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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. 49'ers Wild Card Pregame Preview · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:24
Speaker 1: Welcome to opposition territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Doble
0:27
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:30
Speaker 1: in the world, over twelve and a half years strong.
0:32
Speaker 1: We've got a great, great Eagles forty nine Ers Wildcard
0:37
Speaker 1: Divisional round matchup and pregame show gonna be happening right here.
0:41
Speaker 1: I absolutely love having our guest on this past year.
0:45
Speaker 1: It's great to have him back from Fan Sided. He
0:49
Speaker 1: is the Niner Noise editor again over that fan sided
0:53
Speaker 1: Peter Pantasy, thank you so much for joining us, my friend.
0:56
Speaker 1: Great to see you.
0:58
Speaker 2: Good to be back, Jeff Howars.
1:00
Speaker 1: Things are all right. Look we're going to dive into
1:02
Speaker 1: it here. But you know, a lot of US Eagles
1:04
Speaker 1: fans have some pessimism coming into this matchup, mainly because
1:09
Speaker 1: of the Eagles offense is just not and has not
1:13
Speaker 1: been clicking on all cylinders like it did last year
1:17
Speaker 1: when a lot of the same talent is there. A
1:19
Speaker 1: lot of US fans have been frustrated, and a lot
1:21
Speaker 1: of US fans are going into this matchup not taking
1:24
Speaker 1: anything for granted and thinking to ourselves, well, there is
1:27
Speaker 1: a very good chance, a very very good chance that
1:29
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty nine Ers may win here and
1:34
Speaker 1: it wouldn't shock I think a lot of folks in
1:36
Speaker 1: Eagles Nation. But that being said to really set I
1:41
Speaker 1: think the tone for our discussion here, because yes, the
1:44
Speaker 1: Eagles have the number three seed here in the NFCED
1:47
Speaker 1: Niners have the number six seed, and it's and I
1:52
Speaker 1: don't know if this is a marketing thing, Peter, but
1:55
Speaker 1: this is a showdown between two teams that have been
1:58
Speaker 1: NFC champions or I'm sorry, and an NFC champion. Yeah,
2:02
Speaker 1: they've been NFC champions over the past three seasons, and
2:04
Speaker 1: it feels like this is like a rivalry, and maybe
2:07
Speaker 1: it's a marketing thing. Like I said, I think a
2:10
Speaker 1: lot of sports media wants to make this like a
2:12
Speaker 1: really uh important rivalry in the NFL, and I'm not
2:17
Speaker 1: sure if we're necessarily there yet, but there's definitely that
2:20
Speaker 1: sense of I think bitterness in a way that surrounds
2:24
Speaker 1: these two teams and perhaps the fan bases as well.
2:27
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering again to get us started here, what
2:30
Speaker 1: kind of game based on this, you know, quote rivalry.
2:33
Speaker 1: Do you think we're really going to see this Sunday?
2:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's interesting you point out the rivalry
2:38
Speaker 2: aspect of it. Part of me thought that it kind
2:41
Speaker 2: of dissipated last off season, right right, Deebo Samuel was
2:44
Speaker 2: created into Wahton. I'm like, well, that'll be fun for
2:46
Speaker 2: Eagles fans. We'll see how that goes, right. There definitely
2:49
Speaker 2: is a lot of mutual respect. I know Nick Sirianni
2:51
Speaker 2: has spoken highly of Kyle Shannehan yep vic Fango, of course,
2:55
Speaker 2: spent a lot of time in the Bay Area under
2:58
Speaker 2: Jim Harbad during the previous Niners glory years of the
3:01
Speaker 2: early twenty tens. It's going to be one of these
3:06
Speaker 2: kind of these matchups where seating doesn't really matter, right,
3:10
Speaker 2: So I think both fans can see that. I mean,
3:13
Speaker 2: Eagles fans can look at the NFC West and be like,
3:15
Speaker 2: my god, look at all the teams that have double
3:17
Speaker 2: digit wins there, and then there's Arizona, right, And you
3:21
Speaker 2: know the fact that going into Week eighteen, the Niners
3:24
Speaker 2: were contention for the number one seed and now you're
3:27
Speaker 2: the sixth seed. So like, the teating almost doesn't matter.
3:31
Speaker 2: The rivalry is there just because it's recent. But as
3:36
Speaker 2: far as to your point, the historical rivalry going back
3:39
Speaker 2: for both Niners and Eagles fans, it's you know, Dallas
3:42
Speaker 2: number one. Yeah, and then followed by you know, other teams,
3:46
Speaker 2: especially for San Francisco Packers, Seahawks, you know, things like that.
3:50
Speaker 1: But I think this is getting heated. I think it's
3:52
Speaker 1: getting heated up here, you know, over these past few years.
3:56
Speaker 2: And you remember, like, you know, the Don Desandro Drake
3:58
Speaker 2: green Law incident from a couple of years ago. You're
4:02
Speaker 2: just like, okay, that's there. And then all of a sudden, Okay,
4:04
Speaker 2: these teams were meeting in the playoffs again, and you know,
4:07
Speaker 2: Jonathan Gannon driving by before the NFC Championship game a
4:11
Speaker 2: few years ago saying, yeah, we're gonna, you know, knock
4:14
Speaker 2: these guys out, and then the forty nine ers responding
4:16
Speaker 2: in the regular season the next year with a blowout.
4:18
Speaker 2: So you have the makings of what could be, you know,
4:23
Speaker 2: that next great chapter of a rivalry.
4:25
Speaker 3: Right.
4:26
Speaker 2: Whether or not it takes off one like that, guess,
4:29
Speaker 2: but the fact these two teams are meeting again in
4:32
Speaker 2: another critical juncture at least sets the table for it absolutely.
4:36
Speaker 1: And I think as we reflect on this past season, Peter,
4:40
Speaker 1: you know, I have to say that the San Francisco
4:44
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers, I mean, with a slew of injuries
4:47
Speaker 1: throughout this season, yet again, just like they faced in
4:50
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, it's pretty astonishing that they're even in
4:56
Speaker 1: the playoffs in my in my opinion, because I think
4:58
Speaker 1: it speaks to the team's resiliency. I think it speaks
5:01
Speaker 1: to the team's coaching, the overall leadership direction that the
5:05
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers have been in now for many years.
5:08
Speaker 1: I mean, especially when you have Mac Jones under center
5:11
Speaker 1: when Brock Purdy was injured for weeks, and what the
5:15
Speaker 1: team was really able to do with a talent like
5:18
Speaker 1: Mac Jones, who you know, we a lot of us
5:20
Speaker 1: here on the East Coast saw him with the New
5:23
Speaker 1: England Patriots for years and felt he was a certain
5:27
Speaker 1: type of quarterback. But again, the resiliency of this team
5:30
Speaker 1: I think has really shined through during the twenty twenty
5:33
Speaker 1: five twenty twenty six season. So I'm wondering, how have
5:36
Speaker 1: you seen that resiliency with the quarterback position and I
5:40
Speaker 1: guess the offense in general this season.
5:44
Speaker 2: You know, I don't say it extends beyond that. It's
5:46
Speaker 2: it's this is supposed to be a reset year for
5:50
Speaker 2: San Francisco. Yeah, so the last offseason the Niners, I
5:54
Speaker 2: mentioned it. They jettison Deebo Samuel, you know, they let
5:58
Speaker 2: Drake Greenlaw walk, Fungo walk to our various ward Javon Hargraves,
6:03
Speaker 2: let go, Leonard Floyd's let go. This was kind of
6:06
Speaker 2: going into the air, like, all right, let's turn over
6:08
Speaker 2: to rookies. Take a page out of Howie Roseman's book,
6:11
Speaker 2: even just be like, hey, don't get emotionally attached to
6:13
Speaker 2: these older, expensive guys. And it was supposed to be like,
6:17
Speaker 2: let's see what happens. Maybe we make it in as
6:19
Speaker 2: a wildcard team, you know, maybe we're around five hundred.
6:24
Speaker 2: But then you know, the injuries start to pile up.
6:27
Speaker 2: You mentioned Rock Purdy being eight games. Brandon Ayuk hasn't
6:31
Speaker 2: taken a single snap. He's pretty much off the team. Yea,
6:34
Speaker 2: next year it'll be gone. Ricky Persall, the first round
6:37
Speaker 2: pick from the year ago, has been in and out
6:39
Speaker 2: of the lineup. George Kittle was on IR Christian McCaffrey's
6:43
Speaker 2: been healthy all season, which is interesting. But then the
6:46
Speaker 2: defense loses Nick Bosa to a torny acl in Week three.
6:50
Speaker 2: Fred Warner into you know, an ankle or a foot
6:53
Speaker 2: that goes sideways on the field in Week six, if
6:59
Speaker 2: you would have told me this would have been a
7:01
Speaker 2: team competing for the number one seed in the last
7:03
Speaker 2: week of the regular season. If you would have told
7:05
Speaker 2: me that back August a laugh da and I think
7:07
Speaker 2: Kyle Uschek said the same thing, saying like you would
7:11
Speaker 2: have thought you were crazy. The narrowing this down back
7:15
Speaker 2: to Jones and the offense. You saw what because all
7:20
Speaker 2: of a sudden, everybody's saying, well, it is brock Purty
7:23
Speaker 2: really the guy. If Mac Jones can have this type
7:25
Speaker 2: of success, watch the games close enough. You know, brock
7:29
Speaker 2: Perty can do things that Mac Jones can't do, you know,
7:32
Speaker 2: especially extending plays with his legs, you know, being a
7:36
Speaker 2: little bit more mobile in the pocket. You know you
7:40
Speaker 2: saw that. What was it the game against the Bears,
7:43
Speaker 2: the Sunday night football game or it was a Monday
7:45
Speaker 2: night where he's doing like a Mahomes like it was
7:49
Speaker 2: Sunday night because Chris Collinsworth, Chris Collinsworth was like, if
7:52
Speaker 2: Mahomes was doing that, we'd be going crazy, right, I'd
7:54
Speaker 2: be going crazy. Rock Perty's not I mean Mac Jones
7:57
Speaker 2: isn't going to do any of it right, But either way,
8:01
Speaker 2: the fact that you were able to get Mac Jones
8:04
Speaker 2: to perform such a high level and good for Jones.
8:06
Speaker 2: He's going to cash in and be a starter soon,
8:10
Speaker 2: you know, all as Sam Darnold, who kind of went
8:12
Speaker 2: through the same thing with the forty nine ers earlier.
8:16
Speaker 2: But this would have to be the most resilient I've seen.
8:20
Speaker 2: And it's a massive credit to Kyle Shanahan. It's a
8:25
Speaker 2: massive credit to Raal of the forty niners. Defense isn't
8:28
Speaker 2: a strong suit, but you look at the cast of
8:30
Speaker 2: characters there and you're like, I don't know how you're
8:32
Speaker 2: getting anything out of this bunch, and you're getting something.
8:36
Speaker 2: And it's also credit to a lot of the players
8:38
Speaker 2: who stepped up, like Mac Jones. You know, where was
8:41
Speaker 2: it that Week three or Week four Thursday night game
8:44
Speaker 2: against the Rams where it's Mac Jones throwing to Kendrick
8:48
Speaker 2: Bourne who is signed off the street a couple of
8:50
Speaker 2: weeks before, and Kendrick Bourne puts up one hundred and
8:53
Speaker 2: forty two yards. It's like, this isn't supposed to happen,
8:58
Speaker 2: but it did, So you know, either way you cut
9:00
Speaker 2: it regardless of the outcome, it's a special season for
9:02
Speaker 2: San Francisco. They lose this Sunday and it's like, okay,
9:06
Speaker 2: that was it. Yeah, expectations, here's where you finished.
9:10
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I mean, it kind of seems like everything's gravy
9:12
Speaker 1: here at the moment. It really does. So, Peter, Yeah,
9:17
Speaker 1: before we get to break, you know, on our Opposition
9:21
Speaker 1: Territory podcast, we like to talk about the biggest strengths
9:25
Speaker 1: and the biggest weaknesses of teams that are going to
9:27
Speaker 1: be facing the Philadelphia Eagles. So let's dive into this
9:31
Speaker 1: right now. What has been the biggest strength of the
9:34
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty nine ers as we're heading into this
9:37
Speaker 1: wild card matchup? What's been that? What's been that biggest
9:40
Speaker 1: strength this season.
9:41
Speaker 2: Well, you're gonna look at Week eighteen and think I'm
9:43
Speaker 2: crazy when the Niners scored three points. But before that,
9:45
Speaker 2: the three weeks prior, the Niners were averaging I think
9:48
Speaker 2: forty two points a game. Yeah. The offense, Yeah, guys
9:52
Speaker 2: are still in and out of the lineup. You know,
9:53
Speaker 2: it's it's not as if they are at full strength complete,
9:57
Speaker 2: So the offense has been at strength. He was playing
10:00
Speaker 2: really well, you know, I still felt that he played
10:03
Speaker 2: well enough against Seattle. It's just didn't really get a
10:05
Speaker 2: lot of help. The ground game was non exist in Seattle.
10:08
Speaker 2: Credit that's that's an elite defense, period. So the offense
10:13
Speaker 2: is is a distinct advantage for the forty nine ers.
10:16
Speaker 2: But on the flip side, that defense is permeable. You know,
10:19
Speaker 2: the run defense in particular is extremely permeable. The safeties
10:25
Speaker 2: are questionable, you know, so you can look at Philly's
10:29
Speaker 2: offense and think, well, San Francisco defensively could be you know,
10:34
Speaker 2: I get right opportunity for Jalen Hurts to Kwon Barkley.
10:38
Speaker 2: I mean I was joking with our our fan sided
10:41
Speaker 2: Eagles writer and I would say it Allan Barkley has
10:44
Speaker 2: to do. Just give him the ball and he could
10:45
Speaker 2: walk through the defense. I don't know about that. Yeah,
10:49
Speaker 2: And then that was the response. It was just like
10:52
Speaker 2: okay again. The pessimism I think both sides after this
10:56
Speaker 2: matchup is really really quite entertaining. I just wrote an
10:59
Speaker 2: article about this that's going to go out tomorrow, though.
11:02
Speaker 2: And if there's one clear cut advantage that nobody seems
11:06
Speaker 2: to be talking about, the Niners have, I think since
11:10
Speaker 2: week eleven. I saw this like the number two ranked
11:15
Speaker 2: special teams, oh, whereas I think the Eagles are ranked
11:18
Speaker 2: twenty four.
11:19
Speaker 1: Yeah it's statins.
11:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's for years the Niners have I've had either
11:26
Speaker 2: average at best, but usually bad special teams. But if
11:30
Speaker 2: you have a game that's just kind of lulling around
11:33
Speaker 2: and nothing really happens on it, that key special teams
11:36
Speaker 2: play can be the difference. Flash back to I think
11:39
Speaker 2: it was January of twenty twenty two, the Niners and
11:42
Speaker 2: the Packers in the snow at lambeau Field in the
11:45
Speaker 2: Divisional round, low scoring game looks freezing cold, blocked punt
11:51
Speaker 2: way back in Packers territory. I don't know. Funga picks it up,
11:54
Speaker 2: scores a touchdown, ties the game, a Robbie Goldfield goal
11:58
Speaker 2: wins it, and that's like, you know, super late, it
12:01
Speaker 2: was like ten, like thirteen to ten the final. So
12:04
Speaker 2: like that could be the deciding X factor in this
12:08
Speaker 2: one where you have just one special team's play, a
12:11
Speaker 2: big return, you know, a muff hunt, you know, something
12:15
Speaker 2: like that happens that just totally tilts the course of
12:17
Speaker 2: the game. And Niners this year, especially over the second half,
12:21
Speaker 2: have largely been on the right side of those Eagles Nation.
12:24
Speaker 1: If you're listening to this, those out there, we know,
12:27
Speaker 1: special teams. If your top five special teams, special teams
12:30
Speaker 1: make plays in some way, shape or form and really
12:32
Speaker 1: do determine the outcome of games. With the Niners being
12:35
Speaker 1: the number two at this particular point in time in
12:38
Speaker 1: the NFL, it's something for us to certainly keep our
12:40
Speaker 1: eyes on, for sure. So let's flip the coin here, Peter,
12:45
Speaker 1: what is the biggest weakness on this Niners team? I
12:47
Speaker 1: think I know what you're gonna say, But what's the
12:49
Speaker 1: biggest weakness as we're heading into this wildcard matchup?
12:53
Speaker 2: It'll be twofold, It'll be uh one. The run defense
12:57
Speaker 2: has been terrible.
12:57
Speaker 1: I was gonnad Yes, right, yeah, yeah, I mean.
13:00
Speaker 2: Losing Nick Bosa and Mikel Williams to a c Altars
13:03
Speaker 2: was devastating. Of course, losing Fred Warner to that. Because
13:06
Speaker 2: here's your second level clean up guy. I mean, it's
13:10
Speaker 2: it could very well be Eric Kendricks and Kaiser White
13:13
Speaker 2: playing linebacker this weekend. And here these guys weren't even
13:17
Speaker 2: on the roster a few weeks ago. But yeah, the
13:20
Speaker 2: run defense is a big problem. The pass rush is
13:23
Speaker 2: a pass rush is a big problem.
13:26
Speaker 3: You know.
13:26
Speaker 2: The Niners finished like woefully low on sacks, and sacks
13:29
Speaker 2: aren't everything, you know, I don't want to come in
13:30
Speaker 2: here and just be a stack. Pressures can be important,
13:33
Speaker 2: disrupting the pocket and the timing can be important. And
13:36
Speaker 2: you know there's some guys who can do that.
13:39
Speaker 3: I know.
13:39
Speaker 2: Bryce Huff is familiar to a lot of Eagles fans.
13:41
Speaker 2: Wasn't a defensive fit under Fangio. Has a home under
13:45
Speaker 2: Sala in that four to three under base. But the
13:50
Speaker 2: pass rush is still questionable. You just sit there and
13:52
Speaker 2: watch opposing quarterbacks have plenty of time in the pocket,
13:57
Speaker 2: or you know, just have an easy well okay, the
13:59
Speaker 2: pockets collapsed thing, but I could step up this way.
14:01
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts can do that just fine. So yeah, run defense,
14:05
Speaker 2: pass rush. You want to find some Niner liabilities. That's it.
14:08
Speaker 1: That's it, all right, folks. We're talking to Peter Pantasy
14:12
Speaker 1: from Fans Sided. He's the editor over there at Niner
14:16
Speaker 1: Noise Fantastic Content. They're always putting up Peter before we
14:19
Speaker 1: go to break. Let everybody know where they can find
14:21
Speaker 1: you on the interwebs. If they want to follow you
14:23
Speaker 1: and read your material.
14:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, so you head over to Ninernoise dot com.
14:28
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14:40
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14:43
Speaker 2: You won't see me post very much, you know, I
14:45
Speaker 2: just I just I don't know. I guess I'm getting older.
14:47
Speaker 1: It's exactly, yeah, it does it just all right, yep.
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Speaker 2: The page itself is very active. Podcast also is very
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15:29
Speaker 1: going to take a break, but when we get back,
15:31
Speaker 1: we're going to be diving into some matchups that we're
15:33
Speaker 1: gonna be seeing in the trenches on this coming Sunday,
15:37
Speaker 1: So stick with us, all right. We are back with
15:41
Speaker 1: our good friend Peter Pantasy from Niner Noise over at
15:45
Speaker 1: Fan Sided, and as we're looking at these matchups here,
15:49
Speaker 1: Peter want to talk about and move to the Eagles
15:53
Speaker 1: defense here because Vic Fangio said this past week that
15:56
Speaker 1: he's expecting Nakobe Dean to play obviously huge the Eagles defense,
16:01
Speaker 1: a defense that's really been on fire throughout this season.
16:03
Speaker 1: To Kobe Dean has been such a critical part of
16:05
Speaker 1: this Eagles linebacker course since last year during that Super
16:09
Speaker 1: Bowl run, this Eagles defense and the defensive front have
16:12
Speaker 1: really been on fire. Not a ton of sacks, but
16:15
Speaker 1: the pressure is there. They disrupt the pocket continuously for quarterbacks.
16:19
Speaker 1: And my thought is that if Brock Perdy is unable
16:22
Speaker 1: to really get through his progressions, we've seen what happens
16:25
Speaker 1: with him from time to time when he's in that mindset.
16:28
Speaker 1: So how do you expect the matchup here between this
16:31
Speaker 1: Eagles defensive front and the forty nine Ers offensive line
16:34
Speaker 1: to really take shape?
16:36
Speaker 2: Well? I think it's going to hinge on one player's availability.
16:39
Speaker 2: Trent Williams. Okay, that was because at least you have
16:45
Speaker 2: a statement, right, I mean, you've got an All pro
16:47
Speaker 2: future Hall of Famer. He was absolutely eighteen. Austin Pleasants
16:51
Speaker 2: filled in that did not go well, and it's almost
16:55
Speaker 2: as if the O line goes as Trent Williams goes, yes,
16:58
Speaker 2: the run game goes as Trent Williams.
16:59
Speaker 1: Goes like that with Lane Johnson on the Eagles side
17:01
Speaker 1: of things too, which we'll probably get to in abandon.
17:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that was, you know, I mean that's been
17:06
Speaker 2: I remember in the last few matchups against against Philip,
17:09
Speaker 2: it's been that. That was the talking point, Right, It's like, okay,
17:11
Speaker 2: like you can you know, kind of make your case
17:13
Speaker 2: based on Lane Johnson's availability. Williams suffered a hamstring injury
17:19
Speaker 2: in the first play against There's in week seventeen. He
17:22
Speaker 2: never had a hamstring injury before, so it's kind of
17:25
Speaker 2: in charted territory for him. He missed Wake eighteen and
17:29
Speaker 2: we don't, you know, there's to Kyle Shanahan's comments about
17:33
Speaker 2: him or will monitor him through the week and we'll see.
17:35
Speaker 1: Yeah.
17:36
Speaker 2: So that's going to be clutched. There's a weakness at
17:39
Speaker 2: left guard Spencer Burford, Jake Brendle, kind of Niner fans
17:45
Speaker 2: don't like him, but he actually probably performs a little
17:46
Speaker 2: bit better than expected. Same thing with right tackle Colton
17:49
Speaker 2: the Kivots probably plays a little bit better than his
17:51
Speaker 2: reputation says. But it's all going to go based on Williams.
17:55
Speaker 2: If there's at least one side that you know, purty doesn't.
17:58
Speaker 2: I think brock Perty called him security blanket, his blanket
18:02
Speaker 2: at some point earlier in the season called at Williams
18:05
Speaker 2: that it's like, okay, I get it. You know, at
18:07
Speaker 2: least you know that's fine. You can just say, all right,
18:08
Speaker 2: I don't have to worry about that. So right, So
18:12
Speaker 2: that's going to be, to me, the biggest X factor
18:14
Speaker 2: as far as the offense is concerned. Seattle has a
18:17
Speaker 2: dominant defensive front. You know, granted they were on a
18:20
Speaker 2: different scheme, but nevertheless it's a dominant defensive front. It
18:24
Speaker 2: overwhelmed San Francisco's offensive line sans Williams, all four quarters,
18:30
Speaker 2: you know, and it wasn't really until late in the
18:32
Speaker 2: game the Niners managed to get something going on offense.
18:36
Speaker 2: So if Williams is back, there's at least a chance
18:39
Speaker 2: for San Francisco to be effective on that side of
18:43
Speaker 2: the ball. But if he's not, you know, you might
18:46
Speaker 2: be looking at another less than stellar offensive outing from
18:51
Speaker 2: San Francisco. Yeah, fact, I.
18:53
Speaker 1: Mean, look you look at the Eagles defensive front. Jalen
18:56
Speaker 1: Phillips has been able to be very disruptive. You know,
18:59
Speaker 1: he doesn't have again all the sacks in the world.
19:01
Speaker 1: Jordan Davis has been very disruptive as well, have a
19:04
Speaker 1: very quiet, amazing season from him. Jalen Carter a bit
19:08
Speaker 1: of a down year, probably because of some injuries to
19:11
Speaker 1: both of his shoulders. Brandon Graham Jalx Hunt has actually
19:15
Speaker 1: been a great developing prospect initially from when he was
19:20
Speaker 1: drafted just a couple of years ago. So this Eagles
19:23
Speaker 1: defensive front, again, while the stat numbers aren't there, Peter,
19:27
Speaker 1: they are a very prolific crew and definitely a top
19:30
Speaker 1: five I would say defense in this league. I mean,
19:33
Speaker 1: it's gonna be really interesting to watch that particular matchup.
19:35
Speaker 1: But on the flip side of this as well, want
19:37
Speaker 1: to get your thoughts on the Niners defensive front here,
19:41
Speaker 1: just in terms of like the pass rush too, because again,
19:44
Speaker 1: like we're talking about this Eagles offensive line and the
19:48
Speaker 1: entire narrative with it all season, the challenges that they
19:52
Speaker 1: have faced. It's no secret the guys, whether it's Landon Dickerson,
19:56
Speaker 1: Cam Jurgens, the injuries that they've been nursing and in
19:59
Speaker 1: dealing with throughout the season stemming from offseason surgeries that
20:04
Speaker 1: have plagued them throughout this year, and just a lack
20:07
Speaker 1: of cohesiveness to this offensive line, and again not having
20:11
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson for several weeks towards the latter part of
20:14
Speaker 1: the regular season. Man, this offensive line has continued to
20:17
Speaker 1: struggle time and time again, especially in the run game.
20:20
Speaker 1: So how do you see this Eagles offensive line that
20:22
Speaker 1: have faced these challenges and struggles handle this Niners defensive front? Really?
20:27
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you say they're part of the weakness,
20:30
Speaker 1: but we've also got a part of the part of
20:31
Speaker 1: the Eagles biggest weakness is the offensive line. How do
20:34
Speaker 1: you see this working out here?
20:37
Speaker 2: That's a great weakness versus weakness which says, yes, you know,
20:43
Speaker 2: and iers don't have a pass rush, they're not Maybe
20:50
Speaker 2: it turns into kind of one of those like third
20:52
Speaker 2: preseason games in the third quarter, it feels.
20:55
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, where Christian McCaffrey and Sekwon Barkley, you'd figure
21:03
Speaker 3: that they would you at least one of those two
21:05
Speaker 3: guys would take over the game, and nobody had.
21:09
Speaker 2: If there's probably if there's one player I might single
21:12
Speaker 2: out it might be worth watching from the Niners defensive
21:15
Speaker 2: line side, I'd say it's a rookie Alfred Collins. You know,
21:20
Speaker 2: depend your alignment struggled early because of all those second
21:24
Speaker 2: round contract disputes that we saw that were like unprecedented,
21:27
Speaker 2: you know, heading into after the draft, but you know,
21:31
Speaker 2: kind of found some footing, has some splash plays already.
21:37
Speaker 2: He might be an X factor to watch. Right on
21:39
Speaker 2: the interior, here's an outside pass rush, you're probably not
21:43
Speaker 2: gonna get it. I mean, I think Bryce Huff and
21:46
Speaker 2: Clayland Ferrell, who is signed off the street earlier this season,
21:49
Speaker 2: like tied with each other for sacks with four a piece.
21:53
Speaker 2: So you're just kind of like, sacks aren't gonna be
21:55
Speaker 2: a big part of the game. But nevertheless, you know,
21:59
Speaker 2: it's it's a weakness versus weakness matchup, both in terms
22:03
Speaker 2: of pass pro and the run games.
22:05
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that hard to watch. It might be, it
22:10
Speaker 1: might be look and and the one theme that we've
22:13
Speaker 1: talked about recently on this podcast and specifically with one
22:16
Speaker 1: of our guests recently about this Eagles team and specifically
22:18
Speaker 1: the quarterback position in Jalen Hurts, is a narrative that
22:22
Speaker 1: not too many folks have been talking about with Jalen Hurts,
22:24
Speaker 1: and it's actually called turnover management. And the way that
22:27
Speaker 1: he has played the game this season different from last season.
22:31
Speaker 1: And it's because of the lack of turnovers that he
22:33
Speaker 1: has this season. He's not turning the ball over like
22:36
Speaker 1: he has in the past. And turnover management I think
22:39
Speaker 1: is really important. Now this Niners defensive front is really
22:42
Speaker 1: unable to rattle him in any way or to disrupt
22:46
Speaker 1: his pocket management, then you may see Jalen Hurts being
22:50
Speaker 1: able to, you know, get those slant routes. And if
22:53
Speaker 1: if Kevin Petulo actually decides that he would like to
22:55
Speaker 1: implement any sort of mesh concepts, which would be very
22:58
Speaker 1: very welcoming to US Eagles fans instead of hitch routes constantly.
23:02
Speaker 1: You know, we'd love to see that. But that we
23:05
Speaker 1: could go down another hour. I could go down another
23:07
Speaker 1: hour with you, Peter. But before I let you go, Buddy,
23:11
Speaker 1: Like we ask all our Opposition Territory Podcast guest on
23:14
Speaker 1: a weekly basis, we end with what each team is
23:17
Speaker 1: going to need to hit on for a win this
23:20
Speaker 1: week here, So let's start with the forty nine ers.
23:22
Speaker 1: What do you think the forty nine ers are going
23:24
Speaker 1: to need to hit on for a win against this
23:26
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles team when they're in South Philly this week.
23:31
Speaker 2: You know, I heard Robert Sawa say this, It might
23:35
Speaker 2: have been last week, a couple of weeks ago. He's
23:38
Speaker 2: given up on the idea that you know, yards allowed
23:41
Speaker 2: is an important stat for defense.
23:43
Speaker 1: Yes, Ben don't break.
23:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Ben don't break. Right for me? It stops,
23:50
Speaker 2: so defensive stops. And you saw this against Chicago right
23:53
Speaker 2: that was a high schooling game, right right. You know,
23:56
Speaker 2: Niners need to get some stops, period. Just just get
23:59
Speaker 2: some stop And if that means all right, you're clamping
24:03
Speaker 2: down in the red zone, condensed area of the field. Great,
24:05
Speaker 2: get some stops, whatever they are, however you get them,
24:08
Speaker 2: just get them. That would be one of the major
24:11
Speaker 2: things to hit on and the Niners can thrive as
24:15
Speaker 2: well as the Eagles can if this is a low
24:16
Speaker 2: scoring game, if it stops, that's the key. So, I mean,
24:25
Speaker 2: I'll say the cliche things, turnovers, penalties, you know, things
24:29
Speaker 2: that are kind of understood, but stops is probably the
24:31
Speaker 2: cool one.
24:32
Speaker 1: All right. Well, on the flip side, what's the one
24:33
Speaker 1: thing that you you think the Eagles are going to
24:35
Speaker 1: need to hit on for a win this week?
24:37
Speaker 2: Their on run defense. Okay, what I saw is that
24:40
Speaker 2: Eagles were giving up Where did I see it? One
24:42
Speaker 2: hundred average one hundred and twenty four point four yards
24:46
Speaker 2: allowed per game or something like that. Okay. I think
24:48
Speaker 2: if there's one kind of Eagles defensive woe that might
24:53
Speaker 2: be concerned, it could be that. Okay, But I mean
24:58
Speaker 2: they got a blueprint straight from seatle you know, hey,
25:02
Speaker 2: take Christian McCaffrey out of the equation and things really
25:05
Speaker 2: go hey wire quickly. Yeah and yeah, so that's the
25:10
Speaker 2: thing I think I did be able to because again,
25:12
Speaker 2: Eagles are comfortable low scoring games, so absolutely, yep, that's
25:18
Speaker 2: that's not an issue.
25:19
Speaker 3: Right.
25:20
Speaker 2: So you know, if they're able to you know, copy
25:23
Speaker 2: Seattle's blueprint, that'll be a cake walk.
25:26
Speaker 1: All right, Well, it is going to be a fascinating
25:29
Speaker 1: matchup in my opinion, and I think everybody's looking forward
25:32
Speaker 1: to seeing what is going to happen because there are
25:34
Speaker 1: strengths on both sides of these teams and weaknesses as well.
25:39
Speaker 1: It was great talking to you Peter again, folks. Peter
25:41
Speaker 1: Pantasy from Fan Sided head on over to Ninernoise dot com. Great,
25:47
Speaker 1: great content about this San Francisco forty nine Ers team
25:50
Speaker 1: and great podcasts, and I'd love to have you on
25:54
Speaker 1: the show again at some point, my friends, seriously, come
25:56
Speaker 1: back join us and we'll get into more NFL talk.
25:58
Speaker 2: Okay, absolute, Jeff, more than happy to.
26:02
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
26:05
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
26:08
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26:11
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26:14
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26:18
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26:27
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26:31
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26:35
Speaker 1: we will catch you next time,