Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: How Do The Eagles Keep Winning?

Transcript

TABLE TALK: How Do The Eagles Keep Winning? · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, It's Jeff here. I wanted to let
0:02
Speaker 1: you know. This podcast episode was recorded on Monday, November eighteenth,
0:06
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. By the time you hear this, some
0:08
Speaker 1: things may have changed here or there, but we hope
0:10
Speaker 1: you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table Talk here at
0:34
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly
0:37
Speaker 1: Philly sports podcast show in the world, that's right over
0:40
Speaker 1: eleven and a half years strong. We've got a great
0:42
Speaker 1: discussion coming your way here on Table Talk this week.
0:45
Speaker 1: We're gonna dive into this Philadelphia Eagles team, what we
0:49
Speaker 1: have been seeing from them, what we've been seeing from
0:51
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, the offensive line, the defense in general. It's
0:55
Speaker 1: been a great season so far, quite frankly, and if
0:58
Speaker 1: you're one of those Eagles fans that don't think it's
1:00
Speaker 1: been a good season, take a listen to this conversation.
1:04
Speaker 1: You're not gonna regret it. All right, let's get to
1:06
Speaker 1: the discussion now. Joining us this week from the Eagles
1:09
Speaker 1: Pin Pull Network. Great podcast content and you should listen
1:14
Speaker 1: to them on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on.
1:17
Speaker 1: We have the one and only Shane Half Absolutely love
1:20
Speaker 1: them Shane. How you doing, buddy, Jeff.
1:22
Speaker 2: It's always good to come on and talk about the
1:24
Speaker 2: Eagles with you. I assume we're talking about the Eagles.
1:27
Speaker 2: You wouldn't have me here for anything else, exactly.
1:29
Speaker 1: I mean, we can talk Flyers if you want. I
1:31
Speaker 1: don't know how often you get into the team because
1:34
Speaker 1: the Flyers are actually Flyers are doing decent, you know.
1:37
Speaker 1: I mean, look, we're disappointing the Sixers, Phillies, they had
1:40
Speaker 1: a disappointing end of their season. We're already looking to
1:42
Speaker 1: the offseason Flyers. Look, they're in the middle of a rebuild,
1:45
Speaker 1: not that bad. But this Eagles team is the one
1:47
Speaker 1: that's really really kicking some butt right here this season
1:50
Speaker 1: for sure.
1:51
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, I've often said that if I was
1:54
Speaker 2: going to get into another sport, it would be hockey,
1:56
Speaker 2: because I do think it's really fun to watch. Unfortunately,
2:01
Speaker 2: for the sake of my family, I don't think I'll
2:03
Speaker 2: get into any other sports right now. So we better
2:05
Speaker 2: just stick to the Eagles.
2:06
Speaker 1: Sounds good. Sounds good, exactly. We don't need our wives
2:09
Speaker 1: matter at us than what they are at times doing
2:12
Speaker 1: these podcasts. But anyway, look, I wanted to bring you
2:16
Speaker 1: on to talk about general where we are with this
2:18
Speaker 1: Eagle season and kind of like get in depth about
2:21
Speaker 1: what we're seeing from this team offensively, defensively. And I
2:25
Speaker 1: want to talk about Jalen Hurts first because there are
2:27
Speaker 1: a few people out there, amazingly enough, who are still
2:31
Speaker 1: thinking that Jalen Hurts is not a good quarterback. He
2:34
Speaker 1: isn't the type of franchise quarterback that this team needs
2:37
Speaker 1: moving forward, and quite frankly, I strongly disagree with this
2:40
Speaker 1: notion given how Hurtz has developed his game in a
2:44
Speaker 1: number of way over the years, especially when it comes
2:47
Speaker 1: to his completion percentage. This year, while under pressure, he's
2:51
Speaker 1: done a much better job of releasing the ball. As
2:55
Speaker 1: we know, he's one of the most pressure quarterbacks in
2:57
Speaker 1: the NFL. It's his best season doing so by far. Here.
3:00
Speaker 1: So he keeps helping this team to win. But the
3:05
Speaker 1: team doesn't need to win because of him. You know,
3:07
Speaker 1: they're winning games with him, Shane, and I think that's important.
3:11
Speaker 1: And honestly, I'm not sure how I mean read your tweets,
3:13
Speaker 1: I read you know, your content, you know, listening to
3:16
Speaker 1: the pod kind of know how you feel about Jalen Hurts.
3:18
Speaker 1: But I'm wondering what your thoughts are in terms of
3:21
Speaker 1: his development, where he is in the at this stage
3:24
Speaker 1: in his career, because yes, he's still missing open receivers.
3:26
Speaker 1: It's frustrating to watch every now and again. But again,
3:29
Speaker 1: this team is eight and two with him under center.
3:32
Speaker 1: They've been a winning football organization and franchise with him
3:35
Speaker 1: under center. What are your thoughts on Jalen Hurts here
3:38
Speaker 1: this season and where he's really at in terms of
3:40
Speaker 1: his development at this point in his career.
3:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Jalen Hurts is a guy that's gotten
3:46
Speaker 2: better year over a year really throughout his entire career.
3:50
Speaker 2: You can trace it all the way back to college.
3:52
Speaker 2: And there's certainly been some hindrances to his development that
3:55
Speaker 2: have come from i mean literally having a new offensive
3:59
Speaker 2: coordinator like every season, yep, and so all of that
4:02
Speaker 2: plays into it. Jalen Hurts has a lot of skills
4:07
Speaker 2: that you want on your football team. I mean, the
4:10
Speaker 2: mobility is huge. You want mobility in this day and age,
4:14
Speaker 2: and you don't want it at the expense of just
4:16
Speaker 2: can't really throw the football very well see the Colts
4:18
Speaker 2: with Anthony Richardson. But it's a valuable skill to have.
4:21
Speaker 2: And if you're gonna rank, you know, rushing quarterbacks in
4:25
Speaker 2: the NFL, he's probably like fourth behind like Josh Allen,
4:30
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels pre injury, maybe not anymore so,
4:34
Speaker 2: but he's like the third or fourth most valuable guy
4:37
Speaker 2: just as a scrambler. Yeah, and then when you start
4:39
Speaker 2: to layer the other things that you can do on
4:41
Speaker 2: top of that, he throws one of the best deep
4:43
Speaker 2: balls in the NFL. Like that's a skill. His completion
4:47
Speaker 2: percentage over expectation is always one of the highest in
4:50
Speaker 2: the league. And people will say, well, that's his receivers
4:54
Speaker 2: and that plays into it. But I won't bore people
4:57
Speaker 2: with all all the analytical things stuff, But completion percentage
5:01
Speaker 2: over expectation is much stronger year over year with quarterbacks
5:05
Speaker 2: than receivers. It fluctuates more receivers. So he throws a
5:08
Speaker 2: very good deep ball. He throws with timing and anticipation.
5:12
Speaker 2: Outside the numbers now over the middle of the field
5:14
Speaker 2: is still an area that you would like to see
5:17
Speaker 2: unlocked more. And you know his pocket presence, his ability
5:21
Speaker 2: to quick he processes and eliminates things quickly sometimes and
5:25
Speaker 2: other times he doesn't trust what he's seeing, and so
5:28
Speaker 2: he can be up and down a bit at times.
5:30
Speaker 2: And the first half of that Washington game it didn't
5:33
Speaker 2: look good. And I just finished watching the All twenty
5:35
Speaker 2: two for that and let me tell you, the design
5:37
Speaker 2: not design from an offensive standpoint, was just an abomination
5:41
Speaker 2: in that game. But the thing I appreciate most about
5:45
Speaker 2: Hurts is that he doesn't let things snowball. I mean,
5:48
Speaker 2: that first half looks bad. You know, we see earlier
5:51
Speaker 2: and I think it was the Packers game. He throws
5:53
Speaker 2: an interception on like the second play. Yeah, he doesn't
5:58
Speaker 2: allow those things to compound. And he might have a
6:01
Speaker 2: bad quarter, he might have a bad half. It's pretty
6:04
Speaker 2: rare that you come out of a game and you
6:06
Speaker 2: can say we lost that game because of Jalen Hurts, right.
6:10
Speaker 2: I mean, he can miss and throw, so I appreciate
6:12
Speaker 2: the resilient resiliency that he always bounces back, and there's
6:16
Speaker 2: just a measure of consistency. There's certainly room for improvement
6:19
Speaker 2: in his game. He's also just not ever going to
6:22
Speaker 2: be a you know, a Justin Herbert level processor pocket manipulator,
6:27
Speaker 2: and he doesn't need to be because he brings other
6:29
Speaker 2: skill sets to the table. So I think he's overly
6:32
Speaker 2: criticized by national media. I think that has spawned a
6:35
Speaker 2: culture on social media, particularly where when you point out
6:39
Speaker 2: a play where he misses, people just pile on and
6:43
Speaker 2: say you're stupid and you're a Hurtz hater, right. And
6:45
Speaker 2: then there's also those people that anytime you point out
6:48
Speaker 2: like oh, this was a good play, like no, no,
6:50
Speaker 2: it hurts this terrible. You know. I got in a
6:52
Speaker 2: discussion on Twitter yesterday about that, and just the sad
6:55
Speaker 2: reality is that nuance and neutrality is dead and that
6:58
Speaker 2: transcends sports media. Yep, it's just the culture we live
7:02
Speaker 2: in now that is sad. But overall, I mean herts
7:06
Speaker 2: is a top eight quarterback in the league, no question.
7:08
Speaker 1: Absolutely above average quarterback. Somebody tweeted at me recently and
7:13
Speaker 1: they're like, he's an average quarterback. I'm like, what are
7:15
Speaker 1: you talking about. It's not an average very much an
7:17
Speaker 1: above average quarterback if you take a look at various
7:20
Speaker 1: metrics where his development is at in his career. But
7:24
Speaker 1: as we're moving along with the conversation, Shane, I do
7:26
Speaker 1: have to say, from an offensive perspective, I'd really like
7:30
Speaker 1: to see Davonte Smith getting more involved. I love his
7:35
Speaker 1: playmaking ability. It's a huge playmaker. It has a skill
7:39
Speaker 1: set that not many have in this league, which is
7:41
Speaker 1: going right up to the catch point, bringing it down,
7:44
Speaker 1: bringing down those contested balls. So I'm wondering, why do
7:47
Speaker 1: you think we haven't seen much of DeVante Smith being
7:51
Speaker 1: involved in the offense as of late. I hope it changes.
7:53
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here?
7:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Eagles have been really run heavy for the
7:58
Speaker 2: last month of the season. Their last four games. Their
8:01
Speaker 2: rush rate over expectation is plus eleven percent, So they're
8:04
Speaker 2: running the ball eleven percent more than an average team would,
8:08
Speaker 2: and so I think that factors in. I think there's
8:11
Speaker 2: also a bit of like recency that comes in because
8:15
Speaker 2: you know, against the Bengals and the Jaguars three and
8:17
Speaker 2: four weeks ago, he had back to back eighty yard
8:19
Speaker 2: one touchdown games. Yeah, the last two weeks he's been
8:22
Speaker 2: really quiet, and I think a little bit of it.
8:25
Speaker 2: You know, against Dallas, that game was over or I mean, okay,
8:30
Speaker 2: it was close at halftime, but yeah, it just wasn't
8:33
Speaker 2: super competitive of a game. And then in this game,
8:36
Speaker 2: you know, for various reasons, he just doesn't end up well.
8:39
Speaker 2: He ended up with six targets, but I think he
8:40
Speaker 2: only had twenty nine yards, and so I would like
8:43
Speaker 2: to see DeVante Smith is more of a focal point.
8:47
Speaker 2: I would like to see Davante Smith as your jet
8:50
Speaker 2: motion guy, not Anayas Smith. I think, you know, get
8:53
Speaker 2: the ball in his hands. I think he's really good
8:56
Speaker 2: running like those choice routes out of the slot, the
8:59
Speaker 2: mesh League good step, I love those. Yeah, I think honestly,
9:03
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, I think DeVante Smith
9:05
Speaker 2: is best working the middle of the field, and AJ
9:07
Speaker 2: Brown is better, and Dallas Goddard for that matter, better
9:10
Speaker 2: working outside the numbers. That's where the Eagles offense tends
9:13
Speaker 2: to flow. So I think that's a lot of it.
9:16
Speaker 2: You know. Fortunately, I think you I think you could
9:20
Speaker 2: have some problems if AJ Brown had back to back
9:22
Speaker 2: games under thirty yard receiving. Yeah, maybe sidelines, locker room,
9:26
Speaker 2: you know whatever. There's a lot of diva in almost
9:29
Speaker 2: every receiver and cornerback in the NFL, so that's not
9:32
Speaker 2: a shot at AJ Brown. I just don't think you
9:34
Speaker 2: really have to worry about that much with Davonte Smith.
9:37
Speaker 2: So I'm happy to see him out there, you know,
9:40
Speaker 2: continuing to turn in high effort. I think the balls
9:42
Speaker 2: will come his way, but I would like to see
9:44
Speaker 2: him more involved.
9:44
Speaker 1: Absolutely well. I want to next get your take on
9:49
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Makai Becton has certainly found a home
9:54
Speaker 1: at right guard on this team. Cam Jurgens has been
9:57
Speaker 1: doing a very good job at the center position, of course,
10:00
Speaker 1: taken over for Jason Kelcey retired. Honestly, Shane like I
10:04
Speaker 1: was actually a bit concerned with this aspect of the
10:07
Speaker 1: offense and of the offensive line coming into this season.
10:11
Speaker 1: It was one of my under the radar storylines and
10:13
Speaker 1: I really wanted to keep track of this season. And
10:16
Speaker 1: now looking on reflecting on eleven weeks of this season,
10:21
Speaker 1: I think this offensive line has worked pretty well together
10:24
Speaker 1: and coming together in concert with each other. Not perfect
10:27
Speaker 1: by any stretch of the imagination, but how to you
10:30
Speaker 1: has the line overall looked this year, especially when it
10:35
Speaker 1: comes to Beckton and Cam Jurgen's really really picking up
10:38
Speaker 1: the slack of where this offensive line was in the past.
10:41
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here?
10:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Eagles have an embarrassment of riches on the
10:45
Speaker 2: offensive line, and I understood the concerns going in to
10:51
Speaker 2: the season. You lose Jason Kelcey, He's a Hall of Famer,
10:55
Speaker 2: you're changing right guards as a part of that, so
10:58
Speaker 2: you're changing out two pieces and content it. He's a
11:00
Speaker 2: big thing. I just and I was, like, I gave
11:03
Speaker 2: the answer on my season preview show with Brandon lee
11:06
Speaker 2: Outen that like, if the Eagles season is a disaster
11:09
Speaker 2: and we look back at it and say what happened,
11:11
Speaker 2: we're probably if it's not injuries, pointing at the offensive line.
11:15
Speaker 2: But I wasn't like truly concerned about it because I
11:18
Speaker 2: know like league wide what offensive line play looks like,
11:21
Speaker 2: and so the Eagles have an embarrassment of riches there.
11:23
Speaker 2: Cam Jurgen's at center. Like, I don't think it's crazy
11:27
Speaker 2: to say that you just kind of forget that Jason
11:30
Speaker 2: Kelcey retired, Yeah, because he's so good in the run game,
11:33
Speaker 2: and like the protections look different now because Hurts is
11:36
Speaker 2: calling those out, not Cam, and so like pre snap
11:38
Speaker 2: things look differently, but you snap the ball, you still
11:42
Speaker 2: got your center ten to fifteen yards downfield. Look like
11:45
Speaker 2: Kelsey when he does.
11:46
Speaker 1: When he's playing, especially on the left side, he looks
11:48
Speaker 1: exactly like Kelsey.
11:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's had some He's had a few reps
11:52
Speaker 2: that have been rough in past protection, particularly against Dallas,
11:56
Speaker 2: he got caught out a few times on some stunts
11:58
Speaker 2: and so I think he'll see those things quicker. But
12:01
Speaker 2: I've got I think he's been phenomenal all year. Bechten
12:05
Speaker 2: has been pretty good as a run blocker. I still
12:09
Speaker 2: don't love him as a pass blocker, and even there's
12:11
Speaker 2: some reps in the run game where I feel like
12:13
Speaker 2: he struggles a bit. I thought the game that he
12:17
Speaker 2: was out and Tyler Stein had to play, they were
12:19
Speaker 2: able to get into some more outside zone stuff and
12:22
Speaker 2: use Stein's athleticism that I mean, Becton's a big guy, yeah,
12:26
Speaker 2: but he's not Like calling him not athletic isn't the
12:30
Speaker 2: right way to say it, but he's just not a
12:31
Speaker 2: swift mover. And so I thought it's I would have
12:35
Speaker 2: liked to have seen Stein retain that starting job. And
12:37
Speaker 2: I know there's like there's reps on film that Becton
12:40
Speaker 2: just blows guys backwards. But all that to say, I
12:43
Speaker 2: guess he's been fine, and I think the Eagles are
12:46
Speaker 2: also going to be in good hands assuming he leaves
12:48
Speaker 2: in free agency and Tyler Stein's the right guard next year.
12:51
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, all right, well again folks talking to Shane
12:55
Speaker 1: Half from the Eagles Pin Pull network. Check out to
12:58
Speaker 1: their podcasts everything they are doing over there. You are
13:02
Speaker 1: on YouTube, correct.
13:03
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, we're on YouTube at Eagles pin Polls where
13:07
Speaker 2: all our podcasts and all twenty two stuff goes out
13:10
Speaker 2: to very good.
13:11
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's move over to the defense here, Shane,
13:14
Speaker 1: because I don't think we ever thought as Eagles fans
13:17
Speaker 1: that the linebackers would be as productive as they have been.
13:20
Speaker 1: Maybe you did, I mean, I remember last time you
13:23
Speaker 1: were on the show, were talking about the linebackers what
13:25
Speaker 1: we could possibly expect this season. But man Zach Bonn
13:28
Speaker 1: and to Kobe Dean have been a pleasant surprise in
13:31
Speaker 1: a number of areas on the field with regard to
13:34
Speaker 1: this defense. And they've been relatively consistent, which is what
13:38
Speaker 1: I love as a fan seeing consistency from the linebacker position,
13:42
Speaker 1: both in the run game and even some even some
13:45
Speaker 1: you know, passing defense as well. We've seen some good
13:48
Speaker 1: stuff from both of these guys. Not perfect again, but consistent.
13:52
Speaker 1: So what have you liked about what you've been seeing
13:55
Speaker 1: from the linebackers this season thus far.
13:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we can start with Zach Bond, And
14:01
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody had this on their bingo card
14:06
Speaker 2: to take a guy that mostly rushed the passer, He
14:09
Speaker 2: played a little he played a little bit of off
14:11
Speaker 2: ball linebacker and was just a I mean a guy
14:14
Speaker 2: that signed for a small contract because he hasn't done
14:17
Speaker 2: much in his career to step onto the field this
14:19
Speaker 2: season and do what he's done. I mean, I don't
14:22
Speaker 2: think it's crazy to say that the only linebacker that
14:26
Speaker 2: has played better than Zach Bond this year in the
14:28
Speaker 2: NFL is Fred Warner.
14:29
Speaker 1: Yeah.
14:30
Speaker 2: And I also don't think it's crazy to say it's
14:32
Speaker 2: really close, like it's what the Eagles have gotten out
14:35
Speaker 2: of him is phenomenal. And it's not even really as
14:38
Speaker 2: a pass rusher, like he's only rushed the passer on
14:40
Speaker 2: sixty snaps this season, Like he's straight up dropping into coverage.
14:46
Speaker 2: There was a rep against the Cowboys where they run
14:48
Speaker 2: a play action and he carries He carries a tight
14:51
Speaker 2: end like all the way up the seam on a
14:53
Speaker 2: corner route, makes a great pass breakup, like things that
14:56
Speaker 2: if a cornerback did it, I'd be like that was
14:58
Speaker 2: pretty good play. He opens hips, he gets his hand
15:01
Speaker 2: on the ball, Like, that's a tough play for a corner.
15:03
Speaker 2: You got you gotta edge rusher turned off ball linebacker
15:06
Speaker 2: making it. Yeah, that bond's been incredible. And then na
15:11
Speaker 2: Kobe Dean, Like Nikobe Dean's been a little more up
15:13
Speaker 2: and down. Nakobe Dean thrives coming downhill in the running game.
15:17
Speaker 2: That's where he's at his best. When you get him
15:20
Speaker 2: in space, when you get him playing zone coverage with
15:23
Speaker 2: eyes on the quarterback, it can get a little wonky
15:25
Speaker 2: sometimes he doesn't necessarily have like the best sense of
15:29
Speaker 2: where he's at, where routes are behind him, and things
15:32
Speaker 2: like that. But it's been fine. Ye, even even in coverage,
15:36
Speaker 2: which I would say is his weakness. He's still like
15:39
Speaker 2: average ish with some below average reps as a coverage linebacker,
15:44
Speaker 2: and he's so good coming downhill. So you know, I
15:48
Speaker 2: couldn't be more happy for both of these guys, especially
15:50
Speaker 2: n Kobe though, to come out, have first round grades
15:54
Speaker 2: fall to the third and mostly be injured your first
15:57
Speaker 2: two seasons, like, what they've been able to do has
15:59
Speaker 2: been impressive.
16:00
Speaker 1: It really has. Vic Fangio has done such an amazing
16:04
Speaker 1: job with this defense. I mean, just recently I saw
16:07
Speaker 1: you put out some stats on Twitter with regard to
16:10
Speaker 1: you know, where the defense was at, you know, last year,
16:12
Speaker 1: where they're at this year and this pass rush though
16:17
Speaker 1: frankly it was terrible the first few games of the season,
16:20
Speaker 1: and slowly this unit has been producing at a higher level. Shane,
16:24
Speaker 1: I'm wondering what you attribute that to. Is it Vic
16:27
Speaker 1: Fangio getting things figured out after the bye week as
16:30
Speaker 1: many of us have been talking about, and do we
16:33
Speaker 1: need to keep kind of worrying about the pass rush
16:35
Speaker 1: maybe falling back maybe into some old bad habits, or
16:38
Speaker 1: how they're going to perform down the stretch, even you know,
16:41
Speaker 1: into the playoffs at the Eagles. You know, fingers crossed
16:44
Speaker 1: can get there this year and make a sustainable playoff run.
16:48
Speaker 1: Like since there's a lot of young guys on this team,
16:50
Speaker 1: I wonder if the pass rush is able to remain
16:53
Speaker 1: as consistent as it has been. They're not completely dominant,
16:57
Speaker 1: but since the bye week they've certainly stepped up and
17:00
Speaker 1: they've been producing at a higher level. Where do you
17:02
Speaker 1: think this pass rush is going to be in the
17:05
Speaker 1: weeks to come here?
17:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, it all starts up front with Jalen Carter, who
17:10
Speaker 2: is coming off of playing one hundred percent of the
17:13
Speaker 2: snaps on a short week. And so he hit that
17:15
Speaker 2: rookie wall last year, and if he is able to
17:19
Speaker 2: push through that this year and play as much as
17:21
Speaker 2: he's been playing. And you know, two weeks ago against Dallas,
17:24
Speaker 2: I said that was the best game of his career,
17:26
Speaker 2: and he immediately topped it on Thursday against the Commanders.
17:29
Speaker 2: Like it doesn't look impressive in the stat sheet, like
17:32
Speaker 2: he had no sacks. I think he had like I'm
17:34
Speaker 2: gonna say, maybe it was like four attack I don't remember.
17:36
Speaker 1: But it was like two tackles or something.
17:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, nothing that popped off the stat sheet. But
17:41
Speaker 2: I'm telling you it was the best game of his career.
17:43
Speaker 2: He was dominant in that game. So we're coming off
17:46
Speaker 2: of back to back dominant games. You wish the Eagles
17:50
Speaker 2: had a dominant edre Like if you had if you
17:55
Speaker 2: had a twenty twenty two Hassan Reddick. And this isn't
17:57
Speaker 2: me saying the Eagles should have kept Hassan Reddick this offseas,
18:00
Speaker 2: But if you had a twenty twenty two Hassan Reddick,
18:03
Speaker 2: this team would be piling up sacks because the coverage
18:06
Speaker 2: is so good. Jalen Carter is dominating the middle of
18:09
Speaker 2: the field and he's simply getting double teamed like over
18:13
Speaker 2: half the time on his pass rushes, and frankly, he's
18:16
Speaker 2: being held most of the other half and he just
18:18
Speaker 2: does not get the calls. But he's dominant. You wish
18:22
Speaker 2: you had a little more off of the edge now.
18:24
Speaker 2: Nolan Smith has been hot lately. He's I think he's
18:28
Speaker 2: like sixteen percent pass rush win rate since the bye week,
18:33
Speaker 2: which is good. Hopefully he can continue to develop that.
18:35
Speaker 2: The Eagles really trust him on rundowns. You know you're getting,
18:39
Speaker 2: you know, fifteen twenty snaps a game from BG and
18:42
Speaker 2: those are always going to be good reps. You would
18:44
Speaker 2: love to see Bryce Huff make more of an impact,
18:47
Speaker 2: and his snapcount has been down. Fangio said it was
18:50
Speaker 2: injury related, and Fangio is not going to say it
18:53
Speaker 2: is if it's not, like Fangio will just tell you, hey,
18:55
Speaker 2: you suck and you're not gonna play if that's what's
18:57
Speaker 2: going on. So hopefully, I mean, Huff wasn't great at
19:01
Speaker 2: the start of the year. Hopefully he can get healthy
19:02
Speaker 2: and he can start rolling because the interior is doing
19:06
Speaker 2: its job. Yeah, and it's not that the edge rushers aren't.
19:08
Speaker 2: The Eagles aren't like bottom of the league in sacks,
19:10
Speaker 2: But if the edge rushers were able to take that
19:13
Speaker 2: step forward, it would make a massive impact on an
19:16
Speaker 2: already really good defense.
19:17
Speaker 1: It would. I mean, I hate saying that Josh Hoff
19:21
Speaker 1: is Josh Hoff. Dear Lord Josh Sweat. Why did I
19:26
Speaker 1: say Josh Hoff? My gosh. I wish you could like
19:28
Speaker 1: come through the screen and slap me in the face
19:30
Speaker 1: for that one. But Josh Sweat kind of been disappointing
19:34
Speaker 1: this year from pass rush standpoint. I mean he is
19:38
Speaker 1: I don't even know what his stats are in terms
19:40
Speaker 1: of like contain playing contained, but I mean from a
19:43
Speaker 1: pure sacks standpoint, been disappointing I think overall this year.
19:48
Speaker 1: But like you said, Nolan Smith, and we noted on
19:50
Speaker 1: our Eagles postgame podcast this past week, just remarkably improving
19:56
Speaker 1: throughout the course of these past few weeks here, and
19:59
Speaker 1: I think he's going to continue that. I just wish
20:01
Speaker 1: Josh Sweat would be able to really get get those
20:04
Speaker 1: sacks and get those sack numbers. Up. It's like he's
20:06
Speaker 1: almost getting there, But I don't know. I feel like
20:09
Speaker 1: there's some regression with him. Do you feel that at all?
20:11
Speaker 1: Or am I kind of being like a little weird
20:12
Speaker 1: about it.
20:13
Speaker 2: I feel like Sweat started the year slow, but I
20:16
Speaker 2: do think he's started to come on.
20:17
Speaker 1: Okay.
20:18
Speaker 2: He's had six sacks in the last seven games now.
20:20
Speaker 2: A couple of those were kind of directly a result
20:23
Speaker 2: of Jalen Carter. Yeah, which it all works together, like
20:28
Speaker 2: if you can just get a little bit of penetration
20:30
Speaker 2: as an edgdresser, there's pretty good chance Jalen Carter is
20:32
Speaker 2: going to destroy the offensive guard and give you a
20:35
Speaker 2: chance for a sack that maybe you didn't earn and
20:37
Speaker 2: it makes you look better. But I think he started slow.
20:40
Speaker 2: I think he's played better. Run defense is shaky sometimes, yeah,
20:44
Speaker 2: with Josh Sweat, And it's not just him, it's kind
20:47
Speaker 2: of the whole gap exchange techniques that are being taught
20:50
Speaker 2: behind him as well. But you know, i'd like to
20:53
Speaker 2: see him break out more. But I think he's been solid.
20:56
Speaker 2: I don't think he's been spectacular, but I think he's
20:58
Speaker 2: been solid all right.
20:59
Speaker 1: Well, before I let you go here, Shane. I wanted
21:02
Speaker 1: to get into the coaching that we have seen this year.
21:05
Speaker 1: There's so much discourse online about Nick Sirianni Kellen Moore.
21:10
Speaker 1: From an offensive standpoint, is this really Kellen Moore's offense
21:14
Speaker 1: or is this just a Nick Sirianni and like two
21:17
Speaker 1: point zero, he's still doing what he has wanted to
21:20
Speaker 1: do with this team offensively. From a scheming standpoint, I'm
21:24
Speaker 1: wondering what your overall thoughts are from what we saw
21:27
Speaker 1: last year with Nick Sirianni. And you know, of course
21:30
Speaker 1: we all know and we're trying to forget about that
21:32
Speaker 1: awful collapse at the end of the last season. But
21:35
Speaker 1: where this offensive scheming has gone this year from where
21:38
Speaker 1: they were last year with Kellen Moore and what he
21:41
Speaker 1: has brought into the equation and into the fold as
21:44
Speaker 1: we're looking at week twelve here, So what are your
21:47
Speaker 1: thoughts about the offensive coaching and specifically how it relates
21:50
Speaker 1: to Nick Sirianni, Kellen Moore and where the direction is
21:54
Speaker 1: going here?
21:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's been there's been some definite changes
22:00
Speaker 2: the offense over last season, and the two things that
22:03
Speaker 2: really are going to I mean that stick out that
22:04
Speaker 2: I'm sure everybody knows is how often the Eagles are
22:07
Speaker 2: going under center YEP, which I can break it down better,
22:12
Speaker 2: but play by play designates like shotgun and pistol both
22:17
Speaker 2: a shotgun and the Eagles have been in pistol a
22:19
Speaker 2: lot this year. But the Eagles have been specifically under
22:22
Speaker 2: center on nineteen percent of their snaps this year versus
22:26
Speaker 2: eight percent last year, and so that's changed a lot.
22:30
Speaker 2: They're they're using play action from under center, which is
22:34
Speaker 2: kind of the cheat code to unlock the middle of
22:36
Speaker 2: the field, and that excludes the pistol stuff, which is
22:38
Speaker 2: also happening. So you see more multiplicity in the running
22:42
Speaker 2: game and in your formations. And it's been like a
22:46
Speaker 2: slow thing over time. Like early in the season it
22:48
Speaker 2: was like, oh, the Eagles were under center two plays
22:51
Speaker 2: this week. Yeah, oh they were under center four plays.
22:54
Speaker 2: Right now you're like under center like twenty five plays,
22:57
Speaker 2: and I think you know, you're running play action on
22:59
Speaker 2: o half your passes against the Commanders and so you're
23:03
Speaker 2: seeing it move in that direction. I feel like they're
23:05
Speaker 2: slowly building that stuff out. And then the answers to
23:08
Speaker 2: the blitz there just weren't any last year, right, and
23:12
Speaker 2: the answers to the blitz not only have been there
23:15
Speaker 2: this year, they've been so good that I find myself
23:18
Speaker 2: wishing the Eagles would get into more quick game even
23:21
Speaker 2: when you're not being like I find myself watching a
23:24
Speaker 2: game hoping the Eagles get blitzed, because sometimes when teams
23:29
Speaker 2: aren't blitzing, the Eagles tend to get into this deep,
23:32
Speaker 2: developing stuff and it's just not working and you're buying time,
23:36
Speaker 2: you're taking sacks, you're having to scramble and improvise everything,
23:39
Speaker 2: and then it's like, all of a sudden, they blitz
23:40
Speaker 2: and there's a guy open, there's a quick hitch, you
23:42
Speaker 2: get eight yards, and all of a sudden, it's like, oh,
23:44
Speaker 2: second and two is real easy. Now. Yeah, So that's
23:48
Speaker 2: what I would like to see him continue to do.
23:50
Speaker 2: Washington did. One of the things Washington did against them
23:53
Speaker 2: that really threw them off, I thought was they stacked
23:55
Speaker 2: the box a lot with a single high safety, but
23:58
Speaker 2: they had their outside corner playing ten or twelve yards
24:02
Speaker 2: off the line of scrimmage, and so that really eliminates
24:05
Speaker 2: the deep balls you like to throw against single high
24:08
Speaker 2: and it allowed them to sit on those out routes
24:10
Speaker 2: and those comeback routes and without those things like that's
24:13
Speaker 2: pretty much their offense. It's a lot of run the ball.
24:16
Speaker 2: We take our our shots deep, we take our outbreaking routes,
24:20
Speaker 2: our timing routes on the outside, and Washington through a
24:23
Speaker 2: counter that nobody's really done against them yet. Yeah, and
24:26
Speaker 2: that's where I'd like to see you get into more
24:27
Speaker 2: of that quick game underneath, crossing the middle of those
24:30
Speaker 2: sorts of things. And so there's certainly room to continue
24:33
Speaker 2: to develop the offense, and I'm confident they will because
24:36
Speaker 2: we've seen it evolve throughout the season so far. So
24:39
Speaker 2: I think the offense is headed in a good direction.
24:42
Speaker 2: You know, hopefully everybody stays healthy and by the time
24:44
Speaker 2: you get to the playoffs, Kellen Moore's got everything out
24:47
Speaker 2: there that he wants.
24:48
Speaker 1: The offense is heading in the right direction, the defense
24:50
Speaker 1: is heading in the right direction. This team is heading
24:53
Speaker 1: in the right direction, and folks, Shane Haff and the
24:57
Speaker 1: Eagles Pin Poll podcast is certainly heading in the right
25:00
Speaker 1: direction too. At Shane Haff NFL on the Twitter slash x.
25:05
Speaker 1: He is a great, great follow and again Eagles Pinpull
25:08
Speaker 1: Network over on YouTube. Check out everything they're doing. Over there, buddy.
25:11
Speaker 1: It was great talking to you. I absolutely love having
25:14
Speaker 1: you on. Always great conversations. Come back and join us
25:17
Speaker 1: down the road.
25:18
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I'll be back anytime you ask.
25:21
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Table Talk
25:23
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
25:26
Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
25:29
Speaker 1: in general. We thank you our listeners for being part
25:33
Speaker 1: of this online community with us and within this space.
25:37
Speaker 1: Please make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia Sportstable
25:40
Speaker 1: dot com for all of our podcasts, and follow us
25:43
Speaker 1: on our social sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia PST,
25:47
Speaker 1: threads at Philadelphia Sports Table, and over on Instagram as well.
25:52
Speaker 1: Take care and we'll catch you next time.