Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: A Final Look at Rams-Eagles Matchups and Injuries

Transcript

Football at Four: A Final Look at Rams-Eagles Matchups and Injuries · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: For football at four, Eagles practicing earlier today. Well, have
• 0:03
  an update on all of that and some thoughts on
• 0:06
  the game from Andrew of course, right here on the
• 0:09
  Sports Bass Live on ninety seven three ESPN. We're getting
• 0:12
  your ready for the Eagles and the Rams, and you
• 0:15
  could listen to that game right here with Melo reeson
• 0:17
  Mike Quick on the call. The pregame covered starts at noon,
• 0:21
  the kickoff at one. A little series of one o'clock games,
• 0:24
  Andrew de Checko, This feels like it should be a
• 0:26
  four to twenty five game or a primetime game, doesn't it.
• 0:29
  Little Eagles Rams the rematch, these are two teams highly regarded.
• 0:33
  Feels a little weird for these two teams at one o'clock.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really does, Mike. A marquee matchup between an
• 0:41
  upstart RAMS team. The Eagles obviously need no introduction based
• 0:45
  on their body of work. It kind of feels a
• 0:47
  little weird that it's a one o'clock game, But I'm
• 0:48
  certainly not complaining. I'm sure you're listeners and everyone who's
• 0:52
  going to be watching, and of course those who do
• 0:53
  what I do as a as a reporter certainly appreciated.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, This is a stretch of one o'clock games for
• 0:59
  the Eagles they have coming up here as they play
• 1:02
  the Rams this week, Tampa Bay next week, Denver the
• 1:05
  following week, all one o'clock games.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: But this Rams team, Andrew, this.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Might be the toughest task they've had so far in
• 1:12
  a couple of games that have been close.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Dallas obviously gave them a little bit more than people thought.
• 1:18
  Last week they battle with Kansas City. But would you
• 1:21
  say this Rams team is the best opponent up to date?
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, from a offensive skill set position, and I would
• 1:30
  also say from the defensive side. They have a lot
• 1:32
  of young players that can fly to the football, that
• 1:35
  can apply pressure and present unique challenges up front. So
• 1:40
  this is I mean, the Eagles do have an advantage,
• 1:42
  but this is a game that I feel could be
• 1:44
  high scoring because of the different matchups to keep an
• 1:48
  eye on.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, let's look at some of those matchups here.
• 1:51
  We all know Sakwan Barkley went for two hundred on them,
• 1:54
  not once but twice last year that regular season game
• 1:57
  and in the playoff game. So they hand the ball
• 2:00
  off to him and be successful. Is that the recipe
• 2:03
  for success? This week, Well.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Say kwon Barkley in the two games combined. That you're
• 2:08
  referring to rush for four hundred and sixty two yards.
• 2:11
  So one would think with the person now not changing
• 2:13
  all that much on the Rams side defensively, that that
• 2:16
  would be the recipe for success. Now, you can also
• 2:21
  say that the Rams could try to sell out to
• 2:23
  stop Sa kuon Barkley or at least try their best.
• 2:25
  They they didn't have a lot of success in the
• 2:27
  postseason after that first meeting, But the Rams are gonna
• 2:31
  score some points, and so the Eagles may have to
• 2:34
  take to the air in this one and really go,
• 2:36
  you know, strike for strike with them. This is where
• 2:39
  I think that you'll you'll get a better idea of
• 2:42
  They've always led and they protected the football and kept
• 2:45
  it close to the vestment. In a game like this
• 2:47
  where points you're gonna you're gonna have to you're gonna
• 2:51
  have to get after it, That's where you're gonna get
• 2:53
  a better idea of can they do it when they
• 2:56
  have to do it right?
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: The conversation leading up has been Kevin Patula the lack
• 3:00
  of explosive plays. A lot of people this week have
• 3:03
  kind of indicated Hey, the Rams can be beaten in
• 3:06
  the secondary.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: That's the weak spot.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Now we've seen them give up two hundred yard games
• 3:09
  of Barkley, but is beating them in the air the
• 3:12
  way that they're gonna have to do it this week?
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Well, if Saquon Barkley gets off to a fast start,
• 3:20
  I think they're gonna ride the heavy you know, the
• 3:23
  hot hand there. But I do believe that to get
• 3:26
  into the flow of the game and keep the Rams
• 3:28
  defense honest, they have to get the passing game going. Now.
• 3:31
  I'm not suggesting that they have to go with a
• 3:33
  deep shot to Devonte Smith on the first play, but
• 3:37
  if you have Dallas Goddard, let's say even even on
• 3:41
  those short slants to aj Brown, get your offensive skill
• 3:44
  players into the flow of the game. Get Jay went
• 3:46
  Hurts most importantly, in the flow of the game. And
• 3:49
  then you're now presenting a look where the Rams have
• 3:52
  to account for and respect and they can't just sell
• 3:55
  out and try and tee off on Saquon Barkley.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: All right, Andrew de Check, go's with us here looking
• 3:59
  at the matchup to one. Obviously, Philadelphia, you are at
• 4:02
  practice today. Will Shipley's back? Will he play in the game.
• 4:06
  Dallas Goddard back on the practice field. Will those guys
• 4:08
  play and if they do, what does it add to
• 4:11
  this offense that has obviously struggled a little bit.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Dallas Goddard certainly seems to be trending in
• 4:18
  the right direction. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday out there on the
• 4:21
  practice field. Will Shipley he was not practicing on Wednesday,
• 4:26
  but Thursday and Friday he was. We'll have to wait
• 4:29
  and see what the official injury report says. That should
• 4:32
  be out shortly. And yeah, I mean that's a positive
• 4:35
  sign certainly for Goddard. Shipley will have to see. But
• 4:40
  I mean, I've just I've mentioned this before. He presents
• 4:43
  such a unique dimension to the offense as a pass catcher,
• 4:47
  and I think he's been a positive development in terms
• 4:51
  of pass protection and I like what he brings to
• 4:54
  the table. But Dallas Goddard, you saw how much they
• 4:57
  missed him last week, especially in the blocking department. I
• 5:01
  think having him there on the line of scrimmage will
• 5:03
  open things up for Saquon Barkley. Now, credit Saquon Barkley
• 5:06
  because a lot of his yards were earned, but I
• 5:09
  think you may see some more room to run with
• 5:12
  someone like Goddard there who's better at the point of attack,
• 5:15
  certainly than Kalka Terr or Kylink Branson, So that that'll
• 5:18
  be another welcome edition if he's able to be good
• 5:20
  to go.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a big thing that you know, calcatarr A
• 5:23
  very good in the past game receiving the ball, but
• 5:25
  you can obviously see the difference when they have to
• 5:28
  pass the ball.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Now you mentioned the Rams offense. This is a different team.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Last year you had, you know, Cooper Cup, Pooka Nakua,
• 5:34
  you know those smaller fashion guys. Nakua is still here,
• 5:37
  but they have a guy in the DeVante Adams now
• 5:41
  he is kind of the more traditional number one, a
• 5:45
  physical body style. And then Nakula on the other side.
• 5:49
  This seems to be a better complementary group of receivers
• 5:52
  than the two they had last year, even though Kupp
• 5:54
  is outstanding.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and they also have two two at well, who's
• 5:57
  an undersized receiver but can certainly get vert and you
• 6:01
  have to be a you have to be mindful where
• 6:03
  he is too, because one deep shot can can alter
• 6:06
  the course of the game. But yet because of that,
• 6:09
  because of the way that the Rams use their wide receivers.
• 6:12
  It's difficult to envision a scenario where the Eagles feel
• 6:15
  comfortable traveling Quinnon Mitchell. But make no mistake that this
• 6:20
  is going to be a game in which I'm expecting
• 6:23
  them to target a Dori Jackson and a Dori Jackson
• 6:27
  presumably we'll see a lot of Devonte Adams. That that's
• 6:30
  a clear mismatch in favor of the Rams, but that
• 6:33
  that's where I believe that that kind of is why
• 6:37
  I'm of the of the belief that the Eagles are
• 6:39
  going to have to throw in this game, because I
• 6:40
  do believe that the Rams will be able to score
• 6:43
  some points. McVeigh runs a unique offense, unlike a lot
• 6:46
  of play callers in the NFL, where there's a lot
• 6:49
  of condensed sets and things like that, so that that's
• 6:52
  certainly something that I'll be keeping an eye on.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm interested, you know, because you mentioned McVeigh. The
• 6:56
  Eagles have beaten the Rams, I think nine out of ten.
• 6:59
  Syrian he is three to zero against them. They beat
• 7:01
  him in Week twelve last year thirty seven to twenty.
• 7:04
  The playoff game was obviously a lot closer. The Eagles
• 7:07
  seemed to have their number here. But if you're looking
• 7:10
  at this Rams team from a defensive standpoint, now, you know,
• 7:14
  one of the things that we thought in the first
• 7:15
  game they played Andrew was that they have the smallest defense.
• 7:18
  There's a lot of hype about their defense and the
• 7:21
  you know, the pressure they got from their young ends
• 7:23
  Verse Fisk who won't play. But there are a smaller defense,
• 7:27
  and I think that's where Philadelphia kind of wears them down.
• 7:31
  And you would think that that could really be a
• 7:33
  factor in this game again, as Sirianni looks to beat
• 7:36
  McVeigh for the fourth time.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this could be a game where you see the
• 7:40
  Eagles maybe try to counter the Rams quickness and ability
• 7:46
  to kind of have that short area explosiveness with power
• 7:50
  and physicality and the bullieball style that we saw the
• 7:54
  Eagles profession in the previous two matchups. I like a
• 7:58
  lot of the pieces Byron Young. I think he has
• 8:00
  three sacks this year. Kobe Turner, their defensive tackle, is
• 8:03
  one of the more underrated interior players in the NFC,
• 8:07
  if not the NFL. And I mean I think where
• 8:11
  they where the advantage is that they have is for
• 8:14
  the Eagles that in that matter is in the passing
• 8:16
  game because aj brown Verse presumably a manual for I
• 8:20
  remember Akello Witherspoon's not going to be playing in this game.
• 8:23
  That's a matchup that I like to kind of rewind
• 8:25
  it back to a couple of years ago where AJB
• 8:27
  believe had one hundred and forty six yards and two
• 8:29
  touchdowns against Forbes physical. He probably outweighs them by about
• 8:33
  forty pounds, if not more than that. That that's it's imperative.
• 8:38
  I think because they're shorthanded in the secondary, that they
• 8:41
  that they try to get that rolling.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Andrew earlier today, Nick Sirianni did it sound like he
• 8:46
  was laying it on pretty thick to the officials here
• 8:49
  with this push push Do we anticipate this thing being
• 8:52
  under high scrutiny of the rest of the season, including
• 8:55
  this week?
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's most certainly going to be, because now there's
• 8:59
  there's even more of a spotlight on it right now,
• 9:02
  right and the more the Eagles are effective at it,
• 9:04
  the more that you're going to hear a lot more
• 9:06
  complaints around the NFL, and it's going to be talked
• 9:09
  about nationally even more so than it is now. It's
• 9:11
  funny that was the primary topic of conversation this week
• 9:15
  by and large, But I mean Eagles Rams is the
• 9:19
  game on Sunday, and this seemed like the push play
• 9:22
  and all the discussion around it was the center of conversation.
• 9:25
  But obviously they're going to be looking at it and
• 9:28
  officiating it with a careful eye and making sure that
• 9:33
  they're trying to leave no stone unturned and try to
• 9:36
  appease everyone. And it's very hard, it's untenable, it's hard
• 9:40
  to officiate. But yeah, that was kind of the sentiment
• 9:43
  that I got as well. But the Eagles do it
• 9:45
  with such detail, and they practice it so so efficiently
• 9:51
  and so frequently that I think to to sort of
• 9:54
  think that any team can run it the way that
• 9:56
  they do is discrediting the work that they put into
• 9:58
  really fine tune everything real quick.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: We'll talk a lot about the special teams, but Jake
• 10:04
  Elliott back to back fifty yarders last week. How much
• 10:09
  does his ability now to show that he can connect
• 10:12
  there change the way that Sirianni calls some of these
• 10:15
  games a lot.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: And it's warmer, it's going to be warm on Sunday.
• 10:20
  That's where the ball seems to go a little bit
• 10:23
  you're able to get a little bit more distance on that.
• 10:26
  There's the new kicking balls this year, which I think
• 10:28
  plays a big part in why you're seeing so many
• 10:31
  long range kicks throughout the NFL. But yeah, I mean
• 10:34
  you have to have a lot of confidence in what
• 10:36
  Jake's able to do. Jake has two fifty eight yarders
• 10:38
  this season. The operation between Braden Man, the holder, and
• 10:43
  new long snapper Charlie Hewlett has been pretty good. I
• 10:46
  talked to Charlie this week about learning his kicker because
• 10:49
  he's had many over his ten year career where he
• 10:51
  was with the Browns, and I just think that this
• 10:53
  whole operation is so in tune, and Jake Elliott has
• 10:56
  dialed in that. It behooves the Eagles that you know,
• 11:00
  if you're in one of those tough spots, you trot
• 11:02
  Jake out there because he has just such a he's
• 11:05
  laser focused in on right now, and I think the
• 11:07
  weather is certainly going to help him, you know, drive
• 11:11
  the ball.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a weapon that It's becoming a big topic
• 11:14
  in the league too, all these kickers. I guess the
• 11:15
  way they've changed the way the teams can bring their
• 11:18
  own balls in now you're seeing teams set up. He
• 11:22
  saw the Cowboys set They ran the ball to set
• 11:25
  up a sixty four yard field goal. Last week the
• 11:28
  Colts ran the ball to set up a sixty yard
• 11:31
  field goal. The kicking game is certainly getting a lot
• 11:33
  of attention the last couple of weeks here with the
• 11:38
  return of Shipley. If he is able to play in
• 11:40
  the game, how does that add to the kicking return game?
• 11:43
  Would you have a Shipley Bigsby return because they seemingly
• 11:47
  are kicking it away from Tank?
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Great question. I mean, for me, I would assume that
• 11:53
  they would keep Tank Bigsby out there as their primary returner,
• 11:56
  given that they gave up a fifth and a sixth
• 11:58
  round pick with know that being the most prominent focus
• 12:03
  at least this season. Plus Shipley's still working his way
• 12:06
  back from the oblique and you know, just practice two days,
• 12:10
  so I have to see if he's cleared. But I
• 12:12
  would think that you want to try and preserve him
• 12:14
  from many unnecessary hits in the kick return game. They
• 12:17
  also have aj Dillon back there. John Metchi has seen
• 12:20
  some opportunities, So it seems to me that the Eagles
• 12:23
  are comfortable with running a rotation of players back there
• 12:27
  because the kick return game is such a new element
• 12:31
  this season where you're able to kind of capitalize and
• 12:33
  use that as an advantage and put some explosive guys
• 12:36
  back there. So I think Bigsby will be the constant,
• 12:38
  but I'm not so sure that Chipley would be back
• 12:41
  there this week, just you know, fresh off the injury.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Right, we're talking with Andrew to check O here, getting
• 12:45
  a couple of quick thoughts before the kickoff on Sunday,
• 12:47
  and of course you can listen to the game on
• 12:49
  ninety seven to three ESPN. It's something that you are
• 12:54
  still wondering about with this team, question that hasn't been
• 12:57
  answered for you. You've seen two weeks, We've got a lot
• 12:58
  of things here, something that you're still kind of thinking. Hm,
• 13:02
  I'm still trying to see if this question can be answered.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: The passing game when they need to have it, because
• 13:09
  we haven't seen it through two games, because they've been leading,
• 13:12
  or they've had the game pretty well at hand. Is
• 13:16
  it a byproduct of them trying to be risk averse
• 13:18
  or is it something that they're trying to work through
• 13:21
  as they sort of gauge what they are and what
• 13:25
  their identity is going to be as an offense. So
• 13:28
  I am confident in Ken Tullow and I think it's
• 13:31
  way too early to write him off or be overly critical.
• 13:35
  I've seen a lot of that this week. But I
• 13:38
  want to see Mike if the Eagles are able to
• 13:40
  really open things up when they have to, because in
• 13:43
  a game like this where the Rams can score, this
• 13:46
  is going to be a really big test, all.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: Right, Andrew.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Obviously, Aj Brown Devonte Smith haven't been a big part
• 13:52
  of the offense. Would you imagine that this week they
• 13:54
  get going or do you imagine this is more of
• 13:57
  the Barkley week? So which way are they going to
• 13:59
  be a more heavy this week or a more run
• 14:01
  heavy this week?
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: It just feels like they're gonna go back to the
• 14:05
  well until the Rams try to stop it. And so
• 14:07
  for those reasons, I think this is gonna be a
• 14:09
  big week for Saquon Barkley. I'm surprised me if he
• 14:12
  gets ninety plus.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Sayquahd, I was gonna say.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Saquad Barkley has more yards in three games against the
• 14:19
  Rams th any other ponenty He averages one hundred and
• 14:21
  sixty six yards against them. That's why this game is
• 14:23
  so interesting because of his success against this particular team
• 14:26
  in recent years, but their inability to stop the pass.
• 14:29
  It really lends to a lot here and we'll see
• 14:33
  what matchup worries you the most. From the Eagles defense
• 14:37
  against the Rams.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Eagles defense versus the Rams, I would have to say
• 14:41
  the secondary. Well, I mean specifically a Dori Jackson, but
• 14:45
  also you saw some miscommunication and coverage last week with
• 14:49
  look to be read blanket ship. You have a rookie
• 14:52
  back there and Drew mccouba. So with a veteran quarterback
• 14:55
  like Matthew Stafford, you might see them try to put
• 14:57
  them in flux or have them maybe guessing or guessing.
• 15:00
  There might be some double moves in there with some
• 15:02
  of those veteran receivers that they have. So that's something
• 15:05
  to keep an eye on. Adri Jackson. This is his
• 15:08
  biggest test. I thought he had a nice bounce back
• 15:09
  against the Chiefs. Again, you can look at their receiving
• 15:12
  core and say, well, he's supposed to he's been in
• 15:14
  the league nine years. But we'll see. Because sometimes when
• 15:17
  you're able to put that first game behind you and rebound,
• 15:20
  you're able to build off that a little bit, but
• 15:23
  he's somebody to who the Rams are certainly going to
• 15:25
  be targeting early in this one.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: I love it good. Should be a fun game.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: We'll see Matthew Stafford taking on Jalen Hurts, obviously, two
• 15:33
  totally different style of quarterbacks. Those two guys, two of
• 15:37
  the better quarterbacks in this league. They'll match up on Sunday.
• 15:40
  You can listen to all the action right here on
• 15:42
  ninety seven to three ESPN. He is Andrew to check oh.
• 15:44
  You can check him out on the Inside the Birds platform,
• 15:47
  Inside the Birds dot com, the Inside the Birds podcast,
• 15:50
  and right here on Football at four on the Sports
• 15:53
  Bass Live on ninety seven to three ESPN.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: Enjoy the game, man, enjoy the one o'clock game.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, Mike, you as well.