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

0:24
Speaker 1: Welcome to opposition territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
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: Got a great show, a great Eagles Bill's preview show
0:37
Speaker 1: coming your way this week. We have got our good
0:39
Speaker 1: friend from Buffalo Umblings dot com. No, we love our
0:42
Speaker 1: sp Nation sites. And also she is like almost at
0:46
Speaker 1: one hundred straight Buffalo Bills games that she has attended.
0:51
Speaker 1: It's getting real close. Today is like ninety eight at
0:53
Speaker 1: this point. We've got our good friend, Sarah Larson. Sarah,
0:56
Speaker 1: thanks so much for taking the time to jump on
0:58
Speaker 1: this week and tive in to this pregame preview show.
1:02
Speaker 2: Of course, Jeff, it's kind of crazy that we've been
1:05
Speaker 2: able to do this so many times already because of
1:07
Speaker 2: how many times the Bills and the Eagles have been
1:09
Speaker 2: able to play each other lately. So this is great,
1:11
Speaker 2: it really is.
1:12
Speaker 1: And I believe if I'm not mistaken, the last time, man,
1:15
Speaker 1: it was a really close game. There were some questionable
1:19
Speaker 1: calls as well. I feel like I think that was.
1:23
Speaker 2: The rh I got.
1:25
Speaker 3: So I'm pretty sure it was.
1:28
Speaker 1: I mean it was in Philly, right, it was in Philly,
1:30
Speaker 1: and I believe that's the last time these two teams
1:32
Speaker 1: have played. And it's like I've been reflecting on this season,
1:36
Speaker 1: not just as an Eagles fan, but what this NFL
1:38
Speaker 1: season has been overall for so many teams. Sarah, and
1:41
Speaker 1: I feel like the Bills and the Eagles are in
1:43
Speaker 1: a very similar type of situation this season, coming into
1:47
Speaker 1: the season with high expectations to start the year. They've
1:50
Speaker 1: both won a lot of games, but there have been
1:53
Speaker 1: a lot of hiccups and a lot of challenges throughout
1:55
Speaker 1: the season with both of these teams. As we're heading
1:59
Speaker 1: into this last are part of the season here, and
2:01
Speaker 1: I think as we look towards the second of the
2:04
Speaker 1: last game here, I'm wondering for you as a as
2:08
Speaker 1: a Bills fan, somebody who covers this team as well,
2:11
Speaker 1: what has been the biggest challenge for this Bills team
2:13
Speaker 1: this year from an overall perspective that might be possibly
2:17
Speaker 1: prevalent during this upcoming game against the Eagles.
2:19
Speaker 3: What are your thoughts here?
2:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you, from like the overall perspective,
2:24
Speaker 2: I think the biggest challenge so far for the Bills
2:27
Speaker 2: this season has been consistency. Yeah, and that might be
2:29
Speaker 2: the same thing for Philadelphia, but especially like situationally the
2:35
Speaker 2: Bills of one games, but it hasn't always been clean.
2:39
Speaker 2: Even when we win. We joke that sometimes you walk
2:42
Speaker 2: out not feeling quite like yes, we have in years past,
2:46
Speaker 2: you know.
2:47
Speaker 3: So it's been like the Eagles too throughout this entire season.
2:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the Bills have also like really
2:53
Speaker 2: started off slow in a lot of games, and they've
2:56
Speaker 2: turned the ball over and had a lot of penalties,
2:58
Speaker 2: and that's kind of been their arch nemesis. This this
3:01
Speaker 2: season is kind of themselves. You know. We go into
3:05
Speaker 2: some of these games that we're questionable, like can we
3:08
Speaker 2: win this game, and we play really well, and then
3:12
Speaker 2: we have games that we're supposed to just dominate and
3:15
Speaker 2: and we go in and we look like the lesser
3:18
Speaker 2: of the teams.
3:20
Speaker 1: That that is an extremely prevalent storyline throughout this Eagle
3:23
Speaker 1: season as well, And that's why I think this game
3:25
Speaker 1: is going to be so very interesting. Two teams with
3:29
Speaker 1: some pretty nice winning records here this season, and again,
3:32
Speaker 1: the expectations so very high for both teams heading into
3:36
Speaker 1: this latter part of the season, and who knows if
3:38
Speaker 1: these two teams may end up facing each other in
3:42
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and you know what I mean by that.
3:45
Speaker 1: Who knows what's going to happen.
3:48
Speaker 2: I'll be out in San Francisco so for this for
3:50
Speaker 2: the super Bowl. So it would be an amazing to
3:53
Speaker 2: have Bills versus Eagles fans for everything. Oh, I don't
3:57
Speaker 2: think San Francisco would be heard for us.
4:00
Speaker 3: I don't think so.
4:01
Speaker 1: I mean Eagles fans, Bills fans all super Bowl. I
4:05
Speaker 1: mean crazy insanity is what would ensue. Absolutely well. As
4:10
Speaker 1: we're moving along here, Sarah, you know, we talk about
4:13
Speaker 1: on our Opposition Territory podcast here every week about strengths
4:15
Speaker 1: and the weaknesses of the teams that the Eagles are facing.
4:18
Speaker 1: So I'd love to get into that with you right
4:20
Speaker 1: now if you can talk about what the biggest strength
4:23
Speaker 1: has been of this Bill's team as we're heading into
4:26
Speaker 1: week seventeen of this season. What is that strength? And
4:29
Speaker 1: then we'll get into the weakness in a little bit,
4:30
Speaker 1: But what's the biggest strength that we should be keeping
4:32
Speaker 1: our eyes on here? Yeah?
4:33
Speaker 2: I think everyone expects me to say Josh Allen, but
4:36
Speaker 2: I'm actually gonna, you know, switch it up and say
4:39
Speaker 2: James Cook. Okay, his evolution this year and what he's
4:44
Speaker 2: brought to the team. At this current point, the Bills
4:48
Speaker 2: actually are over fifty percent rushing for a for our
4:54
Speaker 2: you know snapcounts, which is the first year that has
4:58
Speaker 2: been this under Josh Allen's you know, rained since twenty eighteen.
5:02
Speaker 2: So his his evolution on the field has just been crazy.
5:07
Speaker 2: I know that in the beginning, when he first started,
5:09
Speaker 2: there were certain things that I would have, you know,
5:11
Speaker 2: issues with and I feel like James Cook has kind
5:14
Speaker 2: of hit on all those issues and he hits the
5:17
Speaker 2: whole hard now, which was one of the complaints I
5:19
Speaker 2: had years ago. He is not always trying to dance
5:23
Speaker 2: to the outside, which is something that I had, you know,
5:26
Speaker 2: a few years ago. He's taken it right up the middle.
5:29
Speaker 2: He's kind of looking and seeing what the defenses are
5:32
Speaker 2: giving him, and he's making good decisions. I mean, we
5:36
Speaker 2: still have a couple of issues with a couple of
5:37
Speaker 2: fumbles here and there, but I think that he's definitely
5:42
Speaker 2: probably the biggest strength. It's allowing the Bills to not
5:46
Speaker 2: be so you know, Jeff, Josh Allen reliant, and I
5:51
Speaker 2: appreciate what he's brought. Everyone was questioning whether or not
5:53
Speaker 2: we should give him that extension, and I think he's
5:56
Speaker 2: not only earned that extension, he's exceeded it absolutely.
5:59
Speaker 1: I like your answer with this quite frankly, and before
6:02
Speaker 1: we get into the weaknesses of this Bill's team. I
6:07
Speaker 1: have viewed Josh Allen whenever he's been on my TV
6:09
Speaker 1: screen here in Pennsylvania. I have viewed Josh Allen as
6:13
Speaker 1: being a bit more conservative this season, like he's not
6:16
Speaker 1: necessarily trying to throw into a very very tight window
6:20
Speaker 1: as we've been so accustomed to him doing. We've certainly
6:23
Speaker 1: seen it from time to time and game to game,
6:26
Speaker 1: but his reliance on that I think he's gotten perhaps
6:29
Speaker 1: a little bit more conservative. And maybe that's because of
6:32
Speaker 1: what you were just mentioning the fact that James Cook
6:35
Speaker 1: is now at two hundred and eighty seven rushes during
6:38
Speaker 1: this season, over fifteen hundred yards, averaging five point three
6:42
Speaker 1: yards per carry, and twelve touchdowns on this season. I
6:46
Speaker 1: don't necessarily think Josh Allen needs to have that absolute
6:50
Speaker 1: precision in those tight windows when you have a running
6:55
Speaker 1: back like James Cook that is able to really help
6:57
Speaker 1: provide the foundation of where this offense is is. I
7:00
Speaker 1: don't know if you would agree with that.
7:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that we've needed it because from the
7:08
Speaker 2: Bills perspective, they haven't had the the wins that we
7:12
Speaker 2: would hope to have had with our you know, drafting
7:16
Speaker 2: a wide receiver, grabbing wide receivers from from free agency,
7:20
Speaker 2: et cetera. We've obviously also left quite a let, quite
7:25
Speaker 2: a few of our wide receivers go, you know, two
7:29
Speaker 2: of which are now on the on the Patriots, which
7:32
Speaker 2: you know hurts me every week to see that happening.
7:35
Speaker 2: But I think that you know, Josh hasn't had to
7:38
Speaker 2: be reliant on, you know, forcing the ball into wide
7:42
Speaker 2: receivers and stuff, and when he does, he gets caught
7:44
Speaker 2: up in that.
7:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
7:45
Speaker 2: So you know, his his issues with a few turnovers
7:48
Speaker 2: here and there over the last few years have usually
7:51
Speaker 2: been when he's trying to force the ball. It's not
7:55
Speaker 2: it's not all running through him anymore, it's it's running
7:57
Speaker 2: through it. Really is the focal point of the offense
8:00
Speaker 2: right now, is James Cook.
8:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, let's flip the uh, let's flip the coin here.
8:05
Speaker 1: What has been the biggest weakness of this Bills team
8:09
Speaker 1: so far this season that we may end up seeing
8:12
Speaker 1: this week against the Eagles. What are your thoughts here?
8:14
Speaker 2: We are definitely not going to see it this weekend
8:18
Speaker 2: because the Bills are going to know that it's their
8:21
Speaker 2: weakness and they're not going to allow it. Now I'm joking, no,
8:25
Speaker 2: I would say everyone. Everyone kind of knows this right now.
8:29
Speaker 2: The Bills at the bottom three I think in and
8:32
Speaker 2: run defense. This season, the run defense consistency has just
8:38
Speaker 2: been up and down. We have a good game against
8:41
Speaker 2: one team and then we have a game against like
8:44
Speaker 2: the Falcons and we let you know, Bijon run for
8:48
Speaker 2: two hundred plus yards on us, so you know, but
8:50
Speaker 2: then again we went against the Panthers and ended up
8:55
Speaker 2: holding them under one hundred yards. So little things like that.
8:59
Speaker 2: It's just the consistency has been pretty pretty damning to
9:03
Speaker 2: us all, you know, all season. You know, the Bills
9:08
Speaker 2: passing defense is top three in the in the NFL
9:12
Speaker 2: right now, But I think a lot of that is
9:15
Speaker 2: because teams know that they can run on us instead
9:17
Speaker 2: of you know, why why take issue with uh with
9:21
Speaker 2: the passing game when we could just run all over you.
9:24
Speaker 2: So I think that with the Bills that they need
9:27
Speaker 2: to do is they need to make sure that they
9:30
Speaker 2: you know, watch the line and make sure that they
9:34
Speaker 2: stay you know, stay diligent on ensuring all the gaps
9:38
Speaker 2: are protected and everything else. But the I think our
9:43
Speaker 2: biggest issue is once you get to the linebacker or safety.
9:48
Speaker 2: So if they, if any ball carrier gets to that
9:50
Speaker 2: second level, that's when we just don't have the speed
9:54
Speaker 2: to run you down. So if you guys hit that
9:56
Speaker 2: second level, most likely it's going to you know, be
9:58
Speaker 2: a gain for forty fifty yards. If not, you know,
10:01
Speaker 2: all the way to the house. So that is our
10:04
Speaker 2: biggest fear is when we're taking on a running back
10:08
Speaker 2: that can hit that next level and we have that
10:11
Speaker 2: breakdown and coverage which tends to seem to happen once
10:14
Speaker 2: a game regardless who we're taking on.
10:16
Speaker 1: So well, we are definitely going to get into that
10:19
Speaker 1: in a little bit more detail as we talk about
10:22
Speaker 1: the Bill's defense the Eagles offense. And I'm really looking
10:26
Speaker 1: forward to hearing what you have to say with regard
10:27
Speaker 1: to the Bill's secondary going up against these Eagles wide receivers,
10:31
Speaker 1: and we're certainly going to be getting to that after
10:33
Speaker 1: our break. But before we go to our first break here,
10:37
Speaker 1: I wanted to really dive into with you, Sarah, Josh
10:41
Speaker 1: Allen and just he's such an amazing quarterback. As we
10:45
Speaker 1: all know, any team would absolutely love to have him
10:47
Speaker 1: under center. But he has had some criticism come his
10:51
Speaker 1: way this season, some of it some of it pretty harsh. Actually,
10:55
Speaker 1: specifically from about a month ago. You know, I remember
10:58
Speaker 1: reading some articles and just hearing some dialogue. Josh Allen
11:01
Speaker 1: doesn't have it anymore, what's going on with his game?
11:05
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think all that was fair. Quite frankly,
11:07
Speaker 1: He's one of the great quarterbacks of this league and
11:10
Speaker 1: the reigning MVP of the NFL as well, so, but
11:13
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, how would you assess Josh Allen's season here,
11:17
Speaker 1: given that, again, he is the reigning MVP, and again
11:21
Speaker 1: I guess going back to those expectations towards the beginning
11:25
Speaker 1: of this season, what are your thoughts on the type
11:28
Speaker 1: of season Josh Allen.
11:29
Speaker 3: Has had here. Yeah.
11:31
Speaker 2: See, I'm not wanting to push back on the criticism
11:33
Speaker 2: because I was in the middle of the season. I
11:36
Speaker 2: was one of the people questioning, you know, and I
11:39
Speaker 2: love Josh. Trust me. I'm like every other play, I'm like,
11:42
Speaker 2: that's my quarterback, that's my quarterback. But I question it
11:45
Speaker 2: as well. I'm like, what is going on with him?
11:47
Speaker 2: Is he injured? Is his relationship status in his marriage?
11:52
Speaker 2: Is he not quite in you know, into the season mentally.
11:56
Speaker 2: So I, you know, we all did it, and it's
12:00
Speaker 2: not without fault. But at the same time we all
12:02
Speaker 2: say that, you know, as I mentioned earlier, we don't
12:06
Speaker 2: really have a number one wide receiver. Sometimes we don't
12:09
Speaker 2: even have a number two. It's been it's been pretty bad.
12:14
Speaker 2: A lot of the you know, the wide receivers can't
12:16
Speaker 2: get open, and it puts him into a bind because
12:20
Speaker 2: they're not consistent. So I honestly think though, when you're
12:24
Speaker 2: the reigning MVP, the expectations are kind of almost unrealistic.
12:29
Speaker 2: You know, anything sure of perfection, it gets magnified. You're
12:32
Speaker 2: you're you're putting under You're getting put under this magnifying glass.
12:36
Speaker 2: And you know, I think that there was a lot
12:38
Speaker 2: of controversy last year on whether or not he was
12:42
Speaker 2: the right pick for MV for MVP to begin with,
12:45
Speaker 2: should it be Lamar? Should it be him? And I'm
12:48
Speaker 2: gonna kind of say the same argument as I had
12:51
Speaker 2: against Lamar last year was Lamar had Derrick Henry, so
12:56
Speaker 2: was he even the the m v P of his team,
13:00
Speaker 2: let alone the league? Yeah, And I think that we're
13:02
Speaker 2: kind of looking at that in the same lens this
13:05
Speaker 2: year for Josh. I I don't know if he's the
13:08
Speaker 2: MVP of the team, let alone the league this year
13:12
Speaker 2: because of James Cook. And you know, with all that
13:16
Speaker 2: being said, though, Josh is you know, we know Josh's
13:19
Speaker 2: season hasn't been flawless, he hasn't needed to be, but
13:23
Speaker 2: he's still his same impactful self. Yeah, and he's he's
13:28
Speaker 2: been asked to do more with less this this season
13:31
Speaker 2: with you know, like I said, the supporting cast has
13:33
Speaker 2: just not been there. And you know, I think that
13:37
Speaker 2: the burden of that he carries going week in week
13:41
Speaker 2: out is probably different than you know, thirty other teams
13:47
Speaker 2: in the league. I think Mahomes might have been, you know,
13:49
Speaker 2: in Lamar has that that same burden, I would think,
13:55
Speaker 2: because they're all consistently so great all the time, that
13:59
Speaker 2: they're held to this other bar.
14:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, don't forget one. Jalen Hurts as well, quite frankly
14:05
Speaker 1: the MVP of the Super Bowl. I see a correlation
14:08
Speaker 1: between Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts from the expectations standpoint
14:13
Speaker 1: about what each fan base wants from that quarterback, and
14:17
Speaker 1: sometimes they haven't necessarily been able to give what everybody wants,
14:22
Speaker 1: but they have been able to deliver and come through
14:25
Speaker 1: when it actually ends up mattering. I see a correlation
14:28
Speaker 1: between Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts in that regard, and
14:32
Speaker 1: it's it's really fascinating.
14:34
Speaker 2: Right And I think that with Jalen Hurts, I think
14:36
Speaker 2: that again, he has Saquon Barkley behind him, so when
14:41
Speaker 2: the passing game isn't quite up to par, they question
14:46
Speaker 2: whether or not, you know, he can get it done.
14:48
Speaker 2: And I think that, like you said, the correlation, a
14:51
Speaker 2: lot of people are saying the same thing with Josh
14:54
Speaker 2: is you know, he we won the other you know,
14:57
Speaker 2: the other day against Cleveland. It wasn't a pretty second
15:00
Speaker 2: half game, but his stat line wasn't great. He had
15:04
Speaker 2: under two hundred yards passing and you know, actually no
15:09
Speaker 2: touchdowns for Josh, which is you know, a rarity, but
15:13
Speaker 2: we still won the game. He was careful with the ball.
15:16
Speaker 2: He you know, got the ball, he got rid of
15:19
Speaker 2: the ball when he needed to. He gave it to
15:21
Speaker 2: James Cook when he needed, you know, to to get
15:24
Speaker 2: the ball out of his hands. So I think that
15:26
Speaker 2: the it's all about what they do when when they're
15:29
Speaker 2: called upon. And I think that both jill and and
15:32
Speaker 2: Josh are the you know, two of the best in
15:35
Speaker 2: that capacity.
15:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, all right.
15:38
Speaker 1: Again, folks were talking to Sarah Larson from Buffalo Rumblings
15:41
Speaker 1: dot com, great esp Nations site, and uh, she's close
15:45
Speaker 1: to one hundred games attending Buffalo Bills games, I should say,
15:50
Speaker 1: traveling all over the place. And again they're doing great
15:52
Speaker 1: stuff over at Buffalo Rumblings dot com. If folks want
15:55
Speaker 1: to connect with you, Sarah, where can they find you
15:56
Speaker 1: on the interwebs out there?
15:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm on Twitter. It's Sarah Underscore Larsen is my
16:03
Speaker 2: Twitter Twitter handle. I'm also on other social media for
16:07
Speaker 2: Cherry's Underscore sixty six. I post all my pictures from
16:12
Speaker 2: traveling to the consecutive games and stuff.
16:14
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome, And if you are watching us on YouTube,
16:17
Speaker 1: like and subscribe to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show.
16:19
Speaker 1: You can also hit the bell to be notified when
16:21
Speaker 1: we post new videos. We're also on various social media
16:25
Speaker 1: sites as well. Just search out the Philadelphia Sports Table
16:27
Speaker 1: you can search out myself and my co host Eric
16:31
Speaker 1: lend Bless his soul, not on social media anymore.
16:34
Speaker 3: Good for him.
16:36
Speaker 1: So that being said, folks, we're going to take a
16:38
Speaker 1: break and when we get back, we got a lot
16:40
Speaker 1: more of our preview show.
16:41
Speaker 3: Come in your way.
16:43
Speaker 1: All right, we are back with our good friend Sarah
16:45
Speaker 1: Larson from Buffalo Rumblings dot Com as we dive into
16:49
Speaker 1: this upcoming matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills.
16:53
Speaker 1: So let's get into some of these matchups here. Look,
16:56
Speaker 1: the Eagles offensive line, Sarah, is certainly not what it
16:59
Speaker 1: was last season. So many injuries that have happened with
17:03
Speaker 1: this team. They're being asked to do so much in
17:07
Speaker 1: this offense that sometimes I personally believe from an injury
17:10
Speaker 1: standpoint that a few of these guys have been dealing
17:12
Speaker 1: with all year. They're just not able to be that
17:15
Speaker 1: cohesive unit. However, things have been as ugly as they
17:20
Speaker 1: have been, they've been a little bit more in sync
17:22
Speaker 1: over the course of the past couple weeks here, which
17:25
Speaker 1: is nice for US Eagles fans to see. But I'm wondering,
17:28
Speaker 1: how do you think you mentioned the Buffalo defense before.
17:31
Speaker 1: How do you think the Buffalo Bill's defense will really
17:34
Speaker 1: try to penetrate this Eagles offense this Sunday. I think
17:38
Speaker 1: there's some strength and weaknesses both sides here. How do
17:41
Speaker 1: you think this is all going to manifest itself?
17:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that what's good for the Eagles is
17:46
Speaker 2: you guys seem to be getting healthy at the right time. Yeah.
17:50
Speaker 2: For you know, I think you guys are expecting Lane
17:53
Speaker 2: Johnson to come back, which will definitely help the line
17:57
Speaker 2: even more. I think with the Bills defense, the problem
18:02
Speaker 2: has been, you know, we've lost several players for two, three,
18:06
Speaker 2: four game stretches and it's whether or not the next
18:10
Speaker 2: person's gonna, you know, step up. But yeah, I think
18:13
Speaker 2: discipline and then getting the timely pressures. I don't think
18:18
Speaker 2: that the Bills are gonna overpower the Eagles line. You
18:21
Speaker 2: guys' line is massive, and I think that honestly. My
18:26
Speaker 2: biggest concern is that the Eagles offense is kind of
18:29
Speaker 2: built to exploit if you're over aggressive and you don't
18:34
Speaker 2: hit home. So, you know, the the little screens, the
18:38
Speaker 2: you know, the dump offs to stay kwon, those are
18:40
Speaker 2: gonna kind of be my my biggest fears because like
18:44
Speaker 2: I said, once you guys hit that second level, it's
18:47
Speaker 2: to the house, you guys are going gonna be gone.
18:49
Speaker 2: And then Jalen Hurts can can hurt you with with
18:51
Speaker 2: his feet. So if we don't kind of maintain that
18:54
Speaker 2: the gap integrity that is, you know, whether it's with
18:58
Speaker 2: the spy or just someone kind of always honing down
19:01
Speaker 2: on him, it concerns me long term how we can
19:06
Speaker 2: maintain him and keep him in the pocket for the game.
19:09
Speaker 2: I think that that's going to be kind of the
19:11
Speaker 2: answer for the Bills, And you know, I think that
19:15
Speaker 2: will Blitz a little bit. I don't think that we're
19:17
Speaker 2: going to be overly aggressive. I think that if we
19:19
Speaker 2: can kind of disrupt his timing that that usually puts
19:23
Speaker 2: Hurts in a little bit of a predicament where he
19:25
Speaker 2: doesn't always uh do well in those cases. So the
19:29
Speaker 2: the Bills the last couple of weeks have been really
19:32
Speaker 2: good with getting their hands up, and I think that
19:34
Speaker 2: if we can have a few of those tip passes
19:37
Speaker 2: we've kind of exploited that on turnovers, you know, those
19:41
Speaker 2: tip drills where we're tipping it up in the air.
19:43
Speaker 2: Benfords had a couple both I had a tip tipball
19:47
Speaker 2: last week that Daikwon Jones ended up uh recovering the
19:53
Speaker 2: the well intercepting it. Actually it was a tip so
19:55
Speaker 2: he and he intercepted it. So we've been doing that
19:58
Speaker 2: a lot lately. So if we can get our hands
20:01
Speaker 2: up and kind of make you know, Jalen a little
20:05
Speaker 2: uh feeling a little bit uncomfortable in the pocket, I
20:09
Speaker 2: think that that's going to be kind of their defensive
20:12
Speaker 2: you know, game plan. I don't think you can really
20:15
Speaker 2: hold Saquan back. I think he's going to get his yards,
20:19
Speaker 2: especially against our defense, and it's just making sure we
20:22
Speaker 2: shut down the you know, the the wide receivers.
20:25
Speaker 1: I think Saquon will get those yards if the Eagles
20:28
Speaker 1: offensive line is able to remain as in sync as
20:31
Speaker 1: they have been. You mentioned Lane Johnson as well, just
20:35
Speaker 1: I think we may end up seeing that. But another
20:37
Speaker 1: matchup that I'm really going to be focused on too,
20:40
Speaker 1: and again we touched on it earlier before the break,
20:43
Speaker 1: is the Bill secondary going against these Eagles wide receivers,
20:47
Speaker 1: and I think it's going to be absolutely fascinating. And
20:50
Speaker 1: if Jalen Hurts is really able to get the ball downfield,
20:53
Speaker 1: which we did not see much of at all. Last
20:55
Speaker 1: week against the Commanders, there were a lot of dinks
20:58
Speaker 1: and dunks, just a lot, just a bunch of five
21:00
Speaker 1: yard out type of routes. We did not see the
21:02
Speaker 1: ball being thrown down the field, and I'm not sure
21:06
Speaker 1: we're going to see that this week here. I mean,
21:08
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts was only averaging a little over six yards
21:10
Speaker 1: per attempt last week against the Commander So, Sarah, what
21:13
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on the Bill's secondary going up against
21:16
Speaker 1: the Eagles wide receivers and aj Brown, Devonte Smith and
21:19
Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard here.
21:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a lot of people have underestimated the
21:25
Speaker 2: Bill's secondary a little bit. They've been quietly one of
21:29
Speaker 2: the steadier units this season when healthy. I think the
21:33
Speaker 2: part of that is because teams are running against them
21:37
Speaker 2: more so. Obviously the stats show a little bit different,
21:42
Speaker 2: but I'll have to say that when you know they
21:44
Speaker 2: can keep everything in front of them, and they kind
21:47
Speaker 2: of forced the quarterbacks that everybody is instinct and they
21:50
Speaker 2: can force the quarterback to make bad decisions, that's kind
21:53
Speaker 2: of when they are winning so much. But I can't
21:56
Speaker 2: say enough about the the veterans that have come mom
22:00
Speaker 2: and stepped up, Trey White, Jordan Poyer. They've just been remarkable.
22:07
Speaker 2: Two players that even Bills fans completely rode off have
22:12
Speaker 2: been pretty you know, I'm not going to say they're
22:15
Speaker 2: perfect every single play, but they've been exceptional. Trey White, Yeah,
22:20
Speaker 2: Trey White, Christian Benford, the rookie Maxwell Harrison when he
22:24
Speaker 2: came back from being injured. And then obviously I still
22:27
Speaker 2: think we have one of the best nickel nickel corners
22:30
Speaker 2: in the league and Taron Johnson, but I think they
22:32
Speaker 2: all have their work crud out for them, but I
22:34
Speaker 2: think they're they're up for it. And then Jordan Poyer
22:37
Speaker 2: has been exactly what uh bishop has needed Bishops in
22:43
Speaker 2: his second year and just night and day from the
22:47
Speaker 2: first couple of weeks of the season to what he
22:49
Speaker 2: is now. I think that they're you know, our dB
22:53
Speaker 2: our dbs are all doing well. Whether it's our corners
22:56
Speaker 2: are a safety. So I think that my my biggest
23:00
Speaker 2: concern with the Eagles is that you guys are not
23:02
Speaker 2: one dimensional. You guys have both the running game and
23:06
Speaker 2: a passing game. If once you guys get everything clicking.
23:10
Speaker 2: But I honestly think that that Dallas is going to
23:14
Speaker 2: be my biggest concern there at tight end, you know,
23:17
Speaker 2: having I think again, I think Taron Johnson is going
23:22
Speaker 2: to do a great job. I think that we have
23:24
Speaker 2: good coverage tight ends, but those five six seven yard
23:29
Speaker 2: little dump down passes add up, and that's what I think.
23:33
Speaker 2: My biggest concern is is those are going to open
23:35
Speaker 2: up across the middle of the field and you guys
23:37
Speaker 2: are gonna kind of you know, dip and dunk all
23:40
Speaker 2: all the way down the field doing those little things
23:42
Speaker 2: and then obviously Sakon you know, making his his mark.
23:48
Speaker 2: I'm concerned if that happens that you're gonna end up
23:51
Speaker 2: having Smith uh kind of downfield quick. He's so fast
23:57
Speaker 2: being able to to get open.
24:01
Speaker 3: It's gonna be.
24:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's absolutely going to be fascinating to see mentioned
24:05
Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard. And as Eagles fans, we always know that
24:08
Speaker 1: tight end screen that's coming. Seriously, we know the formation,
24:11
Speaker 1: we know when he goes in motion, what we are
24:13
Speaker 1: going to see. Dallas got It really could be one
24:15
Speaker 1: of the one of the X factors for the Eagles offense. Certainly,
24:20
Speaker 1: so Sarah, before I let you go, my friend, as
24:23
Speaker 1: we do in all of our opposition Territory Podcast. When
24:26
Speaker 1: we're previewing these Eagles games, we like to talk about
24:29
Speaker 1: one thing of the opposition may do to win, a
24:33
Speaker 1: need to do to win the game, and what the
24:36
Speaker 1: Eagles may need to do and should do to win
24:38
Speaker 1: the game. So what's the one thing that you see
24:41
Speaker 1: this Buffalo Bills team needing to hit on for a
24:44
Speaker 1: win against Philadelphia Eagles this week.
24:47
Speaker 2: I think that it's gonna come down for the Bills
24:50
Speaker 2: to winning the turnover battle and limiting mistakes. I think
24:54
Speaker 2: that when the Bills limit their penalties and limit their
24:58
Speaker 2: turnovers on you know, on the offensive side, that they
25:02
Speaker 2: are hard to beat. They can they can hang with
25:05
Speaker 2: pretty much any team out there. They are a Super
25:07
Speaker 2: Bowl contending team when that happens when they turn the
25:13
Speaker 2: b ball over, when they get all those penalties and
25:16
Speaker 2: silly you know, penalties that kind of disrupt a drive,
25:21
Speaker 2: whether it's on offense or defense, it's it's those that
25:26
Speaker 2: kind of kill those the drives that we have that
25:29
Speaker 2: have been the most impactful. So I think if we
25:31
Speaker 2: limit the mistakes pretty much, I think the Bills definitely
25:36
Speaker 2: have a good chance of winning the game.
25:39
Speaker 3: Absolutely all right.
25:40
Speaker 1: On the flip side, what's the one thing you think
25:42
Speaker 1: the Eagles are going to need to hit on for
25:44
Speaker 1: a win this week against the Bills. I think I
25:46
Speaker 1: know what you're gonna say, But what's that one thing.
25:49
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to say, make Josh Allen uncomfortable. I
25:53
Speaker 2: think that he he showed a lot for the during
25:58
Speaker 2: the Houston game. If you guys, you know, and I'm
26:00
Speaker 2: sure I'm sure that all the coaching staff has watched
26:03
Speaker 2: that game over and over and over again, because if
26:06
Speaker 2: Josh Allen looked terrible at one point this this year,
26:09
Speaker 2: it was that game. He He didn't look great against
26:13
Speaker 2: the Dolphins either, but the Houston game he was sacked
26:17
Speaker 2: I think eight or nine times. It was ridiculous. So
26:21
Speaker 2: once you make him uncomfortable, once you make him feel
26:23
Speaker 2: like he's got to put the whole game on his shoulders,
26:27
Speaker 2: it tends to, uh, not always go the way that
26:31
Speaker 2: everyone wants to. But I I mean, I think that
26:34
Speaker 2: with the Eagles offense gets going, you know, it's gonna
26:38
Speaker 2: put everybody in a in a predicament, which also might
26:41
Speaker 2: make Josh Allen feel uncomfortable. So it's not just the
26:44
Speaker 2: the defense making him feel that way. It's some it
26:47
Speaker 2: could be the offense as well, just getting the score
26:49
Speaker 2: up because the Bills have not been good about coming out.
26:52
Speaker 2: We did last week they scored I think it was
26:55
Speaker 2: three touchdowns in the first half, but we have not
27:00
Speaker 2: done that most of the season. Most of the season
27:02
Speaker 2: we just don't get clicking until the second half.
27:04
Speaker 1: Well, this is going to be an interesting matchup for sure.
27:07
Speaker 1: A lot of us have been waiting for Week seventeen.
27:10
Speaker 1: Here this Eagles Bills matchup again, folks. She is Sarah
27:14
Speaker 1: Larson from Buffalo Rumblings dot Com. Head on over there
27:19
Speaker 1: check out everything they have that they're putting up, all
27:21
Speaker 1: great content. Sarah, my friend, thank you so much for
27:24
Speaker 1: jumping on our Opposition Territory podcast this week in our
27:27
Speaker 1: preview show.
27:28
Speaker 3: Hope to talk to you at some point down the road,
27:29
Speaker 3: my friend, and come back and join us.
27:32
Speaker 2: All right, super Bowl week, it's going to happen.
27:35
Speaker 3: Yes, I would love it. I would love it.
27:38
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
27:41
Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
27:44
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27:47
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27:50
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27:54
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27:58
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28:00
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28:11
Speaker 3: Take care, we will catch you next time.