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

0:24
Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:27
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:30
Speaker 1: in the world, over twelve and a half years strong.
0:33
Speaker 1: Got a great preview coming your way this week here
0:35
Speaker 1: in Opposition Territory. The Philadelphia Eagles going to be taking
0:38
Speaker 1: on the Detroit Lions this coming weekend. This is going
0:42
Speaker 1: to be quite a matchup. And to get into it
0:45
Speaker 1: with us here, we have one of our faives who
0:48
Speaker 1: covers the Lions, mister Jefferson.
0:51
Speaker 2: Jeff, buddy, how you doing, my friend?
0:53
Speaker 3: Good to be with you. This is a big game.
0:56
Speaker 3: It's fun to be playing in big games. I see
0:58
Speaker 3: that as a long suffering Lions fan. We're still not
1:02
Speaker 3: quite used to it just yet, right, but we're getting
1:05
Speaker 3: used to it and it's a lot of fun.
1:06
Speaker 1: It's been it's been a while since, I should say,
1:09
Speaker 1: it's taken the Lions a little while to get to
1:12
Speaker 1: this point here for sure. But let's Jeff, before we
1:16
Speaker 1: get into the topics what we're going to be diving
1:19
Speaker 1: into with regard to this matchup. Bu don't you let
1:20
Speaker 1: everybody know where they can find you out there if
1:23
Speaker 1: they want to connect with you, learn a little bit
1:25
Speaker 1: about the Detroit Lions.
1:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure you can find me. I'm the measuring editor
1:29
Speaker 3: at Lions Wire at USA today. I'm also the measuring
1:33
Speaker 3: editor for Draft Wire. So if you're a draft junkie,
1:36
Speaker 3: checked out draft Wire. Yes, I just put up my
1:38
Speaker 3: top fifty prospects for this week. And if you're ever
1:41
Speaker 3: driving across the state of Michigan, you happen to be
1:44
Speaker 3: in our wonderful state. I am on the radio most
1:47
Speaker 3: afternoons from three to six on the Huge Show. You
1:50
Speaker 3: can stream it also on iHeart. Very nice, and I'm
1:52
Speaker 3: also the host of the Detroit Lions Podcast and we
1:55
Speaker 3: go live most Wednesdays.
1:57
Speaker 1: All right, very good, very good. Got a lot of stuff.
2:00
Speaker 1: You got a lot of stuff going on. You got
2:01
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff going on. And look this.
2:04
Speaker 2: Matchup it's gonna be It's gonna be key. It really is.
2:07
Speaker 1: And as we look at this Detroit Lions team, I'm
2:10
Speaker 1: concerned as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, it's just a strong
2:12
Speaker 1: team from an overall and macro perspective. They're at the
2:16
Speaker 1: top of the NFC North, I mean, but the Bears
2:18
Speaker 1: are right there as well with them. Both teams UH
2:22
Speaker 1: seven and two at this both teams are seven and
2:24
Speaker 1: two at this point, right, six, six and three. I'm sorry,
2:28
Speaker 1: that's right, I'm thinking about the Eagles.
2:29
Speaker 3: Sorry, yes, you're in first place because y'all beat Green
2:35
Speaker 3: Bay and we're happy.
2:36
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly.
2:38
Speaker 1: Well, let's let's get into some of the strengths and
2:39
Speaker 1: weaknesses of this Lions team here. We'd like to do
2:44
Speaker 1: this on our opposition territory shows every week. So the
2:46
Speaker 1: two part question is biggest strength, biggest weakness. Let's start
2:50
Speaker 1: with the biggest strength of this Lions team, Jeff, as
2:53
Speaker 1: we're heading into week eleven of this season.
2:55
Speaker 3: I think it's the diversity of weaponry on the offense.
2:58
Speaker 3: You're a Goth at the controls. Jamior Gibbs as a
3:01
Speaker 3: running back, there aren't five better than him. I'm on
3:04
Speaker 3: Ross Saint Brown at wide receiver, there aren't five better
3:06
Speaker 3: than him, right him Aboard a tight end, there aren't
3:08
Speaker 3: five better right a Stewell, there aren't two better than
3:13
Speaker 3: him at offensive tackle within the league. And you know,
3:17
Speaker 3: Jamison Williams is coming on as a very effective weapon.
3:21
Speaker 3: Talk a little bit more about him. Probably a little bit.
3:23
Speaker 2: Later, we talked about Jameson Williams the last.
3:25
Speaker 3: Time, memories a exceptional number two back. Yep. They can
3:29
Speaker 3: just beat you in so many different ways offensively, and
3:34
Speaker 3: they now that Dan Campbell is calling the plays again,
3:37
Speaker 3: we're pretty happy to see that he's using those weapons
3:40
Speaker 3: a little bit more effectively. Yeah, and that's they are
3:43
Speaker 3: a very difficult offense to stop when they're playing. Well.
3:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll probably talk about Jamison Williams in a little bit.
3:49
Speaker 1: I know we talked about him the last time that
3:50
Speaker 1: you were on the show and the development that Detroit
3:53
Speaker 1: Lion fans were hoping to see from him, what type
3:56
Speaker 1: of player he would become here in the NFL during
3:58
Speaker 1: this twenty twenty five sea And but let's flip things over.
4:02
Speaker 1: What is the biggest weakness on this Lion's team thus
4:06
Speaker 1: far after ten weeks, as we're heading into week eleven.
4:09
Speaker 3: You know, it might sound nitpicky, but it is a
4:12
Speaker 3: big deal. The special teams have not been good at all.
4:15
Speaker 3: Oh okay, given up way too many yards for having
4:18
Speaker 3: a they have a fantastic There aren't five punters better
4:20
Speaker 3: than Jack Fox. Yeah. Yeah. Coverage units have been rotten.
4:24
Speaker 3: The blocking on the returns has not been good. The
4:27
Speaker 3: returns other than Kelly Frayman getting one punt return for
4:30
Speaker 3: it like it's it's not been good at all. And
4:32
Speaker 3: when you're playing in a game like this that has
4:35
Speaker 3: playoff implications and will have a playoff atmosphere, you need
4:39
Speaker 3: every yard you can get. And the Lions are bleeding
4:41
Speaker 3: way too many yards both on the return and coverage
4:45
Speaker 3: units right now. Like I know, I know that's a
4:47
Speaker 3: sort of abstract and away from like the typical strainer.
4:51
Speaker 2: I love it.
4:52
Speaker 3: It really is a big deal for how poorly and
4:54
Speaker 3: this was a unit that was really really good last year,
4:58
Speaker 3: one of the best in the league. Dave pip is
5:00
Speaker 3: a respected coordinator for a long time. His units just
5:04
Speaker 3: collectively are not having a good year. And by the way,
5:07
Speaker 3: Jake Bates, who's a pretty good kicker, has had two
5:10
Speaker 3: kicks blocked in the last couple of weeks, and both
5:11
Speaker 3: of them were on him for kicking the ball too low. Yep.
5:14
Speaker 3: So if you're looking for a hidden advantage if you're
5:17
Speaker 3: an Eagles fan, special teams are rit.
5:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, special team.
5:22
Speaker 1: We know the Eagles have done their fair share of
5:24
Speaker 1: blocking some field goals this year, thus far more.
5:28
Speaker 3: Than a little worrisome.
5:29
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I'll say this too, Jeff I said it
5:31
Speaker 1: on our Eagles postgame podcast show this past week. Xavier
5:34
Speaker 1: Gibson of the Philadelphia Eagles punt returner, he was averaging
5:38
Speaker 1: fifteen point five yards per punt return. There's something to
5:41
Speaker 1: be said about that. As you just said, every single
5:43
Speaker 1: yard matters. Eagles haven't had a punt returner doing stuff
5:46
Speaker 1: like that in a very long time. You know, special
5:49
Speaker 1: teams are so very key, and they don't get their due.
5:53
Speaker 3: No, no, we try to give it to him here.
5:55
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly. All right, Well, let's move into one. Jared
5:59
Speaker 1: Goff one of the top quarterbacks I think in this league.
6:03
Speaker 1: He may not necessarily in terms of quarterback rankings be
6:05
Speaker 1: like up there, maybe top five or so, but he's
6:09
Speaker 1: in year ten. Boy, this guy has grown so much
6:12
Speaker 1: as a quarterback over all of these years, and especially
6:16
Speaker 1: in Detroit since that trade with the Los Angeles Rams.
6:20
Speaker 1: I mean, Jared Goff really is one hell of a quarterback.
6:23
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, He's got seventeen passing
6:25
Speaker 1: touchdowns on the season, three interceptions. He's almost that two
6:28
Speaker 1: thousand yards passing and putting it through the air this season.
6:33
Speaker 1: I'm wondering what's the best part of how Jared Goff
6:37
Speaker 1: has been able to take command of the offense, Jeff.
6:39
Speaker 1: And then on the flip side, where does he need
6:41
Speaker 1: more work? What are your thoughts here?
6:44
Speaker 3: That's a good question. And Golf certainly deserves all the
6:47
Speaker 3: credit that he's getting. And it took a lot of
6:50
Speaker 3: us some time to accept that Jared Goff was going
6:53
Speaker 3: to be that good that quickly first year, which I
6:56
Speaker 3: believe was the last time he played Philadelphia, was not
6:58
Speaker 3: good at all. Right, that he's grown so much from that,
7:04
Speaker 3: his leadership, his steadiness as a person. He will have
7:09
Speaker 3: a bad play here and there, you'll never know it.
7:12
Speaker 3: He's very good at bouncing back from mistakes, and he
7:14
Speaker 3: makes so few of them. His completion percentage and accuracy
7:18
Speaker 3: right now is just he's so accurate over the middle
7:22
Speaker 3: of the field without putting the ball at risk, and
7:25
Speaker 3: that's not Those are two very separate issues. He's found
7:30
Speaker 3: that balance very well. He doesn't force through us. He's
7:33
Speaker 3: really good at making the pre snap breeds and making
7:35
Speaker 3: the correct determination of where the ball goes. He's learned
7:38
Speaker 3: how to throw the ball away better than he did
7:40
Speaker 3: earlier in his career. It was one of the issues
7:41
Speaker 3: that Sean McVay had with him and in Los Angeles was, dude,
7:44
Speaker 3: throw the ball away like terfect something he's gotten so
7:48
Speaker 3: much better at that, he's still immobile. He did run
7:53
Speaker 3: for a nine yard run this year. It was one
7:57
Speaker 3: of those where if it was the person has taken
8:00
Speaker 3: it for eighty you know, he is what he is.
8:04
Speaker 3: On that, I will say he hasn't necessarily. I just
8:10
Speaker 3: you know, praised him for, you know, getting rid of
8:13
Speaker 3: the ball and not taking negative plays. He's taken some
8:16
Speaker 3: sacks this year where we probably could have gotten rid
8:19
Speaker 3: of the ball. Maybe some of that's on the quick
8:21
Speaker 3: pressure up the middle, which look, that's not good for
8:25
Speaker 3: any quarterback, but that's really not good for Jared Goff.
8:28
Speaker 3: So it's an area where he's just year ten. He
8:33
Speaker 3: is what he is at this point. He's a fantastic leader,
8:37
Speaker 3: a very good you know, train conductor, keeps everything running
8:40
Speaker 3: as as it needs to be, uses all of his
8:42
Speaker 3: weapons very well. Uh, He's he's he's not He's not
8:47
Speaker 3: a guy who's going to win many games on his
8:50
Speaker 3: own for you, but he's almost never going to be
8:53
Speaker 3: the reason why you lose, right, And that's.
8:55
Speaker 2: There's something to be said for that. There really is sure.
8:58
Speaker 3: We both know from from experiences with our teams that's
9:03
Speaker 3: that's kind of a good thing.
9:04
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely is for sure.
9:07
Speaker 1: And look, Jalen Phillips, new defensive end and pass rusher
9:11
Speaker 1: for the Eagles, are gonna be wanting to breathe down
9:14
Speaker 1: Jared Goff's neck this coming week. We're certainly gonna be
9:17
Speaker 1: getting into the Lions offensive line and how they may
9:21
Speaker 1: be matching up against the Eagles defensive front in a bit.
9:25
Speaker 1: But before we go to our break here, I wanted
9:29
Speaker 1: to really dive into the first matchup that I think
9:33
Speaker 1: is gonna be really intriguing.
9:34
Speaker 2: Jeff.
9:35
Speaker 1: It's gonna be the Eagles offensive line against the defensive
9:39
Speaker 1: front of the Detroit Lions. Eagles offensive line really seemed
9:43
Speaker 1: to regress just this past week while up at Green Bay.
9:46
Speaker 1: My gosh, just tons of undisciplined play, so many penalties,
9:50
Speaker 1: too many penalties, and they just don't seem to be
9:54
Speaker 1: as succinct of the unit as we have seen from
9:57
Speaker 1: this group is in the past. Yes, injuries have been
10:02
Speaker 1: prevalent throughout you know, Landon Dickerson his season thus far,
10:07
Speaker 1: and Cam Jurgens we're not sure if he's going to
10:10
Speaker 1: be back on the field this week either, So yes,
10:12
Speaker 1: there is some inconsistency. How do you see this Eagles
10:15
Speaker 1: offensive line matching up against the Lions defensive front this week?
10:19
Speaker 3: And I think the big thing for Detroit in attacking
10:22
Speaker 3: it is if Adon Hutchinson is getting double teamed and
10:27
Speaker 3: he gets stole team to at a higher rate than
10:28
Speaker 3: just about anybody. I think Miles Garrett is the only
10:31
Speaker 3: guy who's above him in that, and that makes sense
10:36
Speaker 3: the guys like Alkady Muhammad and Ali McNeil and Pad O'Connor.
10:41
Speaker 3: If he plays Tyler Williams, the first round pick who's
10:45
Speaker 3: much more of an attack style tackle in the NFL
10:48
Speaker 3: that he was at Ohio State, they've got to get
10:51
Speaker 3: pressure and they've got to get home and not lose.
10:55
Speaker 3: If they've got an opportunity to make a play, they
10:57
Speaker 3: need to make the play.
10:58
Speaker 2: Yes.
10:59
Speaker 3: Yes, from what I've seen from the Eagles line with
11:02
Speaker 3: the last few weeks, really like they're still really really good,
11:06
Speaker 3: but they're not as elite as they have been. They
11:09
Speaker 3: have some vulnerabilities to it, and Aiden Hutchinson seems to
11:11
Speaker 3: be the guy who can really take advantage of that.
11:13
Speaker 3: Now he's coming off of a game. Got to put
11:15
Speaker 3: this in context. Our kicker had more tackles than our
11:19
Speaker 3: star defensive end in the last game, So Hutch needs
11:24
Speaker 3: to step it up a little bit. It was not
11:27
Speaker 3: a great game really for Ala McNeil, who's a very
11:29
Speaker 3: very good defensive tackles come back healthy. Dj A Reader
11:34
Speaker 3: is a great nose tackle in the middle, but he's
11:36
Speaker 3: not a guy who's gonna make plays. But I think
11:39
Speaker 3: just with those guys also, they free things up for
11:43
Speaker 3: Jack Campbell and Alex Sandaloni and Derek Barnes, the three linebackers,
11:46
Speaker 3: and the Lions do play three linebackers almost all the time,
11:51
Speaker 3: if they can facilitate those guys getting an advantage, you know,
11:55
Speaker 3: getting the saquon before he gets ahead of steam, pressuring
11:58
Speaker 3: Jalen Hurst before he can get comfortable, making him move
12:01
Speaker 3: off of the spot, and moving a different way than
12:02
Speaker 3: he wants to. That's where this defensive line can really
12:07
Speaker 3: impact the game. Again, the Eagles have a very good
12:11
Speaker 3: offensive line, it's very proven. But if you can impact
12:15
Speaker 3: them just a little bit, I think that gives the
12:16
Speaker 3: Lion's a pretty pretty good chance on defense.
12:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, Saquon Barkley not having the season that many
12:23
Speaker 1: expected and thought he would only three point nine yards
12:27
Speaker 1: per carry on one hundred and forty nine carries, only
12:30
Speaker 1: five hundred and seventy nine yards thus far and four
12:33
Speaker 1: touchdowns this season. Jeff, It's not because Saquon Barkley isn't talented.
12:37
Speaker 1: It's because that Eagles offensive line just isn't as cohesive
12:41
Speaker 1: as they have been in the past. I mean, for me,
12:44
Speaker 1: that is the biggest concern heading into this game for sure.
12:48
Speaker 1: And again, folks, we're talking to Jeffrisdon. We're going to
12:50
Speaker 1: take a break, but make sure you go on over
12:53
Speaker 1: and even search out the Lions wire at USA today.
12:57
Speaker 1: Jeff has always got some great content up there, and
13:01
Speaker 1: you're doing so.
13:02
Speaker 2: Much as well.
13:03
Speaker 1: I get we got to talk about the draft at
13:04
Speaker 1: some point, I need to have you on to talk
13:06
Speaker 1: about draft prospects because you're so good at it, Jeff. Absolutely, look,
13:11
Speaker 1: folks gonna like and subscribe to us if you're watching
13:14
Speaker 1: on YouTube, we'd greatly appreciate it. And you can also
13:16
Speaker 1: hit the bell to be posted or to be notified
13:19
Speaker 1: when we post new videos. And we're also on various
13:21
Speaker 1: social media sites as well over on Instagram, Twitter slash x,
13:26
Speaker 1: I'm over on TikTok at mister Jeff Warren, Facebook threads,
13:29
Speaker 1: I'm over on Blue Sky at Jeff Warren. You can
13:32
Speaker 1: search out my co hosts as well. And we are
13:36
Speaker 1: going to be back in a bit with some more
13:39
Speaker 1: of this matchup Eagles against the Lions this week. Stick
13:43
Speaker 1: with us, all right, we're back with our good friend
13:48
Speaker 1: Jeff Risden and Jeff let's dive into more matchups here.
13:53
Speaker 1: I mean, this is gonna be a fantastic game, as
13:55
Speaker 1: we've been saying, at least I think it is. Heck,
13:57
Speaker 1: I thought the Green Bay Eagles game was gonna be
13:59
Speaker 1: fantastic and it was one of the biggest snooze fests
14:01
Speaker 1: in the world. I think we're gonna get a little
14:03
Speaker 1: something different this weekend. For sure, the Eagles, it was defensively,
14:08
Speaker 1: it was an amazing game. It was great for sure.
14:12
Speaker 1: But and part of that too was the Eagle secondary.
14:15
Speaker 1: I mean, they played so well during this past week's
14:18
Speaker 1: game up in Green Bay at lambeau Field. They played aggressively,
14:22
Speaker 1: they were breaking up passes. I think they had five
14:24
Speaker 1: passes defended during the course of the game. They weren't
14:27
Speaker 1: getting beat too badly at all by the route running
14:30
Speaker 1: from the Green Bay's receivers, which I thought was really
14:33
Speaker 1: great for this young core of athletes that are really
14:37
Speaker 1: starting to just kind of get Some of these guys
14:39
Speaker 1: are still finding their way. Amon Ra Saint Brown, as
14:43
Speaker 1: you mentioned before, Lions top receiving target, I mean, just
14:47
Speaker 1: a top five receiver in this league. Sam Laporta the
14:50
Speaker 1: second top receiver or a second receiver I should say,
14:54
Speaker 1: on this Lions team as well. How do you see
14:57
Speaker 1: the Lions receiving corps matching up against this Eagles secondary
15:00
Speaker 1: this week?
15:01
Speaker 3: You know, it's one of those where they're gonna have
15:03
Speaker 3: to use their savvy. The Lions offenses at the especially
15:07
Speaker 3: Amnah is at its best over the middle of the
15:10
Speaker 3: field and passing through zones or making just you know,
15:15
Speaker 3: using space spatial dynamics getting himself open. Uh, with Laporta
15:21
Speaker 3: running you know, routes that are in concert with it
15:24
Speaker 3: with with Jamison Williams and his speed on the outside,
15:28
Speaker 3: you know, he removes the safeties from the equation incredibly well.
15:33
Speaker 3: And he can do more than that. Yeah, but that's
15:35
Speaker 3: one of the things that has really opened up the
15:37
Speaker 3: middle of the field for Amona Saint Brown, you got it,
15:41
Speaker 3: got it. Can't rule out Colley Raymond has played very
15:44
Speaker 3: well when given a chance. He had a few catchups
15:46
Speaker 3: the other night against Washington. Obviously Washington's secondary is nothing
15:50
Speaker 3: like so that that's that's gonna be different. But I
15:57
Speaker 3: think if you're the Eagles, you know you want to
16:01
Speaker 3: limit run after catch opportunities, especially with Laporta and Saint Brown,
16:05
Speaker 3: because they are very good at catching the ball on
16:07
Speaker 3: the dead run. Golf's accuracy really plays a role there.
16:11
Speaker 3: And make sure that you don't let a on third
16:14
Speaker 3: and eight, if they throw it six yards, don't let
16:17
Speaker 3: him get that extra two yards because that's one of
16:19
Speaker 3: the areas where the Lions are really good. Now, having
16:21
Speaker 3: said that, the Lions will go for it on fourth
16:22
Speaker 3: down and we'll probably get it, but they actually, Yeah,
16:29
Speaker 3: you've got you've got to make sure that you limit
16:32
Speaker 3: the damage when they do get completions, because look, they're
16:34
Speaker 3: going to get They're not going to be shut down.
16:36
Speaker 3: That's just not how this offense is. Even in the
16:40
Speaker 3: Gold Rooms when you know, when John Morton was still
16:42
Speaker 3: calling plays and you know, there wasn't a lot of
16:45
Speaker 3: you know, flow to it or anything. They still put
16:48
Speaker 3: up some yards and put up some points. Yeah, And
16:51
Speaker 3: you know the key is, don't give up the big plays.
16:53
Speaker 3: Don't give up the disheartening plays. And if you do
16:55
Speaker 3: give up, get up, get beat next play man, get
16:59
Speaker 3: right back up and line and do it, because they're
17:01
Speaker 3: gonna keep coming at you. And that's that's one of
17:03
Speaker 3: the things that the Lions do so well. And especially
17:06
Speaker 3: with Dan Campbell clanking place, he will relentlessly pick at
17:10
Speaker 3: those scabs until you bleed to death. And I love that.
17:15
Speaker 3: I'm an older school guy like yourself. We grew up
17:20
Speaker 3: in a time where that was like how you beat people.
17:22
Speaker 3: Absolutely found something, keep poking it.
17:25
Speaker 2: Keep poking it. Yeah, absolutely keep taking that.
17:29
Speaker 3: Really really good at that, really good at that. And
17:31
Speaker 3: then I didn't even like Jimmy or Gibbs coming out
17:33
Speaker 3: of the backfield on a Texas Router or an angle
17:35
Speaker 3: ride unstoppable because your linebackers have so much to worry about.
17:39
Speaker 3: With Laporta in the in the twelve personnel rock Right,
17:44
Speaker 3: rock Right is not a very good blocker, but he
17:46
Speaker 3: is a pretty good receiver, and he is dangerous enough
17:48
Speaker 3: when he leaks out into the flat you've gotta you know,
17:51
Speaker 3: you've got to have a linebacker go and attend to him,
17:54
Speaker 3: and that just opens up so much space. And again,
17:56
Speaker 3: this is where Jared Goff's brilliance comes in. He he's
18:00
Speaker 3: so masterful at finding the mismatch and taking advantage of
18:03
Speaker 3: the most opportune opportunity. There's probably a better way to
18:07
Speaker 3: say that, but we'll go with that.
18:10
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you too, a honor Saint Brown against
18:13
Speaker 1: Quinnon Mitchell. It's gonna be fascinating to watch it.
18:16
Speaker 3: Really.
18:16
Speaker 1: Will Jamison Williams, as we mentioned earlier, you know, continuing
18:20
Speaker 1: to develop, could be interesting to see how he plays
18:24
Speaker 1: over the field in terms of those intermediate routes as well,
18:28
Speaker 1: and how he's able to match up against some of
18:31
Speaker 1: the Eagles linebackers and just that number two, that number
18:34
Speaker 1: two cornerback spot that is always the question mark on
18:37
Speaker 1: this Eagles team here in this twenty twenty five season.
18:40
Speaker 2: But let's move on.
18:42
Speaker 1: Here, Jeff, to look the Eagles pass rush and the
18:46
Speaker 1: run defense. They were on fire this past week up
18:48
Speaker 1: in Green Bay. Defensive front really coming on strong at
18:52
Speaker 1: this point in the season. I'm wondering, how do you
18:55
Speaker 1: see the Lions offensive line handling the Eagles pass rush
18:59
Speaker 1: and the run deep fence because they now have a
19:03
Speaker 1: talent like Jalen Phillips, who was absolutely incredible in terms
19:06
Speaker 1: of his debut this week in Midnight Green and Jalen Carter,
19:11
Speaker 1: Jordan Davis just clogging up those lanes. It's an aggressive
19:15
Speaker 1: front for sure. Again, how do you see the Lions
19:18
Speaker 1: offensive line handling this pass rush and run defense of
19:21
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles.
19:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we talked earlier about how the Eagles line
19:25
Speaker 3: isn't as good as it has been. The Lions have
19:27
Speaker 3: the same issue. They really miss Frank rag Now at center.
19:32
Speaker 3: The All pro retired offseason. They're replacing them with Graham Glasgow.
19:36
Speaker 3: It's not the same. To be kind, Glasgow actually had
19:42
Speaker 3: a really nice game against Washington. I need to give
19:44
Speaker 3: him credit for that. But then the left guard was
19:47
Speaker 3: Christian Mahogany coming on in the second year, but he
19:49
Speaker 3: missed almost all of his rookie season and he was
19:52
Speaker 3: playing pretty darn good football. Well, he's out until at
19:55
Speaker 3: least Christmas, if not longer, with a broken foot yep ankle.
19:59
Speaker 3: So you know you're you're plugging in people now. There
20:02
Speaker 3: actually former Eagle Coyote Alshika will be the starting left guard,
20:05
Speaker 3: and he's played a lot and he is a He
20:08
Speaker 3: is a very serviceable functional backup, but long term starter.
20:12
Speaker 3: There's a reason why he's been on the Lions bench
20:15
Speaker 3: for a long time. He will be fine, but he's
20:19
Speaker 3: not an asset the way that Mahogany could be. And
20:23
Speaker 3: they really need to have Graham Glascow play his best football.
20:27
Speaker 3: Starting right guard is a rookie, Tate Radich. He's a
20:30
Speaker 3: good one. He's getting better by the week. Really good
20:34
Speaker 3: people mover in the run game, but that's gonna be challenged.
20:37
Speaker 3: He hasn't really gone up against you know, the litany
20:40
Speaker 3: of talent that he just a lot of early good
20:43
Speaker 3: players on the defense. Yes, and I actually like the
20:48
Speaker 3: way that the Philadelphia linebackers play off behind them. You know,
20:51
Speaker 3: that's one of the things that Detroit is really good at.
20:54
Speaker 3: It's having your linebackers react behind the line. And I
20:58
Speaker 3: think that the Eagles linebackers are stepping up been doing
21:00
Speaker 3: that better than they happened in a long time. It's
21:02
Speaker 3: a continuation of last year primarily, but they the last
21:06
Speaker 3: couple of games they seem to have really been dialed
21:08
Speaker 3: in on where the play is going to go and
21:10
Speaker 3: staying off the blocks and eliminating cut back lanes and
21:13
Speaker 3: things like that. And that's you know, that's where Jamior
21:15
Speaker 3: Gibbs kills you. Yeah, that's where you know, if David
21:20
Speaker 3: Montgomery gets gets a chance to plant a foot hard
21:23
Speaker 3: and break, he's he's dangerous. And the Eagles do a
21:28
Speaker 3: really good job of not allowing that. So that to
21:30
Speaker 3: me is going to be the biggest thing. You know,
21:32
Speaker 3: Ken Penay Sewell and Taylor Decker handle the being attacked
21:37
Speaker 3: in the past rush as well as going on and
21:39
Speaker 3: attacking in the the run game. Yes, they're a great
21:43
Speaker 3: tackle tandem, but they have their limitations and this is
21:47
Speaker 3: this is gonna be a really big dust for them.
21:48
Speaker 3: So I think between you know, where the defensive line
21:53
Speaker 3: for the the defensive front for the Lions has an advantage.
21:55
Speaker 3: I think on the flip side, Philadelphia has that advantage
21:58
Speaker 3: against Detroit and it will sort of be, you know,
22:01
Speaker 3: who can win that, you know, mono a mono battle.
22:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, when you have in terms of the Eagles linebackers,
22:08
Speaker 1: Nakobe Dean coming back and boy, what a strong presence
22:11
Speaker 1: he's been Zach Bond. We know what he can do.
22:13
Speaker 1: Jihad Campbell. Goodness for a rookie season. He's having quite
22:18
Speaker 1: the year thus far. So again, great matchups to keep
22:23
Speaker 1: our eyes on. And as we and the discussion here
22:25
Speaker 1: like we do on our opposition Territory pods every week, Jeff,
22:29
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the one thing the Lions
22:31
Speaker 1: are gonna need to hit on for a win, the
22:33
Speaker 1: one thing the Eagles are gonna need to hit on
22:35
Speaker 1: for a win this week. Let's start with the Lions.
22:37
Speaker 1: What's that one thing the Lions are gonna need to
22:38
Speaker 1: hit on for a win this week against Philadelphia Eagles.
22:42
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna have to win the third down
22:43
Speaker 3: battles keep the Eagles, and I will include fourth down
22:48
Speaker 3: conversions into that as well, because both teams like to
22:50
Speaker 3: go for it on fourth down. They do it a
22:52
Speaker 3: little bit different. You'll have to touch push, we have
22:54
Speaker 3: the play action pass to our sixth tackle. YEP, that's
22:58
Speaker 3: different styles. But I think the team that wins that
23:01
Speaker 3: battle offensively and defensively, if it's a decisive one, because
23:05
Speaker 3: the Lions do thrive on keeping drives alive, and there's
23:09
Speaker 3: a very demoralizing capacity to that Eagles know this very well.
23:13
Speaker 3: It's something that Sirianni has preached. I've heard him say it.
23:17
Speaker 3: When you give up like three fourth down conversions in
23:21
Speaker 3: the game as a defense, you're just like, what do
23:24
Speaker 3: we do? Yes?
23:25
Speaker 2: You know these guys?
23:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, And when the Lions are doing that, that that
23:31
Speaker 3: allows them to control the ball, that allows them to
23:33
Speaker 3: you know, open up so many different things that they
23:35
Speaker 3: can do because with all those weapons, again, if you're
23:40
Speaker 3: in third and short, you can take some shots knowing
23:42
Speaker 3: that you can make it unfourthd then so I think
23:44
Speaker 3: that that's gonna be the big thing, and you know,
23:47
Speaker 3: keeping the Eagles from getting into those situations where they
23:50
Speaker 3: can use the tush push, yes, because it it's taking
23:55
Speaker 3: on a whole life of its own. I'm treating episodes
23:58
Speaker 3: upon episodes about that, but it does still work, and
24:02
Speaker 3: that's something that you do want to avoid. If you're
24:04
Speaker 3: a team that's playing in the Eagles, I would say
24:06
Speaker 3: that that's the biggest thing is control third and fourth
24:08
Speaker 3: thowsand and be the team that wins those drives.
24:11
Speaker 1: Would you say it's the same thing for the Eagles. What's
24:13
Speaker 1: the one thing the Eagles are going to need to
24:14
Speaker 1: hit on for a win. Would you say it's the
24:16
Speaker 1: same thing or is there something different? If you're thinking about.
24:19
Speaker 3: That's certainly part of it. But I do think that
24:20
Speaker 3: getting pressure in Golf's face early, it's something that Minnesota
24:24
Speaker 3: did very well, and when that happens, he turns down well.
24:29
Speaker 3: In I guess Minnesota specifically, there was a lot of screens,
24:32
Speaker 3: a lot of quick dump offs where plays didn't have
24:35
Speaker 3: a chance to develop down the field. And when you
24:37
Speaker 3: do that, that that enables those linebackers to pin their
24:41
Speaker 3: ears back even more. That allows your safeties to take
24:45
Speaker 3: some chances and try to make plays on the ball,
24:47
Speaker 3: and that is not where Golf is at his best.
24:49
Speaker 3: So I think you know that interior offensive line for
24:53
Speaker 3: the Lions against the Eagles front, and I'll know Zach
24:57
Speaker 3: vond Bond is such a blitzer from from all over
25:01
Speaker 3: the formation. Yes, he's a wild card. That's a very
25:05
Speaker 3: difficult presence. The Lions have their own in that in
25:08
Speaker 3: Jack Campbell, and I think that I think that he's
25:12
Speaker 3: he's getting his appreciation around the league. But it's one
25:15
Speaker 3: of those things where when when I talk to people
25:17
Speaker 3: from the opposing team, nobody ever brings him up as
25:20
Speaker 3: a matchup, right, right, He's really really good, y'all, beware
25:25
Speaker 3: of him. He can he can ruin somethings, so I
25:27
Speaker 3: think he will need to have a good game. And also,
25:30
Speaker 3: obviously turnovers are a big thing. The other one again,
25:34
Speaker 3: the Lions special teams cannot lose this game for them,
25:37
Speaker 3: and they've not been playing well. I don't want to
25:41
Speaker 3: like overseell how bad they've been, because they do have
25:44
Speaker 3: their moments, but I also don't want to under sell
25:46
Speaker 3: They're vulnerable there and the Eagles have good units, so
25:50
Speaker 3: that that worries me.
25:52
Speaker 1: He is Jeff Risden, Folks again from the Lions Wire
25:57
Speaker 1: over at USA today. Check out everything he has going
26:01
Speaker 1: on over there. Great great content as always, We got
26:04
Speaker 1: to talk some NFL prospects, We got to talk some
26:06
Speaker 1: college prospects at some point, Jeff, I'd love to have
26:08
Speaker 1: you on again, my friends. Seriously, come back and join
26:11
Speaker 1: us and let's have another great conversation anytime.
26:14
Speaker 3: Jeff. Thanks man.
26:16
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
26:19
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
26:22
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26:25
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26:28
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26:32
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