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Football at Four: An In-Depth Look at the Eagles After Two Games · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Every Day Football at four powered by the Inside the
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  Mergs podcast. Adam Kaplan's here today and don't forget you
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  can get the Inside of the Mergs podcast on all podcasting platforms. Today,
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  Adam Kaplan joins us for a dive on the Eagles
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  as they get ready for the Rams. We get past
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  the Chiefs, we'll see what the team looks like on
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  both offense and defense after two weeks we heard from
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  both coordinators. Today, let's bring in Adam Caplan now to
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  talk a little bit about this two and zero Eagles team.
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  And I don't know. This team obviously has some offensive
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  issues so far to start this season, but the defense
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  looks pretty good. Adam, what's going on? Man?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Mike, I'd say that's pretty accurate. But let
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  me go. Let me take a deep dive, Mike. That's
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  really what today is going to be about. And we'll
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  talk a little bit about the Rams, and then we'll
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  talk with the matchup on Friday, which by the way,
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  is fascinating. Nick year, any three and zero against the
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  Rams and obviously they beat them twice last year, but
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  which are pretty good. They are not a lot of
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  teams that are two and oh. But It's kind of
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  cool that this game Sunnay, which not prime time, Mike,
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  the Rams have to come in and remember that to
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  three hour time difference. But getting back to where we
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  are here, So the Eagles are two, and now I'll
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  let we'll get started an offense, and now I will
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  let you know Michael. On tomorrow's Inside of the Tape
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  with Greg go sell mee. Jeff and Greg, we talk
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  about the offensive struggles. We talked about this on the
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  postgame show. Some peoplebout always making excuses for Hurts, but
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  let me just explain, and you hear us talk about
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  it tomorrow. We've seen this from her tent. He holds
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  onto the ball too long and he's indecisive. But you're
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  talking to coaches over the years sometimes and I Greg
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  made a really good point because I brought up that
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  Hurts has had six different play callers. People forget his
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  first play caller was Doug Peterson the year one and
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  twenty twenty. We forget about that. Hearing at a different voice.
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  Greg had it because I know Greg, I know some
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  of the people he speaks with. The three of us
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  talked a lot of coordinators and coaches over the year,
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  so We're just trying to give context. We try to
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  give one of the things that we do on Inside
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  the Birds as we give content, not a lot of
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  blanket statements. We try to explain why things happen, so
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  we educate people. And look, it's only two weeks. Yes,
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  the passing offense has been awful. I mean, we're not
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  going to sugarcoat it's been bad. Now. Goddard, who Hurts
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  hooked up with seven times a week, one didn't play
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  last week. The middle of the offense. There are some
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  place where Hurts didn't pull the trigger over the middle,
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  not many. It was actually Mike, which is so rare
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  for him. There are plays to make downfield where you
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  know he usually gets those big eyes like all guys
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  who have loved to throw on the ball downfield. He
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  only made the one throw, and obviously that was a
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  great throw. I don't know what happened. They're just Mike.
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  I think sometimes we send this from Hurts where he
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  doesn't pull the trigger. He overthinks, like by the way,
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  a lot of quarterbacks do. The one criticism I have
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  though for Kevin Patulo and I have the same criticism
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  at calim Moorny. He eventually correct it when your quarterback
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  is not pulling the trigger. And Ron Jewski taught me
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  this when i'd watched tape with Greco Sell and Ron
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  for about ten years. Ron said, when he would struggle
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  pulling the trigger, whoever his play caller would be, they
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  they'd get it out of his hands at one point five,
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  Get out of his hands, get him accurate, get him comfortable.
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  If he had and I get that Goddard's not there,
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  that's certainly a problem. Well, you got to scheme these guys.
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  They'll get it out of his hands whatever forever reason
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  Hurts seems to be overthinking or not pulling the trigger,
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  help your quarterback out the route combinations. They look very
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  much like last year. The play calling is not why
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  their offense. For fans love to criticize stuff they don't understand.
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  It had nothing to do with why Hurts wouldn't throw
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  the football. It's on Jalen get rid of it. But
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  but Kevin Batilla is going to help him a little bit,
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  get out of his hands faster.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there was We talked about this yesterday
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  with Jeff and I want to follow up with you.
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  It looked like the offensive line did a pretty good
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  job and giving him protection. Now, watching that on TV
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  is a lot different than you know, watching the All
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  twenty two. We're seeing it from a press box where
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  you can see the routes and who's open and who's not.
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  But he seemed to have the protection it is, and.
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  Speaker 2: You know, look early on it was a little challenge
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  with Spags coming with bringing in his variety of what
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  we call designer blitzes. He has his own way of
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  doing it, and the Eagles adjusted really well. And look,
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  they hurts had plenty of times. So the good thing
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  is and we'll talk more about this Friday, but this
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  is a team in the Rams. They know, they know
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  how to protect. The Rams are a speed pass rushing team.
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  They have a very small defensive line. They're very active.
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  They're really well coaching Chris Shula. But Eagles matchup well
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  against them. But let's get to defense now. I don't
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  it's way too I know the media loves asking these questions.
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  Well are they head of where you thought they'd be.
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  They've played two games, folks. The first half against Dallas,
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  the defense did not play well. Ever since then they've
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  been good. Now, the second half was when there was
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  an hour delay with the weather. As we know, against
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  Dallas last week, they played really well, saved two coverage
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  bus By the way, listen, if Kelsey catches that ball
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  and certain things happened, maybe the defense didn't play as well.
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  You know, we mayn't have that discussion, but in fact,
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  the matter, the results are the results. They played well.
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  I told you for the season started, Mike, I'm gonna
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  say this again, I'm not criticizing kind of like anything
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  that's happened, you can't predict the injuries, but when Nikoby
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  Deane comes back, you won't not be starting. I told
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  you that before the season started. I said, if job
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  Cambill plays well, it won't matter. If Nikobe Deane looks
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  like his old self, it'll be irrelevant because Job kampl
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  was a first round pick. And by the way, now
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  I'll say this thing, he's definitely had a schedule. From
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  a mental standpoint, I know from what we knew about
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  his college tape wasn't very instinctive. He is well ahead
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  of where I honestly I didn't think he played this well.
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  I am kind of surprised. Now, you got to give
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  Bobby King, they're outstanding linebacker's coach Mike, you're gonna hear
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  Greg and I and Jeff talk about this. This coaching staff,
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  particularly defensively, is absolutely off the charts. Mike. Look how
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  bad it was two years We forget about how bad
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  it was in twenty three.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what. You're taking a deep dive
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  on this defense. And you know they got six to
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  sacks in the game in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs.
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  They didn't blitz it all. They blitched eleven times in
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  this game. It's kind of tells me they had no
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  respect for the Kansas City offense. Can get down the field.
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  Speaker 2: On them, yes, but also vic New coming in. Their
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  pass rush was not very good against Dallas. You forget
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  there were four drops in that game. What was critical
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  would have been a touchdown. Okay, think about a cdee
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  Lamb doesn't have those those those other drops. Jake Ferkson
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  drop one with Tribe when their titan would have been
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  a touchdown. So let's let's be real here, Mike. Context matters.
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  So vic New they didn't get enough pressure, Well they did,
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  they did. He brought seven blitzers in the first half.
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  I couldn't believe it. You know, this is he is special.
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  How great is Fandrio by the way, I mean for
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  all the knucklehead like the Dolphins players, who could have
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  they buried Fanrio publicly? Yeah, and then the fans, See,
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  the fans didn't know any better, They didn't really know
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  what was going on, so they were like killing vic
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  on on social media. How do you think those people
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  feel now?
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  Speaker 1: By the way, Well, I'll tell you what. You very
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  good and you can see why the Dolphins are the
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  way they are. They're complaining about a guy like Nick
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  Fangio and look where their team is now. I mean,
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  that's you thinking that just doesn't want to be coached.
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  Speaker 2: Great put Mike, he listened. He demands a lot. Yeah,
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  we brought this up last year. They had a similarity
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  between him and Jim Johnson, the late great my favorite
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  coach to cover here in Philly. Vic is awesome. I
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  don't know the guy personally, I've not been around him,
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  but I knew a guy who coached for him in Denver.
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  He coaches hard, by the way, demand, he's demanding. That's
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  why you see a lot, not a lot. Some of
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  his former assistants from over the years are with him.
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  Clint Hart, who add in Chicago. I just cannot rave
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  enough about this defensive coach, this defensive staff, not us, Vic,
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  Clint Hurt, Bobby King, Christian Parker, the safeties coach, Joe
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  Casper's phenomenal who might be a defensive coordinator someday. So
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  you look, we could talk all we want about. Oh well,
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  it's it's the players. Okay, you can't be great without
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  great players, right, But this staff, and you got to
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  give fans, you got to give Roseman and Siriani put
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  together this thing, and they've done a phenomenal job assembling well.
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  Speaker 1: And the last thing before we move to a couple
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  other things. You did see Zadaria Smith as much as
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  he thought more And what kind of role do we have?
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  Speaker 2: Jeff and I said, we thought he'd play. We had
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  no idea he'd play thirty stamp thirty a third of
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  the defensive stamp. So like Vic Eddings, right, you don't know,
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  but you could say, oh, you want it all, this
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  guy might be ready. You don't know that until he practices.
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  He came in a really good physical shape. Bob Way
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  was in the low nineties. We talked about this Friday
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  show when I Greg Kosell did not know the weather report. Yeh,
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  mister Weather. I'm like, guys, you won't believe this, but
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  it's gonna be in the low nineties and hot and human.
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  And he lasted. He did great, he's run forced player,
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  He's done a great job. He's he's one of the
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  biggest edgressers they've had in years. This guy could play.
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  And the nud Knicks who kept comparing this to Robert Quinn,
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  we gave you the answer, said, we told you he
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  was heard when they traded for him. So Darius Smith
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  wasn't heard. He just hadn't been on the teams for
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  nine months. He looked great now. I said, if he's healthy,
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  he's gonna be great signing. If he's in shape, it's
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  already paying dividends. That he had a great game, really
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  did considering. And look, by the way, he had more
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  steps than josh Usha. How about that?
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  Speaker 1: All right?
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  Speaker 2: Uh?
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  Speaker 1: Adam Kaplan? Yeah. And it's funny because we're wondering, eventually
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  does he take even more snaps on right? I mean,
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  as that was only his first game, does he get
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  even more as this kind of materializes.
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  Speaker 2: I mean it could, it definitely could, but you got
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  to you gotta be careful don't wear him out and
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  then you joh Hot Camel lineup more at the HD
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  he did before that like that and jay 'shut. By
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  the way, he really played well. I want to mention that, Mikey.
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  It doesn't show up in a box score. He's actually
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  his pressure rate was good by the way NFL, by
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  the way NFL teams do it. I know that for
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  a fact. I don't have PFF stuff in front of me,
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  but I know for the way that NFL team's great.
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  I know for a fact he grated out very well.
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  Speaker 1: All right, look at the Rams real quick. Obviously you've
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  got to a point in the NFL world where it
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  seems that this Rams team has surpassed where the Chiefs are.
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  Speaker 2: They're really well coached. Mike Sean McVay one of the
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  top five head coaches in the National Football League now.
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  DeVante Adams is one of the most physical receivers that
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  you'll face. He's not as explosive as a J. Brown,
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  but he could still play. He's an older guy. I
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  remember in many years coming out of Fresno State. He
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  is thirty two years old. He could still play. He's
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  looked great with Stafford, their offensive line Steve Avila, their
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  left guard didn't play last week. They don't know if
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  they're going to have him. They're not really that great
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  on the offensive line. They're actually better in the interior
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  than they are a tackle. They're good at tight end.
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  Kyn Williams has been a great story at fifth ront
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  pick out of twenty two. He's been way better than
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  the Scott in World thought they used Pooking, the great Pooking.
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  The coup is great. You know, he's number twelve, Mike.
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  If you put him in a different system, he's probably
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  not even half as good. They don't put him on
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  the outside. He's what we call reduced player. They move
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  him inside. He's unbelievable. He saw that touchdown run last week. Defensively,
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  one of the fastest defense in the National Football League. MIC.
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  We're gonna talk more about this on Friday. I'm telling
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  you they're really super weak at corner, really good at safety,
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  undersized at linebacker, a give versus a stud their best
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  pass rusher. Now. One other injury, Braydon Fisk, who didn't
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  play against him in the playoff game. He's got a
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  blaque injury. This is new. We're going to watch that
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  on Friday, they got pun Afford, Well, he was under
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  six feet at the number ninety five. You'll see Kobe
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  Turner ninety one, who's phenomenal, who's in his third year.
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  They're just really really fast mic but they don't match
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  up against Eagles because they're too small.
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  Speaker 1: Three surprises from Adam Kaplan after two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: My three surprises, I would say the Colts. Now, let
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  me give you context, Mike. They haven't been on the
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  road yet. That was a ridiculous game. You got to
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  be kidding me. Now, I'm sourur because I picked at Denver.
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  You know I picked. I ticked five or six games
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  versus the spread. I lost that one. I want to
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  see how the cults fare on the road. So let's see.
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  That's definitely surprising. I didn't see them being two and oh.
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  Definitely didn't see that. Now Arizona they're two and oh.
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  Didn't see that either. I know there are a lot
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  of people picked them to make the playoffs. I'm not
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  there yet. I know the NFC West is not very good.
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  I'm definitely surprised by that, but again, they've had an
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  easy schedule. The other one, to me is from a
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  negative standpoint, Mike, I am still disappointing Houston. Now I'm
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  gonna get before I get out of here. This is
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  where Nickosario, their GM is not very good. He is
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  your idea how to build an offensive line. They're left tackle,
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  they trade Namie Tunsil, got a lot of draft picks.
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  They are a place of where the journeyman and Cam
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  Robinson major mistake. They're bad at center. This is not
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  a well put together offensive line. You can't win. We
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  all know that in Philly, in this market, Mike, you
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  don't win with subpar offensive line play. And he's not
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  done a good job with that. That if they don't
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  make the playoffs and then win that bad division, that
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  is why the Texans don't have it a good offensive line.
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  And I get him credit for coming back, and they
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  really should have won. They choked that game, but their
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  offensive line for a number of years, it is nothing
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  very good.
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  Speaker 1: Adam kap On, everybody check out inside the tape on
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  inside the Birds. You guys will be doing that, and
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  of course with great Cosell and the whole inside the
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  Bird's crew and of course football at four right here
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  on the sports Betch. He's back on Friday, Mosher's here tomorrow,
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  Andrew on Thursday, as we get you ready for the
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  Eagles and the Rams. All right, Adam, thanks buddy
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  Speaker 2: All right, thank you,