Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / Eagles vs. Rams Postgame Show, Week 12

Transcript

Eagles vs. Rams Postgame Show, Week 12 · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:21
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. You're listening to Eagles postgame analysis here
0:24
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
0:27
Speaker 1: weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, eleven and
0:31
Speaker 1: a half years strong. The Philadelphia Eagles beating the Los
0:35
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams on the road out in La As. We
0:39
Speaker 1: are recording this at the two minute warning in the
0:41
Speaker 1: fourth quarter of this game. Score right now is thirty
0:44
Speaker 1: seven to fourteen, likely going to be the final score. Man,
0:48
Speaker 1: This Eagles team is going to go nine to two
0:51
Speaker 1: on the season. What a game this was. We're gonna
0:55
Speaker 1: dive into our themes and we are going to dish
0:57
Speaker 1: out our grades. I'm Jeff Warren, and I'm here with
1:00
Speaker 1: my good buddy from Philadelphia soccernow dot com and one
1:04
Speaker 1: of our favorite Eagles analysts here at the PST podcast show,
1:08
Speaker 1: Josh Schuster.
1:08
Speaker 2: Buddy, how you doing man, Ye, I'm doing good. I
1:13
Speaker 2: am very thankful to you. Don't have many late night games.
1:18
Speaker 1: I appreciate it coming on, but.
1:21
Speaker 2: It's you know, it's late and we aren't young anymore.
1:24
Speaker 2: So yes, now, it's all good. At least at least
1:29
Speaker 2: it was worth staying up for it. Exactly exactly that's
1:31
Speaker 2: the good news.
1:32
Speaker 1: Look, I'm a pain in the button. I have been
1:34
Speaker 1: since twenty thirteen when we started this because I like
1:37
Speaker 1: to put our postgame shows up like right after the game.
1:39
Speaker 1: A lot of other podcast platforms out there, they wait
1:41
Speaker 1: a day, sometimes two, sometimes three days, which I think
1:45
Speaker 1: is insane. But I appreciate you, buddy, as always being
1:49
Speaker 1: here for this.
1:49
Speaker 2: I am my pleasure, my pleasure.
1:53
Speaker 1: It's fun to get in these games when they win,
1:55
Speaker 1: when they're dominant, when they are showing this NFL league
1:59
Speaker 1: really who they are. It's just this punch in the
2:03
Speaker 1: face type of offense and defense that this team is
2:06
Speaker 1: playing right now. Josh, and I think for me, I
2:09
Speaker 1: think the biggest theme from this particular game out in
2:12
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. I think it's safe to say that this
2:15
Speaker 1: was an offensive game where we could have actually given
2:17
Speaker 1: the game ball out to all five offensive linemen. The
2:20
Speaker 1: offensive line was putting on a clinic against this Rams
2:24
Speaker 1: defensive front. And I think we all know it, and
2:28
Speaker 1: every now and then we say it, but it needs
2:30
Speaker 1: to be said after this game that the best offensive
2:33
Speaker 1: line evaluators and coaches in the game are here in Philadelphia.
2:39
Speaker 1: That's my biggest takeaway from this particular game. Give the
2:42
Speaker 1: game ball to all five offensive linemen, even though even
2:44
Speaker 1: though a few of them had some penalties in this game,
2:47
Speaker 1: they were so dominant.
2:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just thought than the Rams did score so
2:51
Speaker 2: they down maated a squeaker of the sixteen point deficite. Okay,
2:56
Speaker 2: so sorry, it's seventeen point depth other than going for two.
3:00
Speaker 2: But no, I agree with what you're saying. I think
3:04
Speaker 2: really the offensive line just was tremendous tonight. And I
3:10
Speaker 2: kind of view today, if you're an Eagles fan as
3:13
Speaker 2: a cupcake, that the cake portion is this win tonight,
3:19
Speaker 2: and the icing on top of it was the Cowboys
3:21
Speaker 2: be Washington. So not only do you gain a game advantage,
3:27
Speaker 2: but the Cowboys also now have fallen outside of the
3:30
Speaker 2: top ten of the NFL draft. And so really this
3:34
Speaker 2: kind of I mean, I want to call it a
3:36
Speaker 2: perfect sports someday, but you know, it kind of is.
3:39
Speaker 2: It's really kind of I mean, this was probably one
3:45
Speaker 2: of the first stress free games against the quality opponent
3:50
Speaker 2: that I can remember for a little while. I mean,
3:54
Speaker 2: it was close at halftime, but you never really felt
3:57
Speaker 2: like the game was slipping away from the Eagles, and
4:00
Speaker 2: so then for them to just come out and dominate
4:03
Speaker 2: that first drive with Squon. Yeah, I think Saquon should
4:08
Speaker 2: also get a game ball. I mean yes, absolutely, Yeah.
4:12
Speaker 2: He has over sixteen hundred scrimmage yards already and they
4:16
Speaker 2: still have like six games left to play. Yes, this
4:20
Speaker 2: is crazy, It really is.
4:22
Speaker 1: It's in this game alone, in this game alone. As
4:25
Speaker 1: we're recording this, there's still about a minute left in
4:27
Speaker 1: this game. Barkley had twenty six carries for two hundred
4:31
Speaker 1: and fifty five yards average nine point eight yards per carry,
4:35
Speaker 1: two touchdowns, his long with seventy two, his second longest
4:39
Speaker 1: was seventy and then he's got four receptions for forty
4:43
Speaker 1: seven yards in this game. It's incredible what he has
4:47
Speaker 1: done over three hundred yards in this game. Absolutely incredible.
4:52
Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley is a special player. It goes to show
4:56
Speaker 1: when you have an amazing offensive line in front of
4:59
Speaker 1: him what he can do because his talent. The way
5:03
Speaker 1: he is cutting on a dime reminds me of Lashawn
5:05
Speaker 1: McCoy every now and again back in the day when
5:08
Speaker 1: McCoy was like in his third fourth season with the
5:10
Speaker 1: Eagles and the absolute dominance his vision. How he is
5:16
Speaker 1: able to just make those cuts. What do you say,
5:21
Speaker 1: two touchdowns on the day for him too? Seriously, nine
5:23
Speaker 1: point eight yards per carry, It's so insane. Josh, He's amazing.
5:28
Speaker 1: He's the MVP of the league thus far in my opinion.
5:32
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely. I know that generally quarterbacks get the award, right,
5:37
Speaker 2: but I don't understand how you can watch the NFL
5:40
Speaker 2: this year and watch any parts of an Eagles scheme
5:46
Speaker 2: and not say that take one, Barkley's the MVP. Yeah,
5:50
Speaker 2: and this isn't being a homer, this isn't having green
5:52
Speaker 2: goggles on, right. I also want to give another shout
5:56
Speaker 2: out to Nick Sirianni, and they talked about on the broadcast.
6:01
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know. I don't know many NFL
6:03
Speaker 2: head coaches that have their ego and check enough that
6:09
Speaker 2: when the offensive line comes and says we want to
6:12
Speaker 2: run the ball more like we want this to be
6:14
Speaker 2: our identity, you need to trust us that are willing
6:17
Speaker 2: to do that. I know Nick Sirianni wants to pass.
6:20
Speaker 2: I know Kellen Moore wants to pass. But they have
6:22
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley, they have a phenomenal offensive line, and so
6:27
Speaker 2: you know, I think that Nick really should kind of
6:30
Speaker 2: he gets a lot of grief, but I think in
6:31
Speaker 2: this instance it's pretty incredible to watch him be as
6:36
Speaker 2: humble as he is, and it really is amazing, and
6:41
Speaker 2: so I think that he should. He should also get
6:43
Speaker 2: a shout out with this.
6:45
Speaker 1: It does go to show and I think you're right,
6:47
Speaker 1: we don't give him enough credit because I mean, this
6:49
Speaker 1: season on this podcast platform, on these postgame shows, every
6:51
Speaker 1: now and again, whether it was with you, Josh, it
6:53
Speaker 1: was with you know, Eric lenn or even our friend
6:56
Speaker 1: Matt Rodgers as well. You know, there has been criticism
6:59
Speaker 1: to go with regard to Nick Sirianni this year, but
7:02
Speaker 1: in this particular regard that you're talking about, he was
7:05
Speaker 1: able to step back obviously and say, you know what,
7:08
Speaker 1: we don't have to be a pass first team. We
7:11
Speaker 1: don't have to even though we have Jalen Hurts, we
7:13
Speaker 1: have a really good quarterback, you know, but we have
7:15
Speaker 1: a quarterback that doesn't have to put it all on
7:18
Speaker 1: his shoulders because we now have one Saquon Barkley, and
7:21
Speaker 1: we can become a run first offense. And that's what
7:25
Speaker 1: they are. That is the identity. That's what you're talking about.
7:28
Speaker 1: How the offensive line went to him and said, you know,
7:30
Speaker 1: this is who we are, this is what we need
7:32
Speaker 1: to be. He was able to embrace it. Nick Sirianni
7:34
Speaker 1: was and I gotta give him a lot of credit
7:37
Speaker 1: for it too, I really do. And it goes, you know,
7:40
Speaker 1: with the next point that I wanted to make too, Josh.
7:42
Speaker 1: I read a tweet of one of our friends of
7:44
Speaker 1: the podcast, Ed Kratz comes on every now and again,
7:48
Speaker 1: and he said, the Eagles did something historic tonight. They
7:51
Speaker 1: rushed for at least one hundred and fifty yards with
7:53
Speaker 1: two rushing scores in six straight games. Now, the only
7:58
Speaker 1: other team to do that was the Night Team forty
8:00
Speaker 1: nine team they did it as well. So this Eagles
8:03
Speaker 1: team is making history at rushing the ball, and they're
8:08
Speaker 1: showing the NFL that, you know what, you actually don't
8:10
Speaker 1: have to be a passing league to be dominant, to
8:11
Speaker 1: be nine to two on the season, and to be
8:14
Speaker 1: perennial contenders now at this point for a potential Super
8:18
Speaker 1: Bowl run. You can be a running team in this league.
8:22
Speaker 1: And I love it. I love watching this smash mouth football.
8:25
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think it's you know, it's also I think
8:29
Speaker 2: the players notice, Yeah, you know. I mean, Jeff, I'm
8:34
Speaker 2: sure you, like me have worked for people who when
8:39
Speaker 2: things aren't going the way they should be, they want
8:42
Speaker 2: to dig their heels in and they want to do
8:44
Speaker 2: what they think they know is best. Right, And I
8:47
Speaker 2: think that really not that Nick needed to win the
8:49
Speaker 2: locker room over because from my understanding, and Jason Kelsey
8:53
Speaker 2: has talked about it on WIP, he's beloved. But I
8:57
Speaker 2: really think that him just simply said aside really has
9:02
Speaker 2: has just completely turned the momentum even in terms of
9:07
Speaker 2: the city. But the other part that we got to
9:09
Speaker 2: talk about is the defense, right, Like, really, this Eagles
9:13
Speaker 2: team is playing like what people wanted for so long. Yes,
9:21
Speaker 2: this defense is stellar. We have linebackers, we have good
9:26
Speaker 2: young corners. Right. So Darius Slay goes out tonight with concussion,
9:31
Speaker 2: they the Rams don't score again for the rest of
9:34
Speaker 2: the game, except for at the very very end they
9:36
Speaker 2: get this gift touchdown. Really, I mean, you can't ask
9:41
Speaker 2: anymore out of this complete bolster right.
9:44
Speaker 1: Now, you can't. You look at this what this defense
9:49
Speaker 1: has done now being the number one defense in the league,
9:52
Speaker 1: which completely blows my mind, is where we were in
9:56
Speaker 1: the beginning of the season, specifically criticizing Bryce and yes,
10:01
Speaker 1: we'd know he's on ir now. However, because of the signing,
10:05
Speaker 1: what it was for how many years, the dollar figure,
10:08
Speaker 1: and he just wasn't producing at all. I think some
10:10
Speaker 1: of us weren't necessarily taking notice to some of the
10:13
Speaker 1: great things that were being built, perhaps maybe in the
10:16
Speaker 1: first half of this season. I mean we've certainly noticed
10:19
Speaker 1: it over the past five six weeks for sure, But
10:22
Speaker 1: in this game tonight, this Eagles defense got there. The
10:25
Speaker 1: very first takeaway of the game on that Rams opening drive,
10:28
Speaker 1: I mean, what a great fumble recovery by Nikobe Dean.
10:32
Speaker 1: That guy, Nikobe Dean is an incredible force on this defense,
10:36
Speaker 1: specifically going downhill. I don't think it gets talked about enough.
10:40
Speaker 1: I mean we did last week on the postgame show
10:43
Speaker 1: just talking about Nakobe Dean, and you mentioned the linebackers
10:46
Speaker 1: in general, Zach Bond and the type of impact that
10:50
Speaker 1: they are having. I mean on the Rams. You know,
10:53
Speaker 1: first two drives of the game they were averaging the
10:56
Speaker 1: Rams offense was averaging eight point four yards per play,
10:59
Speaker 1: and on the those two drives, the defense had not
11:02
Speaker 1: forced the Rams offense to a third down and I'm thinking, boy,
11:05
Speaker 1: they're going to really run the table here. The Eagles
11:09
Speaker 1: got their first third down stop against the Rams after
11:12
Speaker 1: about nineteen minutes of play in this game. But then
11:14
Speaker 1: they hunkered down, they were able to come together, they
11:17
Speaker 1: were able to make better plays on the field, they
11:19
Speaker 1: were able to really play more as a cohesive unit.
11:22
Speaker 1: It says a lot about Vic Fangio and a lot
11:25
Speaker 1: about some of that leadership at all three levels of
11:28
Speaker 1: the defense. And you know, at the end of the day,
11:31
Speaker 1: Isaiah Rodgers having a tough time here there against Pooka
11:35
Speaker 1: Naku after Darius Lay went out. But like you said, Josh,
11:38
Speaker 1: did not you know, didn't kill the game for the
11:43
Speaker 1: Eagles by any stretch. This defense really came together in
11:46
Speaker 1: this game and it was really really awesome to watch.
11:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, I think we also need
11:53
Speaker 2: to applaud the Fangio in terms of someone who can adapt. Yeah, Ray,
11:57
Speaker 2: when I had heard that he was going to be
11:59
Speaker 2: a defensive court, I rolled my eyes because I hate
12:03
Speaker 2: the system that he came up with that now everybody
12:06
Speaker 2: uses in the NFL, where it's basically prevent defense for
12:09
Speaker 2: the whole gate Bak and dunk, Right, But not this year, right,
12:15
Speaker 2: Like sometimes he'll do it, but he also on third
12:18
Speaker 2: down is bringing pressure. Like he has very much adapted
12:21
Speaker 2: and say whatever you want about his system. He has
12:24
Speaker 2: helped all of these young players that many of us
12:28
Speaker 2: thought were busts, and the Kobe Dean bust right, Like
12:31
Speaker 2: these players on the defensive line, they're all busts. Know
12:35
Speaker 2: what they needed was someone who can help them develop
12:39
Speaker 2: and bring in the right coaching staff around them to
12:42
Speaker 2: be able to help them. And that really is what
12:44
Speaker 2: Vic Fangio has done and so he really should get
12:48
Speaker 2: you know, the first four weeks it kind of is
12:50
Speaker 2: what it is basically preseason games, right, so like he's
12:54
Speaker 2: trying to figure out how his players can use But
12:57
Speaker 2: whatever he's done to help Na Kobe Dean, I don't know.
13:01
Speaker 2: You know, he's the one who decided that they were
13:03
Speaker 2: going to switch back Vne. It's a totally different position
13:06
Speaker 2: than he had laid before. You know what, it's worked,
13:09
Speaker 2: wonders right, and he's going to get a payday after
13:11
Speaker 2: this because of it. So you know, Vic Tangeo really
13:15
Speaker 2: deserves a lot of credit.
13:16
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think we're seeing a coaching staff here at
13:19
Speaker 1: this point in this twenty twenty four twenty twenty five season.
13:22
Speaker 1: That is, like you use the word adapting, it's a
13:27
Speaker 1: great word. They're not being so stubborn with their system.
13:30
Speaker 1: They're seeing what the strengths of each of these players
13:34
Speaker 1: are and they're catering to the strengths of the players.
13:37
Speaker 1: And I love that the coaching staff is actually doing
13:40
Speaker 1: that at this point. Again, it goes back even to
13:42
Speaker 1: the offense we were talking about. We're you know what,
13:44
Speaker 1: they don't have to be a passing offense. It's run first,
13:48
Speaker 1: right now. Why Because that is what the identity is.
13:52
Speaker 1: That's where the strength of the offense is at this point.
13:55
Speaker 1: So I think you make a really great point there, Josh,
13:59
Speaker 1: really quick before we go to the break and then
14:01
Speaker 1: we get to our grades. It's very rare, and this
14:05
Speaker 1: is like the last thing I wanted to talk about.
14:06
Speaker 1: It's very rare that I ever talk about officiating anymore.
14:10
Speaker 1: When we first started this podcast back in twenty thirteen,
14:13
Speaker 1: I talked terribly about officiating a lot, and I think
14:17
Speaker 1: it was kind of annoying for some folks. But I
14:19
Speaker 1: have to say, in this game, the pass interference calls
14:24
Speaker 1: against the Eagles extremely questionable. Debatable, very ticky tack. And
14:30
Speaker 1: then you have Jalen Carter basically being held on every
14:33
Speaker 1: single play in a very egregious fashion. It's never called.
14:37
Speaker 1: And then and then how about that Land and Dickerson penalty,
14:41
Speaker 1: him getting a personal foul call in the fourth quarter
14:44
Speaker 1: given given like a slight shove to Jared Verse. I mean,
14:49
Speaker 1: the official closest to Dickerson didn't even make the call.
14:51
Speaker 1: From my understanding, I just it amazes me how NFL
14:56
Speaker 1: officiating can be this bad, that we see year after
15:00
Speaker 1: year after year that it just doesn't necessarily get better.
15:02
Speaker 1: And I know the game is fast, I know these
15:04
Speaker 1: guys are big stuff that's happened out there really quickly.
15:07
Speaker 1: But there are some things where ref is just looking
15:11
Speaker 1: at a guy either misses something or call something that
15:15
Speaker 1: is just TICKI tech or again egregious, and it's not called.
15:19
Speaker 1: Man this game this year in terms of officiating for
15:23
Speaker 1: an Eagles game, the worst, the worst by far. I
15:25
Speaker 1: don't know if you agree with that. That wanted to
15:27
Speaker 1: get your thoughts.
15:30
Speaker 2: So my stance is what I had said last time.
15:32
Speaker 2: I'm on here. I get tired of people who complain
15:35
Speaker 2: about officiating. Yeah, the won by three scores. Right, officiating
15:40
Speaker 2: had nothing to do with the outcome.
15:41
Speaker 1: Very true.
15:42
Speaker 2: If you're expecting the officiating to be perfect every single game,
15:47
Speaker 2: then that's more of a U issue. They are human
15:50
Speaker 2: beings calling a game with people who are basically like
15:55
Speaker 2: sculptures out there that can also run forty yards in
15:59
Speaker 2: like four second. Right, So you can choose to keep
16:02
Speaker 2: complaining about officiating where you can just realize they're human
16:06
Speaker 2: beings and it's not going to have an outcome on
16:08
Speaker 2: the game. The Eagles won by three scores. Yes, it's
16:12
Speaker 2: not officiating. You make mistakes at work. I make mistakes
16:17
Speaker 2: at work, So how can we demand perfection out of
16:20
Speaker 2: people who officiate. They're going to make mistakes. It happens, all.
16:25
Speaker 1: Right, all right, I'll style, I'll stop of the officiating stuff. Josh,
16:28
Speaker 1: put me in my place, folks, put me in my place,
16:31
Speaker 1: all right, buddy, Before we go to break, do you
16:33
Speaker 1: have any other themes that you want to get into
16:35
Speaker 1: before we get to the grades in a.
16:36
Speaker 2: Bit here, Yeah, I want to circle back to something
16:40
Speaker 2: you kind of said when you were talking about coaches
16:42
Speaker 2: and adapting. Okay, I feel like for the first time
16:45
Speaker 2: under Nick Sirianni. It feels like Kellen Moore, Vic Fangio
16:51
Speaker 2: and Nick Sirianni have sat down in a room to
16:54
Speaker 2: game plan. Yeah, and that's what they're doing. They're all
16:58
Speaker 2: on the same page. They never panic And I really
17:03
Speaker 2: think that this new role that Nick Sirianni is in
17:07
Speaker 2: has really helped with that. Yeah, and I think that
17:11
Speaker 2: him constantly taking the blame even when it's not his fault.
17:15
Speaker 2: He'll lie at the podium to blame himself.
17:18
Speaker 1: He's done it before.
17:19
Speaker 2: Kellen Moore, you know, makes a bad call, where Victangio
17:22
Speaker 2: makes a bad call. Kellen Moore and Victangio have never
17:25
Speaker 2: had that before. In fact, they've been under fire and
17:28
Speaker 2: their own coaches have been the ones who have thrown
17:30
Speaker 2: them under the bus. So say what you want about
17:34
Speaker 2: the new role of Nick Sirianni, but for the first
17:36
Speaker 2: time that I can remember in years of watching Eagles,
17:39
Speaker 2: it actually feels like the coaching staff is all on
17:43
Speaker 2: the same page. And it is so refreshing.
17:45
Speaker 1: It is that and this team's nine and two. There's
17:48
Speaker 1: a reason why they're nine and two. There's cohesion going
17:51
Speaker 1: on here. There's cohesion, folks, we are we are seeing
17:54
Speaker 1: it here after week twelve, and it can only mean
17:59
Speaker 1: that this team has it all together. And I really
18:02
Speaker 1: truly don't think we're going to see and my gosh,
18:05
Speaker 1: I'm gonna knock on wood here, I'm gonna I'm gonna
18:08
Speaker 1: knock on some microphone right here that we don't see
18:10
Speaker 1: the collapse that we saw last year. I don't think
18:14
Speaker 1: that's gonna happen. This is a much different feel. The
18:17
Speaker 1: vibes are different. Like you just said, the cohesion, Josh,
18:20
Speaker 1: the cohesion from the coaching staff is really here. They're
18:23
Speaker 1: all working in conjunction with each other. And something you
18:26
Speaker 1: said I think that is really important is the lack
18:28
Speaker 1: of panicking. If this offense is stalling for whatever reason,
18:33
Speaker 1: if if the defense isn't having a couple you know,
18:37
Speaker 1: good drives, and they're just they're just like I said,
18:40
Speaker 1: the first two drives of the Rams in this game,
18:43
Speaker 1: I mean they didn't they didn't even have a third down.
18:46
Speaker 1: The Rams did and they were able to bounce back
18:49
Speaker 1: and they did it without panicking. And that really does
18:52
Speaker 1: say a lot for the coaching staff.
18:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, yeah, And that's why I don't see the
18:57
Speaker 2: collapse happening again. This team doesn't. Since the bye week,
19:03
Speaker 2: I haven't seen them straight by with the win like
19:06
Speaker 2: last year. I think, if we can be truly honest,
19:09
Speaker 2: if we go back and look that really hot start,
19:12
Speaker 2: they got so many lucky breaks that normally teams get
19:16
Speaker 2: throughout the year. They just got it all in the beginning. Yes,
19:19
Speaker 2: but I think that we had green goggles on and
19:21
Speaker 2: didn't want to admit it. Right this year, they are
19:24
Speaker 2: dominating people and they are patient. Right, if the run
19:28
Speaker 2: isn't working in the first quarter, they don't abandon it
19:31
Speaker 2: by the second or third quarter. They are sticking with it.
19:35
Speaker 2: That's who they're gonna be, and they have let teams
19:38
Speaker 2: know this is what we're gonna do.
19:39
Speaker 1: Good luck exactly. It's great. I love that mentality, I
19:43
Speaker 1: really do. Do you have anything else before we go
19:45
Speaker 1: to break, Buddy.
19:46
Speaker 2: No, I don't think so.
19:47
Speaker 1: All Right, folks are going to take a break to
19:49
Speaker 1: pay some bills here. When we get back, we're gonna
19:52
Speaker 1: do some grading by unit, and then we're going to
19:54
Speaker 1: grade the coaches. Stick with us. We'll be right back.
19:58
Speaker 1: All right, We are back, and again we're here our
20:00
Speaker 1: buddy good front of the show. Josh Schuster from Philadelphia
20:03
Speaker 1: soccernow dot com. Check out everything that's going on over there. Josh,
20:07
Speaker 1: we're probably gonna have to talk at some point about
20:08
Speaker 1: this Philadelphia Union team and the complete debacle of an
20:12
Speaker 1: organization that they are, the nonsense of Jim Curtin leaving
20:17
Speaker 1: them not acknowledging him at all after all these years.
20:20
Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna have to get into it at
20:21
Speaker 1: some point, my friend.
20:22
Speaker 2: But he finally did they find that. It's because, yeah,
20:27
Speaker 2: there was so much pressure from fans. Yeah, but yes,
20:31
Speaker 2: they finally they finally did. It took weeks, which is unaccepted.
20:36
Speaker 1: This organization and the Sixers organization need to get together. Jeez,
20:40
Speaker 1: battle it out in a room. All right. Well, let's
20:42
Speaker 1: get to I know, let's get to the grading buy
20:46
Speaker 1: unit here and offense and defense, and then we'll get
20:48
Speaker 1: into some coaches grading as well. Jalen hurts in this game.
20:52
Speaker 1: I just like I've said before, I love how he
20:54
Speaker 1: doesn't have to do it all. He was five, sorry,
20:58
Speaker 1: fifteen of twenty two for a hundred seventy nine yards.
21:00
Speaker 1: He averaged eight point one yards per attempt, one touchdown,
21:04
Speaker 1: and he ended with a rating of one hundred and
21:07
Speaker 1: eight only sacked one time in this game. I'm gonna
21:11
Speaker 1: give Jalen Hurts a straight up BEE this week. I
21:14
Speaker 1: thought he did everything that he needed to do for
21:16
Speaker 1: this team to win. They didn't put it on his
21:18
Speaker 1: shoulders by any stretch because it is a run first offense. Here.
21:21
Speaker 1: Not not too happy about the design run plays that
21:24
Speaker 1: were called for him in this game. But I'm gonna
21:27
Speaker 1: give Jalen Hurts a B this week. What do you
21:29
Speaker 1: give him?
21:31
Speaker 2: This is probably the harshest grade I'm going to give Hurts.
21:34
Speaker 2: I'm going to give him a C.
21:36
Speaker 1: Okay.
21:37
Speaker 2: You know, he made one or two plays, but for
21:39
Speaker 2: the most part, the reason why he has one hundred
21:41
Speaker 2: and seventy something yards is because aj Brown did all
21:45
Speaker 2: of the worst is a mass stake. Yeah yeah, So
21:48
Speaker 2: when I look at it, he didn't get any mistakes, right,
21:51
Speaker 2: he had some pretty good vision in the pocket and
21:54
Speaker 2: turn them all over. Yeah, left up, he didn't turn
21:56
Speaker 2: it over. But I didn't look at the game and
21:58
Speaker 2: be like Kirks, is the reason why he made these
22:02
Speaker 2: three plays? To me, you get a C okay, all right,
22:05
Speaker 2: I think that's pretty fine with that. If he gives
22:07
Speaker 2: me C level play, I'm fine.
22:09
Speaker 1: Sounds good. It would have been a B plus for me.
22:12
Speaker 1: But missing Dallas Goddard in the end zone when he
22:14
Speaker 1: was wide open, you can't do that. You can't do that.
22:17
Speaker 1: But again, like you said, people make mistakes sometimes at
22:20
Speaker 1: their job. People people don't always they're not always one
22:22
Speaker 1: hundred percent perfect. We gotta remember that. I'm gonna stick
22:26
Speaker 1: with my B grade though, for him. Saquon Barkley. The
22:29
Speaker 1: running backs, Kenneth Gainwell, oh my gosh, just incredible. I mean,
22:35
Speaker 1: a plus, can you I mean, if you can do
22:37
Speaker 1: a plus plus plus plus, maybe I'll do that. But uh, yeah,
22:42
Speaker 1: a plus for Saquon. I think it's pretty I think
22:45
Speaker 1: I think you would say the same.
22:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. I'll even give Kenny g a B. All right,
22:52
Speaker 2: that's how generous feeling.
22:55
Speaker 1: Kenny Gainwell with his five carries for twenty two yards
22:59
Speaker 1: average four point four yards perkerry and a touchdown. How
23:02
Speaker 1: about that.
23:04
Speaker 2: I know we'll get to see more of him in
23:07
Speaker 2: the red zone, which is exactly what we need.
23:10
Speaker 1: I know, I know. Anyway, all right, well, let's move
23:15
Speaker 1: to the receivers. AJ Brown, with seven targets on the day,
23:18
Speaker 1: came down for with six balls for one hundred and
23:21
Speaker 1: nine yards one touchdown. He averaged eighteen point two yards
23:25
Speaker 1: per catch, and like Josh was saying, I mean, Jalen
23:29
Speaker 1: Hurts doesn't have those numbers if it's not for aj Brown.
23:32
Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley caught four balls for forty seven yards. As
23:34
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, Dallas Goddter targeted five times, he came
23:38
Speaker 1: down with four balls for nineteen yards. He was only
23:40
Speaker 1: averaging four point eight yards per reception, and Johan Dawson
23:45
Speaker 1: caught a ball for four yards. You also had Grant
23:47
Speaker 1: kal Katara, Johnny Wilson that were targeted once as well.
23:49
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give the wide receivers. I'm gonna give him
23:52
Speaker 1: a B simply because it could be a B plus.
23:54
Speaker 1: I mean, they the receivers tight ends. Even Saquon getting
23:58
Speaker 1: involved in the passing game. The passing game was not
24:01
Speaker 1: called on to win this game. It was the running game.
24:04
Speaker 1: So like I'm gonna I'm gonna give I'm gonna give
24:06
Speaker 1: a straight up B. What do you give the receivers?
24:09
Speaker 2: I give him a name? Okay, because to your point,
24:12
Speaker 2: they weren't called on much, but when they were called on,
24:15
Speaker 2: they're the ones that made the big plays. And I
24:19
Speaker 2: also want to mention that this is where the difference
24:21
Speaker 2: between Davonte Smith and A J. Brown is. A J.
24:26
Speaker 2: Brown misses a game and the Eagles offense really struggles
24:32
Speaker 2: even with sa quant this year, we saw it, right,
24:34
Speaker 2: Davante Smith is out, it doesn't don't struggle. Yeah, right,
24:40
Speaker 2: So you know they're They're great to have both. I'm
24:45
Speaker 2: not complaining. But in terms of is Smitty really a
24:48
Speaker 2: number one, the answer is no, and I think that
24:51
Speaker 2: we've kind of seen that play out. But hey, him
24:54
Speaker 2: opposite side of A J. Brown, I will take every
24:57
Speaker 2: day of the week absolutely.
24:59
Speaker 1: Hopefully it'll be a to get back next week. I
25:01
Speaker 1: love seeing him on the field. I do love Smittye.
25:04
Speaker 1: The offensive line, I am going to give an A plus.
25:07
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier, I think you could give a
25:10
Speaker 1: game ball to all five offensive linemen in this game.
25:13
Speaker 1: This really was one of their most dominant performance performances,
25:16
Speaker 1: if not the most dominant performance of this season. They
25:19
Speaker 1: get an A plus from me? What do you give them?
25:22
Speaker 2: Absolutely, they get an A plus. You kind of hit everything.
25:26
Speaker 2: I want to go back real quick to the receivers
25:28
Speaker 2: because we didn't really talk about tight ends. Oh yeah,
25:31
Speaker 2: Beagles need to move on from Dallas Gott. He just
25:34
Speaker 2: isn't used. You didn't see it at the end, but
25:36
Speaker 2: we're the first on sidekick from the Rams. Instead of
25:39
Speaker 2: catching the ball, he decided to hit it out of bounds,
25:42
Speaker 2: which then became a penalty, so then it was rekicked again.
25:45
Speaker 2: The second time he did catch it. But to me,
25:48
Speaker 2: Dallas Gott's a good player. I'm not saying that, but
25:50
Speaker 2: tost millions of dollars in that position when Hurts doesn't
25:53
Speaker 2: really use the middle of the field. Just get a
25:56
Speaker 2: draft pick and get something that you can use.
25:59
Speaker 1: We have greenk kata too. When when Dallas Gotter was out,
26:02
Speaker 1: Grant kal Katara filled in very nicely, and you saw
26:06
Speaker 1: a lot of the same type of numbers from both
26:08
Speaker 1: these guys. They are very similar numbers terms of the season.
26:12
Speaker 1: So I make a very good point there. I love
26:14
Speaker 1: Dallas Gotter too. I love him.
26:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do too.
26:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I don't necessarily think they need to sign
26:20
Speaker 1: him to a long term extension. I mean, he could
26:23
Speaker 1: hit free agency at this point, and I think this
26:25
Speaker 1: Eagles team would absolutely be fine. Let's move over to
26:30
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball here. The defensive line
26:34
Speaker 1: was getting a ton of pressure, a ton of pressure
26:37
Speaker 1: on Matt Stafford. Five sacks. We had eight tackles for
26:42
Speaker 1: a loss, eight tackles for a loss, folks, eleven quarterback hits.
26:47
Speaker 1: I'm giving I'm given the defensive line because they stepped
26:50
Speaker 1: up in a big way. And yes, the Rams offensive
26:54
Speaker 1: line not the greatest offensive line in the world, but
26:56
Speaker 1: this defense, this defensive front for the Eagles really did
27:01
Speaker 1: what they needed to do. They got it together after
27:03
Speaker 1: the Rams first two offensive drives. I'm giving them an
27:06
Speaker 1: A plus. What do you give them, Josh?
27:08
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, the time was one of those nights when
27:11
Speaker 2: you said that they had five sacks, it felt like
27:14
Speaker 2: they had way more than that. Yes, Stafford as a
27:18
Speaker 2: pro and Sean, the mcvay's system is all quick release. Yeah,
27:24
Speaker 2: Stafford just had no time even to do those little
27:28
Speaker 2: quick routes except for, like you mentioned, the first two
27:32
Speaker 2: drives and then at the very end of the game
27:36
Speaker 2: when basically the game's pretty much over. Stafford had no
27:40
Speaker 2: time the rest that entire middle portion of the game,
27:43
Speaker 2: and so they did phenomenal.
27:45
Speaker 1: Absolutely they did. Milton Williams had two sacks, Brandon Graham
27:49
Speaker 1: had a sack. Josh Sweat had a sack, so fantastic
27:53
Speaker 1: pressure coming from the defensive line. And then we moved
27:56
Speaker 1: to the linebackers. N Kobe Dean had one of his
27:58
Speaker 1: best games of the season and eight total tackles, one sack,
28:02
Speaker 1: two tackles for a loss, a quarterback hit. And then
28:06
Speaker 1: Uh Zach bond Uh he had he had another nice game,
28:10
Speaker 1: more of a quieter type of game from him, but
28:12
Speaker 1: he was always around the ball. Three total tackles on
28:14
Speaker 1: the day. I'm gonna I'm gonna give the linebackers an
28:16
Speaker 1: A this week?
28:17
Speaker 2: What do you give them me?
28:19
Speaker 1: Okay?
28:20
Speaker 2: You know, I mean, especially under the Sean McVay system,
28:23
Speaker 2: if you have linebackers that can't cover as well, you're
28:28
Speaker 2: you're in trouble. And not only are the Eagles linebackers
28:33
Speaker 2: this year blitzing. Not only are they there were a
28:37
Speaker 2: couple of times where tackling wasn't great, but for the
28:39
Speaker 2: most part they had been excellent tacklers. They're also doing
28:43
Speaker 2: a great job in coverage. Yeah, the big an a
28:46
Speaker 2: plus for me. I really can't complain.
28:49
Speaker 1: All right, secondary, We've got we had some pretty good
28:53
Speaker 1: stuff going on in this secondary aside from some pass
28:56
Speaker 1: interference calls. And again I will beg to differ with
29:00
Speaker 1: the officiating on some of those pass interference calls. However,
29:03
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give the secondary this week. I mean, I'm
29:07
Speaker 1: gonna give him a minus. I'll give him an a minus.
29:10
Speaker 1: There were two hundred and forty three total yards of
29:13
Speaker 1: receiving Poka Nakua. I mean, he very much dominated, but
29:17
Speaker 1: he was the one that they were targeting a lot
29:19
Speaker 1: thirteen targets, came down with nine balls for one hundred
29:22
Speaker 1: and seventeen yards. Then Cooper Cup, this is interesting. He
29:25
Speaker 1: had eleven targets. He came down with eight balls for
29:29
Speaker 1: sixty yards seven point five yards per attempt. He did
29:32
Speaker 1: have that touchdown towards the end of the game. But
29:35
Speaker 1: I what's interesting is how well Quinnon Mitchell. Well, he
29:39
Speaker 1: was on Cooper Cup for most of the night. I
29:41
Speaker 1: gotta tell you, it's just special watching him and Cooper
29:44
Speaker 1: de Gene out there and read blank and ship also
29:48
Speaker 1: having a decent game to CJ. Gardner Johnson as well.
29:52
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give him an a minus this week. What
29:54
Speaker 1: do you give the secondary?
29:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to give him an a plus. I
29:59
Speaker 2: mean Sean mc offense is very much a pass first offense,
30:04
Speaker 2: and so Stafford is a veteran, he's a Super Bowl
30:07
Speaker 2: winning quarterback. If you're going to tell me that he
30:12
Speaker 2: threw for less than three hundred yards in a game
30:14
Speaker 2: where the Rams were trailing with the majority of the game,
30:20
Speaker 2: I probably wouldn't have believed you. Yep, So I'm going
30:23
Speaker 2: to give him an A.
30:24
Speaker 1: All right, sounds good. Let's move over to some coaching
30:28
Speaker 1: and well as quick hit the special teams here, and
30:31
Speaker 1: I have to say, Josh Jake Elliott, he had a
30:34
Speaker 1: nice bounce back game here after making three field goals
30:38
Speaker 1: three extra points. After last week and the struggles he
30:41
Speaker 1: had for whatever reason, it was just good to see
30:43
Speaker 1: him getting back into form. So with that being said,
30:47
Speaker 1: I'm going to give special teams a B plus this week.
30:50
Speaker 1: I think they did what they needed to do. They
30:52
Speaker 1: didn't cost the team necessarily thing except for Dallas Goddard
30:55
Speaker 1: at the end. But I don't necessarily know if I'm
30:56
Speaker 1: going to count that as special teams since it's it's
31:00
Speaker 1: like kicks, it's just not seen as much. But I'm
31:02
Speaker 1: gonna give a B plus. What do you give special teams?
31:05
Speaker 2: Oh? They get an A plus for one simple reason.
31:08
Speaker 2: Not only did they not make any mistakes, Kenny game
31:11
Speaker 2: Well did not return kicks. So they get an A plus.
31:14
Speaker 1: For me, Yes, I love it. I love it, all right,
31:17
Speaker 1: Vic Fangio, I'm giving him an A plus. But for
31:20
Speaker 1: what he did, I think that's.
31:21
Speaker 2: Easy, hands down, Yep, A plus.
31:25
Speaker 1: All right, Nick Sirianni Kellen Moore, I'm gonna give them.
31:29
Speaker 1: I actually I'm probably just gonna give him an a plus. Yeah,
31:32
Speaker 1: they knew what they needed to do against this Rams defense.
31:35
Speaker 1: And when you have a weapon in Saquon Barkley and
31:39
Speaker 1: you're just able to take that that amazing offensive line,
31:43
Speaker 1: utilize it to the best of your abilities, and you're
31:46
Speaker 1: able to get on the ground from Saquon Barkley two
31:49
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five yards and two touchdowns to two
31:54
Speaker 1: rushes of seventy yards or more. Uh, it's a special
31:58
Speaker 1: it's a very special type of offense, a play calling
32:00
Speaker 1: that happened in this game. So I'm giving them and
32:02
Speaker 1: a plus. I would imagine you're right around that area.
32:06
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And for me, the main reason is patients. Yeah,
32:10
Speaker 2: you know, it was close at halftime, and they really
32:13
Speaker 2: could have gone into Both Nick and Kellen are both
32:17
Speaker 2: past happy play callers, but they didn't do that. They said, nope,
32:22
Speaker 2: we're going to stick with the run. We're going to
32:24
Speaker 2: stick with the run. And they did it, and so
32:27
Speaker 2: they get an A plus for me.
32:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, there were forty five total rushes in this game.
32:32
Speaker 1: Jalen hurts through the ball twenty two times. That is
32:35
Speaker 1: saying something about this team. And again it once again
32:39
Speaker 1: reinforces that they are a run first team. And I
32:42
Speaker 1: just love seeing this smash mouth football. Like I said earlier,
32:44
Speaker 1: I love seeing it. So Josh, buddy, we're probably gonna
32:47
Speaker 1: be heading out of here now getting some sleep, right,
32:49
Speaker 1: I think we need some sleep on this Sunday night here, right.
32:54
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, I will say I.
32:56
Speaker 1: Was gonna say anything.
32:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I'm not normally fan of early by Week,
33:02
Speaker 2: but this year it was different because I do think
33:05
Speaker 2: a reset button needed to be hit.
33:07
Speaker 1: Yeah.
33:07
Speaker 2: They had suffered a number of injuries early on they
33:10
Speaker 2: were able to recover and also, you know, they showed
33:14
Speaker 2: it tonight on a broadcast. The Eagles really don't travel
33:18
Speaker 2: at all for the rest of the season.
33:21
Speaker 1: These last six games they hardly do.
33:23
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, they have four home games out of the
33:26
Speaker 2: last six. That's kind of like a bye, right in
33:30
Speaker 2: terms of all the traveling that everybody else is going
33:33
Speaker 2: to have to do. So it kind of worked like
33:35
Speaker 2: if there was a year for them to get the
33:37
Speaker 2: early buy, it was this year.
33:39
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think that's a great point, great point and
33:42
Speaker 1: great way to end this week twelve Eagles postgame podcast
33:47
Speaker 1: show again folks. Eagles winning by a score of thirty
33:50
Speaker 1: seven to twenty against the Los Angeles Rams out in
33:53
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. They are nine and two on the season,
33:56
Speaker 1: first in the NFC East. They lead the division right now,
34:01
Speaker 1: and it's great to see what is happening with the
34:03
Speaker 1: rest of the division with Commanders and just the Cowboys
34:06
Speaker 1: have been flailing, and we know what's happening with the
34:07
Speaker 1: New York Giants as well. So with that being said, Folks,
34:11
Speaker 1: Josh Schuster at Flag Eye Josh ninety one on the
34:14
Speaker 1: Twitter slash x and also head on over to Philadelphia
34:17
Speaker 1: soccernow dot com and check out everything they have going
34:19
Speaker 1: on over there. It's gonna be able to if you're
34:22
Speaker 1: into soccer, if you're into the Union, see what's gonna
34:24
Speaker 1: be happening during this offseason. And Josh I'm gonna bring
34:27
Speaker 1: you on board at some point in the future too,
34:29
Speaker 1: to talk about this Union team as well. But with
34:32
Speaker 1: that being said, take care everybody, and we'll catch you
34:35
Speaker 1: next time.