Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Taking a Look at The NFL Playoff Picture for Week 10
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Want More.
- 0:00Speaker 2: Powered by the Inside of the Burns podcast, which you
- 0:03Speaker 2: can get on all podcasting platforms, and of course it
- 0:06Speaker 2: is brought to you by the Fanatics Sportsbook. At Ocean
- 0:09Speaker 2: Casina Resort in Atlantic City, Adam Kaplan is in the
- 0:13Speaker 2: house today.
- 0:15Speaker 1: We were talking about this yesterday. Who's the biggest.
- 0:18Speaker 2: Worry in the NFC. Well, we'll get Adam Kaplan's post
- 0:22Speaker 2: trade deadline power rankings as they get ready for the
- 0:26Speaker 2: stretch run. How do these teams stack up behind maybe
- 0:31Speaker 2: the Philadelphia Eagles.
- 0:32Speaker 1: We'll see who's at the.
- 0:33Speaker 2: Top of his power rankings as the Eagles have now
- 0:35Speaker 2: and all teams have made their final moves before the
- 0:40Speaker 2: end of the season, and let's see how they all
- 0:42Speaker 2: stack up here as we bring in Adam Caplin from
- 0:44Speaker 2: the Inside of the Birds podcast here on a Thursday
- 0:47Speaker 2: edition of Football at four. Adam, what's going on, man?
- 0:50Speaker 3: Yeah, good to talk to you. I know we usually
- 0:52Speaker 3: do this Friday. So and by the way, the Eagles
- 0:54Speaker 3: won't have their jury report for a couple hours because
- 0:55Speaker 3: they're practicing later, which they've been doing in recent weeks. Mike,
- 0:59Speaker 3: So that just get used the entryport coming out later.
- 1:01Speaker 3: But yeah, look, I thought it was a good time
- 1:03Speaker 3: to post post deadline. As you said, you cannot make
- 1:07Speaker 3: any more trades. You could sign street free agents, but
- 1:09Speaker 3: there are no there's no more trading, and now we
- 1:12Speaker 3: get a better look at what the league looks like.
- 1:14Speaker 3: And I don't think there's a team. I mean, the
- 1:16Speaker 3: Colts did, but the Colts all mortgage of the future
- 1:19Speaker 3: a little bit. The Colts obviously made a super aggressive
- 1:21Speaker 3: move to help themselves in their bed a corner, so
- 1:23Speaker 3: that that was a good move to good Sauce Gardner.
- 1:25Speaker 3: But the Eagles had to make a significant move to
- 1:27Speaker 3: get ant Rusher. It's just it was a problem they
- 1:30Speaker 3: did that, and I thought, I think the Jalen Phillips did. Mike.
- 1:34Speaker 3: I'm telling you, the Jalen Phillips acquisition has a chance
- 1:39Speaker 3: to be one of how he rows in his best
- 1:41Speaker 3: at a trade deadline. He's not always done well, more
- 1:43Speaker 3: often not. He's missed on trade deadline moves, and there's
- 1:45Speaker 3: reasons for that. But I really like this move, and
- 1:47Speaker 3: I've got them at number one at six and two.
- 1:49Speaker 3: I think that right now, I believe that they are
- 1:51Speaker 3: my number one team. Now understand, Mike. Before I send
- 1:54Speaker 3: them back to you, the problem with the league is
- 1:56Speaker 3: it's so wide open. Right. When you want to back
- 1:58Speaker 3: a team like the Lions, they lose. When you want
- 2:00Speaker 3: to back a team like the Packers, they lose to
- 2:02Speaker 3: the lowly Panthers. The Bills lose to the Patriots in
- 2:07Speaker 3: Orchard Park. So it's just it's been that kind of season.
- 2:11Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really hard to stack these teams.
- 2:12Speaker 2: I mean, the difference between one and maybe nine is
- 2:16Speaker 2: maybe even deeper down that list. We'll see how you
- 2:18Speaker 2: stack them up here. You got the Eagles, you said
- 2:21Speaker 2: at number one. We asked yesterday our listeners, which team
- 2:24Speaker 2: worries you the most? You know who number two? Number
- 2:27Speaker 2: one on that list was was the Rams. Number two
- 2:30Speaker 2: was Seattle. Our listeners are actually more worried about Seattle
- 2:34Speaker 2: than some of the other teams. I was a little
- 2:35Speaker 2: surprised by that. Who's the team behind Philadelphia?
- 2:38Speaker 1: For you?
- 2:40Speaker 3: Well, I've got the Bucks. Now here's the thing. Eagles
- 2:42Speaker 3: handle them for three quarters. As you know in Tampa.
- 2:45Speaker 3: It's amazing how when you have your players you actually
- 2:48Speaker 3: could dominate Tampaa. Because you know, the Eagles historically in
- 2:51Speaker 3: our Sirianna, they've had some bad games against Tampa, but
- 2:54Speaker 3: they also had some players out. So yeah, the Bucks. Look,
- 2:57Speaker 3: they're gonna get Mike Evans back they believe before the
- 2:59Speaker 3: end of the season from the collarbone injury. Now Chris
- 3:03Speaker 3: Goblin unfortunately, he's had a fibula problem. That's a concern.
- 3:07Speaker 3: They're a little bit beat up. But there's still six
- 3:09Speaker 3: and two Mike. They've been able to weather this injury storm.
- 3:12Speaker 3: I've got them at six and two. Nont remember this
- 3:14Speaker 3: combines both conferences, the AFC and NFC. This is not,
- 3:18Speaker 3: by the way, a strong year for the AFC because
- 3:21Speaker 3: of the Chiefs problems. So I don't have an AFC
- 3:24Speaker 3: team in my top two. I've got Debucks at number two.
- 3:27Speaker 3: Though the Seahawks were my breakout team. I didn't have
- 3:29Speaker 3: them winning division, but I had them as a wildcard
- 3:31Speaker 3: team this season.
- 3:32Speaker 2: All right, So Eagles Bocks. I think some people might
- 3:35Speaker 2: be surprised by the Bucks up there. But there's a
- 3:37Speaker 2: lot of parody. There's a lot of guys teams that
- 3:40Speaker 2: you can all have debates on who do you like
- 3:42Speaker 2: after Tampa Bay.
- 3:44Speaker 3: Yea, this is tough. I thought about having the Rams
- 3:48Speaker 3: anywhere from two to five, but the Bills I know
- 3:51Speaker 3: the Bills lost at home to the Patriots. Patriots have
- 3:53Speaker 3: been the biggest surprise in the NFL by far, Although
- 3:57Speaker 3: i'm the Patriots. They need to prove it over the
- 4:00Speaker 3: second half when their schedule gets harder. But I have
- 4:04Speaker 3: the Bills here because Sean mcdermot's a good coach. I
- 4:07Speaker 3: know in the playoffs, you know they've had some problems,
- 4:09Speaker 3: but we're just talking about where the teams are now.
- 4:12Speaker 3: Post By I know they didn't make a trade. They
- 4:14Speaker 3: looked at a couple of things, receivers one of them
- 4:17Speaker 3: because you understand it, but Phil's is actually too. Their
- 4:20Speaker 3: past rush and their cornerback situation they've gotten away with.
- 4:23Speaker 3: You know, they play, they're a heavy zone team, which
- 4:25Speaker 3: they've been under Sean McDermott for many years. They get
- 4:27Speaker 3: away with it. Christian Benford you might remember from Villanova,
- 4:30Speaker 3: it's a decent corner They're just the past rush has
- 4:33Speaker 3: been a problem and that to me, it's going to
- 4:35Speaker 3: keep them up from winning a super Bowl. But they're
- 4:37Speaker 3: still a very good team and obviously with Josh Allen
- 4:39Speaker 3: and James Cook, they could score a lot of points.
- 4:42Speaker 2: Okay, so first AFC team on the list you got
- 4:45Speaker 2: to run of NFC teams that everybody is kind of
- 4:48Speaker 2: packing in in that same little area there. So who's
- 4:51Speaker 2: the next of the group behind Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.
- 4:55Speaker 3: Yeah, so I've got the Rams there. Look, they they
- 4:58Speaker 3: handled the Eagles for three quarters. I mean they they
- 5:00Speaker 3: just really handled them, beat them badly, and then Rams
- 5:03Speaker 3: choked the lead. Give the Eagle's credit for finding a
- 5:05Speaker 3: way to come back like they did. Was incredible. The
- 5:08Speaker 3: Rams are just a good team. But the Rams have
- 5:11Speaker 3: not stacked up well Canstiegos? They They just don't match
- 5:13Speaker 3: up well because of the small front. But the bottom
- 5:16Speaker 3: line is there really well coached. They too, By the way,
- 5:18Speaker 3: I have a cornerback problem. This is another team like
- 5:21Speaker 3: Emmanuel Forbes. You might remember him Skinny Emmanuel Forbes might
- 5:23Speaker 3: remember him from the Commandos, former first round pick. There
- 5:27Speaker 3: is a total miss. He's actually playing combative football for
- 5:30Speaker 3: the Rams. He's a starter. It's hard to believe, but
- 5:32Speaker 3: it's true. But I have the Rams at number four,
- 5:34Speaker 3: and clearly they're a good football team. They're always good.
- 5:38Speaker 3: It's just can't can the back end of their defense
- 5:40Speaker 3: hold up?
- 5:41Speaker 1: All? Right?
- 5:41Speaker 2: This is Adam Kaplan's power rankings after the trade deadline, Rams.
- 5:46Speaker 1: At number four and top five. Let's round that out.
- 5:51Speaker 3: Yeah, this team I did pick to win their division,
- 5:53Speaker 3: but I did not believe there are super Bowl team
- 5:55Speaker 3: the Packers at five too and one. How do you?
- 5:58Speaker 1: How do you?
- 5:59Speaker 3: I just they are a team that's been founding to me, Mike,
- 6:02Speaker 3: how in the world could they lose? I don't see
- 6:06Speaker 3: how you lose. I don't see how you losten at
- 6:08Speaker 3: home to the Panthers. The Panthers can't score. Well, that's
- 6:11Speaker 3: what happened. They couldn't score. But overall, Mike, when you
- 6:15Speaker 3: look at this team here, the Packers maybe the NFL's
- 6:19Speaker 3: best roster, but sometimes they play down in the competition.
- 6:22Speaker 3: Cowboys give up forty not good. They're five too and one.
- 6:26Speaker 3: The Eagles have owned them. They'll play the money now.
- 6:27Speaker 3: Eagles have played very well against them in recent years,
- 6:29Speaker 3: as you know, since Syrian he's become the head coach
- 6:32Speaker 3: of the Eagles. And I've got them number five. And
- 6:35Speaker 3: by the way, they have really some significant injury issues
- 6:37Speaker 3: right now. We'll talk more about that in another segment.
- 6:40Speaker 2: All right, let's look outside the top five now, because
- 6:43Speaker 2: didn't hear Lions in there. Didn't hear Seahawks in there,
- 6:45Speaker 2: didn't hear Broncos in there, didn't hear Colts in there.
- 6:48Speaker 2: So let's go and check out who's next after that.
- 6:51Speaker 3: Top five Lions would have been in it, Mike, I
- 6:54Speaker 3: just it's one of those games. Last week, Mike, I
- 6:56Speaker 3: cannot believe that the Lions got handled. They did get handle.
- 7:00Speaker 3: The Vikings, did a good job on the road at Detroit,
- 7:04Speaker 3: and Detroit's got some problems with the back end of
- 7:06Speaker 3: their defense, which showed up. The offense, which have been
- 7:09Speaker 3: humming for weeks, kind of leaked some oil last week.
- 7:13Speaker 3: I'm a little bit concerned about those Lions and now
- 7:15Speaker 3: they'll beat up on the Commanders this week, as Commanders
- 7:18Speaker 3: are the most injured team in the National Football League.
- 7:20Speaker 3: But you know, overall, Mike, I've got the Lions at
- 7:23Speaker 3: number six.
- 7:25Speaker 2: Six for the Lions, all right, I'm gonna keep an
- 7:27Speaker 2: eye on that one. I like the Lions. I've been
- 7:28Speaker 2: a little Lions over Packers for most of the year.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Here.
- 7:32Speaker 2: By the way, our listeners yesterday thought the Lions were
- 7:35Speaker 2: the third team in that they had the Packers fourth
- 7:38Speaker 2: on that list all right. After the Lions is it
- 7:41Speaker 2: an NFC team or an AFC team.
- 7:44Speaker 3: I have the Chiefs the most overrated team in the
- 7:46Speaker 3: National Footall League in my estimation at five and four.
- 7:49Speaker 3: I don't know why the books have them as the
- 7:51Speaker 3: number one seed or the number one team at plus
- 7:53Speaker 3: five fifty. I just don't buy it. I've got them
- 7:56Speaker 3: at seven, Mike. They're another team that it's hard. They're
- 8:01Speaker 3: kind of confounding, to be honest with you.
- 8:03Speaker 1: Yeah, Chiefs.
- 8:04Speaker 2: A lot of people thought after they had a couple
- 8:05Speaker 2: of wins there that they were all this Chief teams
- 8:07Speaker 2: even better than some of the teams in the past.
- 8:10Speaker 2: And then they went and lost that game last week, which,
- 8:12Speaker 2: by the way, I lost the Bills.
- 8:13Speaker 1: Not a terrible loss there.
- 8:14Speaker 2: But let's roll down to number eight on Adam Kaplan's
- 8:20Speaker 2: post trade deadline power rankings.
- 8:24Speaker 3: Yeah, this team I felt good about. I picked them
- 8:26Speaker 3: to be a playoff team as a wild card. That's
- 8:28Speaker 3: a Seahawks at number eight. After that bad game for
- 8:31Speaker 3: Sam Donald to start the season, they've come on. They're
- 8:33Speaker 3: playing great football. The scheme is great. Not the most
- 8:36Speaker 3: talent in the world, but they executed really really well.
- 8:39Speaker 3: Sam Donald playing phenomenal football. They're just a very efficient
- 8:44Speaker 3: football team. And I like the trade to get Rashid Shihi.
- 8:46Speaker 3: They gave up a lot to get them, but they
- 8:48Speaker 3: needed explosiveness. Cooper Cups is heard at receiver. They're really
- 8:54Speaker 3: really good, well coached, and you can look. You can
- 8:56Speaker 3: make a case that they'll be that we can move
- 8:58Speaker 3: them up. But we saw what Sam Arnold did the
- 9:00Speaker 3: close last season. It wasn't very good after beat having
- 9:03Speaker 3: his first good season the National Football League.
- 9:05Speaker 2: All right, I think you take a look at so
- 9:07Speaker 2: far we've seeing the Rams, the Seahawks. Now we're at
- 9:10Speaker 2: number nine. Where is that other NFCU West team?
- 9:15Speaker 3: I have the Niners at nine, at five and three.
- 9:18Speaker 3: If not for injury, they would probably number one or
- 9:20Speaker 3: number two, but they're just so beat up, particularly on defense.
- 9:22Speaker 3: Mike also Ricky Piersollid wide receiver McCaffrey's came in it.
- 9:27Speaker 3: They're hopeful that brock perty will return this week or
- 9:29Speaker 3: next week. How about mac Jones has kind of revived
- 9:32Speaker 3: his career for my first round pick for the Patriots,
- 9:34Speaker 3: playing very very well. This will helped mac Jones, by
- 9:36Speaker 3: the way, for free agency.
- 9:38Speaker 2: Yeah, he could be like the next Sam Darnold. That
- 9:40Speaker 2: somebody says, hey, you could be our guy moving forward here.
- 9:43Speaker 2: All right, let's it round out the top ten and
- 9:47Speaker 2: see who has that tenth spot.
- 9:50Speaker 3: Yeah, this is one where I could have put this
- 9:53Speaker 3: team anywhere. They are seven and two, But I don't
- 9:56Speaker 3: believe in the Broncos. I'm sorry. They should be better
- 9:58Speaker 3: on offense. I don't know if Bnick has played all
- 9:59Speaker 3: that well this seasons been up and down. Their defense
- 10:03Speaker 3: is NFL's best in a lot of statistical categories. I've
- 10:06Speaker 3: got them on the number ten. I just don't believe
- 10:08Speaker 3: in them. Look at seven to two, I got to
- 10:09Speaker 3: have them in there, but I'm not big on this
- 10:12Speaker 3: football team.
- 10:13Speaker 2: Wow, okay, really good defense Broncos. I have them winning
- 10:16Speaker 2: the West out there. We'll see how the second half
- 10:19Speaker 2: of their season goes. But you have them ahead of
- 10:23Speaker 2: the South leader.
- 10:26Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, the Colts have been a Chakra fan. I
- 10:29Speaker 3: didn't see this coup them in the Patriots. I just
- 10:31Speaker 3: didn't see it. Both are incredible stories. The Colts at
- 10:34Speaker 3: seven two, terrible loss last week. One league sort of
- 10:36Speaker 3: said to me that Daniel Jones looked so bad last week.
- 10:39Speaker 3: He looked like a rookie and doing the loss at
- 10:42Speaker 3: the Steelers. It's only bad game has had this season.
- 10:45Speaker 3: Their hope is that will bounce back. They're gonna win
- 10:48Speaker 3: that division, that's not question. They're going to be a
- 10:49Speaker 3: playoff team, obviously, but I got to see it. And
- 10:52Speaker 3: by the way, opposite Sauce Gardner, they're still not very
- 10:55Speaker 3: good at corner. Kennymore is a great nickel. So that
- 10:57Speaker 3: does worry me a little bit. They're good, They're good.
- 10:59Speaker 3: But do you trust Daniel Jones? I clearly do not.
- 11:02Speaker 1: All right, So there's eleven the Colts. Now we keep doing.
- 11:06Speaker 2: Our who's in who's out every week, and we are
- 11:09Speaker 2: having trouble finding three wildcard teams from the AFC, maybe
- 11:14Speaker 2: not three, uh two of them? Two of them is
- 11:16Speaker 2: hard to find. So let's round out the last three
- 11:19Speaker 2: teams here on your list to see who you like
- 11:22Speaker 2: to fill out these last couple slots.
- 11:24Speaker 3: Yeah, the Chargers, look there, John Jim Harball is a
- 11:28Speaker 3: great coach.
- 11:28Speaker 1: There.
- 11:29Speaker 3: What's what's new? They're always heard, both tackles are heard.
- 11:33Speaker 3: Your slater's out for the season. All it's done. That
- 11:36Speaker 3: that that's that concerns me. But they still score. If
- 11:40Speaker 3: they can protect Herbert, They're going to be good. I
- 11:43Speaker 3: debated what to do with the Chargers here, but their
- 11:46Speaker 3: defense under Jesse Minter, he's a great defense coordinator. I
- 11:48Speaker 3: have them at number twelve.
- 11:50Speaker 2: So twelve for the Chargers. Last two spots here. Any
- 11:54Speaker 2: more NFC teams or these two AFC teams.
- 11:57Speaker 3: No, I have. I have all the NFC teams in.
- 11:59Speaker 3: I've got actually one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
- 12:03Speaker 3: I've got my seven. Yeah, I have seven that I like,
- 12:06Speaker 3: regardless they if they win their division or not. But thirteen, boy,
- 12:12Speaker 3: I was hot on this team earlier this season when
- 12:13Speaker 3: they had an easy schedule. Now they had a great
- 12:15Speaker 3: win the Steelers did at home against the Colts and
- 12:17Speaker 3: they got to play the Chargers on Sunday night. Look
- 12:21Speaker 3: their defense, I'm told the problem that they've had on
- 12:23Speaker 3: the back of the communications have been very poor with
- 12:25Speaker 3: the scheme. But they played great against the Colts at thirteen.
- 12:28Speaker 3: Now I take the Jaguars out. I'm putting the Patriots
- 12:32Speaker 3: number fourteen. They've been my shocker. I still believe the
- 12:36Speaker 3: Bills will win the division. There'll be a wild card.
- 12:38Speaker 3: I'm kicking the Jaguars out now again, someone's got to
- 12:42Speaker 3: win that division. That awful division. And yeah, they'll get
- 12:45Speaker 3: in because they'll win their division, but they're not one
- 12:47Speaker 3: of my top fourteen teams. I'm putting the Patriots at
- 12:49Speaker 3: number fourteen. I believe reality's going to hit them. I'm
- 12:52Speaker 3: worried about them in the second half. I can't believe
- 12:55Speaker 3: how good they are. Boy, Coaching matters. If you look
- 12:57Speaker 3: at that that roster, you go, how is this so good? Well?
- 13:01Speaker 3: Coaching matters super important. And look, they got to play
- 13:05Speaker 3: at Tampa after being home three weeks in a row
- 13:09Speaker 3: or three out of whatever. Their they're crazy schedules they've had.
- 13:13Speaker 3: So the bottom line is they still got to play Buffalo.
- 13:17Speaker 3: They guys still play Baltimore. Baltimore's gonna get better. They
- 13:19Speaker 3: got to play Tampa. So look they're getting The Patriots
- 13:23Speaker 3: will get in. They're sucking. They're gonna get into a walka.
- 13:25Speaker 3: They're my fourteenth team.
- 13:26Speaker 2: Yeah, so you like the Pittsburgh Patriots.
- 13:31Speaker 1: Those teams better than you like it.
- 13:32Speaker 2: Sounds like Chicago five and three, Minnesota four and four,
- 13:37Speaker 2: Carolina five and four, and then Dallas three five and one.
- 13:41Speaker 2: They did make the big trade this week, so I
- 13:43Speaker 2: don't know where that does for that moving forward here,
- 13:45Speaker 2: but they would be the s I guess the rest
- 13:47Speaker 2: of the NFC teams.
- 13:48Speaker 1: It did not make your top four team.
- 13:50Speaker 3: Correct, Yeah, So look it's not a bad group. But Mike,
- 13:53Speaker 3: this is my thing before we get out of here.
- 13:55Speaker 3: If you if you could just get in the playoffs,
- 13:58Speaker 3: you've got a chance to go in a run. But
- 13:59Speaker 3: because the Eagles are knock on Wood, one of their
- 14:02Speaker 3: healthier teams in the National FOOTB League, that matters. You
- 14:05Speaker 3: remember last year, I think other than Nkobe Dean, I
- 14:07Speaker 3: believe he might have been the only starter out for
- 14:10Speaker 3: the Super Bowl. So that helps. And you guys had
- 14:12Speaker 3: to buy I believe at the right time. And now
- 14:14Speaker 3: we're gonna see what the injury point looks like. We'll
- 14:16Speaker 3: get that with the next couple hours and we'll see
- 14:18Speaker 3: what they look like post by injury wise. But the
- 14:20Speaker 3: Eagles are poised again, But now their schedule gets harder, Mike,
- 14:24Speaker 3: But you know how to coach Shiryani.
- 14:25Speaker 1: Is so big time.
- 14:26Speaker 2: This is a very difficult stretch coming up this whole month.
- 14:30Speaker 2: Four games. You got the division game with Dallas, you
- 14:33Speaker 2: got the Black Friday game with Chicago, You've got the
- 14:36Speaker 2: Chargers coming up, still after that, the Bills are down
- 14:40Speaker 2: the line, so we'll see how Philadelphia comes down. Adam
- 14:42Speaker 2: Kaplan's post trade deadline power rankings Eagles still at the top.
- 14:47Speaker 2: We'll see how it all unfolds. The final eight weeks
- 14:49Speaker 2: of the season starts tonight. Adam, Thanks man, Thanks you