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Birds Weekly: "It's Trending Up" For Philadelphia Eagles Coming Out Of Bye Week · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hi wants again. Everybody.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Welcome to this mid season edition Bird's Weekly, presented by
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the Inside of the Birds and Network for my friend
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Ray Didtinger. I'm Derek Gunn and Ray. We have some
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: idle time on our hands now as the Eagles enjoy
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: this bye week to heal up and regroup for a
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: very rigorous stretch of games that are coming up. They're
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: sitting here at six and two, and the catalyst for
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: this team obviously has to be Jalen Hurts. He's completing
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: seventy percent of his passes, He's got fifteen testdowns, only
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: one interceptions. He's been sacked twenty five times. Not bad,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: but not great. The offense overall is ranked twenty third.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: They're scoring twenty six points in game, which is ninth
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: best in the league. They're on a two game winning streak,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: and we've seen the passing game come alive the last
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: couple of games, and we also saw a running game
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: come alive the last game against the Giants. Speaking of
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the running game, are you convinced that the running game is.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Back here to stay or is it wait and see?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Because they basically beat up a depleted Giants defense.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: I'm probably more to all the stuff that you just
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: mentioned about where they are right now. I mean some
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: of the some of their league rankings are a little discouraging,
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: you know. I mean, to face it for teams that
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: for a team that's the defending world champs.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: But here's but here's the thing. It's trending up.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: You know, you hit this point of the season, you
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: hit mid midway, and the question is you always try
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: to take that step back and say, Okay.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Is a needle pointing up or is needle pointing down?
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Right now? Uh?
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: And right now coming off the last two games, a
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: big win in Minnesota and then you know, a real
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: blowout win over the Giants, you definitely have to say
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: it's trending up. And probably the biggest area of improvement
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: is the one you just asked me about. It's the
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: running game. I mean, this is the team that couldn't
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: run the ball at all through seven games and break
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: out with two hundred and seventy yards in one game. Now,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: how much of that has to do with the opponent
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: depleted Giant defense? Yeah, I mean you got to think
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: about that. I liked what I saw. I liked some
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: of the new things that they brought back, well new things,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: but actually old things that they have now brought back
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: to put into the running game that work beautifully in
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: the Giants game. And I think again, I get the
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: feeling needle's pointing up. It's trending in the right direction.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: But I want to hold off until we play the
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: next two games, because two games you got two really
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: good teams, two NFC playoff contenders for sure, that ranked
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: number two and number five in the league in run defense.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: You know, I think these next two games will tell
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: you if the running game is really back. If they
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: can I'm not expecting them to go for two seventy
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: in Lambeau on Monday night, but if they can run
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: the ball effectively and find some semblance of a balanced defense,
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: that's really what I'm looking for.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I like the fact, also ray that they seem to
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: be running the ball more from under center. It gives
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: them a better option in terms of keeping the defense guessing.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: And let's and I think in a lot of ways
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the defense has functioned a lot more fluid when they
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: run more snaps from under.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Center, no question, you know, and you and I had
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: talked about that in the in the conversation that emerged
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: from that awful Giants lost a couple of weeks ago,
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: and you know, when Lane Johnson came out and said
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: our offense is too predictable, he was.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Right, you know.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: And I think that when one of the things they did,
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: I took advantage of that little bit of a little
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: bit of a mini buy to do a little self evaluation,
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: and I think they kind of came to the same
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: conclusion that we have to change some things in the
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: offense because we have gotten kind of stale U.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And one of the things that to me was real.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Obvious was not to abandon the shotgun, but just don't run.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Just don't run at every play. Uh.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: And the fact is when they when they put Herts
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: under center, that offense runs really well.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, they run the ball really well out of
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: it there. But the biggest thing.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Is it it creates a much more fluid and much
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: more effective play action game.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: UH.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: And I thought one of the I mean, there are
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: a lot of great plays coming out of the last
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: Giants game, but one of the ones that I that
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: jumped out at me when I when I watched the
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: tape again was they ran a play action where Hurts
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: fakes the hand off and throws a slant to DeVante
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Smith for about twenty six yards and it's one of
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: those plays that just it's just beautiful and execution. Because
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: when you watch the when you watch the All twenty two,
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: you know, you see it does exactly what play action
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: is supposed to do. It draws up the linebackers, it
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: opens up the middle of the field. You know, Smitty
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: runs a real nice slant and hurts hits him on
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: the move and it's a big play. And that's that's
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: what play action does. And I think they needed they
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: needed to make that change to bring that element back
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: to the offense, to give the defense more to think about,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: you know, and I look, will they be will they
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: be primarily a shotgun offense the rest of the year, Yeah,
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: because that's what they are.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: But I think the fact that.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: They're kind of going back to quarterback under center bringing
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: in more play action stuff is healthy.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: And also what we saw was a return to running
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: the perimeter stuff.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: You know, running the perimeters are getting not running Saquon
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Barklay necessarily between the tackles, but getting them out to
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: the edge with with that what you call the pin
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: and pull, you know, where you get that double team
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: block on the edge and then you bring the off
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: side guard and tackle across to get out in front
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: of Barkley and open up that lane for him to
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: get into the secondary. I mean we saw that. I
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: mean that was almost bread and butter for them. A
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: year ago we hadn't seen that, but we saw it
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: against the giants. So seeing some of that stuff come
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: back into the offense to me is very encouraging.
• 6:47
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• 7:58
  Speaker 2: You know, we keep John about AJ Brown for a
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: variety of reasons that don't pertain to football. There seems
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: to be mixed opinions of his value to this team.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: There are some people that are now saying, you know,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: he's more of a liability than an asset. The way
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I see it, to this ray, does he create unnecessary attention?
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Sometimes yes, But I still feel he's he's a valuable
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: asset to this team. Big body, incredible catch radius, doesn't
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: drop many passes, and I think the Eagles are just
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: gonna have to bite the bullet the rest of the
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: season and just endure whatever he throws out there as
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: they continue to navigate this schedule coming up and if
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: they want to go deep into the playoffs again.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Know he's taking a lot of criticism to the point
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: where people are saying the team would be better off
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: without him. Well, I don't believe that at all. I mean,
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: if the go this season is to go back to
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: a Super Bowl and repeat a Super Bowl champs, you
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: have a much better chance of doing that with a J.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Brownan without him.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, he is I mean, he is one of you.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: I'll use the E word again.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: He is one of the elite receivers in the NFL,
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: and there just aren't many guys that are his combination
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: of his size and his strength playing out at that position.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: And he's a guy that can take over and win
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: a game. We've seen it.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: I mean the other stuff, you know, the Monday through
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: Friday stuff, the social media stuff. Could you live without that?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Probably I could, But Okay, that's part of the package.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: But you know, I think there is you and I may.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Have talked about this, but.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: I think part of the problem here is that Eagles
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: fans view the whole AJ thing through the prism of
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Tarrell Owans. You know, what I mean in part because
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: he's such a similar kind of player, but also because
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: of the drama that seems to surround him. So I
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: think a lot of the people are sort of passing
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: judgment on AJ and their feelings about AJ based on
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: how they felt about t O back in the day,
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: and I.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Just think that's wrong.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: You know, to me, they are very They may be
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: similar type players, but I think in this regard, I
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: think they're very different cases because what was driving TOO,
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: and it was driving TOO was all contractual, That's really
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: where it was, whereas this guy, it's other stuff, you know,
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: and so it's not It really is kind of an
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: apples and oranges kind of comparison. But I do think
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: that people's memories of Too they're kind of bringing them
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: into this situation where I just think they're misplaced. I
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: look at AJ Brown as a guy who I think
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: knows how good he is, knows how important and he
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: is to this team in terms of the bigger picture,
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: and just gets frustrated when he goes through periods where
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: he doesn't feel like he's being allowed to contribute all
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: that he can contribute. I don't regard that as selfishness.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I really do.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Maybe I'm off base here, but I don't regard him
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: as a selfish player. I think what he's kind of
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: saying and what he's kind of putting out there is, Yeah,
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: we all want to win here, and I want to
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: be a bigger part of that winning. I want to
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: contribute more to getting this team back to where we
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: want it to be, as opposed to worrying about money,
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: worrying about his stats, or worrying.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: About all the other stuff. That's sort of how I
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: read it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I don't see him as the disruptive cancer that I've
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: heard some people refer him to.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Look, I don't want him going anywhere, you know.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: I want him to be part of this team because
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of football left to be played, Derek,
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: and I would rather play it with him on the
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: field than off.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: That's a great analogy back in the day with Teo
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: was here. For the year plus he was here, he
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: publicly told you how he felt and basically directed a
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: lot of his comments at Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: at times. Here with his AJ he leaves you these
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: cryptic messages that leave you to think about a plethora
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: of different things of what he's talking about, but he
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: hasn't come out and singled out anybody. And you're right,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I think his message has been consistent, even though we
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: are left scratching our heads that he just wants to
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: be a bigger part of the equation. The problem is,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: you only have one football that can go around, and
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: you've got so much talent from you know, Devonte Smith
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: to Saquon to Dallas Goddard to him, that you can't
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: please everybody every game. And you look at a better
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: teams in the National Football leagues that have a wealth
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: of talent and they try to equally distribute the football,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: and you know, it works for them, and so far, somehow,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: some way, when you look at where these Eagles are
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: right now, it's six up and two down, it's worked
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Now, obviously he's.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Not happy about it, but the overall equation has worked
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: for this team.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Sure.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: Uh and listen, we went through it with him last year. Yeah,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: and right around this time. You know, it wasn't like
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: just early in the season and.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Oh we worked it out. I mean we were having.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: These these issues with him mid season two. Now, when
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: you hit the back stretch and heading into the playoffs,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: everything sort of fell into place and everybody was fine.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: But I mean there was there was a real choppy
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: water to navigate here, not unlike this, but they found
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: their way and they worked it out. And in the playoffs,
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: I mean he made he made a lot of big
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: plays and absolutely helped you win the Super Bowl.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: So if that's really what the endgame is here for
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: this team, and I would assume that it, I would
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: assume that it.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Is, then you know, just work it out. I mean,
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: you did it last year, no reason why you can't
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: do it this year.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Hey, does this office need to incorporate Dallas Goddard more
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: in the passing game? I mean, he's got seven testdown
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: catches through eight games. Seven TD catches is a new
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: career high for him. He's he's built himself into such
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: an established blocker run blocker, but man, he can beat
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: most cover guys uh in one on one situations and
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: he's a very sure handed receiver.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I agree, but it kind of gets back
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: to what you just said a couple of moments ago.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: There is only one football, Yeah, and you know you
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: want to get AJ more involved. I agree with you there,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: I think you should. Okay, So there's that we kind
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: of got Barkley back on track the last game, so
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: he's got to get his touches.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Davante Smith is does catching everything that's thrown his way,
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: so there's only so many of those plays.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: But I think.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: That that Goddard is a guy who has Boy, I
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: am so glad that he's still on this team. Remember
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: all the conversation and after the super Bowl it was like, Okay,
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: here here are the guys that probably won't be back,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: and Goddard was in that you know, Sweat Williams Okay, sligh, yeah, probably,
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: but Goddard was in that conversation in very much the
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: same way that, yeah, he's probably gone. And man, I
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: was thinking, why, you know, I mean, don't people understand
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: what he means to this team. I mean in the
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: postseason last year he led them in receptions, So I mean,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: we know what he can do as a receiver. He's
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: he's very sure handed, he doesn't drop hardly anything. He's
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: he's a real handful after the catch. I mean, it's
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: very hard to bring down h and he's and he's
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: developed into a real solid blocker.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: So I mean, I know, I know the injury factor.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I know that he misses games.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I know there's some frustration in that, but man, when
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: he's on the field, he's a difference maker. And you
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: know the seven touchdowns. I mean, you put him up
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: there with the best. People always talk about all the
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: other tight ends. You know, the Kelsey's, the Kittles and
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: all those guys, and.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: They're really good. I mean, I think Goddard is in
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: that same group of guys.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: I mean they run, they run, some RPO stuff and
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: some play action stuff. With Goddard where I mean to me,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: they're almost automatic plays because he's open and he catches
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: the ball like that little RPO play for his last touchdown.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Catch, he is like wide open.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: You know, it's a When you go back and watch
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: that play, it's such a beautifully designed play because they
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: put the defender in an absolute island. There you got
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Hertz has got the ball and the defender you can see,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: is now caught in between.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Do I come up and I.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Take hurts, Do I play the run or do I
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: run with Goddard And Hertz just plays it exactly right,
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: holds the ball until the defender commits and starts to
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: come up to make the play against the run and
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: he just dumps the ball over his head and Godard walks.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Into the end zone.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's those the kind of places that he's
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: really good at, and those are the kind of plays
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: you're going to need the rest of the season.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Now, we've known for a long time that this Eagles
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: team needs help at the cornerback position, and of course
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: Howie Roseman can't see it. Still, he makes a trade
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: for Michael Carter, kind of a lexing move because basically
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Carter is a nickelbeck. So what do you do with
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: him when he comes in here? Are you going to
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: move him to the outside?
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Is Cooper de.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Gene going to the outside? Because I believe Cooper can
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: handle the outside, but he's already accomplished as a slot corner.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I just didn't understand the move, and then you got
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Jakoy and Bennett eventually coming off I r with that
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: peck injury, I believe.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: So what do you do with a Michael Carter?
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: I guess that's for the coaches to figure out. I
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: was asking the same questions and they made the move
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: because Carter, since he's been in the NFL, has only been.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: A slot defender.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, if you go back to his college tape. He
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: played both in college. Yes, he played slot, but he
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: also played outside. But since he's come to the NFL,
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: he's only been a slot defender. It's not like he's
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: never played out there. He has, but not at the NFL.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: So what was your thinking?
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: You know what, you know, what is.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: The overall plan here? Because you know they must have one.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: I thought that Vic Fangio's who's that rare coach who
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: when he speaks, you get the feeling he's telling you
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: the truth. There aren't a lot of coaches you feel
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: that way, but I feel that way with Vic. And
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: when he was asked that question this week, his response
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: was basically what he was basically saying in so many words,
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: was look, I like Cooper right where he is, you know.
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: And his argument was a good sound one. He said, Look,
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: he is a really good slot defender. He plays that
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: position extremely well because he can cover.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: We've seen that.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: But he's also very physical and very good against the run,
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: playing up near the line of scrimmage, and you.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Need that guy to be able to do that.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: And he's that rare kind of nickel guy or slot
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: guy who can both be effective. In past defense and
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: playing the run. So what Vic said is, look, he's
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: really good at this. And it's always been my philosophy
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: speaking is Vig. It's always been my philosophy that if
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: you have a guy who's really really good playing something,
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: I don't want to take him away from that and
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: ask him to do something else. If I know he
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: can really play it, I would rather leave him there.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: That is clearly his preference is the leaf Cooper Degene
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: right where he is, because I understand it, he's really
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: good in that spot. You know, you bring Carter in,
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe he's another option. You can play
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: him on the outside and see how it looks. But
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: I get the feeling that. I mean, I don't know
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: exactly what Nick is thinking, but I know what Vick
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: is thinking. Vick is thinking, No, I don't want to
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: move to Gene out of here. Not that I don't
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: think he can play outside, because he probably can't, but
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: the fact is that's something I think. But this is
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: what I know, and playing right where he is right now,
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: he's helping us. So I think Carter comes in and
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: is just one more option for the coaches to work with.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: I don't think I don't think it was with the
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: initial design of Okay, he come in, he becomes a
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: slot and Cooper moves to the outside. It's very clear
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: that Fangio doesn't want to move them. You know, they're
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: gonna be playing some They're gonna be playing some good
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: quarterbacks here on these next couple of weeks. I mean,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Jordan Love is playing the best he's played his whole career.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: And the week after that, you got to play Jared Goff,
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: who's completing what seventy yeah, you know, and then you
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: got Dak who's the week after that. And I mean,
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: the Cowboys got their problems, but mostly on the defensive side.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Dak is having a great year.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: So they're coming out of this break facing three pretty
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: prolific quarterbacks.
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• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Hey, Ray, who on the defensive side needs to take
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: their game to the next level, so to speak. The
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: rest of the way of this season. Is it a
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Jeha Campbell, a jay Lex Hunt? Who do you think
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: needs to elevate their game to be a difference maker
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: on this defense even more so?
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Well, to me, the most the most obvious one is
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: probably Jalen Carter because I think he's the most important
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: player on that defense.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: He's the best.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Player, and I think weekend and weekend he's the most
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: important player. And he not to say that he's played
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: poorly to this point, that that would you know, that's
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: not true. But has he been as good as I
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: thought he was going to be hope that he would be.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Probably not. Uh, you saw some signs of it over
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: these last two games he played, he played better. But
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: for this team, for this defense to really take over
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: the second half of the year, uh and shut teams
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: down because you're going to be playing some really good teams,
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: it really kind of has to start with him. But
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: I think that he's I think he's been playing through
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: some stuff that people aren't really aware of. I think
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: the shoulder injury earlier this year was probably worse than
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: people realized, you know, and then he had then he
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: had the heel injury that didn't allow him to play
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: at all in New York. So, you know, I think
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: that I think he's been playing through some stuff, but
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: maybe he's healthier now. He's certainly playing better, and you know,
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: they need him to be the guy that we saw
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: last postseason.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: You know when he when he saved you in that
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Rams game, you know, basically stopping that Rams team, when
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: that final drive that could have ended the Eagles season
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: and he just took over the game and got the
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: two big rushes on Matthew Stafford that stopped that drive
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: that could have been a game winner. And then the
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: phenomenal game that he played where he was all over
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: Patrick mahonmes of the Super Bowl. I mean, that's really
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: kind of what they need him to be the second
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: half of the year and end of the postseason if
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: they hoped to repeat the championship. But on a less
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: visible scale, the guy who I would point to will
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: probably be Jayal's Hunt because I thought that early in
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: the year, I thought he was pretty quiet and wasn't
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: doing a whole lot on the defense, and the last
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: game here against the Giants, I thought was his best game.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: You know, he had one sack, but he also had
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: nine hurries and seemed to be around the ball a lot.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: And that's the kind of play they need from him
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: on a weekly basis. If this defense is really going
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: to become a championship defense.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: Well, there's a number of teams at a logjam in
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: the NFC with two losses or less. In Eagles obviously
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: one of them. Two of the other teams the Rams
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: and the Buccaneers. The Eagles have already beaten, uh. But
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: then you have Green Bay, you have Detroit out there
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: as well. Are Eagles. Are the Eagles as we see
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: there right now, are they still the best team in
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: the NFC? Or are we Are we still in a
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: wait and see mode at this point.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I guess everybody's gonna have their own opinion.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: I was looking this week at the power rankings.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Everybody does power rankings, and what.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: I've seen now is that there seems to be everyone
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: I saw this week has the Lions as the number
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: one team in the NFC.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: And also I've seen the Packers up there pretty high
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: and the Yeah, everybody's nobody's really talking about the Bucks,
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: But I think the Bucks should be in the conversation
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: because in that division, you know they're going to be
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs. Yeah, but I would probably put the
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: Eagles right now. In fairness, I would probably have to
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: put them behind the Lions and the Packers. You know,
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: i'd probably put them third. But I think it's I
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: think it's wide open. I think it's wide wide open.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: What the other thing that I've really the other conclusion
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: I've really come to point I think the NFC is
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: a lot stronger.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Than the a f C.
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: Agree, I think I think I think we're seeing that
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: by the week. You know, these NFC more NFC teams
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: are looking better.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: And some of the a f C a FC teams
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: that you thought were gonna be really good not so much.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: It looks to me like the NFC is is the
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: much tougher bracket.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: And uh, you know again, the next two weeks, man,
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: I think they're going to be so telling.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Playing Green Bay and Green Bay and then having to
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: come back.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: Here, and even though it's at home and the Eagles
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: seem to never lose at home, you're playing on a
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: short week because you're coming off a Monday night game,
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: and you know that's going to be a physical game
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: in Lambeau and you're coming back home to play a
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: really tough Lions team on a short week. You know,
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: those two games are gonna tell us a lot about
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: what this team is. If the Eagles come in to
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: take the measure of those two teams and get to
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: eight and two, then I think if you're an Eagles feini,
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: you can kind of look ahead of the postseason and say, Okay,
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: I think we're ready to go, but these next two
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: weeks are probably gonna tell us.
• 27:25
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• 28:25
  Speaker 2: I was gonna ask you, do you think the next
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: two to three weeks would somewhat define what this Eagles
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: team is? Obviously it was still more football to play
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: after that, but I would also include Dallas in that
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: because they get Dallas right after Green Bay and Detroit. Now,
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: say what you want to say about Dallas, and we
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: can say a lot their defenses and sieve, but offensively
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: they're like number two in the league and scoring at
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: almost thirty one points a game. And number two they
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: Eagles have to go down to Dallas to play that
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: game where the Dallas is scoring forty one points a
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: game at home.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: So that's not a gimme either with that team exactly exactly.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: And you know, I know what, I know what the
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: Philly fans think of the Cowboys. Yeah, and listen, you've
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: had reason to think that this year. I mean they've
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: had some stretches where I mean their defense is I mean,
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: there's some times that their defense is just bad. I
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: mean there's no other way to it. I mean, I
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: mean their defense can look horrible and it's not just
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: as simple as well, they don't know Mike at Parsons,
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: I mean the problems. Yeah, I mean he would help.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: But there's a lot wrong with that defense right now.
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: But man, when they're playing at home, they they score. Man,
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: they I mean they can move that ball. And right now,
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: you know, the Eagles are still a team that I
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: think you can throw the ball against. You know, I
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: still think they're working things out in the secondary. They
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: still haven't found that other cornerback and that Yeah, that's
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: a scary game. I mean, I know that everybody's going
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: to kind of think the Cowboys aren't that good because
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: everybody wants to think that. But the fact is, coming
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: off the next two games, which is Green Bay and Detroit,
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: you got to off off of two well figure to
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: be two very tough, very competitive, very physical games, and
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: you've got to fly to Dallas and play the Cowboys,
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: an explosive, wide open offensive team. I think that game's
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: going to be equally challenging. And then right after them
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: you got the Bears. That's right, And you know the Bears.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: I mean, I don't think anybody is putting them in
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, but they're certainly better than they were, so
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: that's not an easy game either. I mean, everything that
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: we said before the season started about how tough this
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: schedule is going to be, I.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Think it's playing out.
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: I mean, it has been a rough stretch to get
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: to six and two, and it ain't going to get
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: any easier these next four weeks.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: All right, Well, I can't wait to see how it
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: unfolds because there's so much balance in the NFC, and
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: as you said, teams are knocking each other off week
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: in and week out, so it's going to be fun
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: to watch this stretch run.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: That's going to wrap up this Bird's weekly mid Seed
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: an analysis for my friend Ray Dtinger. I'm Derek Gunn.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next time. Until then, so long, everybody,