for that. And at this point, we're just being
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: honest based on what the tape shows, we don't know
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: exactly how that's going to play out. Now, they're obviously
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: going to strive for it. I mean, that's what all
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: teams do. But it hasn't quite happened yet the way
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: they would like it to.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Off that, what Greg just said, I would take this
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: to another level. If they had Goddard and Smith, you
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: kind of know, because you saw in week one, they
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: could turn to the passing game. They would have these
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: good pass targets. Without them, it's kind of like, okay,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: if Barkley doesn't get the job done, what can they do?
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: It's like, who could kind of stand out? Now, Wicks
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: may wind up being their top pass target this game.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Can he handle... maybe 10 to 12 pass targets if
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: it calls on it. That's what you don't know. He
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: hasn't been that guy. Greg has outlined on our shows
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: what he looked like at UVA before the final season,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: but there's some talent there, and he's looked good so far,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: but you're going to ask someone's going to have to
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: be a big pass target guy. I agree.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: You've got to win outside the margins a little bit
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: this week. Yeah, absolutely.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: Fascinating. I look at this game and obviously there's many variables,
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: so I don't want to make it seem like this
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: is the only variable, but I think first down is
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: a fascinating balance in this game because you come out,
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: let's say you do feel that you have to run
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: the ball, which I think they have to, but does
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: that mean you come out on most first downs and
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: run it? Or, Because first down is normally the best
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: down to throw as well. What's the balance there? I
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: don't have an answer for that, so I'm not going
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: to pretend I'm smart enough to have an answer for that.
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: But that's something they've got to kind of figure out.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Because if.
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: You're not running well, and we don't know until they
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: try it, the last thing you want is to get
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: caught up in second and nine all the time. Because
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: then that just changes the whole feel of a possession.
• 30:24
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• 31:04
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• 33:10
  Speaker 2: flip it. Let's talk now about this Rams offense against
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: this Eagles defense. Uh, Obviously, no Zach Vaughn. That's going
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: to impact him on a lot of levels, right, Greg?
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Because Vaughn wears the green dot. He is the communicator.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: And when you're hearing Vic Fangio talk about Jihad Campbell
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: as a work in progress, still learning, you mentioned the
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: key in diagnosing that still comes along. I mean, there's
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: no Reed Blankenship anymore, who also used to be a
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: traffic cop for the back end of the defense. It
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: does make me wonder from a communication standpoint, which was
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: an issue already last week against the Bears, right? Who
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: is the guy? Who is the glue guy from the
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: linebacker to the corner to the safety level that can
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: get this whole defense aligned correctly?
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: That's a hard question for us to answer. Yeah. They'll
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: have an answer.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: I think Sean McVay wants to find that out, that
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: question himself.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: Well, and the other thing, too, is we always talk
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: about the Rams and think passing game. But the Rams
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: run the ball well. And they almost have two different
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: run games with two different backs. Because Kyron Williams is
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: a– get a shoulder-squared run downhill– So one run they feature,
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: and again, this is where Jeremiah Trotter Jr. comes in,
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: is one run that is featured with Kyron Williams' duo.
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: And you get those two double teams, and then you
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: work up to the linebackers. Now, Vaughn was phenomenal at
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: recognizing the timing of when to then shoot that gap
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: if Carter or Davis or Jomo were double teamed. You know,
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: he was a master at that. And, you know, that's
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: just a feel. Now, I like Trotter, but he hasn't
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: played really a full game in a meaningful game, so
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: I can't answer that question. But he's going to have
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: to deal with that because they're going to run duo.
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: And then they've got Corum, who is a little more
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: of an outside runner. They'll get him on the perimeter
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: because he's got a little more juice than Williams. So
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: they have, I don't want to say two distinct run games,
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: but they do use both backs a little bit differently
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: in their run game.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: And I would add this, Jeff. I know it wasn't
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: great last week, but Bond is actually– talk from the
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: people I spoke with, one of the better coverage linebackers
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: in the National Football League. Oh, yeah.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: That's what we said. Yeah. Yeah.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Not having his length.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: And trot juniors like three or four inches shorter. Maybe
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: three inches. That matters. It's a big deal. And the experience. Yeah.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: You're missing a lot here.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, and you're facing an offense, as Greg mentioned,
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: that they're one of the few teams that doesn't mind
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: killing you by a thousand. You know, they don't have
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: to throw it over the top over you. They will
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: march down the field, like Greg said, running duo with
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: Kyron Williams, running the outside. And they throw to the
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: flats really well, and they use play action well. And
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: when you looked at the Eagles Monday night, not only
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: did they have communication issues, but it seemed like Ben
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: Johnson did a good job of finding those voids in
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: the flats that are open again, zone, and then having
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: the guys who catch the ball, be able to turn
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: up field. I think that that's where I would have
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: my biggest concern right now, especially now with a less
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: athletic guy like Trotter in there is will they be
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: worn out in the flats and over, you know, on
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: the play action, especially in, and just little death by
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: cuts that move the ball up and down the field
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: for the Rams.
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: Well, and here's a question which you haven't addressed. And,
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: We don't know the answer to when they line up
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: in 13 personnel, will the Eagles be in base with
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: the gene at safety or will the Eagles go nickel?
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: That's a great question. You know, Vic wants to be
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: in nickel because he's even countered that with, with nickel.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: But if he does that, then you got Michael Carter
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: at safety who's still learning the position. I know you're
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: leaving yourself vulnerable, vulnerable one way or another.
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: So I don't know the answer. I'm just, but I think,
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: They obviously have been working on it all week. They
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: have their plan right now. So we don't know what
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: that is, but it'll be interesting because even without Terrence Ferguson,
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: the Rams still will address four tight ends. They're still
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: going to play 13 personnel. Now, the question, which we
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: don't know either, depending on Pukunukuwa's health, is how much
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: Pukunukuwa plays. Because when they play 13 personnel, my guess
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: is he will not be the wide receiver. It'll be
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: Devontae Adams, who's off, by the way, to a terrific start. So,
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: you know, what, what are the Rams going to do?
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: What's good there. What's going to be their balance between
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: 13 personnel, 12 personnel and 11 personnel.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: And Jeff, one more thing I want to add. So
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: you'd brought up sort of like the Eagles backs and
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: coverage and what could the Rams do? Kyron Williams had
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: a great game catch in the football last week, six
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: for 70. Quorum was also on the field and caught
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: a couple of passes. So their backs can catch the football.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: There's a lot they can do here, and we haven't
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: got to Stafford yet.
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: And another thing, another player that is coming on a
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: bit as a receiver is Mumford. You know, Mumfield, excuse me.
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: I remember him at Pitt. Big physical receiver, not a
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: burner per se, but there were a lot of people
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: that liked him coming out of Pitt. They knew what
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: he was. He wasn't going to be like a number one,
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: but he's one of those guys that could end up
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: being in the league for 10 years and is just
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: a solid receiver.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: I think in the past we used to be able
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: to look at this matchup and say, from a defensive standpoint,
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: you could always rely on the Eagles to come away
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: with a few turnovers, especially when they play the Rams.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: They've been able to make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable with their
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: pass rush.
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: They have.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Last year we mentioned, I don't think Stafford got sacked,
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: but he threw a bunch of passes that were not
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: Stafford-like because you could just tell he was rushing his clock.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: He was afraid of the pass rush. And then, of course,
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: they get the field goal block.
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: But it still took a blocked field goal to win
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: the game. It's not like they held the Rams to
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: 13 points.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: And that's where I come– the turnovers become so crucial
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: in close, tight games because they flip the field. The
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Eagles are minus five in turnover differential. They haven't– I
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: don't think they have a turnover takeaway this year.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: They don't.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, which is– some of that to me is an
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: anomaly like because you know they come in bunches it's
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: surprising to me but if they can't get a turnover
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: in this game I and if they can't limit Rams
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: possessions then I think they're in for a really long
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: afternoon and.
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: By the way I think this is where Grenard comes
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: into play too because he played 18 snaps last week
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: I would assume that number is going to go up
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: is that fair Adam from what you.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Guys are hearing?
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: You should know that he practiced more this week than
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: he did last week.
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: So, I mean, he's probably going to play 40 snaps,
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: give or take. And, you know, he's obviously– look, he
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: looked good in his 18 snaps last week. He had
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: some strong pass rushes. And he's truly a pass rusher.
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: And they don't really have another one. So he's going
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: to play.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: So we'll see how that impacts Stafford when it comes
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: to passing situations. The Rams are an under-center play-action pass team,
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: and it really fits well with the run. They marry
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: the two of those things together as well as any
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: team in the league. Detroit does that as well. Chicago
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: does that as well. The Rams are very good at that.
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: The Seahawks are very good at that. These teams that
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: are under-center play-action pass teams are very good at marrying
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: run looks and the passing game.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Did you notice which side Grenard was lined up on?
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Any chance?
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: Mostly the right, I believe. Yeah.
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: Just over left tackle. Over left tackle.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: If you're on the right, you'd be able to. Because
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: our old friend Warren McLennan is the right tackle, and
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the Eagles have had some fun with him over the years.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: He's gotten better since being on the right by Brandon Graham.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: Greg, is the reason why the Rams do so much
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: under– I mean, just foundationally, I know that's what Sean
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: McVay likes to do. But, I mean, we always talk
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: about their offensive line not being individually very good or
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: elite and having great pass protection guys. But, I mean,
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: are they alleviated by the style of offense that the
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: Rams run?
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, playing under center does a lot of things for you.
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: Number one, it helps pass protection. And number two, it
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: impacts– when you can marry your run game with your
• 41:06
  Speaker 3: play-action game, it puts second-level defenders in conflict, much more
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: so than if you're in shotgun play action, where they
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: can see almost instantaneously whether it's run or pass. And
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: it also then gives you much more of a misdirection
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: element to your pass game, because if you run an
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: outside zone element in your run game and then have
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: outside zone run action, it also gives you the boot
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: element opposite. So it just gives you so many more
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: elements with an under-center play a play action pass game
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: than a shotgun play action pass game. Right.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: And see, this is a good for, for Eagles fans,
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: especially are trying to understand this transition for two straight weeks.
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: You're going to see what the Eagles are trying to do,
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: by the way, right.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: For two straight weeks, you're going to see the opponent,
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: not only run an offense, but sort of foundationally build
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: their philosophy and their scouting and their player procurement approach
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: around that. If you, All three of those tight ends
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: that the Bears put on the field on Monday night
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: can block and catch. Maybe not all the same level,
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: but good enough. All three or four of the Rams'
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: tight ends can also block and catch at the same level.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: The Eagles right now, not only do they not have
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: a lot of tight ends who are healthy, but they
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: have some too many, I guess, one-dimensional players who don't
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: give you... Because as you're mentioning, Greg, the whole point
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: is to be able to run either a run or
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: a pass out of the same identical formation that you
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: did the other one from so that the defense is
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: confused and can't get a tell.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: Well, certainly have the action of the O-line and the
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: backfield action be the same.
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: Correct, correct.
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: The wide receiver... splits can be different, obviously.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: But those guys are in line and they look like
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: it might be a run, but then they can release
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: and run some kind of receiver routes. Whereas I don't
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: know that anybody looks at Johnny Muntin says, go ahead,
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: go run a receiver.
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: Well, that's why those passing teams can work the middle
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: of the field so effectively because they end up creating
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: more distance between the second level of the defense and
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: the third level of the defense because of the run action.
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: So teams like the lions, the Rams, the Seahawks, uh,
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: the Bears with a lot of those between-the-numbers throws can
• 43:13
  Speaker 3: work the middle of the field more effectively because that's
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: what you're looking to do, to create more space between
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: the second and the third level.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: I would love for this show to not be 13
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: more weeks after this. Well, see, the Eagles really don't
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: have the personnel to do what they're trying to do,
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: but they're trying to do it because this is what
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: they bought into.
• 43:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but they do have the personnel because they do
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: have Barkley, and I'm sure teams still think that Barkley's
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: the number one guy you've got to stop. There's no
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: question defenses are going into a game against the Eagles
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: thinking that. No question. No matter what he's done in
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: the past, there's no way they want Barkley to control
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: a game, you know, either with 7, 8, 9, 14-yard
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: runs or to break a 60-yard touchdown.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: As the Rams know.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: Right. But, Greg, he needs the blocking scheme to work.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: You're right.
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: Yes, of course.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: Of course.
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: But, you know, that is a related but separate question, okay?
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: the Eagles are still going to run outside zone. They
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: were very successful running it last week. They're going to
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: run it. So it's, you don't need, if you can
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: do that effectively, Jeff, and it's an, if we all
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: understand that right now, then on a certain level, not
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: a hundred percent, but on a certain level, then you
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: don't need big time number one receivers because you're creating space.
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: And that's, you know, and then if you're creating space,
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: Dante Wicks, who's a big body, can work between the numbers.
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: You know, Cooper, who's a big body, can work between
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: the numbers. You know, you're creating space for them. It's
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: not a matter of winning one-on-one.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Jeff, remember what, again, we've brought this up a lot,
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: but what the Niners did to the Eagles in the
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: playoff game with Demarcus Robinson, Juwan Jennings.
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Running game with whoever was back there that helped them,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: but by schematics and space that that they create with
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: that scheme, it gets them open. So it, it'd be
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: great if Barkley did well, obviously it needs to start
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: with a run, any game, even if they had a
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: lot of their, their past our group there, but these
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: guys like Sean Mannion is, is, is he's got to
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: do a good job here. This is a, I hate
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: This is Sean Mannion week.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: I've been thinking it all week, Adam.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: I agree with you a hundred percent. You know what?
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: The other thing too is, and I, I'm not disagreeing, Adam,
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: but you know, they have other players on the staff.
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: You know, Sirianni's an offensive guy. I don't know the
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: whole offensive staff off the top of my head, but
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: it's not like they're going to put Sean Manning in
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: a room with a straight jacket and say, you better
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: come out with a plan or else, you know, no,
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's the offensive coordinator, obviously. So, you know,
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: once the game starts, you know, you don't have time
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: for lengthy discussions and he's going to have to call
• 45:54
  Speaker 3: the plays. But as you work through this week, he's
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: not the only guy being tasked with coming up with
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: a plan.
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: That's true.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Ryan Mahaffey, his friend, and that's why he's there. He
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: was the Titans coach and run game coordinator. They were
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: both at Green Bay. Jamal Singleton.
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah. There's a lot of parts to this during the week.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair.
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: I've been, I've been fortunate enough to be with teams
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: in training camp and there's every, almost every offensive coach
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: is tasked with a certain element of the offense. You know,
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: One coach is saying he's going to go through all
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: the third downs. Another is going through all the first downs.
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: Another one's going through all the red zone, you know,
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: and then they come together and then they work it out.
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: And then obviously Sean Mannion calls it during the game.
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: But it's not just Sean Mannion who does all of
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: this by himself. Sure.
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: But on game day, it's happening.
• 46:43
  Speaker 3: I agree on game day.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's a big deal.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: It's a good point. Here's a great point.
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: I hope people understand that because it's easy to rip
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: Sean Mannion. And I'm sure Philly fans did that after
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: Monday night's game. And I'm not saying that. Look, I'm
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: not saying that during the game, you know, look, I
• 47:01
  Speaker 3: think he got a little outclassed because he was in
• 47:03
  Speaker 3: his third game as a coordinator and he went against
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: a 30 year defensive coach in the league, but people
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: really need to understand that in the preparation, it's not
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: just Sean Mannion. And if you know, So you have
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: to really understand that because that's not the way teams work.
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: I'll give you guys a great example. I wrote a
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: story about this for Philly Voice this week. It wound
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: up being ironic because Aaron Donald is not going to play.
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: But the Eagles have played against the Rams with Aaron
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: Donald five times. And I went back and looked at footage.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: They always had a great plan for how to block
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: him that involved a number of things, slide protections, double teams,
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: sometimes triple teams, moving away, running away from him, quick game, RPO.
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: Aaron Donald's the only team that the Eagles have played
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: three times or more and has no sacks against, okay?
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: Jeff Stoutland has been the offensive line coach for every
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: single one of those games. And Doug Peterson or Nick Sirianni,
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: whoever's calling plays in any of those five games, they
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: couldn't call those plays if Aaron Donald was wrecking them.
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: So what Jeff Stoutland was doing up front from a
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: blocking scheme standpoint was very important. Right. So to your point, Greg,
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: position coaches blocking.
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: That's huge.
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: They all are a part of that. And just so
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: people understand that the game calls are, are spending no question.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: You know, again, we're trying to be clear here and
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: have people understand, you know, how this stuff works, that
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: it's easy because of game day to rip the offensive coordinator.
• 48:27
  Speaker 3: And again, I'm sure there are times it's, you know,
• 48:31
  Speaker 3: it's deserved, but, During the week, it's not all Sean
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: Mannion by any stretch of the imagination.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: I'll take it a step further on what Greg was
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: talking about. On game day, because you don't have a
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: lot of time, but the communication between all the coaches,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: because he's not going to be able to see it all,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: although I guess he's upstairs, but he's concentrating on trying
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: to call the game. And this is why communication is
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: so key, because this is only his fourth game call
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: and plays. He doesn't have his top two pass targets.
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: This comes with creativity during the week, coaches game plans.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: There'll be a run game game plan. There'll be tight
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: end game plan. There'll be run coordinator game plan. They
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: got to, this is just fascinating to see how this
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: is going to come about because being this shorthanded on
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: a short week, let's not forget they played last Monday.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: So they have, they, almost two fewer days to do this.
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: It's going to be hard.
• 49:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, keep in mind they have Josh– is it
• 49:25
  Speaker 3: Grizzard or Grizzard?
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: Grizzard.
• 49:26
  Speaker 3: Josh Grizzard.
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: Grizzard.
• 49:27
  Speaker 3: So he was in Tampa in the two years that
• 49:30
  Speaker 3: Baker Mayfield, you know, had really good seasons. So, I mean,
• 49:34
  Speaker 3: you know, he's another guy. He's going to be brought
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: in and he's– whatever he's asked to do, you know,
• 49:39
  Speaker 3: a lot of people are involved in the weekly preparation
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: for a game.
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: All right. Last thing, Greg, Matthew Stafford through three weeks.
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: How's he looking to you? Different, same numbers.
• 49:51
  Speaker 3: To me, it looks the same. I mean, he threw the, the,
• 49:54
  Speaker 3: the pick return for a touchdown last week was just
• 49:56
  Speaker 3: an inaccurate throw. You know, everyone, look, he threw the
• 49:59
  Speaker 3: ball 55 times, give or take in that game. which again,
• 50:02
  Speaker 3: he's capable of doing that, but you don't want him
• 50:04
  Speaker 3: to do that. You know, I mean, McVay's not going
• 50:07
  Speaker 3: into a game saying let's have Stafford drop back 55 times. Right.
• 50:11
  Speaker 3: But Stafford obviously is just an elite throw of the football.
• 50:14
  Speaker 3: You know, one of the best we've seen over the
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: last many decades. And, you know, he's, he's one of
• 50:20
  Speaker 3: the few guys. And I remember having this conversation with
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: Phil Sims years ago, where the physical has remained. and
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: the mental is at the highest level. Not many quarterbacks
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: can maintain the physical with the mental being what it
• 50:34
  Speaker 3: is because the body just starts not to work the
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: same way. So is he going to force some balls
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: on occasion because he's always been an aggressive mindset thrower? Yes,
• 50:44
  Speaker 3: he is. And there's no question that if you get
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: bodies around him, week one in the game in Australia,
• 50:51
  Speaker 3: the 49ers had no sacks, but they had bodies around
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: him all the time. He was throwing out of a hole.
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: You know, as Adam might remember, Ron George used to
• 51:00
  Speaker 3: use that term all the time, throwing out of a hole. And,
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: you know, that's what you need to try to do
• 51:04
  Speaker 3: with Stafford. Try to get him throwing out of a hole. Awesome.
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: All right, let's do what we do best. The Eagles
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: are three and a half point underdogs at home. I
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: do not remember the last time the Eagles were three
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: and a half point dogs at home. It's probably been
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: quite a while, but that's the situation they're in. Adam,
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: give us the winner and the player of the game.
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: I've got it.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: Rams 24, Eagles 13.
• 51:27
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I just had this feeling earlier in the
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: week that Smitty wouldn't play because he's had this injury,
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: as I said. You're going back to early August. Not good.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: It's going to be hard for them to score. It's
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: a tough challenge for Mannion. It's kind of unfair, but
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: it is what it is. He's got to do the
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: best job he can and see what happens. But my
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: player of the game would be Devontae Adams. I really do. Now,
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: I know it might rain, so we'll have to see
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: how well they can throw the ball. But he is,
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: as Greg said, is off to a phenomenal start. And
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: the Rams coaches know Rick Willen real well. And I'm
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: sure they'll try to get some matchups on him.
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: That's a great point. I didn't think about that. Very
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: good point.
• 52:11
  Speaker 3: Devontae Adams, a Hall of Famer?
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: It's getting close.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: I've got to look at the numbers. I'll say this.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: He's on what we call some baseball, the almost Hall
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: of Fame, at a minimum. At a minimum. I mean,
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: he's absolutely the conversation. That's a great question. Well, the
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: thing he's what, 33, 34, and he's still doing it.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: It's pretty incredible.
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: He's just a compiler, Adam. No, he's pretty good.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: Don't even get me started with that.
• 52:35
  Speaker 3: Go ahead, Greg. You know, the thing about picking games
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: and just in general, I mean, you know, obviously we
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: do this and we have fun with it. And I'm
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: sure people think that if we're wrong, we're idiots, but
• 52:46
  Speaker 3: you know, all we have is what, or the way
• 52:49
  Speaker 3: I can think about is, is what I've seen on
• 52:51
  Speaker 3: film up to this point. I can't predict, you know,
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: something dramatic changes this week, you know, and that can
• 52:56
  Speaker 3: happen by the way, in an NFL game, as we know,
• 52:59
  Speaker 3: you know, but based on what I've seen, I would
• 53:03
  Speaker 3: agree with Adam that it's hard for me to look
• 53:05
  Speaker 3: at this Eagles offense in this given game and say, man,
• 53:09
  Speaker 3: they're going to explode, you know, and cause I'm somewhere
• 53:14
  Speaker 3: along the lines with Adam. I'm looking at the Rams
• 53:17
  Speaker 3: 23 and the Eagles 16, you know, somewhere along like that,
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: that kind of game. Um, Now, again, there's no way
• 53:24
  Speaker 3: to know about an individual big play or a special
• 53:27
  Speaker 3: teams play. There's no way to predict any of those things.
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: But just looking at the game as to what we've
• 53:32
  Speaker 3: seen through three weeks, you know, and three weeks is
• 53:36
  Speaker 3: not a large enough sample to say this is the season. But,
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: you know, you know what I'm saying. I think you
• 53:42
  Speaker 3: guys would agree with me.
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: And I don't know. On paper right now, it looks
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: to you like the Rams are 23-16 better on paper.
• 53:48
  Speaker 3: Right. And if I had to pick, you know, oh,
• 53:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'm just going to pick Matthew Stafford because,
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: you know, I don't know who else to pick.
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: Quick release. Quick release. Made them last week.
• 54:00
  Speaker 3: That's fair.
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: So I don't like to make different picks on different platforms.
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: So earlier in the week, I didn't realize that the
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: Rams were going to be without Aaron Donald too. But
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: I just felt in general that if you look at
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: the Eagles last few years, when they lose a game,
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: especially when they have a bad defensive effort, they pretty–
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: frequently snap back defensively the next week. It's very rare
• 54:25
  Speaker 2: that Vic shows you two bad games on defense. I
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: think their defense will play a lot better in this
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: game and they will force some turnovers for the first
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: time this year. So I think this game is going
• 54:35
  Speaker 2: to be close. And I do think Saquon Barkley has
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: a habit of having a very good game against this.
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: And I just have this feeling that the Eagles, when
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: everybody is counting them out, are going to wind up
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: winning a game like this, then probably losing a game.
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: Everybody thinks they're going to win against either Jacksonville or
• 54:51
  Speaker 2: down the road, but I'm actually going to go with
• 54:54
  Speaker 2: the Eagles in this game. I'm going to pick them
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: to win 27 to 23. That's a very high score.
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: I've got to hear why.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, because I believe the Ram, I believe the
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: Eagles defense will force turnovers, maybe even score a touchdown
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: like they did last year or special teams did. I
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: just think in general, They will bounce back, and I
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: think that they're just going to catch the Rams. I mean,
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: it's just a pick. I'm wrong sometimes. Everybody beats me
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: over the head when I pick against the Eagles. I know.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: They love saying that.
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: But nobody ever gives me credit when I pick them
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: to win.
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: You could well be right. I mean, we're at the
• 55:29
  Speaker 3: point in the season where it's so hard to know
• 55:31
  Speaker 3: if a team is what they are or if they're
• 55:34
  Speaker 3: still a work in progress, particularly when you have new coaches.
• 55:37
  Speaker 3: That's what's so hard. We don't know that for a
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: fact right now. I mean, I heard somebody say today that,
• 55:44
  Speaker 3: you know, follows this closely that, well, Sean Manning is
• 55:46
  Speaker 3: just going to be a one-year coordinator and he's out
• 55:47
  Speaker 3: of here. And I'm thinking, you know, can you say
• 55:50
  Speaker 3: that after three games? I mean, you know, come on.
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, who knows the answer to that? Right, right.
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: You can't say that, but then you also can't say
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: it won't because you never know.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: For that to happen, Barkley's got to be a major factor.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: We're talking 150, 175. Well, that's why I picked him.
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: I think he might have a huge game with two
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: or three touchdowns.
• 56:13
  Speaker 3: I mean, Adam, think of it this way, and then
• 56:15
  Speaker 3: we'll finish up. Think of the game Monday night. It
• 56:18
  Speaker 3: was 10-7 at the half, meaning that there was no
• 56:21
  Speaker 3: need to change anything you were doing offensively, correct? And
• 56:24
  Speaker 3: Barkley had 11 for 72, and he had three 10-plus
• 56:27
  Speaker 3: yard runs. I'm sure there are a lot of people
• 56:30
  Speaker 3: watching that game. Unfortunately, I fell asleep. But there are
• 56:33
  Speaker 3: a lot of people watching that game that might have
• 56:37
  Speaker 3: felt that Barkley was on his way to run for 150.
• 56:41
  Speaker 3: And obviously, it didn't play out that way. So, you know,
• 56:45
  Speaker 3: it looked pretty good in the run game through the
• 56:47
  Speaker 3: first half.
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: Yep. That blown-up screen on second and three on the
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: second play of the second half after a Barkley seven.
• 56:54
  Speaker 3: It almost.
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: If I were to pick a turning point, it would
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: be that. It just completely put it behind the sticks.
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: What's that?
• 57:02
  Speaker 3: Was that the screen to Lemon? Yep.
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: Like you mentioned, the first play they run is Barkley
• 57:06
  Speaker 2: plus seven to the right. They're in second and three.
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: They're ahead of the sticks. And then they run this
• 57:10
  Speaker 2: screen that has failed them time and time again. And
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: then the next thing you know, it's third and seven.
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: And then Hertz gets pressured, throws it away. And then
• 57:18
  Speaker 2: away we go. You know, I mean, it was just,
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: I hate to call a blown screen a turning point,
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: but it really was.
• 57:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then they had the– starting with that series,
• 57:26
  Speaker 3: they had three consecutive series, two punts, and a miss
• 57:29
  Speaker 3: work down.
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: Three straight 3-0s.
• 57:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, yeah, it's so– I hope
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: people understand this when we talk. You know, it's so
• 57:37
  Speaker 3: hard to know after three games with new members on
• 57:40
  Speaker 3: a staff and new systems put in. It's just so
• 57:42
  Speaker 3: hard to know.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: By the way, weren't the Eagles 2-2 in 2024?
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: They were, and they looked this bad in the first
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: four weeks. They looked terrible.
• 57:50
  Speaker 3: The Eagles always played the Bucs week four, remember, and
• 57:52
  Speaker 3: they'd always lose? Yeah.
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: And then they would always play.
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: And the guy was falling.
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: They always played Kirk Cousins in week three and the
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: Bucs in week four. That's the way it was.
• 58:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and the guy was always falling after they lost
• 58:05
  Speaker 3: to the Bucs.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: So in week four, that was the game that you
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: brought up. Now, remember, they got smoked 33-16. Remember, that
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: was the game. I think A.J. Brown, they had a
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: bunch of players out in that game.
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 58:18
  Speaker 3: It was the Super Bowl year, okay, two years ago, okay?
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 58:22
  Speaker 3: Week three, they struggled like hell to beat the Saints,
• 58:25
  Speaker 3: and Barclays hit a 60-yard touchdown run, and they beat
• 58:28
  Speaker 3: the Saints like 13-10. No, no.
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: Well, yes, but the big play was the Dallas Goddard
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: mesh play.
• 58:34
  Speaker 3: Yes, but I'm saying they didn't score a lot of points.
• 58:37
  Speaker 3: Everybody was still saying this offense, what the hell is
• 58:41
  Speaker 3: this offense? Then they go the next week and lose
• 58:43
  Speaker 3: to the Bucs, as I recall. And then they have
• 58:45
  Speaker 3: a bye, and the sky was falling in Philadelphia.
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: By the way, the next two games after the bye
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: was an ugly win over the Browns and an ugly
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: win over the Jags. They really weren't right until week
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: nine or ten.
• 58:58
  Speaker 3: It was an ugly win. I remember the Browns very
• 59:00
  Speaker 3: well because I was actually at my grandson's birthday party
• 59:02
  Speaker 3: because his birthday is October 13th. And they had the
• 59:05
  Speaker 3: game on at the event, so I could at least
• 59:07
  Speaker 3: watch it. And it was very, very ugly.
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: That Cleveland game.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: That was so bad in Philly. So bad. Yeah.
• 59:14
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: That was fun. Good show. And, of course, Adam and
• 59:19
  Speaker 2: I will wrap it up on the Inside the Birds
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: postgame show after the game. That's going to do it
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: for the Inside the Birds pregame show. Big thanks, as always,
• 59:26
  Speaker 2: to Greg Cosell for joining us, for Adam Kaplan. I'm
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: Jeff Mosher. You've been watching the Inside the Birds pregame
• 59:31
  Speaker 2: show on Inside the Birds.